New Life Games Tech Forums

couple of questions first.

1 The first question I have is can we use Pcmcia adapters to compact flash memory?
2 what size and speed can we use? I was looking at 32 gb 133x kingston. There are faster but I think the vision machines don't need that speed am a wrong?
3 what what files does one need to back up. and in what order?
4 is it posable to store multiple games on one card? what is the biggest flash memory needed to store all games if posable?
 
I have a lot more questions but I think this will do to get started.

THANKS
Blake 

You are very welcome Blake!!!


Kirk

I use the CF-PCMCIA adapters, they work very well.

As Kirk pointed out, your CF can be the slowest, cheapest cards you can find. The LCD computer is dead slow compared to anything you find nowadays.

I tried putting multiple games on a single card, you can wind up with RSODs (Red Screens of Death) or other strange Winblows dll and vxd errors. Cards and adapters are cheap enough that I don't worry about it any more.

My double diamond mine game has two ATA cards. the first card has the number 1.00.24 the second is blank. I copied the blank card first and tried using the machine all went well. after copying the first card marked ATA 1.00.24 I got that red screen of death. Can some one help me figure out what I did wrong?
 :37- :37- :37- :37- :37- :37- :37-
All the files appear to be the same.
thanks
Blake

ALL Vision machines only require 1 top box flash card.  This card should have the ATA, BGM, and DATA file on it.  And as a side note, if it does not have a data file, it will be created for you the first time you turn on the machine.  The second card will sometimes be blank but more often has an RFA program on it for updating top box.  If you have this card in your machine remove it...it's not needed and is only slowing up your boot up process.

For your current problem...tell us what files are on the program flash card....you should only see 3 folders ATA with a number, BGM with a number, and Data folder.

I have a 1 ata 10024 1bgm 00000 1bgm 00003 also a data file. the only thing I can see different when I stick the cards in the computer is the IGT card reads as a disk drive and the pcmcia card reads a removable disk drive. does this make any difference.

Thanks

Blake

Someone will need to chime in and confirm if the BGM 003 file is correct for your SB chip number as I have not had that game through here.  That ATA you have is older than grandpa's underwear.  You should post that SB number as well.  You can delete the BGM0000 although it is really not hurting anything.  You should always use a more current ATA which a 065 would be good.  I have had a lot of success using ATA 065, SG 380 GM1 and GM2, and VS011GX1 version chips.

My question then is if it works with the original ATA card is there a reason why the copies don't work if the files are the same?

Thanks
Blake

If your saying you have a working card in your hand, backed up that information to hard drive, and then copied that info to a blank flash and it is not working, then that would suggest either the information currupted during the transfer or the back up flash that you are using is potentially bad.  For certain your original card in hand can be put in the machine and the top box will boot correctly?

yes, yes, and yes

I will try copying the file again and to a different card.

Thanks

I use a PCMCIA to CF adaptor.
Simply put the good flash in one slot of a laptop...
Insert the Blank in the next slot.
Open Windows Explorer.
Now..DRAG AND DROP the entire device contents from the good card to the blank.
Make SURE you format the blank before you do this and that it is FAT not NTFS!!!
The topbox is a Embedded MS-DOS machine running 100Mhz.
For giggles and grins, jumper the two pins (JU1) next to the RAM slots(next to the edge of the board).
This will allow you to actually SEE it boot up.You will see the POST,Windows 3.1 Startup and the file start.


Kirk

The new card will only format in fat32 its been a long time since I formated a disk in fat16

If a disk was formated in fat 32 can you go back. Also why does the 20mb card allow me to format in fat format and new 40 mb card will not.

has anyone come across this problem?

By the way I copy the files out of the file folder on my desk top back to the blank 20 mb card and and the game works. :3- :3- :3-

So the file format has to be the problem.
Thanks
Blake

Yes Grasshopper.....you have learned well :)

FAT16 supports Partitions up to 32MB. The 40MB card is over the 32 MB limit.
FAT32 supports larger partitions.

I am not sure if you can just create a smaller partition and have it function properly.
Remember if you create 2 logical partitions on the CF Card you may change drive letter assignments for another drive in the system.
If you do create a smaller partition to enable FAT16 format on it, leave the extra space unused (do not create a second partition on it) to prevent it adding logical drives.
This may sound like a waste of the card
Partition, format the backup CF then copy the files to the backup card and test it in the machine.
 
