Very unique 386 motherboard “Unknown Make/Model” \ VOGONS

Very unique 386 motherboard “Unknown Make/Model”

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First post, by SWZSSR

Posted on 2021-07-03, 11:44

SWZSSR Offline

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Hi All

One of my friends has a very special 386 motherboard that I have never seen before. I have hunted all major motherboard websites for its layout/model but had no luck.

Bios doesn’t show anything regarding model/make.

Distinguishable Features
- 16x SIPP Sockets
- Onboard Com/LPT via SIS82C452
- 32KB Cache
- Standard AT Sizing
- 3x 16bit 3x 8bit ISA

I know the chipset is a C&T NEAT, but it has a lot more chips than any other board of that era. My friend believes he pulled it out of a low profile chassis back in the 90s for a 486 upgrade.

Sorry for bad photos, I will take it out the case some point and get decent photos.

Last edited by SWZSSR on 2021-07-04, 08:13. Edited 3 times in total.

LS486/5x86@180/Banshee/SoundscapeElite/DOS6.22
5TH/Dual233MMX/MGA2164W/Voodoo2/AWE64Gold/NT4.0&W9X
P5A(1.6)/K6-3+550/Ti500/EWS64XL/W9X
CUV266D/Dual1.4TUAL/HD4670AGP/XONAR/XP
780iFTW/QX9650/3x8800U/VISTAx64
Z87/4790K/TITANX/AuzBravura/XPx86

Reply 1 of 7, by Deksor

Posted on 2021-07-03, 12:08

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What bios is in there ? Phoenix ? AMI ? Mr BIOS ? Award ?

If it's AMI (or maybe even award), you should have a POST string which can be used to identify it. Can you please show it to us (and/or dump your BIOS using this http://cd.textfiles.com/microhaus/mhblackbox3 … MORY/GETROM.ZIP) ?

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 2 of 7, by SWZSSR

Posted on 2021-07-03, 12:55

SWZSSR Offline

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Deksor wrote on 2021-07-03, 12:08:

What bios is in there ? Phoenix ? AMI ? Mr BIOS ? Award ?

If it's AMI (or maybe even award), you should have a POST string which can be used to identify it. Can you please show it to us (and/or dump your BIOS using this http://cd.textfiles.com/microhaus/mhblackbox3 … MORY/GETROM.ZIP) ?

It is a AMI with Low&Hi bios. Here is some photos.

As for dumping the bios, can the tool detect low&hi?

Reply 3 of 7, by Deksor

Posted on 2021-07-03, 13:12

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Unfortunately, no it cannot do that, (I don't think any software dumping tool can do that actually). If you have a TL866 you can dump it that way, otherwise it'd still be better than nothing because it's possible to split the eprom file (now I don't know exactly how the split is made on your board, but that'd be up to the person that might want to restore a missing bios on their motherboard)

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 4 of 7, by Horun

Posted on 2021-07-03, 14:59

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~~The BIOS string # is either 1230 or 1238 (cannot tell) if 1238 indicates a Win Technologies board (AKA: Wintech / Edom / WinTac) but their archives only list MA013/MA014 Opti based 386 board.~~

never mind, is 1230 and cannot find any info yet

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 5 of 7, by Deksor

Posted on 2021-07-03, 15:12

Deksor Offline

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Yes, unfortunately that ID isn't documented anywhere. That doesn't mean it will never show up though. With UH19 we're planning to make an up to date manufacturer id for POST strings.

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 6 of 7, by SWZSSR

Posted on 2021-07-04, 07:08

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Here is a dump of the low and high bios. I used my TLS866, had issues finding S27C256-20N Chips. l found they might be Phillips, tried that and successfully read them. Data may be corrupt.

Also used getrom. Ran AT & XT. Attached.

Reply 7 of 7, by megatron-uk

Posted on 2021-07-04, 09:44

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The 64k ATROM from GETROM looks legit. Loads of AMI BIOS strings, visible chipset config options etc.

Almost the first thing in the file is the following string:

My collection database and technical wiki:
https://www.target-earth.net

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