• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

My Collection

E

evildragon

Veteran Member
Joined
May 29, 2007
Messages
1,646
Location
Tampa Florida
This collection will gradually showcase my old vintage computers, after one is phased out. (i'll phase them out week by week)

First Up!
IBM PS/2 Model 25... This was my first computer, and I still use it to this day, too (for real work too, including internet and email). It is modified by me, and has been repaired by me.. mine is of the monochrome type.

Original Specs:
Intel 8086
512KB RAM
720KB Floppy
MCGA Graphics

that's it..

Specs as of Now:
NEC V30
640KB RAM
720KB Floppy
20MB MFM Hard Drive
VGA Graphics (more on that below)
SoundBlaster 2.0
100MB Zip Drive

The VGA Mod: I know that it was an old computer, and grainy high resolution graphics were just what it could only do. But I wanted more out of it. I knew that the system could do it, and I knew that the CRT could do it too! I wanted 256 colors (in this case, shades of grey), in 640x480, instead of pure 1-bit monochrome.. So, I desoldered the HD-15 connector off of an video card (VRAM upgraded to allow 640x480 with 256 colors), and soldered wires onto a self-made daughter card, that accepted the 25's CRT connector...

http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/vgamod1.jpg
http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/vgamod2.jpg
http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/vgamod3.jpg

The result was this:

Before (MCGA High Res):
http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/ibmbefore.jpg

After (VGA High Res--Same resolution):
http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/ibmafter.jpg

It was well worth the sweat and blood I put into this computer.

Now, what about the repair? In 1999, this computer suffered from not turning on. I had no choice but to smack the side of it, to get it to power on, only for it to turn off in 10 minutes. I never found the problem, until a few months ago. The power supply had a loose connection right next to the CRT.

http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/ibm2.jpg
http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/ibm1.jpg

So, since then, my IBM has worked great, and once again, serves me well, and I serve it well in return.

http://www.spymac.com/upload/2007/01/19/jFxDiftXGK.jpg

(that's my baby sister on the desktop of the IBM-----this desktop isn't up to date anyways)
 
UPDATE: I have removed the VGA card, for two reasons.

1. It wasn't the best video card I've used, and it seemed to have some weird corruptions in old DOS games.

2. I would rather make the "build" better. For example, have a VGA cable come out the back of the computer and simply connect to it, rather than modding the VGA card itself.

EDIT: The VGA card is back in the 25.. (has been for a while now..)
 
Last edited:
This computer has had a couple more upgrades...

It now contains a 1.44MB high density floppy drive, and also is now equipped with a Zip 250 drive.. The newer, and hard to believe upgrade, but very real upgrade, a SoundBlaster 16... (if there is perhaps a DEBUG command that can be used to prove this is real, please let me know..)
 
evildragon said:
This computer has had a couple more upgrades...

It now contains a 1.44MB high density floppy drive, and also is now equipped with a Zip 250 drive.. The newer, and hard to believe upgrade, but very real upgrade, a SoundBlaster 16... (if there is perhaps a DEBUG command that can be used to prove this is real, please let me know..)
Click to expand...

Good to hear the 1.44Mb drive is in there now. To "prove" the level of SoundBlaster it would come down to the version of the onboard DSP (which can be queried by software). I would have to look over the charts, but likely that anything above "1.5" would not be an 8-bit adapter.
 
evildragon said:
It now contains a 1.44MB high density floppy drive, and also is now equipped with a Zip 250 drive.. The newer, and hard to believe upgrade, but very real upgrade, a SoundBlaster 16... (if there is perhaps a DEBUG command that can be used to prove this is real, please let me know..)
Click to expand...

The SB16 isn't a real upgrade until you can play 16-bit digitized sound through it ;-)

How did you connect the 1.44MB drive? I thought the power came through the data cable; did you need to wire up it's own power connection? Did the BIOS recognize it?
 
evildragon said:
This was my first computer, and I still use it to this day, too (for real work too, including internet and email).
Click to expand...

While I use my 5160 for all my classic needs, I still have my first machine... An AT&T PC 6300. Proprietary graphics card (could do 640x400) and monitor (25-pin cable), 7.16MHz 8086 (1.8x the speed of a 5150)... but I used it for 5 years before getting a 386.

I've expanded it as far as it can go, given that it's odd design prevented most normal mods like EGA or VGA:

  • Cut a hole in the case to mount a 3.5" floppy next to the 5.25"
  • Upgraded the BIOSes all the way ($15 from AT&T in 1988; the BIOS was in two chips and the upgraded one improved compatibility)
  • Added an 8087
  • Replaced 8086 with NEC V30 (went to 2.1x faster than 5150)
  • Added a hard drive via Plus hardcard
  • Found the most optimal DRAM refresh rate that didn't crater the machine (went to 2.2x faster than 5150)
  • Added a headphone jack so I could hear PC speaker without waking the parents :)

I love it, but I stick to my guns in developing software on the 5150/5160, because if I can get my stuff to run on that, I know they'll run on anything. I'm developing my 3D library on the 5160 as well.
 
