StriderTR wrote on 2024-01-10, 07:37:

You can check out my full build over at https://theclassicgeek.blogspot.com/, but here is the basics in terms of it's performance without having to read my long-winded blog post.

Wow, what a good read. There aren't many text blogs of this quality left these days, more and more just videos.

I had also considered a second Win95 build, but using a dedicated PCI video card I can get to work with the slot, BUT, they are all simply too expensive to just take a chance I can get it working.

Video cards like the S3 aren't so expensive and I think you definitely shouldn't try them. Another thing is that they are not much different from integrated graphics in terms of performance but maybe better for compatibility(?). I think the main advantage of this board is the ability to slow down the speed in a wide range, which makes it suitable for a huge number of DOS games. Well, as long as the video and sound are compatible.

I've been planning to finish the build on this board for a long time, with the nice case, pico PSU and everything. But I realized one thing, for using integrated video/audio, this setup isn't much different from a P2/3 level laptop with a dismantled screen. Which I already have and it's way more compact. Of course, this is completely different thing, maybe someone has another use cases?

ujav wrote on 2024-01-21, 15:15:

Wow, what a good read. There aren't many text blogs of this quality left these days, more and more just videos. […]
Show full quote

StriderTR wrote on 2024-01-10, 07:37:

You can check out my full build over at https://theclassicgeek.blogspot.com/, but here is the basics in terms of it's performance without having to read my long-winded blog post.

Wow, what a good read. There aren't many text blogs of this quality left these days, more and more just videos.

I had also considered a second Win95 build, but using a dedicated PCI video card I can get to work with the slot, BUT, they are all simply too expensive to just take a chance I can get it working.

Video cards like the S3 aren't so expensive and I think you definitely shouldn't try them. Another thing is that they are not much different from integrated graphics in terms of performance but maybe better for compatibility(?). I think the main advantage of this board is the ability to slow down the speed in a wide range, which makes it suitable for a huge number of DOS games. Well, as long as the video and sound are compatible.

I've been planning to finish the build on this board for a long time, with the nice case, pico PSU and everything. But I realized one thing, for using integrated video/audio, this setup isn't much different from a P2/3 level laptop with a dismantled screen. Which I already have and it's way more compact. Of course, this is completely different thing, maybe someone has another use cases?

Thanks! I enjoy the writing almost as much as the actual builds. I also figured a classic looking blog fits well with my other "retro" hobbies. 😀

If I use my S3 Virge/DX on the EPIA, it would be for a pure DOS build only, mainly for it's compatibility. I wouldn't use it with Windows 95 since the on-board CyberBlade is much better suited for that environment.

I'm still seriously considering it...The EPIA's SB Pro works great in DOS, but I would be giving up the use of any form of controllers since it has no gameport. At least under 95 I can use the com port Gravis Stinger.

Still, I'm OK with that. 😀

I have all the other hardware here already, except for RAM. I would need to pick up a 32MB stick on eBay. The smallest I have lying around 128MB and wouldn't want to use something that big in DOS 6.22.

StriderTR wrote on 2024-01-20, 08:05:

Thanks! […]
Show full quote

justin1985 wrote on 2024-01-15, 12:59:

Thanks for posting - great write up of your build!

One thing I've noticed when using the VIA SB Emulation drivers in DOS (well, Win98 reboot to DOS mode) is that SimCity 2000 totally locks the system up whenever I try and launch it with MIDI music enabled

Thanks!

I can confirm, I just tested it, and it locks up my board as well. Never tried it before. Just always ran it SB Compatible or Pro mode. =/

Now I'm curious as to why it locks up.

Kind of glad to hear it isn't anything wrong with my configuration, but also sad that it therefore seems to be a baked in incompatibility 😒

When you say you'd run SimCity in SB Compatible mode, you mean you only had wave sound effects on, not music? Or music/midi set to "Soundblaster" rather than "Adlib" etc ?

