Ken Shirriff's blog

Computer history, restoring vintage computers, IC reverse engineering, and whatever

Reading a VGA monitor's configuration data with I2C and a PocketBeagle

Have you ever wondered how your computer knows all the characteristics of your monitor— the supported resolutions, the model, and even the...

Implementing FizzBuzz on an FPGA

I recently started FPGA programming and figured it would be fun to use an FPGA to implement the FizzBuzz algorithm. An FPGA ( Field-Progra...

Repairing the card reader for a 1960s mainframe: cams, relays and a clutch

I recently helped repair the card reader for the Computer History Museum's vintage IBM 1401 mainframe. In the process, I learned a lot ...

IBM mainframe tube module part II: Powering up and using a 1950s key debouncer

In the 1950s, before integrated circuits or even transistors, mainframe computers were built from thousands of power-hungry vacuum tubes fil...

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