PcBytes wrote on 2025-07-09, 20:56:

I can confirm that - I have an Aspire X-Cruiser on the way. I'm actually undecided if I should save and buy a BX2000 PLUS for it or go with something newer.

That case is awesome! Does it fit a full size atx?

I think it does. I've rarely seen any of its caliber that wouldn't do full size ATX 🤣. Maybe not E-ATX but standard full ATX is defo on the table.

Today I saw an LGR video on the dazzle parallel port capture device and one of the pieces of software showcased on the disc was VideoSaver Pro which gave me an idea. I tracked down the ISO file Clint uploaded to internet archive to try out the software. It had a bunch of generic video content that I promptly removed from the playlist.

I converted a bunch of YouTube videos of mid 80s to late 90s era hardware, software and game promos and TV commercials into MPEG1 using ffmpeg and loaded them into the software as a playlist. I also rolled in a bunch of Microsoft adverts included on the Win98 disc.

So now the screensaver on my retro system is random play of golden era video spots, trailers and local computer stores selling PC bundles.

Still on the lookout for more interesting commercials/promos from the era to add to the rotation. My favourite so far is the Intel MMX 1997 "Stayin' Alive" TV spot. Second favourite is the 1988 AdLib promo.

vutt wrote on 2025-05-24, 16:06:

Modding day. This card has annoying fan whine at full tilt in Win98SE. Card has full sensor set and Asus SmartDoctor tool to for […]
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Modding day.
This card has annoying fan whine at full tilt in Win98SE. Card has full sensor set and Asus SmartDoctor tool to for setting custom fan profile, but it's WinXP+ only. So I installed WinXP just for Temp tuning.
At first I put there regular 2W resistor but it heated up ~50C. 5W ceramic one while bulky seems to be fine. 82Ω brought fan RPM down to ~4000RPM from 6000+ default speed.
Results: GPU core seems to be floating in low-mid 40-ies now under load. However hottest part is actually memory ~52C and back side mem chips are naked. Not sure where temp sensor is located.
I'm using my retro rigs in semi open bench inside shelf. So this mod might not be good for tight less ventilated cases.

Streamlined little bit my 9600XT fan speed mod look. Replaced bulky ceramic resistor. It turned out that 3W SMD resistor is cool enough for my application.

I made a DRAMarduino https://forum.defence-force.org/viewtopic.php?t=1699 to test some amount of 4164 and 41256, installed in some boards and spares.
Got it working with my Arduino Uno R4.
Today I enhanced the original code, with some help from Copilot.
I added: Fill, WalkingBits, Checkerboard, Retention, Inversion, AddressAliasing (this one is sloooww).
"Fill" was the basic original test, but some chips passed this test and faults with the more strict ones.
Still working on some even more stricter integrity test and maybe add a couple of modifications from other people
Latter on I will share the code

Fixed a broken pin on those 6400+ AM2 Athlon64 X2 i got. Would not say it is hard, it takes just a couple of minutes, but it is definitely challenging in terms of working with tiny stuff and seeing it well enough to work with it.

So i've basically stolen "reserved" pin nearby and soldered it in place of broken one. It works:

Also while i was testing the CPU thought i'd test pci-e x1950pro i had laying around for years. Needed a card anyway since this motherboard does not have integrated graphics and since i was investigating AGP versions recently thought - why not. It works, but... i must be cursed or ATI/AMD really makes the most buggy hardware/software in existence.

This time it was unable to detect resolutions supported by the monitor, which resulted in weirdness like native 1920x1080 being stretched into gigantic image i have to scroll around to get to things. Had to specify custom resolution just to get the desktop right and when i tried to run a game with 1024x768 it did not work correctly either, so i gave up with the card for now.

I mean i did connect it through DVI-VGA adapter and through KVM, but i've used this exact setup to tests dozens of different cards in different systems and it is the first time i've seen this issue.

ATI/AMD stuff just never works right for me for some reason...

Here's the code I created to test 4164 and 41246 memory chips, based on the DRAMarduino project: https://forum.defence-force.org/viewtopic.php?t=1699
It has been expanded with the help of Copilot and tested with an Arduino Uno R4 Wifi, but it should work with others, taking the pins into account. See the electronics side of the project.
I focused on this project because it's very simple, inexpensive, and just what I needed for the memory chips I wanted to test. I did test MB8264, MN4164, MN41256 and D41256 chips.

The tests includad are:
• Fill: Fills cells with zeros, ones, or a specific pattern. This is more or less the original test, but chips with some problem may pass this test but fail one or all the following. This is why the original project is quite limited, unless the tests are expanded.
• Checkerboard: Alternating zeros and ones.
• Retention: Writes to memory and reads the data after a timeout.
• Inversion: Checks for bits that change their value after being written.
• WalkingBits: Checks for stuck cells.
• MATS++, MarchC, MarchA: These three tests expand the scope to include:
- Stuck-at errors (cell always at 0 or 1)
- Coupling faults
- Transition faults (cell does not transition correctly from 0 to 1)
- Addressing faults
- Interference faults between neighboring cells
- Conditional access faults (reading or writing fails depending on the state of other cells)
• Address Aliasing: Check if different row and column combinations accidentally access the same memory cell, indicating a fault in the address logic. However, this test still needs further work.

The code requires the digitalWriteFast library. Install it into the IDE.
After turning on the Arduino, press the Reset key once to avoid possible errors.
Sometimes, a single error in $0 may immediately appear at the start of the first test. Reset until the tests start correctly, unless it's a real error.
The code allows you to run a given sequence of tests (you need to modify and recompile the code) or use a menu via the terminal (tested in the Arduino IDE) at 9600. The terminal displays the running tests and their results. It is recommended to use the terminal console.
During the tests, the green LED keep flashing. At the end of a partial or full test, both flash. After all the tests, if everything is OK, the green LED remains lit; if there is at least one error, the red LED remains lit.
If during the tests there are more than 100 errors, the remaining tests are canceled.
There are unused or commented-out parts of the code; this is a WiP.
You can do whatever you want with the code, modify it, adapt it to your needs, etc. If anyone tries it, please share your thoughts. I'm sure Copilot or I made mistakes or added unnecessary things.