Category Archives: Oldskool/retro programming

The IBM Music Feature Card and Yamaha FB-01

Posted on March 26, 2019 by

This has got to be one of the most obscure pieces of hardware I have covered so far. A sound card for the IBM PC, released in 1987. And by none other than Big Blue themselves! I am talking about … Continue reading →

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The DreamBlaster S2P: General MIDI from a parallel port

Posted on March 9, 2019 by

In the interest of catching up, here is the second blog that is long overdue. I want to talk about the DreamBlaster S2P from Serdaco. I received mine over a year ago, and it actually was an early prototype. The … Continue reading →

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Keeping it real for Outline 2018

Posted on March 7, 2019 by

It’s been a while, but I’m back. Or at least, I hope to have some more time to blog again from now on. And not just to blog, because many of my blogs are the result of experimentations with software … Continue reading →

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An emulator that 8088 MPH doesn’t break?

Posted on January 19, 2019 by

Breaking news! Or actually non-breaking news! Just now I have managed to run 8088 MPH in an emulator for the first time, with all effects showing, and giving a reasonably accurate rendition of real hardware. The emulator is 86Box, and … Continue reading →

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Putting the things together, part 2: MIDI and other problems

Posted on February 9, 2018 by

Remember a few months ago, when I explained my approach to playing VGM files? Well, VGM files are remarkably similar to Standard MIDI files. In a way, MIDI files are also just time-stamped captures of data sent to a sound … Continue reading →

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What makes the PCjr cool, and what makes it uncool?

Posted on January 12, 2018 by

The IBM PCjr was a huge flop in the marketplace. As such, it has only been in production for about 14 months, and never even reached my part of the world. When I grew up, I had a vague notion … Continue reading →

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming | 3 Comments

More PC(jr) incompatibilities!

Posted on January 6, 2018 by

The race for PC-compatibility Since the mid-80s, there have been many clones of the original IBM PC. IBM themselves also made new-and-improved versions of the PC, aiming for backward-compatibility. DOS itself was more or less a clone of CP/M, and … Continue reading →

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