kiwa wrote:

Haha yeah, they run nice, but i can't get audio yet (if possible) in DOS, crappy AC97 stuff.

Any PC104 board with the original PC104 header is compliant with the ISA bus. All you need is a passive backplane and a ribbon cable. These are off the shelf items.

gdjacobs wrote:

kiwa wrote:

Haha yeah, they run nice, but i can't get audio yet (if possible) in DOS, crappy AC97 stuff.

Any PC104 board with the original PC104 header is compliant with the ISA bus. All you need is a passive backplane and a ribbon cable. These are off the shelf items.

I know, i have the parts already to make an adapter, just not time yet to do that, its also something i want to use in my 386 pc104.

Excellent. I'm really interested in how well the Vortex86 performs (including how flexible it is). It's one of the few options for a new build retro machine.

Finished my ATX Socket 7 build..

Cleaning my basement. Taking all my stored computers out back and blowing them out with a compressor. Same with all my consoles and all the other electronics I have down here. Also, organizing all my parts in the process including cables. Putting all the like cables ins ziplock backs so they don't keep getting tangled. Underestimated how many Gallon Ziplock backs I would need for all my IDE cables. (The answer is 5). Once I finally get organized I am hoping to finally circle back and complete a bunch of the projects that have been gathering dust. Including Finishing my new Ryzen build, and about half a dozen retro builds I bought the stuff for but never started.

Got the HP Pavilion N3350 today, but the DVD drive isn't working, but in DOS, it detects the drive without issues. Could it be the laser is bad?

bjwil1991 wrote:

Got the HP Pavilion N3350 today, but the DVD drive isn't working, but in DOS, it detects the drive without issues. Could it be the laser is bad?

Which driver are you using? I've had drives detected but unusable. I know it's a bit large in memory, but I usually just go with the one off the 98 boot disk.

xplus93 wrote:

bjwil1991 wrote:

Got the HP Pavilion N3350 today, but the DVD drive isn't working, but in DOS, it detects the drive without issues. Could it be the laser is bad?

Which driver are you using? I've had drives detected but unusable. I know it's a bit large in memory, but I usually just go with the one off the 98 boot disk.

XCDROM and SHSUCDX are the drivers I'm using (my Packard Bell doesn't mind the drivers), and when I type in DIR D: in the command prompt, I'm greeted with this error:

1General failure reading drive D
2Retry, Fail, Abort?

bjwil1991 wrote:

XCDROM and SHSUCDX are the drivers I'm using (my Packard Bell doesn't mind the drivers), and when I type in DIR D: in the comman […]
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xplus93 wrote:

bjwil1991 wrote:

Got the HP Pavilion N3350 today, but the DVD drive isn't working, but in DOS, it detects the drive without issues. Could it be the laser is bad?

Which driver are you using? I've had drives detected but unusable. I know it's a bit large in memory, but I usually just go with the one off the 98 boot disk.

XCDROM and SHSUCDX are the drivers I'm using (my Packard Bell doesn't mind the drivers), and when I type in DIR D: in the command prompt, I'm greeted with this error:

Copy code to clipboard

1General failure reading drive D
2Retry, Fail, Abort?

Are you getting any mechanical indication of the drive attempting to read the disk? If you get an instant error returned then it's most likely a driver or configuration issue. If you hear it trying to focus lock clean the lens and lube the rails.

xplus93 wrote:

Are you getting any mechanical indication of the drive attempting to read the disk? If you get an instant error returned then it's most likely a driver or configuration issue. If you hear it trying to focus lock clean the lens and lube the rails.

It is attempting to read the disk when the laser is about 1cm away from the spindle, but the drive spins up, then down, and the head does move. I tried cleaning the lens, and the rails are a PITA to get to. And what should I use to lubricate the rails?

bjwil1991 wrote:

xplus93 wrote:

Are you getting any mechanical indication of the drive attempting to read the disk? If you get an instant error returned then it's most likely a driver or configuration issue. If you hear it trying to focus lock clean the lens and lube the rails.

It is attempting to read the disk when the laser is about 1cm away from the spindle, but the drive spins up, then down, and the head does move. I tried cleaning the lens, and the rails are a PITA to get to. And what should I use to lubricate the rails?

Depending on the type lithium grease or sewing machine oil, or in rare cases they are meant to be unlubricated and you just need to clean off the dust. That's usually very high end audio transports though. If the old stuff looks thick and paste like then use lithium grease, if not then use a small amount of sewing machine oil. Using a wooden toothpick to apply it helps make sure you dont use too much.

