A couple of months ago, I got the idea to try to install Windows 3.0 within the OS/2 1.3 DOS environment on my Pentium 4 Retro Rocket from watching a NCommander video on Youtube. Unfortunately, Windows 3.0's setup program gave me out of memory error messages. In fact, every DOS program I tried within OS/2 gave me low memory errors even though they all worked before. I spent several days troubleshooting to try to figure out what I might have done to change OS/2 to make it behave this way. TCP/IP stopped working as well, but I thought that was an unrelated issue. I ultimately gave up to focus on other projects.

Yesterday, I decided to perform a clean install of OS/2 1.3 on the Pentium 4 and try to install Windows 3.0 again. I installed OS/2 1.3 in VirtualBox first to make sure it would work with Windows 3.0 in the DOS session, which did install properly. The DOS session after the fresh OS installation on real hardware still gave me the same memory errors, though. I was stumped again.

I figured the issue must be in the hardware. After checking to make sure I had all of the expansion cards seated on the motherboard properly, I started going through the BIOS settings. That's when it hit me. I had the system memory configured for "Non-OS2" instead of "OS2" in the "OS Select for DRAM > 64MB" setting. I know that OS/2 uses a different method to address memory above 16MB and again above 64MB, but I never thought this BIOS setting would affect OS/2 1.x given its 16MB limit for memory access. But, sure enough, the OS/2 DOS session started working properly as soon as I changed that BIOS setting back to "OS2". It also looks like this issue affected my TCP/IP sessions as well.

On a positive note, Windows 3.0 in the DOS session can use the built-in 8514/A driver compatible with my Retro Rocket's Mach32 video card (an ATI Graphics Ultra Pro PCI). 1024x768, 256 color mode makes this effort a little more interesting. I just wish Windows 3.0 didn't have to operate in "Real Mode" within OS/2 1.3's DOS session. There's not a lot of Windows 3.0 software that works in "Real Mode". Here are a couple of screen pictures.

80386SX wrote on 2023-06-13, 20:14:

Convert SIMM RAM to SIPP.
What better way to relax, than doing small welds 😀

Very nice. I recently installed 4MB of SIPP in my 286, I just happen to come across it for not too expensive a while back. What is you intended use? Never considered soldering pins to 30 pin SIMMs but I did think about doing/using the 30 pin ram slot conversion.

Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

I recently got a ZD-8925 desoldering station. It's among the cheaper ones, but still has fairly decent reviews. So I got to the task of replacing a damaged through-hole electrolytic capacitor on one of the motherboards that I recently acquired. Maybe it's just my lack of experience, but this was way harder than I thought it would be.

Desoldering one of the capacitor legs was easy, and it only took a single attempt. But the other one didn't want to come out for quite a while. I think it may have been connected to the ground plane, which can make desoldering more difficult, or so I heard. Anyway, during several attempts, the desoldering gun would suck the solder that was on the surface of the PCB, but not the remainder inside the hole. I had to add fresh solder blobs several times until I was able to remove everything. After finally getting it done, I was extremely pleased, but this took a lot of effort. Got a known good capacitor soldered in place of the damaged one, and the board once again works perfectly. 😀

I had the same experience as you, what worked quite well for me is to put the desoldering gun tip on the capacitor leg and move it in "circles" around the leg while it melts the solder and before sucking it. This way it breaks the bond between the leg and the PCB more effectively. A trick I saw in a necroware video...

Minutemanqvs wrote on 2023-06-14, 07:09:

I had the same experience as you, what worked quite well for me is to put the desoldering gun tip on the capacitor leg and move it in "circles" around the leg while it melts the solder and before sucking it. This way it breaks the bond between the leg and the PCB more effectively. A trick I saw in a necroware video...

Yeah, that's what I ended up doing as well. His videos are what inspired me get more into soldering in the first place. 😁

It's certainly a very useful skill when dealing with retro hardware.

