TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[Courier 6]

P3 / Windows 98 build progressing nicely:
View attachment 240708

* P3-S 1266 / Voodoo 3000 / Aureal Vortex 2

heh yes, voodoo 3 3000, recognized it because of the heatsink, still have mine back from the day, have a 2000 too

 

[MaxiPro800]

Slowly bringing my old P2B build on track.

Replaced the 20GB HDD with a 40GB WDC, installed an Audigy 2 ZS and installed 2000 SP4 as well. There's still some more stuff to do but hopefully I'll get it running fine in no time.

 

[Greenslade]

I got Windows7 on my dual boot of XP.Yesterday it said there were updates.I was surprised at that .But today i tried it and my Pal browser said this is an unsafe site and was unable to get off it.I put AVG on there and it said my date was wrong.The scan did not find anything. AVG says *Please update your computer, s time to prevent security.*The next bit made me laugh,*And time travelling issues* I don,t know about you lot on here ,but i would love to go time traverling.Your all Retro in here so i guess you would to.It says on the os* this copy of Windows is not genuine*build 7601 .It did not say it was on the Internet Archive archive.org if i new that i would not have used it.The date and time says 27.05.19.Has anyone had that message of the anti virus *Time traverling* It got the right time itself and doing a lot of updates . I have home premium 7 on two official discs and the keys but could not get them to work on my latest PC. This one is os Home basic.

 

[RyzenMaster.sys]

Got an XP laptop finally! It's a Dell Latitude D620 that cost me a whopping $25 locally. This one was specced with a 1.6ghz Core 2 Duo, 1.5gb ram, and GMA950. It came with a battery, charger, and HDD mounting hardware, but no HDD itself.

It does work, even the battery which appears to be a third party replacement. The condition is a little more grim than the photos looked like, so I have some work to do.

The screen is in good shape, but the hinge on the right side is rattly and the screen is loose overall. The trackpad is very worn, but the keyboard is in good shape. It appears to need a CMOS battery given the message you can see vaguely on screen. Overall the machine is decent but the keyboard etc are quite dirty. It is going to take a lot of tlc but I think this should be a nice laptop when all is said and done.

 

[QuietBob]

The date and time says 27.05.19.Has anyone had that message of the anti virus *Time traverling* It got the right time itself and doing a lot of updates .

When you enter the BIOS, does it display the correct date and time? If not - and you're sure that you set it previously - it could be a failing CMOS battery.

 

[RyzenMaster.sys]

Looking like the Latitude is not going to be an easy restoration... Sigh...

Starting out positive, the exterior cleaned up okay. I got a lot of gunk off and wiped it all down. The keyboard is still a bit dirty but mostly clean now. Overall exterior looks decent all things considered. Also good, the ram under the keyboard is a Quimonda 512mb stick I assume is factory, but the ram under the door in back is a nice G.skill 1g stick that presumably was an upgrade at some point.

The screen is in very nice shape and I quite like the keyboard feel. A lot of travel.

The bad:

The CMOS battery measures 0.15v, so I'll have to replace that. But it's got leads soldered to it and plugs into ard through a cable, so that's not straightforward.

I helped make the right hinge less wobbly by just tightening screws, but the plastic of the left one is physically broken and the screen falls flat at random because of this...
There is also some corrosion on the bottom of the keyboard and additionally some elsewhere on the chassis. Not horrible, but I think liquid was spilled here at least once.

But the worst part is when I try to actually use it. I figured the battery was dead and wasn't alarmed when it didn't turn on. When I reseated the battery it turner on for the photo in the first post. But it turns out giving and cutting power is the only way for this to turn on. The power button does nothing. When given power most of the time it will power on and give the message shown earlier. From here, usually no keys do anything. One or 2 times I got into the bios by pressing f2 on a USB keyboard, but usually it's just frozen and won't even let me do that. Sometimes it gets stuck on the bios screen and doesn't even get to the CMOS error. The power button does nothing to turn the pc on or off, I just have to cut power and give it back. If I leave the battery in, the PC will turn on and off randomly every few minutes. I've tried switching around ram, removing the wifi card, etc. No avail. The PC won't turn on at all without a keyboard, and when keyboard is connected it immediately turns on, making me think something might be bridged, possibly by corrosion.

I'm going to have to do further investigation and troubleshooting. If anyone has ideas I'm all ears.

 

[Greenslade]

When you enter the BIOS, does it display the correct date and time? If not - and you're sure that you set it previously - it could be a failing CMOS battery.

I just checked it and it is all fine.When Windows7 did the update it shut down ,and went back to the proper time.I thought Windows 7 was not longer being up dated. I see that the 27.5.19 was still in the update period and the last update should have been 14 January 2020.It is a shame
i can,t get the key for it though, because that was the only one i could get everything to work on Windows 7.I tried many iso files.Mind you it keeps on doing updates when i shut i down 50 updates.

