triggerhappy wrote on 2021-02-05, 21:02:

Color me purple and call me a vogon :-) even though format reported 60gb, windows now shows 200gb available after install. Worki […]
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Hezus wrote on 2021-02-05, 19:09:

Try hooking up the HDD to an IDE controller card. It might deal with the HDD type a little better.

Alternatively you could try some overlay software like OnTrack disc manager.

Color me purple and call me a vogon 😀 even though format reported 60gb, windows now shows 200gb available after install. Working as intended.

I also got the Live! PCI card recognized and installed with the CT4832 driver package here on vogons, awesome! No audio yet but that might have to do with dodgy speakers.

- edit -

scratch that, it just dissappeared from the device manager and is completely gone again. Guess the card is fubar after all.

Don't use more than 128GiB of your hard drive with Win9x operating systems unless you want to be sorry one day.

Win9x cannot properly access any drive sector beyond the 128GiB mark with it's regular drivers, and will probably loop around. Since partitioning/format doesn't involve writing at deep positions of the hard drive, it might look like that you have the full 200gb partitioned, but it will still loop around and corrupt some time in the future.

Lowe had a patch for this, but I do not know if it also worked correctly in pure DOS mode, so it is easiest to just avoid accessing any point beyond the 128GiB (137GB) limit.

I am now in contact with someone claiming to have the 17" CRT (which is most likely broken, but has the original speakers attached) and the software restore CD's.
He might have keyboard en mouse too.

canthearu wrote on 2021-05-05, 22:14:

Don't use more than 128GiB of your hard drive with Win9x operating systems unless you want to be sorry one day. […]
Show full quote

triggerhappy wrote on 2021-02-05, 21:02:

Color me purple and call me a vogon :-) even though format reported 60gb, windows now shows 200gb available after install. Worki […]
Show full quote

Hezus wrote on 2021-02-05, 19:09:

Try hooking up the HDD to an IDE controller card. It might deal with the HDD type a little better.

Alternatively you could try some overlay software like OnTrack disc manager.

Color me purple and call me a vogon 😀 even though format reported 60gb, windows now shows 200gb available after install. Working as intended.

I also got the Live! PCI card recognized and installed with the CT4832 driver package here on vogons, awesome! No audio yet but that might have to do with dodgy speakers.

- edit -

scratch that, it just dissappeared from the device manager and is completely gone again. Guess the card is fubar after all.

Don't use more than 128GiB of your hard drive with Win9x operating systems unless you want to be sorry one day.

Win9x cannot properly access any drive sector beyond the 128GiB mark with it's regular drivers, and will probably loop around. Since partitioning/format doesn't involve writing at deep positions of the hard drive, it might look like that you have the full 200gb partitioned, but it will still loop around and corrupt some time in the future.

Lowe had a patch for this, but I do not know if it also worked correctly in pure DOS mode, so it is easiest to just avoid accessing any point beyond the 128GiB (137GB) limit.

That is a VERY good point and one I was not aware of yet (outside of the 512mb ram limit on 9x).
I do plan on replacing the hard drive for a period appropriate one but this is the only ATA 7200rpm drive I could get my hands on for now.

triggerhappy wrote on 2021-05-06, 13:58:

I am now in contact with someone claiming to have the 17" CRT (which is most likely broken, but has the original speakers attached) and the software restore CD's.
He might have keyboard en mouse too.

So, I have an original A726 screen now, with the matching green bezel, AND the matching original Diamond Pro speakers. But...

as communicated, the CRT does not work - won't power on. Which wouldn't be such an issue (I found the 15" TFT anyway, right!) were it not for the fact that it actually powers the speakers 🙁.
The TFT does not output 6v via a special connection to do this, so while I now have the parts, I'm still a long way off. I could find (or solder, from any old AC convertor) a 6v power source but that's not 'original' of course.

Rather I'd find out what is wrong with the CRT and fix it (or have it fixed, should it be beyond my capabilities). I know they are dangerous to work on (extremely high voltage inside) and you need to properly defuse the back-end to work on them, so that's the part holding me back from just opening it up and checking for loose wires or blown/burnt out parts. You guys don't happen to know someone in the Netherlands willing to take on this job? 😀.

Hi,

Great to come across this post. Amazed I haven't earlier.

I have gone on the exact same journey as you this past couple of years, rebuilding my absolute favourite PC for that nostalgic kick we all crave! The Packard Bell IConnect 1100 was to be mine again.

I have managed to find literally every original part, mostly by pure luck and by other computer nerds such as myself.

The information I can give you is as follows;

After checking EBay and Google every day for a year and a half, the desktop box with some cables with manual, keyboard and mouse came up at a starting price of £20. I genuinley put a £100 bid in, refusing to let this bad boy slide. The week after, the monitor shows up, but without speakers, which I did the same again. No shame. Although there should be.

The original spec consisted of motherboard GIGABYTE GA-6WMM7 REV 4.1. The 4.1 seemed to be a challenge for me, as the few I could find were 2.5 etc, which I am sure would work if you move all kinds of things around, but I was stubborn and wanted the original. By pure luck, I emailed an ebay user who sold the speakers on the side - Diamond Audio PC Speakers - and it was an auction that had finished 9 years earlier. I emailed and asked if by chance it never went through and if he still had them. He ended up passing on my details to the user he sold them to, who contacted me to sell them on again. A few days after, he emailed saying he found a spare motherboard (4.1) in his garage that he forgot he has in storage and sold it to me. Bear in mind, I had emailed countless people up to now, so it wasn't so easy as it sounds! I found the online manual for when I was putting it together, if it is of any use to you.

https://download1.gigabyte.com/Files/Manual/m … 368413b8b1ea43b

Chipset: INTEL 810
Processor: INTEL CELERON 633MHz (Socket 370)
RAM: 64MB SDR SD-RAM (1x 168-Pin DIMM)
Hard Drive(s): 15GB PATA 3.5" (Replacement: 80GB PATA 3.5")
Optical Drive(s): CD-ROM PATA 5.25"
Graphics: Integrated (Intel)
Audio: Integrated (Intel)

I followed these closely and managed to organise all of it. The hard drive was the only part that will be different.

The computer runs and it is all together and I am so close to having it how I want it. I originally put Win98 on, but decided ME needed to go on for the true nostalgia (yes yes, I know the OS isn't exactly the desired).

I hope your journey has been successful and you have got to relive some incredible moments of nostalgia. Let me know!

Now, the only issue I have now is that I have recently struggled to sort out improving the resolution - it’s only giving an option of 640x680 on the 'scroll'. The monitor is the original A726 and I have looked for drivers etc, many not worked, but I have finally reached a point where when looking to update when searching, it asked for “NEC CI Monitors Installation Disc“, in particular the “a726nci.icm”. I think this is the key to allow me to have a better resolution.
Tried searching for the above and failed miserably. Any suggestions?! I would also be eternally greatful for the knowledge of the community to help me find the cure for what will be a HUGE achievement.