Did some very shallow testing of what I had laying around of pairs of 72 pin DIMMs. Using a Pentium TX motherboard, I obviously couldn't test the singles.
Tested to POST and memory count, most of all to find their sizes rather than finding data sheets for the chips 🤣

An interesting finding though; of every pair of 72 pin RAM I tested, not once did I have to re-seat DIMMs to get it to POST. That's a thing I find myself doing all the time with 168 pin SD-RAM 🤷‍♂️

I acquired these pieces:

Panasonic T33 Electronic Typewriter (fully functional, too) AND...

AMS AT system with a Pentium 75Mhz and 2x8MB RAM. 2MB s3 video, Creative CT1770, and a modem. Has a 3.2GB Quantum Fireball in it, but it must be going bad, as it growls like no-other.

My favorite feature so far is the "turbo" that actually works. Runs 33Mhz with "turbo off" and gets even slower with the cache turned off, now I can easily play the speed dependent games.

It was(is) having a strange issue with drivers (I loaded DOS6.22/W3.11) and it won't load MSCDEX.EXE into the upper memory. EVERYTHING else loads HIGH, including the driver for the CD and the ASPI2DOS for the SCSI. Even GUEST.EXE for the parallel ZIP loads HIGH. My other DOS computers do it fine, leaving me with 605k conventional, but this one is being a bugger, so I REM'd MSCDEX out of autoexec and load it if I need it, for now. Otherwise the thing is gouged (of course) and left with 557k, which causes issues.
May not be a problem in the future, because the original drive was a Plextor SCSI CD caddy drive:

Which is getting de-yellowed and going to go back in. The TDK drive that I have in there right now is pretty neat, though. The whole tray is translucent blue.

I also cleaned said TDK drive (finally, after having it for months now) tested it (Good)

And I'm about to be formatting floppies all night, as the ones I got from my brother are mostly bad, but come back to life with the use of IMAGEDISK. Brilliant program.

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-22, 21:52:

I acquired these pieces: […]
Show full quote

I acquired these pieces:

The attachment 20240720_151702.jpg is no longer available

Panasonic T33 Electronic Typewriter (fully functional, too) AND...

The attachment 20240722_164731.jpg is no longer available

AMS AT system with a Pentium 75Mhz and 2x8MB RAM. 2MB s3 video, Creative CT1770, and a modem. Has a 3.2GB Quantum Fireball in it, but it must be going bad, as it growls like no-other.

The attachment 20240720_190014.jpg is no longer available

My favorite feature so far is the "turbo" that actually works. Runs 33Mhz with "turbo off" and gets even slower with the cache turned off, now I can easily play the speed dependent games.

It was(is) having a strange issue with drivers (I loaded DOS6.22/W3.11) and it won't load MSCDEX.EXE into the upper memory. EVERYTHING else loads HIGH, including the driver for the CD and the ASPI2DOS for the SCSI. Even GUEST.EXE for the parallel ZIP loads HIGH. My other DOS computers do it fine, leaving me with 605k conventional, but this one is being a bugger, so I REM'd MSCDEX out of autoexec and load it if I need it, for now. Otherwise the thing is gouged (of course) and left with 557k, which causes issues.
May not be a problem in the future, because the original drive was a Plextor SCSI CD caddy drive:

The attachment 20240722_163034.jpg is no longer available

Which is getting de-yellowed and going to go back in. The TDK drive that I have in there right now is pretty neat, though. The whole tray is translucent blue.

I also cleaned said TDK drive (finally, after having it for months now) tested it (Good)

And I'm about to be formatting floppies all night, as the ones I got from my brother are mostly bad, but come back to life with the use of IMAGEDISK. Brilliant program.

The attachment 20240507_171748 (1).jpg is no longer available

I'm curious about that type writer - can you still get supplies to keep it going? Are you stuck looking for stuff like ink on eBay?

