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Retro Hardware Collecting rants

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Reply 620 of 934, by RaverX

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konc wrote on 2020-08-27, 07:58:

Just wanted to say that there is a point where it's no more collecting/having a few spares/have a lot because you have a thing for some specific card. I mean having 50pcs of card x is none of these.

Why not? If I collect only Voodoo3 3000 cards, for you it doesn't make sense to have more than 2-3, but for me having more than 50 it's ok, because every card is slighty different (different revisions, memory chips, heatsink, PCB date, etc, etc). Never assume that what you think is valid for everyone.

Last edited by Stiletto on 2020-08-28, 03:40. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 621 of 934, by PD2JK

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Last month I bricked two lovely mainboards; a Gigabyte GA-686NX and a Chaintech 6BTM. All because of a bad written BIOS flash tool which writes something to the EEPROM before the flash operation itself.

The upside is that I have now a TL866II programmer, which is nice. And fun.

i386 16 ⇒ i486 DX4 100 ⇒ Pentium MMX 200 ⇒ Athlon Orion 700 | TB 1000 ⇒ AthlonXP 1700+ ⇒ Opteron 165 ⇒ Dual Opteron 856

Reply 622 of 934, by Montaron

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I hear all the pain points on collecting and prices. I guess retro console prices warned us what could happen.
I sold plenty of my hardware as it became obselete and threw away game boxes to make space that now demand such high prices.

Only the realisation that we have't got the same kind of quality of games coming out these days and the seeing the cost of the parts rise made me regret selling my old gear. I think in a free market we can't complain too much but refuse to pay the high prices and bide your time.

On a positive note, I was really after some of the boxed games i got rid of but no way am I going to pay the current prices for all but one of my favourites and discovered this project.
https://bigboxcollection.com/#CollectionOverview
I think it's a fantastic idea! I guess it's common for console games and it would great to get more PC games available to remake lost boxes.
If anyone knows of similar projects, please let me know!

Ye already be disturbed; now leave me be. Yer company be toil enough as is.

Reply 623 of 934, by svfn

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That's a really nice way to catalogue a big box collection, with their actual scans and you can view it from anywhere.

It really pays to be patient, sometimes even years to get a good price for the sought after stuff. Sometimes the rare stuff are still around but just hidden and forgotten in storerooms, cupboards and attics 😜

Montaron wrote on 2020-08-27, 14:06:
I hear all the pain points on collecting and prices. I guess retro console prices warned us what could happen. I sold plenty of […]
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I hear all the pain points on collecting and prices. I guess retro console prices warned us what could happen.
I sold plenty of my hardware as it became obselete and threw away game boxes to make space that now demand such high prices.

Only the realisation that we have't got the same kind of quality of games coming out these days and the seeing the cost of the parts rise made me regret selling my old gear. I think in a free market we can't complain too much but refuse to pay the high prices and bide your time.

On a positive note, I was really after some of the boxed games i got rid of but no way am I going to pay the current prices for all but one of my favourites and discovered this project.
https://bigboxcollection.com/#CollectionOverview
I think it's a fantastic idea! I guess it's common for console games and it would great to get more PC games available to remake lost boxes.
If anyone knows of similar projects, please let me know!

SS7: K6-2/350 | FIC PA-2013 2.1 | 32MB PC-100 | 3dfx V3 2000 AGP | AWE64 CT4520 | Win98SE
On MobyGames

Reply 624 of 934, by devius

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Exactly. With enough patience you should be able to find practically anything you want without breaking the bank. Of course the difficulty of finding something specific this always varies between different parts of the world. For example over here it's still very easy to get cheap AT cases/computers.

Reply 625 of 934, by Vaudane

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devius wrote on 2020-08-27, 15:32:

Exactly. With enough patience you should be able to find practically anything you want without breaking the bank. Of course the difficulty of finding something specific this always varies between different parts of the world. For example over here it's still very easy to get cheap AT cases/computers.

