Latest Projects From ctrl.alt.rees

Maxxing Out My Old 2006 Intel Mac Mini - CPU, RAM, SSD... eGPU!?

In 2006 Apple released their first generation of Intel machines. This range included the MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac Mini - and I bought one, brand new! Surprisingly for Apple machines, they were quite upgradeable, and so 18 years later and armed with eBay and money to burn, I decided to bring my trusty old Mac Mini out of retirement and finally let it live up to its full potential.

Apple 2006 Intel Mac Mini 32-Bit EFI Modern Operating System Options - Windows vs. MacOS vs. Linux

Intel GMA 950 / 945gm Express GPU Acceleration In Linux With i915 Modesetting Driver - No More LLVMPipe!

Building A Brand New FPGA Game Boy Color In 2024 - The FPGBC!

The FunnyPlaying FPGBC kit is a complete FPGA based Gameboy Color console that you can build in 2024! But is it any good? Unboxing, build process and testing within!

Drive Belt Fix - Roland Quick Disk PR-100 MIDI Sequencer

I got this Roland PR-100 MIDI sequencer and a pile of Quick Disks for free with my SC-155 Sound Canvas. But the drive isn't working. Can a drive belt swap fix it? The answer, apparently, is no.

2002 Time ICEDESK Desk PC Restoration And Exploration

I bought this weird desk PC from a community centre that was about to be demolished. So lets fix some bad capacitors, change the optical drive, put some nice quiet fans in it, and finally crack the Windows 2000 login passwords to see how it was originally set up!

Running DOOM On £30 eBay Office Furniture

I bought this weird desk PC from a community centre that was about to be demolished. So lets explore it and see what it's all about, and do what any sensible retro gaming fan would - run DOOM on it.

My Continuing Adventures With The NEC PC-9821...

Following on from my introduction to and restoration of the NEC PC-9821, part of the legendary PC-98 series from Japan, I learn a lot more about the machine and how it differs from a PC and start exploring YAHDI - Yet Another Hard Disk Image.

Restoring & Learning All About The NEC PC-9821 (PC-98)

The PC-9821 is one of the later models in the now-legendary NEC PC-98 range of computers. In this video I restore this quirky Japanese machine while learning all about its history and how it relates to the iconic PC-88, and how both computers spawned a whole industry of home computer gaming in their homeland of Japan thanks to their advanced graphics and sound capabilities.

A Curious Atari Video Game Machine Restoration

Restoring and composite modding a classic Atari C-100 Pong, Atari C-380 Video Pinball and an Atari SC-450 Stunt Cycle in preparation for a big book launch event. Can I save these classic consoles in time for the big day? Tune in and find out!

Atari 2600 Junk To Museum Grade Restoration & Upgrades

I refurbished 2 classic Atari 2600 games consoles and fitted them with s-video and composite mods (UAV - Ultimate Atari Video) for use at the North West Computer Museum in Manchester, UK.

This Brand New Take On A Rare Atari Controller Is Amazing!

Testing out a modern recreation / reimagining of the Atari 2800 all-in-one joystick and paddle controller built by Lee Smith's Workshop!

YouTube Channel Powered By DIY Solar - The Tour!

Since August of last year I've been running this YouTube channel entirely on a DIY solar setup that I built. It consists of 480W of solar panels, a Renogy Rover 40A MPPT charge controller, 80Ah (1kWh) of LiFePO4 batteries, and an EcoFlow RIVER 2 PRO portable power station.

Jack Tramiel vs. IBM - The Atari PC Story

The story of Atari's CES 1987 PC launch and Jack Tramiel's personal beef with IBM and Apple. I also restore a rare Atari PC3 computer and see if it works!

1962 Dansette Tempo Vintage Record Player Restoration - Modern Cartridge, Preamp And Service

The Dansette Tempo record player was made in 1962 by British hifi manufacturer Dansette, a division of J&A Margolin Ltd. This iconic vintage record player enabled teenagers of the 50s and 60s to listen to their very own records for the first time, and they were hugely popular. Mine, however, was in a bit of a sorry state, so I treated it to a restoration, including a modern cartridge upgrade and preamp, serviced the original mono valve / tube amplifier and gave it an overall service to help keep it running like clockwork for another 60 years.