I was trying to get an old Dell P200s to boot but it kept getting stuck at the end of the memory count. Tried a lot of SDRAM sticks. So in that respect I sorted my SDRAM DIMMS. But no luck. Kept locking on Post Code 4F. Eventually I tried pulling the Coast module. At first when I pulled, it sounded like a piano wire that starts making pinging noises when it gets wound too tight . Not a good sign. Eventually it popped out. The board finished the post and seems fine now, but it looks like it will take some work to get it to work with a new Coast module.

Could this have been moisture or salt? The battery was a coin cell that was far away and appears to be working fine, in spite of its advanced age.

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-22, 21:52:

I acquired these pieces:

The attachment 20240722_164731.jpg is no longer available

A filing cabinet? 🤣

Fixed a friend's ABIT BE6-II v1.1. These boards are absolute dogshit AFAIC, and I would have just thrown it away even if it worked (I have thrown away mine a long time ago) but he was very fond of it and asked kindly.. He was very happy when I got it to POST.

appiah4 wrote on 2024-07-23, 10:29:

Fixed a friend's ABIT BE6-II v1.1. These boards are absolute dogshit AFAIC, and I would have just thrown it away even if it worked (I have thrown away mine a long time ago) but he was very fond of it and asked kindly.. He was very happy when I got it to POST.

That was nice of you. Curious to know what the fix was?

zuldan wrote on 2024-07-23, 10:44:

appiah4 wrote on 2024-07-23, 10:29:

Fixed a friend's ABIT BE6-II v1.1. These boards are absolute dogshit AFAIC, and I would have just thrown it away even if it worked (I have thrown away mine a long time ago) but he was very fond of it and asked kindly.. He was very happy when I got it to POST.

That was nice of you. Curious to know what the fix was?

He flashed it to a rev1.2 BIOS, pulling the eeprom and programming it with the latest rev1.0 BIOS worked like a charm.

pan069 wrote on 2024-07-23, 10:28:

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-22, 21:52:

I acquired these pieces:

The attachment 20240722_164731.jpg is no longer available

A filing cabinet? 🤣

Paint it dithered yellow!

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-22, 21:52:

AMS AT system with a Pentium 75Mhz and 2x8MB RAM.

bad early socket 5 motherboard 🙁 Slow chipset with outdated SRAM cache and broken build-in CMD640 IDE controller [IDE controller] CMD640/PCI0640B data corruption bug
tldr: multiple IDE disk and floppy data corruption bugs + ~30% slower than computer with same CPU but Intel VX/TX mobo.
Surprisingly theretroweb.com doesnt have this board in the database. It would be really nice if you could take and upload big clear picture with no cards inserted.

I was trying to figure out, what mechanism i could have to attach SLOT1 coolers to the CPUs. I think i figured it out.
You'll need:
* M3 screws with length of about 25mm (16mm is very uncomfortable to work with)
* M3 nuts
* 4mm wide and 5mm long springs
* Nylong/plastic washers for M3 with outer diameter of 6mm.

I think this is very workable solution.
Depending on the cooler, you may or may not need a washer there. (on picture, the holes were too big for the springs)

So long, mf-ing plastic "plugs" or whatever!

PD2JK wrote on 2024-07-23, 10:55:

pan069 wrote on 2024-07-23, 10:28:

A filing cabinet? 🤣

Paint it dithered yellow!

The attachment ebc60d3647e6c382faddabbe575bc9d2ab05e89a-1584177685.png is no longer available

If I had room for a filing cabinet and I received one, I'd do it. It'd be good for getting a laugh out of visitors.

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-22, 21:52:

Has a 3.2GB Quantum Fireball in it, but it must be going bad, as it growls like no-other.

Maybe or maybe not, some of the Fireballs of that era were a bit loud, with a RRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sound on startup, that didn't get much quieter.

