TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[Trekkie4]

Question guys... Does anyone know how to set up USB mouse under Windows 95, "B" edition? Because I got the actual USB to work, that much was easy. But getting the Windows to recognize the actual USB HID component turns out to be far more difficult than I expected!

 

[stinger608]

Question guys... Does anyone know how to set up USB mouse under Windows 95, "B" edition? Because I got the actual USB to work, that much was easy. But getting the Windows to recognize the actual USB HID component turns out to be far more difficult than I expected!

Hmm, I'm not exactly sure man. I don't recall ever trying to set up a USB mouse in win 98.

This would be interesting to know! Hope someone chimes in that has successfully ran a USB mouse in win 98!

 

[Trekkie4]

Yeah, I know... I seem to be experiencing a weird issue with my replacement Socket 7 board, where the serial port(s) don't seem to be working. At all, doesn't matter which settings (IRQ, port address) I use, Windows keep telling me there's no mouse connected to any of the available ports. To make things even worse, this thing has the available header for PS/2 mouse bracket, except I don't have one with me. So the only other solution would be to go with USB, since I have USB 1.1 PCI controller card. And it does work, but keeps recognizing USB mouse as unknown component

 

[DR4G00N]

Got my PIII-S 1.4 to work on my CUSL2 finally, broke off a couple pins and connected two together with some super thin insulated wire and poof it boot's right up.
(can't get the cpu out of the socket to take a pic though lol).

 

[Trekkie4]

T

Got my PIII-S 1.4 to work on my CUSL2 finally, broke off a couple pins and connected two together with some super thin insulated wire and poof it boot's right up.
(can't get the cpu out of the socket to take a pic though lol).

View attachment 86044

That's nice, but ... was it really worth damaging (or at least having the CPU stuck in there, forever) your Asus motherboard?

 

[DR4G00N]

T

That's nice, but ... was it really worth damaging (or at least having the CPU stuck in there, forever) your Asus motherboard?

It just needs the special touch, even an untouched cpu is hard to get out due to having nothing to grip onto.

 

[biffzinker]

Question guys... Does anyone know how to set up USB mouse under Windows 95, "B" edition? Because I got the actual USB to work, that much was easy. But getting the Windows to recognize the actual USB HID component turns out to be far more difficult than I expected!

Did you install usbsupp.exe/cusbsupp.exe for Windows 95?

Looks like you can get here: http://support.advantech.com/support/DownloadSRDetail_New.aspx?SR_ID=1+GE+609&Doc_Source=Download

Edit: Maybe this is worth a try if you haven't already?

USB driver files for Win95b and W98.

Extracted from W98 cabs and used with

MS USB mice, USB keyboards and other

USB devices. These files are not usually included with the device drivers that come with your USB product. I have used these with MS

USB Intellipoint and other USB parts.

Included Hidclass.sys, Hidparse.sys, Hidusb.sys, Hidvkd.sys and Hidci.dll.

Microsoft USB Hidclass.sys Driver for Win95b and W98

 

[Trekkie4]

Nah, it's not. OK, so you sometimes have to wiggle it loose, especially sockets 478 & 462 (A), but they usually p

Did you install usbsupp.exe/cusbsupp.exe for Windows 95?

Looks like you can get here: http://support.advantech.com/support/DownloadSRDetail_New.aspx?SR_ID=1+GE+609&Doc_Source=Download

Edit: Maybe this is worth a try if you haven't already?

Microsoft USB Hidclass.sys Driver for Win95b and W98

Tried the MS USB HidClass.sys, but it doesn't work. It's asking for *.INF file, which is not included... But yes, I did get usbupp.exe/cusbsupp.exe up & running, that's how I got the USB controller to work in the 1st place. It's just the mouse alone, can't seem to get it working no matter what.

 

[biffzinker]

Any chance a later version of Windows 95 (OSR 2.5) would work? Tried to find the .inf file for the HID drivers I linked above but not having much luck finding anything.

 

[Trekkie4]

Hmm... Will have to check, but I don't think there is. One way or another, I'm going to leave this one as it is for now & move on. Still have loads of other machines to test & make sure they are all working OK, so once I finish with everything else, I will move back to MMX

 

[MIRTAZAPINE]

Cleaned my old motherboard. This is actually my "first" pc that truly own and have the freedom to experiment myself. I remember labeling wires because I don't know where it would be place if I take it out. After that I would put it back together understanding more about PC. Sadly I don't have the case where this board come with my Cooler Master Centurion 5 that was thrown away. The old cooler master psu is dead too. Found the old motherboard box around. No 8600gt box though, it is those asus box with a game character of a rogue with a bow. Cleaned the board up with a paint brush and toothbrush dipped in IPA.

