hints & tricks in no particular order
18/09/2026
I recently cloned a MIFARE Classic access badge onto a Gen2/CUID card using Mifare Classic Tool (MCT) on Android. The clone worked perfectly, but when comparing the original dump with the cloned card, MCT reported a tiny difference. It turned out to be a single bit in block 0. The difference The beginning of sector 0 […]
17/09/2026
To make GRUB boot the last manually selected entry while still showing the countdown menu, edit /etc/default/grub: GRUB_DEFAULT=saved GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu GRUB_TIMEOUT=30 Then regenerate the config: sudo update-grub Before updating, it can be useful to back up the current generated config: sudo […]
11/09/2026
I noticed audible digital noise / whining when using a Turbo EverDrive Pro Model 22 Rev. B in my PC Engine. The noise was clearly related to the EverDrive rather than the console: Regular HuCards were quiet. The same Turbo EverDrive Pro produced the noise on two different PC Engine consoles. Removing the microSD card […]
06/09/2026
The original 5.25" floppy drive in my Tandy 1000 EX is a TEAC FD-55BV-75-U. The drive itself was still usable, but one small plastic part in the front locking mechanism had broken. The damaged piece supports the metal lever shaft used by the front disk latch. Rather than replacing the complete drive, I decided to keep […]