Also create a Zip file backup of the original CF card and restore it from the zip to a blank card formatted in FAT16 and test it as well.
That way you have two ways of doing a backup.

Just backed up my first complete game kit including my chip set.

Thanks Guys

Any suggestions on how to keep files organized ?
Any way to find If one has the latest version of game ?

Thanks
Blake

I like mine by alphabetical by game theme instead of by SS#. Also you can add the EPROM number or other info. This is mine:

Triple Diamond Deluxe SS6291 3C 1L 92.584%
Triple Diamond SS4784 3C 1L 97.41%
Triple Diamond SS7091 3C 1L 95.    %
Triple Diamond SS6994 5C 5L 90.005%
Triple Diamond SS7102 9C 9L 95.039%

Others like WBA, Version, SG, SB are all alphabetical too. Some use pct. instead of the % sign.

Hope this helps.

Ron (r273)

In addition to Ron's suggestion, I usually add the 16 bit checksum to the file name. For example:

Triple Diamond SS7102 9C 9L 95.039% A700

You can also create and name a series of nested folders:

[Triple Diamond]
        │└[9L]
        │    └  Triple Diamond SS7102 9C 9L 95.039% A700
        │
        └[Deluxe]
               └[3cm]
                      └   Triple Diamond Deluxe SS6291 3C 1L 92.584%

etc.
Of course, if you only have a couple of kits, that would be overkill. However, some of us have several dozen kits or more... :96-
<ADD> Believe me, it's a lot harder figuring out how to store and access your glass than your backups. :97- :30-

"ADD> Believe me, it's a lot harder figuring out how to store and access your glass than your backups." 
I don't mean to hijack the thread but
Does any one have any innovative ideas on storing glass? :103-

No problem with the hijack I have a mound of glass that I have acquired too. I was going to ask the same question in another post.

But I would like to bring back the question how do I now if I have the most curant release?

Thanks

I have ATA 065 file on another game. Is it ok the copy that file from that game and place it on this game?

Bkoch,
Have you had success with placing the ATA00065 file onto your game card?
What was the PCMCIA card size 20Mb or 40Mb?
I'm having trouble with mine because my BGM file is larger than the 20Mb of the card.
It won't accept the BGM file because I get a pop up saying the file is larger than the drive...lol
I will try copying to a CF flash with an PCMCIA adapter later tonight and see if that works.
I guessing it won't work though because the CF flash card is like 4GB...?

Just buy smaller CF cards.  :200-

Seriously.

If you need a source, I can look around out here, we have all kinds of old tech laying around.

Well,
I can't even get it to work on a 48Mb PCMCIA card I tried tonight.
This is tough.
It's hard enough to get it to work on PCMCIA cards - nevermind CF cards.
I'm so afraid of screwing up my only good card and it's just a 64Mb card.
I'm wondering if it's because of the "format".

How do you find out what "format" the cards are presently in when in a reader slot in a regular desktop with XP?
I have one of those PCMCIA slots on my desktop cabinet home computer.
Just go into the "properties" of the "F" drive it's in?

Well, that worked!
It showed that it had used up 37.1Mb on a FAT 64Mb "F" drive.
Now, that was the OEM card.

Now, Here is the copied card on a 48Mb PCMCIA card.
It's also formatted as a FAT drive...>>>


Looks like the copied card is 1/2 an Mb larger at 37.6 Mb...hmm?

I decided to pick some of these CF cards up on bayE...
I think I bought them off of Yakov Smirnov.... :97- >>>
http://www.youtube.com/v/5GK8ewRec7c?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US (http://www.youtube.com/v/5GK8ewRec7c?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US)

Stout
You need to see what the cluster/sector size is of the OEM card
Then use Disk Management to partition the new card with same cluster size.
Disk Management can be accessed by right clicking the computer icon in start and selecting manage.

How does one actually view and see what the cluster/sector size is of the OEM card in my "F" drive?  :129-
Click on snapshot of my screen to enlarge...>>>

By the way,
I didn't hit the "Defrag" button - I only "analyzed" the "F" drive where the OEM card was in...

well I can see the current cluster size for F is 1K.
you have to compare it to the OEM card and see if you need to change it on the backup card.

okay, here's the 2 cards.
The analysis of the OEM card ( called "STI"..I don't know why - I didn't name it that...lol)
on top and the analysis of the copied 48 Mb I made...
How do I change the cluster%$#@ size of the copied card?
Do I re-format the 48Mb card and set the cluster perimeters of it?
What about the "volume"?
Does that need to be changed by partitioning the "volume" of the card?

