Re: Which of these AT PSUs suck least?

Posted on 2018-11-25, 20:21

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I never understood this paranoia about not using AT power supplies, there are many well built units (from manufacturers such as Delta, Astec, LiteOn, Enermax) that should only need some basic refurbishing (cleaning and maybe recap), sure they may fail at some point but I doubt they will take out …

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Re: External batteries for a couple of 386 boards

Posted on 2018-11-06, 18:59

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If you don't want to solder the wires, I suppose you could twist them until they are secure and cover the unions with heatshrink tube... the problem with that is that it's not reliable like a soldered joint, since a sudden pull may easily break it.

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Re: Motherboard capacitors.

Posted on 2018-11-06, 18:39

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Just get some good (Japanese) low ESR 1000uf 6.3V or 1000uf 10V and call it a day, those are extremely common values in Socket 7/Super 7 motherboards. No need to worry about different voltage or capacitance, it won't be of any advantage unless you're trying to fit them in cramped spaces where the …

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Re: Unexpected cpu cache result.

Posted on 2018-11-04, 22:13

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Actually the Intel DX4 supports 3 different clock multipliers via de CLKMUL pin: If CLKMUL is left floating or connected to Vcc, you get 3x (default) If CLKMUL is grounded, you get 2x If CLKMUL is connected to the BREQ pin, you get 2.5x Source: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=130978& …

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Re: My New AT Power Supply killed my surge protector

Posted on 2018-10-30, 13:56

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The ticking sound is usually due to the power supply refusing to start because there's something shorting to ground. It is probably also why the AT PSU caused the fuse to pop. Start by checking resistance with a multimeter in the power connector of your motherboard between the different power rails …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2018-10-23, 04:27

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

appiah4 wrote: Fastest Slot1 100MHz FSB P3 I have is a P3 700.. are 800-1000 very rare? Never see them.. I got a sealed 800 a few months ago for very cheap (about USD 15), the seller had a bunch of them, so I guess they're not really rare. I think the 1GHz are uncommon though.

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Re: What SMD soldering irons you use ?

Posted on 2018-10-03, 14:05

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I use Goot soldering irons (20, 40 and 60W), regular ones without any fancy temperature control. They're well made (Japan), cheap, and the ceramic tips last a long time, which is enough for my hobby level of use. Some people despise the conical tips but it's not a big deal to me at least. I also …

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Re: Hello, World! :D - Robert B's PC builds - oogle away freely :)

Posted on 2018-10-01, 00:04

by

by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Great work on that P66! That board looks really nice. You get extra points for the Sabbath/Dio soundtrack 😉

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Re: Asus 486SV2GX4 Am6x86-P75 & L2 cache not working

Posted on 2018-09-25, 14:46

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Looking at the manual and comparing with your picture I see that you have the jumper settings for a Cyrix CPU. I think you should try using the AMD486DXL4 settings (with 2x clock multiplier in order to enable the internal 4x multiplier), but someone who has version 2.0 of the board can confirm the …

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Re: Ballast resistors for ATX power supplies

Posted on 2018-09-21, 00:44

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Some ATX --> AT adapters come with one of those resistors in the 3.3V line, but that's because 3.3V is not used at all by AT style computers. I don't think adding a resistor to 5V would help in your case.

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Re: Simple Case and Cable problems!

Posted on 2018-09-20, 14:21

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have found problem 1 to be somewhat common with cheap AT cases. It sucks. You can try installing longer metal standoffs so it creates more space between the case and the tray (as long as the plastic standoffs can take this extra spacing), alternatively you can use some of those red washers between …

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Re: Dallas RTC Chip Compatibility Help

Posted on 2018-09-19, 16:51

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

GabrielKnight123 wrote: does anyone know if there is any difference between the DS12887A and the DS12887A+ The "+" is just the lead-free version of the component, other than that it's the same.

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Re: Adding 3.3V regulator to a cost reduced 486 motherboard

Posted on 2018-09-14, 19:09

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yes, the pin locations seem to be flipped, very weird indeed. I can see that the pin labeled "3" connects to some resistors, which would make sense if it corresponds to the ADJ (pin 1) in the non-fixed version of the regulator. I don't know if a fixed regulator would work in that case, you may …

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Re: Adding 3.3V regulator to a cost reduced 486 motherboard

Posted on 2018-09-14, 18:20

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Can you check with the multimeter the trace that connects to pin 1 of the regulator (the one close to the edge of the board)? In case of the fixed version (the one you have), it should connect to ground. If it goes to some resistor it means you probably need the adjustable version of the component …

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Re: Adding 3.3V regulator to a cost reduced 486 motherboard

Posted on 2018-09-14, 17:52

by

by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Are you sure no other components are missing besides the regulator? Check the board for unpopulated components such as capacitors and resistors. Also, you mention that you bought the fixed 3.3V version of the regulator, but maybe the board was designed to use the adjustable version (without the …

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Re: I recently found this hardware, AKA the Dumpster find thread.

Posted on 2018-08-31, 05:50

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

xjas wrote: ^^ googling this doesn't seem to turn up anything useful, at least at first glance. Anyone know who made this or what model it is? EXP 3409 sounds like a Dataexpert board, this HINT-3/486WB seems to be a pretty close match: http://www.uncreativelabs.de/th99/m/C-D/31797.htm

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Re: What retro hardware you killed today or in the past :( RIP.

Posted on 2018-08-24, 18:37

by

by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have a PCChips M571 socket 7 motherboard that I used for testing old hardware. A few months ago, I was using it to test a power supply and was probing the voltages on an ISA slot. Everything was fine, but a loud sound in my house startled me, the probe slipped and it shorted something in the slot: …

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Re: 1000 bucks for a SCSI adapter?

Posted on 2018-08-23, 14:50

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You know, I've been wondering for a while what's the deal with the prices of SCSI adapters (such as 50 to 68 pin)... they don't seem that rare or technologically advanced to command such high prices. It just seems so random, are those made of solid gold or something? 🤣

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Re: Overdrive

Posted on 2018-08-23, 03:03

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I did some research and it has a 486DX core. Essentially it's an Intel 486DX 50 MHz with those extra features. Great for retro gaming... and word processing! Actually it's not a DX-50 but rather a DX2-50, since the overdrive runs on an external clock of 25MHz multiplied internally by 2 (hence DX 2 …

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Re: Different challenges with an ASUS VL/I-486SV2G

Posted on 2018-08-21, 02:59

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The manuals available online generally correspond to the later versions of the board (2.0 and above) which have different jumper settings. I recommend following the settings silk-screened on the board itself, that's what worked best for me (I have a rev. 1.8 using a DX4-100 overdrive). Normally the …

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