VOGONS


First post, by rcarkk

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Hi guys. Yesterday, i got this board. It´s the ibm intellistation m pro 6868 version. The problem, is that it didn´t came with the DC to DC converter board, near the ATX 20 pin connector.
The other thing i don´t have is a PSU that has the same exact 6pin auxiliary connector. All the PSUs i have, have the same 6 flat pin connector, but the plastic shape of it is incompatible. On the OR840, the hole is on the second pin, while all my PSUs have the plastic hole on the 1st pin. With this said, i´m unable to use auxiliary cable on this board, only the 20 pin ATX connector.
I have the CPU "PIII 933" and terminator card that came with this board, but don´t have the DC to DC converter board, near the ATX connector. Yesterday, i tried a Pentium III 500MHz in it, but the board gets stuck at code 88. It goes from 00, to 01 and stops at 88.
Any ideas? Is the DC to DC board only needed for 2 CPU operation? Should i test the PIII 933MHz that came with it?

Baby AT socket7 - Pentium MMX 233MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo
Socket 8 build - Soyo 6FA + Pentium Pro 200MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo 2 12MB
PC Remake - Pentium III 450 + Matrox G400 16MB
The K6-III build

Reply 1 of 10, by slivercr

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I think there's no way to boot without that power addon board, even if you only use 1 CPU.

About the aux connector, in my OR840 the hole you mention is actually in the 1st pin.
Pinout from left to right, based on your picture above, is
G - G - G - 3.3V - 3.3V - 5V

I use a modern PSU to power this board, I wired the aux connector to the 24pin ATX connector: the 4 pins that dont fit in the 20pin ATX connector of this board actually carry 12V, 5V, 3.3V and G.

Outrigger: an ongoing adventure with the OR840
QuForce FX 5800: turn your Quadro into a GeForce

Reply 2 of 10, by rcarkk

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Man, that´s really bad news. Did someone tested it without the DC to DC converter board, when using 1 CPU on tne upper slot?
Regarding the 6 pin auxiliary power, i did saw pictures of the original IBM PSUs for this IOR840 boards, and it seems that "G - G - G - 3.3V - 3.3V - 5V" it´s the same considering the cable colors. Only diference is the plastic pin is in the 2nd hole. What a weird thing. I wonder why...

Do you think it´s safe to test th PIII 933 that came with it, without the DC to DC converter board? I will test the PIII 500MHz that i used in it yesterday. If it works, i suppose it didn´t do any harm. What do you think?

Baby AT socket7 - Pentium MMX 233MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo
Socket 8 build - Soyo 6FA + Pentium Pro 200MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo 2 12MB
PC Remake - Pentium III 450 + Matrox G400 16MB
The K6-III build

Reply 3 of 10, by slivercr

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I think you'll likely run into the same POST error until you get a hold of the addon board.

I'll snap some high-res pictures of it later today and maybe you can rig something up to get the board to boot.

Outrigger: an ongoing adventure with the OR840
QuForce FX 5800: turn your Quadro into a GeForce

Reply 4 of 10, by rcarkk

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If the board needs that DC DC converter, i got myself a great paper weight. I know that i was risking when i bought it, but i had some hope it would work at least with 1 CPU...

The possibility to find this small board will be almost null. Well, at least i tried.

Thank you for the pictures. What PSU did you use to test the IBM OR840 you got? The IBM version has the 6 pin aux connector with the hole in the 2nd pin. My PSUs are all with the plastic pin on the first pin "5V"

Baby AT socket7 - Pentium MMX 233MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo
Socket 8 build - Soyo 6FA + Pentium Pro 200MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo 2 12MB
PC Remake - Pentium III 450 + Matrox G400 16MB
The K6-III build

Reply 5 of 10, by rcarkk

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Tried with 4 rimms and the P3 933 and no avail. I guess the board really needs the DC to DC converter. The codes are diferent when using 4 rimms.

Baby AT socket7 - Pentium MMX 233MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo
Socket 8 build - Soyo 6FA + Pentium Pro 200MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo 2 12MB
PC Remake - Pentium III 450 + Matrox G400 16MB
The K6-III build

Reply 6 of 10, by PC Hoarder Patrol

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rcarkk wrote on 2025-04-18, 22:56:

Tried with 4 rimms and the P3 933 and no avail. I guess the board really needs the DC to DC converter. The codes are diferent when using 4 rimms.

