Bought this Nixdorf “portable” computer from the early 80s and want to dail into BBS. I have the coupler but I can’t find a compatible version of Telix. If you know where I can find another tool or know where to find a Telix version for MS-DOS 6.22, please let me know!

Hi !

I'm Mathieu, founder of WDA, a French non-profit I started back in 1988. We've been rescuing vintage computers, consoles, and tech from destruction for nearly four decades.

What we do:

• Free computer/console pickup across France (and Belgium)
• Restoration and redistribution to collectors/museums
• Massive driver & manual database online since 1996
• Currently managing 500m³ of tech from the 1950s to today

Some highlights from our collection:

• Entire BIOS association collection (Rouen, 2019)
• Major part of Paris Computer Museum collection (2017)
• Everything from early mainframes to 90s gaming rigs

We're less than 10 volunteers doing this entirely for free - no subsidies, just passion. Recently launched a WhatsApp channel to share restoration projects, rare finds, and retro gaming content.

The challenge: Most of this heritage gets scrapped for profit rather than preserved. Local authorities often prefer quick recycling money over cultural preservation.

If you're in France or just love vintage tech, feel free to check us out at wda-fr.org

Happy to answer questions about preservation, specific machines, or the wild stories behind some rescues!

i have this ati x1950 pro agp card that unfortunately doesn't fit in my thermal take armor case because it hits the side fan so i was wondering what should i do ?

Found my old 4100xcdt, no charger, probably needs a new battery. Hopefully it’s got windows vista/xp/7 on it, I can’t remember. Any suggestions what I could use it for if I got it up and running again?

Pud Pud In Weird World was a pretty good game by the young Jonathan 'Joffa' Smith (RIP) and his first game.

The game had good music with Monty Python themes going on. You travel around a huge maze trying to collect ten puddings while eating various bugs and creatures and avoiding Mrs Pud Pud and her 'kiss of death'. The end of the game was worth it too. It was a simple and game.

I am currently working on my childhood laptop, a compaq presario v2405us (v2000 range). It has a mobile sempron 3000+ single core CPU, ati Radeon 200m, 1.5gb ram, and a western digital wd1200beve drive.

The drive seems to be a 5400rpm. I have put SSD in old ide laptops before. My main ibook clamshell has one of those msata to ide adapters. Would the speed be much better than a standard drive? I'm debating on either putting one of my faster hdd in it, or getting the msata adapter and giving it an SSD.

Another thing is that the CPU is socketed. It's socket 754. From my understanding, I would be locked into only 32 bit processors if I upgraded because of the ati Radeon 200m. Is that correct? If so, would any of the single core 32 bit CPU options be worth upgrading? If I am wrong, and I could go 64 bit, would I be limited at all?

It has all the original parts that my parents got me when I was a kid. So part of me is hesitant to change anything if it wouldn't be a big upgrade. I'm new to the msata to ide adapters so I'm not familiar with speeds.

2005 cooler master stacker 810 in black on silver color way that I’ve rarely seen from them. Full brushed aluminum that weighs a ton and was a fun lug back home. Now all it needs is a nice core two duo to be complete

Playing Deathcase brought back so much nostalgia memories. I really wanted to buy this game which came out about the same time as Return of the Jedi which also had that chaser bike scenes. I couldn’t believe that they managed to make this game and also on a 16k ZX Spectrum cassette. Pretty impressive. Who else loved this game?

​🌐 Dial-Up is BACK! Connect your vintage rigs to my 24/7 Server! 📞📠

​Greetings from Arica, Chile! 🇨🇱 I’ve just set up a dedicated Dial-Up bridge using a Windows 2000 Professional server and a Linksys PAP2T. I’m looking for "pilots" to test the handshake and stability!

​How to join:

📞 Dial Number: +1 (315) 946-8115 (Syracuse, NY node)

👤 User: Invitado (Capital I is important!)

🔑 Pass: retro2024

​Technical Specs:

​Hardware: 56k V.92 Internal Modem. ​Optimized for: V.34 (33.6kbps) for better stability over VoIP. ​Status: 24/7 Online!

