A striking #mould colony on an old 5.25" floppy disk (Verbatim DataLife 1S DD to be specific).
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Tom Stepleton
@stepleton@oldbytes.space
mastodon 4.7.2+glitchAI research engineer, glider pilot. Apple Lisa power user. Most of my posts will be about old computers; occasionally I'll mention flying.
617 Followers
162 Following
25 Posts
Joined November 07, 2022
Codeberg:
Obscure 1985 BSD workstation:
U.S. call sign:
WSØATO
Is it live or is it Memorex? Well, it's actually kinda both... #mould
People on 68kmla are sharing stories of their first Mac. Many of them (especially mine) are pretty pedestrian, and I think that's just fine. Here are two about my Mac Classic:
https://68kmla.org/bb/threads/stories-of-first-mac-you-owned.53233/page-2#post-603211
https://68kmla.org/bb/threads/stories-of-first-mac-you-owned.53233/page-2#post-603303
Do you have 5.25" and 8" floppy disks that are spare, low-quality, degrading, or just generally in bad shape?
I'd like to take my floppy disk data recovery game to the next level. I have equipment, but there's no substitute for experience. Therefore I'm looking for loose collections of old floppy disks to practice on. I'm especially interested in working with disks where the binder affixing the media to the donut is starting to fail.
I'm in London; will pay shipping; can pick up disks around here as well. Boosts are appreciated!
Last week at #EMFcamp I gave a talk about the nothing-like-it-on-earth RSRE Flex operating system for #PERQ workstations. I'm very happy with how it came out! For a challenge, watch at 2X: https://media.ccc.de/v/emf2026-91-1-rsre-flex-reviving-an-innovative
Saturday 16:30 at #emfcamp Stage B: a talk I've been looking forward to giving for over a year. It's ambitious but if I pull it off I think it'll be a lot of fun. I want it to be a treat for computer history, OS, and programming language buffs, and for everyone else too!
I think quite a few of these disks have come from Loftus Rosecroft School in Loftus, North Yorkshire, which closed in 2001 and has since been demolished. So far I have recovered several identical copies of a BBC Micro program called "Moving On", which was licensed to the school by name.
From the half of it that I've explored, this barely-interactive (and somewhat patronising/admonitory) explainer on the basics of starting out in the working world could have been a pamphlet.
Can't wait to get my hands on one of these. It's been amazing to see Alex at work on this!
I recreated the Apple Lisa computer inside an FPGA! - The LisaFPGA Project
45 days until #RetroFest 2026 in Swindon. #PERQ status:
- Flaky Z80-based I/O subsystem: sometimes the #Z80 jumps off the tracks and executes nonsense code
- Disk boots fail: the microcode attempts to load blocks far beyond the end of the disk
Trying today: DIY diagnostic microcode
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The double-decker Frankenfuse fits safely into the fuse holder and the little door still shuts! And best of all, it all works! Multiple power-cycles and it hasn't blown yet.
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@Mpwg yes, that's the idea! In fact there is a a data recovery effort I'm working towards where I'd like to be at the top of my game.
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@Cdespinosa@mastodon.social That's why I call C3H8O "the 'propes". "Some 'propes will clean that up." "Hit it with the 'propes." "Smells like the 'propes in here."
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@DamonHD Absolutely! I'll be making flux recordings in any case, using a Greaseweazle or an Applesauce controller.
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@vga256 I never dared to wedge the CR123A into my battery holder.
Meanwhile, I maintain my common observation that literally nobody has ever seen a yellow Panasonic BR-2/3A battery leak. I've asked repeatedly in multiple settings and nobody claims to have encountered it. Rob Blessin of Black Hole Inc claims to have handled literal thousands of cube and NextStation boards and says he's never seen it either.
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@moonshinebrigade @elfi I'd like to be, and I think I have pretty good odds of being able to do it, but I'm looking for disks to practice on --- so I wouldn't want to try with anything too precious!
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@DosFox Sounds like a worthy challenge! I'd like to give them a go, but just remember that my objective is practice (so don't share them if they are valuable to you). Thanks!
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@eschaton I've just built it on Linux (where I needed to define the symbol EFTYPE, but otherwise no trouble).
The github page mentions that 1.0 is untested. Upon trying to read some Office System 1.0 Twiggies, it complained:
./lisafs: error opening image '/path/to/LOS1.0i.dc42': Cannot allocate memory
The tool works with Lisa OS 2.0 and 3.0 filesystems, as you report.
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@skeezicsb yes of course 😎
For all the fixes I've had to put in to the EIO board, I wish I'd had it printed much sooner...
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@skeezicsb It's also a testament to how terribly slow Firefox PDF rendering is...
Even reading the schematics with Acrobat on the Pentium-powered logic analyser is a lot faster!
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@scunneen I'd feel a little foolish turning away blank 8" disks! But I'm in London and it seems like shipping to the UK could be expensive. How many did you get?
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@GypsumFantastic yes, that's just the kind of thing I'm looking for, especially if they are cheaper, lower-quality disks that are harder to recover! But to stress, I'm looking for disks to use for practice as I develop my technique, so while I would do my best, there's a chance that any data sent my way would be lost forever...
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@GypsumFantastic@toottoot.eu Now that looks like training material, and quite a few more than 50 disks. I'll DM you an address.
My approach will be to sort them by manufacturer and type and then try them one by one. I'd like to develop some familiarity with the kinds of behaviour to expect from different makes of disk.