I've had exactly that happen with my board when I had the modules inserted in the wrong slots, but I'm sure it can also be damage or other configuration issues.

It could be that the BIOS has an option to not test above 640kb, although AMI BIOSes usually had above 1MB option.

It wouldnt be something silly like no himem.sys in config.sys ?

Davros wrote:

It wouldnt be something silly like no himem.sys in config.sys ?

No, I doubt it. This is at the POST screen before it even reads the operating system on the HDD.

It might be something as silly as its only 1meg of ram....I know a few of my 386 boards will only count up to 640K, not counting the rest, if there's only 1MB of ram installed. If there are only four 256K modules installed, then that would be the 1megabyte, but only counting up to the 640K. I've mistaken 256K modules as being 1MB before, and this has been the cause.

Ask him what the numbers are on the memory chips, so you can see if they are in fact 256K modules, or 1MB modules. If they're 1MB, then there's something else wrong. But if they're 256K, it might just be "user error" on not understanding whats going on with the memory count on boot up.

dogchainx wrote:

It might be something as silly as its only 1meg of ram....I know a few of my 386 boards will only count up to 640K, not counting the rest, if there's only 1MB of ram installed. If there are only four 256K modules installed, then that would be the 1megabyte, but only counting up to the 640K. I've mistaken 256K modules as being 1MB before, and this has been the cause.

Ask him what the numbers are on the memory chips, so you can see if they are in fact 256K modules, or 1MB modules. If they're 1MB, then there's something else wrong. But if they're 256K, it might just be "user error" on not understanding whats going on with the memory count on boot up.

I have seen that auction and I have seen what that seller usually wants for stuff that works, the second he confirms that the board actually works perfectly fine the price will triple. 😀

You could always buy his cheap fx-3000 board with burn marks in the 387 socket, the price is right as long as you dont intend to use a 387 FPU 😉

"In great working condition except there is a burning damage on the 80387 socket" ... I would perhaps left out "great" if I had written the description.

I'm not too worried whether the board works. I'm actually just interest in the BIOS chip, which I would like to use to "fix" my old 386/486 combo board.

Slightly off topic:
My 386/486 combo motherboard (which utilises an OPTI 82C495XLC chipset) is/was completely dead.
For some time I suspected that the BIOS chip was the problem.
So, I recently bought a 1993 AMI 386DX BIOS chip (for very cheap) to test my theory.
When I plugged in the replacement BIOS chip, sure thing, my motherboard started up but, it won't boot past the memory countdown (I know I had 1MB RAM plugged in, which could be reason what dogchainx explained).
However, the replacement BIOS (based on the BIOS string) is meant for an ALI1429 chipset and my motherboard has the OPTI 82C495XLC chipset - so, I'm not surprised it won't boot up.

I'm hoping that by swopping out the BIOS chip with one from a similar motherboard (that also has the OPTI 82C495XLC chipset), it will boot up again.

jesolo wrote:

I'm not too worried whether the board works. I'm actually just interest in the BIOS chip, which I would like to use to "fix" my […]
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I'm not too worried whether the board works. I'm actually just interest in the BIOS chip, which I would like to use to "fix" my old 386/486 combo board.

Slightly off topic:
My 386/486 combo motherboard (which utilises an OPTI 82C495XLC chipset) is/was completely dead.
For some time I suspected that the BIOS chip was the problem.
So, I recently bought a 1993 AMI 386DX BIOS chip (for very cheap) to test my theory.
When I plugged in the replacement BIOS chip, sure thing, my motherboard started up but, it won't boot past the memory countdown (I know I had 1MB RAM plugged in, which could be reason what dogchainx explained).
However, the replacement BIOS (based on the BIOS string) is meant for an ALI1429 chipset and my motherboard has the OPTI 82C495XLC chipset - so, I'm not surprised it won't boot up.

I'm hoping that by swopping out the BIOS chip with one from a similar motherboard (that also has the OPTI 82C495XLC chipset), it will boot up again.

Whats your motherboard you're trying to get a BIOS ? See below for possible BIOS files...maybe find someone to burn a BIOS for you, or buy the burner and do it yourself?

edit: http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showt … XLC-BIOS-needed