I've just received this beauty, but then realized that a proper DB15 midi cable is even harder, if not impossible to get nowadays.
There are some Chinese vendors who sell them, but one of them confirmed that it does not come with the extra resistors etc built in. Any idea where can I source it?

The Joystick DB15 to MIDI adapters? Bought one a long time ago and it has a DB15 port that allows me to hook up my joystick to my computer whilst playing MT-32 games on my Socket 7 (this was before I bought an MPU-401 clone card) and I still have the cable for testing the sound card's GamePort for issues.

bjwil1991 wrote:

The Joystick DB15 to MIDI adapters? Bought one a long time ago and it has a DB15 port that allows me to hook up my joystick to my computer whilst playing MT-32 games on my Socket 7 (this was before I bought an MPU-401 clone card) and I still have the cable for testing the sound card's GamePort for issues.

Yes, that's the one. It is sold out practically everywhere.

stalk3r wrote:

bjwil1991 wrote:

The Joystick DB15 to MIDI adapters? Bought one a long time ago and it has a DB15 port that allows me to hook up my joystick to my computer whilst playing MT-32 games on my Socket 7 (this was before I bought an MPU-401 clone card) and I still have the cable for testing the sound card's GamePort for issues.

Yes, that's the one. It is sold out practically everywhere.

The pinout is really simple for that; just get a local electrician to build you one.

stalk3r wrote:

bjwil1991 wrote:

The Joystick DB15 to MIDI adapters? Bought one a long time ago and it has a DB15 port that allows me to hook up my joystick to my computer whilst playing MT-32 games on my Socket 7 (this was before I bought an MPU-401 clone card) and I still have the cable for testing the sound card's GamePort for issues.

Yes, that's the one. It is sold out practically everywhere.

You could also build one yourself with a no-solder DB-15 connector from China and a couple AT Keyboard Style cables.

And then whatever cables you need for the joystick connectors.

DB-15 male connector:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/DB15-Male-2Row-15Pin … ll/302427960368

DB-15 female connector:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/DB15-D-SUB-2-Row-fem … CK/283334916626

Just add the resistors and you are good to go. If you don't want to solder anything, you can even get the no-solder lug connectors or crimp connectors.

cyclone3d wrote:

You could also build one yourself with a no-solder DB-15 connector from China and a couple AT Keyboard Style cables. […]
Show full quote

stalk3r wrote:

bjwil1991 wrote:

The Joystick DB15 to MIDI adapters? Bought one a long time ago and it has a DB15 port that allows me to hook up my joystick to my computer whilst playing MT-32 games on my Socket 7 (this was before I bought an MPU-401 clone card) and I still have the cable for testing the sound card's GamePort for issues.

Yes, that's the one. It is sold out practically everywhere.

You could also build one yourself with a no-solder DB-15 connector from China and a couple AT Keyboard Style cables.

And then whatever cables you need for the joystick connectors.

DB-15 male connector:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/DB15-Male-2Row-15Pin … ll/302427960368

DB-15 female connector:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/DB15-D-SUB-2-Row-fem … CK/283334916626

Just add the resistors and you are good to go. If you don't want to solder anything, you can even get the no-solder lug connectors or crimp connectors.

Wow, these solderless connectors I didn't even know existed. I have a soldering iron though so I might try to build one. Thanks for the info.

Got this last weekend, an ASUS P4T-M Socket 423 motherboard. Came with a 1.7GHz Willamette P4 and 2x128MB of Kingston ValueRAM PC800 RDRAM, with the other two slots having CRIMMs. I paid more than I would've liked (€40), and I'd have prefered the full ATX version or even the P4T533 version with higher RDRAM speed support, but Socket 423 stuff is getting hard and expensive to find as is, so I grabbed this after a good while of contemplating it 🤣

Image removed for copyright reasons.

Daniël Oosterhuis wrote:

Got this last weekend, an ASUS P4T-M Socket 423 motherboard. Came with a 1.7GHz Willamette P4 and 2x128MB of Kingston ValueRAM PC800 RDRAM, with the other two slots having CRIMMs. I paid more than I would've liked (€40), and I'd have prefered the full ATX version or even the P4T533 version with higher RDRAM speed support, but Socket 423 stuff is getting hard and expensive to find as is, so I grabbed this after a good while of contemplating it 🤣

IMG_20190415_184800900.jpg

NIce find. I would say that's a really good deal for a really good set. S423 boards are indeed hard to find in our country 😀 S370 and especially S462 everywhere but not S423!

