VOGONS


Reply 21380 of 27187, by fosterwj03

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I’ve been on the hunt for a while for an excellent PCI or PCI-Express graphics card to pair with Windows 95 (both Retail and OSR2) and my Ivy Bridge overkill system. I haven’t had any luck with PCI-Express cards from either Nvidia or ATI because their Win 9x drivers just don’t work properly with Windows 95.

I want a card with DirectX 7 and 8 compliance as well as the ability to display at 1080p widescreen.

I found a lot of references to the Radeon 9200 and 9250 PCI cards working with Windows 95 and the Catalyst 3.4 drivers. I’d hate to buy yet another PCI graphics card without knowing for sure if it would work for the task (I’ve gotten quite a few PCI cards over the years that I discovered didn’t meet my needs). So, as I sat down to think about how much I wanted to spend on yet another PCI card, it hit me. I remembered that I had a Mobility Radeon 9000 (AGP, 64MB) in my IBM Thinkpad T42.

I fired up the Thinkpad and installed Windows 95 OSR2 onto its hard drive. While most of the computer’s hardware won’t work properly with Windows 95, Windows detected the graphics correctly using the Catalyst 3.4 drivers. I initially got a blank screen on the laptop’s LCD, but the display began to work for me once I attached my widescreen monitor to the external VGA port. This Mobility Radeon 9000 only seems to work properly with Windows 95 when I have an external monitor attached during bootup (it will display on both the LCD and external monitor simultaneously). Weird!

I then installed DirectX 8 and some benchmarks. I have to say, I’m impressed. A 1024x768x32 resolution got over 60 FPS at high details in 3DMark 2000. I think the AGP version of the Radeon 9000 can definitely game with Windows 95. I didn’t have any stability issues either.

3Dmark also offered to test at 1080p. It got a respectable 60 FPS average at low details in 1080p (32-bit), but averaged slightly less than 30 FPS at high details. Still, I got widescreen resolution that way. The Catalyst drivers don’t offer widescreen resolutions to Windows by default, but I enabled them by adding “1920,1080” registry keys to the 8, 16, and 32-bit color depth keys with defaults values for “60” Hz. That worked to add a widescreen choice to the Windows 95 display options.

I don’t know how much of a difference to expect between the PCI variant and the AGP one in the Thinkpad, but I feel a lot more confident about buying a PCI Radeon 9200 or 9250 knowing that the Windows 95 drivers work pretty darn well.

Reply 21381 of 27187, by javispedro1

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Kahenraz wrote on 2022-04-04, 04:46:

That's great! Can you be tempted to add VMware integration as well?

Done https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/123 … 21b3cca99ea.mp4,
may open a new thread for it later this weekend. Compatibility is rather to be abysmal but at least it works with a couple popular games (like WarcraftII and SC2k).

Reply 21382 of 27187, by RaiderOfLostVoodoo

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Spend the last days testing mainboards and CPUs to sell them on Ebay. I need to reclaim space (and money).

CPUs:
3x 754
3x 939
5x AM2
3x AM3
3x 1155

Boards:
1x 754
1x 939
2x AM2
3x AM3

Sadly one CPU turned out to be dead. An Athlon 64 X2 6000+. But I have two more of those.
One AM3 board is partially dead. But I was already aware of that when I received it. Onboard LAN is dead. After further testing I noticed that the two PCIe x1 slots are also dead. Maybe this can be fixed somehow?
Three boards (1x AM2, 2x AM3) which did post many many months ago are no longer posting. One starts and immediately turns off. The other two stay on but don't post. Maybe they had some charge left in the caps when I did clean them? 😒 From now on I'll wait at least a week, like I do with PSUs.

Next step will be to test all the LGA775 CPUs and boards. I have more of them than the other sockets combined. 😮

Reply 21383 of 27187, by GigAHerZ

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I've always known about Diablo. At some point in the past, i got Diablo 2 and played that.

