Alex
@devopslimeyninja.bsky.social
Technology nerd, DevOps and Platform Engineering ninja, maker of things, aerospace and science fiction fan. Los Alamos National Laboratory. Opinions my own.
Reposted by Alex
My life seems like a world of nested side quests. My new printer arrived last Saturday, and so now of course I’m building a stand that won’t collapse at any minute.
November 8, 2025 at 3:46 AM
My life seems like a world of nested side quests. My new printer arrived last Saturday, and so now of course I’m building a stand that won’t collapse at any minute.
Reposted by Alex
In Blake 7, the flight computer of the Scorpio was in fact powered by an Acorn System 1. 6502 rules the universe!
Have you ever wondered what the flight computer of the Scorpio was in #Blake7?
Professor Steve Furber lets us in on a little secret.
Full talk coming soon to youtube.com/@theretrocollective
Professor Steve Furber lets us in on a little secret.
Full talk coming soon to youtube.com/@theretrocollective
November 3, 2025 at 4:29 PM
In Blake 7, the flight computer of the Scorpio was in fact powered by an Acorn System 1. 6502 rules the universe!
I'm at my local. One of the guys asked if I'm trick or treating later.
I said that I'm a grown up. What would I trick or treat for? Whisky?
He has a radio show.
I think I may have just started something.
I said that I'm a grown up. What would I trick or treat for? Whisky?
He has a radio show.
I think I may have just started something.
November 1, 2025 at 1:31 AM
I'm at my local. One of the guys asked if I'm trick or treating later.
I said that I'm a grown up. What would I trick or treat for? Whisky?
He has a radio show.
I think I may have just started something.
I said that I'm a grown up. What would I trick or treat for? Whisky?
He has a radio show.
I think I may have just started something.
The anode lead on the fly back transformer is not in good shape 😭
The cracks and the chip in the wire are going to cause problems, assuming they didn’t already when the seller turned it on.
I have some special conformal coating on the way. It comes in pints.
The cracks and the chip in the wire are going to cause problems, assuming they didn’t already when the seller turned it on.
I have some special conformal coating on the way. It comes in pints.
October 24, 2025 at 2:22 AM
The anode lead on the fly back transformer is not in good shape 😭
The cracks and the chip in the wire are going to cause problems, assuming they didn’t already when the seller turned it on.
I have some special conformal coating on the way. It comes in pints.
The cracks and the chip in the wire are going to cause problems, assuming they didn’t already when the seller turned it on.
I have some special conformal coating on the way. It comes in pints.
The ribbon cable to the power supply is delaminating and corroding. Added a low profile socket to the power supply, and waiting for a replacement to arrive.
October 24, 2025 at 1:48 AM
The ribbon cable to the power supply is delaminating and corroding. Added a low profile socket to the power supply, and waiting for a replacement to arrive.
The SMK replacements arrived for the superbrain. Small snag in that the stems were wrong, but swapped out perfectly! So that’s the keyboard repair complete.
October 22, 2025 at 1:08 AM
The SMK replacements arrived for the superbrain. Small snag in that the stems were wrong, but swapped out perfectly! So that’s the keyboard repair complete.
The next project arrived already. Was not counting on this DECwriter to previously be a mousey house.
October 22, 2025 at 1:05 AM
The next project arrived already. Was not counting on this DECwriter to previously be a mousey house.
Reposted by Alex
I keep trying to tell people about #FujiNet.
That it is a WiFi adapter for your favorite #Atari8bit, #Apple2, #ColecoAdam, #TRS80CoCo, #Commodore, #Atari2600, #AtariLynx, and #MSDOS machines, with more to come.
But word isn't getting out.
Can u help?
fujinet.online
That it is a WiFi adapter for your favorite #Atari8bit, #Apple2, #ColecoAdam, #TRS80CoCo, #Commodore, #Atari2600, #AtariLynx, and #MSDOS machines, with more to come.
But word isn't getting out.
Can u help?
fujinet.online
FujiNet - The Future of Retro Computing
The Future of Retro Computing
fujinet.online
October 18, 2025 at 7:17 PM
I keep trying to tell people about #FujiNet.
That it is a WiFi adapter for your favorite #Atari8bit, #Apple2, #ColecoAdam, #TRS80CoCo, #Commodore, #Atari2600, #AtariLynx, and #MSDOS machines, with more to come.
But word isn't getting out.
Can u help?
fujinet.online
That it is a WiFi adapter for your favorite #Atari8bit, #Apple2, #ColecoAdam, #TRS80CoCo, #Commodore, #Atari2600, #AtariLynx, and #MSDOS machines, with more to come.
