Standard Def Steve wrote on 2020-05-26, 04:53:

I installed an ISA MPEG decoder in my 486. To put it through its paces, I transcoded my Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Blu-ray to a 352x240 MPEG1 stream and burned it to two CDs.
Man was it weird seeing such a recent film play in a Windows 3.1 environment. But it played! In all its blocky, 2 channel stereo glory, it played. I could even go full screen with nary a dropped frame. Now that's effective hardware acceleration.

Panasonic had a well regarded MPEG-1 encoder in 2000 . https://web.archive.org/web/20000510093306/ht … eg/index_e.html . It was US$ 79.95 .

Just finished repairing my poor Olivetti M24. I'm sooo relieved, i was almost resigned.

Some years ago i blew up a diagnostic card inside of it , maybe i did put it backwards(but i swear i triple checked it, and it was the right position), maybe paying 2 Euro shipping included for a dodgy card from China,without manual, wasn't the brightest idea....
The Poor old Olivetti was stuck even before the bios routines, no video , leds on keyboard frozen. I tried it without the isa 'riser' card, and i heard a beep from the speaker, indicating that the Pc has booted up.
So i did disassemble the Isa expansion board, desoldered all IC's and put sockets.

I've recently bought an IC tester useful for the 74-- series of chips, abundant in all PCs.

I did find one broken chip, a 74ls04. Replaced it and finally got a prompt back!

It went better than expected... If the broken chip was , let's say, on the mainboard, i would have needed more patience and maybe a decent oscilloscope (and weeks to learn how to use it!)

Set up my Commodore 16 on a 14" CRT TV with composite cable and loaded and played some games off cassette. Pizza Pete(a Burgertime type game), Minipede(a centipede alike by Anirog), Skramble(Anirog), Cruncher(Pac-Man clone Solar software) ,3D Time Trek(Star raiders type by Anirog), Spectipede(mastertronic, another Centipede type game) and finally Shark a crummy but oddly charming game by Firebird software. I love some of the artwork on the covers, it reminds me of science fiction book covers from the 70's, sort of thing EE Doc Smith's Lensman books used!
Ordered a newly made game pad from ebay for the C16/Plus 4 series, it looks much like a Famicom controller, something that I'm really comfortable with using over the years , my poor old original Commodore joystick has been repaired so many times now it barely works, this should make for a much nicer gaming experience and wasn't overly expensive, it also comes with a DVD containing the entire Commodore User magazine library, so some fun bed time reading into the bargain!

Benchmarked and tested these today, all except the SB0060 Live!.

Windows9566 wrote on 2020-05-26, 04:29:

I did that before, no dice. It's dead as a doornail, I am thinking of going with a hard drive/Free HD Boot/OPL instead of replacing the laser, i know it's a common issue with those PS2s, failing lasers, thats the problem with many of the old disc based consoles. I also have a Gamecube and a PS1 SCPH-1001 that won't read discs.

Softmodding a PS2 isn't nightmarishly difficult or anything. The starting point is acquiring an appropriately-configured memory card, and the end point is apparently leaving the system to collect dust after the novelty wears off. My PS2 came from a Goodwill out in the wilds of Pennsylvania. It was full of a porridge of dust and tobacco tar, and had a Madden game in it. The drive tray bezel had left for greener pastures long ago. I cleaned it out, replaced the bezel, and softmodded it. Added a 120GB HDD, as that was all that I had available that was sure to work at the time. The DVD and CD lasers still work, miraculously, so ripping my own games was easy. Well, barring a couple that seemed to have bit rot or print surface damage due to their previous owners.
My Gamecubes each have dead lasers, but people want more money for replacement parts than I paid for the systems, and I have a softmodded Wii, so...
I bought a PSIO many years ago, but have yet to install it into any of my PSX consoles. Goes without saying that the system it goes in has to have a parallel port, and I already have a chipped 1001 that's in nice condition, albeit with a spindle motor that needs some TLC if the laser itself isn't kajiggered. May just pop the ODE into an alternate system, so I could use my link cable with all zero of the people I can get to come over and play games.

