Revisiting Viewer Comments... They Weren't Wrong...

Let's go back and revisit some of the systems featured in our past videos that YOU commented on. In this video we will address comments that viewers were adamant about on the Mac Classic, The Dell Inspiron 530 and the 386 Desktop PC! Let's prove them all wrong!!! (OR WILL WE??!?) Let's find out!
#nostalgia #retro #retrocomputing #retropc #mac #apple #classic #ewaste #rewind #386 #dell #inspiron
Epictronics KZbin Link:
/ @epictronics1
Mac Classic Video:
• The MAC Attack!! - Exp...
Dell Inspiron 530 Video:
• Were they that bad?? ...
386 Desktop PC Video:
• What is this Computer....

[@michaelwood9866]

good to see that i was wrong on the cpu......hey we are a community of technicians and we help each other out....that's how we all learn together.

[@TheRetroRecall]

100%!! Wait until the next system lol.

[@justsumguy2u]

The great thing about the vintage pc community is that there's a wealth of knowledge out there; it's all about helping each other out. It's entirely possible that the ribbon cable has one conductor in it that's broken, and is making intermittent contact. Or maybe there was just some oxidation on the ends of one of the cable connectors. One thing is for sure; computers can be finicky sometimes!

[@TheRetroRecall]

100%! It was fun doing this video and admitting I was wrong lol!

[@simonlathwell]

When I started working at a private school in January 2002 on my first day the IT manager had the primary domain controller off due to a problem with the DAT backup drive. He had tried two new HP DAT drives and they didn't work either. My first words in the server room was, have you replaced the SCSI cable, and his reply was that he didn't think of that. So he did a purchase order and got me to run up to Maplins which was an electronics store in the UK for a new SCSI cable. After reinstalling the original drive and connecting the new cable everything worked perfectly. He learned from me that day to always think outside of the box when everything inside the box has been done. As always another great TRR video. I always look forward to your videos.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for sharing that memory and I'm glad you are enjoying!! It's great having you along :)

[@danielkawano206]

They also share the same style of power cord :)

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahha so true.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

Even the best engineers make mistakes occasionally and sometimes the best "repair tool" is a fresh pair of eyes to just check what you did - as some observant viewers did in this case.

[@TheRetroRecall]

100%! It was a fun video to make.... That and the humble pie was good lol.

[@vivienm7]

I think the Mac battery was already replaced by somebody at some point. Saft is probably the most common brand of these batteries bought standalone in the 2020s, but I don’t think they were the brand of the original Apple ones. The original ones were Maxell or another company that said ‘West Germany’, maybe… Varta? I forget. The Maxells are the ones most known for total explosion.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Good to know, either was I was so happy to have 0 damage.

[@panopolis8051]

Yep, Saft is one of the good brands. I tried getting a look at the date code printed on it, looks like its from '91 so it is probably the original.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes I think it's 1991 as well, when I get home I will confirm.

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

They were the default brand for late 90’s and early 2000’s Macs. Maxwell was generally the one in the 80’s to early 90’s.

[@sjftech]

Love the seemingly elation/frustration mix when you got the Dell working! 😂 Great idea to go back and go through viewer comments/suggestions!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yeah, I thought it would be cool for the viewers who commented :) and yes, not just the Dell - that 386 really annoyed me haha!

[@michaelwood9866]

i just love the beige box...the design remonds me of the old zenith tvs i used to have growing up

[@TheRetroRecall]

That's awesome!!!

[@myleft9397]

Haven't seen a KZbinr do this before, revisiting an old video based on viewer comments. Great idea. Great video. Please keep making them.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Much appreciated! I thought it would be a good idea. I encourage interaction and what better way to acknowledge that interaction then to revisit previous videos and address their input :). I think I will do this 4-6 times a year.

[@Gaspode-uj8jt]

"First do no harm". No one was injured, you broke no parts, you reminded all of us that we goof up from time to time. Thanks for sharing. Did you ever test the removed battery with a multi-meter?

