Got a new retro computer to clean, repair and refurbish yesterday:

The best part:
MS-6168 motherboard (slot 1 with voodoo 3 and sound blaster 128)

Old owner wasn't sure if the motherboard still worked, but fortunately, it still did once I disassembled the computer. I washed the motherboard, dried it and replaced a capacitor that was starting to bulge. Might order some polymers and replace all of the caps, or may just let it be and see if any more caps need replacing in the future. Also updated BIOS so it wouldn't choke on larger IDE hard drives. My guess is that the dodgy electrolytic capacitor was screwing up the motherboard on cold boots, making the first boots from storage for the old owner unsuccessful

I'll have to replace the noisy fan on the voodoo 3 eventually.

In the pack, I also got the following parts:
* 650mhz Pentium III Slot 1 CPU
* 256meg SD RAM + 2 x 128meg SDRAm
* Extra 550mhz Pentium III CPU on a slocket.
* USB floppy drive (useful for transferring data to old XT computer)
* Combo memory card reader/floppy disk drive.
* Quantum Fireball 8gb drive
* Couple of DVD IDE drives

So not a bad haul.

Forgot to post this a few days ago when I got it.

Not very retro because it runs Windows 7, XP and W2k but still cool:
eBox-3330 VESA mini-PC, 933MHz Vortex86DX2 (DM&P, ex-SiS, ex-RiseMP6) CPU, 1GB DDR (supports up to 2GB) NIB.

It's bootable from SD, and it has enough space inside to install a 2.5" SATA drive. If it had a parallel port it would have been perfect.

I'm thinking Dosbox machine or MAME.

No relation at all, I'd think... apart from that clipart. Probably there is a clipart collection out there somewhere that both Music Quest and Fujitsu drew from for their package artwork...

EDIT: That's what I get for not reading. 😵

SW-SSG wrote:

No relation at all, I'd think... apart from that clipart. Probably there is a clipart collection out there somewhere that both Music Quest and Fujitsu drew from for their package artwork...

It's not the clipart but the fact that it's from the same company (Opcode Systems).

stamasd wrote:

Forgot to post this a few days ago when I got it. […]
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Forgot to post this a few days ago when I got it.

Not very retro because it runs Windows 7, XP and W2k but still cool:
eBox-3330 VESA mini-PC, 933MHz Vortex86DX2 (DM&P, ex-SiS, ex-RiseMP6) CPU, 1GB DDR (supports up to 2GB) NIB.

.....

It's bootable from SD, and it has enough space inside to install a 2.5" SATA drive. If it had a parallel port it would have been perfect.

I'm thinking Dosbox machine or MAME.

Is it bootable from usb for installing the OS?

Rack mount case/computer with AT back panel for cheap.

Guessing the cards included will have absolutely no usefulness to me.

Yay.. getting sorta close to having enough AT cases... probably still need to get around 3 more for all the builds I want to do.

canthearu wrote:

Got a new retro computer to clean, repair and refurbish yesterday: […]
Show full quote

Got a new retro computer to clean, repair and refurbish yesterday:

The best part:
MS-6168 motherboard (slot 1 with voodoo 3 and sound blaster 128)

Old owner wasn't sure if the motherboard still worked, but fortunately, it still did once I disassembled the computer. I washed the motherboard, dried it and replaced a capacitor that was starting to bulge. Might order some polymers and replace all of the caps, or may just let it be and see if any more caps need replacing in the future. Also updated BIOS so it wouldn't choke on larger IDE hard drives. My guess is that the dodgy electrolytic capacitor was screwing up the motherboard on cold boots, making the first boots from storage for the old owner unsuccessful

I'll have to replace the noisy fan on the voodoo 3 eventually.

In the pack, I also got the following parts:
* 650mhz Pentium III Slot 1 CPU
* 256meg SD RAM + 2 x 128meg SDRAm
* Extra 550mhz Pentium III CPU on a slocket.
* USB floppy drive (useful for transferring data to old XT computer)
* Combo memory card reader/floppy disk drive.
* Quantum Fireball 8gb drive
* Couple of DVD IDE drives

So not a bad haul.

Nice boards those MS-6168 rev 2 😀

I have two and am doing an idiotically overpowered build with one of them: Ultimate Packard Bell P3 / Voodoo3

One odd thing I noticed is that one of my two boards only seems to take Slot1 Coppermines but not socketed ones on converter. It's definitely a hardware difference, I've swapped out BIOS chips and behaviour stays the same on the boards. My hypothesis is that it's somehow related to CPU stepping, as my slot1 CuMine is A2 stepping and the socketed ones are B0 or later - but as I don't have a B-stepping slot CPU or A-stepping FC-PGA I can't confirm that . Could you post the S-Spec of any P3 CuMine CPUs this board works with? (i.e. SL3KV or similar for a P3-650) Thanks!

