Re: Promise EIDE MAX Firmware?

Posted on 2020-03-01, 03:30

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Does your motherboard have it's own IDE controller+connector ? EDIT: if you card looks like this: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91Y%2Bkz%2B49nL._AC_SL1500_.jpg Note it has no controller chip where the Promise Max II and EIDE Pro does. You need to use the onboard IDE connector not …

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Re: Best way to handle multi-PC (retro+modern) setup with a single modern LCD monitor?

Posted on 2020-02-29, 14:43

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I've been using a Dell 2405WFP for these purposes - VGA/DVI input, 16:10 doing 1920x1200 reasonably well, handles 4:3 quite well, includes composite/component/s-video. It's my bench display for everything from old electronics repair (VHS/SVHS etc.) to video capture setup (BetacamSP scratch display) …

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Promise EIDE MAX Firmware?

Posted on 2020-02-29, 12:23

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I am using a Promise EIDE MAX IDE controller (ISA) in my 486 - without it, the computer struggles to recognize drives over ~500MB. It's one of those HBA type cards - the drives remain connected to the motherboard connector and this card seems to substitute its own controller for the on-board one. …

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Re: Best way to handle multi-PC (retro+modern) setup with a single modern LCD monitor?

Posted on 2020-02-29, 11:51

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I've been using a Dell 2405WFP for these purposes - VGA/DVI input, 16:10 doing 1920x1200 reasonably well, handles 4:3 quite well, includes composite/component/s-video. It's my bench display for everything from old electronics repair (VHS/SVHS etc.) to video capture setup (BetacamSP scratch display) …

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Re: Pre-VESA Proprietary 32-bit Local Buses?

Posted on 2020-02-29, 02:44

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

On an otherwise ISA 486 with integrated graphics, is there a benchmark that can tease out what bus the graphics connect to the CPU over?

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Video card compatibility matrix by OS + processor?

Posted on 2020-02-20, 07:12

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I have been struggling to understand the best video card for a given system based upon researching threads here and elsewhere. The situation that I run into is that many threads focus either on operating system compatibility or processor compatibility (and loosely related to the latter point, period …

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Re: EISA Graphics / Video Cards

Posted on 2020-02-20, 07:05

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Hello, I have a question. If I have an EISA/PCI system, is there any reason to not choose the PCI option for a video card? My main Pentium PC offers both buses. I currently have the ATI EISA adapter but am wondering if I would be better off with any of the slew of PCI options out there. DOS/W98.

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Re: SmartFormat (TFORMAT.EXE) - anyone have a copy?

Posted on 2020-02-18, 23:20

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for. And yes, although the link was finicky, it eventually did work. I've been scouring for interesting, old DOS floppy utilities and found a few interesting ones I'd recommend off one of the simtel archives: fr1_00.zip - another floppy formatter that deals …

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SmartFormat (TFORMAT.EXE) - anyone have a copy?

Posted on 2020-02-18, 05:04

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

I used to love this tool back in the day for recovering floppy disks with bad track 0 issues. I've been looking around and can't seem to find it anywhere. More information here: http://thingsorganic.tripod.com/smartformat_2_1.html Anyone have it by any chance? Unrelated, I'm looking for any cool / …

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Re: Compaq Deskpro 4/66i - system options not set error - Dallas RTC?

Posted on 2020-02-17, 02:13

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

PROBLEM SOLVED. It was the floppy drive cable... not properly connected to the pins on the motherboard (offset one set of pins.) Vynix - your comment helped - realizing the clock is not resetting and therefore the battery must be Ok, I went back to basics. When I reset configuration in F10 Setup, …

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Re: Compaq Deskpro 4/66i - system options not set error - Dallas RTC?

Posted on 2020-02-17, 01:18

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Normally if the battery is dying the time would have started to drift away, and when the battery finally dies, the BIOS will go back to its default values, and the time will roll back to the default date. That's not a very surefire way to see if a RTC chip is dead, but it at least gives you an idea …

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Re: Compaq Deskpro 4/66i - system options not set error - Dallas RTC?

Posted on 2020-02-16, 21:31

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Is it?! That would be pleasant. It does look like it's on a pedestal which perhaps is the socket. Just use some tongs or other fixture to pull straight up? (Tried the finger wiggling test and it's solidly attached.) Here are some better side views. ds1397-2.jpg ds1397-1.jpg And update: yeah, that …

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Re: Compaq Deskpro 4/66i - system options not set error - Dallas RTC?

Posted on 2020-02-16, 20:54

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

That would be the crux of the issue, the battery inside the Dallas chip is starting to give out. You can either replace it if it's socketed, or hack a external battery onto it as explained here: http://greyghost.mooo.com/ds1397rework Agreed... what do you recommend in the way of absolutely-certain …

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Compaq Deskpro 4/66i - system options not set error - Dallas RTC?

Posted on 2020-02-16, 20:13

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Backstory - this is my most precious computer. I bought it myself, new, with two or three saved summers' worth of mowing lawns in the neighborhood. It was sold at dealers back then, so it must have been a strange sight for a ~14 year old to show up to buy it! It's a 486DX2, ISA slots, and I even …

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Re: Intel to remove all BIOS updates on November 22nd, 2019 from their website

Posted on 2020-02-09, 04:41

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thank you! The 10.3 drivers helped out perfectly!

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Re: Intel to remove all BIOS updates on November 22nd, 2019 from their website

Posted on 2020-02-08, 19:25

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Does anyone perchance have a lead on the old network drivers that were wiped out? I'm looking for W98 compatible ProSet driver packages (specifically W98 driver for Pro/1000MT). The driver packages left on Intel's website seem to have deprecated the W9x content and I have been struggling to find an …

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P2/450 (Slot1) - CPU heatsink and cooler?

Posted on 2019-12-18, 04:35

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Any suggestions on a good Slot 1 CPU cooler for my old P2? I don't mind used but ideally it would be something for which I could replace the fan with a newer model if it's gummed up at this point. I've been shocked how hot the P2/450 I picked up gets.... currently just using the cartridge + a Slot 1 …

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Triple boot (98/2000/XP) while ensuring SSD alignment

Posted on 2019-11-14, 00:44

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The title kind of says it all in a nutshell. I’d like to setup a CF SSD with three partitions that let me triple boot between W98, W2K and XP on one PC. I have definitely confirmed that there is a difference in benchmarked performance when creating a partition from the W98 boot disk fdisk.exe vs. …

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Re: Deskpro XL 590 restoration - questions

Posted on 2019-10-25, 02:20

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Hi all, Appreciate the feedback and it’s a good point. Since I am working to bring up two other vintage computers in parallel, neither of which had onboard SCSI, it was easier to work off a single source of potential replacement HW. And, I only have the original 535mb drive. However it’s A good …

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Re: Deskpro XL 590 restoration - questions

Posted on 2019-10-24, 07:10

by

by Swiego

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

NIC drivers appear to install with W98SE without issue. After more troubleshooting I realized I made a mistake and with the default W98 driver install I’m able to get the machine on the network and at least ping other PCs. For some reason DHCP doesn’t seem to function properly with the AMD PCNET HW+ …

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