[X] My Assistant

Akalines last 2 or 3 times longer than carbon-zinc/heavy duty.

This is true, but they also like leaking.

Unless it can't handle the voltage difference, use NiMH batteries, though; Panasonic makes good ones if you need a brand recommendation but most are fine. They also mean less waste in landfills. In practice, I haven't got anything that won't run on 1.2V cells.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Nov 14 2020, 20:20

Why do i need to write a whitepaper about things i need to do

I haven't got anything that won't run on 1.2V cells.

Some LED flashlights are picky about the batteries. If the voltage sags under load, the LED module stops working if it was designed for alkaline 1.5 volts. The Costco flashlight 500lm 3-pack ($14.99) which normally uses three 1.5 volt alkalines will work with NiMH if they are quality cells that don't have immediate voltage sag under use. As soon as they do, the batteries need recharging. I've bought rayovac, energizer, and ThunderBolt Magnum (harbor freight) and those worked for a few minutes before the flashlight electronic module stopped working due to sag. Conversely, Duracell and Ikea LADDA kept on working for a lot longer possibly because they're made in Japan instead of China.

Who is the Xbox Series S for? It is already performing like shit if you watch the Digital Foundry performance videos.

Who is the Xbox Series S for? It is already performing like shit if you watch the Digital Foundry performance videos.

Kids, cheaper for parents. Kids don't care about 4k.

Yesterday, I naively used some time I spent in the supermarket to look for AAAA batteries.
Can't toss away the possibility of a miracle of them being sold in an ordinary way, hence naivety.

Kids, cheaper for parents. Kids don't care about 4k.

Nor would I; a 1080p plasma from 2008 is still great.

Nor would I; a 1080p plasma from 2008 is still great.

yeah same.

I think I fried at least one of the XRAM chips on my only Master System. I think I can replace it with an 8Kx8 SRAM chip from an old twinax IBM terminal board (the IBM 3196) if I desolder them both, but I'm not sure which of the two XRAM chips is actually at fault here (or if it is actually something scarier, like a faulty VDP).

Not looking forward to fixing it. I hate desoldering. I'll probably want to buy a couple more IC sockets, too, to simplify things. That or I could piggyback on top of the original chip, probably, if I disconnect the chip select line. That might also simplify figuring out which one is faulty.

I was just about to let a friend of mine finish Phantasy Star on it, so this is really bothersome.

Also, that 8K x 8 is (I think) the only known-good SRAM chip I've got that's not in use… so I hope I don't fuck it up. I have a couple NES boards that I might be able to pull chips off of, too, but I'm not sure if they're good or not anymore. I also hope it works as a replacement for the original XRAM (that's what NEC called it, at least). I think it'll be fine. Probably gonna have to do some in-depth research on how the SMS VDP works if I want to figure out which chip is faulty without removing both; they don't seem to be heating up more than usual.

I know it's not the Z80's RAM at fault because games run (and sound works); they just have garbage graphics. The BIOS rom also has garbage graphics, so I know it's almost definitely not a problem with the cartridge connector.

I really hope it's just the VDP's RAM, because if it's pretty much anything else I have no chance of getting replacement parts unless I get another Master System, which i'd rather not do (trying to avoid that). As it is, I'm using RAM that I don't think anyone makes anymore. Maybe the faster stuff would work, but it also might not. This chip is rated for 150ns (and the CPU RAM is rated for 200ns!).

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Nov 16 2020, 06:07

I thought my mobile phone (curse it) had died (curse it).
Would not start (curse it) no matter what I did, and even plugging it would not turn any light on (curse it).
But after looking around on Internet, I found someone saying to push much much longer on the power button, and that did worked on my mobile phone (curse it).
So now it's working again (curse it).

But let me say something unexpected, I really curse those damn machines (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)

Spoiler text - Highlight to read...

And I curse my bank now that I realize that they rely on this damn thing (curse it) even more than I thought, I could not even get an appointment to do thing I can't do without a code received by the phone (curse it) since I would be required to log on my account for that, and I need a code received by the phone (curse it) to do that.

I wonder if I could write on an exemption certificate allowing to travel during lockdown that my reason is "going to buy voodoo dolls and other curse items". Would that count as major necessity?I feel it does, but it may not make unanimity.

This post has been edited by uareader: Nov 16 2020, 15:01

Now I've fried both the VDP's XRAM chips on the master system, so at least now I know what has to be replaced.

I really, _really_ hate desoldering DIP chips without an electric pump though.

I think I fried at least one of the XRAM chips on my only Master System. I think I can replace it with an 8Kx8 SRAM chip from an old twinax IBM terminal board (the IBM 3196) if I desolder them both, but I'm not sure which of the two XRAM chips is actually at fault here (or if it is actually something scarier, like a faulty VDP).

Not looking forward to fixing it. I hate desoldering. I'll probably want to buy a couple more IC sockets, too, to simplify things. That or I could piggyback on top of the original chip, probably, if I disconnect the chip select line. That might also simplify figuring out which one is faulty.

I was just about to let a friend of mine finish Phantasy Star on it, so this is really bothersome.

Also, that 8K x 8 is (I think) the only known-good SRAM chip I've got that's not in use… so I hope I don't fuck it up. I have a couple NES boards that I might be able to pull chips off of, too, but I'm not sure if they're good or not anymore. I also hope it works as a replacement for the original XRAM (that's what NEC called it, at least). I think it'll be fine. Probably gonna have to do some in-depth research on how the SMS VDP works if I want to figure out which chip is faulty without removing both; they don't seem to be heating up more than usual.

