Author Archives: Michal Necasek

IBM XENIX 1.0 Incompatibility Details

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Michal Necasek

Some time ago I wrote about IBM PC XENIX 1.0 and why it won’t work on 386 and later processors. Thanks to a kind reader, I’ve been able to analyze the object files used to link the kernel, and I believe … Continue reading →

Posted in 286, 386, Microsoft, Xenix | 21 Comments

Top of the Class 478

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Michal Necasek

So I have that old Intel D865PERL board, which is a Socket 478/AGP board. There’s a 3.2 GHz Northwood in it but of course I was wondering, what’s the fastest CPU this board supports? And it turns out to be a … Continue reading →

Posted in Intel, PC hardware, PC history, Pentium 4 | 5 Comments

More Peripherals

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Michal Necasek

Remember this post from a while ago? Several new peripherals have turned up, but what are they? This time, the manufacturer names vanished together with the model numbers, but it shouldn’t be too hard. Do you know these peripherals? PS: … Continue reading →

Posted in MIDI, Sound | 11 Comments

Shiniest x86 Chip

Posted on January 16, 2017 by Michal Necasek

While there have been many shiny new chips in the metaphorical sense, x86 (and x87) chips have never been known to be literally shiny. The typical packaging is ceramic or some form of brushed metal, and neither of these surfaces is … Continue reading →

Posted in 386, C&T, PC hardware | 11 Comments

Finally Free

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Michal Necasek

For a while I’ve been toying with the idea of buying the full official MIDI specification, but never went through with it. Not so much because of the cost ($100 for the core spec) but because of the hassle. Only … Continue reading →

Posted in Documentation, MIDI | 6 Comments

Gravis Ultras

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Michal Necasek

While researching 1990s sound cards with wavetable synths, I came across an interesting resource called Rich Heimlich’s Patch Set Overview, namely issue #5 from July 1995. When I tried to unearth older issues of same, I stumbled upon a curious … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Labs, Internet, PC history, Sound, UltraSound | 18 Comments

Getting Organized, Finally

Posted on December 16, 2016 by Michal Necasek

After years of looking for a good storage solution for 386 chips, I accidentally stumbled upon it: This is a relatively modern CPU tray, designed for—I believe—Socket G processors, It turns out that old ceramic PGA 386s fit in the … Continue reading →

Posted in 386, PC hardware | 11 Comments

Tahiti + Rio = Monterey

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Michal Necasek

The talk is, of course, about Turtle Beach sound cards. I finally got hold of a 1994 Turtle Beach Rio daughterboard which came mounted on an ISA sound card. On closer inspection the card turned out to be a Turtle … Continue reading →

Posted in MIDI, Sound, Wave Blaster | 22 Comments

Mystery NetBurst

Posted on November 28, 2016 by Michal Necasek

Some time ago, a mysterious CPU showed up at the OS/2 Museum: It is a Socket 775 CPU with a Pentium 4 label and the following markings: 3.73 GHZ/1M/1066/A4. In other words, 3.73 GHz clock speed, 1 MB L2 cache, … Continue reading →

Posted in Intel, Pentium 4 | 34 Comments

Alt Insanity

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Michal Necasek

Several times, a question came up how to synthesize keyboard input to a remote system given a text string. The remote system is typically but not necessarily a VM. That sounds like something which should be trivial, yet it is anything but. … Continue reading →

Posted in Virtualization, Windows | 14 Comments