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ISA splitter

Posted on 2017-01-26, 10:19

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Hello there, I'm currently repairing a very nice 486 computer housed in a keyboard (!). It's really cool and I'd like it to become my main 486 battlestation. The only thing it lacks due to space constraints is expansion. It got only one ISA port where I'll hook a soundcard. I was wondering if it was …

Re: Interesting Hardware - 256MB Disk On Chip

Posted on 2017-01-26, 10:09

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yes those DoC/DoM are really cool and usefull when you're setting up a small retro rig. I'll be interested to see what kind of password protected controller there is on it so sure, share the data! : )

Re: So embarrassing..what's the default bios password for this PC Chips Cheetah 486 board v1.7 motherboard?

Posted on 2017-01-25, 11:20

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

FWIW I've got an Award BIOS socket 3 board which has no CMOS battery (just a connector for an external one) and it too requires a password to get into the BIOS if you don't connect up a battery. Luckily being Award, AWARD_SW works. I can't recall now though whether you need to put in the password …

Re: What wedge shaped computers like the C64c and Amiga 500 are out there?

Posted on 2017-01-20, 15:34

in Milliways

in Milliways

I always liked the look / form factor of these. About halfway between a laptop & a luggable. It's a shame they never made a 386/486 version: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Dtj-bDKfv2o/hqdefault.jpg It looks kinda like a bulky IBM Transnote (my favorite Thinkpad) http://www.therives.net/transnote/Transnote- …

Re: So embarrassing..what's the default bios password for this PC Chips Cheetah 486 board v1.7 motherboard?

Posted on 2017-01-20, 10:18

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The old site seems to be accessible but the BIOS files are password protected on their FTP: https://web.archive.org/web/19970626045321/http://www.pcchips.com/bios.html Another set of passwords to try, they're space separated (source: internet) ALFAROME ALLy aLLy aLLY ALLY aPAf _award AWARD_SW AWARD? …

Re: Restoring a 486 Computer-in-a-Keyboard

Posted on 2017-01-20, 09:47

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Dude! Totally jealous! Did you get this from a guy on FB in some eastern country? One popped up on there not too long ago that I had made an offer on but he wanted too much for it for my taste. lol Yes it was the one. Not the best transaction I had, since I paid a bit too much for a non working, …

Re: So embarrassing..what's the default bios password for this PC Chips Cheetah 486 board v1.7 motherboard?

Posted on 2017-01-20, 08:22

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Try the aforementioned tips and if they aren't working you could dump the BIOS chip with a programmer and inspect the binary file dumped for clear strings which could hint to the password.

Re: Restoring a 486 Computer-in-a-Keyboard

Posted on 2017-01-19, 17:37

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The wire colors aren't matching those of a standard AT power supply though. I recapped the power supply to no avail, I also changed the dead BIOS battery, but it still wouldn't boot. I'm stuck for now I have to admit, would you know what I could test now? Nice, it looks interesting for sure! :) …

Re: What wedge shaped computers like the C64c and Amiga 500 are out there?

Posted on 2017-01-19, 17:22

in Milliways

in Milliways

My currently restoring 486 computer ^^

Re: Music Quest MPU clone cards, anyone interested in them?

Posted on 2017-01-18, 16:07

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I see that the amibay thread is closed. Don't hesitate to let us know whenever another batch is coming, I'm interested!

Restoring a 486 Computer-in-a-Keyboard

Posted on 2017-01-17, 18:42

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm currently restoring a KNS computer-in-a-keyboard which isn't working. The form factor is gorgous and reminiscent of the Amiga 1200 and I plan to make it my main retro battlestation. Cosmetically it's in a so-so shape but the electonic inside it's ok, no sign of oxydation but it isn't booting at …

Re: Modern x86 hardware with ISA/PCI bus

Posted on 2017-01-01, 20:00

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks xjas and BloodyCactus, I'll look for baby AT and PC104 architectures. SBC still looks like the best option out there atm.

Re: Modern x86 hardware with ISA/PCI bus

Posted on 2016-12-30, 18:17

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm afraid I've got no hardware experience if only for the occasionnal recapping of old board and samll fixing things. I don't know if a team effort is underway but I would gladly donate time and money for such a project! We need a modern and affordable small x86 computer with extensions like true …

Re: Modern x86 hardware with ISA/PCI bus

Posted on 2016-12-30, 17:55

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks Ampera for your second more throughful answer. The NAS idea I was refairing to was only for size comparaison, I'm aware that there's no NAS with ISA/PCi support since the won't serve any purpose for storage. I guess we can only hope that the DOS nostalgia will drive some projects as the NES …

Re: Modern x86 hardware with ISA/PCI bus

Posted on 2016-12-30, 17:14

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks for your answer. I was wondering if a NAS sized devices existed. You see a NAS enclosure is a card with lof of empty space for the drives. I would envision a small x86 board with link ISA or PCI slots (maybe 2-3 of each), something like that: https://www.cachem.fr/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ …

Modern x86 hardware with ISA/PCI bus

Posted on 2016-12-30, 15:02

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Due to space constraints I'm using my PCI/ISA cards (sound cards and video cards) with small x86 machines. I'm using either laptops with docking station that allows ISA cards to be connected, either the odd AIC's Keyboard Network Station I stumbled uppon or industrial PCs which are very small and …

Re: Fixing a Roland SB-55 floppy MIDI player

Posted on 2016-07-01, 14:44

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Oh by the way, I can't say how I got it but I also found the service manual for the Roland SB-55 which was also not available on the web. Here it is, hope it can help!

Re: Fixing a Roland SB-55 floppy MIDI player

Posted on 2016-07-01, 13:04

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Ok I think the issue resides into bad capacitors. I replaced C7 capacitor (it's an ugly soldering job since I don't have tools for SMT) and I gained back some functionnality! The midi file load and plays for a few seconds but stop after that and I got a "dEr" message meaning that my floppy is bad. …

Re: Reversed AGP slots ? Is this even possible ?!

Posted on 2016-06-27, 21:11

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

That's just an oldschool 3.3V AGP card. It'll only go into oldschool 1990s mobos, or else mobos with Universal AGP slots. ETA: this reminds me, is it safe to plug hi-end PCI graphics cards into 1990s era PCI slots? I tried doing this a while ago (440BX and GeForce 8400 GS in Windows XP) and weird …

Re: Have you opened your SC-55 to check the battery inside?

Posted on 2016-06-27, 21:01

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Thanks for letting me know that my SC55 has a battery. Checked it today while repairing my SB-55 and it reads 3.1V so I let it inside.

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