Boot retro PC using XTIDE (Part 2): How to create and use XTIDE ROM

[@J3715]

I have a whole box of these I use for old lan games thanks for this video

[@wayneholzer4694]

Handy to know I have some PCI network cards around and I wish to build a NT server to boot from and client that will need a NIC rom to do so nice project you have found there sir

[@MyRicardex]

Very informative and nicely put together! Your vídeos are great!

[@necro_ware]

Thank you very much! The 3rd and I guess the most interesting part will follow. Unfortunately my EPROM eraser got broken, so I can continue first, when I have a replacement. Sorry for delay.

[@JorgeCarvalho_web_dev]

Wow, very nice tutorial! I love poor man solutions because I am always broke. Seems like good ideia to order from 3th party an empty board and have some fun soldering the chips. Combining with CFIDE interface with bracket for easy access, it will be a breeze to connect the CF to the computer and copy some games, I have that solution (CF with bracket) in my AMD X5 and DX2-66 builds.

[@necro_ware]

Thanks again Jorge! Next part will come as soon as possible.

[@SerpentorX]

Very informative , thank you, I saw the 5 videos, and my only doubt is Can you use traditional BIOS modules from other motherboards/videos cards to put XTIDE rom? (of course if it has the size).

[@OpenGL4ever]

That's a bad idea. You can sell the working motherboards and buy individual EPROM chips with the money. The motherboards are now usually worth more than the individual EPROM chips. After all, there is a retro market for such motherboards and thus a demand. If you erase their EPROM chip, then these motherboards become unusable and it may be quite difficult to find the appropriate BIOS software for a corresponding motherboard to write a new EPROM chip. In this respect, it would be wiser to take the EPROM from old peripheral components that are no longer of great importance today. These include, for example, network cards that are not Ethernet cards, but have used a different standard. Also old printers and scanners do have EPROM chips. In any case, you shouldn't cannibalize any components that have a value for the retro market. For example, no VGA cards, no sound cards and no Ethernet NICs.

[@jothain]

Aaahh... I had or should still have I think suitable hardware to do almost all of this. I struggled ages ago with xt-ide and somehow got the impression that I have to embed it somehow into mobo bios 🤦🏻 I wish I would've had access to this information back then.

[@Verault]

Eprom, or Eeprom. Not flash chips. You cant just call things what you feel like. They have long established names.

[@DatBlueHusky]

That first video card you showed with the otivga, would it be possible you can dump the rom and send it to me? I have a similar card and i lost the bios chip for it. Would help me so much since ive been looking around for it!

[@necro_ware]

You can find BIOS dumps for many graphics cards on VGA Museum. Here is it for OTi077, just scroll down to "download attachement": vgamuseum.info/index.php/cpu/item/326-oak-oti-077

[@QueenLISA_Cutee]

please make one video cfast industrial card to usb how to transfer bootable iso image

[@JohnSmith-iu8cj]

Instead of using this programmer, could I also use an old mainboard that supports these EPROMs and use a bios flashing software on the pc to flash xtide onto the EPROM?

[@JohnSmith-iu8cj]

Yes, i found out that flashrom supports this.

[@JohnSmith-iu8cj]

Where can I find this programmer? I searched for TL866 and it costs around 66€. Is that the one or is there a cheaper model somewhere?

[@necro_ware]

Yes, it's the best you can get for that money. There might be slightly cheaper options, but you'll pay the difference with headaches.

[@cd-lf8xm]

hi there excellent video and thank you :) Are there any cheaper alternatives to the TL866II+ you'd recommend?

[@necro_ware]

There are probably cheaper programmers, indeed, but they are not as much cheaper, as they are worse. TL866II+ is extremely useful tool. It can not only program PROMs, but also GALs and some microcontrollers. It can also check some RAM modules and logic ICs. I'm using it a lot. Other reliable (I don't know which) programmers would probably cost you around 25€ and TL866II+ costs on AliExpress about 45€-48€, I guess? I'd still suggest it. If you don't want to buy a programmer at all, you can use a Pentium class mainboard boot into DOS, then hot swap the BIOS IC and flash the ROM there. You can misuse a mainboard this way as a programmer. But it can be tricky, especially, if you want to flash 28 pin IC in 32 pin socket.

[@cd-lf8xm]

@@necro_ware good call.. point taken :-) I just learned the XTIDE board also acts as a basic programmer too which is neat

[@Subgunman]

Do you have a link to the eprom programmer?

[@necro_ware]

It's very famous, just search on ebay or Amazon, or other shop you like for TL866II+

[@up2tech]

Fantastic tutorial!

[@ivanlinka8779]

Hi very nice tutorial. Have you ever tryied to use 28C's instead of 27C? They are pin incompatible, but it shall be easy to hard wire. Benefits are common. PS. Great channel!

[@necro_ware]

Yes, I use 28C's all the time. If you write the data to the end of the IC you can workaround the different pinout. But for me it has no real benefit, since I have a UV eraser and a bunch of different EPROMs as well.

[@the_kombinator]

Can you use the network card as, well, a network card (for communicating) with the XTIDE BIOS chip installed? *Edit nevermind, I watched the next video :D

[@yosuhara]

Don't you have to erase the rom chip with UV light first? Thanks

[@necro_ware]

Yes, but I keep them all already erased. I always erase them before I put the EPROMs into the box.

[@robertbruce7686]

You programmed an EPROM not a flash eprom device!!

[@necro_ware]

Sure, sorry for inconvenience.

[@robertbruce7686]

@@necro_ware No problem. Just not want newbies to get wrong stuff if following you exactly. Have been binge watching your stuff. Excellent content. Keep it up!!

[@necro_ware]

Yes, everything has to be right, thank you. I just hope nobody follows my videos blindly. I don't consider it a tutorial, more as a video blog and knowledge share. And I'm pretty sure, that many things I'm doing and saying can be done and said in a better way...