So, today I had to downgrade my overkill Win9x PC from a GeForce 4 Ti 4600 128MB to GeForce 4 MX440 128MB DDR, due to some weird artifacts. At least it is AGP 8x and still has 128MB DDR, but it remains a rebranded GF2 DX7 GPU. I'm not sure the GPU is really dead, though. It seems like an actual BGA problem, because squeezing the cooler affects the artifacts, but I don't know for sure either way. It's not like I have a BGA rework station either, so...
The lower end GPU still runs the games fine, so it's not that bad. I also noticed that GeForce 3 and 4 GPUs are kinda hard to find around here, while pretty much anything else (except 3dfx of course) is fairly common.

Might as well share the full specs of my system:

Indrid_Cold_ wrote on 2026-02-08, 15:34:

Ultima VI italian translation completed

Nice !
I don't speak Italian, French so it's not for me, but for sure it will help for those who have problem with English.

nali wrote on 2026-02-08, 19:10:

Indrid_Cold_ wrote on 2026-02-08, 15:34:

Ultima VI italian translation completed

Nice !
I don't speak Italian, French so it's not for me, but for sure it will help for those who have problem with English.

If you'd like, I've saved every single text file pertaining to every specific character in the game—223 of them (some, at least ten, are blank and without any lines of dialogue)—if you'd like to try translating them or take a look (but be careful about the parts that absolutely shouldn't be translated, the lengths, the variables, etc.)—I think it might make translating them into different languages ​​easier. The U6Edit tool was a great help with this.

For this time I don't deal with motherboards, but with problems related to some PCI sound cards, I have three of the same model, two are branded CREATIVE LABS MODEL:CT4810, the other only CT4810, I think they are basically the same board, but there are some differences, I take care of the two CREATIVE LABS branded cards for the moment, they look like twins but near the microphone jacks (pink), the C20 in one is electrolytic, in the other it is an SMD.

The main problem with these cards is that when it is inserted into the PCI slot, the PC does not start, that is, it does not start at all!

It looks like a short problem, and the power supply intervenes preventing it from starting, if we remove the sound board, the PC works without any problem!

First of all I checked if between the PINs of the comb (PCI), there was a problem between the ground PINs and those of the voltages (3.3V 5V 12V, and -12V), there is no -5V, but I think it is only used by ISA slots, however no short (surprise!), I thought I saw the continuity in a PIN!

In short, a little surprised (but not too much), I concentrate looking among the electrolytic capacitors, the values of some are a bit strange, but having been tested on board, it is possible that these values are influenced by other components on the circuit.

I start looking everywhere, apart from the 24.576 quartz, which I can't verify, I try the rest with the tester on diode test, I start to check everything I see except the resistors, because these allow a current passage, so even if in short they can't prevent the PC from starting, the capacitors instead, often connect to ground, so if it's short, it would explain why the PC doesn't start.

By now, I had tried to control practically everything, in reality I had left out a part that I thought could not be important, however today I tried to see if the inside of the jacks had a problem, and even there everything was normal, so now short of ideas, I try to check some SMD next to the microphone jack and LINE-IN, to make it short (!), I find three short SMD capacitors, it's C1 C2 and C3.

Today I won't be able to finish the job, because all three defective capacitors will have to be removed, from both boards, and then they will have to be replaced with others, unfortunately I don't know the original values, the C3 looks brown, while C1 and C2 are purple-gray, in short, I'll see if I can find other capacitors the same, on scrap motherboards.

It remains to be seen if replacing these SMDs will solve this startup problem, I guess so, but before welding the spare ones, I would also check the resistors next to it, in short, it seems that the resolution of the fault is possible, if I succeed I will have recovered a couple of PCI sound cards, the third card instead, I should examine it better, but I anticipate that the three SMD capacitors work, and so I have to look for another problem, I think I will have to start checking everything all over again.

