What retro things have you done today?
- Thread starter Duke
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Yeah, they even did it on the back side as wellThe cache traces on that M919 going round in a circle
If I can't find a cache module for sale I'm going to make one. Enough high-res images of them online for me to get a PCB made up, then it's just a case of buying the right SRAM chips.
I've got my original ATC-201 in brown with solid side panel in the loft still.
Also an ATC-201 Black Widow which I picked up a few years ago. Great cases.
Always wanted a black widow! My 201 is brown with the perspec window. I will never sell it. Currently houses an Asus K8V/Athlon 64/2GB DDR 400/ X1950 AGP. The motherboard was brand new unopened so looks absolutely mint. It currently resides in ‘Coolermaster corner’ (only technically true as the rest are in the loft
) - still my favourite cases of all time! Just wish they had twin rear 80mm fans as outlets as standard. Or, really dreaming, a 120.
It's a bug
I drove up to Leeds for a Voodoo 1 carPicked up a "fake cache" PC-Chips Socket 3 board, an M919. Postman must delivery letter post even in the snow here, properly early at <8:30am.
Really unsure why PC-Chips chose to make these fake cache boards, I get that cache was expensive (because SRAM) and therefore selling boards without cache became commonplace until people got wise to it, hence the fake chips on the board to trick punters, however if the reason you were doing it was to sell a massively cheaper board than the competition, why put so many features and decent hardware on it?
This board for example has gold-plated AT power pins, proper metal (again gold plated or brass) clips on the RAM slots, even a gold plated 5-pin DIN for the keyboard. Add to that the fact that it's a PCI, ISA AND VLB board makes it quite versatile.
Most odd.
I'd love to find the cache module for it, but it's not actually COAST, it's a COAST-like interface for a custom cache type. When they do come up for sale they are more expensive than just buying a decent 486 board, which defeats the point.
I have a PC Chips 921 my 'Write Back Cache' chips don't even bother with any further pretend serial numbers.
Heck of a board, fake cache not withstanding though. PCI is thin as tissue paper but (for the time) fully featured and still in good condition.
Soldato
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http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/39785/Saintsong-EPC-1-Mini-PC/
I've just won one of these on eBay. I should stop idle browsing and bidding at night.
I've just won one of these on eBay. I should stop idle browsing and bidding at night.
Soldato
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Following my dumb Radeon VE purchase (which hasn't arrived) I bought an ATI 1950XT for £7, for no reason.
The 1950 Pro and GT are on a smaller process node thing so have single slot coolers and are quiet. This is not so it's a 1900XT, hot and loud, but with faster memory I think.
The 1950 Pro and GT are on a smaller process node thing so have single slot coolers and are quiet. This is not so it's a 1900XT, hot and loud, but with faster memory I think.
Finally got around to testing my PC-Chips M919 486 DX2/66 board/CPU and it all appears to be working correctly (write-back cache status notwithstanding).
Also got around to testing my Geforce 3, no image at all, but then it was in an Apple G4 Cube AGP riser card, which suggests it might have been flashed to (or originally was a) Mac variant. NVFlash detects the GF3 which is a good sign, but the Flash chip used isn't on the supported vendor/device list for NVFlash, so I can't flash it.
This leaves me with a conundrum. Do I rebuild my currently "in pieces" Apple G4 cube and test the GF3 in there (I don't want it in there long term), or do I desolder the flash chip and either replace with a supported chip, or just flash it in my minipro and solder it back on?
Also got around to testing my Geforce 3, no image at all, but then it was in an Apple G4 Cube AGP riser card, which suggests it might have been flashed to (or originally was a) Mac variant. NVFlash detects the GF3 which is a good sign, but the Flash chip used isn't on the supported vendor/device list for NVFlash, so I can't flash it.
This leaves me with a conundrum. Do I rebuild my currently "in pieces" Apple G4 cube and test the GF3 in there (I don't want it in there long term), or do I desolder the flash chip and either replace with a supported chip, or just flash it in my minipro and solder it back on?
Soldato
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I disassembled my new to me Pentium MMX system as it was filthly, cleaned out the case and the PSU.
Assembled it the way I received it to do some quick tests befor moving to 233Mhz Pentium MMX and taking out the EDO ram and tyign out some SDRAM.
Yet to decide on GPU. Im trying to keep if of its 'vintage' if you will, so trying to limit to 1997 cards... or there about.
Tried and tested S3 Virge/DX 375 probably, but been looking for an excuse to try the Creative CT6610 Parmedia2.
Will likely end up slipping in the Voodoo II, despite being a year newer than ideal.
