My P133 is ever so slowly taking shape as parts begin to arrive...

- I've had the IBM monitor sitting in my closet for several years just waiting to be used. I originally got it for use with DOSBOX, but I eventually bought a new laptop with a video card that didn't seem to support 320x200 correctly.
- The motherboard is a baby-AT AI5VP with a Pentium 133 and whatever graphics card came with it (SiS I think?). I'll probably replace the graphics card at some point.
- Keyboard is an IBM knockoff I was excited to find here in Japan, as it has the AT connector I need for the motherboard and has the English layout! Very solid keyboard actually.
- The case is an ATX case and honestly is pretty ugly; however, I wanted a horizontal case and this is all I could find for a decent price. I replace the power supply with a NOS AT power supply I found for a very good price; it doesn't mount to the case, so I'll need to jimmy something up to secure it in place.
- I installed an AWE32 ISA card, but I will be on the lookout for a SB Pro or 16 at some point.
- The Roland speakers are much bigger than I expected; they are shielded, but I'm not 100% happy having them on their sides on the case.
- Still waiting for my hard drive and CDROM drive to arrive (domestic mail), as well as a gameport-MIDI adapter and Gotek floppy emulator (intl mail, so won't get here for some time).

I'm thinking of installing Windows 98SE on this, but will use it primarily as a dedicated DOS gaming machine. The motherboard can boot from the CD, so this seems like the easiest way to get DOS on here, and I am hoping that I can get the USB ports working for copying games over (via Win98) via USB drive. Would there be any downsides to this versus just installing DOS 6.22 from diskette?

That setup is pretty cool.

Thank you 😀

aha2940 wrote on 2020-05-18, 21:17:

pan069 wrote on 2020-05-18, 05:55:

Not necessarily retro hardware in itself, but it will be used for my retro systems. I have about 6 systems atm, ranging from a 2 […]
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Not necessarily retro hardware in itself, but it will be used for my retro systems. I have about 6 systems atm, ranging from a 286 to a Pentium II 350. I already managed to connect each system to a single display/keyboard through an 8 port KVM switch, which works great (wish I could get in beige though...)

Anyhow, I was still looking for a way to connect the sound of each system to a single set of speakers and a while ago managed to find this 8 port auto switch. Got a bunch of cables (RCA to 3.5mm etc.) to connect each of the systems through this switch to the line-in of my main PC.

And the audio switch on top of my KVM (bottom machine is my 286/16, above it my 386DX-40, to the left my Pentium II):

Nice solution, however you may want to open your switch and verify the soldering work on all pins. I have this exact same switch (I use it for my videogame consoles) and I was having issues with audio humming, and random graphical issues on some consoles. I replaced cables to no avail, but disassembled the switch and found that some of the solders were making contact with the metal case of the switch and creating issues. I reflowed all the soldering points, put some electrical tape on the bottom of the metal case (internally) and no more issues so far.

Thanks for the tip. I will investigate.

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-05-18, 21:05:

Hope this is OK to post here. […]
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Hope this is OK to post here.

There is an item on eBay that I would very much like to get for preservation and to help the community.

The only problem is that the seller is in Italy and his listing says he only ships to the EU and has not yet responded to my messages.

Would anybody here be willing to help me arrange a purchase and then ship the item to me?

I don't really want to post the link or the item name here as I don't want some collector snatching it up and then not sharing it.

I'm in France, in case you don't find an Italian fellow.

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-05-18, 21:05:

I don't really want to post the link or the item name here as I don't want some collector snatching it up and then not sharing it.

No offence, but that sounds very selfish to me. And also kind of accusing to all the members here, as if we're all just waiting for such stuff to be posted here in order to snatch it. At the same time, you asking the very same members for help. I mean, you could also just accept that he's not shipping to your location and let some other person buy it.

Also, not posting the link greatly increases the chance that a non-Vogons member will buy it in the end.

Any active eBay listings posted on here is frowned upon and moderators will tell that person that it's wrong to do so. This is a forum site, not a flea market or a place to sell/buy/trade from anyone.

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-05-18, 21:05:

Hope this is OK to post here.
{snip}

Have to agree with derSammler there, just let it go, or use a shipping proxy (something like ShipTo or anything among these lines).

Otherwise I don't think this is going to fly very high in the mods' eyes regarding the "Vogons ain't a marketplace!!!!" rule.

