I just bought another AWE64 Value CT4520. I didn't want to do it, but it was cheap, only around $12 ($15 with shipping), my brain turned off and I clicked before I've realized what I'm doing.

Maybe I can trade it in for a 486 motherboard.

The last but not the least :

Sadly it had a problem, the GF1 was outputting terrible noise, nothing reassembly a proper "sampled" sound. The culprit was C26 and C25 @ the output of the opamp LM833. Easy fix, but it was nerve wracking to imagine a busted GF1.

Also, an invaluable tool for those who are more proficient on fixing old computers, the Retro Chip Tester Pro fully assembled :

flupke11 wrote on 2022-05-27, 13:47:

I also found my first fully owned pair of loudspeakers!

These were also my first loudspeakers, they came alongside my Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 - not sure if I had bought them separately or whether they were a bundle or what, but I would pay good money for a pair of these suckers today. And by suckers, I mean it. They sucked ass. But I love them anyway..

RandomStranger wrote on 2022-05-27, 14:15:

I just bought another AWE64 Value CT4520. I didn't want to do it, but it was cheap, only around $12 ($15 with shipping), my brain turned off and I clicked before I've realized what I'm doing.

Maybe I can trade it in for a 486 motherboard.

I have like 5 of those and would trade three of them for a VLB motherboard.

SteveC wrote on 2022-05-27, 13:45:

Xicor wrote on 2022-05-27, 11:57:

Due to a recent "family enlargement upgrade", I have been in in "lurking mode", and all of the little time that I have has gon […]
Show full quote

Due to a recent "family enlargement upgrade", I have been in in "lurking mode", and all of the little time that I have has gone to saving and hunting vintage machines of several types.

In a personal note, I tend to despise the "business" aspect that is growing on the hobby, so I tend to seek only the enjoyment and sentimental aspect of the retro scene. There is obviously an inherent subjectivity, what "kicks" me, may be meaningless to others. I my mind, I feel a odd enjoyment every time I see a humble or exceedingly rare hardware in this thread, maybe because it throws me back to ethos of "playing for the sake of it ".

Enough of ranting, let me share my findings from the past months :

fMarket.jpg

stash01.jpg

stash02.jpg

stash03.jpg

More yet to come ......

Wow all this kit is enough to keep you busy for the rest of the year!

What's that Unisys box?

That is a strange beast, almost a full tower, but not quite. It is a dual pentium socket 5, EISA+PCI, if I recall correctly. The layout of the MB is huge, and somewhat proprietary, but resembles an ATX on the io side of things. I think it may be an intel server rebranded.... Not sure ....

Sadly this box is lacking a PSU, another project in the making.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-05-27, 14:22:

flupke11 wrote on 2022-05-27, 13:47:

I also found my first fully owned pair of loudspeakers!

These were also my first loudspeakers, they came alongside my Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 - not sure if I had bought them separately or whether they were a bundle or what, but I would pay good money for a pair of these suckers today. And by suckers, I mean it. They sucked ass. But I love them anyway..

I am pretty sure I got mine with my SB Pro 2 - which I got as an upgrade for my AMD DX40 on VLB Soyo board which I also try to source...

flupke11 wrote on 2022-05-27, 14:11:

Xicor wrote on 2022-05-27, 14:04:

Soldiering on .....

10.jpg

One more to come....

Running XP on a mobile MMX must be a frustrating experience. Interesting collection of hardware, and I agree with your point on the "business". The global recession might push this hobby back to where it belongs, although the seas might have been trawled empty by then.

Painfully slow. I received it just like that. Luckily it came in the original box plus documentation and original IBM restore disks with Win98se. Did the a complete wipe and restore, now its a much happier machine.

appiah4 wrote on 2022-05-27, 14:23:

RandomStranger wrote on 2022-05-27, 14:15:

I just bought another AWE64 Value CT4520. I didn't want to do it, but it was cheap, only around $12 ($15 with shipping), my brain turned off and I clicked before I've realized what I'm doing.

Maybe I can trade it in for a 486 motherboard.

I have like 5 of those and would trade three of them for a VLB motherboard.

I'd be completely satisfied with a more modern board that also supports PCI. I've been planning to build a PC with my Am486DX-80 CPU for a while. I have basically everything except the motherboard. These cards fly off the shelf for around twice the price and not a lost cause to ask thrice I pay and around that's where tested and working socket 3 boards start.

It's just other than getting a s3 board, I was planning to sell stuff rather than buy.

Also I got an LG GSA-4040B optical drive for free.

I thought it'd look better with this Mercury case.

SteveC wrote on 2022-05-27, 11:56:

NyLan wrote on 2022-05-27, 07:28:

You are completely right, my mistake when I put this screen in place. As I'm left handed I put the speaker with knobs on left... […]
Show full quote

GigAHerZ wrote on 2022-05-26, 19:12:

@Nylan, i LOVE the sh*tty computer speakers you have! Absolute beauties in their own sense.
Btw, aren't they reversed? Usually speaker with knobs is the right side speaker...

