There's more work .. having to partition a 128/256gb SDD into partitions that DOS/Win9x can handle is more work that I will ever devote to a test system.

I can just grab a 5gb CF>IDE shove it in and boom .. working HDD, zero extra effort on my part, no pissing about on a separate PC partitioning a SSD and then formatting it in FAT just to have DOS/9X or the BIOS tell me to take a hike because it doesnt like the SSD/partition sizes or how its formatted. (XTIDE is a god send along with PCI Sata cards)

Yes im lazy, yes I hate having to cater to stupid DOS/Win9x drive limitations no I wont do anything more than required to get things working, now if its a system I intend to keep and use then ill go to the extra effort but it'll be in the form of an IO add on card that can handle large drive sizes so I can just use a 128gb SSD off the shelf.

I love retro computers but there are a few things that I dislike and I am eternally grateful I can avoid them.

Also .. WTH . .thats a lot of spare SSDs 🤣

I also like to use CompactFlash in old machines. It's easier to pop them in and out while testing without the extra wires cluttering things up. They are also convenient when testing BIOS limitations for milestone sizes like 512mb, 8gb, and 32gb; sizes which are too small for SSDs.

This does not come without drawbacks. Many CF cards do not have the "fixed disk" bit set, have problems with 80 conductor cable detection, or refuse to work with some controllers. This is one situation where it is advantageous to have lots of cards from different manufacturers to try if one doesn't work for whatever reason.

There is this TwinMOS 512MB CF I have - it was the cause of some REALLY difficult to diagnose problems with my IBM PS/1 until I replaced it with a real 523MB HDD which cured everything. I thought that was an IBM BIOS quirk so I tried it in a Socket 370 build, where I got a shitton of problems, weird errors and lockups related to disk access. I then decided those may be speed sensitivity related and switched to a Socket 7 board where the issues persisted, so I replaced the adapter and then the CF card, and only then the system decided to work fine. And this was a known good CF card, I have no idea why it went bad and how.

Don't get me wrong, I still prefer them over real HDDs for DOS and OS/2 but they are not perfect either.

I've found that tiny CF cards operating in PIO mode are generally more compatible than the larger ones that use ATA and DMA. But it's true that some cards simply don't work right in computers for whatever reason.

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-02-25, 11:51:

I've found that tiny CF cards operating in PIO mode are generally more compatible than the larger ones that use ATA and DMA. But it's true that some cards simply don't work right in computers for whatever reason.

Previously i been using for a year an adaptor from ide to CF with a 16GB Sandisk CF (up to 50mb) in pio 4 because the controller refuses to work in UDMA 33.

Yesterday i replaced the ide controller in the via mvp3 with a ITE 8212 ATA133 IDE PCI card. I Can format the CF 16GB but not boot from there, while a 512mb CF works without problem

in the end i gave up after 4 o 5hs of testing and used a 80GB IDE Westen Digital drive wich is 2 or 3 times faster in UDMA mode than the CF in PIO 4, that mode eats like 60 or 70% of my K6-2 500Mhz.

The most notable difference was Driver 1, it went from 30 or 40 seconds of loading to less tan 5 seconds

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-25, 09:44:

There's more work .. having to partition a 128/256gb SDD into partitions that DOS/Win9x can handle is more work that I will ever […]
Show full quote

There's more work .. having to partition a 128/256gb SDD into partitions that DOS/Win9x can handle is more work that I will ever devote to a test system.

I can just grab a 5gb CF>IDE shove it in and boom .. working HDD, zero extra effort on my part, no pissing about on a separate PC partitioning a SSD and then formatting it in FAT just to have DOS/9X or the BIOS tell me to take a hike because it doesnt like the SSD/partition sizes or how its formatted. (XTIDE is a god send along with PCI Sata cards)

Yes im lazy, yes I hate having to cater to stupid DOS/Win9x drive limitations no I wont do anything more than required to get things working, now if its a system I intend to keep and use then ill go to the extra effort but it'll be in the form of an IO add on card that can handle large drive sizes so I can just use a 128gb SSD off the shelf.

I love retro computers but there are a few things that I dislike and I am eternally grateful I can avoid them.

Also .. WTH . .thats a lot of spare SSDs 🤣

Made my count. Actually have 28 spare SSD.

