VOGONS


First post, by mico

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A while back I picked up a Teknor VIPer808 SBC. It's a sweet system that performs well in benchmarks due to the Am5x86-P75 CPU (clocked at 133MHz) and integrated local bus CL-GD5429 VGA. I installed it into a 2 slot ISA backplane with a Yamaha YMF-719 card. My aim is to install this card the smallest case I can find or design. It currently has a single sided 4 MB SIMM module, a Visiontek 8542.S2, parity, FPM and 60 ns access time. Last week I bought some double sided 8 MB modules by IBM; FPM with Parity and 70ns access time but the system does not boot with these installed, the IBM part number is FRU 64F3606. I checked the 'presence detection' pattern and it checks out to be industry standard, not IBM crippled.

The th99 entry for the system is here:

http://th99.classic-computing.de/src/m/S-T/34609.htm

What does the (1) denote next to the memory configuration entries?

Does anyone know if the issue is that the board does not support double sided simms?

Can I hack a double sided SIMM back down to a single sided SIMM?

Here are some extracts from the manual:

2.02 SIMM CONFIGURATION & INSTALLATION

At least 1MB of system memory must be installed on the VIPer808 for proper operation.
Total System Memory can be configured as 1MB, 2MB, 3MB, 4MB, 8MB, 12MB, 16MB,
32MB, 48MB, 64MB or 128MB using 36-bit SIMM devices.

There are two SIMM (Single In-line Memory Module) sockets; these can accept the
following 36-bit modules:

• 256K x 36-bit = 1MB module,
• 512K x 36-bit = 2MB module,
• 1M x 36-bit = 4MB module,
• 2M x 36-bit = 8MB module,
• 4M x 36-bit = 16MB module, and
• 8M x 36-bit = 32MB module.

Note: The VIPer808 board, will also support a total of 128MB of System Memory
when 64MB modules will be available.

Consult the table on the following page to see which SIMM configurations are available
on the VIPer808.

DRAM devices with page mode at 70ns maximum access time is recommended. Please
refer to Appendix E for a list of recommended devices.

...

DRAM (U10 and U11)

DRAM devices with parity bit and with page mode at 70ns maximum access time
are recommended. For example:

MICRON MT10D25636M-7 (256K*36)
NEC MC-42255A36B-70 (256K*36)
SAMSUNG KMM536256C-7 (256K*36)
TOSHIBA THM362500AS-70 (256K*36)

MICRON MT18D51236M-7 (512K*36)

MICRON MT9D136M-7 (1M*36)
NEC MC-421000A36B-70 (1M*36)
SAMSUNG KMM5361000B-7 (1M*36)
TI TM124MBK36R-70 (1M*36)
TOSHIBA THM361020AS-70 (1M*36)
HITACHI HB56D236B2-7C (2M*36)
HITACHI HB56D236BS-7BC (2M*36)

HITACHI HB56D236BW-7B (2M*36)
HITACHI HB56D236BW-7C (2M*36)
HYUNDAI HYM536220W-70 (2M*36)
MICRON MT18D236M-7 (2M*36)
NEC MC422000A36B-70 (2M*36)
SAMSUNG KMM5362000B-7 (2M*36)
TOSHIBA THM362040AS-60 (2M*36)

TOSHIBA THM362040AS-70 (2M*36)
HYUNDAI HYM536410AM-70 (4M*36)
MITSUBISHI MH4M36ANXJ-7 (4M*36)
NEC MC-424000A36BH-70 (4M*36)
NEC MC-424000A36BJ-70 (4M*36)
SAMSUNG KMM5364100-7 (4M*36)
TOSHIBA THM364020S-70 (4M*36)

HITACHI HB56D836BR-70A (8M*36)
TOSHIBA THM368020S-70 (8M*36)
TOSHIBA THM368020SG-70 (8M*36)

Reply 1 of 15, by keenerb

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I bought a bunch of these, they work great.

They need 36-bit ECC dimms. I bought these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4x-16MB-72-pin-60ns-E … 872.m2749.l2649

A manual for the 807 is here: https://www.manualslib.com/products/Teknor-In … 07-3708553.html

The important stuff is all the same between the two boards, as far as I can tell.

Reply 3 of 15, by mico

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keenerb wrote:

Oh, these don't even require a backplane; it has a connector on the board to directly provide the 12v/5v/ground from a suitable power supply.

Indeed. The only reason I got a backplane was to add a sound card to the system.

