This entry is more focused specifically on media conversion and playback…

MakeMKV: Technically this is a “transcoder” as it does not convert (which would then imply generational loss) but preserves the quality of the original media, this app is essential for “format shifting” shall we say…

MKVToolNix: Useful if you need to concatenate media files together, for example a longer movie that had been spilt across two discs.

HandBrake: This allows you to convert uncompressed video files to a more manageable file size - similar concept as to the difference between the file size of an uncompressed Audio CD versus a converted/compressed MP3 file of the same audio…

VLC: The app with the familiar ol' traffic cone icon plays almost any media format under the sun - before VLC existed you really needed a multitude of video apps to playback the various formats that different platforms/companies/zaibatsu preferred. It truly is the Swiss-army knife of playing back media formats!

Plex: Although their homepage these days makes it look like a streaming service, Plex offers both a local media server that can run on Mac/PC/NAS allowing you to store a collection of media files, as well as a client that runs on many platforms, including the current Apple TV, which means a nice interface to browse said media from your TV.

Currently listening: Jamie xx - “Gosh”

1Password: I’ve been using and recommending their apps since 2010. Passwords are truly one of the great ills of the modern age, most people would probably prefer to visit the dentist than deal with ‘em, but the only safe option is to ensure they are strong and unique - a password manager makes all the difference in how easy they are to wrangle. One great feature of 1Password is “Watchtower”, which gives you a heads-up if any of the websites or services you have saved are known to have been compromised, letting you know it is a good idea to change that password.

Time Machine (Built in to macOS): It is said there are two types of people, those who back up, and those who will lose data. Back when Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard came out in 2007, one of the banner features was an automatic backup solution called Time Machine. In my opinion, this addition has made the biggest difference to whether the average person backs up. Completely non-scientific data (based on my asking people who come into my store) would suggest about 40-50% of Mac users have it enabled (although whether a backup is performed regularly is a different matter, unfortunately). No, cloud syncing of whatever flavour is not a real backup (case in point). Having the safety-net of a local second copy of your data is damn important…

Hazel: This software watch specific folders, and if the contents match certain criteria, performs selected actions… An example, I have a folder in my iCloud which Hazel on my Mac at home watches, and if a compressed file is added, it automatically decompresses it. Where this is useful is if I have a compressed file that is in a format the iPhone or iPad cannot open, I still have a way to access the contents… Another example, I have an “Auto Process” folder within my Downloads folder on my Mac, where if I drag in a Screenshot it will import a copy into Photos and then delete the original.

PasteBot: A Mac user from 1984 falls into a temporal wormhole, they are suddenly in 2024, and are sat down in front of a modern Mac. One thing you wouldn’t have to explain is how copy/paste and the clipboard work, it’s exactly the same! Whilst this is great is some ways, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a browsable history to the clipboard, or the ability to have multiple items? PasteBot does these and more… I use it at my Store with some buttons on my Stream Deck, so I can copy a series of text items from and to different apps, it makes a massive difference to efficiency.

Currently listening: BreakStation - “Gundam Hearts - a breakcore mix”

This weekend’s mini project was recovering the contents of a 30GB 3.5-inch ATA hard drive from a customer’s Power Mac G4. The dusty and cobwebby tower looked like it’d been stored in a shed for the better part of a decade…

The first challenge was that the first couple of interfaces I tried with the drive did not seem to provide enough power. I ended up installing it temporarily inside one of my Power Mac G4 towers, and after tracking down the proper 80 pin ATA cable, it mounted and seemed a bit happier…

However there were still issues with copying files, and so the next step was to try running an old version of DiskWarrior, surprisingly without success. I next ran “Disk Doctor” (remember Norton Utilities?!) which helped to fix up some corruption with the data. Even after that, there were still some files located on bad blocks, which meant doing a standard copy in the Finder was a real pain. I then used “Synchronize! Pro” to ensure I had as complete a copy as possible.

