vmr_ wrote on 2021-10-07, 17:02:

Another super elusive specimen 😁

Guess this one was plagued by limited production quantities and pressure for Cyrix to move to higher frequency to attempt competing with Intel and AMD back in 97.

Will put it to the test soon.

Is it rare because it's 133 marked as 150+ ?? Coz I've seen plenty of 150+ 2x60 and plenty of 2x66 marked 166+

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-10-07, 23:14:

Is it rare because it's 133 marked as 150+ ?? Coz I've seen plenty of 150+ 2x60 and plenty of 2x66 marked 166+

For this model of cyrix 6x86MX (with MMX and EMMI instructions plus better compatibility with pentium) version, it is.

Plenty of earlier models 6x86 and 6x86L (low power version) at pr150, indeed.

cyclone3d wrote on 2017-03-23, 19:44:

Ordered a power adapter for a Toshiba Satellite P25-s509 laptop that I am going to turn into a DOS/Win98se gaming laptop. […]
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Ordered a power adapter for a Toshiba Satellite P25-s509 laptop that I am going to turn into a DOS/Win98se gaming laptop.

Pentium 4 2.8Ghz CPU, 512MB DDR
Nice 17" screen, but really sad Geforce fx go5200 video card. Should be fine for win98se era games though.

Built in sound supports SB Pro according to Toshiba.

So have you tested the sound of this laptop? Is it SB compatible in win98 for DOS games? what about the MIDI?

Buy three 256MB CFs, their use will be in place of HD, on PC 386-486.
I took three for just over € 5, so about € 2 each.
I will of course use them with IDE-CF adapters, and I think I will only load DOS and Win3.X programs in them.
They should arrive within a couple of months, I hope that type of CF does not give problems starting the OS, with a 128MB SanDisk I have trouble getting it detected.

Make sure to use H2testw on any flash media you buy online. It's very easy to buy counterfeits this way and they will destroy your data.

I have a small collection of these fake products I keep as a reminder.

PC@LIVE wrote on 2021-10-09, 13:45:

... I hope that type of CF does not give problems starting the OS, with a 128MB SanDisk I have trouble getting it detected.

In case it helps I had some trouble on a specific 386 PC with a few different CF cards, including those blue ones. They were detected, but it wasn't possible to finish the installation of DOS on them, and they wouldn't be bootable no matter what. The only card that worked was a Cisco 256MB one.

Just bought a spares or repair Compaq Contura 4/25c. In the hope I can use it for parts and bring back my 4/25 from the dead. A couple of nights ago I plugged it in and the DC power board tried to melt itself in to infinity. Stank the living room out for the rest of the evening.

Not PC related, but it technically runs Windows (CE)...

SteveC wrote on 2021-10-09, 20:49:

Not PC related, but it technically runs Windows (CE)...

Nice. I'm an aficionado of old consoles as well.

Now you need to get your hands on a GD-Emu, if that's your thing. Have fun with that process.

devius wrote on 2021-10-09, 17:19:

PC@LIVE wrote on 2021-10-09, 13:45:

... I hope that type of CF does not give problems starting the OS, with a 128MB SanDisk I have trouble getting it detected.

In case it helps I had some trouble on a specific 386 PC with a few different CF cards, including those blue ones. They were detected, but it wasn't possible to finish the installation of DOS on them, and they wouldn't be bootable no matter what. The only card that worked was a Cisco 256MB one.

Thanks for the useful info, I hope that the problem does not occur with my PCs, even if I have previously had problems with a 128MB SanDisk cf, and with a couple of fairly old ISA controllers, they only do Hd and Fd (not have on-board ports).
I hope those three cards ordered could be usable as HD, certainly I could have chosen cards from well-known brands like Apacer or other, but they cost a lot more and were of lower capacity, so I took the 256mb ones.

Kahenraz wrote on 2021-10-09, 15:15:

Make sure to use H2testw on any flash media you buy online. It's very easy to buy counterfeits this way and they will destroy your data.

I have a small collection of these fake products I keep as a reminder.

