Well...after taking a closer look at the board, I think it's fate is sealed. There are some destroyed traces near one of the mounting screw holes. I've added a close up picture to the gallery in the first post.

Damage traces can be fixed. I can't view the images, for some reason...

Ouch, almost looks like it was in a fire...having not seen the pictures of the exterior I couldn't say for certain though. If it was in a fire, at least at quick glance it doesn't look as though it got exposed to heat high enough to melt any of the plastic components, so it MIGHT be possible to clean it up and repair the damaged traces, assuming the smoke wasn't corrosive enough to damage other components. Such a cleanup and restoration is beyond my knowledge and abilities though, so I wouldn't know what the recommend for a starting point.

That is probably the worst condition of a motherboard I've ever seen. I call FUBAR. It looks kinda post-apocalyptic. Could become an interesting piece of decoration if that floats one's boat.

My bet is that it was used in a machine shop or something.

Definitely not cigarette tar. Just looks like really dark dust.

What I would do is take the sticks of RAM out and then go wash it down with 90% isopropyl alcohol. Put the alcohol in a spray bottle, get it wet, and then keep spraying it till it runs clean. Then let it completely dry.

You could also use a soft toothbrush to help scrub stuff off if needed.

Those traces that are damaged in the pic just looks like maybe somebody slipped with a screwdriver. Those couple that are damaged should take no more than 5-10 minutes to fix with a couple fine jumper wires and a soldering iron.

Clean it up and try it out.

I would wash it (remove the battery if it has one) with liquid dish soap and hot water using a fine soft paintbrush to loosen up the sludge. Let it dry a few days and see if it posts. Those traces (once cleaned) should be easy to trace and fix.

All you have to loose it a bit of time trying.

As others mentioned already, it is not complicated to repair those traces. Ive repaired much smaller traces with 0.05 mm wire. You could continue where the trace is damaged or retrace it from first possible solder join. But than you have an antena like effect (if that will cause any problems).

Yikes, that thing is filthy. Probably been used in an industrial setting (in a desktop case) as the bottom of the board looks fine. I'd give it a clean with distilled water/IPA, fix those traces and see what happens with just a VGA card installed.

Yep, now I can see the images.

I think once it's cleaned up it'll be dead-simple to repair those traces and get it working again.

As a matter of fact, it looks like one of the traces go to the KEYLOCK connector and the other goes towards that first bank of memory, so it MAY even work with those traces damaged, but unable to use that particular memory slot.

Wasn't expecting such a response.

Went digging through my old e-mails and the guy I got this lot of machines from said it came from a guy who had a printing shop for 30+ years and had just accumulated machines in a corner when he stopped using them/upgraded, etc. I'm guessing the discoloration could be from fumes/toner or whatever in the environment after so many years?

Going to give it a soak in some alcohol and go at it with a soft toothbrush or something. When I originally tried to power on the full machine, the fan on the power supply would spin, and I'd get a loud click everytime, but nothing else would happen. Going to try and transplant it into the case the dead P60 board was in because I know that PSU is still good. May take me a couple nights, but I'll get around to it.

I really have no idea what the hell I'd end up using this for, but it's fun to see if I can at least get it working!

BTW, any idea on the identity of the board itself? Is that empty socket for a 387 only, or is it like the later 486s where I can drop in a full 386 DX and it would take over? I have no experience with machines this old so this is all new to me.

DeafPK wrote:

That is probably the worst condition of a motherboard I've ever seen.

Lol, you ain't seen nothin'. You should see some "servers" that I see come back from customer sites that have literally sat in a truck and bus maintenance shed... like... actually out in the garage. Caked in dirt and soot.

This motherboard just needs a quick bath and a few traces fixed... should be a relatively easy job for someone adept with soldering, I would think...

DeafPK wrote:

. Could become an interesting piece of decoration if that floats one's boat.

That's what I'm going to do with my 386SX-40 board - Put up some powerful LED lights behind it and wall mount it!

As for using a DX on that board, it seems soldered on. This machine is definitely from a machine shop environment - My friend has a machine shop and yes, I opened his computer to see what's up inside, it looked identical to this.

Clean it off as best you can (I don't see any corrosion anywhere) with isopropyl and blast it clean with compressed air - See if it posts. You may have to take some of the chips out (BIOS, keyboard controller) and clean up around them too.

These things are so primitive that they'll take quite a beating.

Jed118 wrote:

That's what I'm going to do with my 386SX-40 board - Put up some powerful LED lights behind it and wall mount it! […]
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DeafPK wrote:

. Could become an interesting piece of decoration if that floats one's boat.

