No pics because it was at work, but I cracked the case on our P-133 system that runs our gamma spectrometer today to clean it and see if I need an adapter cable to power a Compact Flash -> IDE adapter that I plan to order to as a replacement/spare for the ancient 1.6 GB HDD. I will need an adapter cable, but I also just realized that I may need to check to see whether this thing will even SUPPORT a hard drive that large; it's currently running Windows 95, so odds are that it doesn't support FAT32 unless I can upgrade it to OSR2. This project just keeps getting bigger and bigger!

PcBytes wrote on 2024-08-13, 16:30:

If you mean the disc brand, nope. It had a weird Raxon brand on it.

Was saying CDR without saying CDR 😀 I knew what your FCKGW... meant, and that was funny.

I imaged and archived my (Not "Better working brand"!) Version of Spinnaker Software's Eight-In-One office software on 5.25" 360k floppies. I haven't seen that particular version pop up anywhere so I did my duty and learned how to use DSKIMAGE to get it taken care of and uploaded. Not reaaaalllyyy retro, but my 286 did the job so it deserves the credit.

For what computer? Iirc I had Better Working Assembler for the Commie 64.

iraito wrote on 2024-08-13, 14:42:

I'm finishing up the last 2 pieces for my P2/awe64/voodoo2/matrox g200 PC case.
This is the one I spent more time working on and the last 2 pieces are finally painted decently.

Still drying but it was totally worth it.

Very nice! But you should apply a coat of varnish or lac on it.

dominusprog wrote on 2024-08-15, 14:43:

iraito wrote on 2024-08-13, 14:42:

I'm finishing up the last 2 pieces for my P2/awe64/voodoo2/matrox g200 PC case.
This is the one I spent more time working on and the last 2 pieces are finally painted decently.

Still drying but it was totally worth it.

Very nice! But you should apply a coat of varnish or lac on it.

I did and now the system is complete.
Everything works but the damn CD drive, it can read CD audios and I can listen to Redbook tracks but most other CDs can't be read, for some reason it can read some games but it's unreliable.

iraito wrote on 2024-08-15, 15:59:

dominusprog wrote on 2024-08-15, 14:43:

iraito wrote on 2024-08-13, 14:42:

I'm finishing up the last 2 pieces for my P2/awe64/voodoo2/matrox g200 PC case.
This is the one I spent more time working on and the last 2 pieces are finally painted decently.

Still drying but it was totally worth it.

Very nice! But you should apply a coat of varnish or lac on it.

I did and now the system is complete.
Everything works but the damn CD drive, it can read CD audios and I can listen to Redbook tracks but most other CDs can't be read, for some reason it can read some games but it's unreliable.

That looks great! Have you considered adding an LED behind that cutout? I think that would look cool in a dark room.

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-08-15, 22:47:

iraito wrote on 2024-08-15, 15:59:

dominusprog wrote on 2024-08-15, 14:43:

Very nice! But you should apply a coat of varnish or lac on it.

I did and now the system is complete.
Everything works but the damn CD drive, it can read CD audios and I can listen to Redbook tracks but most other CDs can't be read, for some reason it can read some games but it's unreliable.

That looks great! Have you considered adding an LED behind that cutout? I think that would look cool in a dark room.

Uhm It would be a good idea, gimme time and I will try.

Dug these out while visiting my parents:

Other than a rather stiff rocker wheel, the detachable USB drive works fine when inserted to a computer, but the battery compartment couldn't power it up when equipped with an AAA zinc-carbon battery; it needed a Sanyo / Panasonic eneloop battery (1.2V) or an alkali battery to provide sufficient current. Strangely enough, using it with a power bank requires the latter with "low current mode" (for charging smart watches / wristbands) so the power bank wouldn't turn itself off after 30 seconds or so.

Good thing that Creative still has its updated firmware and driver online; will update its driver a while later. It will be a useful USB drive for Win98SE as well.

Getting started on this funny thing ... I think it shipped with XP or maybe

Iv'e given it a fresh Win7 install, which I at some point accepted to upgrade to W10 (back when it was a "free" upgrade from 7 - let aside all the data Microsoft got to own 🤣 )

So now, time for next change ... *fingers crossed*

Edit: Apparently it's not enough to ask it not to check SecureBoot, TPM or CPUCompatibility ... Then what ...?

Been tinkering with an ABIT IS7 board i've picked up half a year ago or so. Put a 3Ghz p4 on it and mounted a (brand new!) northbridge fan because the old one rattles. New paste and ran a test and it posts and seems to run ok .. but noisy though. The CPU could use some aftermarket cooling.

Now i have 2 questions .. what temps should i be seeing from this stock cooler (one with copper core). Is +-45°C normal on idle in bios? Any thought on period correct aftermarket cooling?

Also what graphics card would one run in this? I have a X850XT but i was planning on using this in a S939 setup with a 4000+. Other than that i have 2 3850's but these don't suit the build i guess. I understand it all depends on what my use case is and how much money i want to throw at it but i wonder what people would have run on these boards back in the day when building a high end system with this board.

Made a small adjustment to my AST setup's configuration since so many people commented on the position of the power switches. Also testing my new Multitech 33.6k modem.

oldhighgerman wrote on 2024-08-15, 05:46:

For what computer? Iirc I had Better Working Assembler for the Commie 64.

PS/2, PC, XT, AT, compatibles, works perfectly on a 286 as well.

