Soldato
Ouch! if only he had engaged brain before posting them. Such a shame as they are great pieces of history imo.
Soldato
I bought a Socket 478 board that has DDR2 and a PCI-E slot. I've given my Sonic Tower passive cooler thing a go even if the mounting system for 478 was completely terrible...
That's literally what the instructions say to do...
It doesn't hold the heatsink very well and I'm very scared the screws which press down knto the bridge thing will ping off and the whole (heavy) heatsink will come crashing down...
That's literally what the instructions say to do...
It doesn't hold the heatsink very well and I'm very scared the screws which press down knto the bridge thing will ping off and the whole (heavy) heatsink will come crashing down...
Caporegime
I like that, something neat about having 478 and PCIe. DDR2 is properly overkill for any CPU on 478 but the ease of finding cheap, fast and high capacity memory is nice. What make and model is the board, and what CPU are you using?
Looks like that crossplate that the screws mate with could do with two small indentations to both align with the screws, but also to keep the screws from slipping off the plate. Should be able to do something like that with a vice and a drill!
Looks like that crossplate that the screws mate with could do with two small indentations to both align with the screws, but also to keep the screws from slipping off the plate. Should be able to do something like that with a vice and a drill!
Soldato
Yes that's part of the appeal - I find DDR2 and later graphics cards much more reliable. That's a great idea with drilling an indent into the heatsink bridge thing. After installing XP and drivers, the CPU was sitting at 33c. A neat feature of the board is that after displaying all the devices attached to the board during post it momentarily shows a CPU Health screen so I see the CPU temperature every boot. It's a Northwood 2.4GHz on a NOS biostar 945GC-M4.
Soldato
Found this old Toshiba at work, doesnt have a PSU thought, but overall looks in good condition
Soldato
I really want to mod my Dreamcast but the cost of HDMI/GDemu/PSU replacement/Fan replacement is kind of insane when I can just emulate. Not quite the same though.
I've been watching lots of youtube videos on Windows 98 retro gaming PC builds. Some fairly modern hardware used such as dual core 2 motherboard bundles with PCI GPU's. I've always looked toward P4s being the most modern for Win98 retro builds thats if I can't get a PIII. I've not tried a Win98 build with a dual core 2 system before.
Last edited:
I used to have one of these. Mine had the two prong mains socket on the back. I sold it ages ago. I'm more into the old ThoughBooks now.Found this old Toshiba at work, doesnt have a PSU thought, but overall looks in good condition
Soldato
ive ordered a PSU, if it fires up will try installing some software if it dont i will see if any retro tubers want it
I watched a Windows 3.11 installation on youtube. Windows 3.11 reminds me of when I was at school. I never cared much for Windows 3.11 but now I like it. I'm thinking about what I could use for a Windows 3.11 machine.
I have MS-DOS 6.22 installed on some of my Windows 98 builds so maybe I could install Windows 3.11 to the MS DOS 6.22 partition. I don't actually have Windows 3.11 at the moment. I have been looking on ebay for a boxed original copy but its to much right now.
Windows 3.11 reminds me of RISC OS that was another OS used in schools on the Acorn computers "Acorn Archimedes A3000" and there were also some Acorn PC's that were running Windows 95. Then along came Windows 98 which killed the Acorn computer. I was given one of the Acorn computers by my school and I wish I still had it.
I have MS-DOS 6.22 installed on some of my Windows 98 builds so maybe I could install Windows 3.11 to the MS DOS 6.22 partition. I don't actually have Windows 3.11 at the moment. I have been looking on ebay for a boxed original copy but its to much right now.
Windows 3.11 reminds me of RISC OS that was another OS used in schools on the Acorn computers "Acorn Archimedes A3000" and there were also some Acorn PC's that were running Windows 95. Then along came Windows 98 which killed the Acorn computer. I was given one of the Acorn computers by my school and I wish I still had it.
Last edited:
Soldato
Windows 3.11 is great. So many memories from Microsoft Office, clipart and Word Art, screensavers, Encarta, The Internet with Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer or CompuServe.
