Re: 486 Can't boot from floppy

Posted on 2020-02-21, 11:24

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Forgot to mention that I got the floppy to work with a system on C: I could use the floppy normally and it was fine, just can't boot from it. My first cable was indeed dead, but I got that fixed. Would a faulty controller make it possible to fully use a drive but not boot from it?

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486 Can't boot from floppy

Posted on 2020-02-21, 11:11

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Hi there, I have a problem with a 486 DX 33 on a PVI-486SP3. I can't get it to boot from a floppy or CF. I made a bootable floppy disk (Phils starter) in a different computer and also tested it there - works flawlessly. Put that same disk, even the drive with it, into the 486 - Disk Boot failure. …

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Re: To find the right projects and retro computers AKA what should I build or focus on? (486,Pentium 1-4?)

Posted on 2020-02-15, 18:46

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Those arguments towards a versatile 486 play right into my need of one :P And I'll have a look into the Coppermine P3s. Prices are not too inflated. Is it absolutely neccesary to have a Socket 370 board with ISA or is a PCI card compatible enough for the games a P3 would run (the ones that are too …

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Re: To find the right projects and retro computers AKA what should I build or focus on? (486,Pentium 1-4?)

Posted on 2020-02-14, 12:08

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm looking around for a 486. Sooner or later I guess I have to build one, just because I need to fill a case that has a Turbo button ;) So far I only had a bit trouble with a flickering cursor in World of Xeen and I didn't even get Ultima 7 to run (memory), but I read that that's the case with …

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Re: To find the right projects and retro computers AKA what should I build or focus on? (486,Pentium 1-4?)

Posted on 2020-02-14, 09:46

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thank you a lot for your detailed reply and all the information about Ultima 7. I knew it's a tricky game to run and my DosBox runs were not were pleasant, I also wasn't into the alternatives and the real thing, as in having a running machine for it, would be amazing! I only have basic knowledge …

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To find the right projects and retro computers AKA what should I build or focus on? (486,Pentium 1-4?)

Posted on 2020-02-14, 06:08

by

by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Hello everyone, this is a question or topic so many have already asked themselves and I've read as much as I can about it - here and in other places. But it's a subjective question, since everybody has different connections and memories to certain time frames, hardware or games. So in hope that it's …

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Re: PSU recommendation?

Posted on 2020-01-24, 11:34

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

That's a question I asked myself too and I'd be very interested to hear more. So far I've been lucky with an old 200W PSU in my machine, functionality and noise level wise, but that can't last forever .. Does it even make sense to go for vintage PSU shopping or is everybody going the new PSU route? …

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on 2020-01-24, 10:54

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by Captain Catnip

in Milliways

in Milliways

Isn't the second Dark Sun pretty buggy? How do you deal with that, or is there a patch or something? I really liked the first one but reading about the second put me off. It absolutely is. So much that I never finished it, watched a Let's Play after getting stuck due to bugs the last time. I also …

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Re: What HDD do you use? (1GB to 10GB)

Posted on 2020-01-24, 10:30

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm using old HDDs. I don't know why, but I want the sounds of old. But since I'm at the same time very picky and my modern computer is not allowed to make any noise, I at least stick to old HDDs that are not too loud. I had a little Fujitsu MBP2021ATU in my 98SE machine and switched now to a '98 …

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Re: A few thoughts on life, the universe and everything

Posted on 2020-01-24, 10:03

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by Captain Catnip

in Milliways

in Milliways

I got into it after thinking about it for a looooong time. After that came eying EBay auctions for parts and computers until I finally just did it. Since then I went through old stuff from my family and coworkers that they would throw out and from getting specific parts off of EBay. It showed me …

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Re: is the ct2890 a good sound card?

Posted on 2020-01-24, 09:01

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Yes, decent for a DOS soundcard and "best of the crop" compared to the other Creative Labs offerings... But keep in mind checking the DAC to see that a CT1703-TBS or CT1703-A are used so you don't have to worry about Self-Noise. Great! That's what I thought it would be, when I compared the versions …

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

Posted on 2020-01-24, 08:59

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Ahh, another lover of retro miniatures. I'm an 'oldhammer' kind of guy, I never collected D&D miniatures but I do have an RPG book collection of around 200 books including a lot of Dark Sun (1E). I'm on the hunt for a complete copy of Asticlian Gambit :) Back in my day I did a bit of Warhammer …

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Re: Tom's Hardware VGA Charts

Posted on 2020-01-24, 07:56

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Thank you! Being new here and not knowing all these incredibly helpful threads, I really appretiate links like these!

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Re: I desperately need help choosing an ISA sound card.

Posted on 2020-01-24, 07:52

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I put in a special pc speaker in it, it has its own little charm. I played games like that back in the day when I was a little boy. I know what you mean, I have played internal speaker games through my soundcard. Both options are okay for me :) That's kind of how I approach the whole sound thing, …

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Re: is the ct2890 a good sound card?

Posted on 2020-01-24, 07:49

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I hope you don't mind me adding to your post, but I didn't want to copy cour thread for asking my own similar question. From what I gathered from a list with issues and versions of the SB16 the CT2290 should be a decent one. Is that correct?

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

Posted on 2020-01-24, 05:43

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by Captain Catnip

in Milliways

in Milliways

Working on renovating the room, my WIN98SE box will live in and also working on a SFF/HTPC box to have as a side computer for internet access and researching stuff.

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on 2020-01-24, 05:39

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by Captain Catnip

in Milliways

in Milliways

Since I'm currently collecting Dark Sun miniatures, I'm also playing Dark Sun Shattered Lands again, as I do every year. But also hopefully finally getting around to finishing Dark Forces. I love Jedi Knight and bought it when it was released, but somehow I missed Dark Forces back then.

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

Posted on 2020-01-24, 05:34

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It's not in the computer realm, well it kinda is for me, and it's "old". I'm collecting lead/pewter Dark Sun miniatures by Ral Partha from the early '90s. They're getting kind of rare and expensive but every now and then they still pop up so I grab them. Received a couple more now and have to remove …

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Re: Looking for a certain AT case/tower

Posted on 2020-01-24, 05:28

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The price is quite high. I’m awaiting to get onto amibay to contact the guy with the tower, but it takes a while. So far I’m really impressed with the speed and resources you guys have! Thanks a lot!

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Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Posted on 2020-01-23, 14:17

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by Captain Catnip

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Just received a SB16 CT2290 in the mail!

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