VOGONS


Reply 20 of 53, by x0zm_

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appiah4 wrote:
Many thanks! […]
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Many thanks!

Mine is the DataExpert MPG3365P so specialized drivers won't work, very likely, but I hope the last generic driver you posted will.

Data-Expert-MPG3365-P-Trio64-V-Scenic-MX2.jpg

If you haven't tried these before, give them a go

https://mega.nz/#!a0BCGSrR!pst4F3P3VtX-4u0f4l … DRki6JM2FivuYoM

S3 Scenic MX2 drivers for Windows 95, 3.1 & DOS from their old site & BBS.

Probably the most generic MX2 drivers around. 🤣

Reply 21 of 53, by appiah4

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Cool, thanks! This will replace the Trio64V in my P133 as I move it from being a DOS 6.22 box to being a Win95 box.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 22 of 53, by x0zm_

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Raining today so no retrobrighting.

At least something interesting came in the mail!

Roland SC-7 Sound Module. 😎

GKGbLFwl.jpgR5eU88Ol.jpgzJUS6RQl.jpgoGSNPhpl.jpgQR5ewgbl.jpgPsm8XFkl.jpg N4bafZJl.jpg XjOyh80l.jpg P3FpELDl.jpg

Internally, looks great! No bulging capacitors. Sanyo branded caps. Externally it needs some work, but nothing that can't be fixed.

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The top side was clearly facing upwards 😵

All the feet are missing, but it should be easy to source a replacement.

The bottom feet are 1/2 an inch in diameter. The side feet may be a bit more challenging, being ovular and approximately 30mm across and 10mm tall.

Either way, happy to have it. Just another set of small things to add to my shopping list.

Reply 23 of 53, by x0zm_

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Weather isn't looking too fortuitous until the end of the week so retrobrighting until Friday is looking unlikely. In the mean time I've pieced together roughly my shopping cart for when CNY is over.

SC-7:

  • 12mm * 4mm rubber feet
  • Side feet (not yet sourced). Might have to just get a big pad and cut them out myself.

Motherboard:

  • DIP-24 Socket for easy future RTC replacement
  • 32k8 TAG SRAM chip. 12ns. Winbond. Would like to find 10ns or faster though. Just in case I go over 64MB for certain configs in the future.

IDE RAID Controller:

  • Additional molex splitters.
  • Additional IDE cables.
  • Mix 4.5mm and 6mm acrylic sheets - may just buy a premade 4 drive bay if I can find a nice way to mount it.

General stuff:

  • Nylon adhesive standoffs for ESP8266 inside modem.
  • USB header w/ two ports for PCI bracket.
  • Misc. additional soldering goodies to stock back up.

I also took a look around Taobao some more. I'm thinking I might give the (used) PCI Serial controllers a go. One PCI slot, 8 serial ports. 95 (and above), NT, DOS, Linux, BSD drivers. Could be some fun and would avoid having to use switches. Certainly on the maybe list.

In particular, the MOXA C168H/PCI looks good. Example below.

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WiFi Serial modem, actual modem, SC-7 and likely all sorts of other things in the future all on one card. Very, very interesting. Not too unreasonable too if I took the price of a couple of switches into account.

That said, it's not too important right now. I just hope the weather clears up sooner while I have time off so I can get some more work done. There's not much I can do until I get this RTC replaced. 😢

Reply 24 of 53, by x0zm_

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Had fairly good luck with the retrobrighting today I'd say.

The more yellowed keys aren't as bright as the less yellowed keys, not that I'd expect them to be. But they are a lot better.

TDLwM6Tl.jpg

Today I went for the Salon Creme + a little bit of oxy action powder. About 3 hours in the sun.

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Spacebar against the untouched keyboard casing.

Now this was the 1 and 6 keys before and after against the yellowed LED shell.

5eJqwvNl.jpg 7X0QEB4l.jpg

Hoping to do the keyboard shell on the weekend (apparently raining again tomorrow) using the same methods. 😎

Might give the case another go too since this is working a lot better.

Reply 26 of 53, by x0zm_

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Gee I'm great at making myself look like an idiot.

I never stopped to think "Hmm, this is a Baby AT board, and this is a GIANT PCI card."

u15Br6rl.jpg yxPzhjbl.jpg

Of course, no matter where I put it, it'll cover the CPU. Unless I put it right at the bottom of the PCI slots, where it wouldn't leave enough room for hard drives.

I will experiment with using a small PCI riser and putting it in the top slot. If not, oh well. It'd love to be in the eventual TOXIC dual CPU rebuild I'm sure 🤣

Other option is to sell off this board and buy the XP55T2P4 instead. Sure, no 83MHz bus speed, but I can use a sweet RAID card, won't have to desolder the bloody RTC and won't have to use an AT converter cable. Sadly, they're rare and chances are I'd have to go and resolder those caps anyway since almost every one I'd seen had bulging caps.