It's easy enough to download.
Or some pre-baked versions to use with Oracle's Virtual Box.
It's easy enough to download.
Or some pre-baked versions to use with Oracle's Virtual Box.
Windows 3.11 holds a special place in my heart. It was the OS I first got to experience the Internet. I pleaded with my parents to buy me a Pace External 56K modem which came with a free 30 day trial with Demon internet and Netscape Navigator. Was such a mind blowing moment for me.
I've been digging out all my old laptops.
First one is an unbranded one
Processor 333MHz AMD
RAM 64MB Non changeable
Hard Drive missing
OS I may try Windows 3.11 on it.
Next one...
Panasonic ToughBook CF-28 MK1
Processor 600MHz Intel Pentium III
RAM 384MB
Hard Drive 16GB CF Card
OS None currently. The problem with the CF-28 MK1 is that you need drivers otherwise you'll have no audio or video in Windows. Puppy Linux works ok on this but as its an old laptop its pretty limited on Linux seeing that its to slow for Internet and modern apps. It be much better used with an old Windows OS on it for old games and software. I have recently found a Restore CD for this on ebay which will have all the drivers for the MK1 and the restore OS is Windows 98 SE with all the Panasonic OME stuff on it. 384MB RAM might be slightly to much RAM for Windows 98 SE I find that using 256MB MAX works best for Windows 98 SE. It has 128 MB RAM built in and a stick of 256MB RAM so I will remove the 256 RAM stick leaving it with 128 MB RAM which is still plenty for Windows 98.
Next one
Panasonic ToughBook CF-28 MK3
Processor 1GHz Intel Pentium III
RAM 768MB
Hard Drive IDE 32GB SSD
OS Windows 7.
Windows 7 runs very well on this Pentium III Toughbook but Windows 7 on a Pentium III is a waste of a good Pentium III computer so it will be getting Windows 98 SE. The reason why it has Windows 7 on it is that it was the only OS that has Trim for the SSD. Its going to get Windows 98 and I will ignore the fact that Windows 98 has no Trim support. The battery amazingly still lasts a good 2 hours after all this time.
Last one.
Panasonic ToughBook CF-27
Processor 350 MHz
RAM 384MB
Hard Drive 40GB
OS Windows 2000 with service packs and is running an almost up to date version of Open Office and has some other modern open source software. I would have liked to ran Windows 95 on it but there would be no sound or video drivers. I have enough computers running Windows 98 SE so I went with Windows 2000 for this one. This is another with a good battery.
First one is an unbranded one
Processor 333MHz AMD
RAM 64MB Non changeable
Hard Drive missing
OS I may try Windows 3.11 on it.
Next one...
Panasonic ToughBook CF-28 MK1
Processor 600MHz Intel Pentium III
RAM 384MB
Hard Drive 16GB CF Card
OS None currently. The problem with the CF-28 MK1 is that you need drivers otherwise you'll have no audio or video in Windows. Puppy Linux works ok on this but as its an old laptop its pretty limited on Linux seeing that its to slow for Internet and modern apps. It be much better used with an old Windows OS on it for old games and software. I have recently found a Restore CD for this on ebay which will have all the drivers for the MK1 and the restore OS is Windows 98 SE with all the Panasonic OME stuff on it. 384MB RAM might be slightly to much RAM for Windows 98 SE I find that using 256MB MAX works best for Windows 98 SE. It has 128 MB RAM built in and a stick of 256MB RAM so I will remove the 256 RAM stick leaving it with 128 MB RAM which is still plenty for Windows 98.
Next one
Panasonic ToughBook CF-28 MK3
Processor 1GHz Intel Pentium III
RAM 768MB
Hard Drive IDE 32GB SSD
OS Windows 7.
Windows 7 runs very well on this Pentium III Toughbook but Windows 7 on a Pentium III is a waste of a good Pentium III computer so it will be getting Windows 98 SE. The reason why it has Windows 7 on it is that it was the only OS that has Trim for the SSD. Its going to get Windows 98 and I will ignore the fact that Windows 98 has no Trim support. The battery amazingly still lasts a good 2 hours after all this time.
