Re: Pentium I mobo beeps, etc
Posted on 2025-05-06, 01:24
Loose or failing video card
Re: Question about Spectre/Meltdown patches in early Core processors
Posted on 2025-05-06, 01:13
As I recall, the most expensive mitigation in the whole Meltdown/Spectre mess was kernel page table isolation (called KVAS on Windows). It relies on changing out the page table when switching between kernel and user space. In other words, rather than relying on x86 privilege levels to block user …
Re: Getting cache working on this 486 board
Posted on 2025-05-05, 23:55
The message looks like the verification of the data cache now fails. Now something I'm curious about is, as this chipset does not seem to have a cache size mode or cache test mode (the BIOS flips the same bits to size/test the cache and then turn it on after POST if it's of nonzero size), in the …
Re: about the compatibility of CF cards with an 80286
Posted on 2025-05-02, 17:31
Please try the XUBDisk as Jo22 suggested. We don't even know whether it is a hardware problem interfacing the CF to your IDE connector, or a BIOS software issue.
Re: Does the FreeDOS kernel offer internal inbuilt TRIM support and if not, would it be feasible?
Posted on 2025-05-02, 17:04
The source code was released when the author died and it's not particularly large; someone could pick it up: https://rloewelectronics.com/source/TRIM.C (note certificate warning). This is super hardware specific and does not belong in the DOS kernel, any more than code to handle a specific Adaptec …
Re: AMI Color BIOS (1993 and earlier) modification in hex editor
Posted on 2025-05-02, 04:20
Have any of you looked at HDD translation/autodetection for the 64k AMI BIOS versions? I don't know how late the 64k AMI BIOSes were used on a given board. If any of them received an update for larger drive translation or an update to the autodetect function courtesy of AMI and a generous board …
Re: about the compatibility of CF cards with an 80286
Posted on 2025-05-02, 03:39
Does the machine lock up when it's in, or something else?
Re: Getting cache working on this 486 board
Posted on 2025-05-01, 22:17
I have this 486 board by PCPartner(part of a VTech Laser 486SX/3). It has four 32-pin cache sockets and two 28-pin TAG/dirty sockets(I am speculating here). I lost the documentation for this machine years ago(and lament it every day), but I have tried various configurations of cache. I have a board …
Re: Does the FreeDOS kernel offer internal inbuilt TRIM support and if not, would it be feasible?
Posted on 2025-05-01, 18:55
There's a DOS trim utility from the late R. Loew His stuff is pretty solid usually, don't see any reason why FreeDOS would redo it
Re: Linux kernal going to drop i486 support
Posted on 2025-05-01, 16:53
If you're not targeting 386/486 in the first place, supporting them becomes kind of useless, since the code you write is probably not going to perform acceptably on them anyway even if it runs. 386/486 can still keep up with some text-based networking applications, such as SSH (the most burdensome …
Re: AMIBIOS tools questions.
Posted on 2025-04-30, 01:19
Just to state the obvious, you've already considered disk overlay software and just don't want to use it?
Re: Best Socket 7 CPU, cards for Biostar MB-8500TTD?
Posted on 2025-04-29, 22:12
I understand the potential performance penalty! Mind you, I would actually like to try running a *nix on this board. It'll need memory. Would be interesting to know how the first 64MB of cached RAM is used in a 256MB configuration under Windows I've been trying to find sources but pulling up blanks …
Re: Linux kernal going to drop i486 support
Posted on 2025-04-29, 20:04
This is because the 6x86 omitted some officially optional features of the 586 architecture, Were 586 and 686 architectures/instruction set levels an official thing? Especially 686 always seemed a colloquial term, up to compiler vendors and projects like the Linux kernel to decide what it means. …
Re: Linux kernal going to drop i486 support
Posted on 2025-04-29, 20:01
It was always annoying to have to write up an issue with a web app's handling of the "Referer" header and then have the technical writers correct the spelling
Re: AMIBIOS tools questions.
Posted on 2025-04-29, 19:42
Check the AMIBCP thread. It's the 486-era ones that have no official tools out there; for you Pentium Pro/II era BIOS, there may well be an amibcp for it.
Re: Linux kernal going to drop i486 support
Posted on 2025-04-29, 17:13
But it's those kind of scenarios that make me think about such drastic changes. Sunsetting official support for a 30+ year old CPU is hardly what I'd call drastic. I understand that in a vacuum it feels like this change is some kind of "attack" on the retro computing hobby, but have a little bit of …
Re: Linux kernal going to drop i486 support
Posted on 2025-04-29, 01:00
Yes, some people have been running current kernels on 486/586 CPU. They aren't running the large desktop environments, or mainstream distros, that's for sure. The large desktop environments really require more memory that those systems can provide. So people using such CPU will be custom rolled …
Re: Combinations of hardware/software that you don't like
Posted on 2025-04-28, 01:48
What exactly is the defect in third-party drivers that breaks PAE on 32-bit consumer Windows, considering that it was used fine on Windows Server, and 32-bit Linux? edit: By the way, PAE is a prerequisite for no-execute pages (aka DEP), so XP SP2 and later actually ran with it enabled, but must have …
Re: VTech / Laser computers history
Posted on 2025-04-28, 01:40
Just pinging both of you as mkarcher helped me figure this out (we think) https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?p=1347592#p1347592 Thanks ! That is all very helpful info. I never did get the cache thing fully worked out but now think I can knowing what the tag sockets actually need. The picture from …
Re: VTech / Laser computers history
Posted on 2025-04-27, 23:58
After doing some research think I found that the board 35-2527-01 only truly supports 128k of cache and it must be 15nS (20nS hangs the POST). The manual for board 35-2528-11 states 128k cache and the jumper settings are identical (except for location on the board) compared to 35-2527-01. I only …
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