Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2023-12-14, 21:57

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Today I bought a second hand CF. After failing twice to attach a 128GB SSD to my P200MMX using two different SATA->IDE adapters, I gave up and bought a CF->IDE. IMHO 128GB is simply way too large for your Socket 7 motherboard to handle; some models got updated BIOS but many didn't. The 33.8 GB …

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Re: Motherboard (sometimes) turns itself on while inserting a PCI card

Posted on 2023-12-13, 01:05

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Many cheap OEM ATX PSU have no independent power switch (so less knowledgeable users wouldn't confuse it with the momentary power button on chassis, or complain "My computer is dead!" after accidentally switching it off). It's better to avoid those PSU, but if you must use one (such as in this case …

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Re: 440bx problem

Posted on 2023-12-11, 05:44

by

by dormcat

in Windows

in Windows

joker8722 wrote on 2023-12-11, 04:58: How would I find that? A sharp, high-res photograph of your motherboard would help. Examples.

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Re: Post the fastest video card you own that works in a 5v pci slot on 586

Posted on 2023-12-08, 22:31

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

You guys have really "new" cards with VRAM larger than system RAM of many Pentium-class motherboards can handle. The latest PCI video card I have is a Gainward CARDEXpert SG4, featuring S3 Savage4 Pro with 16 MB RAM. Currently working on my Asus TXP4. Gainward_CARDEXpert_SG4.jpg I remember the last …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2023-12-07, 21:11

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

However, I advise you to get a copy of the manual (pdf), it could help you to set up your PC correctly. I do have manuals of every motherboard* I have physical contact with, either from official sites, TRW, or via Internet Archive. *The only exception was that mysterious " Wei Chih Electronics …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2023-12-07, 02:54

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The paste that was used was more like a glue, or perhaps that's what it has decomposed to. I was unable to remove with rubbing alcohol and acetone had no effect. It looks like I'm going to have to use some manual force to get it off. Recently I found out that contact cleaners (either from WD-40 or …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2023-12-07, 02:49

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Unlike the previous batch, EPoX EP-51MVP3E-M was the only motherboard that could not POST. A pity for its nice design (ATX power and form factor; accepts both EDO and SDRAM; clearly marked FSB, multiplier, and voltage jumpers). For the record, neither Asus P/I-P55T2P4 nor ECS P5VX-Be in the …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2023-12-05, 21:27

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Receiving and testing the second batch of vintage motherboards, expansion cards, etc., from e-waste. The condition of this batch is much better than the previous one ; some of them even come with original box and/or documents. Biostar MB-8500TVG https://images.plurk.com/2aZkxZTjNSeXIDt0ZSwSb1.jpg …

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Re: Logitech Unifying with Windows 98 SE

Posted on 2023-12-05, 01:13

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

My keyboard only works in BIOS. In Windows 98 it doesn't. I haven't tried anything special for it though. The most common cause of this problem is that many early BIOS had "USB legacy keyboard/mouse support" disabled by default. But I have another problem with any USB HID devices. When it's plugged …

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Re: Win XP 32 or 64 bit?

Posted on 2023-12-05, 01:11

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

VivienM wrote on 2023-12-05, 00:58: Maybe only the machines with more than 3 gigs of RAM came with 64-bit in 2010? That must be the cause: all four machines aforementioned had only 2 GB of RAM preinstalled.

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Re: MSI MS-5169 No Post

Posted on 2023-12-05, 01:02

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well done! For a couple of days I have been trying to fix an EPoX EP-51MVP3E-M with no POST either (diagnostic card sometimes has random error codes, sometimes has no code at all), but it has no visible sign of damage (shrug).

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Re: Win XP 32 or 64 bit?

Posted on 2023-12-05, 00:48

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

By late Vista era, I think large OEMs (Dell/HP/Acer/etc) had started preinstalling 64-bit on consumer machines. AFAIK Acer and MSI kept installing 32-bit Windows 7 in their consumer machines as of 2010. Specifically, Acer Aspire X1800 (Pentium E5400), emachines ET1830 (Pentium E5700), MSI CX500 ( …

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Re: SSD On K8V-MX /s?

Posted on 2023-11-27, 23:50

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2023-11-27, 20:30: Notice the "Plus" inscription. That's the important bit, since that revision fixed the SATA III bug. Thanks for the info; didn't know that difference until now. Went to check my K8V-MX and it had the VT8237R Plus southbridge. Hooray! 😄

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2023-11-25, 02:26

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Continued testing more MBs: GA-945GCMX-S2 was dead; fortunately though, GA-5AA and P5A -- both SS7 boards -- were back to life. GA-5AA_POST.jpg P5A_POST.jpg The Hardware Monitor error was caused by the modern 24-pin PSU lacking -5V rail. Only two AT-powered boards (ECS P5VX-Be and P/I-P55T2P4) left; …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2023-11-24, 13:01

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

That's a very nice haul of retro boards from your recycler. Unfortunately (or, fortunately) no Slot 1 MB was functional, either by heavy corrosion, bulging capacitors, or just dead for no apparent reason: fans spun but the diagnostic card returned merely four dashes ("----") with no progress. I've …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2023-11-24, 10:31

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Long post: Been testing twelve motherboards (two within complete systems) received from a befriended e-waste merchant. He asked me to clean, test, and sell them if working; I could get either a cut if sold or a discount if there's something I want to keep personally. DFI P2XBL Rev.D + P2-350 + 64M …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2023-11-19, 23:36

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I recently got into retro hardware and started looking at local waste centers. None of them allow you to purchase old computer hardware in case you injury yourself from an electrical fault and I live too far away from e-waste centers (who probably won't allow you to purchase computer hardware for …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2023-11-19, 23:26

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Bought a MOLEX to fan connector so I could test cooling fans without having them plugged on a motherboard. Filename IMG_20231120_071753.jpg File size 615.06 KiB Views 1646 views The result: all fans could run but some were noisy and/or shaky.

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Re: Weird Fujifilm R013-01

Posted on 2023-11-16, 12:43

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

A brief search on Ricoh FB2LF-15 motherboards gave me some outrageous prices when compared with equivalent Socket 370 motherboards. Guess it's because they are needed in specialized devices (e.g. Fujifilm Digital Minilab) and are not meant for general consumers.

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Re: Failed BIOS update (award) - Dead PC :-(

Posted on 2023-11-16, 12:35

by

by dormcat

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Since your board tries to seek the floppy drive, there's some hope for recovery. I've faced that with a very similar board (mine was a HOT-555A Rev-3.2), I tried to flash a patched BIOS, and wound up in the same boat. I prepared a DOS boot disk with AWDFlash, the patched BIOS and a modified …

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