vswitchzero
@vswitchzero.com
Retro PC and gaming enthusiast. On YouTube at http://youtube.com/c/vswitchzero 🇨🇦
Pinned
vswitchzero
@vswitchzero.com
· Dec 2
Welcome to the vswitchzero Channel!
YouTube video by vswitchzero
www.youtube.com
Hi! I’m Mike, the creator of vswitchzero, a YouTube channel dedicated to 90s retro PC hardware and gaming. Join me in this exciting journey of history, exploring forgotten tech and preserving the legacy of vintage computers!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEFr...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEFr...
Reposted by vswitchzero
New RAM chips arrived a couple of days ago. Today I attempted to repair this GeForce 4 Ti 4600.
December 25, 2025 at 9:58 PM
New RAM chips arrived a couple of days ago. Today I attempted to repair this GeForce 4 Ti 4600.
Reposted by vswitchzero
Happy Xmas you lot, I've dressed up an exploded RIFA accordingly.
December 24, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Happy Xmas you lot, I've dressed up an exploded RIFA accordingly.
Reposted by vswitchzero
this has been the toughest set i’ve ever tried to dial-in, but I kinda expected that because these Slimfit tubes are notoriously hard to calibrate. Made major progress on it today though, full analog board recap + reseated yoke and re-adhered yoke wedges. just needs that pincushion adjusted…
December 20, 2025 at 10:46 PM
this has been the toughest set i’ve ever tried to dial-in, but I kinda expected that because these Slimfit tubes are notoriously hard to calibrate. Made major progress on it today though, full analog board recap + reseated yoke and re-adhered yoke wedges. just needs that pincushion adjusted…
Reposted by vswitchzero
This computer is art
December 19, 2025 at 8:03 PM
This computer is art
Reposted by vswitchzero
FastDoom 1.2.0 is now available! This release focuses on optimizing high resolution modes for newer 5th and 6th gen CPUs. Grab it here: github.com/viti95/FastD...
Release FastDoom 1.2.0 · viti95/FastDoom
Fixed span rendering in backbuffered modes (potato detail and resolutions above 320×200)
Minor optimizations to span rendering in backbuffered and VBE2 direct modes
Added new span rendering routine...
github.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:18 PM
FastDoom 1.2.0 is now available! This release focuses on optimizing high resolution modes for newer 5th and 6th gen CPUs. Grab it here: github.com/viti95/FastD...
Reposted by vswitchzero
Super excited to get this legend back up. Shuttle FV25 board (from the SV25 system), one of the first to lead the way to ITX form factor (and other Shuttle SFF systems). It’s been dead forever and I recently found it again. Since my skills have improved, I gave it another shot and it’s good to go!
December 19, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Super excited to get this legend back up. Shuttle FV25 board (from the SV25 system), one of the first to lead the way to ITX form factor (and other Shuttle SFF systems). It’s been dead forever and I recently found it again. Since my skills have improved, I gave it another shot and it’s good to go!
Reposted by vswitchzero
The first sound card in my testbench is the Terratec Maestro 16/95.
The Crystal/Dream CS9233 wavetable synth uses a patch set identical to the Terratec Mini Wave System SOWT-11 and SOWT-12 daughterboards, and also has integrated FM synthesis, but I have yet to find out if its CrystalFM or DreamFM.
The Crystal/Dream CS9233 wavetable synth uses a patch set identical to the Terratec Mini Wave System SOWT-11 and SOWT-12 daughterboards, and also has integrated FM synthesis, but I have yet to find out if its CrystalFM or DreamFM.
December 17, 2025 at 4:49 PM
The first sound card in my testbench is the Terratec Maestro 16/95.
The Crystal/Dream CS9233 wavetable synth uses a patch set identical to the Terratec Mini Wave System SOWT-11 and SOWT-12 daughterboards, and also has integrated FM synthesis, but I have yet to find out if its CrystalFM or DreamFM.
The Crystal/Dream CS9233 wavetable synth uses a patch set identical to the Terratec Mini Wave System SOWT-11 and SOWT-12 daughterboards, and also has integrated FM synthesis, but I have yet to find out if its CrystalFM or DreamFM.