Most are Samsung 256GB, 3-5 are 180 or 120GB but the 256GB are better: They can be used with "Seatools for dos" and you can set the capacity seen by the BIOS. This has nothing to do with partitioning, it's really changing the way the Bios will see the drive. I have 1 setup as 32GB for a computer that was not accepting bigger drives.
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/seagate-seatools.html

NyLan wrote on 2022-02-25, 12:44:

Made my count. Actually have 28 spare SSD. […]
Show full quote

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-25, 09:44:

There's more work .. having to partition a 128/256gb SDD into partitions that DOS/Win9x can handle is more work that I will ever […]
Show full quote

There's more work .. having to partition a 128/256gb SDD into partitions that DOS/Win9x can handle is more work that I will ever devote to a test system.

I can just grab a 5gb CF>IDE shove it in and boom .. working HDD, zero extra effort on my part, no pissing about on a separate PC partitioning a SSD and then formatting it in FAT just to have DOS/9X or the BIOS tell me to take a hike because it doesnt like the SSD/partition sizes or how its formatted. (XTIDE is a god send along with PCI Sata cards)

Yes im lazy, yes I hate having to cater to stupid DOS/Win9x drive limitations no I wont do anything more than required to get things working, now if its a system I intend to keep and use then ill go to the extra effort but it'll be in the form of an IO add on card that can handle large drive sizes so I can just use a 128gb SSD off the shelf.

I love retro computers but there are a few things that I dislike and I am eternally grateful I can avoid them.

Also .. WTH . .thats a lot of spare SSDs 🤣

Made my count. Actually have 28 spare SSD.

2022-02-25 12.36.46.jpg

Most are Samsung 256GB, 3-5 are 180 or 120GB but the 256GB are better: They can be used with "Seatools for dos" and you can set the capacity seen by the BIOS. This has nothing to do with partitioning, it's really changing the way the Bios will see the drive. I have 1 setup as 32GB for a computer that was not accepting bigger drives.
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/seagate-seatools.html

If I had that many spare SSDs I likely wouldn't be that worried about using a few 128/256gb ones as 32gb drives but the rest of us likely wont be in such a position.

How did you come by so many spare ones ?

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-25, 12:57:

NyLan wrote on 2022-02-25, 12:44:

Made my count. Actually have 28 spare SSD. […]
Show full quote

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-02-25, 09:44:

There's more work .. having to partition a 128/256gb SDD into partitions that DOS/Win9x can handle is more work that I will ever […]
Show full quote

There's more work .. having to partition a 128/256gb SDD into partitions that DOS/Win9x can handle is more work that I will ever devote to a test system.

I can just grab a 5gb CF>IDE shove it in and boom .. working HDD, zero extra effort on my part, no pissing about on a separate PC partitioning a SSD and then formatting it in FAT just to have DOS/9X or the BIOS tell me to take a hike because it doesnt like the SSD/partition sizes or how its formatted. (XTIDE is a god send along with PCI Sata cards)

Yes im lazy, yes I hate having to cater to stupid DOS/Win9x drive limitations no I wont do anything more than required to get things working, now if its a system I intend to keep and use then ill go to the extra effort but it'll be in the form of an IO add on card that can handle large drive sizes so I can just use a 128gb SSD off the shelf.

I love retro computers but there are a few things that I dislike and I am eternally grateful I can avoid them.

Also .. WTH . .thats a lot of spare SSDs 🤣

Made my count. Actually have 28 spare SSD.

2022-02-25 12.36.46.jpg

Most are Samsung 256GB, 3-5 are 180 or 120GB but the 256GB are better: They can be used with "Seatools for dos" and you can set the capacity seen by the BIOS. This has nothing to do with partitioning, it's really changing the way the Bios will see the drive. I have 1 setup as 32GB for a computer that was not accepting bigger drives.
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/seagate-seatools.html

If I had that many spare SSDs I likely wouldn't be that worried about using a few 128/256gb ones as 32gb drives but the rest of us likely wont be in such a position.

How did you come by so many spare ones ?

