Not today, but I revisited the cable of my monitor. I just needed to bridge the color ground pins and connect them to the rest of the ground, and voila! Perfect, clear image.
What I DID do today, is try connecting and posting here from an old PowerMac G5 running 10.5 Leopard, using AquaFox. Works perfectly fine, surprisingly.

EDIT: Hmmm, now that I had more time to pay attention, I can see two rendering errors. One is that all avatars here are blue for some reason, and the other is the search button, while fully functional, has the magnifying glass rendered slightly to the left. Honestly, I expected worse.

Locutus wrote on 2025-11-03, 07:26:

Disassembled Zenith Z-286 LP that does not POST for inspection…

The attachment IMG_2640.jpeg is no longer available

I have determined that the 82C206 controller is damaged and needs to be replaced.

After the replacement, the Zenith came back to life 😀

Trying to troubleshoot an TEAC CD-C68E drive from 1997.

Locutus wrote on 2025-11-03, 22:21:

I have determined that the 82C206 controller is damaged and needs to be replaced. […]
Show full quote

Locutus wrote on 2025-11-03, 07:26:

Disassembled Zenith Z-286 LP that does not POST for inspection…

The attachment IMG_2640.jpeg is no longer available

I have determined that the 82C206 controller is damaged and needs to be replaced.

The attachment 82206_REM.jpg is no longer available

The attachment 82C206_NEW.jpg is no longer available

After the replacement, the Zenith came back to life 😀

The attachment Z-286.jpg is no longer available

Great job, Another note, this computer also accepts 386SX daughterboard. Back in the day when were new, as in came in boxes around 1990 or so, we upgraded some of them to 386SX and this was at Queens University, when I was working with computing dept servicing them during summer break between high school.

Cheers,

I tested some old graphics cards today and ran into this weird situation.

This is what the desktop look like on a Creative CT6710 (Riva TNT 16MB AGP) in Windows 98SE. I've tried a few different driver versions from that time period and they all did this on this particular card. I have tested hundreds of cards and never seen this before so I'm inclined to think it is some kind of defect with the card, but it's just so weird...

Basically, the desktop is rendered squashed and off-center with a black area on the left side. The cursor draws in the correct location. You can see how the cursor is highlighting a button in the file explorer window. I can interact with everything as normal as long as I keep the cursor exactly that distance from what I need to click on.

Windows says it is at 1600x1200 (native res of this monitor), but it is definitely squashed horizontally. Changing resolution causes the monitor to drop to standby. I can press escape and it will return to the previous res, so it isn't crashing. Running a game or other full screen program causes the monitor to drop to standby as well.

The BIOS, DOS and Windows in basic VGA mode (with no drivers installed) are centered properly.

I've inspected the card pretty thoroughly and I can't see anything wrong with it. It's actually in very nice condition.

Anyone have any ideas?

Also, just to be clear... it isn't the monitor.

sunkindly wrote on 2025-11-03, 18:32:

Unfortunately closing JP16-17 gives 55 fsb. […]
Show full quote

H3nrik V! wrote on 2025-11-03, 09:43:

sunkindly wrote on 2025-10-31, 17:51:

So JP16 and JP17 seem to set the fsb, but for JP19, JP20, and JP22 no matter what I set them to...it didn't change from 2.5x at 166MHz. Even setting it to something "normal" like 133MHz at 2x, nothing changed. The only thing that seemed to affect change was changing the FSB through JP16-17. But unfortunately, it doesn't support more than 66MHz.

If that clockgenerator (W49C65-03H) is similar enough to W49C65-01, then according to https://public.dhe.ibm.com/rs6000/PPC_support … ass2/ltspec.pdf I would suspect that both JP16 and JP17 closed would give 75 FSB?

I can't seem to see where the other jumpers are located from your image, though? [Edit:] Found them. Weird, though that JP21 is "skipped" 🤣

Unfortunately closing JP16-17 gives 55 fsb.

Yeah, some things are kind of strange in terms of the jumpers. JP15 is also unpopulated.

