alexparr wrote on 2023-08-05, 01:26:

The bottom of the board also claims that it is a "TMF M21 94V-0"

Those are usually PCB (not motherboard, just the pcb house) manufacturer markings. 94V-0 means PCB is non flammable https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UL_94 . Im gonna guess TMF is board house and M21 code for particular process.

This very well might be some Jetway, https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/5506 looks related with very similar layout/print
in fact https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/jetway-j-437 has same board house "TMF M21 94V-0" markings

Can't see an exact match, so sadly no help with the jumpers, but from the partial listed string ID 2A4UKJ11-00, it does seem to have a Jetway BIOS - maybe PV1.0 is a version number

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-08-05, 10:44:

Those are usually PCB (not motherboard, just the pcb house) manufacturer markings. 94V-0 means PCB is non flammable https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UL_94 . Im gonna guess TMF is board house and M21 code for particular process.

Good to know; it makes sense that I see it on a ton of motherboards.

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-08-05, 10:44:

This very well might be some Jetway, https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/5506 looks related with very similar layout/print

Interesting. I wonder if this is a rare variation of some kind?

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2023-08-05, 11:05:

... from the partial listed string ID 2A4UKJ11-00, it does seem to have a Jetway BIOS - maybe PV1.0 is a version number

That could very well be the case, though I have no way of verifying it currently.

alexparr wrote on 2023-08-05, 20:52:

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-08-05, 10:44:

This very well might be some Jetway, https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/5506 looks related with very similar layout/print

Interesting. I wonder if this is a rare variation of some kind?

Your model is the direct successor. Jetway replaced the 4 30-pin sockets by a single 72-pin socket (this is functionally equivalent), and replaced 3 ISA slots by 4 PCI slots (using the space gained by abandoning the 30-pin sockets). To operate the PCI slots, a 486 local bus to PCI bridge had to be added, too. This looks like a standard "we update our board for PCI support" approach to prolong the life time of that board design. "PV" sounds like "PCI + VL", and this is likely to be Jetway's first PCI+VL mainboard, as it is very similar to the non-PCI version, so it would make sense that your board would be called "PV1.0" internally. I just found that the older Jetway board was also sold under the Edom/WinTech and Lucky Star brands (https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/edom-w … ech-mv035-rev.c), so it looks like these boards are generic OEM boards, but your OEM board seems to be a less common one.

mkarcher wrote on 2023-08-05, 22:35:

Your model is the direct successor. Jetway replaced the 4 30-pin sockets by a single 72-pin socket (this is functionally equivalent), and replaced 3 ISA slots by 4 PCI slots (using the space gained by abandoning the 30-pin sockets). To operate the PCI slots, a 486 local bus to PCI bridge had to be added, too.

Interesting. It seems like a few other things were moved around too, like the jumpers; which is in no way helpful to me whatsoever.

mkarcher wrote on 2023-08-05, 22:35:

I just found that the older Jetway board was also sold under the Edom/WinTech and Lucky Star brands (https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/edom-w … ech-mv035-rev.c), so it looks like these boards are generic OEM boards...

If that's the case, then I wonder if it's possible to find the board I have under a different brand? If so, then perhaps the way the jumpers are laid out are identical as well.

I never fully understood the J-Mark to Jetway connection, both archives list same boards (but not this one). Any ideas ?

mkarcher wrote on 2023-08-05, 22:35:

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-08-05, 10:44:

https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/5506 looks related with very similar layout/print

I just found that the older Jetway board was also sold under the Edom/WinTech and Lucky Star brands (https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/edom-w … ech-mv035-rev.c)

I have a feeling those two entries should be linked, its clearly same board ;o 😀

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-08-06, 07:56:

mkarcher wrote on 2023-08-05, 22:35:

rasz_pl wrote on 2023-08-05, 10:44:

https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/5506 looks related with very similar layout/print

I just found that the older Jetway board was also sold under the Edom/WinTech and Lucky Star brands (https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/edom-w … ech-mv035-rev.c)

I have a feeling those two entries should be linked, its clearly same board ;o 😀

different revision though, D2F vs D2C. though, good luck spotting the differences 😀

R67 pad over the socket 😀 there are definitely some small modifications, nevertheless they should be linked in some way in retroweb under one umbrella Re: The Retro Web project - a better stason.org/TH99 alternative

alexparr wrote on 2023-08-06, 00:04:

If that's the case, then I wonder if it's possible to find the board I have under a different brand? If so, then perhaps the way the jumpers are laid out are identical as well.

Exactly my thoughts. I tried a generic google image search like "opti 486 pci mainboard", but I couldn't find any references.

So I guess that possibly the three-chip solution (Opti 895/602 + 822 PCI bridge) proved to not be as cost effective as a 2-chip solution like the SiS 496/497. As designing a mainboard based on a different chipset takes some time, the Opti PCI board you have might have been intended as "gap filler" to provide PCI until the boards with northbridge-integrated PCI were available.

The capital letter on the AWARD BIOS chips with white paper labels can tell the mainboard manufacturer.
"D" is for Abit
"F" is for FIC
"E" is for Chaintech
"I" is for Aquarius Systems
"J" is for Jetway
....
Please note that the letter only occasionally corresponds with the first letter of the brand name.
I wonder if someone has a complete list of those codes?

majestyk wrote on 2023-08-06, 16:11:

The capital letter on the AWARD BIOS chips with white paper labels can tell the mainboard manufacturer. "D" is for Abit "F" is f […]
Show full quote

The capital letter on the AWARD BIOS chips with white paper labels can tell the mainboard manufacturer.
"D" is for Abit
"F" is for FIC
"E" is for Chaintech
"I" is for Aquarius Systems
"J" is for Jetway
....
Pleas note that the letter only occasionally corresponds with the brand name.
I wonder if someone has a complete list of those codes?

It is the first time I hear of this.

I noticed several of these on EPoX boards but there they are revision stickers.

Horun wrote on 2023-08-06, 02:17:

I never fully understood the J-Mark to Jetway connection, both archives list same boards (but not this one). Any ideas ?

J-Mark was the brand that Jetway board were sold under in the U.S. of A.

evasive wrote on 2023-10-28, 21:01:

Horun wrote on 2023-08-06, 02:17:

I never fully understood the J-Mark to Jetway connection, both archives list same boards (but not this one). Any ideas ?

J-Mark was the brand that Jetway board were sold under in the U.S. of A.

Thanks, that makes sense

Adding back on to this, I found another Jetway motherboard that seems very similar in terms of its' features: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/jetway-j433-a
The biggest difference that I can spot is that instead of 4 PCI slots and 3 VLB slots, we have 3 PCI slots, 2 VLB slots and an integrated controller card, and there's also a PS/2 mouse port (?).
Oh yeah, and it uses a VIA chipset instead of an OPTi one.

They say it´s not best prctice to place the cache banks between CPU and VLB slots, because the longer traces might decrease stability at 40 / 50 MHz.

alexparr wrote on 2024-02-01, 23:18:

...I found another Jetway motherboard...

Did your board come with a CPU and if so, which one? I'm interested in the jumper settings, because I got an identical one that came without CPU and I'm unable to make it perform at least half-decent with the few CPUs that I tried.

quicknick wrote on 2024-02-03, 22:27:

Did your board come with a CPU and if so, which one?

I probably should've clarified; I don't have this motherboard, I'm just saying that I found this motherboard on the website and noticed that its' featureset is similar to the motherboard I do own.

I hope it's possible to make a bios dump in some way, so we can put the full string on the page. I have added this to TRW in the hopes some day a manual or jumper settings will show up:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/jetway … 6dx-pci-vlb-isa