I got an AlphaServer DS10 today. I've been looking for an Alpha machine for a while so was happy to see one come up locally.

I had read in a few different places that the DS10 doesn't support Windows NT. If anyone in the future is trying to find the answer to that question like I was, I can confirm that it is NOT true. Windows 2000 RC2 works out of the box with no issues. Windows NT 4.0 also works, but setup asks for a HAL disk. There was no NT4 HAL officially released for the DS10, but you can get it working anyway. Download the latest EV6 HAL (halg-ev6.zip) and select Compaq Professional Workstation XP1000 from the list. It's a uniprocessor EV6 system like the DS10 so I see no reason why it wouldn't be fully compatible. It does work and I've had no issues with it.

I'll have a play around with Tru64 Unix and OpenVMS at some point. For now I just wanted to see Windows running on a non-x86 machine which I've been wanting to do for a long time.

I also still need to find video card drivers for Windows. It's got an Evans & Sutherland REALimage 2100, whatever that is. Never even heard of the brand...

derSammler wrote on 2020-05-19, 07:43:

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-05-18, 21:05:

I don't really want to post the link or the item name here as I don't want some collector snatching it up and then not sharing it.

No offence, but that sounds very selfish to me. And also kind of accusing to all the members here, as if we're all just waiting for such stuff to be posted here in order to snatch it. At the same time, you asking the very same members for help. I mean, you could also just accept that he's not shipping to your location and let some other person buy it.

Also, not posting the link greatly increases the chance that a non-Vogons member will buy it in the end.

No.. wasn't trying to be selfish. Just didn't want the Vogons thread to come up on a Google search or something and then have somebody not on Vogons snag it and then we never see it again... as it is something that a few of us have been searching for for a while now.

In any case, the seller finally got back to me and is supposed to be getting me a shipping quote.

Once I get it, I'll post and put up the software on vogonsdrivers and a few other places.

This is definitely for posterity and I was just kinda freaking out that some rando would buy it to have in their collection and then not actually make a copy of the software and upload it for others.

I've also never used a shipping proxy service other than for yahoo japan auctions so wasn't sure where to look.

Didn't mean to start any drama... sheesh!

I have received my CT1750 SB16 with DSP 4.05. It was pricey but works extremely well, I have coupled it with a DreamBlaster X2 (the audio level from the DB seems a bit weak though). I expected this card to be quite noisy but it turns out the noise level are quite low and very acceptable.

I have noticed the audio CD header on the card does not use the standard 2.54mm spacing between pins, it is much smaller. Does there exists cables that I could buy that connect a standard IDE audio output and the header on this card?

EDIT: it is in fact relatively easy to find by searching for soundblaster audio cable or MPC-2 cable.

nabbed this up for a good price.

Due to the current COVID situation, had to cancel an upcoming holiday and received a refund. So I treated myself to a retro hardware purchase from eBay instead, a Commodore VIC 20 -

Seller's pic of course.

I'm a bit too young to have owned one of these myself as a kid and in fact I don't recall any of my friends ever having owned one. But for me it was a bit of a no-brainer to purchase and add to my collection:

• It was relatively cheap compared with other 8-Bit micros available on the likes of eBay.
• It's the later model, so can use the standard C64 PSU - of which I have several all in good working order.
• It uses the same Datasette unit as the C64 - I already have 2 of those.
• Finally, I have a spare SD2IEC from my C64 that I can use with the VIC-20 too.

Literally the only extra thing I've had to purchase is a 35K RAM expansion cartridge, also not too expensive. I'll also have to order a replacement for the missing key, again quite cheap.

Quite happy to add it to my collection really.

PTherapist wrote on 2020-05-19, 18:45:

Due to the current COVID situation, had to cancel an upcoming holiday and received a refund. So I treated myself to a retro har […]
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Due to the current COVID situation, had to cancel an upcoming holiday and received a refund. So I treated myself to a retro hardware purchase from eBay instead, a Commodore VIC 20 -

Seller's pic of course.

I'm a bit too young to have owned one of these myself as a kid and in fact I don't recall any of my friends ever having owned one. But for me it was a bit of a no-brainer to purchase and add to my collection:

• It was relatively cheap compared with other 8-Bit micros available on the likes of eBay.
• It's the later model, so can use the standard C64 PSU - of which I have several all in good working order.
• It uses the same Datasette unit as the C64 - I already have 2 of those.
• Finally, I have a spare SD2IEC from my C64 that I can use with the VIC-20 too.