Also when cleaning the lens, generous amounts of high percentage rubbing alcohol work best because you can dissolve the dirt in it and it gets absorbed by the q-tip and the remainder evaporates away from the lens instead of having to wipe it dry and leave smudges.

Not really retro, but today I slapped a spare gtx 550 into that Athlon iix4 HP I picked up a week back, added in an el-cheapo modern "x-power" 430 watt psu that is full of Fuhjyuu's that was a freebie to replace the stock 300watt. Next up is to install W10 onto a 320gb drive and il be selling it to a friend for $50 for a nice little system to play some undemanding games on.

@xplus93, years ago I knew someone who attempted to clean the lens on his cd rom drive and the alcohol he used partially melted the lens. I guess some lenses are made with plastic so... Probably a good idea to keep that in mind.

orinoko wrote:

@xplus93, years ago I knew someone who attempted to clean the lens on his cd rom drive and the alcohol he used partially melted the lens. I guess some lenses are made with plastic so... Probably a good idea to keep that in mind.

That's so strange, I wonder what kind of alcohol he used? Rubbing alcohol is 99.99% safe for use with all electronics and plastics..

brostenen wrote:

Well.... My mission is done. I did my last build today, and now I have a collection of machines, wich display the evolution of the PC from the mid 80's to around 2000/2001.

This is amazing. Now all you need to do is WRITE ABOUT IT IN YOUR SUPPOSED BLOG!!! 😉

appiah4 wrote:

orinoko wrote:

@xplus93, years ago I knew someone who attempted to clean the lens on his cd rom drive and the alcohol he used partially melted the lens. I guess some lenses are made with plastic so... Probably a good idea to keep that in mind.

That's so strange, I wonder what kind of alcohol he used? Rubbing alcohol is 99.99% safe for use with all electronics and plastics..

Yes I agree, it does seem strange. Then again he might have been using a very cheap drive. Who knows? I certainly have used rubbing alcohol to clean electronics many times. Still, I figured I mention it anyway haha

orinoko wrote:

appiah4 wrote:

orinoko wrote:

@xplus93, years ago I knew someone who attempted to clean the lens on his cd rom drive and the alcohol he used partially melted the lens. I guess some lenses are made with plastic so... Probably a good idea to keep that in mind.

That's so strange, I wonder what kind of alcohol he used? Rubbing alcohol is 99.99% safe for use with all electronics and plastics..

Yes I agree, it does seem strange. Then again he might have been using a very cheap drive. Who knows? I certainly have used rubbing alcohol to clean electronics many times. Still, I figured I mention it anyway haha

It's possible he used denatured alcohol instead of rubbing/isopropyl alcohol.

Hmm... That doesn't make much sence to me. IPA is polar solvent so it can't harm plastics whatsoever.

On wiki:
Examples of this application include cleaning electronic devices such as contact pins (like those on ROM cartridges), magnetic tape and disk heads (such as those in audio and video tape recorders and floppy disk drives), the lenses of lasers in optical disc drives (e.g., CD, DVD) and removing thermal paste from heatsinks and IC packages (such as CPUs).

Maybe he used acetone?

krivulak wrote:

Hmm... That doesn't make much sence to me. IPA is polar solvent so it can't harm plastics whatsoever. […]
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Hmm... That doesn't make much sence to me. IPA is polar solvent so it can't harm plastics whatsoever.

On wiki:
Examples of this application include cleaning electronic devices such as contact pins (like those on ROM cartridges), magnetic tape and disk heads (such as those in audio and video tape recorders and floppy disk drives), the lenses of lasers in optical disc drives (e.g., CD, DVD) and removing thermal paste from heatsinks and IC packages (such as CPUs).

Maybe he used acetone?

I would hope that nobody would be that stupid, but i've done some pretty stupid things myself.

Example of my most recent stupidity. I for some reason though my PII-450 could use new thermal paste.

Our IBM Music Feature Card/Yamaha FB-01 research team has been analyzing and debugging the LSL3 drivers and differences between IMFC and FB-01 at the MIDI SysEx level...
And I think I have found a solution to use a Yamaha FB-01 for emulating an IMFC from DOSBox. I will implement that shortly.
After that, a MUNT-like FB-01 software emulator should make IMFC emulation available to a wider audience.