[X] My Assistant

AMD shouldn't even bother at the high end, might consider one of the cheaper cards if the idle power consumption is a driver bug and will be fixed.

Graphics card tech reviewers are schizophrenic at the moment.

We have both people saying 7900xtx destroys the 4080 by 15% and other reviews saying the 4080 destroys the 7900xtx by 15%.

Its probably that depending on the games tested they will be similar.

Sure sounds like AMD launch drivers.

I don't put any stock in anything anyone says about anything technology related that is widely popular. Or even that has a large enthusiast interest from a niche.

In both cases I feel like it's usually a combination of the blind leading the blind, shills, and paid advertisements.

The best thing to do is wait for the dust to settle and then see what's on top when the masses have largely moved on to the next shiny object to distract them from their miserable lives.

That's why I first played Portal 2 in 2021.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Dec 13 2022, 11:48

Just got an imported launch revision PSX motherboard in the mail. The one with an S-video jack on the back and the dual-ported VRAM (later revisions - a lion's share of all the consoles sold - switched to SGRAM and did a major overhaul of the GPU design).

I was actually looking for an american pre-GPU-redesign board to replace the one I already had so that I could experiment on my board without feeling too bad about it. But I couldn't find one. Not all PU-8 boards use the old chip, which is annoying. Ended up being easier to find a Japanese PU-7 board (which is very similar).

Launch Japanese Playstations are the only Japanese playstations that don't have a region lock that can't be patched out by the usual modchips. So it really is perfect.

(you can modchip any Japanese PSX, and it will work to stop the drive controller chip from killing the drive when it can't validate a disc. But the BIOS in later revisions does a secondary region check, so while a modchipped JP PSX can play burned CD's it can only play burned Japanese-region discs unless it's a launch revision unit).

Modchipped it and threw it in one of my PSX shells. Working nicely. Played a little of Parasite Eve. No FMV skipping, which always makes me happy.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Dec 13 2022, 11:55

I thought they had a softmod exploit to load of a SD card adapter now? Or is mod chip still required?

I thought they had a softmod exploit to load of a SD card adapter now? Or is mod chip still required?

The thing is, I have a bunch of ATTiny85's, and some larger AVR's, too, but I don't have a memory card -> SD card adapter. And I'd rather not get more stuff when I already have too much.

Also I have modchipped at least half a dozen PSXes at this point, so I am quite used to it. It also means that I don't have to have one card per console or remember where my card is. Losing or misplacing the card also doesn't screw me over.

I don't think the memory card trick will save you from games that require "stealth" modchips normally (e.g., Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon). Haven't confirmed that, but based on what I know about how the actual mechacon chip lockout works, it seems probable. I don't think that can be patched while the game is already running.

I also am pretty sure the mechacon (drive controller chip) will 're-arm' itself when you swap discs for multi-disc games.

To me it just makes a lot more sense to solder in a modchip. It's possible to fuck up an install, but I've gotten pretty good at doing them.
[i.imgur.com] (IMG:[i.imgur.com] https://i.imgur.com/85vfrWQg.jpg)

[i.imgur.com] (IMG:[i.imgur.com] https://i.imgur.com/4RhwIyig.jpg)
That's a sticker the seller put on the board down at the bottom. I tried to peel it off. Oh well.

[i.imgur.com] (IMG:[i.imgur.com] https://i.imgur.com/U3DXkxog.jpg)
Drive mechanism was replaced with one from a much later revision unit. The original was one of those ones that would wear itself out of alignment. Just oiling this newer one (with the metallic sled rail) was enough to rejuvenate it.
This pic really demonstrates lens curvature distortion. Oh well (again).

Edit: the power supply is also from a much later unit. Which is why that power cable looks so funky and there's glue holding it in spots (it had different screw hole positions).

Side thought: they really managed to shrink that board down over the years.
(IMG:[i.imgur.com] https://i.imgur.com/aR3ajq6.jpg)

Another thought:
[www.diyaudio.com] I ran across a thread where people were talking about modding the original playstation to use as a dedicated CD player. Specifically the first few revisions.

OK, sure, I can buy that. It has a pretty OK DAC on it. But then there's this one guy who kept raving about the paper-in-oil capacitors he put into the audio pathway on his PSX and the tube preamp that he used to replace the built-in silicon pre-amp. And rambling about how much better music sounds since he stabilized the drive pickup itself on a plank of plywood to dampen it. Sometimes I just don't understand people at all. It's like they don't understand how CD error correction works (which of course they don't).

