Re: Is this a real Audigy 2 card?
Posted on 2021-10-11, 00:01
label says sb0240 - it's real.
Re: Anybody use the unofficial Win 98 SP3 pack?
Posted on 2021-10-10, 20:53
cannot recommend USP3 v3.xx for Win98. I had various random errors / crashes and slow downs with it. Installing a plain vanilla W98 with necessary updates is better. The same goes for Autopatcher 98 / UBCD98.
Re: I've ruined XP builds for myself
Posted on 2021-09-24, 18:21
windows xp works online quite ok even now. You need to update the certificates and use a modern retro browser, such as roytam1's compiles. Choose an appropriate browser from http://rtfreesoft.blogspot.com/ and go online. I like basilisk a lot, with legacy ublock extension. Needless to say, going …
Re: Did you miss any significant period of computer development?
Posted on 2021-09-16, 19:56
From 1988 until 1994 I had a Spectrum clone. I was quite obsessed with it, spent all my summer holidays coding / playing. There was no TV programming nor other entertainment options. I managed to learn on my own the assembly language for it; took me weeks to understand the concept of a file header. …
Re: SSD not recognized on ASUS P2B 440BX
Posted on 2021-09-15, 19:39
Send me a BIOS please, I would like to patch it myself for you to test. Here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/7czzwrot9hemqko/bios_sample.zip/file The 440bx bios is not working with >32GB hard drives. The VIA Appolo 133 bios needs the memory patch to enable 4way interleave. I am having 100% error …
Re: Using SST39SF020A in place of SST29EE020 for BIOS EEPROM?
Posted on 2021-09-15, 19:27
if the new eeproms are cheap, it is worth trying. Looking on ebay, 29EE020 eeproms are plentiful and very cheap, less than 2 USD per piece. I replaced 3 defective bios chips with other 3 random bios chips (different brands) bought from ebay and new chips all worked.
Re: Replacing BIOS Chips
Posted on 2021-09-15, 19:23
final results. I bought 3 random bios chips from ebay; I did not care about brand / technical details, I just checked to be 2Mbit and to be programmable with 5V. I have programmed the new bios chips with TL866 and dropped the new chips in the mobos with defective bios chips: 100% success rate, ie 3 …
Re: SSD not recognized on ASUS P2B 440BX
Posted on 2021-09-14, 19:32
I can reproduce the issue on two 440BX boards (ECS / Lucky star), with bios patcher (both 4.x / 6.x versions), flashed with awardflash 7.xx. Hanging on CPU detection if PS2 devices are connected; reverting to stock bios - no issues.
Re: SSD not recognized on ASUS P2B 440BX
Posted on 2021-09-14, 19:22
I have the same issue with the bios patcher, described here: Replacing BIOS Chips Patching the bios with bios patcher leads to the POST process hanging when detecting CPU with PS2 devices plugged in. I had to buy a TL866 to play safely with flashing.
Re: Replacing BIOS Chips
Posted on 2021-09-07, 20:40
ok, so started playing and patching bioses. my findings: 1 - I could not find many stocked DIP32 eeproms with mouser / tme. 2 - most I could find are on ebay. 3 - killed a motherboard by flashing a patched bios; I have reflashed it again using TL866 (and the appropriate chip). The bios and the board …
Re: Updating Award Bios (error the file size does not match!)
Posted on 2021-09-06, 22:18
1 - as said before, TL866 + an IC extractor is a must if one is tinkering with the bios. TL866 can write DIP32 EEPROMS directly, no adapters needed. 2 - why do you need to update the bios? You should update the bios only if the update solves a problem.
Re: ECS P6BXT-A+ V1.3B weird issues
Posted on 2021-09-03, 19:12
I have the same board. Works fine with a slot 1 Coppermine 600 (100 MHz). Indeed, overclocking or using the FSB at more than 100 MHz are not really usable.
Re: An Ivy Bridge Motherboard for Linux and WinXP
Posted on 2021-09-02, 21:25
I was not precise enough - all older cpus will suffer performance penalties when used in a modern spectre / meltdown aware OS. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=sandy-fx-zombieload&num=1 If budget allows, an I7 3770 is still a reasonable CPU; I would not go lower. I still have one; …
Re: An Ivy Bridge Motherboard for Linux and WinXP
Posted on 2021-09-02, 20:26
just be advised that using i7 3770 with a modern OS, would require disabling spectre / meltdown mitigations, for reasonable performance.
Re: An Ivy Bridge Motherboard for Linux and WinXP
Posted on 2021-09-02, 15:41
If you need native PCI, look at Q77 chipset. Otherwise, Z77 motherboards may have PCI slots as well, but not native. I have an intel Q77 mobo and a Z77 Gigabyte one; both are great.
Re: Are any newer unofficial versions of Windows XP worth downloading?
Posted on 2021-09-02, 07:29
I would say no. Once you integrate all updates and service packs, performance drops compared to vanilla SP3 or SP2. For retro purposes, I would use vanilla SP2, on a computer disconnected from the internet.
Re: Replacing BIOS Chips
Posted on 2021-09-01, 12:35
Thanks. I bought a programmer and will start experimenting soon.
Re: Replacing BIOS Chips
Posted on 2021-08-31, 19:26
Thanks, I am quite a noob in this so thanks for the patience. The original bios is a 1 Mbit 32 pin dip eeprom. I was thinking of dropping in whatever 32 pin dip eeprom I could find available. Am I to understand this would not work? If hotflashing works, I was thinking that any 32 pin dip eeprom ( …
Replacing BIOS Chips
Posted on 2021-08-31, 19:01
Hi all I have managed to damage some bios chips (award bios, 32 pin DIP, 1 and 2 Mbit) while attempting hot flashing and / or patching. Let's just say it was not my best day ever. Would it be possible to simply replace those bios chips with generic 32 pin EEPROMS (example: https://www.digikey.com/en …
Re: I won a very nice looking GeForce FX 5900 with a stock cooler from eBay
Posted on 2021-08-24, 21:18
As a rule, whenever I see "untested" in a classified, I read "not working".
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