Click on snapshots to enlarge >>>

Bunker,

The Best way to find what format you are working with is to stick the original disk in the drive and and read the properties of that drive. then format the new drive the same way. I am not sure but I believe fat is the right format for that game. I have copied these files buy using the drag and drop into a file folder marked with the game name.

There is usually only two files that are needed from the flash card. RFA 25 and the BGM 143The rest of the files on the flash disk are created the first time the game starts.

sorry it took so long to get back.

let me know if this helps

Blake

That's okay Blake.
It's a learning process really trying to figure out how to do this.

The properties of the OEM card shows it's formatted in "FAT" (needs a diet...lol)
It's the same for my blank PCMCIA card.
However, Foster said the "cluster" size should be the same?
I don't have the RFA 25 - only the RFA 65.
Could that be the reason why I get the "red screen of death"?

I can't really drag and drop.
What I've been doing is "Copy This File To Another Folder" method.
So I click on the OEM folders and copy them to the blank "F"folder where the card is located.

bunker,

let me get some details of the game you are working on

Is this a three or five reel can you send us a image of the files on the original flash disk.

thanks

Blake

Yes. This particular game is a
Ms.Little Green Men 3Reel 5Line 5Coin game with the following stuff:
SB000421
SG00380 GME 1&2
VS011GX1

I'm emailing you my stuff I have on the card at the moment.
The red screen of death is gone and it uploaded all the data and
files including...huh?...  keyboard & mouse files...lol
Now the LCD is asking me to enter the time in DOS form??? lol
That's gonna be hard to do unless I get a keyboard attached to this puppy...
Here's a couple of pics in a few minutes.
I pasted a comparison of the folder on my computer and the stuff on the blank PCMCIA card. >>>

http://www.youtube.com/v/hSpm3upe0vw?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US (http://www.youtube.com/v/hSpm3upe0vw?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US)

Bunker, you can change the cluster size when you format the drive.

Using the Disk Management utility (right click My Computer, select Manage, as provided by Foster), you can change the cluster size (Windows calls it the Allocation Unit size in Disk Management tool, they were too stupid to use the same terminology in both places). There are limitations to the size you can use depending on the capacity of the disk.

I don't think it gives me any options in the dialog box to go lower than 16K... :37-
Does "16K" mean 16 "kilobytes"?
The cluster I posted up earlier is only 1K... :7-

This is NOT going to work isn't it?
I didn't re-format it...I left it as is.
I'm thinking my red screens of death are related more to possible missing files
in the BGM00143 folders or the the RFA10025 folders on the 48Mb blank PCMCIA copy card.
I wish I would have taken a picture of the last RSOD ("Red Screen Of Death" from now on...lol)
I'll try and re-enact the screen.  :8-

Also,
The SG000380's combined with the SB000441 need the ATA10065 which I have -
according to the SG000380 PSR sheet.
But something's not right because the RSOD pops up and makes me want to  :277-

1k is 1024...

1,024 bytes I'm assuming... :293- :284- Brichter!



This means I cannot go lower than 16,384 bytes for my cluster size then...  :189- :276-                                                            

I'm looking right at 1024 in the menu you posted. 2 below default, which is highlighted.

You have good eyes....whaddya 22 years. old?  :97-   :285-



"a formattin' here we go, formattin' here we go, hi-ho the cherry-oh, a formattin' here we go..."

Holy crap batman! That worked?!
Now I gotta put all the crap back onto this card...
stayed tuned to the bat channel...
Click to enlarge though Brichter doesn't need to because he has "SuperVision"!   :209-  :241->>>

I kept getting this error every now and then but I finally took a picture of it.
It was error Initializing BGM game...hmm...I wondered what this was about
So I go look at the BGM file in my blank PCMCIA card....and lo and behold...there it was!
I named the bloody file wrong!
I named it "BGM000163" when the SB chip is searching for a "BGM000143"!  :72-  :25- :25- :25- :25-

See next post and the results will be clear as day>>> lol

So I fix the specific BGM file by renaming it correctly to BGM000143
and this pops up on my LCD screen! LOL >>>

http://www.youtube.com/v/3FYMTHbRvVM?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US (http://www.youtube.com/v/3FYMTHbRvVM?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US)

I knew you would figure it out!

