VOGONS


Reply 9860 of 27168, by Merovign

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Just testin' some memory, like ya do.

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Also testing 3 motherboards that have sat and thought for a spell, that's one of them. Seriously the next time I look up the board specs I need to save them all in one place.

*Too* *many* *things*!

Reply 9861 of 27168, by shamino

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Tried some CPU upgrades on a slot-2 HP workstation. Original CPUs were P2 Xeon 450MHz 512KB. As expected, it had no problem with 2x P3 Xeon 550MHz 512KB, and the BIOS correctly identifies them.
The real question was what it would do with "Cascades" core 700MHz 2MB Xeons. It's a little weird.
The 700MHz CPU modules call for 2.8V and have an onboard voltage regulator to produce the voltage(s) that the CPU actually requires. I would assume this was for backward compatibility with older motherboards, and maybe to reduce the current draw. Besides, slot-2 is huge and with the cache now in the CPU and no longer discrete, they had a ton of wasted space in there, and the CPUs were stupid expensive anyway, so I think somebody at Intel just said "What the hell, let's throw a VRM in there."

Anyway, I would have thought these "Cascades" CPUs would work with the existing motherboard VRMs (which are socketed and replaceable). But nope, it only booted after I replaced the corresponding VRM with a Coppermine-era VRM. Not sure why it needs that just to get 2.8V.
I'm still getting a scary red warning light because of the L2 Cache VRM, but I don't think that VRM is actually being used anymore. It boots and runs fine despite the warning light.

The HP BIOS reports the new CPU as a "Pentium Pro 700MHz". Close enough. I benched UT99 real quick and it's almost twice as fast as the Xeon 450MHz.

I can only install one CPU because of the VRM issue. I have more Coppermine VRMs, but the problem is that they're too bulky and the VRM sockets on the motherboard are too close together. I can only install one of them due to fitment. Checked eBay, but I guess people aren't drowning in VRMs anymore because they seem to actually want money for them now. And those that I found are too bulky anyway, just like the ones I already have.
I think I can "shorten" one of the VRMs I have to make it fit, so I'll attempt that.

Reply 9862 of 27168, by stoof

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luckybob wrote:

Pentium pro chips? no pics?

I did not have the foresight to take photos at the time, but the IBMs looked something like this:

8640-pb0.jpg
They are so damn cool. I'm really tempted to pick one up for myself, but it's just too hard to justify the space they take up...

Reply 9863 of 27168, by blurks

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stoof wrote:
I did not have the foresight to take photos at the time, but the IBMs looked something like this: […]
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luckybob wrote:

Pentium pro chips? no pics?

I did not have the foresight to take photos at the time, but the IBMs looked something like this:

http://mastodonpc.tripod.com/personal/images/8640-pb0.jpg
They are so damn cool. I'm really tempted to pick one up for myself, but it's just too hard to justify the space they take up...

Sweet! There was an IBM PC Server 310 (8639-0E0) in new condition with box and complete accessories on eBay Germany which sold last week. Was around 370 USD. Crazy how they went up in value, but admittedly: they are pretty cool systems. I especially dig the monolithic appearance.

Reply 9865 of 27168, by Skyscraper

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I found this handy instruction telling us what we shouldn't do with a CRT monitor.

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New PC: i9 12900K @5GHz all cores @1.2v. MSI PRO Z690-A. 32GB DDR4 3600 CL14. 3070Ti.
Old PC: Dual Xeon X5690@4.6GHz, EVGA SR-2, 48GB DDR3R@2000MHz, Intel X25-M. GTX 980ti.
Older PC: K6-3+ 400@600MHz, PC-Chips M577, 256MB SDRAM, AWE64, Voodoo Banshee.

Reply 9866 of 27168, by Deksor

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Jed118 wrote:
With something REAAAALY COOL INSIDE! […]
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With something REAAAALY COOL INSIDE!

IiNMtNEl.jpg

I'm keeping this page for SURE!

Please, scan this ! I want that AMD 486 sticker !! 😲 🤣

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 9867 of 27168, by appiah4

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Deksor wrote:
Jed118 wrote:
With something REAAAALY COOL INSIDE! […]
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With something REAAAALY COOL INSIDE!

IiNMtNEl.jpg

I'm keeping this page for SURE!

Please, scan this ! I want that AMD 486 sticker !! 😲 🤣

This, please high quality scans of the stickers!

