It's almost not worth reporting, but...

[jonb]

Hello!

After an epic move and redecoration - you know, the normal BS - I'm finally getting round to sorting my retro man cave out. My first machine to be unpacked is the Superbrain (not the SB II which is dead at the moment). Trusty old thing is still booting from uIDE but refuses to access the floppy drives.

So, its out with the screwdrivers, top off and a good fiddle about in there. Check the sockets are good, no loose ICs etc. Nada. Hmm. Let's try a 3.5" drive. Out with the transfer PC, image a boot disk on a 3.5" floppy, try again. Nope. Could it be the disk controller? I spent a while looking for a spare, without success. There are, however, a couple of 2114 SRAMs in my chip box, and the SB uses these on the floppy circuit (it is run entirely by a dedicated Z80, and this is its memory).

A seasoned adventurer in Retro Land knows that 2114s are partial to failing, usually at the most inopportune moments (is there a good time for this?), so I swapped 'em out. Nope, still broken, only now the A: drive won't light up at all. Maybe only one is zapped, I thought, so I went about swapping chips one at a time until...

..so that turned out fine in the end.

I am hoping to become more active in this hobby soon, at which point I look forward to engaging with this fab community.

Until then...

Regards
JonB

[Cruxinc]

thanks for sharing this info, the intertec superbrain is one of my dream computers, and plan to hopefully get one with money from a summer job. i first learned about this computer when i went to retro computer fest 2023. if its not to dificult, would it be possible to provide some pics of the insides? also do you have any tips for getting one of these? thanks a lot and have a good day
-Elliot

[jonb]

Hi Elliot

Search these forums for "Superbrain" and you will find my repair threads. Also, on the VCF Forum. They contain many interior pictures of the machine and its newer sibling the Superbrain II (although my SB II is housed in a SB case with SB PSU).

Cheers
JonB

[Retro_Jon]

<SNIP> also do you have any tips for getting one of these? thanks a lot and have a good day
-Elliot

Hi Elliot,

Keep a very close (and regular) eye out on Ebay as well as Facebook marketplace - better still create a search that alerts you. They can and do turn up, but in the case of Ebay you won't find a cheap one!

I recently bought one on Ebay. I had a saved search set up which alerted me. I purchased it immediately as it had a 'Buy it Now' price on it. It wasn't a cheap purchase I have to say, but I wanted one badly, having let go of mine a couple of decades ago. I also regard it as an investment like money in the bank, should I ever part with this one (which is unlikely).

Had to do a 300 mile round trip to collect it as well! It had no manuals, nor disks and was described as non-working, but a quick poke around with some dislodged chips, saw it boot to the INSERT DISK INTO DRIVE A prompt! I was lucky!

I've since purchased a full set of original documentation from a seller in the USA (again costly).

Just need to create some boot disks next, or purchase a Gotek drive.

Jon

[Retro_Jon]

Hi Elliot

Search these forums for "Superbrain" and you will find my repair threads. Also, on the VCF Forum. They contain many interior pictures of the machine and its newer sibling the Superbrain II (although my SB II is housed in a SB case with SB PSU).

Cheers
JonB

Hi Jon,

Just saw your PM today, I'm unable to reply via PM at the moment as I'm too new to the forum it would seem!

However, my machine is a Superbrain II QD in superb condition. I'll post some pictures up, but I seem unable to do that either due to lack of skill or due to my newness / post count?

As mentioned above in my reply to Elliot, I managed to breath life into my SBII after some amateur tinkkering, seems one or two chips needed a gentle press into their sockets to put them back in place or just freshen up the joint!

As I say I'm an amateur tinkerer, having read some of your detailed posts, I can categorically confirm I'm not in your league! But have owned, loved and sold many hundreds of vintage computers!

Looking at getting a Gotek drive, seeing this as the best way to firm up CP/M on my Superbrain from the images available online. Then seeing if I can create some original 5.25" boot disks after cleaning the disk heads, lubing the rails, etc of the original drives.

Hope to converse more with you in the future. Can't wait to see my SB up and running. May need to be re-capped, in fact that's almost certain I would say. But right now, she boots fine to the insert disk prompt and I'm a happy chap!

Jon

[Cruxinc]

<SNIP> also do you have any tips for getting one of these? thanks a lot and have a good day
-Elliot

Hi Elliot,

Keep a very close (and regular) eye out on Ebay as well as Facebook marketplace - better still create a search that alerts you. They can and do turn up, but in the case of Ebay you won't find a cheap one!

