Pentium Socket 5 Build - Rounding out 2022 with a PC

As 2022 comes to a close I've completed one more PC build for the year.  This one is nostalgic for me, as the target year is 1994, which is around the time that I got my first PC.  Also, this machine replaces one of my first Retro PCs that I purchased back in 2019 an Epson Pentium 75MHz that was a Socket 5 Machine.  I damaged that machine while I was trying to perform a processor upgrade to bring it up to a 100 MHz chip, a sad episode which I regret quite a bit.

I just finished a Custom Socket 7 build which I'm very pleased with.  I think that these custom builds will be easier to experiment with and also easier to maintain in the long run, so although I do have one other Socket 5 machine, I have been on the lookout for another Custom Build.  Free Geek Twin Cities was selling this custom build at a really good price and I jumped on buying the machine.

The case on this one has yellowed a bit...

But overall I'm quite pleased with the appearance.  This build is based on an Asus Motherboard, PCI/I-P54SP4.  The machine was working as I got it from Free Geek but readers will know I'm not one to leave well enough alone.  According to Free Geek the Dallas clock chip was dead, so I de-soldered that and added a socket for the replacement clock battery, and I also lubricated the CPU fan which was running a bit rough.

Vogons has a nice scan of the manual for this board.  After alot of trial and error, I was able to upgrade the RAM a bit (As configured, it accepts only double sided FPM RAM SIMMs).  I have 48 MB RAM in the machine, but as it's a Windows 95 machine and will normally be running in DOS mode anyway I don't think this will be a problem.

I upgraded the old proprietary 1x CD-ROM to an IDE CD-ROM that will read CD-Rs, this is a nice "quality of life" improvement for the machine.  I also added an IDE ZIP drive which makes it much easier to move files onto the machine.

The machine is still sporting a 1GB Hard Disk drive, although I may replace that with a CF card to IDE adaptor pretty soon.  It's running Windows 95 and it has both an ISA 3COM Network Card and a Sound Blaster 16 (The less desirable CT2940) that work well in both DOS and Windows 95.

The final upgrade on this machine was to CAREFULLY install the Pentium 100 processor that I'd originally bought for the Epson machine.  It's working well and give this motherboard is maximum speed Intel processor.  Since the machine has a Front Panel MHz display and I couldn't find any documentation, I had to do some experimentation to set the display to 99 MHz, as this one doesn't have a third digit.  It's a cool look, and my only PC with the front panel MHz display!

So, perhaps this completes my the last Retro computer project for 2022.  Overall it's been a great year in Retro and I'm looking forward to the challenges and learning that will come in 2023!

Sometimes They Come Easy - Socket 7 Pentium Build

Lately I've had several projects in my backlog that keep stalling out due to broken parts on the original machine, broken accessories, or broken replacement parts.  I've been wanting to complete projects for an original Mac 128K, a Sun Ultra 5 Workstation, and an Amiga 500 among others but these projects are on hold for parts.

So, in the meantime I was looking for something fun, easy, and low cost.  Once again, Free Geek Twin Cities has come to the rescue!  One of the gaps in my collection has been a nice Socket 7 Pentium.  I've had this on my wish list for some time, but watching Phil from Phil's Computer Lab go over his "daily driver" retro gaming PC really got me thinking about this again.

So, a couple of weekends ago I was in Free Geek and purchased a New Old Stock AT tower case that came from a computer store that had recently closed in our area.  The case was still in the box and it was immaculate.  It was an AT / ATX convertible case, and I had to do a bit of drilling and Dremelling to get an AT Power Supply fastened down inside the case.  I also had to drill out the power button and cut it a bit shorter, but I was able to get an AT power supply in the case and it looks really nice.

The Motherboard, CPU, and Memory came from a Socket 7 Build at Free Geek that had sat for a couple of weeks. Perhaps it didn't sell because the case wasn't perfect but since I was swapping the case anyway I didn't care about that.  The mainboard is an Asus P/I-P55T2P4.  I found a nice generic looking CD drive and I had to replace the Floppy Drive on it because that wasn't working well.

The other upgrade per Phil's video was to put an upgraded video card into the machine with a Digital Interface.  I don't have an Nvidia card (with the hardware scaling that Phil mentions), but I do have an ATI Radeon PCI graphics card with both VGA and DVI outputs on it.

For now, I've paired the computer with a Samsung SyncMaster Beige LCD panel that also came from Free Geek...

I've installed Windows 98 and all the Windows drivers on this machine, but I've also loaded DOS drivers and DOS games as well.  It's a build I'm very happy with and certainly allowed me to "scratch the itch" of completing a build with minimal pain and effort.

Now back to that Amiga 500...

The Commodore VIC-20, My First Computer

The Commodore VIC-20 is a special computer for me as it was the first computer we ever had in our home.  My Uncle Frank gave me his old computer in the '80s.  At that time, I had shown some interest in electronics, but it was generous and a bit of a risk on his part because I hadn't really demonstrated any affinity for computers.

Anyway, one Summer Uncle Frank brought a huge box of stuff, including the computer, tape drive, game cartridges, printer, and tons of software on Cassette.  Of course the Commodore manuals were also there along with some other computer books about learning how to program.  This was back in the day when our computer learning came mostly from books so having these was a huge benefit.

I think my Grandma gave us an old Color TV set that she had in her bedroom to use as a monitor for the computer since my folks didn't want me to take over the main TV set in the living room with the machine. I'm sure they realized that I'd be wanting to use the computer during Prime Time, and they were right.  I read the books cover to cover and did several of the "Type In" programs, although I was fortunate to have so much software saved on tape.  There was a large library of material there, and I'm not sure I even ever got through it all.  I experimented with Basic, with Poke and Peek commands and I learned about manipulating sounds and the colors on the screen.  I never got far enough in to learn Assembly language, and I wouldn't get into that until College days, but it was a wonderful experience and I have found memories of using the VIC-20.

I wish I'd have saved the machine, or at least taken pictures of it.  I do not think that any pictures of the setup survived.   I believe that I ended up damaging the machine by trying to wire an electronics experiment onto an edge connector on the back.  After I'd damaged it, making repairs of the unit was beyond my skill at the time and so that was the end of my Commodore involvement in the 80s.

Fast forward to the present day, as my readers will know I've been learning alot about fixing Retro computers from the 8-Bit era.  There's a ton of documentation and how-to repair videos on the Internet.  When I want to wire up an experiment to a computer, I use a Raspberry Pi (Which I can easily afford to loose).  So, it was safe once again for me to buy and use my first ever computer, the Commodore VIC-20.

Thanks to my friend Matt for selling me a Commodore VIC-20 out of his collection.  This is a nice early example.  It has an external 9 VAC adapter and a linear power supply inside the case.  It's got the old badge style, but not the PET style keyboard.  From the price tag on the box it looks like the original owners bought this machine for $99 at Target in 1981.  I also got a matching VIC-1541 drive, and an assortment of Cartridges.  Here's a picture of the setup when I was still testing out in my garage...

Since the pictures, I've gotten a Datasette from my friend John, a Joystick from Free Geek Twin Cities and I have the entire thing paired up with a large Sony Trinitron Flat Square CRT Television.  Of course it goes without saying that I never remember the VIC-20 looking so good.

"Avengers", the Space Invaders clone for the system has become my favorite cartridge.  The VIC-20 is an amazing computer and I'm so glad to have one in the collection.