I've started to become interested in getting this machine up and running!

So Today I decided to take a closer look at the various cards that it has installed:

Starting with the graphics card, which is an EGA card with what appears to be a composite output (According to the silkscreen)

I don't have an EGA monitor, so I'll try the composite output when I first try to run it up!

Next we have the RAM expansion card which was in fact manufactured by Olivetti!!!

It appears to be a 2MB card! (The system has 1MB installed on the mainboard, so this will give it 3MB of RAM in total!)

Next we have the network card:

And lastly the Drive Controller card:

So it has some nice stuff installed!!!

I will have to install a VGA card once I confirm that it's working!

Looking at the texture of the mask on all of these cards, it appears that they were all manufactured by Olivetti for this machine! 😀

I'd like to fit a Diamond SpeedSTAR 1MB, TSENG ET4000AX:

I have considered some more "Exotic" cards, but I don't think that they'd make sense (and probably wouldn't work) in a 12MHz 286 with Math Co Processor and 3MB of RAM?

If anyone has a better suggestion on a graphics card please let me know!

This card will be ok.
Bios version can newer, also the ramdac can be swapped with 24bit one, but these probably wont make much difference for where the overall assembly is.

pshipkov wrote on 2024-09-11, 14:38:

This card will be ok.
Bios version can newer, also the ramdac can be swapped with 24bit one, but these probably wont make much difference for where the overall assembly is.

Thanks for the input!

What about a card such as this one? (SIGMA DESIGNS MM120 PC/AT ISA VIDEO ADAPTER)

Here's a newer version:

I'm not sure whether either of these cards will be compatible with a 286's BIOS?

The VGA part will be fine. Not sure if that will apply to the MPEG chipset, but that will be so out of scope for 286 machine anyway.
The Diamond SpeedSTAR card will be the better fit if you ask me.

I have the M24 which is an earlier version of that PC with an 8086 CPU.
You should be able to install a VGA card in that PC. Both EGA & VGA cards have their own onboard BIOS.

pshipkov wrote on 2024-09-11, 17:10:

The VGA part will be fine. Not sure if that will apply to the MPEG chipset, but that will be so out of scope for 286 machine anyway.
The Diamond SpeedSTAR card will be the better fit if you ask me.

Thanks! 😀

jesolo wrote on 2024-09-11, 17:44:

I have the M24 which is an earlier version of that PC with an 8086 CPU.
You should be able to install a VGA card in that PC. Both EGA & VGA cards have their own onboard BIOS.

Thanks!

It's great to see another South African who's into collecting vintage machines! 😀 (There aren't many of us around!!!)

Irinikus wrote on 2024-09-11, 17:48:

jesolo wrote on 2024-09-11, 17:44:

I have the M24 which is an earlier version of that PC with an 8086 CPU.
You should be able to install a VGA card in that PC. Both EGA & VGA cards have their own onboard BIOS.

Thanks!

It's great to see another South African who's into collecting vintage machines! 😀 (There aren't many of us around!!!)

You'd be surprised 😊. There is a community here in Cape Town. Will send you a PM

This machine was used in one of our local weapons manufacturing companies (Denel Somchem). One of our family friends used to work there (Now Retired) had this machine was sitting in a cupboard in his office for years, and managed to get it written off their asset register so that he could give it to me. (The only condition was that the hard drive would have to be removed and destroyed.)

The drives in this machine slide in on proprietary "rails" and they didn't remove the rails from the hard drive when they removed it from the machine! 🙁

so I'm either going to have to source some (which will be nearly impossible at this point) or come up with a plan, as I'd really like to have one of these old spinners in this machine!

I'm also going to have to source one of these: (As these disks are far easier to deal with today, as I have a USB floppy drive which even works with my MacBook Pro!!)

jesolo wrote on 2024-09-11, 17:51:

You'd be surprised 😊. There is a community here in Cape Town. Will send you a PM

Cool!

I've lived in Cape Town most of my life, but now live and work in Pretoria. (The rest of my Family stays in Cape Town though!)

pshipkov wrote on 2024-09-11, 14:38:

This card will be ok.
Bios version can newer, also the ramdac can be swapped with 24bit one, but these probably wont make much difference for where the overall assembly is.

