creepingnet wrote on 2021-04-15, 22:20:

Actually LoTek made something like that for a time - https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/wiki/Lo-tech_ISA_USB_Adapter - basically it allow […]
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Bondi wrote on 2021-04-15, 20:40:

creepingnet wrote on 2021-04-15, 20:27:

A USB card would be another cool one and something else I'd love to have. I have seen USB ISA cards before, they're very rare, but they are doable apparently.

I didn't know a USB controller for ISA bus actually existed. Are you sure? I was always under the impression that USB was exclisively PCI and on compatible.

Actually LoTek made something like that for a time - https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/wiki/Lo-tech_ISA_USB_Adapter - basically it allowed you to boot off of a USB Stick as a Hard Disk drive without any drivers and mapped it as a regular HDD using the BIOS on the card, which could double for loading BIOS Boot ROMS for other things like PXE or XT-IDE.

Then there's this thing - https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A% … QAAAAAdAAAAABAO - Simtec ISA board with USB Slots on it, I think it's for development uses but I'd think there would be a way to utilize that or map it.

While I'm not really a coder I Can see where the problem with a full featured, functioning as expected in Windows USB card on ISA would be impossible. We would need to have new expectations and a more creative way of going about it than just "let's make it where it plugs and plays like expected" because in DOS or Win3x it will never ever happen. I would liken it to things like using WiFI in DOS - people say it does not exist because it's not a common thing to do, or have done at the time, but it exists, and it's clunkier, and takes more skill and knowledge, than say, just plugging in a USB stick or punching in an SSID's password in WIndows.

I could see this working similarly - sort of like SHSUCDX - it'd be a small storage TSR you could load temporarily when you need the card, and unload it when you don't - sort of like MSCDEX. However, this is all unresearched and theoretical based off my limited knowledge of how these things work at the moment, but I won't throw it out the window since I've been right on this stuff more than once. If someone wanted to use I/O devices - like mice, and whatnot, there would need to be custom DOS drivers written for them, which as the VCFED thread said about it - would be "driver hell" - but most of us I think would only be using this sort of thing for storage anyway really.

What would be nice if controller is made that interfaces with IDE and usb stick and on computer set the adapter to 210MB 500MB, 1080MB, or up to 8GB and then plug adapter back into classic computer with blank usb stick and partition and format it. Then stick the usb stick back into newer computer and put all the software on it and pull usb stick out and back into vintage computer and use it like primary or secondary hard drive to install to another adapter on a vintage so we don't have to worry about sourcing drying up vintage hard drives.

And insist on quality controller IC, not the chinesified cheapened down STM32 stuff.

Same idea with MFM, RLL or ESDI like the gotek is.

I do not like to use SD cards.

Cheers,

Added a 360KB drive in my $10 386 system and made a MR BIOS ROM for the board to see how it performs and if it works so I can make an XT-FDC BIOS for the board so I can have 3 drives setup and start making, archiving, and testing 360KB diskettes for my Compaq Portable 8088.

Getting closer here and with the MR BIOS, I'll test out the Pentium OverDrive 83 and see if it boots with it or not.

Just installed 80GB drives in the rest of the Versa. Putting FreeDOS 2.1 on the V/50 now, and put MS-DOS 7.10 and Windows For Workgroups 3.11 on the 40EC. The third drive I think I will make into a Windows 98 SE setup for the P/75. Looks like a LOT of FTP is going to be going on in the background this weekend - pushing games, files, and other assorted items to the V/50 and 40EC. Nice part is I now will have 4 working laptops - the only things left to address on these will be sound and WiFi.

pentiumspeed wrote on 2021-04-15, 23:28:

What would be nice if controller is made that interfaces with IDE and usb stick and on computer set the adapter to 210MB 500MB, […]
Show full quote

creepingnet wrote on 2021-04-15, 22:20:

Actually LoTek made something like that for a time - https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/wiki/Lo-tech_ISA_USB_Adapter - basically it allow […]
Show full quote

Bondi wrote on 2021-04-15, 20:40:

I didn't know a USB controller for ISA bus actually existed. Are you sure? I was always under the impression that USB was exclisively PCI and on compatible.

Actually LoTek made something like that for a time - https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/wiki/Lo-tech_ISA_USB_Adapter - basically it allowed you to boot off of a USB Stick as a Hard Disk drive without any drivers and mapped it as a regular HDD using the BIOS on the card, which could double for loading BIOS Boot ROMS for other things like PXE or XT-IDE.

Then there's this thing - https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A% … QAAAAAdAAAAABAO - Simtec ISA board with USB Slots on it, I think it's for development uses but I'd think there would be a way to utilize that or map it.

While I'm not really a coder I Can see where the problem with a full featured, functioning as expected in Windows USB card on ISA would be impossible. We would need to have new expectations and a more creative way of going about it than just "let's make it where it plugs and plays like expected" because in DOS or Win3x it will never ever happen. I would liken it to things like using WiFI in DOS - people say it does not exist because it's not a common thing to do, or have done at the time, but it exists, and it's clunkier, and takes more skill and knowledge, than say, just plugging in a USB stick or punching in an SSID's password in WIndows.

