I'm relatively sure this is a troll blog, and if it's not, someone really, really likes CentOS or some other awful "enterprise" Linux that hasn't been cool in years. It's so "annoying comp.os.linux.advocacy denizen" it hurts.
Also, I've seen at least a few places where the author gushes about RMS and Linus as if they're all-knowing *and* actually get along with each other, which is definitely not the case.
Hmmm, apparently the Trio64's maximum dot clock frequency changes depending on the color depth. In 8-bit mode, it can go all the way up to 135 MHz (good enough for 1280x1024@60), but in true-color mode you get dumped all the way to 50 MHz (800x600@60). :P
This wasn't a huge problem back in 1995-1996, as the monitor I had could only do 800x600@60 anyway, but in a world where full-HD LED monitors essentially grow on trees, it's kind of disappointing.
Now I'm thinking of how consoles tended to lag what PCs were doing by several years. The ColecoVision (and eventually the MSX, NES and Genesis) used tile-based rendering that first appeared in the TI 99/4 series; the SNES borrowed heavily from 16-bit machines like the Amiga and the Apple IIgs (the PPUs can do what are essentially Copper effects, and the S-DSP is a lot like the DOC); and the N64 was essentially a very small Indigo.
Apparently you can't get a good keyboard these days unless you pay $$$ for a "gaming" keyboard. It's fucking "PC master race" bullshit, is what. (There are OK keyboards for less, but apparently the rollover is broken...)
The reason this came up is that the keyboard I'm using here at work is getting old (the legends are coming off some of the keys), you can't see the lock indicators well, and it's not lighted.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
I always did like PS/2s, even if people saw them as dowdy and proprietary (really, they weren't any more so than Compaq's or Zenith's machines at the time aside from MCA).
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
It's a real fun video, if a long one. Basically Clint bought a lot containing 6 full PS/2 systems and several boxes of miscellaneous disks and hardware, the latter of which he went through blind on camera.
Okay, I'm trying to install Windows 98 on the IBM, but it keeps having weird problems. First it was crashing during the second stage of the install (after the reboot), now it's having intermittent failures during the copy-in stage ("Invalid function" while copying files).
I've run memtest86+ (and yes, it actually works on something this old) and the memory seems to be fine, so the only thing I can think of is that the processor may be overheating.
And if it's not any of those, I may have another bad SCSI cable (or even a bad card). >.< I noticed while I had NetBSD installed that it'd randomly crash in getblk() for reasons I couldn't figure out because I didn't have a debug kernel installed.
Okay, I'm trying to install Windows 98 on the IBM, but it keeps having weird problems. First it was crashing during the second stage of the install (after the reboot), now it's having intermittent failures during the copy-in stage ("Invalid function" while copying files).
I've run memtest86+ (and yes, it actually works on something this old) and the memory seems to be fine, so the only thing I can think of is that the processor may be overheating.
I FOUND OUT WHY THIS WAS HAPPENING
Of all possible things, it turns out the cache RAM had wiggled loose. :P It's SOJ RAM, and so is even less likely to stay put than DIP RAM. Windows 98 SE is now installed and working quite well, even with the sound card in.
Oddly enough, this solves a mystery from way back in 1998! I'd given my old PC 350 to Suzanne because I didn't need it anymore, and it had stability problems in Windows 95...I never, ever, not once thought to check the cache RAM.
DAVE: well shit DAVE: thats a hell of a mystery no one thought was a mystery and didnt even really need solving DAVE: but damn if it didnt just get solved so nice work
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
I'm looking at composite AV cables for the Raspberry Pi 1 B+ and 2 B and...people are making an awful big deal about the cables having the right pinout.
But I'm thinking...wouldn't any pinout work? The only issue is that you might have to swap the plugs at the TV end in case, e.g., the red one ends up being video instead of the yellow one.
As far as I know, the composite out on the Pi (the 1 B, anyway) is just that. The pinout shouldn't matter unless you're using the GPIO header on the board.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
The later ones (1 B+ and 2 B) removed the RCA-style composite jack and combined the composite out with the 3.5mm audio jack, much like a lot of media players or camcorders did in the 2000s.
