VOGONS


First post, by raist

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Hi,

I have a BC3486UL MOBO, with 386 and 486 PGA sockets, 5xISA and 1x EISA slots. Board is in quite good shape, but doesn't boot.
i checked a BIOS chip and it's broken or erased - mostly 0x00, some bytes are 0x80.

If someone has working BC3486UL board, please share a BIOS dump, read with programmer or NSSI program.
I would be very grateful for your help 😀

Reply 1 of 7, by Disruptor

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I am sorry, this is not an EISA board.
This slot looks like an EISA slot, but it seems to be a kind of local bus slot.

DO NOT TRY ANY EISA CARD IN THAT SLOT.
Funny fact: It has printed "EISA" near that slot, but it is not EISA at all!

It seems to be an incarnation of OPTi or Orchid local bus which used the same connector than EISA does.
An EISA board typically should have 4 or more slots looking like this.

Perhaps you can try a BIOS from this thread:
486DLC cache coherency blues and headaches

Last edited by Disruptor on 2023-06-25, 15:01. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 2 of 7, by raist

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The description next to the connector says that it's EISA, but maybe it's a Opti Local Bus - it's not a problem for me.
Problem is, that the BIOS chip is empty and i need a valid BIOS dump to revive it 😀

Reply 3 of 7, by Horun

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Agree do not try that EISA slot. I would try BIOS from this one: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/cachin … 3486u#downloads
Same brand and same exact chipset including the ICS cmos/clock/timer chip, has MOST of the exact same jumpers.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 5 of 7, by Horun

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raist wrote on 2023-06-25, 17:39:

Thanks for advice. I did it and mobo is working 😀

That is great !

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 6 of 7, by Disruptor

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raist wrote on 2023-06-25, 17:39:

Thanks for advice. I did it and mobo is working 😀

Fine.
Now I recommend you to find out what slot it is.
EISA vs OPTi Local Bus cards - how to tell
OPTi Local Bus variants

Reply 7 of 7, by Anonymous Coward

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There are only a handful of EISA chipsets for 486 class systems. Unless your board has one, then that slot is guaranteed to not be EISA (despite what the silkscreen claims).

"Will the highways on the internets become more few?" -Gee Dubya
V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium