TPU's Nostalgic Hardware Club

[lexluthermiester]

Ok, I have another video that fits into the "Nostalgic" and "Hardware" but isn't technically PC parts.
Still it's interesting and I think you all might enjoy it;

 

[AlwaysHope]

Ok, I have another video that fits into the "Nostalgic" and "Hardware" but isn't technically PC parts.
Still it's interesting and I think you all might enjoy it;

Good find! I love how folks can rejuvenate old gaming console like that. Besides less ewaste to worry about.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Good find! I love how folks can rejuvenate old gaming console like that. Besides less ewaste to worry about.

It's the 8-bit Guy(David Murray). He knows how to fix things. I love how he fixed the cart latch!

 

[Mr.Scott]

What doesn't matter?

Doesn't matter if you have a valid key or not. M$ does not activate XP anymore. You can activate by less conventional means without issue......if you get my drift.

 

[Trekkie4]

Doesn't matter if you have a valid key or not. M$ does not activate XP anymore. You can activate by less conventional means without issue......if you get my drift.

I remember having a similar discussion years ago... Don't remember where or when, but what I /do/ remember is someone claiming how Microsoft released a generic, "one-size-fit-all" activation keys for Windows 98 & Windows 98SE, once all the Win9x operating systems reached their EOL.

Although no one ever confirmed this (and people said it was highly unlikely), it was never debunked either. In fact, I sent out email to Microsoft Support once, asking them about this particular subject which (again, from what I remember) they never answered me back.

So... *shrug*

 

[Mr.Scott]

A simple Google will get you keys or a loader.
Windows loader works great.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Doesn't matter if you have a valid key or not. M$ does not activate XP anymore.

Yes they do. You have to use phone-in activation, but it still works. And failing to have a proper license for an EOL OS is still not completely honest.

You can activate by less conventional means without issue......if you get my drift.

I do and won't argue that point. With XP being EOL microsoft really has no room to complain how we use it.

My earlier point to the user asking about XP Integral Edition was, be ethical and get a legit XP COA/CDKey.

Don't remember where or when, but what I /do/ remember is someone claiming how Microsoft released a generic, "one-size-fit-all" activation keys for Windows 98 & Windows 98SE, once all the Win9x operating systems reached their EOL.

That is false on two levels.
1. Windows 9X never had activation of any kind, the user was only required to input a valid CDKey during installation, which leads us to...
2. There were no generic EOL CDKeys released for the 9X versions of Windows.

Although no one ever confirmed this (and people said it was highly unlikely), it was never debunked either. In fact, I sent out email to Microsoft Support once, asking them about this particular subject which (again, from what I remember) they never answered me back.

So... *shrug*

They really don't care. But that is no reason not to be legit where-ever possible.

 

[Trekkie4]

Yes they do. You have to use phone-in activation, but it still works. And failing to have a proper license for an EOL OS is still not completely honest.

I do and I won't argue that point. With XP being EOL microsoft really has no room to complain how we use it.

My earlier point to the user asking about XP Integral Edition was, be ethical and get a legit XP COA/CDKey.


That is false on two levels.
1. Windows 9X never had activation of any kind, the user was only required to input a valid CDKey during installation, which leads us to...
2. There were no generic EOL CDKeys released for the 9X versions of Windows.

They really don't care. But that is no reason not to be legit where-ever possible.

What happened here I believe, is that Microsoft (or one of their employs) released one of their "internal" keys, perhaps used among testers or developers themselves. I'm not suggesting that they actually added a whole new key, in addition to all the previous ones ... assuming that the information was correct, of course.

As for Win98 activation, I was actually referring to the product key, and not the phone-activation procedure which was first introduced with XP ... if I'm not mistaking?

There was also a similar discussion on MS Office 2007 once, and so called "Blue Edition". Again, some folks claim that Blue Edition never existed, but others say that it was a custom version (given to MS vendors, devs & software engineers for the sake of testing) which doesn't require activation OR validation of any kind. To be clear, I'm not saying that the program is pre-installed, only that it lacks activation components "straight out of the box".

 

[Mr.Scott]

Yes they do. You have to use phone-in activation, but it still works. And failing to have a proper license for an EOL OS is still not completely honest.

I do and won't argue that point. With XP being EOL microsoft really has no room to complain how we use it.

My earlier point to the user asking about XP Integral Edition was, be ethical and get a legit XP COA/CDKey.




They really don't care. But that is no reason not to be legit where-ever possible.