                          :105-


Ron (r273)

lol  thanks r273!
I'm working on trying to put a few BGM's and ATA's rolled into one PCMCIA card.
Apparently from what I figured out,  it appears that it's actually the SBxxxx chip on the s2000's MPU,
that ultimately decides what to tell the LCD computer what certain files to look for -
in order to load it up onto the screen.

If the files are embedded into the PCMCIA card correctly - then it's no problem
for the LCD computer to throw it up onto the screen.
However, if there's anything wrong ( for example: mis-named files, corrupted files, or similarly named files) -
you'll get the "Red Screen Of Death" !!!  :214-  :96-

It also appears to me that size doesn't really matter.
As long as the PCMCIA card is not too big.
How big and what are the size limitations I don't know yet.
I know one thing though...I can't get a 4GB CF card to work on it though.
I even tried downsizing the flash card to a cluster size of 1,024 bytes...
I'll have to fool around with the formatting sizes some more.
Maybe I'll get lucky.

The reason you cant use 4GB cards is that they used Windows 98 embedded edition.
Microsoft requires embedded systems to start up the application directly, no windows explorer or the like allowed.

 :92- :wa :136-
Like a kid in the candy store!!! Good Job Bunker!! :244- :244- :244-

Need to work on the reel strippers though! :200- :279- :208-  :141- :130- Sorry, Wrong theme....

CH :95-

The reason you can't use 4GB cards is because the FAT filesystem without support for 64k block size has a limitation of 2GB partition size.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table)

Has anyone considered (or tried) partitioning a larger card into two drives, with the first being under 2GB so that it could be properly formatted? The second partition most likely wouldn't even have to be formatted at all.

Just a thought. :79-


SF :31-

What's the largest drive supported by the BIOS?  :5- :200- :96- :72-

If you partition the card in WinDoze and format the first partition in FAT, the machine should see the card as being the size of the first partition. Make the first partition the size expected by the machine. Of course, I've been wrong before. :5-

BIOS is a lower layer than the OS, you have to have the physical addressing before you can have the logical addressing.

Of course, BIOS can be upgraded, if we learn how to access via the console... :209- :209-


Bunker, get to work!  :283-

Great suggestion Stat!
I will be fooling around with CF partitioning this evening.
I don't have them here at work.
I'm at a brick wall in finding info on these LCD computers however - big time.
It's a more closely guarded secret than the alien at Area 51!  :96-

IGTman once claimed to have hooked up a keyboard to the
board but I saw only 3 wires connected to it?
I haven't seen any proof that it ever really worked.  :60-
The thread died instantly after that and the subject hasn't been
touched on until I recently picked up a Vision LCD computer.

There are 3 sets of 10-pin headers protruding from the bottom of the board
which relate to the connections of the keyboard & mouse, and
auxiliary, and an optional VGA connection.  :209-

Furthermore, there is a 4-pin power supply header in the middle of the board
very similar to regular PS plugs used in desktop computers.
As far as a communications port/header of any other type - there seems to be a
XX-pin? header that involves the connection for an additional hard drive.
I'm wondering if this is for some type of proprietary HD or if a regular cheap,
old 4 to 8GB HD can be used here?

I'm considering picking up a spare board from johntoomanynumbers
and use that to muck around with...  :79-

Did you jump J1, Bunker? If so, you can experiment with hard drive sizes. You'll only need to boot long enough to see if the hard drive is recognized by the BIOS, you can kill the power after that.

Also, be sure to get the BIOS info (manufacturer and version) then go on the manufacturer's website and see if they have later versions.

Some of the documentation I have seen discusses optical drives (CDs) connected to the LCD computer. If the connector you are referring to is a 40 or 44 pin connector, you could experiment with that as well as it's probably a standard IDE connector.

