The 8bits side of Sporniket

[rubber_jonnie]

Interesting stuff, that Multirom looks pretty decent, and I expect the 3 new machines will keep you occupied for a while :)

[sporniket]

Yes, the multi-rom is nice, and there is another version with only games.

[sporniket]

Another device for my MO5 : a floppy drive controller emulator equipped with a sd card. I did a quick unboxing and test to check that there was no problem. Later, that will allow me to load programs from the simulated floppy drive at the speed of light, instead of using a very slow tape reader (real or simulated with an Arduino based device).

I took a full set, with an extension port extender to plug up to 3 extensions (one with the original edge connector, two other using 2x19 pin headers)

2023-07-04--01-sddrive-unboxing.jpg

2023-07-04--02-sddrive-unboxing.jpg

2023-07-04--03-ready-to-install.jpg

2023-07-04--04-installed.jpg

2023-07-04--05-startup-menu.jpg

2023-07-04--06-basic-dos.jpg

Note that some of the provided images (games, mostly) requires a 64k extension in the cartridge port, to load the games inside like if it was a game cartridge.

Anyway it is now stored until the next session...

[rubber_jonnie]

Very nice little add on there :)

[sporniket]

Yes. I have a little project of a program in basic for when I will have time for that, it will help me to test on the real machine.

[alexh]

Interesting stuff. Did you see these as a young person?

I've tried not to stray outside computers not available in the UK. My 8-bit classic computer collection already consumes 1/3rd the volume of a 3-bed house (Acorn, Sinclair, Amstrad, Commodore, Toshiba, Texas Instruments, MGT, Enterprise, etc.) I can't be filling it with stuff I never heard of as a kid. Nostalgia is a large component of my collection. No nostalgia, doesn't get in.

[sporniket]

Yes @alexh, this computer was used at elementary school for a state sponsored program called "Informatique Pour Tous (IPT)", meaning "Computer Science for Everybody".

Those computers would be managed through a custom network protocol and links dubbed "nanoreseau", consisting of a main computer (PC or alike) able to serve softwares.

The few sessions I partook were essentially programming using "LOGO", where one would instruct a "turtle" (a graphic cursor on screen) to move while ploting or not, in order to draw some figures : An introductory course on programming principles.

There was also a lot of educative software. Later in middle-school, there was a "computer club" managed by one of the teacher, and I could try to write little programs with basic.

So my interest in this line of computers is driven by nostalgia too.

[stephen_usher]

Sounds very similar to the scheme the British Government had with the "computers for school". It used BBC Micros networked via Econet to either a research Machines 380Z or 480Z and floppy drives.

[sporniket]

Very similar indeed.

[sporniket]

Recently I won a bid at an almost reasonable price for an "out of order" TO8, a successor of the TO7/TO7-70 models (same tech than the MO line, but incompatible by design : shifted memory map, different encoding scheme for the storage on tape, to name the ones I am aware of). This computer has a drive controller but without a floppy disc drive (like the ST), and there is a TO8D version that has an embedded 3.5" floppy disk drive (like the STF, then).

I took picture after having washed the casing, and thoroughly removed the heavy layer of soot near the blown X2 capacitor

2023-08-14--00--to8-outside.jpg

2023-08-14--01--to8-inside.jpg

The strong smell of ozone when opening the parcel was a telltale of the X2 being blown, so I removed it from the PSU.

2023-08-14--02--x2-blown.jpg

2023-08-14--03--x2-blown-and-soot.jpg

2023-08-14--04--x2-corpse.jpg

Next step will be

• clean the pcbs (lot of dusts)
• get a scart to scart cable (DONE)
• test the computer using the USB power adapter I am using with my STe
• later, test the PSU (not motivated to use it anyway)