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Let's Try This Again: LPX! (Patreon)

Published:
2025-07-17 17:43:25
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Okay! Alright! Here we go! This is a significantly overhauled version of the LPX video; I made a bunch of adjustments, added some jokes+gags, and shot about ten minutes of new footage that change the entire thrust of the narrative.

I say this a lot, but it bears repeating: I could not do this without all of you. Several people in the comments here and in private messages pointed out the severe errors I'd made the first time around, and I know I wouldn't have fixed them otherwise.

Like any public figure (or god forbid, "microcelebrity") I periodically have to endure the embarrassment of being treated like I can do no wrong when knowing full well that I screw up constantly. An awful lot of my scripts have extremely deep flaws, which I often only realize moments before I was going to shoot them; other times, I don't catch them, I shoot the video, and I end up having to scrap the whole thing and redo it. And then, occasionally, I come this close to releasing a "finished" video that's just garbage.

The original narrative of the LPX video was crap; it might not have been recognizable as such if you aren't versed in the subject matter, but that's the thing, I am, and I should have known better. Had I put out the last version of this video, I would have been utterly roasted for asserting that the PS/2 wasn't broadly relevant to PC history. I could defend that by saying my point was that people don't tend to acknowledge it as such, which is true, but I can't really cover up the fact that I brain-farted a whole swath of information that I've known and internalized for decades. For someone acting as an authority (and no matter how I want to present myself, that's the role I've been given) that's just unacceptable, and I'd deserve the criticism I'd get.

I wish my brain worked better - a sentiment I'm sure many of us have held before :p - and sometimes I wonder if it was smart to take on a career like this knowing The Way I Am, but the saving grace, at least, is that I have an audience that's willing to gently coax me onto the right path. Thank you all so much.

Files

LPX RC5

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cathoderaydude Tip me: https://ko-fi.com/cathoderaydude

Comments

Jacob Alexander Tice

I'm all to familiar with brain poopy. It's not fun, especially for us ADHD sufferers.

Simonas Makstutis

Dude, you're human and humans make mistakes. Not that it matters. The way your cover your content and the depths you're willing to explore is why we're here. There's nothing out there that even remotely resembles the work you do.

Crash Cash

Actually, thanks for digging all this up. So I'm 60 meaning I was 30 when this came out, so I should remember it. And I do, but mostly it was a time "ok gotta build another PC, what the **** did they change this time?" and dealing with it. I do remember a moment of "hey, the old power supply fits! same bolt pattern! huh!" and I remember a moment of going into Best Buy and being able to buy a power supply! Instead of being stuck with what came with your case! I also remember a golden time of cases where the motherboard and installed cards slid out in a tray. Why was that abandoned?

Danny Beans

I find your vibe pleasant enough that I'm just happy to have a reason to watch this for a third time. (Seriously, your modem history video is a comfort watch for me.)

Hugo Devillers

you're top tier, not because you don't screw up, but because you care enough to do something about it

Chas Becht

For the record, if the original had gone up, I think some corrections in the video description would have sufficed. It's commendable that you are so dedicated to turning out a quality product, but try to remember that we're all imperfect human beans. Also, it's amazing that we live in a time where motivated individuals can turn out content like this and find an audience. Can you imagine trying to pitch this as a documentary episode to a boardroom full of television executives focused on Nielson ratings and ad revenue? It's a miracle that something like this can even exist.

Chas Becht

The motherboard tray was such a fantastic invention for how simple of a concept it was. One of those obvious-in-hindsight things. It's completely insane that we just stopped doing that for no reason.

cathoderaydude

That last question is one I think about constantly, though I also sorta have an answer! In the "Baby AT" era, many or even most cases had removable motherboard trays - I even have one with a toolless quick-release tray. They don't disappear instantly in the ATX era, but they're virtually gone by the 2000s, or at least nobody cares about them anymore. Well, recently I built up a Baby AT machine in a late 90s case, and I suddenly understood - BAT cases are incredibly cramped inside, and there's typically a big steel plate right above the motherboard, meaning that as you're trying to install it, you're working in a deep, narrow cavity. Not only do you have to put in a bunch of screws, you also have to attach a bunch of ribbon cables and poorly labeled front panel connectors, and working in that space is infuriating, error-prone and tedious; you almost can't do it without a flashlight in your teeth. Being able to work on the board outside of the case, then just flip the whole tray up into place and secure it makes things a thousand times easier - but when ATX came along, thanks to the rotated board, the cases were so much airier inside that it just isn't nearly as vital, so even when people *have* removable trays they tend not to use them.

