And error...

Power issue maybe?

doogie wrote on 2024-01-13, 18:17:

-there are 2 PCI ISA PnP entries in Device Manager (and Windows suggests getting a new BIOS to correct the issue). Seems mostly cosmetic honestly and doesn’t seem to harm anything.

This is a quirk of the Vortex86EX, just ignore.

doogie wrote on 2024-01-13, 18:17:

-I have a PCI Universal Serial Bus device that I don’t seem to have a driver for yet. I installed the nUSB 3.6 patch provided.

You might need to manually "Update Driver" for this device, after installing nusb36.

doogie wrote on 2024-01-13, 18:17:

-Lastly with the USB flash drive->fixed disk feature..while it works great in DOS, eventually in 98 I get I/O timeouts, garbage data and so on. I assume this is much more to do with unorthodox things Windows 98 does. Really what this means in my case is, copy the setup files in DOS to the SSD, then pull the USB flash drive and carry on entirely from SSD or network.

Yep, this is the best way of installing Win98 in any case - but I still want to get to the bottom of this, and might try experimenting a bit more myself. Have you tried many different USB flash drives?

valterb wrote on 2024-01-13, 18:46:

Figured out my problem with the mt32-pi!

I was being a dummy and I didn't configure the output to be I2S like it describes here. Your suggestion to check the I2S pins reminded me that the DAC is I2S and I should probably see if that needs to be explicitly configured.

Maybe these two gotchas could be added to the ITX-Llama README in case someone as dumb as me comes along 😁

Haha, yeah good call. Happy you got it working!

valterb wrote on 2024-01-13, 18:46:

My only remaining problem is the ATTiny being weird, as already reported. It has about a 60% chance to happen to me on boot and it's a little extra annoying because it causes the HDD clicker to constantly click.

I've played around with the AVR code today, I'll follow this up in another post!

valterb wrote on 2024-01-13, 18:46:

Also, one suggestion: Would it be possible to make Esc not choose the default boot option after the POST? If you spam it to catch the device selection before the monitor turns on, it just chooses the default and moves on anyway.

Yes, I should probably use F10 instead! 👍

Vridek wrote on 2024-01-14, 10:42:

I have tried many AGP graphics cards. From ATI, S3 to Nvidia. […]
Show full quote

I have tried many AGP graphics cards. From ATI, S3 to Nvidia.

Geforce 4 440MX
GeForce 2 TI 64MB
Riva TNT 2, 64 and 32MB
Riva Vanda 16MB
Radeon 9550SE 128MB
Radeon 7500 64MB
....

None of these cards were able to run at 100%. BIOS finds the card, VGA works but as soon as I install the drivers (from philscomputerlab or CD driver) the installation goes through but after reboot this happens:

1. Windows 98 SE boots fine but Windows writes that the card "The card is not working properly".
2, Windows boots fine but I'm still in VGA and the Display is Unkown Monitor on Unkown Device. And in System Properties it has a yellow exclamation point.
3. Windows 98 SE keeps rebooting over and over again when booting.

I have tried many drivers and different card installs but it always ends up the same.

The only cards that work are S3 and ATI Rage II (4mb), but they don't handle 3D very well.

If these cards work fine in DOS but not Windows that points to a driver issue. Win98 can be a real bitch when it comes to video drivers (and re-installing/updating these), imho.
Make sure you use old enough drivers, I've had similar problems when trying "too new" drivers with older cards. Also, for good measure, try a fresh install of Windows to make sure there aren't any old files/configs messing something up?

Question: does anyone of you with the ITX-Llama in hand who's experiencing problems with the LED/clicker "hanging" have a ROM programmer (like the TL866II Plus)?
I've updated the ATTiny84 code and now I can't reproduce the issue on my end, but I'd like more people to verify!

Eivind wrote on 2024-01-14, 16:00:

Question: does anyone of you with the ITX-Llama in hand who's experiencing problems with the LED/clicker "hanging" have a ROM programmer (like the TL866II Plus)?
I've updated the ATTiny84 code and now I can't reproduce the issue on my end, but I'd like more people to verify!

I don't have a programmer but wouldn't mind having one for other projects.

Separately: wow, I'm still struggling with trying to get UMB space opened up. Short of dumping the raw contents of RAM between 640k-1mb, I can only venture that there's "important stuff" in there.

With JemmEx (and params MAX=8192 RAM I=TEST X=TEST FRAME=CC00), I get plenty of upper memory, but the machine very quickly locks.
Same when trying to use EMM386 (RAM 8192 I=B000-B7FF FRAME=CC00). DOS will lose sight of COMMAND.COM and ask where it went, in fact.

