FIC 486-GVT-2 motherboard: need jumper configuration

[stamasd]

I have a FIC 486-GVT-2 motherboard that I have purchased on another forum. I know the seller and he's reliable, I have purchased other items from him and had no problem. Here's the issue. The motherboard was sold as-is, because it came without jumpers. Supposedly the motherboard was in working condition, but then a sudden need for jumpers arose at some point in the past, and it was stripped of all jumpers - and that's why it was sold as-is. Now, this motherboard takes a LOT of jumpers. I have found the original documentation and set most of the jumpers. The problem is, not all jumpers are documented; there are several that I have no indication on what they do and how they should be set. I tried several combinations, but the motherboard won't POST. The best I got is the keyboard lights flashing once, but no video output.

I would really appreciate if there is someone here who has this motherboard in working condition, if they could take pictures of all the jumpers so I know what to do about the undocumented ones.

Thanks!

[elianda]

ftp://78.46.141.148/mirrors/www.elhvb.c ... 486-gvt-2/

[stamasd]

Thanks, that's very helpful. JP3 which isn't documented anywhere is shown in that picture in the 1-2 position; I placed it there and got video output.

Now, to find a combination that will allow me to boot all the way (it currently gets stuck during POST).

[SouthMissDJ]

These settings work with an Intel 486DX2-66.

I recently found this motherboard in a system being thrown away. I took this photo to document all of the jumpers before giving the board a bath. The settings pictured are for the Intel 486DX2-66. I have since upgraded CPUs to the AMD 5X86-133, an undocumented processor for this board. The closest settings get it to either 120 or 150 mhz. Good luck with yours!

[j^aws]

I currently have this board working properly with a 486DX-2 66MHz, and was thinking of changing the CPU to a POD.

I can manage to boot the POD, but it hangs just before the POST summary screen (passes memory tests okay). The POD currently doesn't boot unless I change the JT1 jumper to force Write-through.

My current BIOS is dated 12/21/94 (ver 3.07).

Is it a flashable BIOS? Does anyone have this board working with a POD83?

If so, please could you post your BIOS version and BIOS settings. This would be much appreciated - thanks in advance.

[stamasd]

Thanks for the picture. Unfortunately I have no idea where this board is right now - somewhere in the huge pile of "non-working" boards that I have accumulated over the years. When I have some time I'll see if I can dig it up and try again.

[stamasd]

So in the course of my current basement renovation I happened to find this motherboard again. I pulled out this thread, took a 486DX-33 known good (tested in amother motherboard) and 8M of RAM also known good, and set to make it work.

I set the jumpers for the CPU at hand, plugged an ISA video card, keyboard and monitor. Turned it on.

Here is what I get. First it shows a plain blue screen, with nothing else on it. During that time the keyboard LEDs flash.

Then it goes onto this screen:



It displays this regardless of whether J7 is on or off.

Stays there for a few seconds, then goes to this screen:


This is the final screen, the tests run quickly displaying the above, then it stops.
It doesn't respond to any keypresses at any point during this sequence. After it displays the second screen, it doesn't do anything, it just stays there.

I tried pressing delete before it shows the first screen, nothing. Same with CTRL-ALT-Esc. No response whatsoever from any keypresses at any point. CTRL-ALT-DEL doesn't do anything either.

I checked the CMOS battery, it was dead. I unsoldered it, and soldered in place a battery box with replaceable cells. I've verified with a multimeter that it actually delivers 3V to the motherboard, and that the polarity is correct (it's inscribed clearly at the solder points).

It still does the same thing. Goes to the first screen regardless of whether J7 is on or off, then onto the second screen, and does not respond to the keyboard at all.

Can't figure out how to pass this hurdle. Any ideas?

[stamasd]

I did one more thing. I found a 27512 EPROM and programmed it with the last BIOS version from FIC's site, 3.07G
Plugged it in, and... still can't bring the motherboard to a usable state.

When I power it on now, it doesn't display anything for a long time, about a minute.

Then it shows again the J7 message, same as in the first picture above but on black background. Again, regardless of whether J7 is on or off.