But word isn't getting out.
Can u help?
fujinet.online
Looking at the PCB, the brown goop has leaked across all he circuit board across two tracks - one goes via the main Z80, the other through a bunch of logic ICs and resistor packs. On the face of it, it doesn’t look too bad?
October 16, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Looking at the PCB, the brown goop has leaked across all he circuit board across two tracks - one goes via the main Z80, the other through a bunch of logic ICs and resistor packs. On the face of it, it doesn’t look too bad?
Fellow vintage computing enthusiasts, I’d like to introduce you to the CRT adhesive saw. It went through several iterations as I was perfecting the design.
It requires patience, care, and safety glasses. But it’s possible to accomplish the separation of tube and safety lens without any heat.
It requires patience, care, and safety glasses. But it’s possible to accomplish the separation of tube and safety lens without any heat.
October 11, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Fellow vintage computing enthusiasts, I’d like to introduce you to the CRT adhesive saw. It went through several iterations as I was perfecting the design.
It requires patience, care, and safety glasses. But it’s possible to accomplish the separation of tube and safety lens without any heat.
It requires patience, care, and safety glasses. But it’s possible to accomplish the separation of tube and safety lens without any heat.
The summers in New Mexico are great for a gradual pre-heat to soften the adhesive, but we are no longer in summer. I don’t want to rush or try and find another safe way to separate the two parts.
It’s a slow process, but there’s another way of accomplishing this without heat.
It’s a slow process, but there’s another way of accomplishing this without heat.
October 11, 2025 at 6:37 PM
The summers in New Mexico are great for a gradual pre-heat to soften the adhesive, but we are no longer in summer. I don’t want to rush or try and find another safe way to separate the two parts.
It’s a slow process, but there’s another way of accomplishing this without heat.
It’s a slow process, but there’s another way of accomplishing this without heat.
I bought a Superbrain to restore a few weeks ago. This is how it looked when I unpacked it.
October 11, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I bought a Superbrain to restore a few weeks ago. This is how it looked when I unpacked it.
Reposted by Alex
So, now that v9 is out, you're going to want to learn how to use all the awesome new features, right?
Have we got a place for you! kicon.kicad.org
KiCon Returns to North America, May 28-30th, San Diego, CA. Pre-sale discount tickets are available now!
Have we got a place for you! kicon.kicad.org
KiCon Returns to North America, May 28-30th, San Diego, CA. Pre-sale discount tickets are available now!
KiCon - cross platform and open source Electronics Design Automation suite
kicon.kicad.org
February 21, 2025 at 1:35 AM
So, now that v9 is out, you're going to want to learn how to use all the awesome new features, right?
Have we got a place for you! kicon.kicad.org
KiCon Returns to North America, May 28-30th, San Diego, CA. Pre-sale discount tickets are available now!
Have we got a place for you! kicon.kicad.org
KiCon Returns to North America, May 28-30th, San Diego, CA. Pre-sale discount tickets are available now!
Reposted by Alex
While everyone’s focused on Trump, Microsoft created a new state of matter.
It's going to change everything.
Here's what you need to know about Microsoft's Majorana 1 Quantum Chip:🧵
It's going to change everything.
Here's what you need to know about Microsoft's Majorana 1 Quantum Chip:🧵
February 21, 2025 at 12:59 AM
While everyone’s focused on Trump, Microsoft created a new state of matter.
It's going to change everything.
Here's what you need to know about Microsoft's Majorana 1 Quantum Chip:🧵
It's going to change everything.
Here's what you need to know about Microsoft's Majorana 1 Quantum Chip:🧵
Reposted by Alex
from “Parable of the Talents” by Octavia Butler
February 16, 2025 at 2:28 PM
from “Parable of the Talents” by Octavia Butler
Reposted by Alex
The BBC Micro was a multi-core computer. They just didn't tell anyone! A test mode accidentally triggered in 2020 revealed the existance of this second core, with its own instruction set and ROM, the ability to bypass the firmware, and may have revealed some 50-year-old corporate espionage...
Reverse engineering a forgotten 1970s Intel dual core beast: 8271, a new ISA
Scary Beast Security
scarybeastsecurity.blogspot.com
February 6, 2025 at 4:05 AM
The BBC Micro was a multi-core computer. They just didn't tell anyone! A test mode accidentally triggered in 2020 revealed the existance of this second core, with its own instruction set and ROM, the ability to bypass the firmware, and may have revealed some 50-year-old corporate espionage...
