Didn't know anyone purposefully collected modems 😁

Yeah but hear me out... blinky lights. 🤣

Well at the end i got a Dell Latitude CPi D266XT PII 266MHz 64MB
And it looks like it's missing only an HDD while still being in pretty good conditions.

devius wrote on 2024-08-16, 14:09:

Didn't know anyone purposefully collected modems 😁

Yeah 🤣
I can't think of much old pc gear that's less useful.

myne wrote on 2024-08-16, 14:29:

devius wrote on 2024-08-16, 14:09:

Didn't know anyone purposefully collected modems 😁

Yeah 🤣
I can't think of much old pc gear that's less useful.

I beg to differ. Add a phone line simulator to the mix and you can recreate the experience of dial-up modem gaming. 😁

iraito wrote on 2024-08-16, 08:24:

I'm thinking of buying my first retro laptop but i'm not experienced with them, i'm really good at complex repairs and modding (i did my own 3ds capture card mod in 2 hours)
How dire is the situation for this screen? and what about replacements?

Sad aint it? That's the polariser sheet breaking down although I'm still not sure whether that indicates the front polariser or the internal polariser, probably the front one. The same has happened to my precious Portege 610CT which has put me right off of using it: Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Eventually this will happen to every LCD panel I believe since it's already very common on 80s and early 90s LCDs, though environmental factors like temperature / humidity expsure change the rate at which the polariser breaks down significantly. No idea what's better / worse yet, but I believe that in hot countries or areas, the polarisers break down faster - it's less common to see polariser breakdown in the UK for example.

See this video for an idea of how to replace the polariser sheet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_YmBgE4wS0 - Eventually this will be the method that we all need to use since there will be no good screens left.
But in the present day you should still be able to pickup the panel that laptop uses - Toshiba LTM13C148 or Samsung LT133X1-101 or Sharp LQ13X03, perhaps from another country where the panels degrade less rapidly.

iraito wrote on 2024-08-16, 14:17:

Well at the end i got a Dell Latitude CPi D266XT PII 266MHz 64MB
And it looks like it's missing only an HDD while still being in pretty good conditions.

Also, a funny thing, the LCD panel in this Dell CPi D266XT is compatible with the Tecra 740CDT, swaps right in although the connector doesn't fit 100%, the pinout is the same and it works nicely - have had to do this on my Tecra 750CDT

I just got these vintage NOS controllers. I actually bought Thrustmaster and CH and received the AR Labs as a freebie. Thrustmaster Rage is quite interesting as it is one of those early PC controllers with analog stick (it can be switched for analog and 8-way digital mode). CH is quite basic controller, but typical robust CH quality, Made in USA and all that jazz. AR Labs is clearly the cheapest one, but practically seems to be like a clone of Gravis Gamepad Pro, which again is clone of a PS1 controller. Clone of a clone, how amazing is that! I haven't tested it yet, but just by hand feel it isn't like worst ever. Dpad seems okayish and chassis is pretty sturdy and plastics feel of good quality.

I actually just tested the Thrustmaster Rage with NHL98 and it is actually pretty damn good for a vintage PC gamepad.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2024-08-16, 16:36:

Sad aint it? That's the polariser sheet breaking down although I'm still not sure whether that indicates the front polariser or […]
Show full quote

iraito wrote on 2024-08-16, 08:24:

I'm thinking of buying my first retro laptop but i'm not experienced with them, i'm really good at complex repairs and modding (i did my own 3ds capture card mod in 2 hours)
How dire is the situation for this screen? and what about replacements?

Sad aint it? That's the polariser sheet breaking down although I'm still not sure whether that indicates the front polariser or the internal polariser, probably the front one. The same has happened to my precious Portege 610CT which has put me right off of using it: Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Eventually this will happen to every LCD panel I believe since it's already very common on 80s and early 90s LCDs, though environmental factors like temperature / humidity expsure change the rate at which the polariser breaks down significantly. No idea what's better / worse yet, but I believe that in hot countries or areas, the polarisers break down faster - it's less common to see polariser breakdown in the UK for example.

See this video for an idea of how to replace the polariser sheet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_YmBgE4wS0 - Eventually this will be the method that we all need to use since there will be no good screens left.
But in the present day you should still be able to pickup the panel that laptop uses - Toshiba LTM13C148 or Samsung LT133X1-101 or Sharp LQ13X03, perhaps from another country where the panels degrade less rapidly.

iraito wrote on 2024-08-16, 14:17:

Well at the end i got a Dell Latitude CPi D266XT PII 266MHz 64MB
And it looks like it's missing only an HDD while still being in pretty good conditions.

