Hacker News with Generative AI: Retrocomputing

Thinking Different, Thinking Slowly: LLMs on a PowerPC Mac (theresistornetwork.com)
There is something incredibly satisfying about breathing new life into old hardware.

Hardware, Retrocomputing, Apple

17 points by tambourine_man 9 days ago | 2 comments

A TV with Contrast You Haven't Seen for Years (hackaday.com)
It’s something of a surprise, should you own a CRT TV to go with your retrocomputers, when you use it to view a film or a TV show.

Televisions, Retrocomputing, Technology

32 points by Tomte 26 days ago | 5 comments

Cobalt Networks CobaltOS: Proxmox Port (archive.org)
Cobalt's "RaQ 3" Linux operating system (based on Red Hat 6.1) released in roughly 1999 this OS was designed for Cobalt Networks "RaQ" and "Qube" network appliances. Popular with ISP's, small businesses and other customers in the late 1990's through the 2000's. This port is largely derived from "The Phintage Collector" a Retrocomputing YouTuber who previously ported it to Virtualbox Default login is admin/admin and root can be gained by running "su" with no password

Operating Systems, Linux, Retrocomputing, Virtualization

26 points by CursedSilicon 29 days ago | 6 comments

NetBSD on a JavaStation (fatsquirrel.org)
Hard as it may be to imagine, there was a time when Java was brand new and exciting.

Operating Systems, Java, History, Retrocomputing

166 points by jaypatelani 29 days ago | 77 comments

iMac G4(K) (jcs.org)
A year ago I tried using an M1 iMac for work duty but its 21" screen took up too much room on my desk. After seeing Sean's video on Action Retro about putting an M4 Mac Mini inside an iMac G4, I thought I'd give it a try.

Hardware, Retrocomputing, DIY Projects, Apple

424 points by ingve 35 days ago | 169 comments

Show HN: Llama2.c on a Commodore C64 (github.com/trholding)
Have you ever wanted to inference tiny stories on a C64 while going about your daily life and then return after many years to read a story? No? Well, as luck would have it, now YOU CAN!

Retrocomputing, AI, Programming, Commodore

10 points by AMICABoard 39 days ago | 7 comments

Pocket386 Retro DOS Computer 386SX-40Mhz (tindie.com)
Pocket386 Retro DOSComputer 386SX-40 CPU DOS Computer Hand386 upgrade

Retrocomputing, Hardware, DOS, Computers, DIY

32 points by AlexeyBrin 47 days ago | 7 comments

. – –. e s x d o s – o R g (esxdos.org)
ESXDOS aims to be the ultimate firmware for the DivIDE/DivMMC interface.

Firmware, Retrocomputing, Hardware, DivMMC, DivIDE

6 points by rcarmo 51 days ago | 3 comments

History of a PKMS that is 48 years old (reddit.com)
Greetings all. A few people have expressed interest in the history of my PKMS that is currently 48 years old. They were curious about the software and hardware and approach I took over all of these years. (tagging u/OatmealDurkheim u/Effective_Beat_6105 u/Aeyrien ) Hopefully this is helpful and/or entertaining, and not just the musings of an old man who should spend more time yelling at the clouds. 😊

Software, History, Hardware, Retrocomputing

4 points by thunderbong 101 days ago | 1 comments

Ascending Mount FujiNet (leadedsolder.com)
In case you haven’t heard of it, FujiNet is an ambitious open-source community project. Its intent is to be the only peripheral you will ever need to get for your old computer. That’s a lofty goal if ever I’ve heard one. I’ve been in and out of the project over the last few years, but I hadn’t actually gotten (or finished) any FujiNet hardware. Let’s revive my troubled CoCo1 with a cartridge that does it all.

Retrocomputing, Open Source, Hardware, Community Projects

87 points by zdw 106 days ago | 10 comments

Knight TV Resurrection (2018) (pdp-6.net)
The Knight TV system was a terminal system made by Tom Knight that was connected to the AI KA10.

Retrocomputing, Computer History, Artificial Intelligence

26 points by rbanffy 114 days ago | 9 comments

Patched AppKit in Mac OS X 10.0 to re-enable the NeXTSTEP interface style (2022) (mastodon.social)

User Interface, Retrocomputing, Operating Systems, Software

10 points by robin_reala 122 days ago | 0 comments

Programming the C64 with Visual Studio Code (retrogamecoders.com)
Program the Commodore 64 in BASIC, Assembly or C using Microsoft Visual Studio Code on Mac, Windows and Linux!