Assembled it the way I received it to do some quick tests befor moving to 233Mhz Pentium MMX and taking out the EDO ram and tyign out some SDRAM.
Yet to decide on GPU. Im trying to keep if of its 'vintage' if you will, so trying to limit to 1997 cards... or there about.
Tried and tested S3 Virge/DX 375 probably, but been looking for an excuse to try the Creative CT6610 Parmedia2.
Will likely end up slipping in the Voodoo II, despite being a year newer than ideal.
Done, success and failure awaited. Success in that the BIOS was the issue with no display. Failure in that it looks like it's got memory failure/corruption.Flash it and solder it back on
The issue you have is that a P233MMX isn't anywhere NEAR close to being able to drive a Voodoo II to it's potential (I found that Voodoo II SLI 8MB scaled up to around 900-1000MHz P3, so it stands to reason that a single Voodoo II could get pushed to at least half that, if not slightly higher).
From nVidia, a Riva 128 would sit somewhere between a Voodoo I and a Voodoo II so might make a decent fit for the system (I'd not recommend a Voodoo I, I found mine to be completely lacklustre, enthusiast only really, especially given the price they fetch).
From ATI, you're looking at the 3D Rage Pro or Rage LT Pro, both of which will have superior image quality to the Riva and Voodoo, but also will be weaker performance than the Riva.
It really depends on what games you envisage playing. For me, my Socket 7 machine is first and formost a DOS machine (It has 98SE installed, but I still tend to launch only DOS based games on it), so the only real 3D games are Glide engined things (or obscure 3D engines that sided with the wrong technology!), it's only really with my Super Socket 7 or Slot 1 builds that I start playing Windows based games on them and thus needing DirectX support. If all you need is 2D then it doesn't really matter what card or brand you end up with.
Soldato
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Thanks for the reply
Good to know about the Voodoo II then, I'll keep it in my Slot 1 PIII machine then.
I have a couple of Rage Pro's, so might give that a bash then.
I basically wanted the Pentium MMX as an 'upgrade' to the 486, which isn't wonderful with the likes of Quake, Duke3D, etc. Having the 486 and PII/PIII machines felt like a big jump, so wanted something inbetween. Looks like I will be keeping them mainly DOS too then, but I do like the occasional play in Windows 3.11. I 'think' the PIII has Windows 98SE installed, which covers a lot too.
Finally got around to seeing if the hardware that came in my Cooler Master ATCS-610 was working. Not really interested in the hardware itself given that it's Socket 775 and I've got better S775 hardware lying around, but needed to know if it was working to shove it on the 'bay seeing as I only bought the case, the hardware was free!
First had to find a CPU that I didn't mind if the board killed it, found a Pentium 4 520 (wasn't willing to risk my Core 2 Quad QX6700), and an old Socket A Cooler gratuitously placed on top with some thermal grizzly (had no S775 air coolers lying around, only water blocks). Fired it up and all seems OK with the Asus P5B-VM board booting into Windows Vista (after a lengthy chkdsk) using the onboard video.
Now to take a look at what's on the HDD!
First had to find a CPU that I didn't mind if the board killed it, found a Pentium 4 520 (wasn't willing to risk my Core 2 Quad QX6700), and an old Socket A Cooler gratuitously placed on top with some thermal grizzly (had no S775 air coolers lying around, only water blocks). Fired it up and all seems OK with the Asus P5B-VM board booting into Windows Vista (after a lengthy chkdsk) using the onboard video.
Now to take a look at what's on the HDD!
Also another Midi module arrived yesterday. Boss Dr.Synth DS-330 synth. Was £30 and came boxed with manual, midi cable and original PSU. This is actually manufactured by Roland and is a cutdown Sound Canvas SC-55. This is going on the 23mmx.
Soldato
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Recently I've been struggling to think of anything to play either retro or modern gaming. Also struggling with builds - I've put together, and got frustrated with, and torn down several this week. Established that a M-ATX S478 board is dead and my s939 is dead. My Yamaha YMF724 PCI card was not playing ball with any system. My Slot 1 is a pain to use due to always wanting to turn on (which apparently is a cap problem). Toyed with a "simple" Windows 7 build that can do any of my disk games and DOSbox but that cant do anything over what my main PC does.
I've put a few bits up for sale and I'm thinking of clearing out a fair bit more, like that sort of working Slot 1 board and CPU, and maybe my PCI V3 2000. 7600GS AGP too.