Well, yesterday, first time in my life, i started up original Diablo on my Pentium MMX retro machine. So far quite a nice game. Only thing i wish it would have is to scroll the dialog texts faster. It seems i can either skip it, or have to wait for the slow scrolling to get to the end - no way to speed up the scrolling speed...

And at right this moment, i have this running at the background: https://youtu.be/_JzfROUDsK0

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - And i intend to get every last bit out of it even after loading every damn driver!

Reply 21384 of 27187, by TheAbandonwareGuy

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I think I found out why the Dell Lattitude PPX won't turn on and just flashes its lights before shutting off. Its power regulation sub-board is missing a part. Can anybody tell what this is and take a guess at a suitable replacement? I marked the missing part with <<<<<

CYlNoG3.jpg

EDIT: did some testing. The smaller chip above it feeds into the left solder pad, and the right solder pad feeds out to those 3 larger components. Step down regulator? How bad of an idea would just bridging the pads be?.....

EDIT 2: Found some better pictures. Its a smaller, 150 rated version of whatever the larger square components are with 2 solder points instead of 4

EDIT 3: Its a 150UH SMD Power Choke Coil. Can I just replace it with any 150UH resistor or does it have to be a coil type?

Cyb3rst0rms Retro Hardware Warzone: https://discord.gg/jK8uvR4c
I used to own over 160 graphics card, I've since recovered from graphics card addiction

Reply 21385 of 27187, by TrashPanda

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TheAbandonwareGuy wrote on 2022-04-06, 06:55:
I think I found out why the Dell Lattitude PPX won't turn on and just flashes its lights before shutting off. Its power regulati […]
Show full quote

I think I found out why the Dell Lattitude PPX won't turn on and just flashes its lights before shutting off. Its power regulation sub-board is missing a part. Can anybody tell what this is and take a guess at a suitable replacement? I marked the missing part with <<<<<

CYlNoG3.jpg

EDIT: did some testing. The smaller chip above it feeds into the left solder pad, and the right solder pad feeds out to those 3 larger components. Step down regulator? How bad of an idea would just bridging the pads be?.....

EDIT 2: Found some better pictures. Its a smaller, 150 rated version of whatever the larger square components are with 2 solder points instead of 4

EDIT 3: Its a 150UH SMD Power Choke Coil. Can I just replace it with any 150UH resistor or does it have to be a coil type?

If a choke coil is just a fancy resistor and you can find a normal resistor of the same resistance then I see no reason the normal resistor shouldn't work just as well, I guess its possible the choke is doing something extra but I doubt it.

Reply 21386 of 27187, by debs3759

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TheAbandonwareGuy wrote on 2022-04-06, 06:55:
I think I found out why the Dell Lattitude PPX won't turn on and just flashes its lights before shutting off. Its power regulati […]
Show full quote

I think I found out why the Dell Lattitude PPX won't turn on and just flashes its lights before shutting off. Its power regulation sub-board is missing a part. Can anybody tell what this is and take a guess at a suitable replacement? I marked the missing part with <<<<<

CYlNoG3.jpg

EDIT: did some testing. The smaller chip above it feeds into the left solder pad, and the right solder pad feeds out to those 3 larger components. Step down regulator? How bad of an idea would just bridging the pads be?.....

EDIT 2: Found some better pictures. Its a smaller, 150 rated version of whatever the larger square components are with 2 solder points instead of 4

EDIT 3: Its a 150UH SMD Power Choke Coil. Can I just replace it with any 150UH resistor or does it have to be a coil type?

I wouldn't replace a choke (uH means it's a coil) with a resistor, as no idea what effect putting a different type of component would be. I would consider a different 150uH choke (or coil, it's the same thing) as the value is more important than the shape or size. A choke/coil will act differently for different frequencies and adjacent capacitance, a resistor isn't guaranteed to act the same. (that's pretty much the extent of what I remember from making crystal radios as a kid)

See my graphics card database at www.gpuzoo.com
Constantly being worked on. Feel free to message me with any corrections or details of cards you would like me to research and add.

