Re: 2024 - End of the era of Retro Computing Youtube channels?

Posted on 2024-01-04, 19:00

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by TheMobRules

in Milliways

in Milliways

When it comes to YouTube I've found that as soon as it becomes the creator's main job the content is usually not that interesting anymore, partially because they become slaves to the YT algorithm, forced to keep pumping videos that are either undercooked or about things they're not really interested …

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Re: Ultimate Annual Gaming Builds: 1993 (486 in progress), 1994 (P90), 1995 (P133), 1996 (P200 and PPro 200 in progress)

Posted on 2023-12-25, 20:44

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Did some more testing and I think I narrowed it down to the AUTO Config Function in the BIOS. For whatever reason this board does not seem to like it when that function is disabled and the DRAM settings are messed with. More aggressive settings do yield faster results in benchmarks, but result in a …

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Re: 386: replacing caps

Posted on 2023-12-24, 02:07

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yeah, those are what I call "capacitors in a box", they're regular electrolytics inside a plastic case. And they ALWAYS leak, absolutely awful things. Just replace them with regular electrolytics, you may need to fiddle with the legs a bit to get in the proper position. Also, remember to clean the …

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Re: Philips P3202 CMOS ext. Battery help

Posted on 2023-12-24, 02:02

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I don't know if that's simple, because D3-D5 seem to have different connections to the Dallas Chip. During tracing i found f.e. that even the plus pin on the battery header is connected to ground on the Dallas. At first i thought this is caused by the bridge on D6, but even without it, it's …

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Re: Philips P3202 CMOS ext. Battery help

Posted on 2023-12-23, 17:57

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The DS1287 has an internal battery that is not accessible at all via the pins on the chip unlike a DS1285 (in fact, the DS1287 is essentially a DS1285 with the battery pins folded up and connected to a battery + an oscillator crystal, which are sealed with a plastic cover). So there is no way to …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2023-12-22, 19:31

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The cool thing about it is that they are AT "compatible", the build quality is very good, and only requires a small modification to the 3pin connector (PS_ON#). Another cool thing is that those PSUs have an ATX-like soft-off/standby, i.e. the power switch is not connected to mains making them very …

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Re: Help identifying socket 3 motherboards

Posted on 2023-12-21, 21:58

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Not sure about the first one, but the second one looks like a Biostar MB-1433/50UIV.

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Re: Annual specs for Ultimate Gaming Rigs from 1992 to 2000

Posted on 2023-12-18, 07:31

by

by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

One thing you may want to look into: I believe there was an earthquake or something in 1994 that significantly, significantly affected RAM prices for a significant while. I suppose that wouldn't affect the 'ultimate' rigs per se, but it wouldn't surprise me if average RAM quantity stagnated or …

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Re: Proactive Measures for Radeon 9800 XT

Posted on 2023-12-17, 03:52

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

At least my late 9800 Pro (R360) doesn't have the shim problem, but you should open it and check just to be sure. I think that was mostly an issue on R350 and earlier.

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Do Sierra AGI games write to port 0C0h even on non-Tandy hardware?

Posted on 2023-12-13, 03:43

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Recently I was trying to play some old Sierra AGI games on my XT clone , and noticed a really strange behavior: basically, each time a sound was played on the PC speaker the turbo light on the case would toggle on and off, essentially blinking in rhythm with the music! :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: …

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Re: Motherboard (sometimes) turns itself on while inserting a PCI card

Posted on 2023-12-13, 00:51

by

by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I never insert or remove components while the PSU is connected to the mains. Always thought I was just paranoid, but I guess this proves I'm just sensible :) As long as the mains switch is off there's no problem, it's as if the PSU was unplugged. But on ATX power supplies, flipping that switch …

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Re: Motherboard (sometimes) turns itself on while inserting a PCI card

Posted on 2023-12-13, 00:37

by

by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It's not in standby mode. It's definitely powered off. There is a green indicator light on the motherboard that just shows whether the power supply is on. You can even see me holding down the power button to turn the system off between tests in the video. But even if it was in standby mode, I don't …

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Re: Motherboard (sometimes) turns itself on while inserting a PCI card

Posted on 2023-12-13, 00:21

by

by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Are you inserting cards while the power supply is in standby mode??? Some components such as the RAM are powered by the 5VSB line, I guess it also applies in some way for expansion cards. Not sure what could be triggering the PSON signal in this particular case, but inserting cards while certain …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2023-12-08, 21:17

by

by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well, opening it up certainly revealed some horrors! Mainly dirt, but also some weird brown crumbly stuff that had clearly been glue/resin attached to the copper coils. Oh no, that looks like the deadly brown glue that was used in many power supplies back then (even good ones)! That thing degrades …

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Re: Pentium 200 and Pentium Pro 200 builds. Do I need dedicated CPU fans or are nearby 80mm case fans enough?

Posted on 2023-12-04, 14:55

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

For the P200 that configuration with an 80mm fan nearby is totally fine, I had a Gateway 2000 that did the same thing with an 80mm fan blowing air through both the heatsink and the regulators. Heatsink size was just about the same as yours. In my experience while a little fan over the heatsink can …

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Re: 1994 Ultimate Gaming Build: Pentium 90

Posted on 2023-12-02, 06:07

by

by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Socket 5 motherboards are general available for reasonable prices. Socket 4 is another story. I just checked on Ebay and there are only a handful for sale and they are all several hundred dollars apiece. It's a similar story with Socket 8 motherboards. Which is strange, because I have a Batman's …

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Re: Tseng ET4000/W32i on board video memory upgrade

Posted on 2023-11-09, 22:56

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thank you for the reply, I didnt pay attention the speed of the chips on the board, but that makes sense. It seems finding the 45ns 20dip chips is harder than I thought. It seems like these should work based on the specs given https://www.utsource.net/itm/p/213590.html Yes, that should work as it …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2023-11-08, 17:22

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Broken edge connector? 100 points ... 1 to 4 are missing... You cant imagine how irritated i was when i wanted to plug it in... I think that extra card edge under the power connector makes it even more confusing, it's easy to miss at first glance... I wonder how compatible this PCB is with the …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2023-11-08, 17:13

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I am surprised that nobody has seen it... But now i know why the drive was "untested"...Always the same thing with these seller idiots. Can you see it? I feel so stupid for not seeing it. And now i need to repair this drive too if it is even fixable. i will need some extremely high resolution …

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Re: The best reference PCI VGA card

Posted on 2023-11-05, 02:16

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Martin85 wrote on 2023-11-03, 13:51: I just got one of these and was wondering what purpose does the 3,5mm jack has on the back of the card? Thanks! Audio output for the MPEG decoder add-on.

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