Half of the recap on the K7S5A is done... still have the little 1000uF/10v and a few 470s to go (plus 2 green 1500s that I ran out of polymers for) but so far it looks absolutely gorgeous with the black/golden theme from the Rubycon MFZ installed.

Test CPU is a 800MHz Spitfire Duron. Once I finish it, will likely drop a 2200 or 2400+.

Transfering files from my modern arch box to my old p266 box via serial cable and zmodem

Minutemanqvs wrote on 2024-01-14, 18:08:

All the G4XX and Parhelia cards upgraded without any issue with the Windows utility. For the old Mystique / Millennium II it's f […]
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Minutemanqvs wrote on 2024-01-14, 09:29:

My mission today is to update the firmwares of all Matrox cards I have, from the Mystique/Millennium to the Parhelias. It looked quite simple in theory. But for older cards the update utility absolutely insists on having a real DOS environment and formatting a diskette...and I have Windows 2000 almost everywhere. So time to get out the 486 for these.

All the G4XX and Parhelia cards upgraded without any issue with the Windows utility. For the old Mystique / Millennium II it's fun to see that the update utility shows the last flash date, and flashes the firmware twice. Versions were all over the place!

I think I've seen somewhere that the cards just count how often they were programmed at all.
So beeing programmed 2 times shouldn't mean it was programmed twice this time but 2 times at all (first time at factory).
It could be wrong but you could proof by programming again. Then there should be written "3 times".

Is it known what a newer firmware actually does?
Just asking because I have a 4MB MGA1164 Mystique that makes my recent 486 system crash with certain games or applications. With other VGA cards that doesn't happen.
I had a (2MB) Mystique MGA1064 back in the 90s in my 486 and never had any problems with it. So I wonder if that's anything a BIOS update on this newer revision Mystique could improve.

PcBytes wrote on 2024-01-14, 14:43:

Now, anyone remember HoneyX and Cheapmod BIOSes? 😁

Cheepobios was always my first step into K7S5A fun.

Not so retro but had to reset routers and check my "was running" vintage and current pc's that went down when we and about 500 others in my neighborhood suddenly lost power a few days ago. Current outside temp is 12f with 15mph wind, been that cold for over a week. Got down to 55f in main rooms, 40f in the spare room and bathroom (kept those doors closed.). Luckily have a small generator that kept me in lights and barely in a bit of warmth. Yes I have two UPS but had 4 computers running not attached to any of the vintage ones 🙁

Kahenraz wrote on 2024-01-14, 23:01:

Don't you mean -12V? Did you just reinvent the voltage blaster?

Yes it's in essence "voltage blaster" functionality. Feeding ISA -5v line from -12v line using negative voltage regulator.

ChrisK wrote on 2024-01-15, 08:05:

I think I've seen somewhere that the cards just count how often they were programmed at all. So beeing programmed 2 times should […]
Show full quote

Minutemanqvs wrote on 2024-01-14, 18:08:

All the G4XX and Parhelia cards upgraded without any issue with the Windows utility. For the old Mystique / Millennium II it's f […]
Show full quote

Minutemanqvs wrote on 2024-01-14, 09:29:

My mission today is to update the firmwares of all Matrox cards I have, from the Mystique/Millennium to the Parhelias. It looked quite simple in theory. But for older cards the update utility absolutely insists on having a real DOS environment and formatting a diskette...and I have Windows 2000 almost everywhere. So time to get out the 486 for these.

All the G4XX and Parhelia cards upgraded without any issue with the Windows utility. For the old Mystique / Millennium II it's fun to see that the update utility shows the last flash date, and flashes the firmware twice. Versions were all over the place!

I think I've seen somewhere that the cards just count how often they were programmed at all.
So beeing programmed 2 times shouldn't mean it was programmed twice this time but 2 times at all (first time at factory).
It could be wrong but you could proof by programming again. Then there should be written "3 times".

Is it known what a newer firmware actually does?
Just asking because I have a 4MB MGA1164 Mystique that makes my recent 486 system crash with certain games or applications. With other VGA cards that doesn't happen.
I had a (2MB) Mystique MGA1064 back in the 90s in my 486 and never had any problems with it. So I wonder if that's anything a BIOS update on this newer revision Mystique could improve.