My LCD computer's J1 was already jumped when I first got it in the mail.
If you have a copy of that docs laying around -I'd like to please take a look at it to
see if it will help me in any way figure out this thing...  :96-
You know me...I hoard stuff... :184- :267-

Yeah but you got to read it too!   :97- :30- :30-

Ron (r273)

I do..I do! If I have it!!    :72-   but I didn't get it yet!
I think Brichter actually has a day job....!  :208-

Yes, it's actually a day job that takes up some of the night, as well. :30-

I hate it, until I see my bank account...  :89-

I have used CF card and a PCMCIA adaptor with great success. The top machine doesnt care what size the card is (I used 64Meg CF's)
Just put the old card in a reader or a PCMCIA slot on a laptop and drag/drop it to the CF card.
Just remember to NEVER-EVER unplug a CF or PCMCIA in the topbox when hot....you will be very sorry.


Kirk

Oh...you mean my bubbling fingertips? lol

64Meg card I understand Kirk, but we're trying to stick in hard drives, keyboards, and 4GB cards here... :208-

Check your email...

  :204- Thanks Brichter! I got it.
I forgot about that one and it does help a little bit!
I will look into it today.

Ok, so I managed to get a keyboard hooked up and working on my Vision computer, but now what?  My BIOS is password protected and I don't know what it is.  Three wrong attempts and it locks you out. You have to power cycle it to try again.   The volume label on my C: is RFA10027, so guess that's the RFA for my machine (MsLGM 5 reel)?  I don't have a RFA card for it, so I don't want to mess around with the filesystem too much or I might screw it up and not be able to restore it.  If anyone has suggestions on the BIOS password, post or PM me. 

(http://)

(http://)

CMOS password screen.

(http://)

Phoenix BIOS backdoor passwords include BIOS, CMOS, phoenix, and PHOENIX

W

Thanks Wayne.  None of those worked though.  This is the screen you get after three invalid attempts:

(http://)

does it say the version when it boots?

W

PhoenixPICO Bios V4.05 and some Radisys info too.  See attached photo.

lol...Hi Tilt!
I noticed you typed my name at the cursor.  :72-

I have no idea...but I just checked my boot up screens against yours and
everything is the same except yours is corrupted.
Look at the way "Device" is spelled...yours is split up with some sort of an "up arrow"?
I'm not sure what's going on there.
I'm more of a technical guy...we need a computer whiz to jump in.

Can you give me the pin outs of you keyboard set up?
 I see part of your voltage notes under the LCD computer...lol
I'll make up a key cable right now and try and see if I can get pass the password?
What 3 passwords have you tried - so I'll try 3 other ones?

It's not corrupt, that was me hitting the CTRL + C keys on the keyboard to break out of the autoexec.bat file in order to get to the DOS prompt.   :89-  Here's my scribbled notes on the pinouts.  I used a standard PS2 keyboard from one of my old systems I had stuffed in the closet, and got the female PS2 cable from my old parts box.  Since the first photos I remade the LCD end of the cable so it's keyed properly, it came from a 10 pin ribbon cable.  I taped over the other connectors because I think I plugged the keyboard into the VGA connector the first time after changing it.  The keyboard lock lights blinked a few times, and the display was blank...whoops!  I powered it down and fixed it, luckily nothing was harmed.  I've added a pic of the improved cable too. 

As far as passwords, I tried everything Wayne suggested, some others I found on the net, but nothing has worked yet.  I could yank the CMOS battery and that will probably clear it, but I don't know the current setup to put it back if I do.

(http://)

Tilt,
 :172- I sent you some of my stuff just in case you lose the OS.
I don't know about the BIOs though...
I wouldn't pull that CMOS battery if you don't have to just yet!

Thanks.  I figured out my CMOS password with the help of a little utility on the net.  It is SEVENS1  I tired to disable it, but it won't allow me to.  I tried changing it, and that didn't work either.  SEVENS1 it is for now. 

I went ahead and attached a Molex connector onto the end of an old keyboard I had in the garage.
Using the wiring pin-outs from Tilt, I plugged the keyboard into my LCD computer.
First thing I noticed is that the NUM lock was lit up...cool!
I played with some DOS commands.
How in the world do I set the Time? lol
Reminds me of my mother's VCR blinking all the time... :72-
I hate the focus continually adjusting on my camera...>>>


http://www.youtube.com/v/f1v5ITvglHk?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US (http://www.youtube.com/v/f1v5ITvglHk?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US)

Type in the command "time" and hit enter, then type in the correct time. Type in "date" and hit enter, then type in the correct date.  :89-

Thanks brichter  :89-
I'll try that later!
Now, how do I hook it up to the internet?  :72-

Or you can set it in CMOS if you can get in.  Hit "F2" to enter setup.  I'm curious to know if yours is password protected too, and if so, if the password is the same as mine?  The CMOS memory seems to be write protected.  I can change it and save it, but when it reboots it's the old one again. 

