Ordered this little Crash game & demos collection (not the computer or joystick) last week and finally got around to testing some of them out today -

Almost everything I've tried has worked so far, only a couple of games failed - which is pretty good considering the age of the tapes. My ZX Spectrum tape collection was pretty small, so these Crash compilations bulk it out a little and should provide some amusement.

Also today, been testing out the Super 64/ED64 Plus Chinese Everdrive I received for my N64. I've never had issues with the cheaper Chinese clones for other systems and this is no exception, it works flawlessly with all region N64 ROMs and the NES emulation is also fully functional.

That socket 370 pin soldering is amazing precision work, very nicely done!
Scary stuff too, I have tried that before myself and ended up just ruining the pad.

This isn't a 'today' activity, but today I can use it - I got tired of trying to find an MT-32, so I printed one 😁

It's got a raspberry pi 3 in there, with a proper DAC on it and MIDI input. More pictures here. It's designed to live in there permanently with the SD card accessible from underneath. It started off as a mess, became tidier. Now it's finished! (version 1 is finished... files will be shared once I make fixes and make a real PCB layout that people can make)

It sounds and works really well, having the extra buttons and finally a shape that holds it together is much nicer.

That's cute. Wish I had a 3D printer myself so I can make custom brackets for an EGA card and XT-FDC card for my Compaq Portable 1 system.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2021-04-02, 17:20:

That socket 370 pin soldering is amazing precision work, very nicely done! Scary stuff too, I have tried that before myself and […]
Show full quote

That socket 370 pin soldering is amazing precision work, very nicely done!
Scary stuff too, I have tried that before myself and ended up just ruining the pad.

This isn't a 'today' activity, but today I can use it - I got tired of trying to find an MT-32, so I printed one 😁

IMG_0820-2.jpg

It's got a raspberry pi 3 in there, with a proper DAC on it and MIDI input. More pictures here. It's designed to live in there permanently with the SD card accessible from underneath. It started off as a mess, became tidier. Now it's finished! (version 1 is finished... files will be shared once I make fixes and make a real PCB layout that people can make)

It sounds and works really well, having the extra buttons and finally a shape that holds it together is much nicer.

Amazing! I like the attitude "Theres not one so I made mine".

Today I rebooted a motherboard of an Acer T630.
It is a Gigabyte 8TRS400M (775) with Pentium 4 531 (3GHz).
It has integrated video card of the ATi Xpress200, also the chipset is ATi RS400.
RAM: I use 3 modules of 512MB each, in total so they are 1.5GB, DDR667 CL5 from Micron (they were from an HP PC), and they go in dual channel.
Audio is integrated with ALC chip, LAN is also integrated 1Gigabit.
BIOS Phoenix Award version R01-A4 of 03/14/2005.
I currently use the integrated VGA, but if you want you can install a PCI-E 16X VGA if necessary.
The CPU could be upgraded, in theory you could put the Pentium D, but it seems that it is not supported by this MB, same thing for the Pentium Dual Core or the Duo E2XX0 or 4XX0 cores. Maybe if you have any news about Dual-Core CPU support, they interest me.

aha2940 wrote on 2021-03-30, 23:32:

Today I received a Pioneer DVR-108 DVD-RW, which is interesting (to me) because it is IDE. However the seller packed it poorly and the mail broke the open/close button. I had to desolder one from a broken LG unit and solder it into the Pioneer, but since this new button is shorter, I'll have to glue something to it so that the faceplate button can press it correctly.

Do they usually not come in IDE, my DVR-108 in my 98 rig's IDE.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2021-04-02, 17:20:

That socket 370 pin soldering is amazing precision work, very nicely done! Scary stuff too, I have tried that before myself and […]
Show full quote

That socket 370 pin soldering is amazing precision work, very nicely done!
Scary stuff too, I have tried that before myself and ended up just ruining the pad.

This isn't a 'today' activity, but today I can use it - I got tired of trying to find an MT-32, so I printed one 😁

IMG_0820-2.jpg

It's got a raspberry pi 3 in there, with a proper DAC on it and MIDI input. More pictures here. It's designed to live in there permanently with the SD card accessible from underneath. It started off as a mess, became tidier. Now it's finished! (version 1 is finished... files will be shared once I make fixes and make a real PCB layout that people can make)

It sounds and works really well, having the extra buttons and finally a shape that holds it together is much nicer.

