The last time I posted, I was complaining about/praising the EXP4349 mainboard, my DLC was not working right, and the addition of a 486LTE laptop with a bad floppy (belt expanded, rendering the A: drive useless).

Here's what I've done so far. Exhibit 1) - Desktop case with AMD 386.

I picked up a case in Poland with a 4X CDROM (which is dead, unfortunately - Driver sees it, but it won't read) and a 1.44MB floppy drive. It had a 220V only power supply, which I swapped out for a NOS 120/220 unit. I put in my EXP4349 board and I tried many CPUs (the original 486DX33 that it shipped with, and used to boot with!), but it will seemingly only accept the Am386DX and the IIT co processor, even after many hours of checking and re-checking the jumpers. The CPUs in the upcoming album all failed to POST (I know 2 are definitely good). I also got a single FPM 32Mb 72 PIN module (new), a VLB I/O card, and an S3 1Mb VLB video card, all at great prices from Poland. I was expecting the motherboard to accept a true 486, so this may seem overkill for a 386, but, such is my predicament and thus a 386 with supercharged parts it can't take advantage of - Albeit it plays Settlers very well, on par my DLC (next "build"). It is my most stable AT computer, despite being pretty mediocre otherwise.

http://imgur.com/a/vbvbN

Specs:

Motherboard production date - Sept 30, 1994
-Am386DX @ 40 MHz
-4C87DLC IIT co-pro @ 40 MHz
-32 Mb 72 pin 60NS FPM RAM
-EXP 4349 Mainboard with 128k Cache
-ST31002A Medalist 1 Gb HDD
-1.44 Mb Floppy
-1.2Mb Floppy
-S3 1Mb VLB video
-Generic VLB Multi-IO
-SB16 Value audio
-4X IDE CDROM (not working)
-MSDOS 6.22 with Windows 3.11 and Windows 3.1 (Polish version)

Future plans: 512k cache, 2Mb video (via 44256 chips), BIOS battery (none present currently), internal Iomega 100 drive at cost of non-functional CDROM (currently sharing an external 250Mb drive with the other AT machines).

Exhibit 2: The 486 DLC

I've had this one since the late 1990s. I picked up the case at the side of the road and rebuilt it with era specific parts that I either found in my parts pile from working at a computer store in the mid 90s or from buying computers at Goodwill for $5 and scouring them for great parts (My AHA SCSI controller and Colorado tape backup were acquired this way - Sadly those days are long gone). I don't really remember what was in it originally (I believe it was an i386/25 system, hence the Intel Inside sticker) though but it has seen some upgrades since. This is the heaviest computer I own, and the one that I would return to if my house was on fire and I could get only one back. I used it to write essays and term papers well into the late 2000s, but it has never been quite stable, especially at game play: Extensive troubleshooting has yielded Windows stability, but DOS games work pretty much when they want to. Still, it is my favourite.

http://imgur.com/a/8xVYr

Specs:

Motherboard production date October 1992
-Cx486DLC @ 40 MHz (EXP4349 would not take this CPU, sadly)
-Cyrix FasMath 83D8740-GP co-pro
-32 Mb RAM via 70NS 32 pin SIMM memory (8X4Mb)
-PC Chips M321 ISA mainboard with 128k Cache
-528 Mb Quantum Maverick ProDrive IDE primary disk
-1Gb Seagate Barracuda ST32550N SCSI secondary disk (LOUD AS HELL)
-1.44 Mb Floppy drive
-1.2 Mb Floppy drive
-Internal IOMEGA 100 Mb Zip drive (working and configured)
-Colorado 350 Mb tape backup (working, but I need more media for it to do a full backup)
-2Mb NVRAM ATI Mach32 ISA video card with Microsoft InPort Bus mouse (used by said mouse)
-Generic AT IO controller (dead game port 🙁 )
-Adaptec AHA 1542B ISA SCSI controller
-Creative SBPRO sound card with Panasonic CR563B 2X CDROM
-3COM III ISA 10Mbit Network card
-DRDOS 7.01 with Windows 3.0, 3.1, and 3.11 running Calmira II
-NEC 17 inch CRT XGA monitor (to be replaced with a Dell 19 inch)
-IBM Model M keyboard
-Gravis joystick (http://s43.photobucket.com/user/bohoki/media/ … ravis2.jpg.html) via SBPRO game port
-Some kind of HP scanner (SCSI, used it once).

Future plans: 256k cache, BIOS battery replacement (starting to corrode), possibly swap in my 850Mb IDE via DDO. Take the yellow off the case.

Exhibit 3: The Dell Dimension XPSPro200n

This one I recently acquired at my job and Alma Mater in exchange for a pack of gum and a license plate (no lie) - I don't know too much about it other than it doesn't seem to like to play Settlers very well on occasion (when it does though, so much faster than on the 386 or DLC) , and the resulting crashing messes up Windows 95 for the next few boots. Also, the PS/2 mouse port detects a mouse on POST but will not work at all. I have to use a serial mouse, to much disdain as I have to share it with the 386. It came with 32 Mb RAM which I upgraded to 48 via random EDO sticks I had lying around, and I also added a 2.5 Gb HDD which I also had lying around. The stock floppy has an issue wherein it thinks all floppy diskettes are write protected, so I replaced it with another generic 1.44 drive which seems to only want to format in DOS. Further investigation is required. Interestingly, the BIOS kept the time for over 10 years with only a couple minutes deviation.

http://imgur.com/a/yZTLq

Specs:

Production date, September 1996
-Pentium Pro @200 MHz (unknown cache size)
-48 Mb EDO RAM
-Intel VX(?) chipset on Dell MB (ATX Power supply, curiously)
-WD Caviar 1.2 GB primary IDE
-WD Caviar 32500 (2.5 Gb) secondary IDE
-1.44 floppy (curiously, it had a 1.2 that I stuck into my 386 instead, hence the hole in the case)
-2Mb S3 PCI video card
-Some kind of ISA network card
-ESS Audiodrive (unknown model) ISA sound
-Windows 95

Future plans: Paint the black large drive bay cover white, install a 100 Mb IOMEGA internal zip drive, possibly reformat the primary partition and reinstall 95. Figure out the floppy drive issue.

That's it for now, and I surmise, for quite some time to come unless I can get a true AT here to round out my collection.