*Not* asking for upper memory at all (omitting the RAM directive or specifying NORAM to JemmEx) - things work fine; so long as the EMS Page Frame is at CC00 or D000. I have about 584KB conventional memory free, which isn't awful I suppose.

doogie wrote on 2024-01-14, 18:15:

Separately: wow, I'm still struggling with trying to get UMB space opened up. Short of dumping the raw contents of RAM between 6 […]
Show full quote

Separately: wow, I'm still struggling with trying to get UMB space opened up. Short of dumping the raw contents of RAM between 640k-1mb, I can only venture that there's "important stuff" in there.

With JemmEx (and params MAX=8192 RAM I=TEST X=TEST FRAME=CC00), I get plenty of upper memory, but the machine very quickly locks.
Same when trying to use EMM386 (RAM 8192 I=B000-B7FF FRAME=CC00). DOS will lose sight of COMMAND.COM and ask where it went, in fact.

*Not* asking for upper memory at all (omitting the RAM directive or specifying NORAM to JemmEx) - things work fine; so long as the EMS Page Frame is at CC00 or D000. I have about 584KB conventional memory free, which isn't awful I suppose.

I've used QEMM, which has its (pretty convoluted) ways of figuring out how best to layout the UMB/EMS/XMS. I think I got well above 600k conventional memory freed up with both EMS and XMS support. I'll take a look and see how exactly that layout was, and if we can replicate it using JemmEx or EMM386!

Eivind wrote on 2024-01-14, 16:00:

Question: does anyone of you with the ITX-Llama in hand who's experiencing problems with the LED/clicker "hanging" have a ROM programmer (like the TL866II Plus)?
I've updated the ATTiny84 code and now I can't reproduce the issue on my end, but I'd like more people to verify!

I have one of those and I'd be happy to help verify.

Eivind wrote on 2024-01-14, 18:32:

I've used QEMM, which has its (pretty convoluted) ways of figuring out how best to layout the UMB/EMS/XMS. I think I got well above 600k conventional memory freed up with both EMS and XMS support. I'll take a look and see how exactly that layout was, and if we can replicate it using JemmEx or EMM386!

Thanks! I'm also totally not opposed to using QEMM. Different hardware calls for different solutions, totally okay.

valterb wrote on 2024-01-14, 18:49:

I have one of those and I'd be happy to help verify.

Awesome, thanks!
Try the attached .hex file - and make sure the fuses are set to low:0xE2, high:0x5F

Aaron707 wrote on 2024-01-12, 05:21:

Here is a link to the I/O Shield I made. Feel free to copy it and improve upon it and re-share.
https://www.tinkercad.com/things/785XyBLg61A- … ma-io-shield-v3
To easily change the holes, just click the "ungroup" button once when editing in TinkerCAD, then group everything to complete the change.

Hi Aaron, I'm interested to know what case you are using. Based on the back it looks like an ideal size for the board while still having the video card mount without an extender.

Thanks

I've just received my board but don't yet have a video card to go with it. I'd be interested to know what video cards people have successfully used and what is a good pairing. While I'd prefer a Voodoo card, they are not so commonly for sale in New Zealand. I was considering a Nvidia Riva TNT2 M64 32MB since they can be picked up pretty cheap.

doogie wrote on 2024-01-14, 18:51:

Eivind wrote on 2024-01-14, 18:32:

I've used QEMM, which has its (pretty convoluted) ways of figuring out how best to layout the UMB/EMS/XMS. I think I got well above 600k conventional memory freed up with both EMS and XMS support. I'll take a look and see how exactly that layout was, and if we can replicate it using JemmEx or EMM386!

Thanks! I'm also totally not opposed to using QEMM. Different hardware calls for different solutions, totally okay.

So I played around with JemmEx a bit, and looked at what CheckIt reported:

1          V | A000h to C000h   128K VGA Video RAM
2              | A000h to B000h  64.0K VGA Graphics
3              | B000h to B800h  32.0K MDA Text
4              | B800h to C000h  32.0K CGA Text/Graphics
5
6          R | C000h to CE00h    56K Unknown ROM
7              | (C) 1988-2003, ATI Technologies Inc. BK-ATI VER008.017D.01

and

1          R | F400h to 0000h    48K System ROM
2              |  ROM BIOS: (Standard)
3              | BIOS Date: 06/23/99

So with my Radeon 9250, it looks like A000-CE00 is reserved. I tried using

DEVICE=C:\JEMM\JEMMEX.EXE RAM X=A000-D000 I=D000-F400 X=F400-FFFF VERBOSE

and that gave me plenty of free space - however when trying to put stuff up there with "DEVICEHIGH" and "LH", I quickly got JemmEx exceptions.
I kinda suspect this has something to do with Jemm itself not liking the Vortex CPU. Might be better to try HIMEM/EMM386, maybe together with MEMMAKER to generate suitable /L:x,xxxx parameters, I haven't gotten that far yet, feel free to experiment! 😀

Evan Thompson wrote on 2024-01-14, 21:23:

I've just received my board but don't yet have a video card to go with it. I'd be interested to know what video cards people have successfully used and what is a good pairing. While I'd prefer a Voodoo card, they are not so commonly for sale in New Zealand. I was considering a Nvidia Riva TNT2 M64 32MB since they can be picked up pretty cheap.

