1) is the ram sticks good ?
2) is a jumper to select 30pin or 72 pin ?
3) can be damage traces under de cpu.

nuno14272 wrote on 2025-02-17, 14:42:

1) is the ram sticks good ?
2) is a jumper to select 30pin or 72 pin ?
3) can be damage traces under de cpu.

1| yes, they stick good in the slots, if I try to misalign them, I got a beep - forgot to mention, while 3x sticks are in, the board stops at 13-12 and beeps, with 4x sticks it stops at 13-12 but no deep
2| no jumper
3| yes, could be, I am using the reference image from retroweb with the 486 CPU to see what pin of the 386 CPU goes where under the CPU but so far all my measurements are showing continuity

edit: i took out the power connector as well but there were no indication of battery damage underneath.

You nedd all the 4 rams inserted.

1) Are all the for ram the same value ? (amount of ram and nanoseconds)?
2) Disable the onboard cache and boot. several times the cache memory is corrupted.

nuno14272 wrote on 2025-02-18, 11:36:

You nedd all the 4 rams inserted.

1) Are all the for ram the same value ? (amount of ram and nanoseconds)?
2) Disable the onboard cache and boot. several times the cache memory is corrupted.

1) all are the same value, 1MB. I have tried as well 4x 256kB, the same. I have as well tried Bank0 + Bank1/2 with 256 and 1MB configuration and 1MB and 4MB 72pin memory with the same result.
2) no jumper to do so, with no cache the symptoms are the same. I have checked the board yesterday, and especially the DIP sockets for the cache. It seems that there is some corrosion underneath, hence, will remove them to see the damage. will take some time to finish, heh.

Size Bank 0 --- Bank 1/2
1MB (4) 256K x 9 --- NONE
2MB (4) 256K x 9 --- (1) 256K x 36
4MB (4) 1M x 9 --- NONE
5MB (4) 1M x 9 --- (1) 256K x 36
8MB (4) 1M x 9 --- (1) 1M x 36
16MB (4) 4M x 9 --- NONE
17MB (4) 4M x 9 --- (1) 256K x 36
20MB (4) 4M x 9 --- (1) 1M x 36
32MB (4) 4M x 9 --- (1) 4M x 36
64MB (4) 16M x 9 --- NONE
192MB (4) 16M x 9 --- (1) 32M x 36

You can just take the cache off, and the tag, and try to boot without nothing.. just to be shure the problem is not in the cache.

The left error code is the current. the board passed 12 and stoped at 13.

usually memory errors gives beeps.. connect the speaker.. (attention to ground and data pins). memory is ussually repeted smal beeps.

Error Code – 13

AMI (13)DMA controller#1,#2,interrupt controller#1,#2disa- bled. About to disable Video display and initialize port-B. Chipset initialize/auto memory detection about to begin. Replace first memory SIMM.(13)Chipset initialize/auto memory detection about to begin. Check first SIMM.(13) Interrupt vectors initialized.

AST (13)Initialize video.

Award (13)Test 8254 timer 0 channel 1. Test keyboard controller.

Compaq (13)Test timer 0.

Chips & Tech (13)LSL instruction failure.

Phoenix&Dell [Beep]=2-1-4 1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure-bit 3. Initialize PCI Bus Mastering devices

nuno14272 wrote on 2025-02-19, 15:52:

You can just take the cache off, and the tag, and try to boot without nothing.. just to be shure the problem is not in the cache […]
Show full quote

You can just take the cache off, and the tag, and try to boot without nothing.. just to be shure the problem is not in the cache.

The left error code is the current. the board passed 12 and stoped at 13.

usually memory errors gives beeps.. connect the speaker.. (attention to ground and data pins). memory is ussually repeted smal beeps.

Error Code – 13

AMI (13)DMA controller#1,#2,interrupt controller#1,#2disa- bled. About to disable Video display and initialize port-B. Chipset initialize/auto memory detection about to begin. Replace first memory SIMM.(13)Chipset initialize/auto memory detection about to begin. Check first SIMM.(13) Interrupt vectors initialized.

AST (13)Initialize video.

Award (13)Test 8254 timer 0 channel 1. Test keyboard controller.

Compaq (13)Test timer 0.

Chips & Tech (13)LSL instruction failure.

Phoenix&Dell [Beep]=2-1-4 1st 64K RAM chip or data line failure-bit 3. Initialize PCI Bus Mastering devices

Hi and thank you for your answer,

I have tried already to remove the cache, exchange the cache, and remove it one by one as well until there was nothing in the DIP sockets but the behaviour is the same.
The beep code is only with no ram or 3x sticks, while fully occupied, there is no beep code at all. I have also tried to exchange the sticks, add pressure on them, and checked visually the RAM sockets - no issues. Also, I have remowed the power connector to see if the battery acid went below but no traces there - I hope nothing broken beneath the ram sockets.

I dont see any damage after removing the cache through the DIP socket as well - I want to avoid de-soldering it since it would be looking "different" but if there will be nothing to try later on, I will go for it.
The AMI description of the code is appreciated, I will check the DMA controller a bit more to see if all lines are connected, however, I am not able to find a datasheet for the ALI M1431 - anyone have something?

br, Tomas