Will the FX GA work on a PC98 LAPTOP?

geepee16 · 08/27/2008, 04:48 AM

hey all,
need a quick question answered by anyone capable. i know the FX GA is designed for all PC98 pcs but does that also apply to laptops? thanks

Sensei · 08/27/2008, 10:30 AM

Quote from: geepee16 on 08/27/2008, 04:48 AMhey all,
need a quick question answered by anyone capable. i know the FX GA is designed for all PC98 pcs but does that also apply to laptops? thanks

I think the big question is: "Is there a place to put the board?" Most laptops wouldn't have space for that kind of expansion even if the hardware is technically compatible.

MissaFX · 08/27/2008, 11:12 AM

Quote from: Sensei on 08/27/2008, 10:30 AM
Quote from: geepee16 on 08/27/2008, 04:48 AMhey all,
need a quick question answered by anyone capable. i know the FX GA is designed for all PC98 pcs but does that also apply to laptops? thanks
I think the big question is: "Is there a place to put the board?" Most laptops wouldn't have space for that kind of expansion even if the hardware is technically compatible.

Ok, if the laptop is 386 or 486 era, there is actually an ok chance you could make this board work with it. The problem is that this board will plug into an adapter which will plug into a special port on the back and when these old laptops were made, they didn't make too many adapters. I used to have a 486 laptop which had a single expansion adapter like this that ended in one 16bit ISA slot. The problem you will run into is that I don't know if a 486 processor at a low speed will do what you need.

I would still yank the power supply and the drives from a PC98 desktop, the ship the tower with just the boards in it and put the power supply and cdrom in your suitcase, leave everything else. Then in the US complete it again.

NecroPhile · 08/27/2008, 11:53 AM

Quote from: MissaFX on 08/27/2008, 11:12 AMOk, if the laptop is 386 or 486 era, there is actually an ok chance you could make this board work with it. The problem is that this board will plug into an adapter which will plug into a special port on the back and when these old laptops were made, they didn't make too many adapters. I used to have a 486 laptop which had a single expansion adapter like this that ended in one 16bit ISA slot.

ISA is not the same as C-Bus, but did NEC make a similar beast for their laptops? Even if they did, that would make for one fugly setup - methinks geepee should heed your desktop advice.

MissaFX · 08/27/2008, 12:38 PM

Quote from: guest on 08/27/2008, 11:53 AM
Quote from: MissaFX on 08/27/2008, 11:12 AMOk, if the laptop is 386 or 486 era, there is actually an ok chance you could make this board work with it. The problem is that this board will plug into an adapter which will plug into a special port on the back and when these old laptops were made, they didn't make too many adapters. I used to have a 486 laptop which had a single expansion adapter like this that ended in one 16bit ISA slot.
ISA is not the same as C-Bus, but did NEC make a similar beast for their laptops? Even if they did, that would make for one fugly setup - methinks geepee should heed your desktop advice.

I know that, but I am assuming a PC-98 laptop from that era might have that option. My laptop was not intended for sale in Japan so it had a ISA. It is possible to get other slot adapters though, not just ISA as long as your old laptop had one made for it.

geepee16 · 09/12/2008, 04:45 PM

hey all,
i scored myself a beautiful pc98 desktop right before i left japan. my father in law told me it arrived the other day and i will be having it shipped (all 40 pounds of it!) by ship to my home in the states. i cannot wait to fire up the fxga- at long last. so now i'd like to know, who else has it and has used it (the fxga, that is).

Mednafen · 09/13/2008, 12:25 AM

Regarding using the FXGA with a PC-98 laptop, this page may be of help: http://www.pc-98.jp/list/cbus.html

I recently bought a PC-9821Xe/U7W desktop off eBay. It came with a SCSI card, a PHOTOPAQ-98 card, and a 12-card expansion box full of exotic controller cards, like for RS-485 and GPIB and Sysmac Link. ^_^
It uses a proprietary keyboard interface, the ancient "bus mouse" interface for mice, and a DA-15 connection for the monitor(normal "VGA" uses DE-15). But, I have it working, for the most part.

http://sarsie.fobby.net/junk/fxga.png
(The FXGA isn't usable yet, I haven't set up all the software for it, but it does start up when the machine starts to that point)

(Oh yeah, holding "GRPH" and "2" down when turning the power on will force it to display using a 31KHz video mode, rather than the 24KHz default mode, which most modern monitors don't like)

geepee16 · 09/13/2008, 04:07 AM

oh yeah, will i be able to use any standard monitor or were THEY proprietary as well. i will just scream if i need one of those too.

Mednafen · 09/13/2008, 10:53 AM

You *may* need to make an adapter for the monitor connection. If you don't like to solder(like me :b), buy a breadboard and suitable wires, and then buy a DA-15 cable, and the necessary D-subminiature breadboard adapters from:

http://www.winfordeng.com/products/
or
http://www.technologicalarts.ca/catalog/index.php?cPath=38_41

Note that DA-15 is usually(technically erroneously) called DB-15, and DE-15 is called HD-15. This is a rather common "mistake", so... It's time for a language evolution debate! ;)

I think early Macs used a DA-15 connector for RGB video too, but the pinout is not compatible.
Some early Sun keyboards(IIRC) also used a mini-DIN8 connector, but their pinout does not appear to be compatible either.

Mednafen · 09/15/2008, 02:49 PM

What's the model of the PC-98 you're getting?

Mednafen · 10/13/2008, 10:15 PM

I couldn't get my IDE CDROM drive to work(probably a CDROM driver problem) on the PC-98, so I did something unthinkable:

PC-9821 + PC-FXGA + FX-SCSI + PC-FX

MissaFX · 10/13/2008, 11:35 PM

Quote from: Mednafen on 10/13/2008, 10:15 PM

I couldn't get my IDE CDROM drive to work(probably a CDROM driver problem) on the PC-98, so I did something unthinkable:

OMG you are like probably the 3rd or 4th person in the world ever to use the FX as a SCSI CD. I have been wondering lately if the FX could be used as a CDrom for my old MAC iici with the scsi adapter. Do you have any kind of info on what type of CDrom it shows up as or what drivers were made for it if it needs specific ones?

Mednafen · 10/14/2008, 07:29 PM

I don't think it requires special drivers, a generic SCSI CDROM driver should work.

The connector plugs into a 50-connector high-density micro-ribbon socket, the socket is #9 in the external list here:

http://www.scsi4me.com/scsi-connectors.htm

Mednafen · 10/14/2008, 08:18 PM

The unambiguous name of the connector that will fit with the connector on the FX-SCSI is: HPCN50-F

MissaFX · 10/15/2008, 01:23 AM

Quote from: Mednafen on 10/14/2008, 08:18 PMThe unambiguous name of the connector that will fit with the connector on the FX-SCSI is: HPCN50-F

Ty.