First thing I would check if internal/external cache is disabled make sure both are on, has it ever worked good? is the turbo button connected perhaps in the wrong position?
and naturally run some benchmarks eg speedsys to see what his system is comparable to

On a 4 MB machine, DOOM only runs if you don't load smartdrive or other stuff that eats too much memory. Since DOOM doesn't require any memory manager, it's best to just press F5 when DOS boots to bypass autoexec.bat and config.sys.

However, DOOM on a 486-25 isn't that much fun. You either need to play in low-res or with a small window. If possible, upgrade to 8 MB RAM and install a faster CPU (a DX2-50 will work as a drop-in replacement, so will a DX4 Overdrive).

treeman wrote:

First thing I would check if internal/external cache is disabled make sure both are on, has it ever worked good? is the turbo button connected perhaps in the wrong position?
and naturally run some benchmarks eg speedsys to see what his system is comparable to

I'll send him to the setup menu and check the cache settings. No turbo button, it's one of those really neat all in one systems (integrated monitor) 😀

derSammler wrote:

On a 4 MB machine, DOOM only runs if you don't load smartdrive or other stuff that eats too much memory. Since DOOM doesn't require any memory manager, it's best to just press F5 when DOS boots to bypass autoexec.bat and config.sys.

However, DOOM on a 486-25 isn't that much fun. You either need to play in low-res or with a small window. If possible, upgrade to 8 MB RAM and install a faster CPU (a DX2-50 will work as a drop-in replacement, so will a DX4 Overdrive).

I'm trying to get him to buy a 486 DX2-50 Overdrive, because I personally couldn't imagine a 25 MHz SX for the kind of tasks I typically do on my 486 boxen.

Coincidentally, those are my 425's exact specs 🤣 (DX2-50 with 8 MB)

Thanks for the advice! I'll show him the thread.

Ultrax wrote:

Coincidentally, those are my 425's exact specs 🤣 (DX2-50 with 8 MB)

I have such a machine as well, though it's from Alcatel. A DX2-50 with 8 megs is really a nice configuration for a 486. I like it more than the omnipresent DX2-66 configurations.