informatyk wrote on 2026-04-23, 11:59:

After years of searching, I finally found a Compaq Prolinea in perfect condition and good price. It has 12 MB of RAM and probably the original 300 MB hard drive, on which the German version of Windows 95 RTM was installed.
I now need to find a way to install a 5.25-inch floppy drive, but it’s missing some unusual mounting rails.

I love that front power switch... Feels much better than these modern micro switches.

I picked up this old clone from a friends balcony today... The case is nothing to write home about but the hardware seems decent

It's been outside for a while so I'll give it 24h before firing it up. The PSU is definitely a weird one. No detailed specs to show but there is some diagram on the top

Shader_BiH wrote on 2026-04-24, 16:16:

I love that front power switch... Feels much better than these modern micro switches. […]
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informatyk wrote on 2026-04-23, 11:59:

After years of searching, I finally found a Compaq Prolinea in perfect condition and good price. It has 12 MB of RAM and probably the original 300 MB hard drive, on which the German version of Windows 95 RTM was installed.
I now need to find a way to install a 5.25-inch floppy drive, but it’s missing some unusual mounting rails.

I love that front power switch... Feels much better than these modern micro switches.

I picked up this old clone from a friends balcony today... The case is nothing to write home about but the hardware seems decent

It's been outside for a while so I'll give it 24h before firing it up. The PSU is definitely a weird one. No detailed specs to show but there is some diagram on the top

Heh, I absolutely had that exact case back in the day. Came with a P75 - multiplier unlocked and able to run at 100 MHz no worries. Made it last until I was able upgrade to a PII-350.

CharlieFoxtrot wrote on 2026-04-24, 05:38:

I have 4/50@66 as well as Deskpro XE 466. Both use the same chassis, they have only slightly different front plates and naturall […]
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informatyk wrote on 2026-04-23, 11:59:

After years of searching, I finally found a Compaq Prolinea in perfect condition and good price. It has 12 MB of RAM and probably the original 300 MB hard drive, on which the German version of Windows 95 RTM was installed.
I now need to find a way to install a 5.25-inch floppy drive, but it’s missing some unusual mounting rails.

I have 4/50@66 as well as Deskpro XE 466. Both use the same chassis, they have only slightly different front plates and naturally motherboards. I’m personally a big fan of these 93-94 Compaqs, they were still from the era when these big manufacturers hadn’t raced to the bottom and these systems still had high build quality. As LPX style computers, these also have nice small desk footprint. And as MB has all the important things integrated, the three ISA slots are usually just fine. I also have Presario 425 AIO with originial peripherals. I do wish that that system would have three ISA slots instead of the two.

I also originally installed 5.25 floppy drive on my system, but I changed it to PAS16 multimedia kit, that is PAS16 sound card and MediaVision branded Sanyo 2x SCSI cd-rom. I also have NIC and MPU-401 card installed in it, both of which are quite common with my 486 builds. In fact, I network all my vintage boxes as it just makes life so much easier with data transfers.

If you can access 3D printer, there should be printable rails in thingiverse (or printables, can’t remember which).

You also might be interested with this project, if you have the correct motherboard:
https://github.com/wichers/Compaq-Cache-Module-197005-001
Compaq (197005-001) cache module - open source reproduction

You most likely don’t have original cache module, so adding thah reproduction module gives a nice boost on some games and applications.

Awww, I momentarily got pretty excited as I have an identical-looking Deskpro XE 450 - but nope, that project only works with Presarios. ☹️ Pretty cool for those who can benefit though!

Got one of the most undesirable monitors of all time, the VGA monochrome. This one is a Sunshine MO-14 with a nice and bright CRT.

Mandrew wrote on 2026-04-24, 18:08:

Got one of the most undesirable monitors of all time, the VGA monochrome. This one is a Sunshine MO-14 with a nice and bright CRT.

I guess that one mixes the three color channels which makes it a little bit less undesirable.

Mandrew wrote on 2026-04-24, 18:08:

Got one of the most undesirable monitors of all time, the VGA monochrome. This one is a Sunshine MO-14 with a nice and bright CRT.

Don't know why it would be undesirable... but it's got a lot of charm. That "Low radiation" writing in the corner 🤣

weedeewee wrote on 2026-04-24, 18:37:

Mandrew wrote on 2026-04-24, 18:08:

Got one of the most undesirable monitors of all time, the VGA monochrome. This one is a Sunshine MO-14 with a nice and bright CRT.

I guess that one mixes the three color channels which makes it a little bit less undesirable.