I'll probably just live without the cool card. 😢

Anyway, it was raining again today after big storms yesterday so no retrobright once again. Bloody bipolar summer weather.

Bonus pics, SB16 & Canopus T64V:

FWMHRVfl.jpg G44YN7ul.jpg

I love Canopus cards. I might take some nice, high res photos of some of this hardware on my DSLR instead of my crap phone camera.

Hoping for better weather tomorrow. Until next time!

Have a good weekend d00ds 😎

Reply 27 of 53, by x0zm_

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I'm pretty happy with how the keyboard has turned out. Some of the keys are just super stubborn, but you can't win them all right? The casing, for the most part, turned out fantastically. All in all it is much better than it started out with.

As I hoped, I'm using my proper camera now. I'm not very good at using it, but as I learn its features properly I should be getting better photos.

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The most yellowed key I had now. Not too bad compared to previously.

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Reply 28 of 53, by x0zm_

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Did the case today. Worked very well, unlike the last time when it wasn't even summer and I didn't have proper peroxide. DId the SC-7 too. Also worked very well. Pics below! I also need to work out how to adjust the exposure on this camera for brighter pics.

So here's the case, still slightly wet after having rinsed it. The 5.25 covers are the colour from the previous retrobright attempt for comparison. One of them is also splotchy because I used it to put weights on to keep the panel under water. 😵

hkPXVoDl.jpg0U2wFRtl.jpgvqCd8c1l.jpg9ShFTHNl.jpgvrO0UHjl.jpg

Now here's the panel on top of the case, with the 5.25" covers as well to show how the panel matches the paint and what a difference has been made.

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And now the Roland SC-7. I'll put the "before" again first.

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Reply 29 of 53, by x0zm_

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Today my Epiphan VGA2PCIe arrived. Hooray!

I also got my hands on another local Roland module. This time, the SC-88ST. It's the beige/white version, not the black version curiously. I don't know whether that makes it an earlier model, a later model or if they just made two colours. It should be arriving tomorrow. Total cost for it: $55 AUD incl. shipping. Very happy with that. Includes the original Roland PSU as well. First time I've bought a module that actually had the right power supply with it.

Now that I've collected four sound modules in total and still hoping to get a Yamaha MU128 at some point, I'm having a think about wiring all this up. Looking at what I bought for the original Ipex system, I will need to purchase more cabling and other solutions. Suppose that means I'll have to sell off even more of my retro gear to achieve the dream, but no point having things sitting around if I can get things I'll use, right? I try my best to keep my retro projects financially self-sustaining. Sell of what I'm not using and really attached to, buy what I'd like to play with next and repeat the cycle. Which means I might sell the SC-7, since after comparing it to the SC-55 there's no difference.

Taking all that into consideration I'll need two additional MIDI cables and one additional set of RCA cables, but I'll likely buy some extra for futureproofing. I'll need a MIDI Thru box as well as I'm not a fan of daisy chaining. I'll have to search beyond the easily available MIDI Solutions Quadra. Passively powered MIDI splitter? No thank you.

Since CNY holidays are finishing up, I can get around to ordering what I need to finish up the build portion of this project.

As I hate posting without giving people something to look at, here's some photos of the Epiphan card and the inside of my RCA switch, handmade in good ol' China. 🤣

nxAruNsl.jpgDiRsOPvl.jpgwyGtjeel.jpgH49Dp7el.jpgoq4PDAvl.jpg

HxcGtUcl.jpgPpeNvobl.jpgxM2mBztl.jpg8NMDVPnl.jpgkyNfmiTl.jpgUNVVDI9l.jpg8NV75Upl.jpg

Reply 30 of 53, by x0zm_

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SC-88ST arrived this morning. It'll need a bit of a clean on the front. The top would need a repaint, if I decide to worry about it cosmetically since it'll be in a stack.

ttPEm7dl.jpgipwxEkQl.jpgCnbCBT3l.jpgk5o9yZCl.jpgcxvla7Bl.jpgiGzRfyEl.jpg

Still never seen a white model in person and just a few photos online, so it's a bit weird for me. Cool either way 😀

Reply 32 of 53, by x0zm_

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chrismeyer6 wrote:

I'm really loving this build its going to be great when it's done. Also great find with the Roland modules

Thanks mate, I appreciate it! 😀

I hope the soldering parts from China reach me in a reasonable time frame as there's no point doing a build with a dead CMOS battery.

I'm done with retrobrighting so there's really nothing left for me to do except bullshit around with ideas until it all arrives.

