By the way, here's the link to the github page for the Torch Triple X emulator. github.com/Crashedfiest...

GitHub - Crashedfiesta/torch-triple-x-emulator: An emulator for the Torch Triple X Unix terminal from 1986(ish)

An emulator for the Torch Triple X Unix terminal from 1986(ish) - Crashedfiesta/torch-triple-x-emulator

github.com

FFS Google. I only asked 'who said that they were standing on the shoulders of giants?'. Apparently you think that Isaac Newton, who famously lived in the 1700's and died in 1727, sent a letter to his buddy in 1975. JFC.

And for my next trick (or descent into insanity), a text based web browser on the Torch Triple X emulator. Ta-daa! It's barely more than a 'get html' function at the moment but I'm learning lots. And it's something to do as I wait for my new man cave (shed) to be installed..

It's Monday. The summer is almost over. You know what you need. A superficial description of of an ancient Unix PC emulator, and how I've fiddled with it after standing on the shoulders of the most excellent person who actually originally wrote it. crashedfiesta.blogspot.com/2026/08/when...

When is a Torch not a Torch? When it's an emulator....

The old hardware of the Torch Triple X is proving to be a little bit bothersome (it's a right old pain the rear) and I've made little progre...

crashedfiesta.blogspot.com

WTF duo??

So, Mrs Crashed's phone just emitted the national alert tones with a warning about the high risk of fire, given the current weather. My Motorola Edge 50 Pro was silent, clearly content to let me burn..... 😬😄

Been a bit quiet as we're on the move from Crashed Towers to Crashed Twouptwodown and discovering that 18 years in one location is a great way to accumulate enough pointless crap (i.e. non-retro computing related) to fill a small stadium. Warm, dry storage has been procured for the important stuff.

Got the network running properly on the Linux version of the Torch emulator. More a configuration issue than a code issue. But telehack.com works great. 😁

I have survived another orbit of the local star. To celebrate here's a list of stuff I've done to the Torch emulator: -vi now works(ish) -serial no. retained after first key disk boot -aspect ratio corrected -floppy .img support -improved terminal (tsh) -boot sequence colours corrected cont..

"My message to the people of the UK is that I'll train the new guy but you're going to have to stick with one of them eventually."

More fiddling with the Torch Emulator. Now it's just like the real thing! Well, booting up looks right now anyway. 😁 #torchtriplex #stillnotfixedtherealone

What's that you say? The Torch Triple X emulator? Running on Windows? Why, yes. Yes it is. 😁 #torchtriplex #notfixedtherealoneyet

A great evening writing a wrapper for the very basic Unix terminal on the Torch emulator. Added some history functionality (previous commands etc) and managed to get su working via a tiny script (called tsu), and cd works properly too. It behaves a lot more like bash but isn't actually... 😁

I got a PS4 on day 1. I asked the man in the Sony Centre when I pre-ordered if they were doing a midnight launch. "Good god, no." came the unguarded reply. 😂 Anyway, I skipped PS5 for reasons. But I won't be doing PS6 with no disc drive. Licensing is not owning. See Sony/StudioCanal for details.

Don't normally follow the world cup. But let's just check in on England. Ah. Situation normal. Maybe 2030.

Happy Father's Day! To celebrate, why not read about my adventures in trying to fix a most unreliable vintage computer? It has PCBs in it... crashedfiesta.blogspot.com/2026/06/clin...

Clinging on like a Limpet (Board) - Torch Triple X Part 14

The Torch Triple X was working. Then it wasn't. Then it was. Then it wasn't again.  I've been having some issues with the Torch. This has be...

crashedfiesta.blogspot.com

Am I the only one who finds this lack of attention to detail annoying? Or am I (as Mrs Crashed says) just a grumpy old man? #grammar

Checkup on the Cifer to make sure he's still working before I pop him into storage for a little while. I hope the Retro Overlords will forgive my use of hot glue to stick the front panel in. I spent hours 3D printing it but got the lugs in the wrong place and I was desperate. Don't judge me.

So. Good news and bad news. Good news - new limpet works and I managed to boot all the way in. Wa-hoo! 😁🥳 Bad news - my motherboard requires a startlingly big concave bend in it to work.... 😬 By chance I found if I wedged something under the right side it would boot. A weird mechanical bug....

First signs of life... ...but showing exactly the same symptoms as with the original Limpet. Bugger.

Torch Triplex Limpet board looks great. And I found the second error. I missed a whole track that should link all the write enable lines on the DRAM. Oops. Bodge wire installed but it still doesn't work. 🙁

I didn't spend far longer than necessary making sure the caps all face the same way. (Maybe I did.) 🙂

I might've caught the coding bug for vintage computers... After several hours I have managed to get 'vi' working on the Torch Triple X emulator. The stack is too small for when vi starts (something funky happens) so by making it bigger, vi then works. Nice. Next stop, proper floppy support.

Managed to hand one of these to @binarydinosaurs.co.uk as the only other person I know in the country with a Torch Triple X. 😁 One of the four left is about to start receiving capacitors and sockets.... 🙂 ...and I found the first error. Oops. Capacitor C45 has both legs against ground. Darnit.

Had a great time at RetroFest 2026. 😁 #retrofest2026

Away from Crashed Towers for a few days so I can't connect to my pi-hole. The internet is a completely unusable pile of smelly brown stuff these days, isn't it?

Torch Triple X knows. #RetroFest26

It's official. My Torch Triple X is no more. There is some fault with the limpet board which I can't track down. All RAM is OK. All tracks are OK (or repaired). I suspect a failure of one of the PAL chips which did get quite warm. Ultimate unobtanium. Without it, the Torch won't boot. Arse. 😢

Oh. My. Gosh. The Torch is playing with me now. I had about six hours of flawless operation. Then I started compiling uemacs code. Two minutes later, kernel panic with memory management error. And I'm back to where it was before. At startup, a single flash from the limpet and then nothing. Gahh!

a close up of stitch from lilo and stitch making a face

Alt: a close up of stitch from lilo and stitch making a face

media.tenor.com