I recently bought one on Ebay. I had a saved search set up which alerted me. I purchased it immediately as it had a 'Buy it Now' price on it. It wasn't a cheap purchase I have to say, but I wanted one badly, having let go of mine a couple of decades ago. I also regard it as an investment like money in the bank, should I ever part with this one (which is unlikely).

Had to do a 300 mile round trip to collect it as well! It had no manuals, nor disks and was described as non-working, but a quick poke around with some dislodged chips, saw it boot to the INSERT DISK INTO DRIVE A prompt! I was lucky!

I've since purchased a full set of original documentation from a seller in the USA (again costly).

Just need to create some boot disks next, or purchase a Gotek drive.

Jon

thanks for the tips! i also have a saved search on ebay but it didnt notify me...
its a shame so many of these computers are so expencive noerdays, im 15 and cannot afford anything so have to rely on xmas and b day presents (i got a beeb and cub for xmas!)
have a good day

[Retro_Jon]

thanks for the tips! i also have a saved search on ebay but it didnt notify me...
its a shame so many of these computers are so expencive noerdays, im 15 and cannot afford anything so have to rely on xmas and b day presents (i got a beeb and cub for xmas!)
have a good day

It's great to see younger people interested in the vintage machines! They certainly came from the halcyon days of home computing and basically form part of the “Technological revolution” - which no doubt they'll be teaching in schools some day, just like they do the Industrial revolution! Forget the Spinning Jenny, here's a BBC Micro Model A !

Enjoy your BBC Micro, it's a fantastic machine which you should get endless hours of enjoyment from, whilst also learning about programming, interfacing and perhaps also electronics if you wish.

I sold a Merlin Tonto (same as an ICL One Per Desk or OPD) just before Christmas. Google it up if you don't know what it is! Interesting machine based on a Sinclair QL.

I delivered it to the buyer who had bought it for her son as a Christmas present! He was quite a bit younger than you! It surprise me a little that a younger chap would have the interest in what is basically a business machine, but apparently vintage computing is his passion - sensible young fella!

Keep enjoying your vintage machines, I wish you the best of luck in finding a Superbrain!

[jonb]

@Retro_Jon

You are very fortunate indeed that all you needed to do to resurrect your SB II was reseat a few chips! My machines have both been the recipient of a lot of work (including designing a carrier board for additional logic to get round the failed cusom keyboard chip on my SB I, and video board restoration). Glad it's pretty - mine is not, and it's in a ratty looking SB I case as well, with SB I PSU and display. It's because it was originally a board used for teaching how to repair them, and I was given it by an ex Intertek engineer. His handle is Talywain on here. I had it set up with a VDU, PSU and drive as can be seen in my repair thread:

https://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16316

Later on I managed to source a PSU, display and case as well, also for nowt, though I had to travel a long way to retrieve it.

I've sent you a PM with my email address if you want to ask questions about it. I can provide you with boot disks.

@Elliot, it's going to be difficult to source a Superbrain in the UK. They are not that common over here. I only know of a handful of owners (they are mostly on the VCF forum). But as Retro_Jon says, keep an eye out on eBay and FB marketplace.

There used to be a seller called zx9r-ninja or something similar, notorious for charging sky high prices for his retro machines. He had a broken Superbrain in stunning cosmetic condition, but wanted a grand for it. "It's only going up in value", ha ha. I always thought that his approach had a distorting effect on the market (as in, people search for asking prices and ask the same, little knowing that these high prices mean the machines don't sell at all - in the case of that SB, it was on sale for years and never sold AFAIK).

Anyway, should you be successful, do let us know.

Cheers
JonB

[Retro_Jon]

Hi JonB,

Many thanks for your message as well as the PM.

I still seem unable to send PM's just yet, assume it's a minimum post count issue, like most forums - I won't bother the admin's just yet though!

I'll pop an email over to you - many thanks indeed for the offer of a boot disk - that would be awesome!

Regards,

Jon

[Retro_Jon]

Update - I can NOW send and reply to PM's - yay!

Jon

[jonb]

Solder a wire between pins 4 (GND) and 17 (/CTS) to ket Kermit working.

[Retro_Jon]

Many thanks Jon, will do.

Mega thanks for the boot disk, you are a true gent. I've sent you more info in a PM.

Will get the spare documentation over to you asap.

Best,

Jon