Hacker News with Generative AI: Retro Computing

The 8-Bit Era's Weird Uncle: The TI-99/4A (wordpress.com)
It’s been awhile since I’ve looked at an architecture that’s completely new to me, and I haven’t done any since creating my new scheme for dedicated platform guides. I’ve now gotten enough material together that I can kick off an exploration of a new platform for me: the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. For this new introduction, I’ll be splitting it into three parts, two of which go live today:
Retro Computing, Texas Instruments, Hardware, History, Technology
147 points by rbanffy 4 days ago | 92 comments
Q2DOS – Quake 2 backported to MS-DOS (toastednet.org)
Quake II for MS-DOS
Gaming, Retro Computing, Operating Systems
118 points by jsheard 6 days ago | 79 comments
Msxbook OneChipMSX MSX2 Computer (tindie.com)
The MSXBOOK is an MSX2-compatible computer based on the One Chip MSX (OCM). It features all the capabilities of the OCM, along with a 9.7-inch LCD screen and a backlit mechanical keyboard.
Retro Computing, Hardware, MSX, Single-Board Computers
68 points by rbanffy 6 days ago | 44 comments
Msxbook is a cheap retro laptop designed for MSX2 compatibility (liliputing.com)
The makers of the BOOK 8088, Pocket 386, and Hand 386 line of portable retro computers are back with a new model called the MSXBOOK.
Retro Computing, Laptops, Hardware, MSX
9 points by computerliker 7 days ago | 1 comments
Hotdog Linux (Lightweight Interface Naturally Using X11) (github.com/arthurchoung)
X11 Window Manager with Windows 3.1 Hot Dog Stand, Amiga Workbench, Atari ST GEM, Mac Classic and Aqua UI
Linux, GUI, Window Managers, Retro Computing
12 points by signa11 8 days ago | 0 comments
How the Atari ST Almost Had Real Unix (improbable.org)
“Walkies!”
Computer History, Operating Systems, Retro Computing, Atari
9 points by rbanffy 12 days ago | 3 comments
The Coolest Amiga Setup (datagubbe.se)
There are plenty of cool Amiga setups, past and present. A towerized Amiga 1200 with a Blizzard PPC accelerator? Sweet. A painted black Amiga 600 with a small TFT screen mounted on its case? Yes, please! An Amiga 500 with an old external hard drive and, inside, a Blizzard card with a 14 MHz 68000 CPU and two megs of fastmem? Stop, you're making me salivate!
Retro Computing, Amiga, Hardware
42 points by zdw 13 days ago | 0 comments
Show HN: An homage to Tom Dowdy's 1991 screensaver, "Kaos" (thestrikeagency.com)
Show HN, Retro Computing, Screensavers, Art, 1990s
153 points by noduerme 14 days ago | 75 comments
I coded a Pascal compiler for transputer as a teen in 1993 (nanochess.org)
Once upon a time when I was a teen, I wrote an almost full Pascal compiler for a transputer processor (the FILE type wasn't never completed). The Pascal language was designed in 1971 by Niklaus Wirth, as an educative version of the language Algol, which dates from 1960. It reached its highest popularity with Turbo Pascal and Delphi from Borland. Borland was founded by Philippe Kahn, who studied Pascal with Wirth.
Programming Languages, Retro Computing, Personal Projects
180 points by nanochess 16 days ago | 63 comments
Unobtanium 6502 based KIM-1 part now obtanium with FPGA (paulsajna.com)
Today I'm excited to announce a project I've been working on for over a year is working and ready for early adopters to play with.
Hardware, FPGA, Retro Computing
24 points by djmips 16 days ago | 4 comments
Discord client that works on Win95*, Win98 and above (github.com/DiscordMessenger)
Discord Messenger is a messenger application designed to be compatible with Discord, while being backwards compatible with down to Windows 2000 (although support for even older versions has been attempted).
Discord, Windows, Software, Retro Computing
253 points by Tiberium 17 days ago | 195 comments
PicoROM, a DIP-32 8-bit ROM Emulator (hackaday.com)
As we all know, when developing software for any platform or simply hacking a bit of code to probe how something works, the ability to deploy code rapidly is a huge help.
Hardware, Retro Computing, Emulation
6 points by josephcsible 20 days ago | 0 comments
Unhappy with Win95 screensaver ex-pilot created his own, 25-yr business (pcgamer.com)
Retro Computing, Business, Personal Projects, Windows
15 points by erickhill 20 days ago | 2 comments
PCBs, copper pours, ground planes, and you (lcamtuf.substack.com)
In the early 1980s, a typical printed circuit board inside an 8-bit home computer looked roughly like this:
Electronics, Hardware, History, Circuit Boards, Retro Computing
284 points by surprisetalk 22 days ago | 83 comments
Rapidly rendering fractals on stupidly unsuitable machines (cowlark.com)
So a week or so ago I wrote a toy Mandelbrot generator for the BBC Micro, capable of using 2.6-bit fixed point arithmetic to draw a pretty terrible vaguely-Mandelbroid image in twelve seconds. That program is now obsolete: the very poorly named Bogomandel is capable of drawing pretty good actual Mandelbrot and Julia images, at higher precision, faster. Here it is.
