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Adrian's Digital Basement

@adriansdigitalbasement.com

Hello everyone! I'm Adrian Black, a retro computer YouTuber who fixes stuff from Portland, Oregon. Main: youtube.com/@adriansdigitalbasement Second: youtube.com/@adriansdigitalbasement2 Extras: youtube.com/@adriansdigitalbasementextras

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Latest posts by Adrian's Digital Basement @adriansdigitalbasement.com

The $69 PicoIDE Is A Game Changer For Vintage Computing
The $69 PicoIDE Is A Game Changer For Vintage Computing YouTube video by ctrl-alt-rees

As the #PicoIDE campaign on Crowd Supply enters its final hours (www.crowdsupply.com/polpotronics...), @ctrl-alt-rees.com has come out with a fantastic video all about the PicoIDE! And wow it looks good in that baby AT case. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG_t...

04.03.2026 16:18 πŸ‘ 57 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Magic smoke released (IBM PC XT)

Magic smoke released (IBM PC XT)

"There's your problem!"

"There's your problem!"

Magic smoke released.

Of course, it happened right after I screwed the cover on.

04.03.2026 01:46 πŸ‘ 133 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 21 πŸ“Œ 0

Indeed! Faulty since new, or nearly new.

02.03.2026 23:23 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Quick fix: An unusual Commodore VIC-20 fault
Quick fix: An unusual Commodore VIC-20 fault YouTube video by Adrian's Digital Basement Extras

I just released another video on my extras channel.

This time. a mint Commodore VIC-20 with an unusual video fault:

youtu.be/YuxpjbKaHwI

02.03.2026 21:07 πŸ‘ 70 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Use Apple TechStep without TechSteap hardware: Mac's built in diagnostics
Use Apple TechStep without TechSteap hardware: Mac's built in diagnostics YouTube video by Adrian's Digital Basement

My original video:
youtu.be/W1biFIdQZDw

And the information required to run the diags: (Manually)
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

02.03.2026 19:47 πŸ‘ 30 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Reconnaissance Software Reveals Every Problem With This Apple Macintosh SE30
Reconnaissance Software Reveals Every Problem With This Apple Macintosh SE30 YouTube video by Rudy's Retro Intel

A while back I made a video where I figured out how to run the built in ROM diags on a Mac SE/30 over its serial port. I documented the work and some smart folks have turned that work into an easy to use program that anyone can use:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=K48v...

Great resource to fix a bad Mac!

02.03.2026 19:44 πŸ‘ 84 πŸ” 17 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

That is freaking cool! What a neat hidden gem.

18.02.2026 19:04 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Screen saver patterns on an Apple Lisa

Screen saver patterns on an Apple Lisa

I tried backspace during the screensaver and it's really awesome!

How many different modes are there?

18.02.2026 18:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I know myself and in six months I'll have forgotten the change and then think my Mac Plus keyboard is broken. Hahaha!!

18.02.2026 18:12 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Keyboards without arrow keys also have no keypad. LOL Good find though, unfortunately this could be helpful if this was the only keyboard I used. It seems to only use 1 and 2 to scroll. I bet it would seriously confuse me if I went to use a keyboard with arrow keys and found they didn't work.

18.02.2026 18:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Franklin Ace 1000/1200 Keyboard Repair (Keytronics Foam and Foil)
Franklin Ace 1000/1200 Keyboard Repair (Keytronics Foam and Foil) YouTube video by Adrian's Digital Basement Extras

I don't normally post about my own videos on the socials, but I thought I'd share a video I just made live on my extras channel.

I'm starting to do more small/quick things over on the extras channel, so just trying to spread the word a bit.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0SJ...

18.02.2026 07:59 πŸ‘ 97 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 1

Ah cool! My one request for this bootloader would be to allow selection of images using something other than arrow keys. It's really awesome though!

18.02.2026 07:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Indeed -- the classic "We'll try to do better in the future" ...

18.02.2026 07:55 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me – More Things Have Happened Context: An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about me after I rejected its code, attempting to damage my reputation and shame me into acceptin…

More developments:

Scott talks about how Ars Technica published an article on the subject with AI hallucinated quotes, discusses theories on why the original piece was posted and by whom, and the overall effectiveness of it.

theshamblog.com/an-ai-agent-...

