that faint glow through the HDD caddy gives me good vibes

imi wrote on 2020-03-24, 17:48:

that faint glow through the HDD caddy gives me good vibes

Haha thanks. It is the glow from the LED on the IDE to CF adapter inside. 🤣

heh, is that the actual color, or just due to the heavy post processing?
almost looks like tungsten lighting or a heater inside... looks very industrial ^^

imi wrote on 2020-03-24, 19:17:

heh, is that the actual color, or just due to the heavy post processing?
almost looks like tungsten lighting or a heater inside... looks very industrial ^^

He said "fired up", so it was meant literally.

Easy bake oven.

gex85 wrote on 2020-03-24, 15:53:

appiah4 wrote on 2020-03-23, 20:58:

I installed OS/2 Warp 4 on my 1997 budget workstation build.

I thought about dedicating one of my retro boxes to OS/2 as well, so yesterday I gave it a try in a VirtualBox VM, which worked out surprisingly well.
Having never used that OS before, I wonder which version to install. Plain OS/2 Warp 4 or the updated 4.52? Hardware would most likely be some sort of Socket 7 system with anything from Pentium 166 MMX to K6-2 400.

I don't really know what my dad used to do on OS/2 at work, but I have very little memories of him using OS/2 at home. I suppose most of his work was big servers maintenance, as a system analyst. When I showed him an emulator for Apple IIe on my mac, he immediately wanted to have it installed on his mac too... 🤣. He was struck by some COBOL and FORTRAN nostalgia after that. OMG...

wiretap wrote on 2020-03-24, 17:46:

Got the Samtron fired up on the 8088.

SC-431VS?

Seems I've got the driver file still. There's a risk I kept the paper manual, but first rummage no luck. I probably stowed it somewhere creative.

imi wrote on 2020-03-24, 19:17:

heh, is that the actual color, or just due to the heavy post processing?
almost looks like tungsten lighting or a heater inside... looks very industrial ^^

There is post processing filters on the photo, but the LED inside the drive caddy is really close to that color of amber.

pewpewpew wrote on 2020-03-24, 20:30:

wiretap wrote on 2020-03-24, 17:46:

Got the Samtron fired up on the 8088.

SC-431VS?

Seems I've got the driver file still. There's a risk I kept the paper manual, but first rummage no luck. I probably stowed it somewhere creative.

It is a SC-431E II

Ah. I've failed twice then: don't have the paper manual -- found the remembered pile of pamphlets under the Osborne, in a disused steamer trunk. It did include amusements though, and I found some needed cables on the way.

Spent some time tonight getting both my 486 as complete as they can be awaiting parts. (Who knows when things will turn up now..)

Top one
486sx2 50mhz. 16MB Ram. 500mb HDD. Soundblaster 2.0. 4x CDROM. Windows 95.

To do list on this one: I am waiting for some cache chips to arrive from Israel and if I can get that working nicely I may replace the sx50 with a dx 66. I might also leave this one as dos 6.22 or windows 3.1. It will likely just be stored for occasional use once finished as its a bit beat on the top panel.

Bottom one
486dx4 100mhz. 16mb ram. 1GB CF HDD. (mounted in pci bracket which is amazing for transferring files over!) Yamaha MF-719. 48x creative CDROM and windows 95.

To do list on this one: This is my "dream" 486 build. Recreating my first PC. I need to obtain a working serial mouse as I am stuck with keyboard only right now. Add more RAM. I have bags full of memory to add so no reason not to have at least 32mb. Play games on it! 😉 I might also look into setting up the MHZ display but it looks daunting so I may also leave it. (Previous owner has cut some wires on it for unkown reasons.)

I also really need to look out for an ISA or VLB VGA card as both machines are sharing the same trident card right now.

LewisRaz wrote on 2020-03-25, 00:42:

Spent some time tonight getting both my 486 as complete as they can be awaiting parts. (Who knows when things will turn up now.. […]
Show full quote

Spent some time tonight getting both my 486 as complete as they can be awaiting parts. (Who knows when things will turn up now..)