Just wrapped up completing a 2004-2009 setup with a P4 Cedar Mill 651 @3.4 on a micro ATX Gigabyte GA-g41m mobo with 2 sticks of 1g ram from OCZ ddr2 800 and a velociraptor 160gb hdd. An ATI X800XL takes care of the graphics. Also a Plextor dvd drive. Still waiting on a 1.44 mb floppy drive to arrive to complete the build.

Using an Antec mid tower and a Dell 2007wfp 20 inch monitor. My old psu didn't work so picked a relatively cheap psu from Azza 550w.

It's been a lot of fun getting back to the retro stuff.

Coudnt upload the pic, possibly due to not enough postings?

Within the last week or so, I've been working on restoring/repairing/modifying my Game Boy collection: 2 GBP, 1 GBL, and 1 GBC. The GBL had its display and EL replaced, the buttons/membranes replaced with GITD ones, the power switch has been repaired, the corrosion has been removed, the shell has been replaced with a shitty one (gotta get an OEM one and repaint it to make it look like new), but it looks okay (damn standoffs snapped like my back), the power LED has been replaced with a green LED, new negative battery terminal installed, new contrast wheel installed, new DC jack installed, new headphone jack installed, and new speaker (GITD) installed.

GITD is glow in the dark for those who are wondering what that means.

The GBPs had the shells swapped, new IPS displays, rechargeable USB-C batteries, new contrast/brightness wheels installed, and the one GBP had the power LED mod installed, but I had to fix it up so it'll look better, plus the power switch had the internal part taken out for the GBL since the original internal part for that switch quit working on me, so that GBP will be getting a new switch installed.

The GBC has a new shell, new buttons, laminated OLED touchscreen (for OSD) display, new speaker, new membranes, new IR cover, new switch for the shell, and kept the battery setup I've had for about a couple of years (charges via the DC jack).

My plan is to get another GBL to restore, get an OEM shell for the other one, get new stickers made for both consoles, and spruce them up to make them look factory original. That and a GBA SP that needs one specific part to make it work, but that's another story in of itself (I got one that was water damaged and didn't think about it after the fact that it needs $200 worth of parts to make it work and ended up scrapping it).

RetroGear1 wrote on 2026-02-08, 21:06:

Just wrapped up completing a 2004-2009 setup with a P4 Cedar Mill 651 @3.4 on a micro ATX Gigabyte GA-g41m mobo with 2 sticks of 1g ram from OCZ ddr2 800 and a velociraptor 160gb hdd. An ATI X800XL takes care of the graphics. Also a Plextor dvd drive. Still waiting on a 1.44 mb floppy drive to arrive to complete the build.

Using an Antec mid tower and a Dell 2007wfp 20 inch monitor. My old psu didn't work so picked a relatively cheap psu from Azza 550w.

It's been a lot of fun getting back to the retro stuff.

Nice. I put together a Core 2 E6550, 2GBs DDR2, and an X800XL. I look at it as if someone grabbed some cheap parts off ebay in the late core 2 era.

I tired my Pentium 4 660 in it first before switching to the E6550. The difference in Dawn of War (the 1st one) was astonishing. Uses an Asus board with the late revision 945GC chipset that unofficially runs at 1333FSB.

Had to replace a Dallas chip in 1 of my PCs due to a dead battery, luckily it was socketed. I bought a couple of new old stock Dallas chips about 9 years ago, which this chip was 1 of, so it did pretty well lasting for 9 years.

I put the 2nd unused chip in and the PC is all working great again. I doubt it will last another 9 years, but I'll probably replace it with a modern CR2032 modification when it finally dies.

This particular Socket 5 PC exhibited bizarre behaviour with a dead battery - as well as not saving any BIOS settings, it was also giving me a CPU clock speed of 150MHz instead of 166 and only half the installed RAM was showing as available. I booted into Windows 95 and performance was absolutely dreadful. It's crazy how so much of the system's operation is reliant upon a single replaceable chip!

