Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2024-05-01, 22:34

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

dexvx wrote on 2017-11-08, 21:06: Looks like OPL YMF715-S and GM YMF721-S. I'v bought the same today, waiting to arrive. Do you still have it? Care to share some information? I am curious to understand why this board uses both an opl3 and opl4 chip, because in theory the 721 also has an opl3.

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Re: No MIDI Out from SB Live! Drive

Posted on 2024-02-21, 16:09

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Solved by replacing the card to a sb0100 and installing this driver: Guide: Installing Windows 9x and DOS drivers on Sound Blaster Live! cards (version 3.1)

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No MIDI Out from SB Live! Drive

Posted on 2023-12-09, 00:28

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I am using a combination of a Live CT4830 + Drive CT4860. I can get audio through the Drive headphone jack, which I assume it´s correct connected to the sound card, but no MIDI from the front panel. Under MIDI option on W98 there are 3 options: live synth, windows synth and UART. The synths give me …

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Re: Guillemot Maxi Studio Isis DOS support

Posted on 2023-12-08, 23:10

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Amazing effort! Following up!

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386 sx with ymf262 handheld

Posted on 2023-05-15, 19:52

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by zecahue

in Release Announcements

in Release Announcements

I personally don't like the screen ratio, but overall it's a very interesting machine, it has a real 386sx SOC, ISA expansion, usb storage, VGA. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/1005005542582463.html Interesting product. The same seller has a 8088 laptop also https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ …

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Re: Suntac 80286 Mainboards

Posted on 2023-04-21, 19:57

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

My collection of Suntac motherboards... all working perfectly fine. suntac1.jpg suntac2.jpg suntac3.jpg suntac4.jpg suntac5.jpg Hi : ) I have got a board with pretty much the same layout as yours but there is no DIP Switch, making it hard to right config the 4 sipp (1mb each) I am trying to install …

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Re: Force MU-50 to XG

Posted on 2023-03-10, 04:33

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

The MU50 will switch operating modes based on reception of the following messages: XG System On -> XG mode GM System On -> XG mode GS Reset -> TG300B mode Disk Orchestra On -> DOC mode You can "lock" the unit to whatever mode it's currently in with the following System setting: RcvGMExcl =off If …

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Re: Force MU-50 to XG

Posted on 2023-03-10, 04:14

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I just tested this with my own MU50 and it doesn't auto-switch to TG-300 mode. I tested it with X-Wing, Master of Magic and Warcraft using standard GM settings. What games are you seeing the switching behavior with? I also looked up in the manual is there is nothing in there about auto-switching to …

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Force MU-50 to XG

Posted on 2023-03-09, 17:59

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Hi, I am experimenting with a MU-50 and I have some questions to more experienced users. When a GM signal is sent to the module it automatically detects and use the mode TG-300 which is the GM compatible mode, right? But some games I prefer the XG mode, even if don't sounds original. Is there a way …

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Re: Build Suggestions - Pairing hardware

Posted on 2023-02-28, 21:49

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Shponglefan wrote on 2023-02-28, 19:56: A 486-25 or 486-33 might be more ideal as a 486-era machine. Yep, this is the sweetest spot. I got the DX2 because it was the one I found for 20bucks with a leaked varta, beside the emotional attachment.

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Re: Build Suggestions - Pairing hardware

Posted on 2023-02-28, 21:43

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Anyway, I turned out OK I suppose, but TLDR don't blame my mother for being cautious when her PC cost more than both the family cars together, even if they were rust-buckets, and can well imagine others being similarly cautious. I guess your mother was just being jealous because she liked the …

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Re: Build Suggestions - Pairing hardware

Posted on 2023-02-28, 15:37

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Mostly 486 became obsolete when Doom came out in 93. That's just your opinion, it's wrong. Would you not agree that "obsolete" would mean the inability to run most available software? By all accounts, DOOM was a pretty enjoyable game on a DX2 with VLB. At best DOOM made the 486 second rate to the …

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Re: Build Suggestions - Pairing hardware

Posted on 2023-02-28, 14:39

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

1) 486 DX266, VLB, SB16, Dos 6/Win3.11 "reason" Our first PC That's always the best reasons: "My first PC" and "the PC I wanted but was too expensive" : ) 4) Dual PPro, Matrox Mystique, Win95 & NT 3.51 "reason" Play around with NT (and eventually Netware and OS2) also allows me to play MSI …

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Re: Build Suggestions - Pairing hardware

Posted on 2023-02-28, 02:43

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Shponglefan wrote on 2023-02-28, 01:55: Pentium systems don't have turbo options, AFAIK. Early ones have, I think around socket 7 they disappeared, but the funny thing is that the LED jumper remained in some boards, I guess some people enjoyed to see the flashy Turbo light and imagine because that …

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Re: Build Suggestions - Pairing hardware

Posted on 2023-02-28, 02:38

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Before 1990 (the 286 and 386 years), a lot of PCs didn't have hard drives. So actually an HDD was the ultimate upgrade for most people, not a soundcard. The 486 wasn't exactly a flash in the pan. It came out at the end of 1989, and was only obsoleted by Windows 95 (which was available at the end of …

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Re: Build Suggestions - Pairing hardware

Posted on 2023-02-28, 01:33

by

by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

With all these machines and I will not be able to play U7 with the "correct" speed will be the biggest pain in the heart. I didn't try recently, but I remember playing in a DX2-66 with turbo off "nicely". I'm gonna try tonight. The P166 has a turbo led jumper, but no turbo switch! Back in 92 I tried …

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Re: Build Suggestions - Pairing hardware

Posted on 2023-02-27, 22:39

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I agree with dionb that there is a lot of redundancy based on these system specs. I would likely pair it down to a max of 4 systems: 386 DX-16 - Late 80s / early 90s DOS Pentium 166 - Mid 90s DOS Pentium III - Windows 98 (late 90s) Sempron 3400+ - Windows XP (early 2000s) In my own experience with …

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Re: Build Suggestions - Pairing hardware

Posted on 2023-02-27, 22:09

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

When you have this many machines I find it's more helpful to specialise the builds rather then try and make them all generic as compatible as can be systems. That focus can either be on hardware or a certain game. as an example Agreed, but what I am trying to do is to focus on all relevant …

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Re: Build Suggestions - Pairing hardware

Posted on 2023-02-27, 21:35

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by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks for your reply : ) appreciate all the advices I can get. That's *all* you are keeping? ;) There's a lot of redunancy here : D' I know, I am trying to make them all productive non redundant. A 386DX-16 can theoretically run SoftMPU, but the performance hit on such an old CPU would be …

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Build Suggestions - Pairing hardware

Posted on 2023-02-27, 02:06

by

by zecahue

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

A couple months ago I have decided to build my teen's era PC without spending much money. The idea was to search locally in FB groups. After a few weeks I got my desired 486 DX2 66 VLB with a SBP2. I could stop there as this is my sweet period for computer gaming. But I was possessed by the retro- …

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