Programming, Retrocomputing, Commodore 64

188 points by rbanffy 122 days ago | 37 comments

Writing assembly language subroutines for Extended Color BASIC (conman.org)
The ongoing saga of a programmer who doesn't live in Boston, nor does he even like Boston, but yet named his weblog/journal “The Boston Diaries.”

Programming, Assembly Language, BASIC, Subroutines, Retrocomputing

20 points by ingve 127 days ago | 5 comments

One-parting some Commodore 64 utilities for fun and profit (blogspot.com)
I've got a few retrocomputing bucket list items I'm slowly working down, and a couple of them involve some little Commodore 64 games I've had kicking around on the backburner.

Retrocomputing, Commodore 64, Games

43 points by todsacerdoti 137 days ago | 9 comments

Testing the Z80 Chip with a 1970s Beauty (mtsi.substack.com)
If you used a Z80 chip back in the 1980s, it almost certainly passed through a single room and its Fairchild Sentry 610 test system.

Retrocomputing, Electronics, Hardware, History

122 points by trakfactri 142 days ago | 23 comments

Virtual Windows 3.11 Computer (pieter.com)
Welcome to my new homepage!

Virtualization, Retrocomputing, Operating Systems

160 points by duck 143 days ago | 75 comments

The History of PC Audio (thejpster.org.uk)
This is a brief, abridged, and possibly inaccurate history of audio on the IBM PC compatible. It's based on an exhibition I prepared for Synthesised, a special event at the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge, England.

Computer History, Audio Technology, IBM PC, Retrocomputing

20 points by lapnect 145 days ago | 12 comments

Refurb weekend: the Symbolics MacIvory Lisp machine I have hated (blogspot.com)
Every collector has that machine, the machine they sunk so much time and, often, money into that they would have defenestrated it years ago except for all the aforementioned time and money.

Retrocomputing, Computers, Personal Computing, History

29 points by zdw 171 days ago | 2 comments

Refurb weekend: the Symbolics MacIvory Lisp machine I have hated (blogspot.com)
Every collector has that machine, the machine they sunk so much time and, often, money into that they would have defenestrated it years ago except for all the aforementioned time and money.

Retrocomputing, Personal Computing, History, Computer Hardware, Lisp

182 points by rcarmo 172 days ago | 99 comments

Are retrocomputers best left on or off? (stackexchange.com)
I have a machine from 1998. I believe its hard drive and RAM are all original. It powers on and loads the OS, so I have reason to believe that nothing major is corrupted. However, is it best to leave it on once it is on, or to power it down unless I'm using it?

Retrocomputing, Hardware, Operating Systems

66 points by azeemba 173 days ago | 75 comments

Linux/4004: booting Linux on Intel 4004 for fun, art, and no profit (dmitry.gr)
In 2012, I ran real Linux on an 8-bit microcontroller (AVR), setting a new world record for lowest-end-machine to ever run Linux.

Linux, Microcontrollers, Operating Systems, Retrocomputing, Projects

572 points by dmitrygr 195 days ago | 162 comments

Lessons from implementing Sokoban for the Intel 8080 (dyer.me)
For a while, I've had the urge to find a project that would give me an excuse to learn more about how computer architectures work at a low level.

Programming, Retrocomputing, Computer Architecture

19 points by franklin_p_dyer 198 days ago | 1 comments

CP/M forty years on – what it was, and why it still matters (2021) (kevinboone.me)
It's now 40 years since the heyday of CP/M -- the first serious attempt at an operating system for microcomputers.

Operating Systems, History, Computing, Retrocomputing

43 points by AlexeyBrin 200 days ago | 4 comments

Rediscovering Turbo Pascal (paoloamoroso.com)

Programming Languages, Retrocomputing, Nostalgia

68 points by AlexeyBrin 214 days ago | 16 comments

Ask HN: Did the "killer poke" reduce Commodore PET sales? (ycombinator.com)

Retrocomputing, Commodore, History, Consumer Electronics, Sales

15 points by amichail 217 days ago | 18 comments

Why the Fascination with Retrocomputing? (kevinboone.me)

Retrocomputing, Technology, History, Computing

9 points by rbanffy 219 days ago | 3 comments

Greaseweazle: Tools for accessing a floppy drive at the raw flux level (github.com/keirf)