Re: What era of computers do you draw the line at collecting and/or using?

Posted on 2022-12-28, 02:31

by

by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

AT is definitely a format I won't mess with. From the need for loads of expansion cards for basic functionality, the weird and (as I understand) potentially dangerous power supplies, the very limited selection of cases, to the non-removable batteries, it seems like a much bigger hassle than even …

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Re: What era of computers do you draw the line at collecting and/or using?

Posted on 2022-12-28, 00:21

by

by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

AT is definitely a format I won't mess with. From the need for loads of expansion cards for basic functionality, the weird and (as I understand) potentially dangerous power supplies, the very limited selection of cases, to the non-removable batteries, it seems like a much bigger hassle than even the …

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Input lag on USB to PS/2 converters for mice?

Posted on 2022-12-28, 00:16

by

by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

My second Logitech MX518 that I have bought for my KT7A rig is starting to malfunction (sensor randomly stops tracking for a moment, usually once every few minutes), and I have wondered about getting an active converter so I can use a modern USB gaming mouse (The MX518 is USB but also speaks PS/2 so …

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Re: CMOS battery for Gigabyte GA-686NX?

Posted on 2022-07-02, 20:59

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by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I checked the missing pins and they correspond to ones that are missing on pictures of the same type of chip in Google, so that's a relief. I ordered a DS12CR887-5+‎ from Digikey. Thanks everybody!

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Re: CMOS battery for Gigabyte GA-686NX?

Posted on 2022-07-02, 18:27

by

by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It is indeed socketed, and the one on my board (Odin OEC12C887) was a horrible mess with bent pins and missing pins! E: that item is out of stock. Will a Dallac DS12CR887-5+ do the job?

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CMOS battery for Gigabyte GA-686NX?

Posted on 2022-07-02, 18:22

by

by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

After several failed attempts to get an Intel VS440FX board working for my Pentium Pro project, I substituted a Gigabyte GA-686NX and got it to POST for the first time. However it says the CMOS battery has failed, and I don't see a CR2032 cell anywhere on the board. The manual says the battery is …

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Re: Broken 8x8 text mode font on nVidia FX series?

Posted on 2021-11-06, 21:44

by

by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Neither method works; the patched BIOS loads even with the keyboard disconnected (and at any rate, plugging a PS/2 keyboard into a powered-on system is AFAIK a big, big no-no that can damage your keyboard controller and keyboard). However, now I'm interested in the Borland EGAVGA.BGI thing because …

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Re: Broken 8x8 text mode font on nVidia FX series?

Posted on 2021-11-06, 02:34

by

by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Looks more like a Borland EGAVGA.BGI problem to me. This is not text mode nor is it the actual BIOS font (Borland provides their own). Tried other games that use the same libraries in the same mode i.e. Stellar Conquest III? Confirmed Stellar Conquest III has the same garbage font problem. The BIOS …

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Re: Broken 8x8 text mode font on nVidia FX series?

Posted on 2021-10-30, 16:08

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by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yes, I did, to accommodate the 1733 MHz Thoroughbred processor. There is a command line switch which is /g to prevent the removal of the 8x8 ROM font but it's not perfect. That means that the original BIOS should be patched once again. If this is the problem it's a pretty big one since I patched …

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Re: Broken 8x8 text mode font on nVidia FX series?

Posted on 2021-10-29, 23:11

by

by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yes, I did, to accommodate the 1733 MHz Thoroughbred processor.

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Re: Broken 8x8 text mode font on nVidia FX series?

Posted on 2021-10-29, 23:00

by

by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Oh it does use its own font, but the font uses code page 437.

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Re: Broken 8x8 text mode font on nVidia FX series?

Posted on 2021-10-29, 22:38

by

by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If you look at the map itself, some characters are outright different glyphs, like the centered yellow dots that represent flags in the DOSBox image are the character ƒ in the screenshot taken from the Athlon.

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Re: Broken 8x8 text mode font on nVidia FX series?

Posted on 2021-10-29, 22:30

by

by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I have not yet tried it with a different card. I have a Matrox MGA 2064W available and may try it tomorrow. I have also tried MapEdit in MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows XP NTVDM and the graphical glitches appear in both. Also from looking at the actual ROM 8x8 font, MapEdit uses its own font, though it …

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Broken 8x8 text mode font on nVidia FX series?

Posted on 2021-10-29, 21:46

by

by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I recently set up MapEdit 8.4 on my AMD Athlon retro rig to do Wolf3D level editing in DOS, but I have been stymied by the fact that the 8x8 text mode font on my video card's BIOS appears to be broken! My card is an nVidia GeForce FX 5900, and MapEdit 8.4 looks like this: SNARF000.png The OS used is …

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Re: How much RAM do you need ?

Posted on 2020-08-11, 13:41

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by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

A 486DX2/66 works well with at least 8MB of memory for more advanced 486 games (e.g. Doom). The family 486 I played on as a kid had 8MB. 16MB is better, though with games that benefit greatly from 16 megs you're straying into Pentium territory. As much as your motherboard can fit is better still, …

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Re: New sound card project: AWE64 Legacy

Posted on 2020-08-09, 14:40

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by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I am very interested in this, as I currently use an AWE64 in my Athlon rig. Will the MPU-401 work in DOS?

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2020-08-09, 14:37

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by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Nooooooo! 🙁 I bought this for my Pentium Pro build, and needless to say, it did not survive shipping.

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Re: Anyone here had Creative Fatality or Sound Blaster Blaze headphones ?

Posted on 2020-08-09, 01:00

by

by Woolie Wool

in Milliways

in Milliways

The HD 630VB still looks pretty gimmicky for my tastes. The HD 559 is a hundred bucks MSRP brand new (which means you can probably find a pair for even less) and dispenses with bass control and all the other silly crap to just be a pair of damn good headphones for not all that much money. Signal …

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Re: A modern "sleeper" PC

Posted on 2020-08-08, 21:44

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by Woolie Wool

in Milliways

in Milliways

I have thought of doing something like this one day, but I am concerned about airflow and noise with a beige case on a modern PC. If a company like Corsair or Fractal made a modern beige tower with subdued styling (an April Fools joke doesn't count), I would be all over it. But stuffing a Ryzen 5 …

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Need a new case for my Pentium Pro build--disaster with Chernbro SR20503

Posted on 2020-08-01, 22:05

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by Woolie Wool

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I tried to assemble my Pentium Pro system today, but was stymied both by the fact that the CPU fan requires a separate PWM cable (not really a problem, but annoying) and by the absolute abomination of a case I selected--the Chernbro SR20503. I bought it a couple of years ago because it was (a) cheap …

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