Not sure if my P5be-plus still works, the last time I boot it up one of the usb 2 ports is not functioning and the hdd is really slow. Not sure if I accidentally short it with water when I cleaned the board with water. It got to be done as it is too grimy and there is bugs in the slots. I gave it a bathe then and leave it to dry for a week. Backup what old data I could from the hdd just in case. Feels like putting this pc back in service to try out Windows Xp and Vista(not sure where to even find a vista disk).

I feel like building classic builds again. Would slowly start going backwards now finding parts.

 

[Trekkie4]

@MIRTAZAPINE Got something very similar to your setup, the unknown S775 machine which is going to be paired up with previously mentioned 7600GT as long as I can get the motherboard working again. It's a small mATX system, inside Asus Vento case if I'm not mistaking... But this will have to wait, as I'm still in the process of recovering (and repairing damage) from the water-related issues.

Speaking of which, I just spent the entire day messing with pretty much the last system. Checked 6 of them today, and 4 passed with flying colors. Some had minor faults & problems, but that was mostly due to dead CMOS battery & systems being powered off for too long. One had more serious issue, with the RAM memory banks ... it didn't recognize any of the two modules. Kinda interesting really, as this seems to be the most recurring problem I'm noticing. What probably happened is that the water, damp got into the RAM modules & coated the contacts (pins, aka "fingers" if you wish) with corrosion. Either the rust, or just the filth of dust & metal residue, doesn't really matter. What's important is that because of that, same reason mobo is not capable to read/write into the RAM modules, causing the system to sound generic RAM fault upon the boot. Not really that much complicated to fix, either - one shot of contact-cleaning solution into each memory bank usually does the trick. There was also one time when I had to do the same for two PCI slots & Voodoo2 cards in SLI.

However, the last machine I've had for today was far more complicated than loose contacts... First it didn't want to boot at all, without any POST messages or vocal feedback (since the board, Asus P4-B has speech-diagnostics integrated into the board) So I tried to mess with the memory, expansion cards, modems, etc... None of them had any results, so I tried with taking the CMOS battery off the board & testing it for charge. Seemed OK, but as soon as I removed the battery, system booted up OK. Which led me to conclusion that something, at some point terribly confused the CMOS, causing it to become "stalled", despite how weird this might sound & seem. Next order of business was the DVD drive which kept on ejecting tray over & over. It's a NEC DV-5700B DVD-ROM unit from 2001, one of the rare retro components which actually belonged to me since the very 1st day It was removed & preserved from a very similar system, Asus P4-T when I sold it back in 2003-2004. So I didn't just want to pull the old DVD drive out & replace it with new one, as I normally /would/ do if it was any other drive... So I had to take this thing apart, clean all the contacts, switches & renew the rubber belt which drives the ejection mechanism. As if that wasn't enough, I also noticed a problem with Iomega ZIP drive which turned out to be caused by a bent IDE interface pin. System booted up OK afterwards, but not for too long, as I witnessed catastrophic hard drive failure, with loud clunking noise from the actuator, which crashed the entire system. Soooo, yeah - obviously, I immediately replaced the hard drive but since I didn't have a backup, I'll now have to reinstall everything from scratch. Which means more work to be done tomorrow! *sigh* At least I'm slowly seeing light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[biffzinker]

Which means more work to be done tomorrow! *sigh* At least I'm slowly seeing light at the end of the tunnel!

A lot work involved keeping those retro builds up and running.

Spring thaw out responsible for the water problem or was it something else? I admit I forgot what happened even though I've read every post you leave here. Just so you know your work, and time invested doesn't go unappreciated.

 

[Trekkie4]

It wasn't that simple I'm afraid... The problem originated from a tiny hole (maybe even a crack) in my wall, which allowed weather elements to get inside & soak up the wall & room inside. It started like the unpleasant smell, kinda like the wet socks if you know what I mean but eventually grew to visible stain on the wall, in the corner. Before I could even take any actions, within a week or two, this tiny spot "exploded" across the entire wall, expanding from one corner to another. And since all this happened just before the winter started, the temperature difference between indoor & outdoor temperature caused condensation, which obviously caused even MORE water, causing the entire wall to grow mold & mildew.

