weedeewee wrote on 2026-02-12, 19:35:

I bought this card today since it looked quite curious given the mod done to it. https://www.esi-audio.com/products/prodigyhd2/

edit: the metal cans are marked AMPLIMO TM 20 02/08

So, the Amplimo's are audio transformers, most likely. Someone was really obsessed with trying to get a clean signal out of that sound card.

Also...

devius wrote on 2026-02-12, 21:39:

So, the Amplimo's are audio transformers, most likely. Someone was really obsessed with trying to get a clean signal out of that […]
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weedeewee wrote on 2026-02-12, 19:35:

I bought this card today since it looked quite curious given the mod done to it. https://www.esi-audio.com/products/prodigyhd2/

edit: the metal cans are marked AMPLIMO TM 20 02/08

So, the Amplimo's are audio transformers, most likely. Someone was really obsessed with trying to get a clean signal out of that sound card.

Also...

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Yes, the TM20 is listed on this page https://www.amplimo.nl/signaal-transformatoren/ 1:1 600 ohm 30-25000Hz

Predator99 wrote on 2026-02-11, 22:18:

Thank you! […]
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Ozzuneoj wrote on 2026-02-11, 18:07:

Very cool lot! […]
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Very cool lot!

I see:
Epox EP-7KXA motherboard, which is a Slot A Via KX133 board with an ISA slot... nice!
Gigabyte GA-586ATX2
MSI MS-6723 (very interesting board with tons of audio outputs)

... good stuff! I hope it all survives. It worries me when people ship boards and drives together. I always imagine the drives acting like the little metal ball in a spray paint can that mixes everything up when you shake it. Not good for circuit boards. 😅

Thank you!

I ask the seller to wrap everything in paper and he agreed. Therefore hopefully nothing gets damaged during shipment.

Also thanks for the hint about the Slot A board...I am afraid I would have tested this with a P2 otherwise....

You can insert Slot 1 CPU there, but it would be backwards.

7kxa is a nice board and I find slot A much more interesting, although also quirkier, platform than slot 1. I have 7kxa in my slot A build and with the latest bios it is rock stable. Some early reviews back in the day found it somewhat buggy, but I have completely different experience.

Mine absolutely needed a recap of VRM caps, so there's that.

zapbuzz wrote on 2026-02-12, 12:02:

I got this NIC a 3COM 3C905C-TXM for a Retro build . However, the motherboard I got it for is no longer in my possession I sent it back as defective. So if anyone has a healthy socket 370 motherboard that accepts DDR memory I buy from eBay only and from Australia.

Why, so that you can send it back as defective when you change your mind?

appiah4 wrote on 2026-02-13, 07:40:

zapbuzz wrote on 2026-02-12, 12:02:

I got this NIC a 3COM 3C905C-TXM for a Retro build . However, the motherboard I got it for is no longer in my possession I sent it back as defective. So if anyone has a healthy socket 370 motherboard that accepts DDR memory I buy from eBay only and from Australia.

Why, so that you can send it back as defective when you change your mind?

No, I understand now - he send back faulty motherboard, not LAN card as I (and you maybe?) think before 😀

appiah4 wrote on 2026-02-13, 07:40:

zapbuzz wrote on 2026-02-12, 12:02:

I got this NIC a 3COM 3C905C-TXM for a Retro build . However, the motherboard I got it for is no longer in my possession I sent it back as defective. So if anyone has a healthy socket 370 motherboard that accepts DDR memory I buy from eBay only and from Australia.

Why, so that you can send it back as defective when you change your mind?

So that's how you roll?

Things happen to bad buyers there are processes for everything.

I am a collector what I get is tested and kept if functional for future projects.

I got banned from an eBay shop for criticizing their auto-offer system setting of like $5 so I'm not completely innocent.

Ydee wrote on 2026-02-13, 09:16:

appiah4 wrote on 2026-02-13, 07:40:

zapbuzz wrote on 2026-02-12, 12:02:

I got this NIC a 3COM 3C905C-TXM for a Retro build . However, the motherboard I got it for is no longer in my possession I sent it back as defective. So if anyone has a healthy socket 370 motherboard that accepts DDR memory I buy from eBay only and from Australia.

Why, so that you can send it back as defective when you change your mind?

No, I understand now - he send back faulty motherboard, not LAN card as I (and you maybe?) think before 😀

I misunderstood him in exactly the same way. Sorry @zapbuzz .

Got an Apple PowerBook 150 for 20 euros. Visually it is in great condition. No broken parts. It looks almost unused. Hard drive is dead, but it boots from floppy just fine. Trackball is a bit jumpy in vertical direction, but I guess rollers just need cleaning.