You are completely right, my mistake when I put this screen in place. As I'm left handed I put the speaker with knobs on left... It's fixed now 😀

For the story, I had the same... back in 1997 with my Pentium 120, that's why I really wanted to get it 😀
I found this one on eBay by searching for "AC-691N" and then I found a clone completely by accident in a store, marked "Advance SP-120B"

Mine just turned up in their original box!

Just testing these out - the box says 80 Watts... more like 0.8 Watts 😁 they weigh about the same as a sheet of A4 paper, and that includes the internal power supply! But I love them 😁

I am a bit jealous though of these:

flupke11 wrote on 2022-05-27, 13:47:

I also found my first fully owned pair of loudspeakers!

Xicor wrote on 2022-05-27, 14:31:

SteveC wrote on 2022-05-27, 13:45:

Xicor wrote on 2022-05-27, 11:57:

Due to a recent "family enlargement upgrade", I have been in in "lurking mode", and all of the little time that I have has gon […]
Show full quote

Due to a recent "family enlargement upgrade", I have been in in "lurking mode", and all of the little time that I have has gone to saving and hunting vintage machines of several types.

In a personal note, I tend to despise the "business" aspect that is growing on the hobby, so I tend to seek only the enjoyment and sentimental aspect of the retro scene. There is obviously an inherent subjectivity, what "kicks" me, may be meaningless to others. I my mind, I feel a odd enjoyment every time I see a humble or exceedingly rare hardware in this thread, maybe because it throws me back to ethos of "playing for the sake of it ".

Enough of ranting, let me share my findings from the past months :

fMarket.jpg

stash01.jpg

stash02.jpg

stash03.jpg

More yet to come ......

Wow all this kit is enough to keep you busy for the rest of the year!

What's that Unisys box?

That is a strange beast, almost a full tower, but not quite. It is a dual pentium socket 5, EISA+PCI, if I recall correctly. The layout of the MB is huge, and somewhat proprietary, but resembles an ATX on the io side of things. I think it may be an intel server rebranded.... Not sure ....

Sadly this box is lacking a PSU, another project in the making.

Be interesting to see you get this up and running! Also that Sun tower! 😍

pancakepuppy wrote on 2022-05-27, 05:22:

cyclone3d wrote on 2022-05-26, 23:59:

This is a thin client with an ISA/PCI riser slot, a 3.5" floppy drive and a 44-pin IDE connector (originally it was for a Compac […]
Show full quote

This is a thin client with an ISA/PCI riser slot, a 3.5" floppy drive and a 44-pin IDE connector (originally it was for a Compact flash adapter that was accessible on the back.
PXL_20220526_235127264~2.jpg

Not going to divulge the brand/model until after I have a chance to actually do some testing and probably post a YouTube video.

I have 2 different risers that will fit it, but only one puts the cards above the thin client.

Feel free to guess the brand/model 😀

I will say that there are 0 pictures that I could find of this doing a Google search. The manual is available though.

Incorrect guesses so far:
Compaq/HP

Netier NetXpress XL-1000 ;P

Hah, you are correct.

Have you used one before?

cyclone3d wrote on 2022-05-27, 15:31:

pancakepuppy wrote on 2022-05-27, 05:22:

cyclone3d wrote on 2022-05-26, 23:59:

This is a thin client with an ISA/PCI riser slot, a 3.5" floppy drive and a 44-pin IDE connector (originally it was for a Compac […]
Show full quote

This is a thin client with an ISA/PCI riser slot, a 3.5" floppy drive and a 44-pin IDE connector (originally it was for a Compact flash adapter that was accessible on the back.
PXL_20220526_235127264~2.jpg

Not going to divulge the brand/model until after I have a chance to actually do some testing and probably post a YouTube video.

I have 2 different risers that will fit it, but only one puts the cards above the thin client.

Feel free to guess the brand/model 😀

I will say that there are 0 pictures that I could find of this doing a Google search. The manual is available though.

Incorrect guesses so far:
Compaq/HP

Netier NetXpress XL-1000 ;P

Hah, you are correct.

Have you used one before?

I'm a big fan of super socket 7 and got one of these myself, very familiar with those internals 😀 Haven't messed with using a riser with it though!

Warlord wrote on 2022-05-27, 05:53:

cyclone3d wrote on 2022-05-26, 23:59:

This is a thin client with an ISA/PCI riser slot, a 3.5" floppy drive and a 44-pin IDE connector (originally it was for a Compac […]
Show full quote

This is a thin client with an ISA/PCI riser slot, a 3.5" floppy drive and a 44-pin IDE connector (originally it was for a Compact flash adapter that was accessible on the back.
PXL_20220526_235127264~2.jpg

Not going to divulge the brand/model until after I have a chance to actually do some testing and probably post a YouTube video.

I have 2 different risers that will fit it, but only one puts the cards above the thin client.

Feel free to guess the brand/model 😀

I will say that there are 0 pictures that I could find of this doing a Google search. The manual is available though.

Incorrect guesses so far:
Compaq/HP

whats the onboard video chip. I'm guessing theres only room to fit one card, either PCI or ISA. The blue motherboard makes me think its somthing like a Wyse or a Kontron, somthing along those lines.

