Bought a few ARCnet NICs and a HGC adapter sold as a gameport card. I'm quite fond of these old network adapters and nobody wants them in the retro community anyway so these are always cheap. Might build an ARCnet network to see how it fares compared to IBM's token-ring solution.

ARCnet is actually useful though. It works with most things from Amigas, DataPoints, IBM ATs to Windows NT and PCI bus. And, what a 2025 hacker going to do if they encounter an obscure protocol on ARCnet devices? Join Vogons and ask for help? 😉

AlessandroB wrote on 2025-12-14, 10:11:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2025-12-13, 15:29:

I finally found the unobtainium board I've been looking for! […]
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I finally found the unobtainium board I've been looking for!

I mean, ok, it's not quite the one... but it's close enough.

The attachment ezgif.com-crop.jpg is no longer available

DFI NF2 Infinity.

I really want the DFI NF2 Ultra B Lanparty board, but I've only seen it fleetingly 2 or 3 times in the past few years.

Caps are cooked on this one but I have a set of polymers on the way to bring it back.

Why is so special???

DFI LAN Party boards have always been a special breed, and back in the day were probably mostly only bought by the most "leet" of the enthusiast community, so compared to other mainstream boards, not many were sold. Also they are generally far more flexible and capable when tweaking settings to push your system to extremes. They were always the gold standard for ultra high performance boards.

As a Christmas gift to myself, I ordered an Amiga 2000. Which of course also necessitated getting an accelerator, among some other Amiga things.

OKAY NO MORE COMPUTERS, SERIOUSLY THIS TIME!

(though I don't have a Macintosh...)

Mandrew wrote on 2025-12-20, 09:48:

Bought a few ARCnet NICs and a HGC adapter sold as a gameport card. I'm quite fond of these old network adapters and nobody wants them in the retro community anyway so these are always cheap. Might build an ARCnet network to see how it fares compared to IBM's token-ring solution.

This might be a CGA card and not HGC, as it has an RCA connector

Mandrew wrote on 2025-12-20, 09:48:

Bought a few ARCnet NICs and a HGC adapter sold as a gameport card. I'm quite fond of these old network adapters and nobody wants them in the retro community anyway so these are always cheap. Might build an ARCnet network to see how it fares compared to IBM's token-ring solution.

I think the last one might be a sound card - it has game port on the silkscreen and an internal mono RCA that could be for an internal speaker. That's something I'd like to have!

It fits perfectly with the desktop design constraints of a 286/386: Audio on a desk dominated by noisy 5.25" disk drives and magnetically sensitive CRT. When noisy disks faded away, small stereo desktop speakers emerge. When magnetically sensitive CRTs faded away, extra channels and bigger subwoofers appear.

In other words, that old sound card brings audio to an environment that was hostile to it and without adding any new worries. In my world, that is collectable.

MattRocks wrote on 2025-12-21, 00:13:

I think the last one might be a sound card - it has game port on the silkscreen and an internal mono RCA that could be for an in […]
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Mandrew wrote on 2025-12-20, 09:48:

Bought a few ARCnet NICs and a HGC adapter sold as a gameport card. I'm quite fond of these old network adapters and nobody wants them in the retro community anyway so these are always cheap. Might build an ARCnet network to see how it fares compared to IBM's token-ring solution.

I think the last one might be a sound card - it has game port on the silkscreen and an internal mono RCA that could be for an internal speaker. That's something I'd like to have!

It fits perfectly with the desktop design constraints of a 286/386: Audio on a desk dominated by noisy 5.25" disk drives and magnetically sensitive CRT. When noisy disks faded away, small stereo desktop speakers emerge. When magnetically sensitive CRTs faded away, extra channels and bigger subwoofers appear.

In other words, that old sound card brings audio to an environment that was hostile to it and without adding any new worries. In my world, that is collectable.

There is absolutely nothing about that card that indicates that it is a sound card. It is a combination CGA + parallel card with a VDL branded controller. The RCA jack being internal is unusual but RCA jacks are a common feature on CGA cards because they provide composite video output. This may have been from a specialized system that had a built in composite display. Possibly something industrial.

A gameport header (which is missing here because the supporting ICs are also not included on this card) was often added to multifunction cards any time there was space.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-12-21, 00:51:

There is absolutely nothing about that card that indicates that it is a sound card. It is a combination CGA + parallel card with a VDL branded controller. The RCA jack being internal is unusual but RCA jacks are a common feature on CGA cards because they provide composite video output. This may have been from a specialized system that had a built in composite display. Possibly something industrial.

The chip logo looks similar to this, noted as UDL and Hercules-only but not this exact card so it's probably quite rare.

jtchip wrote on 2025-12-21, 02:13:

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-12-21, 00:51:

There is absolutely nothing about that card that indicates that it is a sound card. It is a combination CGA + parallel card with a VDL branded controller. The RCA jack being internal is unusual but RCA jacks are a common feature on CGA cards because they provide composite video output. This may have been from a specialized system that had a built in composite display. Possibly something industrial.