Braxen

I don't know if it's just me but even though I knew about PS/2 the game console still popped up for me, don't know how broad of an issue that would be

cathoderaydude

Frankly, once you watch the new version, I think you'll see what I mean. The conclusions I reach are *completely* different, and (if I do say so myself) far more insightful. The way my narratives work, if there are severe factual errors, it poisons the whole story.

Crash Cash

One could say Micro Channel Architecture was IBM's self sabotage, eh?

Crash Cash

One of the things that snuck under the radar here was the ATX "soft off" power supply feature. You didn't have a real power switch any more... instead the MB has a data line that turns off the power supply. I still remember the first time Windows powered down the PC instead of having to reach over for the switch after the screen went black. I also remember Windows hanging, and you had to physically pull the plug, as they didn't have that little secondary rocker switch on the PS itself.

George Dorn

It's a huge benefit to your work that you can take criticism, too. Some creators just can't, so their never get this benefit of having a community of nerdy nitpickers.

Shinray K

Thank you for your dedication to quality, and your willingness to admit your mistakes. A commitment to truth is far too rare these days, and you set a shining example

_Pai

I have a relatively recent (2012) case with a removable motherboard tray but I ran into a lot of problems when trying to use it on a modern build. I was hoping I could use it to install the air cooler when it was outside and slide it in, because that's probably the most mechanically intensive part of setting up the motherboard. It turns out the air cooler I chose was short enough to fit inside the case with the panel closed, but too tall to slide inside with the tray since it would hit the support beam. So I had to give up and just build it inside the case like a barbarian. And if I had gone with watercooling instead, I wouldn't have been able to use the tray at all, because either I would have mounted the radiator first and the tubes wouldn't be long enough to stretch, or I would have had to mount the coldplate first and have a giant radiator flopping around. So I have to think our modern CPU coolers played a part in the death of the removable tray. I know servers still have them but server coolers are still quite short.

Scott Kemp

As someone who deals with overthinking, anxiety etc., the very fact you are self-aware and have the humility to admit fault and desire to improve are, of course, incredibly positive qualities. The hard part is not beating yourself up for those errors. As embarrassed as you might feel over making mistakes, whether obvious or not, you are in a much better place mentally and professionally than many others on YouTube who let their "fame" go to their head and instead double down. There's a reason your viewer base has grown so much.

Scott Kemp

Chas, pinned comments and writing in the video description can only do so much, unfortunately. A lot of people listen to them as if they're a podcast or just don't interact with those two areas. So IMO, while it is more work, re-editing and correcting the audio stuff when there are major issues nips it in the bud from all angles.

Bike Forever

Watched all 3 versions and still entranced by the twists and turns of the detective trail. I love your rabbit holeing.

sdomi

Original edit contained a bunch of points which were "wrong, but actually not that far off", which is way more common on youtube itself than in your videos (sign of high quality, IMO). I'd like you to know that I appreciate *both* you owning up and fixing this, and the fact that you made this video in the first place (despite this being PC related, you managed to absolutely fascinate me with the subject). You rock, man, i'd pay you more if I could afford it <3

Mat Fordon

It makes me wonder how many hours the IBM lawyer team spent discussing a possible suit against Sony.......

Funkmon

You know, I think most of us patrons think you're not an authority, but just some guy we pay to dump knowledge onto us, with a trust that you, like us, are interested and therefore want to get this knowledge. I don't think we believe you to be any authority. I'm one of your dreaded keyboard enthusiasts and I occasionally catch you saying some stuff about old keyboards where I'm like "Oh that's one I know, it's for this." But I forget about it by the end and it bothers me very little. I'm sure that the majority of these guys who are "roasting" you aren't actually roasting you. They're just socially awkward dudes who are trying to get you some information you didn't have or didn't realize. I like to think almost everyone is trying to help almost everyone else, so corrections are just that. Helpful hints. Don't be too stressed. All that being said, I like that you redo the videos when turbo nerds remind you of things. Considering how much of your videos are often informed speculation about technology where documentation is difficult to find, small pieces of information can have a big effect on the video. Don't change a thing. Though I'm missing little guys

Asaf Sagi

I haven't watched the previous versions, and I found this one very enjoyable. One of my favorite things about you and your way of presenting, is that you're not afraid to preface things with "this is just me speculating". Like, yeah, that's how this sort of journalism(?) should be, and I love that you're taking us along for the ride. I love seeing you tear down devices and reverse engineering the designers' processes. You're also putting yourself up for the possibility of corrections in the future if new information comes to light. Keep on doing what you're doing. You're doing great and we all love you for it.

Robert Yates

At time 42:05 you comment on port layout being identical between two of the computers. Looking at the third I'm struck by how similar they are but in reverse. It's as if someone read the spec wrong and did the port layout upside down.

adorfer

I am here for exactly this experience! watching things come together.

adorfer

add me to the list. Rewatching older episodes is such a good way to put my mind at rest from current worries.

