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

Posted on 2022-03-25, 10:15

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

So I turn this over to fellow Vogons users .. do I dare trust this system to a SHAW PSU ? (Looks at Insignia with 18A on the 5v rail I just used to bench a 3200+ testing videocards, declines to comment) I will probably have a couple of posts soon in General about the big benchmarking and, …

---

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

Posted on 2022-03-23, 05:06

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Finally going to benchmark some low-profile random cards from my collection across a long period of time (mostly OEM) to get a real feel for what works in SFF retro-ish systems. Using the same socket 775 with an X3370 for the tests, running the IGPU now for reference on 3DMark05. Kinda slow. :) GMA …

---

Re: I video card I bought is missing an inductor. What should I know when buying a replacement?

Posted on 2022-03-23, 04:54

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I was hoping there would be a good guide to sources. :) I have a 9800 GT with coil whine and it's on my list of things to fix - I just need to understand better how to order them. I have the values, but package size isn't always clear (these are through-hole and not SMD, not sure whether that makes …

---

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

Posted on 2022-03-18, 05:04

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well, continuing the Great Catalog Project, just did photos on a bunch of laptops from 8086 to i7. Came across and old Centrino Sony Vaio with an *excellent* screen, I had a failed OS/2 install on it, so I fixed it (mostly). Still have a couple of errors COM.SYS and another file missing. And I have …

---

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

Posted on 2022-03-16, 10:14

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

TXSnipper's MBC reminds me of my Retro Unicorn, the NEC APC color. Though I kind of want an MBC now! I took photos of 439 items in the last couple of days, cropped and labeled them. Building a proper database. Yes, it's too many.. and I'm not done yet. That doesn't include over 90 computers. It's a …

---

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

Posted on 2022-01-06, 22:57

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Heh, sometimes I think I need to just keep 3 systems and epoxy the cases shut. If I could get down to 9, Angels would weep with joy. Alas, I have 4 non-retro at my desk right now and two other desks, so fat chance. :( Got my drive cage rev'd for the 3D printed retro case.. perfect fit for the 5.25 …

---

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

Posted on 2022-01-03, 06:53

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I don't think I can afford to join any more retro groups. I have too much stuff! Maybe eventually we'll all have our own discords for trying to get rid of the "extras." :) I am making poor progress, I mean, I did move some systems and my "junk box" of dead parts out, and I'm a fair chunk of the way …

---

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

Posted on 2021-10-24, 19:37

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm currently looking at the MSXVR retro PC. It's an MSX PC-compatible hardware and software build from a RPi board that is customized for MSX cartridge compatibility. I hope to use dreamblaster's X2GS Waveblaster board with it, though I don't know if the system will recognize it via USB. There …

---

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

Posted on 2021-10-24, 19:36

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

(Soon s478 will be rare partly because of cap plague, and then the haters will stand there with there s370 looking very sad!) I guess that might happen, but what I think about are the high performance aftermarket CPU coolers. Those are already rare. I regret I sold my AC Super Silent 4 all those …

---

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

Posted on 2021-10-14, 04:07

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Mostly newer stuff (kind of wore myself out), like getting my Monitor Wall rearranged (partly), getting off my backup gaming PC to my old fixed gaming PC, working on my new Supermicro file server (come on Black Friday drive deals)... I was going to, not kidding, set up 21 miscellaneous drives in the …

---

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

Posted on 2021-09-26, 07:49

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Got a new power switch for the AST. Its fit is weird but possible, since I won't be using the upper 5.25" bay anyway. Cut my finger, so I guess the Blood Gods have been honored. 3D printing a button now for a test fit. Got another CF adapter and have another CF card on the way. Just started trying …

---

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

Posted on 2021-09-20, 04:52

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well not as much as I'd intended, and I got caught up removing batteries from several Very Old Laptops (where needed). I left the Zenith's in because it's an oddball fairly integrated and I'm not sure it's a good idea to desolder it before I have a replacement. 5V, too. The Zenith has awfully poor …

---

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

Posted on 2021-09-18, 21:12

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You only need a 1985 system, a 1990 system a 1995 system a best CPU/GPU system for every 3 months between 1995 and 2000, a noughties system... I mean, the purpose of them is software, but I'm kind of a hardware guy. That's why I have AMD and intel 386's and AMD, Intel, and IBM 486s, and two PII …

---

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

Posted on 2021-09-18, 19:06

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

That's weird, I see 997 pages. Need to plot out my "final collection," holes and all, later today. If I have time. Part of my problem is a lot of what I will likely keep are "cool surprises" and not part of a plan. Complications. And I got my systems and video cards laid out (on paper) by year ( …

---

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

Posted on 2021-09-17, 02:59

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

AST Pentium 133 from the "funky proprietary backplane design" era, .... ... Seriously, this case was designed by a maniac. It's got more interdependent parts in its assembly than a Volvo. Easy 9-step processes everywhere! I'll get more detailed pics later. Heh yeah, AST sneered at the clone makers …

---

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

Posted on 2021-09-14, 23:27

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

So I was gonna do a whole big thing, but I've had little time, so I figured I would throw a few pics up. Tested a ton of RAM and a few HDs and CDs/DVDs. And then there's a brace of these: !DT505A.jpg They don't power up, but I haven't had time to take them down and check. Missing a few minor bits …

---

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

Posted on 2021-09-13, 08:04

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Will have to get pics soon, moderately successful.... dumpster dive? Not sure what to call it, will probably post on the relevant thread. Lots of testing this weekend, some hardware is borked but that's half the fun (if it seems fixable, that is). Teaser: 5" CRT.

---

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

Posted on 2021-09-06, 04:59

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Some of them (Edit: random wireless keyboards) have a USB compliant HID interface that you can internally solder up a USB cable for. It's a bit of a PITA to dig out the data sheets and brain it all out though. Yeah the other option I had in mind was puzzling out the ribbon connector on the membrane …

---

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

Posted on 2021-09-06, 01:46

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I took apart, cleaned thoroughly, and then reassembled an off-brand wireless keyboard before I realized the wireless dongle was missing. So that was fun. Part of me wants to try to swap out the control board for a vintage/retro project, I guess I'll make that #933 on the project list. I have lined …

---

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

Posted on 2021-09-03, 20:04

by

by Merovign

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well it's just a messy test print, but using heat to bend the "arm" for mounting worked even better than expected: MessyTest.jpg Now for a more refined print with a few more reinforcements. I could probably print the entire thing flat and make a rig to bend the mounting tab over. That would probably …

---