VOGONS


Reply 18020 of 27168, by PTherapist

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SodaSuccubus wrote on 2021-01-27, 21:03:

Any Atari fans here? I managed to nab thid Atari 520ST when I noticed it was being sold locally on eBay Canada.
Screenshot_20210127-140511.png(original seller photo)

Not that I really have the hobby money to split on another type of retro computer (I need one of those Atari diskdrives, and the mice are hella expensive!). I mean i just sold my TI 99/4a for that exact reason, but I couldn't help myself I guess. This is as close as il probably get to owning an Amiga 😜

Just get a Gotek with FlashFloppy firmware instead, much easier and cheaper. There are also cheaper options for the mouse if you're not bothered about the 100% authentic experience, ie. adapters for PS/2 etc.

I'm looking to get an ST myself next month, never owned one before and I'll be using that with a Gotek. Though I'm looking at getting one of the later 520/1040 STE models, as they're easier to upgrade the RAM to 4MB and will of course run STE games.

Reply 18021 of 27168, by PTherapist

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brostenen wrote on 2021-01-27, 23:23:

Testing out my new RetroTink 2x Mini with my Commodore64 breadbin (rev 250407).
Composit are good. S-Video cable are AWESOMME.... I will post some pictures tomorrow.

Are you using a LumaFix64 mod with your C64 or just outputting the standard/non-standard S-Video signal?

I don't own a RetroTink or anything like that, but I found just adding the LumaFix to my C64 C made it look absolutely amazing via S-Video, even on my crappiest 14-year-old LCD TV. Excellent colour output & pin sharp image.

Reply 18022 of 27168, by CMB75

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PD2JK wrote on 2021-01-29, 08:35:

Maybe something like RAL 9010, but this color coding standard is European. IBM is not. 😉

I’d be ok with pantone, hks, ral or other color schemes - the problem with those IBM machines is that you need at least five different colors matching each other (harmony). The case, the front panel, the back case of the Monitor (which differs slightly from the base case), the black for the metal and a different black for the drive plastics. I’ve seen pantone suggestions for the front bezel but without the rest...

Reply 18023 of 27168, by CMB75

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Jed118 wrote on 2021-01-29, 07:29:
But tonight, I am excited about finishing this 486 SCSI system: […]
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But tonight, I am excited about finishing this 486 SCSI system:

WPSy6Ekl.jpg

Thanks, you made my day twice. I have an old thread going searching for a case, well the best 486 case there ever was (I know, a little bit exaggerated).

Help needed: identifying an early 90s beige mini tower case

Everyone tells me it’s a common case and I’ve seen it around. Unfortunately no one had details to share. Can you provide a vendor or make of that case ... at least I would have something to search for in PricyBay.

Reply 18024 of 27168, by brostenen

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PTherapist wrote on 2021-01-29, 11:39:
brostenen wrote on 2021-01-27, 23:23:

Testing out my new RetroTink 2x Mini with my Commodore64 breadbin (rev 250407).
Composit are good. S-Video cable are AWESOMME.... I will post some pictures tomorrow.

Are you using a LumaFix64 mod with your C64 or just outputting the standard/non-standard S-Video signal?

I don't own a RetroTink or anything like that, but I found just adding the LumaFix to my C64 C made it look absolutely amazing via S-Video, even on my crappiest 14-year-old LCD TV. Excellent colour output & pin sharp image.

Nope... No Lumafix at all. I had one installed, yet I did not like the picture quality. It messes the sharpness up, and I will rather live with stripes. Yet with the RetroTink and S-Video cable, the quality is way better than CRT. I can not describe the result better, using words alone. So I have made a small 20-something minute video and posted on Youtube.

(Sorry for my really bad English)

Don't eat stuff off a 15 year old never cleaned cpu cooler.
Those cakes make you sick....

