Spent a fair bit of time setting up this cute Toshiba NB555D to do... well, basically what you see in the picture. I inherited it (from my mum) with a "big" install of Linux Mint 18.3 with the Cinnamon desktop, but that was pretty overbearing for this little 9-year-old netbook. I decided to try PeppermintOS (not related to the 'other' Mint), which is based on LXDE and tries to be lightweight while still being full-featured & useable. (More importantly, it uses Ubuntu/Debian package repos and has Nemo for a file manager. Big pluses in my book.) It goes OK.

Floppy disk for scale...

This thing "looks" pretty good for its era on paper - it has an AMD APU with a Radeon HD6250, it's been upgraded to 4GB of RAM and it even has a 500GB HDD (yes, I know an SSD would be better.) It also has SURPRISINGLY good Harman/Kardon speakers which is why I want to use it for music, tons of I/O (3 USB ports, HDMI, VGA, wired ethernet, mic/line-in) and really nice build quality. The problem is this is the low-rent version, with a single-core, single-thread AMD C-30 that runs at 1.2GHz. It is glacially slow and really gimps the machine. Even back in 2011 that was pretty hopeless. You could get an uprated model with a dual-core version of the same CPU (AMD C-50 or C-60) which would be a ton better, but my mum got this through her work back then, and of course they issued everyone the absolute base model. She chucked it in a drawer and barely used it. I imagine most of these got sold like this one, with the absolute cheapest possible spec, and then retired early because of that. What a waste.

(The 1024x600 screen doesn't help either, a lot of software just plain doesn't fit in that. Fortunately most Linux distros have a way to drag windows around without needing to keep the title bar on-screen.)

Anyway, I want it to run Sunvox, Deflemask, Schism Tracker, etc., which it does fine, and it can even handle moderate stuff under DOSBox, but forget about getting any performance out of web browsing with it. I'd love to use it to monitor Twitch chat, but it takes a full minute to load the site (once it's loaded, the chat itself goes OK as long as you stop the stream preview) and trying to do anything once there is agonizing. Even installing packages with APT or decompressing things tends to peg the CPU at 100%.

I'd bet anything this CPU still has the second core on the die, since it's basically the same thing as the C-50/C-60. If there's a way to unlock it Phenom II style I'd love to know about it. Can't find much online though. As it is, I'm looking around for a replacement mainboard with the dual-core option. If only it had a socket...

Why can't laptop makers bring this form factor back? Stuff a modern quad-core APU in, ditch the 2.5" SATA bay for NVME, ditch the HDMI for mini-Displayport, put in a better screen that eliminates the bezels, and keep everything else exactly the same. People would be lining up around the block for them. I would!

TechieDude wrote on 2020-05-18, 16:11:

I managed to fix it in a very unorthodox (but effective!) way, by bypassing the traces entirely using bodge wires to where the traces are meant to go with the help of a multimeter. I needed to bodge the other end as well, because it also came off. MAYBE setting the soldering station to 399C was a bad idea, noted. Anyway, it might not look pretty, but it works and I'm proud of it! Admittedly, I love the issues that piss me off, because when I finally solve them, it feels great, especially when I learn something from the whole ordeal 😉 Pretty certain I'm not the only one.

Not pretty but if it works that is what counts ! Sometimes the ROHS stupid solder they use on boards (and sell everywhere) just will not melt easy like the old 60-40 "leaded" stuff. Is a good feeling to fix something like you did. Good job !

appiah4 wrote on 2020-05-18, 12:28:

I know of no high quality ALS sound cards...

I have this one and to be honest its actually not to bad for an ALS Card. Not much noise that i can tell. But most ALS cards are noisy junk.

Doing some ircing on my 1986 10MHz XT Turbo using GeoWorks Pro 1.2's GeoCom terminal emulator set to VT1oo. Its logged in to my K6-2 266 test rig via null-modem cable running Corel Linux 1.1.2.

I managed to resurrect my originally DOA Dell Optiplex GX400 tonight, I guess removing the CPU and cleaning the socket with contact cleaner did the trick. The rear case fan for the CPU is either outright shot or needs to be oiled because it is LOUD, holy crap.

Bancho wrote on 2020-05-18, 23:27:

I have this one and to be honest its actually not to bad for an ALS Card. Not much noise that i can tell. But most ALS cards are […]
Show full quote

appiah4 wrote on 2020-05-18, 12:28:

I know of no high quality ALS sound cards...