Literally the only extra thing I've had to purchase is a 35K RAM expansion cartridge, also not too expensive. I'll also have to order a replacement for the missing key, again quite cheap.

Quite happy to add it to my collection really.

I've restored quite a few VICs and C64s and I just like to warn people do NOT use rubbing alcohol on the keyboard. The characters on the tops of the keys are fine, but the painted on characters on the front side of the keys will literally smudge off with alcohol. Be gentle and use water (moist soft towel). Just FYI.

Asking for help buying something you want isn't anything that goes against the forum rules. I've had people ask me help buy something for them as a favor and I too have asked others to buy me something. No harm in that.
I don't want to start a "discussion" here, but IMO the user asked in the proper way for honest help, not posting links or he'd go like the guy who was complaining "which one of you was"?
Hope I don't get anyone mad at me for expressing my opinion 😀

liqmat wrote on 2020-05-19, 18:57:

I've restored quite a few VICs and C64s and I just like to warn people do NOT use rubbing alcohol on the keyboard. The characters on the tops of the keys are fine, but the painted on characters on the front side of the keys will lietrally smudge off with alcohol. Be gentle and use water. Just FYI.

Thanks for the tip. Really glad you mentioned that, as I was going to clean everything with isopropyl like I normally do. So I'll just stick to water for the keys!

Bige4u wrote on 2020-05-15, 22:48:

Been lQQking for one of these "special" units for a good while...

Nvidia 256 DDR 32mb VGA/DVI

Ooooooh very nice! DVI is really nice to have on older cards. Is it an OEM card with any part numbers on the back?

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-05-19, 15:34:

No.. wasn't trying to be selfish. Just didn't want the Vogons thread to come up on a Google search or something and then have so […]
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No.. wasn't trying to be selfish. Just didn't want the Vogons thread to come up on a Google search or something and then have somebody not on Vogons snag it and then we never see it again... as it is something that a few of us have been searching for for a while now.

In any case, the seller finally got back to me and is supposed to be getting me a shipping quote.

Once I get it, I'll post and put up the software on vogonsdrivers and a few other places.

This is definitely for posterity and I was just kinda freaking out that some rando would buy it to have in their collection and then not actually make a copy of the software and upload it for others.

I've also never used a shipping proxy service other than for yahoo japan auctions so wasn't sure where to look.

Didn't mean to start any drama... sheesh!

I've known you for awhile man and I knew what your intentions were. Seemed very clear to me. The petty drama that goes on here gets really tiring. I still have a bitter taste in my mouth after what happened with my Pentium Pro photos thread (user complaints... whatever). I basically just deal with Qbix or Stiletto at this point and I suggest you do the same. I do my hardware giveaways and photos elsewhere now because of it.

Another Upgradeware Slot-T.. this one just popped up on eBay for $69 so I grabbed it. Now I can build a dually tually Slot-1 system.

liqmat wrote on 2020-05-19, 20:06:

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-05-19, 15:34:

No.. wasn't trying to be selfish. Just didn't want the Vogons thread to come up on a Google search or something and then have so […]
Show full quote

No.. wasn't trying to be selfish. Just didn't want the Vogons thread to come up on a Google search or something and then have somebody not on Vogons snag it and then we never see it again... as it is something that a few of us have been searching for for a while now.

In any case, the seller finally got back to me and is supposed to be getting me a shipping quote.

Once I get it, I'll post and put up the software on vogonsdrivers and a few other places.

This is definitely for posterity and I was just kinda freaking out that some rando would buy it to have in their collection and then not actually make a copy of the software and upload it for others.

I've also never used a shipping proxy service other than for yahoo japan auctions so wasn't sure where to look.

Didn't mean to start any drama... sheesh!

I've known you for awhile man and I knew what your intentions were. Seemed very clear to me. The petty drama that goes on here gets really tiring. I still have a bitter taste in my mouth after what happened with my Pentium Pro photos thread (user complaints... whatever). I basically just deal with Qbix or Stiletto at this point and I suggest you do the same. I do my hardware giveaways and photos elsewhere now because of it.

So...going by your thread there, it would basically be against the rules to first post pictures of an item, and later mention you want to get rid of an item? That's bordering on ludicrous. 😖