My blog: http://to9xct.blogspot.dk
My YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/brostenen

001100 010010 011110 100001 101101 110011

Reply 18025 of 27168, by Jed118

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gerry wrote on 2021-01-29, 09:35:
Jed118 wrote on 2021-01-29, 07:29:
But tonight, I am excited about finishing this 486 SCSI system: […]
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But tonight, I am excited about finishing this 486 SCSI system:

WPSy6Ekl.jpg

just appreciating the workspace you have, a nice retro pc corner

Hah thanks - that's just a random corner in the unfinished basement - it's temporary, as when I finish the basement up, I'll lose it (to renters, probably) - my real retro corner is in my office - I expanded one room just for the corner. There's no PC in there now, as all my computers are in one way or another in the middle of upgrades/waiting for parts, but it'll be my shrine for x86 stuff once I'm done 😁

Youtube channel- The Kombinator
What's for sale? my eBay!

Reply 18026 of 27168, by Jed118

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CMB75 wrote on 2021-01-29, 11:52:
Thanks, you made my day twice. I have an old thread going searching for a case, well the best 486 case there ever was (I know, a […]
Show full quote
Jed118 wrote on 2021-01-29, 07:29:
But tonight, I am excited about finishing this 486 SCSI system: […]
Show full quote

But tonight, I am excited about finishing this 486 SCSI system:

WPSy6Ekl.jpg

Thanks, you made my day twice. I have an old thread going searching for a case, well the best 486 case there ever was (I know, a little bit exaggerated).

Help needed: identifying an early 90s beige mini tower case

Everyone tells me it’s a common case and I’ve seen it around. Unfortunately no one had details to share. Can you provide a vendor or make of that case ... at least I would have something to search for in PricyBay.

These cases were quite common, I recall a few friends with them, inside were mostly 386s. I took this one quite apart (I since touched up the LED display - evened it out, recessed it nicely, and took a sharpie to the cut out edges so it looks better now) and I didn't see ANY markings, but I wasn't really looking for them.

PM me, I'm running my home network now so I can't look, but remind me and I'll help you ID this thing, or at least take detailed pictures? Whatever you need 😁

Youtube channel- The Kombinator
What's for sale? my eBay!

Reply 18027 of 27168, by PTherapist

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Today's retro activity was experimenting on my Amiga 1200. Specifically, setting up and running ShapeShifter the Macintosh emulator. My Amiga 1200 just has the stock 68020 CPU, but with 8MB Fast RAM.

Got the emulator all configured and installed System 7.5.3.

ekyJhDal.jpg

It runs pretty terribly as expected, but I was able to play the Mac version of Prince of Persia.... slowly and in black & white. 🤣

Really only did this for fun. Might try the Fusion Mac emulator later and see if it runs any better or worse.

Reply 18028 of 27168, by fosterwj03

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I restarted some tests with an ATI Graphics Ultra Pro (PCI, Mach32, 2MB). I recently discovered that the ATI DOS Install utility can change the default refresh rate on VGA modes (it defaults to 72Hz for 800x600 and 1024x768 as well as 87Hz interlaced for 1280x1024). I changed all of the VGA modes to 60Hz non-interlaced (including 1280x1024) to properly sync with my LCD monitor. The card works great in all modes now.

This might not seem particularly profound, but I bought this card for compatibility with Windows 2.x and OS/2 1.x. The ATI drivers for OS/2 1.x allow a resolution all the way up to 1280x1024 (256 color). I haven’t seen anyone post such a display setting online before so I thought I would mention it.

I wish I knew a way to perform a screen capture in OS/2 1.3. Here’s a photo I took of a relatively high resolution for such an old OS. This is running on a P4 2.8GHz bare metal.

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Reply 18029 of 27168, by Jed118

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PTherapist wrote on 2021-01-29, 20:38:
Today's retro activity was experimenting on my Amiga 1200. Specifically, setting up and running ShapeShifter the Macintosh emul […]
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Today's retro activity was experimenting on my Amiga 1200. Specifically, setting up and running ShapeShifter the Macintosh emulator. My Amiga 1200 just has the stock 68020 CPU, but with 8MB Fast RAM.

Got the emulator all configured and installed System 7.5.3.

ekyJhDal.jpg

It runs pretty terribly as expected, but I was able to play the Mac version of Prince of Persia.... slowly and in black & white. 🤣

Really only did this for fun. Might try the Fusion Mac emulator later and see if it runs any better or worse.