After finally fixing the PS/2 keyboard and mouse issues on this board after 8 years, I decided to test another board that I had just recently replaced some caps on. It is an Abit IS7-E, which is a fantastic Intel 865PE board. To my astonishment (and disgust, honestly) the PS/2 ports wouldn't work on this board either. It was totally dead... no lights on the keyboard or PS/2 mouse.

Long story short, this board has a jumper in the top right corner that either enables or disables power to the USB ports when the system is off. With it enabled and with the BIOS set properly, you are able to power on the system with the mouse or keyboard. On my board, these pins were bent up and and had no jumper on them. Big surprise, when I put a jumper on it, everything is fine! So, for the PS/2 ports to receive power at all, the jumper needs to be in the "disabled" position (1-2) at least, or in the "enabled" position (2-3) if you want the ports to also be powered when the system is off.

Because of the ridiculously exposed placement of these pins, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has experienced this. In fact, on TheRetroWeb there is a picture of one of these boards in a really abused state with half of it's components removed and those specific pins are all mangled and missing their jumper.

PSA: If your PS/2 ports aren't working on an ABIT IS7-E, be sure that PS2-PWR1 has a jumper on it!

There are also similar jumpers for powering the USB ports, but they are down near the middle of the board and are much less likely to get plucked off accidentally.

Back from a hiatus. Recapped two motherboards successfully.

appiah4 wrote on 2026-02-10, 22:02:

Back from a hiatus. Recapped two motherboards successfully.

hmmm... Nice!
Congrats for the job: the most boring chore of all!

Did they have issues before recapping?

Nexxen wrote on 2026-02-10, 22:41:

hmmm... Nice! Congrats for the job: the most boring chore of all! […]
Show full quote

appiah4 wrote on 2026-02-10, 22:02:

Back from a hiatus. Recapped two motherboards successfully.

hmmm... Nice!
Congrats for the job: the most boring chore of all!

Did they have issues before recapping?

One of them had every single cap around the CPU area totally exploded and did not post at all. The other had bloated caps in the VRM and RAM area, POSTed but I never stress tested it, I doubt it would have gotten very far. They both work very well now.

I did not go for top quality caps, honestly I never do unless I am recapping something I plan to use frequently for very long like a piece of high end audio equipment or a game console. For things like motherboards I may probably use once or twice in the next five years I just use Koshin Low ESR caps and call it done. They are cheap, reliable (IME) and get the job done.

I have been on a recapping spree lately. The Hakko FR301 I bought last spring is making me feel like I have a super power or something. I have recapped like a dozen motherboards over the past week or so and the desoldering gun has not even remotely clogged at any point, and I haven't burned or even left any marks around a single solder pad. The. Thing. Just. Works... It is absolutely an incredible difference coming from my old desoldering station that didn't have the vacuum integrated into the gun.

After working on the first 7 boards and realizing I needed some different sizes and values of caps I placed a ~$180 order with mouser because I have such a huge back log of boards that have needed recapped. That order arrived yesterday and... whew. That's a lot of caps...

... And I already have a ton on hand from previous orders.

To put into perspective how many caps I need... I have a couple dozen boards that are just covered with bad caps. In particular, I have owned two of these Iwill monsters for at least 7 years, and every capacitor over 330uf (basically all but the tiny black ones) needs replaced on both of them, aside from 4 polymer caps which are fine...

... and after all these years of absolutely DREADING this job... one of them is done!

I haven't tested it yet, but it'll probably be fine. The Iwill DVD266U-RN is an absolute beast of a board though. This one came with dual Tualatin 1.26Ghz processors with solid copper heatsinks, it uses the VIA Apollo Pro 266T chipset, supports up to 4GB DDR 266, has CMI8738 onboard sound, AGP Pro, RAID... it's crazy. And both of the ones I have came with two 1.26Ghz Tualatin processors.