[@TheRetroRecall]

I didn't, but I did check the date code on it - 1991! I will get the tester out and test to see if it has any life left :)

[@branscombe_]

Great idea for a video, just liking and commenting to get the algorithm going, but will be back to watch this in full. you truly enjoy this hobby and respect your fans and it shows! more comments to follow later on!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you, looking forward to it! Also received your email, I'll reply soon :)

[@johnhudson7055]

I make multiple comments as I see something I want to comment on.

[@noise_43]

Hi! I'm so glad to help you with this 4 pin cpu extra connector in this Dell PC :D In motherboards newer than Intel socket 370 (and AMD socket 754) they started to use 4 pin connectors for supplying CPU power. All of these motherboards need extra connector from power supply so next time double check if it's exist :D

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha thank you!!!!

[@jcc3279]

It's not only the Battery you gotta worry about in these old macs also the capacitors tend to leak and due damage just as bad as a battery leaking if not worse. I owned a Macintosh LC III pizza box mac and I loved that machine. My Parents bought for me brand new. Recapped it in 2009 and it got a blue scsi in 2023. The Circa 1995 hard drive (replacement) was just starting to have issues. Ended up giving that machine away to a good friend of mine so his kids can enjoy it and load it up with a bunch of games.

[@TheRetroRecall]

For sure. I'm going to be recapping everything here soon :)

[@branscombe_]

6:00 remarkably compact for the era. truly an incredible build, thanks for cracking it up for us.

[@TheRetroRecall]

No problem! It's a great system.

[@blackrain2739]

Great video! Im working on restoring a gateway 2000 at the moment. Looking foward to future videos.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you!!! Great having you along!

[@ANN1H1LATE89]

Another awesome vid, loved it👍🏼 Would love to see a refurb vid on the Inspiron

[@TheRetroRecall]

Sounds good!!

[@Mr76Pontiac]

The only thing I would have done differently from the start with that Dell machine is pull the PSU and put it in the recycle pile. You would have noticed the 4-pin connector at that point. Why you still have that old PSU in there, I don't know, but, I would have junked it if the rails are dead. I also would have just left the PSU out as a reminder that one needs to be obtained if it's to have permanent life. [EDIT] For the 386, unless the cable was LITERALLY destroyed or pulled apart, I've never had one go bad on me. I've had a total of 5 SATA cables go bad on me (They looked fine, they just didn't work) I've seen the clips break that hold the wires in place, which immediately turned the cable itself into jumper wire, but beyond that kind of issue, I always found IDE cables to be rock solid. Also to note, that the PCB itself shows where Pin1 is. Always look at the PCBs first especially if there's no "holder" or guide, or whatever you want to call it that the IDE cable plugs into.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Valid, however I plan on doing a separate video on this system as requested. May as well start from the beginning :)

[@jasmijndekkers]

Great content again and nice te hear from you. Greetings from Steven from the Netherlands

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you, nice hearing from you as well!! I hope you are doing great.

[@GigAHerZ64]

That's a beautiful video. Thank you! Mad respect!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Your welcome!!! Glad you enjoyed and for being a part of the channel!

[@christopherdecorte1599]

I still mess up on ide cables that arnt keyed so I understand 👍 good job. Love those old Mac classics one of the best computers for word processing. Small conveint and easy to setup can't beat it in those areas.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha and total nostalgic feelings!

[@spike5552]

I just love to chill and watch you videos😅

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha that's awesome!

[@JVHShack]

I would keep an eye on those SMD capacitors on the logic board in the Mac if they haven't been replaced. They are notoriously infamous for leaking. Also, never stop learning!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you and yes, I'm going to replace those caps as I was told it's not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

[@raysmith5124]

there's nothing like making simple mistakes to humble the best of us . personally i had a machine that did the same thing but due to a bent pin hidden away on the underside of the connector so had already " visually " checked at least twice the cable orientation i hadn't once considered i may not have all pins actually in the connector .

[@TheRetroRecall]

One learns a lot through these experiences.

