Ordered some new push-pins for socket 775/1150/1155 Intel branded heatsinks to replace a few weak and broken ones, they arrived last night. Have 2 Heatsinks that need a few replacements.

Wes1262 wrote on 2024-11-24, 14:01:

myne wrote on 2024-11-24, 08:26:

I think we've all done the press randomly and hope. […]
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I think we've all done the press randomly and hope.

It's not very effective.

Nor is the fry it at 250c for 10 mins.

You're going to need tools, time, and patience if you really want to fix it.

Start with a multimeter and some datasheets.

Do the transistors have a normal looking output voltage? (Eg ~3.3, 2.5, 1.8v)

Do the chips get a normal looking voltage on their enable pin?

Edit, just looked at the pic.
It's practically certainly memory related.
Nvidia has mats/mods that can run a memtest to isolate which chip.
There are similar tools for amd.
Once you isolate the chip, look for bad caps and resistors around it. Look for bad traces.
If nothing looks bad, it is either the memory chip (not too hard to replace), or the core (much harder to reball)

GPU stabbing looks something very hard to grasp. And it doesn't look like there are very good guides out there. And I probably need to start with something more basic. I haven't studied electronics at all in school. What I can do however, is replace stuff that looks broken, at random, and hope for the best. I actually got a WEP 858D Hot Air just last week. I was told it's great for hobbists. Thoughts? I can still return it. Also got silicone mat, wicks, leaded solder 63/37 of 3 sizes. I need flux that doesn't cost a fortune (surprisingly hard to find a good deal. top brands are 50$ for tiny syringes which is crazy to me) and a microscope. As with flux, I can't seem to find a good microscope that doesn't cost a fortune.

Run the memtest software first(find it first).
Isolate the memory chip.

Bought these two for $10 each... That's $80 cheaper than when I first purchased a AWE64...

Inflation adjusted it's basically $3 in 1997ish

myne wrote on 2024-11-24, 15:40:

Wes1262 wrote on 2024-11-24, 14:01:

myne wrote on 2024-11-24, 08:26:

I think we've all done the press randomly and hope. […]
Show full quote

I think we've all done the press randomly and hope.

It's not very effective.

Nor is the fry it at 250c for 10 mins.

You're going to need tools, time, and patience if you really want to fix it.

Start with a multimeter and some datasheets.

Do the transistors have a normal looking output voltage? (Eg ~3.3, 2.5, 1.8v)

Do the chips get a normal looking voltage on their enable pin?

Edit, just looked at the pic.
It's practically certainly memory related.
Nvidia has mats/mods that can run a memtest to isolate which chip.
There are similar tools for amd.
Once you isolate the chip, look for bad caps and resistors around it. Look for bad traces.
If nothing looks bad, it is either the memory chip (not too hard to replace), or the core (much harder to reball)

GPU stabbing looks something very hard to grasp. And it doesn't look like there are very good guides out there. And I probably need to start with something more basic. I haven't studied electronics at all in school. What I can do however, is replace stuff that looks broken, at random, and hope for the best. I actually got a WEP 858D Hot Air just last week. I was told it's great for hobbists. Thoughts? I can still return it. Also got silicone mat, wicks, leaded solder 63/37 of 3 sizes. I need flux that doesn't cost a fortune (surprisingly hard to find a good deal. top brands are 50$ for tiny syringes which is crazy to me) and a microscope. As with flux, I can't seem to find a good microscope that doesn't cost a fortune.

Run the memtest software first(find it first).
Isolate the memory chip.

Is there a memory test software for Atis that old?

Every time I've announced my purchases before testing them they ended up not working. But I am no superstitious and "superstition ain't the way" I think someone said.

is it normal that the voodoo says "prodout of mexico" with mispelled "product"?

Wes1262 wrote on 2024-11-25, 15:36:

is it normal that the voodoo says "prodout of mexico" with mispelled "product"?

Haha! That's awesome! I would say NO, it isn't normal. I have had dozens of those over the years and never seen a misspelled label like that. Also never seen a misspelled label on any other STB products. Must have been an off day at the label factory in Mexico.

But, don't worry, that is definitely a genuine card and I've never seen any attempted fakes of 3dfx or STB products (cheap third party cards from the early 2000s, yes, but they look totally different).

Honestly, that's pretty cool. I have a soft spot for typos and engrish on PC hardware packaging. It must be extremely rare on the devices themselves, especially from established brands.

This is kind of dumb, but could you post a bigger picture of the card so that the label is more visible? I would like to save this to my folder of PC hardware "curiosities". 😀

Here it is

Nothing much on the retro front for me...

