retrocomputing

The Zilog Z80 has turned 50 https://lobste.rs/s/y3qqzv #assembly #hardware #retrocomputing
https://goliath32.com/blog/z80.html

Old PC emulators that run in the browser https://lobste.rs/s/7b5n2s #retrocomputing
https://www.pcjs.org/

What I really want is a top of the line 486 with DOS 6.22, or maybe a Pentium with Win95, to relive my long-lost childhood. Due to budget and space constraints, and since apparently VirtualBox is no longer "in," I will learn how to run qemu on Debian Trixie and set it up that way. Tips welcome.

#retrocomputing

New video! I'm attempting to repair a C64 ASSY 250407 that displays random colors on startup.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/K8ZXU2zvcGc
PeerTube: https://makertube.net/w/ufJ7eNjdxfKBJ8HWQmQMuG

#Commodore #Commodore64 #C64 #Repair #Troubleshooting #BlankScreen #ColorfulScreen #PLA #CIA #VIC #RetroComputing #VintageComputing

Zeal Z80-based computer https://lobste.rs/s/yabn7v #retrocomputing
https://zeal8bit.com/

Fellow retro fedi folk, I need your advice/recommendation; I'm selling off a bunch of things, including all-but-one of my 68k Macs. I'm keeping my LC, but will be selling off the Color Classic I have restored over the past two years. With it I'll be selling a keyboard and mouse (of course), but I'm torn between which one I should sell along with the CC, and which one I should keep for myself.

On the one hand I have an "Apple Keyboard" that originally came from the US. It's working nicely, cleaned inside and out, and is not yellowed all that much. Actual mechanical keyboard, although it does have some odd decisions like a guiding poke thingy on the enter key that basically makes it harder to hit the key depending on where you mash, but whatever.

On the other hand I have an "Apple Keyboard II" (gotta love these names, thx Apple). Also working nicely, cleaned inside and out, has Korean keys, and is the less nice or premium feeling membrane style keyboard (kind of mushy). Slightly more yellowed, but not really all that bad I think (plus, I don't really mind the yellowing).

I'm torn because I think in basically all ways the "Apple Keyboard" is the better keyboard, but I like that the II is Korean, and is technically the correct matching keyboard with the LC, at least based on what I have been able to find through photos and whatnot. If I ever leave Korea and am able to bring my old Mac stuff with me, I suppose it'll also be nice to have that be this matching Korean keyboard?

So, my question to you is; Which one would you keep for yourself, and which one would you keep? Bonus points if you can share the why's.

Thanks so very much! And yes, if you think this is worth a boost, please by all means share and share alike :D

(I know this would've been a good thing to post as a poll, but my Fediverse corner does not support this. And so, old-school ask-and-answer style it is :D)

#AskFediverse #RetroComputing #VintageComputing #MacOS #Macintosh #68k #Keyboard #Korea #Korean #ADB

Fedichat - Comic Chat for the Fediverse https://lobste.rs/s/gxjzgq #retrocomputing #visualization
https://lambadalambda.github.io/fedichat/client.html

Today I Rescued 7,234 Old GIFs https://lobste.rs/s/pdbktp #retrocomputing #web
https://danq.me/2026/07/10/rescuing-7234-gifs/

Make your own Windows 98 OEM Install https://lobste.rs/s/ksmsg3 #video #retrocomputing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUm5eW_XGMU

CP/M-68K emulator https://lobste.rs/s/o2couk #retrocomputing
https://kobolt.github.io/article-264.html

Classic console tech tricks https://lobste.rs/s/ecuwk1 #video #games #retrocomputing
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLM_oC5K01gS9rqn7PotAOE-fb0zrnvdu

DOSBox on OpenVMS (Alpha CPU) https://lobste.rs/s/synvhi #retrocomputing
https://astr0baby.online/AXP/OpenVMS/DOSBOX/

The Early Days: A History of Interactive Computing https://lobste.rs/s/tvfhvm #historical #retrocomputing
https://obsolescence.dev/interactive-computing-history.html

Console modding: Building a better N64 for 2026 https://lobste.rs/s/su3yy5 #video #games #hardware #retrocomputing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8c3IJa7cnU

Snake Temple for Oric Atmos, in 10 lines of BASIC (2022) https://lobste.rs/s/uhroxb #games #retrocomputing
https://bunsen.itch.io/the-snake-temple-by-rax

Does #SNES music count as a #chiptune?

