maestro wrote on 2022-04-12, 01:55:

Latest thrift store acquisitions. […]
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Latest thrift store acquisitions.

730xcdt.jpg

1. BASF floppies - $2.99. Not much to be said.

2. Sidewinder 3D Pro - $3.99. Not as creaky as my other 3D Pro.

3. Toshiba Tecra 730XCDT - $18.99. Score! Working, good condition, all three batteries are holding a charge. It had SuSE 6.4 installed on an upgraded 6.5GB HDD. I erased that and tried dd'ing a Win95 image but it wouldn't boot, says no operating system found. Unfortunately I couldn't find the floppy drive and they're vital to these Tecras, for example many of the drivers from Dynabook come as floppy images. I went back every day looking for it, no dice.

impressed those batteries still hold charge!

can you mount the drive elsewhere, make it bootable with dos and copy win95 files over then install from there? I did that with a 1998 laptop a year ago and it worked out, though it was win98. That way you can also copy the driver images and a copy of a floppy image reader plus anything else - a bit of an inconvenient way to manage files its true, but once set up you can at least use it. Maybe, if you have a zip drive with parallel connection that could be another method of transferring files if you can't get the floppy drive

gerry wrote on 2022-04-12, 09:19:

maestro wrote on 2022-04-12, 01:55:

Latest thrift store acquisitions. […]
Show full quote

Latest thrift store acquisitions.

730xcdt.jpg

1. BASF floppies - $2.99. Not much to be said.

2. Sidewinder 3D Pro - $3.99. Not as creaky as my other 3D Pro.

3. Toshiba Tecra 730XCDT - $18.99. Score! Working, good condition, all three batteries are holding a charge. It had SuSE 6.4 installed on an upgraded 6.5GB HDD. I erased that and tried dd'ing a Win95 image but it wouldn't boot, says no operating system found. Unfortunately I couldn't find the floppy drive and they're vital to these Tecras, for example many of the drivers from Dynabook come as floppy images. I went back every day looking for it, no dice.

impressed those batteries still hold charge!

can you mount the drive elsewhere, make it bootable with dos and copy win95 files over then install from there? I did that with a 1998 laptop a year ago and it worked out, though it was win98. That way you can also copy the driver images and a copy of a floppy image reader plus anything else - a bit of an inconvenient way to manage files its true, but once set up you can at least use it. Maybe, if you have a zip drive with parallel connection that could be another method of transferring files if you can't get the floppy drive

That might be even better so the installation routine will do the hardware recognition "native" on the first run, avoiding some trouble.
Make it bootable and include CD drivers, if you want "traditional" or make a Directory "windsk" or something to dump the CD content there, or in a 2nd partition.
As long as that path stays the same, Windows won't ask for the CD for later changes. That's rather convenient.
So, maybe get a USB dock/bridge/case for 2.5 drives or a 40-44 pin IDE adapter, if necessary.

gerry wrote on 2022-04-12, 09:19:

impressed those batteries still hold charge!

can you mount the drive elsewhere, make it bootable with dos and copy win95 files over then install from there? I did that with a 1998 laptop a year ago and it worked out, though it was win98. That way you can also copy the driver images and a copy of a floppy image reader plus anything else - a bit of an inconvenient way to manage files its true, but once set up you can at least use it. Maybe, if you have a zip drive with parallel connection that could be another method of transferring files if you can't get the floppy drive

Yes, that's the approach I want to take, MSDOS base with Win95 cabs ready to go. The image I tried was a haphazard attempt with whatever was within reach, I'd be impressed if it had worked. A floppy image reader is a brilliant idea, maybe I can extract the drivers for a 730XCDT reinstall image. I'll probably never get to it. 😜

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-12, 11:51:

That might be even better so the installation routine will do the hardware recognition "native" on the first run, avoiding some […]
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That might be even better so the installation routine will do the hardware recognition "native" on the first run, avoiding some trouble.
Make it bootable and include CD drivers, if you want "traditional" or make a Directory "windsk" or something to dump the CD content there, or in a 2nd partition.
As long as that path stays the same, Windows won't ask for the CD for later changes. That's rather convenient.
So, maybe get a USB dock/bridge/case for 2.5 drives or a 40-44 pin IDE adapter, if necessary.

