Re: XT/CGA laptop dissection

Posted on 2014-08-15, 09:05

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Built the CGA->Scart circuit, works fine on my LCD TV http://i.imgur.com/6aOw4l5l.jpg http://i.imgur.com/mvlBUo8l.jpg However unfortunately it doesn't work fully on the CRT TV I was planning to use. I'm using this circuit: http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?17610-CGA-to-SCART- …

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Re: XT/CGA laptop dissection

Posted on 2014-08-13, 09:16

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Some progress. Built the SCART and CGA cables. Built the enclosure and wired up the PS/2->XT keyboard adaptor. I'll be taking 5V from the keyboard to power a quad XOR IC to generate composite sync, and to provide the RGB blanking signal to the TV. Just need to build the actual circuit for RGBI->RGB …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2014-08-08, 11:42

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

HxC Slim SD Floppy Emulator

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Re: Daughterboard holders

Posted on 2014-08-08, 09:03

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Nylon PCB spacers. I found that 10.5mm length works fine. e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291166141865

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Re: Dune recordings by alex.schroedsen

Posted on 2014-08-08, 08:59

by

by bjt

in Release Announcements

in Release Announcements

These are excellent recordings, thanks for sharing them. I assume they were recorded using the standard Sound Blaster music setting in Dune's setup? The recordings I've listened to so far don't seem to have much/any stereo panning. Is there any advantage to using the patch that allows the use of the …

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Re: Senrew's Parts Giveaway

Posted on 2014-08-08, 06:53

by

by bjt

in Milliways

in Milliways

Giveaway threads are common on Amibay and VCF, perhaps we could allow linking to them here.

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Re: Socket 7 Motherboards - Keepers or not?

Posted on 2014-08-07, 07:26

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

VA-503 is an awesome board and works with a K6-3+ too. Throw any back on eBay with a decent photo/description.

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Re: XT/CGA laptop dissection

Posted on 2014-08-07, 07:06

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

One very old XT keyboard cleaned up and with some newer keycaps. Ordered the parts to make the CGA-SCART adaptor. Will be a nice little soldering project.

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Re: Need help with SS7 Motherboard

Posted on 2014-08-05, 14:43

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Back in the day I had a FIC VA503+ with K6-3+, it was a really nice AT MVP3 board. However, I really question the usefulness of AGP on Socket 7. The stability problems with anything non-3dfx are well known, and a PCI Voodoo3 performs nearly as well as the AGP version. PCI Voodoo3 aren't that common, …

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Re: XT/CGA laptop dissection

Posted on 2014-08-03, 20:05

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Well, the NEAT driver didn't work, and although the Last Byte memory manager detects the 82C100 chipset, it fails to initialise with the error "High Ram Missing/Defective/Disabled/Relocated!" I think my best bet is to use the original C&T EMS driver, but so far I've not found it on the net.

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2014-08-01, 15:40

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Gainward Voodoo 2. Just a nice little extra to put in my Athlon 1200/Win98 machine for those Glide-loving games.

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Re: GUS Classic resources and SB emulation questions

Posted on 2014-07-31, 09:00

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Great article, that guy certainly had his share of dead GUSes.... I guess these big full length ISA cards with discrete components are susceptible to damage. I'm 2 for 2 with a SB Pro 2 and GUS Classic advertised on eBay as untested, so sure my luck will run out soon 🤣

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Re: GUS Classic resources and SB emulation questions

Posted on 2014-07-30, 10:23

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I also run my Classic at 240,7,7,7,7 and not had any problems or conflicts with an AWE64 Gold. You will want to upgrade RAM to 1MB if not already. I think there's a jumper to disable the gameport? Great things to run on it (native only): Second Reality Crystal Dream 2 Crusader: No Remorse Star …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2014-07-28, 14:58

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Cool, nice score. Working V5's are getting less common I think.

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Re: Adding PS/2 capability to a Shuttle HOT-433

Posted on 2014-07-28, 10:11

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Grab a PS/2 port with bracket from eBay and move the pins in the plug to match your board, should work fine.

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Re: XT/CGA laptop dissection

Posted on 2014-07-28, 09:08

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Replaced the CMOS battery, but my soldering skills aren't pretty enough to show here :blah: It keeps time now which is cool. Interestingly the CMOS battery wasn't a standard battery after all. It's actually a supercapacitor - a special capacitor with higher energy density. It's a shame more old …

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Re: XT/CGA laptop dissection

Posted on 2014-07-25, 09:34

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Thanks for looking into this. Yes, it has the 82C100 on the left had side of the board pic above. I think I'll try the EMM.SYS for the NEAT chipset, as they are meant to be closely related. I'll also look at the Last Byte manager.

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Re: XT/CGA laptop dissection

Posted on 2014-07-24, 19:33

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Any ideas how I can make use of the 384k upper memory? The BIOS setup has an option to enable expanded memory, but I presume I would need a DOS driver for this too? Any ideas what driver this might need? Looks like the chipset is made by Chips & Technologies.

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XT/CGA laptop dissection

Posted on 2014-07-23, 09:01

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Unearthed this from the garage where it's been sitting for around 15 years. Thankfully the battery was removed so no leakage. However, it wouldn't POST so I thought I'd take it apart to see what's up. http://i.imgur.com/Kk8E6GLl.jpg This one would have been fully loaded in 1989ish. 1MB ram, 10Mhz …

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Re: Anyone know the root cause of 16-bit (high) dma prolbems?

Posted on 2014-07-22, 12:58

by

by bjt

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It's not a solution, but high DMA isn't actually required unless you want 16-bit/full duplex. The SB16 can playback 16-bit sound using low DMA only.

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