Mister Xiado wrote on 2020-05-26, 19:03:

[Softmodding a PS2 isn't nightmarishly difficult or anything. The starting point is acquiring an appropriately-configured memory card, and the end point is apparently leaving the system to collect dust after the novelty wears off. My PS2 came from a Goodwill out in the wilds of Pennsylvania. It was full of a porridge of dust and tobacco tar, and had a Madden game in it. The drive tray bezel had left for greener pastures long ago. I cleaned it out, replaced the bezel, and softmodded it. Added a 120GB HDD, as that was all that I had available that was sure to work at the time. The DVD and CD lasers still work, miraculously, so ripping my own games was easy. Well, barring a couple that seemed to have bit rot or print surface damage due to their previous owners.
My Gamecubes each have dead lasers, but people want more money for replacement parts than I paid for the systems, and I have a softmodded Wii, so...
I bought a PSIO many years ago, but have yet to install it into any of my PSX consoles. Goes without saying that the system it goes in has to have a parallel port, and I already have a chipped 1001 that's in nice condition, albeit with a spindle motor that needs some TLC if the laser itself isn't kajiggered. May just pop the ODE into an alternate system, so I could use my link cable with all zero of the people I can get to come over and play games.

PSX, you say? You actually have one of those PS2/DVR hybrid thingies?! Awesome! How does it work?

Most people mean the PS1 when they say PSX.

Received a 35K RAM expansion cartridge for my Commodore VIC-20 today. And... it doesn't work properly. 🙁 I can get 24K out of it, but Block 5 is missing (a memory test proves this) which means no loading cartridge games into RAM and no Doom. Contacted the seller and awaiting a response.

I know the cartridge slot itself is fine, as I have 1 game that works fine, proving it can read from Block 5. Oh well, at least I could test out some regular 3K, 8K & 16K games and that all seems to work.

Did have another odd issue with the game "The Perils of Willy". Loading it from SD2IEC yielded no music and missing sound effects, but it loaded fine from the cassette drive, weird.

BSA Starfire wrote on 2020-05-26, 16:17:

Set up my Commodore 16 on a 14" CRT TV with composite cable and loaded and played some games off cassette. Pizza Pete(a Burgerti […]
Show full quote

Set up my Commodore 16 on a 14" CRT TV with composite cable and loaded and played some games off cassette. Pizza Pete(a Burgertime type game), Minipede(a centipede alike by Anirog), Skramble(Anirog), Cruncher(Pac-Man clone Solar software) ,3D Time Trek(Star raiders type by Anirog), Spectipede(mastertronic, another Centipede type game) and finally Shark a crummy but oddly charming game by Firebird software. I love some of the artwork on the covers, it reminds me of science fiction book covers from the 70's, sort of thing EE Doc Smith's Lensman books used!
Ordered a newly made game pad from ebay for the C16/Plus 4 series, it looks much like a Famicom controller, something that I'm really comfortable with using over the years , my poor old original Commodore joystick has been repaired so many times now it barely works, this should make for a much nicer gaming experience and wasn't overly expensive, it also comes with a DVD containing the entire Commodore User magazine library, so some fun bed time reading into the bargain!
DSC_0263.JPG
c16 pad.jpg
DSC_0265.JPG
DSC_0264.JPG

Nice setup. I'll probably get a C16 next year + the 64K RAM upgrade.

A question about the game pad - does that have the 2nd button remapped to Up or is it just another Fire button?

derSammler wrote on 2020-05-26, 20:08:

Most people mean the PS1 when they say PSX.

Every publication that covered games and tech in the mid nineties referred to the project using Sony's own terms. The Play Station eXperimental, or PS-X. It got such constant coverage in every magazine that the abbreviation "PSX" stuck, as "PS" already meant "Photoshop" to most people in tech, even well into the PlayStation 2 era. Sony's DVR project didn't enter into anyone's minds outside of "hey look at this overpriced piece of trash that costs a fortune" sidebar articles, and just annoyed everyone from writers, to editors, to just people who played video games, who had been using the term "PSX" to refer to the PlayStation for the full previous decade. This knowledge should be more common than the definition of "POST" on such a site.

Mister Xiado wrote on 2020-05-27, 00:00:

derSammler wrote on 2020-05-26, 20:08:

Most people mean the PS1 when they say PSX.

