LGR - Repairing The Barbie Computer

I hope you don't use that oven again after reflowing the soldier because the lead can release chemicals that can cause you to get sick or poisoned.

Alessandro Perlini

Well, I didn't know anything about that "baking" process... When you put that motherboard in the oven I thought "well, he surrended in a funny way" but then I was like "WHAT?". The things you can do with this technology will never cease to amaze me. Great stuff, sir.

Ant Field

Clint, watching this made me want to build a Win95 (or3.3.1) just to remind me how easy it is now :D

pcwzrd13

Fresh baked motherboard > Fresh baked cookies

Many Pink Butterflies

I had never heard of baking the motherboard. Couldn't believe it worked

LGR

And it's fun to get them dirty! Glad you enjoyed :)

LGR

Someday, somehow, all the Barbie games will be covered

LGR

I get that more and more lately :) Glad it's relaxing, even if nothing else!

LGR

Heh, yeah.. The "lazy" moniker grows increasingly outdated

LGR

Thanks, Gary!

LGR

Glad you think so :)

LGR

It's still putty for now!

Did you leave the fan with putty or did you switch it out?

Axonteer

I grew up with DOS 6.4, then win3.11 then win95 and i have a diploma as a Disk-Jokey... aah times where mainboards did not have native cd-rom drivers thus forcing me to install win3.11 first to install win95 when it broke AGAIN :D, thus win98 was my real first stable expirience after DOS. Cool times back then.

Dee

omigosh you actually got one!

Many Pink Butterflies

Wow that was incredibly interesting

Gary Leigh

Only you can make repairing a PC interesting. Nice job.

Fornax Void

HGR - hard-working game reviews!

Lindsay Michelle

Your voice is so relaxing, especially hearing it after the super chaotic day I had. I like your rambling videos in general because it brings that out in you the most, I think. Even when you swore and bleeped it out -- that at least made me laugh even if interrupted the chill mode of the video. XD But really, you could read the dictionary (or to be even more retro, a phone book) and I'd probably be relaxed even from that, haha. :)

Barbie is gonna be so happy you fixed her computer. Now you have to review every single late 90s Barbie PC Game.

Colm

Loved the video Clint, good to see you get your hands dirty...

Robert Launder

Loved this video. I really hope a video on the two comes soon!

Eric Christopher

During the mid 2000s there were some all-in-one PCs that were about as good.

LGR

As you can see in the video where I showed it in the oven, I absolutely did :) Putting a battery in an oven is a clear recipe for disaster..

Colm

I'd have taken that 2032 battery out before sticking it in the oven :)

Alyxx the Rat

I'd watch it...

Alyxx the Rat

Yeah, beer tends to make things better hehe

Runefox

That doesn't surprise me. Even if it were a "real" sound card, it'd be PCI, which has different addressing than ISA. Even Creative PCI cards with real hardware needed an "emulator" to hook into the ISA base/IRQ/DMA for DOS compatibility, and these SoundMAX devices are almost purely software-driven. Ah, the joys of the early "legacy-free" PC... :D

Kevin

I can imagine haha. I know how infuriating the illusive problems can be haha!

LGR

Trust me, it was tempting to toss the whole thing in the oven and turn it on max, haha

LGR

I'm thinking about it, just because it'd be good to have a spare. But then again, working spares are super easy and quite cheap to find online, I was able to source three of them when rebuilding these!

LGR

Yeah, this case design is textbook for how NOT to do it. My hands were so cut up after every session working on it.

LGR

Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, a dash of lemon juice, and some paprika

LGR

Go for it! It's super classy.

LGR

Yay! It's a really useful technique for seemingly dead boards

LGR

Tell me about it. Had to hook up an Internet connecting sharing network thing in high school on the Windows 95 computers once, it was AWFUL

LGR

Haha. Yeah they're supposed to be translucent shadows but they're not showing up.

LGR

The insanity was so close I could taste it. Then I had a beer and it was okay.

LGR

Thinking of doing one if people end up liking this :)

LGR

Thanks!

LGR

Thank you!

LGR

Haha, glad someone noticed the hard drive! The computer description is also "PressThePressThePressThe"

LGR

You are correct, it has some software settings for Sound Blaster emulation in the control panel! Doesn't play sound in DOS mode at all :)

Runefox

I bet that machine doesn't actually have a MIDI chipset at all, and the Hot Wheels is the same way; The driver for the Hot Wheels' sound card probably installs a basic softsynth / hooks into Windows' Roland-based MIDI driver. I'd be interested to see if it works in "pure" DOS mode. Either way, I'd love to see more repair logs / cleanup logs like these for the old computers you collect. Even if there's not much to it, seeing the guts and how they worked is a ton of fun.

Sutekh94

0/10, didn't have custom Barbie-themed startup sound. =P Also, gotta love the name you gave that thing's hard drive.

Sabrina

Clint 1, Barbie 0. It should minus 100, because this computer model is the crappiest thing you've delighted us with. Good work!

Zabe

Great job.

Christian

I'd love to see you do a series on repairing computers.

Alyxx the Rat

I've vaguely heard of the "baking motherboard" procedure from some hardcore computer enthusiast friends but seeing it in action is still baffling. It just... works. And fucking props to you for managing to get it working again with that case design. Would've driven me insane for sure, I'm used to tower computers and ATX standards...

RetroSwim

Your mouse cursors seem to have beards.

Ye gods ! Internet connection sharing, what a nightmare.

I think Duke 3d would been the more funny of choices but that just me.

Elated Muse

WOW! Never heard of re-flowing. Learned something new!

Axonteer

Ah i miss the win98 login sound, i really need to reconfigure my win10 so its more win98 likey

Nice, what sort of marinade do you like to use for your mobos? I like a nice balsamic and garlic, personally.

The Enforcer

Doom II on a Barbie PC. Truly the only way the game was meant to be played. And while I can appreciate fitting all the major components in a small form PC, trying to repair/replace parts is a freaking headache. Taking out 3 or 4 items just to get to the one thing you want to replace? No bueno.

LGR

Reflowing does wonders in certain cases! Even if it's admittedly cathartic ;)

John Arild Lolland

You surprise me. Re-flowing isn't something I thought I would ever see on a gamers channel. My respect for you increased. Now you just have to tear down the broken power supply and swap out all the capacitors.

Kevin

Wow I'm the first person to comment. I feel special. And baking a motherboard?! Wow! I had never heard of that. I thought you were just being a goof because it was trashed haha. Now I know about reflowing and that's awesome. I love the hardware videos!