The thing is, not every 3.5mm-to-RCA cable has the same pinout...but they're all physically the same, it would just be the colors of the RCA plugs that would be "wrong".
Okay, it's TRRS (4-conductor). Some 3.5 mm to AV cables, like the one my mini TV here uses, are TRS (3-conductor) and won't work correctly. Also, a few have ground and video switched, which won't work at all.
I just tested my cable with the meter, by the way, and it's tip: video/ring: audio (mono!)/sleeve: ground. It was obviously made especially for this TV, which has mono sound.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
I'm thinking about it (since it's a bit slow at the moment) and I really want to get my vintage stuff off the floor. The problem is that it won't all fit on the IKEA computer workstation i have now; in fact, I kind of want to get rid of the workstation and replace with, say, a utility table.
I need something big enough to hold three monitors (the Dell 19" 1280x1024 for the Macs and the Pi, the IIgs's CRT monitor, and either the ASUS HD monitor or the little Dell monitor I got from work) and three 101-key keyboards. If there's enough room, I'd like the put the gs, its drives, the Power Mac 6360 and the Pi on there as well; the PCs can stay in the floor if they have to.
I actually really liked the early OS X days (2001-2006), and I think the iPhone made them really, really arrogant in a way we hadn't seen since the late 1980s.
That said, I actually still like the Mac mini, if only because teensy x64 computers that perform well are really hard to find (and are expensive when you do find them). The Intel NUC is the only thing close, and is actually more expensive because it's barebones.
This means I can get all the old PCs off the floor! Yay! (It probably won't be happening tonight, since we were out shopping all afternoon nd it wore me out, but soooooon.)
Also, I was able to save a lot of space on the Eee 701 by not installing LibreOffice or GIMP or any of the other crap Debian installs by default. It's tough having only 4 GB to work with, Debian—it's less space than most machines have in RAM now—but you'll live. :P
This was actually what I wanted to use my IKEA computer desk for, but it turns out it's not big enough. It's more for someone who has one desktop computer and its various accoutrements than someone who's a geek running a lab full of computers.
I finally dug out the Acer laptop while cleaning the area at the foot of my bed, and...yeah, this thing's tired. The screen is easily replaced, sure, but the middle cover (which has the power button on it) is missing and apparently hard to find, the keyboard is missing keys, and the left button on the trackpad has a damaged switch that you have mash on to register a click.
If there were a way to transplant this machine into another case economically, it'd make an interesting (if underpowered) mini-desktop, but I also feel like it's not worth the effort. I have too much crap as it is.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
Hey, Lee, you know where I could find a Runaway (Airport/Bluetooth combo) card for the 2005 G5 Tower without paying through the nose? Just curious if it might be possible.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
Do the various cheap USB wireless cards available not play nice with Macs?
I've had good luck with older Realtek-based cards (I have a blue TRENDnet card with an RTL8187B in it that works pretty well on OS X), but I can't vouch for others. Any USB wireless thingy you get will need its own drivers.
The native wireless cards on Macs of that vintage are Broadcom PCI/PCIe, for what it's worth.
Neat, the CXA1019S in my clock radio uses a quadrature FM detector, just like the funny quad tubes a lot of 1950s and 1960s TVs used. It calls for a ceramic resonator instead of a tank, though.
Comments
DAVE: thats a hell of a mystery no one thought was a mystery and didnt even really need solving
DAVE: but damn if it didnt just get solved so nice work
This means I can get all the old PCs off the floor! Yay! (It probably won't be happening tonight, since we were out shopping all afternoon nd it wore me out, but soooooon.)
Also, I was able to save a lot of space on the Eee 701 by not installing LibreOffice or GIMP or any of the other crap Debian installs by default. It's tough having only 4 GB to work with, Debian—it's less space than most machines have in RAM now—but you'll live. :P
If there were a way to transplant this machine into another case economically, it'd make an interesting (if underpowered) mini-desktop, but I also feel like it's not worth the effort. I have too much crap as it is.
Pictures will be forthcoming once I'm on a half-decent PC.