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Gammitin (Ben) 💾

@gammitin.bsky.social

4.2K followers 750 following 6.1K posts

Vintage & Retro Tech! I collect & tinker with classic laptops, desktops, consoles, & other unique tech 💾. I'm also an avid gamer 🎮 and a cat enthusiast 🐱 Social Media Links🔗👇 https://linktr.ee/gammitin Enq: [email protected]

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · Nov 9

Unreal [1998]

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 14h

It depends on the computer, some by pressing the button slower it down, others were on by default and the machine ran at normal speed, if you switched it off it slowed down.

Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 23h

By far the most nostalgic PC build of my life was the day I rebuilt my very first childhood computer from scratch back in 2023 — an Intel 386-DX25 with its faithful 387-25 co-processor. Bringing it back to life felt like stepping straight into the past.

386 PC Build lineup, testing and then installing MS-DOS

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 23h

It was a labour of love building that machine!

Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 23h

Yep, it's a 386-DX25, I rebuilt my first ever PC a while back, it's magical. bsky.app/profile/gamm...

Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · Nov 20

Last year I rebuilt my first PC, 386DX-25, 4MB RAM & Adlib soundcard. I've since added a few upgrades:
- Matching 387DX-25 FPU Maths Coprocessor
- 8MB RAM (extra 4MB)
- Kingston NE2000 ISA Network Card
It's a very special computer in my collection, so many amazing memories 😊💾

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 23h

Happy Friday Folks I hope you have a magical weekend. Remember, whatever you're up to, throw a little retro in there! 💾

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 1d

Still gives me goosebumps after 35 years 😊

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 1d

When did they sneak Lossless into Spotify?

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 1d

Now some testing!
This is my SPARCstation LX loading the CDE desktop locally, it takes 45 seconds from the login screen:

Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 1d

It was an easy fix, w00t! I removed the connector to the din board and used some contact cleaner, now it initialises and works perfectly 👌

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 1d

I removed the top cover and it looks to be in good shape, no spills, or damaged components etc.

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 1d

I bought this Sun Type 4 DIN keyboard a year ago, I'm not sure why, but I haven't actually plugged it in until today and guess what? 😔

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 2d

☀️ 😇

Sun Ultra 1 Enterprise, Sun SPARCstation LX

Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 2d

Option 4)
Setup my Sun Ultra 1 to auto-boot then act as an X11 server. Then try to get my SPARCstation LX to remotely graphically login.
Well this was my test run and it's AMAZING!
My LX is quite slow, but it flys, it's night and day difference!

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 3d

Now this is sorted, a couple of things I'd like to try:
1) Add a second framebuffer card and try dual monitors.
2) See if I can find a Sun Ray thin client and try setting it up as a Solaris thin client server.
3) Try an Ultra SCSI SBUS card to add way larger storage.
Any ideas?

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 3d

The working drive installed, is a
SEAGATE: ST32430WC HAWK 2LP 2147MB 3.5"/SL SCSI2 WIDE

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 3d

Here's a shot of the inside of the machine:

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 3d

Result, we have seconds!

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 3d

Looking promising.....

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 3d

Let's give it a go with the XTAL this time 😀

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 3d

a space ship is flying through a tunnel of blue lights

ALT: a space ship is flying through a tunnel of blue lights

media.tenor.com

Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 3d

Now that's better!

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 3d

Here it is, now I need to solder this to the chip and hope it works:

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 3d

I struck Gold! 😊

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 3d

And we have the reason why the time wasn't working, because I had pulled off the XTAL, so I heated it up and got digging:

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Gammitin (Ben) 💾 @gammitin.bsky.social · 3d

I freaked out, thinking I'd broken the chip, went back on RHD Discord, had a few suggestions and tried a few things, nothing. But then someone asked: did you accidentally discard the XTAL in the casing?
Jeez, ran outside, dove in the bin and rescued this, can you see the legs:

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