Yesterday and today testing a S3 Virge DX that I thought was kind of dead. Then, using a repaired Gigabyte GA-5AA to check some Pentiums and Pentium MMXs to see if they worked or not. This board will be part of a 4 stage exhibition (socket 3/7/super 7/slot 1) I am working on.

But more importantly, I continued collecting information and preparing a list of contacts for a task, more than a task, a crusade that I have proposed to do: document as best as possible the developments in computer hardware carried out in Cuba, my country, since the very early 70s (the first Cuban computer , the CID-201, was created back in 1971) to 1990-91. I will try to find entire systems or parts (I want to find a compatible IBM PC XT (see below) which was the first computer I ever touched back in 1988), technical documents, interview some of its creators (those who are still alive). I have already rescued the schematics of a multiprocessor computer design based on the 8086, and schematics and some boards without components of a scientific instrument that flew on a Soviet scientific research satellite from the Intercosmos era.
Below, some example of microcomputers developed in Cuba in the 80s:
LTEL-24: circa '84-'85, IBM PC XT compatible, 8088, 640kb of RAM expandable, 2 5 1/4 floppy drives. this ones is one of a serie (18, 24, PC, ZM). A friend has a motherboard but I hope to find a complete one.
CID-1408: early 80s, 8 bits, I don't know what CPU it used. run CP/M . could function as a terminal
CID-1417: circa '86-'87, compatible IBM PC XT, but full 16 bits, uses an 8086 or 80186, 640kb of RAM expandable, could use 720kb floppy disks
At least both LTEL-24 & CID-1417 could be produced by replacing almost all of its chips with equivalents from Soviet/Bulgarian/Czech/Polish/etc production of the time
Also, find some of the minicomputer terminals and PC keyboards designed and built on the island.
I hope to have luck in the coming months and to be able to tell and show here what I find.

Now... How about drums? An instrument everybody loves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqM7bN3Kc7I

Step 1: Paint your drums white because they had yellowed so much not even retrobright could save them.

Step 2: Reassemble your drums.

This is Rock´n´Roll .

Testing an old Epson Stylus Color 440. It definitely needs ink. Anyone know where I can find some? It'll be used for printing faxes.

Got meself soft locked in Hexen 2. A new one too, not the few that are posted about the Internet. Go me now I get to replay like 2 hrs of game because I didn't keep enough alternate saves -_-

gmaverick2k wrote on 2023-10-15, 21:06:

And.... The dreaded windows protection error at startup. Ah yes that's why I stopped using this 775i65g

Never ran into this. Windows 98? (I've been using several r2.03/r2.04 with E5800 on XP with no issues so far.)

stef80 wrote on 2023-10-17, 05:34:

gmaverick2k wrote on 2023-10-15, 21:06:

And.... The dreaded windows protection error at startup. Ah yes that's why I stopped using this 775i65g

Never ran into this. Windows 98? (I've been using several r2.03/r2.04 with E5800 on XP with no issues so far.)

Win98, don't use for it for xp as I have an overkill system for that. Using a 5900xt and any sound card pulls this error anytime I boot up

Seems to be memory related issue (Win 98 mem limitations), should be some software workarounds for that.

DerBaum wrote on 2023-10-16, 15:35:

This is Rock´n´Roll .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h73kd6wsBq0&t=60s

stef80 wrote on 2023-10-17, 07:42:

Seems to be memory related issue (Win 98 mem limitations), should be some software workarounds for that.

its weird as i use 512mb ram, even dropped down to 256mb still, changed to ati card, still.

Modded the mounting brackets on a modern tower cooler to support socket 604 ( and 603 / 771) - this stuff is hard to drill, even with new bits, so 20 mins with a decent set of needle files did the trick.

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2023-10-17, 09:24:

Modded the mounting brackets on a modern tower cooler to support socket 604 ( and 603 / 771) - this stuff is hard to drill, even with new bits, so 20 mins with a decent set of needle files did the trick.

For those who don't know, you need carbide, cobalt, or titanium drill bits to get through steel. And even then, it's incredibly laborious. I drilled 16 holes into the bottom of a steel case to add four wheels this way with some cobalt bits, and it was not fun. Next time I will try carbide.

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-10-17, 12:14:

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2023-10-17, 09:24:

Modded the mounting brackets on a modern tower cooler to support socket 604 ( and 603 / 771) - this stuff is hard to drill, even with new bits, so 20 mins with a decent set of needle files did the trick.

