9 ms·

I remember back when I was a kid and I thought putting a lot of necessary stuff in my computer was cool, I had a thing attached in one of the front bays of my c

I remember back when I was a kid and I thought putting a lot of necessary stuff in my computer was cool, I had a thing attached in one of the front bays of my computer that had a key start, a cigarette lighter, and a slide out cup holder. It was really dumb but I thought I was so cool.

RandomBacon 7y ago
My previous desktop had a floppy controller. I had a 5.25/3.5 combo drive in mine just because I could. Unfortunately my newest motherboard does not have a floppy controller.
hawaiian 7y ago
Periodically I daydream about building an absolute monstrosity of a computer with a LiteScribe DVD burner, combo floppy disk reader, iomega zip drive reader, TV/cable tuner, and other older forgotten-about technology. The motherboard will have a LPT parallel port and a serial port of course. I would call it The Tower, keep it in a spare room. Whenever I would need to access any information out of old media without fear of damaging anything, I'd pop it into The Tower then SSH into it from a rather useless but comfy Macbook 12".
- sk5t 7y ago
  You're going to want Zip, Jaz, and Bernoulli drives of course! Maybe some external SCSI enclosures. And now I'm trying to recall why Ethernet transceivers were necessary...
  - WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago
    Throw in the 5.25" to 3.5" and 2.5" reader... and baby, you got physical media!
  - RandomBacon 7y ago
    Don't forget a tape drive and a SuperDisk drive!
  - Kadin 7y ago
    > And now I'm trying to recall why Ethernet transceivers were necessary I think the idea was to decouple the card that went inside the computer from the physical media. You could use the same card for 10BASE5 or 10BASE2 or even 10BASE-T based on the building wiring. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_Unit_Interface https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_Unit_Interface
    - Godel_unicode 7y ago
      Modern datacenter switches are still this way, see SFP+/QSFP.
      - eropple 7y ago
        Not just for that, though it's important--as I understand it, the electronics needed to feed data at high rates over RJ-45 are actually surprisingly difficult. Going much over 10Gbit (currently expensive) over RJ-45 is going to be prohibitive.
    - toast0 7y ago
      The decoupling was nice to have, but i've gathered that the bigger issue was 10base5 cabling was big and inflexible, and connecting to it was a bit of a chore, it was kind of necessary to have a flexible cable between the computer and the tap. 10base2 had a much more flexible cable, and allowed for T's, so it wasn't too bad to route it right to the computer, and 10baseT was also routed to the computer. So after 10base5 was pretty well dead, budget cards lost the transceiver port, although fiber transceivers were useful in niche cases -- if you needed one, you'd have to more carefully select your ethernet card.
- femto 7y ago
  Ummm.. that is my everyday computer! DVD burner, 3.5" floppy, 5.25" floppy, zip drive, Bt848 based tuner. It's based on an Intel Core 2 Duo and must be pushing 10 years old by now, but it still works. Okay, about a year ago I moved all the data off my floppy and zip disks and unplugged the 5.25" floppy and zip drives to save power (the machine also runs 24/7 as a dns/email/http/file/print server). Still got the SCSI card in a box in case it's ever needed. Sadly, no turbo button.
  - stereographic 7y ago
    I mean, I understand you might not have the need to upgrade, but why?
    - falcolas 7y ago
      Based on the final comment in GP post, it's because they have information on all of those mediums. If you've been in computing for a few decades, you'll find dusty floppy disks, zip disks, and the like hiding in weird corners. Having the ability to easily read and move that data can be invaluable. Personally, I can't remember how many old disks and pieces of my computing history that I've thrown out because I can't read them anymore.