Reply 4 of 15, by mico

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keenerb wrote:
I bought a bunch of these, they work great. […]
Show full quote

I bought a bunch of these, they work great.

They need 36-bit ECC dimms. I bought these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4x-16MB-72-pin-60ns-E … 872.m2749.l2649

A manual for the 807 is here: https://www.manualslib.com/products/Teknor-In … 07-3708553.html

The important stuff is all the same between the two boards, as far as I can tell.

Thanks! I found the manual for the 808 already. I'll share all the materials I found useful when I have a bit of time.

Reply 6 of 15, by keenerb

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Yep, you just need a passive ISA backplane and you can use just about any ISA card that doesn't conflict with onboard hardware.

I'd love to have the manual for the 808, I couldn't track one down anywhere. I've got a bunch of other Teknor SBCs, maybe they'll be on the same server!

Reply 7 of 15, by mico

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firage wrote:

You can use a sound card with those things? That's interesting.

Yep, I picked up this backplane http://www.ebay.ca/itm/BAK738-slimline-2slot- … s-/192105959178 to make it a very compact system. It doesn't take an AT or ATX style power connector so I've got an ATX power breakout board feeding into it right now (you can find them on ebay too).

I also am using a generic SD to IDE adapter as my hard drive, which works fine, some hard drive benchmarking software crashes on it but nothing else has issues. I went through many trials trying to partition and format it properly so that DOS boots on it but eventually figured it out (I can't recall the full details unfortunately). The partition is only recognized and mounted under Windows, Linux and OS X do not recognize it.

Reply 8 of 15, by mico

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keenerb wrote:

I'd love to have the manual for the 808, I couldn't track one down anywhere. I've got a bunch of other Teknor SBCs, maybe they'll be on the same server!

I spotted a fantastic deal for a lot of 3 or 4 on ebay last week, maybe you got them 😀

I can't recall where I found it, I made a local copy and held on to it. Here it is:

Filename
SBC_VIPer_T808_VIPer808_5x86_V1.2.pdf
File size
707.4 KiB
Downloads
40 downloads
File comment
VIPer T808 Manual
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

I also found this reference card for the T806 board very useful:

Filename
vper 806_reference guid-1443704868e.pdf
File size
385.12 KiB
Downloads
45 downloads
File comment
VIPer T806 Reference
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception
Last edited by mico on 2017-06-22, 14:40. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 10 of 15, by keenerb

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I don't actually know if it needs ECC, to be honest. But what I bought seems to work fine with my (so far) limited testing.

I picked up a lot of 4 808s a few weeks ago, and the odd 936/916/7something when they show up cheap. They're a lot easier to store securely than full-sized motherboards, I actually have an 8-slot motherboard I use just to mount and protect all my SBC computers, I prefer sbc to the actual desktop motherboards...

Reply 11 of 15, by mico

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I haven't picked up any of the 900 series because they have a PCI bus and I don't have a PCIMG backplane. I could probably leaving the PCI bus unconnected, do you know?

Reply 13 of 15, by keenerb

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For what it's worth, I've gotten my Viper808 running perfectly well.

You can download drivers and manuals for the 808 (and other Teknor models) here, if anyone else is interested in Teknor single-board computers:

https://www.kontron.com/support-and-services/ … roduct_id=88465

Reply 14 of 15, by mico

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keenerb wrote:

For what it's worth, I've gotten my Viper808 running perfectly well.

You can download drivers and manuals for the 808 (and other Teknor models) here, if anyone else is interested in Teknor single-board computers:

https://www.kontron.com/support-and-services/ … roduct_id=88465

Same here but I had an unfortunate mishap, note that the VRAM chips are on the underside of the PCB. It just so happened that my sound card was directly underneath the Teknor SBC, with a heat producing voltage regulator directly below a VRAM chip. After running this setup for a few hours, the VRAM chip overheated and burned out. I hacked the dead chip out and it boots and runs fine again, albeit with 512KB of VRAM instead of 1MB. Which is mostly fine for DOS gaming. I'll solder in a replacement chip as soon as I get one.

Reply 15 of 15, by keenerb

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I always put my SBCs in a far slot and leave a gap, specifically out of fear that something like that would happen.

I realized last weekend that the 808's I bought all have different cpus; I have a DX33, DX2/66, and a 5x86-133/P75.

With cache disabled they run at about the same speed as my 386-SX20 Tandy desktop.