If it's beeping that means the processor is likely working and there is a problem with the video or ram. Board would be easier to identify if you took a photo of the board and posted it.

Presume you've tried the card in all slots? Had some probs with a Trident and 386 lately but the board was finicky about which slot it was in and it ran well eventually.

How is the battery on it? Any leakage or damage? Have you tried reseating the RAM as well?

We replaced the battery.
It was dead, but had only leaked a little onto its metal parts, not onto the board itself.

We did try different slots -- the ones of the 16-bit ISA length.

I'm attaching a picture of the board.

That's a very old 386 board - no simm or even sip memory slots!

Yeah, troubleshooting the RAM is not going to be easy... does the manual specify how many banks there are? I guess you could try removing some of the memory chips and leave only one bank filled to try and discard faulty RAM.

I think your best option right now would be to try another VGA if you have one at hand.

Also, does anyone know the purpose of the slot that looks like 2 8-bit slots next to each other? (the 2nd one starting from the power connector) Is it for some sort of riser card or maybe a proprietary thing?

For what it's worth I put a VGA card in my IBM 5150 (4.7mhz 8088) temporarily and it worked fine, so i doubt it's a limitation of the 386 or board.

TheMobRules wrote:

Yeah, troubleshooting the RAM is not going to be easy... does the manual specify how many banks there are?

Bank 0 is the 3 columns of memory chips on the left.
Bank 1 is the 3 columns of memory chips on the right.
When I click the picture to get a close-up, the picture is rotated 90 degrees to the right and Bank 0 is the 3 rows on the top while Bank 1 is the 3 rows on the bottom.

TheMobRules wrote:

I think your best option right now would be to try another VGA if you have one at hand.

No other ISA cards besides the Trident.
I could buy one if I knew what was most likely to work and it wasn't too much $.

Ozzuneoj wrote:

For what it's worth I put a VGA card in my IBM 5150 (4.7mhz 8088) temporarily and it worked fine, so i doubt it's a limitation of the 386 or board.

I noticed a Trident 8900C was mentioned as working on an XT class computer at
http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2012/10/r … n-at-world.html
That's why I was wondering if a Trident with a 9000C might somehow be "too new" for this board.

TheMobRules wrote:

]Also, does anyone know the purpose of the slot that looks like 2 8-bit slots next to each other? (the 2nd one starting from the power connector) Is it for some sort of riser card or maybe a proprietary thing?

Yes, the manual says this

386UsersManual wrote:

High-Speed 32-BIT RAM Expansion Slots
Slot J2/J10 are 62+62 pin slots are available for high speed, 32-bit RAM Expansion cards. The 2MB/8MB memory boards fit in these slots. The slots operate at CPU clock, the same timing as the system board RAM. The board has an operational memory card that uses this slot to add up to an additional 2MB/8MB of memory. As the pinouts are proprietary to the board, only this card can be used in the slot.

My brother said he never used that expansion card.
He also said he stopped using the board when he decided to upgrade to VGA from monochrome.
But he doesn't remember for sure if the board is incapable of VGA.

The video mode selection jumper is probably set to monochrone. I've done that before with a 286 machine.

It looks like a 286 board. My 286 from that era looks very similar to that. Then again, that's a 386DX 20mhz. A 20mhz 286 would be an extremely fast processor for the time. What a weird hybrid!

Please try another VGA card if you can. From my personal experience, the Trident 9000 isn't always 16Bit friendly.
It's a good card, yes, but it was one of the few cards, which never worked in my 286 computers.
Perhaps you've got one with an incompatible BIOS ? Your 386 has a double-sigma CPU installed,
which is known to have compatibility issues with advanced processor instructions.

Edit: If money is a problem, just try to get a Trident 8900 (or 8800). It's about the same price as a 9000,
but works just fine in both AT and XT systems. It's a good investment, I think. If you ever aim to build an IBM PC/XT, it can be also useful. 😀
Or try to get an old OAK card, like the OKI37. It's even slower than the slowest Trident, but fine for adventures.
Mine supports up to 800x600 resolution with the Win3.11 SVGA driver, by the way, despite what that Wikipedia entry says..

eviljoeclark wrote:

The video mode selection jumper is probably set to monochrone. I've done that before with a 286 machine.

