Re: Yet another 286 build.

Posted on 2022-06-16, 12:40

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Hm. Since the late 80s/ early 90s? Not sure. 🤷‍♂️ Back then, DOS memory was most precious. I do have a DIY UMB card from c't magazine. It's about the size of an AdLib card and has a PC/XT bus connector. The PCB was printed in the magazine foe etching at home. The UMB card consists of several 80s era …

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Re: PCIe RAM Disk - TAKE MY MONEY!

Posted on 2022-06-15, 18:54

by

by Jo22

in Milliways

in Milliways

Aw, too bad. 😞 Personally, I think that true RAM disks are principally superior to SSDs. Even had an argument over this with a friend who's a fan of modern tech. I guess you can't argue with these guys. 🤷‍♂️ Explaining that an old Dual-Ported RAM or SRAM has fundamental advantages when it comes to …

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Re: Yet another 286 build.

Posted on 2022-06-15, 17:19

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

I second that, 4MB upwards is fine for Windows 3.1 on a 286. I used that configuration for years. However, it's possible a power user may need more. However, if we try to run OS/2 v1.3.. I don't honestly know. 🤷‍♂️ For testing purposes, I used 8MB, I think. If we have four slots, maybe we can try …

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Re: Yet another 286 build.

Posted on 2022-06-15, 16:50

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Well I don't know how, but thought I would try the 4mb modules again since I have been playing with the RAM and the jumpers, and well it now works, I now have 16mb of RAM in the 286, total overkill! That would be awesome for OS/2 v1.3! 😁 There are some Presentation Manager games for v1.2/1.3, even! …

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Re: Yet another 286 build.

Posted on 2022-06-15, 16:18

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Well I don't know how, but thought I would try the 4mb modules again since I have been playing with the RAM and the jumpers, and well it now works, I now have 16mb of RAM in the 286, total overkill! That would be awesome for OS/2 v1.3! 😁 There are some Presentation Manager games for v1.2/1.3, even! …

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Re: Help me to choose 90s PC

Posted on 2022-06-15, 10:26

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The 5155 has a nice MFM drive, which hums and makes a cool squeak sound if files are accessed.. And it has a real CGA, a glowing amber monitor.. I think it's ideal for diving into (to immerse in) an 80s atmosphere. The hardware was around when the first Terminator film was in the movies. The NEC V20 …

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Re: Help me to choose 90s PC

Posted on 2022-06-15, 08:25

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It's perhaps not really helpful, but KVM switches can help to reduce space consumption a bit. That way, two or more PCs can be used by a single keyboard/monitor/mouse. Maybe that helps combining the the PCs into three groups or so. 286/386 group a, 486/Pentium group b, the Pentium II/III group c.. …

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Re: The quest for the missing LPT port

Posted on 2022-06-15, 07:06

by

by Jo22

in Milliways

in Milliways

I think the same. Both solutions should be fine. Thin Clients do usually have classic ports, because the installed software is aweful. Stuff like Windows CE or some outdated embedded Linux don't have proper drivers. Thus, the hardware has to be very compatible. It has to compensate for the software. …

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Re: Any possible UEFI "shim" to allow running e.g. Windows 7 32bit on newer hardware?

Posted on 2022-06-15, 03:12

by

by Jo22

in Windows

in Windows

Ah, yeah, these are DOS 16 bit programs. Old BBS doors like Legend of the Red Dragon and Tradewars 2002. What about OS/2? It was popular among BBS sysops. :) There's some development going on in ArcaOS (ex BlueLion OS). The goal is to make it run on UEFI, or so I heard. And since OS/2 is 32-Bit, …

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Re: Emulation on MS Windows 3.1x ?