The PSX CD drive is already kinda crap and wears itself out of alignment, especially the early revisions that they like, so unless they upgraded that, everything they else they've done is just incredibly stupid.
Listening to the people in that thread... man, talk about the blind leading the blind.

The PSX is a nice CD player, yeah. But it's not magic.
(I am listening to mine playing bubblegum crisis soundtrack CD's on my circa 1978-1980 hifi system as I say this.)

IMO, if you want a good CD player, you rip the CD with a good drive on a PC, and then get a good DAC.

- I'm guessing you've heard that one before, Eso (About using the PSX as a CD player)?
If curious, the DAC is the Asahi Kasei AK4310, or very similar AK4309B depending on revision (at least for the earlier revisions of playstation boards). The AK4309B datasheet says what the basic differences are between the two chips. I have also been able to find a (crappy) scan of the AK4310 datasheet itself. Mine both have the 4310.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Dec 14 2022, 02:24

The PSX is a nice CD player, yeah. But it's not magic.
(I am listening to mine playing bubblegum crisis soundtrack CD's on my circa 1978-1980 hifi system as I say this.)

IMO, if you want a good CD player, you rip the CD with a good drive on a PC, and then get a good DAC.

- I'm guessing you've heard that one before, Eso (About using the PSX as a CD player)?
If curious, the DAC is the Asahi Kasei AK4310, or very similar AK4309B depending on revision (at least for the earlier revisions of playstation boards). The AK4309B datasheet says what the basic differences are between the two chips. I have also been able to find a (crappy) scan of the AK4310 datasheet itself. Mine both have the 4310.

Sony often puts good DACs into their products but then fucks the output stage for cost cutting. The fight between engineers and accountants is real.

I hunted down NScripter 2.95 (the vsual novel engine; the last version that supported windows 98). Monster Girl Quest uses 2.96. Based on a cursory inspection it looks like I need to edit one line to make it compatible with 2.95.

Once this hellish week is over I think I'll try running MGQ on my win98 desktop.

I'll probably have to run it in some specially crafted video mode though, since it's an 800x600 game and my potato monitor only supports 640x480 progressive scan (supposedly supports interlaced 800x600 as well).

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Dec 15 2022, 08:17

For kicks, decided to try FF7 (PC port) on my win98 desktop. MGQ on hold.

For some stupid reason that no one else seems to have ever had, ever, FF7 refused to work right with my voodoo3. Either it would freeze instantly in the configurator or it would claim a lack of 8 bit paletted textures, which is explicitly something that I know 3dfx was known for supporting.

The patched and unpatched game both did this.

Most frustratingly of all, when I remove the voodoo3 and use the on-motherboard ATI rage 3d pro, it all Just Fucking Works™.

And to my knowledge, nothing leaves any logs anywhere that might help explain as to why it's not working.

This kind of thing is why I never bother with windows.

> "Hmm, I feel like Final Fantasy today. Just one moment."
> Shuts down computer, moves monitor off of case, unscrews case, removes graphics card, re-closes case and stacks monitor back on top, plugging the VGA cable into the motherboard's port; waits for computer to reboot
> "Alright, now I'm all ready to play FF7"

> "Hmm, now I want to play Quake"
> Shuts down computer, moves monitor off of case, unscrews case, inserts graphics card, re-closes case and stacks monitor back on top, plugging the VGA cable into the graphics card's port; waits for computer to reboot
> "Alright, now I'm all ready to play Quake"

Spot the stupid step.

Edit: Downgraded the drivers. Blam. Voodoo3 is okay again.

I know it's part of what makes it "authentic" but I'd like it if i could play it without the cd spinning up for each FMV. Tried copying the movies to the HDD, didn't seem to stop it.

Edit 2: There's a registry key. It points to movies on a hardcoded path. Fixed.

Actually, I bet CD drives are part of what killed the "computer under monitor situated horizontally" form factor. Hide the computer on the floor to decrease the noise level. But now that we've mostly moved beyond optical drives, we're still stuck with uglier and more cumbersome case form factors.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Dec 16 2022, 09:17

For kicks, decided to try FF7 (PC port) on my win98 desktop. MGQ on hold.