Every publication that covered games and tech in the mid nineties referred to the project using Sony's own terms. The Play Station eXperimental, or PS-X. It got such constant coverage in every magazine that the abbreviation "PSX" stuck, as "PS" already meant "Photoshop" to most people in tech, even well into the PlayStation 2 era. Sony's DVR project didn't enter into anyone's minds outside of "hey look at this overpriced piece of trash that costs a fortune" sidebar articles, and just annoyed everyone from writers, to editors, to just people who played video games, who had been using the term "PSX" to refer to the PlayStation for the full previous decade. This knowledge should be more common than the definition of "POST" on such a site.

You'd be surprised...
Anyway, today I decided to make a ghetto PC/PCI (aka SB-LINK) cable from spare parts (USB header cables and front panel audio connectors) for a Yamaha card of mine:

Here it is along with the card itself:

It's quite a bit long, and maybe I should have used a ribbon cable, but I can shorten it later, and it should work just fine. For the curious among you, it's straight-through, meaning that both the connectors are identical

I should also do something about the boards I recapped recently, but I'm not feeling up to it right now, sorry BTW can a Gigabyte GA-K8VT800pro work with a Mobile Athlon 64 3400+?
EDIT [lost count]: I can't even post right on first try *sigh* need some sleep *yawn*

Got a box of 1o Verbatim DataLife MF-2HD disks AANNNDDDD none of them wanted to format on my Pentium 3 rig.

Absolutely none. Popped in a really old disk i found lying in one of my boxes, it worked and even formatted fine

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
woe is me, back to amazon they go

I knew that, verbatim disks were a trouble, even back in the day. Other disks were fine, even 3M.

Cheers,

pentiumspeed wrote on 2020-05-27, 01:42:

I knew that, verbatim disks were a trouble, even back in the day. Other disks were fine, even 3M.

Cheers,

I was a fan of 3M in the 5 1/4 era . For 3 1/2 HD disks, I tended to buy disks from KAO , Maxell, Sony or 3M .
Never used Verbatim stuff until DVD-R/BD-R came about .

TechieDude wrote on 2020-05-27, 00:29:

It's quite a bit long, and maybe I should have used a ribbon cable, but I can shorten it later, and it should work just fine. For the curious among you, it's straight-through, meaning that both the connectors are identical

If I recall, this cable can be used for SB-link.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078LM31J9/

mongaccio wrote on 2020-05-26, 15:11:

Just finished repairing my poor Olivetti M24. I'm sooo relieved, i was almost resigned. […]
Show full quote

Just finished repairing my poor Olivetti M24. I'm sooo relieved, i was almost resigned.

Some years ago i blew up a diagnostic card inside of it , maybe i did put it backwards(but i swear i triple checked it, and it was the right position), maybe paying 2 Euro shipping included for a dodgy card from China,without manual, wasn't the brightest idea....
The Poor old Olivetti was stuck even before the bios routines, no video , leds on keyboard frozen. I tried it without the isa 'riser' card, and i heard a beep from the speaker, indicating that the Pc has booted up.
So i did disassemble the Isa expansion board, desoldered all IC's and put sockets.
socketed board.jpg
I've recently bought an IC tester useful for the 74-- series of chips, abundant in all PCs.
fault 2.jpg
I did find one broken chip, a 74ls04. Replaced it and finally got a prompt back!
IMG_20200526_163114.jpg
It went better than expected... If the broken chip was , let's say, on the mainboard, i would have needed more patience and maybe a decent oscilloscope (and weeks to learn how to use it!)

The M24 was my first PC. My dad bought it, I think in '86 or '87, through his work. I remember bringing it home on an autumn Thursday evening and unpacking it on the living room dinner table. It turned on and beeped! I spend soooooo many hours with that thing. No hard drive, but 2 5 1/4" disk drives. It even had my first Sound Blaster in it, forgot the exact model but I did order and installed the CM/S chips separately, so it was an SB 1.0 or maybe a 1.5. One day it stopped working, so my dad took for repairs. I was racing home from school that afternoon to be reunited with it. He said, "they couldn't fix it", so he just left it there...! We then got an Olivetti PC S 286, with a 20MB hard drive! A few years ago I asked my mom what happens to this machine, she told me she put it outside with the trash more than a decade ago (she likes cleaning). I was horrified. I should have taking it with me when I moved out of the house. I guess 21 years olds are not nostalgic yet...

