The Epson HX-20 is sometimes referred to as an early laptop computer. It’s a little odd in its form factor, and in its storage, relying on a microcassette drive to store data. It can be problematic to keep these tapes and drives going after so many decades, so [Andrew Menadue] has been tinkering with a more modern solution.

The replacement drive uses a Raspberry Pi Pico to emulate the original tape drive. The Pico uses a microSD card to store data instead of the magnetic media of old. The device has a small screen for showing status information and four buttons for navigation, allowing the faux drive to be controlled as to what “tape” it’s pretending to be. It’s also possible to use the device to emulate ROM cartridges that could be used with the HX-20 in place of its original tape deck storage solution.

We’ve seen some other old hardware get similar drive upgrades before, too. No surprise, because mechanical drives and media simply don’t last forever. Sometimes you need to build a replacement that’s viable today. Video after the break.