Re: Troubleshooting Compact Flash to IDE on 486 System with American Megatrends BIOS
Posted on 2023-03-19, 10:35
Can you make a closeup photo of your CF adapter, especially around the back side of IDE connector to show the pins soldered.
Re: Sound card too quiet
Posted on 2023-03-18, 20:19
Ok, so now is the time to measure if the -5v voltage is ok or not. Typically -5v is not needed anywhere, so you might not even know if it's there or not until you find some card that depends on it. If it's present on the white wire in AT connector J9 (between 2 blacks and 3 reds), then probably you …
Re: Sound card too quiet
Posted on 2023-03-18, 18:41
Just a hunch... Does your PSU provide the -5v? The LM324 is not really a rail-to-rail opamp, so likely using +5 and -5 v for power, and thus needs -5v. If you have a multimeter, check the continuity between pin 11 of LM324 and pin B5 on ISA edge connector. Though maybe I'm wrong a the opamp is …
Re: 2D Acceleration - first chipsets
Posted on 2023-03-18, 17:42
The real 2D acceleration predates Windows 3.x There is IBM 8514 video card released in 1987, using standardised API to offload common drawing primitives - lines, polygon fills, block copying. There were register-compatible clones, and clones not compatible in hw but providing own implementation for …
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2023-03-18, 11:23
This one is problematic: https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=1148164#p1148164 Cutting the copper around pin 28 on the IDE connector solves the issue. And you don't even know there is a problem, because on most of builds the issue does not manifest. It all depends on the tons of factors - the …
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2023-03-18, 11:00
So, I can only advise you to make several attempts, changing cards (assuming you have several), you may find the right combination It's not about cards. The problem is in CF adapter. There is a mistake in PCB (maybe not on yours, but there is on mine, and on some other too), or designer acted on …
Re: Borland Turbo Debugger XMS allocation
Posted on 2023-03-18, 10:29
The story continues on 286 pc. The newer TD 5.0 does not run on 286, with the issue buried in the dpmi16bi.ovl not recognizing my machine. I've ran the dpmiinst, it did some tests and altered the DPMI server internals, but TD still did not run. So I've tried earlier Turbo debugger v3.2. It has …
Re: Is there a way to log a game's conventional memory usage under DOS?
Posted on 2023-03-18, 07:49
Are you looking for ways to estimate memory requirements for the game (some fixed minimum that would be always enough), or ways to look into the dynamics/statistics of memory allocations throughout the game? I'm looking for topics for my DOS programming exercises, this could be both fun and useful. …
Re: I let the smoke out of a Pro Audio Spectrum 16. Can it be repaired and saved?
Posted on 2023-03-18, 06:52
The generally accepted view on this is that electrolytics are not the proper replacement for tantalums.
Re: Oscilloscope advice
Posted on 2023-03-17, 19:02
Cheap stuff like Fnirsi 1C15 or ADS1014 (YEAPOOK clone?) has no hardware fifo, and their sampling rate is not the real rate. They sample periodic signal at much lower frequency but with phase shifting between periods, it's called "non-realtime interleaved sampling". The waveform is wobbly because of …
Re: A bit of confusion regading sound and music in old games
Posted on 2023-03-17, 08:58
with CD audio, it's even better - there's *ZERO* CPU load, as the playback is handled by the CD-ROM drive itself. That only applies when using a vxd driver though, correct? No, the drive itself has capabilities to play audio tracks. Those are true audio CD tracks, the tech predates the use of CD …
Re: OT: DOS programming forums online?
Posted on 2023-03-16, 15:33
An attempt to raise awareness was made: Retro Software Development? , didn't end with resolution. Seems the answer lies elsewhere - on vcfed, etc.
Re: tandy nano help
Posted on 2023-03-16, 12:15
The .HEX encodes binary, but the file itself is the formatted text. You shouldn't treat .hex as binary because the text does not represent the executable code, it encodes it. The flash programmer will decode text into proper binary when .hex file is loaded as .hex.
Re: tandy nano help
Posted on 2023-03-16, 11:26
The .BAS is the source code in Basic, you do not flash sources. Load the .HEX file in XGpro, select INTEL HEX in File Format section.
Re: Borland Turbo Debugger XMS allocation
Posted on 2023-03-16, 10:08
Oh, found the answer in the articles not directly related to TD, but using same Borland DMPI host. The host checks the DPMIMEM environment variable. Setting it to "MAXMEM xxx" limits the host to that xxx amount of kB's, so the extended memory remains available for the debugged application.
Borland Turbo Debugger XMS allocation
Posted on 2023-03-16, 09:57
It seems that Turbo Debugger version 5.0 will take all the XMS available. Well, it's not the TD really but the DPMI host TD is using. Is there a way to limit the allocation for DPMI host / RTM? I found old manuals on bitsavers, the TD 2.0 and 2.5 had the -e command line switch that tells how much …
Re: I let the smoke out of a Pro Audio Spectrum 16. Can it be repaired and saved?
Posted on 2023-03-16, 08:53
The exact value is not that important, just make sure the voltage rating is not lower. When I was ordering some, I only found caps rated 35v instead of 16v. 10uF, 20uF - shouldn't matter at all.
Re: SD-IDE or CF-IDE adapters - Is there any recommended model/make?
Posted on 2023-03-15, 20:40
You're ignoring the point - the CABLE SELECT is something that gets driven by the controller side of the cable, or by the cable. There is absolutely no point in driving cable select from the device side of the connection, and doing so contradicts the ATA1 specification - the device only listens for …
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2023-03-15, 19:30
With the recent purchases I've got this Y2K rom bios card :) y2k-rom.jpg Obviously we don't need these devices anymore, living past the extinction level event of crossing the new year of 2000. Still this will make a useful tool. I've socketed the rom chip, and now can put something of my own in 28- …
Re: SD-IDE or CF-IDE adapters - Is there any recommended model/make?
Posted on 2023-03-15, 07:36
The device is what's controller sees on the cable. Converter is a bridge between the device interface and the device implementation, it is a device from the IDE controller's point of view, and must behave as a device. I've checked with ATA1, the only time when the device can drive that line on the …
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