VOGONS


First post, by radivx

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Hi,
There are plenty of motherboards on eBay, etc. which are missing slots, very often AGP or ISA
I am particularly interested in versions with ISA slot for a "jack of all trades" retro gaming PC.

Has anyone had any success just retrofitting an ISA slot to these kind of cards?

The Bonus question, what about AGP?

Some example boards:
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/msi-ms-6378-ver-3.x - Missing ISA slot
https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/asus-p … -vm-3d-rage-pro - Missing AGP slot (this card also have a version with both on-board video chip + AGP)

Reply 1 of 6, by myne

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Look for 6378 boardview /schematic .

Find a variant with isa.
Compare to one without (pics or schematic)

Look at what is missing. It is probably just a few pullup resistors.
Possibly a mosfet for -12v.

I built:
Convert old ASUS ASC boardviews to KICAD PCB!
Re: A comprehensive guide to install and play MechWarrior 2 on new versions on Windows.
Dos+Windows 3.11+tcp+vbe_svga auto-install iso template
Script to backup Win9x\ME drivers from a working install
Re: The thing no one asked for: KICAD 440bx reference schematic

Reply 2 of 6, by st31276a

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Adding the ISA slot might be possible.

The AGP slot on the ones missing it not so much - the intel “extreme” graphics IGP in the north bridge usually takes it and does not expose it to the outside. (In those cheap dell and compaq office pc’s with the pentium4 and the three pci slots, for example) Another version of the north bridge chip that costs a few cents more does, it looks like they use the same pcb for both and just omit some parts where not needed.

Reply 3 of 6, by AlexZ

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If there existed a variant of the board with ISA slot then restoration is likely. A high resolution picture of the board with ISA slot would be useful to determine any missing parts. Check version of the board with and without the ISA slot. If it's the same then probably just the ISA slot is missing. Could be an interesting fun project for someone who has the tools to add the ISA slot back.

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Reply 4 of 6, by rasteri

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With some boards you'll have to add an ISA bridge chip (e.g. IT8888). The BIOS might have to be changed too.

Reply 5 of 6, by Madao

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via VT82C686B southbirgde has ISA .

Reply 6 of 6, by myne

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Btw the first schematic is available with minimal searching

I can probably find the p2b in kicad if you want it.

See sig for generic p2b

I built:
Convert old ASUS ASC boardviews to KICAD PCB!
Re: A comprehensive guide to install and play MechWarrior 2 on new versions on Windows.
Dos+Windows 3.11+tcp+vbe_svga auto-install iso template
Script to backup Win9x\ME drivers from a working install
Re: The thing no one asked for: KICAD 440bx reference schematic