Chas Becht

I got my start building my own PCs around the AT to ATX transition, and I distinctly remember a moment where a bunch of ATX cases started advertising removable trays as a new feature. I bought one, and I still have it. I was in college at the time, and all the nerds I was around were excited about it. It made things so much easier. For a hot second it looked like all the front panel connectors were going to get standardized into one big multipin thing too. Then it just evaporated. I imagine we were all just clueless about the AT tray precedent, but at the time it felt like a step forward in enthusiast case convenience.

J Brandt Buckley

After watching the side channel video, I tried to find the spec myself to no luck. Some of the historical PDFs I collected while searching were kind of interesting though: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1qDux4tVFvbucDLlOGitJEJmj2p0IRL8N I ended up going down a rabbit hole of my own making to answer the question: What was the historical context of Western Digital's involvement? (See the "_Highlighted" dir for sources.) Summary: In the mid-to-late-80s Western Digital went on a M&A buying spree in pursuit of a vision they called "interarchitecture". According to WD, having control over more pieces would allow them to build tighter integrations for better performance and cost. (I imagine the prospect of being able to lock down that part of the ecosystem was also not lost on them.) On 1987-04-30, they announced they would be acquiring Faraday Electronics, a company whose jam was creating motherboards with a bunch of functionality consolidated into a handful of chips. That reduces the bill of materials, cost, manufacturing complexity, and power consumption of the final product -- by 60-80% if you believe their marketing. The LPX motherboard seems to have come out of that acquisition. Also in April 1987, IBM announced the PS/2. IBM made it clear they'd be exerting more control over it so as not to be undercut by the clones again. That triggered an industry-wide backlash that resulted in the development of a bunch of standards outside of IBM. It's possible this is an example of one such company paving their own road. That said, in 1990, WD had a some cross-licensing agreements with IBM and was negotiating a role in the manufacturing of IBM's first laptops. So they might have had a cozier relationship with Big Blue than the "gang of six" companies. WD didn't do much to execute their integration vision in the first few years post-acquisition, but they announced a renewed focus on it in 1989. To that end, they built a big new HQ and a $119-million fab in Irvine, CA. Ultimately, the level of integration they envisioned never came to pass -- at least not under WD's auspices. Around 1994, they began selling off some of their acquisitions. They seem to have either fully integrated or dissolved most of Faraday, though.

Loading_M_

Another possibility is that they got the same IO shield, without having seen the other board.

Elsie Hupp

I wonder how much more information you’d be able to find if you were able to read and write Traditional Chinese. Maybe all the people gossiping about LPX online back in the day were just doing so in a language you can’t read! Yes, I recognize that “LPX” is a Latin acronym, but foreign words get transliterated into Chinese homophones all the time. For instance, when I visited Shanghai in 2011 I went to a clothing store called “Urban Renewal”, but on my credit card statement it was spelled something like “Erben Linuwo”, which I assume is a re-transliteration of the Chinese characters back into Pinyin. When it comes to Chinese companies marketing in the West, personally I would prefer Pinyin transliterations or direct literal translations to the alphabet soup we get on Amazon. There is a norm in the West that we don’t translate proper nouns, though sometimes we replace them with cognates (e.g. Charles/Carlos/Karl/Carol) or modify the spelling to make them easier to pronounce, but a lot of proper names for things in Chinese have much more legible direct translations just based on the characters used to write them. For illustration, here’s Xiran Jay Zhao: https://youtube.com/shorts/kWdAsbWr9aE Grape Teeth! https://youtube.com/shorts/e79M2UCFoyI (It’s interesting how these are a mix of literal meanings and convenient homophones.) https://youtube.com/shorts/sWaPOujevOs More of an explanation of the process at work here: https://youtube.com/shorts/9mRAOGBRUlg

Elsie Hupp

This reminds me of some of the results of the mutual industrial espionage between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, where there was a lot of ad hoc borrowing with extremely mixed results and occasionally weird vestigial design features. I don’t have any good examples off the top of my head, though one can look to the SST and Space Shuttle projects for the bigger picture. One extremely stupid thing IIRC is that the Soviet Union decided to use rationalized metric pin spacing on their computers, which made it impossible to use foreign commodity parts, in particular 0.1in or 2.54mm DuPont pins, though this may have been an example of paranoid spite carried to excess.

Akshay Anand

I'm here waiting for Eduquest Part 3. Your focus on 80s/90s computing over the past few months brings me renewed hope that you will revisit the Eduquest after almost 3 years lol

seagull

been a while, gravis. you alright?

seagull

shit happens. we're rooting for you.