They were removed from Laptop computers going to trash, mostly for out of warranty (screen/cases) issues.
This nice tower of SSD gave me the idea to make an avatar for the forum 😀

Nice pickings, but I still don't understand how they are spare and not deployed 4 at a time with SATA RAID cards. 🤣

BitWrangler wrote on 2022-02-25, 14:22:

Nice pickings, but I still don't understand how they are spare and not deployed 4 at a time with SATA RAID cards. 🤣

I like the way you think but 4 at a time is rookie numbers, you can go 16 at a time with a good LSI raid card.

Haha I actually tried to do this with an "old" I7 3770K Shuttle Barebone and SATA RAID Card, but for some reason after few time I got many issue, blue screens, ...

NyLan wrote on 2022-02-25, 15:18:

Haha I actually tried to do this with an "old" I7 3770K Shuttle Barebone and SATA RAID Card, but for some reason after few time I got many issue, blue screens, ...

Oh yasss . .you need the Mack Truck of raid cards, I have a SAS Sata LSI raid card here that can handle 16 sata drives in raid, ..only problem.

I dont yet have 16 1tb Velociraptors, I have 5 1tb raptors and 6 500gb ones so need 11 more 1tb drives or 9 more 500gb ones then I can awaken the T Rex of raid arrays !!! (I snipe the cheap ones on eBay !)

Well perhaps the Velociraptor of raid arrays but it'll sure sound like a T Rex at boot.

I have quite a few LSI RAID cards that support mini SAS breakout cables. I love these things.

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-02-25, 17:09:

I have quite a few LSI RAID cards that support mini SAS breakout cables. I love these things.

They are quite the item to have a few of, I just love the medusa head of mini sas cables 🤣 .. like an electronic pineapple, finding a case to house all the drives is equally as difficult as getting them to all behave with the controller !

Did some more testing on my Portable 286 and the enter key isn't working. Got some foam and foil pads left over from the XT rebuild, so the enter key will get fixed (it's possible there might be something obstructing the pad as well or the pad is entirely done for).

On the plus side, it boots from the user programs diskette.

Finally got around to TopBench-ing my machines - all that's left is the NEC Ready and Tandy 1000A....

Seems the speculation on the Moondog being the fastest 486 was right and follows my Quake observations (Quake runs on it almost perfectly at 320x200), though Creeping Net 486 almost came up even. Also seems my presumptions about the Versa P/75 and M/75 being very close was almost right on was well. Possibly the most glee though was the GEM 286 which equated to a 386 SX-16 machine (!!) because that's exactly how I've been describing that one in the whole 15 years I've had it.

Probably the best was Starbench on CN486 - 🤣 - MAXIMUM - 4096, it just kept going and going....if I put on a loop of white noise it would have been the perfect AMSR thing to sleep to, 🤣.

Now off to ready the "Ready" for it's test by getting through all those pending Win98SE updates, then I'll have to cut a 360K for the Tandy 1000A, probably will use the Compaq for that.

GEM 286
MemoryTest=530
OpcodeTest=207
VidramTest=300
MemEATest=272
3DGameTest=216
Score=32
CPU=Intel 80286
CPUspeed=12 MHz
BIOSinfo=R(C)1985-1989, American Megatrends Inc,.All Rights Reserved.1346 Oakbrook Drive, Suite-120, Norcross, GA-30093. Phone-(404)-263-8181. (04/30/89, rev. 0)
BIOSdate=19890430
BIOSCRC16=F102
VideoSystem=VGA
VideoAdapter=VGA, Tseng ET 4000, DRAM, 1024kb Video Memory
Machine=GEM Computer Products 286 (AT Clone)
Description=1989, Octek Rev. 5.1 Motherboard, Intel 80286/10, IIT 80c287/12, 1.44M/1.2M, SVGA, SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 CT-1600, 3Com EtherLink III
Submitter=CreepingNet

Compaq Deskpro 386s/20 (386 SX mode)
MemoryTest=256
OpcodeTest=179
VidramTest=305
MemEATest=232
3DGameTest=176
Score=50
CPU=Intel 386SX
CPUspeed=20 MHz
BIOSinfo=\CL GE S CAB2/NPBDJCIDQTJHLBHRAKCDMDJW(C)Copyright COMPAQ Computer Corporation 1982,91**** (03/12/91, rev. 0)
BIOSdate=19910312
BIOSCRC16=F29C
VideoSystem=VGA
VideoAdapter=VGA, Compaq AVGA, 512kb Video Memory
Machine=Compaq Deskpro 386s/20
Description=1991, No FPU, 1.44m/1.2m floppy, 212MB HDD, on-board VGA, Soundblaster 16 Value, LinkSys Ethernet
Submitter=CreepingNet