I cannot stress enough how awesome the Hakko FR301 is though. I bought the Japanese 100v model because it was way cheaper and it works fine on US 115 volts. I have used it to desolder and to solder every cap on all of the boards I've done lately. I think the extra mass of the tip helps with soldering on boards, and being able to put the iron over the lead makes for really nice looking joints. Also, heating up the areas I'm going to work on with the hot air gun definitely seems to help. Haven't had a single issue in all of the recapping lately... which is really saying something for me.

Anyway... the great Recappening of 2026 is nowhere near done, but it's coming along nicely. This was a major morale boost getting one of these done. 😀

Holy smokes...

When I got these Iwill DVD266u-RN boards several years ago I remember the person telling me the boards had something to do with Quantum3D but the video cards were long gone (probably the fastest I've ever asked if someone had video cards laying around, 🤣). I was skeptical, but figured that if I ever got them working I would find out then.

Whelp... here is what I was greeted to when I powered up the one I recapped:

Wow! He was right. These must have come out of post-3DFX Quantum3D systems. It even has custom lines within the BIOS setup, not just the splash screen.

This thread mentions that the earlier DVD266-R (which I somehow also have one of) may have been used for late 3dfx based systems (Voodoo 5 6000, etc.), but this one is obviously much too new for that. Everything looks to be dated 2002-2003.

It's amazing how little information there is out there about Quantum3D systems post-3Dfx though. I'd love to see what case this thing originally ran in, what kind of GPU it would have had and what software it was meant to run. Quantum3D Independence SR1 doesn't come up with anything when I google it, though their Independence line seems to have been used for flight and driving simulators.

I might have to make a thread about Post-3dfx Quantum3D if there is any interest in the topic.

Started poking at my new LP-3300 (286 portable) today. Kicked off the inspection on the motherboard: found corrosion from a leaky battery, neutralized/cleaned it up, then pulled the components in the affected area to be safe. After that I checked out the suspicious traces and vias, surprisingly, continuity looks good so far. Next step is rebuilding that section and seeing if I can get any signs of life.

I finally found the perfect modern-ish replacement for those pesky IBM PS/2 8530 and 8555 (55SX) 3.5 floppy drives. The Panasonic JU‑257A606P lines up exactly with the eject‑button opening on the front bezel — no awkward gaps, no misalignment.

I built the floppy adapter from this project: https://github.com/mdehling/p7x-floppy-adapter …but with a small twist: I soldered the resistors and power cable on the opposite side of the floppy drive to make everything fit cleanly. The best part is that compatibility goes way beyond the P70 and P75. Based on testing and connector behavior, this setup should also work with the 25‑286, 30‑286, 55SX, and 90 models. It’s a much broader drop‑in solution than I expected.

I found an Eizo S2100 4:3 1600x1200 monitor, this was a 1000$+ thing back in the day. I really like this brand, the first LCD monitor I bought was a 17" Eizo L565 which still works to this day!
BUT, the S2100 has an issue, it shuts the backlight off after exactly 30 seconds: https://youtu.be/x3cJ2GSIG1s

When the screen seems to turn off, the power LED actually stays ON, and pointing a flashlight to the screen I can actually still see my desktop. So from what I find it's the backlight circuit putting itself in "protection mode". As the screen is from 2007 it could well be a classic dead capacitor problem. But I also see feedbacks from dying CCFL backlights.

Does anyone have experience with this symptom?

For the 30 seconds it's on, colors are as amazing as almost all Enzo's and it would be nice to save it 😀

Minutemanqvs wrote on 2026-02-14, 17:13:

Does anyone have experience with this symptom?

For the 30 seconds it's on, colors are as amazing as almost all Enzo's and it would be nice to save it 😀

CCFL inverter safety kicks in, old lamps at end of life or dried cap

I serviced the Chicony CH-471A Rev 3.o in my i486 build, replacing the Lithium barrel battery with a Not-A-Varta by @wiretap and upgrading the cache from 128K to 256K. I also tried to install the recently recovered SiS 471 MR BIOS but alas, it does not work on this board. No POST 🙁