In other news, I watched this morning the latest video put out by “The Serial Port” on YouTube. It’s titled “We brought back the internet’s first search engine”, and goes over the software archaeology of tracking down what could in fact have been the last copy of the Archie server software. Archie was a search engine which would trawl through the contents of a bunch of FTP servers, and was a mainstay of the pre-WWW Internet. I am glad they have managed to track it down, configure it, and now in fact have it running live on the current Web! Someone needs to ask them to bring back Dynix now :P

Currently listening: Orbital live at Leeds Sound City 1996

This weekend’s mini project was creating a drive with a range of macOS installers, this one specifically covering OS X 10.11 El Capitan through to macOS 14 Sonoma. The drive is a 250GB SATA SSD I placed into a repurposed LaCie Rugged case with a USB-C connector.

Mostly, I was following the instructions on the relevant Apple knowledge base article, but macOS Sierra is missing from that. It appears there is an issue with the newest version of the macOS Sierra installer that they have not rectified, but thankfully this genius has us sorted!

End result: All imaged and working happily… Next up, I have an older Buffalo MiniStation case with the original Thunderbolt connector, and an even older LaCie Rugged case with FireWire 800, both of which will get an appropriate range of macOS versions on them as well… I’ll be covered back to Mac OS X v10.2 :)

Currently listening: Sheer Taft - “Cascades (Hypnotone mix) 1990”

Today’s mini project was playing around with a Cisco PIX 515E I bought off eBay a while back. It’s a firewall appliance, a rather old one at this stage.

As it was password protected, the first task on the list was to figure out how to reset the login password. This proved to be more challenging than I had anticipated, as it wasn’t a simple thing like a paperclip and tiny reset switch, or a motherboard jumper, or pulling an internal battery… I had already bought one of those famous Cisco light blue RJ45 to serial cables to be able to connect up to the serial console port, which I hooked up with my Versaterm. I tracked down an old Cisco webpage on the Internet Archive, which documented the password reset process, and went through setting up an TFTP server on my NUC (I used Tftpd64, which worked well). This is required as you have to transfer across a small binary file referred to as the “PIX Password Lockout Utility”, which is what actually clears the password.

I set up a temporary network using the ethernet ports on an old Linksys WRT54GL, just in case, as one webpage noted there may be issues on a Gigabit Ethernet network when the PIX 515E is running in the reset procedure mode.

So, after a bit of experimentation with commands, and the joys of figuring out which specific version of the binary file I needed, I made progress and was greeted with a lot more scrolling output, and then after another reboot, a login prompt that this time was happy with a blank password!

Interestingly, the configuration files show this to have been in use by a fairly large minerals processing company, based in Perth, with network links to offices around the world… There were a few other saved passwords in some of the other config files, but hopefully after 10 years+ they are all well and truly out of date! I’ll have to nuke those just in case though…

Currently listening: “Red Snapper - Hot Flush (Sabres of Paradise Remix)"

I recently bought the new release of Time Bandits in 4K - it is such a joy to see one of my childhood favourites in such detail! To me, it’s right up there with Back to the Future and Indiana Jones :)

Currently listening: The Orb - “Slug Dub”

Some Useful Utilities and Security Tools for the Mac:

The Eclectic Light Company

Objective-See

Floppy Drive Related:

For my “Mega Floppy Drive” I ordered a set of Floppy Drive Cleaning Disks which hopefully wont be too far away now.

Also, I’m concerned that the heads on the 1.2MB 5.25-inch Drive may be scratching disks, so I will have to check that carefully!

More info on Floppy Disks & Drives…

Today’s mini project: Installing Mac OS X 10.5 on a Power Mac G4 MDD - repeatedly ran into an issue, turned out to be faulty Apple RAM… Fun times…

Currently listening: Pulp - Peel Session 1981

Here’s a sneak peak of something I have been working on, it is an external chassis with three floppy disk drives installed in it currently.