Every so often I wonder about using the EPIA with an ESS Solo-1 or similar in a PCI riser, but then the onboard sound does work well in pretty much everything else apart from SimCity, and I don't have any game port controllers ...

justin1985 wrote on 2024-01-21, 22:55:

Kind of glad to hear it isn't anything wrong with my configuration, but also sad that it therefore seems to be a baked in incompatibility 😒

When you say you'd run SimCity in SB Compatible mode, you mean you only had wave sound effects on, not music? Or music/midi set to "Soundblaster" rather than "Adlib" etc ?

Every so often I wonder about using the EPIA with an ESS Solo-1 or similar in a PCI riser, but then the onboard sound does work well in pretty much everything else apart from SimCity, and I don't have any game port controllers ...

I fired it up to make sure, and I have both music and sound just set to "Sound Blaster", and they both work in-game. I've never played it any other way. 😜

StriderTR wrote on 2024-01-22, 02:10:

justin1985 wrote on 2024-01-21, 22:55:

When you say you'd run SimCity in SB Compatible mode, you mean you only had wave sound effects on, not music? Or music/midi set to "Soundblaster" rather than "Adlib" etc ?

I fired it up to make sure, and I have both music and sound just set to "Sound Blaster", and they both work in-game. I've never played it any other way. 😜

Thanks! I tried this and got the same results! It frankly hadn't occurred to me to try SB for Midi - I'm just used to thinking "General MIDI = wavetable", "Adlib = FM synth" in most game SetSound utilities ...

justin1985 wrote on 2024-01-28, 18:42:

StriderTR wrote on 2024-01-22, 02:10:

justin1985 wrote on 2024-01-21, 22:55:

When you say you'd run SimCity in SB Compatible mode, you mean you only had wave sound effects on, not music? Or music/midi set to "Soundblaster" rather than "Adlib" etc ?

I fired it up to make sure, and I have both music and sound just set to "Sound Blaster", and they both work in-game. I've never played it any other way. 😜

Thanks! I tried this and got the same results! It frankly hadn't occurred to me to try SB for Midi - I'm just used to thinking "General MIDI = wavetable", "Adlib = FM synth" in most game SetSound utilities ...

Glad it worked!

Yeah, funny how the same "correct" settings work in some games, but not others. There have been many times I've locked up my computer time and time again trying different settings just to see what I could get working with a game. I'm doing that right now on my pure DOS build becasue a couple games don't seem to play well with my AWE64's settings in terms of "music", even though they are correct, it just locks up the system.

Funny how we feel nostalgic for the days of having to manually configure just about everything, and having to try multiple combinations of settings to get a single game to work, over and over. When today just about everything is "plug and play" and just works. 😜

Here's something fun 😀
Thanks to someone who was such a kind hardware donor a few years ago, I've got a 12mb Voodoo2 in my EPIA-800 build. I couldn't find a case that would accommodate the riser so its just a single card. I'm having an interesting time - it LOVES Unreal, but I can't get it to run Unreal Tournament 😘( Am I asking too much of the card?

Just a small note which may be useful to someone - I have found that the Laplink USB 2.0 cable - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0093H83DW?psc=1& … product_details works brilliantly with FastLynx 3.3 - https://sewelldirect.com/products/fastlynx-3- … tronic-download

1. On the modern computer (Windows 10, 11 etc) install the Laplink data link cable driver first - and leave it installed as well as the Fastlynx cable driver - it seems to give Windows what it needs to make the other driver work.
2. nstall the FastLynx cable driver (under both Win9x and modern computer - I've just installed successfully under Windows 11!) and the cable is recognized just fine as a fastlynx cable, and the app can be used on both devices with little to no overhead.

As an update, it seems like Unreal Tournament is asking a little too much of the card.
However excitingly, I've been able to get the Voodoo2 working under DOS - specifically Tomb Raider, and hopefull soon Screamer Rally - so this board with this accelerator card is proving to be versatile and a lot of fun!

