Sunday, July 26, 2020

Adding a new Bluetooth 4.2 and AC Wifi card to a cMP (Mac Pro 4,1/5,1)

My cMP 5,1 (2012) now has AC WiFi, BT 4.2, Handoff, Continuity, AirDrop and Apple Watch unlock all working after terminal command activation. Thanks to support and hints found in the MacProUpgrade community on facebook.



Sunday, July 19, 2020

Pentax K70 DSLR (K50/K30) - Dark photos fix - Solenoid replacement

Unfortunately, due to a failed cost savings attempt on Pentax' side the solenoid manufacturer Shinmei moving its production from Japan to China, a different (cheaper?) aperture solenoid was used on their K30, K50 and later a slightly? improved version on the K70 model cameras. 
There are basically 2 versions of the now famous culprit solenoid used in the Pentax K series: the most recent has a plastic (PET) body of green color and it is made in China. The former/older solenoid used in their older cameras such as the K10, K20, K100 uses a higher quality white teflon (PTFE) body solenoid that was made in Japan.



Sunday, July 12, 2020

Keeping the Technics SA-GX910 (or SA-GX710) running cool - Fan mod with speed control

In today's post, I would like to share a mod that I just did to my old-time favourite Technics receiver: the Technics SA-GX910. Before going into deeper into this mod, here is a little history on these receivers and why they are (still) one of my favourite receiver. 


THE TECHNICS SA-GX SERIES FROM EARLY 90s

This receiver is a top-of-the-line from Technics from the early 90's (1991 to be exact). Many agree that is not only a great sounding receiver, but also a great looking one. With it's graphic equalizer and many MANY buttons, you can fully customize the sound to your liking without the need of going in out of menus like in today's received. Plus, you can monitor all the settings in the gorgeous VFG display. 

The lower end model SA-GX505 (also a great sounding receiver!)

Sunday, July 5, 2020

Adding voice to the original DOS versions of Monkey Island 1 and 2

Hello everyone! 


Being a big fan of the LucasFilm (then LucasArts) point and click games from the late 80s / early 90s, I wanted to try playing these games in one of my vintage computers.

I recently installed the latest PowerPC version (v2.1.2) of ScummVM on my PowerBook G4 12" and it ran great! It was fun to re-visit a few LucasArts games of my childhood running well on the vintage, small form factor, and sturdy aluminum Apple laptop from 2004. I feel the trackpad in this PowerBook is very responsive and a perfect fit for a point-and-click adventure game.

I've played a bit of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (The Graphic Adventure), of course I wanted to try the the Special Editions released in 2009 and 2010 of Monkey Island 1 and 2. I needed to try the original DOS versions of The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck's Revenge to see them running on the PowerPC / MacOS.