Unholy Mame PC Question

[Superully]

don't kill me, guys, but i could get a couple of old pcs from school (for free) for potential future mame setups (like pole position or zookeeper). don't know the exact configuration yet, but as far as i know, we're talking pentium 2 pcs here. are they good enough for old school gaming?

PLUS, should i also get one (or more) monitors to use it (them) for a nokia monitor test setup (still having the color issue on my paperboy)?

[level42]

Yes, should be fine to run DOS or Linux Mame, probably even old Win versions.

But it'll run the really old-school games fast enough only !!!

I don't understand your question about the monitors though ? You mean the original PC monitors ?

[Etienne MacGyver]

if you want to use a old pc as a testrig for testing Arcademonitors, you dont need a pc monitor, you need some kind of output solution that takes care of the signal needed for the monitor you want to test.

so if you want to test a 25 Khz monitor, you need something like soft25Khz to make the outputsignal 25Khz, so you can test your monitor then..

Or the ArcadeVGA card which also produces the correct output AFAIK.

The PII will be sufficient like andre describes, for simple games under DOS

Windows is needed for Nokia Monitor test, but that runs since win95 i belief, and win 98 you can install with 32 MB's so for pure testing purposes, it will be sufficient

if you want a few test / mame PC's i can drop some P4's at eurocade into my car tough...  (P4 1,8Ghz) 5-6 pieces "on stock" on my attic  

[level42]

so if you want to test a 25 Khz monitor, you need something like soft25Khz to make the outputsignal 25Khz, so you can test your monitor then..

Guess you mean 15 kHz ?

if you want a few test / mame PC's i can drop some P4's at eurocare into my car tough... 

Eurocare ? Where and when's Eurocare ?  

You CAN buy one of those el-cheapo Chinese VGA to CGA converters to connect those PC's to real arcade monitors though...

[Etienne MacGyver]

Yeah, i mean 15 Khz, but paperboy uses a midres monitor IIRC

you mean these boards andre ?
http://www.uniarcade.com/video_converters/vga_to_cga_converter.htm

anyway, i have also a "quiet" solution for the Harddisk in the setup in case of a Dos mame setup

they are just 128Mb so for DOS they are fine. (although win95 should also fit)
These where leftovers when i upgraded some thin clients at a customer..



I have 5, and i want to keep 2 for a yet to reveal project... so 3 are available too  

[level42]

Ooooooooo nice, me want !!!

[Etienne MacGyver]

thats 1 for Andre ?
2 available 

ps sorry for derailing the threat ully..

[level42]

I'd like one or two if possible:

I still want to buy a MyIDE+ for my Atari 8 bit home computers and these are PERFECT for it

(in fact, you can see one "in action" on the site: )

http://www.atarimax.com/myide/documentation/

[Etienne MacGyver]

thats 1 for Andre ?
2 available  

ps sorry for derailing the threat ully..

EDIT:

Thats 2 for Andre, and one for Ully, since its his topic  

EDIT2:
Funny, they use exact the ones i have here for them...

[level42]

Yup, they offer the 256 MB version for sale though, but at crazy price...I can find the really large one's for much cheaper....anyway, those 128 MB will be FINE for me, imagine how many 127 kB floppy's you can put on them

[Etienne MacGyver]

Yup, they offer the 256 MB version for sale though, but at crazy price...I can find the really large one's for much cheaper....anyway, those 128 MB will be FINE for me, imagine how many 127 kB floppy's you can put on them

around 1032  

and yes, you are right about insane prices...

http://www.misco.nl/search/~query~ide+flash~/index.htm

[level42]

Yeah, I was looking at getting that 1GB version first, extremely cheap (I think they still had even smaller one's for even less sp,e time ago but not sure). The big plus of the 128 MB I can be sure about that it works with the MyIDE, I wasn't sure if the 1GB would work....THANKS !!!!

[DarthNuno]

don't kill me, guys, but i could get a couple of old pcs from school (for free) for potential future mame setups (like pole position or zookeeper). don't know the exact configuration yet, but as far as i know, we're talking pentium 2 pcs here. are they good enough for old school gaming?

PLUS, should i also get one (or more) monitors to use it (them) for a nokia monitor test setup (still having the color issue on my paperboy)?

P II  (at last 400 Mhz) will be enough for advancemame dos but only for the early games such Galaxian, SI... or other 'very' simple ones (meaning games with no scrolling and no too fast 60hz action or no stereo sounds/music for example).
The graphic card will be VERY important on these early processors. Old setup requires also a lot of 'fine tuning' in order to have the game running 'just right' & accurate   It also needs the a good Motherboard / Sound card combination to be effective.
If not, you'll have to catch faster processor to help you in the setup... but it any cases, nothing can beat experimentations  

[Superully]

anyway, i have also a "quiet" solution for the Harddisk in the setup in case of a Dos mame setup
they are just 128Mb so for DOS they are fine. (although win95 should also fit)

since i have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA on anything mame-related (the only thing i sometimes to is click on the mame.exe file and choose a game to have a short look at it, i don't know either what that "thing" is you're showing here. i don't know how to setup a mame computer, i don't know what jpac is, i don't know how advancedos works - in short: i know sh**! that's why i've (successfully) avoided setting anything up yet, although that nokia test thingy would come in handy for my paperboy, but where to start ... ?

[Etienne MacGyver]

That thing is a Flash IDE drive, so very simple stated, its a 128mb harddisk  
only no moving parts, its flash memory, like the card in your camera
so the "noise" from a spinning harddisk is not there, and there is less change of crashing, not to mention the powersavings..

i assume you have installed windows before, or not even that ?

With the nokia monitor test software i can help you out, but as far as mame-ing, i think bruno is your man.
he is the master in mame-setups AFAIK, i mean look at today's post ... 

https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=2125.msg33740#msg33740