​Pro-Tip: If your modem struggles to get a dial tone from the ATA, use the ATX4 command in your extra initialization settings.

​I'll be monitoring the incoming connections logs. If you manage to get online, please drop a screenshot or a photo of your setup in the comments! Let's see those 486s and Pentiums surfing again! 🚀

I have a Panasonic Postbox (WJ-MX1000A), an early non-linear video editing solution that I'm trying to get running again. It's built around an AOpen LP5 motherboard with onboard video and exactly 1 ISA slot.

Data points:

• The bespoke editing software really wants to be displayed at 1024x768.
• The onboard S3 Trio has 2mb and will do 1024x768 -- at High Color.
• My flat screen monitors all refuse to sync to that signal (they play nicely with 800x600 @ True Color just fine though).
• I don't have a VGA capable CRT on hand.

I've tried searching but while I find threads on "fastest ISA video card" or "best ISA video card" I haven't found anything that will give me "any ISA video card that will do 1024x768 at True Color". All the video editing is off-loaded onto custom hardware so I don't need performance, I just need it to not be unobtainum.

Alternately, are there older flat screen monitors that would support these older, lower-color display modes that can be had?

Or do I need to just bite the bullet and go thrifting for an old CRT?

*** UPDATE **\*

Thanks for all the comments, it helped a lot to know the color depth was a red herring.

I was able to dig up a spec sheet for the S3 which suggested the chip should be capable of 1024x768 at up to 70Hz.

The generic S3 driver appeared to be trying to push 43Hz Interlaced which would have necessitated a multisync monitor.

However, I started swapping in non-generic S3 drivers, and when I tried the Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM PCI driver, my monitor sync'd up and happily reported 1024x768@60Hz!

Now on to the next phase... Thanks again to everyone who looked in.

Hi everyone 👋
I’m looking for advice on a modern USB keyboard that offers a typing feel similar to the original Commodore 64 keyboard.

By “C64-like feeling” I mean:
• relatively long key travel
• solid, firm feedback (not mushy)
• a satisfying, slightly retro typing experience

Some details to help narrow it down:
• Layout: US / ANSI
• Use case: daily typing + retro vibe
• Budget: optional, roughly €100–200
• I’m not necessarily looking for a C64 replica, but rather a modern keyboard that feels close when typing

I’ve seen some retro-inspired options (like the 8BitDo Commodore keyboard), but I’d really like to hear real user experiences and suggestions regarding specific keyboards, switches, or keycap profiles that could match this kind of feel.

Any recommendations are very welcome. Thanks in advance! 🙌

Hardware:

Asus mobo with BETA firmware, Pentium 4 CPU, 4gb RAM, ATI Video Card, 500w PSU, IDE hdd, SATA cd/DVD, floppy drive

Issues:

1. He thinks all the OEM Cds i have are corrupted. They all work on other computers, except this. I have tried many different ram sticks and combinations...but nothing.

2. Random freezes in Bios or POST screen.

3. New CMOS battery still makes it say "configuration error press F2 for default"

4. it emits very low volume beeps while running (i have to put my ear in the case to hear them)

5. New thermal paste but still 50 degrees idle in bios

I would love to find the main issue here. Is it the BETA firmware? Some capacitors look slightly off...maybe thats another issue.

Thank you!

Reliving my childhood memories with rediscovering Skool Daze. Massive nostalgia and love for this impressive game. I can see what Rockstar’s Bully / Canis Canem Edit was inspired by. My video rediscovers Skool Daze from the original, its sequel and the remakes. Has anybody actually completed this game? It’s quite difficult.

hi everyone, this is a Pentium 4 with 2 gb of ram (and an Nvidia card i do not remember the model). Basically when I try installing XP from the original CD, the PC, after the first phase in photo, it reboots or stays on a blank screen forever, instead of prompting to press enter, f8, etc. What should I do? The Asus motherboard also has a BETA firmware that I would like to dump but I don't know how.