Title: Updates for July 2020
Date: 20200712
Tags: hardware retrocomputers
========================================
Just a quick update on projects. Oddly, computer projects are usually a Winter
hobby but somehow I've been doing a lot of computer things.
In trying to install OpenBSD on the Pinebook Pro, I bricked it. I waited almost
a month to get the special serial adapter, NVMe drive adapter, and USB network
adapter for the process (the NVMe drive isn't required but, hey, why wouldn't
I?). A day later, it was bricked. I mistakenly assumed the system would boot
off the SD card if the eMMC was wiped. Not so. No boot. Not even a charge
light. ARM is such nutty hardware and the modern boot process is terrible. Now
waiting on a USB eMMC reader to try to reimage it. This time I bought from
Amazon so I don't have to wait another month.
In the meantime, the Retro Computing Roundtable podcast[0] pointed out an Altair
8800 CPU card parts kit on ebay that goes with the reproduction CPU card. I've
had building an Altair 8800c[1] (replica Altair from new parts) in the mental
project queue for some time. The slight bit of convenience of not having to
find the individual components of the CPU card pushed my motivation. I bought
the parts kit and the CPU card. Had it assembled in a couple days. Now, A CPU
is of no use without the rest of the computer, so... I spent the better part of
a day buying additional cards, new and reproduction, from other Altair and S-100
bus computer enthusiasts, and then finding all the individual components for
them. The resistors, capacitors, and logic chips. And I needed one vintage
chip for the Vector Interrupt / Real Time Clock card. So this back burner
project has roared into the forefront.
So much for any Summer projects I should be working on...
Place your bets on which system I get running first.
[0]
http://rcrpodcast.com/
[1]
https://deramp.com/altair_8800c.html