That's awesome! This is something I definitely want to do, but it will be a mess as I don't have a 3d printer. Wondering if I can use the Pi Pico? Oh yeah, the Pico has no audio out. 😀

Installing Mac OS X "Kodiak" Developer Preview 2 on QEMU as of right now. Fingers crossed for a successfull install...

EDIT: Success... Yay!

Bruninho wrote on 2021-04-03, 02:50:

Installing Mac OS X "Kodiak" Developer Preview 2 on QEMU as of right now. Fingers crossed for a successfull install...

EDIT: Success... Yay!

Have fun with the version of OSX that is explicitly just OpenSTEP with a classic mac os paintjob.

mastergamma12 wrote on 2021-04-02, 22:42:

aha2940 wrote on 2021-03-30, 23:32:

Today I received a Pioneer DVR-108 DVD-RW, which is interesting (to me) because it is IDE. However the seller packed it poorly and the mail broke the open/close button. I had to desolder one from a broken LG unit and solder it into the Pioneer, but since this new button is shorter, I'll have to glue something to it so that the faceplate button can press it correctly.

Do they usually not come in IDE, my DVR-108 in my 98 rig's IDE.

Hi, yes DVR-108 is IDE usually AFAIK, however what I meant is not that the model is interesting, just the fact that it is an IDE Dual-Layer DVD writer, which are very rare where I live.

BetaC wrote on 2021-04-03, 03:17:

Bruninho wrote on 2021-04-03, 02:50:

Installing Mac OS X "Kodiak" Developer Preview 2 on QEMU as of right now. Fingers crossed for a successfull install...

EDIT: Success... Yay!

Have fun with the version of OSX that is explicitly just OpenSTEP with a classic mac os paintjob.

Yeah I know, this is the reason why I attempted it. Just for my curiosity! heh.

aha2940 wrote on 2021-04-03, 03:43:

mastergamma12 wrote on 2021-04-02, 22:42:

aha2940 wrote on 2021-03-30, 23:32:

Today I received a Pioneer DVR-108 DVD-RW, which is interesting (to me) because it is IDE. However the seller packed it poorly and the mail broke the open/close button. I had to desolder one from a broken LG unit and solder it into the Pioneer, but since this new button is shorter, I'll have to glue something to it so that the faceplate button can press it correctly.

Do they usually not come in IDE, my DVR-108 in my 98 rig's IDE.

Hi, yes DVR-108 is IDE usually AFAIK, however what I meant is not that the model is interesting, just the fact that it is an IDE Dual-Layer DVD writer, which are very rare where I live.

Ah

adalbert wrote on 2021-04-01, 22:53:

Soldered some CPU pins, I found using a long and thin stainless steel tube as a good way to keep the pins centered

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4JRmWd8bw4

solder-pin.jpg

That is amazing and a skill I must learn!

Thermalwrong wrote on 2021-04-02, 17:20:

That socket 370 pin soldering is amazing precision work, very nicely done! Scary stuff too, I have tried that before myself and […]
Show full quote

That socket 370 pin soldering is amazing precision work, very nicely done!
Scary stuff too, I have tried that before myself and ended up just ruining the pad.

This isn't a 'today' activity, but today I can use it - I got tired of trying to find an MT-32, so I printed one 😁

IMG_0820-2.jpg

It's got a raspberry pi 3 in there, with a proper DAC on it and MIDI input. More pictures here. It's designed to live in there permanently with the SD card accessible from underneath. It started off as a mess, became tidier. Now it's finished! (version 1 is finished... files will be shared once I make fixes and make a real PCB layout that people can make)

It sounds and works really well, having the extra buttons and finally a shape that holds it together is much nicer.

My own Pi-32 is in a regular Pi case with no DAC but I look forward to seeing this project and replicate it for a much better execution!

MCGA wrote on 2021-04-03, 01:38:

Thermalwrong wrote on 2021-04-02, 17:20:

That socket 370 pin soldering is amazing precision work, very nicely done! Scary stuff too, I have tried that before myself and […]
Show full quote

That socket 370 pin soldering is amazing precision work, very nicely done!
Scary stuff too, I have tried that before myself and ended up just ruining the pad.