Reposted by vswitchzero
Benchmarks, benchmarks, and more benchmarks! Getting ready for the FastDoom 1.2.0 release 😁
December 16, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Benchmarks, benchmarks, and more benchmarks! Getting ready for the FastDoom 1.2.0 release 😁
Reposted by vswitchzero
Hey folks. Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 17, 2025, starting at 12 noon eastern, it is time that I finally go through all the motherboards that I have here and see what works and what doesn't. Come keep count with me on how many work and don't.
youtube.com/live/1uY_eOw...
youtube.com/live/1uY_eOw...
Let's Test Some Motherboards
YouTube video by Trina's Technobabble
youtube.com
December 17, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Hey folks. Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 17, 2025, starting at 12 noon eastern, it is time that I finally go through all the motherboards that I have here and see what works and what doesn't. Come keep count with me on how many work and don't.
youtube.com/live/1uY_eOw...
youtube.com/live/1uY_eOw...
Reposted by vswitchzero
Finally cleared away enough junk in my basement lair to make the DOS/SGI and Amiga corners usable again. I've been enjoying playing multichannel modules in Cubic Player on the PC and some Amiga musicdisks that happen to run on on my NTSC Amiga 1000
December 16, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Finally cleared away enough junk in my basement lair to make the DOS/SGI and Amiga corners usable again. I've been enjoying playing multichannel modules in Cubic Player on the PC and some Amiga musicdisks that happen to run on on my NTSC Amiga 1000
Reposted by vswitchzero
Someone mentioned 'Legend of the Red Dragon' on my post about BBS's, and yeah, this seems to be one of the more famous 'Door games'.
RPGing hack-n-slash adventure in 1992 for DOS with a tongue-in-cheek flair. Reminds me of browser stuff I'd play in '05 like Kingdom of Loathing and AdventureQuest.
RPGing hack-n-slash adventure in 1992 for DOS with a tongue-in-cheek flair. Reminds me of browser stuff I'd play in '05 like Kingdom of Loathing and AdventureQuest.
December 16, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Someone mentioned 'Legend of the Red Dragon' on my post about BBS's, and yeah, this seems to be one of the more famous 'Door games'.
RPGing hack-n-slash adventure in 1992 for DOS with a tongue-in-cheek flair. Reminds me of browser stuff I'd play in '05 like Kingdom of Loathing and AdventureQuest.
RPGing hack-n-slash adventure in 1992 for DOS with a tongue-in-cheek flair. Reminds me of browser stuff I'd play in '05 like Kingdom of Loathing and AdventureQuest.
Reposted by vswitchzero
Here is my Dell XPS 710 from around 2007 (with a 720 motherboard), 8GB RAM, upgraded to GeForce Titan and Q6600 CPU.
It's just had its first clean and oh my the heatsink! So much dust!!! You couldn't tell until you took it apart. All sorted now though.
It's just had its first clean and oh my the heatsink! So much dust!!! You couldn't tell until you took it apart. All sorted now though.
December 16, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Here is my Dell XPS 710 from around 2007 (with a 720 motherboard), 8GB RAM, upgraded to GeForce Titan and Q6600 CPU.
It's just had its first clean and oh my the heatsink! So much dust!!! You couldn't tell until you took it apart. All sorted now though.
It's just had its first clean and oh my the heatsink! So much dust!!! You couldn't tell until you took it apart. All sorted now though.
Reposted by vswitchzero
Adapting a polarized LED ring light to the microscope from @vswitchzero.com 😌
December 16, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Adapting a polarized LED ring light to the microscope from @vswitchzero.com 😌
Reposted by vswitchzero
I gave the Video Memory Tester made by @necroware.bsky.social a try today, and here are my results!
Super useful and awesome to be able to add it to the toolchest!
Give it a try!
(Side note: I confirmed it works on PCIe cards 😄)
youtube.com/shorts/vwRbG...
Super useful and awesome to be able to add it to the toolchest!
Give it a try!
(Side note: I confirmed it works on PCIe cards 😄)
youtube.com/shorts/vwRbG...
Trying Necroware's new Video Memory Tester!
