Hardware Relics

[Spastic Hamburger]

I had to pack up the Wii and PS2 yesterday to make room for other stuff. Sad but I hadn’t used them in a few years.

To be fair, most of the games I have for them have been getting remastered so it’s not that big of a loss. Just makes me sad.

[DeVaultSetter]

Haven’t seen SACDs or the players over here much at all, mostly because of a slightly limp impetus to go looking. Don’t recall them occupying the prime spots in any of the shop display windows either, funnily enough. They might have benefited from an ad campaign of Coca Cola magnitude geared really set the market on fire, and as things have turned out in latter years, likely to have set a lot off punters to the wall no doubt. 😛
It’s good they are in a cupboard, safe and sound and if the cupboard remains in good nick, soon to be collector’s items. A pleasant prospect for future fossickers. Termites decimated the cupboard in the top shed here, which necessitated ordering in replacement shelving, and if you have to ask, yes, metal. 😛

[Spastic Hamburger]

Yeah, they never did really take off in the stores. Now, you have to find them at online specialty shops (even Amazon only has a few) such as this one. My new Blu-Ray player supports SACD for whatever reason so I may pick one up at some point and give the format a whirl. See if it’s all it’s cracked up to be 🙂

I still have my GameCube even though the Wii is backwards compatible. Haven’t even used it since I got the Wii in 2008 😛

Ouch. That happened to my grandmother’s shed. Carpenter ants got in and ate the floor out and we didn’t find out until I was cleaning it out. We did spray but, alas, it was too late and collapsed the next year.

[Spastic Hamburger]

So the US government just gave AT&T the go ahead to start shutting down copper phone lines in favor of wireless. This is a huge mistake as wireless is a lot more susceptible to interference. Indeed, you can’t even use it in certain buildings. Without the copper backup, I see this as creating more issues than it solves.

[DeVaultSetter]

Yes, backup is essential, especially through periods of elevated solar activity. DSL continues to work well, most modems support it, and I still chat to Mum through the copper telephone wires on a regular basis.
Bet this is all down to AT&T in lieu of maintenance costs, one way to bring them back on the ready – is – Trump anyone? 😛

[DeVaultSetter]

Shucks, minor disaster with the VAX, the metal cover securing what was left of the brushes on one of the attachments has metal rot! Heh, one would expect after 40 years the plastic would go first? It’s fine. 🙂
Only problem is, the head is stuck fast on the metal connector. As replacement rods are costly, might be some cutting involved, heating sure to work but smelly.
Edit: Got it off with the help of a neighbour by propitious snicks, so went right ahead over to ebay and ordered the head! 🙂

[Spastic Hamburger]

Great! Glad to hear that the heads are still compatible. Cuisinart does the same with their food processors: parts from fifty years ago often still work on the current models. Really like it when companies keep the standard instead of inventing a new one every few years like they do in the computer industry. 🙂

I use a Roomba but do have a vertical for emergencies. I’ve only ever used it a few times but you never know when you’ll need to suck up a spill 🙂

Still haven’t gotten around to reaching out to the folks about the turntable. Really been too busy with other stuff but I’ll get there!

[Spastic Hamburger]

On Spastic Hamburger said

So I recently came across a couple of places that do restorations of vintage turntables:

• https://www.vinylog.com/
• https://vinylnirvana.com/
• https://www.artisanfidelity.com/

No complaints here but I still may reach out to them at some point to see what they offer. No harm in that, at least!

Finally getting around to looking into this so I put out some feelers the other day on Reddit. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get any responses yet

[Spastic Hamburger]

Didn’t get any hits so I’ll have to check other message boards 🙁

[DeVaultSetter]

Anything turn up – Galaxy no good? Get a feed from SoundonSound which unfortunately gets mostly brushed aside due to an over-cluttered inbox, they have quite a user base though – mostly from the UK.
The old M522 (bought locally) has acquired the Logitech Double Click Issue. No issue with humidity as it has been so dry. A few ideas on Reddit like this from I have found a fix to the MOUSE DOUBLE CLICKING issues without disassembly:

Squeeze the buttons for about 10 seconds (real hard, though be careful not to break it)- Shake it- Blow the underside of the mouse- Shake it again- Squeeze it again- Shake it again

It helped! as did revving up the double click a notch. The mechanical/optical Lightforce switch is still playing lively! 🙂

[Spastic Hamburger]

Nope. Wasn’t able to find much on the community forums: just about everything I found dealt with doing restoration on your own, which isn’t feasible for me. I’ll probably need to reach out to that list and see what they say

In related news, this got announced last week: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/legend-of-zelda-limited-edition-vinyl-8lp-set-127813/