I spent way too much time today trying to figure out why a Powerbook G3 is so unhappy with installing an OS from CD, and finally ended up figuring out that it simply doesn't like reading from a CD and writing to an SSD . the SSD can talk to its self without issue, though. I also ended up thinking for a bit while bored, and now I genuinely want to know just how many CPU architectures Itanuim killed off.

I tested 3 IDE hard drives yesterday:

Maxtor 7080AT 80MB: Had a clean MS-DOS 5.0 install, formatted fine, surface scan clean
Seagate ST3145A 130MB: Had an NTFS partition of all things! Formatted fine, surface scan clean
Quantum LPS210 210MB: Had a Windows 95 install, formatted fine, surface scan clean

Super happy that these workhorses are still ticking! the 80MB or 130MB one will go into my 286 build. I haven't decided which yet.

Finally made progress on a long term project that I haven’t touched in forever - installed MS-DOS 7.1 and Windows 3.11 on my 486 build! When I say 486, I mean PODP5V on a 486-intended motherboard. I’ve even managed to crank the fsb up to 40mhz, so the CPU runs at 100mhz, and my two VLB cards _seem_ to be fine, even with 0 wait states. Then again, not sure how I’d know if they were functioning incorrectly, but…so far so good? 😜 Now if only I could get that darn mouse to work…

appiah4 wrote on 2023-06-14, 07:49:

I tested 3 IDE hard drives yesterday: […]
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I tested 3 IDE hard drives yesterday:

Maxtor 7080AT 80MB: Had a clean MS-DOS 5.0 install, formatted fine, surface scan clean
Seagate ST3145A 130MB: Had an NTFS partition of all things! Formatted fine, surface scan clean
Quantum LPS210 210MB: Had a Windows 95 install, formatted fine, surface scan clean

Super happy that these workhorses are still ticking! the 80MB or 130MB one will go into my 286 build. I haven't decided which yet.

at least you have such old things . most trow them away(big mistake , much higher chanse of use/repair old drive than thise 2005+ one's)

I straightened some pins on this DX2, using a mechanical pencil. That works, but only one 'succesful' post on the Presario 433... I think there is still work to be done on the pins. Maybe cleaning them will do the trick. Any advice how to clean them?

Also replaced the Lithium coin cell battery with a CR2032 holder.

Yesterday bought couple of 486 processors, one with metal clipped on heatsink which I prefers over anything that uses plastic. I speak from experience. And other one is a 486DX4 overdrive (with heatsink included but need to be reattached or make clip. Don't ask me why what happened!

Cheers,

I did a scavanger hunt of a few sueboxes I had on my shelf and looky what turned up (I totally forgot I had) all this , some ram and 2x Ti4600's also...(my mind is blown I totaly forgot I got those in my vintage GPU broken collection).

PD2JK - I usually clean the pins with alcohol or contact cleaner and a toothbrush , you can also use a wide butter knife or toothpick to str8gthen the bent pins.

ediflorianUS wrote on 2023-06-16, 15:05:

PD2JK - I usually clean the pins with alcohol or contact cleaner and a toothbrush , you can also use a wide butter knife or toothpick to str8gthen the bent pins.

Thanks for the advice, appreciate it. I'll go with the toothbrush and contact cleaner, then alcohol, and make sure every pin is 100% 'unbend' 😁

Installed Windows XP updates over ~780mbps wireless (TPLink Archer T4U v3.😎 and using legacyupdate.net. Got ublock origin v1.46 installed into Mypal 68.

Fired up my KR8010 just to test it, works fine. Tested some old MSmouse systems AT/ps2 kb and works ok. Nothing new so just move along 🤣...

My customer has got a CNC machine connected to a PC running XP (P4 era) that can't upgrade to a newer Windows. The PC didn't boot. I've found bulging caps on the MB (a P4 Foxconn) and in the ATX power supply. I've replaced them with a spare ASUS P4PE2-x and a new power supply. Installed and activated XP. Installed drivers for CNC machine. Fixed.

alarchy wrote on 2023-06-17, 00:33:

Installed Windows XP updates over ~780mbps wireless (TPLink Archer T4U v3.😎 and using legacyupdate.net. Got ublock origin v1.46 installed into Mypal 68.