I have this one and to be honest its actually not to bad for an ALS Card. Not much noise that i can tell. But most ALS cards are noisy junk.

Likely, in part, because it uses a Crystal external codec . What brand/model is it ?

EDIT : Wait a sec, that's not a codec, it's a wavetable synth . Even more impressive .
EDIT2: Freetek Pro32 it is. First time I've heard of that combination (ALS controller/codec + Crystal 9233 synth)

Spent the evening testing out the AOpen AW850 (C-Media CMI8738) on my Wyse Winterm 9450XE (it's just an Eden 5000/Epia board in an ugly plastic case). Despite the recent hoopla with people getting the Soundblaster compatibility to work on the old Epia southbridge embedded audio controller, it has some major issues with compatibility (certain games like the Legend of Kyrandia series just fails to run) and that 35k VIA FM TSR makes it a pain for pure DOS use (the fact that it's dependent on clock speed so setmul underclocking will make the audio not work correctly) makes it a little bit moot.

I was actually surprised by how little resources were consumed by the CMI8738 (605k free on conventional memory) and how easy it was to set the mixer volumes and all that. The audio quality is also somewhat better than the Via onboard and it's also a bit more compatible (not perfect though - certain games like Simcity 2000 doesn't seem to like the hardware for SFX but the midi seems fine). I kept it in the Wyse Winterm so far but will likely swap it back into the router-of-doom for further testing.

Is that OptiPlex using a Socket 423 Pentium 4? I have a Socket 423 with 768MB RD-RAM and works really well. Need to find a home for it as I used it primarily for benchmarking and testing the speed capabilities temporarily in a case my Socket 370 is using.

bjwil1991 wrote on 2020-05-19, 04:51:

Is that OptiPlex using a Socket 423 Pentium 4? I have a Socket 423 with 768MB RD-RAM and works really well. Need to find a home for it as I used it primarily for benchmarking and testing the speed capabilities temporarily in a case my Socket 370 is using.

Yep, it sure is. I have a 1.8GHz chip waiting for it but I want to do a BIOS update first.

Mostly played a couple old games today, the main one being Red Alert 2. Very fun game to play.

Not much today yet. Created this shim to allow stacking two PS1 consoles without causing scratches.

Horun wrote on 2020-05-18, 22:51:

Not pretty but if it works that is what counts ! Sometimes the ROHS stupid solder they use on boards (and sell everywhere) just will not melt easy like the old 60-40 "leaded" stuff. Is a good feeling to fix something like you did. Good job !

I think it predates ROHS, or at least ignores it, since it doesn't have any ROHS stickers, and pretty much every solder joint melted quickly without any extra solder. Only the capacitor I had already soldered gave me trouble. Maybe I shouldn't have bent the legs that much before soldering! Welp, I guess lesson learned 🤣

Bancho wrote on 2020-05-18, 23:27:

I have this one and to be honest its actually not to bad for an ALS Card. Not much noise that i can tell. But most ALS cards are […]
Show full quote

I have this one and to be honest its actually not to bad for an ALS Card. Not much noise that i can tell. But most ALS cards are noisy junk.

Not half bad. ALS100 with Wavetable 😁 Does this also use Crystal FM? I don't see anything resembling OPL3 on this card.
Also, does wavetable work in DOS? If so, how do you use it?

TechieDude wrote on 2020-05-18, 12:17:

Decided to fully recap the ALS100 and it ended in disaster. It became mono, and even noisier than before. All because I soldered a capacitor wrong and wanted to correct that before testing it. The result? The capacitor came off ALONG WITH THE FUCKING PAD! Just how cheap are these things!?

Sorry to say, but seeing your "fix", you simply can't solder. It's not the card's fault that you ripped the pads off.

Having said that, double check before soldering instead of putting a cap in the wrong way and have to desolder it again. Also not the card's fault.

derSammler wrote on 2020-05-19, 11:21:

Sorry to say, but seeing your "fix", you simply can't solder. It's not the card's fault that you ripped the pads off.

I can assure you that I CAN solder, and I HAVE soldered/desoldered other things before without wrecking them. Saying "you simply can't solder" only comes off as rude, and elitist. Besides, even if it is NOT ideal, and looks like shit, it actually works, so it IS a fix, even if it's a crappy one, that could have been completely unnecessary. I'll also rework that to be better-looking later.