[@alaricjeard269]

Hi! I'm glad you finaly see it! ^^ 😉

[@TheRetroRecall]

Lol! I'm happy it works :)

[@alaricjeard269]

@@TheRetroRecall Me too! Keep making your vidéos by the way, this is very fun to watch you going through theses systems and sometimes struggle to make them work again! ^^

[@richardestes6499]

I wouldn't sweat the 386 too much. The odds were just as good that the ribbon cable could've had a broken conductor. That's why it's important to have known good components and spare systems handy.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes 100%! I'm still not convinced the cable is perfect. I know I tested it a few times and was convinced it wasn't going to work in this video.

[@michaelwood9866]

the vintage tower of power!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha yes... So embarrassed lol

[@michaelwood9866]

@@TheRetroRecall i used to have a color classic and i wish i still did honestly

[@TheRetroRecall]

Ohhh got rid of it?

[@michaelwood9866]

@@TheRetroRecall it was 1998 i believe and i used it as an alarm clock since i really didn't know much about it

[@TheRetroRecall]

Oh wow.

[@floodmaster]

You have to recap the Mac Classic as well. I think I can see some electrolytic goop near the power connector, and like the battery it will eat at the traces the longer it's there. The Analog board also needs caps replaced. The tops of them will look fine but they leak on the bottom.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I will check that out again - I didn't see that, however it doesn't mean it isn't there. Let the fun begin!

[@pedrodaniellopesferreira2916]

As others said here on their comments, we are a community;) Plugging in a 40pin cable in reverse, or missing the 12 volt complementary rail in any 478/775 socket mobo is easy. It's a bit difficult to say "I was wrong", but shows a great mindset! Keep it up, and we will continue to comment on your videos, with or without mistakes that will make everyone learn.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Great perspective! Yes, I mean I do this for fun, and the hope that peolem can enjoy, learn and teach me a thing or two! I love the interaction in the comments between viewers from all over the world!!

[@Seano4D]

Haha great work Humblina ;) seeing you throw the cable 3 times was the chefs kiss, great video, great ediitng and fun for me (a guy who doesnt know a whole bunch about tech)

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahah It was genuine! I seriously was floored that it just worked! I think as a creator it's important to show the bad with the good :) thanks for watching and for being a part of the channel!! 💜

[@matthewday7565]

A most productive revist

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you! It was a fun video to make :)

[@CecilTheDarkKnight234]

hey dude it's fine we all make mistakes but it's great to see all of these systems up and running. As for the dell I would like to see if you can find the OEM software/disc and see what it was like from the factory at the time.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Ahhh smart! I'm sure archive has the original restore discs. Thanks!

[@blarghblargh]

Don't feel bad about it. I'm a software dev and I've been fixing bugs all day. Many of them my own :D Remember: All of us are smarter than one of us! You help us viewers learn about this hardware, and the comments are here to help you out.

[@TheRetroRecall]

This comment wins the internet today. Thank you!!!

[@RandomScrolls-mu9ce]

I have a very cool Inspiron 530. I think it's the coolest one ever. I did the Xeon mod, so it has an X5460 under the hood. I upgraded the RAM to 6GB (2x2GB + 2x1GB), a Quadro 2000, and 1TB HDD. I want to upgrade the RAM to 8GB, the most that motherboard can address, and add an SSD for the OS. I built this computer to capture video and it works great for that.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice!!! Check out my newest video release :)

[@Italian_Isaac_Clarke]

I am of the firm belief that "Retro" is a time period between the 50's and the end of the 70's, and "Vintage" is between the 80's to the year 2000 at most. Still, it'd've been fun if the channel "TheRetroRecall" made videos about the Inter I5-2500 or stuff like that XD Jokes aside, damn, working with a Pentium 2 is such a chore, the MOBO accepts USB, but Windows 98 FE doesn't :,) At least I found 25 burnable CDs for €6, I can make all the boot devices I want!

[@nysaea]

I told you so! :) Just kidding I didn't say anything, I just discovered your channel and your honestly and transparency are nothing if not commendable. Great and very informative video, cheers!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahahah! Thank you and it's great having you along!