OK Thanks for the info, I'll try to find that program, and test them when they arrive. maybe I could try it on the 128MB SanDisk that is not seen, and therefore does not allow the PC to start, who knows if it can remedy the problem?

devius wrote on 2021-10-09, 17:19:

PC@LIVE wrote on 2021-10-09, 13:45:

... I hope that type of CF does not give problems starting the OS, with a 128MB SanDisk I have trouble getting it detected.

In case it helps I had some trouble on a specific 386 PC with a few different CF cards, including those blue ones. They were detected, but it wasn't possible to finish the installation of DOS on them, and they wouldn't be bootable no matter what. The only card that worked was a Cisco 256MB one.

Today I tried with another 512MB CF from Unigen, I wanted to use it as HD, strangely it had the same problem as the 128MB SanDisk, it gave disk error and the PC only booted from floppy.
After a few tries I fixed it, I realized the problem was the FAT, I don't know why it was damaged in some way.
I used Fdisk to delete the primary partition, and create a new one (DOS of course), then via Format I formatted the CF card and transferred the system files.
Now both CFs work as HD and the PC boots correctly, in the 128MB one I will put DOS 5 and Win3.0, it will go to the 386SX-33.
The 512MB one, for the moment there is DOS 5, but I'm thinking of using it to install OS / 2.

I would recommend using DBAN or some other zero-wipe program to clear at least the first part of any hard drive / solid state storage you want to use in a retro PC.

I notice that the BIOS will actually read the partition/disk layout information from the first sectors to determine certain compatibility settings, and that can mess mightily with trying to install DOS or windows on such a drive. Additionally, you will often want to wipe the MBR anyway, to make sure your DOS formatted partition is properly generated and bootable. If you don't clear the MBR, you will often not have a MBR program on the first sector that will correctly boot the system.

You can then also use linux fdisk in compatibility mode to build a DOS partition on a 4KB boundry if your drive needs it, or just run through the normal DOS setup.

You can often have problems if you just take a CF card off the shelf and try to use it directly with the original manufacturer supplied format.

Hiddenevil wrote on 2021-10-09, 19:53:

Just bought a spares or repair Compaq Contura 4/25c. In the hope I can use it for parts and bring back my 4/25 from the dead. A couple of nights ago I plugged it in and the DC power board tried to melt itself in to infinity. Stank the living room out for the rest of the evening.

Your 4/25 smoked? Ouch. Keep us updated on how the parts swap goes. I'd like to know the minimum parts required to swap in the color screen to the 4/25, as I have one and hate the screen. (I hate it even for a mono, it's unevenly shaded and flickery as well as the usual fault of being slow, I've seen better monos.) If you can also see the parts numbers on them as you do it, that would be awesome to know. I hope it's simple and doesn't have a different motherboard. You might be "forced" to do it, if the DC converter in the "new" one has different voltages to drive the color screen than the mono screen.

Also, did you notice anything strange about the parallel port in yours? I can't get any diagnostics or sysinfo progs to pick it up in mine. Yet I managed to use laplink over the parallel cable. So it seems it is functional for that at least. I was wondering if I actually have a fault or whether it's Compaq weirdness.

canthearu wrote on 2021-10-10, 14:22:

I would recommend using DBAN or some other zero-wipe program to clear at least the first part of any hard drive / solid state storage you want to use in a retro PC.

I notice that the BIOS will actually read the partition/disk layout information from the first sectors to determine certain compatibility settings, and that can mess mightily with trying to install DOS or windows on such a drive. Additionally, you will often want to wipe the MBR anyway, to make sure your DOS formatted partition is properly generated and bootable. If you don't clear the MBR, you will often not have a MBR program on the first sector that will correctly boot the system.

FWIW I've found that wipefs on Linux is great for easily erasing stuff like that, especially after reusing a particular flash device for different things (e.g. as a hard disk, as a bootable CD, etc.).

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-10-10, 15:16:

Hiddenevil wrote on 2021-10-09, 19:53:

Just bought a spares or repair Compaq Contura 4/25c. In the hope I can use it for parts and bring back my 4/25 from the dead. A couple of nights ago I plugged it in and the DC power board tried to melt itself in to infinity. Stank the living room out for the rest of the evening.

