SSG Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 As you wait for your system to arrive from Ukraine, MotoRacer, the most valuable thing you can get your hands on in the meantime is a copy of Norton Ghost 2003. (Ghost 2002 should also be okay, but I don't have experience with it.) And an IDE DVD-RW drive and spindle of DVD-R. The first thing you should do is install Ghost and then create a backup image of your system to a DVD-R (it should fit on one DVD-R unless the seller has loaded a bunch of other software). Now, you'll always have a "fresh" copy of your system to reinstall if stuff goes wrong. And stuff will go wrong: borked installs of software, deleted drivers, etc. 98SE is a great OS but the most innocuous things will mess it up. I love using Norton Ghost with my retro builds. It takes about 20 minutes to create a 2GB image and about the same to restore. Doing this would be especially important if the seller did not provide you with an original copy of 98SE and the motherboard drivers. With that being said. Windows 98 can go online as far as I know, but if you do take it online I wouldn't recomend doing anything finacial based. Only risk information you're willing to loose on it. It's will be easier to pick up a load of virisus on that compared to Windows 7,8, and 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 That's overselling it a little bit. It does have GM, but it's not as nice as an MT32 or DB50XG. Better than Adlib, but you still want a real synth. IIRC, the GM is accessible in pure DOS but I think I had to install the driver in Windows. It's been a while. You're right, a little overselling. But I was just playing around with the GM from the YMF724 a couple of weeks ago for DOS games launched from a Windows DOS box, and it is very, very good. I prefer it to all of the stock soundfonts that come with a Live! or AWE32. It's comparable to a 25MB soundfont I have that is supposed to be based on the set from an SC-55. Its only drawback is that you can't use it for GM in real DOS. But most later DOS games with GM work fine when launched from Windows anyway. But a real synth is always preferable. There's nothing that can emulate an MT-32; you'd need an LAPC card, and that's pretty much the same hardware. For GM, GS, and XG, a daughterboard is a nice alternative to the external synth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 With that being said. Windows 98 can go online as far as I know, but if you do take it online I wouldn't recomend doing anything finacial based. Only risk information you're willing to loose on it. It's will be easier to pick up a load of virisus on that compared to Windows 7,8, and 10. I haven't taken a 98SE machine online and have no desire to. Some people do just for science, though. I don't even network my retro machines. I just make sure that each one can access a "modern" storage solution (SD or CF) for transferring large files. On my DOS machines, I just use a CF card with an IDE adapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoRacer Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 I'm officially addicted to goodwill! Found an original Xbox with two cords in mint shape. Has a board sticking out of it for USB input and a burned game inside. Yep it's modded! Found a real Apple hockey puck mouse in mint shape. And an apple white clear single click mouse not a scratch. Found an internal cd drive, and a brand new ago Radeon graphics card!!!! Has hdmi out and everything. It's huge! Need to look up what it's work. Got it for two dollars and the mice were a dollar a piece haha. Xbox was 9.99! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Goodwill's around here suck if it remotely resembles tech it gets sent down town and marked sky high Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 (edited) Post more pics. I love pre-XP builds! Edited December 16, 2015 by Keatah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSG Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 All this talk makes me wanna join in on a Pre-XP build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Me too oh wait I got a pentium MMX I hardly use, guess I dont need two ... drat, the hunt is half the fun 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Retro PC projects for 2016: 1- Try to rekindle interest in PentiumPro VS440FX build up. 2- Disassemble and clean up and polish Gateway 486DX2/50. 3- Recap CrystalScan monitor. 4- Reassemble PII-266 AL440LX, have the parts scattered all over the place. 5- Gather up and condense all my scrap PC parts. 6- Evaluate and possibly clean up a Chuntex 21" CRT - awesome value at the time. 7- Test, verify, surface scan a box of legacy drives. 8- Give Old Betsy a good blowout and cable organization. 9- Sell off extra parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoRacer Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 (edited) I'll post pics of the PC once it's in. In the meantime, here's some stuff I got today . Pics attached for some of the items.Microsoft Sidewinder Controller $3.99Rollcage for PC $2.50Wipeout for PC $5Sonic R, sonic and knuckles, and sonic cd for PC $15Panzer Dragoon for PC $7Sega Touring Car for PC $1.99Daytona USA for PC $4Virtua cop 2 for PC $8Road Rash for PC $5Need for speed 2 SE for PC $1Moto Racer for PC $3Asus keyboard $4Camcorder cables to AV for PSone in video $1PS2 component cables official $1Hard modded Xbox two controllers, USB external board, led mod $9.99Ati Radeon HD 5770 $4.99I've had such a good day . Other than the Xbox, the non-PC related stuff will help pay for all my new games and accessories. It's a win - win! Edited December 16, 2015 by MotoRacer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoRacer Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 Post more pics. I love pre-XP builds! I will . It's still in the mail, but I'll be sure to take tons of pics the minute it arrives! You have no IDEA how excited I am, haha! All this talk makes me wanna join in on a Pre-XP build. Dude, do it! Parts can be found cheap if you look hard enough. I've found so much cool stuff recently for the new computer, it's nuts. Me too oh wait I got a pentium MMX I hardly use, guess I dont need two ... drat, the hunt is half the fun Now you need to find a cool case, that's always the fun part for my previous PC build. Retro PC projects for 2016: 1- Try to rekindle interest in PentiumPro VS440FX build up. 2- Disassemble and clean up and polish Gateway 486DX2/50. 3- Recap CrystalScan monitor. 4- Reassemble PII-266 AL440LX, have the parts scattered all over the place. 5- Gather up and condense all my scrap PC parts. 6- Evaluate and possibly clean up a Chuntex 21" CRT - awesome value at the time. 7- Test, verify, surface scan a box of legacy drives. 8- Give Old Betsy a good blowout and cable organization. 