I had system 7.5.(something) when I was a kid - on a IIsi with an 030, I think it had 5 Mb of RAM. I really liked that machine, this gave me some nostalgia 😁

Youtube channel- The Kombinator
What's for sale? my eBay!

Reply 18030 of 27168, by SteveC

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Just rediscovered the Psychic Link demoscene demo from 1995 - Juice. I watched this so many times back in the day.

http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=69

https://twitter.com/stevec00ps/status/1355292961840517121

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/StevesTechShed
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SteveTechShed

Reply 18031 of 27168, by vutt

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Did you know that Motorola had MT32 compatible sound module back in days? 😉

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My little MT32-pi in old TV set-top box project is shaping up nicely.
Now I need to fit that rats nest into case and figure out how much cooling Pi 4 in closed case needs. Will went holes drilling be sufficient or I need to add active cooling.

Last edited by vutt on 2021-01-30, 18:17. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 18032 of 27168, by Caluser2000

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It took a couple of hours sort out the jumpers, with no documentation, to finally get the recently purchased ITT EXTRA|Professional Series 10Mhz 8088 system sorted. The XT-IDE card is now recognizing and booting off IDE HDDs. I've installed IBM Dos 5.02 and GeoWorks Pro 1.2 on to the system. The GeoWorks setup routine recognised the EXTRAs inbuilt video as CGA and runs fine. There are some fucky CGA configurations to choose from 😉.

I completely missed CGA and EGA systems. My first x86 computer which was a 286/16 PC General clone in a mini desktop case. So this is a bit different. I do remember playing Sokoban at work when things were quiet on a Compaq Desk Pro 386 in the late '80s. It also had Direct Access as the menu program and we used WordStar 2000 for creating official documentation.

Last edited by Caluser2000 on 2021-01-31, 02:53. Edited 1 time in total.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 18033 of 27168, by chrismeyer6

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vutt wrote on 2021-01-30, 17:51:
Did you know that Motorola had MT32 compatible sound module back in days? ;) […]
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Did you know that Motorola had MT32 compatible sound module back in days? 😉

motorola.jpg

My little MT32-pi in old TV set-top box project is shaping up nicely.
Now I need to fit that rats nest into case and figure out how much cooling Pi 4 in closed case needs. Will went holes drilling be sufficient or I need to add active cooling.

I personally would put a fan on the Rpi 4. I've had many different Rpi's and in any type of enclosure even with a good amount of venting I've had issues with overheating. Since I've started to use fans an anything I do with a pi the failure rate is dropped to zero from heat anyway.

Reply 18034 of 27168, by DrLucienSanchez

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I usually keep an eye out for CRT monitors and TVs, and after a long wait, I took a chance on a purchase, and finally nailed something that I'm very excited for: Sun Microsystems 16" CRT Monitor - PN17J0 - "Opened, never used", description says "Item has been opened, but is unused, VGA cables are still factory tied and internal packaging appears to be untouched". If this is really the case, then I am very happy with this. Got it for a total of £85 (£50 + £35 shipping) of a famous auction site - was the the only bidder 😀

From looking at the specs, the maximum it will do is 1280x1024 @75Hz. I'll use it to power my Slot 1 P II, MX440 98SE rig, and also my Frankenstein build - 2500K, Intel HD 3000, XP, all inside a nice still-beige 1997 Viglen tower.

I will make sure to un-wrap and allow it to get to room temperature before switching on!

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Classic rig - MS6156 Ver 1.0 Bx7 Slot1 Motherboard - Pentium II Deschutes 400Mhz, 320MB PC100 RAM, 20GB SATA Toshiba 2.5 via IDE/SATA converter, Intel i740 8Mb AGP, Sun Microsystems 16" CRT Monitor - PN17J0 CRT monitor

Reply 18036 of 27168, by LHN91

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Recently re-obtained a Compaq Armada E500 - I had given it to my nephew for playing games. Unfortunately in a bit worse cosmetic condition than it was when I last saw it...... was mint when I got it but definitely not now. Still fully functional though thankfully, but I'm having a bit of difficulty with DOS sound under Windows with the ESS Maestro 2E.

