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Installing A/UX 1.1 like it's the 90s
22 days ago
- Successfully emulated and ran A/UX 3.1.1 on Snow, an emulator for vintage Macintosh systems.
- Obtained and archived A/UX 1.1 installation media (34 floppy images) from Dominic Sharp, addressing compatibility issues with Snow's emulation.
- Implemented support for the Macintosh II video card (Toby) in Snow to meet A/UX 1.x's hardware requirements.
- Fixed Snow bugs related to ADB keyboard modifier keys and NCR 5390 DMA handling during A/UX 1.1 installation.
- Installed A/UX 1.1 by partitioning, installing System 6, and using SASH (Standalone Shell) for bootstrapping.
- Installed A/UX 1.1 from 26 installation disks after fixing emulator issues, leading to a functional system with limited GUI support.
Starlink from 1984
16 days ago
- StarLink was a hardware/software product announced by Digital Research Inc (DRI) in May 1984 that turned an IBM PC into a multiuser system supporting up to five users via terminals.
- The system included a board with an Intel 8088 CPU, 64KB RAM, and four RS-232 ports, running DRI's Concurrent DOS to enable multitasking and replace multiple PCs with one machine and inexpensive terminals.
- StarLink faced challenges such as high costs (priced at $1695, requiring a PC with 512KB RAM and a hard disk, totaling near $5000), compatibility issues (e.g., inability to run Lotus 1-2-3), and was not a commercial success, being abandoned by 1985.
Sonnet Encore/ST G4: How a Tiny Capacitor Destroyed a Rare Upgrade
15 days ago
- The Workshop's Power Mac G4 MDD was in for cooling improvements, but a Sonnet Encore/ST Duet dual 1.8 GHz processor upgrade card suffered catastrophic failure due to an exploding tantalum capacitor.
- The explosion scorched nearby circuitry, rendering the rare aftermarket upgrade unusable, though the Power Mac's logic board survived and was later replaced with an official Apple dual 1.42 GHz module.
- Tantalum capacitors are generally reliable but can fail dramatically through thermal runaway, often due to manufacturing defects or stress, though such events are uncommon.
- The damage appears confined to power regulation circuitry, leaving the CPUs potentially undamaged, raising the possibility of repair by an experienced electronics technician.
- The article calls for skilled technicians to attempt restoring the rare Sonnet card, emphasizing the importance of rescuing vintage hardware and accepting challenging repairs.
On AI
3 days ago
- Author observed Andreas Kling's rapid coding with AI-assisted IDEs like Copilot.
- Initially skeptical of AI, author later adopted Claude and local models for coding tasks.
- Author embarked on a vintage Macintosh programming project, writing code only on original hardware.
- Projects include an IMAP email client, revision control, Wikipedia reader, IRC client, and BBS server.
- Author developed a modern web browser for classic Mac OS with TLS decryption.
- Author feels disillusioned by AI-generated (vibe-coded) projects that overshadow hand-crafted software.
- Despite frustration, author resolves to continue his work and be happy for community if AI tools are useful.

Hasty Briefsbeta

vintage computing

Installing A/UX 1.1 like it's the 90s

Starlink from 1984

Sonnet Encore/ST G4: How a Tiny Capacitor Destroyed a Rare Upgrade

On AI