Yes I am playing in pure dos. No it’s not audio related since I tried to disable audio and still catch stutters on new occasions. I’ve checked my hard drives in device manager on windows 98 and there was no information about dma/pio. So I guess this laptop can’t handle this.

I will try utility you recommend

If the drive controller is on ISA and the sound card is on ISA, upping the ISA bus speed as well as lowering and wait states may help as well.

Not sure if either of those options are going to be in a laptop bios though.

For Smart drive, you are not loading that into high memory.

Are the drive controller and sound using the same IRQ? That can cause issues as well.

Also, just because the drive is newer than the original final doesn't mean it is faster. What are the specs of the original drive verses the drive you are using?

Moved SmartDRV to High Memory, now i've got 621kb free (can I do more? do I need more?)

--

They are on different IRQs. I've completely disabled soundcard in bios and these hiccups still occur.

As for old HDD specs... it's pointless since it's half-dead and was stuttering even more.

I guess I'll have to switch to CompactFlash "SSD".

--

Duke 3D is almost okay, even with these stutters, but Blood is smth different. It's constantly loading smth from HDD, at least on level starts. Will try recording video of this.

vorob wrote on 2022-01-17, 09:12:

Moved SmartDRV to High Memory, now i've got 621kb free (can I do more? do I need more?)

1. Rarely and 2. No.

You shouldn't have to use Compact Flash, you can get 44-pin IDE to m.2 SATA SSD. Should be more reliable and more compatible as well.

I've run into some Compact Flash cards that cause issues / don't detect properly and/or get corrupted on every boot.

The low capacity m.2 drives are generally pretty cheap,
though it does depend on what size drive your laptop supports.

I switched to Compact Flash "SSD". It didn't help with stutters in Duke and Blood. I have no idea... Enabling Smartdrv doesn't change a thing...

I suppose the IDE interface may be bottlenecking, even if the storage is fast.

Is there any way for you to add more RAM to this laptop?

Yes, I need to buy it 😀 But I guess it will be cheaper to buy another laptop where this expansion module will be in the box.

What's the best and full way to test ide speed under DOS?

I've made a purchase - Sony Vaio C1 PictureBook PCG- C1VSX/K, 40 USD. Laptop + Floppy + CD-Drive + VGA Cable + Charger.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Vaio_C1_series

Now I'll have to replace the polarizer on LCD: https://youtu.be/zbrW7uUYpkw From one side it's possible and this dude fixed exactly my laptop. On another side, it looks like painstaking work...

I see that this laptop uses the same Yamaha chip as Toshiba 2805. But IRQ is 9 which is not available in DOOM for eg. I wonder if it can be fixed?

Tecra 780CDM is fine laptop for Dos gaming:

13.3" TFT 1024x768
Pentium II 266Mhz (switchable to 133Mhz)
video: S3 Virge/MX 3D (4Mb)
Yamaha OPL-SA3 audio (works in Dos without TSR)
features: RCA/S-Video output, modular CD drive could be replaced to fdd, or second hdd.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/334328822113

Anyone know the Thinkpad R51 range well? seeing one for sale, computer illiterate seller, seems to have the 1.6Ghz PentiumM, but any external clues I can tell off fuzzy pictures what configuration it might be, or is there a list of standard/express configs with the 1.6? I'm only interested if it's got the Radeon 7500 really.

The 183X-XXX models of R51 came with Radeon 7500/9000. The 288X-XXX had Intel Extreme Graphics. Be sure you are not dealing with an R51e as well, as those only had Radeon Xpress 200M integrated controller.

To know the full config (assuming it has not been modified), one would need the 7-character model/type string.

If they support docking station there's a single slot pci version. I have 2 of such station and have experimented with a few sound cards in there. I have a t41 and a t43 . T41 has a 7500 and has full 98 support. T43 has a x300 and doesn't have a 9x driver so stay away. Docking station kinda defeats mobile purpose but there's something cool about having a3d card working in a laptop

Warlord wrote on 2022-02-14, 06:18:

Docking station kinda defeats mobile purpose but there's something cool about having a3d card working in a laptop

Agreed! Can a Voodoo2 fit in that docking station if there’s Win98 support?

It should work if it can support the power consumption. At some point, I've gotta do more troubleshooting of my Toshiba Desk Station V+ - with its PCI ports it should easily handle a Voodoo I card, but right now it just shuts off. I'm not sure if that's because of the power supply capacitors, a bad fan or what. These docks are so complex it's tough to tell.
But the later PCI/AGP docks should be fine with any PCI card

I've got one of the old Gateway docks that supports PCI and ISA cards. Also have the highest model laptop that works with the dock and has full DOS support.

My plan was to put a couple V2s or a V3 and a nice sound card in the dock.

MAZter wrote on 2022-02-13, 22:55:

Tecra 780CDM is fine laptop for Dos gaming:
video: S3 Virge/MX 3D (4Mb)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/334328822113

No idea about this particular laptop, but I've got Toshiba with S3, and it's doing awful scaling. The left one is GeForce 2 and the right one with S3.

vorob wrote on 2022-02-15, 11:01:

MAZter wrote on 2022-02-13, 22:55:

Tecra 780CDM is fine laptop for Dos gaming:
video: S3 Virge/MX 3D (4Mb)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/334328822113

No idea about this particular laptop, but I've got Toshiba with S3, and it's doing awful scaling. The left one is GeForce 2 and the right one with S3.

photo_2021-02-19_16-29-24.jpg

Hey Vorob, can u guide me a little ? A have an compaq evo n600c and i don.t know how to get the sound going for msdos game even in windows 98. How i can do that, i am a total noob, is there a special driver for audio? Thanx in advance.

I am also on this quest for a perfect DOS laptop... I have about 16 laptops now (at least half are ThinkPads)! Just when I think I've found the one I'll find it has poor audio or more normally, rubbish screen scaling.

SteveC wrote on 2022-03-09, 13:22:

I am also on this quest for a perfect DOS laptop... I have about 16 laptops now (at least half are ThinkPads)! Just when I think I've found the one I'll find it has poor audio or more normally, rubbish screen scaling.

The evo N600c ive got it for free, would be nice just to hear something, i am not that picky. 😀

And i.ve read before that Vorob managed to work the sound