Vintage
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You know that thing that you don't have? You should press buttons on it.
Fuck you computer....
The error message sounds bad, but it was actually a good thing. A better phrased error message might have been "Keyboard missing. Connect a keyboard and press F1 to continue." But, in the early days every byte mattered.
The system wouldn't work without a keyboard, and if you get further into the boot process you might not be able to shut down cleanly if you didn't have a keyboard attached. That error message gave you a chance to attach the keyboard, or to troubleshoot why the keyboard wasn't being properly detected (like the plug got bumped and wasn't making good contact anymore).
It was annoying when the lack of a keyboard was intentional. Like, you wanted to use the machine as a server. But, AFAIK you could disable this check if you knew the machine was going to be a server with no permanent keyboard attached.
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Yes, it's for an old game console or computer.
There were two common ways to connect to the TV, and this box supports both: Coaxial (still around of course) and that flat ribbon cable, which ends in two separate U shaped clips. The screws on the bottom are for the clips on the ribbon cable from the physical antenna likely mounted on the roof.
wrote last edited by [email protected]I'm from Australia and I don't think I ever saw a flat ribbon cable there. The RF cables in Australia mostly use Belling-Lee connectors (that you just push in) rather than F-type like in the USA (that you screw in), and that's been a standard since the 1920s, so I don't think there's anything that predates it in Australia.
Australia does use F connectors for cable internet, but that's mostly a legacy network now.
Edit: Apparently Australia did use them and I'm just not old enough lol
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At least you have hands! I had to get my fabricated from the town blacksmith.
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Old enough
wrote last edited by [email protected]Yeah a 9 pin dsub. Still used widely in industry applications and other Fields.
Edit: just saw that these were used for mouse or keyboard input, wth. This is truly old. -
I'm from Australia and I don't think I ever saw a flat ribbon cable there. The RF cables in Australia mostly use Belling-Lee connectors (that you just push in) rather than F-type like in the USA (that you screw in), and that's been a standard since the 1920s, so I don't think there's anything that predates it in Australia.
Australia does use F connectors for cable internet, but that's mostly a legacy network now.
Edit: Apparently Australia did use them and I'm just not old enough lol
Ah, sorry I hadn't even considered that it would be different in other places (just times) - I'm in the US, and those flat ones were present here at least as late as the 1980s and likely 1990s.
Cable Internet is very common in the US, in fact the most common kind. (2nd is DSL) So the F connectors (didn't know that name) are everywhere. Also still used for actual antenna connections.
I am not sure if I have ever seen a Belling-Lee, but RCA used to be extremely common here until HDMI took over that role. (In fact RCA is what is on the switch box above to connect to the 'computer') -
I don't recognize this... Is it some sort of RF switch for connecting a computer or game system to a TV while still passing through the antenna signal? Why does it have two cables coming out the side?
wrote last edited by [email protected]Yes, back when you could use a tube tv as a monitor over RF.
e: mine still works, and I’ve connected my ancient equipment to my newer flat televisions with it.
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I thought I was hot shit when I got a tape drive for my Tandy that worked about 60% of the time
Dam don't remember that. My co worker was telling me about hole punch paper when he worked with his father that he inserted instead of magnetic storages.
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Oh I first learned to type by typing "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dogs" over and over on a wireless keyboard.
Called a typewriter.
Me too. But in early 2000s
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The computer mouse I still use today has a ball in it
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Except that wasn't a serial port, it was midi, and the reason it was on the sound card was because the input was analog.
Your joystick was just two fancy potentiometers, and your soundcard decoded the voltage on the middle legs into a position.
Soundcards handled joysticks because they had the fastest ADCs.
Except that wasn’t a serial port, it was midi, and the reason it was on the sound card was because the input was analog.
Considering MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, I have no idea what you're trying to say.
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I can tell that this particular port is more or less from the same time as the PS2 ports in the post's photo because of the color. The standardization of this port happened long before the standardization of colors to indicate the capabilities of said port. We mostly only see this in variously capable USB ports today. If I remember correctly this yellow color would have been used for a joystick or controller of some kind, but there may have been other ports with the same shape and pin configuration that would have different purposes.
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"do you know what ps/2 ports are?"
"holy cow, PlayStation 2? you must be AT LEAST 25!"
[dying inside intensifies]
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They've finally started removing them from boards, and I'm annoyed. I want my NKRO.
Most of them are internally connected via USB apparently so there's no difference. Not that the average e sports player would even notice.
I want my NKRO.
Which can be done over USB, cheap keyboards just aren't wired for it.
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I'm from Australia and I don't think I ever saw a flat ribbon cable there. The RF cables in Australia mostly use Belling-Lee connectors (that you just push in) rather than F-type like in the USA (that you screw in), and that's been a standard since the 1920s, so I don't think there's anything that predates it in Australia.
Australia does use F connectors for cable internet, but that's mostly a legacy network now.
Edit: Apparently Australia did use them and I'm just not old enough lol
Then you're not as old as me. 300 ohm ribbon was pretty common in Australia, especially on crappy bunny antennas. You'd need a 300/75 ohm matching balun before feeding it into the TV.
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Its on the side. You can kind of see it in your picture. I have a C64 within arms reach.
Bonus points if you had a mouse to use with GEOS:
I had a mouse like that on my Amiga 2000!
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The computer mouse I still use today has a ball in it
When was the last time you cleaned it out?
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You guys had keyboards?
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The computer mouse I still use today has a ball in it
Me too. As a toolmaker and engineer, space mice were a thing. But they were stupidly expensive and still are. I was unwilling to spend the money for one. So I use a ball mouse and I still do for when I need to do serious CAD work these days-- designing my next model steam engine.
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"do you know what ps/2 ports are?"
"holy cow, PlayStation 2? you must be AT LEAST 25!"
[dying inside intensifies]
IBM sure made naming pretty confusing aren't they?
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Years of cheaply made plastic membrane keyboards. I tried gaming on a membrane recently, and it was traumatizing.
