Re: Please help me identify this 386 motherboard

Posted on 2020-01-16, 19:47

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You have many possibilities to make a BIOS dump. One way would be to get a TL866II programmer (or similar) and use that to dump it. If you don't want to waste $60+ on a programmer, you can do the same thing with an Arduino Mega, some wires and a bit of code. All of the above doesn't involve the use …

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

Posted on 2020-01-16, 19:23

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

My SL-75KAV went nuts today after I installed a Athlon XP 2100+ in it (which is unsupported apparently).

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Re: Smallest Socket 7 Motherboard

Posted on 2020-01-07, 19:41

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I made this thing a few years ago on Instructables (I also wanted a Windows 95 box :)) https://www.instructables.com/id/Tiny-Wood-Computer-Case/ It uses a Zida TX98-3D (I think it's the smallest you can go while also maintaining compatibility, S3 Trio 64, Sound Blaster, etc..). That taped capacitor …

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Re: What HDD do you use? (1GB to 10GB)

Posted on 2020-01-07, 19:21

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm gonna share my experience with sub 10GB hard drives real quick here. My personal favorite is the Quantum Fireball lct series (very quiet bearings, decent seek noise, no bad sectors so far) The Seagate Medalist has a very cool sound , but is unreliable nowadays (I have quite a few with bad …

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Re: Pentium III laptop running extremely hot

Posted on 2020-01-07, 18:39

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If it feels hot to the touch it doesn't really mean that it needs new thermal paste, the fan could be at fault (old grease that dried up over time or accumulation of dust). I have a Fujitsu Siemens with a Pentium M which gets stupidly hot underneath and a Acer with another Pentium M which is cool to …

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Atari PC3 motherboard rescue - need help

Posted on 2020-01-07, 17:07

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

So, a few months ago I rescued this PC3 motherboard from my school, and it wasn't in the very best shape (missing components and bent pins). Motherboard Photo https://i.imgur.com/WUouUsM.jpg I managed to replace all the missing parts at that time, except for the BIOS ROM and another large IC, which …

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Re: Any info on this motherboard? VT59088

Posted on 2019-11-27, 20:45

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Looking at the image I can notice the unusual southbridge with the shiny round heat spreader, which came bundled with socket 478 or some socket A boards (e.g. VT8237A) Typically, you will find normal BGA southbridges (e.g. VT8235) on Pentium III or VIA C3/EDEN boards. Also, the I/O layout closely …

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Re: Need help with Dallas RTC on Olivetti M300-30

Posted on 2019-11-22, 17:35

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Is it still misbehaving like that with the old Dallas chip (just to make sure the new RTC is the culprit) ?

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Re: Need help with a XT clone mainboard

Posted on 2019-02-12, 22:14

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

FIRST SIGNS OF LIFE : 155000855291078152 (1).jpg I could never thank enough to the russian people at phantom.sannata.ru for showing me the nail in the coffin, one of the ICs had to be a PAL16R6ANC (register array) and the other one a PAL16L8ANC(logic array). 155000855291078152.jpg Next step is to …

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Re: Retro Rig Photo Thread

Posted on 2019-02-11, 14:15

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Just got this cute GX110 for free recently, came without expansion cards (empty riser card) and WinXP install. I've done some upgrades to make it a retro gaming PC. Specs: Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz 256MB PC133 SDRAM CT6760 Voodoo Banshee 16MB PCI (with cooling mod) CT4830 SB Live! Value 80GB WD …

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Re: Old KEnitec 286 Plus (suntac) Rescue, will need help.

Posted on 2019-02-10, 22:05

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Had an identical Suntac board a while ago. Mine was unfortunately not salvageable, because someone destroyed the CPU socket before I got it and my attempt to replace the socket failed, so I had to scrap it. Not to mention it had battery leak corrosion as well. Wish you luck with your board rescue.

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Re: Power supply gurus, help and advice needed

Posted on 2019-02-05, 20:01

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

As others said, you should measure these voltages with a multimeter instead. From my personal experience, 4.5ish volts on the 5 volts rail is a bit too low. I've had many hard drives refusing to spin if the 5v rail was undervolted like that. You should buy a newer (higher quality maybe) PSU. Better …

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Re: Dell OptiPlex GX110 SFF - Really Weird Sound Card Issues

Posted on 2019-02-05, 07:23

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I've just got an Optiplex GX110 SFF (same as yours) for free from a friend and it was really dirty (cd-rom drive didn't even work, the hard drive was constantly dropping power, etc..). I gave her a proper shower wash (motherboard, PSU, everything!) and it fixed itself (everything works fine). I will …

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Re: Need help with a XT clone mainboard

Posted on 2019-02-04, 07:26

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

This is the biggest problem I have to solve, getting these binary images for the PAL16L8ANCs. Unless there is another way around this (building an external circuit, etc..), I'm gonna have to ask on that russian forum for help getting the binary files for the PROMs, because I'm 99.9% sure nobody else …

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Re: 3rd Party Heat Sync / Fan for Retro Cards

Posted on 2019-02-03, 09:16

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Searching "vga heatsink" on eBay will give you plenty of results. I usually prefer the round one with the larger fins, and it's also universal (fits on many GPUs). It does a great job on my 9800 PRO. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Radiator-Computer-CPU-VGA-Card-Cooler-Heatsink-with-2-Pin-Power-Cable/ …

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Re: Hilariously bad stock images of vintage hardware

Posted on 2019-02-03, 09:06

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

This guy is having a hard time fixing that poor low profile GPU.

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Re: Need help with a XT clone mainboard

Posted on 2019-02-03, 08:45

by

by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Here is a little pinout I made last evening with my multimeter on the U31 chip (which I am missing) : @retardware Not sure how to safely do that without destroying something else on the motherboard, that's why I'm asking for help.

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Re: Need help with a XT clone mainboard

Posted on 2019-02-02, 18:29

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Will try this out soon, I have to get my EEPROM eraser working.

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Re: Mhz Display help to configure.

Posted on 2019-02-02, 18:22

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You can check with a multimeter which of the pins is the ground using the negative pole of the button battery socket. I suspect that + and - are the 5V and GND (respectively), which should be connected to the power supply (don't take this information for granted, I've made an assumption). Check this …

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The XL-7 TURBO 8088 XT build

Posted on 2019-02-02, 17:55

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by computerguy08

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm new to the Vogons forum, forgive me for any mistakes :) So I've acquired this gem for free a while ago from my local high school (yes, for FREE). It's a XT clone motherboard (XL-7 Turbo), likely pulled out of a bulgarian Pravetz-16 8088 PC. https://i.imgur.com/GC7KMTK.jpg It was in a really …

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