parts are in! i have achieved VIDEO OUT!!!!

the parts are here!!!

(pictured: NeXTstation, non-ADB sound box, non-ADB mouse and keyboard, custom NeXT cable with VGA out, also my fiancée ellen)

i hooked everything up to test it all out, and it didn’t work. my initial guess, after checking the NeXTComputers.org forum (which has been an invaluable resource in this process), was that the PRAM battery was dead. i pulled it out and checked my multimeter and, sure enough, it was outputting ~0.9v instead of the needed 3v. i was able to get a suitable replacement from walgreens, hooked it all up, and

i got video out!!!! i got input!!!!! the system test fails because there isn’t a hard drive, but i’ve ordered a scsi2sd that will fix that problem. once i get that, i’ll be able to netboot into an os, and once i get in an external scsi cd rom drive, i’ll be able to install NeXTstep back on it!

so!

i’m extremely happy with the progress i’ve made on this so far and i’m really excited to keep making progress!!! everything is going very well and i’m very excited!!

NEXT GOAL: write one of these posts from the NeXTstation