Next time I'm in Portu on holiday I guess I'll be dragging the lady around used computer shops. I'm sure she'll be thrilled!

Reply 626 of 934, by devius

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Oh, you probably won't find them in used computer shops, although it's not impossible I guess. The local OLX marketplace app and boot fairs are the best for those deals.

Reply 627 of 934, by darry

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PD2JK wrote on 2020-08-27, 10:58:

Last month I bricked two lovely mainboards; a Gigabyte GA-686NX and a Chaintech 6BTM. All because of a bad written BIOS flash tool which writes something to the EEPROM before the flash operation itself.

Please let us know what that tool is so we can avoid it or at least be careful with it .

Reply 628 of 934, by PD2JK

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darry wrote on 2020-08-27, 17:50:
PD2JK wrote on 2020-08-27, 10:58:

Last month I bricked two lovely mainboards; a Gigabyte GA-686NX and a Chaintech 6BTM. All because of a bad written BIOS flash tool which writes something to the EEPROM before the flash operation itself.

Please let us know what that tool is so we can avoid it or at least be careful with it .

It was the tool which came with the official 686nx bios. It did a check if the bios was compatible, gave an error that it wasn't, and then bricked my board.

i386 16 ⇒ i486 DX4 100 ⇒ Pentium MMX 200 ⇒ Athlon Orion 700 | TB 1000 ⇒ AthlonXP 1700+ ⇒ Opteron 165 ⇒ Dual Opteron 856

Reply 630 of 934, by darry

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PD2JK wrote on 2020-08-27, 20:35:
darry wrote on 2020-08-27, 17:50:
PD2JK wrote on 2020-08-27, 10:58:

Last month I bricked two lovely mainboards; a Gigabyte GA-686NX and a Chaintech 6BTM. All because of a bad written BIOS flash tool which writes something to the EEPROM before the flash operation itself.

Please let us know what that tool is so we can avoid it or at least be careful with it .

It was the tool which came with the official 686nx bios. It did a check if the bios was compatible, gave an error that it wasn't, and then bricked my board.

Thanks. That is good to know.

Reply 631 of 934, by Horun

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darry wrote on 2020-08-27, 23:30:
PD2JK wrote on 2020-08-27, 20:35:
darry wrote on 2020-08-27, 17:50:

Please let us know what that tool is so we can avoid it or at least be careful with it .

It was the tool which came with the official 686nx bios. It did a check if the bios was compatible, gave an error that it wasn't, and then bricked my board.

Thanks. That is good to know.

Just DL'd both the BIOS versions (1.32 and 1.40) off Giga's site and it has AMI 8.60 flasher in it. "Flash Utility Ver.860. (C) Copyright 1985-2002, American Megatrends" but the BIOS file is an Award BIOS.....hmmm
Did someone screw up and it should have had AWDFLASH v8.60 ?

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 632 of 934, by darry

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Horun wrote on 2020-08-27, 23:44:
darry wrote on 2020-08-27, 23:30:
PD2JK wrote on 2020-08-27, 20:35:

It was the tool which came with the official 686nx bios. It did a check if the bios was compatible, gave an error that it wasn't, and then bricked my board.

Thanks. That is good to know.

Just DL'd both the BIOS versions (1.32 and 1.40) off Giga's site and it has AMI 8.60 flasher in it. "Flash Utility Ver.860. (C) Copyright 1985-2002, American Megatrends" but the BIOS file is an Award BIOS.....hmmm
Did someone screw up and it should have had AWDFLASH v8.60 ?

Looks like an oopsie indeed . Luckily boards from that era have socketed BIOS chips .

When I bricked my Asus P5K Deluxe WIFI AP, I found myself in front of a surface soldered SPI BIOS chip and no de-soldering tools or experience. However, Asus had been gracious enough to provide a pin header that allowed in-circuit flashing of the BIOS chip . I found some info and software that allowed me to reprogram the BIOS chip using just a few wires and capacitors along with a parallel port equipped Compaq PC (20$ pawn shop buy) . This thread just reminded me that I still have that machine in storage and I do not even remember whether it's a P1, P2 or P3, 🤣 . That machine was actually my first modern era retro buy .