The chip logo looks similar to this, noted as UDL and Hercules-only but not this exact card so it's probably quite rare.

Right, these chips are labeled as UDL or VDL depending on the site you find them on, and it seems that very few people are actually testing them so sites seem to arbitrarily mark them as Hercules, MDA or CGA. It's possible they are compatible with all three standards.

Here are other similar cards:
https://theretroweb.com/expansioncards/s/unkn … vdl-215-mda-cga
https://www.dosdays.co.uk/topics/retro_review … cga_hgc_pt1.php
https://theretroweb.com/expansioncards/s/fida … ration-fida-mix

I have a few VDL\UDL cards myself but I haven't messed with them much and I only have CGA and EGA monitors that function currently. I have a multisync but it is not working, sadly.

I can't find another picture of a card like this with an internal composite video jack, so I agree that it is a rare card. It is a video + parallel (optionally gameport) card though, not a sound card as MattRocks claimed.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-12-21, 02:25:

Right, these chips are labeled as UDL or VDL depending on the site you find them on, and it seems that very few people are actua […]
Show full quote

jtchip wrote on 2025-12-21, 02:13:

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-12-21, 00:51:

There is absolutely nothing about that card that indicates that it is a sound card. It is a combination CGA + parallel card with a VDL branded controller. The RCA jack being internal is unusual but RCA jacks are a common feature on CGA cards because they provide composite video output. This may have been from a specialized system that had a built in composite display. Possibly something industrial.

The chip logo looks similar to this, noted as UDL and Hercules-only but not this exact card so it's probably quite rare.

Right, these chips are labeled as UDL or VDL depending on the site you find them on, and it seems that very few people are actually testing them so sites seem to arbitrarily mark them as Hercules, MDA or CGA. It's possible they are compatible with all three standards.

Here are other similar cards:
https://theretroweb.com/expansioncards/s/unkn … vdl-215-mda-cga
https://www.dosdays.co.uk/topics/retro_review … cga_hgc_pt1.php
https://theretroweb.com/expansioncards/s/fida … ration-fida-mix

I have a few VDL\UDL cards myself but I haven't messed with them much and I only have CGA and EGA monitors that function currently. I have a multisync but it is not working, sadly.

I can't find another picture of a card like this with an internal composite video jack, so I agree that it is a rare card. It is a video + parallel (optionally gameport) card though, not a sound card as MattRocks claimed.

I had one very similar back in the early 90s that did MDA/Herc/CGA did't have an RCA jack there, just a 4 pin header. I do not know if I've got any now, possibly some undiscovered 8 bit cards kinda "buried" at the back of stuff as unlikely to be required some aeon ago. Stuff turns up that surprises me.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-12-21, 02:25:

I can't find another picture of a card like this with an internal composite video jack, so I agree that it is a rare card.

Found one right here on this forum (3rd pic from top) but again not the exact same card.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-12-21, 00:51:

MattRocks wrote on 2025-12-21, 00:13:

I think the last one might be a sound card - it has game port on the silkscreen and an internal mono RCA that could be for an in […]
Show full quote

Mandrew wrote on 2025-12-20, 09:48:

Bought a few ARCnet NICs and a HGC adapter sold as a gameport card. I'm quite fond of these old network adapters and nobody wants them in the retro community anyway so these are always cheap. Might build an ARCnet network to see how it fares compared to IBM's token-ring solution.

I think the last one might be a sound card - it has game port on the silkscreen and an internal mono RCA that could be for an internal speaker. That's something I'd like to have!

It fits perfectly with the desktop design constraints of a 286/386: Audio on a desk dominated by noisy 5.25" disk drives and magnetically sensitive CRT. When noisy disks faded away, small stereo desktop speakers emerge. When magnetically sensitive CRTs faded away, extra channels and bigger subwoofers appear.

In other words, that old sound card brings audio to an environment that was hostile to it and without adding any new worries. In my world, that is collectable.

There is absolutely nothing about that card that indicates that it is a sound card. It is a combination CGA + parallel card with a VDL branded controller. The RCA jack being internal is unusual but RCA jacks are a common feature on CGA cards because they provide composite video output. This may have been from a specialized system that had a built in composite display. Possibly something industrial.

A gameport header (which is missing here because the supporting ICs are also not included on this card) was often added to multifunction cards any time there was space.

The RCA is for something inside the case - a screen (like Apple II), a speaker (more common) or something else entirely (but what?).

Combining CGA and audio would not be conceptually strange. There were apparently bigger ISA cards from ATI that did that but they didn't put an RCA inside.

MMaximus wrote on 2025-12-20, 20:28:

This might be a CGA card and not HGC, as it has an RCA connector

You are right, it's a CGA card.

Does the internal RCA drive an NTSC/PAL screen?

