Posts tagged "Failure of Custom Chips"

A lot of computers include custom-made integrated circuits to reduce the cost of their manufacture. When those parts fail, there’s not much that a hobbyist can do to repair them. Or is there?

• February 10, 2026

  Leaded Solder vs. The Crazy 77

  

  Things don’t always go to plan! When battling one of the most complex 8-bit home computers ever made, you can expect to run into some problems.

• January 16, 2024

  Big Blue vs. The Tandy 1000SX

  

  Thanks to the incredible kindness of another Tandy nerd, I’ve gotten a replacement Light Blue chip, but will the Tandy 1000SX finally work properly? Let’s ask the four years that I spent trying to figure out what else was wrong with it.