Having said that, double check before soldering instead of putting a cap in the wrong way and have to desolder it again. Also not the card's fault.

I really should have done that to begin with, I'm obviously not blaming that on the card. Anyway, point taken, I'll double check (even triple check) before actually soldering next time.

TechieDude wrote on 2020-05-19, 11:54:

I'll double check (even triple check) before actually soldering next time.

It's just an old sound card, who cares? Abrasive jerks are in the minority here so please ignore him and continue to share your projects.

badmojo wrote on 2020-05-19, 12:25:

It's just an old sound card, who cares? Abrasive jerks are in the minority here so please ignore him and continue to share your projects.

Thanks for your kind words. Though I think he was right about double checking before actually soldering the parts, there is no harm in that. I will continue to share my projects anyway, in hopes of learning (and having others learn) from my (mis)adventures, and other people sharing their experiences as well. In the end of the day, it's all in good fun, right?

TechieDude wrote on 2020-05-19, 11:54:

derSammler wrote on 2020-05-19, 11:21:

Sorry to say, but seeing your "fix", you simply can't solder. It's not the card's fault that you ripped the pads off.

I can assure you that I CAN solder, and I HAVE soldered/desoldered other things before without wrecking them. Saying "you simply can't solder" only comes off as rude, and elitist. Besides, even if it is NOT ideal, and looks like shit, it actually works, so it IS a fix, even if it's a crappy one, that could have been completely unnecessary. I'll also rework that to be better-looking later.

I know what its like to work with elcheapo parts. That beating sad the if the cards PBC was not damaged or the pad defective then the pad should have not came off unless if you applied to much heat or scarped the PCB/pad.

austinham wrote on 2020-05-19, 13:00:

I know what its like to work with elcheapo parts. That beating sad the if the cards PBC was not damaged or the pad defective then the pad should have not came off unless if you applied to much heat or scarped the PCB/pad.

How much heat is too much?

TechieDude wrote on 2020-05-19, 13:07:

austinham wrote on 2020-05-19, 13:00:

I know what its like to work with elcheapo parts. That beating sad the if the cards PBC was not damaged or the pad defective then the pad should have not came off unless if you applied to much heat or scarped the PCB/pad.

How much heat is too much?

400 degrees is definitely too hot if that's in Celsius. I'm not going to be as rude as DerSammler, but I do agree that the torn pads weren't completely the board's fault if you were using that much heat. I often use between 295C and 325C for PCBs with leaded solder, to overcome heat dissipation, and that might already be a bit much. Also, the patch wires aren't particularly pretty, you want to strip the part of the wire you want to solder first, twist the wires together, and tin it, as it looks like you might have just put the wire where you wanted it, then just molten off the insulation while soldering it on. The result is the ugly molten insulation, and loose pieces of copper wire sticking out. An ALS100 is nothing valuable, but maybe practicing some more before getting to more valuable hardware would be a good idea. We all have to start off somewhere, you don't want to see my first attempts!

Daniël Oosterhuis wrote on 2020-05-19, 13:28:

400 degrees is definitely too hot if that's in Celsius. I'm not going to be as rude as DerSammler, but I do agree that the torn pads weren't completely the board's fault if you were using that much heat. I often use between 295C and 325C for PCBs with leaded solder, to overcome heat dissipation, and that might already be a bit much. Also, the patch wires aren't particularly pretty, you want to strip the part of the wire you want to solder first, twist the wires together, and tin it, as it looks like you might have just put the wire where you wanted it, then just molten off the insulation while soldering it on. The result is the ugly molten insulation, and loose pieces of copper wire sticking out. An ALS100 is nothing valuable, but maybe practicing some more before getting to more valuable hardware would be a good idea. We all have to start off somewhere, you don't want to see my first attempts!

Shit, and I used it at 399C. That explains it... As for the patch wires, I DID in fact strip them, but the insulation melted anyway. Also, they're aluminium wires. Next time I work on the card, I'll replace them with copper ones and I'll keep in mind to twist them and tin them, so it will definitely look better. It really isn't my first soldering attempt though. I've worked on motherboards and graphics cards (much newer too) with no issues at 399C, so I really was surprised with what happened with the ALS100, and thought it was the cheap-ass card, but now I know better. Thank you for your feedback.