Raspberry Pi 3B+ > RetroPie > SNES > Castlevania Dracula X. 😀

When I get bored, I fire up RetroPie and kill a few hours reliving the glory days. The Castlevania series is a personal favorite and I often re-play them.

I even made my RetroPie builds look the part...I have 4. Why? I have no good excuse other than I love the RetroFlag cases and I enjoy using the Raspberry Pi units.

Yes, I have a problem. 😜

StriderTR wrote on 2024-02-09, 19:57:

I even made my RetroPie builds look the part...I have 4. Why? I have no good excuse other than I love the RetroFlag cases and I enjoy using the Raspberry Pi units.

Yes, I have a problem. 😜

The problem is you don't have 5. Where's the PiStation? 😉

In seriousness, how do find RetroPie builds in terms of playability, authenticity, etc.? I've toyed with the idea of going that route, but haven't quite committed to it yet.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-02-09, 20:00:

In seriousness, how do find RetroPie builds in terms of playability, authenticity, etc.? I've toyed with the idea of going that route, but haven't quite committed to it yet.

this question is like asking an audio-phool about headphones and FLAC. Or touching the thermostat in your fathers house.

You will have an excellent time if you avoid the cheap Chinese crap. But you will get diminishing returns pretty quick. I personally have a pi-4 with an xbox controller. I haven't had any issues.

rasz_pl wrote on 2024-02-08, 11:13:

I just remembered there is also this GUS repro project ARGUS Project thread - Now with gerbers and documentation in initial post! and I think they managed to shit ship correct crystals because they ordered custom from manufacturer with min 1000qty

Y1 is fed 5.5V DC (from ground) from GF1 pin and accept oscillations on another (next) pin (0.9V from the ground) of the same GF1.
The reason I ain't see the oscillations on oscilloscope is because self oscillations level is in some low milivolts level and to be visible should be amplified inside the GF1, according to frequency generator schematics.
This might mean the amplifier part of the generator inside GF1 are gone.

https://siliconpr0n.org/map/gravis/ics1614/mc … 4274&y=1031&z=7
Seems those two pins are the ones for quartz: 5.5V rail on the right pin.
Just curious, is it possible to feed GF1 with external generator, if I understand correctly the structure between the pins is a transistor.

Today I tested a motherboard, a Siemens D1217 with P3 933, the card arrived together with the VGA AGP and the sound card, the shield was also included in the lot, I was sure that it worked, because the seller had put a photo of the BIOS, for the first boot on the bench, I didn't use the VGA AGP, but an 8 MB ATi Rage XL PCI, later I will complete the PC, it currently has a bank of 256 MB of PC133 RAM, I might want to add another one, to have 512 MB (which is the maximum for the i815).

Sat down today with my big box 'o video cards and took inventory. Made a whole spreadsheet and everything. 💪 Included things like DirectX version, total memory, approx release date. Having done it, I can probably identify ones to get rid of - not all of them are bangers. 😅

On that note, I'm continuing to figure out what my dream Descent 2 system should be. I have a Diamond Steath 3D 2000, so I decided to check out D2's ViRGE support and... whoo boy. It's not a secret that ViRGE performance was underwhelming, but jeez. It's blurry and runs at a frame that's below acceptable even for the time. Hilariously, on the 233MMX system I had it in, it runs Descent 2 at 640x480 in software mode much much smoother than 3D accelerated. And when I load up the Glide version on a Voodoo 1, it's smooth as silk.

Anyway, I've figured out that I need to rethink what I'm trying to do with a machine for Descent 2. I've been aiming for smooth performance in 640x480, in windows for native Sidewinder 3D support. But when I think about it, I almost certainly ran it in 320x200 back in the day, probably in DOS. I'm leaning towards going with the Glide version (which is DOS-only).

Let's see. Over the last couple of weeks of "I'm finally starting to make progress on my executive dysfunction" productivity, I forgot to give a play-by-play of...