I know it's not the Z80's RAM at fault because games run (and sound works); they just have garbage graphics. The BIOS rom also has garbage graphics, so I know it's almost definitely not a problem with the cartridge connector.

I really hope it's just the VDP's RAM, because if it's pretty much anything else I have no chance of getting replacement parts unless I get another Master System, which i'd rather not do (trying to avoid that). As it is, I'm using RAM that I don't think anyone makes anymore. Maybe the faster stuff would work, but it also might not. This chip is rated for 150ns (and the CPU RAM is rated for 200ns!).

Old games are quite sensitive to timings between the different chips. It might be easier to buy old SMS for parts, though their price has been going way up recently.

Old games are quite sensitive to timings between the different chips. It might be easier to buy old SMS for parts, though their price has been going way up recently.

Friend of mine who I was going to let finish Phantasy Star offered to pay just over half the cost of me getting another SMS, so I've got another one on the way now. I hope it's another early one like my current one is, with the leaf spring switches for reset/pause and the V7040 NTSC encoder chip (which is a lot nicer than the later CXA1145 designs, IMO, and was also used in a lot of MSX computers). The serial number looks promising, but I can see a lot of corrosion on the RF shielding through the vents on the bottom. Free shipping and free returns, though, untested, so hopefully it'll turn out okay.

…maybe I should have used this opportunity to offset the cost of getting a Mark III or Japanese SMS imported, though. JP SMS has the YM2413 FM sound chip built in, and the MKIII has a single-layer PCB and discrete glue logic.

I assumed they would be timing-sensitive, yeah. I still might get two 150ns SRAM chips off ebay or something and try the piggybacking method some day to hopefully return my current one to operating condition. I currently only have one Master System game, though (Phantasy Star). The only other one I really would like to find is Ys, which isn't 100% compatible with the Mega Drive power base converter apparently. The only other Master System thing I don't have that I'd like is a controller with the removable thumbstick. My current control pads have the spot for a stick but it's covered by a rubber "plug" thing. A Hori SG Commander would also be nice, since it's basically a Famicom D-pad controller for the Master System. Probably easier to just use a 74HC595 shift register to decode an NES controller and connect one of them to my master system, though.

My friend is an early zoomer, btw; he was impressed by Chrono Trigger and likes the Phantasy Star mazes, though, which warms my heart to hear. I still don't think he'll like PS II, though.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Nov 17 2020, 08:13

I just gave mine away earlier this year :/ Unfortunately my CRT died.

I have a PI4 for emulation. Its not the same but it works on bigger screens.

I got some chemtronics brand desoldering that's full of dried rosin, and really finely stranded, and quite impressed with it's performance. A temp regulated iron that's higher wattage would probally aid with it more, but my weller wp35 is still serving me quite well enough, and no bulky base.

Replacing my desktop's case with a Supermicro 743, and doing some related upgrades while I'm at it. Intel M1015 SAS/SATA raid card, and SAS/SATA backplane for it's drive bays. Think I worked out how to add usb 3.0 to the front panel, trying to decide if I need a headphone jack on the front. I think no for now, because I never used the old cases's one. Main thing I'm ambivalent on is if I'll need new fans, and how to go about mounting them all.

Eddy: Case was delivered today, and a pile of small parts should arrive Friday. Pics inbound once it's assembled enough to operate, and I get the cables neat.

This post has been edited by Wayward_Vagabond: Nov 17 2020, 19:12

I just gave mine away earlier this year :/ Unfortunately my CRT died.

I have a PI4 for emulation. Its not the same but it works on bigger screens.

If you still have the dead CRT, depending on how it died I might be able to help fix it. I've remotely diagnosed major faults with a couple peoples' CRT's on 4chan before, for instance. On one of them it stopped synchronizing (vsync/hsync stopped functioning) and I remotely guessed where the failure was based on the schematic for the display; I was right on the first guess (+12VDC power line with some cracked solder joint IIRC; he said his power LED stopped lighting up too and that tipped me off since it runs on the same 12V line as the sync circuitry is indirectly powered by through some diodes to step the voltage down).

I've also fixed some of my own. I currently have five (IBM 3161 terminal, Commodore 1942, AppleColor composite monitor for the IIe, Panasonic BT-H1390YN, Sony PVM-20L5). I've done extensive repairs on the Commodore and IBM monitors.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Nov 18 2020, 05:29

Will ask you in a couple of months whether they're good. I heard they are actually bad compared to the old version. I still keep my WRT54G because it never disappointed me after more than a decade of use.

Update on it:
It's only been about a month and a half, but I've not had any new problems crop up since getting my WRT1900ACS apart from one time when I let it get pretty hot in my room and the router overheated; while I don't ever go terribly far from it the router has been working out quite well for me to this point.
Looks like the CPU is running at about 71°C, though, so I think I might try to add a fan on top of the unit to pull air out. Current uptime is 18 days (power went out 18 days ago). I'm running OpenWRT 19.07.4 on it.
Overall, I'm quite pleased. And the studies I saw showed a marginal difference between the 1900AC and the 1900ACS. I think I'd have picked an AC just because it comes with a fan and is available used as much as anything else had I not gotten it as a gift. I still would say the ACS is good, too, however.

Was too tired at the time. So unfortunately threw it out.

One more thing about the WRT1900AC(S):
If you want to use mesh networking, [github.com] you might not want to use it. Blame Marvell (and Belkin/Linksys for choosing them).

Since I don't care about mesh networking it's fine, but definitely something to remember when choosing a router.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Nov 18 2020, 08:41