    - femto 7y ago
      It fits my purpose and just works. The system has a fanless power supply and GPU making it virtually silent. When it's idle it consumes relatively little power as a server. Admittedly with 2GB of RAM and the latest Gnome/Debian it's beginning to lose it's snappiness as a desktop, but it's still usable. Unfortunately suitable DIMMs aren't easy to find anymore, as a memory upgrade would restore that responsiveness and extend its life by a few more years. Chances are I will have to replace it in the next year or so.
- kalleboo 7y ago
  It's not all in a tower but I'm in the process of fulfilling my own childhood dream - filling out all the IDs on a Mac SCSI chain http://kalleboo.com/retrotech/perip/#scsitower http://kalleboo.com/retrotech/perip/#scsitower
  - reaperducer 7y ago
    What, no SCSI flatbed scanner?
    - kalleboo 7y ago
      If I only had the space, I would also have CRTs and other goodies. Alas, family in a small apartment :(
  - hestefisk 7y ago
    Oh the nostalgia. I had a tape back up SCSI drive running on my Tekram and later Adaptec U19160 controller. That was premium hardware with very good Linux support. How I miss those days.
- gumby 7y ago
  What about 8" floppies -- both hard and soft-sectored so you'll need two drives. And QIC
- hnzix 7y ago
  I still use SCSI zip drives for all my 90s music gear but am slowly porting them across to SCSI2SD. Akai samplers will physically blow an internal fuse if you forget to switch off the zip drive before unplugging it.
- jbit 7y ago
  Why not also add the kitchen sink! http://www.john-ward.org.uk/personal/john/computers/html/rocket.html http://www.john-ward.org.uk/personal/john/computers/html/roc... :)
mixmastamyk 7y ago
s/necessary/unnecessary
- Godel_unicode 7y ago
  /r/whoosh
asveikau 7y ago
> a slide out cup holder. By this I am going to assume you mean the cd-rom drive. (And thanks to the 1990s for the computer joke of that decade.)
- brians 7y ago
  Probably not. https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/is-this-the-best-component-ever-do-you-guys-agree.2230898/ https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/is-this-the-best-com...
  - jacobush 7y ago
    A SAAB cup holder would have been cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7ULaCgLp6A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7ULaCgLp6A
- ryanmcbride 7y ago
  Nah I meant a literal holder made specifically for cups, with no disc reading abilities, a lot like the one posted in this comment thread
  - asveikau 7y ago
    I know. I was joking. And I heard this joke too many times ~20 years ago. So I was being corny.
ChuckMcM 7y ago
In a perhaps related mode, and apologies if the discussion goes further off track, what I liked about the front panels of "real" computers back then was that they always had a key lock. The minicomputers (PDP 8, PDP 11, and VAX) that I had access too all used the lock to turn on power and optionally disable they key switches. The IBM 360 and 370 series had an operator enable key lock which could lock out operator functions like initial-microprogram-load (IMPL) and other system control functions. That always seemed more impressive to me, and I have expressed it over the years with different types of panels that I've built that carry the look, but not the gravitas, of "serious" control circuitry. I have ressurected some of that when helping a friend design escape room puzzles that are more set piece than functional but it is much more fun to get a clue from something that looks like it could power up a reactor than it is to find it in a coffee can or amongst the graffiti on the wall.
- Animats 7y ago
  Apollo Domain computers had a key lock. You needed the key to run as their equivalent of "root". (Apollo machines were early 80s workstations. They ran their own OS, Domain, and had their own two-cable token ring network. Not bad, but too nonstandard.)
moonbug 7y ago
You know that was the cd drive?
- ryanmcbride 7y ago
  a what? /s

