Today I removed the floppy drive from my recently acquired Atari 520STE and added a Gotek in it's place. I've ordered a bracket to fit it properly, but for now I had to improvise... with sellotape. 🤣 When the bracket arrives, I'll remove the tape and use IPA to clear off any resulting sticky residue. This STE has already been modded in the past to remove the plastic surrounding the floppy drive, so I won't have to do any case cutting myself.

Decided to use the HXC Selector software with the Gotek, as it's much nicer to load disk images with and easier for organising multi-disk games.

Took the Ti4400 AGP out and installed the 9700 Pro AIW card in my PIII-S 1.4 Tualatin build since the fan on the Ti4400 AGP stopped working and I don't want that card to die on me.

Done testing and putting my newest purchase back together. Need to have following things done.

- Full motherboard recap.
- Buy a new Floppy drive.
- Buy a new keyboard membrane.
- Buy a new case.
- Upgrade to kickstart 3.1.4
- Buy a scandoubler.
- Buy an 8mb Ram upgrade.
- Buy an angled IDE/CF adaptor with header for slave drives.

Not bad for 200 euro plus shipping.

H3nrik V! wrote on 2021-02-17, 20:20:

PC@LIVE wrote on 2021-02-14, 21:14:

Today I worked on a PCChips M549, I added the PS2 Port adapting that of another MB, starting the PC the mouse works, and I started the CPU-Z 1.03 W9X bench.
I installed in a 512MB CF W95, using an IDE-CF adapter, the PC works but only by deactivating the L2 cache, when active the PC crashes at boot, as soon as the Energy logo disappears.

Isn't the Pentium 133 a P54CS and 0.35u process?

In fact it should be 0.35 and not 0.60 as indicated in CPU-Z.
The exact model is SY022, it should be the one with the multi locked up.
Maybe this is a W9X version, could it be a bug?

I made some progress on my Amiga 2500 puzzle. It looks like there were 2 reasons why I was having trouble and that made it difficult to figure out since changing configurations displayed different issues, and worse yet intermittently.

Problem 1:
Despite researching ahead of time I didn't find out that the TF534 is incompatible with almost ALL Amiga Add-in boards. This means I need to run it all by itself to have it work properly, I can confirm it doesn't work with the A2091 SCSI Controller or the 8Up! Ram Expansion board.

Problem 2:
There is an intermittent problem with my A2091 SCSI Controller. This lead to a failure even when the TF534 was not installed just after I removed the TF534 to perform some tests, which made me think the problem lay with my motherboard.

So after replacing the Gary, Agnus, various Kickstarts, I'm finally fairly certain the above explains my issues. Currently I'm just running with the TF534 board and that's fine for now but I'm on the lookout for a replacement for the A2091 and possibly a combo board to retire the TF534 as well...

Tested the Gigabyte GA-486AM/S motherboard and it needs a new VRM and a jumper header for JP21 since that's either missing or was like that when they designed the board.

The board POSTs with my DX2-66 without issues, but it gets stuck at the RAM count and shows code 3130 on my POST card.

I just watched a recently-posted Youtube video of Apple’s Rhapsody Developer Release 2 running on a mid-90s Pentium palm-top, so I figured I could try to get it to run on my overkill Pentium 4 system.

I had to limit the amount of system RAM using the “maxmem=131072” command in the bootloader to prevent a kernel panic. I also found out that the installer insists on running the Installation CD-ROM from the Primary-Slave EIDE position. Luckily my system has two optical drives, so I already had a drive configured as a slave.

I love that the software developers got a little cheeky in the code. The kernel gives a “preposterous time and date in Real Time Clock” error message!

After some fiddling and swapping a real EIDE hard drive for my SATA-to-IDE adapter, I got it to install. It even recognizes my SB16, Matrox Millennium, both optical drives on the Secondary IDE channel, and the Network card. You can’t do much more with this OS, but it boots on my Pentium 4.

