[retro swim] - Episode 36 (Part 2) TeraDrive TLC

[@Gummybeer]

Quadtel Extended Memory Manager, never heard of it before.

[@RetroSwim]

I *think* it might be specific to the Teradrive's WDC chipset, but essentially it does the same thing as EMM386, uses XMS to provide EMS.

[@HunterZBNS]

When I was growing up, the first family PC-compatible was a Wyse 8MHz 286 clone with no EMS/XMS that my dad got in the late 1980s to do electrical engineering CAD and microcontroller assembly programming work at home. It started out as an EGA machine, but the monitor blew out when we ran it with a printer on top of the exhaust grille, so we ran it as a Hercules machine for a while until my dad could afford a Paradise SVGA card + monitor. I played tons of games on it (mostly shareware, plus a fair number of Sierra EGA and VGA titles and a smattering of other random stuff), until 32-bit games like Doom started coming out in the early 1990s. I think I even put a Sound Blaster 2.0 in it at the end briefly. My long-winded point is that you really underestimated the capabilities of a 10MHz 286 in this video.

[@RetroSwim]

I have a special place in my heart for 286 systems, and certainly there's a lot of games they're REALLY good at playing, like your Sierra, Apogee, iD, and early LucasArts stuff, etc. There's a heap of fun to be had there, absolutely. And sure you CAN play Wolf3D on a 286, but it's not a great experience. I know that shrinking the viewport is a thing, but I can't honestly say the game "runs well" on this system.

[@HunterZBNS]

Don't get me wrong - Wolf3D was one of the first real indications that our 286 was getting outdated (along with not being able to hear digitized sound effects in X-Wing due to no XMS/EMS), and by the time Doom came along (and didn't run because it required a 32-bit PC) I was really hoping for an upgrade (which eventually came in the form of a second-hand 386DX-33). It was just crazy that we were able to do a ton of gaming on that thing for what seemed like a really long time (but was probably only 5-6 years in retrospect).

[@RetroSwim]

Yeah for sure! It's never my aim to shit on people's memories and nostalgia, but I also don't like to beat around the bush and say a game "will run" when in reality it only barely manages.

[@HunterZBNS]

Your honesty about your more recent experience is appreciated, as it's possible that my memory is indeed compromised by nostalgia. I doubt I ever went back and compared Wolf3D on the 286 after upgrading to subsequent machines. I do remember comparing Doom & Descent on the 386DX-33 with its 486DX4-120 replacement, because my brother and I played multiplayer via a null modem cable between them.

[@rickhunter6242]

Wolf3d does runs great on a 286 12Mhz Teradrive with a SBpro2 (soon to be a 486 Teradrive) ;) Awesome video Retro!

[@RetroSwim]

It does run, and it's just about playable, I wouldn't call it "great". Should be actually smooth on the 486DLC though.

[@rickhunter6242]

Yes I remember being painfully slow when I still had the stock 286 10Mhz cpu. I know now what you are talking about about the EMS mem I shall try that, although it does seems there is a EMSCHK.SYS that may check the DOS version :(

[@RetroSwim]

Rick Hunter I don't know what the purpose of EMSCHK.SYS is (perhaps checks for EMS boards and prevents SEGAEMS.SYS from loading?), but HIMEM.SYS from MS-DOS 6.22 and SEGAEMS.SYS with the EXT=xxx parameter seem to work pretty well together. Running mem /c shows EMS and XMS present and available, in the correct proportions.

[@MrAlan1828]

Hi, is there a link to Mcretro's google drive as his site is down as of 2018

[@ZXRulezzz]

Should've used some flux and a solder wick for desoldering, just collect all the solder with it and the big cap would just fall off (with maybe a bit of persuasion). That works really good with single-sided boards. Never had a solder sucker in my life, just my 5 cents :) But anyway, really cool machine, will be waiting for follow-ups :)

[@RetroSwim]

I find that with older stuff, wick will occasionally not be able to reach solder that's down inside the hole. I know people swear by it, and I do use it in some circumstances, but I prefer the pump.

[@HunterZBNS]

I have both, and I can never get the wick to suck anything up. The gun works pretty good, though. Maybe my iron is too worn-out?

[@RetroSwim]

The wick aficionados will say it's either crappy wick, or a not hot enough iron. In my experience, it just doesn't work very well in some instances, especially when there are large ground planes to sink the heat away.

[@rickhunter6242]

Hey retro, I hope that all is well. I'm running/testing my teradrive with the 286-486 upgrade but I'm having some issues with the Sega EMS software. I've send you a message over the assembler forums. Please reply whenever you get a chance and thanks in advance!

[@robertotorres6554]

Try wolfenstein 3d on that machine :v /

[@RetroSwim]

I did... it's sort of... not good. :(

[@HunterZBNS]

I played it on an 8MHz 286 back in the day. I seem to remember having to turn the screen size down around 2 notches to get a consistently good framerate, but it was otherwise quite playable.

[@combineelite689]

i bet yeah that censored tab is porn.

[@RetroSwim]

Not that interesting, I'm afraid. It wasn't a tab either, but a bookmarks bar folder, and it could have potentially revealed where I work.

[@combineelite689]

***** oh well didn't know you would comment!