That machine arrived in the late chiptune era, when FM synthesis was the norm, and it seems to have some PSG-like functions (fire and explosion sounds in SNES games often sound like the NES), but for the most part it is a sample-based synthesizer.

Wikipedia says Fast Tracker makes chiptunes <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiptune#Contemporary_chiptune_music>, but unless I'm mistaken, FT uses the CPU for software synthesis, not a PSG or similar, so… 🤷‍♂️

#retrocomputing #retrogaming

Embedding a bitmap font in your HyperCard stack https://lobste.rs/s/nzfshj #mac #retrocomputing
https://www.leadedsolder.com/2026/09/08/hypercard-custom-fonts-in-resources.html

A Vintage Web Game Gallery

My major project over the last week and a half or so has been curating a collection of old Flash, Shockwave, and Java games on my #CGHMN site. Your first thought is probably, "why do that when Flashpoint Archive already exists?" Indeed, most if not all of these games are already preserved and curated there. The difference is that, while Flashpoint uses emulators and containers to make the games playable on modern systems, I'm specifically targeting vintage machines with the original plugins. You can visit my site from Win95 or System 7 running Netscape 3 and everything will work exactly like it did in 1997. Or WinXP, IE 6, and 2002. You get the idea.

I downloaded a few Flash and Shockwave collections from archive.org, and pretty much all the Java games I could get from Java Boutique for my initial population. The curation process is slow since I'm working alone. For each game I have to figure out the correct window size, minimum plugin version, any needed parameters, and often the correct locations and filenames for extra data files. For most games I use my own viewer page written in PHP but some need to be run from a static HTML file in a separate directory in order to work correctly. And then there's getting a screenshot, writing a description, and correctly crediting the author. I try to add a game or two each day.

Flash games are generally pretty easy to deal with, but Shockwave and Java are harder. Java games are often extremely picky about what browser and JVM you use, while Shockwave games sometimes need Xtras which the player tries to download from a no-longer-existent (but thankfully somewhat-preserved) server. Both usually need data files and parameters to run properly. Getting the necessary info often involves trying to find the original website in the Wayback Machine and digging through the HTML source.

Anyway, if you're on CGHMN and you want to take a look, it's at:
http://www.n8fq.retro/webgames/

#RetroComputing #RetroWeb #blog

#Amstrad #Retrocomputing experts: can any of you tell me what I'm looking at here?

Specifically, what's the bizarre reference to "john disc filename fred" at the top of the document?

I found this sheet among a trove of photocopied Amstrad software documentation that appears to have been used by a Cork (Ireland)-based business during the mid 1980s.

(I'm an Atari aficionado, so not au fait with Amstrad idioms.)

Danuar posts longplay videos of retro games from classic computers, consoles and arcades, plus writes a text review of each game in the comments. You can follow at:

➡️ @danuar

(Don't worry if it looks blank to you, that just means no one from your server follows it yet. Follow the account and its videos will start gradually showing up on your server too.)

#FeaturedPeerTube #RetroGaming #RetroComputing #PeerTube

Dmitri Gaskin on jQuery https://lobste.rs/s/67043h #video #javascript #retrocomputing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mwKq7_JlS8

Happy IBM PC day!

The IBM PC model 5150 was released on August 12, 1981, exactly 45 years ago.

#retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #ibmpc

Back in the day I didn't know much about the Andrew Project at Carnegie Mellon University. This 1996 retrospective, by one of the lead designers, is also a good history and overview of the main components: a network file system, a GUI toolkit, and an email and bulletin board system.

https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/272682.272717

#AndrewProject #cmu #retrocomputing

Look at what came with the mail today!

A Schneider Colour Monitor CTM 640 CRT for my Amstrad CPC machines.

#RetroComputing

Look what also came in the mail today: another CRT. This is a Philips monitor, supposedly for use with the MSX line of computers.

It got damaged by the brutes at UPS along the way though, that'll need a liberal amount of glue :(

#RetroComputing