Welcome to the Workbench
HyphaStorm is a build log for prototype hardware, retro computing oddities, and whatever else ends up on the workbench, accompanying the YouTube channel.
The YouTube channel came first, mostly by accident. I had some hardware sitting on a shelf that I felt deserved a bit of attention before it disappeared into a loft forever, so I filmed it. People were interested. More videos followed.
This blog is the written companion to those videos: somewhere to put the extra context that doesn’t fit in a description box, the background reading I did before a build, the things that went wrong and why.
What you’ll find here
The current focus is the original Xbox Alpha I development kit, a beige tower prototype that Microsoft used to develop the Xbox before the retail hardware existed. I’ve been getting software compiled and running on it using the period XDK, which is a rabbit hole I’m happy to be in.
There’s also an older experiment involving a Zcorp powder printer and clay, which is exactly as chaotic as it sounds.
Build logs will go up alongside videos, so if you’ve just watched something and want a bit more detail, this is where to look. If you’ve landed here first, the videos are probably the better starting point. Links are on each post.
I’m a developer, not a filmmaker. The production values are what they are. The hardware, though, is genuinely interesting.