So to that end, I'm considering using the stupid little thing I did and posted in the "What retro activity did you get up to today" thread on this build, which is attaching an AIO cooler. Here's some of the pics for reference.

SmGTljtl.jpgl5nDdUtl.jpgzEvMzAgl.jpg

It's just using the mounting wire from the Compaq I pulled the MMX CPU from.

It'd certainly be trivial to add in an 80mm radiator, new tubing and fresh coolant. Or go oldschool and have a back mounted rad.

Time permitting, I'll cut the AIO open tomorrow to check the tubing ID and OD and see what can be done. If the cost for new tubing and radiator exceeds $20 AUD I'm not interested. This was going to be junked anyway.

Not a huge fan of using stock coolers on old hardware for non-restoration builds where possible. I find them underwhelming, noisy and a bit boring.

It's either going to be this or a decent 462/370 cooler. I'm moving away from the stock cooler idea on this. The enthusiast in me just can't do it. 😵

Reply 33 of 53, by doogie

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I just giggled. I love it. Please do the AIO - it's such an unholy matrimony, but you absolutely know that if we had those kits back in the day, we would have done it over and over again.

Alternatively, I've had good success with the StarTech copper 370 heatsink, chucked the fan and bolted a 60mm Noctua to it with some longer M3 screws. I'm not positive that it will fit the P233 (it should, though, yeah?), but I do know that the combo can keep a 1.4GHz Tualatin well under control (and does so without the annoying stock cooler noise you're referring to).

Reply 34 of 53, by x0zm_

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doogie wrote:

I just giggled. I love it. Please do the AIO - it's such an unholy matrimony, but you absolutely know that if we had those kits back in the day, we would have done it over and over again.

I've disassembled the AIO today. Still not sure whether it'll be a mainstay of this build but it will be a retro friendly AIO when rebuilt.

I don't have a StarTech one, but I do have a spare Spire Whisperrock IV and some Arctic Cooling unit also for 462. I think that's more than overkill. 🤣

Here's AIO disassembly and my thoughts on how to make it retro friendly at the end.

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Seems I took a trip back in time last night. 😎

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The first thing we'll do is cut open the rubber tube to get all the glycol mix out.

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With most of it out, the ID of the tubing was measured at around 5mm.

Mo3LC0Zl.jpg

After trimming the tubing a bit more, we're down to the hose clamps, the block and pump unit and a bit of the rubber tube. Sadly yet thankfully, Asetek or Corsair cheaped out here and used straight rubber/EPDM instead of reinforced so it wasn't as strong, but very easy to cut.

R8OETZMl.jpg ApnNIvHl.jpg

Using scissors, I cut through the plastic hose clamp. From there, I sliced up the bottom of the hose and pulled it off, leaving just the barbs remaining and a bare AIO unit ready to go.

mx62gmHl.jpgSfrOA7Kl.jpg

To make this a modular, retro capable AIO cooler I plan to do the following:

  • Purchase some new, better tubing. Likely reinforced EPDM rubber tubing, or possibly another type depending on what is available.
  • Purchase (to begin with) an 80mm radiator.
  • Purchase QDC fittings.

With all that, I could have a variety of radiator sizes for all different use cases. Then make up mounting clips for different sockets.

I think with some minor planning and wire bending work it could fit on Socket 5, 7, 8, 370, 423, 462, Slot 1, Slot 2 and Slot A.

Chances are I'll put that project in its own thread so it doesn't take up too much space in this thread, seeing as I'm not sure whether this will end up inside here.

Reply 35 of 53, by x0zm_

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Everything has been ordered that's required now that CNY is truly well and over.

The final shopping list was as follows (in no particular order):

  • W24257AK 10ns x 2 - for TAG RAM. Again, not sure if I'll ever use it but better to have it than not. Bought two just in case one is bad. $0.92 AUD each.
  • Nylon PCB Spacers x 100. $2.98 AUD. Could only buy 100. 🤣
  • 2.54 90 degree 15 pin headers x 10 - for replacing the headers on the ESP8266 so it's more low profile. $0.03 AUD per row of 15.
  • 2 x 75cm MIDI Cables. From the same seller as my previous lot. Super nice cables. $5.16 AUD each.
  • USB PCI bracket header. $1.03 AUD.
  • PS2 Female to AT Male. $1.65 AUD.
  • Molex splitter x2 - just to chop up for pre-crimped parts. $0.52 AUD each.
  • 80mm Brass+Copper radiator. $11.98 AUD.
  • 8 x hose clamps. $0.21 AUD each.
  • 6mm x 10mm x 2 meters EPDM tubing. $0.42 AUD.
  • 6mm x 9mm x 1 meter gray silicone tubing. $0.71 AUD.
  • 6mm x 12mm x 1 meter black silicone tubing. $0.84 AUD.
  • 6mm x 10mm x 2 meters black silicone tubing. $1.03 AUD.
  • 24 Pin DIP sockets x 4. $0.02 AUD each.
  • 0.8mm Heatshrink x 5 meters. $0.14 AUD.
  • 1.0mm Heatshrink x 5 meters. $0.19 AUD.
  • Promise Ultra100 TX2 IDE Controller. $4.05 AUD.
  • A bunch of boring soldering supplies

This should be everything I need to finish up the build. I already have the replacement RTCs with a 2018 manufacturing date.

