The Win98 retro box didn't really go anywhere other than actually getting Win98 set up, so I decided to turn the 2008 iMac back into the MacOS/XP dual boot system. At some point, I hope to use the Win98 box as a DOS gaming PC of some kind, and upgrading it to flash based storage instead of a hard drive. I know LGR uses various flash-based solutions on his retro gaming rigs. Problem is, my current day job is taking up a lot of otherwise free time to pursue my tech hobby in addition to my desire to work on my art. So that means the Win98 box will be put on the backburner for the time being.
I also ended up acquiring yet another iMac... a cheap one. It's a very early 2006 17'' Intel C2D model. It was cheap for a reason. These iMacs can only run up to OSX Lion officially, and my particular model is capped at 3GB RAM maximum along with being saddled with the infamous Intel GMA 950 IGP. I only plan on using this as a scan/print station and for using iPhoto to manage my massive digital picture library. I may also be able to toy around with iMovie a bit, but who knows how far I can get with 3GB RAM.
The 2008 iMac has been restored to 10.5 Leopard and WinXP professional. And my installation experience of XP just goes to show you how software activation is horrible in the eyes of preservation. The XP activation servers are no longer online, so you can only activate XP over the phone now. While phone activation is still fully functional for XP installs, who knows when MS will cut off telephone activation to focus on just their supported software. I guess they could release a catch-all activation code once the sun fully sets on XP, but I doubt they will and it will be up to the retro PC community to get around this activation "feature" in future years. Oh, and they turned off the Windows Update servers for XP last August. Rather than hunt down every individual security update, I just installed XP SP3 and the required Boot Camp updates and disabled the network adapter afterwards. WinXP will be my old casual game repository so to speak so online access is not necessary, in addition to being a real security risk.
I am quite amazed at how XP left a legacy, like it was more fondly remembered than Windows 9x ever was.
Anyway, the whole GTA modding community is in deep shit right now, and I am not pleased at all either:
Some speculate that this was being done as R* was clearing the way for the as of yet-unannounced remasters, but regardless of whether they have the legal high ground or not, just because Take-Two can sue those who they view as infringing on their properties doesn't mean they should. Legally right, but morally wrong, so to speak.
Hey. It's been a month. Big news in the tech world, and no, it's something else besides the massive Facebook outage today.
Tomorrow, Windows 11 is unleashed on the world. From the controversial system requirements to the redesigned user interface, it's bound to ruffle a lot of feathers. Personally, I'm considering giving Linux yet another try on my Dell PC. Yeah, I decided not to sell it after all. Getting BluRay working on it is no longer that important since I figured the benefits of BluRay movies are few. Maybe I'll explain later.
I'm thinking by this point, that strange graphics card freeze I kept encountering with the RX580 may have been solved. It's been over a year since I last tried Linux on the Dell. As for what distro, still trying to figure that out. I'll probably go with something that somewhat resembles the Mac interface, which means either Ubuntu or Ubuntu MATE with the Mac-like panel configuration. There is also ElementaryOS, which is the closest thing you can get to having an open-source Mac OS with a heavily customized GNOME desktop. But it's a "pay what you want" distro, and it's clearly marketed towards novice users. I will probably use the Dell for faster video encoding and messing around with running Steam games either natively or through WINE. If I ever need something that requires Windows, I'm just going to install a Windows 8 desktop under VirtualBox on the iMac.
Another bit of tech news is I got a slight upgrade to my internet package. I'm now on the 200mbps package. While the SpeedTest app only shows a slight increase in download speed (110/mbps vs the previous 100/mbps), my upload speed has nearly doubled from 9/mbps to 19.9/mbps. Page loading is almost instantaneous as well. Part of this is my cable provider has launched a new streaming service for it's channel lineup. You replace your current digital box with a new Android-based one, and you can stream all of your live cable TV networks through that box, in addition to installing Google Play apps for additional streaming options. You can also stream your live TV channels to any device on your home network. I may finally be able to get rid of the Roku box. (nothing wrong with Roku, but my TV has limited HDMI ports.
)
I just wish you also had access to better internet speeds since I know you have been stuck with crappy internet for years now.
Yeah it's been a while since there's been any activity here I'm afraid. I am already on the RTM Windows 11 release, but that one was from the Release Preview channel and I wanted to have a clean slate so I do plan on reinstalling Windows soon.
As for our ISP, my old man did apply for an upgrade to our fibre internet so all should be fine now.
I just ran the PC Health Check on the Dell, and the Ryzen 7 1800X isn't considered good enough to run Windows 11, even though later models of the Ryzen 7 are compatible. The Dell is listed as only being 3 years old.
This is BS, through and through. Just another way to force people into purchasing a new computer.
While clean installing Win11 via an ISO remains an option, there is that extremely vague threat of withholding security updates for "unsupported" PCs running Windows 11.
So Ubuntu it is. If the RX580 driver bug still shows up, I plan on posting on the Ubuntu forums about it. I am hoping it's fixed...
(10-07-2021, 09:10 AM)cpd2009 Wrote: [ -> ]I just ran the PC Health Check on the Dell, and the Ryzen 7 1800X isn't considered good enough to run Windows 11, even though later models of the Ryzen 7 are compatible. The Dell is listed as only being 3 years old.
