Re: Replacing IBM XT PSU with ATX PSU

Posted on 2014-09-23, 06:49

by

by Jepael

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If you want the XT switch to control ATX mains wires: The old mains switch connects or disconnects both the live and neutral of mains for your safety, plus it carries an extra grounding wire to connect to case along with the switch. Why both? Where I live you can connect the mains plug either way so …

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Re: Replacing IBM XT PSU with ATX PSU

Posted on 2014-09-22, 19:32

by

by Jepael

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Watch out when playing with mains voltage. Now, if you can fit the ATX PSU insides safely in the XT PSU casing, you have a couple of options that depend on how the ATX supply works. First of all, the ATX PSU has 5V STANDBY supply when it has mains connected even when it is otherwise turned off. It …

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Re: Ever had this annoying problem? Bios setting are lost even after replacing cmos baterry!

Posted on 2014-09-22, 19:01

by

by Jepael

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

No not the BIOS chip - it is flash memory that only stores the executable firmware, not settings. Reseating it won't do anything except loosen the socket a bit every time you do it, so don't do it unless the motherboard does not boot because of loose or oxidized connection with BIOS chip. The RTC …

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Re: What the hell (screw type)

Posted on 2014-09-20, 11:56

by

by Jepael

in Milliways

in Milliways

Polydrive? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives

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Re: Sound Blaster Pro 2 (CT1600)

Posted on 2014-09-20, 11:51

by

by Jepael

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Circuit off the board on small PCBs, no hot lm317 tab touching ground and shorting out OK, you got that covered. No LDO because of stability In what way they are not stable? I have been working with commercial audio and video circuits with LDO regulators and never had any stability issues. LDO …

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Re: Sound Blaster Pro 2 (CT1600)

Posted on 2014-09-19, 22:38

by

by Jepael

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

The voltage regulators are fixed, linear type. I would use adjustable, linear type instead. This would be built on tiny PCBs above the card, it would only need the regulator, two resistors and a small capacitor. The reason? Well, variable voltage regulators allow you to bypass the adjustment pin …

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Re: State of OPL3 emulation?

Posted on 2014-09-18, 16:58

by

by Jepael

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

I believe none of them are currently bit-perfect. Some emulators that were started in recent years try to be more bit-perfect than previously. It might take more CPU horsepower as well, but not much. It is also a relative matter as well. For example, if you have a slow starting or decaying sound, …

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Re: Roland S-MPU/AT.. what is this?

Posted on 2014-09-17, 06:30

by

by Jepael

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

It's a MIDI adapter card so you can connect it to various MIDI devices like keyboards and sound modules. Rather boring without the breakout box, but, most likely you can make an adapter cable yourself if you want MIDI out (in?). See the details from the link below. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPU- …

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Re: Old laptop, real dos, 16:10 screen

Posted on 2014-09-16, 07:46

by

by Jepael

in DOS

in DOS

There might be a setting in BIOS if you want the screen to be centered or stretced.

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Re: Think my AWE32 is dead :-(

Posted on 2014-09-11, 08:44

by

by Jepael

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You must check two things about those traces with scratch marks on them: 1) Are there any shortcuts between the different traces and remove them by scratching them away with some sharp object 2) Are there any cuts in the traces and if there is figure out a way to reconnect them (conductive lacquer, …

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Re: Optimal cache speed for 386/486

Posted on 2014-09-10, 17:25

by

by Jepael

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

If you do the math, at 40 MHz, one clock cycle is 25ns. If the motherboard only requires 20ns chips at 40MHz then putting 15ns chips don't make it any faster, because the cache is used at 40 MHz. 15ns chips will just consume more power than 20ns chips as they are capable of being faster even if …

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Re: Suggestions for useful programs for Windows

Posted on 2014-09-09, 16:13

by

by Jepael

in Milliways

in Milliways

I tend to pick up open source and free software (as in licence, not money), even on Windows. I am sure there is much more but can't remember now, and to be honest I mainly use Linux at home so many apps are common. LibreOffice (or OpenOffice) - Office suite (I haven't bought/used/needed/seen MS …

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Re: [Yamaha RX-V663 AV receiver] So how good is the unit's condition?

Posted on 2014-09-03, 08:10

by

by Jepael

in Milliways

in Milliways

Well I have experience with Yamaha RX-V640RDS and some Sony amp, and I can safely say if you have a PC involved then it is definitely the PCs fault. And no, stuttering does not break the HDMI input of amplifier, it just transfers bits and tries to lock on to the audio samples and it can't and the …

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Re: Aztech 16 bit ISA Soundcard and Modem. Help needed.

Posted on 2014-09-02, 06:44

by

by Jepael

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I've heard these cards actually have real FM synthesis from someone else on this forum and I've been wanting to get it working anyway.] You did not take closeups and it is very hard to see, but I believe the two chips next to the jumpers are labeled YAMAHA and other one should be YAC-513 DAC. It …

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Re: Which soundblaster should I buy.

Posted on 2014-09-01, 09:47

by

by Jepael

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

My idea of best SB would most likely be some SB16, preferably with real OPL3 chip. It should be compatible with whole range of games and software and music players. VIBRA cards tend to be noisy. Obviously SB16 does not work on real vintage machines that have only 8-bit ISA bus, and SB16 does not …

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Re: Sound Blaster 16 CT1740 with ASP

Posted on 2014-08-28, 11:55

by

by Jepael

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Well I would save it or try to fix it, just because it has real Yamaha OPL3 chip. Now, if the line out signal is good, or if just the amp chip is fried, I'd just remove the amp chip.

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Re: SB16 ISA card defect. What to look for?

Posted on 2014-08-26, 10:20

by

by Jepael

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I think that it is the whole amplifier circuit wich are dead. The amplifier chip it self, are getting reallly hot. And because the chip is painfully hot to touch, just 30 seconds after it gets power, then it must be really bad. Either that or it is something else. It might just get hot because it …

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Re: OPL fnum calculation

Posted on 2014-08-25, 08:04

by

by Jepael

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

Best FNUM values depend on what you are going to do, but FNUM values do not depend on octave (block), unless you want to go below octave (block) 0 so the you have to halve the FNUM for example. I would reserve the MULT multiplier as timbral characteristic for an instrument instead of using it for …

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Re: Calculating game port theoretical max & actual bandwidth

Posted on 2014-08-22, 06:45

by

by Jepael

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

I also did some digging and found out the ThrustMaster ACM card is definitely a dual port card (for quad normal joysticks), the other port sits at 201h as usual and other at 209h and they can be changed with jumpers. PNP cards will try to resolve the address conflict themselves so that is the main …

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Re: Calculating game port theoretical max & actual bandwidth

Posted on 2014-08-20, 12:36

by

by Jepael

in PC Emulation

in PC Emulation

No they just split the single 4-button and 4-pot interface into two ports so you can use two regular 2-button and 2-pot joysticks without a separate Y cable. The whole 4-bit/4-pot interface may or may not be available on the "main" joystick port for those joysticks that have more buttons/axes/hat/ …

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