Re: Intel 486dx4-100 vs. AMD 5x86-133 on LS-486 with SB AWE64

Posted on 2020-09-27, 04:21

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

What games and programs should I install on it ? That's kind of like asking what you should get for diner... whatever you like I guess? Pretty much every DOS game released before 1996 will work fine on that PC, with a few exceptions. And "programs" is even more generic, so you could at least give …

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Re: 8-bit guy gets ultra-rare NOS IBM (prototype?) from Computer Reset then proceeds to obliterate it

Posted on 2020-09-26, 21:21

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by TheMobRules

in Milliways

in Milliways

What happened here I think its a huge rush job with his new studio being built and other projects taking his time. He hasn't made many videos lately and as David has his Youtube channel as his livelihood, he needs to put out content to put food on the table. This time, unfortunately it came back …

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Re: Tried to plug an IDE CD-ROM into my486's controller, now not seeing HDD or Floppy

Posted on 2020-09-26, 07:41

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I don't think plugging the IDE cable in the wrong way would have caused any serious damage. Do you have a regular IDE hard drive you can use to test instead of the CF card? Reason: in the past I've experienced many strange issues when using CF cards on old (<=486) computers with ISA/VLB IDE adapters …

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8-bit guy gets ultra-rare NOS IBM (prototype?) from Computer Reset then proceeds to obliterate it

Posted on 2020-09-26, 06:20

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by TheMobRules

in Milliways

in Milliways

Found at Computer Reset - IBM 7496 Executive Workstation The comment section is a goldmine!

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Re: Batman's Revenge socket 4 motherboard - need manual

Posted on 2020-09-25, 22:58

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Recently got one of these boards, but unlike the one posted by lukas12p it doesn't have the voltage regulator, coil and capacitors near the power connector, the component locations are there but unpopulated. It has a jumper near the top memory slot for selecting 60 or 66 though. Does anyone know if …

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Re: Anyone went nuclear and replaced all AT PSUs with ATXs?

Posted on 2020-09-25, 21:16

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

This topic is brought up every once in a while on these forums, personally I think getting good quality used AT units and taking the time to learn how to refurbish them is by far the cheapest and most reasonable option. But if you don't mind spending on new power supplies + the cost of ATX-AT …

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Re: Gabriel Knight is a sexual harasser

Posted on 2020-09-25, 18:00

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by TheMobRules

in Milliways

in Milliways

In Gabriel Knight's case that accusation is especially ridiculous since the game was written, designed and directed by a woman! If there's something that can be said about Sierra is that women were incredibly relevant, both as part of the development team AND the game characters in a mostly male …

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Re: RetroBrite Past the point of "original whiteness?" Suggestions?

Posted on 2020-09-22, 20:28

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I don't think peroxide can get that 5.25'' drive to the point of matching the rest of case. In fact, I'd say it's currently not far from its original color. The only think I can think of is spray painting the drive front, the problem is finding a color that matches the case, I think white would end …

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Re: Replacing an AT power supply with a 3.3V rail

Posted on 2020-09-21, 19:56

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have one of those P8, P9 and P10 adapters, basically the P10 takes 3 x 3.3V and 3 x grounds from the ATX power connector. I have a couple of boards with that type of connector, an Intel Batman's Revenge (Socket 4) and a Zeos Pantera. In the Intel board for example, that connector is there only to …

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Re: Any Socket 3 VLB SiS AMI CR2032 mainboards other than AOpen VI15G?

Posted on 2020-09-21, 19:33

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If you can track down the thread, please link to it - would like to know exactly how and where to change that register. https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=788546#p788546 I have done the mod on both ASUS VL/I-486SV2GX4 and Gigabyte GA-486VS. Later today I can attach those modded BIOSes or some …

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Re: Any Socket 3 VLB SiS AMI CR2032 mainboards other than AOpen VI15G?

Posted on 2020-09-21, 16:53

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

AFAIK Aopen board AMIBIOS has problem with setting up dirty bit for WB L2 cache properly. Yes, although to be fair SIS471 boards with Award BIOS have the same problem. But with Modbin the Award BIOS can be easily modded to fix the dirty bit issue by changing a register (there was a thread about …

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Re: Gigabyte GA-486am/s

Posted on 2020-09-21, 16:29

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

First, make sure you have the latest BIOS (late 1995 if I remember correctly). I assume you have the manual for the basic jumper settings, for a 5x86 you need to set the following: JP5 3-4 & 5-6, RN2 & RN5 installed ("Intel, AMD") JP8 2-3 ("Intel S Series, AMD Enhance Series") JP9 Ope n ("AMD, UMC") …

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Re: Any Socket 3 VLB SiS AMI CR2032 mainboards other than AOpen VI15G?

Posted on 2020-09-21, 15:26

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The Gigabyte GA-486VS (at least the revision 8A I have) has solder points for for a CR2032 battery, which can easily be installed as long as an SMD diode is removed to prevent it from being re-charged. It looks like factory-made when done. But as with the ASUS board, it also has an Award BIOS. Is …

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Re: Realibity of old WDC HDD

Posted on 2020-09-20, 17:04

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I don't think one can say anything certain about HDD reliability unless they have tested large samples of the same model with known data of its power-on hours, which is the unit used by manufacturers to specify the HDD life expectancy. In particular, for old drives that do not support SMART there is …

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Re: Tell us about your 3DFX collection

Posted on 2020-09-18, 05:28

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

1 x Diamond Monster 3D (Voodoo1 4MB) 1 x Diamond Monster 3D II (Voodoo2 12MB) 2 x STB V2-1000 (Voodoo2 12MB) 1 x Voodoo3 3000 AGP All of them working, though I haven't used the V3 in a while. The Monster 3D II is the same one I bought back in late 1998, it is difficult to describe to someone that …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2020-09-15, 07:30

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Unfortunately I think you'll find that AT boards don't fit in mATX cases very well. On that little board however, only the top PCI slot would be inaccessible in an mATX case, and generally you won't use more than 1 or 2 PCI slots on a 486. But I believe some customizations will be required for the …

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Re: Are there any silent AT PSUs?

Posted on 2020-09-15, 00:58

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The AT PSUs made by Startech until not long ago are pretty silent, but they use sleeve bearing fans which usually fail earlier than other types. I also have a couple of Antec units from back then with temperature-controlled fans, so they are really silent as the fan does not usually need to ramp up …

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Re: Newly made Gravis Ultrasound compatible cards ... what's the degree of interest?

Posted on 2020-09-14, 03:58

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

This indicates that the mainboard probably is the source of the issue. It's an Asus VL/I-486SV2GX4. I've already tried to adapt the jumper settings from DX2/DX2SL to P24T (which the POD is identified as) sadly the machine hangs after post then. Changing BIOS versions didn't help at all. Currently …

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Re: Newly made Gravis Ultrasound compatible cards ... what's the degree of interest?

Posted on 2020-09-13, 05:15

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Sound issues with ROTT & Duke3D on my POD system also are present when using a GUS Classic (Max 1.8) Alright, I tested ROTT and Duke3D on the ARGUS using the following configuration: CPU: Pentium Overdrive @ 83MHz with L1 cache set to WB Motherboard: GA-486AM/S with 256KB L2 WB cache RAM: 16MB FPM …

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Re: Fake 486 Processor?

Posted on 2020-09-09, 15:31

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by TheMobRules

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

As mentioned above, there is already a thread about one of these chips not working. If the OP can test the one he bought that would shed some light on this. If that one doesn't work either, then almost certainly they are fake, otherwise the other person may have gotten a broken chip.

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