Though Trident cards will do that if they only sense 75ohm load on the green pin.

Mandrew wrote on 2026-04-24, 18:08:

Got one of the most undesirable monitors of all time, the VGA monochrome. This one is a Sunshine MO-14 with a nice and bright CRT.

They were a little desirable back in the day for the following reasons, i) they were much shorter and lighter than colour, an advantage when space was a problem while still maintaining screen size. ii) they were low fatigue for poring over logs or dumps in console. iii) the discount over a colour monitor was relatively huge if you were trying to save a buck.

BitWrangler wrote on 2026-04-24, 18:54:

Mandrew wrote on 2026-04-24, 18:08:

Got one of the most undesirable monitors of all time, the VGA monochrome. This one is a Sunshine MO-14 with a nice and bright CRT.

They were a little desirable back in the day for the following reasons, i) they were much shorter and lighter than colour, an advantage when space was a problem while still maintaining screen size. ii) they were low fatigue for poring over logs or dumps in console. iii) the discount over a colour monitor was relatively huge if you were trying to save a buck.

I had a BW VGA monitor with my Amstrad PC 2086. The most annoying thing with it was that as most VGA software wasn't designed for BW, the palette used could cause issues with the BW display. For example, bright red looks like black on the BW monitor and if you have for example red font on black background... good luck.

Otherwise I found it a pleasant display to look at.

Shader_BiH wrote on 2026-04-24, 16:16:

I love that front power switch... Feels much better than these modern micro switches. […]
Show full quote

informatyk wrote on 2026-04-23, 11:59:

After years of searching, I finally found a Compaq Prolinea in perfect condition and good price. It has 12 MB of RAM and probably the original 300 MB hard drive, on which the German version of Windows 95 RTM was installed.
I now need to find a way to install a 5.25-inch floppy drive, but it’s missing some unusual mounting rails.

I love that front power switch... Feels much better than these modern micro switches.

I picked up this old clone from a friends balcony today... The case is nothing to write home about but the hardware seems decent

It's been outside for a while so I'll give it 24h before firing it up. The PSU is definitely a weird one. No detailed specs to show but there is some diagram on the top

You lucked into getting a legendary Socket 7 motherboard for free! Oldie Tuning: Asus P55T2P4 with AMD K6-2+/500

ubiq wrote on 2026-04-24, 17:34:

Shader_BiH wrote on 2026-04-24, 16:16:

I love that front power switch... Feels much better than these modern micro switches. […]
Show full quote

informatyk wrote on 2026-04-23, 11:59:

After years of searching, I finally found a Compaq Prolinea in perfect condition and good price. It has 12 MB of RAM and probably the original 300 MB hard drive, on which the German version of Windows 95 RTM was installed.
I now need to find a way to install a 5.25-inch floppy drive, but it’s missing some unusual mounting rails.

I love that front power switch... Feels much better than these modern micro switches.

I picked up this old clone from a friends balcony today... The case is nothing to write home about but the hardware seems decent

It's been outside for a while so I'll give it 24h before firing it up. The PSU is definitely a weird one. No detailed specs to show but there is some diagram on the top

Heh, I absolutely had that exact case back in the day. Came with a P75 - multiplier unlocked and able to run at 100 MHz no worries. Made it last until I was able upgrade to a PII-350.

A P75 doesn't need to be multiplier unlocked to run 100, that would be going from 1.5x50 to 1.5x66 MHz FSB. Must've felt like it was flying, since the rest of the system was faster too.

zuldan wrote on 2026-04-22, 11:36:

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-04-21, 15:00:

Can't wait for it to arrive.

Can’t wait to see the repair process. When does it arrive?

Naive me hoped for today. It would have been. However upon delivering the parcel DHL decided it's not according to their delivery standards.

Sa, 25.04.2026, 08:41

Leider ist eine Zustellung der Sendung nicht möglich, da sie nicht unseren Versandbedingungen entspricht. Die Sendung wird an den Absender zurückgeschickt.

It's going back to the seller now. I am disappointed and my day is ruined 🙁 Perhaps I can pick at least the 9800Pro with XT layout up today.

tehsiggi wrote on Yesterday, 08:06:

It's going back to the seller now. I am disappointed and my day is ruined 🙁 Perhaps I can pick at least the 9800Pro with XT layout up today.

Oh no I’m devastated too 🤣. What bad luck man.

zuldan wrote on Yesterday, 08:30:

tehsiggi wrote on Yesterday, 08:06:

It's going back to the seller now. I am disappointed and my day is ruined 🙁 Perhaps I can pick at least the 9800Pro with XT layout up today.

