the_ultra_code wrote:

Okay, so today I went ahead and followed this plan of attack. However, I was superficially bothered by the fact that "6800 GS" w […]
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bjwil1991 wrote:

Ouch. Right-click on My Computer, click on Properties, Device Manager tab, expand the Display adapters section, right-click on the driver that says Standard PCI Graphics Adapter (VGA), click on Properties, click on the Drivers tab, click on Update driver, click next, click on Display a list of all drivers in a specific location, so you can select a driver you want, click next, click on Have Disk, click Browse (why it goes to the floppy drive is beyond me), click on the list of drives and select Drive C or another drive that has the drivers, expand nVidia, Win9x or Win9xME, open the appropriate driver revision (81.98 causes windows protection errors and won't shut down), such as 77.72, make sure the inf file is selected, click OK, click OK, select the video card (6800 GS if listed), click next, click Yes (it always asks me to click yes when I re-install my GeForce 6200 video drivers), click next (the drivers will copy over to the appropriate destinations), click Finish, and click Yes to restart Windows.

Last night, I figured out my video card resolution issues by switching the VooDoo2 card and GeForce 6200 PCI card around, installed driver set 77.72, and I now get 1280x1024 resolution on my 18.1" NEC MultiSync 1850e monitor.

Okay, so today I went ahead and followed this plan of attack. However, I was superficially bothered by the fact that "6800 GS" wasn't an option through the "have disk" method, so what I did was go into XP, install the driver for that OS, copied all of the lines in the .inf file that mentions "6800 GS', went back into Win98, edited that OS's .inf file with those same lines reworded to match the same style of that .inf, and boom!, Win98 automatically said that the "6800 GS" was the best option to select. Now that's thinking. 😀

However, sadly, all good things must eventually come to an end. After installing the driver under Win98, I noticed while playing some games that some random-colored pixels would show up from time to time, and once there was a weird sound glitch in Hot Wheels: World Race (although this problem only persisted for one boot). After play-testing Win98, I went under XP, and tried testing out Hot Wheels: Stunt Track Driver (please don't criticize my game choices; these were my childhood games, and good ones 😀 ). I noticed that the game was really sluggish, and there were framerate problems. At this point, things went down-hill fast. Win98 became very sluggish, and XP somewhat unstable (it probably didn't help that after I installed the Nvidia driver for this card, the OS suddenly became "deactivated", and I am currently unable to reactivate the damn OS, because the online connection method didn't work, and nor did the phone method - after typing in the long reactivation code, the website was then redirected to basically a blank page :\ - hopefully it's just a Sunday thing, not a Microsoft-finally-giving-up-on-XP thing).

So, I decided to uninstall the drivers for both OSes and pull the card. I think there is something that is wrong with the card that the seller didn't catch. Unless someone can tell me otherwise, I think I'm going to refund this card. Twice I have been disappointed by the 6800s I have bought off of ebay. I'm now looking at a 6600GT to replace this disappointment of a 6800GS, since they are easier to find and/or are cheaper on average than any 6800, and they have actual "official" driver support for Win98, unlike the flaky support for the 6800GS.

Also, question: Does any one know of any good display driver removers for Windows 98 and XP? I have now put three GPUs through this P4 system of mine - 2 Nvidia GPUs and one ATI - so I feel that such a cleaning is necessary at this point.

So, I just contacted Microsoft support, and was able to get in contact with a human representative, and asked him what is the current status of Microsoft's self-reactivation services for XP, and it turns out that Microsoft just recently killed that whole avenue of reactivation, so now the only way to reactivate Windows is to reinstall the OS. AYFKM!

*sigh* Welp, I have my work cut-out for me, since this machine dual-boots Win98SE and XP. It would be easier to reinstall both OSes than to just try to reinstall XP. Besides, I'd rather have a working 6000 series Nvidia GPU ready and installed in the system before I reinstall XP, so this sh*t doesn't happen again.

A warning for all.

What was the error code when you were attempting to activate Windows XP? If 32777, here's a solution:

Try disabling the certificate revocation:
Method 3: Turn Off Certificate Revocation in Internet Explorer
Turn off certificate revocation in Internet Explorer to permit Windows activation to succeed. To do so, follow these steps.