I'll probably use the network for transferring files once the OS is established. The hard drive has a removable cage design so removing it isn't too bad, basically you flip down a spring loaded trap door in the front behind the LEDs and pull out the cage using the handle. It slides right out and the only screws are in the cage itself. Obviously I don't want to do this too often but it could be much worse.

Here's some info on those batteries: The backup and main batteries maintain the current state of the computer when AutoResume is enabled.

Main battery
Lithium-Ion
10.8 V
5,600 mAh
Quick charge 4 hours (power off)

Backup battery
Nickel Metal Hydride
7.2 V
35 mAh
Charging Time 7 hours with AC adapter
14 hours without AC adapter

RTC battery
Nickel Metal Hydride
3.6 V
35 mAh
Charging Time 40 hours (Power On)
Data preservation period 1 month (full charge)

Bought this thing today:

VIA K8T890 chipset, one of the last to support Windows 98. Board has PCI-E and SATA, AM2 socket which means it'll be a good Windows XP build with the 7900 GTX I'm planning to get for it. It'll also be good for native Aero on Longhorn betas, and torturing old hardware with Windows 11.

brian105 wrote on 2022-04-13, 07:12:

VIA K8T890 chipset, one of the last to support Windows 98. Board has PCI-E and SATA, AM2 socket which means it'll be a good Windows XP build with the 7900 GTX I'm planning to get for it. It'll also be good for native Aero on Longhorn betas, and torturing old hardware with Windows 11.

This board was my daily driver for a few years, during a time of financial dispair.
I can't express how much I hate this board. 🤣

Geforce 4 4200 by Prolink, for a tenner with shipping off the bay. Probably not the highest of ends, but I liked that bling bling cooler. 😁
Yet another 64 MB specimen. The 128 MB ones appear to be rare enough for anyone to care...

RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-04-13, 08:01:

brian105 wrote on 2022-04-13, 07:12:

VIA K8T890 chipset, one of the last to support Windows 98. Board has PCI-E and SATA, AM2 socket which means it'll be a good Windows XP build with the 7900 GTX I'm planning to get for it. It'll also be good for native Aero on Longhorn betas, and torturing old hardware with Windows 11.

This board was my daily driver for a few years, during a time of financial dispair.
I can't express how much I hate this board. 🤣

🤣 don't tell me I wasted my money on it? Or did you hate it because AM2 Athlons really aren't that great for modern use?

RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-04-13, 08:01:

brian105 wrote on 2022-04-13, 07:12:

VIA K8T890 chipset, one of the last to support Windows 98. Board has PCI-E and SATA, AM2 socket which means it'll be a good Windows XP build with the 7900 GTX I'm planning to get for it. It'll also be good for native Aero on Longhorn betas, and torturing old hardware with Windows 11.

This board was my daily driver for a few years, during a time of financial dispair.
I can't express how much I hate this board. 🤣

I unironically enjoyed this board w/ a Athlon 64 3200+ for a good 2 years before I managed to snag a MSI K9N SLi for cheap somewhere in 2014. My biggest irk with it was that you HAD to have Cool n' Quiet disabled in BIOS or Windows 7 would absolutely refuse to finish installation after the first reboot. Otherwise a great board, and I'm glad I still have it stashed somewhere. The worst one though is the M2V-TVM variant. I seriously wish luck to anyone who still owns the TVM version to this day - it's way worse than PCChips boards in that regard.

Yeah the TVM version looked like a hot pile of trash. I did look for MSI boards with this same chipset, but didn't find many for a reasonable price. None of them supported SATA2 either (not like that's gonna matter in 98 but in XP and later it helps)

Spotted this "GeForce4 MX 420" today for a good price.

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-04-13, 09:35:

Spotted this "GeForce4 MX 420" today for a good price.

Screenshot_20220413-053314_eBay.jpg

Screenshot_20220413-053334_eBay.jpg

Ah I love a good mislabled part for a great price.

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-13, 12:03:

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-04-13, 09:35:

Spotted this "GeForce4 MX 420" today for a good price.

Screenshot_20220413-053314_eBay.jpg

Screenshot_20220413-053334_eBay.jpg

Ah I love a good mislabled part for a great price.

Seriously, where would we be without idiots on ebay?
Almost the same way I cleared the MSI/creative GF4200, for even less, like IIRC, five €, some time ago. Was labeled as an MX as well, for whatever reason.

