Congrats!

I've also built a 486 recently, though I'm more at a '91/'92 performance level 🤣

The Cirrus Logic cards are okay - not the fastest, but they work very well. For Windows, it's better to have one with 2 MB video RAM.

As for the mouse connector, I don't know what you mean by C or U shaped. If you can solder, it's possible to just buy the connector, solder the wires on and connect them to the motherboard. Pinout should be in the manual.

heres an image.. not from the same board i think this image is from the PVI-486SP3 which has the integrated IO
but the header is the same! 6 pin.. in a 2 x 4 configuration shaped as a C (or a U depending on how u wanna look at it)
i think the ps2 sockets can somehow be attached to this ? (http://www.ebay.com/itm/PS-2-Connector-plug-6 … s-/141137879920)
because ive seen a few boards that have this attached in the same spot and the box around the header depicts the same size..
has anyone ever soldered one of these on in place of the pin header?

i had some other ps2 connectors in my hand yesterday but they were 5 pin + straight in a 5x1 config

A DVD-Rom is just a Bigger CD-Rom.
No Issue, even on 286 and with SCSI on 8088s.

Nice motherboard. I have a noname UMC-based one with a similar layout, yet no PS/2 header or SMC components.
Some questions: What CPU is installed? Where did you obtain the 16MB FPM Simms, are they 70 or 60ns?

PS/2 headers weren't standardized back then. It's probably easier to make it yourself than to wait for the right one to pop up.

This type of PS/2 header should be somwhat standard. The placement and the pads for the shielding indicate that a miniDIN-6 connector can be soldered directly to the board instead of the pins, so there is no room for variation on the pinout. Always check with a multimeter and the motherboard's manual, just to be sure.

Nice motherboard. I have the exact one myself.
Only downside is that I still have older BIOS revision and my BIOS cannot be flashed (like newer motherboards). So, mine doesn't support the last Socket 3 CPU's (like AMD 5x86, Cyrix 5x86) but, I'm happy with the AMD 486 DX4-100 CPU in it.
Fortunately, I got mine with the PS/2 header and extension cable but, have a look on Amibay or eBay.

i just ordered the ps2 mouse adapter bracket..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/351465996614

i sure hope it ships fast.. because i cant get this ps2 mouse to work with it using a ps2 to serial adapter..
i guess the labtec ps2 mouse i have (3 button) isnt electrically comptable with the serial adapter..

i heard that logitech did alot of "combo" mice??? i need to find one that i know works on a serial port

jesolo wrote:

Nice motherboard. I have the exact one myself.
Only downside is that I still have older BIOS revision and my BIOS cannot be flashed (like newer motherboards). So, mine doesn't support the last Socket 3 CPU's (like AMD 5x86, Cyrix 5x86) but, I'm happy with the AMD 486 DX4-100 CPU in it.
Fortunately, I got mine with the PS/2 header and extension cable but, have a look on Amibay or eBay.

which bios revision do u have i will have to check to see what mine is..

how do u check? i see these numbers when i reboot:
Award Modular BIOS v4.50G - copyright 1984-1995
#401A0-0401

the fan on the heatsink of the DX2 80Mhz CPU is kind of loud..
does a DX2 80Mhz AMD chip really need a heatsink? or is it optional.. my instinct is telling me its safe to remove it??
486 cpus didnt really get hot did they?

The heatsink is really needed but the AMD DX2-80(3.3V) should be able to run without the fan even if I would not run it without it my self.

It will probably run at ~70C without the fan.

chrisNova777 wrote:

which bios revision do u have i will have to check to see what mine is.. […]
Show full quote

jesolo wrote:

Nice motherboard. I have the exact one myself.
Only downside is that I still have older BIOS revision and my BIOS cannot be flashed (like newer motherboards). So, mine doesn't support the last Socket 3 CPU's (like AMD 5x86, Cyrix 5x86) but, I'm happy with the AMD 486 DX4-100 CPU in it.
Fortunately, I got mine with the PS/2 header and extension cable but, have a look on Amibay or eBay.

which bios revision do u have i will have to check to see what mine is..