Then it goes to this:



And hangs there. The keyboard doesn't do anything.

Now I'm completely out of ideas.

[marquisor]

try changing BIOS settings for cache ram tag etc. this fixed my hangs at POST on a GIO-VP with installed AM5x86... it's a bit trial and error and lots of resets
still have problems with it though, i have another thread about it here. didn't have the time yet to make pictures also.

i'm interested what your summary screen shows. if you have L2 cache installed and different CPUs. mine says (with AM5x86) no L2 cache available. i don't have any spare 486 DX or any other CPU to test if it's a CPU issue.

[stamasd]

Can't enter BIOS settings. Pressing del or ctrl-alt-esc doesn't do anything.

[h-a-l-9000]

Has the battery been leaking?

[stamasd]

Nope there is no damage to the board. The original battery was a tabbed lithium coin cell. Those don't leak.

[stamasd]

I did one more thing, not because I was expecting it to make a difference but because I'm out of ideas.

I replaced all of the cache chips with new ones (I have a sizeable stack of NOS 32kx8 SRAM chips).

It didn't work. Still stuck at the same point.

[stamasd]

I tried a BIOS POST card. The LEDs for various motherboard signals light up as they should, however the card will not display any codes. None at all during the whole boot. The main display remains blank. This happens in all of the ISA slots.

[kanecvr]

carefully inspect ALL jumpers. Use the photo posted above for reference. These old FIC boards are finicky.

[stamasd]

I did inspect all jumpers. Even replaced them with fresh jumpers. No progress.

[stamasd]

Can someone with this motherboard do a test?

Place a jumper on J7 and try to boot. Let me know what happens, and if the motherboard is able to boot at all. I suspect that it won't.

Thanks!

(my current working theory is that there's a short somewhere in the path of the "clear CMOS" signal and the motherboard thinks that J7 is on all the time; alternatively, the DS12885Q chip may be dead, and if it's so it won't be easy to replace because it's surface-mounted, in a PLCC package)

[kanecvr]

Can someone with this motherboard do a test?

Place a jumper on J7 and try to boot. Let me know what happens, and if the motherboard is able to boot at all. I suspect that it won't.

Thanks!

(my current working theory is that there's a short somewhere in the path of the "clear CMOS" signal and the motherboard thinks that J7 is on all the time; alternatively, the DS12885Q chip may be dead, and if it's so it won't be easy to replace because it's surface-mounted, in a PLCC package)

Your bios chip is not getting power. This is either because of a broken trace related to the CMOS reset jumper, the CMOS power select jumper (5v or 12v) or a missing CMOS battery. The blue screen usually pops up when you reset the bios.

[DeafPK]

I am currently working on one of these mobos - it goes through its POST, it can auto detect a 500 meg HDD over a Goldstar ISA I/O controller, but it won't boot. Not from anything. The floppy does not search for disks after POST but it reacts during the POST. CMOS battery has been replaced with CR2032 mod and it works.

What happens is POST does its things, seemingly successful, then the screen clears and there is just a single flashing underscore in the top of the screen, like _
I gave it 15 minutes once, no gain. The stuff connected to the system are parts known to be OK. I have to say that the mobo was pulled from a dumpster and I've cleaned it with isopropanol alcohol and had it drying for months. Who knows really what is has been through.. I just don't feel like giving it up when I'm getting so close.



BTW if anyone still wonders, J7 gives a message before POST that BIOS passwords are disabled.

[Pabloz]

20151218_133608.jpg

I recently found this motherboard in a system being thrown away. I took this photo to document all of the jumpers before giving the board a bath. The settings pictured are for the Intel 486DX2-66. I have since upgraded CPUs to the AMD 5X86-133, an undocumented processor for this board. The closest settings get it to either 120 or 150 mhz. Good luck with yours!

i have this board and what can i say
i love it. the build quality is awesome. not like those pcchip ones.

booted at first try

thanks for the jumper settings picture. can you share how did you manage to use it at 120mhz with an amd133 ? i know you used a voltage regulator socket. but need to know the jumpers and that is not documented because that cpu was newer than the motherboard