DailyProcrastinator

Turns out that while browsing the BIOS there surprisingly was a PCMCIA entry in the boot list, so I threw a PCMCIA CF adapter with a 2GB card to try and yes it does see it and boot from it, piece of cake. So not even a problem not to have the HDD connector... weird since none of my newer machines will boot from a PCMCIA HDD.
Installed DOS and W3.1 from floppiesssss. Also hadn't noticed you could lift the bottom to access the bays, pretty cool.
 

 

The first computer we had growing up was definitely worse.  A Tandy Color Computer 3.
It was great with Clowns n' Ballons though. 

So can I (again), just got this Thinkpad 755cs 486DX4-75 for $20 3 hours ago. 36MB RAM, 4 soldered and 32 added. Didn't exactly know what I was getting since the owner posted no specs, a wrong model no and no picture where it could be seen but I wanted a 486 and decided to try my luck and it turned out to be one. Came from the original owner who said they were an assistant MD back in the day and was at the top of tech when he bought it with nobody else around having anything that fancy...
 
Unfortunately it came with no HDD and the adapter PCB/cable is missing as well so I can't just shove another HDD in, and the display has a fault on the bottom half. Seems to work fine otherwise. Will see if the display issue is just a bad contact with a bit of luck, haven't taken the top apart yet.
 
The hybrid flex/rigid CPU carrier is interesting. 
 

 

 

 
Interestingly another one of the same series in much better condition appeared on the local aution site just after I won this one, might get it if it stays cheap enough.

I can help with that! 
 

The IBM 5576-C01 from 1994. A Japanese-exclusive Model M-based keyboard that to my knowledge was made specifically for a single system - IBM PS/55E, an all-in-one PC. It’s most likely the rarest TrackPoint keyboard IBM made.
 
An interesting fact is that its moulds were used to later produce the Unicomp EnduraPro (pictured below as the black keyboard on the right), Ultra Classic and SpaceSaver M keyboards. The most notable feature is perhaps its large rotating stand. It can be used to park the keyboard on its back well, I’m guessing to allow you to increase space on your desk as needed. It’s cool, though. Very cool!
 

All consoles are working. They are plugged in a 24"crt TV. The most recent console I have is a PS3. It is plugged on a cheap 40" RCA LCD TV. I should move it on the CRT. The image quality might be better.
 

Those are 3 of the 5 first computer models we had at home (not all at the same time, we "upgraded"). The first one we had was the TRS80 (the one in the middle). That is were I started to learn programming, first by typing programs from magazines, then changing them. Then we got a TI99 and a C64 for games.

Here is my complete collection, but the top of the shelves where cut out of the picture. There are some Mac and clone of appleII. The Apple II beside the TI99 is MY computer. It is not only the model were I learn real programming but it is the actual unit that I bought back from the person my father sold it too. There is a MAI Basic Four mini-computer with a terminal. 
What we had that I still don't have is a PET. I also want to get some Atari Computer and console. Never had them, but they are history. An Amiga would be cool too. 

Here's some old tech I no longer use but works. A Toshiba 1000LE laptop.
 

 

 
It has Wordperfect 5.1 and it's a great way to write on a word processor when you don't want any distractions. Because the computer just can't do anything else!

My 1999 vintage cash register setup.
Most of it is original, including the Epson Dot matrix printer, the Epson thermal printer and I think the bottom APC power supply. But its battery has been replaced quite a few times. 
 

 

 
The sound a dot matrix printer makes is somehow reassuring. You really feel like your printing something when that screeching/ripping sound starts up.
Like something has been accomplished.

Acer Travelmate "313D" mini laptop from 1998 restored by mixing parts from a 313T (P266MMX, 800x600 TFT) I found locally a year ago and the 312D (P233MMX, 640x480 DSTN) another forum member had with no way to use it due to missing the HDD connector that I got through a trade.
 
Mine had the left hinge completely missing (someone must have messed with it at some point to remove and lose the metal hinge) along with very broken top casing around that area, and the LCD was flaky. Took the best parts from each for the casing, used my faster mobo and appropriately localized keyboard, put my modem in, hoped to be able to fix my better LCD and use it but unfortunately it apparently failed completely instead 😞 
 
Runs very nicely with 144MB RAM and a 4GB CF. Got 3 working batteries, they give a good hour and some each.
 
Having fun running some old programs I made in VB5 back in the day while listening to some old MP3s with Winamp... Also took out the first microcontroller devboard I programmed on (think Arduino but 20 years ago and programmed in BASIC) that hasn't been touched since 2002 and added a couple of functions to a program from back then, still works perfect 😄 Program stored on a floppy of course, because why not.
Would have been programming that on a dumpster dive 486 laptop back then, so I guess the STN LCD is more period-accurate...
 