StriderTR wrote on 2024-01-21, 02:25:

I'm sort of in the same boat... […]
Show full quote

Trashbytes wrote on 2024-01-20, 08:18:

I own this little curiosity, its a Eden ESP 5000 on a socket 370 interposer.

Undecided what to do with it exactly but its a choice between building a full rig around it or finding a tiny socket 370 board that supports it and building a pocket rocket for DOS.

Eden ESP 5000.pngVIA Eden ESP 5000.png

I'm sort of in the same boat...

While I don't have a standalone VIA C3 processor, I do have a second EPIA-800 board, and that one has all 3 video outputs, VGA, S-Video and composite. However, I have no idea what I want to do with it.

I could just keep it on the shelf as a backup to the board I'm currently using, but that just seems like a waste.

I considered using it for a pure DOS build using an S3 Virge/DX PCI video card and seeing how well the on-board SB Pro would work in 6.22.

I really don't want to use it for something like a Windows 98 build for a couple reasons...

1. I don't think it's powerful enough on it's own to handle many games from 1998 onward, and would require, at the very least, a dedicated video card.
2. It's single PCI slot seems to be very picky about what cards it will work with, as well as being limited to PCI for my video card.

I had also considered a second Win95 build, but using a dedicated PCI video card I can get to work with the slot, BUT, they are all simply too expensive to just take a chance I can get it working.

So yeah, I am always looking for ideas and open to suggestions as to what I can do with this second board. 😀

The Voodoo2 seemed to be well documented - I've got an STB Blackmagic 12mb and I can confirm it works beautifully! Even in pure DOS mode games.
I'd have thought that if needed one of those new-built PCI Geforce FX 5200 cards might work in the slot but I liked the idea of "piggybacking" onto the existing Trident chip.

justin1985 wrote on 2023-02-01, 14:20:

I've just managed to get my Epia-800 board working (turned out to be missing jumpers stopping it from POSTing) but I'm failing t […]
Show full quote

ShovelKnight wrote on 2020-04-16, 12:20:

The upside is that it was able to boot from any USB device I threw at it (USB floppy, USB CD-ROM, USB stick)...

I've just managed to get my Epia-800 board working (turned out to be missing jumpers stopping it from POSTing) but I'm failing to get it to boot from USB at the moment. Any tips on how to configure boot order to get it booting from a USB flash drive?

I've tried several different USB sticks, including older smaller (4Gb or less) ones that some older systems seem to need, flashed with FreeDOS via Rufus, or Easy2Boot, and one of the XP from USB bootable tools. The only one that has even briefly worked has been the XP installer, which gets as far as presenting its option menu (Grub4DOS etc), but selecting an option either reboots the system or comes up with a "Checking A20 ... Done!" message. All the other bootable flash drives, that work on other systems, just get a "Boot device error - insert system disk" error. They do get detected as USB mass storage further up the POST message though.

The board does boot from an IDE drive pre-installed with Win98 though.

I updated the BIOS to version 2.07, which seems to be the latest, and there are actually fewer USB options in the boot menu - now only USB-ZIP and USB-FDD - but the results have been the same whichever one has been selected.

Has anyone gotten usb boot to work? I tried several USB sticks but none seem to work. As above, they get detected during POST and I can see the led blinking for read access, but then it just results in a ‘boot device error’.

Booting from an usb attached floppy drive works though, and once FreeDOS has been loaded it can ‘see’ attached usb storage.

BlueArchon wrote on 2024-09-09, 05:41:

Has anyone gotten usb boot to work? I tried several USB sticks but none seem to work. As above, they get detected during POST and I can see the led blinking for read access, but then it just results in a ‘boot device error’.

Booting from an usb attached floppy drive works though, and once FreeDOS has been loaded it can ‘see’ attached usb storage.

I never even tried USB boot on my EPIA-800. I used VirtualBox to create a bootable DOS6.22 image, copied that image along with all the Windows 95 setup files to the SD card I'm using in the system, and set it up on the EPIA-800 that way.

If no one else replies before I have a chance later on today, I will see if I can get a USB flash drive to boot on mine and report my results.