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Clone 386 upgraded today to a DLC - With questions inside!

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First post, by Jed118

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Hello all,

I have been reunited with my 386 finally, and thought it was time for an upgrade: I bought a 386/486 motherboard (EXP4349 by DataExpert - VERY intricate BIOS) but for the life of me it would not take a 386 - I put in an old 486 SX25 I had lying around and it POSTed, but really slowly. No amount of jumper settings allowed the Am386DX40, Intel DX25, or the 486DLC to POST. So I tried another motherboard, (OPTI495SLC) configured it, but then noticed that there was heavy corrosion around the battery area - This board did not POST at all, not even a keyboard light or a beep - Garbage.

Both had VESA which is what I wanted in my 386, seeing how I have a Mach32 VLB card sitting around, as well as an VLB multi/IO

So, the original board went back in (an M321) but I put in the 486DLC chip and its co-processor. Works a little faster, but my configuration is a little wonky (my autoexec and config.sys are overrun with things - need to be trimmed) but most applications work.

The configuration is like this:

-Cx486DLC and FasMath co-processor @ 40 MHz
-32 Mb 70ns SIMM memory
-Quantum 540 Mb Hdd
-Seagate 1 Gb SCSI hard disk (mostly filled with games)
-Adaptec AHA 2940 SCSI controller
-1.44 and 1.2 Mb FDD
-3COM etherlink III LAN card
-Reveal sound card (I've got an SB16 somewhere too...)
-Ati MACH32 2Mb ISA video board (with NVRAM)
-2X Reveal CDROM (Panasonic)
-350Mb Colorado Tape backup (wonky - SW crashes Windows)
-100 Mb ZIP drive (worked at one point, something about the drivers failed now)
-Multi IO card

It runs Windows 3.11 with Calmira XP skin (to which I forgot the password...) and DR-DOS 7. TONS of games on this rig, which is why I built it over 15 years ago.

Here are the pictures: (Sorry it appears I have a dirty lens!)

http://imgur.com/a/npm24

Now, I have some questions for you guys - This motherboard has 128k Cache, with slots to add more, but the "jumpers" are permanently soldered - Nothing I can't handle, but I know NOTHING about cache chips, where to buy them, what to buy, something about a tag chip... How can I get 256K on there?

Another question - The EXP4349 has a wicked BIOS - can I swap out the BIOS chips just like that, or will that send current into places it shouldn't, damaging something?

How can I connect this beast to the internet through Windows 3.11 (purely for shits and giggles) -I have never done this, my first internet computer had Windows 95 on it.

Does anyone want the OPTI495SLC to rebuild? I don't want to throw it out, so if someone can use it somehow, PM me.

EDIT: I suspect there may be a virus on the computer - I inherited a box FULL of diskettes, and I used some of them already. While I am not keen on scanning 300+ diskettes, how can I scan my computer for viruses?

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Reply 1 of 3, by luckybob

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Jed118 wrote:
Now, I have some questions for you guys - This motherboard has 128k Cache, with slots to add more, but the "jumpers" are permane […]
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Now, I have some questions for you guys - This motherboard has 128k Cache, with slots to add more, but the "jumpers" are permanently soldered - Nothing I can't handle, but I know NOTHING about cache chips, where to buy them, what to buy, something about a tag chip... How can I get 256K on there?

Another question - The EXP4349 has a wicked BIOS - can I swap out the BIOS chips just like that, or will that send current into places it shouldn't, damaging something?

How can I connect this beast to the internet through Windows 3.11 (purely for shits and giggles) -I have never done this, my first internet computer had Windows 95 on it.

Does anyone want the OPTI495SLC to rebuild? I don't want to throw it out, so if someone can use it somehow, PM me.

EDIT: I suspect there may be a virus on the computer - I inherited a box FULL of diskettes, and I used some of them already. While I am not keen on scanning 300+ diskettes, how can I scan my computer for viruses?

IN ORDER:

1: Short answer, you will need 4 more chips like the ones soldered in as well as the tag ram chip. I'd have to research a bit to find out what tag ram you would need, but install the chips, remove the original jumpers and install new ones. Its not an easy task, but doable.
2: NO. There might be an update around the web somewhere if you are lucky. If not, grin and bear it.
3: i'm sure someone will. I currently have to many pans in the fire as it is.
4: unlikely its a virus. I've never seen one in in 25+ years of computing and i've been to many many shady places on the internet. That said, go here for antivirus: [SOLVED] Best DOS antivirus?

Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them. - Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam

Reply 2 of 3, by jesolo

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I'm looking around for a spare 386 or 386/486 combo motherboard but, one that is still operational. Unfortunately, some of the prices on eBay are ludicrous.
Has to have the PGA sockets for the CPU and math co-processor so that I can just drop in my CPU (as I have a spare AMD 386DX-40 CPU lying around).

I also have a Cyrix 486DLC-40 with it's math co-processor nicely tucked away in a old Chicony 386 motherboard and it's still going strong (Winbond 16-bit IDE controller, Sound Galaxy Basic 16, 360 kb & 1.44 MB floppy drives, 204 MB HDD and a Tseng Labs ET4000AX 16-bit graphics card to round it off).
Initially, I also had some trouble to get the motherboard to recognise the Cyrix CPU (worked fine with the AMD386) and later on realised that I had to select the factory default settings in the BIOS (the "non" optimal setting where everything is usually disabled), save it, and re-boot.
Then, go into the BIOS again and manually change the settings to the optimal settings (i.e., enable cache, System Bios cacheable, Video Bios cacheable, etc.)

Reply 3 of 3, by kixs

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Nice build. 😁

Do you plan on using some VLB graphic card?

Is it possible for you to make some benchmarks? It would be great if you used the Phils Benchmark suit - here are the instructions and download:
Phil's Ultimate VGA Benchmark Database Project

I also like to see Speedsys and Chkcache benches.

Visit my AmiBay items for sale (updated: 2025-10-29). I also take requests 😉
https://www.amibay.com/members/kixs.977/#sales-threads

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