I just removed the 27C512 and flashed the latest BIOS i found on vogon on a SST28SF512 and voilà ! The CPU is now correctly detected !

Still not sure though for the setting as there is seem to be some options available for the internal L1 cache of the CPU.. ? So, i'll take any advice anyway regarding my combo.

I get a "Get Configuration failed" after the Floppy seek. The computer will also hang trying to boot. The floppy will work, but then it freezes....

This can happen sometimes when,
a) your floppy controller chip has gone bad. Try using an ISA diskette controller card as a test means
b) your BIOS settings are incorrect, particularly if your cache/memory timings are too fast
c) the incorrect voltage is supplied to the CPU or the motherboard jumpers are incorrect
d) I've recently come into contact with a motherboard which needed the L2 cache to be set to write-through when a Cyrix 5x86 chip was used. Problems occured during floppy boot when DOS device driver for a SCSI card would hang. AMD X5 chips was ok with L2 cache set to write-back.
e) the floppy cable is not in the correct position. Some BIOSes insist that the A floppy drive be installed on a certain position on the cable. I don't recall if it is the middle or end of the cable.
f) a bad floppy drive
g) a multitude of other reasons.

Are you certain the CMOS battery has enough charge left? I have been struggling with an older socket 3 motherboard, it posted, etc all the way to hanging on the floppy seek. Then I grasped at a straw, bounced the negative side of the battery against a good one to push some charge forward and it booted just fine (albeit with a super weak battery I will have to replace soon).

"Got a 5x86-100GP and went full retard !"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAKG-kbKeIo

Never go full retard. 🤣

feipoa wrote:

This can happen sometimes when, a) your floppy controller chip has gone bad. Try using an ISA diskette controller card as a tes […]
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This can happen sometimes when,
a) your floppy controller chip has gone bad. Try using an ISA diskette controller card as a test means
b) your BIOS settings are incorrect, particularly if your cache/memory timings are too fast
c) the incorrect voltage is supplied to the CPU or the motherboard jumpers are incorrect
d) I've recently come into contact with a motherboard which needed the L2 cache to be set to write-through when a Cyrix 5x86 chip was used. Problems occured during floppy boot when DOS device driver for a SCSI card would hang. AMD X5 chips was ok with L2 cache set to write-back.
e) the floppy cable is not in the correct position. Some BIOSes insist that the A floppy drive be installed on a certain position on the cable. I don't recall if it is the middle or end of the cable.
f) a bad floppy drive
g) a multitude of other reasons.

Will definitely check ca he setting and proper cpu settings. But the manual is not very verbose at this.

The mobo does not have an on board controller, but I will try a different controller card.

Anyone having experience with the VL/I-486SV2GX4 please chime-in.

I have the VL/I-486SV2GX4. Never seen this problem before. My guess:

1. Bad controller card
2. Incorrect jumper settings

There are loads of threads with much information regarding that board here on Vogons. Finding the jumper settings should not be hard.

I changed the controller card, got rid of the Get configuration Failed message.
I just realized that my Controlelr card I tried at first is a promise one and seems to be configurable in someway I guess.

Still cannot boot, will try the jumper settings.

Allright, foudn it. DRAM timing ! I set it back to default and put everything to slow and now it boots.

The Promise IDE cache card seems to work now ! I can get into the config menu.

Well, the system is very unstable. Maybe it is because I put the bus speed to 50mhz and the cache controller cannot keep up. Maybe its my cpu cooler that is doing a poor job?

I'll put the bus speed to 33 and try again my tests.

Your IDE controller with cache is VLB based, right? If that is the case it probably has problems with 50mhz FSB on the bus.

I doubt its the CPU cooler as the 486 CPUs require very little cooling.

I always take my FSB down to 33 MHz for troubleshooting.

vetz wrote:

Your IDE controller with cache is VLB based, right? If that is the case it probably has problems with 50mhz FSB on the bus.

I doubt its the CPU cooler as the 486 CPUs require very little cooling.

Correct, VLB. I have two cache controller of not the same brand available.

Running a disk controller above 33MHz on VLB is always going to be a problem. Best to avoid that situation.

I found another culprit. My L2 Cache configuration.
I am not sure why, but I'll remove all the cache chips and ask help from you guys by showing you the picture of what I have available and then make a combination of something that will work.

Off topic, but I hate the expression "full retard". It's sounds so childish and lame.
Good luck with the system though 😀

LunarG wrote:

Off topic, but I hate the expression "full retard". It's sounds so childish and lame.
Good luck with the system though 😀

Changed the title for you , sir !

I am still very unsure of the CPU jumper settings. the CPU will work, but it seems very slow.
The Cyrix 5x86 is not listed in the cpu settings in the manual. I wonder if anyone could help me on this. Should I use the same setting as an AMD ?

I managed to fix the Cache chip, worked around a defective diskette, decided to trash the cache controller as they both seems to give me trouble and are incompatible with CDROM drives.

I'm close to my goal, I just need to figure the best jumper settings for my Cyrix 5x86-100GP

Video of it being slow : http://youtu.be/r93mVB1FmsA

I disagree. I like the expression "full retard". It sounds much better than "full developmentally disabled"