Also, a funny thing, the LCD panel in this Dell CPi D266XT is compatible with the Tecra 740CDT, swaps right in although the connector doesn't fit 100%, the pinout is the same and it works nicely - have had to do this on my Tecra 750CDT

Thank you man!
I went with the dell mostly because a P2 is way more versatile for portables and i have more options for file transfers.

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-08-16, 14:11:

Yeah but hear me out... blinky lights. 🤣

Tell me about it 😀

When I got ISDN with a PCI terminal adapter card, I enabled some little network status widget on NT4. Maybe it was a small piece of freeware? Software TX/RX boxes on screen, because I longed for the warming flicker of the fire USR 56K.

I moved the LEDs off a NIC to the front of a case too, and ran an extension on a CDROM audio cable.

In my mind, it was like Mother off Alien 😀

I have a cisco 2811 setup with 4 POTS ports on it, I can dial internally with modems and even dial into the cisco to provide a PPP connection for dialup internet on systems.

As for blinky lights, this modem does a cylon scan type thing upon power-on.

Here's my current 486 setup dialing into the cisco for dialup internet!
https://youtu.be/uHZ7A8DFPNo?si=VYkrNQINdBE-GPrZ

Pulled a trigger recently on a Wincor Nixdorf Bettle/M system after seeing posts on reddit and elsewhere, where people were successfully running soundcards in it for DOS. So I ordered and got this:

* A Celeron 566MHz Q418A048-1025 CPU (was hoping to get a Pentium III instead...)
* Intel i815/ICH2 NH82815 chipset
* An IT8888F ISA/PCI bridge
* Integrated Intel VGA card (which does not e.g. report any hi res modes above the 3**x*** modes in Quake by the way), 2 PCI and 1 ISA slots among the peripherals
* A 3.5" floppy drive and a 80Gb IDA hard drive, the latter with preinstalled Windows 98SE - which I have almost immediately swapped for another 40Gb Seagate drive, onto which I then installed MS-DOS from floppies using just the good old utilities with their nice 2Gb limitations (and for giggles, the machine being of a German make, the version of MS-DOS I installed was also German)

Now, my experience first was really a mixed bag - and I could probably write more on that - but things started to rapidly change for the better when the Opti 924 based ISA card has arrived, and then when a NOS Logitech 3 button COM mouse has arrived. Well, I must say the principal driver for the purchase was trying out an ISA soundcard and seeing if games are going to just work - and that I have achieved. With this Bettle mobo I have the card working both in SBPro and WSS mode, ISA DMA fully operational as well as external MIDI output via game port.

To my surprise, an ALS4k PCI card I was toying with while waiting for the ISA card to arrive, also ended up working in many games after some manipulations with community ALS4KDOS init tool settings, but... where was I?

Ah, yes. Games just work. Well except when they don't, and here are some troublemakers:
* Alien Breed demo hangs at the start
* Chaos Engine demos hangs after title screen
* Sam and Max, DotT, Monkey 1 and 2 require a slowdown utility, but then work just fine
* GoG version X-Wing has no sound
* Daggerfall keeps detecting error 0

But having said that the operation is currently nearly perfect for the following, without jitter, lock ups, patching or other trouble:
* GoG version of Tie Fighter, Dark Forces, Rebel Assault
* GoG version of Tyrian 2000
* Legend of Kyrandia, Hand of Fate, Lands of Lore - all talkies
* Doom and Doom engine games
* Quake - no source port required on this machine - and Hammers of Thyrion
* Allegro-based games (well, Doom source ports really), including with WSS driver
* Cyril Cyberpunk, including with WSS driver
* Cryo's Dune, Megarace demo
* Elder Scrolls Arena (GoG)
* Lotus Ultimate Challenge demo
* Wolf3D, Hocus Pocus, Raptor, Wacky Wheels shareware versions
* Blackthorne (web release)
* Duke Nukem 2, although it hangs the system at exit

When it comes to non-game software AT2 requires that /latency switch is given, and adplay 1.6a simply works.

Overall, I am quite happy and it is definitely a very different experience when compared to one with systems that have PCI/integrated sound cards, that has been what I have been mostly exposed to during last few years (as per my signature, really).

I haven't bought these, but I found some hard-to-find NOS of STB Cirrus Logic GD5429's.

