VM-installed XP on an IDE drive gets a bit further, to the "Windows failed to start up" screen where it offers safe mode and such. but no luck from there, safe mode or not
in order to feel like i accomplished something before i go to bed i installed Debian 12. but i accidentally accepted the default GNOME install option. it takes several eternities to boot and runs at 1 frame per sometimes. lol
anyway sleep now, more suffering later
this is me trying to install FreeDOS to the IDE drive, which unlike SATA was at least detected. but.. yeah
i did the minimal install and that seems to have finished ok
i was internet-brainedly looking for a FreeDOS beginner's guide today but there is of course documentation built in
the next thing is to transfer files to the machine somehow. probably over USB or LAN. but im sleepy
okay USB just works, at least if i have the drive plugged in on boot. nice
learning about DOS reminds me of my networking classes back in the day. all these acronyms
i seemingly got SBEMU working but when i try running Doom with it, depending on DOS startup settings and SBEMU card type, it either crashes on launch or during gameplay. and in either case there is no sound
maybe i need a simpler sound test program..
VSBHDA doesnt crash but still no sound, in either Doom or legendary finnish game Wings
this *is* supposed to be one of the supported chipsets (VT8237). hmm
tried disabling the USB2.0 controller as it shares an IRQ with the onboard audio, but no difference
hmm some unresolved VT8237 issues here https://github.com/Baron-von-Riedesel/VSBHDA/issues/23
so maybe it just doesnt work
Not working on VT8237 (Asus mobo) · Issue #23 · Baron-von-Riedesel/VSBHDA
Even though the initialization is successful and the protected mode support is enabled, the PM app I am using to try the emulation is saying "Hardware init failure" and refuses to start. It is the ...
not sure what the next thing to try from here would be. do i get a SB Live or Audigy for PCI?
remember when i owned a SB Live until less than a year ago? 😂
https://anticapitalist.party/@ahihi/114428907529749496
Attached: 1 image
here is a tough one though. do i bring these PCI cards over to the new place just in case i might one day decide to get into retro non-mac PCs
(i am pretty sure we sold it, but not 100%)
moral of the story: never get rid of anything
since i dont have audio i might as well look into the AGP GPU flashing thing. it seems the system will not start up with the Radeon connected, or at least i get nothing from the onboard VGA
this is a problem because the AGP card's firmware is currently fucked, so it of course also gives no video
BIOS is configured to prioritize PCI graphics over AGP. not sure if that also is supposed to apply to the onboard graphics or if i actually need a separate PCI card
apparently i ordered a PCI GPU in december. tracking says "Last-mile supplier received" in january, unclear if there are supposed to be updates after this. i dont think i received it..
it is hard to rule out completely since everything is chaos around here but i cant find it in any of the obvious places at least
i ordered another very cheap ATI Rage XL PCI just in case. it was from a different ebay seller than the first one, but according to finnish post the sender was the same. today i received both cards. lol
the time has come to fuck around with DOS again
test 1: can i boot with either of the Rages (and no AGP card) installed
yes! both cards appear to be functional :)
test 2: can i boot with both a PCI and AGP card installed
yes!!
test 3: can i find my USB drive with the flashing files, and does atiflash see the AGP card
yes indeed. it says AT25F1024/C here but i know thats a lie
maybe we can make it less of a lie
the operation might be a success
dual wielding soldering irons was very helpful again :)
it looks like i can indeed write the full 128KB ROM 👀
G4 does not like it though
tried also the 136 ROM with similar results. hmm
i flashed a PC ROM to check that the card is not generally fucked. nope, works fine in the DOS machine
im pretty much out of ideas :/
there is still the question of this MF/SF switch thing.. but again, this does not exist on my card
@ahihi male/female/san francisco
@ahihi also: doesn't exist and needs to? solder it! exists and doesn't need to? snip it!
@ozzelot yes. but nobody on the searchable internet appears to have an explanation for what the switch does
i already soldered a header onto an empty spot on the card which is located in basically the same spot as the MF/SF switch on other cards. but jumpering it has not had any effect. im not sure this is even connected to anything
pulusound
Ozzelot 