Displaced Gamers
@displacedgamers
Super nerdy YouTube videos about gaming, computers, and more. Maybe I will post more about old computers here. Hmm.
It took a long time to have the right equipment to scale and capture low resolution, VGA output from my old computers... But I think I am finally there. I still have tweaking to do, but perhaps I can finally make the video I have wanted to make for years.
Mystique in Windows 95 up CD-ROM tray fixed Things are getting real
😬 So these bad sectors were already there, but this Fujitsu HDD’s condition puts me at a crossroads. Different drive or just continue? Perhaps I will continue the build with it and then pivot to @polpo.org’s PicoIDE when it arrives! Looks like I have a retro candidate for it now.
So far: I hooked up a CF reader and flashed the BIOS to a custom one from Jan Steunebrink. So thankful!! CR2032 replaced. Current cooling for processor has glued itself to the CPU. Will probably try to twist or gently pry it off, clean old thermal paste, and reapply. Also… clean. Dust = boo.
Probably going to stick with the Fujitsu spinning rust for now. 6GB, maybe? The previous user had it dual-booting Ubuntu and Win 98. I am going to repartition and reformat to Win 95. (Did it hurt to read that sentence?) The CD-ROM drive is by AOpen. The “A” in “AOpen” stands for “Will NOT.”
Current video card is an AGP S3 Savage something. It will be pulled for the PCI Mystique. The sound card is an ISA Analog Devices something. I’ve nicknamed it “Dust Wall” for now. This will be replaced with a Creative Labs Sound Blaster 32.
The system is DUSTY. I bought it at an estate sale and have stored it in a garage for 10 years. The PSU is AT, and mobo is a hybrid! AT or ATX? Since the current case is AT, we stick with that. Not spending money on this one (yet?). Hey Canada - do you have China PSUs with a Maple Leaf on them?
Ok! Started work on the Matrox Mystique “too fast” build…. I dunno. It has a 333 MHz K6-2 processor. The Mystique had a clown on the box and came with Mechwarrior 2, so I am calling this one “ClownWarrior” right now. 🤡 Mystique not pictured yet, ironically. Here is the current state 🧵:
I can’t believe this VLB card fell into my lap. Really excited to own it and use it.
Been wanting to do this mixer upgrade for years. Have a 4U rack to assemble for mounting. In the meantime…
Got a new toy! Let’s check out this EISA board once again. No video. No POST codes. Draws power of 26 watts, and the chips warm up. The toastiest one is… a PAL chip? What is this for? It warmed up 7 degrees C over a few minutes (but not to “hot hot” levels) Hmm. What next?
The jumpers are set. The timings are tight. It is time to kick this 486 system into...
Why won’t this processor drop into the socket? Wait… what is going on with this pin?
I can’t even… Univbe + S3 805 VLB card… what are y’all DOING? Is this a race? My LCD monitor sees what the scope sees and is displaying the following message: LOLNO
I don’t know if there is a reward for dumbest retro pc endeavor on youtube, but I might be aiming for it.
Well... If you want to have this type of discussion, the Super Nintendo version is the visually superior version of Prince of Persia.
Low lighting in the room, a CRT, and some DOS gaming. Photos cannot do this setup justice.
VLB VGA card #4 arrived. Trident 9440. With jumper set to <= 33 MHz, DOOM and Quake froze at launch, sadly. I jumpered to > 33, and everything was stable. My motherboard has some really tight settings from using the Cirrus Logic, so I may relax those and jumper back to <= 33 at next opportunity.
Found this while cleaning out the basement at a family member’s house. Any of my computer buddies here on bsky use one before?
Well, it is time for that once every five years cleaning, I suppose.
Oh yeah. No microscope used. Take that. Image artifacting after maybe 8 tests, though. Fan sounds like it is destroying itself, and there are capacitors hanging off the card, but you know… (I guess I need a 1500uf with… something voltage rating. Or a full recap. Need a decoder for that writing)
One day you just mind your business. Next day… you acquire an engraving tool and grind down RAM on an AGP video card.
Thrilling performance! 3.5/5 capacitors! Would benchmark again!