xianc78 @xianc78@gameliberty.club

The NiCD and NiMH batteries killing 90s laptops (just one way they rot from the inside)

Recently, my NEC PC-9821Nr15 laptop had a component burn out, either due to a loose screw in the chassis somewhere or age. Essentially, I have to hold the power switch for seconds to make the laptop power on now and stay on. Unfortunately, after tearing down the laptop, I was unable to see a “burnt” component. I have no schematics of this laptop, and I don’t think many 90s laptops have leaked boardview schematics or something like even some low-end Lenovo will these days. Nor do they have test carts, in depth documentation, and even hidden diagnostic modes like many 80s computers did. If it breaks, your best bet is to buy another. So I bought a sight unseen for the most part, PC-9821Nr166. Unfortunately, this one had hidden damage, and the damage was barely hidden in the low-quality, low-resolution YAJ images. It was sold as a junk as-is item that might or might not have leaks, and quite frankly I should have paid closer attention.

Essentially, I wasted $100 on a parts donor laptop with a trashed motherboard, good LCD screen, and a dead battery that is probably leaking inside of its case. But let’s take a look at what is inside a random 90s laptop, because I want this to be a PSA. The laptop was sold as powering on to a PASSWORD DESTROYED screen. For those of you who don’t know PC-98s, that is one of the first screens you get when turning on a later PC-9821 along with SET SOFTWARE DIP SWITCH, this is to indicate that the password has been reset on models with passworded BIOSes. However, after a few attempts at powering on the laptop would power on to a solid BEEP with no video out, and then nothing.

I tore the laptop apart to see what was wrong with it, and what I found was horrific. So, let’s take a look inside. The first sign of trouble was seeing corrosion in the HDD bay, and on one of the screws. This was hidden damage, buried below the modem board on this model.

The keyboard had rust below it, common on Japanese PCs…mixed with corrosion.

Inside, the NiMH standby battery had not only leaked, but it crawled through the multi-layer traces to the RAM slot and other parts of the board. The Lithium VL2330 battery had not leaked, as these never leak. In fact, the NiCD leakage was so bad that the connector had fused itself to the socket!

Essentially what I was left with, was a nice PC-98 shaped object: a dead laptop that was only good for parts. Maybe some of the chips would be good for decapping and I’m sure the YMF288 would be a nice chip to salvage for a project, but for now it’s a useless brick that only exists as parts for another PC-98 laptop.

The problem is, this is not exclusive to PC-98 laptops or NEC laptops. This is a common issue that affected numerous 90s laptops. See, 90s laptops loved to use NiCD or NiMH batteries as either the main system battery, a CMOS battery, or as a backup battery. The end result is a barely functional or nonfunctional laptop with serious issues caused by leakage. On Thinkpad 755 laptops, the battery leaks onto the keyboard membrane. On others, it corrodes the entire board. There are multiple
vogons
threads about this very issue affecting their laptops too. Due to multi-layer PCBs, a lack of schematics, and niche interest, there isn’t much that can be done to save these laptops other than to remove the NiCD batteries if they have not leaked too badly, and consider yourself lucky. If a NiCD battery is needed, you can always do what the pinball guys did and wire in a blocking diode with a lithium battery or something. No really, you can find tons of videos of pinball guys doing this to the simpler PCBs used there:

With that being said, that’s not talking about the capacitor issues on old laptops too that kill them and leak as well, or rotting plastics, or vinegar syndrome. In other words, 90s laptops are rotting themselves from the inside in multiple ways!

With a PC-98 desktop, or PC desktop of the era, this is not a problem. A Socket 5/7 system from the same era will probably keep working for a long period of time. They don’t have rotting plastics, rotting LCDs, or leaky caps. They just werk. If the PSU is normal/standard, you can even grab a generic PSU or adapter if it blows out, and some later PC-98 desktops like the ValueStar and Ra series do this. A PC-9821Ra20 or V200 can be upgraded with an ATX PSU from Micro Center, and the same goes with many PCs using AT or ATX PSUs.

Essentially if you don’t hate yourself and don’t want parts machines, buy a desktop and save yourself the hassle.

 

 

calling 211 in a minute but i'd appreciate anyone who can see this and offer me any kind of help

doxing myself a bit over this but...
does anyone know anywhere i can stay for the night in the 757 and get a ride there cus i have a couple heavy bags? otherwise i'm either sleeping outside tonight or calling the hospital to stay there

remember 90s laptops are rotting from the inside out and if you're too late you just have a parts machine
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=60613
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=92725
https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=90655

RE: https://makai.chaotic.ninja/notes/a1zhd2j6mq

@kf01 Anything that unironically uses that shit is an abomination.

>Civ VII trailer has BCE and CE
It just keeps getting worse

@lanodan @sun if you listen to people like jones they make it sound like its all hopeless because our enemies are technological gods in control of every atom of the planet with supercomputers

then you realize the controller's websites have passwords like trumpputin, hunter2, and canada is having to rob civilians for guns because the nato stockpiles actually don't exist

we are ruled over by morons

"I treated my son like shit but my daughter like a princess, why won't he talk to me? Ah well time to buy my daughter another Altima after wrecking hers"

>C++
>legacy language

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Fish-Shell-4.0-Beta

For some, the meme-ification of raw milk (and related products like beef tallow) is just a sideshow to what is increasingly, clearly, a small "r" anti-bureaucrat populist political revolt.
https://naturalblaze.com/2024/12/the-life-affirming-vitality-of-raw-milk.html

Goldback Launches Florida Series With New Denominations
https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2024/12/17/goldback-launches-florida-series-with-new-denominations-003692

I do get, that people have learned the helplessness against ads already, but why do they KEEP FIGHTING ME whenever I try to suggest alternatives for them?

Looking at the git nostr spec again. Dreaming of a github app in notedeck, where I can “share” pull requests to damus mail to do code review from there for later.

The idea is that you should be able to pin any threadlike nostr notes in your inbox, and track updates from there.

it would make sense for notedeck to have a “standard library” for ui widgets that different apps can use to render notes (like git patches, etc). So both the mail app and github app could render them.

nostr is slowly consuming all the apps i use

Elements of a #nostrmail client i am planning in Damus Mail:

- encrypted, private, no metadata (giftwraps)
- threaded (nip10)
- titled threads (subject tag)
- to,cc,etc (sent to the npub’s inbox relays)
- replaceable event that refer to the “state” of a given thread: is it archived, labels, etc. archived threads don’t appear in inbox

This should be a solid foundation for a nostr mail client, and it could also provide an interface to nip17 dms as well.

Despite what supporters of the monster state want you to believe, there are times when states push back against federal power and the supremacy clause doesn’t even apply.

Learn about this powerful 10th Amendment tool called anti-commandeering.

https://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2024/05/10th-amendment-why-the-supremacy-clause-doesnt-apply-when-states-opt-out/

Oklahoma Bill Would Create State Bullion Depository - and establish a mechanism for individuals to engage in transactions using precious metals including gold and silver.

https://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2024/12/oklahoma-bill-create-state-bullion-depository/

https://rumble.com/v60degq-pokemon-gov-...-another-conspiracy-confirmed.html

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When on a jury, it is your absolute right, and in my opinion duty, to nullify unconstitutional and unjust laws by rendering a "not guilty" verdict.

Jury nullification is the only viable non-violent solution to government tyranny in post-Constitutional America, and only requires convincing 10% of the (local) population.