Right now I'm in visual contact with the mother of all mislabels, wish me luck that I'm the only crazy person browsing by it and bothering to squint at bad photos 😉

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-13, 12:22:

Seriously, where would we be without idiots on ebay? Almost the same way I cleared the MSI/creative GF4200, for even less, like […]
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chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-13, 12:03:

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-04-13, 09:35:

Spotted this "GeForce4 MX 420" today for a good price.

Screenshot_20220413-053314_eBay.jpg

Screenshot_20220413-053334_eBay.jpg

Ah I love a good mislabled part for a great price.

Seriously, where would we be without idiots on ebay?
Almost the same way I cleared the MSI/creative GF4200, for even less, like IIRC, five €, some time ago. Was labeled as an MX as well, for whatever reason.

Right now I'm in visual contact with the mother of all mislabels, wish me luck that I'm the only crazy person browsing by it and bothering to squint at bad photos 😉

I know I've gotten some good deals on stuff where it was mislabled or the seller had no idea what they had. Luck has been wished for happy hunting my friend.

ELSA Erazor X² arrived safely. Supposed to have 2D issues, ghosting in higher Windows resolutions. Possibly an easy fix of a single discrete component, if one can find it.
I wasn't planning to do a lot of spreadsheets with it, anyway.
Sixty bucks is still the most I ever paid for a retro card, but couldn't quite resist.

Seller included a stainless TV card and Gf9500GT but since the headliner is deficient, these are probably proper f*cked.

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-13, 12:03:

Ah I love a good mislabled part for a great price.

Reminds me of my SB16 CT2230 which I got for a very low price years ago and was mislabeled as a Vibra16. 😀

Gmlb256 wrote on 2022-04-13, 14:46:

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2022-04-13, 12:03:

Ah I love a good mislabled part for a great price.

Reminds me of my SB16 CT2230 which I got for a very low price years ago and was mislabeled as a Vibra16. 😀

Very nice.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-13, 14:36:

ELSA Erazor X² arrived safely. Supposed to have 2D issues, ghosting in higher Windows resolutions. Possibly an easy fix of a single discrete component, if one can find it.

I've had a GF256 that has the output ghosting problem, and I've talked with several others who have the same issue with theirs. There isn't much going on in the VGA output circuit so far as I could tell, just the source termination, diodes (probably for ESD protection), and output filter inductor+caps. My thought is that VGA DAC output degradation is endemic to the GF256 GPU chip itself but if you figure something out, I'd love to know! Best of luck!

pancakepuppy wrote on 2022-04-13, 15:19:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-13, 14:36:

ELSA Erazor X² arrived safely. Supposed to have 2D issues, ghosting in higher Windows resolutions. Possibly an easy fix of a single discrete component, if one can find it.

I've had a GF256 that has the output ghosting problem, and I've talked with several others who have the same issue with theirs. There isn't much going on in the VGA output circuit so far as I could tell, just the source termination, diodes (probably for ESD protection), and output filter inductor+caps. My thought is that VGA DAC output degradation is endemic to the GF256 GPU chip itself but if you figure something out, I'd love to know! Best of luck!

Thanks!
Chances are, it really only occurs at highest frequencies of modern screens and not with any real-world resolutions of appropriate games.
Also, I'd very much assume that the issue does not apply to the DVI out, if in place, unlike here.
Obviously much less collectible that way, including the modified cooler, but as a toy?
Anyhow, with my very limited skills, I shall cross reference my Gloria II cards who should be all but identical.

Edit: While the main semiconductor should be pretty much the same, the Gloria II layout is actually quite a bit different, not just the AGP pro interface.

Bought myself a little obscurity recently and it arrived today -

A Sharp MZ-700 computer from 1982. The seller has already cleaned it up and recapped the power supply, which is great!

Not the most highly specced or capable computer of all time, it was already outdated & overpriced by the time it got released in 1982. But a nice curiosity to have in my collection.

Came with a bunch of cassettes with games and applications. As well as the paper and 2 sets of ink pens for the built-in plotter:

The model with the built-in plotter is rare enough to come up for sale, even rarer with a complete set of paper & pens. No idea if they even work, but I think I'm probably hesitant to use them up in case I can't find replacements.

And of course, I had to load up some software on it to test -

Found a use for an old iPhone too, to load some games onto the MZ-700! 🤣

Who could resist the urge to buy 340 new floppy disks?
6 sealed 50u packs and 1 opened with 40 unused floppies inside.