I am doing retro web development, reminding the struggling days with the browser wars (Netscape vs IE). Yes, I am a masochist.

But doing it now with all the knowledge I acquired in 25 years is absolutely much more easier now. I am developing a simple page with three column layout, header and footer (no tables) and it works awesomely well. So well that when I was testing on Windows 95 Internet Explorer, I thought it was IE 5.0 till I checked the version... the page still displays great even on IE 4.0 !

As for Netscape 4.x... forget it Netscape 4.x at that moment was snubbing CSS in favor of their own standard (JSSS). They later regretted it and went to the use the CSS standards from NN6 onwards.

Page displays great with old CSS style code even on RetroZilla and modern browsers. Next challenge is to make it responsive so it can work on smartphones as well.

Developing? You got the wrong idea, back then we just hammered it out in one shot in Notepad, added a line of hamsters and an "under construction" gif at the bottom and called it done. 🤣

PcBytes wrote on 2024-02-01, 14:15:

Having 10k RPM fun with a Raptor and a Cheetah. Gosh, that sounds funny!

Heh, sounds like a Saudi prince out for fun in the desert with his supercar and pets.

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-02-01, 16:17:

Heh, sounds like a Saudi prince out for fun in the desert with his supercar and pets.

Y'know, after a horrible tooth ache going on today, that actually made me smile and laugh. Thanks. 😁

vutt wrote on 2024-01-31, 21:09:

Got myself recently yet another motherboard. I deliberately went for one with leaking battery corrosion. Wanted to experience cleanup process. Also this one is from quality maker QDI and it supports 3v CPUs even with "undocumented" 3x and 4x multipliers. Cleanup went rather smoothly. White vinegar did the trick mostly however while it removed "Green Stuff" from contacts I can clearly see metal discoloration with last ISA slot . Not sure how reliable contact it will make. So now I probably need to replace this one along with broken casing one next to it.

All in all another MB rescued.
It does have rather old BIOS. Not going to fool around with UV light erasing approach. If I'm getting this correctly then I can use compatible empty eprom chip. I can flash it with my recently purchased T48 universal programmer. I just need to figure out replacement eprom specs. Another first for me...

Congrats! I was watching this board, but did not participate on the auction, as i already have exactly that board.
It takes 27C512 EEPROMs and can theoretically take a larger chip with 128kB space, too. (Never tried)
In retroweb, there's my latest found Award bios for SIS471 chipset, which i also adjusted to fix L2 cache write-back functionality. The extra jumper settings in retroweb are also from me.

It's a great board, that can have 1MB of L2 cache and supports all 486 CPUs. It is my favorite board.

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-02-01, 16:17:

Developing? You got the wrong idea, back then we just hammered it out in one shot in Notepad, added a line of hamsters and an "under construction" gif at the bottom and called it done. 🤣

HAHAHAHA! Good one

Don't forget the banners for each browser and resolution "best viewed with" and... well everything 😜

i did a little case repair on my dell xps b100r front bezel.
the middle and lower tabs on the right side were both broken when i first acquired.
to repair, i broke the rest of the tabs completely off.
filled with 2 part expoxy.
hit it with the dremel.
drilled, tapped and inserted helicoil insert.
it did the trick and i can still remove the bezel it if needed.

vutt wrote on 2024-01-31, 21:09:

Got myself recently yet another motherboard. I deliberately went for one with leaking battery corrosion. Wanted to experience cleanup process. Also this one is from quality maker QDI and it supports 3v CPUs even with "undocumented" 3x and 4x multipliers. Cleanup went rather smoothly. White vinegar did the trick mostly however while it removed "Green Stuff" from contacts I can clearly see metal discoloration with last ISA slot . Not sure how reliable contact it will make. So now I probably need to replace this one along with broken casing one next to it.

All in all another MB rescued.
It does have rather old BIOS. Not going to fool around with UV light erasing approach. If I'm getting this correctly then I can use compatible empty eprom chip. I can flash it with my recently purchased T48 universal programmer. I just need to figure out replacement eprom specs. Another first for me...

Those look like done beefy traces. Depending on how bad the corrosion is, it doesn't look like to difficult if a repair. Find yourself a replacement ISA connector too, since you're already doing a refurbishment.

Bruninho wrote on 2024-02-01, 14:53:

I am doing retro web development, reminding the struggling days with the browser wars (Netscape vs IE). Yes, I am a masochist. […]
Show full quote

I am doing retro web development, reminding the struggling days with the browser wars (Netscape vs IE). Yes, I am a masochist.

But doing it now with all the knowledge I acquired in 25 years is absolutely much more easier now. I am developing a simple page with three column layout, header and footer (no tables) and it works awesomely well. So well that when I was testing on Windows 95 Internet Explorer, I thought it was IE 5.0 till I checked the version... the page still displays great even on IE 4.0 !

As for Netscape 4.x... forget it Netscape 4.x at that moment was snubbing CSS in favor of their own standard (JSSS). They later regretted it and went to the use the CSS standards from NN6 onwards.

Page displays great with old CSS style code even on RetroZilla and modern browsers. Next challenge is to make it responsive so it can work on smartphones as well.