That's what I'm going to do with my 386SX-40 board - Put up some powerful LED lights behind it and wall mount it!

As for using a DX on that board, it seems soldered on. This machine is definitely from a machine shop environment - My friend has a machine shop and yes, I opened his computer to see what's up inside, it looked identical to this.

Clean it off as best you can (I don't see any corrosion anywhere) with isopropyl and blast it clean with compressed air - See if it posts. You may have to take some of the chips out (BIOS, keyboard controller) and clean up around them too.

These things are so primitive that they'll take quite a beating.

So that socket is just for a 387 then?

I have a small question. Why is it allways tobacco smoke people refer to these days? It's like tobacco when yellowed from sunlight, tobacco when something is black. As far as I know, nichotine makes a reddish orange colour and sticks like cooking oil vapour. Removing is basically just water and soap.

As a sidenote.... Back in the 90's, I lived in a small 12 square meter room, and smoked up to 20 a day. I had no electronics die during those 10 years. They all worked like a charm. These days I smoke my 8 a day, outside, and have done that before I took up this hobby. I bet heat, moisture and sunlight kill more electronics than cigarette smoke.

brostenen wrote:

I have a small question. Why is it allways tobacco smoke people refer to these days? It's like tobacco when yellowed from sunlight, tobacco when something is black. As far as I know, nichotine makes a reddish orange colour and sticks like cooking oil vapour. Removing is basically just water and soap.

As a sidenote.... Back in the 90's, I lived in a small 12 square meter room, and smoked up to 20 a day. I had no electronics die during those 10 years. They all worked like a charm. These days I smoke my 8 a day, outside, and have done that before I took up this hobby. I bet heat, moisture and sunlight kill more electronics than cigarette smoke.

I have seen some *disgusting* electronics from cigarette smoke. But I've also seen some fairly clean electronics from heavy smoking homes (aside from the odour).

I feel like inside ventilation, type of cigarettes and how clean the home is kept are big factors. The biggest problem I found is that the tar residue is sticky and the dust really cakes onto it. Then the residue sticks to the dust, then more dust...aaaand repeat.

probnot wrote:

I have seen some *disgusting* electronics from cigarette smoke. But I've also seen some fairly clean electronics from heavy smoking homes (aside from the odour).

I feel like inside ventilation, type of cigarettes and how clean the home is kept are big factors. The biggest problem I found is that the tar residue is sticky and the dust really cakes onto it. Then the residue sticks to the dust, then more dust...aaaand repeat.

True that.... Depends much on ventilation. 😀 Yeah... I know any type of smoke, dust particles and sticky vapours are bad. Especially cooking oil and metal dust and rubber dust are really bad. The worst hardware I have recieved, are that wich are feeling extremely sticky (like glue) and smelling of a mixture of deep fryer and hotdogs. They are an absolute horror show. 🙁 I have a couple of items, that are smelling like burger king, though I bought them over two or three years ago. Never recieved stuff that were covered in black stuff though.

Well, whatever it was, there's a layer of gunk on this board. Started scrubbing it down lightly with a soft bristle toothbrush and some 91% alcohol. That did a decent first pass, but there's still caked on...whatever this shit is.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3s43hktls0gmhye/IMG_3725.JPG?dl=0

I scrubbed a little area, wiped it down with a paper towel. Still not good enough so I'm getting in there with Q-tips and the alcohol and that seems to do a better job, if much much slower.

Was actually able to read the other chip on the board: CHIPS F82C836 A, T3C78, 9124YAI, 20mhz. Anyone know what this particular chip is? Chipset?

Your dedication is admirable, but holy chimney Batman I think they used their BBQ grill as a PC case.

senrew wrote:

Well, whatever it was, there's a layer of gunk on this board. Started scrubbing it down lightly with a soft bristle toothbrush a […]
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Well, whatever it was, there's a layer of gunk on this board. Started scrubbing it down lightly with a soft bristle toothbrush and some 91% alcohol. That did a decent first pass, but there's still caked on...whatever this shit is.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3s43hktls0gmhye/IMG_3725.JPG?dl=0

I scrubbed a little area, wiped it down with a paper towel. Still not good enough so I'm getting in there with Q-tips and the alcohol and that seems to do a better job, if much much slower.

Was actually able to read the other chip on the board: CHIPS F82C836 A, T3C78, 9124YAI, 20mhz. Anyone know what this particular chip is? Chipset?

Would have tried white spirit, kerosene, or some other less polar solvent than ethanol/isopropanol, or whatever alcohol you're using 😀 There is of course a risk involved, but overclockers running computers immersed in transformer oil, which is similar to kerosene from a chemical point of view, aren't unheard of. It shouldn't damage the board.