VOGONS


First post, by cansting

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Hi there, can someone tell me if those 2 have any use, or can go straight to ewaste? Watch dog PCI card probably was used for some kind of security/monitoring, but the other one - no idea, cant identify this interface

thanks!

Current vintage config:
InWin A500 with Asus P2B (440bx), Pentium II 450, 512MB PC100, Creative 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro +Diamond Monster 3D II, SB16 ViBRA + SB Live

Reply 1 of 11, by Horun

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The "Sea Level" card is a quad hi-speed UART comm device (4 x com ports), yours has a 37pin in/out connector (typically 4 x 9 pin) requiring a special cable. Can be used for many things including 4 x external modems or other serial devices.
It has 4 identical sets of jumpers to set IRQs, etc. One set for each comm port. It is an ISA card.
Yes, The "watch dog timer" is a safety/security device to allow remote rebooting of a system.
Neither is really useful although interesting....

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 2 of 11, by Demo

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Grok says this when shown the images.


The Sea Level Systems 4371 is a 4-port RS-232 serial ISA card designed for legacy systems, offering robust serial communication for industrial and computing applications around the year 2000. It features four serial ports (one via a DB-25 connector, three via pin headers), supports standard RS-232 protocols, and likely handles data rates up to 115.2K bps or higher. Its advanced interrupt handling and configuration options made it flexible for its era, but its use today is limited to legacy setups due to the obsolescence of ISA slots and lack of modern driver support.


Based on the images provided, the PCI card appears to be a "PCI Watchdog Timer Card." The text printed on the card, such as "PCI WATCH DOG TIMER 2 CARD," along with the presence of a coaxial connector and a red LED, supports this identification. Watchdog timer cards are typically used in industrial or server environments to monitor the system's operation and reset or alert if the system hangs or fails. The coaxial connector is likely used for an external connection, possibly for triggering or monitoring purposes, and the LED indicates the card's operational status.

The card features various integrated circuits, including a prominent chip labeled "TAC" and another with "LX" branding, which are consistent with components found in watchdog timer hardware. The gold connectors at the bottom indicate it is designed for a PCI slot, a common interface for such expansion cards.

Reply 3 of 11, by Horun

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I actually looked up the datasheets and used my experience to find the answers 😀 I don't trust AI ;D

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 4 of 11, by douglar

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Horun wrote on 2025-03-19, 00:39:

I actually looked up the datasheets and used my experience to find the answers 😀 I don't trust AI ;D

My experience is that most AI systems do pretty well with common stuff that's well documented in wikipedia, but get flakey when you start asking about edge cases, oddities, and specific computer stuff that came out < 1996 aka "pre web". Doesn't stop them from offering authoritative sounding answers that are complete bunk though. Interestingly, I've found that chat GPT has started suggesting that I check out Vogons.org when I ask it about old hardware.

Reply 5 of 11, by Horun

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Yeah agree !
Added: the 3405 card may be interesting. Found a manual and pinout for the 37 pin connector. Win9x and XP Drivers were on FTP and no luck so far..found a Win7, 8, 10 driver.
http://web.archive.org/web/19990223192256/htt … :80/3405pr.html
https://www.sealevel.com/versa-comm-4-ex/?srs … DIF1Ycu31zA4nI8
manual: https://www.sealevel.com/content/pdf/3405.pdf
TRW also has some info: https://theretroweb.com/expansioncards/s/seal … versa-comm-4-ex

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 7 of 11, by cansting

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Wow, thanks guys, asking AI was a good idea for the future

Based on that, those 2 cards will go to ewaste box, along with fair amount of dial-up modems 😂

Current vintage config:
InWin A500 with Asus P2B (440bx), Pentium II 450, 512MB PC100, Creative 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro +Diamond Monster 3D II, SB16 ViBRA + SB Live

Reply 8 of 11, by DaveDDS

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cansting wrote on 2025-03-29, 14:32:

Wow, thanks guys, asking AI was a good idea for the future
Based on that, those 2 cards will go to ewaste box, along with fair amount of dial-up modems 😂

I wouldn't "toss" the 4-port serial card - ISA serial cards can be very useful when you need them.

I happen to use serial all the time - mostly to "talk" to little custom built embedded systems,
sometimes to move files to/from a system I don't have a network card in.

(If you really don't want it, perhaps we could figure out a way I could get it from
you - we're at least in the same province - but still a long way (Ottawa here))

Dave ::: https://dunfield.themindfactory.com ::: "Daves Old Computers"->Personal

Reply 9 of 11, by cansting

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DaveDDS wrote on 2025-03-29, 15:09:

(If you really don't want it, perhaps we could figure out a way I could get it from
you - we're at least in the same province - but still a long way (Ottawa here))

I'm not planning on building anything else than end of century gaming PC and this is nowhere close to what can be used there, so yeah, you can have it, however the furthest east I go is Toronto

Can send it to you if you trust the internet people enough to etransfer me the shipping cost - you can dm me

Current vintage config:
InWin A500 with Asus P2B (440bx), Pentium II 450, 512MB PC100, Creative 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro +Diamond Monster 3D II, SB16 ViBRA + SB Live

Reply 10 of 11, by cansting

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DaveDDS wrote on 2025-03-29, 15:09:
I wouldn't "toss" the 4-port serial card - ISA serial cards can be very useful when you need them. […]
Show full quote
cansting wrote on 2025-03-29, 14:32:

Wow, thanks guys, asking AI was a good idea for the future
Based on that, those 2 cards will go to ewaste box, along with fair amount of dial-up modems 😂

I wouldn't "toss" the 4-port serial card - ISA serial cards can be very useful when you need them.

I happen to use serial all the time - mostly to "talk" to little custom built embedded systems,
sometimes to move files to/from a system I don't have a network card in.

(If you really don't want it, perhaps we could figure out a way I could get it from
you - we're at least in the same province - but still a long way (Ottawa here))

Hi Dave, I got your message but looks like I dont have enough posts on the forum to reply and I'm not authorized to reply 🤣

I tried to test by installing the drivers provided by Horun but no luck, doesn't look like this model (3405) is listed or can't identify it. Or just me never dealing with com ports in the past - is there an easy test to confirm it works?

Current vintage config:
InWin A500 with Asus P2B (440bx), Pentium II 450, 512MB PC100, Creative 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro +Diamond Monster 3D II, SB16 ViBRA + SB Live

Reply 11 of 11, by DaveDDS

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cansting wrote on 2025-04-03, 15:17:

I tried to test by installing the drivers provided by Horun but no luck, doesn't look like this model (3405) is listed or can't identify it. Or just me never dealing with com ports in the past - is there an easy test to confirm it works?

DOS itself supports up to 4 COM ports - which are 8250 UARTS at IIRC addresses: 3F8, 3E8, 2F8, 2E8
If this card looks like 8250s at those addresses, it should "just work"

Are there jumpers on the card? Perhaps you can set the addresses it
presents.

If not, you might need some special setup utility provided by the card vendor to set it up.

If it doesn't present as 8250s at the standard addresses, It likely only works with some "special
software" as that the only type of COM ports typical DOS applications can use.

I recommend my own SDT (Serial Debug Terninal) when checking out serial ports - it will let you
control and see the control signals as well as data.

Dave ::: https://dunfield.themindfactory.com ::: "Daves Old Computers"->Personal