Please make a thread about this. It sounds like a lot of fun!

wirerogue wrote on 2024-02-02, 03:17:

i did a little case repair on my dell xps b100r front bezel.

This is great work! Those are handsome cases, worth saving.

I spent some time trying to troubleshoot an Octek Jaguar IV-P 386 motherboard. It won't POST without giving any POST codes. I found one ceramic cap in the RAM area that was cracked and probably readying itself for a glorious fireworks display in the process, so I replaced that with an electrolytic. That didn't solve the issue. I couldn't find any broken traces after repairing the battery damage, but closer inspection showed me that some vias in the battery areas were dead. Now I know at least where some of the faults lie, I will ammend that this weekend.

Troubleshooting this Asus K7M. It powers on, but the debug post card says 0000 and sometimes D3D4. I noticed the contacts in the slot don't move freely, they don't bounce back.

What would be the best way to clean this, start with compressed air? Then what, contact cleaner?

PD2JK wrote on 2024-02-02, 10:13:

Troubleshooting this Asus K7M. It powers on, but the debug post card says 0000 and sometimes D3D4. I noticed the contacts in the slot don't move freely, they don't bounce back.

What would be the best way to clean this, start with compressed air? Then what, contact cleaner?

I would indeed say compressed air, then some contact cleaner/lubricant spray and push them gently in place with a small tip.
Before fixing the AGP slot, does it boot with a PCI card?

Minutemanqvs wrote on 2024-02-02, 10:52:

I would indeed say compressed air, then some contact cleaner/lubricant spray and push them gently in place with a small tip.
Before fixing the AGP slot, does it boot with a PCI card?

I get the confusion, it looks like an AGP slot. Insteads this is a Slot A mainboard. Anyhow, I'm gonna try... Thanks!

PD2JK wrote on 2024-02-02, 11:30:

Minutemanqvs wrote on 2024-02-02, 10:52:

I would indeed say compressed air, then some contact cleaner/lubricant spray and push them gently in place with a small tip.
Before fixing the AGP slot, does it boot with a PCI card?

I get the confusion, it looks like an AGP slot. Insteads this is a Slot A mainboard. Anyhow, I'm gonna try... Thanks!

Ah indeed, sorry. Well I would still try the same!
Maybe after applying the contact cleaner, tap it gently on both sides to see if the contacts move. Without breaking the solder joints 😀

Kahenraz wrote on 2024-02-02, 03:39:

Bruninho wrote on 2024-02-01, 14:53:

I am doing retro web development, reminding the struggling days with the browser wars (Netscape vs IE). Yes, I am a masochist. […]
Show full quote

I am doing retro web development, reminding the struggling days with the browser wars (Netscape vs IE). Yes, I am a masochist.

But doing it now with all the knowledge I acquired in 25 years is absolutely much more easier now. I am developing a simple page with three column layout, header and footer (no tables) and it works awesomely well. So well that when I was testing on Windows 95 Internet Explorer, I thought it was IE 5.0 till I checked the version... the page still displays great even on IE 4.0 !

As for Netscape 4.x... forget it Netscape 4.x at that moment was snubbing CSS in favor of their own standard (JSSS). They later regretted it and went to the use the CSS standards from NN6 onwards.

Page displays great with old CSS style code even on RetroZilla and modern browsers. Next challenge is to make it responsive so it can work on smartphones as well.

Please make a thread about this. It sounds like a lot of fun!

I have a thread about my retro virtual machines and its related, so I need to update it later! Thanks for reminding me

Been doing a bunch of playing around with this DFI G7S620-N motherboard + Pentium 4 combo.

I think it's rapidly becoming my new favorite thing as I explore how throttleable it is. The possibility of having a system that can legitimately cover late 80s to mid-2000s gaming on bare metal hardware is so tempting...

Stress testing my recently cleaned QDI V4S471/G MB

Some light internet browsing using an Internet Appliance, or rather the system itself (BeIA) on another thin client after some editing.
Couldn't log into vogons sadly.

Setting up my SiS 630 based Tuallie for a Windows ME install.

Surprised their N340S8 platform supports Tualatin - I don't think I found anywhere that the 340S8 supports Tuallies, but as usual, I could be wrong.

EDIT:Nevermind, ECS clearly lists it as using the 630ST variant of the chipset, which is Tualatin capable.

Cleaned up the Olivetti a little, also replaced the soldered in CR2032 with a battery holder, though not in the most elegant way. Also downgraded form 80MB RAM to 32MB which is more appropriate for a 100MHz Pentium. Also chose to replace the SB16 with a Vibra16S.

It ended up being a bit more problematic than expected. Everything I tried so far works. Except the floppy drive.
It's set up right in the BIOS, but Windows detects it as a 5.25"as well as in the device manager it seems it doesn't have drivers for it. No good if I reboot into DOS either.
Also whatever boot order I set, it just refuses to boot from anywhere other than the hard drive. Doesn't even attempt to boot from the floppy drive or the CD.

There was a Windows installer on the hard drive, so I reinstalled the OS. The sound card no longer hisses, but didn't fix the floppy issue. Though it wasn't a clean install, I just installed over the existing W95.