 
Nowadays the laptop is the same size than a photo of it on my main monitor, things have changed a tad 😄
 

 

You can use two front 140mm fans without issue. I use two Noctua A14 fans in the front of my Meshify C.

 

Laptop.
It boots but no OS. All I need is a win98 boot disk, I already have an install cd.
Specs in my post from around a week ago.

A classic AT type mini keyboard and a numeric keypad that can spell the word 'boobies' upside-down.

As far as I know the launch is paper only, none to actually sell. 

Welp, this reply is well overdue.
 
Currently, the server is running and plotting away. Its definitely not completed yet though! I still need to get the new pump housing and fix some other things like a minor leak in a set of fittings.
Anyway, the fans arrived!

 
Gotta love the way-too-bulky packaging Noctua provides with their teeny-tiny 40mm fans.
In my previous config i managed to fit 5 fans on the radiator. Mostly because there was no way for me re arrange the fittings without interfering even more with things like RAM clearance.

 
But with some puzzling, and some more fittings in there i managed to squeeze a 6th fan in there! 😄


 
The cables are definitely a problem. I'll try to manage them a bit better somehow, but i'm afraid i might have to cut, splice and solder them together for a cleaner look.
Also, this set of new fittings leaks. Its probably the tiniest leak i've ever had in a waterloop, but a leak nontheless. it loses about a drop of water every few hours.
 
Anyway, this is how she now stands. It's plotting 14 plots simultaneously on all drives, and it runs quite literally circles around the old Dell R510 i was previously using for CHIA plotting.
 
Things to do in the next update:
- fix the leak
- mount new pump housing, so i can actually fit the cover on the server
- manage fan cables
- swap PSU fans for silent models
- attach long-term CHIA storage in the form of a JBOD!
 
Speaking of JBOD, i got a nice deal on this lovely specimen:

 
15 drives ought to do it for now, but these babies can be daisy chained!
Too bad it sounds like a jet fighter taking off. This thing is definitely going to need silencing aswell.
 
 

Welp, over tot some good news and some bad news. 
 
Let's start with the good news first. I finally got the new pump housing in!
This means the pump now sits a lot lower, and I can finally close the lid on this box.

 
It looks a lot worse and it's just plastic instead of aluminum like the other one, bit this photo should really drive home the point why this one's better fit for this build:

 
Now the bad news. I tried silencing one of the PWS-706P-1R powersupplies. 
I got new 40mm fans that spin at a max of about 4k rpm. The fans in the psu don't use a normal header, but the signal is actually normal PWM. So all I had to do was cut the wires and splice them together.

 
Old fan on the left, new fan on the right.

 
Sadly, it seems the server doesn't accept this. I guess the PWM threshold is set for a value higher than the RPM this fan will provide, and it shuts the PSU down as faulty. 
Sigh.. guess I'll have to figure something out. Maybe a arduino or something to spoof the PWM signal?
 
Anyway, she's back in the rack again happily plotting away for now. Even though a bit noisy for my tastes.

update time!
 
after a few hours of carefull consideration i got to the conclusion that modding the existing PSU's just wasn;t gonna be worth it. too much hassle, too little reward.
instead, i opted to just replace the power delivery entirely!
 
the stock SuperMicro PSU's could deliver up to 1400 Watts when running in tandem. all the while this system only draws about 200 watts from the wall with every SSD populated and the CPU running at 100%. absolute overkill. meaning i could get away with just a little 300 to 400 watt flex ATX PSU!
 
the model i chose is a Silverstone SST-FX350-G

 
mostly because it was the only model above 300 wats readily available, and also because it had same-day shipping.
this thing is just as high as a normal 1U PSU, but it's a bit shorter and wider. meaning the old PSU cage and power breakout board had to go. 

 
You can see here that the old PSU cage is riveted into the main chassis, bit it actually isn't part of the structure. so removing it really wont impct the structure of the case.
underneath the little plastic cover above the PSU cage sits the power breakout board, which converts the finger-style connector of the hotswap PSU's into regular old ATX, SATA and Molex connections. this also has to go, and i'll start here.
 

 
lucky for me this little board is only held in with 4 screws, and pops out easily enough.
that still leaves the PSU cage.
 

 
it took some drilling, but it also came out easily enough! a lot easier than i expected actually.
the only hurdle i got a little stuck on was a screw hidden behind the rack rails, keeping the cage in even after drilling out all rivets. once i figured that out it popped out and i got a whole lot of nothing where the old power delivery used to sit.
 

