Re: PCI MACH64 or Tseng 6000 for my DOS PC

Posted on 2022-04-16, 01:49

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I have the choice between: STB Lightspeed 128 2MB PCI ATI Mach64 CT (215CT22200) 2MB (?) PCI Matrox G450 PCI many megabytes Trident 9000C (the backup card) I want to play 90s DOS games like Doom 2, SC2K, the Monkey Islands and also have W3.1 driver support for higher resolutions and colours. Which …

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Re: Has anyone else tested hardware that seems defective but comes back to life on it's own?

Posted on 2022-04-14, 04:39

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Had a Cyrix MII magically resurrect itself, several months after I accidentally ran it at a (slightly) too high voltage. Thought I fried it, but it just came back to life a long time later. Not sure what to make of it.

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Re: Most disappointing games?

Posted on 2022-04-05, 03:46

by

by Eep386

in Milliways

in Milliways

I know this is an old post, but... leileilol wrote on 2010-09-25, 18:21: Half-Life 2 To be honest, Half-Life 2 didn't interest me much when it was new either, even less now. Though that could be due to the fact that it no longer uses the GoldSrc engine. 😅

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Re: Try to fix old 786 ACIO VESA 386/486 Motherboard

Posted on 2022-03-20, 16:12

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

This may be a stretch, but maybe these chips are also using some sort of PAL and they all use the same one, but it's programmed differently ? Again, while not implausible, I think it more likely that Toshiba simply likes to fab chips in a very particular (and peculiar) manner. Though, the 160-pin …

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Re: Try to fix old 786 ACIO VESA 386/486 Motherboard

Posted on 2022-03-20, 16:06

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The OPTi 82C499 is definitely *not* a candidate, despite having the same number of pins, the pinout just doesn't match up as a whole. I honestly don't know why they would make two different package U4800 chipsets. It's not by any means implausible, just weird. Most Unichips I've met have 160 pins …

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Re: Try to fix old 786 ACIO VESA 386/486 Motherboard

Posted on 2022-03-19, 18:28

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Looking closer, the UniChip U4800 chipset has 160 pins while the mysterious US Integration SC chipset has 208 according to the manual linked. The OPTi 82C499 has the same number of pins, but the pinout is quite different so I don't think it's that, either. I've looked through dozens of other chip …

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Re: Try to fix old 786 ACIO VESA 386/486 Motherboard

Posted on 2022-03-17, 15:16

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It would be nice if that USA chipset could get a positive ID. I suspect it's either an OPTi or a Unichip, but without any further clues (a pin-out would be immensely helpful if one existed) it's hard to guess.

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Re: 386sx motherboard - 10beeps, CMOS error - help needed

Posted on 2022-02-23, 16:10

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'd say wait for the POST card to arrive before replacing the '206 chip. In the meantime re-test all the vias, including those right above C19 and C20. If in doubt unmask them and fill with solder, or use the wire method. There might also be a few of those under the NPU socket, as you can see the …

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Re: 386sx motherboard - 10beeps, CMOS error - help needed

Posted on 2022-02-22, 23:22

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thank you very much for info on that chip and replacement options. Good to know. So one might sey that those ICs are common source of problems? I assume the CMOS part is sensitive..😟 I think I am capable replacing that chip. But finding the new one would be an issue. So you think even buying a "lot …

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Re: 386sx motherboard - 10beeps, CMOS error - help needed

Posted on 2022-02-22, 16:11

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Very likely an 82C206 (KS83C206 on that board) failure. :( CMOS shutdown register read/write error is a common indicator of 82C206 problems, as it integrates the CMOS memory, reset logic, ISA IRQ/ DMA and a bunch of other X-bus peripherals. If reflowing the pins on the 82C206 doesn't help, it'll …

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Re: Apollo Pro 133a performance woes

Posted on 2022-02-17, 03:58

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You're welcome. George Breese's utilities are a godsend for VIA motherboards. He also made a PCI Latency patch that supposedly fixes stuttering sound and PCI SCSI performance problems with VIA based motherboards.

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Re: Apollo Pro 133a performance woes

Posted on 2022-02-14, 21:53

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Did you try the VIA Memory Interleave Enabler utility? Sometimes this makes a large impact on memory performance. Filename Memory-Interleave-Enabler_0.15.7z File size 11.99 KiB Downloads 112 downloads

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Re: Any ideas how to troubleshoot Tandy 1000SL, no sound?

Posted on 2022-02-05, 18:04

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Have you tried squirting contact cleaner (DeOxit, CRC QD Electronic Cleaner, etc.) into the volume control pot, and then working the pot for a bit to clean the internal contacts? Did you test for short circuited tantalum caps (use a multimeter)? Did you check for cracked solder joints on the sound …

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Re: Repair log: Gemlight GMB-386UN 386 Motherboard

Posted on 2022-02-05, 05:13

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well it works pretty well at 10MHz ISA, except for my PS/2 mouse card. After a few minutes the mouse stops responding until I leave Windows. Weird issue. For now I've set it back to 8MHz ISA.

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Re: Cache memory in an IBM PS/1 model 2155?

Posted on 2022-02-05, 05:00

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

TAG is just an extra SRAM chip. It's called TAG as it holds information about which parts of memory belong to which chunk in the cache etc. Most cache setups require this extra SRAM chip so that the cache's data remains coherent and relevant to the contents of memory.

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Re: Games with Adlib as an option for sound effects

Posted on 2022-01-27, 17:59

by

by Eep386

in DOS

in DOS

I think Tunnels of Armageddon by California Dreams also has Adlib sound effects. A good number of Apogee games also can use the Adlib for sound effects and music.

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Re: Digital restoration: Titus the fox

Posted on 2022-01-22, 18:29

by

by Eep386

in DOS

in DOS

I like how your version has less obtrusive brush sounds and more fretless bass in the beginning. It basically makes the Amiga version sound modern without violating its spirit. An Adlib pitched version would be great IMO! (Again, make it optional.) Nice work in any case!

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Re: Digital restoration: Titus the fox

Posted on 2022-01-20, 20:26

by

by Eep386

in DOS

in DOS

Are there any graphics designers that would like to help me with the "upscaling" or completely redesigning the game maps? Or any composers/sound engineers that could re-render or re-compose the original amiga MOD songs (the PC adlib version is terrible) Odd as it sounds (no pun intended) I actually …

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Re: Try to fix old 786 ACIO VESA 386/486 Motherboard

Posted on 2022-01-20, 05:31

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Symptoms of 82C206 death: - Board is stone dead upon power up, but sometimes boots when you hit (sometimes repeatedly) the RESET button (bad reset logic - could also be external components related to the reset logic) - Random BIOS crashes/lockups or errors in the lower 64K range regardless of the …

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Re: Repair log: Gemlight GMB-386UN 386 Motherboard

Posted on 2022-01-14, 18:05

by

by Eep386

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The Chips 82C206 didn't like 10MHz ISA much, so I swapped it with a UMC one from another board... am now testing 10MHz ISA with it.

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