16.02.2026 18:07 πŸ‘ 39 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 2

EDS was Ross Perot's company! Bought by GM in 1984. What does that machine look like (in the case)

16.02.2026 07:04 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Awesome find! Tose are some wild looking phones. I remember the Grand Prix and the HotLips phone. Amazing!

16.02.2026 06:59 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
"Plaza 2" by Northwestern Bell Phones

"Plaza 2" by Northwestern Bell Phones

Plaza 2 by Northwestern Bell Phones, Handset

Plaza 2 by Northwestern Bell Phones, Handset

Plaza 2 by Northwestern Bell Phones, underside
SKU 70119

Plaza 2 by Northwestern Bell Phones, underside SKU 70119

Plaza 2 by Northwestern Bell Phones, handhold to pick up the device

Plaza 2 by Northwestern Bell Phones, handhold to pick up the device

An interesting phone I stumbled across: The Plaza 2 by Northwestern Bell Phones.

I couldn't find any information on this phone, so I thought I'd share photos of this ugly two line phone.

Of course it works perfectly, has a nice sounding electronic ring and has a nice sounding heavy handset.

16.02.2026 06:22 πŸ‘ 69 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The power switch/toggle thing is unintuitive and hard to use on this, something that was changed from the Ultimate 64 single button.

Verdict: I like it, although it's not for me. (I prefer using original hardware.) If you already have an Ultimate 64, I don't see any reason to upgrade. 2/2

03.02.2026 21:51 πŸ‘ 31 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
One of the new Commodore 64 computers, with a lot of RGB lights.

One of the new Commodore 64 computers, with a lot of RGB lights.

Got to spend some time with one of the new Commodore 64 machines at last night's PDX retro meet-up.

While I prefer the OG C64 color scheme, the clear keyboard substrate/PCB is nifty. The UI feels exactly like the older Ultimate 64: a little confusing and daunting to someone not used to it. 1/2

03.02.2026 21:51 πŸ‘ 62 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
Pretti Good reason for a national strike

Pretti Good reason for a national strike

✊🏼

27.01.2026 05:13 πŸ‘ 295 πŸ” 49 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 2

Not sure what you mean. Is it surely a combination of dust and a reflection? I think the phone is using some HDR mode for video which looks ... Odd when played back.

27.01.2026 05:10 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Quick fix: Amiga 2000 Green screen / crashing
Quick fix: Amiga 2000 Green screen / crashing YouTube video by Adrian's Digital Basement Extras

I posted a new "Quick-Fix" video over on the Extras channel.

I actually post stuff over there randomly, so you might want to subscribe to be alerted to the random releases :-)

This crashing Amiga 2000 had me briefly stumped until I found the culprit:

youtu.be/ti2MoLQ0aXs

27.01.2026 01:17 πŸ‘ 72 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0

Exactly! There so many examples throughout history -- and people here are just blind to it or choose to ignore it.

26.01.2026 21:21 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
What was the first video card?
What was the first video card? YouTube video by Tech Time Traveller

A great distraction to what's happening in the US:

An excellent history lesson from Brad on what is actually the first home computer video card. It's probably not what you think!

youtu.be/8NwL0A4Vaww?...

26.01.2026 05:03 πŸ‘ 80 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

So awesome!! Sad to have missed all the fun.

25.01.2026 21:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you, I needed a chuckle after looking at the news from Minneapolis.

25.01.2026 21:18 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Alex Pretty, who was killed by federal officers.

Alex Pretty, who was killed by federal officers.

I'm sitting here crying.

Watching the footage and reading the accounts of what happened to Alex Pretti has broken me...

25.01.2026 21:12 πŸ‘ 185 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 12 πŸ“Œ 2

I have a border router on order. (For Threads) I'm slightly skeptical it's better but that's because I'm so brow beaten from Zigbee.

At least you can have multiple routers! Unfortunately a big move would be expensive. I've been using Zigbee stuff since 2012... So I have a lot of it.

23.01.2026 05:38 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Yes I hear that! I hope it's a great show in Montreal. Maybe there can be another for Canadians out west too. (Who do not want to cross the border)

For me, when I visit Montreal I like it to be when the weather is nice: -)

23.01.2026 05:36 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I'd avoid it, if you can. It's by far the worst system for adding devices. It's super unreliable. (Just inherently)

23.01.2026 05:33 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0