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wierd_w

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Posts posted by wierd_w

  1. Posted · Edited by wierd_w

    Again, it does not need to be either/or.

     

    your main program can live in the supercart, then SAMS can be paged without as much hassle; your handlers/main program always are in accessible memory, inside the supercart.  This would allow you to page in/out the ENTIRE 32k space for data elements

     

    (I still wonder if abusing GRAM so that it could be externally latched to drive a mapper chip, could be used to make the supercart pageable too.)

    • Like 2

  3. Posted · Edited by wierd_w

    I'd say the big things that killed the arcade are:

     

    The "DRUG MENACE!!" propaganda, spread by Nancy Reagan and co. (I wont elaborate further because of no politics rule, but the histrionics this caused, along with the next one I will mention, put a big damper on arcades.)  Seemed like everywhere the "Concerned Parent" groups were warning of the dangers of drug pushers, out to get all those arcade quarters off kids wanting to play in the arcade, and much ado was made about the "Low visibility, darkened environment!" of arcades, and how this supposedly predisposed them to being places where drug pushers would operate unrestricted.

     

    The "DANGEROUS PEDOPHILES WILL RAPE YOUR CHILDREN!" hysteria that was going around then too.  Once again, "Darkened environs, low visibility--- UNSAFE! WOOO!" (Citation)

     

    And then there was the "SATAN WORSHIPING CULTS!" thing that was going around then (which targeted more Pen and Paper RPGs than arcades, but still, it tied in real well with the "Pedophiles! OH MY!" hysteria.)

     

     

    When kids aren't allowed out of the house, because "FEAR, UNCERTAINTY, DOUBT!" is what's on mommy's mind, they don't go to the arcade.  When they dont go to the arcade, they dont spend quarters, and then the arcade goes out of business.

     

    If you couple that with "If you want to play video games, I will get you an NES, and you can play at home!", and you get pretty close to the formula that killed the arcade.

     

    Due to the shift in market dynamics (because of mommy's hysteria), home consoles took off again, and soon outclassed arcades anyway-- and a cultural experience died in its infancy.

     

     

    Sadly, I can't make this stuff up. :(

     

     

  4. Posted · Edited by wierd_w

    I dunno about that, since both could live concurrently. (different addresses occupied.)

     

    (for instance, your program data could live comfortably in the 8k pages supplied by the supercart, while using the SAMS memory for data elements. Being independently pageable would be handy.)

     

    • Like 2

  5. Posted

    Given the behavior of the drive (20mb), i would say it is either a faulty terminator resistor pack, OR, its stepper motor is not actuating well.

     

    The latter is more likely the culprit, and easily investigated with 2 to 3 drops of quality machine oil.

  6. Posted

    The card needs to handle 8bit IO, from my limited understanding.  It's a legacy ATA mode, that's not really used by much these days.  The nanopeb (or at least the one I have?) has the entire other 8 bits of the IO literally sawed off the connector.

     

    Getting a manufacturer to specify if their cards support 8bit IO mode or not is about as easy as getting them to tell you what the flash erase block size is on an SD Card.

     

    Good luck with that.

     

    Better to just make a database here on AA, that lists known working cards (with FCCID numbers to better track production runs.)

     

     

  7. Posted

    I dont have any scsi requiring retro systems though...

    As for being useless, I would disagree!  Just get an appropriate external housing, then swap out the drives. (Put 20mb in the external housing, put 500mb internal), load up the 20mb with a collection of SMI images for various old mac systems, and make it bootable.

     

    Use it as a rescue/install media platform.

  8. Posted · Edited by wierd_w

    HFS tops out at ~1gb, IIRC.

    HFS+ can do much bigger. 

     

    You should be able to do that whole 500mb drive as one volume.

    I would still see if dropping some 3-in-1 oil on the head actuator step motor of the internal 20mb fixes its zombie status.

  9. Posted · Edited by wierd_w

    (dumb question)

     

    Couldn't you do a GROM + RAM image for the FG99, that has a small stub GROM (since the GROMs are accessed very differently from RAM/ROM), and then have an 8k RAM image header for the RAM portion?

     

    (It would require mods to the FG99 FW, but a "write on grom" bankswitcher might also work to bankswitch the full 8k space? Since the cart already can do GRAM, it clearly can catch when a write is attempted. If mode is read-only, and write is attempted, that could be caught as a signal.)

    • Like 2

  10. Posted · Edited by wierd_w

    2 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

    Chicks just cannot resist a super-villain.