Fractals, Programming, Retro Computing, Computer Graphics
9 points by rbanffy 22 days ago | 0 comments
A story about restoring and upgrading a Commodore Amiga 1000 (celso.io)
This is a story about restoring and upgrading a Commodore Amiga 1000, the first model of the Amiga series.
Retro Computing, Hardware, Commodore, Amiga, Restoration
148 points by doener 22 days ago | 40 comments
Mac-minivnc – A VNC remote desktop server for vintage Macintosh computers (github.com/marciot)
MiniVNC is a remote desktop server that has been written from the ground up for best performance on 68k Macintosh computers.
Macintosh, Retro Computing, Software, Remote Desktop
11 points by ecliptik 23 days ago | 1 comments
The First Perfect Computer (celso.io)
This is a story about restoring and upgrading a Commodore Amiga 1000, the first model of the Amiga series.
Retro Computing, Hardware, Personal Computing, History
11 points by celso 25 days ago | 0 comments
An invalid 68030 instruction accidentally allowed the Mac Classic II to boot (downtowndougbrown.com)
This is the story of how Apple made a mistake in the ROM of the Macintosh Classic II that probably should have prevented it from booting, but instead, miraculously, its Motorola MC68030 CPU accidentally prevented a crash and saved the day by executing an undefined instruction.
Hardware, Apple, Macintosh, Retro Computing, Programming
304 points by todsacerdoti 26 days ago | 69 comments
Show HN: A new native app for 20 year old OS X (chadbibler.com)
Built for OS X Tiger (10.4), Uppercut streamlines access to the Xbins Xbox homebrew FTP server with a single click.
OS X, Software, Homebrew, Gaming, Retro Computing
144 points by chadkeck 28 days ago | 28 comments
Minimal 64x4 Home Computer (github.com/slu4coder)
Hardware, DIY, Retro Computing
142 points by zdw 29 days ago | 34 comments
Ask HN: Trying to find a post about some OS developer in the 80s coding by hand (ycombinator.com)
Hi, as the title says, I tried everything, checking my bookmarks and chatgpt but cannot find a post about someone telling the story of some engineer using pencil and paper for a month or so and then typing the code in one go and it worked flawlessly.
Programming, Anecdotes, Retro Computing
46 points by lexoj 30 days ago | 64 comments
The Famous 70s Era Apple Pascal Poster [pdf] (archive.org)
Programming, History, Retro Computing, Posters
15 points by OhMeadhbh 31 days ago | 7 comments
Rapidly rendering fractals on stupidly unsuitable machines (cowlark.com)
So a week or so ago I wrote a toy Mandelbrot generator for the BBC Micro, capable of using 2.6-bit fixed point arithmetic to draw a pretty terrible vaguely-Mandelbroid image in twelve seconds. That program is now obsolete: the very poorly named Bogomandel is capable of drawing pretty good actual Mandelbrot and Julia images, at higher precision, faster. Here it is.
Programming, Fractals, Computer Graphics, Retro Computing
4 points by rbanffy 31 days ago | 0 comments
The "35-cent" Commodore 64 softmodem (blogspot.com)
Rockwell famously used 6502-based cores in modems for many years, but that doesn't mean other 6502s couldn't be used. If only there were a way to connect a Commodore 64's audio output directly to an RJ-11 plug ...
Commodore 64, Retro Computing, Hardware, DIY Projects, Modems
125 points by todsacerdoti 33 days ago | 18 comments
Building a keyboard for a 1985 Casio FX-451 calculator [video] (youtube.com)
Retro Computing, Hardware, Electronics, DIY, Video
21 points by zdw 34 days ago | 0 comments
Show HN: ZX Spectrum SCR to PNG Converter (esp32rainbow.com)
Retro Computing, Software, Hardware, Programming
33 points by iamflimflam1 34 days ago | 6 comments
Can you complete the Oregon Trail if you wait at a river for 14272 years? (moral.net.au)
If you're into retro computing, you probably know about Oregon Trail; a simulation of the hardships faced by a group of colonists in 1848 as they travel by covered wagon from Independence Missouri to the Willamette Valley in Oregon.
Retro Computing, Video Games, History
232 points by donohoe 38 days ago | 116 comments
Snake Game in 56 Bytes (github.com/donno2048)
This is an x86 snake game made for DOS, but there is also a version that requires no BIOS, bootloader or OS.
Programming, DOS, Game Development, Retro Computing, Code Golf
138 points by birdculture 39 days ago | 12 comments
Lego Retro Radio #10334 – play your own music using a Raspberry Pi (sean.co.uk)
Discover how to play your own music on the Lego Retro Radio (10334) set by putting a Raspberry Pi computer inside. My project description includes Python code you can use to play your own music.
Lego, Raspberry Pi, Retro Computing, DIY Projects, Music
7 points by akirk 41 days ago | 0 comments