Have the same IBM IntelliStation M Pro (Type 6868) board, and no, it won't ever POST without the module in place - did start it once by accident without the module there (was removed at the time for cleaning) and although the board powered on there was no video signal , POST screens or keyboard response.

Finding a replacement could prove tricky...whilst Intel & IBM boards seem to use different brands of module, they were both based on the HIP6004BCB controller chip (don't know if this makes them interchangeable or not). Intel used a model from DELTA (pn: 12S3312A) and IBM used one from Artesyn (pn: 7000110-0000 Rev 3D). Datasheets attached (can't find the exact one for the Artesyn PCB version...may have been to order for IBM, but their card edge version seems the closest match)

Delta

The attachment DSA00487095.pdf is no longer available

Artesyn

The attachment Sf_Nxa66.pdf is no longer available

Far as the 6-pin AUX connector goes, you don't need it for basic operation...I can run my board with 2x 1GHz processors, 2 GB of memory and video without it - it's there mainly to support hardware-heavy systems.

Reply 7 of 10, by rcarkk

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PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2025-04-19, 09:59:
Have the same IBM IntelliStation M Pro (Type 6868) board, and no, it won't ever POST without the module in place - did start it […]
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rcarkk wrote on 2025-04-18, 22:56:

Tried with 4 rimms and the P3 933 and no avail. I guess the board really needs the DC to DC converter. The codes are diferent when using 4 rimms.

Have the same IBM IntelliStation M Pro (Type 6868) board, and no, it won't ever POST without the module in place - did start it once by accident without the module there (was removed at the time for cleaning) and although the board powered on there was no video signal , POST screens or keyboard response.

Finding a replacement could prove tricky...whilst Intel & IBM boards seem to use different brands of module, they were both based on the HIP6004BCB controller chip (don't know if this makes them interchangeable or not). Intel used a model from DELTA (pn: 12S3312A) and IBM used one from Artesyn (pn: 7000110-0000 Rev 3D). Datasheets attached (can't find the exact one for the Artesyn PCB version...may have been to order for IBM, but their card edge version seems the closest match)

Delta

The attachment DSA00487095.pdf is no longer available

Artesyn

The attachment Sf_Nxa66.pdf is no longer available

Far as the 6-pin AUX connector goes, you don't need it for basic operation...I can run my board with 2x 1GHz processors, 2 GB of memory and video without it - it's there mainly to support hardware-heavy systems.

Thank you for your help. It will be pretty much impossible to find this. I just checked ebay and google and no results for those 2 converters.
My only option is wait for some board that is dead, and can be a donor of the converter. If you know anyone that has a dead OR840, i would apreciate a lot.

Baby AT socket7 - Pentium MMX 233MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo
Socket 8 build - Soyo 6FA + Pentium Pro 200MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo 2 12MB
PC Remake - Pentium III 450 + Matrox G400 16MB
The K6-III build

Reply 8 of 10, by rcarkk

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"from Artesyn (pn: 7000110-0000 Rev 3D). Datasheets attached (can't find the exact one for the Artesyn PCB version...may have been to order for IBM, but their card edge version seems the closest match)"

Do you think this NXA66 card edge version will be comptible? It uses the same HIP6004BCB controller chip?

Baby AT socket7 - Pentium MMX 233MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo
Socket 8 build - Soyo 6FA + Pentium Pro 200MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo 2 12MB
PC Remake - Pentium III 450 + Matrox G400 16MB
The K6-III build

Reply 9 of 10, by slivercr

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Here are the promised snaps.

Outrigger: an ongoing adventure with the OR840
QuForce FX 5800: turn your Quadro into a GeForce

Reply 10 of 10, by rcarkk

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slivercr wrote on 2025-04-23, 17:04:

Here are the promised snaps.

Very aprecciated for the pictures. They will help for sure. Lets see if i will find one. Do you know any vogons user with a dead OR840?

Baby AT socket7 - Pentium MMX 233MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo
Socket 8 build - Soyo 6FA + Pentium Pro 200MHz + 3Dfx Voodoo 2 12MB
PC Remake - Pentium III 450 + Matrox G400 16MB
The K6-III build