First post, by LChackr
- Rank
- Newbie
I have this (link below) motherboard that I bought NOS.
https://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/U/U … 486-386SI4.html
It has a SiS (85C460) chipset and a Cyrix 486DLC/33 CPU.
I built a system using this board and things generally work but I am running into weird compatibility problems. Most software runs, and for the stuff that works, it runs very well and the performance is excellent for what the system is. Benchmarks and memory tests (Memtest86) can run indefinitely without crashes or problems.
So, what's my problem?
Well, while most stuff works there are just enough things that don't work to be annoying. For example, QuickBASIC 4.5 will load but if I try to execute a program the system hangs. (QBASIC works though, oddly enough.) That's the typical behavior I see. I will find a particular program and usually very early in trying to use it the system will just lock. The only indication of what might be happening at the time I've seen so far is when I tried to run CheckIt Pro it froze on the "Detecting processor" screen. This behavior is the same in Windows 3.x. Some programs and utilities will start to load and then freeze. The most popular is InstallShield Wizard. Anytime I try to install ANY program packaged with ISW it will get to 100% on the preparing setup screen and lock at that point.
Because I knew it would be a potential issue I have tested this board extensively with internal (L1) and external (L2) caches both enabled and disabled and it has no effect on the behavior. With cache disabled the system is just considerably slower but the hangs still happen at exactly the same points. Interestingly this board doesn't have CPU selection jumpers and out of curiosity I tried swapping the 486DLC with a 386DX CPU. Although the BIOS detected it the system was very unstable and no adjustment to BIOS settings resulted in a working system. It certainly seems like this board was specifically configured for the Cx486DLC chip.
Does anyone have an idea of how I can figure this out, short of finding another board? I am really happy with it for the majority of software that runs, I just wish that these annoying hanging issues didn't happen with certain software.