Setting up a PXELINUX-based setup/recovery environment for retro PCs:

(Still need to look up how to set up Damn Small Linux for netboot, add a Laplink V boot disk, figure out why Norton Ghost's boot disk maker is being a hassle inside 86box, and experiment with setting up Apple's equivalent so my Power Mac G4 can have a homebrew equivalent to Apple Internet Recovery.)

Using it to install Windows 98SE on a New Old Stock HP t5530 thin client that I lucked into after sourcing a bigger disk-on-module: (DAEMON tools loads CD images off a Samba share quite nicely once you loosen up the allowed set of protocol versions and authentication methods)

(Not pictured: Tools like Borland Delphi 2 and WinZip Self-Extractor 2.2 in the Start Menu... thank you, Corel, for being receptive to my "Would you be willing to downgrade the key to the version of 2.2 on your out-of-support downloads page if I buy a WinZip SE 4 license?" request. PKWare just ghosted me as soon as it became clear my question about PKZip for DOS was as a single-user-license customer.)

VESA-mounted the thin client to the back of the monitor arm on my home-made desk

(Still need to find somewhere I can buy a bus-powered USB2 DVD-Rewriter like my LG SP80 at a decent price so I can build a harness to strap either it or the LG to the other side of the thin client using its other set of VESA holes.)

Built a little shelf using threaded rod, nuts, heat shrink, and sheet metal... albeit to hold the Windows 10-era "basically an Intel-based RasPi 4 without GPIO" mini PCs that I run Debian on for low-measurement-noise benchmarking of my software creations.

I still need to either fix the "unplugging keyboards and mice when using NUSB causes Fatal Error 0E" bug or find something cheaper than the USB4VC I'm using on my secondary desk (Note: still need to case that for static safety) so I can tie the thin client into the KVM I use for my preferred keyboard and mouse. (Especially since the PS/2 mouse doesn't track reliably on my lowest-friction mousepad... though I suppose I could see if any of my other USB/PS2 dual-protocol mice do any better.)

(The third mouse serves two purposes. First, my favourite mouse doesn't like being KVMed. Second, it allows me to retain the ability to navigate things like walkthroughs on my wing monitors while my center monitor is KVMed to the hand-me-down HP prebuilt from 2012 that I factory restore partition'd and PSU+GPU'd into a Windows 7 "I don't feel like wrestling with Wine on my Linux box today" gaming rig.)

[continued in next post because more attachments]

Over on my other desk, I...

Upgraded to an eBay'd 4-port VGA/USB KVM and a USB4VC so I can make use of the Matias Tactile Pro and I-don't-need-this-Pi3B-anymore that I got for Christmas to make learning classic Mac OS programming as pleasant as possible without making the Win98SE experience less pleasant:

(Speaking of VGA, can anyone recommend a good source for low-SNR VGA cables? I think I used my only ones decent enough for 1280x1024 KVM use on this desk.)

It's not visible at that resolution, but I've printed out custom label stickers for the power center's switches.

If anyone can suggest an ATX PSU with high-quality electronics that I can use with those G4 Quicksilver adapter cables without need to modify the back of the case, that'd be greatly appreciated. Once that's done, I have plans to switch in a Noctua case and CPU fan.

(Also, received that 2009 polycarbonate macbook sitting on the G4 as a hand-me-down a couple of days ago. Buffed with toothpaste and then IPA to clean out the dirt visible in the case scratches, laboriously un-detached the edges of the rubber coating on the bottom and I have ordered replacements for the half of the bottom cover screws that are missing. Still need to drop by the local thrift store to pick up a suitably sized laptop bag... hopefully they'll have another Targus.)