SpectriaForce wrote:

NIce find. I would say that's a really good deal for a really good set. S423 boards are indeed hard to find in our country 😀 S370 and especially S462 everywhere but not S423!

I think s423 is hard to find (for a reasonable price) everywhere. It was a short lived socket. Most boards that are going around are looted from work stations. The CPUs and RDRAM are dirt cheap everywhere, but there are no boards. It really is a good catch.

I have a Socket 423 to Socket 478 adapter somewhere.

Should have been the other way around 😉

Got this Compaq board(PL4600C presumably) and although it's far from fast, despite the beefy UMC chipset, it's nice due to it's on board capabilities(EDO, PS/2, ESS 1688, CL5430) so I will use it for programming and playing the original Warcraft. I also got the riser which features ISA and PCI.

It was my first, and maybe last, 486 based purchase after a LONG time.

@stalk3r

I have built this and it works perfect

Today I bought 5 PCs and 5notebooks for 20 euros. Now I need to drive 206 km to get them 🤣
Not so retro, but there is a Thnikpad R50e (one key is missing and the trackpoint too) and a nice IBM desktop. I dont know much about specs, i hope that Phenom 2 is a 4 or 6 core 😊 And one of Acer notebooks is a quad core. None of them have HDDs (was used in a company) 2 notebooks are Asus A6R, I had one years ago, so its a bit nostalgic to me to get one again 😎

my precious is back 😀 it is not "new", but it died. i was very sad, it is very hard to find a late et4000w32p in this condition. i have send it to a friend, and he watched it under the microscope. the original soldering of the main chip was not perfect, they get off, and resolder again. it works again, go back to the socket3 vlb rig!
Socket 3 VLB @ 1994.10 - DX4 100, Tseng Et4000W32p, Sound Blaster Pro 2.0, Gravis Ultrasound, Roland MT-32, Roland SC-55

elcheapo tgui9440 - this is the fast version, the speed is on the same level of the et4000 or the vision864. more details:
DX4 VLB FPS comparison, the fastest VLB video card in DOS

new cpus for the socket3 benchmark.

Pentium Pro 166/512

K6-2+ 533 and 550

keropi wrote:

@stalk3r […]
Show full quote

@stalk3r

I have built this and it works perfect

Thanks, I have found this topic on the forum, and will use as a reference for building the cable.

yawetaG wrote:

No, it occurs anytime the right atmospheric conditions are combined with rubbing the fabric that may become loaded with static electricity.

Which, depending on the country, may occur throughout the whole year, and is more likely to occur inside than outside due to heating drying the inside air. 😀

I couldn't agree more. Static electricity can sometimes happen in even the spring and summer seasons. It's also things like that which make me worry about indoor air quality being harmful sometimes.

arncht wrote:

my precious is back 😀 it is not "new", but it died. i was very sad, it is very hard to find a late et4000w32p in this condition. i have send it to a friend, and he watched it under the microscope. the original soldering of the main chip was not perfect, they get off, and resolder again. it works again, go back to the socket3 vlb rig!
Socket 3 VLB @ 1994.10 - DX4 100, Tseng Et4000W32p, Sound Blaster Pro 2.0, Gravis Ultrasound, Roland MT-32, Roland SC-55

Nice one.

Got almost identical card:

I have the same Hercules card, with the same soldering problems. I also have a Hercules Trio64 with this problem. I guess it was a quality control problem with this company.

You can find real bargains when a neanderthal chops power cables off things for copper.

(flails uncontrollably)

Don't know how much I'll be able to repair. Got some laptop parts and a couple of stripped but working office machines (always good because people I know often need a "basic pc" for things, so I keep a few around).

Got a GX1 that needs a bath, bad.

I posted a pic of a small part of the carnage on the retro activity thread.

I didn't mention I got a dot matrix printer in the haul as well, seems to have been with the Commodore. It's a very old Oki.

No energy to deal with it all now.