Are you sticking with DOS or do you want to play Windows 98 games as well? In case of the latter, I'll keep on recommending the ATI Radeon 9200/9250, as these seem to work great, perform as good as can be expected and should be both cheap and relatively easy to get hold of!

Eivind wrote on 2024-01-14, 21:58:

Evan Thompson wrote on 2024-01-14, 21:23:

I've just received my board but don't yet have a video card to go with it. I'd be interested to know what video cards people have successfully used and what is a good pairing. While I'd prefer a Voodoo card, they are not so commonly for sale in New Zealand. I was considering a Nvidia Riva TNT2 M64 32MB since they can be picked up pretty cheap.

Are you sticking with DOS or do you want to play Windows 98 games as well? In case of the latter, I'll keep on recommending the ATI Radeon 9200/9250, as these seem to work great, perform as good as can be expected and should be both cheap and relatively easy to get hold of!

I agree, I have many problems with different graphics but today I tried the ATI Radeon 9250 and it runs great. I played Half Life today at 640 x 480 resolution and there was no problem. The problem is that not all games like this graphics. Moto racer has issues.

Eivind wrote on 2024-01-14, 18:58:

valterb wrote on 2024-01-14, 18:49:

I have one of those and I'd be happy to help verify.

Awesome, thanks!
Try the attached .hex file - and make sure the fuses are set to low:0xE2, high:0x5F

I flashed this to the ATTiny and tried it out for a while. At first, it seemed to be working great. I did everything that would usually trigger problems before: Booting up the system, restarting with the reset button, ctrl+alt+delete, powering off and back on with the power button. No issues at all.

When I removed the 12V input from my PicoPSU and plugged it back in, the power indicator LED built in to the board did not illuminate. That LED in particular doesn't seem to work at all anymore, even if I leave it unplugged for 30 seconds. The system still works as normal though, including the HDD clicker.

I have no idea what could've caused this after just one cold power cycle. Very strange.

valterb wrote on 2024-01-14, 22:42:

I flashed this to the ATTiny and tried it out for a while. At first, it seemed to be working great. I did everything that would usually trigger problems before: Booting up the system, restarting with the reset button, ctrl+alt+delete, powering off and back on with the power button. No issues at all.

When I removed the 12V input from my PicoPSU and plugged it back in, the power indicator LED built in to the board did not illuminate. That LED in particular doesn't seem to work at all anymore, even if I leave it unplugged for 30 seconds. The system still works as normal though, including the HDD clicker.

I have no idea what could've caused this after just one cold power cycle. Very strange.

That's super weird... Try going into the BIOS settings and turn the LED off/on and see if that does anything? Or reflash the chip again? If none of that helps, it must be a hw issue I guess...? 🤔

Evan Thompson wrote on 2024-01-14, 21:18:

Aaron707 wrote on 2024-01-12, 05:21:

Here is a link to the I/O Shield I made. Feel free to copy it and improve upon it and re-share.
https://www.tinkercad.com/things/785XyBLg61A- … ma-io-shield-v3
To easily change the holes, just click the "ungroup" button once when editing in TinkerCAD, then group everything to complete the change.

Hi Aaron, I'm interested to know what case you are using. Based on the back it looks like an ideal size for the board while still having the video card mount without an extender.

Thanks

This case: https://silentpcreview.com/apex-mi-008-a-chea … -mini-itx-case/
Ended up painting it as I was not a fan of the black. Takes a standard sfx size psu.

Eivind wrote on 2024-01-14, 22:50:

That's super weird... Try going into the BIOS settings and turn the LED off/on and see if that does anything? Or reflash the chip again? If none of that helps, it must be a hw issue I guess...? 🤔

That was it: The BIOS setting was suddenly disabled and the intensity was set to 5%. Enabling the LED fixed that problem. I'll keep using this firmware and let you know if I have any problems.

Some more good news: This SATA to IDE drive adapter on Amazon works with CD drives in the BIOS and DOS: SinLoon IDE to SATA Converter, 150Mbps 2 in 1 SATA to IDE Adapter Converter Chip Cable Connector for DVD/CD/HDD (Red)

I haven't tried it in Windows yet, but DOS sees the drive and I was able to install Earth 2140 from CD. As a bonus, CD audio works great with the IDE drive I tested. If someone wants to use an oldschool internal IDE drive for games with CD audio, this is an option that seems to work.

Note: I found that it only worked with the drive's jumper set to master.