Last one.
Panasonic ToughBook CF-27
Processor 350 MHz
RAM 384MB
Hard Drive 40GB
OS Windows 2000 with service packs and is running an almost up to date version of Open Office and has some other modern open source software. I would have liked to ran Windows 95 on it but there would be no sound or video drivers. I have enough computers running Windows 98 SE so I went with Windows 2000 for this one. This is another with a good battery.
Last edited:
But you can up the internal resolution through emulation making games look almost like new releases at 1080 or 4k.
I've been playing retro games on my retro PC Its a Compaq the frame rates are insane it looks amazing. Ive not used the Compaq one much. BIOS battery was dead tho. Its running Windows 98 SE and got most of my old games out, well the ones I could find. I got who wants to be a millionaire such a good game. I need to get a Joy stick for the other games but nothing modern and something affordable with a driver plus a game pad. I'll have to keep my eye open at the car boot fairs and charity shops. Windows 98 is amazing especially watching a video of Encarta 97. I'd love to be able to play a DVD on it with a CRT screen. I also found some old Sound Blaster cards I forgot I had and old GPU cards.
I'm making a software pack for Windows 98 Second Edition.
This is what my software pack contains so far...
Windows Media Player 9
Windows Media Player 9 codecs
VCL Player "old version"
7 Zip
PeaZip
Clamshell Anti-Virus
Some free games
Driver Patches - for onboard video and audio fixes
USB Universal Flash Drive Driver
Image Viewer
That is it so far. If anybody has some recommendations of other things I can add to it that would be great.
This is what my software pack contains so far...
Windows Media Player 9
Windows Media Player 9 codecs
VCL Player "old version"
7 Zip
PeaZip
Clamshell Anti-Virus
Some free games
Driver Patches - for onboard video and audio fixes
USB Universal Flash Drive Driver
Image Viewer
That is it so far. If anybody has some recommendations of other things I can add to it that would be great.
Good idea.
Daemon tools 437
Sisoft sandra 99
DX9b
3d mark 2000
3d mark 2001 se
Letter assigner 1.2.0
Power strip
Unirfrsh (Uni Refresh 1.42)
Nero 7.2.3.2b
CrystalDiskMark 2.2.0
Winsmp 2.5e
For DOS
atapi_cd.sys
Ms_mouse820 (mouse.com & mouse.sys)
I have just restored an old retro Panasonic ToughBook CF-28 MK1 600MHz processor 384MB Ram 16GB CF Card as the hard drive. I even have touch screen working. I can not believe it. Its very rare to have touch screen working on these models. I found the Restore CD on ebay. 99p anyway I choose to do a System Restore and I used a translator to help me understand what things say. I've not managed to set the OS to English. The OS is Windows 98 SE. It was the only way to get drivers. I have been searching years for the drivers for this toughbook. I'm a very happy person right now I've just got to figure out how to set the OS to English.
I'm planing to re-cell another dead retro laptop battery but this time I'm going to make it so I can interchange AA rechargeable batteries to and from using single battery holders plus its much safer to solder to a battery holder than it is soldering directly to a battery cell. If the old cells are 1.5 volt then I can do it otherwise I'll have to work out a configuration of cells to get the correct voltage out.
Caporegime
The old cells are likely to be NiMH or NiCd, meaning 1.2v/cell. Soldering to these types of cells isn’t particularly dangerous, but you do need a decent high wattage iron and a high temperature so as to avoid holding heat on the cells for too long. Source, I spent 15 years making up 7.2v packs of 6 sub-c NiCd and NiMH cells whilst racing R/C cars in the 90s and 2000s.
I guess it’s possible that they might be early lithium polymer cells, but in which case you don’t want to be swapping in NiMH or NiCd AA cells as the charging profiles for Lithium are drastically different, not just the voltages involved but also how the current is ramped up and the way peak charge detection is handled.