Anyway, inexpensive USB flash programmers are great and practically everyone in the retro hobby should consider getting one, IMHO .

Reply 633 of 934, by solidus

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On the topic of prices and availability. Is the general idea that eBay is always going to be the worst in terms of pricing? I assume finding local sellers on facebook or craigslist or whatever is going to net the best deals? I have been looking to increase my parts collection recently so I have various options to choose from for builds.. and eBay is always tempting because you can find almost anything.. but the prices are never great. Problem is.. trying to find something like an MMX 233 locally on Facebook is so rare.. and thats not even a rare item. I hardly ever see stuff like that up for sale locally

Reply 634 of 934, by Unknown_K

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solidus wrote on 2020-08-28, 01:39:

On the topic of prices and availability. Is the general idea that eBay is always going to be the worst in terms of pricing? I assume finding local sellers on facebook or craigslist or whatever is going to net the best deals? I have been looking to increase my parts collection recently so I have various options to choose from for builds.. and eBay is always tempting because you can find almost anything.. but the prices are never great. Problem is.. trying to find something like an MMX 233 locally on Facebook is so rare.. and thats not even a rare item. I hardly ever see stuff like that up for sale locally

Local stuff is priced more then ebay would cost even with shipping. People on craigslist are nuts.

Collector of old computers, hardware, and software

Reply 635 of 934, by imi

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I've said this before, but I definitely got most of the amazing deals on ebay, most local sellers just check ebay for the listed "buy it now" price (which is pretty much always way too much) and then ask that.

that means waiting for auctions obviously, so it needs some patience ^^

occasionally something amazing pops up locally, but more often than not it's gone already before I even get an alert.

Reply 636 of 934, by SodaSuccubus

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Iv gotten some deals on Ebay before. Some good, some meh, some really good. Just takes patience and frequent browsing. Sort by newly listed. See what people are posting fresh.

I would concider a $160 w/ shipping Sound Blaster 2.0 a "good deal" imo when you see them average 200+ CAD l without shipping

In a world like eBay where the desirable items are usually overpriced. Anything underpriced by $30-50n or more is a"deal" in my mind. Even if it's still technically overpriced.

Reply 637 of 934, by Horun

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I disagree that all local stuff is priced more than Ebay. Have found good deals on both but more so locally in my area if you consider "a really good deal". Lucky for me am on 1/2 day Tuesdays and off every other Thursday so get to check out the local places somewhat early on those days and have found some great deals. Yes they are rare but since I do not really need anything more, will only grab what I think I can use (am out of the PC hoarding thing, no more room 🤣).

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 638 of 934, by solidus

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Unknown_K wrote on 2020-08-28, 02:13:
solidus wrote on 2020-08-28, 01:39:

On the topic of prices and availability. Is the general idea that eBay is always going to be the worst in terms of pricing? I assume finding local sellers on facebook or craigslist or whatever is going to net the best deals? I have been looking to increase my parts collection recently so I have various options to choose from for builds.. and eBay is always tempting because you can find almost anything.. but the prices are never great. Problem is.. trying to find something like an MMX 233 locally on Facebook is so rare.. and thats not even a rare item. I hardly ever see stuff like that up for sale locally

Local stuff is priced more then ebay would cost even with shipping. People on craigslist are nuts.

Interesting.. come to think of it I guess its sort of similar with retro video games. Sometimes Ill find the occasional Facebook mom selling her kids old stuff for crazy cheap... but for the most part its people checking Ebay and then trying to get the same price if not more.

Reply 639 of 934, by Horun

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🤣 checking Facebook for sales just cracks me up, sorry but that is the last place I would ever look 😀

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. https://archive.org/details/@horun