P.s. what case did it come in?

cyclone3d wrote:

Rack mount case/computer with AT back panel for cheap.

[...]

inside.jpg

Case aside, that motherboard looks very interesting (some kind of i430HX design?), as does the red PCI card, whatever it is. And does that other card really have two 50p Fast SCSI buses next to each other?

I'll have to check out the cards once it arrives. It almost looks like the one with what appears to be SCSI is also VGA ???? Look at the ports on the back.

Not sure what the red card is.. maybe some sort of multi-port serial card? At least that is what it looks like to me.

According to the sticker on the front of the case, it was used as a computer for a wave solder system?

debs3759 wrote:

stamasd wrote:

Forgot to post this a few days ago when I got it. […]
Show full quote

Forgot to post this a few days ago when I got it.

Not very retro because it runs Windows 7, XP and W2k but still cool:
eBox-3330 VESA mini-PC, 933MHz Vortex86DX2 (DM&P, ex-SiS, ex-RiseMP6) CPU, 1GB DDR (supports up to 2GB) NIB.

.....

It's bootable from SD, and it has enough space inside to install a 2.5" SATA drive. If it had a parallel port it would have been perfect.

I'm thinking Dosbox machine or MAME.

Is it bootable from usb for installing the OS?

I don't know, I guess we will both find out. 😉

The manual doesn't say explicitly, but the section about installing Linux starts with "after you boot from your installation CD..." which implies that you can boot from an USB CDROM as there is no other way to connect a CD to it.

My newest pickup.
Biostar MB-8500TUD-A.
Intel 430TX Chipset (with USB!)
Unknown Processor/Memory (although can take SDRAM)
Matrox Mystique w/Rainbow Runner expansion
Ensoniq AudioPCI
ISA Modem
Needs a PSU, but that will be fixed soon.

dionb wrote:

Nice boards those MS-6168 rev 2 :) […]
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Nice boards those MS-6168 rev 2 😀

I have two and am doing an idiotically overpowered build with one of them: Ultimate Packard Bell P3 / Voodoo3

One odd thing I noticed is that one of my two boards only seems to take Slot1 Coppermines but not socketed ones on converter. It's definitely a hardware difference, I've swapped out BIOS chips and behaviour stays the same on the boards. My hypothesis is that it's somehow related to CPU stepping, as my slot1 CuMine is A2 stepping and the socketed ones are B0 or later - but as I don't have a B-stepping slot CPU or A-stepping FC-PGA I can't confirm that . Could you post the S-Spec of any P3 CuMine CPUs this board works with? (i.e. SL3KV or similar for a P3-650) Thanks!

P.s. what case did it come in?

Nice build.

If you have only replaced the 2 large capacitors next to the slot, I'd also check the 1000uF capacitors next to it. This is the one that was failing on mine.

I am currently running the Parkard Bell BIOS, version 5 off the driver website. It accepts all of the coppermine processors I have, but only runs them at 100mhz (tested with 550/100mhz SL30A, 667/133 SL3XW, 1000/133 SL4C8)

It didn't come in it's original Packard bell case unfortunately, was a custom feature build someone did in a wooden case that I might do something with. But will require installing proper mounting points for motherboard/drives/PSU and getting airflow right.

Recently, I was able to visit a friend in rural Pennsylvania who collects classic Macs and came home with a back seat full of stuff. 😊

He acquires PC stuff every now and then and unloads it on me as he is not interested in it, and while most of the time I pay for it to be shipped here, this time I was able to physically pick it up from him.

I got:

- Dell UltraScan P780 17" VGA CRT monitor (Trinitron! 😲)
- Tandy VGM-450 13" (?) VGA CRT monitor (supposedly a VGA monitor, although it has a 9-pin video connector and seemingly shipped with an adapter.)
- NEC APC IV/PowerMate 2 desktop computer (Has a 10 MHz 286, a Cirrus Logic VGA card, and had an MFM hard drive at one point but it had been removed when I got it. My friend also mentioned the PSU possibly being dead as he could not power it on.)
- NeoWare CA15 thin client (No idea if it works, he just pointed to it and asked me to take it home. 🤣 )
- Mac Plus logic board, analog board + Sony 1.44 MB "Superdrive" (Gonna be used to fix my dead Mac Plus.)