Received a 2010 iMac in the same lot as the macbook. Cleaned the coffee out of the multimedia keys and function keys on the Logitech wireless keyboard it came with. Partitioned the hard drive and I'm waiting for the copy of Mac OS X 10.6.3 I eBay'd so I can dual-boot down to something old enough for my needs. Don't have enough leisure budget left for this month to upgrade the RAM on either mac (OWC still sells RAM kits all the way back to SIMMs for beige macs), don't yet feel confident in ordering and using OWC's service kit (suction cups, adhesive strips, etc.) to access and replace the rotating platter hard drive in the iMac, and I still need to figure out how to open the apparently screwless Microsoft wireless mouse without damaging it so I can see whether the scroll wheel functioning as a middle-mouse button but not a scroll wheel is fixable.

(The video I like to use to prevent glossy monitor reflections from showing in photos is a docu/history video named Early CGI Was Horrifying. The frame pictured is at 24:01 and it's from an animation named Polly Gone, to which the narrator says "I gotta ask. Is this a sh*tpost. ...like, the first sh*tpost? ...because it feels like it. It's so far removed from everything else released in this time. [enumerates reasons]")

Cut down, tape-reinforced, re-punched, and rounded some 8.5x11" insertable-tab dividers to make suitably "these don't look home-made" dividers for a high-quality mini-binder that feels maybe 70s or 80s vintage and takes 6x9.5" sheets:

(Not sure what I'll use it for yet, but it just feels so nice in my hands. I'll probably chop down some graph paper to replace the lined paper it came with.)

DeoxIT'd the microswitches on my favourite mouse and installed a replacement scroll wheel with no rubber to swell. (See previous photos.) Also, installed a replacement scroll wheel with un-swelled, un-sticky rubber in its precursor... the still-functional Logitech G3 from 2007. (It's quite viable to go on eBay and purchase replacement Logitech parts by eye when no listings refer to your specific model.)

...oh, and I still need to find time to (carefully) drill new mounting holes in the plastic shell of an mSATA-to-IDE converter so I can replace the dead drive in an old NEC Versa with its specialized housing for user-removable hard drives and see if my sheet metal skills are up to making an expansion slot plate for an IDE-SD adapter based on a template I took from a 3d-printed one I paid too much for.

Did the tally on my recent retro acquisitions and the results are as follows:

- 3 out of 5 mainboards working so far

Gigabyte 945GM-S2, DTK PRM-27i E0, DFI nF4 Infinity RevB are the winners.

ASUS A8N-SLi and ASRock K8Upgrade-nF3 are the losers - not yet sure on the ASRock though, I'l test a different 754 CPU (it came with a Sempron 2600+) to rule out a dud. The ASUS has a dead ITE SIO chip and very likely dead chipset as well.

- haven't finished the GPUs... so far two Radeons present artefacts - I might try a reflow on them especially as one of them (X1300 PCI-E) stops artefacting if I do a reset cycle on the mobo. Not sure on the other (X600) as it didn't change behavior when I tested it... but the artefacts seem way less aggresive than the ones on the 1300.

- Bigfoot CY 2160AT HDD unfortunately might be just a cool showpiece 🙁 - it will complete seektest but accessing it nearly freezes PC with strange noises, as if the head gets stuck for whatever reason.

- ODDs haven't been tested but given there isn't much interesting stuff, probably won't be a priority, aside from a ASUS DRW-1608D3S, which is a Pioneer rebadge AFAIK.

Not too proud to post my L's - plugged a USB adapter into the header of my MSI MS-5129 (TR5) and must have got it backwards because it let some smoke out:

I saw one of those poor caps glow white hot before it died. Oh well, thankfully it seems that the only thing affected was the on-board USB. I've yet to attempt SMC repair - this might be a decent opportunity. Anyone able to identify what caps I need to get? 😅

Also, I was really excited to get a matching Coppermine-supporting slocket, hoping to get dual slockets going in my ASUS P2B-DS, but no such luck.

