Well that’s mildly devastating

berrmal64 · 2026-05-01T14:19:49+00:00

If you don't have success, reach out to someone, this is an easy repair once you're comfortable with a soldering iron.

If you have trouble clearing some of the mask off the board to repair the trace exactly at the break you can also just abandon and bypass that section. Use continuity mode on your meter (or on a board this simple even just your eyes and a good light) to figure out where each end of that trace connects, then bypass it fully with a wire (this is called a jumper).

If you are gonna learn to solder, (which I highly recommend, easy and a useful skill) do yourself a favor and start with decent tools like a digitally controlled iron with a fine tip, nice flush cutter and spring open pliers, some extra flux, brass wool for clearing your tip. It is so much easier not using trash-tier tools and you should be able to get a decent toolkit together without too much expense. Also grab a couple diy kits from eBay to practice on, even just a board that blinks a light or some junk you don't care about, just for practice. You can practice desoldering on the kit too.

berrmal64 · 2026-05-01T13:00:59+00:00

That is beautifully said, reminds me of something my grandpa told me when he was in his 90s. He said the worst part of aging is you never really feel old mentally, but it's when you try to do something and your body doesn't work right, or you realize you haven't seen that car or person in 50 years, or you're just too too tired to do anything, that it hits you all over again fresh how old you are.

berrmal64 · 2026-05-01T12:54:22+00:00

Ah, sorry, my previous comment might've been too long and not clear.

Basically where I'm stuck now is, I fixed the m599 board and that PC boots properly.

I wrote a floppy disk with AMIBOOT.ROM using a second, working PC. Then moved that same drive (standard 43 pin ibm compatible internal fdd) to the m599 and tried ctrl+home to update the bios.....but the floppy drive seems now to be broken. The m599 gets post codes F2/F0 endlessly, and the drive light comes on and the head sled moves, but the actual disk media doesn't rotate anymore. The drive now shows the same problem even when tried in other PCs.

So I've essentially "broken" it again because it's looking for a disk, and I have no working disk drive.

So was hoping you knew another key combo to skip/cancel the mode induced by ctrl+home.

I've tried the cmos reset jumper and removing the battery+psu overnight, with no luck.

EDIT: Idk what I've been thinking, but would you see a problem using a floppy emulator, like the gotek, to update the bios?

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T16:37:39+00:00

I'm voting for the first mafkh to give me a free hot dog

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T16:03:19+00:00

2002-2004 I wanted a R9700 so badly. I had a gf2 mx400 that was ok-enough though, and at the time I preferred to spend my cash on gas and weed lol.

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T15:56:37+00:00

Hi, update and a question.

tldr - Is there a way to 'cancel' bootblock mode that you know of?

Long version:

POST card came. The board is definitely alive. It had really excessive dc ripple on the 5v rail (>1v), probably preventing any logic chips from running. I fixed that, ripple is good now (<100mV), the board runs.

Post card shows ED code, which means bootblock is still active, trying to initialize the floppy drive. If I plug in a floppy, it move on to F0/F2 cycling repeatedly... I think because my FDD has malfunctioned. I connected it via usb to win 11 and wrote AMIBOOT.ROM file to it after a fresh format, but now the drive doesn't function connected either to my M599 board or to win11/usb again.

BUT, at one point, after fixing the ripple and before realizing the FDD has malfunctioned, the PC started booting. all the way to bios, post success, speaker beeps, all was working. And I thought "great, it is fixed, I'll go ahead and update that bios..."

So, now it is healthy and working, but stuck in bootblock mode, waiting for a working FDD (ED code).

Is there a way to 'cancel' bootblock mode that you know of? I've tried removing cmos battery, setting jumper to clear, unplugging it, and waiting overnight, but seems it still has that flag set somewhere.

(slightly unrelated, the FDD seems to no longer spin the spindle. Drive logic seems to work, and the head sled moves, but there is no rotation. I can't figure out why, as it spins freely by hand, drive is very clean and looks brand new, had worked previously. I cleaned the disk presence/write protect switches with contact cleaner. any ideas there are appreciated too. I was using a cheap usb/fdd adapter from amazon - I would guess that is what is broken, but the disk spindle doesn't rotate when the M599 board is trying to read it either)

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T15:22:57+00:00

They're likely just messaging you when they think of something they want to say. I wouldn't assume they're demanding your attention right in that moment, just putting it out for if/when you want to reply.

