VOGONS


First post, by Dusko

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Hello All!

I just added this motherboard to my collection and can't find the manual or any info about it online. Does anyone has this motherboard's manual?

Biostar MB-8500TEC ver3

I found some other variants of the 8500 series online, but the jumpers aren't the same.

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  • MB-8500TEC v3.jpg
    Filename
    MB-8500TEC v3.jpg
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    1.89 MiB
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    966 views
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

https://www.youtube.com/@myoldpc9458

Reply 1 of 27, by Repo Man11

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That's a tough one - this capture of the Biostar USA page skips right over that model; maybe it wasn't sold in the US, or was OEM only? https://web.archive.org/web/19970620073836/ht … pd/products.htm

"I'd rather be rich than stupid" - Jack Handey

Reply 3 of 27, by Dusko

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Repo Man11 wrote on 2022-01-09, 06:40:

That's a tough one - this capture of the Biostar USA page skips right over that model; maybe it wasn't sold in the US, or was OEM only? https://web.archive.org/web/19970620073836/ht … pd/products.htm

Yeah, super weird, I was looking in WayBackMachine too, but didn't come across the link you shared. Good to know, Thanks.
I got the board for cheap so I didn't bother trying to find the manual first.
I have no idea if it was OEM or what since I got it on eBay.

Thanks again!

https://www.youtube.com/@myoldpc9458

Reply 4 of 27, by Dusko

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PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2022-01-09, 07:05:

Try here (includes v3 specific jumpers) - https://web.archive.org/web/20010209101446/ht … EC/menutec.html

WOW!! How did you find it??, I was looking all over and nothing. VOGONS community is just amazing!

Thank You!!

https://www.youtube.com/@myoldpc9458

Reply 6 of 27, by Dusko

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PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2022-01-09, 07:21:

Dumb luck & pixie dust 😀 - happy to help

Lol!!

Just in case the link disappears, I made a doc file in case someone needs it one day!

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  • Filename
    MB-8500TEC v1-2-3.doc
    File size
    20.27 KiB
    Downloads
    39 downloads
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

https://www.youtube.com/@myoldpc9458

Reply 7 of 27, by Dusko

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Bios file v4.50PG

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https://www.youtube.com/@myoldpc9458

Reply 8 of 27, by Doornkaat

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Dusko wrote on 2022-01-09, 07:26:
PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2022-01-09, 07:21:

Dumb luck & pixie dust 😀 - happy to help

Lol!!

Just in case the link disappears, I made a doc file in case someone needs it one day!

That's good thinking. Kudos!👍

Reply 11 of 27, by Dusko

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computerguy08 wrote on 2022-01-09, 11:04:
Dusko wrote on 2022-01-09, 08:06:

Bios file v4.50PG

Awesome board you found there. Added it to UR.
https://www.ultimateretro.net/en/motherboards/10195

Awesome!. Keep in mind that I modded it adding a socket for the Odin RTC. If you look closer at the picture, the RTC looks a bit higher than it should.

I have around 10 more socket 3 and 7 motherboards in my collection, PM me if you are interested.

Last edited by Dusko on 2022-01-10, 01:02. Edited 2 times in total.

https://www.youtube.com/@myoldpc9458

Reply 12 of 27, by Dusko

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snufkin wrote on 2022-01-09, 12:31:

Possible updated BIOS (Oct 26th 1998) here: https://web.archive.org/web/20030415205633/ht … 500tec_bios.htm

Yes, that looks about right. I haven't tested it yet though.

I did search there but it didn't show up. What was your search keyword?

https://www.youtube.com/@myoldpc9458

Reply 13 of 27, by Dusko

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There are more jumpers that are not documented and some have charts printed on the board:

Jumper# / Pins / Current State
JP1 (4) 3-4 (No info)
JP2 (4) 3-4 (No info)
JP5 (3) 1-2 (No info, might be the Bios voltage as per continuity test: 5v / 12v)
JP10 (3) 2-3 (Tage Size, as per chart printed on the board)
JP11 (2) Open (No info)
JP12 (3) 1-2 (L2 size, as per chart printed on the board)
JP13 (3) 2-3 (L2 size, as per chart printed on the board)
JP14 (2) I wasn't able to find this jumper (Pipeline, as per chart printed on the board)
JP19 (6) Open (No info)
JP20 (4) Hard Wired ((No info, might be CPU Voltage)
JP22 (3) 1-2 (No info)
JP27 (3) 1-2 (No info)

See attached doc with updated info.

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https://www.youtube.com/@myoldpc9458

Reply 14 of 27, by Horun

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PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2022-01-09, 07:05:

Try here (includes v3 specific jumpers) - https://web.archive.org/web/20010209101446/ht … EC/menutec.html

Great work ! You are the archive master 😀

Dusko wrote on 2022-01-10, 03:55:

There are more jumpers that are not documented and some have charts printed on the board:
See attached doc with updated info.

Curious What format is that .doc ? Cannot open it for some reason using MS Office or Wordpad (win7). Hex edit shows PK as the header so is it zipped ?

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 15 of 27, by Dusko

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Horun wrote on 2022-01-10, 04:30:

Curious What format is that .doc ? Cannot open it for some reason using MS Office or Wordpad (win7). Hex edit shows PK as the header so is it zipped ?

I use Libre Office. Here is a zipped docx file, let me know. Thanks

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https://www.youtube.com/@myoldpc9458

Reply 16 of 27, by Horun

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Thanks that opened ! Yeah I usually just save the archive pages as .HTML and then quick edit to add/fix. Think any computer from Win9x up can open a .html if it has no java or odd stuff...

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 17 of 27, by PC Hoarder Patrol

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Found reference to a couple of older BIOS versions here - https://web.archive.org/web/19990220172430/ht … ec/tec-bios.htm

Looks as if your original was TEC0607.BIN from June 7 1995 (sadly no trace of TEC0831.BIN)

Reply 18 of 27, by Dusko

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Interesting! It looks like the "newest" Bios version is i01bw429.bin, as previously posted by snufkin.
I still haven't test the Bios, will report back when I do.

This is an odd motherboard, it may be one of the earliest socket 7 that Biostar made. It doesn't have a ps2 mouse port which I find odd for a socket 7, and very limited CPU support.

https://www.youtube.com/@myoldpc9458