At one point I realized there's no going back & decided to move all my retro computers to another location, on the enclosed balcony. It wasn't perfectly dry either, but it was far more better than having it rot with all that water! Long story short, the crack has been sealed up, wall(s) painted with antibacterial paint, I even bought a brand new bed since the old one was too damaged & had way too much mold on the inside (within the sponge) & underneath, on the wooden panels.


So now the only thing left for me to do is to get all my retro stuff back where it belongs & make sure it still works ... which is exactly what I'm doing now & over the last couple of days And I'm happy to say that most of the stuff I had still works perfectly fine... With the exception of that MMX system I mentioned before & Pentium 4 from yesterday. But P4 machine had been fully repaired & is now back in service, I only need to boot up the hard drive. I even tried taking the old HDD apart & parking the heads manually (since it got stuck right in the middle of a platter), hoping I would be able to salvage SOME data, but the head wouldn't move. Even when I tried to pry it off using brute force, it still didn't want to move! Probably got wedged into the head base assembly - like I said yesterday, it was pretty catastrophic, this thing was banging & squealing for several seconds before the entire thing died & crashed the system.
And thank you very much, that's very nice of you! I know, I have tendency to go into details & explain every single step, but everything I do here, all the retro-related stuff is because I enjoy it or find it fulfilling. Some ppl do jewelry, some do drawings & sketches, some mess around with their cars, I "do" retro stuff. Mainly retro computers, but as you probably know I have a huge passion for old tape recorders & VCRs as well! Which means that none of the stuff posted here is done for the money or profit of any kind, except for my own amusement

 

[Jetster]

I almost forgot I had this. It works I even gamed with it a couple of months ago to test it
Never been taken apart and runs about 70c under load

 

[stinger608]

Oh man, the 8800 GTX is one of my all time favorite video cards!!!! I think I have 3 or 4 of them puppies still.

I think I've got one of them same EVGA cards @Jetster

 

[Bones]

Got this today - No video ATM but I know the CPU is working, heatsink to it gets warm to very warm at least.

 

[biffzinker]

Got this today - No video ATM but I know the CPU is working, heatsink to it gets warm to very warm at least. View attachment 86113

Is that a VIA EPIA Mini-itx motherboard?

 

[Random Murderer]

Is that a VIA EPIA Mini-itx motherboard?

I thought the same thing, but I don't ever recall an Epia board that was orange AND fanless.

 

[Trekkie4]

Been installing Test Drive 5 & suddenly this notification appeared in front of me ... I feel like a lucky winner!! (nah, just kidding)



Currently working on an old P4 build, Socket 478. I've had this one for a while now, but I had to replace the case, which means I've had to pull everything apart & back together again, to make a whole new cable management... It's quite unusual system, with the talking motherboard! The ONLY talking motherboard in my entire collection actually, and that means a LOT Not sure what to think of this arrangement though, especially IDE & floppy cables, I want to hear your opinion. Is it a total disaster, complete mess & should I pull everything apart & go from scratch, or is it a cable-management masterpiece? Seriously, I want to hear your opinion on this one, I'd say it's probably somewhere on the edge between brilliant and terrible!



This is how the system looks from the outside, lots of IDE drives! 4 in total + FDD.



I also got this video card recently! Not sure if it works or not, but from what I understand it's somewhat rare. I've never heard of Kyro brand before, but from what I can tell, they've suffered the same fate as 3dfx

This here system was the one with hard drive fault, confused CMOS and ejecting DVD-ROM unit .... it's now finally done & completely operational, back in service

Since I still had a weird problem with the ZIP drive (sometimes it would get recognized on POST, and sometimes it would simply say "none") I took the liberty of replacing all 3 IDE/floppy cables. Therefore I had to do a whole new cable management but it was totally worth it, since the system now boots (and works) perfectly OK, the way it should!


All of the games/programs had been reinstalled from scratch, and once again I went with (in)famous Windows Millennium. I know, I know, probably not the best choice, but I wanted to keep this one as original & similar to its long-lost counterpart, Asus P4-T as possible. After all, quite a few components inside this system are my own, taken from the original P4-T system.
[url=https://postimg.org/image/lqu1qndkv/]

[/URL]

Also, you may have noticed something new... This 19" LCD screen was one of the things I picked up for free last week, and it seems to be working fine apart from that black strip across the screen. Either the bad panel, or maybe even a picture signal cable, either way not sure if it's worth the attention and/or repairs. One way or another, I'll be using it for diagnostics & repairs from now on, since it's much easier to take a pic with my phone, without having the shutter effect, like I used to have on CRTs.

