Babasha wrote on 2023-10-19, 20:55:

Intel TC430HX my favourite mobo - release date 09/09/96 ???

The first BIOS for the M520 is dated 7/2/1996 according to DOS Days. It seems likely that the first motherboard to ship with working USB ports happened sometime in 1996, but who was first? Documentation for this isn't easy to find now that so much of the old web has disappeared into the ether.

Compaq was putting them in their computers in 96. Mine is from July 96 and has USB.

midicollector wrote on 2023-10-19, 23:30:

Compaq was putting them in their computers in 96. Mine is from July 96 and has USB.

Compaq was always good at putting the newest tech into their computers.

Is it a Deskpro?

It’s a Presario actually.

midicollector wrote on 2023-10-19, 23:40:

It’s a Presario actually.

Pentium or MMX?

I had a Deskpro from about the same time that had dual Pentium Pro 200s in it.
I cant remember a lot about it other than it sounded amazing and it was so powerful!

It was that that made me buy my first Supermicro board a few years later.

After reading this article that laments the lack of accurate documentation on early usb:
https://www.os2museum.com/wp/usb-0-9/

One of the comments said to look at the December 17th, 1996 PC mage review of the Toshiba Infinia 7200:
https://books.google.com/books?id=y-hfa6YSVFA … 0%20usb&f=false

But I also found the Trigem Eagle + motherboard that looks like it has a 1995 BIOS and USB ports:

https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/trigem-eagle-plus
https://theretroweb.com/motherboard/manual/ea … ff480348167.pdf

ubiq wrote on 2023-10-19, 20:17:

Earliest board I have with USB is this 430VX one. Looks like it was released fall '96. It's got non-standard headers:
IMG_5455.jpeg

The rows are spaced just a little so that a 2x8 IDC connector won't fit. 🤨

Back then USB port brackets often came with the ports separated like that. Two 1x4/5 pin headers. Combining both channels into one double-row header didn't happen until later.

More comments from https://www.os2museum.com/wp/usb-0-9/

Michal Necasek says:The PIIX3 specification update says that boards with the initial A1 stepping of the PIIX3 chip should not have USB connectors installed, that’s how buggy it was. Out of the 15 total errata for PIIX3 (both A1 and B0 steppings), 13 are USB related (7 still in B0 stepping).

The B0 stepping was definitely much better. The A1 stepping was unusable, B1 merely required various software workarounds to avoid controller lock-ups. In addition, Selective Suspend was documented as effectively not usable (because resume didn’t work reliably).

And this:

Chris M. says:I tracked down what could have been the first OEM systems with USB, and they appear to be IBM.

The IBM PC330/350 Type 6577/6578 was “available” June of 1996 featured two USB ports on a 430HX/PIIX3 motherboard.

kingcake wrote on 2023-10-20, 00:48:

ubiq wrote on 2023-10-19, 20:17:

Earliest board I have with USB is this 430VX one. Looks like it was released fall '96. It's got non-standard headers:
IMG_5455.jpeg

The rows are spaced just a little so that a 2x8 IDC connector won't fit. 🤨

Back then USB port brackets often came with the ports separated like that. Two 1x4/5 pin headers. Combining both channels into one double-row header didn't happen until later.

Didn't know that, thanks! 👍

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-10-19, 23:50:

Pentium or MMX? […]
Show full quote

midicollector wrote on 2023-10-19, 23:40:

It’s a Presario actually.

Pentium or MMX?

I had a Deskpro from about the same time that had dual Pentium Pro 200s in it.
I cant remember a lot about it other than it sounded amazing and it was so powerful!

It was that that made me buy my first Supermicro board a few years later.

Pentium 133mhz in my case. There are some higher end variants in the same line, but the 133mhz is the one I have. S3 trio video, ESS 1888F, 8x cdrom, 16mb ram stock (at least on my model, higher amounts on other models in the same line) upgraded by prior owner to 128, 1.6gb hdd, isa and pci slots, gamepad port... It's pretty cool because it's got all that integrated into the motherboard and very compatible with games of the era due to the ess and S3 trio combo.

I own this model specifically because my family had it when I was a teenager, and it's super nostalgic. Sadly this series of Presario is difficult to find these days or I'd own more than one, but I'm happy to have one at all.

midicollector wrote on 2023-10-20, 03:37:

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-10-19, 23:50:

Pentium or MMX? […]
Show full quote

midicollector wrote on 2023-10-19, 23:40:

It’s a Presario actually.

Pentium or MMX?

I had a Deskpro from about the same time that had dual Pentium Pro 200s in it.
I cant remember a lot about it other than it sounded amazing and it was so powerful!

It was that that made me buy my first Supermicro board a few years later.

Pentium 133mhz in my case. There are some higher end variants in the same line, but the 133mhz is the one I have. S3 trio video, ESS 1888F, 8x cdrom, 16mb ram stock (at least on my model, higher amounts on other models in the same line) upgraded by prior owner to 128, 1.6gb hdd, isa and pci slots, gamepad port... It's pretty cool because it's got all that integrated into the motherboard and very compatible with games of the era due to the ess and S3 trio combo.