Today I probably spent forty minutes trying to figure out what I am going to be doing with the SB16 I picked up yesterday. It's a CT2740, and has a 1701-T, so It is probably going to be noisier than my other cards. I will probably be building a 486 system in the future, so it'll probably just be thrown in there for period-accuracy.

I also set up the speakers I picked up in the same trip with the mushy old Apple Keyboard II and ADB Mouse I to take some DSLR pictures for, well, a reason I am yet to actually figure out. I even went and completed Oregon Trail for the sake of showing the system was working.

Of course, I use the ADB mouse II and my Apple Extended Keyboard II when I actually want to use the LC II and my G3, so these parts are purely just for show.

Shagittarius wrote on 2021-02-18, 20:42:

I made some progress on my Amiga 2500 puzzle. It looks like there were 2 reasons why I was having trouble and that made it diff […]
Show full quote

I made some progress on my Amiga 2500 puzzle. It looks like there were 2 reasons why I was having trouble and that made it difficult to figure out since changing configurations displayed different issues, and worse yet intermittently.

Problem 1:
Despite researching ahead of time I didn't find out that the TF534 is incompatible with almost ALL Amiga Add-in boards. This means I need to run it all by itself to have it work properly, I can confirm it doesn't work with the A2091 SCSI Controller or the 8Up! Ram Expansion board.

Problem 2:
There is an intermittent problem with my A2091 SCSI Controller. This lead to a failure even when the TF534 was not installed just after I removed the TF534 to perform some tests, which made me think the problem lay with my motherboard.

So after replacing the Gary, Agnus, various Kickstarts, I'm finally fairly certain the above explains my issues. Currently I'm just running with the TF534 board and that's fine for now but I'm on the lookout for a replacement for the A2091 and possibly a combo board to retire the TF534 as well...

Sounds like the TF-534 have an Zoro adressing issue. You can check out this forum here, if there is any firmware update. (It might just be me, who thinks it is that)

https://www.exxoshost.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=65

Today I finished another Dallas RTC (or actually ODIN) mod that I have done step by step over the past few days: desoldering, uncovering the contacts, salvaging a coin cell holder, and finally putting everything back together.
Turned out pretty much okay, I guess. The motherboard is a Biostar MB-8433UUD-A, a nice late Socket 3 board with PCI, Phil has covered it extensively in this post: Biostar MB-8433UUD-A
(Edit: Even more extensive coverage of this board is found in this thread and the attached Zip file: The World's Fastest 486)
Mine is in pristine condition and equipped with an AMD Am486 DX4-100. It's a shame that I don't have much use for it currently...

On a different note, I began putting together a Slot A system around my Epox EP-7KXA in anticipation of the Goldfinger Clone PCBs that should arrive within the next days. They have already made their way from the factory in China to a distribution center in Germany.
So I installed the motherboard in a spare InWin case and cracked open one of my Slot A Athlons. I have a 550 and a 600 MHz model and decided to go with the 550 MHz first. I also removed the cooler from the cartridge to renew the thermal paste (which won't hurt when attempting to overclock) and ordered a pair of new 50mm fans because the original one was pretty worn out.
Looking forward to some Slot A overclocking fun!

fosterwj03 wrote on 2021-02-18, 23:34:

I just watched a recently-posted Youtube video of Apple’s Rhapsody Developer Release 2 running on a mid-90s Pentium palm-top, so […]
Show full quote

I just watched a recently-posted Youtube video of Apple’s Rhapsody Developer Release 2 running on a mid-90s Pentium palm-top, so I figured I could try to get it to run on my overkill Pentium 4 system.

I had to limit the amount of system RAM using the “maxmem=131072” command in the bootloader to prevent a kernel panic. I also found out that the installer insists on running the Installation CD-ROM from the Primary-Slave EIDE position. Luckily my system has two optical drives, so I already had a drive configured as a slave.

I love that the software developers got a little cheeky in the code. The kernel gives a “preposterous time and date in Real Time Clock” error message!

After some fiddling and swapping a real EIDE hard drive for my SATA-to-IDE adapter, I got it to install. It even recognizes my SB16, Matrox Millennium, both optical drives on the Secondary IDE channel, and the Network card. You can’t do much more with this OS, but it boots on my Pentium 4.

Love it. I was tempted to try it out with QEMU.

Today I made a crude attempt and mixing all the sound I have on two machines using the new mixer I picked up recently.

I got some 3.5mm Doublers giving me effectively 10 inputs (2 banks of 5) to play with. I've hooked up my VIA 3 machine (Desktop) and My Tualatin 1.4 (Tower bottom left)

It works pretty well. The VIA has 3 sound cards and the P3 has 4 Sound Cards. Then I have a few external Modules also. To be able to mix all these with the mixer is a god send.

And the small space where all this madness is kept!

brostenen wrote on 2021-02-19, 09:35:

Shagittarius wrote on 2021-02-18, 20:42:

I made some progress on my Amiga 2500 puzzle. It looks like there were 2 reasons why I was having trouble and that made it diff […]
Show full quote

I made some progress on my Amiga 2500 puzzle. It looks like there were 2 reasons why I was having trouble and that made it difficult to figure out since changing configurations displayed different issues, and worse yet intermittently.

Problem 1:
Despite researching ahead of time I didn't find out that the TF534 is incompatible with almost ALL Amiga Add-in boards. This means I need to run it all by itself to have it work properly, I can confirm it doesn't work with the A2091 SCSI Controller or the 8Up! Ram Expansion board.

Problem 2:
There is an intermittent problem with my A2091 SCSI Controller. This lead to a failure even when the TF534 was not installed just after I removed the TF534 to perform some tests, which made me think the problem lay with my motherboard.

So after replacing the Gary, Agnus, various Kickstarts, I'm finally fairly certain the above explains my issues. Currently I'm just running with the TF534 board and that's fine for now but I'm on the lookout for a replacement for the A2091 and possibly a combo board to retire the TF534 as well...

Sounds like the TF-534 have an Zoro adressing issue. You can check out this forum here, if there is any firmware update. (It might just be me, who thinks it is that)

https://www.exxoshost.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=65

Thanks for the advice, I've crawled that forum and it's surprising how little actual information there is there about my issue. As far as the firmware the links in that forum to the firmware are dead, but I'm betting I have the latest firmware since I bought the board at such a late date anyways.

Shagittarius wrote on 2021-02-19, 17:08:

brostenen wrote on 2021-02-19, 09:35:

Shagittarius wrote on 2021-02-18, 20:42:

I made some progress on my Amiga 2500 puzzle. It looks like there were 2 reasons why I was having trouble and that made it diff […]
Show full quote

I made some progress on my Amiga 2500 puzzle. It looks like there were 2 reasons why I was having trouble and that made it difficult to figure out since changing configurations displayed different issues, and worse yet intermittently.

Problem 1:
Despite researching ahead of time I didn't find out that the TF534 is incompatible with almost ALL Amiga Add-in boards. This means I need to run it all by itself to have it work properly, I can confirm it doesn't work with the A2091 SCSI Controller or the 8Up! Ram Expansion board.

Problem 2:
There is an intermittent problem with my A2091 SCSI Controller. This lead to a failure even when the TF534 was not installed just after I removed the TF534 to perform some tests, which made me think the problem lay with my motherboard.

So after replacing the Gary, Agnus, various Kickstarts, I'm finally fairly certain the above explains my issues. Currently I'm just running with the TF534 board and that's fine for now but I'm on the lookout for a replacement for the A2091 and possibly a combo board to retire the TF534 as well...

Sounds like the TF-534 have an Zoro adressing issue. You can check out this forum here, if there is any firmware update. (It might just be me, who thinks it is that)

https://www.exxoshost.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=65

Thanks for the advice, I've crawled that forum and it's surprising how little actual information there is there about my issue. As far as the firmware the links in that forum to the firmware are dead, but I'm betting I have the latest firmware since I bought the board at such a late date anyways.

No problems....
There have been an ongoing issue with someone, that have resulted in Stephen stopping all devellopment and work on TF accelerators. So no 1260 or any other accelerators that was in the workings will be finished now. The person in question, have been thrown out of Amibay as a result of that.

There are an 18 page tread on that forum, regarding the damage that one person have done to the entire Amiga community.

EDIT:
It is this one here....
https://www.exxoshost.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=3359

Finished editing a video I release on sunday going over the whole collection and the plans for this year for my YouTube channel. What's coming, what's going, what's getting fixed, and why....with my usual mild and casual confusion about everything mixed in.

Shagittarius wrote on 2021-02-18, 20:42:

Problem 1:
Despite researching ahead of time I didn't find out that the TF534 is incompatible with almost ALL Amiga Add-in boards. This means I need to run it all by itself to have it work properly, I can confirm it doesn't work with the A2091 SCSI Controller or the 8Up! Ram Expansion board.

You mean Commodore brand expansion boards? I'm using a GVP A2000-HC+8 Series II (8MB + SCSI) and an Ariadne II ethernet board with my TF534 (latest non-alpha firmware) and it works great.

My buddy at work is using a TF534 with his A2091 without issue.

wiretap wrote on 2021-02-19, 23:09:

Shagittarius wrote on 2021-02-18, 20:42:

Problem 1:
Despite researching ahead of time I didn't find out that the TF534 is incompatible with almost ALL Amiga Add-in boards. This means I need to run it all by itself to have it work properly, I can confirm it doesn't work with the A2091 SCSI Controller or the 8Up! Ram Expansion board.

You mean Commodore brand expansion boards? I'm using a GVP A2000-HC+8 Series II (8MB + SCSI) and an Ariadne II ethernet board with my TF534 (latest non-alpha firmware) and it works great.

My buddy at work is using a TF534 with his A2091 without issue.

How do you have WHDLoad configured? NoAutoVec, NoMMU, etc...

As I mentioned I have a problem with my 2091, but the TF534 doesn't work with the 8Up! Memory board for sure and the place I bought the board from told me it works with almost no Add-in boards of any kind.

Does your friend have the memory on the A2091 disabled? If so this board runs incredibly slow that way.

How do you use your amiga?

Can you tell me how to check my firmware version?

Bancho wrote on 2021-02-19, 15:10:

And the small space where all this madness is kept! […]
Show full quote

And the small space where all this madness is kept!

Hahha my parents "gave" me the stackable washer/dryer room when I was 12 - I set up a lamp, a workbench, and shelving in there. Had to work with the door open though. I know this feeling!

Before work today, my son snuck in for some learnin':

He can actually find a good bit of letters on the keyboard when asked, and will sometimes make accurate sounds based on the letter he's pressing.

I have a copy of SB text-to-speech, that's what's happening tonight, come to think of it.

Some stuff from after work:

What's that sitting there beside the V30?

Why, it's only the most authentic 8087 you've ever seen, certainly not a $7 USD part from China! I'm glad I scanned and uploaded manuals from the previous JUKO NEST board I had, I had to set some jumpers and switches, I would not have been able to guess at them.

Totally legit 🤣!

If I doubt the authenticity enough, or if it mis-performs, I have an authentic 8087-1 in my display case, I could swap them.

I'm actually puzzled as to why this computer didn't have an FPU - there is definitely a CAD program on here, and empty directories (42 Mb HDD) with software that would have made use of an FPU.

Shopping for the next project. Trying to see if I can snag a Toshiba Portege 7140CT (the only instance of a Trident Cyberblade laptop GPU with discrete VRAM in a small chassis...too bad it's only 4MB). have a Sony Vaio Z505JS heading my way, but it might be DOA. Going to see what's up once it arrives (heh, in April?)

Trying to find a CD drive to replace a *really* noisy one in my Win95 PC. The current one also cannot have it's speed changed using things like Nero DriveSpeed.

So I find some old LITEON DVD/CD drive, and I put it in and it supports an amazing range of speeds....from 48X all the way down to 4X! Hopefully it will quieten things down a bit. Need to test it with CDBeQuiet as well for pure DOS games.