Using the WDM drivers, sounds works good in DOS games under Windows, but MIDI uses the generic Microsoft SoftSynth. If I install the VxD drivers it shows an ESS WaveSynth and as far as I can tell it's set up correctly, but attempting to use MIDI from a DOS box causes a BSOD. Any suggestions or at least feedback on the quality of the ESS WaveSynth, if it's worth trying to get working?

Reply 18037 of 27168, by creepingnet

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Versa 40EC is fixed now, - killed the MoBo video circuit - luckily could order a third (where the heck are these guys getting all these Versa E/V motherboards from - they had 2 in 2019 - now they have FIVE in stock for only $20 e/a.). though it still needs an LCD panel. I'm ordering some FFC connectors and cables for a "best of parts" panel I'm putting together. I may still order another one from China as well though, and keep trying to fix the -12 version. I did some diagnostics on that panel and it looks like a component is shorting something out in the controller board.

Versa M/75 is almost done being all setup with the 80GB drive. I set it up to triple boot to DOS (7.0), Windows 95 OSR 2.5, and Windows For Workgroups 3.11 - as this one has WSS audio and also can emulate a SoundBlaster via WSS - although without the OPL. In some ways, I favor the M/75 because I can game on it while watching TV and I don't have to go the extra step to shut the music off, and it has a 640x480 LCD Panel instead of the letterboxed 800x600 one on my P/75 (which I like better for emulation because it does not get cut off - plus the Pentium is better for MAME and NESticle). I just put SHSUCD and OMI on it, and got mTCP all setup for the DOS Portion. WFWG is working and I'm making new tiled backgrounds for it, and kind of rediscovered the joy of Zsoft/Win31 paint in the process.

Left the P/75 on standby all day, still had a full battery 12 hours later - man, I'm ordering another one of those batteries! And get the dumb version for the 40EC.

What's also nice is all this activity is making a GREAT cloak for the Wife's birthday gifts - she won't suspect a thing! Never saw what I ordered for her because I used the Motherboard as a cloak (slipped the gift inside the box while I was outside). This is how you be a good husband and still keep the train of Vintage Computing rolling.

I may also have line on the other one I Could not get ahold of - so maybe I'll wait on the history/benchmark/comparison video for awhile.....I'd LIKE to get a full collection together for that one.

~The Creeping Network~
My Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/creepingnet
Creepingnet's World - https://creepingnet.neocities.org/
The Creeping Network Repo - https://www.geocities.ws/creepingnet2019/

Reply 18038 of 27168, by Horun

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Spent the day helping my mom, she is 84 and not in good health. If that not working with vintage then guess someone who was born before WWII is not old 🤣.
Other than that am re-working some old archives off way-back to create a few file libraries usable locally of some old web site info that can not be found the same anywhere else.
Also worked on some old .DOC's trying to build PDF's but not much luck yet. Got the Word5 coding to help on one but am getting too old to figure it out yet 🙁

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 18039 of 27168, by HandOfFate

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I finally got my elaborate setup working to "dial" to a TCP connection. Now I can connect to telnet BBS'es and such from real hardware by using a standard modem. Hearing the modem sound again after all these years was definitely a special moment 😁

It was quite a hassle to get everything working reliably. In the end, this was the winning combination:

(Internal) modem in DOS machine -> Linksys PAP2T (provides analogue phone line and SIP conversion) -> Asterisk -> another modem via a serial-to-USB converter -> modem-tcp (with some modifications[1]) -> some TCP host

So far I've only tried 19200 baud but the full 56k should be possible, assuming my serial-to-USB converter supports hardware flow (the specs say it does).

[1] On answering the RING it reads twice from the serial port where it should do it only once, at least in my case. Also made things compatible with Python 3.

Am486 DX4 120MHz, no L2, 16MB, Tseng ET4000/W32 1MB VLB, ESS ES1869 /// 5x86 133MHz, 256kb L2, 64MB, S3 Virge/DX 4MB PCI, SB16 + Yucatan FX, PicoGUS /// Pentium III 1GHz, 512MB, Asus V7700 64MB AGP, SB Live!