YouTube video by PixelPipes
youtube.com
December 16, 2025 at 2:13 AM
I gave the Video Memory Tester made by @necroware.bsky.social a try today, and here are my results!
Super useful and awesome to be able to add it to the toolchest!
Give it a try!
(Side note: I confirmed it works on PCIe cards 😄)
youtube.com/shorts/vwRbG...
Super useful and awesome to be able to add it to the toolchest!
Give it a try!
(Side note: I confirmed it works on PCIe cards 😄)
youtube.com/shorts/vwRbG...
Reposted by vswitchzero
Snow Days are great for BBSing
December 14, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Snow Days are great for BBSing
Reposted by vswitchzero
DId you know?
Avance Logic made their own FM synthesizer, called ALSFM.
They claimed it was built into their ALS100+ chip, but it actually debuted in the ALS120 and later models.
The ALS100+ had no such thing, it instead used external pirated OPL3 copies disguised as other chips.
Avance Logic made their own FM synthesizer, called ALSFM.
They claimed it was built into their ALS100+ chip, but it actually debuted in the ALS120 and later models.
The ALS100+ had no such thing, it instead used external pirated OPL3 copies disguised as other chips.
December 14, 2025 at 5:25 AM
DId you know?
Avance Logic made their own FM synthesizer, called ALSFM.
They claimed it was built into their ALS100+ chip, but it actually debuted in the ALS120 and later models.
The ALS100+ had no such thing, it instead used external pirated OPL3 copies disguised as other chips.
Avance Logic made their own FM synthesizer, called ALSFM.
They claimed it was built into their ALS100+ chip, but it actually debuted in the ALS120 and later models.
The ALS100+ had no such thing, it instead used external pirated OPL3 copies disguised as other chips.
Reposted by vswitchzero
I ordered an open motherboard frame thinking it would be a better way to work with bare boards on my bench, but while the Baby AT screw holes line up, they are not aligned with the card slots openings.
Does anytime have a frame they recommend for legacy boards?
#retrocomputers
Does anytime have a frame they recommend for legacy boards?
#retrocomputers
December 13, 2025 at 2:35 AM
I ordered an open motherboard frame thinking it would be a better way to work with bare boards on my bench, but while the Baby AT screw holes line up, they are not aligned with the card slots openings.
Does anytime have a frame they recommend for legacy boards?
#retrocomputers
Does anytime have a frame they recommend for legacy boards?
#retrocomputers
Reposted by vswitchzero
Started #DOScember with some old time reconfiguring an old 486 PC. Added Gotek and CF card hard drive. It has a Sound Blaster 16 but could not get my Roland SBC-55 wavetable card going yet. Had to settle for a relisten of the Monkey Island theme on a Roland LAPC-I. #retrcomputing #vintagecomputer
December 11, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Started #DOScember with some old time reconfiguring an old 486 PC. Added Gotek and CF card hard drive. It has a Sound Blaster 16 but could not get my Roland SBC-55 wavetable card going yet. Had to settle for a relisten of the Monkey Island theme on a Roland LAPC-I. #retrcomputing #vintagecomputer
A match made in heaven 😄
December 11, 2025 at 2:25 PM
A match made in heaven 😄
Reposted by vswitchzero
The good news: my Cirrus Logic CL-GD54529 and two CL-GD5428 1 MB VLB cards all work now, thanks to oerg.
The bad news: the two 5428 were working to begin with, meaning my only VLB motherboard is not.
The bad news: the two 5428 were working to begin with, meaning my only VLB motherboard is not.
December 10, 2025 at 7:23 AM
The good news: my Cirrus Logic CL-GD54529 and two CL-GD5428 1 MB VLB cards all work now, thanks to oerg.
The bad news: the two 5428 were working to begin with, meaning my only VLB motherboard is not.
The bad news: the two 5428 were working to begin with, meaning my only VLB motherboard is not.
Reposted by vswitchzero
Aaaand the Creative Labs CT1920 "Goldfinch" now has a line out connector!
It's practically the wavetable synthesizer of a Sound Blaster AWE 32/64 (EMU8000) without anything else.
It has NO SoundBlaster or AdLib capabilities but in return also needs no IRQ or DMA resources, only a single hex address!