Oh no I’m devastated too 🤣. What bad luck man.

Finally i can engage in mails again to get my order.. I missed it so much.. Not..

tehsiggi wrote on Yesterday, 08:06:

Naive me hoped for today. It would have been. However upon delivering the parcel DHL decided it's not according to their deliver […]
Show full quote

zuldan wrote on 2026-04-22, 11:36:

tehsiggi wrote on 2026-04-21, 15:00:

Can't wait for it to arrive.

Can’t wait to see the repair process. When does it arrive?

Naive me hoped for today. It would have been. However upon delivering the parcel DHL decided it's not according to their delivery standards.

Sa, 25.04.2026, 08:41

Leider ist eine Zustellung der Sendung nicht möglich, da sie nicht unseren Versandbedingungen entspricht. Die Sendung wird an den Absender zurückgeschickt.

It's going back to the seller now. I am disappointed and my day is ruined 🙁 Perhaps I can pick at least the 9800Pro with XT layout up today.

So sorry to hear that... What can you do, it happens sometimes.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2026-04-24, 20:24:

Shader_BiH wrote on 2026-04-24, 16:16:

I love that front power switch... Feels much better than these modern micro switches. […]
Show full quote

informatyk wrote on 2026-04-23, 11:59:

After years of searching, I finally found a Compaq Prolinea in perfect condition and good price. It has 12 MB of RAM and probably the original 300 MB hard drive, on which the German version of Windows 95 RTM was installed.
I now need to find a way to install a 5.25-inch floppy drive, but it’s missing some unusual mounting rails.

I love that front power switch... Feels much better than these modern micro switches.

I picked up this old clone from a friends balcony today... The case is nothing to write home about but the hardware seems decent

It's been outside for a while so I'll give it 24h before firing it up. The PSU is definitely a weird one. No detailed specs to show but there is some diagram on the top

You lucked into getting a legendary Socket 7 motherboard for free! Oldie Tuning: Asus P55T2P4 with AMD K6-2+/500

Yeah, I noticed it's regarded very positively online... I fired it up today and it seems to work. I might make a build out of it.

H3nrik V! wrote on Yesterday, 06:49:

ubiq wrote on 2026-04-24, 17:34:

Shader_BiH wrote on 2026-04-24, 16:16:

I love that front power switch... Feels much better than these modern micro switches. […]
Show full quote

I love that front power switch... Feels much better than these modern micro switches.

I picked up this old clone from a friends balcony today... The case is nothing to write home about but the hardware seems decent

It's been outside for a while so I'll give it 24h before firing it up. The PSU is definitely a weird one. No detailed specs to show but there is some diagram on the top

Heh, I absolutely had that exact case back in the day. Came with a P75 - multiplier unlocked and able to run at 100 MHz no worries. Made it last until I was able upgrade to a PII-350.

A P75 doesn't need to be multiplier unlocked to run 100, that would be going from 1.5x50 to 1.5x66 MHz FSB. Must've felt like it was flying, since the rest of the system was faster too.

Hah! To be honest, it was my older brother who got it, set it up, and told me that, and I never bothered to look in to the details (or I didn't understand them at the time). And yeah, it was upgrading from a miserable 486SLC so it was pretty amazing. The PII-350 was actually my first system that I bought and built myself, and I def messed with pushing past 100 MHz FSB with that one (before switching up to a Celeron 300a @ 450)

However, most of the ceramic P75s I have encountered can be set at either 1.5 or 2x multiplier, many are capable of 2x60=120, some of 2x66=133, and a few of 75x2=150. With a decent heatsink of course. Had I known how overclockable the 75 was, I wouldn't have been dissuaded by the "75Mhz pentiums are crap, save your money and get a fast 486" opinion that some sources opined in late 95 into 96. However, early adopters would have got a gold top that only maybe did 90, and available heatsinks were low profile and pathetic.

Edit: Intel did actually specify a 2x configuration 2x50 for the P100 for some reason. I think I saw a tech note somewhere about "if it's glitchy at 66mhz 1.5, stick it on 50x2.." ... so maybe some chipsets/boards were having trouble with the raw speed initially.

Anyhoo, could have been that the 2x jumper was easy to find and the FSB jumpers buried in a mass and a hard to decode settings mess in the manual, I hate it when they don't break out multiplier, bus speed, voltage, feature support etc seperately. Anyway, with poor information, possible complication, and a clear 1.5x/2x option, it could have made more sense just to flip that. Given that Intel 2x for P100 thing there might have been FUD about 66mhz working on everything.