 

[JunkBear]

This here system was the one with hard drive fault, confused CMOS and ejecting DVD-ROM unit .... it's now finally done & completely operational, back in service

Since I still had a weird problem with the ZIP drive (sometimes it would get recognized on POST, and sometimes it would simply say "none") I took the liberty of replacing all 3 IDE/floppy cables. Therefore I had to do a whole new cable management but it was totally worth it, since the system now boots (and works) perfectly OK, the way it should!


All of the games/programs had been reinstalled from scratch, and once again I went with (in)famous Windows Millennium. I know, I know, probably not the best choice, but I wanted to keep this one as original & similar to its long-lost counterpart, Asus P4-T as possible. After all, quite a few components inside this system are my own, taken from the original P4-T system.

Also, you may have noticed something new... This 19" LCD screen was one of the things I picked up for free last week, and it seems to be working fine apart from that black strip across the screen. Either the bad panel, or maybe even a picture signal cable, either way not sure if it's worth the attention and/or repairs. One way or another, I'll be using it for diagnostics & repairs from now on, since it's much easier to take a pic with my phone, without having the shutter effect, like I used to have on CRTs.

Man I miss Millénium. I wish i could still fond it in French. People keep ranting about it but i like it more than win98. So can you tell me why people complain about it?

 

[Trekkie4]

That's true, Millennium was just like W98, except terribly confused & lost all the time! Joke aside, there was tons of issues with Win ME, and it would crash on a regular basis. I've been using it for years back in a day, so I'm actually speaking from my own experience.

Now - with that being said, I still have tons of good memories & happy moments associated with Windows ME, which is why I wouldn't give it up no matter what There are several machines in my collection, running Windows ME and all of them are mostly stable, as long as you don't mess around with them too much. Otherwise you'd be much better with either W98 2nd edition or Windows 2k.

 

[JunkBear]

That's true, Millennium was just like W98, except terribly confused & lost all the time! Joke aside, there was tons of issues with Win ME, and it would crash on a regular basis. I've been using it for years back in a day, so I'm actually speaking from my own experience.

Now - with that being said, I still have tons of good memories & happy moments associated with Windows ME, which is why I wouldn't give it up no matter what There are several machines in my collection, running Windows ME and all of them are mostly stable, as long as you don't mess around with them too much. Otherwise you'd be much better with either W98 2nd edition or Windows 2k.

I dont know if Microsoft Canada did à better job than the USA Microsoft when they translated the WinMe but ai never really had problem. So I guess they took time to Correct it while translating.

 

[Trekkie4]

I dont know if Microsoft Canada did à better job than the USA Microsoft when they translated the WinMe but ai never really had problem. So I guess they took time to Correct it while translating.

 

[Trekkie4]

OK, so I finally tested the first two of upcoming 4 systems, which I picked up last week... 1st one booted up OK, but the hard drive was stuck & making squealing noises. And surprise, surprise - it was a Maxtor unit, would you believe that?!

Anyhow, the 1st Celeron system is just a basic one... Not much to tell, Intel Desktop board & S478 Celeron running at 2.0GHz. However, the 2nd one ... turned out to be quite a surprise actually. Asus P4P800 SE, with dual DDR memory channels, SATA interface, etc. The system wasn't turning on, and you could tell just by looking at the hardware inside that someone picked it clean, thinking it's completely toasted. The CMOS battery was missing, hard drive(s) removed, along with the video card & anything useful. However, it occurred me that the problem I'm having might had been related with fancy China-made computer case, which has one of those LCD panels & tons of buttons built into the front panel. So when I disconnected the actual "hardware" power switch & shorted the power-on pins with the screwdriver, system booted up perfectly fine! Woohoo, this is going to make awesome toy, for me to play with! It has a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 chip, and I already mounted 512MB of RAM, might add additional pair into the other two banks, upgrading it to 1GB in total.


On a side note, I took the liberty of checking my Intel 4x86 DX4 system here for CMOS battery charge & dust inside the case... it's been years since the last time I've had it up & running, but as you can see here, it's still working the way it should! In fact, I don't think I ever had this one posted here on TPU (not to be confused with AMD 5x86), so enjoy this true oldtimer!


Time to play some old school DOS games!


Anyone up for Windows 3.11?


Oh, no!!