Re: Repair, Replace, or Discard? A discussion on the preservation of retro computing tech.

Posted on 2023-01-13, 06:19

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I've seen that the amiga and the commodore64 communities are going through this , going as so far to make fpga drop in replacements of things like the sid chip. But at that point if you replace everything with fpgas is it even the original system anymore? "quest for the fakest Commodore 64 possible …

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Re: Repair, Replace, or Discard? A discussion on the preservation of retro computing tech.

Posted on 2023-01-13, 06:05

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Sure but why not either use a mister when it can do many systems in one or move to software emulation wholesale , would save people alot of money in the long run. From the perspective of interaction with the system, there is still a physical difference in using 'original' hardware versus emulating …

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Re: Repair, Replace, or Discard? A discussion on the preservation of retro computing tech.

Posted on 2023-01-13, 05:04

by

by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

But at that point if you replace everything with fpgas is it even the original system anymore? If a replacement FPGA is functionally identical to the original chip it's replacing, this honestly shouldn't matter if the primary intent is to use the hardware as a functional device. IMHO, this is where …

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Re: Repair, Replace, or Discard? A discussion on the preservation of retro computing tech.

Posted on 2023-01-13, 04:51

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The biggest issue I see in the future isn't caps and whatnot , that stuff is all repairable , but the custom asics that gives the device its special sauce. I've seen that the amiga and the commodore64 communities are going through this , going as so far to make fpga drop in replacements of things …

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

Posted on 2023-01-11, 10:56

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Got up to a few things actually , I ended up swapping my ABIT BF6 mobo (450 mhz 256mb ram) for a ASUS P3B-f 1.04. The ASUS had a 800 mhz 100 fsb pentium 3 with 384 mb of ram. 20230110_235156.jpg I figured it would be kind of dumb because I heard some horror stories of windows nuking itself after a …

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

Posted on 2023-01-08, 16:11

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Is that a switch for using memory expansion as chip mentoring Memory? It gives me the option to either use 1mb chip ram or 512k onboard + 512 slow trapdoor ram. I read that some early programs don't like the extra chip ram and only want the trapdoor ram. So I did it for compatibilites sake. Yeah, …

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

Posted on 2023-01-08, 08:12

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Got my gotek finally installed on my Amiga 500 , managed to get some stuff to load , my tank mouse is faulty tho so ill need to get it repaired. 20230107_103419.jpg 20230107_010702.jpg Is that a switch for using memory expansion as chip mentoring Memory? It gives me the option to either use 1mb …

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

Posted on 2023-01-08, 02:00

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Got my gotek finally installed on my Amiga 500 , managed to get some stuff to load , my tank mouse is faulty tho so ill need to get it repaired. Filename 20230107_103419.jpg File size 1.91 MiB Views 1157 views Filename 20230107_010702.jpg File size 1.6 MiB Views 1157 views

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Re: Creative founder Sim Wong Hoo, the man behind Sound Blaster, has died

Posted on 2023-01-08, 01:49

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by AppleSauce

in Milliways

in Milliways

I liken Creative Labs to the Microsoft of the sound card world. Sim Wong is definitely a devisive figure just like Bill Gates but I guess you can't deny that he left his mark on history for better or for worse.

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Re: Sound card chip die shots?

Posted on 2023-01-06, 18:37

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I supplied damaged SC55mk1, GF1, EMU8000 and couple others for decapping, I think the SC55 one is already helping things move forward with emulation of SC55 devices ~ EMU8000 is under cT1971 Ah wow so it was you , cheers for doing that , its nice to be able to able to see how the logic gates are …

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Re: Sound card chip die shots?

Posted on 2023-01-06, 02:57

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Siliconpr0n seems to be the most comprehensive from what I've seen , they also have die shots of the emu8000 , sc55 and GF1. They do? I didn't even see Gravis or Roland listed in the vendors and Ensoniq's category was empty. https://siliconpr0n.org/map/roland/r15239148/ Thats the roland one i think …

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Re: Sound card chip die shots?

Posted on 2023-01-06, 01:26

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Siliconpr0n seems to be the most comprehensive from what I've seen , they also have die shots of the emu8000 , sc55 and GF1. Kinda wish they did a decap of the Ensoniq OTTO (ES5506) to see if the gravis is indeed based on that chip.

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Re: Sound Blaster 16 CT1740 - one FM/MIDI channel almost dead

Posted on 2023-01-05, 06:11

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

There are a number of functions spread across all 4 chips and their total of 16x individual opamps, i.e U10 has CD and possibly WB header related functions, U11 does OPL3 related things and something for the SB DAC+ADC chip. I don't have a card at hand to take closer looks, I know I have two of …

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Re: Sound Blaster 16 CT1740 - one FM/MIDI channel almost dead

Posted on 2023-01-04, 12:34

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Tiido wrote on 2023-01-04, 10:42: Then there's a good chance there are other bad opamps too and perhaps a few bad capacitors here and there too. I thought each op amp did one sound chanel though?

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Re: Sound Blaster 16 CT1740 - one FM/MIDI channel almost dead

Posted on 2023-01-04, 09:27

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Well I replaced the chip , I needed to remove the caps next to it to get to it , and I melted the volume wheel a bit somehow. It hasn't fixed the issue though, id say its made it worse now , in the duke3d sound test everything sounds crackly and distorted and the left sound channel still seems weak. …

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Re: Weird graphical artifacts with virge

Posted on 2023-01-03, 17:11

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well I tried the monitor with my other pc and it had no issue , also a swapped the gpu for another one and the problem went away. This likely rules out the monitor, but does not yet rule out the PC power supply. After inspecting the gpu I did notice that it had a LM317 voltage regulator on it in a …

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Re: Weird graphical artifacts with virge

Posted on 2023-01-03, 16:54

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

it goes away after a while so maybe its the caps? "goes away after a while" indeed makes caps in switch-mode voltage regulators suspect. Those caps perform better when they are warmer, so when they are marginal, the fail to work properly when cold, but work good enough after warmup. On the other …

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Re: Sound Blaster 16 CT1740 - one FM/MIDI channel almost dead

Posted on 2023-01-01, 14:25

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Tiido wrote on 2023-01-01, 14:00: The opamps are same on the most important parameters so there is no need to seek out specific brand. Awesome thanks for letting me know , sometime this week I'll try and fix the card and let you all know how it goes.

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Re: Happy New Year 2023

Posted on 2023-01-01, 02:41

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by AppleSauce

in Milliways

in Milliways

Happy new year lads.

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Re: Sound Blaster 16 CT1740 - one FM/MIDI channel almost dead

Posted on 2023-01-01, 02:28

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by AppleSauce

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I ended up getting a hot air station , and the chips, but looking at the data sheets there seems to be some differences. So I'm not sure whether I can get away with using the ON semiconductor 3303s or if id need to use the SGS/ST 3303 chips. Filename 20221222_201914.jpg File size 1.92 MiB Views 648 …

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