The QDI board comes with a 200 MMX so I'll have two. I might put the second one into the M-Tech board just to see if anything changes but for now it looks like the M-Tech will be a spare Socket 7 board.

FWIW, I noticed that the silk screen inside the CPU socket only mentions P54C and P54CS CPUs. Albeit, the multiplier selectors should be there for selecting at least 2x.

H3nrik V! wrote on 2025-11-04, 06:47:

sunkindly wrote on 2025-11-03, 18:32:

Unfortunately closing JP16-17 gives 55 fsb. […]
Show full quote

H3nrik V! wrote on 2025-11-03, 09:43:

If that clockgenerator (W49C65-03H) is similar enough to W49C65-01, then according to https://public.dhe.ibm.com/rs6000/PPC_support … ass2/ltspec.pdf I would suspect that both JP16 and JP17 closed would give 75 FSB?

I can't seem to see where the other jumpers are located from your image, though? [Edit:] Found them. Weird, though that JP21 is "skipped" 🤣

Unfortunately closing JP16-17 gives 55 fsb.

Yeah, some things are kind of strange in terms of the jumpers. JP15 is also unpopulated.

The QDI board comes with a 200 MMX so I'll have two. I might put the second one into the M-Tech board just to see if anything changes but for now it looks like the M-Tech will be a spare Socket 7 board.

FWIW, I noticed that the silk screen inside the CPU socket only mentions P54C and P54CS CPUs. Albeit, the multiplier selectors should be there for selecting at least 2x.

Yeahhh, it's all good. I guess the Retro Web entry is for some kind of later revision. The QDI Titanium 1E arrived today and I used the same CPU and it's at 200 so onwards with the Socket 7 build!

got my 256mb WD caviar disk from 1995 out today hooked it up to my main via USB to IDE adapter cable and formatted it to EXFAT file system. I then proceeded to tell brave browser to use it for the web cache. I smiled as I listened to a windows 95 hard disk struggle to just be a browser cache disk. Then I reformatted to fat32 and put it back in its shelf. I have to test things from time to time but I haven't had a windows 95 computer for so long!

pentiumspeed wrote on 2025-11-04, 00:42:

Locutus wrote on 2025-11-03, 22:21:

I have determined that the 82C206 controller is damaged and needs to be replaced. […]
Show full quote

Locutus wrote on 2025-11-03, 07:26:

Disassembled Zenith Z-286 LP that does not POST for inspection…

The attachment IMG_2640.jpeg is no longer available

I have determined that the 82C206 controller is damaged and needs to be replaced.

The attachment 82206_REM.jpg is no longer available

The attachment 82C206_NEW.jpg is no longer available

After the replacement, the Zenith came back to life 😀

The attachment Z-286.jpg is no longer available

Great job, Another note, this computer also accepts 386SX daughterboard. Back in the day when were new, as in came in boxes around 1990 or so, we upgraded some of them to 386SX and this was at Queens University, when I was working with computing dept servicing them during summer break between high school.
Cheers,

Thanks !
I was surprised by the presence (and usefulness) of the six LEDs indicating the results of internal tests.
In fact, after checking result displayed on them in documentation, I was almost certain that the 82C206 is faulty.
Running the SUPERSOFT diagnostic ROM test was just a formality to confirm that.

My Adaptec AHA-1542B from 1990 came in today and I promptly put it in and got it connected to the 1988 CDR-80.

Unlike the Trantor T100, it works consistently on every boot and the drive even works in Windows 3.0 MME!

That was basically the last piece of the build, so the 386 is officially complete!

I also discovered that the drive wasn't exactly cheap when it was released 😅

sunkindly wrote on 2025-11-05, 23:45:

That was basically the last piece of the build, so the 386 is officially complete!

The attachment IMG_7762.jpg is no longer available

That is one of the coolest looking desktop cases of that era I've seen. There's just so much going on with the buttons and little accents. Gives it a very "The beige coloring and sharp angled protrusions tell customers that it's from the future!" kind of look that was prevalent back then. Very nice. 😀

... it's like if the Chrysler Conquest was made into a PC case.