[@SinaFarhat]

This is a nice idea for a video! Was that a polite Canadian"sorry"? It sounded like one. Keep up the good work

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha it totally was an I'm sorry :)

[@scottmartin7741]

Good video we all make mistakes its how we learn and if repairing computers was easy it wouldnt be any fun i enjoy your videos i learn a lot from you and others on KZbin

[@TheRetroRecall]

Your right! Thank you and I'm glad you are enjoying!

[@Redmage913]

That 530 was a great system. Upgradeable as heck. I have the 530s, and shoved an E8600 Wolfdale 3.33 in it. Used to be a living room PC with a GT 1030, but it’s now my file and media server. Still runs great!

[@TheRetroRecall]

That's awesome!!

[@FintanMoloney]

In one of my previous support jobs one of the things as a team of 5 for PayPal we used to find a lot was getting a second opinion for a tricky issue. Often when looking at a problem for too long and you are convinced you have tried everything then asking another team member to take a look would solve the issue quickly. A fresh look at something from someone else could often work as they would try something you didn't think of. Likewise I would do the same for teammates and often solved a troublesome ticket in minutes. Usually also it was the most simple solution that you didn't think it could possibly be due to overthinking it !

[@TheRetroRecall]

So true - love this perspective!

[@pdandersondo46]

love to see this redone

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for watching!!

[@michaelwood9866]

now i am still watching the dell part and the issues i ran across for a constant high fan was the cpu was dead........of course that may not be the case here.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahha stay tuned.

[@johnmay4803]

good 2 see you back pal good vid as always

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks!

[@RetroTechTom]

The Mac Classic is not a bad machine but they suffer alot due to leaking caps in them My favorite compact Mac will always be the SE

[@TheRetroRecall]

I've heard that. Fortunately they look good, but was told to replace them anyway to make sure they don't do any damage.

[@mattelder1971]

When it comes to power supplies, a good way to make sure you've got ALL of the connections is to unplug everything obvious, but then wrap your hand around the bundle of cables where the exit the power supply and run your hand down it. If you can't pull ALL of them out, you still have something connected somewhere. Trace out anything that's still connected and you'll find any hidden connections. That would have located the 4-pin connector on the Dell for you.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Oh for sure... Hindsight as it were haha

[@panopolis8051]

I recently restored a Mac Classic, so here's a few thoughts for yours. The max ram is 4MB, 1MB on the logic board, 1MB on the expansion card, and then 1MB per module on the expansion card. So you should have 4MB, not 2. Probably either the ram modules are bad/not making contact, or the jumper on the expansion board is configured incorrectly. The capacitors on these very commonly leak, both on the logic board and analog board. Your logic board looked clean, but hard to tell in the video - wouldn't hurt to recap it BEFORE they leak. There are a handful of brown Nichicon caps on the analog board next to the speaker that "always" to leak, supposedly. On mine, they leaked PROFUSELY, corroding nearby traces. It was a huge hassle to repair, CRG has a video that goes into detail of worst case scenario. Recommend you remove the plastic sheet from back of analog board to inspect for cap juice and corrosion. Anyways, thanks for revisiting these machines and making a video about it.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Appreciate the added insight here, it is in excellent condition, however I have heard from many that they will leak eventually. As for the ram, I will check that out, thank you!

[@kjur18]

@@TheRetroRecall I looked closer at those caps and they look suspicious, area around them lacks that shiny light reflection. Of course it might be just flux residue, but it is better to replace them. Also on power supply board there might be some RIFA caps just after mains socket. They are infamous for letting magic smoke escape.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you!!

[@Blessed-whiff81onPSN]

Sorry if I forgot to comment on these 3 pcs

[@TheRetroRecall]

haha don't be sorry! Happy to have you here.

[@wdd6864]

I think a video like this would be great quarterly.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I agree. It was fun doing and ties up loose ends.