I've got to give this a go sometime, it seems a shame that it doesn't support Windows 98 even if it does appear to have the files available. Right now all I install on fresh installs is the security updates CD from 2004.

Lately I've been doing not-retro things with retro things. For instance all that playing about with parallel LCDs that I've been doing lately, on Advantech industrial boards. I've now discovered that those same LCDs can be run very easily with a Raspberry Pi from its GPIO pins, even a Pi Zero. This thing looks like a hacky mess, but it works properly and I didn't have to wait to get a replacement PCB 😀

This should be nice to have for testing out LCDs in future. It's much easier to change settings for it than the VGA BIOS editing required for CHIPS LCD controllers.

I also found that an old PC Review CD-ROM coverdisc I kept which doesn't appear to be uploaded anywhere so I thought I'd archive it. There was a huge scratch on the bottom and even after polishing it's impossible to get a complete image, so I ripped the files I could and patched together the full image again. Learnt a fair bit about how to use PowerShell to set all the file created/modified times to match the original CD's times, since copying them across set the created times to current day instead of 1994. Now I can upload this and it's safe from further disc-rot 😀

Another one from me sorry, but I think this is worth sharing. I have 2x AST Bravo NB laptops - a mono one and a colour DSTN one. The AST Bravo NB is rare to see these days, afaik it's a Quanta laptop rebranded and you can find a Dell version of it too. This one's not mine but it looks the same: https://wiki.preterhuman.net/AST_Bravo_NB_4/25s
The DSTN one is nearly perfect now but it couldn't detect a PS/2 mouse at all for some reason. The built-in trackball is quite awful to use so it's not been much fun to actually use.
Yeah I could use a serial mouse, but PS/2 mice require less steps and I can use an optical mouse easily. I found that the outer pins on the PS/2 socket (5v and GND) were showing ~0.1v instead of 5v between the two pins.

Taking it apart, my first task was to rebuild a load of broken plastic that held the left hinge in place. Initially I tried gluing the bits plastic from that screwhole back together but then they broke in a new way. So I used a steel washer to make the screwhole's 'base' and crafted some black mouldable plastic that melts in hot water to rebuild it:

It's stronger now at least, the hinges feel a little less floppy.

Going deeper in, this connector with 6 pins runs the keyboard and mouse PS/2 ports - why is the black wire 5v and the red wire Ground?? Lots of bodge wires too

Took the motherboard out and followed the circuit around - the 5v trace goes into L37 which goes to 5v. Which no longer has any connectivity, it was that little blue block down by the PS/2 ports.

That's an inductor which is apparently rated for like 250ma so I can see why it broke running an external mouse / keyboard. I have some 500ma polyfuses left over from my HardMPU builds so the 5v can run across that instead - maybe that inductor was the fuse? Don't think polyfuses existed back in 1993, but it has a fuse now.
Put it all back together and now it detects my optical mouse, much nicer to use.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2023-06-17, 19:47:

I also found that an old PC Review CD-ROM coverdisc I kept which doesn't appear to be uploaded anywhere so I thought I'd archive it. There was a huge scratch on the bottom and even after polishing it's impossible to get a complete image, so I ripped the files I could and patched together the full image again. Learnt a fair bit about how to use PowerShell to set all the file created/modified times to match the original CD's times, since copying them across set the created times to current day instead of 1994. Now I can upload this and it's safe from further disc-rot 😀
PC-Review-Nov1994.JPG

Cover discs were amazing. I think a lot of people were excited about collecting anything and everything on CD-ROM to build out their collection. CDs were a very exciting time in the 90s. It really was a multimedia revolution.

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-06-18, 14:58:

Cover discs were amazing. I think a lot of people were excited about collecting anything and everything on CD-ROM to build out their collection. CDs were a very exciting time in the 90s. It really was a multimedia revolution.

Even today cover discs are an extremely useful resource for retro PC gamers.

You can find all sorts of drivers on those, some of which are no longer available anywhere else. Browsing the archives of shareware programs and game demos can be very interesting too. It's pretty much a direct window to the past.