Since it has already been guessed, here is a bit more info:
The stock riser, with I think was a shared PCI/ISA only came with the larger version, the XL-2000.

The onboard video is Trident.

CPU voltage setting goes from 1.5v up to 3.5v

Stock CPU is an AMD K6-300 underclocked to 250Mhz. The manual says it is supposed to be set at 1.8v but the BIOS on this one is reporting 1.98v. I haven't checked the jumper settings yet.

There are also a bunch of undocumented fsb settings. Should be 16 settings total, but the manual only lists 10.

It was set to PXE boot, but when I changed it to boot from the DOM, it booted up to NT4 embedded and it apparently was used at a library. Completely locked down and all the applications were run over the network.

cyclone3d wrote on 2022-05-27, 15:46:

Since it has already been guessed, here is a bit more info: The stock riser, with I think was a shared PCI/ISA only came with th […]
Show full quote

Warlord wrote on 2022-05-27, 05:53:

cyclone3d wrote on 2022-05-26, 23:59:

This is a thin client with an ISA/PCI riser slot, a 3.5" floppy drive and a 44-pin IDE connector (originally it was for a Compac […]
Show full quote

This is a thin client with an ISA/PCI riser slot, a 3.5" floppy drive and a 44-pin IDE connector (originally it was for a Compact flash adapter that was accessible on the back.
PXL_20220526_235127264~2.jpg

Not going to divulge the brand/model until after I have a chance to actually do some testing and probably post a YouTube video.

I have 2 different risers that will fit it, but only one puts the cards above the thin client.

Feel free to guess the brand/model 😀

I will say that there are 0 pictures that I could find of this doing a Google search. The manual is available though.

Incorrect guesses so far:
Compaq/HP

whats the onboard video chip. I'm guessing theres only room to fit one card, either PCI or ISA. The blue motherboard makes me think its somthing like a Wyse or a Kontron, somthing along those lines.

Since it has already been guessed, here is a bit more info:
The stock riser, with I think was a shared PCI/ISA only came with the larger version, the XL-2000.

The onboard video is Trident.

CPU voltage setting goes from 1.5v up to 3.5v

Stock CPU is an AMD K6-300 underclocked to 250Mhz. The manual says it is supposed to be set at 1.8v but the BIOS on this one is reporting 1.98v. I haven't checked the jumper settings yet.

There are also a bunch of undocumented fsb settings. Should be 16 settings total, but the manual only lists 10.

It was set to PXE boot, but when I changed it to boot from the DOM, it booted up to NT4 embedded and it apparently was used at a library. Completely locked down and all the applications were run over the network.

A peek at the board without all the chassis structure and stuff in the way 😀

Yesterday i picked up 512kb ram stick for Amiga 500.

Commodores are not my thing but these just happened to be so close from here that I could not let these pass. TV was free and not from the same place as Commodore but I was very lucky to get them all at once. The rest cost 100 €. TV should work but the Commodore stuff has not been tested since 90s.

Xicor wrote on 2022-05-27, 12:07:

More findings ........

3.jpg

More to come .....

The MSX is looking in a bit of a sorry state, but does it work?

Finding replacement keys for that would probably be a bit tricky though.

aitotat wrote on 2022-05-27, 16:16:

SHA_20220527_190433118_8.4.400.jpg
Commodores are not my thing but these just happened to be so close from here that I could not let these pass. TV was free and not from the same place as Commodore but I was very lucky to get them all at once. The rest cost 100 €. TV should work but the Commodore stuff has not been tested since 90s.

Fingers crossed you should be ok, the C64 C models tend to be a bit more reliable. Just test the voltage output of the power supply first before plugging it in.

SteveC wrote on 2022-05-27, 11:56:

NyLan wrote on 2022-05-27, 07:28:

You are completely right, my mistake when I put this screen in place. As I'm left handed I put the speaker with knobs on left... […]
Show full quote

GigAHerZ wrote on 2022-05-26, 19:12:

@Nylan, i LOVE the sh*tty computer speakers you have! Absolute beauties in their own sense.
Btw, aren't they reversed? Usually speaker with knobs is the right side speaker...

You are completely right, my mistake when I put this screen in place. As I'm left handed I put the speaker with knobs on left... It's fixed now 😀

For the story, I had the same... back in 1997 with my Pentium 120, that's why I really wanted to get it 😀
I found this one on eBay by searching for "AC-691N" and then I found a clone completely by accident in a store, marked "Advance SP-120B"

Mine just turned up in their original box!

Hey, that's awesome ! Are they still white ?

PTherapist wrote on 2022-05-27, 16:49:

Xicor wrote on 2022-05-27, 12:07:

More findings ........

3.jpg

More to come .....

The MSX is looking in a bit of a sorry state, but does it work?

Finding replacement keys for that would probably be a bit tricky though.

The photo doesn't do justice to the MSX, it was dirty but it came to be quite good looking after a proper clean. It does work fine, and it has the FM synthesizer.

The keys themselves don't pose a challenge, one ca 3d print them, but the stems, that's a different story. I'm thinking that a DLP printer may be a good way to get the right tolerances.