 

[Athlonite]

I just checked it and it is all fine.When Windows7 did the update it shut down ,and went back to the proper time.I thought Windows 7 was not longer being up dated. I see that the 27.5.19 was still in the update period and the last update should have been 14 January 2020.It is a shame
i can,t get the key for it though, because that was the only one i could get everything to work on Windows 7.I tried many iso files.Mind you it keeps on doing updates when i shut i down 50 updates.

If you use AIDA64 and then go to the section: Motherboard / ACPI you may get lucky and drag it out from there some laptop makers used to store a key in there

 

[lexluthermiester]

Got an XP laptop finally! It's a Dell Latitude D620 that cost me a whopping $25 locally. This one was specced with a 1.6ghz Core 2 Duo, 1.5gb ram, and GMA950. It came with a battery, charger, and HDD mounting hardware, but no HDD itself.

It does work, even the battery which appears to be a third party replacement. The condition is a little more grim than the photos looked like, so I have some work to do.

For $25, that's a score! Slap in 2x2GB sodimms(cheap on ebay), an inexpensive 2.5" SSD and you have a solid portable.

The screen is in good shape, but the hinge on the right side is rattly and the screen is loose overall.

That is likely the hinge screws having come loose. That the top part of the base off and the screen bezel and tighten them up. You should be good to go!

It appears to need a CMOS battery given the message you can see vaguely on screen.

Those are dead cheap and easy to replace.

 

[RyzenMaster.sys]

I wish it was only lose but this one is is broken.

 

[lexluthermiester]

View attachment 240837View attachment 240838
I wish it was only lose but this one is is broken.

Oh wow! Don't see that very often. Replacements should be inexpensive. Presuming you're stateside;

Dell D620 D630 Hinges For Lids Jd104 Yt450 (tu507) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Dell D620 D630 Hinges For Lids Jd104 Yt450 (tu507) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

If you're not in the US, you can likely still find them for a good price, and if you've got that far into taking apart the system, you can see they're not difficult to replace.

 

[RyzenMaster.sys]

I am in the US. I'll save that listing thanks.

I'll buy that if I end up fixing the system and making it operate properly. First I'm thinking remove the mobo and clean it.

Luckily replacement boards are dirt cheap if that's what it comes too, keyboards are even less.

Dell Latitude D620 Laptop Intel Motherboard NVIDIA Gk189 Tested for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Dell Latitude D620 Laptop Intel Motherboard NVIDIA Gk189 Tested at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[Courier 6]

View attachment 240837View attachment 240838
I wish it was only lose but this one is is broken.

Maybe some superglue or JB weld could fix that, no?

 

[RyzenMaster.sys]

I don't think that I can just glue/epoxy it because the metal is constantly pressing on it. But I can try.

Another idea:

A different seller is selling this for $25 locally too. No battery or charger. It's a core duo machine with 2gb ram. Don't know if the motherboard would be work with the core 2 duo? I'm sure some other parts would interchange. Could take 2 laptops and make 1 good one.

 

[Courier 6]

I have a IBM thinkpad 560 Type 2640, it works without issues, but no USB or CD drive, can´t do anything with it realy

 

[lexluthermiester]

Maybe some superglue or JB weld could fix that, no?

No. That would not work. The pressures involved in a hinge are far more than SuperGlue or JBWeld can handle. It would just end up being a mess.

Don't know if the motherboard would be work with the core 2 duo?

Yes, it would. Make sure the BIOS is updated and the C2D should work perfectly.

 

[RyzenMaster.sys]

When I got it, the right hinge was incredibly wobbly because the screw was very loose. I think having no support on the right was what lead to the left hinge's demise. I tightened the right hinge screw and that's pretty tight and not wobbly anymore but the screen basically rotates freely and won't stay in any position because of that.

 

[lexluthermiester]

When I got it, the right hinge was incredibly wobbly because the screw was very loose. I think having no support on the right was what lead to the left hinge's demise. I tightened the right hinge screw and that's pretty tight and not wobbly anymore but the screen basically rotates freely and won't stay in any position because of that.

Sounds about right. Easy to recover though. That second system should offer a good set of spare parts or as a base to put parts unto.

 

[Greenslade]

If you use AIDA64 and then go to the section: Motherboard / ACPI you may get lucky and drag it out from there some laptop makers used to store a key in there

No it want because it is a Haswell machine ,it came with Windows 8.I will have to try again with another Iso.If it keeps on doing the same updates it will fill the space of the disc.It takes me back to when some one repaired my first Pc many years ago ,and put a non genuine Windows on there.I did think that it was odd that someone who repaires Pc.s would do that. When i qua-rid him about it he said he put Norton on there for no extra charge.I think we all agree Norton is not good.