9- Sell off extra parts. Wow, you got your work cut out for you! Anything interesting in the extra parts bits? Maybe some of the guys here could use some stuff for their pre-xp builds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 That Radeon HD 5770 sells for some coin on eBay. There seems to be a wide variance in selling prices, but all a lot higher than $4.99! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoRacer Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 That Radeon HD 5770 sells for some coin on eBay. There seems to be a wide variance in selling prices, but all a lot higher than $4.99! Yeah, I think it's because the ones for MAC are worth more. Either way, it's a huge profit margin, and helps pay for a nice collection of PC games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 My first PC from 99 was a something-440-BX with 400Mhz Celeron. Some of you guys mentioned that Motherboard a lot. It was an awesome PC. 10Mb hard drive, 128 Mb RAM (later upgraded to 256Mb). I booted it up a couple years back and while the CPU fan and hard drives spun up, it didn't post with either AGP video card I had in my posession. Don't know why. I ended up giving it, along with a beautiful ViewSonic CRT along with an Athlon 2000 XP system to a guy at my church who repairs PCs as a hobby. They were just taking up space. I kept the old shuttle (with 32-bit Athlon XP 3000) however. My current system is an AMD FX 8-core bulldozer (8150) OC to 4.2Ghz, and in a great big black Workstation case with Mrs Pacman sprite painted on the side. That steel case is built like a tank and weighs nearly 50 pounds. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoRacer Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 I've always loved those little Shuttles. And geez, 50lbs!?!?! Is it bullet proof? Haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoRacer Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 Found these is an unpacked box! Plus ordering more games. I might be going overboard, but I don't care. Haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Wow, you got your work cut out for you! Anything interesting in the extra parts bits? Maybe some of the guys here could use some stuff for their pre-xp builds. As I go through it I'll see what I can find. As long as it doesn't directly support my machines It'll be a gonner. I know I have some SB series sound cards in there. It will be feb or march realistically. In the meantime why don't we all stop building for a moment and watch some vintage intel commercials. My two favorites are these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzCU0vz8aYo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoRacer Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 Hey FYI, new eggs eBay account is selling dell P190S monitors refurbished for 46 shipped. Good deal on a good monitor. Considering buying it to replace the not-as-good goodwill monitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Hey FYI, new eggs eBay account is selling dell P190S monitors refurbished for 46 shipped. Good deal on a good monitor. Considering buying it to replace the not-as-good goodwill monitor. That monitor is a 5:4 aspect monitor with a 1280x1024 max resolution. It's kind of an oddball aspect ratio that does have some support in retro games but definitely not all. A 4:3 aspect with a 1024x768 resolution is the "classic" setup. You'd be able to run at 1024x768 on the P190S, but the scaling would not be an exact proportion and may look a little off. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSG Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Cool deal. I have a CRT hiding in my room right now. Just need old parts now. I have a cool master case from a windows 7 computer that was doomed since I booted it. We will see..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoRacer Posted December 17, 2015 Author Share Posted December 17, 2015 Well the monitor I got had two dead pixels. But I found a really nice Dell one (actually 4:3 ) on eBay for 22 shipped. Happy with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Fortunately, these weren't Dell machines; they were whitebox towers. They had SCSI CD-ROM drives and hard drive trays (the hard drives had been pulled); must have been expensive machines in their time. I'll have to dig the boards out again to see how many I have left. Did the BIOS upgrade you used to support the 1000MHz P3 come from Intel, or was it a third-party upgrade? I seem to recall reading that the latest Intel BIOS only supported up to 650MHz processors. I was just reviewing some of my posts on Vogons and was reminded that I had to "downgrade" the BIOS of my SE440BX-2 from P15 to P13 in order to get it to recognize CPUs with high multipliers. I used it with a Powerleap adapter and a 1.3GHz Celeron Tualatin (100MHz FSB). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 In case anyone is in the market for a new-in-box Intel SE440BX-2, this seller has them for $34 shipped. Great price. You get the IO shield, which is often missing when you buy loose motherboards. eBay Auction -- Item Number: 321951979962 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatta Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 I'm going to have to boot my 98SE box into pure dos and see. I could have sworn I played a bunch of 3dfx DOS games on that machine in pure DOS mode with the onboard GM. But if your memory is more recent, you're probably right. I network my retro machines and highly recommend it. Just keep everything behind a firewall and you're fine. Got my 98 machine loading up windows shares from a Linux box running Samba, got my Tandy running an FTP server from the mTCP suite. Beats sneakernet by miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxpressed Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 I'm going to have to boot my 98SE box into pure dos and see. I could have sworn I played a bunch of 3dfx DOS games on that machine in pure DOS mode with the onboard GM. But if your memory is more recent, you're probably right. I network my retro machines and highly recommend it. Just keep everything behind a firewall and you're fine. Got my 98 machine loading up windows shares from a Linux box running Samba, got my Tandy running an FTP server from the mTCP suite. Beats sneakernet by miles. Sorry, I may have implied that there were no DOS Glide games. There are a lot of them: http://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=886. Descent 2 can use Glide 3D acceleration but only via a patch and when launched from Windows. I was impressed that Descent 2 supported S3 Virge and Rendition Verite in DOS mode out of the box. I may have to try networking my 98SE boxes after all. I just load games on them, so there's no great need, but it might be fun just to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.