Reposted by Alex
You know Sheryl Sandberg’s famous line: “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask which seat, just get on”?
Do you know who originally said that?
It was CHRISTA MCAULIFFE.
Who died in the Challenger explosion.
In case you’re wondering whether to trust rhetoric that comes out of Meta.
Do you know who originally said that?
It was CHRISTA MCAULIFFE.
Who died in the Challenger explosion.
In case you’re wondering whether to trust rhetoric that comes out of Meta.
January 13, 2025 at 4:18 PM
You know Sheryl Sandberg’s famous line: “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask which seat, just get on”?
Do you know who originally said that?
It was CHRISTA MCAULIFFE.
Who died in the Challenger explosion.
In case you’re wondering whether to trust rhetoric that comes out of Meta.
Do you know who originally said that?
It was CHRISTA MCAULIFFE.
Who died in the Challenger explosion.
In case you’re wondering whether to trust rhetoric that comes out of Meta.
I'm troubleshooting my Apple Lisa, and needed to defeat the safety switch so I can operate without the back panel in place. It's here, just in case you need something similar.
www.thingiverse.com/thing:6926140
www.thingiverse.com/thing:6926140
January 26, 2025 at 12:16 AM
I'm troubleshooting my Apple Lisa, and needed to defeat the safety switch so I can operate without the back panel in place. It's here, just in case you need something similar.
www.thingiverse.com/thing:6926140
www.thingiverse.com/thing:6926140
The Apple Lisa I'm restoring didn't come with any front feet. I just created these to stop the wobble. www.thingiverse.com/thing:6926128
January 26, 2025 at 12:04 AM
The Apple Lisa I'm restoring didn't come with any front feet. I just created these to stop the wobble. www.thingiverse.com/thing:6926128
Does the sun3 boot yet? Still no. I'd forgotten to copy vmunix over to the root directory to be mounted. Still now a bit closer, but the boot hangs.
Wireshark says that there are more bootparams calls, but this time the destination broadcast address is 192.168.1.0.
Wireshark says that there are more bootparams calls, but this time the destination broadcast address is 192.168.1.0.
January 24, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Does the sun3 boot yet? Still no. I'd forgotten to copy vmunix over to the root directory to be mounted. Still now a bit closer, but the boot hangs.
Wireshark says that there are more bootparams calls, but this time the destination broadcast address is 192.168.1.0.
Wireshark says that there are more bootparams calls, but this time the destination broadcast address is 192.168.1.0.
So now the workstation calls out, gets its IP address, collects and runs a boot program... and then fails because I forgot about configuring NFS.
January 24, 2025 at 3:11 AM
So now the workstation calls out, gets its IP address, collects and runs a boot program... and then fails because I forgot about configuring NFS.
Bootparams is the thing that caused me a ton of grief, and I spent days trying to figure it out. It's why I'm writing this series. Packets from the workstation will arrive at the server just file, but they will never reach rpc.bootparamd. It was super frustrating. The fix, it turned out, was easy.
January 18, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Bootparams is the thing that caused me a ton of grief, and I spent days trying to figure it out. It's why I'm writing this series. Packets from the workstation will arrive at the server just file, but they will never reach rpc.bootparamd. It was super frustrating. The fix, it turned out, was easy.
TFTP is a little bit more intricate.
The default location for the tftp root directory on modern distros has changed. Because I'm running in a lab, I decided to change it to /tftpboot. You'll need to make a configuration change like this if that's your jam.
The default location for the tftp root directory on modern distros has changed. Because I'm running in a lab, I decided to change it to /tftpboot. You'll need to make a configuration change like this if that's your jam.
January 18, 2025 at 9:03 PM
TFTP is a little bit more intricate.
The default location for the tftp root directory on modern distros has changed. Because I'm running in a lab, I decided to change it to /tftpboot. You'll need to make a configuration change like this if that's your jam.
The default location for the tftp root directory on modern distros has changed. Because I'm running in a lab, I decided to change it to /tftpboot. You'll need to make a configuration change like this if that's your jam.
RARPD is straight-forward: create an /etc/ethers file with info on the workstation, and make sure there's a corresponding entry in /etc/hosts. While you're in /etc/hosts, make sure that there's an entry for the static configuration for eth0.
January 18, 2025 at 8:53 PM
RARPD is straight-forward: create an /etc/ethers file with info on the workstation, and make sure there's a corresponding entry in /etc/hosts. While you're in /etc/hosts, make sure that there's an entry for the static configuration for eth0.