TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[stinger608]

As for the driver database, you might want to check this out: http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/index.php?catid=7

Awesome driver site bro!!! I included that on the original post with reference to you for sharing it.

 

[Trekkie4]

No prob, you're welcome This is where I found my own drivers, also downloaded image(s) & burned them to a CD so that I can have them installed the right way. Don't really remember at this point, but some of those discs even come with promotional games & shareware

In any case be sure to check out the entire Vogons database, they have drivers for just about all major (retro) brands & their products.

 

[Mr.Scott]

Have been a Vogon's member for a while. I pretty much assumed most of you retro guys were.

 

[Trekkie4]

Likewise, exactly. Look me up @Trekkie4 just like here

 

[P4-630]

You mean one of these?

I had a sony walkman as well , one with mega-bass and a great headphone, what a sound, I loved it!

Unfortunately I don't have it anymore and I can't find it on google, I had a black one (without radio) 2 equalizers in an angle on it.

 

[Trekkie4]

I had a sony walkman as well , one with mega-bass and a great headphone, what a sound, I loved it!

Unfortunately I don't have it anymore and I can't find it on google, I had a black one (without radio) 2 equalizers in an angle on it.

Right, you told me it was the Sony one, which is why I posted the pic I'm afraid I don't have that one, but I still might find it some day (in which case I'll upload the pic here at TPU) Apart from old computer hardware & VCRs, I also have a "fetish" for walkmans & HiFi cassette deck components.

 

[P4-630]

Right, you told me it was the Sony one, which is why I posted the pic I'm afraid I don't have that one, but I still might find it some day (in which case I'll upload the pic here at TPU) Apart from old computer hardware & VCRs, I also have a "fetish" for walkmans & HiFi cassette deck components.

I was searching for a "sony walkman archive", but it seems there isn't really one with all models made.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

I was searching for a "sony walkman archive", but it seems there isn't really one with all models made.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/1/5861062/sony-walkman-at-35

 

[Trekkie4]

I wouldn't know about that, as I'm not into professional collecting for the sake of having every model, more like having a little bit of each (generation)

Here, take a look... Unisef Z-10 is the oldest one I got, followed by Panasonic & previously-mentioned Sony. I also have the Sanyo one in the background, which is still inside the original box & never used before. It's not exactly sealed up, it was powered on & tested (at least once, if not more) but otherwise in mint condition!

They're all operational & capable of playing tapes with the exception of Panasonic which (even though it plays) makes a horrible racket due to running larger belt which rubs against the plastic frame. I already talked about this issue before, it's impossible to find direct replacement nowdays, so it's a big deal to just have (and keep) it in working condition!


Edit
Good one, @CAPSLOCKSTUCK! I'd love to get my hands on one of those older, auto-reverse units!

 

[AsRock]

Dam those SONY Walkmans were made so cheap back then lol, clip together crap.

 

[AsRock]

Speaking of Creative before they went to crap.

 

[Trekkie4]

Agreed! If you ask me, Live! (5.1) is the way to go for when you're building a retro gaming rig. They're cheap, mostly very easy to find & deliver high audio performance, along with backwards DOS compatibility for older games.

 

[AsRock]

Agreed! If you ask me, Live! (5.1) is the way to go for when you're building a retro gaming rig. They're cheap, mostly very easy to find & deliver high audio performance, along with backwards DOS compatibility for older games.

Thinking about it, did Creative actually make any thing of there own ?, as i remember regardless how good those cards worked back them were they not using Yamaha chips and maybe various other company chips ?, in fact did they not buy one of these company's out which was about the time shit hit the fan.

 

[biffzinker]

Agreed! If you ask me, Live! (5.1) is the way to go for when you're building a retro gaming rig. They're cheap, mostly very easy to find & deliver high audio performance, along with backwards DOS compatibility for older games.

If I'd known that I would of considered hanging on to it. It's long gone now though, ah well.

 

[biffzinker]

Thinking about it, did Creative actually make any thing of there own ?, as i remember regardless how good those cards worked back them were they not using Yamaha chips and maybe various other company chips ?, in fact did they not buy one of these company's out which was about the time shit hit the fan.

You referring to the takeover of Ensoniq by Creative?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensoniq

Edit: Aureal Semiconductor?

Edit2: The first Soundblaster card used Yamaha YM3812 chip.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Technology_Limited

 

[Trekkie4]

Thinking about it, did Creative actually make any thing of there own ?, as i remember regardless how good those cards worked back them were they not using Yamaha chips and maybe various other company chips ?, in fact did they not buy one of these company's out which was about the time shit hit the fan.

Yeah, it all started with SoundBlaster 16 (I think?), and they've been kinda adding to it ever since. The only (worthy) opponent of SoundBlaster series was Aureal with their Vortex & Vortex2 cards, featuring A3D 3D acceleration. In fact, apparently they've been too good for Creative & posed too much threat to their products, which is why Creative had them destroyed & closed down Almost like the 3dfx & nVidia, except nVidia was at least "kind" enough to implement some of their technology into their products, they even hired some of the engineers from the 3dfx development team.

Edit
@biffzinker Is already ahead of me

Edit2
(AFAIK) the EAX technology wasn't based off the Aureal A3D technology in any way. They didn't want to do it just for the sake of proving themselves, even though Vortex2 & A3D was far more superior than Creative & their EAX - according to many users.

If I'd known that I would of considered hanging on to it. It's long gone now though, ah well.

Nah, it's all good. Like I said in the previous post, there's a whole bunch of these cards around, and are mostly very cheap. 2, maybe 3 USD top!