Reply 21387 of 27187, by andrea

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RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-04-06, 04:17:

One AM3 board is partially dead. But I was already aware of that when I received it. Onboard LAN is dead. After further testing I noticed that the two PCIe x1 slots are also dead. Maybe this can be fixed somehow?

Is it an nForce board? Bumpgate-affected nForces are kind-of-known for dying a bit at a time. For what I've seen the network and the PCI bus are the first to go, assuming the board doesn't die outright.

Reply 21388 of 27187, by TheAbandonwareGuy

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debs3759 wrote on 2022-04-06, 17:23:
TheAbandonwareGuy wrote on 2022-04-06, 06:55:
I think I found out why the Dell Lattitude PPX won't turn on and just flashes its lights before shutting off. Its power regulati […]
Show full quote

I think I found out why the Dell Lattitude PPX won't turn on and just flashes its lights before shutting off. Its power regulation sub-board is missing a part. Can anybody tell what this is and take a guess at a suitable replacement? I marked the missing part with <<<<<

CYlNoG3.jpg

EDIT: did some testing. The smaller chip above it feeds into the left solder pad, and the right solder pad feeds out to those 3 larger components. Step down regulator? How bad of an idea would just bridging the pads be?.....

EDIT 2: Found some better pictures. Its a smaller, 150 rated version of whatever the larger square components are with 2 solder points instead of 4

EDIT 3: Its a 150UH SMD Power Choke Coil. Can I just replace it with any 150UH resistor or does it have to be a coil type?

I wouldn't replace a choke (uH means it's a coil) with a resistor, as no idea what effect putting a different type of component would be. I would consider a different 150uH choke (or coil, it's the same thing) as the value is more important than the shape or size. A choke/coil will act differently for different frequencies and adjacent capacitance, a resistor isn't guaranteed to act the same. (that's pretty much the extent of what I remember from making crystal radios as a kid)

My research says that basically a potted coil choke is just a really fancy really smooth resistor. Apparently the fluctuations of the output are ridiculously higher on a resistor. This being said I'm looking for a similar coil right now.

Cyb3rst0rms Retro Hardware Warzone: https://discord.gg/jK8uvR4c
I used to own over 160 graphics card, I've since recovered from graphics card addiction

Reply 21389 of 27187, by BitWrangler

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Much like how cylinders in an internal combustion engine are really just a fancy bean tin. If you slap four together maybe... oh wait, you don't play Orks in Warhammer do you? https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Orks#Ork_Technology

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 21390 of 27187, by RandomStranger

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Today I checked all my 3.5" floppy disks, I found some new ones in the past 2 years I haven't checked, also the old ones I had but didn't use in the past 20-ish years. Found 30 completely unreadable, 105 readable disks and I have an unopened box of 10. Also found some old data, both (my own) personal and random company stuff.

Also added a CT1600 to my 386 machine.

sreq.png retrogamer-s.png

Reply 21391 of 27187, by amadeus777999

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Worked some more on a 90ies oriented C tutorial and Doom maps.
Other than that I sold some 486/586 stuff. Before it's collecting dust I rather had it make somebody else happy. I kept the P60/66 stuff and one 486 board.
I would not have sold the gear if I had the room to properly have system after system sitting in its own place(+chassis) and being connected to a "vintage super" LAN. My "dream" would be Doom and Quake Lans, each consisting of four 486s and four 586s with big CRTs. This is of course a pipe dream as it would take a huge basement to "dwell" in. On top of that... who would join in on the fun...?

Reply 21392 of 27187, by Tetrium

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amadeus777999 wrote on 2022-04-07, 10:27:

Worked some more on a 90ies oriented C tutorial and Doom maps.
Other than that I sold some 486/586 stuff. Before it's collecting dust I rather had it make somebody else happy. I kept the P60/66 stuff and one 486 board.
I would not have sold the gear if I had the room to properly have system after system sitting in its own place(+chassis) and being connected to a "vintage super" LAN. My "dream" would be Doom and Quake Lans, each consisting of four 486s and four 586s with big CRTs. This is of course a pipe dream as it would take a huge basement to "dwell" in. On top of that... who would join in on the fun...?