RandomBacon 7y ago

My previous desktop had a floppy controller. I had a 5.25/3.5 combo drive in mine just because I could. Unfortunately my newest motherboard does not have a floppy controller.

hawaiian 7y ago

Periodically I daydream about building an absolute monstrosity of a computer with a LiteScribe DVD burner, combo floppy disk reader, iomega zip drive reader, TV/cable tuner, and other older forgotten-about technology. The motherboard will have a LPT parallel port and a serial port of course. I would call it The Tower, keep it in a spare room. Whenever I would need to access any information out of old media without fear of damaging anything, I'd pop it into The Tower then SSH into it from a rather useless but comfy Macbook 12".

sk5t 7y ago
You're going to want Zip, Jaz, and Bernoulli drives of course! Maybe some external SCSI enclosures. And now I'm trying to recall why Ethernet transceivers were necessary...
- WrtCdEvrydy 7y ago
  Throw in the 5.25" to 3.5" and 2.5" reader... and baby, you got physical media!
- RandomBacon 7y ago
  Don't forget a tape drive and a SuperDisk drive!
- Kadin 7y ago
  > And now I'm trying to recall why Ethernet transceivers were necessary I think the idea was to decouple the card that went inside the computer from the physical media. You could use the same card for 10BASE5 or 10BASE2 or even 10BASE-T based on the building wiring. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_Unit_Interface https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_Unit_Interface
  - Godel_unicode 7y ago
    Modern datacenter switches are still this way, see SFP+/QSFP.
    - eropple 7y ago
      Not just for that, though it's important--as I understand it, the electronics needed to feed data at high rates over RJ-45 are actually surprisingly difficult. Going much over 10Gbit (currently expensive) over RJ-45 is going to be prohibitive.
  - toast0 7y ago
    The decoupling was nice to have, but i've gathered that the bigger issue was 10base5 cabling was big and inflexible, and connecting to it was a bit of a chore, it was kind of necessary to have a flexible cable between the computer and the tap. 10base2 had a much more flexible cable, and allowed for T's, so it wasn't too bad to route it right to the computer, and 10baseT was also routed to the computer. So after 10base5 was pretty well dead, budget cards lost the transceiver port, although fiber transceivers were useful in niche cases -- if you needed one, you'd have to more carefully select your ethernet card.
femto 7y ago
Ummm.. that is my everyday computer! DVD burner, 3.5" floppy, 5.25" floppy, zip drive, Bt848 based tuner. It's based on an Intel Core 2 Duo and must be pushing 10 years old by now, but it still works. Okay, about a year ago I moved all the data off my floppy and zip disks and unplugged the 5.25" floppy and zip drives to save power (the machine also runs 24/7 as a dns/email/http/file/print server). Still got the SCSI card in a box in case it's ever needed. Sadly, no turbo button.
- stereographic 7y ago
  I mean, I understand you might not have the need to upgrade, but why?
  - falcolas 7y ago
    Based on the final comment in GP post, it's because they have information on all of those mediums. If you've been in computing for a few decades, you'll find dusty floppy disks, zip disks, and the like hiding in weird corners. Having the ability to easily read and move that data can be invaluable. Personally, I can't remember how many old disks and pieces of my computing history that I've thrown out because I can't read them anymore.
  - femto 7y ago
    It fits my purpose and just works. The system has a fanless power supply and GPU making it virtually silent. When it's idle it consumes relatively little power as a server. Admittedly with 2GB of RAM and the latest Gnome/Debian it's beginning to lose it's snappiness as a desktop, but it's still usable. Unfortunately suitable DIMMs aren't easy to find anymore, as a memory upgrade would restore that responsiveness and extend its life by a few more years. Chances are I will have to replace it in the next year or so.
kalleboo 7y ago
It's not all in a tower but I'm in the process of fulfilling my own childhood dream - filling out all the IDs on a Mac SCSI chain http://kalleboo.com/retrotech/perip/#scsitower http://kalleboo.com/retrotech/perip/#scsitower
- reaperducer 7y ago
  What, no SCSI flatbed scanner?
  - kalleboo 7y ago
    If I only had the space, I would also have CRTs and other goodies. Alas, family in a small apartment :(
- hestefisk 7y ago
  Oh the nostalgia. I had a tape back up SCSI drive running on my Tekram and later Adaptec U19160 controller. That was premium hardware with very good Linux support. How I miss those days.
gumby 7y ago
What about 8" floppies -- both hard and soft-sectored so you'll need two drives. And QIC
hnzix 7y ago
I still use SCSI zip drives for all my 90s music gear but am slowly porting them across to SCSI2SD. Akai samplers will physically blow an internal fuse if you forget to switch off the zip drive before unplugging it.
jbit 7y ago
Why not also add the kitchen sink! http://www.john-ward.org.uk/personal/john/computers/html/rocket.html http://www.john-ward.org.uk/personal/john/computers/html/roc... :)

mixmastamyk 7y ago

s/necessary/unnecessary

Godel_unicode 7y ago
/r/whoosh

asveikau 7y ago

> a slide out cup holder. By this I am going to assume you mean the cd-rom drive. (And thanks to the 1990s for the computer joke of that decade.)

brians 7y ago
Probably not. https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/is-this-the-best-component-ever-do-you-guys-agree.2230898/ https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/is-this-the-best-com...
- jacobush 7y ago
  A SAAB cup holder would have been cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7ULaCgLp6A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7ULaCgLp6A
ryanmcbride 7y ago
Nah I meant a literal holder made specifically for cups, with no disc reading abilities, a lot like the one posted in this comment thread
- asveikau 7y ago
  I know. I was joking. And I heard this joke too many times ~20 years ago. So I was being corny.

ChuckMcM 7y ago

In a perhaps related mode, and apologies if the discussion goes further off track, what I liked about the front panels of "real" computers back then was that they always had a key lock. The minicomputers (PDP 8, PDP 11, and VAX) that I had access too all used the lock to turn on power and optionally disable they key switches. The IBM 360 and 370 series had an operator enable key lock which could lock out operator functions like initial-microprogram-load (IMPL) and other system control functions. That always seemed more impressive to me, and I have expressed it over the years with different types of panels that I've built that carry the look, but not the gravitas, of "serious" control circuitry. I have ressurected some of that when helping a friend design escape room puzzles that are more set piece than functional but it is much more fun to get a clue from something that looks like it could power up a reactor than it is to find it in a coffee can or amongst the graffiti on the wall.

Animats 7y ago
Apollo Domain computers had a key lock. You needed the key to run as their equivalent of "root". (Apollo machines were early 80s workstations. They ran their own OS, Domain, and had their own two-cable token ring network. Not bad, but too nonstandard.)

moonbug 7y ago

You know that was the cd drive?

ryanmcbride 7y ago
a what? /s