Yes we checked the jumper positions for video.

wallaby wrote:

It looks like a 286 board. My 286 from that era looks very similar to that. Then again, that's a 386DX 20mhz. A 20mhz 286 would be an extremely fast processor for the time. What a weird hybrid!

That's interesting that it resembles a 286 board. Maybe it's a transitional design.

Jo22 wrote:

Please try another VGA card if you can. From my personal experience, the Trident 9000 isn't always 16Bit friendly. It's a good c […]
Show full quote

Please try another VGA card if you can. From my personal experience, the Trident 9000 isn't always 16Bit friendly.
It's a good card, yes, but it was one of the few cards, which never worked in my 286 computers.
Perhaps you've got one with an incompatible BIOS ? Your 386 has a double-sigma CPU installed,
which is known to have compatibility issues with advanced processor instructions.

So the problem could be due to a 9000c with incompatible BIOS and/or the 386 CPU itself.
That's kind of what I was hoping for -- an incompatible video card -- because checking all those RAM chips does not sound appealing.

Jo22 wrote:

Edit: If money is a problem, just try to get a Trident 8900 (or 8800). It's about the same price as a 9000, but works just fine […]
Show full quote

Edit: If money is a problem, just try to get a Trident 8900 (or 8800). It's about the same price as a 9000,
but works just fine in both AT and XT systems. It's a good investment, I think. If you ever aim to build an IBM PC/XT, it can be also useful. 😀
Or try to get an old OAK card, like the OKI37. It's even slower than the slowest Trident, but fine for adventures.
Mine supports up to 800x600 resolution with the Win3.11 SVGA driver, by the way, despite what that Wikipedia entry says..

I'll look for a Trident 8900C or Oak OKI37 then.
Money isn't that much of a problem but I'd rather keep the cost for the card below $50 for this project.
Too bad this one apparently doesn't work -- http://www.ebay.com/sch/172334385876

skitters wrote:

I'll look for a Trident 8900C or Oak OKI37 then.

The Oak model number to search is OTI-037C. Many results on Ebay with it.

skitters wrote:

Are there 386 motherboards that don't work with a VGA video card?

I think the chances of this are near-zero.
The BIOS/motherboard just has to know whether it's a 'mono' or 'color' card (this is selected with a motherboard jumper or CMOS setup. It doesn't do much though, it's basically the same as using the command 'MODE MONO' or 'MODE CO80' from DOS to switch between adapters. It just sets a default. If it is configured the wrong way around, most machines will still be able to boot into DOS, and you can blindly type 'MODE CO80' from the prompt to switch to the VGA card). For MDA/CGA, the display routines are included in the BIOS on the mainboard. EGA and higher have their own extension ROM, that is loaded at bootup.
So even machines that were designed/built before EGA/VGA even existed, will support these cards (the only problem you sometimes have is that the extension ROM includes 286+ instructions, so it can't run on an 8088 machine, but a 386 wouldn't have that problem).

skitters wrote:

Or that only work with some VGA video cards?

That is always possible. There are so many possible combinations of CPUs, VGA cards and motherboards, that there's always a possibility that a certain combination has some compatibility issues, because of some peculiar bus timings, waitstates or whatever.

My guess however is that the machine has other problems. Does it appear to try to boot at all, even though there's no display?
If not, then it could be something like the memory or perhaps the cache having gone bad. You could try to re-seat the chips, to see if that makes a difference... or trying to remove some of them to see if you can eliminate any broken ones.
I assume you've already tried to re-seat the VGA and other cards, and also checked any other cables etc.

The PSU could also be bad. You could try to test with another PSU if you have one.

skitters wrote:

Jo22 wrote:

Please try another VGA card if you can. From my personal experience, the Trident 9000 isn't always 16Bit friendly. It's a good c […]
Show full quote

Please try another VGA card if you can. From my personal experience, the Trident 9000 isn't always 16Bit friendly.
It's a good card, yes, but it was one of the few cards, which never worked in my 286 computers.
Perhaps you've got one with an incompatible BIOS ? Your 386 has a double-sigma CPU installed,
which is known to have compatibility issues with advanced processor instructions.

So the problem could be due to a 9000c with incompatible BIOS and/or the 386 CPU itself.
That's kind of what I was hoping for -- an incompatible video card -- because checking all those RAM chips does not sound appealing.

