Re: Show us your custom Physical mt32-pi Builds

Posted on 2021-11-09, 16:30

by

by Mu0n

in MT-32 General

in MT-32 General

The front wouldn't look right with the 3d printing layer lines, and my attempts to print text with the 3d printer didn't work out, so I used my Brother QL700 label printer to print out the matte paper label, and the glossy plastic label. The end result looks pretty fantastic to me, but I'd love it …

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Re: Show us your custom Physical mt32-pi Builds

Posted on 2021-11-09, 16:13

by

by Mu0n

in MT-32 General

in MT-32 General

Has anyone considered using a black PCB for the front plate around the small LCD/OLED area? Using the silkscreen for the big 'Roland Multi-timbre Sound Module MT-32' and leave a hole for the screen area - bonus points if you order this in a multi-project pcb order. It has a nice reflective sheen to …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2021-09-19, 12:07

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by Mu0n

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Couldn't resist another retro purchase, this time an Intellivision - Twas my first console as well. I don't know if you're looking for game suggestions, so I'll limit myself to 5: -Night Stalker: dread atmosphere made perfect. Ammo depletes and spawns automatically elsewhere, so often in the worst …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2021-09-16, 19:11

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Nice Mac Plus. I already kept the family's Mac Plus since forever, sitting at 2.5 Mb RAM and with an external Hyperdive FX/20 (wants to be initialized since 2017) and I had found a new one in 2005, platinum colored, 4 Mb for $40 canadian. I couldn't resist either. It's my favorite mac classic of all …

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Re: Troubleshooting a Gravis PC GamePad

Posted on 2021-09-10, 15:10

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

And actually, what prompted this whole deal about getting a W in electronics repair as my to-do-list steadily grows is I wanted to make a simple Logo Writer program that messes with joystick input and remains super simple for my kids, especially my son who can be in a position to tinker with code …

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Re: Troubleshooting a Gravis PC GamePad

Posted on 2021-09-10, 13:52

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I mean: 1)you can't deny it's a classic and it's absolutely iconic for early 90's pc gaming 2) electronics and investigation is *chef kiss* As for what I'll use it for: there are plenty of games where left/right is used and not up/down, like many of those Apogee sidescrollers. I tried it with Duke …

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Re: Troubleshooting a Gravis PC GamePad

Posted on 2021-09-10, 04:43

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

after soldering the wires directly on the pins of the exposed socket, I ran into 2 issues: -horiz and vert were reversed, so there's a small mistake to fix in the table that was suggested by snufkin (see bottom of this post) -B1, B2 didn't work I noticed the green cable was dangling loose, so I …

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Re: Troubleshooting a Gravis PC GamePad

Posted on 2021-09-09, 21:56

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I cut the cable right after the right angle bend near the exit inside the case, and tested all the wires in the remaining section. Yup, the problems were probably in that area. To make sure it wasn't a weird crimping problem inside the plastic header casing, continuity was verified on both sides now …

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Re: Troubleshooting a Gravis PC GamePad

Posted on 2021-09-08, 16:23

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Haha, wow. That should drive me all the way through the finish line. Saves me a ton of time for the dpad section which I was going to verify later. Thanks! When I have time, I'll attack the homemade header cable.

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Re: Troubleshooting a Gravis PC GamePad

Posted on 2021-09-08, 09:02

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Wiring my own external cable is next on the list. In-circuit testing, I find: Q1 and Q2 (tied to the dpad) are PNP MPS3906 transistors, and both unidirections work as intended. Q3 and Q4 (tied to autofiring) are NPN MPS3904, both unidirections work.

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Re: Troubleshooting a Gravis PC GamePad

Posted on 2021-09-07, 19:44

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

single fire mode (bottom switch to the right) https://i.imgur.com/CuXnRBe.png Pins 2,3,8,9 go to the yellow button and would attempt to tie it to the 7th external cable pin from the top (2nd post here), which is NC. I'm guessing it's a failed attempt at making 'B3' work and it should go to the DB15 …

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Re: Troubleshooting a Gravis PC GamePad

Posted on 2021-09-07, 19:14

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Awesome, that's really helpful in simplifying the scenarios in my head. Here's the rapid-shot mode (switch to bottom left) where each individual color is tied together. I also generally used the button color they're supposed to deal with. https://i.imgur.com/SLOcozu.png Pin 3 goes nowhere Pins …

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Re: Troubleshooting a Gravis PC GamePad

Posted on 2021-09-07, 15:18

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I meant to add this to the OP as well. What I meant by doing my own janky cable assembly to the DB15 connector on the PC - this can explain a lot of things (not all?). I used the numbers as per the pinout on the male joystick connector seen here: https://allpinouts.org/pinouts/connectors/input_ …

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Troubleshooting a Gravis PC GamePad

Posted on 2021-09-07, 14:57

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Foreword: I don't *need* this gamepad, as I also am equipped with an Advanced Gravis GamePad as well as both the Advanced Gravis Joystick (one button on top of the stick) and the other with two. Goal: repair its bizarre behavior just as a fun electronics diagnostics/repair project. https://i.imgur. …

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Re: Tiny Vortex86-based DOS gaming PC - weeCee

Posted on 2021-08-27, 10:24

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

The EM08C monitor recently reviewed by Adrian's Digital Basement makes for a great display that reacts well to every VGA res I threw at it. It makes for a great nightstand setup, or corner of a desk.

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Re: Retro Rig Photo Thread

Posted on 2021-08-22, 15:30

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

I finally got the last piece to complete a "nightstand" sort of setup for my 'Weecee' vortex86DX based tiny form factor PC (details in this thread: https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=80651 ). I got the monitor off of Aliexpress, an Eyoyo EM08C after it got a positive review from Adrian's …

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Re: Video glitches in vintage pc running Adventures of Willy Beamish

Posted on 2021-08-16, 23:13

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Have an interesting idea here that we haven't checked here before, can you try to run with EMM386 in CONFIG.SYS? I recall that some games didn't work well without any expanded memory manager even if the game doesn't require EMS. Wow. This is WILD. Despite expanded memory being my default …

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Re: Video glitches in vintage pc running Adventures of Willy Beamish

Posted on 2021-08-16, 19:36

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Soutbridge ISA Configuration ISA Clock is at 8.3 MHz (at lowest setting already) DMA operating clock at 4 MHz (lowest setting already) ISA 16 bits I/O wait-state: switched 1 clock cycle to 4 ISA 8 bits I/O wait-state: switched 4 clock cycles to 6 ISA 16 bits Memory wait-state: switch 1 clock to 4 …

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Re: Video glitches in vintage pc running Adventures of Willy Beamish

Posted on 2021-08-16, 19:23

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Retracing the file copy steps, back to glitchiness. Something else escapes me.

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Re: Video glitches in vintage pc running Adventures of Willy Beamish

Posted on 2021-08-16, 19:13

by

by Mu0n

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

I'm curious about this. Does the BIOS settings and versions are exactly the same between the two Vortex86DX? everything is exactly the same. edit - no sound configured, I still have to figure out how to make it happen. The install utility doesn't give that option. I must blind-guess what to write …

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