In the end I've built and settled on my SIS648 chipset ATX S478 board, in my pink case with a newly aquired 2GHz Northwood CPU (the plan bring at 50watts it's noticeably cooler and less VRM intensive than the 3.4GHz chip in the board before). I used my Sound blaster Live that had at some point fallen 6ft down the back of my shelves, being squashed and crushed but works just fine like always. Can't be arsed faffing with additional cables so my fast enough, passive and DVI equipped MX440 is being used. I actually quite like DOS and it's low-res games over HDMI!
Crucially I've ditched the 8GB CF cards and I'm using a 160GB IDE drive limited to 32GB so I don't have to be ever careful of space, which removes one of my gripes with (my) retro builds.
Anyway I've got it set up and actually working so I won't touch it for a week (a personal challenge). I'm enjoying some Doom 2 and Morrowind which I've had a hankering to play at the back of my mind for a while.
No photos as that obviously goes against thehalf quarter-arsed ethos of this build!
I've put a few bits up for sale and I'm thinking of clearing out a fair bit more, like that sort of working Slot 1 board and CPU, and maybe my PCI V3 2000. 7600GS AGP too.
In the end I've built and settled on my SIS648 chipset ATX S478 board, in my pink case with a newly aquired 2GHz Northwood CPU (the plan bring at 50watts it's noticeably cooler and less VRM intensive than the 3.4GHz chip in the board before). I used my Sound blaster Live that had at some point fallen 6ft down the back of my shelves, being squashed and crushed but works just fine like always. Can't be arsed faffing with additional cables so my fast enough, passive and DVI equipped MX440 is being used. I actually quite like DOS and it's low-res games over HDMI!
Crucially I've ditched the 8GB CF cards and I'm using a 160GB IDE drive limited to 32GB so I don't have to be ever careful of space, which removes one of my gripes with (my) retro builds.
Anyway I've got it set up and actually working so I won't touch it for a week (a personal challenge). I'm enjoying some Doom 2 and Morrowind which I've had a hankering to play at the back of my mind for a while.
No photos as that obviously goes against the
Maybe make a list of games that takes your interest and do a build around that? I went through a phase of building loads of systems and they were either really similar.. or something faster could be built. I actually have 3 machines now (1 of them actually doesn't offer any value as the other two cover the library of games I'm interested in but i can't bring myself to dismantle it as it's a great system.)
I'm been spending loads of time on My VIA C3 system and its been covering the dos spectrum of games awesomely. Today I fired up the PIII machine to play some Re-Volt. I remember the title screen music so vividly from way back which brought a smile to me! The game is also a boat load of fun!
I'm finding I'm not buying much hardware now. My collection is pretty large and there are some real pieces which would probably fetch a fair amount of money. I'm also fed up of Installing Win98 countless times. If i pick something up it has to add real value to the machine, or a safe purchase knowing i could flip it for a good profit.
After deciding that my Slot A stuff can be sold, I decided that what I'd actually do is build a system with it 
Building a late '99, early 2000 build with Athlon 900MHz, Radeon 32MB DDR (All-In-Wonder), and Windows ME.
Ran into a slight oddity though, the motherboard (or at least BIOS) complains that the CMOS battery is low, there's also no way to continue to boot without pressing F2 to re-set default BIOS settings and it's a brand new battery
This is problematic and means that I can't really sell as working.
Building a late '99, early 2000 build with Athlon 900MHz, Radeon 32MB DDR (All-In-Wonder), and Windows ME.
Ran into a slight oddity though, the motherboard (or at least BIOS) complains that the CMOS battery is low, there's also no way to continue to boot without pressing F2 to re-set default BIOS settings and it's a brand new battery
This is problematic and means that I can't really sell as working.
Ive seen this problem before but never got to the bottom of it. Saw a similar post the other day without many good answers other than check for clr cmos jumper...After deciding that my Slot A stuff can be sold, I decided that what I'd actually do is build a system with it
Building a late '99, early 2000 build with Athlon 900MHz, Radeon 32MB DDR (All-In-Wonder), and Windows ME.
Ran into a slight oddity though, the motherboard (or at least BIOS) complains that the CMOS battery is low, there's also no way to continue to boot without pressing F2 to re-set default BIOS settings and it's a brand new battery
This is problematic and means that I can't really sell as working.
spotted this reasonably priced? PPro motherboard and 200mhz cpu:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RETRO-AI...rentrq:ba103f2a1770a9c94edf135effcc1523|iid:1
Yep, I found the same, doesn't appear to be a rhyme or reason other than something must be physically faulty. I guess I could try a different BIOS release. I think this board has both AWARD and AMI images available, might try an AWARD.
DOOOOOO IIIIIIIT!