Some retrocomputing enthusiasts prefer to keep their systems intact to preserve the traits that make them unique, while others prefer to make modifications to “modernize” their silicon insides. YouTube user “Dr. Moddnstine” belongs to the latter group, since he took an old IBM Aptiva computer and turned it into a Skylake platform, but he also went further: using floppy disks to read SD cards.
Over these past few years I have let go of some old computers (not the case with keyboards); however, the idea of looking for a “brand-name” system (IBM, HP, Compaq or similar) and installing modern components inside remained in the back of my mind—an “anachronistic computer” if you can call it that.
Naturally, this kind of project demands time and money, but the world is big, and while I’m still stuck on an idea, someone out there manages to finish the job. The latest example is a certain “Dr. Moddnstine” on YouTube, who transformed an IBM Aptiva 486 from 1996 into a system with an Intel Core i7-6700K Skylake processor.
The modifications to the case were extensive, though impossible to spot from the front. He had to replace the entire rear panel (like its hardware, the port layout on IBM systems was proprietary) and create a new one to accommodate the new hardware. He also managed to install a liquid cooling system and a Radeon R9 390 graphics card inside the chassis, no easy task (both components are huge).
But the most satisfying part of Dr. Moddnstine’s project is the modification of the floppy drive to read SD cards. He removed its reading mechanism, inserted a card reader, and altered each floppy so it can hold a card just under the metal shutter. A critical aspect of this mod was using a 3.5-inch floppy drive port, whose pins have the same spacing as the contacts on an SD card.
The second video is long, but worth watching all the way through, and it shows in more detail how these floppies work, including one with a 128 GB card (118 GB actual). If you want a closer look at the build, you can visit the gallery on Imgur, though you’ll need patience. Imgur is slow by nature.