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 9868 of 27168, by liqmat

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Went by an estate sale store in my local area. Picked up a stack of CDs. As usual, I am a sucker for old demo disks and weird shareware releases. Found an Amiga CD chock full of music mod files which I am very pleased with. Love mod files, brings a flood of memories of the Amiga amazing me in the mid 80s. Also found some motherboard driver CDs, some good classic games and I really like the PC Power DOS demo CDs. Never have seen those before or I just don't remember them from back in the day. The best part is the "Super Games" CD (second photo down). If you look at the bottom right corner of the CD cover it says "Dr. Ruth's Video Sex Tips". Nothing like a bunch of PC game demos and after you're done you can get some sex tips. What a really brillaint idea! Right? Errr... maybe not. 🤣

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Reply 9869 of 27168, by bjwil1991

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luckybob wrote:
if you have to ask, the answer generally is no. It looks like a gutless wonder. […]
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bjwil1991 wrote:

Has anyone heard of Codegen before, and is it any good?

if you have to ask, the answer generally is no. It looks like a gutless wonder.

probably one of these:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDR … =Story&reid=123

Ah. Good to know.

Here're pics of the internal:

gf1n6qrl.jpg

RyumnqCl.jpg

Doesn't look that promising, but, surprisingly, no blown caps and the fuse is still good.

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Reply 9871 of 27168, by Merovign

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Welp. I don't know if anyone needs to know this, and I didn't do extensive testing, but a PCI *Mac* Matrox Millenium works on a 486 PC.

Edit: It is *possible* that someone stuck a non-Mac Millenium in a Mac, I have been looking this up online and it seems Milleniums all had low-density 15-pin connectors, and there were about 100 versions of this board, so I can't confirm that it's "really" a Mac card.

So I may have got a PC Millenium in a Mac chassis.

Last edited by Merovign on 2018-09-20, 01:36. Edited 1 time in total.

*Too* *many* *things*!

Reply 9872 of 27168, by luckybob

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yea, that power supply should just be scrapped. That is a prime example of a crap supply that is just a time bomb, ready to blow and take out all that old hardware with it.

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

Reply 9873 of 27168, by Jed118

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appiah4 wrote:
Deksor wrote:
Jed118 wrote:
With something REAAAALY COOL INSIDE! […]
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With something REAAAALY COOL INSIDE!

IiNMtNEl.jpg

I'm keeping this page for SURE!

Please, scan this ! I want that AMD 486 sticker !! 😲 🤣

This, please high quality scans of the stickers!

It is done.

https://imgur.com/a/StjMjtz

There are three scans, one at 300 DPI, one at 600 (that one somehow got a full page scan), and an 800 DPI version.

If these are insufficient quality, let me know, I have a newer scanner at work.

Youtube channel- The Kombinator
What's for sale? my eBay!

Reply 9874 of 27168, by bjwil1991

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I looked inside my Sony Minidisc MDS-JE440 and I don't know if these units used a CMOS battery.

bF84hRCl.jpg

I checked the voltage and it's 0.13V (of 3V I presume).

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Reply 9875 of 27168, by luckybob

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Well, the top will tell you definitely. button batteries are typically labeled with 4 numbers, you can read all about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Button_cell

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

Reply 9876 of 27168, by Cobra42898

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"do not use or store inflammable substances near the monitor."

If a substance is flammable, it could burn (flame). Why would I worry about an inflammable one? If it's inflammable, what's the problem?

Searching for Epson Actiontower 3000 486 PC.

Reply 9877 of 27168, by derSammler

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Cobra42898 wrote:

"do not use or store inflammable substances near the monitor."

If a substance is flammable, it could burn (flame). Why would I worry about an inflammable one? If it's inflammable, what's the problem?

"inflammable" means that it can catch fire easily. It's not the negative form of "flammable" but a synonym for it.

Reply 9878 of 27168, by dionb

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bjwil1991 wrote:
Ah. Good to know. […]
Show full quote
luckybob wrote:
if you have to ask, the answer generally is no. It looks like a gutless wonder. […]
Show full quote
bjwil1991 wrote:

Has anyone heard of Codegen before, and is it any good?

if you have to ask, the answer generally is no. It looks like a gutless wonder.

probably one of these:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDR … =Story&reid=123

Ah. Good to know.

Here're pics of the internal:

Doesn't look that promising, but, surprisingly, no blown caps and the fuse is still good.

Codegen's pretty notorious over here in EU. So light they're not even useful as a paperweight. I'd scrap or use it for soldering practice...

Last edited by dionb on 2018-09-20, 14:33. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 9879 of 27168, by bjwil1991

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I might as well find the -5VDC, follow the traces, and solder the wiring to a 250W PSU or something to have the -5VDC for older systems.

Discord: https://discord.gg/U5dJw7x
Systems from the Compaq Portable 1 to Ryzen 9 5950X
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