Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2002 22:43:18 +0100 From: Wilko Bulte <wkb@freebie.xs4all.nl> To: Matthew Dillon <dillon@apollo.backplane.com> Cc: D J Hawkey Jr <hawkeyd@visi.com>, tlambert2@mindspring.com, freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Oh my god, Google has a USENET archive going back to 1981! Message-ID: <20020108224318.B17465@freebie.xs4all.nl> In-Reply-To: <200201082138.g08LcFS61637@apollo.backplane.com>; from dillon@apollo.backplane.com on Tue, Jan 08, 2002 at 01:38:15PM -0800 References: <20.21dd4868.296bb1c2_aol.com@ns.sol.net> <3C3A810A.C616A903_mindspring.com@ns.sol.net> <200201081104.g08B4i309583@sheol.localdomain> <200201082138.g08LcFS61637@apollo.backplane.com>
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On Tue, Jan 08, 2002 at 01:38:15PM -0800, Matthew Dillon wrote: > :Those were the days, my friends... > :Dave > > Ah yes. By the time I was ready to throw my PET away the hardware > inside was so hacked up I don't think anybody but me could boot the > thing. I had replaced the character generator ROM with a RAM and wired > in a wire select to an unused bank, which meant the screen was spaghetti > on power-up until i LOAD'd a copy of the character set. I had the > machine language monitor extension rom. I had wired in an extra 16K of > dynamic ram, giving me 48K total (bank selected) (imagine piggy-backing > a bank of 14 or 16 pin DIPs on another bank and soldering each lead, > except for the select, to the one below). I had the NMI button hooked Ah, but that is easy. I did the same when I got my hands on a free stack of DRAM chips. But mine were J-lead SMD jobs. Interesting... ;-) > These days traces or so tiny and chip leads are so close together (not > to mention the 6+ layer boards!) that hacking a PC's hardware is pretty > close to impossible. Hm. 2 months ago I removed a SMD multifunction I/O chip from a dual CPU slot 1 mainboard. And put a new (well, had to desolder that one from a donor mainboard) chip back on. It *is* doable, but you need a stereo microscope, a Weller fine-pointed thermocontrolled soldering iron and lots of patience. Only downside: people started to dial 112 (our version of 911) when I told them ;)) W/ -- | / o / /_ _ email: wilko@FreeBSD.org |/|/ / / /( (_) Bulte Arnhem, The Netherlands To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
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