Re: Fastest graphics card for Harris CS80C286-25?

Posted on 2023-09-17, 08:48

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

et4000 It's a classic, but it's a bit buggy also (Commander Keen IV). Still, it used to be the reference VGA in the demo scene. ^^ Early Super VGA games supported it, next to Paradise PVGA. Also had a buffer/FiFo for ISA bus, like Trident 8900D and C ? Look there - http://vgamuseum.info/index.php/ …

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Re: Fastest graphics card for Harris CS80C286-25?

Posted on 2023-09-17, 08:36

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

What makes me wonder, was there ever a fast VGA card for 16-Bit version of MCA (Micro Channel bus) ? I mean, technically, the MCA bus was faster than ISA. And it was available as an 16-Bit native bus, suitable for 80286 PCs.

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Re: Willow - Windows 3.0 Real Mode applications on OS/2 1.x and up (and stuff)

Posted on 2023-09-17, 08:28

by

by Jo22

in Milliways

in Milliways

Hi everyone, just found an old bitmap among my backups. I thought it would fit this thread. - It's a drawing about Windows 3.0, from 1990. By an unknown artist. Boy, isn't it unbelievable that we have graphical files that date back from before 30 years ago ? Let's image how things were back then in …

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Re: Will program written in Microsoft Visual Basic 1.0 work in Real-Mode on Windows 3.0?

Posted on 2023-09-17, 06:52

by

by Jo22

in Milliways

in Milliways

My question was actually whether Windows programs written in Microsoft Visual Basic 1.0 will work in Real-Mode on Windows 3.0. They haven't to be written on XT machine though, cause XT machines are too slow even to run them comfortably. I'll try to check Realizer's compiled programs, too. But so …

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Re: Will program written in Microsoft Visual Basic 1.0 work in Real-Mode on Windows 3.0?

Posted on 2023-09-17, 04:59

by

by Jo22

in Milliways

in Milliways

^From what I remember, the Windows SDK for Windows 2/3 was very memory hungry, too. In my DOS VMs, I had to use 386 Memory Managers like QEMM to free as much conventional memory as I could. I also had to increase space for environment variables for command.com, because MS C 6 and the SDK used so …

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Why I think it's great that XT-IDE is so slow

Posted on 2023-09-16, 23:08

by

by Jo22

in Milliways

in Milliways

Hi everyone, There's something I had worried when I "upgraded" my XT compatible PC (4,77 MHz) to XTIDE (XT CF Lite clone which came with a custom XUB) build : The speed difference between the old MFM controller/drive and the modern CF card. However, to my surprise and joy, the performance was even …

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Re: FM synth - native/direct vs. through MIDI?

Posted on 2023-09-16, 20:48

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

No dos game required a driver to play Adlib(FM) music/sounds. Au contraire. A few required one. There's Spellcasting 101 that comes to mind, for example. 🙂 "The original diskette version of the game requires that the SOUND.COM TSR is loaded before starting the game to get Adlib sound. This is not …

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Re: Powering CF Adapters

Posted on 2023-09-16, 19:15

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

CF adapters usually use +5v line, though. Those with a converter can convert down from those +5v to +3.3v (CF card standard), if a jumper is set. A floppy - molex adapter cable does carry both +5v, +12v and 2x ground. Those do fit most CF IDE adapter boards. Speaking under correction, of course.

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Re: Roland MT-32 Buffer overflow Hardware Fix

Posted on 2023-09-16, 13:48

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Hi there! Looks very well done, very tidy. Kudos! 😎 In fact, I can't think of any improvement. Except maybe adding diodes against reverse polarity (TTL MIDI signals?) and an extra protection diode for the 7805. Because, mistakes happen all the time. But that's just an analog, generic thing, of …

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Re: FM synth - native/direct vs. through MIDI?

Posted on 2023-09-16, 12:21

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

No dos game required a driver to play Adlib(FM) music/sounds. Au contraire. A few required one. There's Spellcasting 101 that comes to mind, for example. 🙂 "The original diskette version of the game requires that the SOUND.COM TSR is loaded before starting the game to get Adlib sound. This is not …

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Re: FM synth - native/direct vs. through MIDI?

Posted on 2023-09-16, 05:15

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

^commercial games&developers, yes. In the 90s, there also a large number of "bedroom programmers", though. Not unlike it was with the countless C64, Amiga, ZX81 etc programmers in the 80s. The game changer was the introduction of the CD-ROM, though. And access to online services like CompuServe with …

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Re: FM synth - native/direct vs. through MIDI?

Posted on 2023-09-15, 13:12

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

DOS games supporting FM either were issuing commands directly to OPL2/3 chips by using i/o ports (say, 388hex, 389hex) or by using musical notes (MIDI or not) and a music driver with a sound bank. This driver was either a separate music engine, like Miles Sound System (DOS4GW games) or a driver like …

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Re: VGA mode 13 no signal on real hardware

Posted on 2023-09-15, 07:58

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Maybe VLB/speed related, not sure. At some point, VL bus had electrical issues with noise, crosstalk and capacity/load. At higher frequencies, the long traces and PCB layout did begin to show effect. So yeah, it might be related to the physical side here. That's why 486DX50 systems could merely …

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Re: CGA/EGA CRT to modern PC?

Posted on 2023-09-15, 06:36

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Re: XT video test

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Re: CGA/EGA CRT to modern PC?

Posted on 2023-09-15, 06:30

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

A CGA monitor is just a glorified TV set with a slightly better CRT tube, really. It's like a SCART television with a digital filter (TTL) mounted onto it, essentially. (As far as the electronic goes, the biggest achievement was the conversion of the yellow colour to brown.) In reverse order, the …

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Re: CGA/MDA/HGC test program

Posted on 2023-09-15, 05:57

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

It had bad aspect ratio Aspect ratio isn't about monitor, it's about a particular video mode. Um, do I really look like that of a newbie to you? 😅 What I meant to express is that the 5151 can't be adjusted easily, unlike compatible monitors. There was seemingly no need to on a text monitor (if used …

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Re: Will program written in Microsoft Visual Basic 1.0 work in Real-Mode on Windows 3.0?

Posted on 2023-09-15, 05:18

by

by Jo22

in Milliways

in Milliways

Hm. Maybe I can find the old disk set of Realizer.. My dad has it stored somewhere, I vaguely remember. If I've found it, I'll try if it works in Windows 3.0 Real Mode and write back. ^^ That would be very interesting to know. Good new, I've found it! ^^ Bad news, it's version 2, though. Not …

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Re: Sound cards that support MPU-401 Intelligent Mode?

Posted on 2023-09-15, 00:29

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

From what remember (vaguely), quite a few games can be made run if an "ACK" (acknowledge) response is received from the MPU-401. I suppose that's what some semi intelligent mode compatible soundcards do. Once the intelligent features (metronome etc) are really being used, the games nolonger work as …

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Re: CGA/MDA/HGC test program

Posted on 2023-09-14, 19:16

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

The IBM 5151 was indeed a very poor IBM product, outperformed by numerous no-name clones from the east/far east. It had bad aspect ratio and no analog filters that did prevent out-of-spec usage. It's clear that IBM had no higher intentions with that monitor, it simply was a text screen. On the …

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Re: XT clone motherboard won't read 360k disks

Posted on 2023-09-14, 18:28

by

by Jo22

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Hi. 🙂 That's interesting, an average XT floppy controller can't do high speed transfers, as used by HD floppy drives with HD floppies formatted with HD capacity. I mean, there really were controllers that could, but they were higher end. Anyway, if it's a software problem, I recommend loading a …

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