Re: My CRT monitor died, I think I'm done with them. Recommend a good alternative.

Posted on 2019-04-24, 00:49

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

About 5 years ago when these weren't stupidly expensive yet, I snatched up a factory sealed 21" flat-screen CRT monitor (I believe it is an NEC) that I stashed away into storage for when the day comes that my Philips 21" CRT inevitably dies (I still use this as my main monitor - in fact I'm on it …

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Windows 98 PC won't shut off after installing GeForce 6800

Posted on 2019-04-24, 00:39

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I installed a Dell-version GeForce 6800 into a Lenovo desktop computer's PCI-E slot, and upon installing the drivers (81.98 forceware - official drivers from NVIDIA), it no longer shuts down properly. When I choose shut down from the start menu, one of three things will randomly happen: 1 - it …

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Re: Yamaha YMF744 on G41/ICH7 - is this possible?

Posted on 2019-04-19, 17:32

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Ok so I've managed to get the boot process cleaned up. First menu upon turning on the computer: http://breakingnewsfeeds.com/media/menu1.gif If you choose Windows XP, then it boots into XP. If you choose 98 or DOS, then you get a second menu: http://breakingnewsfeeds.com/media/menu2.gif And that is …

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Re: Yamaha YMF744 on G41/ICH7 - is this possible?

Posted on 2019-04-10, 03:01

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I have some ideas how to clean up the boot. I think the easiest way to do this from the dual-boot screen (XP/98) is to have it so that if you choose 98, it automatically boots straight to DOS (MSDOS.SYS can be configured to make this the default option) and then from there a menu can automatically …

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Re: Yamaha YMF744 on G41/ICH7 - is this possible?

Posted on 2019-04-09, 19:55

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

UPDATE - The short version is I GOT THIS WORKING. The long version: Upon installing a network card in the other PCI slot, my sound card magically took IRQ 5, albeit shared with one of the USB devices. By adding JEMMEX.EXE to my config.sys folder with 2 options - MAXEXT set to 256000 and also NOVME, …

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Re: Yamaha YMF744 on G41/ICH7 - is this possible?

Posted on 2019-04-07, 15:29

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Looks like the bottom line here is that the PCI IRQ can only be 4 or else 10+ depending on what devices I do or do not have enabled in the BIOS. The onboard USB always takes IRQ 3 and 5 and then from there other devices take 4, 6, etc. If I have the front USB ports enabled, they get IRQ 4. If I …

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Re: Yamaha YMF744 on G41/ICH7 - is this possible?

Posted on 2019-04-05, 17:25

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Motherboard is a Lenovo-branded L-IG41m No luck with the DS.ini file. No matter what I set it to, running SETUPDS.EXE /s always yields IRQ5, even though running it to display info (SETUPDS.EXE /d) yields whatever IRQ the BIOS assigns it (currently 11) config.sys has only 2 lines - DEVICE setting …

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Re: Yamaha YMF744 on G41/ICH7 - is this possible?

Posted on 2019-04-05, 16:17

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I've read through that. I apologize, I'm a bit of a beginner here. Still have no idea where to start or what I should be trying. I have 1 GB of ram in my system - I can't go any less as they literally don't make anything smaller in this ram type. I wouldn't even know where to begin trying to use …

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Yamaha YMF744 on G41/ICH7 - is this possible?

Posted on 2019-04-05, 15:23

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I have a Lenovo M70E desktop PC and I'm trying to get DOS sound working on a Yamaha YMF744 PCI sound card. I've read through the various YMF744 threads on this forum (there's quite a bit of info) but still I'm at a loss and not having much luck. I know there's a few experts on this particular card …

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

Posted on 2019-03-31, 04:54

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

https://i.imgur.com/nsAZGkTl.jpg Those white Logitech keyboards from the early 2000s are the best wireless keyboards ever made, hands-down, IMO. I'm typing on one right now. They are easy to type on, built like a tank, and thanks to running at the shortwave frequency of 27mhz, a pair of AA …

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

Posted on 2019-03-30, 02:22

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Big question: why did you go with the Sound Blaster 128? Cost. Got one brand new for $14. I'd still like to possibly get DOS sound fx working on this rig. It looks like a lot of sound cards have issues on newer Intel chipsets, including the ICH7 in this machine. I may try a Yamaha YMF744-based card …

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

Posted on 2019-03-29, 20:13

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Today I began working on converting a Lenovo m70e Thinkcentre into a hybrid 98/XP gaming machine. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0394/1629/products/lenovo-thinkcentre-m70e_large.jpg?v=1464886608 Machine specs before modification: -Pentium E5300 dual core processor - 2.6 GHZ -4 GB DDR3 Ram - …

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Re: Video card newbie here, have Pentium II machine, AGP 2x

Posted on 2019-03-25, 21:03

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I ended up going with a Quadro2 MXR card. Initial testing looks promising - the slowdown I was experiencing on Duke Nuke'em 3d and Commander Keen 4 on the GeForce FX5200 is gone completely. Now I can play Duke 3d in full 800x600 resolution mode without any slowdown and Keen plays great as well.

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Re: Video card newbie here, have Pentium II machine, AGP 2x

Posted on 2019-03-10, 20:01

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Once thing I notice looking at the Quadro MMR and EX cards is that none of them have heatsinks on them. Would that be an issue? Or do these somehow use less electricity than their GeForce counter-parts?

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Re: Video card newbie here, have Pentium II machine, AGP 2x

Posted on 2019-03-05, 18:05

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Being "period correct" is not a concern of mine. I see reading here that a lot of people like their builds to be 100 percent period-correct; I'm just not one of them. Personally I like to add a little bit of modern flavor to an old build so long as it doesn't destroy the aesthetic of the build or …

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Re: Video card newbie here, have Pentium II machine, AGP 2x

Posted on 2019-03-04, 21:12

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Thanks for the responses. The TNT2 Pro it is. I'll post a separate thread in the system specs forum once my project is complete showing the final result. On a side-note, this site is an invaluable resource for just about everything I've researched on old retro builds. I'm a long-time computer …

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Video card newbie here, have Pentium II machine, AGP 2x

Posted on 2019-03-04, 16:55

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Ok, so I've been working on putting together a Pentium II desktop PC with all new-old stock parts. Here is what I have so far: Motherboard: -dual-slot-1 CPU, each slot filled with a 300mhz Slot 1 Pentium II processor - early generation with 66mhz bus -2 ISA slots, 4 PCI slots, 1 AGP 2x slot -Intel …

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Re: Panasonic CF-27 ToughBook

Posted on 2019-02-24, 21:26

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by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

I've always been intrigued by the Panasonic Toughbooks - I've never owned one though. Nice that it has 4MB of VRAM - most integrated chips I've seen from that era only have 1MB. Also, that is the highest-end CPU available for that particular model - most come with Pentium II's. Looks like you …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2019-02-17, 22:23

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

-5.25" Bay fan (the CPU's run a little warmer than I'd like with just heatsinks and no fans) You're... going to need it, yes. Honestly I'd also point a fan or two at those CPUs, especially if they are the original Klamath core ones with the ~43w TDPs . Yep - that is precisely what they are. 300mhz …

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2019-02-17, 20:10

by

by bmwsvsu

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

http://breakingnewsfeeds.com/media/p2-build.jpg Building a Slot 1 Pentium II (dual CPU) with all brand-new parts. Parts above thus far: -DTK Motherboard w/Intel 440LX chipset -300 MHZ Pentium II processors (x2) -GeForce FX5500 AGP video card -ESS ES1869 ISA sound card -Lite On 52x CD ROM drive - …

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