[@miraakthuri]

You got lucky on the mac classic usually you get both battery leakage and surface mount capacitors leakage all over the place xd France made battery are superior maybe 😉

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes very lucky! I now need to replace the capacitors as a precaution :)

[@frommatorav1]

My OCD was pushed to the max on the MAC Classic, when you left the computer on top of the keyboard cable when testing after removing the battery. Also, the neck thingy on the CRT is called a yoke.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I didn't notice the cable!! Glad to see you survived lol. Thanks for the terminology info!

[@frommatorav1]

@@TheRetroRecall No where near life threatening but it honestly bugged me a little. lol

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha

[@maxtornogood]

As old hard drives get harder to find even spinning rust enthusiasts are looking to solid state storage. We all seem to miss little things that are more obvious to others than to ourselves. It's still good to see these machines all going again!

[@TheRetroRecall]

100%!

[@michaelwood9866]

the only classic i have now is a nes classic i found yesterday for $13 at a thrift store

[@TheRetroRecall]

That's sweet! I have an NES classic and nodded it to have about 100 games.

[@michaelwood9866]

@@TheRetroRecall i never modded one so i'm not sure how to plus how can you get nes roms when nintendo pretty much obliterated the roms sites for having them

[@LatitudeSky]

Not one of us has never made a mistake. Making mistakes is human. It's part of learning. Anyway, shady IDE cables are a thing. They work. They don't work. They work again. Do not trust it. Toss it and use the new one. But even THAT is not guaranteed. When I have to buy new-old stock IDE cables or find one in my stash still in factory packaging, I have still had bad ones out of a sealed pack. These things were made cheap to begin with and the plasticizers have often not aged well, in service or not. The Amp connectors pull away, connections weaken, etc. Even early never-used SATA cables are starting to be junk out of the package. Or the plastic bag has fused with the cable as one blob of melted mess.

[@TheRetroRecall]

For sure! I will replace it as with the others when I do a restoration. It's just funny how it worked right at that moment when I was proving it wouldn't work lol

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

When it comes to upgrading the Inspiron 530, check the version of the motherboard - if it is a G33M03 board then it should support an upgrade to a Core 2 Quad CPU like a Q6600 which you can pick up extremely cheaply used on your favourite auction site. A G33M02 board or below can't support a Core 2 Quad CPU, something to do with the number of voltage regulators between the board versions.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for the suggestion! I may have that cpu laying around actually.

[@panopolis8051]

That's a good idea, upgrading machines like this can be super cheap. But it's worth mentioning that single core performance and amount of cache is usually more important on this era computer. Dual core at higher mhz will perform better than quad core at lower mhz in most older games/programs since software generally wasn't optimized for multicore back then. Would have to find a list of supported CPUs to see what is best choice.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@panopolis8051 That's entirely valid but I suspect you're looking at this from a Windows perspective but I am very much a Linux person, and I would build a version of Gentoo Linux that would definitely take advantage of quad core. That's not a criticism by the way, it's interesting that it highlights two different philosophies - if I was putting XP on this machine (which I do occasionally for retrogaming) then, yes, I would probably put in the fastest dual core possible, because XP wouldn't take full advantage of four cores. A good point well made.

[@panopolis8051]

@@terrydaktyllus1320 Yes good counter point, Linux would benefit more from a quad core.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I love seeing this level of interaction!

[@SudosFTW]

Another comment for the 386 PC! the floppy drive and CD drive in that system may need recapped, I'd get those out of there and inspect. any surface mount caps need replaced NOW.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Great call out, will do!

[@Matt08719801]

big fan of the inspiron 530 , i have 1 of each the small form factor version and the mid tower version ,both are easy to upgrade either just the cpu or actually you can upgrade the motherboard , i might have mentioned the the little trick on using the inspiron 580 1156 motherboard in the 530 cases , love also the mixture of silver and beige on them , aesthectically it has a pleasing appearance , reminds me of early mid 2000s computer era, defintely a time machine project with a ton of possibilities

[@TheRetroRecall]

Absolutely!!! It was a fun time indeed... Tech was changing so quickly.

