VOGONS


First post, by sydres

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A couple years ago I bought one of these and installed a 4gb DOM installed MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.1. at the time I did not configure sound beyond enabling sound blaster emulation in the bios. I have since that the sound blaster emulation probably requires the viafm tsr. I have a little time after the holidays and want to experiment with this little thin client so I have questions. Does anyone know if there are any compatible risers as I'd love to throw in an ISA sound card. Second, I've tried several CPUs up to 350 k6-2 but currently have a 200mhz Pentium mmx installed I'd like to know if there is any issues with down clocking this as low as I can or will I run into weird behavior? I do have a Pentium 120 available. My goal is slow and steady for DOS games within the limits of the device.

Reply 1 of 7, by sydres

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Obviously this thin client is not well known.
I have been experimenting with it throwing various CPUs into it .
Amd k6 266 works (chip it came with)
Amd k6-2 450 works
Amd k6-2+ 400 atf works
Pentium mmx 200 -works
Manual states chips up to 6x (2x fallback) multiplier and 100mhz bus and voltages from 1.5 to 3.5 as well as support for k6-3 so it's no surprise that all these work.
The sound isn't great but it seems to be fairly compatible, as is the Trident video chip other than a few minor glitches.
My next goal is to either set up a USB cdrom in DOS if possible with the ones I have or get the Ethernet working and get an ftp on one of my others systems to make transferring files easier.
Maybe an opl2lpt and a cvx4 for improved sound.
Not that I need any of this with my Pentium III system with real opl and Roland/Yamaha midi.

Reply 2 of 7, by dionb

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Not one I know, more relevantly: not one with good clear specs online.

Is this it?
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Given you're mentioning Via SB emulation and Trident video, I'm assuming it has a Via MVP4 chipset, with 686A/B southbridge. Is that correct?

In any event, I was recently playing around with a Via Epia board with VT8231 southbridge with the same emulation. You only need viafmtsr.com for AdLib FM synth support, for other SB functionalities, you can just initialize the device with viaaudio.com or viasbcfg.com.

As for the riser, it looks like a standard PISA connector - if it is, any PISA riser should work.

Do you know which Ethernet chip the board has? If it's a Via Rhine like on the Epia, you need the FETPKT.COM packet driver in the Via Rhine driver package. V 2.5 is available here: https://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fil … &menustate=46,0

Reply 3 of 7, by sydres

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Yes it's an mvp4 and yes I have the via fmtsr configured but it uses a lot of memory and the sound is acceptable in many games but not always! The Ethernet chip is a realtek rtl-8139b and I just haven't had the time to get it set up.
I assumed that risers are generally proprietary but maybe I am mistaken.

Reply 4 of 7, by megatron-uk

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For the RTL card, assuming you want to use MTCP, then you just need RTSPKT.COM, available here: http://www.georgpotthast.de/sioux/pktdrv/rtspkt.zip

(http://www.georgpotthast.de/sioux/packet.htm)

I've used a few 8139(A/B/C) cards in the past with it (and MTCP), and they have generally just worked.

My collection database and technical wiki:
https://www.target-earth.net

Reply 6 of 7, by dionb

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sydres wrote on 2025-01-16, 09:10:

Yes it's an mvp4 and yes I have the via fmtsr configured but it uses a lot of memory and the sound is acceptable in many games but not always!

That's just the FM bit. Do you also run viaaudio or viasbcfg? If not, try that to get full SB functionality running. It's just initialization so shouldn't use any more memory than the fmtsr (which you only need for FM music or effects, so you can choose not to use it if you don't need those).

The Ethernet chip is a realtek rtl-8139b and I just haven't had the time to get it set up.

See the tip above. Works fine 😀

I assumed that risers are generally proprietary but maybe I am mistaken.

A lot are but PISA is refreshingly standardized.

What isn't standard though is the distance to back of the case (i.e. where the backplates of the cards end up), so it can still mess up in cases. But in this case it's sticking out anyway so not a concern.

Reply 7 of 7, by sydres

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The bios has a setting to initialize and setup the sound blaster compatibility (dma, port,irq)in this one, would there be any gain in that case for using via audio or viasbcfg?.
As far as the riser goes I'd need to make or find a different case anyway but it's nice to know that it's a relatively simple option.