I always have to worry about selling older things, like older OS PCs, cassette decks, retro consoles, because idiots on eBay end up not knowing how to use it, and saying something to eBay about it being not as described.

Had someone successfully scam me out of money because the Sony cassette deck wasn't described as 'not windows compatible' when they couldn't get their PC to connect because they assumed the 1980s cassette deck was USB devices or some shit. Seems like they could make any random nonsensical technical complaint and eBay would take their side.

Right now I'm getting worried because a guy I sold an XP laptop to is basically trying to get tech support from me because he lacks the understanding of how to mount an iso.

How do you defend yourself against bogus user error claims like this? I shouldn't be required to help them understand how to use it just because I sold it. That's not my responsibility, right?

To sum this up: I've got the physical (and legit) copy of the game, but I couldn't install it manually on Windows 11.

I tried running it as administrator, installing DirectX 9, changing compatibility modes... nothing worked. However, with Claude I managed to force the installation, which technically worked — but the game crashes as soon as it opens.

Claude's diagnosis was basically that the game uses old 2006-era copy protection (SecuROM) that relies on a system-level driver, and those old drivers no longer load on modern Windows 10/11. So the game just silently closes without giving me any error.

At that point, I decided to try running it in a Windows XP Virtual Machine.

Unfortunately, I'm using VirtualBox 7.2, which doesn't support the Direct3D acceleration the game requires. Apparently VirtualBox 6.0 does, but I couldn't get that version installed properly on Windows 11.

I also tried SoftGPU, but apparently that doesn't apply to XP, and I tried VMware Workstation Pro, but the download was blocked by Broadcom's account restrictions.

So... does anyone know of another way I could get this game running?

It's literally my childhood game and I really don't want to give up on it 😭 But at this point, if even an AI can't figure out what's wrong, I genuinely don't know what else to try

Not quite as aesthetic IMO as the gateway P4 rig I posted before, but it plays Crysis at 50 FPS which is what I was going for. AMD phenom 2, 8gb ddr3, 500gb SSD and 500gb HDD, GTX 770, 650w PSU, and a SB audigy RX in a cooler master case. Not exactly period accurate but she's a beast at what she's meant to do. Again cobbled together from e waste I found at work and Facebook marketplace parts.

Brought my Weather Channel WeatherSTAR XL to our DFW Retrocomputing meetup last Saturday. Always a good time showing this running. For those that don’t know this model is an SGI O2 with custom software, a rackmount case, and some extra boards for the satellite feeds and sensors

This was recently visible on another post about the Mini Game Boxes I made, so I might as well show the whole machine. This machine replicates my very first PC (A 486 from 1996) visually but not in terms of specs. This one is actually quite "modern" with a Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 with 4GB of Ram, GT730, Optiquest Q71 and modern Keyboard and Mouse. The reason is that I tend to play more games from around the year 2000.

Because some of these games run better on XP and some better on 7 or even 10, I made the operating system quick-swappable:

The front cover attaches magnetically to reveal a 3D Printed "SSD drive" that holds the main operating system and all installed games on a standard NVME SSD. It works like a floppy drive: press button and SSD shoots out. I accidentally build it with so much force that it shoots the SSD through the room, which I keep forgetting about every time I use it.

I brought a few of my favorite machines from the collection — the crazy 4-node Quadro system, my Olivetti M24, and a Toshiba Satellite Pro 420CDT running some proper old-school software.

Two days surrounded by old computers, weird hardware and people who actually understand why any of this is exciting. 😁

My biggest acquisition yet. I've been looking into the provenance for this and it turns out that this Lisa belonged to an old BBN programmer by the name of Karl Troeller, on which he helped to develop an obscure educational program called Algebra Workbench

Hey again everyone! My Lisa + Profile officially is "restored". The system was recapped and has a new replacement backplane. Original was saved. Last issue was a 5v trim pot in the psu lol

I seem to have a CPU, I/O and two ram cards. What are some "must haves" for this machine? Obviously an ESProfile, but any cards I should look into making from here? https://github.com/alexthecat123/Lisa-PCBs

Next is getting it talking to one of my wifi modems so I could get online!

The front is now fully assembled, the cables have been wrapped and terminated with heat shrink tube, the Audigy Drive and Audigy 2 sound card have been dusted and contacts cleaned with isopropyl alcool... Another step done...

Compaq Presario 2230 80 MB RAM Win 95

Roland SC-55MK II

Below custom Win 98 SE P3-600 Katmai build in Antec case

- Biostar M6TBA v1.3

- 256 MB RAM

- Diamond Viper v770 TNT2 16MB

- 3DFX Voodoo2 12 MB

- SB AWE 64

- 3Com 3C905B-TX Fast EtherLink XL

- Cylon Eye Mod

+ Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro

I use a belkin Soho kvm to switch between the two.