Note Microsoft recommends that you do not turn off certificate revocation in Internet Explorer.
Start Internet Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
Click the Advanced tab, and then click to clear the following check boxes in the Settings list:
Check for publisher’s certificate revocation
Check for server certificate revocation (requires restart)
Click Apply, and then click OK.
Quit and then restart Internet Explorer.
Activate Windows.
In Internet Explorer, click Internet Options on the Tools menu.
Click the Advanced tab, and then click to select the following check boxes in the Settings list:
Check for publisher’s certificate revocation
Check for server certificate revocation (requires restart)
Click Apply, and then click OK.
Quit and then restart Internet Explorer.
Also, make sure that SP3 is installed as well as IE 8.

bjwil1991 wrote:

What was the error code when you were attempting to activate Windows XP? If 32777, here's a solution: […]
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What was the error code when you were attempting to activate Windows XP? If 32777, here's a solution:

Try disabling the certificate revocation:
Method 3: Turn Off Certificate Revocation in Internet Explorer
Turn off certificate revocation in Internet Explorer to permit Windows activation to succeed. To do so, follow these steps.

Note Microsoft recommends that you do not turn off certificate revocation in Internet Explorer.
Start Internet Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
Click the Advanced tab, and then click to clear the following check boxes in the Settings list:
Check for publisher’s certificate revocation
Check for server certificate revocation (requires restart)
Click Apply, and then click OK.
Quit and then restart Internet Explorer.
Activate Windows.
In Internet Explorer, click Internet Options on the Tools menu.
Click the Advanced tab, and then click to select the following check boxes in the Settings list:
Check for publisher’s certificate revocation
Check for server certificate revocation (requires restart)
Click Apply, and then click OK.
Quit and then restart Internet Explorer.
Also, make sure that SP3 is installed as well as IE 8.

Thankfully, already ahead of you in regards to SP3 and IE8. I always install from an OEM SP3 XP .iso, and after I get XP installed, I update IE to IE8.

Sadly, these steps that you have so graciously provided have not worked. Changed the settings in IE, restarted IE, went to activate and failed, changed the settings again in IE, went to activate and again failed.

I'm not sure anything will work if Microsoft has officially stopped supporting the re-activation of XP. 😢

Darn. It worked for me when I was activating XP on a couple of Dell laptops. Did you also add the POSReady 2009 registry hack on there as well?

bjwil1991 wrote:

Darn. It worked for me when I was activating XP on a couple of Dell laptops. Did you also add the POSReady 2009 registry hack on there as well?

What? Never heard of that.

I did try the registry hack provided here, but the problem was XP kept saying I needed to activate the OS, and only when I would go to activate it would say it was already activated. The Genuine Advantage software wouldn't stop notifying me about how the activated OS was inactivated, and the Windows Activator was still to be found in the Start Menu (I believe once XP "knows" it's activated, the shortcut for the annoying program disappears).

It "works", but it doesn't appear that it does.

If all else fails, you can try to activate via phone. Microsoft may have dropped online activation, but from what I've seen, phone activation still works for Windows XP.

It would surprise me if they've dropped activation altogether because MS promised to keep activation going for Windows XP even after EOL, but I guess it can't go on forever.

bjwil1991 wrote:

Took out the VooDoo2 card that I have and I found a capacitor with a ding on top of it.

Strangely, I spent a lot of the weekend trying to find my Voodoo 2 cards. I have two 12MB cards salted away SOMEWHERE.

Sadly, my Graphics Blaster EXXtreme (4MB with an empty upgrade slot) has a really bad card edge connector. I'm going to see if I can use a conductive pen to redraw some of the traces on the connector. I'm also all out of DeOxit spray so just cleaning the card edge will be a pin for now.

Hopefully, I can make my Pentium 200-S into something really special with those Voodoo 2 cards, maybe in time for 3D day! (I think that was November 22. I have a round badge thingy that commemorates it.)

Doing a little poking around with my Dash OPS-1000.