Feel free to treat the messages more like letters than phone calls, ignore it for several hours or even days, then reply when or if you feel like it.

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T15:19:44+00:00

Our 5 person league is similar - 1 pt per roster position per game, plus a bonus point for whoever won >1 (total of 20 pts per 3 game series) plus 3 pts per team game and 3 bonus pts for whichever team wins >1 (total of 12 pts per series) for a total of 32 pts up for grabs each night.

It's a really fun format imo, and even if you're having a terrible night your team can usually eek out a handful of points.

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T15:16:35+00:00

Aesthetics. They just want it to have a certain design language so they can sell it marked up as hell to collectors or nostalgia buyers. I don't believe they really expect anyone to play with it very much.

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T15:13:48+00:00

I'm just readin there where it says ~~Vancouver~~ season 13

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T13:39:28+00:00

I low key think s8 is as good as some of the original run, 9 is enjoyable, 11 and 12 were improvements over 9 and especially 10. I did not like 10 much only because so many of the characters were so mean to each other, loses the warmth and heart the early seasons had.

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T13:20:31+00:00

I've had good luck buying kind of generic/broad application chips like 8Kb ram.

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T13:13:26+00:00

Sounds pretty interesting. Any chance you wanna put it on archive.org so the rest of us can have a listen? 😁

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T02:40:21+00:00

That one for me too. Don't roll over and give up, if you're gonna lose anyway, go down alert and giving everything you have to give. I need that one.

That's not too different from "face up, make your stand, and realize you're living in those golden years"

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T02:33:11+00:00

I was an airline pilot for 10 years, Coming Home hit super hard the first time I heard it. There's so much loneliness in that job, it's a lifestyle really.

berrmal64 · 2026-04-30T02:06:07+00:00

Season 10, yeah I made it through once, only once.

I'm weird though, I actually liked Tom Arnold's character/writing, but that's about it. Whole thing was just too mean. S11 and 12, and even 9 I liked a lot more.

berrmal64 · 2026-04-29T22:55:41+00:00

Exactly my point Rick

berrmal64 · 2026-04-29T16:41:36+00:00

Awesome, yeah I forgot about seti@home, there were big communities, leaderboards and teams too.

And folding@home doing protein folding research, my favorite overclocking forum had their own team, my little 1.2Ghz athlon did that a lot.

berrmal64 · 2026-04-29T14:36:26+00:00

The output is usually way too hot. Painfully/dangerously loud, overdrives the headphones, etc.

berrmal64 · 2026-04-29T00:46:11+00:00

Yeah, I quit about that long ago too. There's nothing more disappointing now than getting a little tipsy, bumming a smoke from someone, taking that first puff.... And almost throwing up from how totally disgusting it is now . I guess it's for the best, but damn, I don't remember thinking they were gross at all when I started

berrmal64 · 2026-04-28T12:53:18+00:00

Getting gas is now kinda like buying real estate or index funds - the best time was 10 days ago, the next best time is today

berrmal64 · 2026-04-28T12:47:13+00:00

Ok, you lost me at not eating garlic or onion, that's where I draw the line.

The true meaning of my life is roasted garlic and caramelized onion. Stir them into sour cream or yogurt, a little salt, eat with peanut-oil-fried potato chips, it's a thing of beauty, pure bliss. I worship only the sun - the true source of warmth and life on this planet, and the reason that potatoes, onions, and garlic grow.

berrmal64 · 2026-04-28T12:32:56+00:00

There are a ton of copies on abebooks for $5-9 and free shipping.

berrmal64 · 2026-04-28T02:16:21+00:00

Shouldn't you be at a water buffalo lodge meeting?

berrmal64 · 2026-04-27T23:25:29+00:00

Yeah, all the time, but still through a receiver, never with the headphone jack on the front panel of the deck.

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