This is BS, through and through. Just another way to force people into purchasing a new computer.
While clean installing Win11 via an ISO remains an option, there is that extremely vague threat of withholding security updates for "unsupported" PCs running Windows 11.
So Ubuntu it is. If the RX580 driver bug still shows up, I plan on posting on the Ubuntu forums about it. I am hoping it's fixed...
All for the sake of "security" just as when Linux users are fine with older processors with little to no security concerns so as long as said users don't monkey themselves up.
Finally got around to getting a new SSD for the old Gateway laptop after the previous one was used for the 2009 Macbook. It's a WD Blue 500GB. I'm installing Ubuntu for the purpose of toying around with an emulator box I found at the big city mall.
That little kiosk where I found the CoolBaby NES Classic knockoff is still going, and still selling them. But they have some other shady goods such as one of the many different "Pandora's Box" arcade stick machines and a tiny little box called the "Super Console X". All pre-loaded with thousands of ripped-off ROM files that the kiosk owners legally can't sell, of course. They have flown under the radar inside this particular big city mall. But seeing how I live in South Dakota...
Anyway.. got my hands on the Super Console X. It's a tiny Amlogic powered computer board packed inside a tiny shell resembling the JP/EU Super NES case. It normally runs Android, but the device is pre-loaded with a microSD card containing all of the game ROMS and a build of EmuElec, a Linux-based frontend for RetroArch. Once I get Ubuntu set up, I am going to make a disk image of the stock microSD card in case that goes bad (don't know if the card is a good brand or no-name), or to restore the system if a setting or configuration goes wrong. Judging by the information in the system settings, the pack-in microSD card is only 2GB. Other sellers have sold models with 128GB microSD cards, with apparent Sandisk branding.
I would have went for the Pandora's Box but it would cost twice as much as the Super Console X (which admittedly was already overpriced at the kiosk), and I do not have a coffee table to sit the Pandora's Box on.
A more in-depth review will come.... eventually.... in the Video Games subforum.
(10-31-2021, 03:57 PM)cpd2009 Wrote: [ -> ]Finally got around to getting a new SSD for the old Gateway laptop after the previous one was used for the 2009 Macbook. It's a WD Blue 500GB. I'm installing Ubuntu for the purpose of toying around with an emulator box I found at the big city mall.
That little kiosk where I found the CoolBaby NES Classic knockoff is still going, and still selling them. But they have some other shady goods such as one of the many different "Pandora's Box" arcade stick machines and a tiny little box called the "Super Console X". All pre-loaded with thousands of ripped-off ROM files that the kiosk owners legally can't sell, of course. They have flown under the radar inside this particular big city mall. But seeing how I live in South Dakota...
Anyway.. got my hands on the Super Console X. It's a tiny Amlogic powered computer board packed inside a tiny shell resembling the JP/EU Super NES case. It normally runs Android, but the device is pre-loaded with a microSD card containing all of the game ROMS and a build of EmuElec, a Linux-based frontend for RetroArch. Once I get Ubuntu set up, I am going to make a disk image of the stock microSD card in case that goes bad (don't know if the card is a good brand or no-name), or to restore the system if a setting or configuration goes wrong. Judging by the information in the system settings, the pack-in microSD card is only 2GB. Other sellers have sold models with 128GB microSD cards, with apparent Sandisk branding.
I would have went for the Pandora's Box but it would cost twice as much as the Super Console X (which admittedly was already overpriced at the kiosk), and I do not have a coffee table to sit the Pandora's Box on.
A more in-depth review will come.... eventually.... in the Video Games subforum.
Of course such bootlegs would fly under the radar, unless someone tips them off or if it's like in the case of Soulja Boy who foolishly flaunted about it.
And I need to find out how to curb those abusing the email contact system here who's sending steamy spam links to disreputable adult sites.
Some interesting things about that SuperConsole X microSD card...
It's actually 64GB in size, split into 3 partitions, Emuelec, Storage, and Games. The latter is the biggest at around 60GB. As suspected, the microSD card is a generic no-name brand. While the card does work, I question the longevity so at some point I will replace it with a genuine name brand card, likely Sandisk or Gigastone. I am using the built in Gnome Disk utility to create an .IMG file of the entire card. I will test flashing the .IMG file later on with another microSD card.
And since all the ROMs are stored in folders, I can easily add my own ROMs to the pile.
(11-01-2021, 07:01 AM)cpd2009 Wrote: [ -> ]Some interesting things about that SuperConsole X microSD card...
It's actually 64GB in size, split into 3 partitions, Emuelec, Storage, and Games. The latter is the biggest at around 60GB. As suspected, the microSD card is a generic no-name brand. While the card does work, I question the longevity so at some point I will replace it with a genuine name brand card, likely Sandisk or Gigastone. I am using the built in Gnome Disk utility to create an .IMG file of the entire card. I will test flashing the .IMG file later on with another microSD card.
And since all the ROMs are stored in folders, I can easily add my own ROMs to the pile.
Which reminds me of what data recovery specialists tell people about
NOT using no-name or promotional flash drives in that they're shoddily constructed time bombs which in no circumstance should you keep any critical data into.