Re: I recently found this hardware, AKA the Dumpster find thread.

Posted on 2015-10-20, 16:11

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

brassicGamer wrote: Well the stuff didn't get collected. So this is the stuff I could save from potential dumping today. For free. Holy crap! 😲 More than "hope you've got a van," it's "hope you've got a large, empty garage!"

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2015-10-20, 15:43

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Skyscraper wrote: 5. I only bought used PC parts and NOT the very nice Black Widow sized and looking spider the package also included. Come on now! That spider is at LEAST a $15 bonus to your purchase. 🤣

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Re: I recently found this hardware, AKA the Dumpster find thread.

Posted on 2015-10-16, 16:24

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have to admit, as I tinker with my desktop P200 and 486 systems that probably are lost causes, the stuff you folks manage to find for free just makes me green with envy. Still, I get to live vicariously through your excellent finds, so... party on!

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Re: Any Buckling Springs Fans on Vogons?

Posted on 2015-10-13, 13:25

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I lucked into an old Acer keyboard (manufacture date in 1996) that I'm just about positive is buckling spring at a Salvation Army for $4. It must have been some kind of NOS or office surplus they'd taken n as it was still in the box with the plastic packing that covered the keys. No fading or …

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Re: Old Laser 486 - Treasure or Trash?

Posted on 2015-09-30, 13:41

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The shop i worked for used to sell laser pc's. I have nice memories of them. Those rails where nice back in the day. Made it so much easier to install drives. We used to have a pile of them. Maybe my old collegue may have some of those brackets. Last week i visited him and got a laser branded …

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Re: Old Laser 486 - Treasure or Trash?

Posted on 2015-09-29, 13:07

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

So, having moved recently, space is at a premium and I find myself (again) trying to figure out what to do with this 486. As things stand, I've gotten the power supply issue worked out, but now I'm having trouble with the IDE controller card installed in it (getting to BIOS, but unable to boot from …

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Re: Dead P200 Machine?

Posted on 2015-09-29, 13:02

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks to all of you for the input on this. I was working on another project computer for a friend, so I had to back-burner the P200, but I'll see if I can't boot it tonight if I actually remove all the drives and expansion boards. If that works, I'll just re-introduce hardware until I find the …

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Re: Dead P200 Machine?

Posted on 2015-09-25, 20:15

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

brassicGamer, do you mean the "Intel" chip? Assuming it would need to be desoldered to be swapped out, right? h-a-l-9000, I let it sit on the "Please Wait" prompt for ten minutes with no change the other day. When I re-seat the CPU, I may give it longer, but that seems like a pretty fair sign that …

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Re: Dead P200 Machine?

Posted on 2015-09-25, 16:01

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks very much for the info - all around. In this case, I'm inclined to assume the BIOS chip is hard-soldered to the board and not something socketed I'd be able to easily exchange. It's probably also proprietary as hell. I'll see about re-seating the CPU this weekend in case it somehow rattled …

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Re: Dead P200 Machine?

Posted on 2015-09-25, 12:36

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I happen to have a couple of spare MMX 200s lying around if you wanna try that route? Next step after that would be to replace the BIOS chip itself I guess. Just so I'm clear on it, what all can I remove and still (theoretically) have a system that is able to boot to the BIOS config screen? Is it …

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Re: Dead P200 Machine?

Posted on 2015-09-25, 10:10

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Make sure all the cables (IDE , cdrom, floppy) and inserted correctly and are not damaged. IF the system boots with no cables then that is the problem (incorrectly plugged in, damaged, or master/slave are wrong). Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the problem (I pine for an easy fix). …

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Re: Dead P200 Machine?

Posted on 2015-09-25, 01:33

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I haven't tried to re-seat the CPU, but that'll be something to attempt tomorrow when I have a few more hours of daylight to reapply thermal compound and the like. Attached are pictures of the motherboard, both with and without the expansion card board installed. As you can see, no stains, corrosion …

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Re: Dead P200 Machine?

Posted on 2015-09-24, 23:26

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

IMG_0014.JPG For reference, this is the only screen that I'm getting from my Dell Optiplex. I tried unplugging and re-seating everything, even swapping the RAM to the open slot and nothing changed. Well, actually, I got ONE sign of life from it when I started it with all drives disconnected. It …

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Re: Any Buckling Springs Fans on Vogons?

Posted on 2015-09-23, 16:26

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Are there any threads on the board that compare different switch types (brand/make against brand/make rather than comparing different styles of Cherry MX switches, for example)? I've been wanting to take the plunge into mechanical keyboards as I'm using an old Saitek that's rapidly shedding paint on …

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Re: Dead P200 Machine?

Posted on 2015-09-23, 15:15

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Oh, sorry to double-tap my own thread, but I did want to ask about the inability to get into "System Setup" on this box. My impression was that an unseated component shouldn't prevent me from getting into the BIOS and that the component in question simply wouldn't show up in system settings rather …

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Re: Dead P200 Machine?

Posted on 2015-09-23, 13:53

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'll see about that tonight. I checked all the connections for anything that had worked loose, but I probably should have unplugged and re-seated everything. Thinking on it now, it wouldn't shock me to learn that the RAM has worked itself loose in that subtle way that only RAM can...

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Dead P200 Machine?

Posted on 2015-09-23, 12:39

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

So, I recently moved and have experienced the horror that is a PC failing to boot after being relocated. The machine in question is my Dell Optiplex Gn+ with a P200-MMX installed. It powers up and seems to lock on the "Enter System Setup" prompt. No beep codes, no errors, etc. I'd be inclined to say …

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Re: Preserving Old Discs

Posted on 2015-08-28, 19:27

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Welcome to my project! I have dozens, and dozens, and dozens, and dozens of old games that I'm currently archiving as well. There's a few projects out there, floating around, that are doing the same thing. The one I'm currently interested in is http://www.goodolddays.net. They have a massive …

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Preserving Old Discs

Posted on 2015-08-28, 16:09

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

This is a back-burner project I've been contemplating for a few months (and with a move about to complete, I'll actually have time to start working on it), but I recently acquired a large lot of older PC games. At least 1/3 to 1/2 are on old diskettes. The vast majority are 3.5", but some are 5.25". …

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Re: building old 386/486 systems.. AT form factor vs ATX

Posted on 2015-08-26, 12:57

by

by Runicen

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Isn't there a shielding component to the I/O... well, shield? I thought there was something about the case protecting the innards from electromagnetic interference and the like and you needed to have a more or less complete enclosure for that effect to actually take place, but I could be pulling …

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