I'll play with that too.
For now, I want to see if the jumper next to the MMLBII sockets do anything.
I wonder if I cross a jumper will it enable the MMLBII's earphone jack.
I'm thinking of adding a pair of headphones for late-night play...lol

I figured out how to change the password.  After you're in the CMOS menu, change it under security submenu (if you hit return twice it disables the password), then move to the exit screen, navigate to Backup CMOS to flash, hit enter, then save changes and exit.  If you don't back it up from CMOS to flash it won't save the changes when it reboots.

awesome.
I know there's 3 hidden files.
Where they are - I don't know...lol
I opened the side panel and have the LCD computer sitting on top of my desktop.
I'm using the power from the desktop computer that normally runs to the hard drives and CD rom drive.
I'm lucky my 4-pin power harness is long enough to reach the back of my LCD computer.
Plugged underneath is the keyboard AMP plug I've made for it.

I'm digging around the the file system...
It has windows and everything.
It's exactly like an older computer.
It just doesn't have all the normal connectors we use today.
I turn it on/off using my computer's power button.
I'm pretty one of these headers is for an ATX on/off switch.

That was cool...I pressed "Ctrl, Alt and Del" buttons  simultaneously and it reboots - just like normal!
It goes reading the whole thing back to the "Enter new time:"...lol
the time is accurate too!

ADD: But if it's powered on and back again - it reverts back to "12:00:49.98a"...hmm...
sounds like your password when it wasn't-saving-it-syndrome... :96-

How do you get into the CMOS again?
I'm in DOS mode... :103-

Hit the F2 key before it starts booting.  It sounds like your CMOS battery may be low/dead if it won't keep the time after a reboot?  On most regular computers you'd get an error message saying CMOS battery low, but these things are a bit different.

 

okay,
I'm in PhoenixBIOS Setup page...lol
Pressing the [F2} worked.
I usually press [F8] on my desktop...
It says ...well would you know it >>> Enter Password
Below pressing Enter Accepts
ESC Aborts.

Enter the password and get this....LOL  
Familiar looking stuff huh?
System Memory a whopping 636Kb... :72-
Click on photo to enlarge. >>>

After you use the RFA card to upgrade, you need to remove it.

Was your password sevens1 too?

Try setting your date/time from the CMOS menu and see if it keeps it, after you goto exit, save, exit.

Yes....Password was the same ...now it's "vision" lol
I keep the RFA card in it...It's more fun that way.
Remember, my LCD computer is on pure standalone mode...
It's not in the machine.
I have it sitting on top of my computer tower on top
of a couple of chip tubes... :72-
It won't get past the "Please wait...Initializing...." mode because it
doesn't have any connection to the SB chip.

Unless I can make my s2000 wireless.... :96-
message on screen for you guys!
Click to enlarge>>>

 :244-  It appears that is a default password then.  I just hit enter twice and disabled mine, I'd forget it next week if I didn't  :72-   

This is my makeshift "LCD Testing Headquarters"...lol >>>

I'm not sure that's such a good idea, as the C drive is flash, and flash memory has a finite number of write cycles before it fails. Every time you boot with the RFA, you're overwriting the same system files on the flash... and older flash (these are old technology) fails more quickly than newer flash does..

Here's mine.  Yours looks more comfortable.   I've got mine plugged into the netplex distro board on my Tabasco I-game that has State Fair installed... :97-
(http://)

Hey! Yours has that white trim light surrounding the screen???
I want one too! lol  :184- :183- :185-


If it blows, could I replace it with a socket and throw a newer flash chip in?

Yeah, that's the led chaser ring.  I works when it's in the right machine   :3- :3-

Most of that stuff is SMD, and I'm not aware of any sockets available... not to mention it would need to be pin for pin compatible with the old flash.

okay...good answer Brichter! Thanks...
Here's something I wanted to try.
I typed in MPLAYER.exe right? because I saw it in the boot up as it was loading files.

