SoylentNews

owl [soylentnews.org] writes:

In order to get a copy of Tetris for the NEC mini5 series of word processors, I had to buy it along with a whole word processor set from the previous owner. This LCD-based mini5SX is sleek, attractive, surprisingly heavy, and broken. Very, very broken. Let’s see if we can fix up this grey beast, and dump its ROMs.

...

Unlike some other computers in the hoard, the mini5SX was bought on Mercari, where it was being sold by the owner and not some nth-generation reseller or junkyard. This person was nice enough to explain the fault in the ad. Their word processor used to work, and they’d test it once in awhile, but the last time they took their beloved companion out (to play Tetris of course,) it wouldn’t start up. There would be a dim flicker of the power light, it would extinguish, and then no response. Thus, the sale.

...

Not knowing much about the mini5’s internal structure, I decided to start by opening it up and finding the power supply. I hoped that I would find something incredibly obvious to replace, like a vented capacitor.

Original Submission