Disassembly of laptop, how to disconnect this ZIF-like cable?

Posted on 2020-08-03, 10:40

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm stuck on this cable (see attachment) while taking apart a Compaq Armada 1750. It looks like a ZIF cable but it doesn't have a clamp that you have to open first. The service manual says to just pull it and I have, with quite some force on the white part, but it doesn't seem to move at all. Is …

---

Re: Most beautiful Dos-Games for a 486...what are your favorites?

Posted on 2020-07-31, 21:31

by

by HandOfFate

in DOS

in DOS

I always thought Albion looked nice (art style is a bit Amiga-ish), both the 2D and 3D scenes, and I think it ran okay on a 486. Archimedean Dynasty had impressive 3D and according to the specs you can run it on a 486 DX4 but I never did. Same with SU-27 Flanker and EF 2000. Flight Unlimited also …

---

Re: Compaq N600c: hangs on playing audio in DOS, music works

Posted on 2020-07-31, 18:41

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I don't think so, except for the MIDI volume but maybe that's just me. And I could use headphones that have a volume slider to make it more bearable.

---

Re: Making a midi device tower

Posted on 2020-07-29, 13:31

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

So white, so pure. Maybe I should retrobrite my CM-32L because it looks like it belonged to a heavy smoker (maybe it was, who knows) Nice find btw. Can I ask how much you paid for it?

---

Re: Comparison of MIDI sound modules (Roland vs Korg vs Yamaha vs Kawai)

Posted on 2020-07-29, 11:35

by

by HandOfFate

in Milliways

in Milliways

bishopcop wrote on 2020-02-08, 15:09: The files are archived on wayback machine (archive.org). Just checked a couple and they work. Here's a link for those who are also on the lookout to buy a module: https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://shpongle … ers.com/audio/*

---

Re: Compaq N600c: hangs on playing audio in DOS, music works

Posted on 2020-07-29, 10:50

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I haven't been able to get any sound in PC/PCI mode yet. I'm getting the same errors as when I tried to get TDMA working, namely that the DMA channel is supposed to be invalid.

---

Re: Compaq N600c: hangs on playing audio in DOS, music works

Posted on 2020-07-28, 19:58

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You're welcome. I'm glad things are working for you too :) It would be nice if there would be some DOS MPU-401 emulation thing. Not only to make it sound better, but it might have working volume controls too. PC/PCI is a hardware link that connects the ISA DMA requests to the PCI side of the machine …

---

Re: Compaq N600c: hangs on playing audio in DOS, music works

Posted on 2020-07-28, 17:39

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It works, Kamarat. The DMA mode is now PCPCI :) What are the advantages of this mode over the others? The ESS1988 data sheet/technical manual doesn't really contain any explanations about the different modes. I've not managed to get sound in DOS yet with it (I updated the PCISET line to keep the DMA …

---

Re: Compaq N600c: hangs on playing audio in DOS, music works

Posted on 2020-07-28, 15:58

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Interesting, thanks. I will we able to try it out in a few hours 😀

---

Re: The quest for the perfect retro laptop: a saga

Posted on 2020-07-28, 13:47

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I would say the music in Prince of Persia and Duke Nukem 3D (after the first few seconds) are quite loud when you compare it to Doom (whose music volume slider does work, for unknown reasons). Maybe my ears are just too sensitive but there is a volume difference, at least. If you enable the hardware …

---

Re: The quest for the perfect retro laptop: a saga

Posted on 2020-07-28, 11:08

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

That last part of the Prince of Persia intro music :D I'm a bit jealous, I've spent so many hours trying to get it to work well on a N600c now (it works now but music volume is uncontrollably loud) Thanks for sharing your files. I will definitely be trying and comparing your ESSAUDIO.INI to what …

---

Re: The quest for the perfect retro laptop: a saga

Posted on 2020-07-28, 09:55

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

That would be great, thanks 😀

---

Re: The quest for the perfect retro laptop: a saga

Posted on 2020-07-28, 09:47

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Does the sound work in DOS with the Inspiron 8100?

---

Re: New Waveblaster card : Reptile Paradise - Yucatan FX

Posted on 2020-07-28, 09:35

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Ah, that clears it up a bit. Thanks 😀

---

Re: Compaq N600c: hangs on playing audio in DOS, music works

Posted on 2020-07-28, 09:31

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I made some updates to the guide. It turns out ESSAUDIO.SYS is never needed, also not for Doom. The volume was probably muted in game when I tried it but now that the hardware volume buttons work the volume can be adjusted. This is good news as having VXD drivers + ESSAUDIO.SYS loaded caused …

---

Re: New Waveblaster card : Reptile Paradise - Yucatan FX

Posted on 2020-07-27, 11:24

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

So many sound card projects lately. Is this "baby boom" thanks to the lockdowns? :P Like cde earlier, I'm also a bit confused by the capabilities of the different offerings (this, DreamBlaster X2, Synth S2, other daughter boards). Is it just a matter of having different sound engines, or are there …

---

Re: Compaq N600c: hangs on playing audio in DOS, music works

Posted on 2020-07-26, 18:41

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm not personally, but WDM also works and the installation is easier to explain. [Edit] In the meanwhile, I managed to get the volume up/down hardware buttons on the notebook to work in DOS. Unfortunately, they only adjust the volume of the 'voices' (sound) and not the music. I will update the …

---

Re: Looking for Alex Mina's AC97 Mixer

Posted on 2020-07-26, 18:00

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Excellent, thanks a lot! This version is much nicer. 1.7 needed a separate driver (something called "WinDriver") to function, but that was replaced in 1.8 by something better. No additional install required now.

---

Re: Compaq N600c: hangs on playing audio in DOS, music works

Posted on 2020-07-26, 16:12

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Alright, here we go. I hope everything is clear. Please let me know if something is unclear or broken: Getting DOS sound to work using Compaq's Allegro/ES1988 WDM drivers (as opposed to VXD drivers) Advantages of this method: * Simple driver install * No audio problems in Windows when ESSAUDIO.SYS …

---

Re: Compaq N600c: hangs on playing audio in DOS, music works

Posted on 2020-07-26, 15:06

by

by HandOfFate

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I think Prince of Persia only uses Adlib/OPL2 for sounds and music when using a Sound Blaster, and the Allegro-1 was missing some OPL2 stuff (I think? It came by in the laptop saga topic). That would explain why it sounds so off. Another game that would (unfortunately) sound bad is Dune, which had …

---