No details about the pressings but I’m sure they’ll be fine

Used to have that happen all the time with old mice that simply used the rubber ball since it’d suck dirt up into the works. A simple cleaning always did the trick 🙂

Much harder now as it’s not as easy to access the mechanism 🙁

[DeVaultSetter]

That’s an amazing set – it’s all at IA in pretty good MP3 format, just in case we miss out. There was a 2020 vinyl release of the Ballad of Champions at Discogs, out of stock at the moment.
Funny thing, posted on this Reddit thread saying Armory Crate works well enough on the Ryzen machine. Ding dong, ding dong works like a song because it was uninstalled a year ago now, Doh! 😛
It was all about the lights on the keyboard not returning after power-on, once upon a time not a necessary typing requirement. These days the finger memory gets fuzzed by using different keyboards. 🙁

[Spastic Hamburger]

I’m not sure Ballad of Champions made it out of Japan, which could explain its limited availability. Really need to get more records. Our local record stores focus more on genres that don’t interest me, such as R&B and new age rock. I just haven’t spent much time looking online yet. Just not a big fan of online shopping 😛

Do the built-in Windows tools for RGB functionality work any better? I’ve never really messed with those settings. I really just use the backlight on the keyboard to see the keys. Sadly, here on Linux, we have very few options for RGB control. You’d think we’d have more by now!

[DeVaultSetter]

The keyboard lights with OpenRGB is a known issue with XBOX MSC, so we can writhe alive to the tune of that. 🙂
Thanks! The Windows idea of the HID LampArray standard came early 2024 – must have either tried it either without success or missed it altogether. Good news it works with the G213 keyboard as well as with MSC, thus the ball is in the court of OpenRGB for further innovations. 🙂
Hibernation resume croaked once again – the H/W folks may know a trick or three. 😛

[Spastic Hamburger]

Ugh. BIOS issues like that are no fun. Definitely an odd one 🙁

[Spastic Hamburger]

And 8k TVs can be added to the list: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/01/lg-joins-the-rest-of-the-world-accepts-that-people-dont-want-8k-tvs/

Not a big surprise, really. In order to even see the difference, one had to have a large viewing space and the TV had to be around 75-inches. Both of which were mighty impractical in a typical viewing space. 8k would have also required a lot of storage space for films, which would mean beefier streaming services or a new disc standard. That doesn’t even mention how large game files would need to be. With 4k, they’re already pushing 100 GBs.

Monitors are another matter entirely as it means more windows open and a larger workspace without losing detail.

[DeVaultSetter]

Yep, especially in the boondocks where the tv towers transmit a max of 1080p only. In that case even a 4k outfit would have issues.
Not so for internet streaming, where most of the content providers detect one’s resolution in advance.
The cavity magnetron in the microwave oven broke due to user error. The poor thing was operated on empty too many times!
So purchased a newer model of the defunct NeoChef, 25L Smart Inverter, working wonderfully. In attempting to register the product with LG, Googled “Register LG Product” rather than navigate from the model page. The first hit was an LG Home page with prompt for sign in. Fine, so signed up to register the product, only to find the model was not listed. Oh dear what the Google, somehow got on to the Saudi Arabian LG site instead. The credentials cannot be used in other countries unfortunately, so contacted them by the web form requesting transfer of the account.
Odds on they won’t be able to do it though. 😛

[Spastic Hamburger]

Fiber is only just becoming mainstream, so that may help down the road if the industry cares to revisit the format for larger screens. Of course, with the size needed, it would still be a pretty niche market. I do wish we’d have more streaming content in 4k, though, and at better compression algorithms. I can see a big difference between my 4k Blu-Rays and the 1080p streaming content.

Looks like a nifty model. Do like the design 🙂

I have a Panasonic workhorse myself that’s about ten years old. Unfortunately, use is limited due to the wiring in my kitchen: the circuit breaker trips up if I run any heavy load for more than ten-ish minutes (happens with other stuff, too). Oven and fridge are fine, thankfully. So much for having a do-it-all small appliance! 😛

[Spastic Hamburger]

Some interesting insight here regarding the RGB trend: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47375085

Personally, I avoid it when possible as it tacks on about 10 to 20 USD for each item that uses it for a feature I’ll never see. My keyboard lives in a tray, my mouse is always covered (why it needs lighting when your hand covers it is beyond me), my case is solid…. 😛

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Spastic Hamburger.

[DeVaultSetter]

Quoting someone from there:

Beige was the only color case available until around 1992

Yep, the best you could do then in RGB was Rich Glossy Beige. 😛
Although having submitted a rather glowing review of the oven, it doesn’t seem to have exhibited any of the smooth breaking in of the previous model. Did ask about the magnetron, – from that there certainly seems to be a chance of a better response elsewhere. 😛

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