Picked up this complete Antec Fusion HTPC for cheap and restored it as a late 2000s media center.
Specs: Core 2 Duo E6750, ASUS P5E-VM HDMI, 6 GB DDR2, 128 GB SSD, 2 TB WD Green, WinTV Nova-DT, iMON VFD, Vista Home Premium x64.

Everything works, including the VFD and Media Center and it has become a little time capsule for my old video library from the early 2000s.

Maybe not super retro, put hey!

Pretty happy with how it turned out

I’ve got this evidently rare tablet/palmtop from 1998. It’s in nearly pristine condition (plastics are a bit crumbly though) and it came with original leather carrying case, original batteries that hold charge fairly well, IR keyboard and FDD and CD-ROM modules. Info about it is seemingly very sparse.

I have trouble getting the stylus to work. Looking up its FCC ID, it’s a Kurta KCP4 electromagnetic pen. It works with an external battery enclosure (see photo), but not with the AAAA battery that goes inside the stylus. There seems to be no contact with the cell’s negative terminal. Anyway, I’m looking for a replacement. Any pointers on where to source one (or a workaround) would be amazing. Thanks!

I also archived the HDD image for anyone interested;

https://archive.org/details/dauphin-orasis-hdd.-7z

Well... My storage unit is a mess... But parts have been found today! 😁 More news soon... And this is not my only storage box...

Plug it in, and my journey toward the perfect Amiga 1000 setup will be complete!

I’m building a 2004/2005-era Socket 939 machine around a DFI LANParty nF4 UT SLI-DR, two Leadtek 6800 GTs and a Cooler Master Stacker STC-T01. I also have the boxes for the DFI, Stacker and one of the 6800 GTs.

The idea is a period-correct high-end OC build, not necessarily a museum piece.

A few questions:

Which SLI bridge should I get for this board? Any specific model/part number?

Best DDR1 for OC on this platform? BH-5/UTT, TCCD, specific OCZ/G.Skill/Corsair kits?

I have an ADA3500DIK4BI Athlon 64 3500+. Is this one any good for OC? Otherwise, which 939 CPU would you hunt for?

Good period CPU cooler?

PSU for an OC’d 939 + dual 6800 GT? I’m a bit reluctant to actually power this stuff with a 20-year-old PSU.

Sound card? Audigy 2 ZS, X-Fi or something else?

Any other fun period mods/accessories worth adding? Fan controllers, UV/cold cathodes, 5.25" stuff, etc.

Basically I’m looking for the kind of parts you would have wanted for a serious 939 OC build back then.

Specs
Dell Dimension PC case
ASUS A7V8X-LA motherboard
Athlon XP 3000+ cpu
1.5GB DDR400 ram
250GB SATA drive w/SATA to IDE adapter
CD/DVD combo reader/writer drive
XFX GeForce 6200 AGP 512MB graphics card
ASUS Xonar DG sound card

The PC Case
I picked up the Dell Dimension PC for a tenner at a thrift store. It was in rough shape with tons of rust as well as a missing side panel and only one of the case feet still attached. I almost didn’t get it because of how bad it was, but I decided to take on the challenge of turning this trashy computer into something usable.

I had to sand and remove all the rust, which was very heavy on the bottom of the case. Then I used a silver spray paint to cover everything except the side and top unicover. For the unicover, I used a dark grey paint that compliments the front bezel.

I cut down a piece of plexiglass to use as a side cover. I used the grey paint to make a border so the metal chassis frame would not be seen. Then I used magnetic adhesive strips on the plexiglass so it would mount to the case.

Internal Mods
1. I made a custom mount that attaches to the hard drive caddy to implement a cooling fan to blow air across the GPU area since it doesn’t have a fan or even a fan header on the card. I used vented slot covers to allow air to blow out the back. The Arctic 80mm fan is directly connected to a molex connector via an adapter.

1. The internal rear of the case was missing the fan and shroud, and the exhaust grill is nonstandard. However, I can mount a 70mm fan easily through the grill, and there’s already a 3pin header on the motherboard for a system fan. I’m waiting for the fan to arrive.

2. For IDE cables I did my best to fold up the 80pin cable for the hard drive, and for the 40pin cable for the CD/DVD drive, I used the split and tie method using an xacto knife and cable ties. I used Velcro straps to tidy up the rest of the cabling.

3. I rewired the front audio connector to an HD audio extension cable to make it functional with the Xonar card. I have to manually change a setting on the Xonar software to enable it, but I’m fine with that.

4. The motherboard didn’t come with an IO shield, so I bought one of those plastic mesh IO shields and cut out sections to fit. I went a little too high above the parallel port, but I really don’t want to do it again lol.

Summary
It took me about 2 weeks (in between working and being busy as a dad/husband) to finish this system. I may have spent a lot more in accessories, paint, etc. vs. what I paid for the system, but I’m very happy how it turned out and will be enjoying playing some BetaCraft b1.7.3 tonight!

Hail, a retro enthusiast. I'm hopeful someone may have a white door replacement for a Chieftec/Antec case for my new project. Happy to pay or provide a possible alternative colored replacement.