My first, own PC (rebuild) \ VOGONS

My first, own PC (rebuild)

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First post, by vad4r

Posted on 2021-05-14, 08:17

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With 8 years I discoverd my first computer contact, Dads PET2001. After Pong, VCS, C64, Amiga, ST, SNES and MD came nothing for a long time, but 1996 I bought my first own PC in a german electrical market.

It was an AT with a Pentium 150, this one and the marked monitor:

The attachment Unbenannt.JPG is no longer available

I own the catalog since this time, you can DL a complete scan here: https://filehorst.de/d/dJkhcqGg

With no expirience I had a lot of trouble with this thing. I´ve got a new CD-Rom, HDD and only with another mainboard the PC ran smoothly. I sold him after the Pentium II was released.
In 2019, by chance and without looking for it, I got the same case:

The attachment 2019_10 PCs HL01.jpg is no longer available

The condition is not so good with yellowing, rust and scratches.
Over time I have collected some hardware. The goal is NOT to rebuild it 1:1, but close, just as if you had more money back then 😁

Config plan:
this Network case - only cleaning, rust preparation , no new paint - and some gentle retrobright (only sun)
Pentium 150@ 166 or P166mmx (current P233mmx)
Azza PT-5IV = Sockel 7 AT Mainboard with Intel VX chipset, 4x ISA and USB
32 or 64MB FPM, EDO or SDRAM (I will test it)
Matrox Mystique with 2+2 RAM
Diamond Monster
AWE32 + RAM + Wavetable or a AWE64 Glod
no HDD, only CF cards
CD-Rom
Windows 95b

Yesterday I start testing the HW stability. For a simple way with a faster CPU and Win98se.
First fit:

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The attachment Azza PT-5IV Boot.jpg is no longer available

vae victis!

Reply 1 of 30, by chrismeyer6

Posted on 2021-05-14, 21:28

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That's a really nice looking case. I like the paint job on the inside and the specs are fantastic.

Reply 2 of 30, by vad4r

Posted on 2021-05-18, 21:27

vad4r Offline

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chrismeyer6 wrote on 2021-05-14, 21:28:

That's a really nice looking case. I like the paint job on the inside and the specs are fantastic.

Thx. I think the case was sold in this color.

The last few days I tested the hardware and disassembled the PC for cleaning:

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The motherboard is an Azza PT-5IV - never heard of 😁
I have the manual

The attachment Azza PT-5IV.pdf is no longer available

but I don't know if there is a newer or better bios file. Currently it runs with the bios from 02.09.96 - maybe someone has info for me?
It has nice specs, but for me as a cable nazi the central connectors on the mainboard are pure horror - I will try my best....

vae victis!

Reply 3 of 30, by Deksor

Posted on 2021-05-18, 21:41

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Latest bios is from 1997 http://www.win3x.org/uh19/motherboard/show/7199
Make sure to pick the right the one that matches your super IO chip.

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 4 of 30, by vad4r

Posted on 2021-05-18, 22:41

vad4r Offline

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Deksor wrote on 2021-05-18, 21:41:

Latest bios is from 1997 http://www.win3x.org/uh19/motherboard/show/7199
Make sure to pick the right the one that matches your super IO chip.

whooohoo
Thank you very much 😀
My board hast the Prime 3C chip:

The attachment bios post.jpg is no longer available

The attachment Prime 3C.jpg is no longer available

About the case:
Found some rust:

The attachment Rost.jpg is no longer available

and a half screw:

The attachment Abgerissene Schraube.jpg is no longer available

vae victis!

Reply 5 of 30, by mothergoose729

Posted on 2021-05-18, 23:16

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Lovely beige and whites. Looks like a lot of fun.

Reply 6 of 30, by vad4r

Posted on 2021-05-19, 05:46

vad4r Offline

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cable war - I think it´s easier to change the mainboard 🙁

The attachment P166 (1).jpg is no longer available

The original cables were all yellowed. They were replaced and shortened.

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WIP:

The attachment P166 (2).jpg is no longer available

vae victis!

Reply 7 of 30, by vad4r

Posted on 2021-05-19, 11:33

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The Mainboard has a PBSRAM Slot for synchronous pipeline-burst SRAM Module. A 256kb module double the cache.

The attachment Cache.JPG is no longer available

Is it worth buying such a module?

On Ebay Germany I found these offer:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/284224830003?hash=ite … W4AAOSw-a9gVDTA
https://www.ebay.de/itm/274725467818?hash=ite … h4AAOSwI7lgVDxB
https://www.ebay.de/itm/284221683000?hash=ite … n8AAOSwjIpgUHnM
https://www.ebay.de/itm/274722102071?hash=ite … bgAAOSwuZZgUHfG
https://www.ebay.de/itm/274725479096?hash=ite … sAAAOSw2ndgVEIu

Which would be the right one?

vae victis!