[@danteblake9701]

I have had multiple Dells from around that era. I had to replace the power supply in most of them. That 4 pin connector is always an issue because of it's location unless I plug it in before I mount the power supply.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes, smart idea!

[@michaelwood9866]

glad to see they all work! you are human like all of us and we all make mistakes so i hope this isn't something that gets trolled on this channel.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hey, all I can do it put myself out there with integrity and continue the engagement :) I have a lot of great supporters. It's fun!

[@KomradeMikhail]

Have you tried jiggling the cord ?

[@TheRetroRecall]

I did, in the video as well - still works.

[@DarKnightKilla13]

@28:00 Yep, that's me, and the following half a minute I say the same thing and jiggle my hands basically saying *DAYYUUMMMMN* lol.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Bahahhahahaha yes!!!!

[@JovinRepairs]

It happens, friend. When I first got back into the hobby, I bought a complete 486 that just needed a hard drive. I ordered a guaranteed and tested drive that was Era appropriate. It wouldn't work. It would go so far as to let me partition the drive, install DOS, etc but would not boot to DOS after install. I sold the motherboard and whatnot and bought a totally complete and working system. Tested the other drive in my new system, drive was bad. Ever since then, I have a workhorse/test mule for every Era of machine that I like to mess with. I can laugh at it now, but at the time I was fairly upset.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha so true. Yeah I've had that happen to me as well over the years. Now it's all about learning from those experiences haha

[@dylanlindsay1993]

that macintosh classic looks like a very low hour unit judging by how spotsless every thing is... either that or someone had every part in it replaced minus the outer case...

[@TheRetroRecall]

Agreed, it was amazingly clean inside.

[@kopspijker3515]

Pin 1. Square solder pad on the PCB. Though not alway's, sometimes there are none. 1 printed on the silkscreen. Though not always!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yup, aren't computers fun?! Lol

[@sebastian19745]

Also CD-ROM, HDD and FDD always have pin1 power connector.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes.

[@milak111234]

This Dell PC is good for max CPU,RAm and Video card upgrade!!of course bios update!!

[@TheRetroRecall]

For sure, also I Thi k it would be cool to see what the original restore disc came with.

[@milak111234]

@@TheRetroRecall Good Idea!!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks!

[@KrissBartlett]

i have the same old pc as that and definatelly has the cpu plug for power dont worry i have done stuff like that before to you have to folow up the leads next time hahahah glad you found that sometimes its behind the power supply and is hiden on other computers. That 3rd one made me laught i have done that to pluged old cables no notch in them bugger

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahaha! I guess it happens, just embarrassing lol

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

When those half double A cells go, they go bad. The corrosion would be everywhere. Mostly with the Maxwell ones, the Saft ones are the good ones.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I never heard of SAFT however it seems others confirm the same - that they are decent cells. Either way, I think it's good to remove.

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

@@TheRetroRecall yeah, I agree. They still make them, I’d recommend getting a new Saft for it.

[@TheRetroRecall]

100%

[@panopolis8051]

I'm curious if the original battery still holds a charge. My Mac SE had the original battery and still had 3V, time has drifted by only 4hrs since whenever the time was last set, at least 20yrs judging from filesystem timestamps.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I will check when I get an opportunity... As well as the date code.

[@danotten3344]

Looks like the capacitors have leaked on that Mac main board !

[@TheRetroRecall]

Really, where do you see the leakage? It looked good when I was reviewing it.. It could have been the lighting?

[@avamnepohui7260]

You should definitely pay more attention to this Dell computer because this is exactly the entry level computer that people thought was bad, but it was actually a great computer. Install Vista on it, or even 7, because they are technically the same system. Exactly the version that has support for Aero effects. XP will obviously work just fine because this computer is too fast for this system. In Vista, the interface was completely drawn by the graphics card in 3D mode. If the video card is bad (and in this computer it is bad for Vista), simply dragging windows around the screen will slow down. Even if the computer has a lot of memory and a fast processor. And vice versa - an outdated computer with a gaming video card ran programs poorly, but did not lag so badly. How much the interface would slow down depended on the monitor - on standard square monitors the interface still worked acceptably, but not on the new cool widescreen ones. A bad computer was turned into a good one by installing a cheap video card. Nvidia 7300GS, ATI HD2400, or something similar - this is the secret ingredient.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Agreed! I am going to be restoring this system in a video as many have requested it.