I couldn't find any changelog about that unfortunately...in case you are interested the package containing all the firmwares is:
Matrox DOS Utilities - Revision 3.51.000 - setup351.zip
You can find it on https://ftp.matrox.com/pub/mga/bios/ - I never found the link on the website.
The documentation simply states that it contains:
BIOSes that have changed are highlighted (**)
Mystique BIOS version 1.8.37 858-8
Mystique RRunner BIOS version 1.8.14 861-8
Millennium BIOS version 3.0.60 838-20
MillenniumII PCI BIOS version 1.5.24 859-5
MillenniumII AGP BIOS version 1.4.14 865-4
Millennium II PCI RRunner BIOS version 1.4.03 876-4
Millennium II AGP RRunner BIOS version 1.3.03 877-3
**MGA G100 AGP BIOS version 1.6.22 874-6
MGA G100 PCI BIOS version 1.2.09 873-2
MGA G100 TVO AGP BIOS Version 1.5.01 874-5TVO
**MGA G200 PCI BIOS version 2.3.08 899-23
**MGA G200 AGP BIOS version 2.3.11 900-23
Mystique/Marvel G200 TVO AGP BIOS version 2.2.04 900-22TV
Marvel G200 TVO PCI BIOS version 2.2.04 899-22TV

Getting this AN430TX ready, case is on its way, will be fun getting it all set up.

First, finished the recap on the K7S5A, and it looks gorgeous. I'll update the post with pics soon enough.

Second, started cleaning a pretty poor condition of a OGXbox, revision 1.6.

I'm thinking of painting the case given how bad it looks, and I already have the 95/98SE/NT4 shade of green for it. Problem is idk what 2nd color to pick -black, or white?

I was testing a Celeron dual-core E1200, 800/1.6GHz

Bios set it @333 and I got it at 2.6GHz
1GHz overclock and temp was 27°C...

Way better, at stock speed it's slow even with Xp 🤣

Edit: I pushed it to 3GHz stable @ stock parameters. Did a fast Pi test and it passed... Not my interest to go further down the road with this but it was sure a nice surprise.
Maybe it'll crash with some other stress test, funny nonetheless.

Yah cache pruned core 2+ class you seem to end up testing the limits of the system boards and RAM vs the CPU, haven't found where my Celeron 440 or Pentium E2140 really max out, though I have only had them in 2nd or 3rd tier boards really.

PcBytes wrote on 2024-01-15, 13:22:

Second, started cleaning a pretty poor condition of a OGXbox, revision 1.6. https://www.vogons.org/download/file.php?mode=view&i […]
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Second, started cleaning a pretty poor condition of a OGXbox, revision 1.6.

I'm thinking of painting the case given how bad it looks, and I already have the 95/98SE/NT4 shade of green for it. Problem is idk what 2nd color to pick -black, or white?

that xbox has seen some action! i guess its also down to how roughed up the xbox is, maybe some polish and patience will work for it, but otherwise repaint could make it look band new (or really cool different colors!)

Yeah, chances are it has seen a partial flood. While the mobo and HDD seem unscathed for the most part (it booted into the stock dash just fine), the shielding inside was absolutely disgusting.

Been playing Doom today! Specifically, PrBoom+ and its ray tracing mod! Runs great on an RX 6600. 😀

Tons of fun!

https://prboom-plus.sourceforge.io/ + https://github.com/sultim-t/prboom-plus-rt/releases = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Ld9YNUWls

After 22 years (!) running daily/weekly, my Enermax EG465P-VE 431Watt PSU seems to have finally and suddenly died. Replaced it with a lowly Corsair RM550 and the PC lives again. The lack of sufficient 4 pin power connectors is a PITA.

The Enermax was bought new in 2002 for my Pentium 4 PC, and had been running ever since. But this weekend, the PC suddenly had several instances of turning off completely, with no warning signs whatsoever. Started up normally after turning the PSU off and on again, several times, but it did not last many minutes after boot before conking out again. Not the random restarts I have seen on rare occation, but just dieing completely and unexpectedly (no power). Hence me suspecting the PSU. Which it apparantly it was... as after the replacement there has been no such incidents.

Checked all the connectors and even opened it up to look at the capacitors, but my untrained eye can not see any apparant broken caps, damage or connector burns or anything else.
Now, what to do with the old PSU ? It has a whopping 44Amp rating on the 5 volt line, which is not common. Would perhaps a recapping bring it back to life, if I even can find anyone that can actually perform such a feat for me ? 😄

Oh well, at least the old PC still lives, with its heavily overclocked P4 1,6Ghz@2,67Ghz.... Though after having recently installed HWinfo for the first time, the 60C temp values (both on CPU and mobo!) may be hints for me to perhaps replace the 22 year old thermal paste as well. Still works fine though.

