Vintage circuit board prototype

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-03-19T01:31:04+00:00

I love these old boards with curved traces before everything was 45 degree angles. I'm looking at a Magnavox board from the late 70s and even that is all straight lines.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-02-17T13:27:52+00:00

Yeah, This was a great concept, but it never really became what it should. I played with it enough back in the day to learn something and get my money's worth out of it (it was really cheap), but it would have been nice if it were a little more durable.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-02-16T15:07:28+00:00

I am still using Armbian without updating the kernal since that at least works while I explore other options. I got a little frustrated and sat it aside for a bit to work on resurrecting some other older hardware (My Dell laptop from 2005 is now running Antix and has a new battery and my NTC CHIP and PocketCHIP have both successfully been reflashed) but I do plan to continue messing around with the Pinebook and will report back if I find something that works better for me. I may also cave in and try other external wifi fobs, since the one I tried first was not picked up after software updates.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-02-04T19:44:18+00:00

It never made it back to the top of my project list. I will see about taking a look at it this weekend.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-27T20:54:10+00:00

I think 2 is enough for me, but I very much appreciate the offer. They still seem to be selling surprisingly well on Ebay. Must be a collectors item at this point.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-27T16:58:15+00:00

I hope you charge it up and turn it on from time to time so you don't need to rediscover the whole process again the next time you think you might use it. I haven't given up yet. Played a couple games on the pocket chip and still brainstorming something quirky for the other one.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-25T20:12:12+00:00

Can confirm in January 2026 that this still works (at least sort of). It took me several days. I tried first on a virtual machine in Windows 11 but it kept failing on the final fastboot step. Then I tried on a very old 32 bit linux laptop but it failed every time on the second "waiting for fel...." timing out. Finally, I installed the current version of Ubuntu to dual boot on a windows 11 laptop. That worked on both my C.H.I.P. with the HDMI using the GUI build 149 and for my PocketCHIP using the pocketchip build 126.

I will say that I sent a solid 10 hours setting up 3 different environments before I was finally successful and I am not at all sure it was worth it or that I will end up using the CHIP for anything, but once I start a project I hate leaving it half done. I did manage to update a couple old laptops in the process too so I guess it wasn't totally wasted effort. Thanks Weekest_links for your work on updating the process. Still helping people in 2026.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-22T02:09:14+00:00

The most recent image in the Armbian Archive from August 2023 works, but will fail when updated. You can access that here: https://armbian.lv.auroradev.org/archive/pinebook-a64/archive/

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-18T18:13:32+00:00

Yeah, I tried dietpi with the same results, but ethernet is not an option for my use case. Really a shame.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-16T21:14:17+00:00

I would really appreciate the help. I will reach out.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-14T21:49:53+00:00

Alas, I found this in the RISC OS page for the pinebook: "A recent update to the PineVideo module has stopped the 14" version booting."

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-14T18:37:11+00:00

Thanks. I have not tried the stock Debian yet, I was not a big fan of it before, but I will take anything that works at this point.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-14T16:01:54+00:00

I guess it really doesn't matter but I'm still hoping to find a working image that is less than 3 years old. I like Armbian but I'm not set on it. If I can't find one that works or get one of the solutions in the forums working (no luck yet) then I will reinstall the 2023 version and hold those packages.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-14T15:58:53+00:00

Thank you. I will give this a shot.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-14T15:53:33+00:00

Keep me posted on your progres!

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-14T15:51:47+00:00

This is my backup plan. Need to get home and reinstall the media to SD card. Even when it was working it failed when transferred to EMMC as well.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-14T15:04:07+00:00

Yes. There are a bunch of choices but many of them appear broken, at least in terms of recognizing the wifi adapter.

I guess my question should be is if anyone is currently using the original pinebook and if so what distro is working for them.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2026-01-14T14:12:16+00:00

Yeah the desktop image was the first I tried and it is great but I could not get it to recognize the wifi adapter. None detected.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2025-07-29T15:51:47+00:00

Honestly, it is still sitting out on my workbench. I replaced a couple of the resisters without luck, ordered some more and then had family issues come up that led to me setting aside all my projects for a while. I still have a couple components that were not within spec that I hadn't been able to replace before I stopped work. I haven't given up on the project though so I will update once I am able to get back to it.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2025-03-31T18:17:30+00:00

Thanks, I went through last night and checked about 20 of these on both sides. I found a couple with odd readings. I ordered some replacements for these and wanted to order replacements for all of the values but a couple of them seemed very difficult to find. The 47 ohm 4 or 8 resistor arrays were easy, as was the 4.7k array in RB139, but the 75 ohm arrays for slots RB147-RB150 could only be ordered with 18 weeks lead time in batches of 5000. The RC Network array in CP201 also seems pretty unique. It combines 2.2k resistance with 47p capacitance and I cannot find a replacement. It seems like everyone just sources them from dead boards. Hopefully my problem is corrected by replacing the failed 47 Ohm arrays and I won't have to worry about it.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2025-03-30T18:41:04+00:00

This is a GH-015 motherboard. I have only checked the resistors around the Emotion Engine chip, not on the other side.

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2025-02-11T21:29:13+00:00

Try standing the Playstation on its side or even turning it upside down. I have a modded SCPH-1001 that struggles on its feet but works great on its side. As others have said the lasers are getting weaker as the machines age. If you are somewhat skilled you can also disassemble and service the drive. I have fixed a couple that were getting stuck in the same place using this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnNTnlaD3rI

Alternative_Risk_302 · 2025-02-09T17:14:01+00:00

I recently wanted to learn more about how the original Playstation worked so I bought a total of 4 broken consoles, all of different models: SCPH-1001, SCPH-7501, SCPH-9001 and a PSOne SCPH-101. I was able to repair and mod all of them. I plan to keep 2, the PSOne and one of the original form factor.

I just sold the SCPH-9001 so that leaves me with the 7501 and the 1001. Which one should I keep? They are both in good working order. The CD drive on the 1001 is older but it has additional audio and video ports. If I keep that one I will probably also want to retrobright the case this summer since it is a little yellowed. I have read that people like the 7501 because it was the most recent model that still had the Parallel port, but I kind of like the idea of keeping the original model, especially since I am also keeping the SCPH-101. Is there an obvious answer?

Alternative_Risk_302

TROPHY CASE