It recognizes either CPU in either slot, but won't POST with them both in, regardless of the "dual cpu" jumper setting on the slockets. Not sure what the issue might be. ☹️

ubiq wrote on 2024-02-11, 00:16:

I saw one of those poor caps glow white hot before it died. Oh well, thankfully it seems that the only thing affected was the on-board USB. I've yet to attempt SMC repair - this might be a decent opportunity. Anyone able to identify what caps I need to get? 😅

its not a cap, exact same accident with a fix: Blown SMD components on Motherboard - any tips?

ubiq wrote on 2024-02-11, 00:16:

Not too proud to post my L's - plugged a USB adapter into the header of my MSI MS-5129 (TR5) and must have got it backwards beca […]
Show full quote

Not too proud to post my L's - plugged a USB adapter into the header of my MSI MS-5129 (TR5) and must have got it backwards because it let some smoke out:
IMG_0641.jpeg

I saw one of those poor caps glow white hot before it died. Oh well, thankfully it seems that the only thing affected was the on-board USB. I've yet to attempt SMC repair - this might be a decent opportunity. Anyone able to identify what caps I need to get? 😅

Also, I was really excited to get a matching Coppermine-supporting slocket, hoping to get dual slockets going in my ASUS P2B-DS, but no such luck.
IMG_0600.jpeg

It recognizes either CPU in either slot, but won't POST with them both in, regardless of the "dual cpu" jumper setting on the slockets. Not sure what the issue might be. ☹️

MSI - that's a ferrite bead, not cap.

As for the slotket - IIRC they need to be modded for SMP in some caaes - I forgot which pins on the cartridge are responsible for SMP.

I was playing around with my 486 DX2-66 box with SB32 sound.
Using 2MB S3 Trio64 VLB with 2D graphics acceleration one can set up nice smooth Windows 3.1 environment. You can even multitask with MOD4WIN playing around in background. However DX2-66 is to weak to play anything beyond classic 4 ch mods in multitasking environment. While I have been using DOS AWE player AMP 3.0 for while now only today I found out that later windows version actually still supports Win 3.1.
So with EMU8k doing heavy lifting even with 24+ ch modules multitasking is possible.

Biggest hassle was actually installing and updating windows AWE drivers to higher than v1.25 which is required by Windows AMP 2.5. Creative drivers versioning is total mess...

ubiq wrote on 2024-02-11, 00:16:

Also, I was really excited to get a matching Coppermine-supporting slocket, hoping to get dual slockets going in my ASUS P2B-DS, but no such luck.
IMG_0600.jpeg
It recognizes either CPU in either slot, but won't POST with them both in, regardless of the "dual cpu" jumper setting on the slockets. Not sure what the issue might be. ☹️

Some Coppermine slotkets were dual capable but -only- with Celerons. Your slotkets seem to belong in that group:
Re: N33 Slotket mod requested, anyone?
A possible modification is discussed further down in that thread.

ssokolow wrote on 2024-02-10, 18:21:

Setting up a PXELINUX-based setup/recovery environment for retro PCs:

IMG_0723.JPG

(Still need to look up how to set up Damn Small Linux for netboot, add a Laplink V boot disk, figure out why Norton Ghost's boot disk maker is being a hassle inside 86box, and experiment with setting up Apple's equivalent so my Power Mac G4 can have a homebrew equivalent to Apple Internet Recovery.)

That looks a much tidier set up than my PXE boot system, but net booting is useful. I have added UEFI booting with GRUB for modern machines, there's a program in some package called grub-syslinux2cfg, which can get the config converted from PXE to grub.

I too have a G4 Mac, in my case a Mac Mini. It runs Debian Sid but has got very out of date. And last time I tried to update it, IIRC libc errors during the upgrade caused apt to stop working, and I think dpkg. So that needs a fresh install.....

The Mac Mini has a role on the LAN so doesn't get messed with much. I have fought with netbooting the thing, getting (old) Finnix to boot off my PXE server. I have some lines in my dhcpd.conf file that gets yaboot to the Mac, but then my memory is hazy of what happens. Either the Mac demands the CD, even though it has netbooted. Or I need an NFS server to serve the squashFS file - I use http for OSes that need more than data by TFTP. My desktop runs Slackware so I do have an NFS server right to hand, and looking at configs I have tried it, but my memory still says netbooting my Mac doesn't work for me.