For some stupid reason that no one else seems to have ever had, ever, FF7 refused to work right with my voodoo3. Either it would freeze instantly in the configurator or it would claim a lack of 8 bit paletted textures, which is explicitly something that I know 3dfx was known for supporting.

Just use a Geforce mx2. It runs the game with less issues.

Just use a card you don't have

No thanks, I like being able to play Glide games.
And if I have a free 3dfx card, I'm going to use it.
Newest component in this computer's from 1999 and I'd like to keep it that way.

If you say "just use a glide wrapper," let me remind you that those have issues, especially ones that work on win98.
I have enough noVidia trouble in my life as is.

[i.imgur.com] (IMG:[i.imgur.com] https://i.imgur.com/VXpvcfeg.jpg)

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Dec 17 2022, 09:04

No thanks, I like being able to play Glide games.
And if I have a free 3dfx card, I'm going to use it.
Newest component in this computer's from 1999 and I'd like to keep it that way.

If you say "just use a glide wrapper," let me remind you that those have issues, especially ones that work on win98.
I have enough noVidia trouble in my life as is.

[i.imgur.com] (IMG:[i.imgur.com] https://i.imgur.com/VXpvcfeg.jpg)

Yeah glide wrappers were a hot mess. I think emulation is only just getting perfect now but requires brute forcing.




I think this meme is quite true.

Yeah glide wrappers were a hot mess. I think emulation is only just getting perfect now but requires brute forcing.


I think this meme is quite true.

It's literally only the cd drive that bothers me, and only because the way I have it positioned the CD drive is at eye/ear level.

The fan rattling and such doesn't bother me at all. Nor do hard disk clicks/whirring. My current desktop has plenty of those sounds.

Toshiba hard drives still have a decent amount of whirring noise. And my boot drive is still a 500gb seagate barracuda from 2007.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Dec 17 2022, 18:20

Got a filthy Focus FK-2001 keyboard to use for donor keycaps for a nicer keyboard of mine.

The Focus uses Alps clone switches; for all I know they might actually feel okay if they were clean.

The keycaps are almost, but not quite, a match for the ones in my better board that needed transplants. The 'homing' bumps are positioned differently and the mould injection spot is different. The typeface is nearly identical. The ones on the Focus are also a little bit shinier.

Anyway, it's hard to tell a difference between the originals and the ones I replaced, unless you know what you're looking for like I do. Pretty happy with the results. Just a shame the switches in the Focus aren't "authentic" alps switches.

The legends are injection-moulded, which is nice.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Dec 20 2022, 05:27

Sure sounds like AMD launch drivers.

Yeah I think this is a big factor. If you look at the five games optimised at launch the new cards look better than the 4080. If you look a different collection of games then it does not look as good.

Across the all Blu-ray remux files I collected, for whatever reason the subtitles in subrip text format (.srt) consistently contain typos. I usually prefer the subrip format over PGS due to its smaller size when encoding the video but I guess I'll be choosing PGS exclusively from now on.

That's because SRT subtitles have to be made by doing OCR's on the subtitle channel in a rip.

Subtitles aren't stored as raw text on DVD's. SRT is a raw text format.

Changing the software you use for OCR/sub conversion might help.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Dec 21 2022, 13:29

That's because SRT subtitles have to be made by doing OCR's on the subtitle channel in a rip.

Subtitles aren't stored as raw text on DVD's. SRT is a raw text format.

Dang it.

Hello from Windows 98.

(I am posting this from Seamonkey 1.1.19, e.g. the Mozilla suite/Navigator.)

Logged in by editing my cookies.txt file, since Seamonkey 1.1.19 still used cookies.txt.

If not for me typing in my password wrong on the first attempt, I wouldn't have even needed to do that, but ReCaptcha obviously isn't going to work with something this old.

I'm actually seriously considering trying to edit and recompile seamonkey for Windows in order to enable newer SSL ciphers. Probably should just recompile mitmproxy/OpenSSL instead so I can downgrade TLS > 1.0 HTTPS connections to SSLv3 and transport everything to this computer from my desktop/server via LAN.

Yes, I am aware that all of this sounds like (and is) a terrible idea. I don't particularly care.

I'm also on IRC (through my bouncer).

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Dec 21 2022, 18:43

Hello from Windows 98.

I think I last used Win98 on my PSP as a lark.



Also tech 'journalists' are hilarious, they are already hyping Nvidia 5000 series... with all the same claims of massive performance increase.

The 800w Titan is getting kinda stupid on power.