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RetroTech Chris Profile picture
@RetroTechChris
Jan 4, 2025 • 11 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X
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Let's take a few minutes and look at this newly written Modern Generic SVGA driver for Windows 3.1. We'll check it out in Oracle VM Virtualbox 5.2.44 first in a 🧵 here (I do plan to try real hardware next!) Image
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First, I will say this is off to a GREAT start. The author has done a nice job at logging some of the issues that are present... and this driver has A LOT of promise! Image
Installation is pretty easy! Copy over vbesvga.drv and vbevdd.386 that you can download from the releases page of the project to your windows\system directory: github.com/PluMGMK/vbesvg…Image
From there, you have to modify system.ini in your windows directory. I updated the video driver, added the right file under the 386 Enhanced section, and also added a special section for the driver itself. I started out with some pretty ambitious defaults 😂 Image
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I noticed on first fire up that the .386 driver name didn't quite match the instructions, so I renamed it. Image
Alright, here we go. Looks like my settings were a little ambitious 😂. Let's scale down to 1024x768 with a depth of 16 Image
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Hey, look at that! Colors are rich! A few observations:
1) the "stray green lines" are a common bug with network file sharing and some vid drivers, we can turn that off.
2) Perf is a little slow, but WOW, this is a GREAT start
3) Something is up with the MS office logo bkgrnd. Image

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Another issue, and this is a known one: switching back to full screen from DOS windows has issues. I have the same problem with the standard "SVGA256 VESA patch" that I use with Win 3.1x, so this is parity as far as I am concerned.
How about 8 bit color depth? Well, it's a little more nuanced, but I am sure it will get there! Image
For comparison, this is what the virtual machine looks like with the "SVGA VESA Patch". There are a couple versions of the patcher that are mentioned here: forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?…
Anyway, that's my first take! I look forward to having a look as this progresses. And, yes, I think I will get out some real hardware next! You can also read more details about the project here:

@threadreaderapp unroll github.com/PluMGMK/vbesvg…Image

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More from @RetroTechChris

RetroTech Chris Profile picture
May 9
I decided to do "retro computing from the recliner" tonight, and set up Windows 3.11 For Workgroups on my "Super Armada 7770DMT". Let's talk about it briefly in a 🧵 here! Image
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So, this particular computer doesn't have a traditional floppy drive since it originally had the dreaded Citizen W1D drive. No problem! We'll use OpenFlops and disk images where we need them!
I also decided that I would use my Parallel Port to SD (SDPPD) device to transfer files to the laptop. So after creating a DOS partition, I created a disk image with the driver for the SDPPD with the right changes to config. sys to load it! Image
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Read 10 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
May 5
Let's explore my second $3.33 Packard Bell that I bought at the System Source Warehouse Sale on Saturday. This one is a Packard Bell Legend 2440 Pentium 75MHz system, and, well.. it had quite the transformation 😂 Let's talk about it in a 🧵 Image
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So... first.. this computer was EXTREMELY DIRTY. It had spent most of its life secondhand smoking, I think. That poor power supply and floppy drive 🤮🤮 Image
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I took a vacuum cleaner to it, and LOTS of cleaning supplies. In the end, it turned out pretty good! Let's get it upstairs to explore some more. Image
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Read 10 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
May 5
I've really been meaning to dive into these two $3.33 Packard Bells since getting them on Saturday! Let's have a look at the one on the top, a Legend 11CD 486DX2/50 system. After some restoration, I'm in love with it 😂. Time for a quick 🧵 Image
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So, first, you can see from the into pic that this thing REALLY cleaned up nicely. It was kind of a mangled mess. My first attempt to fix the mangled metal was not the best way, but here it is. The case at least closed when I was done, but there is more work to do. Image
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When I popped open the other Packard Bell, I realized how wrongly I had tried to fix the top bar. The problem is that it wasn't seating right, so I left the bend in. Well, I think it had just not snapped into place. Here's the end result after some better metal bending! Image
Read 11 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
May 5
I recently bought this lot of drives from eBay for $15, namely because I thought the Zip drive was cool 😂. Let's test time out, and talk about one serious testing blunder I made, in a 🧵 here! Image
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The first drive: NEC CD-3200A, a 52X drive, but without the typical goofy branding on the front. This drive was not closing right, so I opened it up and cleaned it out, and then tested it. Well, I should have put it back in its casing before testing. 12V to ground killed it. Image
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Next, we have this Samsung CDRW SW-252. It's also a 52X drive. It checks out! And after it did, I gave it a proper cleaning! Image
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Read 7 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
May 4
I picked up a bunch of ESDI hard drives at the System Source Swap Meet. These were on the free pile! I figured at least one of them should work in my IBM PS/2 Model 70 386... well, perhaps. Let's find out! 🧵 time! Image
First, we have to start with the base case. Will the system start up with my 60MB ESDI drive in it? Yes. Good! Carry on!! Image
First drive in, but system is detecting a configuration change. That can't be good. Have a listen to the drive. Yeah, I think this one is a goner. I ran system configuration, and yea, not even detected. Oh well! Image

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Read 10 tweets
RetroTech Chris Profile picture
May 4
I spent some time swapping around components and upgrading one of my new LTE Elite 4/50CX systems! Let's talk about it! Time for a quick 🧵 Image
So, first of all, this system has a 486DX2/50 processor. But some of you might recall that I bought a parts system at the System Source Warehouse sale. It's in terrible shape. But.. it has a 486DX4/75 processor! I swapped it in, and now we're cooking with gas! Image
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The next thing I tried was swapping the screen from the doner parts machine to my other LTE 4/50CX since it has a line across the top of the screen . Unfortunately, the backlight is dead. Oh well, we tried! Image
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Read 4 tweets

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