Looks nice. I'm pretty sure I had the minitower version of that case back in 1996.. and coincidentally, an AMD 5x86-133 ADZ. 😜

Thanks, definitely a good time! I actually had fun setting up my config.sys and autoexec.bat to get all of my devices and TSR's high. I scored a VLB LAN card, would be nice to include it but running 3x VLB? -- maybe asking for problems. I like to build mostly period correct machines, next one maybe either a 386-40 or going for a Cyrix GX, not sure. Will look into that after I get my OpenGL/D3D machine and Dual P3 workstation (both ca. 2002-3) changed around the way I want.

You *may* be able to get away with 3 VLB cards at 33MHz. You may be asking for problems if you run the bus speed higher than that.

Supposedly, the reason no motherboard ever had more than three VESA slots is because of electrical limitations. I assume your hard drive controller is VLB. If that's the case, I would recommend creating a backup image of the computer's hard drive before experimenting as an overloaded VESA bus can easily result in data corruption. However, VLB problems seem to be more rampant on the lower quality boards. A reputable manufacturer wouldn't knowingly build a motherboard that's expandable beyond it's own good.

Yeah, not that I really NEED a VLB NIC other than coolness/retro factor. Maybe I'll try it, but I'm enjoying it now as is. I'd still like to try it at 40MHz FSB just "to see".

7cjbill2 wrote:

BusLogic BT-445s VLB SCSI controller

Does that VESA SCSI card have a bootable firmware? Just curious...

It's got a socket for one, but no BOOTROM installed.

7cjbill2 wrote:

It's got a socket for one, but no BOOTROM installed.

I am looking to buy one of those SCSI cards, but I want it with boot capability. The documentation talks about the on-board BIOS being able to service interrupt 13H calls: http://ftp.nchu.edu.tw/Hardware/mylex/manuals/bt445s.pdf (see page 10).

So it seems there are cards of that family without on-board BIOS.

Could you post a photo of your card, please? 😀

Duh! Sorry, but for some reason I thought you were referring to my VLB NIC. That's what I get for not reading the entire post! But, to answer your question, yes, it has on-board firmware and works fine. Make sure your board can support DMA on the VESA slot or it won't work, though, found that out the hard way. The BusLogic cards have always been really easy to configure for me, but they are a little finicky. I've found the 445S to be a little more problematic on newer 486 boards (v4.72 BIOS POST is dated 1992) than the 445C. The 445S are switch configurable, but the 445C variant has an on-board configurable BIOS just like an Adaptec card. They are a little more robust b/c you get to choose more configuration options (DMA, SCSI select, etc.)

Oh, yeah, and they overclock like a champ. Mine runs happily at 50MHz, but I run it at 40MHz w/ my ADZ133 all day long.