VOGONS


First post, by whozjak

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Hey everyone,
This is my first post here, and I'm reaching out to the community in the hopes of reviving my very first 386 PC. I've held onto the motherboard and some parts from my old case, and I'm now on a mission to bring it back to life, if it's still functional.
What I'm specifically looking for are the jumper settings to properly configure the motherboard.
I've scoured the internet without much luck, and I was wondering if anyone here might have some insights or resources that could help me.
Thank you all in advance for your time and expertise!

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Reply 2 of 7, by whozjak

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chriz wrote on 2024-01-27, 23:13:

Looks like a different revision of the Chicony CH-386-20B

https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/chicony-ch-386-20b

Thank you for your quick reply! It seems like it might indeed be a different revision of the Chicony CH-386-20B motherboard.
Jumper settings are likely to be the same across revisions.
I'm looking forward to getting my first system back in action. Thanks again for your assistance!

Reply 4 of 7, by Aui

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Looking closer at the provided picture, it seems the first 8Bit slot has already a green discoloration on the left side - please check asap. To give you an idea of the extend of the problems this may cause please check here:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n0Eh02pmiRg

Reply 5 of 7, by jakethompson1

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whozjak wrote on 2024-01-28, 00:06:
Thank you for your quick reply! It seems like it might indeed be a different revision of the Chicony CH-386-20B motherboard. Jum […]
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chriz wrote on 2024-01-27, 23:13:

Looks like a different revision of the Chicony CH-386-20B

https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/chicony-ch-386-20b

Thank you for your quick reply! It seems like it might indeed be a different revision of the Chicony CH-386-20B motherboard.
Jumper settings are likely to be the same across revisions.
I'm looking forward to getting my first system back in action. Thanks again for your assistance!

As you have a cacheless 386 board that uses a fixed crystal (50 MHz which the 386 CPU divides by two for 25 MHz), it's unlikely that there is much to set via jumpers. Maybe MDA vs. CGA video but that's about it.
It is likely that the jumper-looking headers by the CPU are turbo button, turbo LED, reset button (in some order), speaker, and power LED/keylock.

Reply 6 of 7, by whozjak

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Thank you all for your responses.
I've taken note of the concerns and I'm fully aware of the board's poor condition.
Before attempting anything, I'm removing the battery, inspecting for damage, and planning a thorough cleaning.

Reply 7 of 7, by TheMobRules

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Before attempting to turn it on, you may want to check a couple of pins in the bottom slot:

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It looks like those pins are bent and touching the opposing ones. Depending on what these pins are for, the short could prevent your system from turning on, working properly or even cause some damage.

So I suggest trying to separate the pins with some tweezers, don't worry too much if you break them since that part of the slot is not useful for ISA cards, it's for a proprietary memory expansion you'll likely never find or need (especially considering that the board has SIMM slots already).