GigAHerZ wrote on 2024-07-23, 11:09:

I was trying to figure out, what mechanism i could have to attach SLOT1 coolers to the CPUs. I think i figured it out. You'll ne […]
Show full quote

I was trying to figure out, what mechanism i could have to attach SLOT1 coolers to the CPUs. I think i figured it out.
You'll need:
* M3 screws with length of about 25mm (16mm is very uncomfortable to work with)
* M3 nuts
* 4mm wide and 5mm long springs
* Nylong/plastic washers for M3 with outer diameter of 6mm.

I think this is very workable solution.
Depending on the cooler, you may or may not need a washer there. (on picture, the holes were too big for the springs)

So long, mf-ing plastic "plugs" or whatever!

Looks good, however, I probably wouldn't tighten the spring totally, as that makes it just a washer. I'd find a cylinder to stop the nut on the bolt while the spring would still have some length ... I probably haven't phrased that very good, I know, it's just the image in my head I'm trying to describe 🤣

H3nrik V! wrote on 2024-07-23, 13:05:

GigAHerZ wrote on 2024-07-23, 11:09:

I was trying to figure out, what mechanism i could have to attach SLOT1 coolers to the CPUs. I think i figured it out. You'll ne […]
Show full quote

I was trying to figure out, what mechanism i could have to attach SLOT1 coolers to the CPUs. I think i figured it out.
You'll need:
* M3 screws with length of about 25mm (16mm is very uncomfortable to work with)
* M3 nuts
* 4mm wide and 5mm long springs
* Nylong/plastic washers for M3 with outer diameter of 6mm.

I think this is very workable solution.
Depending on the cooler, you may or may not need a washer there. (on picture, the holes were too big for the springs)

So long, mf-ing plastic "plugs" or whatever!

Looks good, however, I probably wouldn't tighten the spring totally, as that makes it just a washer. I'd find a cylinder to stop the nut on the bolt while the spring would still have some length ... I probably haven't phrased that very good, I know, it's just the image in my head I'm trying to describe 🤣

Yeah, I have the same thoughts. That's why I ordered 25mm screws to leave some room there. On picture I had to use 16mm ones as those are the longest I have on hand.

GigAHerZ wrote on 2024-07-23, 18:34:

H3nrik V! wrote on 2024-07-23, 13:05:

GigAHerZ wrote on 2024-07-23, 11:09:

I was trying to figure out, what mechanism i could have to attach SLOT1 coolers to the CPUs. I think i figured it out. You'll ne […]
Show full quote

I was trying to figure out, what mechanism i could have to attach SLOT1 coolers to the CPUs. I think i figured it out.
You'll need:
* M3 screws with length of about 25mm (16mm is very uncomfortable to work with)
* M3 nuts
* 4mm wide and 5mm long springs
* Nylong/plastic washers for M3 with outer diameter of 6mm.

I think this is very workable solution.
Depending on the cooler, you may or may not need a washer there. (on picture, the holes were too big for the springs)

So long, mf-ing plastic "plugs" or whatever!

Looks good, however, I probably wouldn't tighten the spring totally, as that makes it just a washer. I'd find a cylinder to stop the nut on the bolt while the spring would still have some length ... I probably haven't phrased that very good, I know, it's just the image in my head I'm trying to describe 🤣

Yeah, I have the same thoughts. That's why I ordered 25mm screws to leave some room there. On picture I had to use 16mm ones as those are the longest I have on hand.

Ahhhh, that makes sense then. Come to think of it, the easiest might be screws that only have a thread in some of its length 🤔

pan069 wrote on 2024-07-23, 10:28:

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-22, 21:52:

I acquired these pieces:

The attachment 20240722_164731.jpg is no longer available

A filing cabinet? 🤣

Heh, yes. It is FULL of hard drives and optical drives (and other 5.25/3.5 items) now, 🤣 I like vintage filing cabinets to hold my heavy computer parts, the old ones can handle the weight.

