Mautrix-Signal bridge dropping Dendrite
Compatibility issue with the Mautrix-Signal bridge indicates issues with Dendrite’s declining development pace and lack of migration options.
Symptom: 2024-02-18T18:06:31Z ERR The homeserver is outdated (supported spec versions are below minimum required by bridge) bridge_requires=v1.4 server_supports=v1.2
Dendrite · English · Matrix · Signal
739 words
4 minutes
Mega STE 1.44 HD floppy, FPU, fan and RTC upgrades
A few weeks ago I acquired a computer I never had the chance to play around with when it was new, an Atari Mega STE. It’s the culmination of Atari’s 16 bit line of computers, very compatible with the ST(E) range yet much more expandable, usually coming with a SCSI adapter and HD (1.44MB) floppy support. Besides the expandability, it can run at 16Mhz, with cache, compared to 8MHz for the rest of the ST(E) computers. It also has a socket for a 68881/68882 FPU. However, a few very early Mega STEs didn’t come with 1.44MB floppy support, and there aren’t really any Atari dealers left if you want to sort that out - or for that matter add the logic chip needed for the FPU. So, during the last few weeks, I’ve sorted out what needed to be done to get the machine “up to spec”. 1) I found a wonderful guide over at Dbug’s site on replacing the (VERY LOUD!) PSU fan with something almost completely silent. 2) I realized the mythical Epson 340 floppy drive (Atari’s HD drive of choice) was also sold under the HP brand as Hewlett Packard D2035-60011, and snagged two quite cheaply off Ebay. The big benefit of using the Epson is that you can transplant the eject button and faceplate from the old 720KB drive and thus no modification to the casing is needed. 3) After some searching I found GAL files for both 1.44MB floppy support and the FPU support , and thanks to a fellow retro computing enthusiast (hi joska) I had both chips programmed. See below for more detail. 4) I figured out that there was a cheap and easy replacement for the original RTC battery - see separate post. 5) TOS 2.06. Yes, my machine came with 2.05. This was by far the easiest part .. I really only bought the machine to be able to test compatibility with my software, I already have both a very tricked out STE as well as a heavily upgraded Mega ST, but I’m getting to appreciate the Mega STE more for every day. Maybe I need to have three different Atari models at my desk at all times? Additional details for the curious: FPU upgrade. As can be seen in Atari’s official installation manual most motherboards come with a jumper W3 that should be opened when you add an FPU. My motherboard didn’t, since it’s an older revision. According to the manual there should then be a resistor on the bottom side of the motherboard that you need to remove. At first I thought mine had already been patched, since a resistor was placed in the socket topside - but due to needing to do something else on the bottom side later (see below) I found out there indeed was a resistor there as well. Remove, insert the C301903 GAL, insert FPU (a 68882 in my case), test with Gembench 4.03 and everything’s fine.
630 words
3 minutes
Back in late 2019 I saw an ad on Facebook for a very interesting IoT device from a Swedish company local to me - Minut. I’ve been a very happy user of the four devices (named Point at the time, known as Minut M2 now) since then. This is the story of how I spent quite some time investigating what made them tick, and if I could make them tick differently. Being a few years old, this is not their latest device. However, they are still fully supported by their service.
Cybersecurity · English · IoT · Minut
3620 words
17 minutes
I have a problem. While the culture of giving something extra for good service, tipping, varies greatly between countries, I’ve so far found no solution to the problem of being given bad service.
287 words
2 minutes
Apple might like to polish their user interfaces, but sometimes the logic underneath is … less polished.
Apple · English · Finder · Osx · Pathfinder
114 words
1 minute
Open source is national security
The events of 2025 has forced the EU to embrace open-source alternatives as a strategic move for digital sovereignty and national security.
It’s dead Jim The friendly global market died in the beginning of 2025. The idea that software & services (yes, hardware too) can be procured from anywhere and used where needed died with it.
English · EU · National Security · Open Source
408 words
2 minutes
This last weekend me and many others were participating at the third incarnation of the STNICCC Atari ST conference . The first and original one was held in 1990 - where sadly I didn’t attend - and the second one was held as a reunion in the year 2000. Back then they joked about meeting up again in the far far away future of 2015.
200 words
1 minute
PLCC 44 PROM programming with TL866
Even the retro world is moving away from the regular DIP packaging sometimes. The Atari Falcon, and third party ROM boards from Exxos, use the 27C4096 PROM in PLCC packaging to hold TOS (the operating system). The TL866 with its DIP40 socket cannot obviously handle these, but a quick search shows us that there exists many adapter packages available to purchase that will sort out various types of popular socket formats. Including 44 pin PLCC. However, the most common such adapter isn’t meant for PROMs, but for micro controllers (like the AT89C51 used for the example below). While the pin assignment is almost the same, for the critical purpose of programming the NC pins are swapped. $ minipro -p AT27C4096@DIP40 -r test.bin Found TL866A 03.2.86 (0x256) Invalid Chip ID: expected 0x1E00F400, got 0xFFFFFFFF (unknown) (use '-y' to continue anyway at your own risk) If we want to program PROMs with this adapter, we need to perform a slight modification.
208 words
1 minute
Seasonal Affective Disorder - SAD. wikipedia also known as winter depression, winter blues […] or seasonal depression, was considered a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter […]
English · SAD · Science · SSRI · Transhumanism
441 words
3 minutes
Rootless Docker and home folder shenanigans
Docker is a powerful tool for managing and deploying applications, but it can sometimes be frustrating to work with. In this post, I want to share my experience with a recent issue I had with rootless Docker, and what I did to resolve it.
381 words
2 minutes