Help: what was the most surreal thing you had to do in a nightmare to survive? I might steal it, though, since I recently played another horror game where I thought the concept is great but it could have been done so much better.
Mancomb ████good, Internet ██████
@16bitmanfred.bsky.social
Enjoying ███ware and █████ from ISA to AGP graphics, with a special love for ███ ████ ████.
So it would have been okay to fatally shoot the driver, right?
Raider@iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 6mo agoICE vehicle strikes San Diego activist Arturo Gonzalez.
Hm so the good news is the system seems to boot just fine, the bad news is the PCI SATA adapter isn't showing any signs of life, at the very least it looks like it has no BIOS of its own for booting from it. I set he motherboard's first boot option to SCSI which is usually necessary but no luck.
Mancomb ████good, Internet ██████@16bitmanfred.bsky.social · 6mo agoFound the missing PCI SATA adapter! Now, what to do with the actual system? I'll attempt to start it in the evening, and see what happens. Could also run W98 I guess. At least games of that period shouldn't glitch out.
Listening to an almost 40 year old concept album and within seconds I had started making a face and headbanging without even noticing it. The falsetto back then had some room for improvement. But I don't care, this is pure metal.
Peltier-cooled Intel Pentium 4 3.06 GHz and 3 ISA sound cards, ticking ALL the important DOS sound boxes. Sadly what looks like an AGP slot is actually ADD and does not support graphics cards, so I'm limited to PCI in that regard, and using a Geforce FX 5200 because I have nothing proper.
Found this in my lab, it's the forgotten inferior replacement board for my first Neoware CA2 that I accidentally killed when I had, after a long series of swapping expansion cards, forgotten to pull the power plug and promptly caused a deadly short. This 333 MHz Geode is much slower than the VIA C3.
if you see this post an image you saved because it made you laugh.
Anne@anneb.bsky.social · 6mo agoif you see this post an image you saved because it made you laugh.
The Leadtek WinFast A350XT TDH (Geforce FX 5900 XT 128 MB) got upgraded with a Zalman VF-1000 aftermarket cooler and Enzotech copper VRAM heatsinks. It may not be as nostalgic as a Voodoo 5, but it is much faster while ticking all legacy compatibility features that certain vintage games need!
Today I spread more fake news than an LLM. CPU-Z tricked me into believing this was a Mobile Barton 2500+, but it is actually a Mobile Barton 2400+, which is a LV version with a 35W TDP and 1.35V voltage. Now I could put in either the 1000 MHz 18W Geode (1500+ rating) or 1400 MHz 25W Geode (1750+).🤔
Mancomb ████good, Internet ██████@16bitmanfred.bsky.social · 6mo agoI misremembered the CPU. There is still an AMD Athlon XP-M 2500+ (Mobile Barton) in there, which the motherboard turns into a 1900+ because it doesn't run the CPU's default FSB of 333, but only 266. I guess I was too lazy to put the Geode NX back in because the CPU cooler is a nightmare to mount.
I misremembered the CPU. There is still an AMD Athlon XP-M 2500+ (Mobile Barton) in there, which the motherboard turns into a 1900+ because it doesn't run the CPU's default FSB of 333, but only 266. I guess I was too lazy to put the Geode NX back in because the CPU cooler is a nightmare to mount.
Mancomb ████good, Internet ██████@16bitmanfred.bsky.social · 6mo agoIt has "only" a single ISA slot, but the Epox 8KTA3+ supports Athlon and Athlon XP CPUs, even a mobile Barton works with it. I'm using a Geode NX (Athlon XP 1700+ mobile binned to only use up to 25W) instead to keep it semi passive with lots of copper.
I went and upgraded the sound card. The door hides the sadly poor condition of the audio panel's print, and I lobe that the case has proper cable management. Should do absolutely fine for any game or music released prior to Windows XP.
Mancomb ████good, Internet ██████@16bitmanfred.bsky.social · 6mo agoIt has "only" a single ISA slot, but the Epox 8KTA3+ supports Athlon and Athlon XP CPUs, even a mobile Barton works with it. I'm using a Geode NX (Athlon XP 1700+ mobile binned to only use up to 25W) instead to keep it semi passive with lots of copper.
I'm insanely excited about this! 🤗 1Ghz AMD Athlon Slot A ✅
It has "only" a single ISA slot, but the Epox 8KTA3+ supports Athlon and Athlon XP CPUs, even a mobile Barton works with it. I'm using a Geode NX (Athlon XP 1700+ mobile binned to only use up to 25W) instead to keep it semi passive with lots of copper.
