Re: Newbie installing DOS for the first time: Where is "COMMAND"?

Posted on 2017-04-05, 09:03

by

by firage

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

It should be at C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM by default. The installation process should've created a CONFIG.SYS file at C:\ root defining that path for the SHELL variable. One or the other is missing or corrupt, or something. Make sure you're actually booting from the right drive. (Boot order is configured …

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Re: VOGONS Driver Library

Posted on 2017-04-05, 06:03

by

by firage

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Microsoft Mouse driver disks (US) dated July 1995, DOS/Windows 3.1x/95/NT. (IntelliPoint version 1.10) Filename IntelliPoint110.zip File size 1.54 MiB Downloads 50 downloads File comment Microsoft IntelliPoint for the Microsoft Mouse Version 1.1 Filename mmip.jpg File size 83.96 KiB Views 3203 …

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Re: Finally! My classic 486 retro rig.

Posted on 2017-03-30, 21:12

by

by firage

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Looks like your Tekram is twice as fast as the LCS-6941 where it counts, the linear read speed between the cache and the HDD. Less than two megs per second is pretty bad, later ISA controllers handily beat that. Higher speed modes may have been enabled with a driver, or it's just really old. I love …

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Re: Can a Pentium III be forced to identify as a Pentium II?

Posted on 2017-03-30, 07:22

by

by firage

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yes, they were high end for existing applications in the first half of the year, but not for long. The 500 MHz part came out at the same time and they were available in systems in March. Technically the fastest CPU's available at the end of the year were the 733 MHz (or even 800 MHz, theoretically) …

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Re: Fan noise - how much dB do you consider acceptable?

Posted on 2017-03-28, 13:26

by

by firage

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I do like a quiet PC. I'm always replacing fans in my retro PSU's and video cards, and looking for the cases and CPU heatsinks with the largest possible fan diameters. Manufacturers' dB ratings don't really mean much. Their "measurement methods" are wildly incompatible with each other and far from …

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Re: How you define a 586

Posted on 2017-03-24, 19:24

by

by firage

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It doesn't have any sufficiently definite meaning, and attempts to define it are pretty useless. I'd just never use the term "586" unqualified, other than as an ambiguous informal reference to all manner of developments following the original 486.

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Re: Any reason to keep old ISA or PCI modems?

Posted on 2017-03-23, 03:03

by

by firage

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

In a pinch, they can be used to transfer files from one computer to another by connecting them directly modem-to-modem with a phone cord and manually telling them to dial and answer using a terminal program. HyperTerminal has built-in file transfer capabilities that works good for this purpose. Yes …

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Re: Converting Game CD's into images... what to use?

Posted on 2017-03-22, 21:00

by

by firage

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

There's a recent discussion here: Backing up DOS era CD-ROM games?

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Re: Isa sound card question

Posted on 2017-03-14, 11:16

by

by firage

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Supposedly Vortex 2 is relatively good for DOS but I can't personally confirm. Try to stick to the MX300 or the Turtle Beach Montego II as the MX200 is Vortex 1 which isn't as good (though might be about the same as far as DOS is concerned). Don't forget about the Aureal SQ2500; it's basically the …

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Re: Recap question

Posted on 2017-03-05, 07:50

by

by firage

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Tetrium wrote: Didn't ASUS tended to install their caps backwards at some point? I can vaguely remember this being a typical ASUS thing (and it being a nuisance that was already mentioned on Vogons once or twice). It's just that they employ nonstandard PCB markings.

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Re: Vintage Altec Lansing speakers

Posted on 2017-02-24, 07:38

by

by firage

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

There's definitely a big separation between computer sets, especially retro ones, and what most people will consider a great sound. They had really distinct colorations, though. Good ~$150+ headphones and a decent source can't easily be beat for general use.

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Re: Vintage Altec Lansing speakers

Posted on 2017-02-22, 22:06

by

by firage

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

The ACS40 pair is my main retro set. Those and some other popular speakers of the time had two pairs of stereo inputs at the back, which is nice for MIDI. Very ugly / retro cool looking, and they sound like, well, good 90's multimedia speakers. 😀

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Re: Console Controllers to 15-pin Game Port?

Posted on 2017-02-18, 07:57

by

by firage

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Agreed on the sorry state of old PC gamepads. I've seen SNES and Genesis controllers connected via the parallel port before, using a custom adapter and driver for DOS (SNESKey). I guess it's got support for PS1 and some other stuff, too. Otherwise, there are suprisingly few attempts at converting …

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Re: Games for GeForce 4 Ti 4200?

Posted on 2017-02-17, 23:22

by

by firage

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I would disagree on that, since DX8.1 has been around for only a few months. Most games targeted at DX8.x hardware actually use the DX9 API. In fact, many DX9 games even support DX7 hardware (GeForce2, Radeon DDR). DX major releases were annual starting with 3.0 in 1996 until 8.0 in 2000, 8.0 had a …

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Re: Games for GeForce 4 Ti 4200?

Posted on 2017-02-17, 11:27

by

by firage

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Am i the only one with Scali here? Well, not the way he brings it but i do understand his frustration. When Geforce FX came out it sucked at a lot of the Directx9 ''new features'' (and ATi did it way better). To bypass that the Geforce Fx was better used by switching off some direct9 features or …

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Re: DOS Games freezing when disk writing is required

Posted on 2017-02-17, 00:07

by

by firage

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

May be the complex partitioning setup?

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Re: Whats the most you've paid for retro tech you had to have?

Posted on 2017-02-16, 19:55

by

by firage

in Milliways

in Milliways

I wouldn't blame you for paying up for the perfect AT case. They are surprisingly hard to find. Paid over 100 euro for half a dozen different retro components, never hit 200 euro on anything even with shipping and tax. Mac Voodoo 5, SCC-1, GUS MAX, etc. I guess the one thing I still need in that …

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Re: I blame Phil..

Posted on 2017-02-16, 19:41

by

by firage

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Phil makes a lot of valuable content. I mainly blame VOGONS or at least Marvin as a whole. I was planning to put together a DOS / early Win9x machine for a long time before acquiring the first parts and joining this place in the beginning of 2013. With these people and digging through years of …

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Re: What would be the rarest build?

Posted on 2017-02-16, 05:09

by

by firage

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

gdjacobs wrote: 3dfx Rampage. Perhaps. I imagine they're pretty useless in the state they'd be in, though. I mean, there's rarity and then there's the stuff that didn't even happen in any practical sense. 😀

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Re: What would be the rarest build?

Posted on 2017-02-16, 04:25

by

by firage

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

lazibayer wrote: Nx586, 5x86-150, K5-PR200 are quite rare. V5-6000, Volari Duo are rare. A pretty good start. Maybe match the later graphics cards with an engineering sample of a later CPU and add an Aureal SQ3500 for sound.

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