He has some more stuff (Gateway slot A tower, some hard drives and laptops) he is going to most likely ship at a later date, but I am quite happy with what I got this time around. 😀

arncht wrote:

the case also not bad, especially after 18+ years service. i really like the inside of the case. it is much more "future proof" that the good looking, but horrible inside inwin 500.
ive never heard about the manufacturer: Yeong Yang

The attachment 20180825_171853.jpg is no longer available

Hey I've got the same case!! (hardly earth-shattering but a fun coincidence 😀)

As you can see, the CD drive is tilted to the side because this case requires particular drive rails for the 5.25" drives, so if you have them it will make life easier. Foolishly I think I accidentally discarded them a couple of years ago with non-working optical drives 😢 I had to Dremel some generic drive rails into shape to get them to fit but it was a bit of a pain, but at least the CD drive isn't tilted any longer! And it has a P2B inside 😀

Yeong Yang actually made quite a decent range of consumer cases, I have at least one other one, a cube case which I'm also building into a Pentium Pro system.

RC Systems DoubleTalk PC speech synthesis card... apparently also has a music tone generator and can also be used as a Windows sound card.
In 2000, they removed one of the chips to reduce cost and because the programs that it was used with were obsolete. From what I can tell, this card is from before then from the pictures I could find.

https://web.archive.org/web/20000229085030/ht … s.com:80/dt.htm

RC Systems still has the documentation and software available for download... woohoo!

@cyclone3d

Oh neat! Id dump that eprom for vogons drivers, if you weren't already going to.

canthearu wrote:

[...]

Nice build.

Thanks. If I have the oomph left this evening after taking the little ones to bed, I might get to work on the to-do list. I have the Promise SATA300 TX2Plus at last, and have a new switch unit.

If you have only replaced the 2 large capacitors next to the slot, I'd also check the 1000uF capacitors next to it. This is the one that was failing on mine.

Hmm, worth a look - particularly on the board that's a bit odd when it comes to CPUs. Easy enough to do as that board's not installed.

I am currently running the Parkard Bell BIOS, version 5 off the driver website. It accepts all of the coppermine processors I have, but only runs them at 100mhz (tested with 550/100mhz SL30A, 667/133 SL3XW, 1000/133 SL4C8)

The retail Award BIOS gives you a lot more options, but nothing new in terms of CPU or HDD support. I have one on each board, and swap the chips if I want to try the other.

It didn't come in it's original Packard bell case unfortunately, was a custom feature build someone did in a wooden case that I might do something with. But will require installing proper mounting points for motherboard/drives/PSU and getting airflow right.

Sounds interesting - and very similar to something else I want to do: basically do all my case-independent retro builds in a set of drawers, so they are helpfully out of the way when not needed (with less moaning from partner and unsupervised fingers from children), but perfectly accessible when needed. Hook all that up to a KVM switch, an Ethernet switch and some sort of audio switch/mixer (still need to see what I intend to do there, particularly as at least one build will have three ISA sound cards and two midi sound modules attached). Issue is exactly what whoever did that wooden case obviously hasn't solved: getting the ports/slots right. What I want is to use removable motherboard backplate-trays-with-slots-included popular in the mid 1990s more high-end AT and ATX cases. Great idea, but if there's one thing more difficult than finding old cases, it's finding multiple specific quite rare ones. Also, I don't really feel happy cannibalizing these beautiful cases.

Probably I'll shift to finding cases that are damaged and/or have parts missing and getting out the old grinder on those. But that's a more long-term project.

NVIDIA RIVA TNT - Creative Graphics Blaster RivaTNT (NV4) (Sealed) (1998)

STB Ultrasound 32 Pro 256KB (Compaq 240112-001) ISA

cyclone3d wrote:

And for some reason, Music Quest MPU-401 cards have been popping up for cheap lately. Put in an offer and it was accepted. Shipping from overseas was stupid high.. but this one is boxed and was still a good deal as I got it for about the same price shipped as one of my other Music Quest cards (8-bit) (half of what a repro card is). This one is a Rev A. The one I got right before this is a Opcode/Music Quest one and is a rev B and is even more integrated... posted a page or two before this.

Nice find. I have one too like that I believe but that one is dead sadly 🙁
When I get home tonight, I will look if the content of the box matches the one you have.

^ dead? Is it like the original 8bit card we cloned or the later version like cyclone3d's one?
If it's the original send it over for repair 😀

keropi wrote:

^ dead? Is it like the original 8bit card we cloned or the later version like cyclone3d's one?
If it's the original send it over for repair 😀

You don't remember Keropi :p?
It's the later version. Maybe I should let you get a go with it. It's not working after all :p