And the seller included a kickass keyboard that will be getting a Retr0brite treatment. It's a Siig Minitouch w/ SMK Alps Blue clone switches. It feels epic to type on. It also has the functionally wired RJ-11 keypad adapter. Pretty freaking crazy, because people pay over $100 for these, with this one being the rarest.. It's just a shame it is so yellowed. Luckily there's no damage otherwise.

Or if anyone knows of any Alps keycaps that would fit this -- I haven't found many, due to so many oddly shaped keys. I could do all the letter and number keys just fine, but the slim-ass backwars L enter key and several others present a problem.

Gorgeous system, man. Glad it works.

Tested the resistance on every capacitor on the VooDoo2 card and here are the results:

C6 - 792Ohm
C16 - 305Ohm
C22 - 793Ohm
C31 - missing
C33 - 305Ohm
C34 - 305Ohm
C45 - 794Ohm
C46 - 305Ohm
C48 - 305Ohm
C50 - 791Ohm (took off due to a dent)
C59 - 788Ohm
C60 - 305Ohm
C65 - 791Ohm
C81 - 799Ohm

C31 somehow broke off and I have no idea where it is and I took C50 off since it had a big dent on there.

My plan is to recap the VooDoo2 card or just replace the two caps that broke off or that had a dent on it.

Does anyone know what the length and height of the capacitors are for these? I just want to make sure I'm ordering the right ones. I have the ones in my cart on Digikey that have a mount land of 3.30mmx3.30mm (3.00mm size/dimension and 5.30mm height).

Digikey part number: 493-2172-1-ND
Manufacturer: Nichicon
Part number: UWT1C100MCL2GB
Lead-Free Status (Lead Free)

KCompRoom2000 wrote:

If all else fails, you can try to activate via phone. Microsoft may have dropped online activation, but from what I've seen, phone activation still works for Windows XP.

It would surprise me if they've dropped activation altogether because MS promised to keep activation going for Windows XP even after EOL, but I guess it can't go on forever.

Yeah, I already tried all of the phone methods, and none of them worked, sadly.

I mean, who knows? Might magically work again. But, I doubt it.

On Albatross, the ca. 2000 PIII 1GHz GF2 GTS iSCSI XP machine:

• Installed XP POSReady 2009 patches after the unofficial "SP4" .
• Installed GF2 GTS Drivers for XP.
• Added a 250GB iSCSI LUN to the server and PC
• Copying Quake3 to the machine

Tomorrow I'll probably play some Quake3 😊

wiretap wrote:

Doing a little poking around with my Dash OPS-1000. http://i.imgur.com/QZwmLhIl.jpg […]
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Doing a little poking around with my Dash OPS-1000.

Holy crap monkey! Do they sell those little CRTs for drive bays, or is that custom?

bjwil1991 wrote:

Gorgeous system, man. Glad it works. […]
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Gorgeous system, man. Glad it works.

Tested the resistance on every capacitor on the VooDoo2 card and here are the results:

C6 - 792Ohm
C16 - 305Ohm
C22 - 793Ohm
C31 - missing
C33 - 305Ohm
C34 - 305Ohm
C45 - 794Ohm
C46 - 305Ohm
C48 - 305Ohm
C50 - 791Ohm (took off due to a dent)
C59 - 788Ohm
C60 - 305Ohm
C65 - 791Ohm
C81 - 799Ohm

C31 somehow broke off and I have no idea where it is and I took C50 off since it had a big dent on there.

My plan is to recap the VooDoo2 card or just replace the two caps that broke off or that had a dent on it.

Does anyone know what the length and height of the capacitors are for these? I just want to make sure I'm ordering the right ones. I have the ones in my cart on Digikey that have a mount land of 3.30mmx3.30mm (3.00mm size/dimension and 5.30mm height).

Digikey part number: 493-2172-1-ND
Manufacturer: Nichicon
Part number: UWT1C100MCL2GB
Lead-Free Status (Lead Free)

Why did you measure the resistances? You should have measured capacitances, and that would have been useful to us all 😀

I can't see the images in your post but I can tell you that 10uF 16V capacitors on Voodoo 2 and Voodoo 3 cards are mostly SMD electrolytics of the 4mmx5.2mm size. Some Voodoo 2s like the Gainward Dragon 3000 use 22uF 16V capacitors of the 5.2mmx5.2mm size instead.

