Re: CRT Troubleshooting/Repair

Posted on 2022-11-26, 01:40

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well, the problem has re-asserted itself again. It seems much more subtle now however. Barely noticeable. Instead of the screen dimming for a second or two, if you blink you miss it. The severity of it is greatly decreased as well. I think there may be some small screen deformation, when I look …

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on 2022-11-24, 04:39

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by Namrok

in Milliways

in Milliways

Well, after bouncing between I don't even know how many games over the last few months, I finally settled into Quake II: The Reckoning and finished it today. Trophy shot 20221123_Quake_II_The_Reckoning.jpg Whew boy did it start out rough for me. I had to beat the first unit 3 times. The first time I …

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Re: Do movies suck these days?

Posted on 2022-11-24, 04:05

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by Namrok

in Milliways

in Milliways

The problem with movies now is that the writing is completely brain dead. Not every movie said something, but the ones we remember did. And it wasn't some weird contemporary pabulum that was going around in it's time either. It said something about the human condition. Writers these days seem …

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Re: CRT Troubleshooting/Repair

Posted on 2022-11-23, 19:14

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well, I put the same capacitors back where I found them. Turned the monitor back on in my shop, gave the screen pot a slight twist left and right, and waited. And waited. And waited. Haven't caught it dimming yet, but it's probably high 50s in my shop, plus the cover is off. So if the problem is …

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Re: SBlive CT4780 jumpers causing no sound in Win98 w/ VXD

Posted on 2022-11-22, 13:19

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Great find. The next time I'm setting up my system with a CT4780, and it's giving me grief, I'll try this. Now I'm really tempted to check continuity between those header pins and the audio terminals. Not enough to rip it out of the computer I currently have it in though. Been spending a lot of time …

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Re: CRT Troubleshooting/Repair

Posted on 2022-11-21, 21:33

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Yeah, I didn't see any pots on the board at the very end of the tube. So I'm clear, it sounds like I'm supposed to be slightly turning that screen adjustment knob with an insulated screwdriver while the monitor is on? And if the screen brightness seems to have sudden disproportionate jumps giving it …

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Re: CRT Troubleshooting/Repair

Posted on 2022-11-21, 18:43

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

So, I found these potentiometers on the neck. They were labelled Yhc, Delta V and Yv. I googled a little and I don't think these are it? I found a giant solder joint at the very top of the neck labeled G2, with a thick green wire that goes straight to the flyback transformer I think? It vanishes …

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Re: Playing GOG games on real Retro DOS PC

Posted on 2022-11-21, 14:23

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Crazy! Gog sell's old games that do not run on old-pc's they were released for and also they don't work on new PC's...so where is the sweet-spot here....CRAP! My experience with GOG releases has been as follows. DOS era games usually ship with DOSBox and can be installed on a modern PC without much …

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Re: Playing GOG games on real Retro DOS PC

Posted on 2022-11-21, 14:17

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Games from the WinXP era generally work fine, and their installers can be used on a real WinXP system. However, in some rare instances, GOG includes modified versions of DirectX DLL files which make it easier for a game to work on newer (post-XP) operating systems, but may cause issues on a real …

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Re: CRT Troubleshooting/Repair

Posted on 2022-11-20, 21:58

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Would it have just been a coincidence then that after I replaced the suspect transistors, it seemed to work better for an hour or two before the problem manifest again?

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Re: CRT Troubleshooting/Repair

Posted on 2022-11-20, 19:16

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Ok, I removed the film caps that were most directly traced to the transistors in question. Measuring their capacitance out of circuit seemed to check out? But I don't know how that relates to their voltage rating, which if I understood you correctly could be the failing specification in this …

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Re: Retro Styled Modular IPS Display for old and new systems

Posted on 2022-11-18, 21:13

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

I mean, it all sounds good in theory. Biggest issue is it's kickstarter, and almost every kickstarter I know of in the best of times had Chinese manufacturing and shipping issues. These are not the best of times. Plus electronic gadgets seem to have the worst kickstarter record as a group that I'm …

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Re: What modern gaming features do you prefer?

Posted on 2022-11-18, 14:58

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by Namrok

in Milliways

in Milliways

I do really love ray traced global illumination. I somehow never noticed what a kluged series of hacks most rasterized lighting engines are until a handful of games started doing ray traced global illumination. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. Seamless open worlds are pretty dope too.

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Re: Games don't feel as exciting as they used to

Posted on 2022-11-17, 20:04

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by Namrok

in Milliways

in Milliways

Maybe you are overwhelmed by the fact that there is actually an incredibly wide range of gaming options today. And sure there is no shortage of low quality shovelware or indie projects that just ran out of money. On Steam it's fairly easy to identify those with the user reviews I think. I am mostly …

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Re: Games don't feel as exciting as they used to

Posted on 2022-11-16, 14:33

by

by Namrok

in Milliways

in Milliways

On the whole, I'd say games are far worse than they used to be. Fun has largely been displaced by compulsiveness. Delight, surprise and flow state replaced with games that are somewhere between 25%-95% slot machine. The most exciting part of a game not being the actual moment to moment gameplay, but …

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Re: CRT Troubleshooting/Repair

Posted on 2022-11-15, 17:54

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Ok, sounds good. Thanks for all the help and advice in this thread. A lot of it's going over my head, so I appreciate the patience shown.

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Re: CRT Troubleshooting/Repair

Posted on 2022-11-14, 21:10

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Ok, well, I spent some time on it today and the problems began to re-emerge more obviously again. So I'll be removing the film capacitors and testing them. Any advice on picking suitable replacements? Or is anything that matches the footprint, capacitance, voltage, and anything else printed on the …

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Re: 386sx sometimes boots in mono.

Posted on 2022-11-14, 16:37

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Recently I addressed this in one of my own systems by just getting a Male to Female VGA Port Saver/Adapter, and snipping pin 12 off the male end. Makes for an easily reversible fix.

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Re: CRT Troubleshooting/Repair

Posted on 2022-11-14, 04:17

by

by Namrok

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The capacitors that are needed to keep transistors alive are typically high-voltage film capacitors, not electrolytics. You definitely want to check the capacitors around the broken transistors for their capacity (you need to do so out of circuit), but you don't necessarily need to measure their …

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on 2022-11-10, 17:22

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by Namrok

in Milliways

in Milliways

Diablo I completed this for the time just a minute ago. I played as a Rogue, and it was really a lot of fun! This is one I've always wanted to finish ever since it first came out, so it felt good to finally slay Diablo. I must say that I really like how stingy the game is with magic equipment. When …

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