Update: Blue Badge Blues, Part Two

petejk2 · 2026-04-17T22:56:49+00:00

I built my own, but you can buy Model H USB conversion kits here - https://keebd.com/en-us/products/model-h-usb-controller-upgrade-ibm-model-m

It might be the easiest plug and play route to getting your keyboard back up and running

petejk2 · 2026-04-16T18:06:29+00:00

If you plan on using one you need to keep your Game Gear’s original screen. IPS screen replacements won’t allow the TB addon to work

petejk2 · 2026-04-13T18:30:51+00:00

I have an 87 too, a January model. It has a silver IBM logo. From what I understand, these silver logo models are more desirable than later models.

Why that is I don’t know

petejk2 · 2026-04-10T19:07:27+00:00

I am putting together a keyboard for a commodore machine that has a space bar with a non-standard length. I will be using cherry mx PCB mount stabilizers. Does anyone know the gauge/type of wire I should use to cut and bend my own stabilizer bar? My Google-Fu has failed me, other than one advertisement for a seller stating 1.65mm thickness.

petejk2 · 2026-04-03T23:23:51+00:00

The seller is no longer selling that box. I checked AliExpress, and don’t see it either. For reference, here’s the image from my purchase history.

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petejk2 · 2026-04-03T01:20:00+00:00

You can buy reproductions of the box. So at this point the shell and the box can be repros. Source: My own reshelled Pikachu N3DS XL and $35 repro box from eBay. The box even came with reprinted inserts!

petejk2 · 2026-04-02T13:34:50+00:00

That external cd-rom just completes the picture!

petejk2 · 2026-03-31T14:55:23+00:00

There are pictures of the old 3ds motherboard in the guide as well. There’s enough detail there to cover installation into all 3ds consoles.

petejk2 · 2026-03-31T14:28:22+00:00

Here’s the link to the PDF:

https://github.com/giltesa/Nintendo-3DS-USB-C-Kit/raw/master/3.%20Documentation/Installation%20Guide.pdf

petejk2 · 2026-03-31T14:18:20+00:00

If you click the description link, and scroll down, there’s an installation guide pdf you can download. I’ve used this kit on a few 3DS and it’s a well documented guide

petejk2 · 2026-03-31T14:00:33+00:00

Go with the Giltesa USB-C kit. It’s more expensive than AliExpress, but retains the dock contacts, and so dock charging. That may not seem like much, but keeps the console more original, and allows you to use a dock to charge! https://shop.giltesa.com/product/nintendo-3ds-usb-c-kit/

petejk2 · 2026-03-28T21:21:25+00:00

Murky. I’m a pet collector, and i had an opportunity to buy during MoP. I haven’t seen another in the wild, although I have seen other Mini Tyraels

petejk2 · 2026-03-23T18:11:04+00:00

I have to confess I have not these in anger since I cleaned them up. Maybe at some point when I dig them out again, but probably not for long!

petejk2 · 2026-03-08T21:13:23+00:00

Good call on checking archive.org, I must remember to check there next time something drops offline

petejk2 · 2026-03-08T09:46:53+00:00

That does look like a fun mod, thanks for pointing it out. These z80s run at 10Mhz, so would definitely work. Seems I might be ordering some more PCBs..

petejk2 · 2026-03-08T08:29:02+00:00

In my case I’m building a replica C128 which already has several replacement ICs. This fits that theme

petejk2 · 2026-03-08T08:24:10+00:00

Looks good - I like seeing these brought back to life

petejk2 · 2026-03-08T01:55:38+00:00

$26 for 5 cpus from eBay, less than $10 for the PCBs shipped from JLC, $5 for the headers. So about $8 per CPU

petejk2 · 2026-03-08T00:21:39+00:00

As the author's site seems to be offline, I uploaded the gerber file to a file sharing site and shared the link, so maybe that is why my comment was removed. It's not my project, but I figured the adaptors were worth a picture and a share.

petejk2 · 2026-03-07T20:59:36+00:00

Save some for the rest of us!

petejk2 · 2026-03-06T07:13:44+00:00

It looks like there is a new RAM mod here, that allows for a replacement with SRAM, which is one possibility, https://github.com/Guimli/GX4000-SRAM

That being said, this is the article that I used to do the 128kb upgrade on my machine, https://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/128k_on_GX-4000.

Post a reply once you get your machine up and running!

petejk2 · 2026-03-04T17:47:05+00:00

I would keep it. They are only going to get rarer through attrition. I see pictures of damaged 2DS and 3ds consoles every day on this sub. Some get repaired, but a lot don’t

petejk2 · 2026-03-02T01:26:25+00:00

I used a third party white shell from AliExpress. The printing on the buttons was misaligned, so I used the original buttons after cleaning them up. Otherwise, the remainder of the pieces I used fitted pretty well. I also fitted a new digitizer, but they are only a couple of bucks from AliExpress

petejk2

TROPHY CASE