Posted on 2022-06-14, 09:46

by

by Jo22

in Console & Arcade Emulation

in Console & Arcade Emulation

Quick update. Found something interesting while browsing OS/2 Museum .. User/commenter GL1zdA mentioned this old article here.. Implementing Games for Windows - Using the WinG API and the WaveMix DLL by James Finnegan It describes the workings of DIB. DRV, the WaveMix API etc. Very interesting, imho …

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Re: Windows 11 - MS wants to get rid of HDDs for drive C:

Posted on 2022-06-14, 08:30

by

by Jo22

in Milliways

in Milliways

BEEN_Nath_58 wrote on 2022-06-13, 18:07: Does Windows 11 support MFM drives? Maybe? https://www.os2museum.com/wp/learn-something- … ry-day-part-ii/

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Re: Sound Blaster drivers keeping PC from restarting

Posted on 2022-06-14, 08:17

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Um, why don't you just use the defaukt SB16 drivers that do ship with Windows 98SE? The SB16 is hardware-SB compatible, so no VXD Sound Blaster emulation would be needed? 😕 Edit: Never mind. I've just looked up the CT4830..

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Re: Any possible UEFI "shim" to allow running e.g. Windows 7 32bit on newer hardware?

Posted on 2022-06-14, 03:21

by

by Jo22

in Windows

in Windows

Because, Windows x86 didn't support 32-Bit UEFI and using the old BIOS/CSM was the only way to boot. I'm curious whether a Compatibility Support Module is inherently custom to each BIOS or each chipset, or if there is a way to write a generic one that could be loaded from disk rather than being an …

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Re: Changing Background Color in Infocom Text Adventures?

Posted on 2022-06-14, 02:00

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Found it, I think. Good luck! 😀 Edit: Tempest wrote on 2022-05-30, 14:14: Or is there a way to make the game detect my card as MDA or something like that? Yes, maybe. ATI EGA Wonder 800 : looking for driver/utility disk

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Re: Any possible UEFI "shim" to allow running e.g. Windows 7 32bit on newer hardware?

Posted on 2022-06-14, 00:56

by

by Jo22

in Windows

in Windows

I know there are some guides out there for linux to do secure UEFI boot via a shim and then bootstrap some other OS. Has anyone done this to boot a version of Windows that is incompatible with UEFI? Windows 7 x86 should be compatible with UEFI, unless it is a 64-bit only UEFI… 32-Bit UEFI was …

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Re: Does anyone have a Compaq 425 all in one system that could test Ultima I for me?

Posted on 2022-06-14, 00:43

by

by Jo22

in DOS

in DOS

Hi there! I do have a few Compaq laptops, but don't know the model numbers right away. Anyway, here's a general tip.: Some models do have a Western Digital WD90c31 or WD90C24 VGA chip. If your card has one of them, or a similar WD chip, you can try the mode utility for the Paradise PVGA cards fron …

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Re: What is the purpose of 24-bit vs 32-bit as a desktop resolution?

Posted on 2022-06-13, 23:48

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

15-bit is 5-bit per color without transparency. 16-bit includes transparency. Transparency is used for effects like window shadows. That may be true for textures, but in the framebuffer 15bpp (32k colors) means 5 bits for each of red, green and blue with 1 bit alpha discarded, while 16bpp (64k …

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Re: Compaq SLT/286 hard drive replacement

Posted on 2022-06-13, 00:46

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Hello. I was an SLT/286 owner a long long time ago. It was in the 90s, still, when I had two of them, if memory serves.. Anyway, what I vaguely remember from back then: a) The pinout of the HDD is different. Maybe it was merely the power cable, not sure. b) The CMOS Setup was on diskette c) The BIOS …

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Re: How to get old Windows XP games to run on Windows 11?

Posted on 2022-06-11, 07:16

by

by Jo22

in Windows

in Windows

It worked for me on Windows 7 x64 with both Virtual PC 2007 x64 and DOSBox 32-Bit. Both were creating a DDraw Surface, if memory serves. Edit: All that's needed is a functioning DDraw, no Direct3D. Direct Draw never required hardware acceleration, it always worked with software rendering, too. That …

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Re: Windows 11 - MS wants to get rid of HDDs for drive C:

Posted on 2022-06-10, 18:52

by

by Jo22

in Milliways

in Milliways

Native Command Queuing (NCQ) was introduced years ago to solve some of the issues with head movement. It reduced both head movement (wear) and increased performance at same time. Akin to a lift that halts on each floor to take all the passengers, instead of erratically moving up and down each time a …

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