Re: Plastic gotten sticky around laptop keyboard.

Posted on 2024-04-24, 04:57

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Agree with the acetone. Really helps. I'd be really careful with acetone on computers and peripherals. It literally dissolves ABS and similar plastics. At least find out what kind of plastic the shell is made from, and check its chemical resistance chart before trying acetone. I've successfully …

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Re: Multimeter recommendation

Posted on 2024-04-24, 04:46

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Fluke is my recommendation. Fluke's are nice, indeed. However, I don't know if their price tag can be justified if one is going to use it only occasionally for a hobby. If anyone finds a used one for a decent/low price though, definitely grab it. Nowadays you can get as good multimeters as Fluke …

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Re: Multimeter recommendation

Posted on 2024-04-14, 05:31

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

whilst Fluke and other high end brands are ideal for high power stuff and where precision and responsiveness are important, i have used one of those cheap but ok vici ones for a few years and its ok perhaps we shouldn't be surprised but collecting and using vintage meters is also a hobby :) Yeah, …

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Re: Things I learned about fans

Posted on 2024-03-26, 09:15

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Sleeve bearings made from sintered bronze can often be regenerated. Just clean the bearing thoroughly with some product not leaving residues (brake cleaner, electronics cleaner, etc), then pop it in a bath of suitable oil, and heat it all up to whatever max temperature the oil can handle before its …

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Re: HELP: Mystery Socket 7 Motherboard Post Fail

Posted on 2024-03-25, 14:11

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Update - It's Working!! Thank you everyone for helping me troubleshoot this board! Before I found the problem I replaced the CMOS battery with a fresh 2032. This didn't change anything but still worth ruling out. Moving the POST card to the ISA slots produced the same codes (good to know the ISA …

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Re: HELP: Mystery Socket 7 Motherboard Post Fail

Posted on 2024-03-24, 18:28

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Sorry if stating the obvious, but have you tried resetting CMOS, in case onboard video can disabled from BIOS, and it's simply a question of the board expecting a graphics card in an expansion slot if so? Or checked if there's some jumper for disabling it? Also, those post cards can be pretty flaky …

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Re: startech vga2hdmiPro burned out?

Posted on 2024-03-23, 10:07

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Even though 2A is a lot for that kind of equipment, and the manufacturers generally tends to overspec the PSUs, I'd also definitely try with another PSU before assuming you killed the upscaler by giving it 9VDC. Startech's website - click Technical Specifications - says 2.6A, and the symptoms you …

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Re: Reviving Linksys WRT54GL - about pin header connections and related matters

Posted on 2024-03-20, 23:53

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm usually just using bent pieces of jumper wire for temporary through-hole connections. Simple and works reasonably well. Filename DSC_0778.JPG File size 174.86 KiB Views 121 views Filename DSC_0782.JPG File size 277.13 KiB Views 121 views Sorry about potato quality 😜

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Re: How to get rid of green battery acid corrosion in ISA connector.

Posted on 2024-03-17, 11:53

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I use citric acid, works great. Since you’re in NL you could try this: https://www.kruidvat.nl/hg-citroenzuur-koffiemachine-ontkalker/p/648620 Citric acid is great for oxide removal, but regrettably it leaves solid residues when it dries up. Acetic acid evaporates completely, which is an advantage …

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Re: Asus pinout and Xgecu T48

Posted on 2024-03-17, 11:15

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

No actually I meant the pinout of ch341a and the one of the T48 (the chip on the mobo is a standard one) I am sure it is and if so, I can use the attached scheme. From your diagram it looks like there's a 25 series 128Mbit chip on your board, so took a screenshot from some random ditto in XGPro: …

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Re: Asus pinout and Xgecu T48

Posted on 2024-03-17, 10:33

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You can get the pinout/wiring from the XGPro software. - Start XGPro. If you don't have the programmer plugged in, make sure to select T48 when asked what programmer to emulate. - "Select IC" -> load the database entry for the particular BIOS chip on your mobo. - "Set Interface" -> check the "ICSP …

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Re: Bios identification for reprogramming with TL866II Plus

Posted on 2024-02-26, 16:23

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

elszgensa wrote on 2024-02-26, 14:50: No need to go digging through a binary when the minipro project has it in a nice xml file. And if you don't feel like sifting through an XML file, here's a list of chip IDs in clear text 😀

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Re: msi ms-5128 v1.1 bios recovery procedure

Posted on 2024-02-11, 09:57

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Options for BIOS recovery in most cases: 1) use an EEPROM programmer like the TL866. Essential kit if you mess around with vintage stuff a lot (not just for this sort of situation, but also to make bootROMS for cards, test SRAM and 74-logic chips etc etc) 2) hot-flash on a different board that …

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Re: Image quality fix for Voodoo1 and 2 cards

Posted on 2024-02-07, 11:52

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Removing/bypassing the output filters improved the image a bit further. It's generally sharper now, even in 640x480 and 800x600 resolutions, one of which the filters plausibly were tuned for. There's still some diagonal moving lines left, especially in GLide mode, but that seems to be a thing with …

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Re: Image quality fix for Voodoo1 and 2 cards

Posted on 2024-02-06, 14:39

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Yours probably have a peaking low-pass filters, that's what the CLC things do normally. They will boost things at a specific resolution but are detrimental to everything else (except EMC stuff). In any case bypassing these will improve higher resolutions a lot, I get rid of them on every card I …

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Re: Image quality fix for Voodoo1 and 2 cards

Posted on 2024-02-06, 11:33

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Excellent ~ Yeah, I'm very happy with the results, thanks for the inspiration :) Might try bypassing the output filters tonight and see if that improves the picture further. Sometimes I wonder if they're there only to meet EMI regulations rather than improving the output quality, wouldn't be the …

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Re: Image quality fix for Voodoo1 and 2 cards

Posted on 2024-02-05, 22:56

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Finally got around to attempt this fix on my Voodoo 1 card :) Ordered 10 bus switches, both to keep as spares for future fixes, and as a safeguard in case of the screwups I was certain I'd do. Those things are small and my eyesight isn't getting better with age... Began with replacing the original …

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Re: What is the fastest practical DOS build?

Posted on 2024-02-05, 09:03

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If you ask me, a DOS build needs ISA, there's really no way around it. Also found that builds around exotic stuff like industrial mobos etc from the time when ISA was really obsoleted seldom are worth the trouble, there's just too much that doesn't work, or demands insane amounts of tinkering to …

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Re: What is the fastest practical DOS build?

Posted on 2024-02-04, 08:56

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If you ask me, a DOS build needs ISA, there's really no way around it. Also found that builds around exotic stuff like industrial mobos etc from the time when ISA was really obsoleted seldom are worth the trouble, there's just too much that doesn't work, or demands insane amounts of tinkering to get …

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Re: Dead 486! Anyone able to repair what I can't?

Posted on 2024-02-01, 12:11

by

by kaputnik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I don't have experience with these POST cards so I maybe have a stupid question...is the last displayed code (07) the one trying to be tested (the card displays it at the beginning of the test), or the last one successfully tested (the card displays it at the end of the test)? I wonder if the …

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