When I finish it off, it’ll also contain a Greaseweazle - essentially a USB adapter that allows a floppy drive to used at a lower level to read the raw flux transitions from disks - in other words, many more formats, and great for software preservation.

I’ll most likely be putting in a separate IDE to USB bridge inside so I can also use a Zip 100 drive as well.

All inside a casing originally intended for a bunch of SCSI CD-ROMs, I’m guessing it would have been for use as a CD duplicator - a drive for the CD being read, and another for burning the duplicate.

I won’t be posting next week, back the week after!

Currently listening: LTJ Bukem - “Earth Volume Two” (1997)

Unfortunately, looks like my little project has struck a road-block!

After trying to read the PIC microcontroller and failing to get something that looked like a valid copy of the contents, I looked through the Data Sheet (Direct PDF link), I noticed mention of a “Code Protection” feature that was presumably turned on in this case…

So, short of finding a way around that, or reverse engineering the contents, or sourcing a prototype unit / original dev code, etc, I don’t think I can do much more. I had planned on creating an open source project to allow people to create their own joypads based on this one, bit of a shame really…

Perhaps another model of ADB JoyPad will be easier to do that with, I will consider some options :)

Currently listening: Bailey - “Intelligent Drum & Bass (1996)"

I’ve since disassembled the JoyPad, and found that it is quite simple internally - in terms of ICs, just a single older PIC microcontroller…

I have desoldered that IC and made it socketed. I’ll next be using a “TL866 Universal Programmer” I have to hopefully read the contents of the PIC.

Currently listening: FIREWALKER - firewalker mix - [low poly atmospheric dnb mix]

I ordered a combo M.2 and HD dock last week, the Sabrent DS-UFNC.

Here’s the manual for it.

I wanted it for one of my Test Bench PC’s at my Store, but also to first try out as an external Fusion Drive.

Here is an old MacWorld article on setting up a Fusion Drive.

I had to fire up an older Mac mini running Mojave, as the process doesn’t work in macOS Big Sur onwards, and even Catalina seemed to be problematic.

Makes quite a difference to the Read/Write speeds over it as just a Hard Drive!

I used Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, and graphed the results (MB per second, btw):

Currently listening: LDP Breaks - Rober Vaz - “Set Liquid DnB 002”

Had this arrive the other day, it’s a “SFX Plus” ADB JoyPad from 1997…

I have plans for it, beyond just trying it out with some games. Watch this space!

Currently listening: neuronist ♪ - “underrated breakcore/jungle dnb tracks with under 1000 total plays | MEGAMIX VOL.7”

Today I bought an IKEA Vindstyrka, which is a $59 AUD air sensor that works with Home Assistant through a Zigbee connection. It exposes the temperature, humidity, and PM 2.5 count, but not by default the TVOC measurement. Someone has gotten that to work via a Python add-on script, apparently.

It is powered via a USB-C port on the back, and being mains-powered acts as a Zigbee repeater, which is handy. It comes with a USB-A to USB-C cable, but no mains power adapter.

Overall this unit feels fairly well-built, however (annoyingly!) there’s a tiny fan inside, so won’t be replacing the Eve Room on my bedside table.

At a glance, at least 2 of the 10 or so reviews on the IKEA website mention Home Assistant - I dare say this stuff still isn’t really for normal people…

Currently listening: Pressure Drop / Tipper - “Creative Trip Hop”

I tried out the Zulu SCSI in initiator mode on a 40MB Connor SCSI HD from a Macintosh Classic.

After it was done (much faster than I expected, took less than a minute) it had created a file on the MicroSD called “HD00_imaged.hda”.

I was then able to drag that hard drive image into Basilisk II, it mounted and I could browse the entire contents… very nifty!

Also handy was the fact I only needed to power the hard drive, as the Zulu SCSI got its power through the SCSI bus. Currently listening: “Peverelist Old School Jungle Mixtape Volume 2”

Watched yesterday this recent video “Dumping the contents of SCSI devices using BlueSCSI V2 (Initiator Mode)" that was posted on “Adrian’s Digital Basement” second channel. Essentially some SCSI emulator devices can be used in a mode where they act as the host and allow you to image SCSI devices, copying the entire contents of, for example, an old hard drive on to the micro SD card. Very cool feature I was not previously aware of!

