A rare Olivetti M21 has gone from a dead machine to a working DOS portable in a new restoration video by Fabio NMI. The interesting twist is storage: its original Seagate ST-225 MFM hard drive boots again, but later fails, prompting a move to a CF-to-IDE adapter and an XTIDE configuration.
The 29 September 2026 video follows the repair from motherboard and RAM checks through keyboard and speaker work, removal of the old NiCd battery, and a BIOS update from version 1.1 to 1.43. Fabio then shows the machine running software including WordPerfect 5.0 and DOS games on its amber CRT. The M21’s 8086-based hardware and 640×400 display make this more than a cosmetic restoration: it is a practical look at keeping an unusual 1980s portable usable when its original storage cannot be trusted.
Watch Fabio NMI’s full 30-minute restoration: Rare Italian Luggable: Olivetti M21.