It's practically the wavetable synthesizer of a Sound Blaster AWE 32/64 (EMU8000) without anything else.
It has NO SoundBlaster or AdLib capabilities but in return also needs no IRQ or DMA resources, only a single hex address!
December 10, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Aaaand the Creative Labs CT1920 "Goldfinch" now has a line out connector!
It's practically the wavetable synthesizer of a Sound Blaster AWE 32/64 (EMU8000) without anything else.
It has NO SoundBlaster or AdLib capabilities but in return also needs no IRQ or DMA resources, only a single hex address!
It's practically the wavetable synthesizer of a Sound Blaster AWE 32/64 (EMU8000) without anything else.
It has NO SoundBlaster or AdLib capabilities but in return also needs no IRQ or DMA resources, only a single hex address!
Reposted by vswitchzero
So I found another GeForce4 ti 4200 for a great price at a local surplus store. Gave it a dice roll.
… and now I have two cards with problems. Haha… ha.
… and now I have two cards with problems. Haha… ha.
So it turns out I may need to replace this RAM and possibly another chip on the opposite side of the PCB.
And boy, does the “I don’t have the equipment for this” feeling hit hard.
And boy, does the “I don’t have the equipment for this” feeling hit hard.
Oh yeah. No microscope used. Take that.
Image artifacting after maybe 8 tests, though.
Fan sounds like it is destroying itself, and there are capacitors hanging off the card, but you know…
(I guess I need a 1500uf with… something voltage rating. Or a full recap. Need a decoder for that writing)
Image artifacting after maybe 8 tests, though.
Fan sounds like it is destroying itself, and there are capacitors hanging off the card, but you know…
(I guess I need a 1500uf with… something voltage rating. Or a full recap. Need a decoder for that writing)
December 10, 2025 at 9:10 PM
So I found another GeForce4 ti 4200 for a great price at a local surplus store. Gave it a dice roll.
… and now I have two cards with problems. Haha… ha.
… and now I have two cards with problems. Haha… ha.
MediaVision was best known for the Pro audio Spectrum 16 but their most common card was the Jazz 16 released in 1993. Most had genuine OPL3. This one includes 50-pin SCSI but has no wavetable header, unfortunately.
@16bitmanfred.bsky.social
@16bitmanfred.bsky.social
December 8, 2025 at 4:55 PM
MediaVision was best known for the Pro audio Spectrum 16 but their most common card was the Jazz 16 released in 1993. Most had genuine OPL3. This one includes 50-pin SCSI but has no wavetable header, unfortunately.
@16bitmanfred.bsky.social
@16bitmanfred.bsky.social
Reposted by vswitchzero
Yeah, Tattler's kit is a really nifty piece of kit (emulates dial up sounds and everything).
youtu.be/onLqrsRdd6c
But I see you're going vintage all the way with an actual dial-up setup. That'll make for a nice video! :)
youtu.be/onLqrsRdd6c
But I see you're going vintage all the way with an actual dial-up setup. That'll make for a nice video! :)
WiFi Retromodem demo with audio dialing
YouTube video by Tattler Solutions
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Yeah, Tattler's kit is a really nifty piece of kit (emulates dial up sounds and everything).
youtu.be/onLqrsRdd6c
But I see you're going vintage all the way with an actual dial-up setup. That'll make for a nice video! :)
youtu.be/onLqrsRdd6c
But I see you're going vintage all the way with an actual dial-up setup. That'll make for a nice video! :)
Here’s an interesting ISA sound card. The MegaImage32. Based on the Opti 82C930, it includes genuine OPL3 and QS700 wavetable. Has an IDE CD-ROM interface too.
Haven’t had a chance to try it yet but it was new old stock.
@16bitmanfred.bsky.social
Haven’t had a chance to try it yet but it was new old stock.
@16bitmanfred.bsky.social
December 7, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Here’s an interesting ISA sound card. The MegaImage32. Based on the Opti 82C930, it includes genuine OPL3 and QS700 wavetable. Has an IDE CD-ROM interface too.
Haven’t had a chance to try it yet but it was new old stock.
@16bitmanfred.bsky.social
Haven’t had a chance to try it yet but it was new old stock.
@16bitmanfred.bsky.social