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First post, by emil.p

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Hi everyone !

Can you please help me find a documentation for my old motherboard ?
What I see there is only PSC 11 9049 on the back of the motherboard

When I try to boot it I see some strange random text what I guess can be related to SIPP or DIP memory or maybe something else ?
Also not sure what is the correct setup for jumpers

Reply 3 of 31, by weedeewee

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This is really close in layout& chipset, but no documentation available
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/unknow … hnologies-ht-g2

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
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https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Serial_port

Reply 4 of 31, by pan069

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emil.p wrote on 2024-11-23, 21:28:
Hi everyone ! […]
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Hi everyone !

Can you please help me find a documentation for my old motherboard ?
What I see there is only PSC 11 9049 on the back of the motherboard

When I try to boot it I see some strange random text what I guess can be related to SIPP or DIP memory or maybe something else ?
Also not sure what is the correct setup for jumpers

What's going on in the top-left corner, just above the ISA slot? I looks like one of the resistors has a middle bit missing?

Reply 5 of 31, by emil.p

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It only an illusion from what I see

Reply 6 of 31, by Horun

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This may help: https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/unknow … yl-a09s-yl-a09h jumpers and ram appear same locations. Got the hint from the youtube video....
Noticed both the TRW and Ebay pictures of Performance Technologies board show a PAL near the PSU connector but none on your board or the youtube one so maybe not needed....
Also: make sure you try setting video type to Mono not Color or else may have some issues with certain VGA cards...

Last edited by Horun on 2024-11-24, 16:09. Edited 1 time in total.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 8 of 31, by weedeewee

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emil.p wrote on 2024-11-24, 16:05:
weedeewee wrote on 2024-11-24, 08:27:

This is really close in layout& chipset, but no documentation available
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/unknow … hnologies-ht-g2

Thanks, overlooked your answer. Yes, looks similar, but no docs. I wonder how to set up the blue switch: 1-8 MD (ON-OFF), not sure for what it is

Well, the link Horun posted has some information about the same dipswitch.
There's a very good chance it serves the same function on your board.

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Do not ask Why !
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Serial_port

Reply 9 of 31, by emil.p

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Thanks Horun. The last link contains the docs with a very similar mainboard.

Looks like numbers of memory banks are different. Mine has: DIP are Bank 0, Bank 1, Bank 2, Bank 3, Bank 3 and at the bottom SIPP: SR1, SR2, SR3, SR4 on the left

and also the described large blue switch looks different a bit (like 7 ON/OFF switches in it, not 8 like mine)

How to understand settings for DIP (I took it out all for now) and SIPP looking at the JP11 an JP12 and SW1 ? Lets say I put 1MB in SR1 and 1MB in SR2 only (nothing in DIP)
Docs shows =>

JP11: 1 & 2, 4 & 5, 7 & 8
JP12: 1 & 2, 4 & 5, 7 & 8

* attached photo shows it incorrectly, but it is ok - all are connected on first 2 pins

SWITCH: 1/1-Off 1/2-On 1/3-On 1/4-Off
Other switches on SW1 are: 1/5-ON (color monitor), 1/6-ON (shadow RAM), 1/7-OFF (BUS Speed-FAST), 1/8-OFF (?)

Also: I took out the NPU for now
NPU mode select synchronous with oscillator installed at Y3 (exists on the mainboard) - JP14: 1-2
BIOS type select 27256 - JP13: 2-3 (not sure here)
Parity check - JP15: 2-3 (disabled is OK for SR1 and SR2 only ?)

And currently I don't see anything on the screen and only bips gives sound like: short 1,2,3 and 1,2,3 and then again ...

Reply 10 of 31, by emil.p

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of course I made a mistake: so, SW1 is:
last line for 2MB:
JP11: 1 & 2, 4 & 5, 7 & 8
JP12: 1 & 2, 4 & 5, 7 & 8
SW1 1/1 Off 1/2 Off 1/3 Off 1/4 On

still same, so I guess: "Base 64 RAM Failure", and maybe it's these 2 SIPP memory issue. When I used 4 DIP only it showed at least random text 😀

Reply 11 of 31, by Horun

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Right, yours is like this picture (a quick photo edit). Beeps Sounds like Ram issue, you need to try diff switch settings as they may be different...or the Sipps are too slow? Need 80nS or faster iirc

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 12 of 31, by emil.p

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What worries me is that the SW1 shows on the picturte and doc only 7 sliders in it (not sure if it could be shifted eg starts on my board with eg 1/2 then, instead of 1/1 for SW1 with 7 sliders). Not sure because I tried this also and still same bips.
I hope tomorrow I'll have 4 x 1MB of SIPP, then I'll try again

Thanks. I'll back with more info what I've discovered soon

Reply 13 of 31, by emil.p

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I've looked into Trident TVGA 8900D (7137 rev E2) settings and noticed that jumpers: J1 is open and it means is FIFO On, when I change it to close everything is displayed properly. Really that's a surprise 😀
http://www.s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pa … sers_Manual.pdf

But now system it shows first screen with GPU info but just after:
ROM-BIOS Checksum error
Check ROM (27256) ?
SYSTEM Halted

So, if any ideas please let me know. I'll be checking it also. Maybe battery, or still some jumpers or sw1 ? I'll get back with news soon again 😀

Reply 14 of 31, by Horun

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Try changing JP13 to 1-2. It is for ROM size, currently set for 27256 ?. You should peel back one of the bios stickers and write down the ROM chip number in case you need replacement ROM chips

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 15 of 31, by emil.p

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it didn't take long 😁 The JP13 was using 27128 instead of 27256. Now works well 🎉
I'll add that Trident in previous configuration worked when FIFO was on (eg on much newer motherboard), so I didn't think that something could be wrong with this graphic card.

Reply 16 of 31, by emil.p

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Exactly. Thanks Horun ! Now fun left to see how it works with system. But I still worry that this kind of motherboards will start degrading ... we will see

thank you all !

Reply 17 of 31, by emil.p

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and yes, I was celebrating too quickly. I changed settings in BIOS: 'Video BIOS shadow' and if I'm not wrong: 'Main BIOS shadow' and after writing this config and restarting I hear again bips 😁
For today it's enough. I'll check it later, maybe tomorrow. Anyway there is a progress

Reply 18 of 31, by Horun

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Without a battery it should reset to bios defaults if left powered off for a few minutes. Yes setting the bios shadow stuff on 286 boards can be tricky. You usually need at least 1Mb ram to do that part.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 19 of 31, by emil.p

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hontestly not sure but I guess it was luck it worked first time.
When I switch 1/1 short on SW1 then it always work even size of memory doesn't fit. SO, I guess settings in the docs are for different model simply (7 sliders), mine has 8.

When I use DIP in:
Bank 0: 4 x 256kb
Bank 1: 4 x 256kb
it shows 1024kb, but not 2mb still.

SW1 MEMORY: 1/1 ON, 1/2 OFF, 1/3 ON, 1/4 OFF
SW1 (and not relevant to memory) : 1/5 ON, 1/6 OFF, 1/7 OFF, 1/8 ON

Means when I use SIPP I'll have to figure it out also what setup must be used.
Anyway, I disabled 'Video BIOS shadow' and 'Main BIOS shadow' for now (need to read first about it). Also I see next screen when it wants to load system 👍