When I asked some questions about the card, the seller upped the price by 100 Euros!!! (So I'll look around for a good deal on one!)

Ah, one of those sellers. Sorry about that.
At the same time such cards go for about $100.
But you don't need that exact model/chipset/brand really.
Pick another (non-Diamond) ET4000AX based card - it will do exactly the same for half the price.
Or go with Trident 8900C/CL - again - half the price price, same perf (especially given the rest of the system parameters).

pshipkov wrote on 2024-09-11, 19:06:

Ah, one of those sellers. Sorry about that. At the same time such cards go for about $100. But you don't need that exact model/c […]
Show full quote

Ah, one of those sellers. Sorry about that.
At the same time such cards go for about $100.
But you don't need that exact model/chipset/brand really.
Pick another (non-Diamond) ET4000AX based card - it will do exactly the same for half the price.
Or go with Trident 8900C/CL - again - half the price price, same perf (especially given the rest of the system parameters).

It is a bit of a bummer, but you've at least made me realise that I need to be on the lookout for a card with a 24-BIT RAMDAC!

This is unrelated, but some fun facts about Olivetti.

I live and work 10 minutes from the Olivetti headquarters (my dad works there). A few years ago the whole Olivetti area (which is huge) became a UNESCO heritage site because it is architecturally important
The main building has an impressive staircase with the largest Murano glass chandelier above it

Apparently in the 1940s it was unthinkable for a workshop producing mechanical products (before computers) to be built entirely of glass so that workers (during the day) and farmers (at night) could see the fields and mountains. So did dedicated buses that took them to work and the company's in-house library, hospital, dedicated houses and kindergarten for free.

My dad also tells me that in 1990 they welcomed Steve Jobs to visit the historical archives, they are so vast that they are in a building dedicated

https://www.sparchitettura.com/wp-content/upl … zo-Uffici-1.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/5581/1529591346 … a549d7ef4_b.jpg
https://www.levelofficelandscape.com/wp-conte … o-1920x1106.jpg

https://www.ivreacittaindustriale.it/the-map/?lang=en

matti157 wrote on 2024-09-12, 08:05:

This is unrelated, but some fun facts about Olivetti. […]
Show full quote

This is unrelated, but some fun facts about Olivetti.

I live and work 10 minutes from the Olivetti headquarters (my dad works there). A few years ago the whole Olivetti area (which is huge) became a UNESCO heritage site because it is architecturally important
The main building has an impressive staircase with the largest Murano glass chandelier above it

Apparently in the 1940s it was unthinkable for a workshop producing mechanical products (before computers) to be built entirely of glass so that workers (during the day) and farmers (at night) could see the fields and mountains. So did dedicated buses that took them to work and the company's in-house library, hospital, dedicated houses and kindergarten for free.

My dad also tells me that in 1990 they welcomed Steve Jobs to visit the historical archives, they are so vast that they are in a building dedicated

https://www.sparchitettura.com/wp-content/upl … zo-Uffici-1.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/5581/1529591346 … a549d7ef4_b.jpg
https://www.levelofficelandscape.com/wp-conte … o-1920x1106.jpg

https://www.ivreacittaindustriale.it/the-map/?lang=en

Very Cool! 😀

I managed to power the machine up for the first time today!

Before I did so, I disconnected all of the power couplings from the computer itself and connected an old hard drive, in order test the power supply. (All of the voltages were within normal limits)

So I connected everything back up and threw the switch!

To my horror a tantalum capacitor on the graphics card spontaneously combusted the instant I threw the switch. Before I looked at it I knew exactly which one it would be, as it is exactly the same one which was blown on this same type of card which I saw in this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYfipSXdFN8&t=622s

I have removed the blown cap as well as the identical one next to it:

Because for now I don't have anything else to replace it, I attempted to boot the machine without the graphics card and am happy to report that it HAS LIFE!!!

The machine makes a beep as you power it up and then proceeds with its POST, the keyboard then comes active and the floppy drive reads. (num lock, caps lock and scroll lock work and the machine attempts to read the floppy drive when the enter button is pressed, it also resets with the ctrl/alt/del command!) So all seems good enough for me to look at getting a super VGA card for this machine.

This at least proves that the CPU, BIOS, drive controller and keyboard appear to work!