Re: Hercules graphics on VGA monitors (mod)

Posted on 2018-05-23, 05:16

by

by Kubik

in Milliways

in Milliways

The FPGA can be programmed by cheap (2 EUR) programming device. Anyway, nice hack 😀 I probably wouldn't want to mod my Hercules card as I prefer to keep it intact (to preserve its historical value), but I was always wondering if Hercules can be attached to VGA 😀

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Re: Adlib Revival Kit

Posted on 2018-05-22, 12:12

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

What about internal sound output to connect the PC speaker? Potentially also mixing the Adlib output with PC speaker input and then routing all that to PC speaker again?

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Re: Hercules graphics on VGA monitors (mod)

Posted on 2018-05-22, 12:09

by

by Kubik

in Milliways

in Milliways

And you know there's an active Hercules/CGA/MDA/EGA to VGA converter? https://sites.google.com/site/tandycocoloco/m … -cga-ega-to-vga But still, a really great idea!

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Re: BIOS for Octek Fox II 286 or other board with HT12/A chipset

Posted on 2018-05-20, 07:38

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

OK, so I've tried all the BIOSes and they're pretty much the same, except for the EMS enablement option in setup. I'll keep the original BIOS chips intact and will use one of the "other" BIOSes, although I probably won't use EMS after all, but it's good to have that option. It turned out the memory …

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Re: IBM PS/2 Model 30-286 with massive upgrades and mods (pics!)

Posted on 2018-05-19, 18:52

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Nice build :) I've got something similar, although not that good - I am only using generic memory board with an excessive amount of 41256 chips to add whopping 2MB RAM :) On the other hand, the memory test takes so long I usually have time enough for a cup of coffee. I assume 12.5MB memory test …

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Re: Modern Keyboard on 286PC

Posted on 2018-05-19, 18:42

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You'd better get a real PS/2 keyboard, those are still pretty cheap. The other option would be a real USB to PS/2 converter with a microcontroller. What you have is just a passive adapter that assumes the keyboard being able to work either as USB or as PS/2. A klavesnice v Nay kupujou jen trubky 😀

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Re: BIOS for Octek Fox II 286 or other board with HT12/A chipset

Posted on 2018-05-17, 16:52

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks, I'll try them. I've managed to purchase a whole lot of 27C256 EPROMs so I'll burn all the BIOSes and will see. The board is still under reconstruction (minor battery leak and oxidation) but I hope to get it into mint condition very soon 😀

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BIOS for Octek Fox II 286 or other board with HT12/A chipset

Posted on 2018-05-15, 14:24

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Folks, does someone happen to have updated BIOS for Octek Fox II 286 mainboard, or eventually similar BIOS for Headland HT/12A chipset? The thing is that my board doesn't have EMS configuration option in BIOS, although other boards seem to have it. Also, the memory relocation feature doesn't seem to …

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Re: Dead 486 motherboard - lost cause?

Posted on 2018-05-13, 12:55

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Then it depends on how much effort do you want to put into it :) Similar working boards just sold on eBay.de with CPU and memory in range from 30 to 40 EUR. Anyway, if you still want to try, I'd recommend to try that diag card first. I've tried some and I can recommend this type: https://www. …

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Re: Identify unknown Aztech card

Posted on 2018-05-13, 07:43

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I've actually fixed that 386 already - just a few broken traces, one socket and few passives replaced, nothing big. I'll test the card when I get back to my office (where I keep some of my junk).

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Re: Identify unknown Aztech card

Posted on 2018-05-12, 07:53

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I've tried NX Pro drivers from the Vogon's Aztech megapack 😀 I've actually tried two different versions, the first one didn't detect the card. It's a good idea with that speed - I was testing on K6/266. When I fix that 386, I'll try it there too.

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SCSI BIOS for 53C400 based controllers

Posted on 2018-05-11, 14:11

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Folks, I wonder if someone has any experience with the problem I am facing right now. I have some SYMBIOS 53C400 (A) based 8bit ISA SCSI controllers. As far as I know, they come in two flavours - one vanilla :) and one with three GALs on it, converting chip's native memory mapped architecture into …

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Re: Dead 486 motherboard - lost cause?

Posted on 2018-05-11, 08:58

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Hmm... If I was asked to fix (or try to) this board, I would also try the diagnostic card to see if there's any activity. The fact the board doesn't beep doesn't necessarily mean it's totally dead. I would also inspect (and eventually replace) all sockets that might get into touch with the corroding …

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Re: Identify unknown Aztech card

Posted on 2018-05-10, 12:05

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Thanks 😀 Then I assume mine is dead as it doesn't work well...

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Identify unknown Aztech card

Posted on 2018-05-10, 11:46

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Folks, could someone please identify the card on picture below? It's presumably some variant of SG NX (Pro?), but so far I couldn't find 100% working drivers for it. The SG tools sometimes identify the card as Sound Galaxy EX, although NX Pro drivers identify it as NX Pro. FM music doesn't play in …

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Re: IBM 5160 stops after testing 64KB RAM

Posted on 2018-05-08, 22:26

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Actually, the BIOS itself is 8KB, Basic is 32KB so there's still 24KB free in F segment. Both XT-IDE and Sergej's floppy ROMs have 8KB, which means I still have another 8KB free. LAN boot? 😀 And yeah, scanning up to FE00 was a great idea!

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Re: IBM 5160 stops after testing 64KB RAM

Posted on 2018-05-08, 21:02

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Actually, packing all the BIOSes into F segment was dead simple - I just had to reconfigure the XT IDE BIOS to support regular 16bit IO card in 8bit mode, and then rebuild the whole "Super XT BIOS". I can see both option ROMs (floppy and XT IDE) starting, and I am booting off the CF card. However, …

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Re: IBM 5160 stops after testing 64KB RAM

Posted on 2018-05-08, 10:35

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yep, I found some info on that U44 as well, and I will continue research as time permits. In fact, I will be using VGA, thus the amount of UMB will be severely limited, and conventional will be limited to 640KB. On the other hand, I hope to be able to squeeze all the important ROMs into free space …

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Re: IBM 5160 stops after testing 64KB RAM

Posted on 2018-05-08, 05:23

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have waited long enough. However, there's another thing I've tried. Despite the fact this is "64-256KB SYSTEM BOARD", the board came with 640KB populated, but without CPU. I assumed someone just found a board with empty memory sockets and stuffed some random memory into it but didn't have CPU. As …

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IBM 5160 stops after testing 64KB RAM

Posted on 2018-05-07, 20:22

by

by Kubik

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Folks, I wonder if you have any advice for me. I've got an IBM 5160 board (the 64-256KB variant). After replacing one tantalum cap that was shorting 5V, the thing finally gets to POST. However, it always stops after testing first 64KB RAM. I've tried various configurations of the SW1.3 and .4 switch …

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