Bad image on the website, but appears to be identical to the one in this ebay listing. 50ns EDO RAM, instead of the usual 60/70ns DRAM.

Postage is too high for me, but maybe someone else is interested.

Radwell NOS: https://www.radwell.com/Buy/STB%20SYSTEMS/STB … YSTEMS/HZN11-G1

Ebay listing: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/372529044625

Got a cheap Boss DS-330 today to add to my collection and complement my SC-33 (which I found out to have 2 fallen off capacitors due to leakage!, fixed this already though).

MikeSG wrote on 2024-08-17, 15:08:

I haven't bought these, but I found some hard-to-find NOS of STB Cirrus Logic GD5429's. […]
Show full quote

I haven't bought these, but I found some hard-to-find NOS of STB Cirrus Logic GD5429's.

Bad image on the website, but appears to be identical to the one in this ebay listing. 50ns EDO RAM, instead of the usual 60/70ns DRAM.

Postage is too high for me, but maybe someone else is interested.

Radwell NOS: https://www.radwell.com/Buy/STB%20SYSTEMS/STB … YSTEMS/HZN11-G1

Ebay listing: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/372529044625

Heh, only the SHIPPING was too high? 🤣

The Saturday outing was a little short and didn't find anything terribly interesting. Kworld PCTV converter, ASUS WL-330gE portable WAP ... though at the dollar store, picked up something that might become part of a retro machine in bits and pieces. In the gardening section, they had this "Slug and Snail repellent tape" which is copper foil tape, 20mm wide, 2.2M for $1.50 CDN... seems like with scalpel and ruler I could cut strips to help in PCB repair, though it doesn't have conductive adhesive so will need a touch of solder at the joins. Weatherproof adhesive one would assume so should stand light soldering heat, but maybe not a whole lot. Might also end up used on plain perfboard for quick banging together of simple circuits. Anyhoo, probably not the most ideal for the job, but I like finding "everyday" bits from local stores and exploiting them in unconventional ways. IDK if it's as thick as the stuff used for tape and solder terrarium/stained glass though.

ASUS wap seems versatile as I look it up, bridge, repeater, router, AP modes, any more ancient console or PC with only ethernet port should hook up through it. Also seems like you could backfeed your network through your phone easy if your proper internet connection is down.

Baleog wrote on 2024-08-15, 13:01:

First I got a Yamaha SW60XG. Sounds amazing but IC16 (circled) gets really hot. I would appreciate if anyone could check if their card behaves the same!

That chip does get pretty toasty, I have heatsinked it on all my hardware using this chip.

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-08-17, 16:00:

Heh, only the SHIPPING was too high? 🤣

They're $126USD. On eBay CL-GD5429's start at $165USD... so sort of good value for money

All the CL-GD5434's are gone or $430USD..

MikeSG wrote on 2024-08-18, 07:42:

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-08-17, 16:00:

Heh, only the SHIPPING was too high? 🤣

They're $126USD. On eBay CL-GD5429's start at $165USD... so sort of good value for money

All the CL-GD5434's are gone or $430USD..

Actually yeah, I just hadn't noticed how many of the common ISA VGA had cranked up in price, last time I was paying attention it was only ATI Mach32 and S3 cards much over $100, now everything is clustering around there. Hell even, rhymes with, Scream Bardwear, has some listings that look reasonable in that environment.

Though I don't think I've ever seen GD5429 on ISA benchmarks, only maybe GD5422, GD5426 and they mostly seemed to hang with the Trident TVGAs.

It's kinda sad though that ISA 486 builds are no longer a cheap option.

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-08-18, 12:44:

Though I don't think I've ever seen GD5429 on ISA benchmarks, only maybe GD5422, GD5426 and they mostly seemed to hang with the Trident TVGAs.

You can crank the memory clock on the GD5429 with 60ns RAM from 50Mhz all the way to 80Mhz. No difference in DOS, but windows performance is much better.

From the Cirrus Logic Wiki:
CL-GD5426 – Hardware BitBLT engine; ISA bus and VLB up to 2 MB of memory
CL-GD5428 – Enhanced version of the CL-GD5426; faster BITBLT engine
CL-GD5429 – Enhanced version of the CL-GD5428; supports higher memory clock and has memory-mapped I/O

Pretty happy I could get my hands on The Dig for only $2... GPU is a S3 Savage 4 and I am really hoping it's the Pro version. Still, it's not gonna replace my TNT 2 Pro...