MattRocks wrote on 2025-12-21, 11:29:

Does the internal RCA drive an NTSC/PAL screen?

It does but it doesn't play nice with my modern CRT TV and I don't have an older one. I've heard that it's normal on new TV sets.

BetaC wrote on 2025-12-19, 22:56:

It’s a Power Computing Power Tower Pro 225, which can now boot Os7.6 and OSX 10.4.11. It’s based around the 9500 logic board.

The attachment IMG_0473.jpeg is no longer available

Nice. How does it run? I've heard these can be flakey with CPU upgrades, especially when running OS X. I'm guessing you used XPostFacto to make it run Tiger, right?

MattRocks wrote on 2025-12-21, 09:12:

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2025-12-21, 00:51:

MattRocks wrote on 2025-12-21, 00:13:

I think the last one might be a sound card - it has game port on the silkscreen and an internal mono RCA that could be for an internal speaker. That's something I'd like to have!

It fits perfectly with the desktop design constraints of a 286/386: Audio on a desk dominated by noisy 5.25" disk drives and magnetically sensitive CRT. When noisy disks faded away, small stereo desktop speakers emerge. When magnetically sensitive CRTs faded away, extra channels and bigger subwoofers appear.

In other words, that old sound card brings audio to an environment that was hostile to it and without adding any new worries. In my world, that is collectable.

There is absolutely nothing about that card that indicates that it is a sound card. It is a combination CGA + parallel card with a VDL branded controller. The RCA jack being internal is unusual but RCA jacks are a common feature on CGA cards because they provide composite video output. This may have been from a specialized system that had a built in composite display. Possibly something industrial.

A gameport header (which is missing here because the supporting ICs are also not included on this card) was often added to multifunction cards any time there was space.

The RCA is for something inside the case - a screen (like Apple II), a speaker (more common) or something else entirely (but what?).

Combining CGA and audio would not be conceptually strange. There were apparently bigger ISA cards from ATI that did that but they didn't put an RCA inside.

I'm just going to copy my post and highlight my answers to what you're saying:

There is absolutely nothing about that card that indicates that it is a sound card. It is a combination CGA + parallel card with a VDL branded controller. The RCA jack being internal is unusual but RCA jacks are a common feature on CGA cards because they provide composite video output. This may have been from a specialized system that had a built in composite display. Possibly something industrial.

Also, big surprise, it turned out to be composite video on a CGA card.

Regarding ATI, the ATi VGA Stereo F/X was a combination of the VGA Wonder XL and a Sound Blaster 1.5 clone. The difference here is that this ATi card had the components for a sound card and a video card on one board and was built to serve that purpose... this card has no components for a sound card on it. The VGA Stereo F/X was also a VGA card from the early 90s, not a CGA card from the mid to late 80s before there were any standards for PC audio.

Hercules AGP Card. 3D Prohet II MX to be exact. Love those blue boards...

NeilKnows wrote on 2025-12-21, 21:11:

Hercules AGP Card. 3D Prohet II MX to be exact. Love those blue boards...

I have the same card in pristine condition. It is just so beautiful to look at.

After my recent bad luck with an Am5x86 based SBC, I went looking for other 90s industrial PCs to replace it. This really weird Advantech unit was being sold locally, and while I paid quite a lot less than the asking price, I'm still not sure I'd call it a bargain. Still, it's very interesting!

This Advantech PPC-102 is just really weird, in lots of ways! It's got a Pentium-S 166Mhz, 32Mb 72-pin RAM, SiS 5571 chipset, Chips 1Mb dedicated VGA, ESS 1688 ISA sound onboard. The layout is really weird, with all of the I/O on a daughterboard. All of it sits behind a 10" TFT touchscreen!

Even weirder is the secondary IDE and floppy connectors on a separate daughterboard, so they can only be accessed externally! That daughterboard has a custom connector on the right, but a PCI connector on the left, with only the short part of it actually having contacts. Weirder still, it is labelled as "ISA Connector ", and in the manual as 8-bit ISA. What's going on here?!

When it collected it it was only working intermittently, but as soon as I had it open it was obvious the soldered coin battery was really badly corroded, and there was loads of baked on grime around the SIMM slots. I managed to replace the battery with a 2032 holder, and clean the first SIMM, and all seems to be working smoothly now!

It boots into Windows NT 4 and automatically runs a bespoke packaging control system, branded for Kraft Jacobs, with the product set to a type of Kenco Coffee granules!

I haven't been able to get the touchscreen to work yet. I'll try hunting down the original drivers (I think I managed to remove them by mistake when trying to get the mouse to work - turns out it just doesn't like new PS/2 mice), but the resistive touch screen is probably awful? It's also got a few scratches on it, and the manual exploded view suggests it's a distinct part from the screen, so removing it altogether might kill two birds with one stone?

Not really sure what I'll use this for, but it's certainly an interesting weird "little guy"!