Got so amped up in fixing the Xbox as much as I could and forgot the pics of the K7S5A.

Here they are! Including a sweet 45GB worth of angle grinder noises. It's a surprise it still works given it's got a tiny dent in the topcase. A bit slow that is, but it works!

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-01-15, 18:52:

Yah cache pruned core 2+ class you seem to end up testing the limits of the system boards and RAM vs the CPU, haven't found where my Celeron 440 or Pentium E2140 really max out, though I have only had them in 2nd or 3rd tier boards really.

Well, as I was at it I tried 385 FSB but it started to crash. Swapped for high quality DDR2 and it worked again @ stock Vcore.
390 it was still good, 391 I had to up the Vcore.

This with a "3rd tier" board. Ok, it's a celeron with 512KB of L2 but it's still impressive.
I felt like it's Celeron II all over again 😀

After that I dismantled the system to test some more stuff. Today I stressed a few repaired boards to check if it was all good.

Nexxen wrote on 2024-01-15, 16:26:

I was testing a Celeron dual-core E1200, 800/1.6GHz […]
Show full quote

I was testing a Celeron dual-core E1200, 800/1.6GHz

Bios set it @333 and I got it at 2.6GHz
1GHz overclock and temp was 27°C...

Way better, at stock speed it's slow even with Xp 🤣

Edit: I pushed it to 3GHz stable @ stock parameters. Did a fast Pi test and it passed... Not my interest to go further down the road with this but it was sure a nice surprise.
Maybe it'll crash with some other stress test, funny nonetheless.

My first dual core was one of the first Core 2 CPUs. I bought the cheapest one because it reviewed as easy to overclock. Even as a budget model, it was much faster than my old Athlon 64 3400+, and I used it for years until finally upgrading to a quad core Q9550.

bestemor wrote on 2024-01-15, 21:21:

After 22 years (!) running daily/weekly, my Enermax EG465P-VE 431Watt PSU seems to have finally and suddenly died. Replaced it w […]
Show full quote

After 22 years (!) running daily/weekly, my Enermax EG465P-VE 431Watt PSU seems to have finally and suddenly died. Replaced it with a lowly Corsair RM550 and the PC lives again. The lack of sufficient 4 pin power connectors is a PITA.

The Enermax was bought new in 2002 for my Pentium 4 PC, and had been running ever since. But this weekend, the PC suddenly had several instances of turning off completely, with no warning signs whatsoever. Started up normally after turning the PSU off and on again, several times, but it did not last many minutes after boot before conking out again. Not the random restarts I have seen on rare occation, but just dieing completely and unexpectedly (no power). Hence me suspecting the PSU. Which it apparantly it was... as after the replacement there has been no such incidents.

Checked all the connectors and even opened it up to look at the capacitors, but my untrained eye can not see any apparant broken caps, damage or connector burns or anything else.
Now, what to do with the old PSU ? It has a whopping 44Amp rating on the 5 volt line, which is not common. Would perhaps a recapping bring it back to life, if I even can find anyone that can actually perform such a feat for me ? 😄

Oh well, at least the old PC still lives, with its heavily overclocked P4 1,6Ghz@2,67Ghz.... Though after having recently installed HWinfo for the first time, the 60C temp values (both on CPU and mobo!) may be hints for me to perhaps replace the 22 year old thermal paste as well. Still works fine though.

I always opt to try and repair older power supplies, just because I can, and I hate tossing things without a darn good reason. 😜

Not to mentions, those older PSU's are sometimes hard to find at a good price.

If I can't repair it, I recycle, even on newer PSUs. I gutted the last one that died on me and made a simple filtered solder smoke extractor. 😀

Have to agree on fixing PSUs. I got myself a ChannelWell(CWT) made ISO PSU and a noname unit that turned out to be a 400W Seasonic inside. Both had badcaps, both got fixed.

The Seasonic now has the sticker from a Deer PSU (ANS LC-B400ATX) and is kept as backup, and my main benchbuild PSU is a ISO-500PP, for which Channel Well is the OEM (same as Thermaltake TR2 420W PCB wise)