Tried reviving a Prophet 4000XT without success. Flashers just don't want to acknowledge the flash on it.

Ozzuneoj wrote on Yesterday, 00:39:

sunkindly wrote on 2025-11-05, 23:45:

That was basically the last piece of the build, so the 386 is officially complete!

The attachment IMG_7762.jpg is no longer available

That is one of the coolest looking desktop cases of that era I've seen. There's just so much going on with the buttons and little accents. Gives it a very "The beige coloring and sharp angled protrusions tell customers that it's from the future!" kind of look that was prevalent back then. Very nice. 😀

... it's like if the Chrysler Conquest was made into a PC case.

I agree, I love the angles and it's so satisfying powering it on. I'm very thankful to pretty much have found it like that too, didn't have to do much besides wipe it down and get the dirt that had gotten in all the crevices. I've seen some other examples where even the cool design hadn't saved it from time and the elements haha:

I also just realized seeing this photo that I put the bay drive cover upside down, oh well.

sunkindly wrote on Yesterday, 01:31:

I agree, I love the angles and it's so satisfying powering it on. I'm very thankful to pretty much have found it like that too, […]
Show full quote

Ozzuneoj wrote on Yesterday, 00:39:

sunkindly wrote on 2025-11-05, 23:45:

That was basically the last piece of the build, so the 386 is officially complete!

The attachment IMG_7762.jpg is no longer available

That is one of the coolest looking desktop cases of that era I've seen. There's just so much going on with the buttons and little accents. Gives it a very "The beige coloring and sharp angled protrusions tell customers that it's from the future!" kind of look that was prevalent back then. Very nice. 😀

... it's like if the Chrysler Conquest was made into a PC case.

I agree, I love the angles and it's so satisfying powering it on. I'm very thankful to pretty much have found it like that too, didn't have to do much besides wipe it down and get the dirt that had gotten in all the crevices. I've seen some other examples where even the cool design hadn't saved it from time and the elements haha:

The attachment yellow.jpg is no longer available

I also just realized seeing this photo that I put the bay drive cover upside down, oh well.

Oh man. Yeah, there's a certainly room for PCs that have turned yellow over the years... but on a slick-looking retro setup where everything matches it is hard to make them look good!

Also, sorry if this has been mentioned already, but what keyboard is that? You managed to get a case, monitor and keyboard that all have unusual lines on them. They look awesome together. 😁

Ozzuneoj wrote on Yesterday, 01:42:

Also, sorry if this has been mentioned already, but what keyboard is that? You managed to get a case, monitor and keyboard that all have unusual lines on them. They look awesome together. 😁

It's a Qtronix Scorpius 104 which has gotten the job done although I'm not a fan of the tiny backspace.

I'm hoping to eventually replace it with a Northgate Omnikey since the motherboard is also from Northgate (and supposedly it's an amazing keyboard) but those prices lately 😮‍💨

sunkindly wrote on 2025-11-05, 23:45:

My Adaptec AHA-1542B from 1990 came in today and I promptly put it in and got it connected to the 1988 CDR-80. […]
Show full quote

My Adaptec AHA-1542B from 1990 came in today and I promptly put it in and got it connected to the 1988 CDR-80.

The attachment IMG_7744.jpg is no longer available

Unlike the Trantor T100, it works consistently on every boot and the drive even works in Windows 3.0 MME!

The attachment IMG_72760316-D7E6-48CB-8AF4-C213D94135D7.jpg is no longer available

That was basically the last piece of the build, so the 386 is officially complete!

The attachment IMG_7762.jpg is no longer available

i want to be your friend so i can sit there while you play some game and not to be allowed to touch the computer xD

The time when you had "that" friend with THE computer.

