Linux Jedi
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Andrew Hutchings is a Developer Advocate and Systems Software Engineer specializing in Open Source Linux based software. He worked on many popular Open Source projects over various roles including OpenStack, Drizzle, and MySQL. Known to many as LinuxJedi.
Linux Jedi
1w ago
Last weekend I started the first of a four-part course teaching children to program on the BBC Micro. Of course, when dealing with 40 year old hardware being used all day, something could go wrong. A couple of minor things did fail, so this post is about what happened and how I solved them. The ..read more
Linux Jedi
1M ago
When I was much younger, I had a BBC Micro computer at home. A few friends had Acorn Electrons, and I saw them at the time as the inferior sibling to the BBC Micro. Roll on to today, and I have a BBC Micro or two, which was originally called the Acorn Proton. I also ..read more
Linux Jedi
2M ago
In my previous post, I thought I had both BBCs fully working and almost complete. I cleaned the inside of the bottom half of the case for the white BBC and installed the motherboard again, screwing it back down. This would turn out to be a mistake. DFS Upgrade The white BBC didn’t have the ..read more
Linux Jedi
2M ago
For BBC Micro owners in the 1980s, a disk drive and DFS upgrade was often financially out of reach, sometimes costing nearly as much as the computer itself. This was the case for me as a child, instead we had the ANF03 Data Recorder to use cassette tapes instead. The ANF03 This is the ANF03 ..read more
Linux Jedi
2M ago
Following on from my previous BBC Micro restoration post, I figured I should take a look at BBC Micro #2. Let’s see where we are at. Powering Up I have a USB-C power supply for a BBC Micro, which makes things easier for testing. Especially since I know I’ll need to refurbish the power supply ..read more
Linux Jedi
3M ago
I thought part 2 was the end of my restoration journey for Tobias the Valiant Turtle. But there is more that has happened since. So, let’s get to it. Controller Cover The controller was great, but I decided it needed a casing, I happened to have a spool of green PLA available, so I designed ..read more
Linux Jedi
3M ago
I was recently chatting to a local friend about the course I’m setting up to teach local kids BBC BASIC and Logo. He mentioned that he had his brother’s boxed BBC computer in the loft and that he would donate it to me so that I had the final machine needed for the course. I’m ..read more
Linux Jedi
3M ago
In a previous post, I showed the two BBC Micro computers I had acquired. I decided to work on the black one first, this is the start of the restoration. PSU Recap A vital thing that needs to be done with all BBC computers is to replace some of the capacitors in the power supply ..read more
Linux Jedi
3M ago
In the past, I’ve discussed the soldering gear and general tools I’ve used, but I haven’t really summarized the diagnostic tools I recommend. I have been asked about some recently, so I figured it is time to blog about it. Infrared camera I thought I’d start with the odd one first, but actually, it is ..read more
Linux Jedi
4M ago
I previously left my Atari 800XL with a faulty GTIA chip which completely broke the video output from the Atari. Now the restoration continues. New GTIA After asking around a few people suggested that I contact Best Electronics in America. They have an incredible selection of Atari custom ICs, including the GTIA I need. I ..read more