Maybe these belong together? MSI MS-5129 w/ Intel Pentium MMX 166, 32 MB SDRAM and 256+256 kB cache via COAST module. No AGP slot but PS2 mouse and keyboard connectors for the AT board. I was thinking S3 graphics, Voodoo 1 and two sound cards?
Applied fresh thermal paste to the CPU cooler, put the thing back together, it booted fine. During graphics driver installation, towards the end, the "two clicks" sounded again, the system immediately restarted and is now back in this loop.
Mancomb ████good, Internet ██████@16bitmanfred.bsky.social · 6mo agoI insulated the IDE44 to dual CF adapter using special tape, put the Sound Blaster AWE64 w/ memory expansion back into the ISA riser and cleaned the VIA C3 CPU's heatspreader. It's marked as 800 MHz Ezra-T but the voltage gives away it's really a 1200 MHz Nehemiah. At some point VIA only sold those.
I insulated the IDE44 to dual CF adapter using special tape, put the Sound Blaster AWE64 w/ memory expansion back into the ISA riser and cleaned the VIA C3 CPU's heatspreader. It's marked as 800 MHz Ezra-T but the voltage gives away it's really a 1200 MHz Nehemiah. At some point VIA only sold those.
The day is total shit with my main PC still out of commission and my replacement D5 compatible pump also not working, but at least I found my insulating tape so I can attempt to put the retro gaming thin client back together.
This is simply a catastrophe, I need that PC for absolutely everything, from job search and projects to trivial stuff like everyday browsing and powering our living room TV, all of my documents are on there.
Mancomb ████good, Internet ██████@16bitmanfred.bsky.social · 6mo agoYeah so my D5 compatible pump is not even attempting to start, no idea why. I was certain it worked.
Yeah so my D5 compatible pump is not even attempting to start, no idea why. I was certain it worked.
Turns out I have lots and lots of used but perfectly fine radiators, including stupid sizes like 80x80mm (five pieces), 360x120, 180x180, 240x240, 400x200 (90mm thick and complete with dual 200mm fans), and two more flat 400x200 joined together as a 400x400mm monster. All copper. How to get rid?
It is the year of the horse, because driving got too expensive.
Is it true that water with lots of carbon isn't popular in other countries? I have to cool and carbonate water even for my 1 year old because he loves it.
I knew there was suspiciously little DDR1 in this picture! While looking for a spare pump (only found an incompatible Aliexpress pump so far) to repair my main PC, I found a stash of DDR.
Mancomb ████good, Internet ██████@16bitmanfred.bsky.social · 7mo agoGoing to your dealer in 2026 be like
I recently got sent two very cool care packages by @vswitchzero.com and @jeffchen.bsky.social, now I'm preparing one of my own for @jbenam.bsky.social. Where did I put my antistatic bags again? These are a Medion ATI Radeon 9800 XXL (same chip as XT) and Asus Geforce 6600 GT AGP.
Kids, please don't try this at home. The VIA C3 is running without a heatsink (in theory it would even run Quake for hours like this), and I "isolated" my IDE2CF with a Kleenex so it wouldn't touch the board or sound card. After gently pushing the AWE64 downwards a little, it booted again. Scary.
Mancomb ████good, Internet ██████@16bitmanfred.bsky.social · 6mo agoIt booted to W98 without issues. I then powered it down, added the AWE64, booted again. Then powered down a 3rd time, connected my USB mouse and now it doesn't POST any more, it is stuck restarting. After the beep I hear 2 quiet clicks then it shuts down and immediately powers on.
By the way a gallon of gas is 9.87$ USD in Germany right now (2.259€ per liter). It will only get worse. The only good thing about this is that hopefully at least people who can afford it might finally stop driving trucks and SUVs and maybe even switch to EVs.
It booted to W98 without issues. I then powered it down, added the AWE64, booted again. Then powered down a 3rd time, connected my USB mouse and now it doesn't POST any more, it is stuck restarting. After the beep I hear 2 quiet clicks then it shuts down and immediately powers on.
Mancomb ████good, Internet ██████@16bitmanfred.bsky.social · 6mo agoMy working theory is that the IDE44toDualCF adapter touched and shorted whatever that thing is, and replacing it should fix this very cool portable DOS PC with S3 Savage 4 graphics and ISA sound card!