Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-08-05, 18:59
Amazon also sells new Startech and Athena branded AT power supplies. I have a couple of those Startech PSUs and they seem OK, not award winning stuff but way more silent than my older units.
Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?
Posted on 2016-08-03, 23:17
Sad retro day for me. In the process of attempting to fix a VLB socket 3 board I destroyed the socket and the CPU (AMD DX/40 - one of the first ones) due to incorrect pin orientation. Dumbass. Fortunately I do have another VLB board but I'm always sad when something retro dies :( Sad day for me too …
Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-08-03, 19:13
Yeah, cache config looks good. Sadly I don't know what else you could check other than the obvious (inspect the board for physical damage, missing components, and so on). Perhaps someone skilled at electronics can suggest something? Sadly with these boards old age is a factor, and there is a high …
Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-08-03, 18:54
The other components (CPU, VGA, memory) are known to be working right? Here's a couple of things I would check if the board shows no signs of life: - JP6 (near the battery). This jumper should be in 1-2 position for normal operation. Otherwise it's in clear CMOS mode and the board may fail to POST - …
Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-08-03, 18:32
I found this schematic quite helpful when trying to identify the jumper locations: http://th99.classic-computing.de/src/m/A-B/32306.htm
Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-08-03, 17:48
I'm not home right now so no access to the board, however I have marked in your picture the pins that you need to jumper for JP23-27 + JP13. You only need those 4 jumpers marked in red in that section.
Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-08-03, 16:34
I am testing with an ATX PSU + adapter, works fine so I don't think that's the problem. However, by looking at your jumper settings I noticed the following differences with mine: - JP23: you have 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, according to the DX/DX2 section on the manual it should be only 5-6, 7-8 - JP24: looks …
Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-08-03, 15:50
Yes, with the speaker connected you should be able to hear the error codes (unless the board is totally dead). I assume most ISA/VLB cards should work well with the LCD monitor, at least for boot screens and DOS. I never had any problems with getting my old cards to work with LCD screens. What …
Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-08-03, 06:12
Anybody know why the speaker has 5 pins allocated on the pin out? I am trying to use an ATX case and my connector has 4 pins. Just got my board a couple of hours ago and noticed the same thing when I was setting it up for testing. I think it's a mistake in the jumper diagram, you can use the last …
Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-08-02, 01:01
Based on the white mark in the top right of your picture (which should be pin 1), the "20" on the lower left and trying to match the diagram with the text on the board, this would be the pinout for the front panel on the picture you posted: 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 …
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2016-07-29, 18:48
That's an awesome haul MMaximus! :exclamation: And heck, never seen RAM slots fitted in between ISA slots before...or anything like it. That looks like after finalizing the design of the board the engineers looked at it and realized: "Sh*t, we forgot the RAM slots! Let's just put them wherever they …
Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-07-29, 18:36
I also have a converter for the PSU but I think it is designed to let you use a modern PSU with an AT case and motherboard. I want to use it to let me use the old motherboard with a modern PSU and ATX case. There are 2 wires coming from it that I assume would be used to connect to the old power …
Re: Great collectors of Vogons! What's missing in your collections? :P
Posted on 2016-07-28, 03:30
Not necessarily as a collector, but I would very much like to have a "high-end" VLB card to max out one of my 486 PCs, such as ET4000, S3 Vision or Trio64. The few I've seen out there are far too expensive, most of what I find everywhere is basically Trident garbage, S3 805 or Cirrus Logic 542X. I'd …
Re: What is your age?
Posted on 2016-07-27, 20:41
34 here. I'm a software engineer, up until I was 30 I was almost completely dedicated to my work, but lately I've become pretty disappointed with the IT industry (all people seem to care about nowadays is social networks, stupid/useless mobile apps and hardware that cannot be disassembled :blah: ). …
Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-07-27, 20:10
Yes, the DX2 is definitely supported.
Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-07-27, 19:44
Yes that board. I think it has the cache not sure how much. I have attached a picture of the board. I will be switching that CPU, I have several options for that. I have an AMD DX4-100. Will that work on that board? If I have the cache would 32MB be the best option? According to motherboards. …
Re: New 486 Build
Posted on 2016-07-27, 18:45
You have the Acer/AOpen Vi15g right? Each 72pin SIMM slot on that board is an entire bank, so it's not necessary to install SIMMs in pairs. Regarding the amount of memory, either 16 or 32 MB will be fine if you are running MS-DOS games and applications. Assuming you have 256KB of cache, 32MB should …
Re: ATX PSU recommendations for use with AT adapter
Posted on 2016-07-27, 16:14
A 486 PC should need very little power, 15A on the +5V line as you said should be fine. Back in the day most people I know used those cheap generic AT power supplies that came with the cases, and they were generally rated between 15-20A on +5V, but I doubt those things could really provide that much …
Re: Wading slowly into the 486 waters
Posted on 2016-07-22, 21:33
Another option you can consider for the power switch is to replace the momentary ATX power button of the case with a self-locking on/off button of the same type, and then solder the new button to the adapter green & black wires. Of course, this depends on the type of button your case uses, but I …
Re: Wading slowly into the 486 waters
Posted on 2016-07-22, 20:30
Congrats on getting a 486 board! "You have taken your first steps into a larger world..." :-D Judging by the year of your BIOS (1993), it likely supports LBA (>500MB) for HDDs. At least all my 486 motherboards with 1993 BIOS support LBA. In any case there are alternatives, so go with a 1-8GB HDD as …
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