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What retro activity did you get up to today?

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Reply 20480 of 28625, by GigAHerZ

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Found out this thing: https://archive.org/details/promisevg4controller
And it's quite a boost! 😮

I always had a feeling that VLB IDE controller (without any fancy cache on board) is just a "feel good" thing. But now it does DMA! 😮 I'm maxing out my CF card on 486! 😮

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - And i intend to get every last bit out of it even after loading every damn driver!

Reply 20481 of 28625, by BitWrangler

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Yah, you really need a dab of poligrip on your false teeth before you put a DMA capable VLB I/O card in your machine... some of them even do DMA mode 2!!! ... the drivers were a bit of a bastard to find in the mid 90s though.... There were a lot of "white box" ones around with no floppies and single sheet 9th generation faxed/copied manual in cryptic chinglish.

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 20482 of 28625, by Caluser2000

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BitWrangler wrote on 2021-12-15, 21:26:

They seem to have a good selection on Etsy https://www.etsy.com/ca/market/a_round_tuit 🤣

Kwal bro....

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 20483 of 28625, by Nexxen

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Yes, baking soda did something but I still have the marks left by the degreaser going down.
Or maybe look for a better degreaser, more concentrated.
Annoying.

I also have a botched retrobrite front panel with left behind "stains".
I haven't tried to clean with some micro particles cleaner.
I definitely have to use the tank method + sun.

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

Reply 20484 of 28625, by appiah4

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Try a magic eraser maybe?

Reply 20485 of 28625, by Nexxen

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appiah4 wrote on 2021-12-16, 10:50:

Try a magic eraser maybe?

I'll post a pic. Magic eraser does nothing.
I'll bleach it blond 😀 Back to the early 2000's mass hair bleaching!!
🤣

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

Reply 20486 of 28625, by zapbuzz

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I made a retro synth track on my vp6 music tower to share its Peter Gunn.
Its more of a parody expression that it isn't just a gunshot but has words too. (not like originally intended)
Hardware / software is well over 20 years old now and I haven't seen much improvement since only
I think midi music scores are from real musicians.
Its based on midi sequence played on yamaha xg100Plus VL and a movie action scene where shot is fired.
Caution has explicit words but is not a real situation - pure acting.
You may use it and share it without profit or profit for charity only.
Lead sounds a bit like BB-8 come think of it 🤣

Merry christmas my friends.

Last edited by zapbuzz on 2021-12-17, 04:50. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 20487 of 28625, by Nexxen

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appiah4 wrote on 2021-12-16, 10:50:

Try a magic eraser maybe?

See pic

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

Reply 20488 of 28625, by xcomcmdr

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zapbuzz wrote on 2021-12-16, 11:38:
I made a retro synth track on my vp6 music tower to share its Peter Gunn. Its more of a parody expression that it isn't just a g […]
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I made a retro synth track on my vp6 music tower to share its Peter Gunn.
Its more of a parody expression that it isn't just a gunshot but has words too. (not like originally intended)
Hardware / software is well over 20 years old now and I haven't seen much improvement since only
I think midi music scores are from real musicians.
Its based on midi sequence played on yamaha xg100Plus VL and a movie action scene where shot is fired.
Caution has explicit words but is not a real situation - pure acting.
You may use it and share it without profit or profit for charity only.
Lead sounds a bit like BB-8 come think of it 🤣

Merry christmas my friends.

Nice and funny track ! 😀

Merry Christmas to you too.

Reply 20489 of 28625, by Caluser2000

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Nexxen wrote on 2021-12-16, 11:29:
I'll post a pic. Magic eraser does nothing. I'll bleach it blond :) Back to the early 2000's mass hair bleaching!! LOL […]
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appiah4 wrote on 2021-12-16, 10:50:

Try a magic eraser maybe?

I'll post a pic. Magic eraser does nothing.
I'll bleach it blond 😀 Back to the early 2000's mass hair bleaching!!
🤣

Try a fine grade emery or sand paper.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 20490 of 28625, by snufkin

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Had a look inside a Toshiba 110CT that had been sitting in a woodworking workshop for years, thought I'd clean some sawdust out before seeing if it still worked. Discovered that there's not one, but two NiMH batteries, both of them leaking. Finally got the main board out and the heatsink off:

The attachment Toshiba_110CT_BitOfAState.jpg is no longer available

I think the sawdust has mixed with the battery fluid to form a corrosive paste. Any bets on if it still works? I'm pretty firmly on the 'not a chance' side at the moment.

Reply 20491 of 28625, by Nexxen

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snufkin wrote on 2021-12-16, 17:15:

Had a look inside a Toshiba 110CT that had been sitting in a woodworking workshop for years, thought I'd clean some sawdust out before seeing if it still worked. Discovered that there's not one, but two NiMH batteries, both of them leaking. Finally got the main board out and the heatsink off:
Toshiba_110CT_BitOfAState.jpg

I think the sawdust has mixed with the battery fluid to form a corrosive paste. Any bets on if it still works? I'm pretty firmly on the 'not a chance' side at the moment.

Vinegar treatment, or at least remove as much as you can.
Betting it can work again.

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

Reply 20492 of 28625, by Nexxen

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Caluser2000 wrote on 2021-12-16, 15:11:
Nexxen wrote on 2021-12-16, 11:29:
I'll post a pic. Magic eraser does nothing. I'll bleach it blond :) Back to the early 2000's mass hair bleaching!! LOL […]
Show full quote
appiah4 wrote on 2021-12-16, 10:50:

Try a magic eraser maybe?

I'll post a pic. Magic eraser does nothing.
I'll bleach it blond 😀 Back to the early 2000's mass hair bleaching!!
🤣

Try a fine grade emery or sand paper.

