Hello
I have lately grabbed a 386SX board, too bad I can not identify that board.
It's a nice board with integrated I/O section, based on Chips&Technologies F82C386 (SCATsx) chipset .
I have checked on Ultimate Retro Project, but had no luck; uncle Google didn't help either.
Maybe some of you came across one, and can help me?
P.S. Before anyone asks, the battery has already been removed 😀
a quick google leaves the impression that this mainboard is from a cumulus brand 386 desktop computer, yet more info remains elusive.
Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Do not ask Why !
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Serial_port
Found that site too, but:
- Cumulus might me just a PC clone maker, not necessarily motherboard manufacturer
- it doesn't contain any useful information
Unfortunately the manufacturer code in the BIOS ID string is '0000' so it's probably a nameless clone from Taiwan/China.
I suggest you take a look at the "UNIDENTIFIED" entries in TH99.
now son, it damn well doesn't look much like a steer to me but it was made in Texas!
So, that kind of narrows it down.
I like jumpers.
OK, there's actually no conclusive proof or other info, but googleing the large print "scat368sx" led me here:
https://archive.org/details/compuadd286386486 … itiesanddrivers
"All 486/333/SCAT386SX"
And that refers to "CompuAdd":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompuAdd
Apparently, they supplied "desert storm", for all the good it did them.
Also, to a manual page that's clearly for another model but has a page like this:
That's about a "Switch1" with 4 parts at roughly the same spot on the board.
I'd wager that's just what it does.
All the front connectors are labeled, it seems. You can figure out their pinouts with a multimeter, some are 5V or the speaker signal, some ground.
Is there anything more to know for practical purposes, apart from historical curiosity?
Not sure.
It's a 16 bit board, hence the two SIMMs being sufficient to boot.
Including the drivers on archive.org, you should be fine?
Have fun!
I like jumpers.
Thank You very much for your successful digging!
SW1 switch block settings was the thing I wanted primarily.
I own this motherboard for a couple of days, and it is a troublesome one.
It constantly shows errors during start-up, doesn’t want to boot from a floppy, and has corrupted my CF card (but it may have been my mistake, by possibly entering incorrect CHS values – this BIOS does not support HDD autodetection).
I needed to figure out, what this SW1 switches were responsible for, before swapping RAM and video card. I am wondering about one thing however – this board has pretty standard AMI BIOS, and floppy connection setting are made there, so why the heck they would duplicate these settings?
phantom_pl wrote on 2022-04-01, 07:27:Thank You very much for your successful digging! […]
Thank You very much for your successful digging!
SW1 switch block settings was the thing I wanted primarily.
I own this motherboard for a couple of days, and it is a troublesome one.
It constantly shows errors during start-up, doesn’t want to boot from a floppy, and has corrupted my CF card (but it may have been my mistake, by possibly entering incorrect CHS values – this BIOS does not support HDD autodetection).
I needed to figure out, what this SW1 switches were responsible for, before swapping RAM and video card. I am wondering about one thing however – this board has pretty standard AMI BIOS, and floppy connection setting are made there, so why the heck they would duplicate these settings?
Well, the manual, it's linked there under "CompuAdd" but for another, earlier model with quite a different layout.
If it works like the manual page tells us nonetheless - don't make to much of it. Sometimes stuff is just legacy or the bios generic.
😉
I like jumpers.
here is the details for the chipset
http://66.113.161.23/~mR_Slug/chipset/chipset … 375&3=6388#6129
full datasheet http://66.113.161.23/~mR_Slug/pub/datasheets/ … andT/82C836.pdf
It looks like there are only two jumpers that I can see. datasheet may be useful to you. Can we use the image on ultimateRetro?
Of course you can use it 😀
I have dumped BIOS image as well.
P.S. All troubles that board gave me, was caused by an inversely connected ATA cable .
I have never seen such freakish mobo behaviour (including hang-ups, crashes, losing BIOS values, and irregular reaction to key presses) caused by incorrect cable orientation. Once properly plugged, everything went back to normal.
Thank you I have added it here:
https://www.ultimateretro.net/en/motherboards/11143
Please could you tell me the MHz, I can't quite see in the image.
This actual board has 16MHz CPU, but I guess other speeds were also possible.
Updated, Thank you
