First post, by weldum
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hi, i began working on "convert" a thin client to a retro pc
the choosen is a HP t5135:
VIA Epia Esther (C7 based) 400MHZ
128MB DDR2 soldered on board
VIA CN700 northbridge (very similar to P4M800/K8M800) - 8237 Southbridge
Unichrome Pro graphics
VIA VT1612A sound chip
VIA Rhine II NIC
64MB Apacer IDE DOM (replaced with a 4GB CF)
this thing runs a custom linux distro that's very crippled in any way. but since it uses a "standard" x86 processor, i thought that some version of windows could work. the chipset has drivers for windows 95 up to XP so i started to work.
first test: DOS 6.22
it ran but with errors, some games like quake or doom didn't run, some GUI like breadbox ensemble had crashes, however software like speedsys did run well.
second test: Windows 2000
everything runs as it should, but ram usage is a problem. due to the low amount of ram and the fact that the gpu can eat up to 64mb makes a system heavily dependant on paging, add my compact flash, which doesn't have multi sector transfer and everything is a slow mess. while the system can use a laptop hdd, the small space and heat generated makes it troublesome to install.
third test: windows 98se
it ran, until it didn't. random crashes without any recognizable pattern, when i finished installing all the drivers, the computer was more stable but in any random amount of time it will start to shutdown, like if i had pressed the button. very likely a problem with the chipset or with ACPI.
however that's not the worst thing. at this point i went to reinstall windows 2000 since it worked well enough and usb doesn't work. the hardware related to usb doesn't appear in device manager, like if the machine didn't have any usb ports.
but usb ports do work, the machine boots just fine from a usb drive and keyboard and mouse worked as well, even on windows 2000, but win detect them as PS/2 keyboard and mouse, probably using the bios translation. everything is very fishy.
so:
USB doesn't work on windows 2000 (after various reinstalls)
and
Windows 98se is buggy
i need help, ideally i want it to run 98se due to lower memory requirements. thanks.
DT: R7-5800X3D/R5-3600/R3-1200/P-G5400/FX-6100/i3-3225/P-8400/D-900/K6-2_550
LT: C-N2840/A64-TK57/N2600/N455/N270/C-ULV353/PM-1.7/P4-2.6/P133
TC: Esther-1000/Esther-400/Vortex86-366
Others: Drean C64c/Czerweny Spectrum 48k/Talent MSX DPC200/M512K/MP475
