trumpetlicks wrote on 2024-10-27, 20:59:

From one problem to the next 🤣. So it recognizes the 4GB, and I can "install" DOS 6.22, but when rebooted, it somehow isn't recognizing the C: drive to allow it to boot from the HDD (CF card). Anybody seen this?

I saw it before: drives formatted elsewhere not playing along in DOS. Partition your CF card with real Win98/Me FDISK so that your C: doesn’t exceed 500MB and set “active” flag to that primary partition.

On a sidenote you can pick the vanilla BIOS rom version that you like and run rom.by BIOS patcher against it to fix the hdd detection.

Today I was finally able to complete my socket 7 build by replacing the 166 MMX with the 233 MMX. Despite searching for a period correct ISA sound card I could not found one for an affordable price so the Live will stay in the system.
The final configuration:
1. Pentium 233 mmx
2. Abit ax5
3. 64mb sdram
3. Matrox millenium II 8 mb
4. Creative live 0060
5. Realtek 8139 NIC
6. Seagate 20gb harddrive
7. Stock Intel cooler
8. Teac floppy drive
9. Teac 32x cd-rom
10. Windows 95C
The system performs alightly better however playing even 2d games such as Starcraft is a challenge on large maps.
This will be my only socket 7 system. Performance wise the jump form one year to the next in the 90's was incredible.

You built a system with tiny gaming coverage. It has neither ISA sound (or capable emulation thereof) nor 3D acceleration.

My purpose is to build a system around every Abit board I own, not to cover some some particular period regarding gaming. But you are right, the system is only good for 2D games from 1997 and not much else.
Last night I finally found a game that plays flawlessly on the system: Diablo 1 Hellfire version; it is actually feels right, loading a level takes around 5-6 seconds, exactly as I remember, not instantaneous as it is on my ultimate XP machine; it sounds perfect on the Live card despite using only 2.0 speakers.
As much as I would like to have a Voodoo card in the system, the prices are making it ridiculously expensive!

nd22 wrote on 2024-12-29, 09:28:

Last night I finally found a game that plays flawlessly on the system: Diablo 1 Hellfire version; it is actually feels right, loading a level takes around 5-6 seconds, exactly as I remember, not instantaneous as it is on my ultimate XP machine; it sounds perfect on the Live card despite using only 2.0 speakers.

If I remember correctly, some of the earlier SBLive drivers included special presets for non-EAX games, which could be used for applying some reverb effects to enhance the atmosphere.

I think Diablo 1 was officially supported and included on that list of presets.

nd22 wrote on 2024-12-29, 09:28:

My purpose is to build a system around every Abit board I own, not to cover some some particular period regarding gaming.

I didn’t mean that comment as negative. It just shows how fast was playground changing in mid 90s. In fact it’s not a trivial task to build a period correct system with so few use cases.

Bruno128 wrote on 2024-12-29, 11:45:

nd22 wrote on 2024-12-29, 09:28:

My purpose is to build a system around every Abit board I own, not to cover some some particular period regarding gaming.

I didn’t mean that comment as negative. It just shows how fast was playground changing in mid 90s. In fact it’s not a trivial task to build a period correct system with so few use cases.

No negative feelings here! Happy to take any advice.
Last night I enjoyed one more time the good times as I played Hellfire until I reached the caves.
I installed Plus for win95 to make it more how I remembered it. Using the intranet to transfer files onto this socket 7 pc is so much faster than using the USB!

AWE64 Value is usually obtainable on the bay, if you have access to a 3D printer to make a backplate .. (like US$30)

nd22 wrote on 2024-12-30, 07:10:

Using the intranet to transfer files onto this socket 7 pc is so much faster than using the USB!

I recommend FAR Manager for transferring files locally over FTP in a familiar two-panel interface. Simple server like GoldenFTP on a modern PC will do great.
And no USB hassle whatsoever which is great as it frees system resources.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-12-29, 09:54:

nd22 wrote on 2024-12-29, 09:28:

Last night I finally found a game that plays flawlessly on the system: Diablo 1 Hellfire version; it is actually feels right, loading a level takes around 5-6 seconds, exactly as I remember, not instantaneous as it is on my ultimate XP machine; it sounds perfect on the Live card despite using only 2.0 speakers.

If I remember correctly, some of the earlier SBLive drivers included special presets for non-EAX games, which could be used for applying some reverb effects to enhance the atmosphere.

I think Diablo 1 was officially supported and included on that list of presets.

Yes, Diablo 1 is included and sounds awesome; last night I reached the Lazarus lair where I became stuck due to lack of magic resistance.

Guess I'll have to take my AB-TX5 out of the attic. Bought it and forgot about it until now. Maybe I can work something around a Voodoo 2 for a little bit of 3D action with it.