Your 4/25 smoked? Ouch. Keep us updated on how the parts swap goes. I'd like to know the minimum parts required to swap in the color screen to the 4/25, as I have one and hate the screen. (I hate it even for a mono, it's unevenly shaded and flickery as well as the usual fault of being slow, I've seen better monos.) If you can also see the parts numbers on them as you do it, that would be awesome to know. I hope it's simple and doesn't have a different motherboard. You might be "forced" to do it, if the DC converter in the "new" one has different voltages to drive the color screen than the mono screen.

Also, did you notice anything strange about the parallel port in yours? I can't get any diagnostics or sysinfo progs to pick it up in mine. Yet I managed to use laplink over the parallel cable. So it seems it is functional for that at least. I was wondering if I actually have a fault or whether it's Compaq weirdness.

Sure, no problem, I'm actually planning to document everything I do for my Techblog. It's basically where I keep a record of all the things I've done, so i can go back and check if I have to do it again later. I did a search online for photo's of the 25c mobo and DC-DC board, they look identical to those on the standard mono unit. So I'm crossing my fingers that the only difference is the display panel itself. I think basically the connector on the 4/25's mobo does output colour, it's just the LCD panel which is the limiting factor. The 4/25 and 25c are basically the same machine, just with a different display panel. I'll soon find out when the thing turns up and i strip it down and start salvaging parts.

Whenever I have a problem with a CompactFlash, SD, or other flash card not recognizing properly but can still be seen by the BIOS I will create a 512mb partition using DOS FDISK. Then when I delete it and use any other partitioning tool I want and it seems to just work.

I don't know why this is an issue. Using something like Partition Magic or GParted never gets the partition table correct and this has always been my silver bullet when it comes to setting up drives for old systems.

I visit e-waste often but I don't have the time to post everything that I haul back.
However I will post some select stuff.

• Sound Blaster Pro2
• Voodoo5
• Diamond Monster
• Sound Blaster 2
• Leadtek GF4 ti4600
• Hercules 3d Prophet II GTS
• GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
• Media Vision Jazz 16 (I never had one of these before, so this is pretty cool for me.)
• Winfast Geforce2 GTS

The Voodoo5 works, but right after I finished test benching it, one of the capacitors fell off. Should be fine. I already ordered some new ones. Anyways, I'm looking for some good cooling solutions for the V5 5500.

The Leadtek was an interesting card to put together. The heatsink came from a broken card that I bought online. The PCB was pulled from ewaste, but apparently somebody did some repairs on it already. The capacitors have been replaced. Crudely I might add, but it works regardless.

That 3D Prophet is absolutely beautiful. I love the way it looks with the blue heatsinks. Now I have to get my hands on the Ultra version.

I found this Apple computer over at e-waste. Its an Apple IIvx apparently. I never took it, but I asked them to leave it on the side. Honestly, I don't know much about Apple computers. I'm still on the fence about it. There was a monitor there that I believe went with it. I didn't find a keyboard or mouse however .

HanJammer wrote on 2021-10-07, 21:55:

Some stuff from a bigger haul...

Do you think I should once a month make a Rusty Bits video with all the stuff I received/bought?

Such a cool case. And that Gus. Very nice

Aublak wrote on 2021-10-11, 01:36:

I visit e-waste often but I don't have the time to post everything that I haul back. However I will post some select stuff. IMG […]
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I visit e-waste often but I don't have the time to post everything that I haul back.
However I will post some select stuff.
IMG_20211010_205424.jpg

• Sound Blaster Pro2
• Voodoo5
• Diamond Monster
• Sound Blaster 2
• Leadtek GF4 ti4600
• Hercules 3d Prophet II GTS
• GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
• Media Vision Jazz 16 (I never had one of these before, so this is pretty cool for me.)
• Winfast Geforce2 GTS

Dude you got all that at e-waste? That's some serious hardware in that pic.

Geeze, I hate people with such easy access to the e-waste stream so much 😀

It is 100% jealousy though, so hopefully not too many hard feelings.