Getting enough people would actually be my main motivation to not go for a huge LAN, alongside it simply costing too much space.
I'd probably make use of tables and other furnitures that can be stored away in a way that they don't use up as much space (so I'd look for something foldable, if something like that even exists). I'd set up the LAN only when the LAN-party was actually planned for real if it was using 8 computers, but for the 3 I ended up using I just let the other 2 PCs as is since I don't really use that table for something else anyway (so I use a table with 3 monitors, but will typically use only one at a time).
In the end my LAN consisted of 3 PCs, with an optional spot for a 4th PC (like, for a laptop or something) as my router at the time had just 4 slots, this was sufficient for my needs.

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 21393 of 27187, by RaiderOfLostVoodoo

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andrea wrote on 2022-04-06, 17:30:

Is it an nForce board? Bumpgate-affected nForces are kind-of-known for dying a bit at a time. For what I've seen the network and the PCI bus are the first to go, assuming the board doesn't die outright.

Nope, AMD 870.
I'm pretty sure the moronic ex husband of my aunt shorted something. He used some kind of aluminium tape to seal off every port on the back that wasn't in use. I found tiny bits of it inside the case. Argh!

Today I continued my long journey and tested three 775 boards. If I continue at this speed, I'll be done with the boards somewhere next week. 😁

One board is giving me headaches. It's a Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4. It forgets the BIOS settings as soon as I flip the switch on the PSU. BIOS update didn't help. I assume it's a lose soldering point.
But it has another issue. The bottom one of the two bright orange SATA ports doesn't work properly. The upper one works fine. The four dark orange ones and the two purple ones as well. I did use this board to check two douzen HDDs. After I did some extensive testing on a 8TB HDD (which did take forever), the port stopped working properly. Needs forever to detect a drive. Anyone got an idea what might cause this?

Reply 21394 of 27187, by amadeus777999

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Tetrium wrote on 2022-04-07, 12:21:
Getting enough people would actually be my main motivation to not go for a huge LAN, alongside it simply costing too much space. […]
Show full quote
amadeus777999 wrote on 2022-04-07, 10:27:

Worked some more on a 90ies oriented C tutorial and Doom maps.
Other than that I sold some 486/586 stuff. Before it's collecting dust I rather had it make somebody else happy. I kept the P60/66 stuff and one 486 board.
I would not have sold the gear if I had the room to properly have system after system sitting in its own place(+chassis) and being connected to a "vintage super" LAN. My "dream" would be Doom and Quake Lans, each consisting of four 486s and four 586s with big CRTs. This is of course a pipe dream as it would take a huge basement to "dwell" in. On top of that... who would join in on the fun...?

Getting enough people would actually be my main motivation to not go for a huge LAN, alongside it simply costing too much space.
I'd probably make use of tables and other furnitures that can be stored away in a way that they don't use up as much space (so I'd look for something foldable, if something like that even exists). I'd set up the LAN only when the LAN-party was actually planned for real if it was using 8 computers, but for the 3 I ended up using I just let the other 2 PCs as is since I don't really use that table for something else anyway (so I use a table with 3 monitors, but will typically use only one at a time).
In the end my LAN consisted of 3 PCs, with an optional spot for a 4th PC (like, for a laptop or something) as my router at the time had just 4 slots, this was sufficient for my needs.

Sweet - I miss those LAN sessions.
Even folks who weren't into computers really dug some of the matches that were had... it reminded me of having a band and playing in your garage with some spectators - loads of fun.

Reply 21395 of 27187, by Merovign

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I don't think the Beige Powermac G3 is going to make it. I haven't figured out what went wrong, it started by not having video but chiming and apparently *not* booting, to just spinning the PSU fan with no light or chime. I tried various options involving the PRAM, PRAM battery, PSU, devices, RAM, reseating everything including the CPU... same.

