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Re: Compaq Deskpro!

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Reply 20 of 83, by TheAbandonwareGuy

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alex_theman wrote:
TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Mine arrived today. The BIOs is password locked and the case locking solenoid auto engaged when I powered it up....

I told the seller if he doesn't provide the password within 24 hours its going to be an item not as described case.

Have you tried resetting the BIOS/Settings partition? I think you can reset it by downloading the right utility off of HP's FTP (I think this is it) and booting from the floppies it prompts you to create when you execute it. Then use some of the tips listed at this thread to get the case off if you can't get it off normally.

This one is new enough to have normal BIOs on ROM. It's not a hard disk based BIOs like the older ones.

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I used to own over 160 graphics card, I've since recovered from graphics card addiction

Reply 21 of 83, by Deksor

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If you guys need anything for compaq, I've got the whole compaq ftp onto my hard disk. Just tell me which "softpak" do you want and I'll give it to you 😉

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 22 of 83, by alex_theman

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Sorry. Anyway, it seems like it might be possible to break the BIOS password using a hash that appears when you enter an incorrect password enough times, with a backdoor password, or with a software utility.

Reply 23 of 83, by TheAbandonwareGuy

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Deksor wrote:

If you guys need anything for compaq, I've got the whole compaq ftp onto my hard disk. Just tell me which "softpak" do you want and I'll give it to you 😉

Uh any chance you have the following PDF files from around late 1998? They are the detailed spec sheets. The internet archive apparently didn't save PDFs that far back.

ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/desktops/dpenov.pdf
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/desktops/dpendt_o.pdf
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/desktops/dpendt_q.pdf
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/desktops/dpendt_f.pdf
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/desktops/dpendt_m.pdf
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/desktops/dpendt_s.pdf
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/desktops/dpendt_t.pdf

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I used to own over 160 graphics card, I've since recovered from graphics card addiction

Reply 24 of 83, by Deksor

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Well my copy comes from the internet archive, though I downloaded the 220GB ftp copy that's in tar format. That'll save several days of downloading. If you didn't check that archive yet, well it might be on it, I'll see tomorrow

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 25 of 83, by TheAbandonwareGuy

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So far I can't get Windows 95 to install. I always get a CDR101: Not Ready Reading Drive error. I've tried two drives now including one known to read CD RW media. Does the 95B boot disk not support CDRW Media? Im out of normal CDRs.

I may go ahead and install 98FE onto this and downgrade the 1996 machine to Windows 95. God knows that machine needs a fresh install anyways considering its running the same 15 year old install it had when I received it.

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I used to own over 160 graphics card, I've since recovered from graphics card addiction

Reply 26 of 83, by BitWrangler

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Sometime in late 95, early 98 era they were putting bad blocks on distribution CDs so they didn't copy right. Trouble is the way to handle it got buried in Nero's smarts and forgotten about.

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 27 of 83, by TheAbandonwareGuy

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BitWrangler wrote:

Sometime in late 95, early 98 era they were putting bad blocks on distribution CDs so they didn't copy right. Trouble is the way to handle it got buried in Nero's smarts and forgotten about.

Yeah I just got the same issue with a bootable 98FE disk. My opinion about compaqs is becoming worse by the minute. I'm going to try my known good 98SE disk. If that works I guess ill have to download Nero?

Edit: My known good disk worked. So either the version of MSCDEX that Windows 95 and 98FE installers used was incompatible with CDRW media, or like you said I need to figure out how to burn a good copy of the installer (which is slightly beyond what can be discussed here on VOGONs)

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I used to own over 160 graphics card, I've since recovered from graphics card addiction

Reply 28 of 83, by Cyrix200+

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Cool, a Deskpro thread! I have one that I like to show off, a Compaq Deskpro 486/33M, which is a really nice 486 33MHz with EISA. All pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/iHKOd

7Aa4cxGl.jpg

It needs a new battery and some more TLC, but I look forward to working on it. I am considering to ' upgrade' to a DX/2 66MHz, but that would violate the authenticity of the machine a bit.

A Compaq branded VGA monitor and keyboard for it would also be nice so I will be on the lookout for those as well.

1982 to 2001

Reply 29 of 83, by TheAbandonwareGuy

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Cyrix200+ wrote:
Cool, a Deskpro thread! I have one that I like to show off, a Compaq Deskpro 486/33M, which is a really nice 486 33MHz with EISA […]
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Cool, a Deskpro thread! I have one that I like to show off, a Compaq Deskpro 486/33M, which is a really nice 486 33MHz with EISA. All pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/iHKOd

7Aa4cxGl.jpg

It needs a new battery and some more TLC, but I look forward to working on it. I am considering to ' upgrade' to a DX/2 66MHz, but that would violate the authenticity of the machine a bit.