It really could be possible. There was another thread with an XT machine (Schneider Euro XT) and a Trident 9000.
Perhaps someone could send you an EPROM with that BIOS for your card. Or maybe a different jumper settings will also help to make it work.
There's a thread about such things at vcfed.org (it was mentioned in the other thread): 8bit Friendly ISA VGA cards

skitters wrote:

Money isn't that much of a problem but I'd rather keep the cost for the card below $50 for this project.
Too bad this one apparently doesn't work -- http://www.ebay.com/sch/172334385876

That's understandble, $50 is a bit hefty for a simple VGA card (esp. an old Trident).
I'm not sure whether that card in the auction still works or not. It has a lot of scratches, maybe someone removed some RAM in the wrong order.

SW-SSG wrote:

skitters wrote:

I'll look for a Trident 8900C or Oak OKI37 then.

The Oak model number to search is OTI-037C. Many results on Ebay with it.

Yup, thank you. That's why mentioned those, btw. They are both '80s models (like the Paradise PVGA), easy to find and
are not so sought after like the other models (good luck finding a cheap ET-4000).

Scali wrote:

So even machines that were designed/built before EGA/VGA even existed, will support these cards (the only problem you sometimes have is that the extension ROM includes 286+ instructions, so it can't run on an 8088 machine, but a 386 wouldn't have that problem).

Well, I'm certainly not going to disagree with you, but he hasn't got an ordinary 386.
It's one of the early models and *might* be incompatible with the VGA BIOS. I mean, these 9000 cards didn't work on my 286 machines, as well,
so perhaps its VGA BIOS does contain some odd +386 instructions which that double-sigma chip can't handle yet.
It's just an idea, though. Who knows what goes on inside the system. Early 386s were quite strange, anyway (loadall, etc.).

Scali wrote:

The PSU could also be bad. You could try to test with another PSU if you have one.

We tested the power supply cables with a multimeter and they measured OK.
Also the power supply is currently powering a 486 motherboard with VLB card, floppy drive, and two SCSI drives, so I don't think the power supply was the problem.

I'll report back once I get a new "older" ISA card to test with.
I'm attaching a picture of the Trident card that didn't work with the 386 (but worked fine with the 486).

Good luck! 😀

Maybe you can get it to work if you set it to 8bit mode.
According to that photo, your card apparently does have a hybrid VGA BIOS (8900/9000).
Perhaps 8bit mode does also force that BIOS to use 8086/80186 instructions (sounds unlikely, I know).

I mean, what else is the purpose of such a mode if you can't use the card in a PC/XT ?
Most 286 or higher machines do have a 16Bit slot and don't need that 8bit mode.

Here's a manual for a 8900D/9000i card:
http://www.minuszerodegrees.net/manuals/Tride … sers_Manual.pdf

Jo22 wrote:

Well, I'm certainly not going to disagree with you, but he hasn't got an ordinary 386.
It's one of the early models and *might* be incompatible with the VGA BIOS.

Well, the only flaw I know of in early 386 models is that the 32-bit multiply doesn't work properly, and they should only be used with 16-bit software.
The double-sigma marking should actually mean that these were tested and confirmed not to have the 32-bit flaw. Else they were marked with '16 bit S/W only':

That shouldn't be an issue for a VGA BIOS, as they're generally 286-compatible, and most of them are even 8088-compatible (some Tridents and other cards have a jumper to select 8-bit BIOS for 8088 compatibility).

I'm not saying it's impossible that this VGA card doesn't work, but as I say, I think it's more likely that it's something else, such as some broken or badly seated chips on the motherboard.
That happened to my 386SX-16... It worked fine when I put it in storage. Pulled it out some years later, and it wouldn't work at all. Turned out that the first 1 MB on the motherboard was faulty. After I removed it, and ran only on the 4x1 MB SIMMs that were installed, it worked fine.

Very nice, a 386 Board supporting a 287 Math Processor, very rare these days..
i searching for years to find one .. still no success

matze79 wrote:

Very nice, a 386 Board supporting a 287 Math Processor, very rare these days..
i searching for years to find one .. still no success

Were you interested in using the board or just collecting an example to look at?
We don't know if this one will work with a different VGA card.
It may have problems elsewhere.