This is what I needed to get the Mac to start netbooting, if its of any use:

1   if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 26) = "AAPLBSDPC/ppc/PowerMac10,1" {
2      filename "yaboot";
3      server-name "tftpserver.tld";
4    }

I have set up a few custom live Debians, one is a rescue system and I wonder if I can build that system for PPC and Sid, rather than x86_64 and bookworm? I use Finnix when live-booting the MAC, but it doesn't have to be that. I use (old) Finnix because it is about the only live Linux CD for PPC (and writing that, I now imagine actual Debian, Ubuntu, maybe RH, might have had live PPC versions in the past).

progman.exe wrote on 2024-02-11, 14:27:

That looks a much tidier set up than my PXE boot system

One of the things I loved to do as a kid was make really nice batch file menus, and it seems to have carried over into a love for fine-tuning all menu systems I create.

I still have the reference open in a tab because I'd like to create a few menu entries that contain plaintext copies of reference materials that would still be useful without being able run the viewer at the same time as having an OS loaded, akin to how I printed out a label with my ISP's tech support phone number and stuck it to the router.

progman.exe wrote on 2024-02-11, 14:27:

but net booting is useful.

"but"? I'm not sure how "looks nice" and "net booting is useful" are opposed.

progman.exe wrote on 2024-02-11, 14:27:

I have added UEFI booting with GRUB for modern machines, there's a program in some package called grub-syslinux2cfg, which can get the config converted from PXE to grub.

Being part of the pxelinux/syslinux/isolinux/etc. family of bootloaders, the wiki suggests this bit of config.

1  if option architecture-type = 00:00 {
2   filename "path/to/BIOS/pxelinux.0";
3  } elsif option architecture-type = 00:09 {
4   filename "path/to/EFIx64/syslinux.efi";
5  } elsif option architecture-type = 00:07 {
6   filename "path/to/EFIx64/syslinux.efi";
7  } elsif option architecture-type = 00:06 {
8   filename "path/to/EFIia32/syslinux.efi";
9  }

That, at least, will be simple, since my OPNsense router just has all of those as fields under "Services > DHCPv4 > Network booting". Here's hoping I won't need to turn off the router's DHCP and run a separate DHCP server to net-boot Apple machines though.

I just haven't gotten around to UEFI yet. At the very least, I'll be serving up memtest86+ and Clonezilla. (Clonezilla isn't on the BIOS side because the bar to meet is "must be useful for my HP thin client with 128MiB of RAM and, ideally, for my AST Adventure! 210 with 80MiB of RAM" and Clonezilla lists 192MiB of RAM as a system requirement.)

progman.exe wrote on 2024-02-11, 14:27:

The Mac Mini has a role on the LAN so doesn't get messed with much.

My stance is "If you can't mess with hardware which is no longer commodity, what's the point?" so I've got dedicated x86 and/or ARM hardware to run Linux. ...plus, if it's running Linux instead of the OS it was designed for that won't run on a modern x86 PC, half of what makes it special is gone, so I only use Linux on vintage machines as a recovery environment. (eg. Booting Damn Small Linux on my Win98SE thin client is useful for things like lspci and sftp.)

progman.exe wrote on 2024-02-11, 14:27:

I have fought with netbooting the thing, getting (old) Finnix to boot off my PXE server. I have some lines in my dhcpd.conf file […]
Show full quote

I have fought with netbooting the thing, getting (old) Finnix to boot off my PXE server. I have some lines in my dhcpd.conf file that gets yaboot to the Mac, but then my memory is hazy of what happens. Either the Mac demands the CD, even though it has netbooted. Or I need an NFS server to serve the squashFS file - I use http for OSes that need more than data by TFTP. My desktop runs Slackware so I do have an NFS server right to hand, and looking at configs I have tried it, but my memory still says netbooting my Mac doesn't work for me.