That's pretty funny because I have like 2 dozen legit retail bought and paid for licenses and not a single one will activate or is considered 'valid' by M$.
And by retail I mean bought disk at brick and mortar way back when.
M$ does not care if they stole my money, so.............................................

And before anybody says "call support", I have. Know what I get?, " Windows XP is no longer supported", 'click'....................................

 

[Trekkie4]

Regarding Office & "Blue Edition" ... I found this (SOURCE)

While the company never directly acknowledged the existence of the blue editions of Office 2007 or Windows XP, numerous technical sources stepped forward to clear up the confusion.

The Office 2007 Enterprise Blue Edition, as it is known in both technical manufacturing circles and hacker circles, is actually not a real Microsoft product at all. There is no Office 2007 Blue Edition, whether Enterprise or not. However, what does exist is a copy of Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise that is provided to certain Microsoft technicians and to computer manufacturers known as OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). That DVD that the software comes on is colored blue.

As is often the case in technology circles, whatever the official name of this special version of Office was, those around it developed their own slang terminology instead. Hence, the DVD with Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise for OEMs and Microsoft technicians became known as the Microsoft Office Blue Edition.

 

[lexluthermiester]

which was first introduced with XP ... if I'm not mistaking?

Yup, spot on.

That's pretty funny because I have like 2 dozen legit retail bought and paid for licenses and not a single one will activate or is considered 'valid' by M$.
And by retail I mean bought disk at brick and mortar way back when.
M$ does not care if they stole my money, so.............................................

Oh I'm right there with you! I have two such COA's currently. Both retail box versions of XP and both purchased directly from microsoft(BITD). Both have been black-listed and I was never told why. But microsoft giving us the finger does not justify us not being legit with proper COAs/CDKeys. I'm all for cracking the hell out of activation because of things like this, but I'm not advocating piracy either. I say crack it to all to hell, or use custom ISOs and whatnot, but be legit about it by paying for the software you use.

That's all I'm saying. Didn't mean to offend or start drama.

And before anybody says "call support", I have. Know what I get?, " Windows XP is no longer supported", 'click'....................................

Support maybe, but the product activation line still works. I used it a few weeks ago for a copy of XP Home.

 

[Ruru]

It's the 8-bit Guy(David Murray). He knows how to fix things. I love how he fixed the cart latch!

David seems to be a hella nice guy as I've watched his videos for years

 

[Greenslade]

David seems to be a hella nice guy as I've watched his videos for years

He is a funny looking guy with a funny voice JillHe knows his tech I will give him that.

 

[Valantar]

David seems to be a hella nice guy as I've watched his videos for years

He is a funny looking guy with a funny voice JillHe knows his tech I will give him that.

I binged so many of his videos back in 2019/early 2020 when I was sick, really love his in-depth knowledge and way of covering things in a technical but understandable way. Love his restoration videos too, but I think my favourite is the Commodore history series.

 

[Ruru]

I binged so many of his videos back in 2019/early 2020 when I was sick, really love his in-depth knowledge and way of covering things in a technical but understandable way. Love his restoration videos too, but I think my favourite is the Commodore history series.

Agree though even with I haven't been playing with Commodore hardware in ages

 

[Mr.Scott]

Oh I'm right there with you! I have two such COA's currently. Both retail box versions of XP and both purchase directly from microsoft. Both have been black-listed and I was never told why. But microsoft giving us the finger does not justify us not being legit with proper COAs/CDKeys. I'm all for cracking the hell out of activation because of things like this, but I'm not advocating piracy either. I say crack it to all to hell, or use custom ISOs and whatnot, but be legit about it by paying for the software you use.

That's all I'm saying. Didn't mean to offend or start drama.


Support maybe, but the product activation line still works. I used it a few weeks ago for a copy of XP Home.

No offence taken bro.
We just have different stances on this.........and that's ok.

 

[DR4G00N]

Grabbed this ancient Antec TruePower Quattro 1000W off ebay a few days ago, "Tested Working" yeah, okay.
Plugged it in and... nothing, of course. Checked the outputs and didn't find any shorts but 5VSB was working so I decided to dig into it.
Spent a few hours poking around and didn't see anything obvious, after plugging it in I noticed the output of the input rectifiers was quite low, only about 166V DC at the main capacitor instead of a typical 350V+.
Figured one of the rectifiers failed but they're in parallel and screwed together so I tried de-soldering them (8 through-hole connections) but after a few failed attempts with a de-soldering pump and later cooking them with hot air I just gave up and re-soldered all the joints.
Low and behold this time when I switched it on at the 24pin it fired into life to my surprise. Checked the rectifier output and it was a good 390V DC.
All the outputs are perfect too.
Not sure what did it but hey if it works, it works.