Compaq Deskpro 386s/20 (Blue Lightning, clock x2)
MemoryTest=165
OpcodeTest=145
VidramTest=301
MemEATest=205
3DGameTest=133
Score=103
CPU=IBM 486DLC BLX3
CPUspeed=40 MHz
BIOSinfo=\CL GE S CAB2/NPBDJCIDQTJHLBHRAKCDMDJW(C)Copyright COMPAQ Computer Corporation 1982,91**** (03/12/91, rev. 0)
BIOSdate=19910312
BIOSCRC16=F29C
VideoSystem=VGA
VideoAdapter=VGA, Compaq AVGA, 512kb Video Memory
Machine=Compaq Deskpro 386s/20 (Blue Lightning Clkx2)
Description=1991, 1.44M/1.2M, VGA, Ethernet, SoundBlaster 16 Value, upgraded with Evergreen Technologies "RevTo486" Upgrade Chip (IBM "Blue Lightning" 486DLC BLX3 - driver allows adjusting clock-speed of the chip in CONFIG.SYS)
Submitter=CreepingNet

NEC Versa 40EC
MemoryTest=164
OpcodeTest=87
VidramTest=237
MemEATest=129
3DGameTest=61
Score=103
CPU=Intel i486DX2 SL
CPUspeed=40 MHz
BIOSinfo=Copyright (C) 1985-1992 Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (04/19/90, rev. 0)
BIOSdate=19900419
BIOSCRC16=0437
VideoSystem=VGA
VideoAdapter=Western Digital WD90C24 1MB SVGA VESA
Machine=NEC Versa 40EC
Description=Laptop, Built March 1994, 20MB RAM, 80GB HDD, 640x480 9.4" Active Matrix LCD
Submitter=CreepingNet

Compaq Deskpro 386s/20 (Blue Lightning, Clock Tripled Mode)
MemoryTest=150
OpcodeTest=144
VidramTest=300
MemEATest=204
3DGameTest=132
Score=114
CPU=IBM 486DLC BLX3
CPUspeed=60 MHz
BIOSinfo=\CL GE S CAB2/NPBDJCIDQTJHLBHRAKCDMDJW(C)Copyright COMPAQ Computer Corporation 1982,91**** (03/12/91, rev. 0)
BIOSdate=19910312
BIOSCRC16=F29C
VideoSystem=VGA
VideoAdapter=VGA, Compaq AVGA, 512kb Video Memory
Machine=Compaq Deskpro 386s/20 (Blue Lightning CLKx3)
Description=1991, 1.44M/1.2M, on-board VGA, no FPU, SoundBlaster 16 Value, Linksys Ethernet, Evergreen Technologies "RevTo486" Upgrade Chip in Clock-Tripled Mode - settable via driver in CONFIG.SYS)
Submitter=CreepingNet

NEC Versa V/50C
MemoryTest=118
OpcodeTest=75
VidramTest=187
MemEATest=109
3DGameTest=53
Score=138
CPU=Intel i486DX2 SL
CPUspeed=50 MHz
BIOSinfo=Copyright (C) 1985-1994 Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (04/19/90, rev. 0)
BIOSdate=19900419
BIOSCRC16=97DC
VideoSystem=VGA
VideoAdapter=Western Digital WD90C24 1MB SVGA, VESA
Machine=NEC Versa V/50C
Description=Laptop, Built March 1995, 20MB RAM, 60GB HDD, 640x480 Active Matrix 9.4" Display
Submitter=CreepingNet

NEC Versa M/75HCP
MemoryTest=91
OpcodeTest=44
VidramTest=140
MemEATest=68
3DGameTest=30
Score=162
CPU=Intel i486DX4
CPUspeed=75 MHz
BIOSinfo=Copyright (C) 1985-1994 Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (04/19/90, rev. 0)
BIOSdate=19900419
BIOSCRC16=CAE2
VideoSystem=VGA
VideoAdapter=Chips & Technologies 65545 1MB SVGA, VESA
Machine=NEC Versa M/75HCP
Description=M/75 Franken-Laptop - 40MB RAM, 80GB HDD, 800x600 9.4" Active Matrix Display with 3M MicroTouch Capacitive Touch Screen
Submitter=CreepingNet