I own this model specifically because my family had it when I was a teenager, and it's super nostalgic. Sadly this series of Presario is difficult to find these days or I'd own more than one, but I'm happy to have one at all.

Nice. I too have some fond memories of the old Compaq computers, especially the deskpro line.

What model is yours?

Earliest is most likely Intel TC430HX OEM motherboard.

This press release from Unisys announces the release of a computer with USB ports in May of 1996. That computer used the FIC PAK-2102. It would be interesting if the first computer with working USB used a Via chipset.

Another question would be when was the first time a USB port was actually used as the Windows 95 OSR2 USB was released in August of 1997 per Wikipedia. Did any OS have support prior to this?

Repo Man11 wrote on 2023-10-20, 15:16:

...USB port was actually used as the Windows...

I always remember this clip : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeUyxjLhAxU

Maybe someone released UHCI DOS drivers for their peripheral before OSR2?
Does USB work fine in VT82C586? Cant find datasheet for 586 with no letters.
What is the difference between VT82C586 and VT82C586A (October 96)? VT82C586B (officially May 97, preliminary December 96) adds ACPI and DDMA.

When I had a look at a couple of the manuals for boards that had USB headers and the Apollo VP / vt82c586 chipset then they said that USB support would be added later, but that never seems to have happened. From the sounds of it both Intel and Via had buggy first attempts at getting USB working.

Which does make answering the question about which board was first tricky. Is it the first board with a header? First with a working BIOS? First that worked for keyboards? Mass storage device? And we can't trust that just because USB is listed in the spec that it works, so any potential candidates would have to be tested. I did find (linked on a post I edited on the previous page) this from July '96 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2KIKOEwqk … e&q=usb&f=false which on page 41 includes a review of the IBM PC350 and particularly mentions USB. I'm probably being naive, but I'd expect IBM wouldn't put USB on there unless they had tested it working.

Another interesting board is this one: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/advanc … .-4.0#downloads from 1995, complete with the 82371SB and USB headers. But with the reports of early 82371sb having USB problems then it may not have actually worked.

A far better question
First USB keyboard
First USB Printer
First USB Scanner
First USB enclosure

I remember “door buster “ USB Scanners and Printers late 97 and immense frustration getting them to work.

The promise of plug and play USB not requiring drivers or OS support like LPT was a huge let down. Despite the hype USB was pretty much broken garbage until Windows XP.

Normal printers with LPT remained infinitely easier to successfully install for years after USB came out

I remember a buddy of mine getting a socket 7 board with a USB header in '97 then having to order the bracket separately, then after about a month of staring at it, he managed to find a "cheap" USB mouse for about $40 to try it. Got mouse working in Win95.

snufkin wrote on 2023-10-20, 16:22:

When I had a look at a couple of the manuals for boards that had USB headers and the Apollo VP / vt82c586 chipset then they said that USB support would be added later, but that never seems to have happened. From the sounds of it both Intel and Via had buggy first attempts at getting USB working.

Which does make answering the question about which board was first tricky. Is it the first board with a header? First with a working BIOS? First that worked for keyboards? Mass storage device? And we can't trust that just because USB is listed in the spec that it works, so any potential candidates would have to be tested. I did find (linked on a post I edited on the previous page) this from July '96 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2KIKOEwqk … e&q=usb&f=false which on page 41 includes a review of the IBM PC350 and particularly mentions USB. I'm probably being naive, but I'd expect IBM wouldn't put USB on there unless they had tested it working.

Another interesting board is this one: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/advanc … .-4.0#downloads from 1995, complete with the 82371SB and USB headers. But with the reports of early 82371sb having USB problems then it may not have actually worked.

Knowing Big Blue it probably worked but only partially.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-10-20, 03:50:

midicollector wrote on 2023-10-20, 03:37:

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2023-10-19, 23:50:

Pentium or MMX? […]
Show full quote

Pentium or MMX?

I had a Deskpro from about the same time that had dual Pentium Pro 200s in it.
I cant remember a lot about it other than it sounded amazing and it was so powerful!

It was that that made me buy my first Supermicro board a few years later.

Pentium 133mhz in my case. There are some higher end variants in the same line, but the 133mhz is the one I have. S3 trio video, ESS 1888F, 8x cdrom, 16mb ram stock (at least on my model, higher amounts on other models in the same line) upgraded by prior owner to 128, 1.6gb hdd, isa and pci slots, gamepad port... It's pretty cool because it's got all that integrated into the motherboard and very compatible with games of the era due to the ess and S3 trio combo.

I own this model specifically because my family had it when I was a teenager, and it's super nostalgic. Sadly this series of Presario is difficult to find these days or I'd own more than one, but I'm happy to have one at all.

Nice. I too have some fond memories of the old Compaq computers, especially the deskpro line.

What model is yours?

4704, but I'd love to get my hands on a 4710 which is the actual model my family had.