Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2018-09-20, 13:21

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

"do not use or store inflammable substances near the monitor." If a substance is flammable, it could burn (flame). Why would I worry about an inflammable one? If it's inflammable, what's the problem? "inflammable" means that it can catch fire easily. It's not the negative form of "flammable" but a …

---

Re: How has this kind of Graphic been done?

Posted on 2018-09-20, 13:06

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

That's just a combination of 2d sprites (scaled) and vector graphics.

---

Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2018-09-20, 13:04

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thrustmaster dual-port game card with external speed control. Still factory-sealed.

---

Re: Running old software that was made to only run on a specific machine?

Posted on 2018-09-20, 10:13

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

I'm wondering if it would be possible to alter the exe file to make the program run on other machines. Yes, and it's even fairly easy. Load it up into a disassembler, find the string, trace it back to where it is outputted, trace that back to the jump that occurs when running on the wrong machine, …

---

Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2018-09-20, 09:04

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Those ARE the floppy drives. LOL, did you even look at the picture to see what I mean? I own a 5150 myself and know what floppy drives are. The cable however goes to the floppy controller card and then from there further to the left to that AST card. That doesn't look correct to me. I'm not sure if …

---

Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2018-09-20, 07:29

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

DaveJustDave wrote: and then smoke from one of the floppy drives. Is that even connected correctly? Why does the floppy cable connect to two cards..?

---

Re: Are CF cards my problem or...?

Posted on 2018-09-19, 11:54

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

CF cards are still current-tech. Just like with SSDs, the controller used by the card makes the features. TRIM was added to the standard in 2010, for example.

---

Re: Are CF cards my problem or...?

Posted on 2018-09-19, 11:46

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

CF cards do NOT have the TRIM feature, so there is NO way to release blocks that have been written by the OS This is true for older cards only. TRIM was added in 2010 with CF 5.0. But anyway, that's why you should better not use more than 50% of the card (and put the swap file onto a separate …

---

Re: Dallas RTC Chip Compatibility Help

Posted on 2018-09-19, 11:41

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I bought two and both are currently working (two weeks or so). [...] PS: I don't have access to ebay I don't know how that relates to my post then, but anyway. ;) Those China sellers on ebay offer the Dallas chips as "new", but they are pulled from old, used systems and have date codes that go back …

---

Re: Are CF cards my problem or...?

Posted on 2018-09-19, 11:31

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

This thread reminds me of an older thread in which we discussed wear-leveling of SD cards. It was https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=50012 Shamino raised some very interesting points in that respect, IMHO. Which ones? Alignment will only affect write speed. You would need to ensure not …

---

Re: Absurd prices for vintage hardware?

Posted on 2018-09-19, 09:31

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Please carefully read what I wrote. I wrote "look for", not "choose". If you are searching for something, you check the cheapest offers first, not the most expensive ones (don't try to tell me otherwise, please). What you select to buy in the end is a different story and may very well depend on your …

---

Re: Dallas RTC Chip Compatibility Help

Posted on 2018-09-19, 09:16

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The extra pin is no issue. Both are DS12887A. However, don't buy these. They are old and pulled, not new as described. For a single, really new Dallss chip you pay at least around 10 bucks shipped. These cheap ones from China a just scam. Mind you, I bought many of these. I only found UK sellers …

---

Re: Are CF cards my problem or...?

Posted on 2018-09-19, 08:48

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I did read somewhere that cells in SSDs will degrade slowly if not in use regularly. All Flash cells do. Imagine it that way: a Flash cell is like a bucket. Storing a bit in it is like filling the bucket with water. But whenever doing so, a pinhole is stabbed into the bucket. Now one pinhole is not …

---

Re: Are CF cards my problem or...?

Posted on 2018-09-19, 06:55

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm using CF cards in many of my retro systems as well. The most important lesson to learn: never *ever* buy used CF cards - unless you need them for testing only. And don't buy cheap ones either. Unlike hard drives, the number of writes to a Flash cell is limited by physics and each write damages …

---

Re: Hot Swap ISA slot and hot swap PCI slot!?!?!?!?!

Posted on 2018-09-19, 06:45

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

yawetaG wrote: such as being able to unload drivers without rebooting the OS. Hot-swapping is a hardware feature. It doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have to reboot the system.

---

Re: Absurd prices for vintage hardware?

Posted on 2018-09-19, 06:41

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If you don't need money immediately, then you can afford to wait for the buyer with the most money to show up. Even the buyer with the most money will look for the cheapest offering, not for the most expensive one. So if you ask a price that is higher than the rest, you won't ever sell something. …

---

Re: 486DX4 config questions

Posted on 2018-09-18, 19:01

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Still the Matrox Mystique. It runs the 3d games which have sopport for it very well on a 486. A Voodoo1, 2, m3d and the like are more or less useless with a DX4-100.

---

Re: 486DX4 config questions

Posted on 2018-09-18, 18:50

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The Matrox Mystique is a great card for a 486. Using that combination as well.

---

Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2018-09-18, 17:54

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The Samsung drive I'm now using is said to be the best and very reliable. It's a bit sad that the door does not open correctly, but I don't care that much. That Xbox has a mod chip and runs the games from HDD anyway. The drive is good enough to re-install the dash board and that's all that matters. …

---

Re: Fun with Tape Drives ...

Posted on 2018-09-18, 17:47

by

by derSammler

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

That's LVD SCSI (low-voltage differential). You need a corresponding SCSI controller for that. Don't try to connect it to an ordinary ("high-voltage") SCSI controller, as it will cause damage to the device and/or the controller. Internally, however, that drive probably uses normal Fast Wide SCSI. …

---