I have a Blue SCSI, but it is an older hardware revision that doesn’t support this special mode, but I also have RP2040-based ZuluSCSI, which does support “Initiator Mode”.

I made sure to initialise the micro SD card in ExFAT format, as FAT32 only supports single files ≤ 4GB (well, 4GB less one byte), and I’ve flashed the latest firmware as well.

I will be helping someone out with a bunch of 80s-era Macs at my Store soon, should make imaging multiple ancient SCSI hard drives much easier!

Currently listening: English Teacher - “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab”.

I decided to test and compare a few different mass storage options in one of my favourite systems this weekend, the classic 1998 Beige G3 :)

I compared using MacBench 5.0 with the following:

• Seagate Momentus 160GB 2.5-inch IDE Hard Drive running at 5400 RPM (which I was already using)

• Transcend CompactFlash Industrial CF170 32GB (onto which I installed Mac OS 9.2.1 from CD)

• Zulu SCSI (I copied in the “Open Retro SCSI” image of Mac OS 9)

Here’s what I got, notice the big difference in the “Disk” section:

I admit my testing protocol might have been a little more rigorous - I tested each only once, and given I’ve been using the 160GB HD for a while I’m sure there is a speed penalty due to the typical cruft that accumulates in any system, but interesting results nevertheless. I think the Zulu SCSI would have performed better if I looked into tweaking the settings - I seem to recall it defaults to slower, more compatible options.

I will stick with the Seagate HD for now, but I may eventually switch over to the Industrial CF card…

Currently listening: Xnot - “Atmospheric breaks 2 🌊”

About four years ago, just before the COVID era began, I had become very frustrated with some issues I was experiencing with my smart home devices, primarily the dreaded “no response“ message in Apple’s Home app.

I had in my house at the time what I thought was a fairly decent set-up in terms of home networking, with desktop machines wired and a combination of an AirPort Time Capsule and two AirPort Extremes with a wired backbone running our Wi-Fi network. After a fair bit of internet research, and a false start of trying a Linksys Velop mesh system, I finally settled on the Ubiquiti UniFi range.

There is nothing like the geeky joy of falling down a technological rabbit hole, learning a bunch of new stuff, and then the result being a completely overkill solution! I put in 5 Access Points, a 24 port switch, and a controller/router that is more intended to run a small to medium business :) I also changed over our security cameras, so a single management set-up is a bonus.

All of this did indeed resolve the initial problem with Wi-Fi devices, and I have continued to refine my smart home set up. It is not completely perfect, and one niggling problem recently has been a single Zigbee temperature/humidity sensor that inconsistently stops responding, yet another of the same type that is located much further away does not! I have another of the same type on order to see if it is the specific unit that is the issue.

I have also more recently swapped out some of my Wi-Fi devices for Thread versions, and overall I am finding Thread to be fairly reliable and self-healing, as promised.

Eventually, I will switch over my smoke alarms and some door locks to smart versions, but I will have to be really satisfied with reliability due to how vital proper functionality is with both.

Lastly, another project I have just started the journey on is figuring out a way of pumping water from a rain tank into the garden, and also having that controllable/measurable via Home Assistant, which I run partially integrated with Apple Home as a testing ground for experimental projects…

Currently listening: FIREWALKER - “low poly racing mix”

40 years old, but plenty of vitality still. 4 different chip architectures, but a common thread of technology with a smile.

Here is the introduction video in 1984.

Here is the page Apple had 10 years ago.

Here is the inside story of the “Think Different” campaign. A later chapter of the Macintosh story, but very important as it was the beginning of an incredible second-act for a company and platform many had written off.

Compare the original Mac 128K with the Vision Pro, and imagine what the next 40 years will bring…

Currently listening: Bob Dylan - “The Times They Are A-Changin'" - of course!