    Of course they can't.  I am truly sorry to hear that your birthday party got crashed like that though. (and by the caterers no less) Maybe next year.

  12. Posted · Edited by wierd_w

    I am surprised you got it that clear without atmospheric aberrations.

     

    (Or chromatic aberrations for that matter.  Especially if it is an actual lens based telescope, and not a reflector telescope.)

    • Like 1

  18. Posted

    Essentially--

     

    When doing a 3D print-- any 3D print, the initial layer is very very important.

     

    You need to have a good adhesion to the build plate, such that thermal or mechanical stresses are insufficient for the layer to delaminate from that surface prematurely.  This is where things like Brims and Rafts come into play.

     

    When making a part that has low-contact-surface|Volume characteristics (such as my bottom half of this part), mechanical forces are a leading cause of delamination. (EG, the head moving around on top of the deposited prior layer produces enough friction that it can rip it off the build plate, resulting in a tangled ball of extruded plastic streamers.)  To combat this, a wide, thin surrounding structure is deposited, that adds mechanical anchoring, making it harder to dislodge the part from the build surface from mechanical dragging.

     

    When making a part that has high density|volume, thermal dissipation (and thus, the impacts of thermal differences from top to bottom result in uneven strain forces inside the material) can easily cause warping in the part, which then mechanically pries the part from the surface or worse.  A raft helps, because it is a thick, elevated structure that is closer to ambient temperature, and it is printed sparsely in contact with the print bed.

     

    In this case, I strongly suggest using a fairly wide brim, both inside and outside contours.

    • Like 1

  21. Posted

    Kinda sorta.

     

    (from wikipedia)

    The first version of PCI found in retail desktop computers was a 32-bit bus using a 33 MHz bus clock and 5 V signalling, although the PCI 1.0 standard provided for a 64-bit variant as well. These have one locating notch in the card. Version 2.0 of the PCI standard introduced 3.3 V slots, physically distinguished by a flipped physical connector to prevent accidental insertion of 5 V cards. Universal cards, which can operate on either voltage, have two notches. Version 2.1 of the PCI standard introduced optional 66 MHz operation.

     

     

    I suspect the TNT2 card is a PCI 2.1 card, using 3.3v, and driving at 66mhz.   The RAM in the card is not getting a proper reference signal from the bus, and experiencing DRAM refresh corruption. (theory.)

     

    Since the card has two notches, it is a universal card, so it must have voltage regulation circuitry. I suspect that the issue is it really does not want to operate at 33mhz speeds. 

     

    s-l640.jpg

     

     

     

  22. Posted

    That's the thing though; the TNT2 works peachy in the pentium 4 board's PCI slot. I suspect it needs newer revisions of the PCI specification.

     

    The Diamond Stealth 2000 2MB PCI  (S3 Virge DX) I popped in there is period appropriate, and works just peachy.  Doom runs quite nicely.

     

     

    I am waiting on some serial headers and a serial mouse (along with a 6 wire PS/2 header and port connector, that I can move the IDC pins around in the connector to match what the manual says the pinout of the motherboard connector is.

     

    I intend to 3D print an appropriate IO shield that exposes the AT keyboard hole, a serial and parallel cutout, and the PS/2 mouse hole, then attach all the header connectors to their appropriate spots. 

  24. Posted · Edited by wierd_w

    @Mehridian Sanders

     

    I know you are jonesing to print stuff, and I would like somebody with a printer that is worth a damn to try my models out.

    To do the assembly, you will need 6 M3 brass chasis stand-offs, and 6 M3 computer case screws. (and probably a hammer to tap them into the holes before gently touching them with a (El CHEAPO!! Dont use a good one!) soldering iron to set them.

     

    Here's the models in STP and STL formats, REV A. 

     

    Top.stp top.stl bottom.stp bottom.stl

     

    Change log:

    Move top-left board mounting hole location 1.5mm to the left (toward TI cart slot side), to match position of mating hole in speech synth board

    Increase cutout area in bottom section by .5mm all around so that RF shield installs easily.

    Add "baked in" support material for top section

    Increase text indentation depth to 1mm for reliable black resin material back-fill before sanding operation

     

     

    I printed at .1mm layer height, with 2mm thick wall, 2mm thick top and bottom, and 20% infill. Supports were disabled. (You will NEVER get them out of the screw holes if you turn them on! This is why the top has baked in support model.) Print time was a little over 3 days total for both top and bottom altogether.  Your printer might print faster/better.

    • Like 3
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