The IDE controller was too good of a price to pass up if I can't get the Adaptec one to work with this case and motherboard setup, as it's much lower profile and will still give me 4 extra drives.

Looking forward to getting this done 😎

Reply 36 of 53, by x0zm_

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Everything is on its way through sea shipping, so here's what I've acquired and done while I've been waiting (aside from playing too much Apex Legends 😵 )

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A few of pics from AIO painting:

It's the closest paint I could find. It's not quite beige, but it's certainly closer to beige than white.

dp0G3w7l.jpgT2AhB9fl.jpg

HRKkU05l.jpgtNQ6bDWl.jpgjEFhoOSl.jpggICSkbYl.jpg

There's more to do, I think it'll be pretty amusing when it's done.

Yamaha TG300:

Was a nice price locally, so I picked it up to have some variation from just having Roland modules. Here's a bunch of pics of it that I took when unboxing/checking battery.

ZaJ25ldl.jpgkdb7MLkl.jpgSCiGJI5l.jpgVRNXx66l.jpgLiSgaN9l.jpg31QBfzAl.jpgyJ3TvrVl.jpg0NJYnmel.jpg9rpIdjXl.jpgBRyVmtTl.jpg2mvqIbPl.jpgl0U2r5Tl.jpg

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Reply 37 of 53, by x0zm_

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Chinese things arrived this morning. Took some quick pics before work.

I now have everything to build the system. All that's required is some soldering, tinkering and free time. 🤣

OlB9M9rl.jpg IOiyl1tl.jpg 2mQucNBl.jpg YAy3ZNkl.jpg V81ssQ9l.jpg JDQ8rYdl.jpg Pmoc0Mgl.jpg

Excuse the poor picture quality, it was early in the morning.

We've got a Promise IDE controller, some more MIDI cables, soldering supplies for this and some other projects, some TAG RAM, USB PCI header bracket, another AT to PS2 keyboard controller, more Molex splitters for hard drives, standoffs for ESP8266. There's other stuff too, such as everything for the AIO that'll be in another thread and other non-PC related things. 😎

Reply 38 of 53, by x0zm_

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Haven't posted in this thread in awhile, but the project is still very much alive. It's a build log after all, so I'd better update what has happened.

I'm just consumed with other things in life that take priority. With the impending house move, most of my hardware (including this build and related hardware) has been packed securely. I still don't have a firm move date, but once I do I want to be ready to leave as soon as possible, so everything not essential is packed.

Since the last post, I've done the following:

- Sourced a PS/2 header for the ASUS motherboard, so I can use my Intellimouse Optical 1.1A - Finally!

- Formatted and sorted which hard drives I'll be using on the IDE controller as my secondary drives - Seagate Barracuda ATA V 80GB, WD Caviar SE 80GB, Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 60GB, WD Caviar 40GB. In combination with an era-appropriate drive for OS, there will be plenty of storage available to load all sorts of fantastic games and software!

- Bought all the parts for the "companion" system. The one that'll handle streaming and other such things. Just waiting on a few water cooling things to arrive to build it first.

- Since the AIO experiment failed (idea worked, but the AIO had a dead pump), I'll be using either a S370 cooler or a stock Intel cooler.

Aside from all of that, not much has happened. I'm still really looking forward to finishing this after the move and have finally have a proper retro hardware dedicated room.

As I've been having nothing around to sate my retro hunger, I've also been cataloging a lot of my software into categories, years and brands. Should make network drive installation much easier. 😎

Reply 39 of 53, by x0zm_

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Build is getting a new case. I sourced a local NOS early 2000's AOpen case (2002 specifically, though manufactured later) H700A. The reason for the swap is twofold - it has native support for all my 3.5" drives instead of having to find a way to force them into the case. It also has much better cooling - I believe 6 80mm fan slots. It's a full tower case too. Even if it slightly newer in its design, it is still a beige colour and I have plans to make it a bit older in design. Front panel USB & Audio replaced with one of my spare MHz displays with some transparent black acrylic over it, etc.

Without further ado, here are case pics!

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Now that's not a case badge I get the privilege of seeing around very often. Exciting!

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And for a comparison of the old and new case size:

Ifeh8L9l.jpg

I also didn't post this PS2 header in my previous post:

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