Nearly all computers in the room connect to one of two stations through various KVMs. More information on the NTI KVMs here.
Primary station:
- NTI ST-8U-XR KVM - This is an 8 port KVM with HD15 VGA connectors and is capable of PS/2 (including the PS/2 used in SGIs), ADB (both Macs and NeXTs), and Sun Type5 keyboard and mice both on connecting CPUs and the console keyboard. No problems with the video generated by any machine so far, includeing the NeXTstation, HP712, and older macs.
- IOGear GCS1764 4port DVI KVM - chained through the NTI KVM with the help of an PS/2 to USB adapter, this is used for the DVI capable machines such as the G4 mini, G5, and G4 Sawtooth.
- Dell 2405WFP display capable of switching between the VGA and DVI inputs of the two KVMs
- Sun Type5 keyboard & mouse. This has the most number of keys, resulting in no need for chording to obtain the special keys of the various platforms
- DVI KVM
- Macintosh IIx
- Quadra 700
- NeXTstation TurboColor
- Sun classic
- SPARCstation 20
- SGI O2
- HP 9000 712/60
Secondary station:
- NTI ST-8U-R KVM - Similar to above, but without an LCD indicating state or ability to identify the connected system beyond which port is selected. I've also had problems with this KVM not working well with odd inputs like the NeXTstation's video. All the older macs have selectable DB15-VGA adapters on them, the KVM doesn't seem to like the signal of dumb DB15-HD15 video adapters.
- Dell 2001WFP Display
- Compact PS/2 keyboard
- MS Intellimouse with PS/2 adapter
- 4U PC
- PowerMac G3 Beige Desktop
- Quadra 630
- Performa 6214
- Quadra 900
- PlayStation2 running Linux
Network:
Networking comes in as gigabit to an Airport Extreme (single-band 802.11n), which then feeds the few gigabit capable machines, and a 24 port DLink 10/100 switch that feeds the rest of the machines. There is also an ancient netgear 802.11b wifi point allowing 802.11b use without degrading the 802.11g network.
There is a 27" curved screen CRT for gaming. The CRT is retained to allow the use of older light guns for duck hunt and the like.
Inventory of most systems:
Macintosh IIx:
Obtained from Ian Meyer in 2010 with 8MB RAM, a stock apple video card and an ethernet card. Replaced all aluminum electrolytic capcitors with tantalum variants. Replaced the solder-lead batteries with removable battery cases. Current configuration:
- 8MB RAM
- SCSI-IDE-CF adapter with 8GB Kingston 133x CF, mounted in the 2nd floppy bay for external access to the CF card
- SuperMac Spectrum/8.24 nubus video card
- Asante MacCon Nubus Ethernet 10mbps card
- AST Mac286 Nubus card with Apple 360k 5.25 Floppy Drive
- Radius Rocket 25 Nubus card - 32MB RAM
- SCSI-PCMCIA external adapter pictured next to the 5.25 floppy
- Currently Running: System 7.1 / A/UX 3.1.1
DEC VAXstation 3100:
An ebay purchase, the vaxstation arrived plain, no keyboard or video cables. Initially it ran with a serial console, but since then I've been able to piece together an LK201 keyboard, a BC23J-03 video cable, and a BC09J SCSI cable for it. I'm still looking for a mouse. Documented Ultrix install here
- 32MB RAM
- SCSI 1GB drive - 3100's don't like >1GB for the boot drive
- Currently Running: Ultrix 4.5
NeXT NeXTstation TurboColor:
Obtained off a 68kmla forum postwith a bare slab and a non-adb keyboard. Needing a sound box and an unobtanium Y cable to connect it, I purchased an adb soundbox from Black Hole, Inc., but the Y cable was prohibitively expensive. I went with ADB due to ease of integration with my existing KVM setup. The Y cable requires 13W3 connectors, which seemed to go for about $40 purchased individually, but premade 13W3 straigh cables were ~free. So I purchased a straight 13W3 cable and hacked it up sufficiently to have a working Y cable.
- 80MB RAM
- SCSI-IDE-CF SanDisk Ultra 4GB CF card
- Connected to an ADB sound box via home made Y cable so it can be attached to the NTI KVM
- Currently Running: NeXTStep 3.3
Commodore64:
Obtained in 2003 in non-working condition off craigslist, I've since replaced the ram and all ROM chips with socketed versions in the course of diagnosing and repairing various issues.
- Kernal ROM switch between 3 different images
- BASIC ROM switch between stock BASIC ROM and Cynthcart built to replace the BASIC ROM
- 1541Ultimate 1st revision externally powered (not inserted into cart slot)
- MMC64
- RetroReplay cart inserted into MMC64
- RRNet Ethernet
- Modified for RCA mono output, mono input, video output, and S-Video video output
- Totally sweet paint job of red for the top case and black for the bottom case.
Commodore SX-64:
An ebay purchase in 1999, I've lugged this thing around quite a bit.
- Modified the front storage slot to contain switches controlling Kernal ROM switching, 1541 drive ID, RCA mono output, RCA mono input, RCA video output, CRT on/off, and reset button
Performa 6400:
Obtained as part of a large lot acquired in 2009, which included the SE that formed the case of what now houses the SE/30, Mac Classic, a number of keybards, printers, etc.