This isn't a 'today' activity, but today I can use it - I got tired of trying to find an MT-32, so I printed one 😁

IMG_0820-2.jpg

It's got a raspberry pi 3 in there, with a proper DAC on it and MIDI input. More pictures here. It's designed to live in there permanently with the SD card accessible from underneath. It started off as a mess, became tidier. Now it's finished! (version 1 is finished... files will be shared once I make fixes and make a real PCB layout that people can make)

It sounds and works really well, having the extra buttons and finally a shape that holds it together is much nicer.

That's awesome! This is something I definitely want to do, but it will be a mess as I don't have a 3d printer. Wondering if I can use the Pi Pico? Oh yeah, the Pico has no audio out. 😀

The Pi Pico is a bit too low spec for emulating the audio synthesis of the MT32 right now 😀
It needs a Pi3 or later to fully emulate the MT32's original hardware

appiah4 wrote on 2021-04-03, 08:37:

Thermalwrong wrote on 2021-04-02, 17:20:

That socket 370 pin soldering is amazing precision work, very nicely done! Scary stuff too, I have tried that before myself and […]
Show full quote

That socket 370 pin soldering is amazing precision work, very nicely done!
Scary stuff too, I have tried that before myself and ended up just ruining the pad.

This isn't a 'today' activity, but today I can use it - I got tired of trying to find an MT-32, so I printed one 😁

IMG_0820-2.jpg

It's got a raspberry pi 3 in there, with a proper DAC on it and MIDI input. More pictures here. It's designed to live in there permanently with the SD card accessible from underneath. It started off as a mess, became tidier. Now it's finished! (version 1 is finished... files will be shared once I make fixes and make a real PCB layout that people can make)

It sounds and works really well, having the extra buttons and finally a shape that holds it together is much nicer.

My own Pi-32 is in a regular Pi case with no DAC but I look forward to seeing this project and replicate it for a much better execution!

Cool, I'll have to finish up version 2 and share the files, most of the parts are off the shelf but the button PCB and the MIDI/DAC PCB are going to need custom designs for other people to be able to make this easily. It shouldn't be too tough, I've made stuff in Eagle before. Need to finish up a case for another thing first though 😁

Today I realised that modern Windows Media Player with its play speed settings can slow down MIDI files without the huge reduction in quality you would get from MP3s or whatever. I've been trying to get my head around Golden Brown by the Stranglers and this has sort of helped!

Managed to revive my good ol' ASUS P4G8X thats been semi-dead for years.
For some reason it used to hang during post, and nothing i did seemed to do anything.
Gave it another go today, reflashed the BIOS (for the hundredth time), cleared CMOS.
And presto, POST's ok!
So the rest of the day I've been torturing it with various configurations to see if ts OK.
And unfortunately the gbit broadcom NIC is just as crappy today as it was back in the day.....

Well I'm happy its not junk.
I really like the E7205 and the history behind it.

BTW, bought the board new with then new cool 3.06GHz HT.

Swapped the bios chips between those 2 cards, no picture out of the Sun card with the Asus bios...

Brought up my old pirated game CDs and DVDs from the basement. I thought I save disk images from them until they can be read. Some of them are unavailable legally or the prices are outrageous.
I also ordered a copy of Prey (2006) off of eBay from the UK for 7.5GBP with shipping.

After much research, I finally got my VIC 20 working!

I cleaned it all up, brushed its teeth(keys), removed the dead moth I found on the inside, and frankensteined together a video cable and PSU.

The best part, is that the plastic on the Vic 20 gold label has not been removed. 😀 Overall the system was really clean, not much dust on the inside.

The PSU is a 9V DC 3A soldered to a square 2 prong plug I found. I learned that the VIC 20 will run on DC from this forum, and it runs cooler and will still power everything with enough amps:
http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bulletin/ … it=Power+Supply

The video cable is made from a 5 DIN keyboard to PS2 adapter, a PS2 cable, and a RC cable. The keyboard DIN doesn't wire through the "reset" pin, so currently there is no audio.

I'm going to make a new cable with audio later this month, and also consider doing the the Luma Chroma mod.

*EDIT*
My colors were all wrong on the VIC. I had to adjust the dials on the motherboard to fix it. Now my white background is actually white, and not dark gray.