Revive & Repair

I fix broken stuff!

  • Back to the Mac

    I bought the MacBook new in 2007 and it only just occurred to me today that it’s almost 18 years old. I think that qualifies as a piece of computer history, and I’m going to maintain it in its original form for preservation purposes.

  • Rescued LG Monitor for TRS-80

    I’ve been looking for a dedicated monitor for one of the TRS-80 CoCos (Color Computers) I picked up a couple months ago.

  • 100% Free and Open Source ThinkPad

    ThinkPad laptop sitting open on a lap. The display shows neofetch, detailing the OS and other system information that is illegible.

    I’m writing this post on a ThinkPad T480, running only free, open source software. Why is that interesting or important? I’ll explain.

  • Another HP Fixer-Upper

    I swear, I don’t have a thing for HPs. In fact, I never buy HP computers new. It’s just not my thing. They make some cheap laptops that are fine for students and the average home user. And that’s not me. But whenever I see an HP in the wild, I have a strong urge…

  • Giving an HP Pavillion Laptop New LIfe

    Photo of HP laptop booted up with new display

    How it Started I saw an ancient HP laptop languishing on a table at a swap meet. I felt a strong pull from The Force that I had to rescue it. It’s an HP Pavillion dv6000, made around 2007. At the time, HP marketed it as an entertainment powerhouse, but even at the time it…

  • Linux on a Chromebook?

    Chromebook on a bed displaying Ubuntu home screen

    This is one of those projects where a lot of people would probably say, “But… why?” Sometimes I do things that don’t make sense to other people. That’s okay. My Chromebook Backstory TL;DR: My son wasn’t using his Chromebook, so I asked if I could mess with it. Skip Many years ago, my son Jacob…