Update 10/12/16: Back online, even connecting to SDF
and other systems. Replaced the video card, but I'm
still going to attempt a repair on the one with bad
ram.
Update 9/30/16": My 8088 is currently down, corruption
in the video card memory. Normally that would simply
mean a new video card, but an 8-bit VGA card just isn't
that easy to come by. I plan on desoldering the memory,
soldering sockets in place, and dropping in some new
memory chips to see if that fixes the problem. Oddly,
it's actually worth it. So few electronics are worth
fixing these days, it's a throw-away world. This is
the actual unit I used as a kid, so it's worth fixing
to me.
Update 9/13/16: Got a new parts machine coming in the
mail in a few days, a find on ebay at a semi-reasonable
price. I lost the cover for my original box some time ago,
so it's been sporting a homemade one for a while. Will
be nice to have the original hardware back in place on it.
Update 9/21/16: The new machine was far better than I
expected it to be. It was in the original box, with the
original software. It appears to have been stored for
years, there is no dust, the inside of the unit looks
brand new. It has a factory-installed 20MB HDD (MFM/RLL),
that is also listed on the factory sticker on the box.
It has an MGA CGA/Herc graphics card installed (which
I can't currently use because I have no such monitor.)
It is about as pristine as something this old gets.
Currently, I'm waiting for a "new" 8-bit VGA card from
Russia so I can do further testing and setup. I have
an IDE adapter for my other one, so I can run it off
a CF drive, which is a nice speed boost, but there is
something awesome about running the 20mb drive too.
Also, I gotta say, super bonus points to Epson. I just
went to their website and downloaded the manual and
other documents for this computer. They're still
supporting it, this many years after it was made and
sold. That's dedication.
