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Tollywollydooda : Retro Restoration & Modification, Manchester (2026)

27/07/2022

Now that I'm feeling better I can't wait to start this weekends project 🙂

The Sega Mega Drive Model 2 ( Genesis if Phil Collins wants to chill out) is a great console but it's not without its flaws:

Audio quality is not as good as the Model 1 - it's fine and serviceable ,when I was a kid I sure as hell didn't notice it.

Video quality is prone to issues - over time the console can develop an effect known as jail bars (vertical lines that appear in areas of the screen)

Region locked - most consoles don't do this now but back in the day a lot wouldn't let you play games from other regions.

The work I'll be doing :

General part cleaning

Solder maintenance

Audio and video quality - I'll be modding the console with the triple bypass v2 to rectify those issues.

Region - will look at installing a Region switch to make it Region Free

Whilst I could look at hdmi mods due to the push for 240p think ypbpr cables should cover it fine.

The console itself has taken a beating due to time and general use , I will need to sand it down in layers with 3 different types of sandpaper to remove deep scratches , and prepare it for the new paint job , applying a base coat and due to it being difficult to get an exact match on the old colour and the effects of sanding will either be going with a stone based matt finish or a galaxy based .

Can't wait 😁

03/07/2022

Nice Simple RAM upgrade today, the M.2 ideally needs upgrading aswell as its a low performance one but it's encrypted with Bitlocker so will look at getting something better soon once I can decrypt that, it's also slightly dirty so looking at a deep clean as it sounds like it's going to take flight at startup 😬

18/05/2022

Another Toshi Sat ready to go to a good home 🙂

If you have an old unloved laptop that is ready for the skip or just taking up space , let us know, we can wipe it, refurbish it and donate it to those in need 😁

28/04/2022

Update : Where the hell have you been?

Sorry all I'm trying to get better at my social media presence whilst balancing full time employment, mental health, education and charity work, but rest assured I'm still actively working and Tollywollydooda : Retro Restoration & Modification is not dead.

I've still been working on the Free Laptop Initiative, giving laptops to those in need, Im currently working on a Toshiba Satellite to help a person strengthen their English and do so some work on it.

On a personal hobby standpoint I've been softmodding 3DS's with the upcoming closure of the Eshop to help preserve gaming history.

I've also got a couple of consoles I'm repairing in my free time , couple of PlayStation 2 laser replacements and magic memory cards to sort, a DS lite shell replacement, SSD installation on an original Xbox, and some general laptop fixes .

I'm also working on my Solder work, whilst it's perfectly serviceable, there's always room for practice when you don't do it frequently, so got a couple of old motherboards I'm practicing on. Would highly recommend to anyone looking to get into soldering, soldering irons are cheap and whilst it can seem like a high barrier for entry and off putting to some working with heat and tech it's an enjoyable skillset to pick up , relatively easy and isn't as tough as it looks, with this looking to schedule free classes on soldering , so if you are interested or want to pick up a new skillset let me know.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank , , and all the donors, without you all I could not do what I love 😀

Apart from all of that I look forward to being more present online and sharing updates with you all 🙂

All the best
Jon

03/11/2021

Hey all,

Apologies its been a while since an update, the free laptop initiative is still in place and being worked on.

I would just like to say thankyou to whoever nominated me for the Spirit of Manchester Award, we don't do this for the thanks we just want to help out those less fortunate with access to technology but it is appreciated 🙂

Thankyou all for being on this journey with me 🙂

Kind regards
Jon

15/07/2021

Evening all

I thought I would give you all an update to show you how far the Free Laptop Initiative has come.

*4 families have now been helped as part of the Initiative.

*3 bulk donations of laptops from the public have been made in total.

*3 Businesses are sending a couple of laptops our way, as a result they will be included on our benefactor page of our support documentation once they are up and running.

*Currently 3 laptops are being actively worked on to be made suitable for use.

*We have an additional 4 laptops on standby ready to be repaired.

*An additional 10 laptops are being picked up this weekend for the cause.

*Work is in place for local charity shops to send me their models to distribute back through them.

*In talks with 4 different schools to acquire E-waste and distribute laptops through them to families who need them.

*Support documentation is complete.

*Our wait list now has 36 families on.

*These families will be vetted with an initial interview and background checks performed to ensure they are going to a good home.

*2 community grants have been applied for, if successful this would enable us to further upgrade these laptops with SSDs and help with costs of RAM and Windows Licensing.

I am a one man show doing this outside of fulltime employment and my education (currently learning to become Google IT Professional Certified) so to applicants please be patient, we will get you sorted don’t you worry, just limited by the time I can work on, currently about 10-12 hours a week to prevent me burning out and to give me a rest day outside of work and learning.