 

[Trekkie4]

Last-minute change of plans before I begin my RetroMaster 2000 upgrade project. Instead of going with single 80GB Seagate hard drive, I've decided to use two hard drives instead, featuring single 40GB Seagate drive for DOS & Windows 98 and the other, previously mentioned 80GB one for XP. Of course, the 80GB drive will be formatted in NTFS file system, meaning it'll be inaccessible from W98 & DOS environment.

Full system specs (and upgrades) are down below:

CPU: AMD Athlon 1800+ (stays the same, might OC it though)
MBO: ASRock K7VT2 (will be upgraded for Asus A7V8X-X)
RAM: Matching pair of 2x 256MB DDR400 (stays the same*, but due to the new mobo it will run at full speed instead of 266, as it did on K7VT2 board)
GPU1: GeForce4 Ti4200 (stays the same)
GPU2: 3dfx Voodoo2 1000, 12MB (stays the same)
GPU3: 3dfx Voodoo2 1000, 12MB (stays the same)
HDD: Maxtor 40GB Slim (will be swapped for matching pair of Seagate drives, 80+40GB configuration)
FDD: Will be added, since it never had one before
ODD: The old unit is finally going out, will be replaced by matching pair of two Pioneer DVD-RW drives

(*)I considered to upgrade the RAM on this thing, but after taking some time to think about this & talking to other folks, I've decided against it. First of all, the existing RAM, 512MB DDR266 will now run become DDR400 due to the new motherboard & speed increase. Therefore I'm already (kinda) upgrading the RAM & should see some improvement in this area. Second - I've been told that Windows 98 has a weird memory limitation problem. As soon as you hit 1GB mark, you get random memory-related issues & other crap going on, since W98 wasn't designed to operate (or even recognize) more than 512MB of memory. Apparently there's a patch of some sort, but it's not worth it. I also completely forgot about DOS ... some games (if not most of them) will have serious issues with this amount of RAM, so it's going to spoil the entire RetroMaster concept, which is to have 3 generations (platforms) of retro-gaming, all inside one system. So yeah, not worth it! Besides, 512MB is far more than I need for 99.9% of the games which I have, except maybe for Half-Life 2 which tends to lag a bit. But hey, you can't have everything - right?

 

[AsRock]

I was upgrading to 20-30GB drives around 2002. I have a Seagate that has a earth wire to it lol.

 

[Trekkie4]

I was upgrading to 20-30GB drives around 2002. I have a Seagate that has a earth wire to it lol.

Oh man, I love those Quantum Fireball drives! I still have mine from back in a day, capacity was (is) 6.4GB

And yes, both my Seagate drives are just like yours, Barracudas but it doesn't have any grounding wires, seriously what's with that?! lol I just don't see the point of grounding HDD, since it's already in direct physical contact with the metal case frame & has 4 metal screws which are screwed into the HDD itself. Therefore it's grounded (at least) 4 times, if not also through the actual contact between the case & HDD base (but being a painted surface, it might not be conductive, don't know)

 

[biffzinker]

Full system specs (and upgrades) are down below:

CPU: AMD Athlon 1800+ (stays the same, might OC it though)

FDD: Will be added, since it never had one before

AMD Athlon XP 1800+? That was the first Socket A CPU I had. Think I had it installed in a Abit mobo with a VIA KT266A chipset (Abit KR7A-RAID.)

Instead of a floppy drive how about a Floppy Drive to USB Flash Drive?

Edit: Found some 3.5" 1.44MB Foppy Disks for sale on Amazon located in the UK for $11.98 + $4.99 shipping.
Amazon

 

[Trekkie4]

AMD Athlon XP 1800+? That was the first Socket A CPU I had. Think I had installed in a Abit mobo with a VIA KT266A chipset (Abit KR7A-RAID.)

Instead of a floppy drive how about a Floppy Drive to USB Flash Drive?

Yes, sorry. Athlon XP 1800+, running @ 1533MHz Fast enough to keep up with "modern" titles such as Half Life 2, NFS Underground & GTA San Andreas, yet slow enough to be compatible with Voodoo2 cards, even DOS.

No, it has to be real floppy because I got loads of those laying around, and (let's face it) you can't have a retro system without the FDD. From driver installations, to various files & Office documents, Glide Patches, etc. The list goes on & on, so I'm definitely going with 1.44MB, 3.5" unit. I still have the USB support though, for both W98 and XP. I'm running unofficial Mass Storage driver for W98, and have the front USB (2.0) on the case hooked up so all I have to do is plug the thumb drive (or external HDD) & it works!

 

[Recon-UK]

I don't know much about MAC's besides their gorgeous build quality and awesome screens...

This was a cool video to watch.

 

[Trekkie4]

Holy crap, this thing weights a ton! But wow, it's absolutely gorgeous inside! And I'm not even a fan of Apple products, never had iMac or even iPhone! I do have iPod Touch, but that's a whole other story (and it's rotting inside my desk drawer, with dead battery)

On a side note, I really would like to own iMac G3, but only if I could actually find one in mint condition, for decent price...

Edit
Check this one out:

 

[Recon-UK]

LGR is awesome been subbed to him for ages

 

[AsRock]

As much as i hate Apple i do like the build quality for the most part.

Oh man, I love those Quantum Fireball drives! I still have mine from back in a day, capacity was (is) 6.4GB

And yes, both my Seagate drives are just like yours, Barracudas but it doesn't have any grounding wires, seriously what's with that?! lol I just don't see the point of grounding HDD, since it's already in direct physical contact with the metal case frame & has 4 metal screws which are screwed into the HDD itself. Therefore it's grounded (at least) 4 times, if not also through the actual contact between the case & HDD base (but being a painted surface, it might not be conductive, don't know)

Well you had to ask so, try not to mistake it for a rock. From when PC building was fun, and apparently still worth some thing . O yeah thats 1.6 inches thick with a whopping 162MB.

Yup and still works.