This is what I needed to get the Mac to start netbooting, if its of any use:

Copy code to clipboard

1   if substring (option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 26) = "AAPLBSDPC/ppc/PowerMac10,1" {
2      filename "yaboot";
3      server-name "tftpserver.tld";
4    }

Good to know that I probably don't need bsdpy to get a mac net-booting, but we'll see if that still holds true when I try to get it net-booting ISOs of my Norton SystemWorks for Mac CD, Mac OS 9.2.2 Install for G4 Quicksilver 2002 grey disc, various OSX discs for G4, and whatever setup I need to offer my Intel macs installers for older OSX versions than whatever Internet Recovery would supply if I were willing to create an iCloud account.

progman.exe wrote on 2024-02-11, 14:27:

(and writing that, I now imagine actual Debian, Ubuntu, maybe RH, might have had live PPC versions in the past).

I have one of those Ubuntu 5.04 for PowerPC Install/LiveCD two-disc sets in cardboard sleeves that Canonical would mail out to anyone who asked so, once I have a boot menu, I'll probably include it alongside whatever LiveCD ISO I can find that's more optimal for my use-cases.

Had a mate over this afternoon and did some LAN games using a couple of my systems. A bit of 1v1 on Delta Force Black Hawk Down, but the maps are kinda huge. Then finished off the co-op missions on Delta Force before doing a couple more on Delta Force 2. Great fun shooting bad guys, just like the old days!

PARKE wrote on 2024-02-11, 14:12:

Some Coppermine slotkets were dual capable but -only- with Celerons. Your slotkets seem to belong in that group: Re: N33 Slotket […]
Show full quote

ubiq wrote on 2024-02-11, 00:16:

Also, I was really excited to get a matching Coppermine-supporting slocket, hoping to get dual slockets going in my ASUS P2B-DS, but no such luck.
IMG_0600.jpeg
It recognizes either CPU in either slot, but won't POST with them both in, regardless of the "dual cpu" jumper setting on the slockets. Not sure what the issue might be. ☹️

Some Coppermine slotkets were dual capable but -only- with Celerons. Your slotkets seem to belong in that group:
Re: N33 Slotket mod requested, anyone?
A possible modification is discussed further down in that thread.

Right... yes, I remember that little detail from the last time I seriously looked into getting dual slockets going. I misremembered, thinking that modding was only needed for non-Coppermine slockets. Ok cool, I think this is something I can handle.

PcBytes wrote on 2024-02-11, 08:17:

MSI - that's a ferrite bead, not cap.

rasz_pl wrote on 2024-02-11, 03:50:

ubiq wrote on 2024-02-11, 00:16:

I saw one of those poor caps glow white hot before it died. Oh well, thankfully it seems that the only thing affected was the on-board USB. I've yet to attempt SMC repair - this might be a decent opportunity. Anyone able to identify what caps I need to get? 😅

its not a cap, exact same accident with a fix: Blown SMD components on Motherboard - any tips?

Thanks! This sort of repair is obviously 100% outside my range of knowledge/comfort zone. I'll have a close read of that thread and see if I can figure it out.

(One key thing I noticed already is - don't be an idiot and assume any 2x5 IDC USB header is going to have a standard USB 2.0 header pinout 😓)

ubiq wrote on 2024-02-11, 00:16:

Also, I was really excited to get a matching Coppermine-supporting slocket, hoping to get dual slockets going in my ASUS P2B-DS, but no such luck.
IMG_0600.jpeg

It recognizes either CPU in either slot, but won't POST with them both in, regardless of the "dual cpu" jumper setting on the slockets. Not sure what the issue might be. ☹️

Oh, that's gonna be a nice build! I have the exact same setup, that I'm on the look for slotkets for. My p2b-ds is rev 1.05, but clock generator for 133/150 fsb is very close to my mailbox according to tracking. I've also succeeded in sourcing 4 sticks of BX compatible 256MiB modules for unlimited power ... 😁
I'm excited to hear what you learn about those slotkets, so I can use that experience. You may even want to make a separate thread?

[Edit] This thread is on page 1337 now ... 😁