MCGA wrote:

Holy crap monkey! Do they sell those little CRTs for drive bays, or is that custom?

It came installed with this PC back in the day, but I heard it was an expensive option. I looked for a model number on the monitor, but didn't see one. I'll have to take it out of the case and inspect it further. The monitor is powered via a molex cable, so it has to have an inverter & transformer inside too.

appiah4 wrote:

Why did you measure the resistances? You should have measured capacitances, and that would have been useful to us all 😀

I can't see the images in your post but I can tell you that 10uF 16V capacitors on Voodoo 2 and Voodoo 3 cards are mostly SMD electrolytics of the 4mmx5.2mm size. Some Voodoo 2s like the Gainward Dragon 3000 use 22uF 16V capacitors of the 5.2mmx5.2mm size instead.

I had to check for continuity as the meter that I have to check the capacitance doesn't work well with SMD caps.

The VooDoo2 card I have is an STB BlackMagic 3dfx VooDoo2 with 12MB video memory rated at 100MHz.

Here's a cap I found on Digi-key: CAP ALUM 10UF 20% 16V SMD

Size/Dimension: 0.157" Dia (4.00mm)
Height - Seated (Max): 0.205" (5.20mm)
Surface Mount Land Size: 0.169" L x 0.169" W (4.30mm x 4.30mm)
Manufacturer/Model: United Chemi-Con EMVE160ADA100MD55G
Digi-Key Part Number: 565-2201-1-ND

The other one: CAP ALUM 10UF 20% 16V SMD

Size/Dimension: 0.118" Dia (3.00mm)
Height - Seated (Max): 0.209" (5.30mm)
Surface Mount Land Size: 0.130" L x 0.130" W (3.30mm x 3.30mm)
Manufacturer/Model: Nichicon UWT1C100MCL2GB
Digikey part number: 493-2172-1-ND

Took some photos and delved deeper into the workings of this guy.

The battery has no damage and looks like it may have been replaced before. Not sure if velcro/hook and loop is standard practice to hold the battery on. I got the number though and will order a new one. This thing is dusty. Next step is to disassemble and clean. I am hesitant to boot the system again until I get another drive hooked up and clone the disk. Any suggestions? I was thinking an XT-IDE card with a IDE-CF adapter.

Nothing as exciting as that kick-ass case with the built-in CRT (seriously, I'm jealous of that thing!), but I did do a couple things over the weekend:

- I installed an old Linux distribution (Mandrake 6.0, the one I used off and on throughout college) onto one of my retro PCs. It found all the hardware just fine, but I think the system is a little underpowered to run it since things are kind of sluggish (the system has a Pentium 233MMX and 192MB of RAM so while the memory requirement is easily met, the CPU is probably not quite up to snuff). Not sure exactly what I'm going to do with it yet other than just tinker a bit.

- I messed around with 86Box a bit. I did a lot of my retro development using DOSBox, but I like the idea of emulating actual hardware instead of just emulating DOS. I set up a couple machines (a 486 running DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.11, and a Pentium system running Windows 95) and put my usual development stuff on them. My only real complaint with 86Box/PCem is that getting files onto them is a little more difficult than with DOSBox - with the latter, I can just mount a directory as a drive and copy stuff over whenever I like, but with 86Box I have to create floppy/CD images containing the files I want to move over, which is an annoying extra step. It's worth it to be able to test things with a variety of CPUs and video cards though.

wiretap wrote:

Doing a little poking around with my Dash OPS-1000. […]
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Doing a little poking around with my Dash OPS-1000.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this thing. Everything about it is perfect. Even how every slot is filled with expansion cards & interlink cables like that. So awesome.

Question about that CRT - is it VGA, i.e. 480p 31kHz? Or is it MDA/CGA/composite/15kHz/something else? How does it connect to the video card?

In picture #6, there's a ribbon cable that goes through the inside.

Today I recapped and cleaned my FSP250-60PNA(PF) power supply with great success. After the procedure it would be silent, there are no more sparks coming from it and best of all, it actually works! 😀