Trixter said:
The SB16 isn't a real upgrade until you can play 16-bit digitized sound through it ;-)

How did you connect the 1.44MB drive? I thought the power came through the data cable; did you need to wire up it's own power connection? Did the BIOS recognize it?
Click to expand...
It does play 16-bit sounds.. Get a 286 or something that you have that will run the SB16, and stick it in an 8-bit slot.. It is working, I just wish I had a WAVE player to use.. my driver was BASIC, just enough to get me running, not enough to get me playing..

The 1.44MB floppy he sent me does use the all-in-one ribbon.. No one said the model 25 wouldn't recognize HD drives ;) it's literally plug and play..

I might know what I can use to prove it... I have an old wave file player, what I'll do is, convert one of my MP3's to WAVE, put it on a zip disk, and play it back.. perhaps that would be good enough..

EDIT: damnit! the utility I had was for CD-Audio.. I'm still looking.. Google sucks these days, and typing in "DOS Wave player" gets me nowhere, it's all windows utilities, or dead links
 
Last edited:
Perhaps try getting an old dos mod player or something instead. Yes .wav players existed but I don't believe I ever used them in dos alone.

I think the problem would be finding a program that has enough "pure" code that it wouldn't do something dumb that requires a higher processor.

I know I had a .wav player that I found written in qbasic but again I'm not sure if you can run qbasic on that system (either qbasic or quickbasic I can't remember).

Unfortunatly I don't know any cool tricks on using debug.com to query or check the revision of a sound card.
 
Here's an update: I converted some Sega Genesis songs to OPL3 format, and got to hear the music from Castlevania Bloodlines, on the IBM Model 25...

http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/OPL3castle.mp3

http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/OPL3castle2.mp3

http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/OPL3castle3.mp3

It's weird hearing this old computer pump out some impressive FM tunes, especially in stereo.. But for some reason, the second one has an "electronic" sound to it, when it should be a flute! Perhaps I can use the Sega games official FM player, as the Genesis used a Z80 for music playback, and my Model 25 has a V30, which has an 8080 mode. Maybe a simple port would allow the music to sound authentic. (as long as I put the OPL3 in the 6 channel mode, to match that of the Genesis' oscillators)
 
Yikes!! The 2nd one is in bad shape, no doubt about it. "One" doesn't seem much better. All depends how you look at it. They are "really crappy" if you look at them from a more modern sound card point of view but a whole lot better than a "pc speaker" rendition I have heard. I beat a Thunderboard to dealth playing mids and mods. The mods (samples) always sounded much better. Of course, 10 years later and the mp3s sound miles better still so there ya go.
 
Last edited:
chuckcmagee said:
Yikes!! The 2nd one is in bad shape, no doubt about it. "One" doesn't seem much better. All depends how you look at it. They are "really crappy" if you look at them from a more modern sound card point of view but a whole lot better than a "pc speaker" rendition I have heard. I beat a Thunderboard to dealth playing mids and mods. The mods (samples) always sounded much better. Of course, 10 years later and the mp3s sound miles better still so there ya go.
Click to expand...
I would absolutely love to play some MODs, but I don't think the V30 will be up for it..
 
Get GLX212.ZIP and you'll be able to play MODs. Or, I could send you my MOD player if you can't get GLX212 working. It doesn't sound fantastic, but it does work.
 
GLX works, but is scratchy. That might be the best this thing will sound though..

(and in SB Pro mode, theres no stereo sound, where the document says it should be)
 
Last edited:
You won't hear Sound Blaster Pro stereo out of a Sound Blaster 16. The stereo was enabled by a mixer bit that is missing on the 16, so you will have much better results by telling it to produce mono sound (mixing rate can be higher as a result).

GLX is a faster modplayer than mine, so keep working with GLX if it works.
 
Trixter said:
You won't hear Sound Blaster Pro stereo out of a Sound Blaster 16. The stereo was enabled by a mixer bit that is missing on the 16, so you will have much better results by telling it to produce mono sound (mixing rate can be higher as a result).

GLX is a faster modplayer than mine, so keep working with GLX if it works.
Click to expand...
how can i tell it to play in mono mode? it already plays in mono, with occasional pops on the left speaker, that isn't on the right..

EDIT, when I tell it /oSB /m44, it plays slower temo, and the audio is lower pitched, but never actually getting 44KHz sample rates.. (sounds more like 8Khz to be honest)

EDIT2: The temp thing happens in DosBox too...

Here's the samples from my 25..

/oSB /m44
http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/slowtrack.ogg

SB Pro, 22KHz Mode (auto detection)
http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/fasttrack.ogg
 
Last edited:
I have another update, but you guys can take this one anyway you want...

I decided to modify an old overlay card, and hook up a DVD player to my Model 25.. The result was that I had to grab "Y" from the component output of a DVD player, set the player to 480p (has same sync as VGA essentially), and assign a hot color on the overlay card to output an image to the monitor... (which can be seen as the border color..) I also had to seperate the H/V sync from the "Y", so the overlay card could genlock the image onto the screen..

I just have to make sure the DVD player doesn't accidentally go into 480i, I'd hate to see the consequences of that would be..

http://blackevilweredragon.spymac.com/dvd25.jpg

So yes, this is an external solution, and it's still a mess.. My plan is to write a BASIC application that controls the DVD player via directly wiring the IR port on the player (those tiny little Cyberhome's), to the serial port. I haven't even started that project, and I'm going to have to see how the IR port on the player works first... I can probably capture the remotes codes from my media center PC's IR port using a special application...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top