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-07-23, 01:44:

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-22, 21:52:

I acquired these pieces: […]
Show full quote

I acquired these pieces:

The attachment 20240720_151702.jpg is no longer available

Panasonic T33 Electronic Typewriter (fully functional, too) AND...

The attachment 20240722_164731.jpg is no longer available

AMS AT system with a Pentium 75Mhz and 2x8MB RAM. 2MB s3 video, Creative CT1770, and a modem. Has a 3.2GB Quantum Fireball in it, but it must be going bad, as it growls like no-other.

The attachment 20240720_190014.jpg is no longer available

My favorite feature so far is the "turbo" that actually works. Runs 33Mhz with "turbo off" and gets even slower with the cache turned off, now I can easily play the speed dependent games.

It was(is) having a strange issue with drivers (I loaded DOS6.22/W3.11) and it won't load MSCDEX.EXE into the upper memory. EVERYTHING else loads HIGH, including the driver for the CD and the ASPI2DOS for the SCSI. Even GUEST.EXE for the parallel ZIP loads HIGH. My other DOS computers do it fine, leaving me with 605k conventional, but this one is being a bugger, so I REM'd MSCDEX out of autoexec and load it if I need it, for now. Otherwise the thing is gouged (of course) and left with 557k, which causes issues.
May not be a problem in the future, because the original drive was a Plextor SCSI CD caddy drive:

The attachment 20240722_163034.jpg is no longer available

Which is getting de-yellowed and going to go back in. The TDK drive that I have in there right now is pretty neat, though. The whole tray is translucent blue.

I also cleaned said TDK drive (finally, after having it for months now) tested it (Good)

And I'm about to be formatting floppies all night, as the ones I got from my brother are mostly bad, but come back to life with the use of IMAGEDISK. Brilliant program.

The attachment 20240507_171748 (1).jpg is no longer available

I'm curious about that type writer - can you still get supplies to keep it going? Are you stuck looking for stuff like ink on eBay?

I haven't actually looked yet, as I've only had it a couple of days and have a few other projects to work on. BUUUT... I saw a local place with cases of ribbons AND correction tape (what motivated me to get it, was 5 bucks, no big deal) so I hope I can pick some up this weekend, maybe?

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-23, 21:40:

Heh, yes. It is FULL of hard drives and optical drives (and other 5.25/3.5 items) now, XD I like vintage filing cabinets to hold […]
Show full quote

pan069 wrote on 2024-07-23, 10:28:

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-22, 21:52:

I acquired these pieces:

The attachment 20240722_164731.jpg is no longer available

A filing cabinet? 🤣

Heh, yes. It is FULL of hard drives and optical drives (and other 5.25/3.5 items) now, 🤣 I like vintage filing cabinets to hold my heavy computer parts, the old ones can handle the weight.

The attachment 20240723_163836.jpg is no longer available

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-07-23, 01:44:

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-22, 21:52:

I acquired these pieces: […]
Show full quote

I acquired these pieces:

The attachment 20240720_151702.jpg is no longer available

Panasonic T33 Electronic Typewriter (fully functional, too) AND...

The attachment 20240722_164731.jpg is no longer available

AMS AT system with a Pentium 75Mhz and 2x8MB RAM. 2MB s3 video, Creative CT1770, and a modem. Has a 3.2GB Quantum Fireball in it, but it must be going bad, as it growls like no-other.

The attachment 20240720_190014.jpg is no longer available

My favorite feature so far is the "turbo" that actually works. Runs 33Mhz with "turbo off" and gets even slower with the cache turned off, now I can easily play the speed dependent games.

It was(is) having a strange issue with drivers (I loaded DOS6.22/W3.11) and it won't load MSCDEX.EXE into the upper memory. EVERYTHING else loads HIGH, including the driver for the CD and the ASPI2DOS for the SCSI. Even GUEST.EXE for the parallel ZIP loads HIGH. My other DOS computers do it fine, leaving me with 605k conventional, but this one is being a bugger, so I REM'd MSCDEX out of autoexec and load it if I need it, for now. Otherwise the thing is gouged (of course) and left with 557k, which causes issues.
May not be a problem in the future, because the original drive was a Plextor SCSI CD caddy drive:

The attachment 20240722_163034.jpg is no longer available

Which is getting de-yellowed and going to go back in. The TDK drive that I have in there right now is pretty neat, though. The whole tray is translucent blue.