 
one nice thing i found out is that the little plastic cover for the old breakout board still mounts into the chassis just fine, it's only held in with 3 clips which didn't come out with the PSU cage. free cable management space!
 
anyways, in goes the new PSU.
 
like a glove!.. somewhat like a glove anyway.
i just stuck some double sided tape under it and it sits firmly in place. maybe someday i want to 3D print something to fully close off the chassis again, but i guess leaving it open around the PSU won't hurt airflow either.
 
just a little time for cable management, and there you go! a whisper quiet server system! 😄 

 
the last hurdle for this project turned out to be the molex power for the front SSD backplane.
SuperMicro used right angle molex connectors, while this PSU came with the normal straight type. so with these molex connectors, my radiator wouldn't fit.
 
i ended up just cutting the new PSU's cable, and splicing it together with the old molex cable from the power breakout board. i had to solder the wires together again, and in the absence of proper heatshrink i instead just used some elctrical tape to isolate each wire. i still would like to use some heatshrink to atleast cover the tape, but its fine for now. 

 
welp, that's about it! it's happily plotting away, and all the while it's nearly silent. i'd call that mission accomplished.
 
things maybe to change in the future:
- get a manual fan controller for pump speed. the motherboard keeps ramping/slowing the pump, which doesn't seem to get fixed with on board fan control. not a huge deal tough, the pump is pretty quiet.
-  3D print a mount for the PSU so it sits a bit nicer. (like, atleast not mounted with tape)
 
here's some final shots with a better camera, and i'll also inlcude a shot of the setup so you can understand why i want it to be quiet!

Welp, since my last post my server rack and this build changed a bit again.
 
i got rid of the dell R510, and got a 4U supermicro JBOD enclosure with 24 bays, which i hooked up with external SAS and a LSI HBA to the 1U server.

 
In total i got 7 14TB drives, 10 2TB SSD's and a lot of free space for growth! 

Kailh Box Jades (Box Thick Click) are pretty decent for a clicky tactile switch, really nice for keycap stability as well. 
 
https://novelkeys.xyz/collections/switches/products/novelkeys-x-kailh-box-thick-clicks?variant=3747938238504
https://kbdfans.com/products/novelkeys-x-kailh-box-thick-clicks-navy-jade?_pos=2&_sid=1070f150d&_ss=r

This is a Windows 98 PC I still use as a backup for another Windows 98 PC. It has two Zip drives just because.
It's got a nicely yellowed keyboard and a vintage Microsoft serial mouse for the authentic look.
I wanted to post this photo here with Firefox 2.0 in Windows 98 but while I can read this forum, it won't let me log in.
Bummer. The Opera browser that works with Windows 98 wouldn't even allow the forum to load.
 
Wouldn't it be fun if LTT forum had a companion forum specifically that allowed vintage OSs to login and post vintage-y stuff.
 

I would say it feels somewhere between polycarbonate and aluminum, stiffer than polycarbonate, and close to the stiffness of Aluminum. But nothing like Brass.
 
 

IMO there is not much of a distinguishable difference between Brass and Aluminum (there is some), although I prefer it to polycarbonate by a mile, but this is a personal preference. I do find that foam or a gasket between the PCB / Switch Plate / Case Back, makes a much more meaningful difference for type feel and mostly sound when comparing solid switch plates.
 
This said a backplate like Brass or Copper feels slightly more solid as it minimizes flex, Aluminum is not far off but is not quite as solid. Brass / Copper can feel more harsh if you have light switches that bottom out easy (light weight linear), but for my preference (heavier tactile) it feels like the click-bump during keystroke is more distinguished as there is no mushy feeling felt via plate flex.
 
Depending on the board, if you get a solid backplate it can create a hollow ting sound when typing, this is where foam or a gasket makes a difference. If you are getting a kit that does not offer this but has a backplate option, a Brass or Copper backplate is heavier / more dense so it can slightly mitigate the 'ting' sound issue vs Aluminum. 
 
Ultimately whether or not Brass is a good choice for you will depend on your use case and switch preference. 
 
EDIT:  As @Nowak said!

It's much softer.  Not really much else to say about it....

Brass plates are best paired with tactile switches, so like Zealios, NK Blueberries or Kailh Box Royals to name a few.
 
Basically, plate types matter to a degree when choosing switch type. Typists who prefer linear switches prefer a softer plate, so aluminum, whereas tactile users prefer harder plates like brass or copper. If you care about sound, I'd suggest looking into lubing stabilizers and switches, as well as bandaid modding.

*red caps are just bloody from trying to type on a knife*