A Compaq branded VGA monitor and keyboard for it would also be nice so I will be on the lookout for those as well.

Eek! A trident! Get it away!

Cyb3rst0rms Retro Hardware Warzone: https://discord.gg/jK8uvR4c
I used to own over 160 graphics card, I've since recovered from graphics card addiction

Reply 30 of 83, by bjwil1991

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Cyrix200+ wrote:
Cool, a Deskpro thread! I have one that I like to show off, a Compaq Deskpro 486/33M, which is a really nice 486 33MHz with EISA […]
Show full quote

Cool, a Deskpro thread! I have one that I like to show off, a Compaq Deskpro 486/33M, which is a really nice 486 33MHz with EISA. All pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/iHKOd

7Aa4cxGl.jpg

It needs a new battery and some more TLC, but I look forward to working on it. I am considering to ' upgrade' to a DX/2 66MHz, but that would violate the authenticity of the machine a bit.

A Compaq branded VGA monitor and keyboard for it would also be nice so I will be on the lookout for those as well.

Huh. A CPU card? Forgot the EISA systems used the infamous CPU riser cards back then. But a Trident GPU? Chew on the card, and get yourself a Cirrus Logic card (CL-GD5428) since Trident isn't SVGA capable.

Hell, my Packard Bell Pack-Mate 28 Plus has a Cirrus Logic CL-GD5428 integrated and can be expanded up to 2MB and it works without issues (SVGA is glitchy in some DOS games, but I believe a memory upgrade will be in order for the Cirrus Logic card.

Discord: https://discord.gg/U5dJw7x
Systems from the Compaq Portable 1 to Ryzen 9 5950X
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/retropcuser

Reply 31 of 83, by Jade Falcon

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TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Eek! A trident! Get it away!

what was that about saving low end hardware you were posting about in the other thread?
Anyway not everyone has the same needs. I'd been fine with a trident card. Not everyone plays games on their old systems you know.

Reply 32 of 83, by bjwil1991

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Jade Falcon wrote:
TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Eek! A trident! Get it away!

what was that about saving low end hardware you were posting about in the other thread?
Anyway not everyone has the same needs. I'd been fine with a trident card. Not everyone plays games on their old systems you know.

SimCity 2000 plays better with my Cirrus Logic card in my Packard Bell Pack-Mate 28 Plus than the S3 Virge/VX card I have in my K6-2/300 system as I never had a Trident card (my grandpa's old IBM Aptiva 2681 M55 has the Trident VGA integrated, but it's not really that bad).

Discord: https://discord.gg/U5dJw7x
Systems from the Compaq Portable 1 to Ryzen 9 5950X
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/retropcuser

Reply 33 of 83, by BitWrangler

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Ahhh, that's because it has the "not really that bad" TGUI9680 instead of the really that bad and really really that bad, TVGA9000 or 8900

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 35 of 83, by Deksor

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That trident look like it's an EISA model. Might not be that bad ?

Okay so I've looked in my archive for the pdf files ... unfortunately they seem to be missing, sorry 😒

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 37 of 83, by BitWrangler

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I just saw that machine in an old PC Magazine review on google books, they wanted over $7000 for it new apparently.

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 38 of 83, by TheAbandonwareGuy

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Jade Falcon wrote:
TheAbandonwareGuy wrote:

Eek! A trident! Get it away!

what was that about saving low end hardware you were posting about in the other thread?
Anyway not everyone has the same needs. I'd been fine with a trident card. Not everyone plays games on their old systems you know.

3FPS in doom on a Dual Pentium 90 machine with 48MB RAM. Let that sink in. But I thought it was an 8900C, apparently its a faster newer model.

Cyb3rst0rms Retro Hardware Warzone: https://discord.gg/jK8uvR4c
I used to own over 160 graphics card, I've since recovered from graphics card addiction

Reply 39 of 83, by Cyrix200+

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mrau wrote:

bench it please? especially memory and graphics throughput;
your storage controller is on the backplane? this just longs for an EISA SCSI solution with SD or something similar :>

If I find some time I will bench it. There is no HDD, so I will have to find something matching for the machine. What benchmarks would be suitable in your opinion?

I think the storage controller is on the backplane/motherboard.

1982 to 2001