Re: x86 memory gaps vs mapping RAM?

Posted on 2018-06-11, 15:04

by

by root42

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

Well, it depends a bit on the CPU mode. In real mode you can only use EMS or XMS memory. For EMS parts of the extended memory that was mapped above 1MB gets mapped into the UMA. This needs hardware support on 8086 and 80286 machines and a software driver on 386 machines. For XMS the memory is copied …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2018-06-11, 13:49

by

by root42

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

My OSSC arrived today. I hope it works well with my 286 and capture setup. The 70Hz might be a problem for the capture device, but I will test that tonight, or maybe tomorrow. Either way: I love the build quality! Seems like a good piece of hardware! Filename 87CDEE45-E021-4917-96DD-D7B448BC366D. …

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Re: x86 memory gaps vs mapping RAM?

Posted on 2018-06-11, 12:11

by

by root42

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

Not sure what exactly your question is, but for example the UMA is re-mapped to 1024k+ because the area is reserved for BIOS and other ROMs from ISA cards etc. Those ROMs will shadow the original RAM and make it unusable. Most BIOSs will have an option to cache the ROM contents in the original RAM, …

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Re: My Fox II blew a cap!

Posted on 2018-06-11, 04:10

by

by root42

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanks for the info! I will try it tonight. I have the manual as well, but didn't think to check... I have a bunch of 9-chip and 3-chip SIMMs...

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Re: My Fox II blew a cap!

Posted on 2018-06-10, 19:58

by

by root42

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Update: I double checked, and found out I forget to recap C54, which was unpopulated after my decapping. 😀 However, I still get the system timer failure. So I am still scratching my head... How can I debug this, which IC is the problem, and can I test it?

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Re: My Fox II blew a cap!

Posted on 2018-06-10, 19:39

by

by root42

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Additional note: I tried different RAM modules, but I think they were broken or incompatible and also gave three beeps.

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Re: My Fox II blew a cap!

Posted on 2018-06-10, 19:33

by

by root42

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

So I now replaced the 10uF caps on the mainboard. I think I did an okay job, and I double checked all solder joints. The board won't boot. I get four beeps when I have RAM installed, and 3 beeps when not. The four beeps seem to be the system timer error. I have never encountered such a problem. Any …

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Re: I'm Looking for a List of Software That Can Make a Full Disk Backup of Windows 98 SE and XP that Runs on Modern OSes

Posted on 2018-06-09, 11:07

by

by root42

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

What about a Linux live CD and using dd?

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Re: ATX2AT Smart Converter: Need Your Advice!

Posted on 2018-06-08, 10:03

by

by root42

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

xsecret wrote: The most time-consuming part is crimping the damn connectors. I only have a manual hand crimp tool 😒 I have no idea if there are affordable automated/powered crimp tools... Would be useful.

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Re: ATX2AT Smart Converter: Need Your Advice!

Posted on 2018-06-08, 05:30

by

by root42

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yes, I already have 20+ guys on the list. I'm not doing that for profit, so it will be sold at cost, but I also don't want to spend days assembling cables and soldering stuffs. I must find a way to have them assembled professionally if the list grows over 30 or 40. Bigclive just presented a wire …

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Re: DOS pgm can write but not read

Posted on 2018-06-07, 13:59

by

by root42

in DOSBox General

in DOSBox General

While many people here are using DOSBox, because it is well suited to games, and emulates a variety of sound cards, if you only want to run some "serious" applications, you might want to use VirtualBox and simply install either FreeDOS or a copy of your favourite DOS in it. The media handling (disk …

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Re: Spea V7 Mirage ISA in a 286...?

Posted on 2018-06-06, 18:43

by

by root42

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I will definitely try it... but I was fearing that they need enhanced mode.

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Re: ATX2AT Smart Converter: Need Your Advice!

Posted on 2018-06-06, 17:07

by

by root42

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

What‘s the spec of the custom cable?

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Spea V7 Mirage ISA in a 286...?

Posted on 2018-06-06, 12:53

by

by root42

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Currently I have a bunch of Trident 8900 and 9000. But today an old V7 Mirage arrived, featuring some S3 801 or 805 chip. Question is: Can I run this under Windows 3.0 or 3.1 in my 286? Generic S3 drivers for Win 3.x can be found at the usual sites. The question is: are these compatible with a 286? …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2018-06-06, 12:48

by

by root42

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Got a Spea V7 Mirage with some S3 chip, ISA bus. I am wondering: can I use this in my 286...? There ware Win 3.x drivers, but I am wondering if they are 386 only... Filename 80862B75-F267-4C80-8BC5-4DFD0CBB2819.jpeg File size 204.04 KiB Views 1841 views

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Re: Would any modern-day fan/power supply work on 90s PC?

Posted on 2018-06-06, 09:16

by

by root42

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Someon here in the forum is also working on a smart converter: ATX2AT Smart Converter - Live on Kickstarter! That converter protects the AT mainboard from overcurrent, overvoltage etc.

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Re: ATX2AT Smart Converter: Need Your Advice!

Posted on 2018-06-06, 07:44

by

by root42

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Any news on the progress of manufacturing here? I want to put my 286 in a case now, and would love to have this converter in there as well. 😀

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Re: Is it possible to use a OPL3 directly under Linux even though ALSA turns it into a MIDI synth?

Posted on 2018-06-05, 15:09

by

by root42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Yes, should be the same. Sorry for the wrong syntax. I did that from memory... 😒

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Re: Is it possible to use a OPL3 directly under Linux even though ALSA turns it into a MIDI synth?

Posted on 2018-06-05, 14:48

by

by root42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Concerning vgmplay: you should be able to run it without root privileges after setting the capabilities: sudo setcap vgmplay CAP_SYS_RAWIO Also not tested, but it should give the process to call ioperm() -- which it does, according to the source in ChipMapper.c -- and hence be able to write directly …

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Re: Is it possible to use a OPL3 directly under Linux even though ALSA turns it into a MIDI synth?

Posted on 2018-06-05, 13:37

by

by root42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Root can do IO on ports, but that is not very neat. You might have a raw device under /dev/snd, such as /dev/snd/fmCxxx, where the xxx stands for the Alsa card. But that depends on the driver, and I have not used it. That device should be an abstraction of the OPL3 ports into the device file system …

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