I also cleaned said TDK drive (finally, after having it for months now) tested it (Good)

And I'm about to be formatting floppies all night, as the ones I got from my brother are mostly bad, but come back to life with the use of IMAGEDISK. Brilliant program.

The attachment 20240507_171748 (1).jpg is no longer available

I'm curious about that type writer - can you still get supplies to keep it going? Are you stuck looking for stuff like ink on eBay?

I haven't actually looked yet, as I've only had it a couple of days and have a few other projects to work on. BUUUT... I saw a local place with cases of ribbons AND correction tape (what motivated me to get it, was 5 bucks, no big deal) so I hope I can pick some up this weekend, maybe?

Oh, wow. Fair enough then. I thought you might have been going full vintage immersion but this looks like a great find. 🤣

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-23, 21:40:

pan069 wrote on 2024-07-23, 10:28:

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-22, 21:52:

I acquired these pieces:

The attachment 20240722_164731.jpg is no longer available

A filing cabinet? 🤣

Heh, yes. It is FULL of hard drives and optical drives (and other 5.25/3.5 items) now, 🤣 I like vintage filing cabinets to hold my heavy computer parts, the old ones can handle the weight.

The attachment 20240723_163836.jpg is no longer available

Haha! That is so funny... I was going to say that filing cabinets make excellent drive storage.

I have a huge (very deep) 2-door HON filing cabinet that is built like a tank. Because it's so sturdy, I have it holding all of my 5.25" floppies and optical drives in the bottom drawer, and a bunch of power supplies in the top drawer. I love that the drawers are the perfect width for two 5.25" drives side by side. There is enough room to have them standing upright while also leaving space for at least one drive laying across the top (because hording).

I also have a gigantic (30" wide, 20" deep, 40" tall) 3 drawer filing cabinet from a medical facility that I have completely filled with motherboards, which works amazingly well. To keep them well protected I have them separated by cut up cereal boxes (don't knock it till you try it), and as many as possible in anti-static bags.

Filing cabinets are nearly useless these days for actual filing, but I have found many uses for them with regard to retro PC collecting.

douglar wrote on 2024-07-23, 02:28:

I was trying to get an old Dell P200s to boot but it kept getting stuck at the end of the memory count. Tried a lot of SDRAM st […]
Show full quote

I was trying to get an old Dell P200s to boot but it kept getting stuck at the end of the memory count. Tried a lot of SDRAM sticks. So in that respect I sorted my SDRAM DIMMS. But no luck. Kept locking on Post Code 4F. Eventually I tried pulling the Coast module. At first when I pulled, it sounded like a piano wire that starts making pinging noises when it gets wound too tight . Not a good sign. Eventually it popped out. The board finished the post and seems fine now, but it looks like it will take some work to get it to work with a new Coast module.

Could this have been moisture or salt? The battery was a coin cell that was far away and appears to be working fine, in spite of its advanced age.

The attachment Photo Jul 22 2024, 8 54 43 PM.jpg is no longer available

The attachment Photo Jul 22 2024, 8 54 55 PM.jpg is no longer available

I tried to clean everything up, but I wasn't able to get the Coast to work.
I tried to install win98se, but it wouldn't boot from CD rom.
I tried to upgrade the BIOS, and it crashed during the BIOS upgrade.
In hindsight, perhaps the problem wasn't with BIOS but with the overall system stability.

The EEPROM is soldered on the board so it's pretty much a brick now.

Maybe I replace the motherboard with a different OEM board and make the Dell into a stealth Gateway 2000 ?