 

[Dinnercore]

Testing the MIIG (https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/tpus-nostalgic-hardware-club.108251/page-533#post-4720644) was a handful. Seems the mATX layout plus late release with little support from Asus did it no good in terms of OC.
It did not even run 400 FSB with auto GTLs, and the problem became quickly apparent. The MCH reference line was impossible to get really stable, signal integrity is horrible on this board. With some tweaking I got 480 stable. With extreme tweaking and hours of playing with it I got a single 32m pass at 535, but this result was not reproducible. I got it to boot at 560, but it always freezes within 2 seconds. Higher VTT (1.24V+) makes it even more unstable. NB voltage does absolutely nothing. Impossible to boot this board with even just 1.3V VTT due to the signal quality issue. Like it literally stops working even below 400 FSB.

But in reality the ~500 FSB is still plenty for a normal setup. Air or water OC for a neat LAN-System is no issue.

Funny enough this E8500 is the hottest one I have. I actually ran into thermal issues with my water setup at around 1.5V and I had to disable LLC. With vdroop it hit 65°C core temps under load @ 1.40V. 230W system power draw. It has a 1.1V VID. Clocks okay but it stops scaling at around 4.8GHz / 1.4V.

 

[Bones]

Testing the MIIG (https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/tpus-nostalgic-hardware-club.108251/page-533#post-4720644) was a handful. Seems the mATX layout plus late release with little support from Asus did it no good in terms of OC.
It did not even run 400 FSB with auto GTLs, and the problem became quickly apparent. The MCH reference line was impossible to get really stable, signal integrity is horrible on this board. With some tweaking I got 480 stable. With extreme tweaking and hours of playing with it I got a single 32m pass at 535, but this result was not reproducible. I got it to boot at 560, but it always freezes within 2 seconds. Higher VTT (1.24V+) makes it even more unstable. NB voltage does absolutely nothing. Impossible to boot this board with even just 1.3V VTT due to the signal quality issue. Like it literally stops working even below 400 FSB.

But in reality the ~500 FSB is still plenty for a normal setup. Air or water OC for a neat LAN-System is no issue.


Funny enough this E8500 is the hottest one I have. I actually ran into thermal issues with my water setup at around 1.5V and I had to disable LLC. With vdroop it hit 65°C core temps under load @ 1.40V. 230W system power draw. It has a 1.1V VID. Clocks okay but it stops scaling at around 4.8GHz / 1.4V.

Chips like being warm (Not hot) to get good bus speeds from them.

 

[RyzenMaster.sys]

This laptop seriously must have been designed by people who intentionally tried to make it hard to repair.

Want to replace thermal paste? Okay just take off the screen and the entire rest of the chassis.

Want to replace the fan? Okay. Just remove screen, then the chassis has to come apart, then the freaking motherboard has to come out. And then you can remove it.

But, I got to where I need to be.

After a visual inspection, it all looks fine to be honest, just very dirty. I'll clean it and hope for the best.

 

[Ruru]

Pretty good video from Linus about 2010'ish GPUs

Good GPU cooler!

I have a similar one, cost like 3EUR from ebay (as getting a branded 100% same thing is like 10EUR)

 

[stinger608]

This laptop seriously must have been designed by people who intentionally tried to make it hard to repair.

Well yeah, frigging Dell.

 

[RyzenMaster.sys]

This laptop seriously must have been designed by people who intentionally tried to make it hard to repair.

View attachment 240889

Want to replace thermal paste? Okay just take off the screen and the entire rest of the chassis.

Want to replace the fan? Okay. Just remove screen, then the chassis has to come apart, then the freaking motherboard has to come out. And then you can remove it.

But, I got to where I need to be. View attachment 240890
After a visual inspection, it all looks fine to be honest, just very dirty. I'll clean it and hope for the best.

Reassembled after cleaning/scrubbing the board with alcohol. Same issue. I honestly don't know what the issue would be.

Perhaps it could just be CMOS battery related? Or maybe the motherboard is faulty? Maybe it's the keyboard, although I doubt.

After talking to the seller, due to logistics the other $25 Latitude D620 isn't happening, so that's a bummer.

Well yeah, frigging Dell.

My daily driver laptop is a HP Elitebook 8470P (i7 3720qm, 8gb ram, 240g SSD) I absolutely love how repairable it is. One latch, battery out. Another latch, the whole bottom cover slides off. From there, ram and storage can be upgraded without tools. Every single screw size is labeled on the plastic. 2 screws the CPU fan comes out. 4 more the cooler off and socketed CPU can come out.

I figured something older would be comparable but apparently not. Tbh it's not impossible to do, I got it all apart and back together, but it's not easy.