Have to put it aside now and work on other stuff. Sad.

Decided I'm probably going to put a new drive controller in the R450, but not right now. Working on more modernish PCs in aid of selling them for gas and video card money.

Someone else went through their old floppies above, I did multiple boxes of 3.5's starting a few days ago. Rather amusingly the Bonus brand 1996 box of 25 was 100% good on surface tests, and the "Corporate Express" disks I found scattered on a thrift store shelf with no box had only one with bad sectors.

Sorting unsorted CDs including Forgotten Realms and LucasArts CDs I had on spindles or just randomly in CD binders. Normally feels good to get organized but I'm pretty tired today.

Still haven't decided what to work on next as the G3 ist kaput. After the 201x PCs to sell to internet randos.

*Too* *many* *things*!

Reply 21396 of 27187, by Kahenraz

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It might be the capacitors reforming or some stressed solder joints settling due to thermal expansion. Or maybe it's just ghosts. I get this kind of behavior frequently with parts that I have received.

Has anyone else tested hardware that seems defective but comes back to life on it's own?

Reply 21397 of 27187, by RaiderOfLostVoodoo

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I did it! I finally did it!
Achievement unlocked:
Successfully brick a mainboard

Homepage was no longer online, so I had to rely on a 3rd party site. Seems like I got trolled.
But it's not the end of the world. Hirsch has a programmer and will unbrick it, next time he's around.
At least all my other boards have the latest BIOS now. Except a 440BX which I got recently. Have to undig my (only) Pentium II first.

Found one more damaged board. Floppy controller doesn't seem to work. Drive gets detected, but can't read or write anything.
Getting close to the end of the pile.

Reply 21398 of 27187, by Shreddoc

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Several months ago when I built an Arduino-based Daemonbite controller adapter, I neglected to enable the optional Debounce function. That had not caused a problem. Until recently, when it interfered with the proper operation of turbo fire.

So I had to delve into the innards of my arcade machine, to rectify that.

In doing so, my movements caused the Arduino's ultra-fragile microUSB port to snap clean off the board, to my delight. I knew at that point I was facing several hours of major F'ing around, vs the quick half-hour job I had hoped. A quick plug + re-program, turned instead into a dig-out of the entire control jig for that side, fix/replace/repair, then painstakingly re-instate.

And so began today's tedious epic of being hunched over into pretzel shape, reaching into my extremely-inconvenient-to-work-on arcade machine, getting everything going again. Several hours later, and finally - at late afternoon - I've reached the point where I had initially hoped to start the day - relaxing into a game of Metal Slug X, on my MiSTer, with my Sanwa controls .... and Turbo fire working.

It didn't help matters that, like all multi-emulator systems, MiSTer has somewhat arbitrary control configuration limitations and vagaries of it's own. But hey - task complete.

Last edited by Shreddoc on 2022-04-09, 05:47. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 21399 of 27187, by Joseph_Joestar

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RaiderOfLostVoodoo wrote on 2022-04-09, 03:07:

At least all my other boards have the latest BIOS now.

I try to flash the latest version on all of my motherboards as well. But recently, I have learned that this is not always the best course of action, at least for socket 754 retro builds. Basically, using anything but the oldest BIOS halves GPU performance under Win98 on the system that I was putting together.

Due to that experience, I now always back up my existing BIOS, try to read the release notes of the new version (if available) and do a quick benchmark before and after flashing to see if there's any performance loss. Better safe than sorry.

PC#1: Pentium MMX 166 / Soyo SY-5BT / S3 Trio64V+ / Voodoo1 / YMF719 / AWE64 Gold / SC-155
PC#2: AthlonXP 2100+ / ECS K7VTA3 / Voodoo3 / Audigy2 / Vortex2
PC#3: Athlon64 3400+ / Asus K8V-MX / 5900XT / Audigy2
PC#4: i5-3570K / MSI Z77A-G43 / GTX 970 / X-Fi