[@Wormetti]

I may have made both of those cable mistakes before 😅

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha!!

[@TSteffi]

The brand "Saft" for the battery is hilarious to me as german native. "Saft" is the german word for "juice"

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahah I did not know!

[@branscombe_]

23:50 - wait, 30yr old IDE cable is bad? impossible I better write home about this news!

[@TheRetroRecall]

LOL!!!!! I tell ya....

[@wbwillie]

I'd love to get my hands on an old Dell Dimension Pentium III that will work with MS-DOS

[@TheRetroRecall]

I did a video on an Dell XPS P3 that would be similar to that dimension. Check it out and good luck on your search.

[@edsiefker1301]

The reason we all knew it was the cable orientation is that we've all made the same mistake ourselves.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahah I'm still going to test that cable lol

[@williamjones4483]

In all fairness, the "bad" IDE cable could have an intermittent open conductor. Only time or lots of wiggling will tell.

[@TheRetroRecall]

For sure, I think there may still be an issue... Of course it worked perfectly when I was trying to show it NOT working lol

[@MajenkoTechnologies]

... I informed you thusly ...

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahha I thought we were friends 😂

[@stefanegger]

That hurts.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha it was fun. Surprised the heck out of me but hey, we all learn.

[@AJComputerServicesUK]

Another fine Video Squire! I’d like to think that some of my Comments are helpful at times especially the one on the Video where you have the P4 PC & 2 x Dual Slot 1 PC’s where the last PC was set to 230V, I’m not sure if you spotted it and feel free to mention me by name and I’m fine with that, Anthony - Birmingham/UK 🇬🇧

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hi Anthony - love your comments - please keep them coming! Where we run 115V here for our 'mains' power, I am not sure if that would harm the computer. I will certainly go back and check! Thank you!

[@AJComputerServicesUK]

@@TheRetroRecall Happy to help & you are more than welcome, I’d be interested to find out what would happen with a PSU if it was set to 230V and 110V-120V Power Cable was connected to it?

[@Pulverrostmannen]

Yeah I told you it was highly unlikely that the IDE cable was shorted, that it was a bigger chance it was a different type or swapped around. I believed you had checked the 4 pin so I also suspected the CPU on the other computer but if I known you had this I would had said for sure this was your issue since the cpu won´t power up without this connected

[@TheRetroRecall]

And here we are haha.

[@PhaQ2]

I've been messing with computers for 25 years. Sometimes you just have one of those days when the gremlins are running wild.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahahaha this gremlins!! I need to keep the water away.

[@federicohelamanmejiaportillo]

It is what it is.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha so true. Fun just the same and good learning points.

[@wrlrdqueek]

Hey, Nice smartwatch. Which one is that?

[@TheRetroRecall]

It's a Samsung Galaxy 3 I think? It's. A bit older but works perfectly!

[@TheExileFox]

for the 386, it's possible you were using the wrong port on the cable itself - some devices want to sit before instead of after the split or vice versa

[@TheRetroRecall]

It's definitely possible, especially with it being an older HDD.

[@johnhudson7055]

That's a lithium battery in the Mac and they don't tend to leak like the NiMH.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I did just come accross my first coincell battery that leaked... So I guess anything is possible haha.

[@dylanlindsay1993]

i just subbed

[@TheRetroRecall]

Awesome, glad to have you along for the ride!!! Welcome!

[@bryans8656]

Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bear gets you 😆

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha so damned true!

[@horusfalcon]

What's that classic definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Seems par for the course here... 😄 Computer repair is like bear hunting: some days you get the bear, and other days the bear gets you. That IDE Data cable may have just had some schmutz in one of the pin sockets on the connector that finally broke loose . Stuff that's sometime-y like that can put you in Bizzaro World in a trice. Well done on the follow-up!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahaha so true!! I never thought about a potential issue with the connection at the interface. All along I could have used contact cleaner :).