how do u check? i see these numbers when i reboot:
Award Modular BIOS v4.50G - copyright 1984-1995
#401A0-0401

Not at the PC now but, as I recall, it's BIOS revision #401A0-0305.
You're in luck. Your one has the later revision (0401). The last official one was 0402 (with a beta one with version number 0402.001).
But, with your revision, it should support most CPU's. No need to try and flash the BIOS if it already works.

jesolo: awesome.. thanks for that info!

once i get the ps2 header adapter bracket in place.. will this board support an optical PS2 Mouse?? or an optical USB mouse with a PS/2 Adapter?? i hope so!!!

chrisNova777 wrote:

jesolo: awesome.. thanks for that info!

once i get the ps2 header adapter bracket in place.. will this board support an optical PS2 Mouse?? or an optical USB mouse with a PS/2 Adapter?? i hope so!!!

Yes, it does (via the PS/2 connector).
Mine is currently connected to a USB optical mouse (with PS/2 adaptor) via a PS/2 KVM switch.

ok so i was talking on facebook in a 386/486 enthusiast group
and i was asking about the problem i was having with my VLB IO Controller not working at the same time as my VLB Graphics card...
the board has only 2 VLB slots.. so with them both populated.. for some reason when both cards are installed the io controller does not see the hard drive..
someone mentioned that this problem could be related to my FSB being 40Mhz with the DX2-80MHz CPU that i have, rather then it being 33MHz (As it would be with a DX2-66 or a DX4-100 cpu)

i then remembered reading + seeing someone talking about this in a video on VESA local bus architecture on Youtube.. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qla-5isbK60 VLB starts at 9:00 min mark)
that the VLB is really only able to be used at this 33MHz FSB speed..

my question right now is.. is that the reason why i cant get two VLB cards working at the same time? why my VLB io Controller wont see my hard drive?
and if so, is it because im trying to get two cards running at the same time? ie: if i swapped out my graphics card for a simpler ISA only card.. would i then be able to run
the IO Controller on the VLB slot no problem, despite the 40MHz FSB?

if i had to only run one vlb card at a time, which is more beneficial? graphics or io controller? im thinking io controller.. but does that translate to better disk read/write speed because its connected
via VLB which has a higher bandwidth then ISA?

also i have additional question/inquiry regarding the higher cpus..
if i was to upgrade to a 5x86 AMD or Cyrix.. do these do 33MHz FSB?
whats the highest cpu i can get for this motherboard.. that still maintains a 33MHz FSB?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Am5x86 <-- here it says 33 MT/s for the Am5x86-P75.. is this the same as 33Mhz?

on this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_Local_Bus
i see at the bottom they list:
5x86@133 MHz: 33 MHz
5x86@160 MHz: 40 MHz
does this mean the 5x86 133Mhz has a 33MHz FSB? is this the fastest chip i can get while maintaining the 33MHz FSB?

gerwin wrote:

Nice motherboard. I have a noname UMC-based one with a similar layout, yet no PS/2 header or SMC components.
Some questions: What CPU is installed? Where did you obtain the 16MB FPM Simms, are they 70 or 60ns?

i had got the simms given to me from a friend in california previously because i had intended to use them in an E-MU Sampler
that uses the same type of ram!

i just realized that the machine doesnt like the 4 x 16mb modules that i have... im not sure if its because they are EDO or FPM or some other type of ram
im not exactly sure why they dont work but the pins are the same number (i think its 72 pin?) but they dont work... one thing i did notice is that on these chips theres a space in between each bank of 4 chips
wheras on the ones that work theres no space its just 8 chips in a row.. im not certain if they are in fact different types of simm ram... like i said the pin count on the chips is the same
but one works. the other type does not.. when i install them the machine doesnt beep + doesnt start up properly

can anyone point me to a tutorial on how to get this board to boot from cd??? do i need a dos floppy that installs cd drivers first? the bios doesnt see my dvdrom.. do i need to have the cd/dvd drive setup in the bios as a hard dr ive?? i didnt even see anything in the bios about cdroms.

Older BIOSes do not support booting from the CD-ROM. Whatever it is you want to install on a 486 most probably also offer an option to boot from a floppy.