Atari 2800 / Sears Video Arcade II Ultimate Atari video (UAV) Mod HOWTO

How to install The Brewing Academy's Ultimate Atari Video or UAV mod to add crisp, clean composite and s-video output to the rare Japanese Atari 2800 (and Sears Video Arcade II)

EPROM Device ID List

Here's a list of EPROM device IDs, as used in EPROM programming software such as XGPro. This is the most complete list I've come across and I struggled to find one, so it's presented here for reference just in case it's of any use to anyone.

The Panther - Atari's Cancelled Console

Atari's Panther was a cancelled 16-bit console designed to compete with the Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was designed around a Motorola 68000 CPU clocked at 16MHz and had 32K of RAM, a powerful custom 2D graphics chip, and sophisticated Ensoniq OTISR2 sound. It was officially cancelled in 1991 in favour of the Atari Jaguar.

MAKE_1MB (AKA MAKE1MEG) - An AUTO Utility Allowing Older Games To Run On A 4MB Atari ST By Faking The Available RAM

Having trouble getting some older games to run on an Atari ST upgraded to 4MB of RAM? You need this autobooting TSR utility.

Duke Nukem 3D & Shadow Warrior Preview Images From The Rise Of The Triad CD

Early beta preview screenshots of Duke Nukem 3D (6 months before release) and Shadow Warrior (1 year before release) taken from the PREVIEW folder of the Rise of the Triad retail CD.

Download Media Rack - Willow Pond's Legendary Classic Media Player For Windows 3.1 / 9x

Download the last ever release of Media Rack for Windows 3.1 / 9x. This is version 2.20.0.23 from May 22, 1997 and supports Windows 3.1 and 95. Just unzip and run SETUP.EXE.

My MMX 233 Windows 95 OSR2.5 Machine autoexec.bat and config.sys Files

Here are the config files from my MMX 233 system running Windows 95 OSR2.5 (or Windows 95C). This setup has proven to be highly compatible with DOS games and gives CD-ROM, SoundBlaster compatible sound and mouse support in DOS mode while leaving Windows 95 to do its thing.

Moto Racer PC Extra Track Downloads, Patches and Cheats

Downloads for Moto Racer, Delphine Software's 1997 Motorcycle Racing Game For PC.

Which DOS Version Is The Least Memory Hungry?

I boot every single version of DOS and check the free memory so you don't have to.

S3 ViRGE S3D Officially Supported Games And S3D Patch Downloads

Information on officially supported games on the S3D ViRGE graphics cards and downloads for official and unofficial patches.

The Pixelmusic 3000 Atari Video Music Clone

A small collection of info on the Pixelmusic 3000 by Uncommon Projects

Download PowerScanner Disk Image For Atari ST Matador Hand Scanners

Download the PowerScanner software for the Atari ST Matador 105 hand scanner.

RetroHQ Atari Jaguar GameDrive Flashcart - Getting Hold Of The Complete 100% Compatible ROMSet

The JaguarGD or Game Drive is a new flash cart for the Atari Jaguar developed by RetroHQ. In this post I'll show you how to find the correct set of unmodified ROMs to run on it, as well as the marquee files.

Mr. Driller Japanese Arcade Marquee Scans

Scans of the original Japanese arcade marquees from Mr. Driller.

Overclocking The IBM 5150's 8088 CPU With PC-SPRINT

Documenting PC-SPRINT, a plugin module for the IBM 5150 released as "open hardware" by Doug Severson in 1985

Atari ST 4K Wallpaper Downloads

Collection of wallpapers I have created from Atari ST screenshots, all available in glorious 4K resolution. All wallpapers are released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

All About The Roland SoundCanvas (SC-55 / SC-88 And More!)

A brief introduction to the Roland SoundCanvas MIDI devices, particuarly the SC-55 and SC-88 much loved by the retro gaming community.

$Latest Projects From ctrl.alt.rees - Cover Photo$

List Of Software That Utilizes The Intel 8087 Math Co-Processor / FPU

Trying to compile a definitive list of software that utilizes the Intel 8087 coprocessor. Note that this will be periodically updated as I come across more software.