This set of 2 Forte VFX1 headsets... One seems to be in perfect condition, and one is just a husk which I can use for parts, try to repair it or use it for some project (I already think about using it as an enclosure for some DIY modern hmd). I already had working VFX1 (missing some accesories though) but I couldn't pass on purchasing this set...

Just bought a GPU lot with

9 Matrox G450 Dualhead 16Mb GPUs
1 Geforce FX5200 AGP
1 ATI 128 Rage Pro AGP
1 ATI 3d Rage Pro Turbo AGP
1 Matrox G45 AGP

They all appear to be working, so now I just have to figure out what to do with 8 Dualhead G450s

This weird little card - sound + gameport + VGA to composite video - seller's pics.

I don't think it actually needs a driver.
Looks to me like the VGA to RCA will always be active. One end of the cable goes to the video card, one to this weird little card, and the other to a monitor.

Has OPL2 for FM, but I am guessing it also supports Sound Blaster as there are IRQ jumpers and one other jumper.

^ I don't see anything on that card that would indicate SB support - not enough chips 🤣
the vga->cvbs converter is a cool addition I guess for back then... still on the weird side though

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-12-04, 07:24:

This weird little card - sound + gameport + VGA to composite video - seller's pics. card.jpg ports.jpg card_and_cables.jpg […]
Show full quote

This weird little card - sound + gameport + VGA to composite video - seller's pics.
card.jpg
ports.jpg
card_and_cables.jpg

I don't think it actually needs a driver.
Looks to me like the VGA to RCA will always be active. One end of the cable goes to the video card, one to this weird little card, and the other to a monitor.

Has OPL2 for FM, but I am guessing it also supports Sound Blaster as there are IRQ jumpers and one other jumper.

Oddware card.

Whoever made that probably wanted to make an AIO card so that you don't have to use 2 slots and only use 1 slot.

luckybob wrote on 2021-12-04, 00:05:

I remember making folders in win9x dos mode using ALT+255. Windows 9x couldn't handle it in the GUI, but had no problems in CLI. Teachers shit bricks when they tried to open the "test answers" folder that had nothing in it.

The entire school district admins knew who I was and was seriously tired of my shit.

If it wasn't for hardware upgrades (and personnel upgrades) , I'd be absolutely sure there is still a cracked copy of StarCraft Broodwar floating about the district server pool. ^.^

ALT+255 was my goto "hidden" folder name as well. Surprised to note that ALT+255 and ALT+0255 are not the same thing 😀

TrashPanda wrote on 2021-12-04, 07:10:

They all appear to be working, so now I just have to figure out what to do with 8 Dualhead G450s

Well now you only need 16x 50" panels and an airtime expired helicopter for the cockpit.

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-12-04, 14:35:

TrashPanda wrote on 2021-12-04, 07:10:

They all appear to be working, so now I just have to figure out what to do with 8 Dualhead G450s

Well now you only need 16x 50" panels and an airtime expired helicopter for the cockpit.

Oh Shit

Now you done it

BRB checking prices, I gotta build my own flight simulator with retro parts!

bjwil1991 wrote on 2021-12-04, 08:59:

Whoever made that probably wanted to make an AIO card so that you don't have to use 2 slots and only use 1 slot.

You still need two slots - one for soundcard and one for VGA. This one is just vga to composite + adlib compatibility. I like how odd it is.

Needs to be installed alongside two Voodoo2, the actual VGA card and an MPEG-1 card for maximum splitter and passthrough chaos.

Some more trashy motherboards I just got from a local electro-trash supplier met at electronics flee market here. Of course none of these are tested but the price was adequate... hopefully some of them work.

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-12-04, 20:08:

Needs to be installed alongside two Voodoo2, the actual VGA card and an MPEG-1 card for maximum splitter and passthrough chaos.

Ewww... I can only imagine the video quality reduction. I might have to do that.

@cyclone3d

Thats NEAT!! I love one-off cards like that.

I thought at first it just injected adlib audio into the same svga cable to a special monitor like those Apple AudioVision monitors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_AudioVision_14_Display I really want to get one or two of those monitors. I remember looking at those with pre-teen envy, as they came out with the original PPC macs.

with a cursory google search, there exists(ed) a chip called the AD724 https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-doc … heets/AD724.pdf it looks very simple, and only requires a few passives. I don't know WHY you need this, unless you wanted a cheap and crappy way to record your computer screen to VHS.

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-12-04, 07:24:

This weird little card - sound + gameport + VGA to composite video - seller's pics. card.jpg ports.jpg card_and_cables.jpg […]
Show full quote

This weird little card - sound + gameport + VGA to composite video - seller's pics.
card.jpg
ports.jpg
card_and_cables.jpg

I don't think it actually needs a driver.
Looks to me like the VGA to RCA will always be active. One end of the cable goes to the video card, one to this weird little card, and the other to a monitor.

Has OPL2 for FM, but I am guessing it also supports Sound Blaster as there are IRQ jumpers and one other jumper.

Having thought about this odd card .. is it possible its a form of capture card that is outputting both Audio and Video to external capture hardware ?

Well it hasn't got the RAM for a single frame capture and if you paused the source it would have to do it with the host CPU bitbanging, and it doesn't have as much as an op amp for a ramp generator for a crude ADC, so max depth of 1 bit per pixel? ... so it's either an extremely crappy capture card.. the kind of thing you'd do for robot vision experiments in 1968... or it's not one.

I guess the main premise of the card was just to play games on your TV, idk what else a FM only card would have been marketed for ^^

I bought this gorgeous Pentium IV era fully transparent acrylic case. Incl. transparent ATX PSU with -5V rail and decent +5V power...

I don't usually work with 2000+ era retro hardware. But this case made me think about doing a Socket 423 build.

However, I have another plan for a very special rare build using the case (more to come).

Wow, that's really beautiful.
What's the brand of the PSU?

EZ COOL ATX-450W JSP

That's an Apevia OEM'd PSU. Recap it (the caps are downright atrocious on these) and it should live another century.