NEC Versa P/75
MemoryTest=62
OpcodeTest=18
VidramTest=151
MemEATest=11
3DGameTest=15
Score=222
CPU=Intel Pentium
CPUspeed=200 MHz
BIOSinfo=Copyright (C) 1985-1994 Phoenix Technologies Ltd. (04/19/90, rev. 0)
BIOSdate=19900419
BIOSCRC16=B7E6
VideoSystem=VGA
VideoAdapter=Chips & Technologies 65545 1MB SVGA, VESA
Machine=NEC Versa P/75HC
Description=Laptop, Built Jan 1995, 40MB RAM, 80GB HDD, 800x600 9.4" Active Matrix LCD
Submitter=CreepingNet

Creeping Net 486
MemoryTest=69
OpcodeTest=31
VidramTest=94
MemEATest=42
3DGameTest=25
Score=231
CPU=AMD Enhanced Am486DX4
CPUspeed=100 MHz
BIOSinfo=,d Software Inc. Awar,Copyright (C) 1984-94, Award Software, Inc. (10/17/95, rev. 0)
BIOSdate=19951017
BIOSCRC16=DFDF
VideoSystem=VGA
VideoAdapter=S3 805, 2MB, SVGA, VESA
Machine=Creeping Net 486
Description=FIC 486-PVT Motherboard (Socket 3), 512K L2 Cache, 64MB RAM (FP), Mobile Rack, SB AWE64, LinkSys Ethernet
Submitter=CreepingNet

Moondog 486 DX4-100 Tower
MemoryTest=61
OpcodeTest=30
VidramTest=95
MemEATest=35
3DGameTest=24
Score=235
CPU=AMD Am486DX4 SV8T
CPUspeed=100 MHz
BIOSinfo=(C)1985-1994,American Megatrends Inc.,All Rights Reserved,6145F Northbelt Parkway,GA-30071,USA.(404)-263-8181. (07/25/94, rev. 0)
BIOSdate=19940725
BIOSCRC16=B38F
VideoSystem=VGA
VideoAdapter=VGA, Cirrus CL-GD, Cirrus CL-GD54xx, VESA, 1MB Video RAM
Machine=Moondog Computers 486 (AT Clone)
Description=Built 1993, Rebuilt 2021. PC Chips M912 Socket 3 Motherboard with working Cache, Baby AT Tower Case, 1.44M Floppy, 80GB ATA-133 HDD, 52x Creative CD-ROM, VLB Graphics, SoundBlaster Vibra 16, SMC 8416 Ethernet,
Submitter=CreepingNet

I've been gathering the old pro and enthusiast XG MIDI files to see just how awesome the S-YXG can sound. I also went looking into the XG soundcards and discovered something that I never knew existed, a low-profile SFF design that was previously unknown to me (and likely everyone else here, for the most part) because it wasn't based on the commonly used reference designs used by those companies that were known to sell XG-chip equipped cards. From the look of things, this particular model of card was not sold worldwide - it seems to have been made by a non-identifiable Asian company for the Asian market during the XP desktop boom and it likely sold in Europe as well - and it curiously uses a full-size bracket instead of the low-profile one commonly used for low-profile cards. I also found a SW1000XG going on eBay for several hundred dollars, but it has no add-in boards packaged with it.

Backed up some system/driver and backup cds for time computers to archive.org. Looking for ver 8 so that i can finally get the wallpaper

Cracked open the keyboard last night and the foam and foil pad for the enter key is totally done for and I have to fix the enter key since the plastic bits that hold the key into the plungers broke off (got some putty that'll set after a few minutes).

Going to order another set of foam and foil pads to play it safe since the rest aren't too far behind, but the keys still work fine.

Nothing of what I wanted.
I prepared a board for a partial recap and I put everything back as I had a bad surprise to solve.

A laptop I have stopped reading correctly a SSD (Bios can see it, but no I/O) but all the other PCs I have can and no issue there. .
Fix: new SSD and duplication od old disk on new. Sometimes life is a boring nothing. Took a couple of hours and my time slot was gone.
Can't come up with a guess why.