As for what I did today, Played a bit of Pools of Radiance after installing it to the C drive and also copying it to a Zip 100 for an additional backup, since you never know with old 5.25" floppies.

I started the day with a bit of hybrid retro-ing. I became overjoyed when I picked up a stack of BigFoots (CY, TS, AND TX) and wanted to make a face for them. I've used spare drive adapter faces before and they work, so I threw one into the clone-o-matic and BAM! Faces for everyone! 🤣 It just needs a standoff (fine thread standard hex works) in the face hole and it lines up perfectly. I left a LED hole for asthetics, but *should fit the old-timey square guys. If anyone has other solutions for facing Bigfoots, let me know, too!

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-08-17, 14:20:

I started the day with a bit of hybrid retro-ing. I became overjoyed when I picked up a stack of BigFoots (CY, TS, AND TX) and wanted to make a face for them. I've used spare drive adapter faces before and they work, so I threw one into the clone-o-matic and BAM! Faces for everyone! 🤣 It just needs a standoff (fine thread standard hex works) in the face hole and it lines up perfectly. I left a LED hole for asthetics, but *should fit the old-timey square guys. If anyone has other solutions for facing Bigfoots, let me know, too!

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The attachment 20240817_091902.jpg is no longer available

You must put all the big foots in one PC write data to all of them at once, recording the beautiful noises.

iraito wrote on 2024-08-15, 15:59:

I did and now the system is complete.
Everything works but the damn CD drive, it can read CD audios and I can listen to Redbook tracks but most other CDs can't be read, for some reason it can read some games but it's unreliable.

I haven't encountered that exact combination before, but it's commonplace in the vintage mac community, where the drives are often more proprietary, for the optical drives to have flaky compatibility because, even if you don't use them, laser diodes also slowly go bad with age and one symptom of that process in progress is that, for example, they struggle more with burned discs than factory-pressed ones.

I'd try grabbing a $30 SATA DVD rewriter and one of the appropriate variant of those $3 Aliexpress SATA-PATA converter boards and sticking a new optical drive in it. (Both prices in Canadian Dollars, so I assume they'd be 70% of that amount in USD.)

(The rate they go bad varies. I've got a hand-me-down HP prebuilt from 2012 and its drive is already more or less dead and I've also got a Power Mac G4 Quicksilver 2002 where the replacement drive I put into it was an actual PATA DVD rewriter I pulled from a PC in the closet.)

I tested a few cpu's. Just a quick 3dmark99 run + Q2 timedemo.
3x Cel466 (same stepping, HMM..)
3x Cel633
P3-800EB and P3-1000 (133FSB)

I still have a few AMD cpu's that need testing, as well as a couple Pentiums (120, 166 etc). Oh and two slotkets.

Updating the firmware of that MuVo TX FM was like riding a rollercoaster. 😵

Installed that firmware updater on my MSI U100; files of the updater were of 2005-7 vintage so I assumed it would be better to perform the update under WinXP. The updater asked me to install "Player Recovery" and I complied. Asked me to restart the system; fine for me. System restarted just as usual.

Then the tiny LCD screen of MuVo (connected to the USB) suddenly shut off. 😖

I pulled MuVo out and reinserted into USB, and WinXP gave me "device connected" sound, immediately followed by "device disconnected" sound. I connected MuVo to my modern system. Same result. The drive / volume no longer appeared in This PC or Disk Management. Crap. 😠

Was it a failed firmware update attempt or a hardware failure? I didn't know. It's not a big loss but I still felt uncomfortable so I fired up the updater again. Suddenly the tiny LCD lit up. 😕

New firmware version: 1.24.02
Current firmware version: 0.00.00 ?!?!

So it was a failed flashing; I shouldn't leave MuVo connected before the updater had been fully installed and functional. The second flashing attempt was successful. Whew. 😄

Now the system feels a bit snappier (faster startup and more responsive menu actions) but the total capacity decreased ~20MB. All radio stations were reset as well. 😅

ssokolow wrote on 2024-08-18, 09:06:

I haven't encountered that exact combination before, but it's commonplace in the vintage mac community, where the drives are oft […]
Show full quote

iraito wrote on 2024-08-15, 15:59:

I did and now the system is complete.
Everything works but the damn CD drive, it can read CD audios and I can listen to Redbook tracks but most other CDs can't be read, for some reason it can read some games but it's unreliable.

I haven't encountered that exact combination before, but it's commonplace in the vintage mac community, where the drives are often more proprietary, for the optical drives to have flaky compatibility because, even if you don't use them, laser diodes also slowly go bad with age and one symptom of that process in progress is that, for example, they struggle more with burned discs than factory-pressed ones.

I'd try grabbing a $30 SATA DVD rewriter and one of the appropriate variant of those $3 Aliexpress SATA-PATA converter boards and sticking a new optical drive in it. (Both prices in Canadian Dollars, so I assume they'd be 70% of that amount in USD.)

(The rate they go bad varies. I've got a hand-me-down HP prebuilt from 2012 and its drive is already more or less dead and I've also got a Power Mac G4 Quicksilver 2002 where the replacement drive I put into it was an actual PATA DVD rewriter I pulled from a PC in the closet.)

For this reason I will probably use MACSD in the future, if it wasn't that expensive I would get one for at least 5 of my machines.

iraito wrote on 2024-08-19, 08:19:

For this reason I will probably use MACSD in the future, if it wasn't that expensive I would get one for at least 5 of my machines.

Ouch. That's a high premium over the GBSCSI, just to get CD Audio support.