The LCD answers me with "This program requires Microsoft Windows."
Does that mean I have to hook up a hard drive and throw in a copy of like WIN95?  :72-

Bunker win95 or 98 is on it already

Due to licensing agreement for the type of windows they use it has to only run the Vision Software

Mine has Windows for Workgroups v3.11 on it.  Sad thing is I remember when that was new  :97-

I typed in WINVER.EXE and got the same thing.  :71-
I actually still have a copy of that somewhere...I think it was loaded via the floppy disk...argh!
Below is a picture of how I remember it the last time...  :96- >>>

Looks like somebody misunderstood the term REBOOT!.  Must have been booted several times...   :96-

W

 :97- That's a sad looking thing isn't it?   :208-

There have been a few times recently that I want to throw my tower out the window.  I imagine the results would look similar.

Thanks,
Wayne

In regards to the flash memory, there are sockets, but they are quite expensive about $300 sometimes more.
Intel flash has long been obsolete. Intel doesn't even make flash chips anymore. These Intel chips are very unstable.
My advice is don't mess with them!
Eric

There are no sockets for this type of flash that I have ever found, they are surface mount devices (56 pin SSOP). The highest density SSOP socket I have ever found is 34 pin. If you have a source for these, please post the link to where I can purchase them, I have some people who need a large quantity for a different application. :89-

Bunker, you can see them on the board, they are under the left side PCMCIA card holder, and marked Intel Flash. 4 of them have stickers (2 Microsoft and 2 Phoenix) and the other 4 do not have stickers.

As Eric said, you really don't want to have one of these fail... so I'd remove that RFA card before BSH and you have to find another LCD motherboard. :30-

I took it out right away after you said to take it out...
I was just a pullin' yer leg...  :114- :110-
If it blew  it blows...
just trash it in the name of slot education... :72-
I must of re-booted it and uploaded the RFA about 50 -75 times anyways ...
I looked at everything the cards had...nothing exciting but it was fun
to hook up a keyboard to it. :89-

The LCD basically turns on/off when I turn my desktop computer on/off.
If I don't want to turn my desktop off..I just reach behind and
pull the 4-pin power plug from the LCD board - no problem there.
I didn't really search on the board for a possible header that
connects to a power switch of some sort.

I played with the MMLBII and the earphone jack and the JP3 jumper.
Can't get it the earphone jack to put out anything.
I still really don't know what the JP3 jumper is for.
I'll do some searching.

I threw the LCD back into the S2000 topbox and did the same MMLBII sound tests
while it was in the topbox...still can't get the earphone jack
to work no matter if the JP3 jumper is on or off.

I might work on the VGA pins header later on and
see if I can plug in a 24" wide-screen LCD monitor...
You guys know me...I'll tinker with this puppy until I
learn everything I want to know about it or blow it up! lol

We don't need no stinkin' manuals now do we?

Contradicting myself,  I found this....uh...out of a manual... :96-
Finally! The definitions for these weird things! lol
Also, the 2-pin Molex on the back of the LCD computer
is an input plug...not an output as I thought.
I'm assuming there needs to be a short 2-pin harness
that routes from the amplifier board to the LCD>>>

So if everything else fails, read directions manuals?  :200-  :30-

Ron (r273)

Lol yeah...I tend to overlook those things!  :72-

These particular CF flash cards work very well with the Vision LCD computer.
All I had to do was format them in "FAT" with a 1024 cluster size.
They were very inexpensive and plentiful on fleecebay as people don't really use these anymore.
The funny thing is someone still had some stag party photos on them... :72-
I'd love to post them up here but this is a PG website... :5-

I tried to partition the 4GB SanDisks I have into 2GB's and
make a 1024 cluster but the LCD would NOT pick it up.
I'd always get an "Incompatible Media" error on the LCD display.

How to install drivers of PCMCIA PC CARD FLASH Storage?
I have SimpleTech Cards 20MB and 64MB and when I insert it they allways give me a exclamation in Device Manager Generic PCMCIA Memory Card.
Any idea?

I've never used those ones but upon a google search, I found a post on Tom's Hardware by a guy named WyomingKnott who says that those cards seem to be part of Hitachi?
Here's a link to that blog and there's a connection to the Hitachi/SimpleTech links...>>>

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/279448-45-simpletech-drivers (http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/279448-45-simpletech-drivers)