Re: Are we opening sealed copies of old games?
Posted on 2022-01-14, 22:56
If it can't be activated because it's 20 years later and the company is defunct, you also only have the box. In theory there is a difference but in the end it won't matter.
Re: Sound card issues with hardware acceleration
Posted on 2022-01-14, 22:50
I remember having the same problem but with a different sound card back in the day. I think you need a wdm driver for your sound card. If there isn't one available you are SOL.
Re: Are we opening sealed copies of old games?
Posted on 2022-01-14, 22:37
I guess I don't understand why it's critical to keep it sealed if it requires activation. Versus just keeping it sealed because there's nothing useful inside.
Re: Are we opening sealed copies of old games?
Posted on 2022-01-14, 22:22
If/when you go to sell the game in however many years, will the activation servers still be online? It might be worth more because it's sealed but whoever is buying it probably won't care about activation.
Re: Are we opening sealed copies of old games?
Posted on 2022-01-14, 21:50
If you aren't opening them I guess it doesn't matter if they require activation. Personally I'm not that interested in physical copies of games that are basically just a CD/DVD in a case.
Re: "Frequency out of range" when rebooting PC with Riva TNT
Posted on 2022-01-14, 18:16
Make sure it isn't sharing an IRQ with another device. I had problems in the past with my TNT wanting to use IRQ15 for some stupid reason. IIRC I was able to mess with the BIOS settings to force it to use IRQ10.
Re: base64 encode utility for DOS?
Posted on 2022-01-14, 01:34
Simtel is always a good bet. https://ftp.zx.net.nz/pub/archive/simtel.net/ … de/base64_7.zip
Ever seen 45 degree PCI/ISA slots?
Posted on 2022-01-13, 05:15
Apparently this was a thing... The motherboard is for a Siemens Scenic 620.
Re: GD5422 BIOS weirdness
Posted on 2022-01-12, 22:28
Oh I thought it was an actual BIOS update for an EEPROM. This is like a TSR. It can be made to work but will require more modification.
Re: GD5422 BIOS weirdness
Posted on 2022-01-12, 21:55
It might need the checksum calculated. Do you have a link?
Re: Are there careers that is related with vintage computers?
Posted on 2022-01-12, 06:10
Yes, if you are an expert in a very specific area that businesses are willing to pay for. For example, data recovery from old hard drives, floppy disks or backup tapes, CNC machine repair, etc. My advice though, is to not make your hobby your full-time job. Otherwise it will stop being fun.
Re: What did I buy?
Posted on 2022-01-12, 05:49
It's not a Quadro...
Re: What did I buy?
Posted on 2022-01-12, 02:25
No model number on the back? It looks like this Gainward GeForce FX 5900 Ultra with a different sticker.
Re: CD-ROM Troubleshooting.
Posted on 2022-01-12, 01:58
Make sure the drive is set to master if it's the only drive on the cable, IRQ 15 is not in use by anything else, and you are using the parameter "/P:170,15" with VIDECCD.SYS.
Re: GD5422 BIOS weirdness
Posted on 2022-01-12, 01:00
Pretty weak for security but IDK. Maybe a cat walked on the keyboard 🤔
Re: GD5422 BIOS weirdness
Posted on 2022-01-12, 00:18
The "homemade" EPROM makes me think it was probably a mistake. Maybe an initial run of boards with the error that they salvaged to sell. Usually when it's done intentionally, the data lines are scrambled to better obscure the contents.
Re: GD5422 BIOS weirdness
Posted on 2022-01-11, 22:28
Probably be easier to tweak the binary. There is a split utility included with the Turbo XT BIOS. You can do something like: Copy code to clipboard 1 win32/split bios.bin even.bin odd.bin 2 copy /b even.bin+odd.bin newbios.bin
Re: GD5422 BIOS weirdness
Posted on 2022-01-11, 22:13
It looks like the EPROM socket address pins are not wired correctly. Possibly A0 and A14 are swapped. Try putting all the even bytes first, then all the odd bytes.
Re: I bought a massive Intel branded sytem case. What kind of system was this originally?
Posted on 2022-01-11, 16:27
$12K and they still went with the crappy Dallas 1287...
Re: Is it possible/safe to connect multiple PS/2 keyboards to one PS/2 port?
Posted on 2022-01-11, 02:09
I don't think a dumb splitter will work. There are PS/2 numpads designed for left-hand users that have a PS/2 passthrough for the main keyboard. Cherry G80-3700 for example. PC Concepts KB5640 and/or Fellowes 99907 may also have a passthrough since it's marketed as "perfect for left handed desktop …
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