For those who don't know, you need carbide, cobalt, or titanium drill bits to get through steel. And even then, it's incredibly laborious. I drilled 16 holes into the bottom of a steel case to add four wheels this way with some cobalt bits, and it was not fun. Next time I will try carbide.

Agreed, and these were the very ones I had (Bosch brand) but would still have been tough - was also worried the bit would blow out the side given the size / location of the holes (didn't want to risk the bracket twisting) so decided a little more time and effort was worth it.

installing win98 on B75M motherboard 😁 success

stef80 wrote on 2023-10-17, 07:42:

Seems to be memory related issue (Win 98 mem limitations), should be some software workarounds for that.

having figured out how to install on modern platform, i may tweak system.ini etc. but have broken the pieces down and have a fully functional B75M system working

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-10-17, 12:14:

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2023-10-17, 09:24:

Modded the mounting brackets on a modern tower cooler to support socket 604 ( and 603 / 771) - this stuff is hard to drill, even with new bits, so 20 mins with a decent set of needle files did the trick.

For those who don't know, you need carbide, cobalt, or titanium drill bits to get through steel. And even then, it's incredibly laborious. I drilled 16 holes into the bottom of a steel case to add four wheels this way with some cobalt bits, and it was not fun. Next time I will try carbide.

Beware the nasty versions of those though, a nanometer of titanium nitride over a shitty drill bit to paint it shiny is still a shitty drill bit.

stef80 wrote on 2023-10-17, 05:34:

gmaverick2k wrote on 2023-10-15, 21:06:

And.... The dreaded windows protection error at startup. Ah yes that's why I stopped using this 775i65g

Never ran into this. Windows 98? (I've been using several r2.03/r2.04 with E5800 on XP with no issues so far.)

Strange, I have 2 off 775i65g rev 2.03 and from what I remember both don't allow e5800 unless I'm mistaken?

For r2.03 it totally depends on the board: Asrock 775i65g R3.0 issues. I'm inclined to say later board == better support.
r2.04 should work.

Putting together a full 486 system where I want 16MB of RAM, but it's got 2x 72-pin SIMM slots and I appear to have run out of 8MB / 16MB SIMMs that I'm willing to spare for this system.
So experiments with making EDO memory function in a computer that has no support for its timings - today for the first time I tried with SoJ memory that's got both upper and lower CAS. It seemed to work but digital audio and music was horribly messed up when that stick up top was fitted.
The OR gate is my attempt to connect the OE (output enable) pin to UCAS and LCAS so that if both are low, OE is also pulled low but if either one goes high then OE also goes high / inactive. Messy but after fixing soldering errors it works with the airwires, not working right still though.

Gave up on that one for now and picked up another 16MB EDO memory stick that got close to POSTing before being modified. This PCB is a nice layout, there's a clear trace connecting all of the OE pins to ground at the center point. I first cut that center point and after used a tiny drill to break the trace between the OE trace on each module, then soldered OE to the CAS pin which is next to it on each chip. Instead of trying to cut the traces with a knife after I cut an adjacent trace and my finger. The tiny drill bit proved to be pretty good for this task.
Verified that none of the modules are still bridged except for where the CAS lines join up, now this modified EDO 16MB module is working on this board and the sound is normal.
So far I've only had success modifying EDO into FPM on these 4-bit DRAM chips, rather than the 16-bit with UCAS/LCAS.
Finding as well that despite these being 50ns chips, the timings have to be pretty lax on this Abit AN4 to get even HIMEM to pass its memory test - I found the same on some other 4MB EDO sticks, can't really do better timings than good FPM modules.

I was recently awakened by hearing a metallic noise, and I had no idea what it was - today I discovered the source. My Epox 8KRA2+ had no heatsink on the northbridge when I bought it. Luckily, I had a dead Socket 775 board that had one that was a nice fit. But the noise I heard the other night was caused by one of the retaining loops pulling out of the board, which caused the heatsink to (noisily) fall to the bottom of the case. Today I pulled the board out and soldered the loop back in place.

stef80 wrote on 2023-10-17, 22:22:

For r2.03 it totally depends on the board: Asrock 775i65g R3.0 issues. I'm inclined to say later board == better support.
r2.04 should work.

I also have 2 off rev 3.0 boards. One which originally had bent LGA pins which I straightened and had e5800. It takes about 10 seconds to initialise. The other is boxed, it powers on but immediately shuts down when cold powered. Battery removal for bios reset allows it to do that again. Caps look good on all my 775i65g's