My COM1 port died yesterday! 😢
It started all two days ago, when the mouse cursor begun to stutter and occasionally freeze, but then it worked again. Yesterday, the port stopped working for good: even though it's properly recognized by Windows, anything you connect (and I only have serial mice) won't be detected. The same issue happens in Linux so it's definitely an hardware issue, most likely a bad port. I have disabled it and I'm using the mouse on the COM2 port, after reprogramming it in BIOS to use the IRQ from the dead port.
Also, a little disaster: I have taken out the spare motherboard for my Pentium 3 in case the MSI dies, a QDI Advance 10T. Unfortunately, when I was moving the old case back to storage, I accidentally hit the motherboard and dropped on the floor face down, shattering the heatsink fan.
After an inspection, there's no visible damage on the motherboard, except for the heatsink fan that must be trashed. 😢
I hope the motherboard works, it's the only other Pentium 3 motherboard I have, and I don't want to upgrade to a Pentium 4 for my retro daily driver.
On a more light hearted tone, I'm trying the VIA 4-in-1 drivers v4.43. Compared to the newer versions I found on the MSI website, the system is way more fast and snappy with this version, plus I can use the same drivers on the Advance, since it uses the same chipset, except for the native Tualatin support. Nice.
My Retro Daily Driver: Pentium !!!-S 1.7GHz | 3GB PC166 ECC SDRAM | Geforce 6800 Ultra 256MB | 128GB Lite-On SSD + 500GB WD Blue SSD | ESS Allegro PCI | Windows XP Professional SP3