Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2019-10-06, 14:46
I have the 1542CF, which should use the same BIOS (the cards looks the same, too). It has the option to enable support for >1GB under DOS 5.0, so I guess it has the newer BIOS.
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2019-10-06, 12:51
That's true for Germany as well. Once something was given to recycling, they are not allowed to do anything else with it. It's even a crime if they do.
Re: Other than Roland, what are the other "best" sounding MIDI devices/sound cards out there?
Posted on 2019-10-06, 09:18
Not sure what you mean with "custom FM", but the music for Knights of Xentar was done on an SC-88 Pro. The musician is a well-known guy from Japan, who did great music using the SC-88 Pro for many other Japanese games. Anyway, if it's just for games, you only really need an MT-32 and SC-55. However, …
Re: Got used Voodoo 1 card, it does not appear to be working for 3D, pass-through works
Posted on 2019-10-06, 08:04
Drivers aren't the issue if it does not even work in pure DOS. There are no drivers involved in this case. If it was sold as NOS but isn't working, just return it. It's not that working Voodoo 1 cards are hard to find.
Re: Other than Roland, what are the other "best" sounding MIDI devices/sound cards out there?
Posted on 2019-10-06, 07:58
I like the SC-88 Pro and Yamaha MU80 most. While many games may sound better on an SC-55, the SC-55 kind of sucks for any modern GM stuff, specially the Mk.1 due to its limited polyphony. But even the Mk.2 doesn't do that much better with only 28 voices.
Re: AdLib Gold Boxed
Posted on 2019-10-06, 07:57
The seller is Artex, as you can see. At some point, no one can withstand the voracity for money it seems.
Re: Got used Voodoo 1 card, it does not appear to be working for 3D, pass-through works
Posted on 2019-10-05, 21:37
Did you already check the card for bent pins? btw, "NOS" on ebay is mostly a lie. People sell every crap as NOS these days.
Re: pci compatibility regarding nVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64 on Pentium 1 socket 7 motherboard?
Posted on 2019-10-05, 18:42
Socket 7 boards don't have PCI 1.0. Actually, there never was a PC mainboard with PCI version lower than 2.0. PCI 1.0 was only a recommendation from 1991 but never made it into production. Socket 7 has PCI 2.1 normally, unless it's a very early board from 1995, then it has 2.0.
Re: Reworking a DS12B887 Clock Chip
Posted on 2019-10-05, 18:04
When I boot, it forces me into the CMOS to restore settings, but upon leaving the CMOS setup, the computer immediately reboots and forgets everything I just entered! Great work there, QDI (whoever they were...) That's not the fault of QDI. There's the common misunderstanding that people think the …
Re: Help with the choice of coprocessor
Posted on 2019-10-05, 17:58
You can use any PLCC 387SX. I recommend the Intel one. However, this will not speed up any game. The only game that makes use of an FPU and can run on your system is probably SimCity. The 386SX is not any faster than a 286, there's not much you can do. Also, your laptop has a DSTN screen, which …
Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?
Posted on 2019-10-05, 16:52
Nvm1 wrote: appiah4 wrote: It could also be bad CPU? Yes it could, but even then the Bios should beep... The BIOS is executed by the CPU. A bad CPU won't execute the BIOS so there's nothing that can even produce a beep.
Re: Best way to shutdown a 386/486 ?
Posted on 2019-10-05, 16:06
When using smartdrive, always load it with the /X parameter. FAT is a very weak filesystem and can't really take interruption while writing, so you don't want write cache. Apart from that, you don't shut down a DOS/Win3.x machine. Just turn it off when you're done. If you have virtual memory enabled …
Re: Got used Voodoo 1 card, it does not appear to be working for 3D, pass-through works
Posted on 2019-10-05, 15:27
Try in plain DOS first with a game like Tomb Raider. Also check the autoexec.bat, as the 3dfx driver sets certain parameters there that may cause an incompatible refresh rate.
Re: Windows Me with 3.5GB of RAM
Posted on 2019-10-05, 12:12
Deksor wrote: There are many ways to solve this, but now that Rudolph Loew's patch is free It is actually not free. Someone just uploaded the commercial version to archive.org with the justification that the author passed away. This doesn't make it free in any country I know.
Re: Another IBM damaged!!
Posted on 2019-10-04, 16:15
Miphee wrote: No way to repair that kind of damage Why do you think that? That's almost ridiculously easy. I repaired broken plastics way worse than that.
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2019-10-04, 14:11
Bought myself a brand-new ATX case to put in this gem: IMG_20191004_155843380.jpg ASUS mPGA604 dual-cpu server/workstation mainboard with two dual-core Xeons installed, 3.066 MHz and 1 MB cache each. :) Also has AGP Pro and Promise SATA RAID controller. Still have to get two mPGA604 coolers, though.
Re: Should a period correct 386DX25 have an external cache?
Posted on 2019-10-04, 12:19
Cacheless SX25 and DX25 perform basically identically in all my testing, at least in DOS. They both perform about the same speed as a 286/20. Doesn't make much sense to me. 386SX is 16 bit externally with much lower RAM speed due to this. This is where missing cache is especially noticeable. 386DX …
Re: Where to find heavy gauge 3dfx Voodoo pass through cables?
Posted on 2019-10-04, 11:36
But on Amazon you also pay for shipping. Those on ebay have free shipping. Also, they are not the same: https://www.amazon.de/InLine-17703-InLine%C2% … /dp/B000JBXLQ0/ They are cheaper because they lack e.g. gold-plated connectors. You get what you pay for, or so they say. 😉
Re: Where to find heavy gauge 3dfx Voodoo pass through cables?
Posted on 2019-10-04, 09:20
Man, those are some really nice high quality cables from the looks of it! :-) I wish I could find a 30cm pass through cable that nice on German ebay. Here you go: https://www.ebay.de/itm/26-37-m-0-30m-InLine-S-VGA-Verlangerungskabel-VGA-15pol-Buchse-auf-17703S/362670938547?epid=1804242441&hash= …
Re: MPU-401 Gameport Midi on ESS688F based ISA Sound Card
Posted on 2019-10-03, 16:04
Do you have the drivers installed? Unlike with later ESS chips, the 688 requires a driver to permanently loaded for the MPU-401 interface to work.
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