Tested it out with a 775 system. Q6600 @ 3GHz + an 8800 GTX, worked great, the fan didn't even ramp up.

The most surprising part about this PSU I've found is that it's full of Teapo caps but they are all pristine after 14 years.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Figured one of the rectifiers failed but they're in parallel and screwed together so I tried de-soldering them (8 through-hole connections) but after a few failed attempts with a de-soldering pump and later cooking them with hot air I just gave up and re-soldered all the joints.
Low and behold this time when I switched it on at the 24pin it fired into life to my surprise. Checked the rectifier output and it was a good 390V DC.
All the outputs are perfect too.
Not sure what did it but hey if it works, it works.

Cold/broken solder joints. You re-soldering them fixed the problem. Try not to blame the seller. Soldering joint breaks can happen in shipping if the package is bumped around too much or in the wrong way.

But you fixed it! Bonus round!

 

[erek]

Cold/broken solder joints. You re-soldering them fixed the problem. Try not to blame the seller. Soldering joint breaks can happen in shipping if the package is bumped around too much or in the wrong way.

But you fixed it! Bonus round!

AdLib Gold 1000 SEALED Ad Lib Stereo Sound Adapter RARE COLLECTOR'S Item BOXED | eBay

This is a rare find of a SEALED box of AdLib gold 1000 stereo sound adapter. The box has never been opened and is in pretty good shape for the age of this item. serial number is shown in pictures. Pictures show the exact item you will be receiving.

www.ebay.com

 

[lexluthermiester]

AdLib Gold 1000 SEALED Ad Lib Stereo Sound Adapter RARE COLLECTOR'S Item BOXED | eBay

This is a rare find of a SEALED box of AdLib gold 1000 stereo sound adapter. The box has never been opened and is in pretty good shape for the age of this item. serial number is shown in pictures. Pictures show the exact item you will be receiving.

www.ebay.com

Yeah, that's an old one. Reading the description the seller made, I can understand why it's listed that way. Ebay policy's now require a seller to accept returns except on items listed as "For parts or not working". Currently at $710. My guess is this will not slow anyone down..

 

[DR4G00N]

Cold/broken solder joints. You re-soldering them fixed the problem. Try not to blame the seller. Soldering joint breaks can happen in shipping if the package is bumped around too much or in the wrong way.

But you fixed it! Bonus round!

I don't really blame the seller in any way, it's very old and they did provide a DOA warranty but return shipping was enough that I decided to keep it regardless.

I don't believe there were any cracked solder joints which is why I was surprised that it started up after that. But it works fine now which is great.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I don't really blame the seller in any way, it's very old and they did provide a DOA warranty but return shipping was enough that I decided to keep it regardless.

I don't believe there were any cracked solder joints which is why I was surprised that it started up after that. But it works fine now which is great.

Cold joints can be surprising hard to see, even if inspected closely. One could be forgiven for overlooking one. Based on your description, you had to have fixed a circuit break somewhere when you resoldered everything back together.

Have you load tested it yet?

 

[DR4G00N]

Cold joints can be surprising hard to see, even if inspected closely. One could be forgiven for overlooking one. Based on your description, you had to have fixed a circuit break somewhere when you resoldered everything back together.

Have you load tested it yet?

Yeah I mentioned in the first post that I ran it with a q6600 + 8800 GTX setup through 3dmark06 (actually 2 8800's but I forgot P45 can't run SLI by default). I'll try with something heavier later.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Yeah I mentioned in the first post that I ran it with a q6600 + 8800 GTX setup through 3dmark06 (actually 2 8800's but I forgot P45 can't run SLI by default). I'll try with something heavier later.

Oh, ok. So you have put some load on it! You're likely golden then.

 

[AlwaysHope]

Update on OC the infamous Corsair CM2X2048-6400C5 on P45 platform however these are the 4.3 version. The 5.2 version was not so able. With the v4.3 I needed 2.30 vdimm to get at least 1hr p95 large ffts stable. Tried to keep the cpu @ stock clocks as much as possible. The board has about 5 different dividers for DRAM ratios but 3:4 was ok with this. 25% OC on the ram is pretty good imo.
Just happy that approx 13 yr old hardware is still capable to OC like this!

Also ran CPU-Z bench @ stock to compare the 2008 X3360 xeon with a 2014 A10-7850K apu, amazing even at lower clocks the old xeon still beats this 2014 processor!