Upgrading An Old Macbook With an Old Processor https://hackaday.com/2026/02/08/upgrading-an-old-macbook-with-an-old-processor/
#Computerhacks #MacHacks #Coreduo #Core2duo #Desoldering #Firmware #Heat #Hotplate #Macbook #Macbookpro #Processor #Soldering #Upgrade
#Computerhacks
Upgrading An Old Macbook With an Old Processor
![<div><img alt="" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="450" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/core2duo-upgrade-main.png?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><p>The Core Duo processor from Intel may not have been the first multi-core processor available to consumers, but it was arguably the one that brought it to the masses. Unfortunately, the first Core Duo chips were limited to 32-bit at a time when the industry was shifting toward 64-bit. The Core 2 Duo eventually filled this gap, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bEsigp_oG4" target="_blank">[dosdude1] recently completed an upgrade to a Macbook Pro</a> that he had always wanted to do by replacing the Core Duo processor it had originally with a Core 2 Duo from a dead motherboard.</p>
<p>The upgrade does require a bit more tooling than many of us may have access too, but the process isn’t completely out of reach, and centers around desoldering the donor processor and making sure the new motherboard gets heated appropriately when removing the old chip and installing the new one. These motherboards had an issue of moisture ingress which adds a pre-heating step that had been the cause of [dosdude1]’s failures in previous attempts. But with the new chip cleaned up, prepared with solder balls, and placed on the new motherboard it was ready to solder into its new home.</p>
<p>Upon booting the upgraded machine, the only hiccup seemed to](https://files.mastodon.social/cache/media_attachments/files/116/034/494/940/311/609/original/d6c8d6d24d2d9e7b.png)
An Event Badge Re-Imagined As A Cyberdeck
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/02/02/an-event-badge-re-imagined-as-a-cyberdeck/
![<div><img alt="" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="450" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/why-cyberdeck-featured.jpg?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><p>We’re used to handheld Linux devices of varying usefulness appearing on a regular basis, but there’s something about the one in a video from [Rootkit Labs] which sets it aside from the herd. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxqeU8ZfaYg" target="_blank">It’s a fork of a conference badge</a>.</p>
<p>The WHY2025 badge had pretty capable hardware, with an ESP32-P4, a really nice screen, and the lovely SolderParty keyboard. Here it’s been forked, to become a carrier board for their previous project, the Flipper Blackhat. This is a Linux add-on for the Flipepr Zero, and it seems that plenty of people wanted it in a more useful context. The result is something that looks a lot like a WHY badge, but running Linux.</p>
<p>It’s a great shame when badges end up lying unused after the event, and ones like the WHY 2025 badge are a serious effort to make something that endures. Here, the badge endures in spirit by being forked and re-engineered, and we like it a lot. The full video is below the break.</p>
<p><span id="more-913854"></span></p>
<p></p>](https://files.mastodon.social/cache/media_attachments/files/116/000/871/831/925/555/original/0bac61ebc3b2e79a.jpg)
An Event Badge Re-Imagined As A Cyberdeck https://hackaday.com/2026/02/02/an-event-badge-re-imagined-as-a-cyberdeck/
#Computerhacks #Cyberdecks #Badgelife #Cyberdeck #Linux
Crouching Typewriter, Hidden PC
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/01/30/crouching-typewriter-hidden-pc/
![<div><img alt="The finished product" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="450" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/typewriter-PC-screenshot-e1769023828895.jpg?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><p>Go back a couple of generations, and rather than a laptop or a luggable, the office accessory of choice was a portable typewriter. As the 20th century wore on, the typewriter became electric before eventually being eclipsed by luggable and laptop computers. On YouTube, [Prototype] is turning back the clock, by turning an old Smith-Corona <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgk944awGcQ" target="_blank">electric typewriter into a luggable computer– with a stretch goal of still being able to type.</a></p>