I have a habit of referring to this charity Initiative in the third person, lots of “We did this”, “We did that” (apologies for any confusion), it is just me working on these laptops. I sometimes use “We” as without the help of the donor laptops received I wouldn’t have been able to help out as many families, whilst it is me doing the clean-up and the work on these laptops getting them fit for purpose, the donors are the people really making a difference here, Thank you .

To anyone in need please reach out, yes we have a wait list but I will help out where I can and try to get a laptop fixed up as soon as possible for you and your kids.

All the best
Jon Tolliday
Primary Installer
Tollywollydooda: Retro Restoration & Modification

14/07/2021

More Donor laptops almost sorted, both preloaded with our software and documentation with fresh windows installs getting ready for their new homes🙂

The Dell will just need a little bit more work, it needs its processor stress testing, a bios update and a battery replacement before we can send it on its way as the ravages of time haven't been kind to it ,causing it to over heat. Its also rather forgetful as its motherboard battery has dried up so it constantly thinks its March 2008, all fixable just means I have to add some more work into it to ensure we don't send out a dud out to a family.

This Toshiba is done ,just awaiting the additional RAM to arrive from the suppliers for both this and the Dell as whilst it works fine, in this day and age you really want 4GB minimum for basic work just to prevent end user frustration, We want to ensure any we give out despite being old function smoothly for the kids that use them.

More donor laptop pickups this weekend to work through and applicant vetting, as we have a wait list we need to ensure they are going to those who truly need them , but the community support to help these families out has been amazing and couldn't have been done without your donations so thanks everyone who's got involved 😀

08/07/2021

Donor Laptop #1 ,the first going out as part of our Free Laptop Initiative is complete:

*Freshly Formatted
*Windows 10 Pro installed and Activated
*An Antivirus
*A PDF Reader
*A Media Player
*Desktop Publishing Packages for school work
*An Archive Extractor
*New User Setup for the kid it is going to.
*Our Support Documentation
*Information on free tech support and advice as part of the initiative.

All of the donor laptops we send out via the Free Laptop Initiative will be setup as above.

Additionally this laptop has had additional RAM installed which depending on the models we receive via donation we will always try to ensure they have a minimum of 4GB.

One final clean to ensure its covid secure ,ensuring that the screen is clean and we will be delivering it Saturday morning, the kid in question has been asking about it and is excited , so can't wait to hand it over as he really deserves it 🙂

After this one goes out its time to work on the Dell Inspiron for a girl who needs it for school work as the recipient of the Free laptop competition which catapulted this Initiative.

So glad we are able to help these people out 🙂

08/07/2021

Who we are and what we do.

Please share to see if we can help out any more families in the Manchester Area🙂

Primarily dealing with Laptop and PC repair as the baseline of work, at Tollywollydooda : Retro Restoration & Modification our passion is giving old tech new life.

This page is mainly for my portfolio outside of Full-time employment and due to availability and current workload I cant always take on new work but happy to help and give advice where we can.

We have launched the Free Laptop Initiative, this focuses on repurposing old laptops , upgrading them and making them suitable enough to give to families and children in need free of charge to help with schoolwork and give them access to technological basics.

We work off donations so if you have an old laptop you no longer use, please consider donating it to us. We will get it fit for purpose and donated to a family who really needs it ,we really appreciate your support.

If you are in need of a laptop for your children just reach out to us , whilst we don't always have models available depending on what is currently available in the donation pool , if we have one available we will try sort it out for you and if not we will get you added to our wait list.

There is no catch or hidden fees to this Initiative, we just want to help out those in need. A photo op of us giving you the laptop would be nice as it helps show the community how and who we are helping but this is not mandatory and would only ever be if you are comfortable with it 🙂.

, ,

07/07/2021

It's time to Spin that Wheel!! Free Laptop competition results.

We will sort you all out but where we go from here is just the beginning.

What started as a one off competition has evolved into a complete hardware recycling charity, with interest from local businesses and the community providing laptops to the cause for me to repair, upgrade and get in the hands of people who need them. We even have business proposals and full documentation for various businesses looking to get involved.

How we do this for future Laptops as part of the Free Laptop Initiative is not through competitions but through community outreach , working with schools and local businesses to help those who may need a helping a hand 🙂

06/07/2021

Our support documentation is almost finished, this will be included with every donor laptop we give to a family in need .

Whilst this is particularly for those donor laptops , I would highly recommend giving it a read for useful hardware recommendations, , useful software , free services, useful websites and advice for staying safe🙂

,

05/07/2021

Windows 10 activated , updates being processed, DTP installed, Just an Anti-Virus installation, support docs loaded and an extra 2GB of RAM and the first donor laptop will be ready for its new home this weekend 🙂

Tollywollydooda : Retro Restoration & Modification

27/07/2022

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