Top one
486sx2 50mhz. 16MB Ram. 500mb HDD. Soundblaster 2.0. 4x CDROM. Windows 95.

Bottom one
486dx4 100mhz. 16mb ram. 1GB CF HDD. (mounted in pci bracket which is amazing for transferring files over!) Yamaha MF-719. 48x creative CDROM and windows 95.

I also really need to look out for an ISA or VLB VGA card as both machines are sharing the same trident card right now.
..But for now I have no job indefinetely so I can catch up on half finished projects. Or at least get them as complete as possible 😀

Nice looking systems ! I have a bunch of projects 1/2 to 3/4 done but am on the "essential" list so even though my hours are down still have to show up everyday just in case.

gex85 wrote on 2020-03-24, 15:53:

appiah4 wrote on 2020-03-23, 20:58:

I installed OS/2 Warp 4 on my 1997 budget workstation build.

I thought about dedicating one of my retro boxes to OS/2 as well, so yesterday I gave it a try in a VirtualBox VM, which worked out surprisingly well.
Having never used that OS before, I wonder which version to install. Plain OS/2 Warp 4 or the updated 4.52? Hardware would most likely be some sort of Socket 7 system with anything from Pentium 166 MMX to K6-2 400.

I'm not really qualified to answer questions about 4.52 as I never installed that directly but as far as I know Warp 4 updated to FixPack 15 is basically at the same kernel level as Warp 4.5 so I suppose directly instaling 4.52 should be a better idea for a newcomer..

Took my Sony PS1 (7502) that I bought new in 1998 out of storage to test it. Still works fine.

After that, I did the same with my second one, a 1002. Still working, too, but has no laser assembly installed, since the old one did break. Also, the lower part of the case is yellowed, while the upper part is not. Funny that they're apparently not made of the same plastics.

I finally got HWINFO 6.03 for DOS running on the Gateway 486, providing some much needed information on the motherboard chipset and video card.

I think I can upgrade that Cirrus Logic card to 2MB by adding sockets for more RAM but I'd probably be better off just getting a Mach64 or Trio64 instead.

You'll be better with a Trio64.

This also proves the only thing potentially stopping me from putting a DX4 in this board is the BIOS, as the chipset and the board itself support 3.3V chips.

Worked on my main daily system: delidded the 3770k and applied "liquid metal". For a moment I thought a Terminator would rise up from the perfect needlepin-sized sphere of quasi mercury that the syringe put on the die.

In all, I'm happy I did not kill the cpu, and as a bonus, the system runs a lot cooler and more stable at 4,5. So it keeps me from upgrading for another couple of years, especially now the wife has confiscated my 4K monitor for working at home.

Today I brought back to life my Pentium retro PC, since yesterday I broke it: Help needed, broken Socket 7 board BIOS

Well, my SLI cable came in today so i finally got that hooked up. Just out of curiosity, does it matter what direction i attach the cable?

Did some benchmarks and am actually getting a bit less then the rest. EX: 140fps in GLQuake compaired to the 170-something Phil got in his P2 450 video. Im using a P3 500. 384Mb of ram and a SB32. Quake 3 sough no benefits what so ever intrestingly. Or atleast very little other than going up a res without impacting FPS

Not sure if thats just an affect of having 8mb cards, or the ISA SB is hogging up cpu. But my results are still about double what i was getting on a single card so, yay 😀

Next up is to chuck a 800mhz in there and maybe a Audigey 2.

Also grabbed ahold of a REAALLY nice complete P1 150mhz system, with a AT case! It has a mhz-display too! For $82 shipped. Ahhh, im so excited!
Iv never had a proper AT case before! Dunno if im gonna keep it a P1 or shove a 5x86 in there tho.
Im trying to restrict my retro computers to just 2. One for the mid-to-late stuff (P3 build) and another for fast Win3.1/everything earlier.

I'l post some pictures of it when it arrives 😀