Awaiting:

- BlueRetro DC adapter - already sourced a Dualshock 3 for cheap (much to a lot of people's surprise, since it's a genuine one!)
- FTDI FT232 adapter - not sure if this is retro given it's a normal USB-RS232 adapter, but bought two for the purpose of PS3 diagnosis and SYSCON experimenting. Does help with BSY ridden Seagates too!
- Bitfunx OSSC - trust me, I had to, but didn't want to shell WAY too much (I found it at ~200-300RON, which is roughly 40-60 EUR - there's the ones that cost as much as 100+ EUR, which is out of my scope.). Probably the only way I'll manage to get VGA output to my HDMI capture stick.
- Bitfunx SATA2PS2 - custom SATA PCB for the good ole' PS2's network adapter. I was given a free HDD adapter however the molex was broken off... eh, planned to use a SATA drive anyways.

Also got a Thinkpad T440P to "centralize" all my retro files 😀

PicoMem with Adlib module. Was planning to use it on a XT but couldn’t find one. Do you think it’s worth it to use on ISA 486dx2 machine ?

Well, this one has been a bit of a roller-coaster.

A few days ago someone was selling a big lot of boxed computer parts and peripherals, and it was mostly stuff I wasn't interested in, but I saw this much of a sound card box and my interest was piqued:

I did a little digging and found almost nothing about this "Hurricane Extreme" card other than these pages:
https://wiki.preterhuman.net/I/O_Magic_Hurricane_Extreme#
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/i-o-magi … ndcards.610938/

So I thought... hey, a sealed box ESS Canyon3D-2 is pretty cool. There was another vaguely useful item in the lot so I made an offer and got them.

Today they arrived and I was sad to see that the UPC had been cut out of the sound card box at some point in the distant past... probably for a mail-in-rebate from BestBuy or something (whoever carried I/OMagic cards). The Canyon3D-2 is really more of a curiosity than a truly special\useful retro soundcard, so a big part of the draw for me was the mint-condition box. It is still sealed and unused, but it has a hole cut out of it, so I was a little annoyed that it never occurred to the seller to mention this after I picked it out specifically.

... then I realized it didn't say ESS or Canyon3D anywhere on it, like the one on the wiki above. And then, I sat down and read the box and noticed a few, erm, features that I know for a fact that the Canyon3D doesn't have... like... A3D 2.0?

... then I looked at the picture of the card itself and, well... yeah.

Wuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

@_@

Whelp, I have had these before (first sound card I ever drooled over and purchased myself, actually), but never in a retail box. I'm guessing I/OMagic was unable to get more ESS Canyon3D-2 cards (they seem quite rare), or they didn't want them, and as with any of these sort of generic retail\store brands, they just got cards from someone else, changed the box graphics to reflect the new product and kept the same exact model number (DR-SQ650). Fortunately for me they chose one of the coolest PCI sound cards ever made as the replacement.

I believe this is the first record online of this card being sold in a retail box by I/OMagic. I have not opened it yet... I want to see it to confirm it, but, well... it is kinda still sealed. 😅

EDIT: I opened it. 😁

Bought this ASRock Alive Dual ESATA2 today. Last one of the three hybrid boards I was still missing (with PCI-E and AGP ). I already have the 939 and 775 one, this is AM2. Excited to recap it and test X4 945 vs. QX6700 as AGP platform.

Also got a more few old graphics cards, really cool stuff, but in absolutely tragic condition. Got 2 out of 7 working. Had to order drill bits for repairing the third one, if that doesn't tell the story idk. 😁 Will post more when they're restored.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-11-23, 18:38:

A few thrift store finds today. […]
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A few thrift store finds today.

Late 90s or early 2000s (?) beige Antec case. Other than a few minor scuffs and scratches, it's in really good shape. Not sure what's installed in it; I'll find out that out when I do a tear down.

The attachment Thrift Store Antec case Nov 2024.jpg is no longer available

Also found four NOS beige Keytronic PS/2 keyboards. They were all still in the original plastic complete with manuals and order forms.

The attachment Thrift Store NOS Keytronic Keyboards Nov 2024.jpg is no longer available

And these Yamaha YST-M15 speakers with the original adapter.

The attachment Thrift Store Yamaha YST-M15 speakers Nov 2024.jpg is no longer available

And while not thrift store related, my CRT Terminator card arrived. 😁

The attachment CRT Terminator DV1000.jpg is no longer available

What does the CRT Terminator do? Beautiful case by the way, the Antec products are awesome 😁.

dominusprog wrote on 2024-11-25, 19:54:

What does the CRT Terminator do?

It connects to the internal "Feature Connector" used on some older video cards to get video data, which it then converts to HDMI output. Basically a way to output from older video cards to a modern monitor. As I understand it, the key difference compared to typical external analog-to-digital converters, is the internal signal via the feature connector is all digital.

