Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-20, 10:30
I do have a working PCS 33 PSU, which powers my PCS 11 just fine. The motherboards are identical save for the CPU (25MHz vs 33MHz) and associated crystal oscillator.
Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-19, 11:11
My PCS-11 has started, the ATX power supply connection circuit (or pico PSU in may case ) is correct except for the brown wire which is the reset that comes from the original power supply, inserting the test board in fact without that wire connected the resetis off , insert a resistance in series ( …
Re: SD-IDE or CF-IDE adapters - Is there any recommended model/make?
Posted on 2021-07-17, 08:44
The thing to consider is that CF cards ARE IDE, they conform to the IDE standard which is why the adapters are usually just interface adapters rather than active converters. CF cards are designed (industrial ones anyway) to deal with the kinds of reads and writes that an OS will be performing. SD …
Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-16, 19:07
I think it’s worth getting hold of a POST test card, they are only €9 or so on Amazon and will tell you if the voltage rails are good on the ISA slots, as well as show you if any POST messages are actually happening.
Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-16, 13:58
The fact that the keyboard stays lit up suggests that the PC isn't POSTing properly, regardless of the display working or not. The keyboard should be initialized (flash all three LEDs once), and if the test is successfully passed the PC moves onto testing the Floppy and Fixed Disks (you would see …
Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-16, 12:21
Anything is possible to replace with the right equipment. It might not be the video chip that's failed, it could be the video DRAM, it could be a corroded trace, anything. But in order to rule it out, try an ISA video card. You'll likely want one anyway, as the onboard video isn't the greatest. I …
Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-16, 12:03
As I said, my PCS 11 (same motherboard as the PCS 33) will happily boot without the -5v rail, and the pinout I posted is correct. Verax: I'd be tempted to try an ISA video card, just in case the issue is now with your onboard video.
Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-16, 09:24
Deksor wrote on 2021-07-16, 08:23: Maybe a picopsu would do the trick ? I've not tried, but I'd imagine the 5v rail is nowhere near powerful enough.
Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-16, 07:01
Oh I've successfully booted my PCS 11 with an ATX PSU before with the pinout I described above. As my ATX PSU was newer than the ATX 1.x specifications it didn't have a -5v rail, so I left that out (P22). I did this months ago mind you. I knocked up an adapter using a filed down du-pont connector …
Re: Odd Intellimouse behaviour
Posted on 2021-07-15, 20:51
The pinout was confirmed by member “Snufkin” in my previous thread about the Microsoft 68666 adapter: Re: Microsoft PS/2 to serial pinout?
Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-15, 17:05
You are right, I meant P8 not P18 for PWR_GOOD. The blue wire on the PCS 11/33 PSU is definitely -12v, I think your 26.4v reading was measured between -12v and +12v so is wrong. The white wire on the PCS PSU has direct continuity to the -5v pin on the ISA slots, so I think it “should” be -5v. The …
Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-15, 13:37
I'm still trying to work out what is what, mainly with what you have as pin 21 and pin 22. On my PCS 33, my multimeter shows the following: P21 = 5.07v = P8 (PWR_OK)* P22 = 5.19v = ?? P23 = -12.22v = P12 (-12v rail) P24 = 11.75v = P10 (+12v rail) P25 = GND = P3,5,7,13,15-17 (ground) P26 = GND = P3 …
Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-15, 08:55
@Verax, if you have access to a MiniPro or similar EEPROM reader, it would be nice if you could dump your BIOS ROM, yours seems to be newer than mine at 6.03, mine is 6.01. Here's the PCS 11 vs PCS 33. The 11 is just so small for the era, it's almost the form factor of a modern day USFF PC. https:// …
Re: am2/am3 mobo with agp, isa and win 98 drivers
Posted on 2021-07-14, 18:42
The only thing I can think of is an Asrock 939 Dual Sata 2 or Dual VSTA, with the incredibly rare AM2CPU bridge card that fit into the “future cpu” slot (looks like a weirdly positioned AGP 8x slot). Thanks for suggestions, but I can't see isa slot on these boards. My mini research point to these …
Re: am2/am3 mobo with agp, isa and win 98 drivers
Posted on 2021-07-14, 18:11
The only thing I can think of is an Asrock 939 Dual Sata 2 or Dual VSTA, with the incredibly rare AM2CPU bridge card that fit into the “future cpu” slot (looks like a weirdly positioned AGP 8x slot).
Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-14, 18:05
Ah, my father worked for Olivetti so all of my computers during my childhood were Olivetti. I currently own 5: Quaderno PC-XT Quaderno 33 Philos (Laptop) PCS 33 PCS 11 As for the PSU, FlexATX is a form factor that happens to be around 1U in height so should fit in my PCS 11 case no problem. My …
Re: Olivetti PCS33 (386 SX)/M-300 - Repairing
Posted on 2021-07-14, 17:35
I’ve got a PCS 11 (the even smaller form factor version of the same PC) that I’m going to attempt to replace the PSU with a flexATX PSU. My PCS 33 is fortunately still running on its original PSU. https://www.paradigital.net/ocuk/retrostuff/oli-pcs33-1.jpg https://www.paradigital.net/ocuk/retrostuff …
Re: Olivetti PCS 33 / Commander Keen
Posted on 2021-07-13, 17:59
SVGA Compatibility did indeed fix the corruption, all the Keen games play just fine now!
Re: Olivetti PCS 33 / Commander Keen
Posted on 2021-07-13, 16:46
I’m not with the machine right now, but will try later, it can’t hurt before ordering another card!
Re: Olivetti PCS 33 / Commander Keen
Posted on 2021-07-13, 16:14
Ahhhhhh. So the Tseng cards do not like Commander Keen. It's unfortunate, but true. Check this chart for compatibility across several games checked vs several cards: https://gona.mactar.hu/DOS_TESTS/ My ET4000 works perfect in keen4/5/6 with "SVGA compatibility" turned on Could you elaborate please …
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