Damn...40 and i feel old

Living wrote on Yesterday, 02:41:

sunkindly wrote on 2025-11-05, 23:45:

My Adaptec AHA-1542B from 1990 came in today and I promptly put it in and got it connected to the 1988 CDR-80. […]
Show full quote

My Adaptec AHA-1542B from 1990 came in today and I promptly put it in and got it connected to the 1988 CDR-80.

The attachment IMG_7744.jpg is no longer available

Unlike the Trantor T100, it works consistently on every boot and the drive even works in Windows 3.0 MME!

The attachment IMG_72760316-D7E6-48CB-8AF4-C213D94135D7.jpg is no longer available

That was basically the last piece of the build, so the 386 is officially complete!

The attachment IMG_7762.jpg is no longer available

The time when you had "that" friend with THE computer.

Hahah, my dad built computers so even growing up I was *that* friend. Though in turn I'd always be jealous of friends who had N64s and PlayStations.

I have a yellow one too. It's nice, it looks like it came from the factory.

After messing with this quite a bit I figured it'd be worth posting. I picked up a Dell OEM branded ELSA Gloria XL PCI graphics card a while back and decided to give it a test run today.

(Old seller pics from when I bought it.)

This was kind of a ridiculous card in 1997. It is equipped with a 3D Labs GLiNT MX + GLiNT Delta chipset for 2D + 3D accelerated graphics in Windows, and an S3 Trio64V2/DX strictly for DOS. The 32 chips that cover most of the front and back make up the 16MB frame buffer. The three chips by the expansion RAM slot make up the 24MB Local Buffer for... whatever kind of CAD or modeling activities this monster is intended for. With a 16MB expansion, it will then have 40MB local buffer and 16MB frame buffer, for a total of 56MB, plus 1MB for the Trio64V2/DX. I don't have any systems running NT or 2K, so I figured I'd give it a try in 98SE if I could find drivers.

This proved to be a bit harder than I'd expected! There aren't any 9x drivers for this card on the VOGONS driver library. However, I did find some listed here:
https://ftp.zx.net.nz/pub/archive/ftp.compaq. … 12000/11501.txt
(Search for Gloria-XL; there is also one listed for Gloria-L)
I was able to find an archive of this Compaq FTP here:
https://ftp.zx.net.nz/pub/archive/ftp.compaq. … /sp11501-12000/

When I installed the XL Win95 drivers (which the doc says are from October 1999, but the installed driver was from 1998?), it didn't really do much. I had to keep messing with device manager and telling it to find things in windows folders (I love how C:\Windows\INF is invisible to device manager in 98SE... nice) for it to finally identify the GLiNT XL itself. Eventually it did "work", but changing resolutions to anything beyond 800x600 at 256 color caused severe screen distortion.

I then found a driver for the similar Gloria-XXL on this page:
https://elsa.retropc.se/gloria/xxl/index.htm
They are listed under:
Drivers for Windows 95 and Windows 98
ELSA GLoria-XXL, Windows 9x driver and tools
gxxl_w9x.zip (914 KB) 25 Jan 1999 v4.10.01.0203-0012

I had to do some similar struggling with Device Manager to get them to install (there is also no setup program with this set), but I'm happy to say that this driver allowed higher resolutions in 98SE without the issues the other driver had. I'm not sure what is causing it (could be unrelated to this card or drivers) but I do get an odd mouse cursor vibration effect at higher resolutions. Still, it allowed me to set 1600x1200x24bit @ 85Hz on my CRT.

Also, I only did a tiny bit of game testing because I know this card is really intended for OpenGL under NT, and in the random game I tested (old demo of Jedi Knight 2) I did get actual 3D acceleration (success!), but it was not very fast and there were some graphical anomalies. The most obvious was an odd kind of green-tinted stripe pattern on textures.

I also experienced one BSOD. It could be the card, but it is more likely to be the very sketchy drivers. I will have to install NT some time to test out all of these pro graphics cards from the 90s with better drivers. 😀

Anyway, I have attached all of the drivers mentioned to this post and named them in a way that is hopefully helpful.