Just grabbed a cheap Matrox Parahelia 256mb PCI X version for a future PCI X based build, got a ScSi PCI X card recently to pair with it.

Meatball wrote on 2022-03-12, 02:24:

Hehe, the Mystique was the first I bought - back in 1996. The game never quite caught me, but the graphics sure blew my mind.
People recommended the Microsoft Sidewinder for it, due to its vertical third axis.

For a proper experience, you'll want a joystick that can rotate along the vertical axis to perform a"torso twist" with your mech. You can play it with any peripheral, but I think that it's best done with a joystick.

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-03-12, 04:47:

Meatball wrote on 2022-03-12, 02:24:

Hehe, the Mystique was the first I bought - back in 1996. The game never quite caught me, but the graphics sure blew my mind.
People recommended the Microsoft Sidewinder for it, due to its vertical third axis.

For a proper experience, you'll want a joystick that can rotate along the vertical axis to perform a"torso twist" with your mech. You can play it with any peripheral, but I think that it's best done with a joystick.

Works great with a HOTAS setup as well when the throttle has a paddle and use that to rotate.

I never really liked using the rotating sticks.

It always felt like it could have been done better, maybe without the joystick twist. It's very awkward to be twisting while also trying to yaw and pitch.

I can imagine that a set of foot pedals would be optimal.

I bought ab ASUS P5A rev 1.06 that appears to be new in box. I don't collect Super Socket 7, but I wanted at least one board in my collection. I read that this was one of the best and I made an offer on it. It was more than I wanted to spend but it seems this board is hard to find and it's in excellent condition.

It has only 512k of cache, which I want to try an upgrade. Otherwise it can only cache up to 128mb of memory. This revision also requires a bodge on the CPU pins for it to work properly with the latest K6+ processors. I did my research. 😀

Inside the box was also a stick of ram and a 3.5" hard drive. No-- not the packing box. Inside the motherboard box! Luckily it did not damage anything, but there was nothing in the listing about a random hard drive being included.

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-03-12, 04:47:

For a proper experience, you'll want a joystick that can rotate along the vertical axis to perform a"torso twist" with your mech. You can play it with any peripheral, but I think that it's best done with a joystick.

I assumed it's the eqivalent of turning the turret on a tank.

Apart from the Sidewinder, there also was the Logitech Wingman Warrior, it had a vertical knob left of the stick. I remember it to be in the "can't afford" category.
https://classiccomputershop.eu//Files/5/17000 … e/418704091.jpg
So, maybe that was the point of that knob then...

The game is challenging but can be done with any of the available input methods. One if thing I find to be most entertaining about the game besides the missions is finding the right equipment to fine tune your pilot experience. Because they give you complete control over the operation of the mech, you have a lot of options on how to customize and configure your controls. Mech Warrior 2 is one of the rare games that can really take advantage of a full HOTAS setup.

I remember seeing an advertisement as a kid about some special arcade setup in New York somewhere that had a full cockpit experience with VR goggles and everything. I always wanted to go but never got to.

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-03-12, 07:11:

It has only 512k of cache, which I want to try an upgrade. Otherwise it can only cache up to 128mb of memory. This revision also requires a bodge on the CPU pins for it to work properly with the latest K6+ processors. I did my research. 😀

Cache in it self probably won't do the trick of caching more than 128 megs, you'll need to upgrade TAG as well. What chipset is it?

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-03-12, 07:11:

I bought ab ASUS P5A rev 1.06 that appears to be new in box. I don't collect Super Socket 7, but I wanted at least one board in my collection. I read that this was one of the best and I made an offer on it. It was more than I wanted to spend but it seems this board is hard to find and it's in excellent condition.

It has only 512k of cache, which I want to try an upgrade. Otherwise it can only cache up to 128mb of memory. This revision also requires a bodge on the CPU pins for it to work properly with the latest K6+ processors. I did my research. 😀

Inside the box was also a stick of ram and a 3.5" hard drive. No-- not the packing box. Inside the motherboard box! Luckily it did not damage anything, but there was nothing in the listing about a random hard drive being included.

awesome board. dont touch it
its a collectors item, super socket7 boards are very demanded like voodoo cards

BLockOUT wrote on 2022-03-12, 20:22:

awesome board. dont touch it
its a collectors item, super socket7 boards are very demanded like voodoo cards

It has the ALI M1541 rev. G northbridge with no external tag chip. The tag chip was used because the integrated silicon was defective in the earlier revisions, but it was removed from last boards once it was fixed.

What I don't know is whether the northbridge supports this much cache or if I would need to add a tag chip for this. This thing wasn't cheap and I don't want to break it.

Mystery rodent: "Shining" - is that a brand or?
FCC ID on the backside points to "Arpach Corporation", Taiwan and 1991

Judging by the plug, it's a bus mouse - first one I came by.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-12, 22:03:

Mystery rodent: "Shining" - is that a brand or? FCC ID on the backside points to "Arpach Corporation", Taiwan and 1990. shining_ […]
Show full quote

Mystery rodent: "Shining" - is that a brand or?
FCC ID on the backside points to "Arpach Corporation", Taiwan and 1990.
shining_bus_mouse.JPG
Judging by the plug, it's a bus mouse - first one I came by.
100_0480.JPG

ooh, neat, any chips on the underside of the pcb ?

I came across an mda adapter which I suspect has a busmouse interface, might be worth a look into adapting a mouse for it 😀

weedeewee wrote on 2022-03-12, 22:06:

any chips on the underside of the pcb ?

Nope - only conducts. Seems like the four optoelectronic elements connect directly through the cable and all the magic happens at the controller.
But I don't know jack about bus mice other than they are a thing.

https://fccid.io/I4ISM-201

And when I google for it, I find a laser mouse of the same designation, street buses and stuff about mice of the natural, furry kind. 😜

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-12, 22:14:

Nope - only conducts. Seems like the four optoelectronic elements connect directly through the cable and all the magic happens a […]
Show full quote

weedeewee wrote on 2022-03-12, 22:06:

any chips on the underside of the pcb ?

Nope - only conducts. Seems like the four optoelectronic elements connect directly through the cable and all the magic happens at the controller.
But I don't know jack about bus mice other than they are a thing.

https://fccid.io/I4ISM-201

Yep, that fits with what I know about it from reading on the interwebz and the pinout of the connector on the mda card... though I'm not 100% sure about which pin is which pin 😁
Cool, thanks !

Several early ATI cards, MDA, CGA, EGA and VGA had busmouse ports, or you need a card like this one...
A pic to show the grandchildren, Logitech Bus Mouse and Card Together!

Purchased 32GB total four DDR3-1866 ECC sticks for my HP Z220 which nearly turned 10 years old, been running nearly 15GB all the time out of 16GB so about time.

Cheers,

Bought this little number today, I wonder if anyone can figure out why I grabbed it.

heh its not the SB32 or the Ram ...its something else that is rather hard to acquire these days, I now have two of these boards and both will need their RTC replaced but its easy enough, it also comes with a genuine Creative 6x CD ROM and the case looks mint too.

TrashPanda, a COAST module ?

The media bus slot? Lol

weedeewee wrote on 2022-03-13, 12:28:

TrashPanda, a COAST module ?

More importantly a compatible known working coast module !