One other thing I wanted to fix with the old Sony Vaio laptop was figure out a solution for the missing hard drive bracket…

It’s the sort of random part one might eventually spot an original of on eBay as the bracket (Sony Part Number 4-674-033-01) does seem to be used in quite a few different Vaio laptop models, but most likely pay far too much for.

So, I fired up PrusaSlicer to design and then print my first project - all it is a happy little cuboid to keep the IDE SSD from sliding out of place, but you gotta start somewhere! :)

Currently listening: Zorrovian - “✨Cosmic Curation✨ (Ambient, Jungle, Jazzy, 90s DNB mix)"

The transparent telephone is all done, fairly easy kit to put together barring some steps - for example, I had to use a small file to scratch some surfaces to allow me to tin solder on, I guess after a couple of decades there was a layer of corrosion… Also, fitting the case over everything took a bit of care and adjustment.

Two observations after testing it with my Telephone Line Simulator; the ringtone produced by the piezo speaker is shrill and piercing (thank goodness there’s a “ringer” switch to turn it off!), and secondly; when it rings it also flashes these four cute neon tubes on the back! It’s funny how far LEDs have come, these days there would be little reason to use anything else…

Happy to have a transparent telephone in my collection, and certainly the “IKEA effect” applies to it!

Currently listening: FIREWALKER - “Strip Club Penguin DnB Mix”

Following on from my recent post about the OWC IDE SSD I found contained a bridge internally to a low profile “micro connector” SATA, I ordered and received a used Toshiba “THNSNC064GAMJ” 64GB SSD. After removing the metal casing, the internal PCB plugged into that SATA connector and fit inside the OWC casing, and I was able to format and mount the drive! I have since installed Windows XP successfully with the drive inside the old Sony VAIO laptop, and it is running well :)

Currently listening: LTJ Bukem - “Unknown Set (1995)"

I had always wanted to add a transparent telephone to my collection at some point, so when I spotted this NOS (“new old stock”) kit recently on eBay with the bonus being I get to build-it-myself, I happily bought it.

Second step is having the time to put it together! I should get a chance sometime over these holidays…

There was an extensive manual with the kit that covers assembly, testing, and theory which I scanned and uploaded to the Internet Archive.

Currently listening: Mouly - “Studio Set (1995)"

I was installing Windows XP on a Sony Vaio PCG-FR825P (a real chunky boi!) and I kept running into issues - turned out the OWC Mercury Legacy Pro SSD I was installing it onto was failing :(

I swapped it out with a 80GB 2.5-inch old-school mechanical IDE hard drive to get the machine running, and I next turned my attention to the SSD itself… Since I had nothing to lose, I thought I’d take a look inside, and after removing four small Phillips-head screws, it turned out to have a bit of a secret! Inside was a tiny bridge from IDE to a very low-profile version of SATA called Micro connector, and so the SSD itself is presumably replaceable…

I have ordered a couple of things and will try swapping out the SATA SSD portion, hopefully the replacement will mean I can still make use of this case/bridge, the IDE bridge it uses has been quite reliable and compatible with vintage machines.

Currently listening: Jellati - “underwater JUNGLE DNB 🌊🦑 a jungle drum and bass mix”

I never really had a need for something like it back when Bento was around, but a little while ago I was looking for a simple database App that works between Mac and iOS/iPadOS, and Collections really has turned out to fit the bill for me.

It is easy to use, perfect for the rather limited needs I have, and allows me to keep track of a number of things, such as my DVD/Blu-Ray’s - it is easy to forget if you already own a film beyond a certain point! I’m planning on using it for a few more things in future as well, including a tracker for what electrical circuits are for what outlets, etc, in my house.

Highly recommend the App, and hopefully the developer will keep working on/supporting it for quite a while…

Currently listening: 츠미 tsumi - “132 bpm”

Kraftwerk.

Very happy to say I have finally seen Kraftwerk live!