<p>Yeah, just gutting the typewriter and shoving an SBC inside wasn’t ambitious enough for [Prototype]: his goal is a working typewriter <em>and</em> an x86 gaming PC. To facilitate this, he guts the Smith-Corona keyboard, and 3D-prints a new top plate to add a little more vertical space in the old typewriter. The new top does recreate the original layout and the Corona switches get printed adapters to fit them to mechanical switches [Prototype] is using with a vibe-coded Arduino. Why one would bother with ChatGPT when QMK is<em> right there</em>, we could not say, but feel free to skip 6:20 to 15:00 if you’re watching the video but want to avoid that side quest.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the](https://files.mastodon.social/cache/media_attachments/files/115/992/380/734/683/692/original/0b5c5ecdc35d1606.jpg)
Surviving the RAM Price Squeeze With Linux In-Kernel Memory Compression
Surviving the RAM Price Squeeze With Linux In-Kernel Memory Compression https://hackaday.com/2026/01/31/surviving-the-ram-price-squeeze-with-linux-in-kernel-memory-compression/
#Computerhacks #LinuxHacks #Debian #Linux #Ram #Ubuntu #Zram #Zramtools
Crouching Typewriter, Hidden PC https://hackaday.com/2026/01/30/crouching-typewriter-hidden-pc/
#Computerhacks #Casemod #ElectricTypewriter #Gamingpc
Post-rampocalyptic Chip-Swap Provides Desktop Memory at Laptop Prices https://hackaday.com/2026/01/27/post-rampocalyptic-chip-swap-provides-desktop-memory-at-laptop-prices/
#Computerhacks #BGAsoldering #Memoryupgrade #Ram #SODIMM
This Unlikely Microsoft Prediction Might Just Hit The Mark https://hackaday.com/2026/01/25/this-unlikely-microsoft-prediction-might-just-hit-the-mark/
#Computerhacks #Linux #Microsoft #Windows
RAM Prices Got You Down? Try DDR3. Seriously! https://hackaday.com/2026/01/20/ram-prices-got-you-down-try-ddr3-seriously/
#Computerhacks #DDR3 #Gamingpc #Ram #Retrocomputing
RAM Prices Got You Down? Try DDR3. Seriously!
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/01/20/ram-prices-got-you-down-try-ddr3-seriously/
![<div><img alt="" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="450" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DDR3-gamingrig-feat.jpg?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><p>DDR3 seemed plenty fast when it first showed up 19 years ago. Who could say no to 6400 Mb/s transfer speeds? Of course compared to the modern DDR5 that’s glacially slow, but given that RAM is worth its weight in gold these days– with even DDR4 spiking in price– some people, like [Gheeotine], are asking “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_BNJCUqR-o" target="_blank">can you game on DDR3</a>“? The answer is a shocking yes.</p>
<p>[Gheeotine] builds two budget-friendly PCs for this video, using some of the newest DD3-supporting motherboards available. That’s not exactly new: we’re talking 12 to 15 years old, but hey, not old enough to drive. We certainly didn’t expect to hear about an x79 motherboard hosting an Ivy Bridge processor in 2026, but needs must when the devil dances. The only concession to modernity is the graphics cards: the x79 mobo got an RX6600XT 8GB, and the other build, using a z97 motherboard got an NVIDIA RTX 4060. The z97 motherboard allowed a slightly newer processor, as well, an i7 4790, with the new and exciting Haswell architecture you may have heard of. Both boards are maxed out on RAM, because at less than one USD/GB, why not?</p>
<p>[Gheeotine] puts a few new titles thro](https://files.mastodon.social/cache/media_attachments/files/115/931/607/423/770/385/original/194052bcf3b0c121.jpg)
A Petabyte NAS Using Consumer-Grade Parts https://hackaday.com/2026/01/17/a-petabyte-nas-using-consumer-grade-parts/
#Computerhacks #Consumergrade #Harddrives #Nas #Networkattachedstorage #Rackmount #Selfhosted #Server
Project Fail: Cracking a Laptop BIOS Password Using AI https://hackaday.com/2026/01/15/project-fail-cracking-a-laptop-bios-password-using-ai/
#Computerhacks #Bios #Passwordcracking
Play Games in UEFI…to Access Your Computer https://hackaday.com/2026/01/09/play-games-in-uefi-to-access-your-computer/
#Computerhacks #UEFI
The Setun Was a Ternary Computer from the USSR in 1958 https://hackaday.com/2026/01/03/the-setun-was-a-ternary-computer-from-the-ussr-in-1958/
#Computerhacks #Hardware #3VL #MoscowStateUniversity #SETUN #Ternary #Ternarycomputer #Threevaluedlogic #USSR
Benchmarking Windows Against Itself, from Windows XP to Windows 11 https://hackaday.com/2026/01/02/benchmarking-windows-against-itself-from-windows-xp-to-windows-11/
#Computerhacks #Benchmarks #Windows
3D Printed PC Case Focuses On Ease Of Access https://hackaday.com/2025/12/26/3d-printed-pc-case-focuses-on-ease-of-access/
#Computerhacks #3dprinter #Pccase
PC Watercooling Uses Everything But CNC Machining https://hackaday.com/2025/12/26/pc-watercooling-uses-everything-but-cnc-machining/
#Computerhacks #3Dprintedmold #Acrylic #Lasercut #Siliconecasting #Watercooling
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