- 132MB RAM
- IDE-CF with 4GB SanDisk Ultra CF card
- Tulip Ethernet card
- ComSlotII Ethernet card
- Sonnet G3 400MHz 512KB Cache upgrade fitted in the L2 cache slot
- Currently Running Mac OS 7.6.1 and BeOS 4.5
PowerMac G4 AGP:
Sawtooth in a Blue & White G3 case.
- 1408MB RAM
- 20GB IDE 7200RPM disk
- Stealth Serial Port replacing the stock modem
- Expected to be running Mac OS X Server 1.2 someday
SGI O2:
Obtained from a forum post on nekochan, the machine did not survive shipping very well. Originally, it had 256MB RAM, but half the RAM did not survive shipping. The case didn't survive particularly well either, there are a lot of broken and missing pieces.
- 128MB RAM
- 18GB SCA SCSI
- 195MHz R10k
- Currently Running: IRIX 6.5.15
SPARCStation 20:
Obtained for free off a craigslist posting in Spokane, WA, I picked it up on a visit there. It also came with an Ultra1 and 2 21inch Sun monitors. I've since upgraded the rame, replaced the disk with SCSI-IDE-CF, and upgraded the CPU.
- 512MB RAM
- SCSI-IDE-CF SanDisk Ultra 4GB CF card replacing optical drive
- Single SM71 75MHz SuperSPARC II mbus module
- TurboGX sbus video card
- Currently Running: Solaris 2.5.1, MAE 2.0, WABI 2.2
- 128MB RAM
- SCSI-IDE-CF SanDisk Ultra 4GB CF card
- Currently Running: HPUX 10.20
- 64MB RAM
- SCSI-IDE-CF SanDisk Ultra 4GB CF card
- Currently Running: A/UX 3.1.1
- 80MB RAM
- SCSI-IDE-CF SanDisk Ultra 4GB CF card
- Modified NVRAM chip with external battery
- Currently Running: SunOS 4.1.4
- 1GB RAM
- 40GB 2.5" IDE disk
- HP ScanJet 5500c
- Apple Firewire iSight
- Currently Running: Mac OS X 10.4.11
PowerMac G5:
Obtained from Brian Mastenbrook the machine is one of the few machines that arrived totally serviceable.
- 1.5GB RAM
- Dual 2.0GHz
- 500GB 7200RPM SATA disk
- Currently Running: Mac OS X 10.4.11
- 4MB RAM
- 9GB SCSI disk
- Asante MacCon SE Ethernet PDS card
- Currently Running: System 7.0.1
Apple //c:
Received mostly dead, repair documented here. Has the accompanying monochrome green phosphor display. It has survived a couple attempts at retr0bright.
Macintosh SE/30:
The case was obtained as part of a large lot of older Mac gear, I did heavy modification of the interior of the case to replace the SE logic board with an SE/30. The RAM is maxed out, and has both ethernet and external video cards in it with the help of a right angle 030 PDS connector inserted into the ethernet card's passthrough slot intended for IIsi operation. The logic board has had all aluminum electrolytic capacitors replaced with tantalum variants.
- 128MB RAM
- SE/30 motherboard mounted in a modified SE dual-800k drive case, with a SCSI-IDE-CF SanDisk 8GB Ultra CF card mounted in the top floppy bay, allowing external access to the CF card
- Asante MacCon 030 PDS Ethernet card
- Radius monochrome two page display external video PDS card
- Currently Running: System 7.0.1
- 4MB RAM
- 9GB SCSI drive
- Asante SC/EN SCSI Ethernet
- Currently Running: System 7.0.1
- 192MB RAM
- 64MB RAM
- IDE-CF SanDisk Ultra 8GB CF Card
- ComSlotII Ethernet card
- Apple Multimedia System video input card
- Currently Running: OS 8.5.1
- 132MB RAM
- IDE-CF SanDisk Ultra 8GB CF Card
- ComSlot Ethernet card
- Apple Multimedia System video input card
- Apple Multimedia System Tuner card
- Lapis Focus LC PDS external video card
- Currently Running: System 7.6.1
PowerMacintosh G3 Beige Desktop:
Obtained for free in 2001 through a friend with a logic board replacement in 2002.
- 768MB RAM
- IDE-CF SanDisk Ultra 8GB CF Card
- stock 233MHz G3
- Wings AV card
- USB PCI card
- Currently Running: Mac OS X 10.2 / Mac OS 9.2.2
4U PC:
Assembled new in 2001, running largely unmodified since then. This is currently used as the EPROM burning station and JP1 TV remote programming machine. Both require real mode software directly accessing the parallel port to control external devices.
- 512MB RAM
- IDE-CF SanDisk Ultra 4GB CF Card
- 900MHz Celeron
- Currently Running: Win95
Apple IIgs:
Obtained from Ian Meyer in 2010 in completely stock configuration, I've since discovered a lot of new hardware development for the AppleII platform I've embraced for this system. Initially I tried netbooting, documented here. I used the Quadra 630 as the server. The Uthernet use is documented here, and the iDisk use is written up here.
- 5.5MB RAM
- ROM1
- IIgs MicroDrive IDE/CF Controller
- Briel Computers 4meg GS RAM Card
- a2RetroSystems Uthernet Ethernet card
- idisk controller
- Currently Running: GS/OS
- 256MB RAM
- Currently Running: System 7.1 / MachTen Professional