Bruno128 wrote on 2024-12-30, 14:20:

nd22 wrote on 2024-12-30, 07:10:

Using the intranet to transfer files onto this socket 7 pc is so much faster than using the USB!

I recommend FAR Manager for transferring files locally over FTP in a familiar two-panel interface. Simple server like GoldenFTP on a modern PC will do great.
And no USB hassle whatsoever which is great as it frees system resources.

I used yesterday for the first time FAR manager and is working great! Thanks for the recommendation!

Last week I finally managed to get a Creative Aew64. It is the value version and not the Gold version because of the price asked for the latter one! Now the system really belongs to 1997 with every single component!

This is the final configuration:
1. Pentium 233 mmx
2. Abit ax5
3. 64mb sdram
3. Matrox millenium II 8 mb
4. Creative AWE64 value
5. Realtek 8139 NIC
6. Seagate 20gb harddrive
7. Stock Intel cooler
8. Teac floppy drive
9. Teac 32x cd-rom
10. Windows 95C
Missing from above is a NEC USB 2.0 PCI card that runs just fine under 98SE but refuses any driver under 95! This leaves me with one empty PCI slot that I would love to populate with a Voodoo1 however given the prices it is highly unlikey that I will ever get one!

Nice system suited for that crazy time when 3D api wars were still not quite finished and games were moving from dos to windows.

Personally I think the AWE Gold is over hyped. The Value is just fine most of the time.

Doubt you'll miss USB as you have networking, unless you were wanting USB peripherals.

Think Win95 is perfect for this, Yeh it's a bit less refined then Win98 but its windows demands are pretty basic and Win95 is definitely in keeping with the era.

chinny22 wrote on 2025-07-30, 23:32:

Nice system suited for that crazy time when 3D api wars were still not quite finished and games were moving from dos to windows. […]
Show full quote

Nice system suited for that crazy time when 3D api wars were still not quite finished and games were moving from dos to windows.

Personally I think the AWE Gold is over hyped. The Value is just fine most of the time.

Doubt you'll miss USB as you have networking, unless you were wanting USB peripherals.

Think Win95 is perfect for this, Yeh it's a bit less refined then Win98 but its windows demands are pretty basic and Win95 is definitely in keeping with the era.

Thank you sir.
I use only PS/2 keyboard and mouse on this build and on any computer with only USB 1.1: slot 1/socket 370/socket 423/early socket478/early socket 462.
Windows 95 flies on this machine. All software and games is now from 1997 or earlier: Office 97 and not the bloated mess that is Office 2000, Dark reign, Diablo Hellfire, Panzer General 2, Warcraft 2 and so on!
I am amazed how fast the hardware and software was advancing in the BIOS era! This machine handles all games up to 1997 fine but just one year later Windows 98 slows down the system and games like Starcraft are unplayable!

nd22 wrote on 2025-07-31, 06:30:

I am amazed how fast the hardware and software was advancing in the BIOS era! This machine handles all games up to 1997 fine but just one year later Windows 98 slows down the system and games like Starcraft are unplayable!

How well StarCraft runs on socket 7 systems might depend on which patch is applied. That game had a long shelf life due to its active multiplayer community, and the later patches probably targeted more powerful hardware.

I recently replayed the retail release of StarCraft (v1.00) on a K6-2 at 266 MHz running Win95 OSR 2.1 and had no problems throughout the entire campaign.

I also got the retail CD and with 7 AI opponents on a large map the game grinds to a halt as soon as the computer players reach large number of units.
"My"version is Windows 95 OSR 2.5.

nd22 wrote on 2025-07-31, 07:12:

I also got the retail CD and with 7 AI opponents on a large map the game grinds to a halt as soon as the computer players reach large number of units.
"My"version is Windows 95 OSR 2.5.

Ahh, you mean a skirmish game?

I haven't tested that on my system, I just played through the campaign missions. Those were fine, even when large numbers of enemies were on screen. The only instance of slowdown that I recall was when playing the Protoss missions with lots of pylons built close to each other. Something about the transparency effect of the pylon glow slowed the game down under those circumstances.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2025-07-31, 07:20:

nd22 wrote on 2025-07-31, 07:12:

I also got the retail CD and with 7 AI opponents on a large map the game grinds to a halt as soon as the computer players reach large number of units.
"My"version is Windows 95 OSR 2.5.

Ahh, you mean a skirmish game?

I haven't tested that on my system, I just played through the campaign missions. Those were fine, even when large numbers of enemies were on screen. The only instance of slowdown that I recall was when playing the Protoss missions with lots of pylons built close to each other. Something about the transparency effect of the pylon glow slowed the game down under those circumstances.

Yes, sir, a skirmish! When i do some testing for strategy games such as Starcraft or any other RTS - Age of empires for example - I always test with the maximum number of players and units to see how well the CPU copes with the ever increasing load required to control and coordinate an ever increasing number of units.