I could see this working similarly - sort of like SHSUCDX - it'd be a small storage TSR you could load temporarily when you need the card, and unload it when you don't - sort of like MSCDEX. However, this is all unresearched and theoretical based off my limited knowledge of how these things work at the moment, but I won't throw it out the window since I've been right on this stuff more than once. If someone wanted to use I/O devices - like mice, and whatnot, there would need to be custom DOS drivers written for them, which as the VCFED thread said about it - would be "driver hell" - but most of us I think would only be using this sort of thing for storage anyway really.

What would be nice if controller is made that interfaces with IDE and usb stick and on computer set the adapter to 210MB 500MB, 1080MB, or up to 8GB and then plug adapter back into classic computer with blank usb stick and partition and format it. Then stick the usb stick back into newer computer and put all the software on it and pull usb stick out and back into vintage computer and use it like primary or secondary hard drive to install to another adapter on a vintage so we don't have to worry about sourcing drying up vintage hard drives.

And insist on quality controller IC, not the chinesified cheapened down STM32 stuff.

Same idea with MFM, RLL or ESDI like the gotek is.

I do not like to use SD cards.

Cheers,

That's good news for me because I don't really cheap out. I tend to find the better made hardware plays nicer with vintage hardware. I hate using SD Cards myself, not a big fan of CF either because who knows how long those are going to keep being made.

My current thing has been to start adapting mSATA and SATA SSDs to IDE but there's a limit to how long that can go on, and what it will work with. Like I have a 128GB mSATA drive in a 44pin adapter case (Cheap chinese one) that'll work with my 486 desktop like a champ but the NEC Versa get REALLY confused when that thing is installed - either thinking it's an 8GB drive or mis-partitioning it and then having a MBR failure on boot. Right now it's living in my Dell Dimension P4 though.

Tonight I slapped some 80GB ATA-133 drives in the 40EC and V/50 Versas so now they have tons of space to play around with. And I have a third in case I either want to put that one in the Docking Station or use it as a Win XP drive for the P/75 (just for giggles) - XP Pro on a Versa P/75 would be hilarious (albeit really slow) - may go 2000. I don't know yet. I'm thinking about trying some software/games that are low-enough in requirements it might be terrifying if they work - I also have a colleague at work whose challenging me to run some pretty insane stuff on here, so I might want to YouTube my attempts for giggles.

" Finished" my last course of the semester and put on my NES system, playing RoadBlasters. I crashed as the cruise missile fired and I had a clear white highway for the rest of the game , soundtrack courtesy of Green Day's Nimrod. I've recently come so close to beating the game on a few occasions.

Other than that, looked around my basement which is now littered with x86 parts that I need to build into viable systems.

Started rebuilding my Slot 1 build (P3 650MHz, Soyo SY-6BA+IV) as I didn't like a few choices I previously did:

1. PSU - cheapo LC-B400ATX (although I will admit, I spent quite a few days rebuilding it, but the wires are still crap.) I had around. Granted, it's been rebuilt into a safe 250W PSU, the wires started irking me, so it's gonna finally get a rest and get replaced by a more refined LC-B400ATX that had its wires redone from a dead Thermaltake PSU and has much beefier components (I would've gone with a 300W FSP but the near lack of Molex (nearly SATA only) + no AC rocker switch made me choose another B400ATX over it)

2. Casing - same company that did the PSU, but at least it isn't as ungodly sharp as other crappy cases I've come across, so it stays, albeit with a few modifications to the front panel.

3. Drives - I still can't wrap my head around the fact I used only a 10GB + 2x40GB IDE drives (HPT366 controller btw, board is kinda similar to ABIT BE6 for layout) so will probably bump them to 1x40 + 2x80GB, assuming that the board doesn't have any 32GB cap on the main BIOS, and 64GB for the HPT366 (if there's any cap on the HPT366 to start with). More storage = more games and apps.

4. RAM - didn't want to reach 512MB, but will probably take a shot, despite my plans of targeting it as a 9x machine.

5. GPU - originally had a 3dfx V3 3000, but will go for either a GF2 Pro 32MB or a AIW Rage Pro Turbo 8MB.

6. ODD - an ASUS DRW-1814BL DVD-RW. Probably the best choice I've done for the ODD. Maybe add another MSI DVD burner just for the sake of it. Both drives are beige btw.

7. NIC - generic RTL8139D, nothing special, just enough to browse a few old websites.

8. Audio - will switch to a PCI Sound Blaster 128 until I can save enough money to recap my old trusty CT2770 SB16 Value with some new audio-oriented caps, because I'm 100% certain the actual caps are as dry as the Sahara desert.

Pretty much that's a few of the issues I have to address.

New youtube video. AMD K6-2 300MHz comparing running at 66 vs 100 MHz FSB.