CrFr wrote on Yesterday, 18:33:

Got an Apple PowerBook 150 for 20 euros. Visually it is in great condition. No broken parts. It looks almost unused. Hard drive is dead, but it boots from floppy just fine. Trackball is a bit jumpy in vertical direction, but I guess rollers just need cleaning.

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Get the cmos battery out of there before it causes too much damage!

Predator99 wrote on 2026-02-11, 15:59:

I bought this lot today (sellers pictures). Some interesting cards and some harddisks with maybe interesting Drivers/Software. […]
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I bought this lot today (sellers pictures). Some interesting cards and some harddisks with maybe interesting Drivers/Software.

- 2 RAM Cards with daughterboards, one of them the DFI MF-3000:
https://theretroweb.com/expansioncards/s/dfi-mf-3000

- miroCRYSTAL 8S VESA
https://theretroweb.com/expansioncards/s/miro … crystal-8s-vesa

- Commodore "Advanced Monochrome" Card 380053-01. Not much to find about it.

- ET4000 with DB9 EGA-out? Or ET3000?

- Headland 286

- Adaptec AHA-1542CP

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...

Box already arrived. Not sure it was worth the money...

The 3 VLB cards. Lucky the S3 looks quite OK, the bottom one is not worth being saved...:

Indeed a ET4000 with EGA out, looking OK:

MSI MS-6723 - also some damages:

Epox EP-7KXA - Slot A 😀 Looks like new:

The 286 - looks unsued, have seen worse battery damage. Also many bent pins on the Headland:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/aquari … tems-bcom-ht286

...the Commodore "Advanced Monochrome" Card 380053-01:

...and the 2 XMS cards. Slightly bent, but new, unpopulated and unused. Unfortunately some deep scratches on the bottom of one card:

Predator99 wrote on Yesterday, 22:03:

Box already arrived. Not sure it was worth the money...

Looks like a decent lot! Depending on how much you spent, I think it definitely has some nice stuff in it. The ET4000AX with EGA output is pretty slick... I don't think I have one of those. The S3 805 is also a solid VLB card. The boards are nice too. Especially that Epox... though I would take a close look at the caps. Some of the smaller ones might be getting a bit round on top.

I wouldn't write off that Trio32 completely. A good scrub with some soap and water would make it look a lot better. Someone who doesn't mind doing some repairs to the SMD components and straightening some pins could get that functioning without too much hassle unless there are a bunch of damaged traces. 🙂

Flare400 wrote on 2026-01-28, 19:52:

I had an A22m for a while and recently got myself a Thinkpad A22p as well, hoping it would be a great Windows 98 / DOS machine as well. The sound works just as well and I do see a big improvement in video with Windows games, but whenever I try to run DOS games (within Windows 98SE) I just get a flickering screen.

The latest BIOS has a bug which makes the screen go blank when you start a DOS game from within Windows 98. You can either boot into DOS mode and run them directly from there or downgrade to BIOS 1.09 (spsuiv67.exe).

Hope it helps!

vetz wrote on Yesterday, 19:25:

CrFr wrote on Yesterday, 18:33:

Got an Apple PowerBook 150 for 20 euros. Visually it is in great condition. No broken parts. It looks almost unused. Hard drive is dead, but it boots from floppy just fine. Trackball is a bit jumpy in vertical direction, but I guess rollers just need cleaning.

Get the cmos battery out of there before it causes too much damage!

Thanks for reminding! Seems like the timer on Varta's chemical bomb had failed, and there was no leakage at all.

PD2JK wrote on 2026-02-12, 08:59:

DFI Memo-2000X RAM BANK with 1MB of assorted chips. And two empty sockets witch supposedly battery leakage on them. Gonna replace these.
Matrox G400 MAX Rev B

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Nice to see my old stuff again with another enthousiast!

PD2JK wrote on 2026-02-12, 08:59:

DFI Memo-2000X RAM BANK with 1MB of assorted chips. And two empty sockets witch supposedly battery leakage on them. Gonna replace these.
Matrox G400 MAX Rev B

The attachment 20260212_094458441.JPG is no longer available

Nice to see my old stuff again with another enthousiast!

PD2JK wrote on 2026-02-12, 08:59:

DFI Memo-2000X RAM BANK with 1MB of assorted chips. And two empty sockets witch supposedly battery leakage on them. Gonna replace these.
Matrox G400 MAX Rev B

The attachment 20260212_094458441.JPG is no longer available

Nice to see my old stuff again with another enthousiast!

JvV wrote on Today, 13:41:

Nice to see my old stuff again with another enthousiast!

I try to take good care of them haha. Already replaced two DIP sockets! 😀

Next step is to get it work in the Philips P3105 XT machine.

Predator99 wrote on Yesterday, 22:03:

Indeed a ET4000 with EGA out...

Are you sure it's a EGA output and not just a 9 pin VGA connector?

The switch block is a hint