Re: Emulation on MS Windows 3.1x ?

Posted on 2022-05-03, 02:28

by

by Mister Xiado

in Console & Arcade Emulation

in Console & Arcade Emulation

I'd made icons for several of the computers and consoles that had emulators for DOS and Windows 3.X a while back. I think I used EmulationZone and Zophar's Domain to look them up. I should probably gather the emulators up, considering the purpose of my site and the content already on it... Hi! I …

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Re: Rust repairs

Posted on 2021-07-24, 13:20

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Many of the restoration crew on Youtube go into great detail on removing rust from small metal items, like die-cast cars and such, most frequently with store-bought rust-removal chemicals. Some also use electroplating to put zinc on the items to prevent them from rusting again.

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Re: Best way to image disks and scan old manuals?

Posted on 2021-07-09, 18:36

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

For stapled manuals, a flatbed scanner is fine, but for bound manuals, perhaps a proper book scanner. They're specialized equipment that prevents excessive spine damage to books, as you only need to open them to about 90º to scan two facing pages.

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2021-07-05, 16:40

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Classic everything has jumped up in price, first from trust fund hipsters paying a mint for "retro" tech to get "nerd cred", then due to massive payouts in the United States, giving people more money to spend on frippery, so they wouldn't mind paying for for what they would previously blanch at, and …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2021-06-30, 15:01

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Received an 8GB CF card in the mail, and I'm trying to determine what to do with it. I have a 2GB in my 486, an a 4GB in my Pentium tower. I may just chain-upgrade them and use the 2GB card as possible boot media for another computer. I now have all of the equipment I need to remove the dead DALLAS …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2021-06-26, 07:42

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Bought a 15" 4:3 VGA LCD Hewlett Packard monitor with inbuilt speakers, to match the 17" iteration I already had. While I have a like-new Packard Bell CRT, I don't want to use it until I have a project that would be better served by it. Like taking a photo of the system it came with playing Quake or …

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Re: Windows 3.11 Ethernet Adapters

Posted on 2021-06-26, 07:31

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I use a Linksys LNE2000T ISA card, as someone was selling them new-old-stock for like $10 each a few years back, and I have no trouble at all with them, though I'm only using one right now, in the 486 I use to test everything I make with my modern system. Alas, I'm not a network technician, so I …

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Re: DOS hard drive partitions question

Posted on 2021-06-14, 18:03

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Of course, if you want to go crazy and pop in a 60GB drive and bust it up into partitions all the way up into double-letters, keep in mind that the BIOS may not like big hard drives. My first computer, with a Biostar M5ATB board with BIOS version MI BIOS 2A5KIB09C-00 has a stroke if I connect …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2021-06-14, 08:59

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Not an old system, but I replaced the RAM and the drive in my ThinkPad T440. Toying with the idea of also swapping out the display, and maybe the trackpad and keyboard, but the latter two are low on the priority list. Just trying to motivate myself into resurrecting my 486, after having no luck …

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Re: Worst tips from tech support

Posted on 2021-06-08, 16:21

by

by Mister Xiado

in Milliways

in Milliways

Having worked for AT&T for a decade (do not imitate, extreme risk of self-termination), it killed me inside to hear customers' stories about stupid suggestions from support. I absolutely hated that by random chance, someone got to talk to me, and my insanely obscure experiences were the perfect …

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Re: Newegg.com erased my retro computing past...

Posted on 2021-01-29, 04:01

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If you edit the dropdown box's code, you can insert any year you like, and add any number of extra lines for years. Copy code to clipboard 1 within Year YYYY

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2021-01-05, 05:46

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Just set up the memory card for my Atari 2600 UNO cartridge, but I have yet to actually test it in one of my systems. Also received a BASIC cart for my XE GS, so I can determine if the onboard BASIC is borked. The system halts if you press RETURN while in the BASIC environment, but the RETURN key …

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Re: When did you purchase your first 386 / 486 Computer? Availability vs the early 90's affordability norm.

Posted on 2021-01-05, 05:37

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Never had a computer until I was living on my own. Bought it from a catalog in October of 1998. 300MHz AMD K6-2, 32MB of RAM, 3.2GB Fujitsu HDD, unbranded CDROM drive, bottom of the barrel PCI 2D video card, Lucent Technologies PCI WinModem (v.90), ISA ESS AudioDrive sound card, 15" CRT, cheap "80W" …

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Re: Retrofitting Li-Ion cells with BMS circuit into Ni-MH laptop battery packs?

Posted on 2020-12-29, 21:13

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I think a resettable fuse and a new AC adapter would be required, to prevent the majority of headaches. My over-engineering senses also cry out for heat sinks and a forced air cooling system, provided the battery casing can hold a fan, and has decent airflow potential inside of it. Interesting idea, …

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Re: Merry Christmas everyone and have you ever lost something in your computer stash ?

Posted on 2020-12-25, 22:40

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Relatives threw out my classic computer collection while I was at work, so I stopped (actively) collecting old computers and started collecting firearms. Even with my new job, I can't justify spending today's crackhead prices on what I lost. An Apple iii, complete A500 and an A1000, Tandy 1000 RLX, …

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Re: Compaq Professional Workstation 5000 - broken front bezel/panel

Posted on 2020-12-21, 12:55

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I recommend checking out videos on the baking soda and super glue method of joining and repairing broken plastic. The results are impressive in many cases. I'm not quite sure about using it on flexible retention tabs, but I've seen it used on screw posts, and to fill in missing material, and in one …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2020-12-08, 02:28

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Ordered an Atari BASIC cartridge to troubleshoot the ROM BASIC issues in my Atari XE GS. I still haven't ordered (physically) smaller capacitors for my Gigabyte P4 board. Motivation for this stuff is in critically short supply.

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Re: Floppy drive 3.5

Posted on 2020-12-04, 02:56

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

drosse1meyer wrote on 2020-12-03, 13:11: Why would they do that? Perhaps to fry people's Sega Master System/Genesis systems when they used the NES power brick with it? Or maybe it was cheaper for some reason.

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Re: Floppy drive 3.5

Posted on 2020-12-03, 11:15

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Bear in mind that the current supply of the power supply you're going to use can greatly exceed the needs of the device being powered. If you get a 2 Amp supply that puts out the correct voltage in the polarity you need, you're more than safe in most cases. You only risk letting the magic smoke out …

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Re: Building a 486, Any tips & recommendations for a newcomer?

Posted on 2020-12-03, 11:08

by

by Mister Xiado

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

FDD Not super essential anymore, as the aforementioned floppy emulators are much more convenient, and perhaps most importantly, cheaper. Long gone are the days of the $10 new-old-stock 1.44MB floppy drives. HDD I have no issues at all with a 2GB Compact Flash card (with cheapo CF/PATA adapter board) …

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