Reply 8 of 30, by evasive

Posted on 2021-05-19, 12:04

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Some info on COAST modules here:
Neet help finding a PB COAST module for 430FX

(We are interested in a good resolution picture of the mainboard for UH19 btw).

Reply 9 of 30, by vad4r

Posted on 2021-05-19, 19:37

vad4r Offline

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evasive wrote on 2021-05-19, 12:04:

Some info on COAST modules here:
Neet help finding a PB COAST module for 430FX
(We are interested in a good resolution picture of the mainboard for UH19 btw).

Thx for the link, but for picture from the board we are too late....

Currently installed:
CPU: Intel Pentium 166MMX
Case: Network AT Mini Tower
Mainboard: Azza PT-5IV
RAM: 2x 32MB EDORAM
Grafik 1: Matrox Mystique mit 2+2 RAM
Grafik 2: Diamond Monster 3D
NIC: 3Com EtherLink III ISA
Sound 1: Creative Sound Blaster AWE32 (CT2760) + RAM
Sound 2: Hizon DB333 Wavetable
HDD: 4GB CF-Card
ODD: Aopen CD948E
PSU: Seasonic SSA-200G with new fan Xilence XF037
OS: Win98SE

The attachment P166mmx (0).jpg is no longer available

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vae victis!

Reply 10 of 30, by chrismeyer6

Posted on 2021-05-19, 19:52

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That is some serious cable management goodness right there. You rarely see AT systems that clean looking since most of the cases are cramped and just the rats nest of cables off an AT board. Bravo my friend.

Reply 11 of 30, by pan069

Posted on 2021-05-19, 21:31

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Very nice. They only thing'd change would be to replace those 2 dull looking slot covers with shiny ones. 😀

Reply 12 of 30, by vad4r

Posted on 2021-05-20, 04:23

vad4r Offline

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pan069 wrote on 2021-05-19, 21:31:

Very nice. They only thing'd change would be to replace those 2 dull looking slot covers with shiny ones. 😀

Yes, you're right - but I don't have any more. I found only one and I need three 🙁
But there is more Hardware stuff to do: change from EDO to SDRAM - for this I need a doubleside, 64MB SDRAM with 16 RAM module and I own only single side or bars with more RAM and I would activate the USB header on the board, for this I need a connector.

vae victis!

Reply 13 of 30, by vad4r

Posted on 2021-05-20, 13:07

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Deksor wrote on 2021-05-18, 21:41:

Latest bios is from 1997 http://www.win3x.org/uh19/motherboard/show/7199
Make sure to pick the right the one that matches your super IO chip.

Today I wanted to flash my bios, but I stopped because the size of my old saved bios with 128kb does not match the size of the new one (384kb).
I chose the right one for the Prime3C I/O chip, what happened?

vae victis!

Reply 14 of 30, by Deksor

Posted on 2021-05-20, 16:09

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That's strange, there's no 384KB rom in that archive. What flashing tool are you using by the way ?

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 15 of 30, by vad4r

Posted on 2021-05-20, 18:04

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AWDflash 8.87
to save the old Bios: AWDFLASH /sy/pn

and thats the file:

The attachment OLDBIOS.zip is no longer available

vae victis!

Reply 16 of 30, by evasive

Posted on 2021-05-21, 07:37

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ok, you used the awdflash 8.87 to make a backup that is called oldbios.bin and is 384kb in size. Correct?

Reply 17 of 30, by vad4r

Posted on 2021-05-21, 07:46

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yes

vae victis!

Reply 18 of 30, by evasive

Posted on 2021-05-21, 08:00

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Somehow the award flasher is backing up more than just the actual bios but also some other settings/information.

You should be able to flash the 128kb file just fine.

Reply 19 of 30, by vad4r

Posted on 2021-05-23, 19:49

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evasive wrote on 2021-05-21, 08:00:

...
You should be able to flash the 128kb file just fine.

For this, I´m not brave enough 😁

But the last days I had a lot of problems with this built. The Mystique died 🙁 🙁 and the PC sometimes would not start.
After a long search I found the problem: the fuse in the power supply had contact problems.

The attachment P166mmx (7).jpg is no longer available

The Mystique was replaced by a Elsa Winner 3000

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After the computer was working properly again, it got another new component: a fast 256kb Cache module for the PBSRAM Slot - and I change the CPU Cooler, the new one is temperature controlled

The attachment P166mmx (8).jpg is no longer available

The Diamond Monster 3D was replaced by a Orchid Righteous 3D and I build a new IDE cable for two CF adapter:

The attachment IDE.jpg is no longer available

The attachment P166mmx (9).jpg is no longer available

The last free Slot panel is for the USB connectors, I´m looking for them right now......

vae victis!

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