Still looking for the software that came with the Olivetti M24. There was a disk with GW-BASIC games that I spend a lot of time with.

Oh, Olivetti had the BEST keyboards ever! 😀

Mister Xiado wrote on 2020-05-27, 00:00:

Every publication that covered games and tech in the mid nineties referred to the project using Sony's own terms. The Play Station eXperimental, or PS-X.

First, the abbreviation "PSX" was never officially used by Sony for the PlayStation 1. And the internal code name "PlayStation eXperimental" (from which magazines deduced "PS-X") is also just assumed by various sources. Others assume it was "eXtreme" or "eXpansion". These are no facts, but made up by the press back then!

But that all doesn't matter, because we don't live in the past. Since 2003, there is the PlayStation 2-based DVR with the official name "PSX" and that is all which matters today if you use the term "PSX". So TechieDude's post was completely legit. Especially if you are into the PlayStation, you should know the confusion behind the term "PSX" and not use it to refer to the PS1. I mean, no one says "Dolphin" when he means the GameCube either. You just don't call consoles by their old code names when talking about them.

derSammler wrote on 2020-05-27, 06:25:

Mister Xiado wrote on 2020-05-27, 00:00:

Every publication that covered games and tech in the mid nineties referred to the project using Sony's own terms. The Play Station eXperimental, or PS-X.

First, the abbreviation "PSX" was never officially used by Sony for the PlayStation 1. And the internal code name "PlayStation eXperimental" (from which magazines deduced "PS-X") is also just assumed by various sources. Others assume it was "eXtreme" or "eXpansion". These are no facts, but made up by the press back then!

But that all doesn't matter, because we don't live in the past. Since 2003, there is the PlayStation 2-based DVR with the official name "PSX" and that is all which matters today if you use the term "PSX". So TechieDude's post was completely legit. Especially if you are into the PlayStation, you should know the confusion behind the term "PSX" and not use it to refer to the PS1. I mean, no one says "Dolphin" when he means the GameCube either. You just don't call consoles by their old code names when talking about them.

As reasonable as that is, it's worth noting that there are a few PS1 emulators with 'PSX' in the name, such as the actual PSX emulator, and ePSXe.

That probably just adds to the overall confusion though.

derSammler wrote on 2020-05-27, 06:25:

Mister Xiado wrote on 2020-05-27, 00:00:

Every publication that covered games and tech in the mid nineties referred to the project using Sony's own terms. The Play Station eXperimental, or PS-X.

First, the abbreviation "PSX" was never officially used by Sony for the PlayStation 1. And the internal code name "PlayStation eXperimental" (from which magazines deduced "PS-X") is also just assumed by various sources. Others assume it was "eXtreme" or "eXpansion". These are no facts, but made up by the press back then!

But that all doesn't matter, because we don't live in the past. Since 2003, there is the PlayStation 2-based DVR with the official name "PSX" and that is all which matters today if you use the term "PSX". So TechieDude's post was completely legit. Especially if you are into the PlayStation, you should know the confusion behind the term "PSX" and not use it to refer to the PS1. I mean, no one says "Dolphin" when he means the GameCube either. You just don't call consoles by their old code names when talking about them.

PS-X was definitely used by Sony early in the development of the console, the name was used on devkits packaging and in the documentation.

wiretap wrote on 2020-05-27, 02:58:

If I recall, this cable can be used for SB-link.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078LM31J9/

Most likely it can. But where is the fun in that? Making it myself seemed cheaper, quicker, and more fun.
Unfortunately, I bear bad news: The YMF724 card is completely silent, no sound, no FM, no noise, nothing. It's detected and installed in XP (FLP, actually) just fine, but it doesn't actually output anything. I suspect the transistors are to blame. The jumpers are set correctly and I tried them both in Line-Out and SPK-Out and nothing happened. I also tried newer drivers. I even tried putting it in other PCI slots, just in case, but still nothing. I also have an Audigy 4 Pro with the same issue.