http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/M/MI … C-486-M4PI.html

Sorry to nag about checking this site all of the time 😉

Amigaz wrote:

http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/M/MI … C-486-M4PI.html

Sorry to nag about checking this site all of the time 😉

Thanks! 😀 (Actually, I managed to find this webpage last night - I edited my O.P. to include the website address.)

I also found this site -

http://webpages.charter.net/dperr/micindex.htm

If you scroll down to the bottom, half way up on that page is this -

M4Pi manual in Adobe Acrobat format 09-00209-xx

However, the link provided is at Diamond Multimedia's website, and the link fails. Strange.

I've managed to get the mobo to POST. My next challenge is to understand why the keyboard won't work. The mobo uses an oddly looking "out of place" PS/2 style keyboard socket. I'm worried that it is "proprietary", and it will only work with Micronics/Gateway keyboards - and that my modern "generic" PS/2 style keyboard isn't going to work with it.

The POST message says "Press F2 to continue", but my keyboard is not responding. There appears to be a glimmer of hope however, in that the mobo has an auxillary keyboard connector, but unfortunately it is not a socket. Instead, it consists of 5 pins sticking out of the mobo. I do have a 5 pin keyboard to PS/2 style adaptor, but naturally this adaptor won't fit on to the pins, because it requires a 5 pin keyboard socket.

Any ideas please people? 😀

Please note - the mobo layout diagram as mentioned in previous posts above does not show the exact version of my mobo. Instead, this diagram shows a mobo with an old 5 pin keyboard socket. My mobo appears to have been "enhanced" with two PS/2 style connectors - one for keyboard, and one for mouse.

retro games 100 wrote:

I've managed to get the mobo to POST. My next challenge is to understand why the keyboard won't work. The mobo uses an oddly l […]
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I've managed to get the mobo to POST. My next challenge is to understand why the keyboard won't work. The mobo uses an oddly looking "out of place" PS/2 style keyboard socket. I'm worried that it is "proprietary", and it will only work with Micronics/Gateway keyboards - and that my modern "generic" PS/2 style keyboard isn't going to work with it.

The POST message says "Press F2 to continue", but my keyboard is not responding. There appears to be a glimmer of hope however, in that the mobo has an auxillary keyboard connector, but unfortunately it is not a socket. Instead, it consists of 5 pins sticking out of the mobo. I do have a 5 pin keyboard to PS/2 style adaptor, but naturally this adaptor won't fit on to the pins, because it requires a 5 pin keyboard socket.

Any ideas please people? 😀

Please note - the mobo layout diagram as mentioned in previous posts above does not show the exact version of my mobo. Instead, this diagram shows a mobo with an old 5 pin keyboard socket. My mobo appears to have been "enhanced" with two PS/2 style connectors - one for keyboard, and one for mouse.

They used standard PS/2 keyboards...have one myself..the "anykey" keyboard

Stason.org, TH '99 doesn't always show everything inm detail..I've seen some of my mobo's which has PS/2 connectors and they draw out a DIN connectors instead..so take it with a grain of salt

The mystery deepens. I've just tried a 2nd identical board, and I get exactly the same problem. To be precise, this is what the BIOS POST displays -

Previous boot incomplete - Default configuration used

Press <F2> to enter SETUP

That's it, I can go no further - the keyboard is completely unresponsive.

I used to own an old Packard Bell 486, and that had a PS/2 style keyboard, but the pins on its keyboard cord connector looked a bit different to the ones found on a typical PS/2 style keyboard cord connector. Pity I threw it out, I could have tried it.

I wonder if this is a BIOS problem? More specifically, whether it's because the CMOS battery is dead? It's one of those "all in one" chips. No button battery, but a chunky black chip called "Benchmarq". It appears to be socketed, so I could pull it off the mobo with some pliers and replace it, but I'll need to find an appropriate replacement...

A few weeks ago, I pulled off a "benchmarq" chip from a mobo that I was about to throw out.

This chip has this information written on it -

BENCHMARQ
bq3287MT
9631SB2
PM631117

The Benchmarq chip currently on the Micronics mobo has this information on it -

BENCHMARQ
bq3287AMT
9504SB2
PM504029

The chips are the same size, but as you can see from the above information, they have different numbers and letters on them.

Is it safe to swap them over, and see if this fixes the keyboard problem?

Maybe the manual found here will help also:

http://www.elhvb.com/mobokive/Archive/Microni … 86/m4/files.htm

> Is it safe to swap them over, and see if this fixes the keyboard problem?

http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheets/90/122373_DS.pdf

At least you won't break anything.

Thanks very much guys. Re: manual - it's very interesting, as the jumper information differs from the Stason website page in several areas. Re: benchmarq - it's possible the state of the battery is not the problem. Instead, it could be a "BIOS flash" problem. I need to do some more testing...

Amigaz wrote:

http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/M/MI … C-486-M4PI.html

Sorry to nag about checking this site all of the time 😉

Uh, this is not directly related to the solution of this thread, but, just wanted to say that I prefer this to the stason.org site.
For example, this is the direct link to the m4pi page.

The only difference is, the cleaner overall look, and minus all the overly cluttering ads.