Too much work. I'll buy some ultra concentrated degreaser, industrial grade.

PC#1 Pentium 233 MMX - 98SE
PC#2 PIII-1Ghz - 98SE/W2K

Reply 20493 of 28625, by TrashPanda

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snufkin wrote on 2021-12-16, 17:15:

Had a look inside a Toshiba 110CT that had been sitting in a woodworking workshop for years, thought I'd clean some sawdust out before seeing if it still worked. Discovered that there's not one, but two NiMH batteries, both of them leaking. Finally got the main board out and the heatsink off:
Toshiba_110CT_BitOfAState.jpg

I think the sawdust has mixed with the battery fluid to form a corrosive paste. Any bets on if it still works? I'm pretty firmly on the 'not a chance' side at the moment.

Oof, there is a tiny less than .0000001% chance that it might work, but if you fire that poor thing up in its current state Id say there is a good chance of a fire.

Reply 20494 of 28625, by snufkin

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TrashPanda wrote on 2021-12-16, 18:31:
snufkin wrote on 2021-12-16, 17:15:

Had a look inside a Toshiba 110CT that had been sitting in a woodworking workshop for years, thought I'd clean some sawdust out before seeing if it still worked. Discovered that there's not one, but two NiMH batteries, both of them leaking. Finally got the main board out and the heatsink off:
Toshiba_110CT_BitOfAState.jpg

I think the sawdust has mixed with the battery fluid to form a corrosive paste. Any bets on if it still works? I'm pretty firmly on the 'not a chance' side at the moment.

Oof, there is a tiny less than .0000001% chance that it might work, but if you fire that poor thing up in its current state Id say there is a good chance of a fire.

Well, the board is currently in a bag soaking in methylated spirits/denatured alcohol (only solvent I had enough of just to hand) overnight, so it should burn well.

I'm waiting to see what the damage is under all the gunk. I suspect there will be broken legs on the Toshiba chip near the bottom of the photo (pins 49-64). Keyboard connector (PJ13) could be a problem as well; the end of the flat flexible cable doesn't look pretty and will need fixing up. Long term I think the biggest problem will be if anything corrosive has ended up under the CPU. The rest of the components I reckon I can remove to clean underneath, but I don't have the kit to attempt removing and replacing the CPU. I also need to figure out the minimum assembly required to test the board.

Reply 20495 of 28625, by TrashPanda

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snufkin wrote on 2021-12-16, 22:31:
TrashPanda wrote on 2021-12-16, 18:31:
snufkin wrote on 2021-12-16, 17:15:

Had a look inside a Toshiba 110CT that had been sitting in a woodworking workshop for years, thought I'd clean some sawdust out before seeing if it still worked. Discovered that there's not one, but two NiMH batteries, both of them leaking. Finally got the main board out and the heatsink off:
Toshiba_110CT_BitOfAState.jpg

I think the sawdust has mixed with the battery fluid to form a corrosive paste. Any bets on if it still works? I'm pretty firmly on the 'not a chance' side at the moment.

Oof, there is a tiny less than .0000001% chance that it might work, but if you fire that poor thing up in its current state Id say there is a good chance of a fire.

Well, the board is currently in a bag soaking in methylated spirits/denatured alcohol (only solvent I had enough of just to hand) overnight, so it should burn well.

I'm waiting to see what the damage is under all the gunk. I suspect there will be broken legs on the Toshiba chip near the bottom of the photo (pins 49-64). Keyboard connector (PJ13) could be a problem as well; the end of the flat flexible cable doesn't look pretty and will need fixing up. Long term I think the biggest problem will be if anything corrosive has ended up under the CPU. The rest of the components I reckon I can remove to clean underneath, but I don't have the kit to attempt removing and replacing the CPU. I also need to figure out the minimum assembly required to test the board.

Corroded traces wiill also be a big issue, you could run wires for some of them but I suspect there might be more than just a few 🤣.

Reply 20496 of 28625, by xcomcmdr

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Will be interesting to find out how you've fixed and if you fixed it, eventually. 😀

Reply 20497 of 28625, by TrashPanda

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Just found a X9000 Cpu in one of my storage boxes along with a T9500 and two brand new laptop CPU/GPU coolers .. I for the life of me cannot remember when I bought them or why but knowing me I have one or possibly two laptops buried in storage awaiting upgrades.

DOH...

Now to find the laptops or .. bury the upgrades in a box and forget they are there again.

Reply 20498 of 28625, by snufkin

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Well, I got the worst of the muck off and... well, it's bad, but not as bad as I expected:

The attachment Toshiba_110CT_UnderTheMuck.jpg is no longer available

Slightly disappointed. I was half hoping for a nice clear 'this is broken and fixing will take more time than I really want to spend' amount of damage, rather than a 'well, maybe' amount.

There are some broken traces, but all the pins on the 187HP look intact, if a bit thin. Elsewhere, near the second battery plug point, I can see a couple of traces that may be broken, but this area is the worst of it. I think the next step is to see if I can get the 187HP off without breaking any pins. I suspect that the gunk will have glued the pins to the pads and made the metal brittle, so removing it without doing damage could be fun. Then the keyboard connector, which I'd like to try and save if possible but can be replaced. Then those 62Z components (dual diodes I think, HZM6.2Z) and some of the resistor packs. Also want to try and remove the rest of the CPU heatsink to see if there's any more damage.

I think the odds of it working might have doubled. Up from nearly .0000001% to nearly .0000002%.

Reply 20499 of 28625, by creepingnet

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Not much, just loading software on the FitPC. Thinking about making it a XP-based "Server" of sorts for my vintage machines. Tried running FNaF on it, it won't run, but I did run Postal on it and it runs AMAZING on that machine. Going for The Sims Next, and maybe Beachhead 2000.

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