There is a thread about it here: CRT Terminator Digital VGA Feature Card ISA DV1000

Beautiful case by the way, the Antec products are awesome 😁.

Thank you! This is the second Antec case I've managed to find at this particular thrift store this year.

Masterchief79 wrote on 2024-11-25, 19:53:

Bought this ASRock Alive Dual ESATA2 today. Last one of the three hybrid boards I was still missing (with PCI-E and AGP ). I already have the 939 and 775 one, this is AM2. Excited to recap it and test X4 945 vs. QX6700 as AGP platform.

unicorn motherboard!

The Geforce 256 is unsurprisingly dead. I expected it knowing that most of Geforces' DAC just die on their own. Shows vertical lines with different hue in the basic display adapter and fails to load into windows once the driver is installed.
However perhaps it's fixable because it doesn't seem the same issue as the DAC issue all the Geforces seem to have. I forgot to take a pic of the artifacts.

The 7800gtx is perfect and even slightly overclocked from stock.

The voodoo I couldn't try because I forgot I don't have an AGP 3.3v motherboard.

Whelp... I let the intrusive thoughts win. I had to know for sure what was in the sound card box. Mainly, I was curious as to whether IOMagic bothered to make their own CDs or if I'd find an original Aureal branded CD in the box. This card was clearly sold long after Aureal had stopped selling them at retail, so I figured it'd be a B0 revision (the last), and - it is!

Once you get the box open they no longer hide the fact that this is an SQ2500. It says it directly on the labeled ESD bag that the card comes in (which seems to be the exact package that was in the Aureal-branded Vortex 2 boxes), and the manual shows tons of screenshots of the Aureal control panel and features.

It's pretty cool, one line even mentions that not all features will work in Windows 2000 or XP, and when I check the driver CD the modified date is July 26th, 2002... so yeah, this is very very late for a retail boxed Vortex2 SQ2500. Aureal was closed and owned by Creative in September of 2000, so this was probably picked up by I/OMagic almost two years later with the understanding that the Aureal and Vortex brands were not to appear on the outside packaging.

For those interested, the CD comes with the following drivers:
NT 4.0 version 2.05
Win2K version 2559
Win9x&ME version 2048

The date on the newest file (not the folders) on the CD w0uld be November 6th, 2000 for "AdmAud30.inf" for Win2K. Kind of strange that someone was in there changing things after the company had closed.

So, yeah, I'm quite happy about this. I have accepted the fact that I will probably never have an original Vortex2 retail box, so this was a huge surprise. I know brand new Vortex2 cards (in ESD bags only) were showing up from Russian sellers several years ago, but as far as actual retail boxed products go, this has to be among the very last Aureal products to be sold. If anyone else knows of any similar big-box retail brands that sold SQ2500 cards, please let me know, because I found no record of such a thing elsewhere online.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-11-25, 20:05:

It connects to the internal "Feature Connector" used on some older video cards to get video data, which it then converts to HDMI output. Basically a way to output from older video cards to a modern monitor. As I understand it, the key difference compared to typical external analog-to-digital converters, is the internal signal via the feature connector is all digital.

There is a thread about it here: CRT Terminator Digital VGA Feature Card ISA DV1000

That's a fantastic piece of hardware. A little pricey, but the quality must be far superior to other options. Thanks for the info.

Asus PCI/E (not express 😏 ) P54NP4

Stated not working. Let's see about that.

Linoleum wrote on 2024-11-25, 05:11:

Bought these two for $10 each... That's $80 cheaper than when I first purchased a AWE64...

AWE64 Value's are plentiful on eBay. Lots of them to be found. Can't fault their performance though.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2024-11-25, 16:14:

Haha! That's awesome! I would say NO, it isn't normal. I have had dozens of those over the years and never seen a misspelled lab […]
Show full quote

Wes1262 wrote on 2024-11-25, 15:36:

is it normal that the voodoo says "prodout of mexico" with mispelled "product"?

Haha! That's awesome! I would say NO, it isn't normal. I have had dozens of those over the years and never seen a misspelled label like that. Also never seen a misspelled label on any other STB products. Must have been an off day at the label factory in Mexico.

But, don't worry, that is definitely a genuine card and I've never seen any attempted fakes of 3dfx or STB products (cheap third party cards from the early 2000s, yes, but they look totally different).

Honestly, that's pretty cool. I have a soft spot for typos and engrish on PC hardware packaging. It must be extremely rare on the devices themselves, especially from established brands.

This is kind of dumb, but could you post a bigger picture of the card so that the label is more visible? I would like to save this to my folder of PC hardware "curiosities". 😀

Just be thankful that your Voodoo 3 have all memory chips matching, same manufacturer, same PN. 😀
That is definitively not the case for a lot of them.