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

Did some benchmarks on my new Cx5x86-100@120 build.

Got bored waiting for my NAS to perform a check a new drive and decided to try and overclock my Pentium 4 3.4EE. Seems it has a locked multiplier. Not even downwards unlocked like the socket 603/4 xeons equivalents.

I had always assumed the EE had unlocked multipliers

I played Ultimate Doom... with only PC Speaker sound and keyboard only

retrogamerguy1997 wrote on 2021-04-16, 19:46:

I played Ultimate Doom... with only PC Speaker sound and keyboard only

Some people legitimately believe that the game was originally only meant to be played with a keyboard to this day. This is despite even Wolf 3D having native mouse support in DOS.

BetaC wrote on 2021-04-16, 20:00:

retrogamerguy1997 wrote on 2021-04-16, 19:46:

I played Ultimate Doom... with only PC Speaker sound and keyboard only

Some people legitimately believe that the game was originally only meant to be played with a keyboard to this day. This is despite even Wolf 3D having native mouse support in DOS.

yeah I don't get it either. I would've played with a mouse but I forgot to copy novert and honestly don't remember how to set it up.

retrogamerguy1997 wrote on 2021-04-16, 20:04:

BetaC wrote on 2021-04-16, 20:00:

retrogamerguy1997 wrote on 2021-04-16, 19:46:

I played Ultimate Doom... with only PC Speaker sound and keyboard only

Some people legitimately believe that the game was originally only meant to be played with a keyboard to this day. This is despite even Wolf 3D having native mouse support in DOS.

yeah I don't get it either. I would've played with a mouse but I forgot to copy novert and honestly don't remember how to set it up.

I'm one of those who has always played DOS FPS with a keyboard. Part of it is because I did not get into them the same way as most people did. I bought a shareware copy of DOOM at a dollar store in 2002 and put it on a 486 DX-33 that was old - even then. Before that, DOOM was like this odd popular but mysterious thing to me - always out of reach, because my Tandy 1000 would not run it, and a 486 was just slightly financially out of reach to me at the time.

Just made a 32k ROM file for my ATX64 build. Now I have a combined kernal, caracter and basic BIN file.

creepingnet wrote on 2021-04-16, 22:25:

retrogamerguy1997 wrote on 2021-04-16, 20:04:

BetaC wrote on 2021-04-16, 20:00:

Some people legitimately believe that the game was originally only meant to be played with a keyboard to this day. This is despite even Wolf 3D having native mouse support in DOS.

yeah I don't get it either. I would've played with a mouse but I forgot to copy novert and honestly don't remember how to set it up.

I'm one of those who has always played DOS FPS with a keyboard. Part of it is because I did not get into them the same way as most people did. I bought a shareware copy of DOOM at a dollar store in 2002 and put it on a 486 DX-33 that was old - even then. Before that, DOOM was like this odd popular but mysterious thing to me - always out of reach, because my Tandy 1000 would not run it, and a 486 was just slightly financially out of reach to me at the time.

There's nothing wrong with playing it that way, really. It's just beyond odd that some people are insistent that that is how it should be played if the original experience is wanted.

mwdmeyer wrote on 2021-04-16, 12:50:

New youtube video. AMD K6-2 300MHz comparing running at 66 vs 100 MHz FSB.

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

I see you too are getting spammed with porn links. 🙁

Jed118 wrote on 2021-04-17, 00:41:

mwdmeyer wrote on 2021-04-16, 12:50:

New youtube video. AMD K6-2 300MHz comparing running at 66 vs 100 MHz FSB.

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

I see you too are getting spammed with porn links. 🙁

Yeah have had a few. I think they're all deleted now. Thanks!

Made a silly PC-PCI cable out of breadboard M-F jumpers to send along with an AOPEN YMF744L2-II card that I added the PC-PCI header to months ago.

The PCI-PCI cable for this particular application really only needed to be about 3-4" long.... but whatever.

I glued the single pin connectors together in the correct shape for the PC-PCI header.

First and only time I am making a cable like this.

I now have IDC-6P connectors and a bunch of ribbon cable on the way.

Got a recently purchased Micron Millenia MME up and running well. Has the original Micron Win95b installed by some guy named Mike 🤣.
Latest dated file on the HD was from 8/1999 and had a Sid Meiers Civ II cd in the cdrom.
Overall a decent Pentium from 1997-1998. The picture below is off the matching 17" crt monitor (my phone cannot take good pics of crt).
More pics in the Bought these topic: Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

That's a nice micron PC and the civ 2 CD is a nice bonus. Does it have the cylindrical micron heatsink?

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2021-04-18, 04:10:

That's a nice micron PC and the civ 2 CD is a nice bonus. Does it have the cylindrical micron heatsink?

Thanks ! Yes has the original Micron blue screw on heatsink. Here is the picture before going thru it before powering on, you can see the HS had slid part way off the cpu....(my phone takes fuzzy pics)
Someone had stored it very well. Am amazed everything works as new being that old AND not be used for so long.