[@richchester187]

I've seen that 4 pin mistake done before so you shouldn't feel too bad about it. Is that 1x cd in the 386 really an ide ? As I got 1 from my uncle in 1998 and although it has a 40 pin cable it only works with the dedicated card it came with.

[@TheRetroRecall]

It's a proprietary connection that is run off of the sound card. Not sure if I called it IDE but I may have. So used to saying that.

[@sebastian19745]

@@TheRetroRecall Maybe I remember wrong, but it seems to be a SCSI in a custom connector format.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Definitely possible. Now I need to go look it up lol.

[@PC4USE1]

How many times have i made simple mistakes like that and come back to it with a fresh brain and solved it? Just proves we are humans not 'computer gods".

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha so true.

[@2xtreem4u]

Removed the dead 1996 battery from my powermac 7600

[@TheRetroRecall]

Perfect!! Probably saved it!

[@2xtreem4u]

@@TheRetroRecall it was bloated but nothing had leaked out

[@TheRetroRecall]

Lucky.

[@sergiobisonte]

I told you so

[@TheRetroRecall]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@drakulton1]

Channel name change to 'The Retro Amnesiac' 😉

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahahahaha.

[@PiercedJedi]

we all make silly mistakes sometimes :)

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha! It's important to showcase even the mistakes - I am human after all!! (Surprise!) LOL

[@PiercedJedi]

@@TheRetroRecallindeed!

[@i80386sx]

When you’ve been in the field as long as we’ve been you’re bound to overlook a small detail like the one on the Dell. As for the IDE cable, I did have one that prevented the computer from posting if it was bent just wrong.

[@TheRetroRecall]

For sure! Yes, I'm not 100% convinced the cable is working perfectly, unless there was some oxidation that came off through the process. Either way, it's working now lol.

[@gentuxable]

Really? The only IDE cables I ever saw failing were from physical damage that was visible. In the 2000s some IDE cables were just not to spec to deal with ATA100 and higher.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes - the IBM NetVista desktops were notorious for folded broken cables with case access.

[@gentuxable]

@@TheRetroRecall True, some system builder did their origami to save another inch on these.

[@TheRetroRecall]

100%. The SFF cases were the worst.

[@EastAngliaUK]

Luckily you kept the dell PC LOL.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha yes!

[@BrokeDad1]

Oh those fidgity old forgetful retro youtube creators 🙄 It sucks getting old doesn't it ?

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahaha

[@michaelwood9866]

LOL!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahaha it was just a little meltdown!

[@michaelwood9866]

so the dell doesn't have a 4 pin 12v header for the cpu? very odd, but it's a dell so no telling what they did to make it work. from what i know that 4 pin is to regulate the power to the cpu and is usually located caddy corner top left of the cpu or just to the left of the cpu......this board is odd.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahha keep watching...

[@frommatorav1]

The Dells from that era are a lot easier to work on. Unlike the modern ones, they used off the shelf parts, instead of proprietary crap. The main exceptions with Dells and Gateways was oddly shaped PSUs with annoyingly low Wattage specs.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I have many as you describe.... Makes restoring them quite difficult.

[@marksmith9566]

Load Dell with Win95 or Win 7.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha windows 95? I think drivers may be tough lol

[@frommatorav1]

I'd go in-between that with XP or Vista. Everybody hates Vista but it's better than Win 95 any day.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I think I'm going to use the original restore disks and go from there :)

[@jamesevans3492]

lol . . . I Have Built Several Computers Over The Past 20 Years, And I Have Fallen For The Very Same Thing, With Not Seeing The Same 4-Pin CPU Power Plug, Or Not Fully Installing It Into The Motherboard, Then Wondering Why The Computer Wouldn't Work . . . ? lol . . .

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha! It has happened way too many times to me lately lol. The mini breakdown was real lol.