VOGONS


First post, by Dabombinable

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

A little DX-40 gem that I got given 4 years ago (along with a dead 286 and 486 board), that I haven't been able to identify at all. As far as I can tell (no working VGA card&the front panel connectors have corroded traces) the board works as far as I'm aware , since the onboard LED works and eventually the 80MB HDD makes its usual "booting DOS" noises. Would anyone know what motherboard this actually is?
Front: https://prntscr.com/kmzg4m
Back: https://prntscr.com/kmzeqw https://prntscr.com/kmzgw3

And the 286+486 (which I might have thrown out-the boards appeared to be cactus and the 486SLC was slower than the 386)
https://prntscr.com/55v3co
https://prntscr.com/55v3p4

Reply 1 of 5, by jesolo

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

That last one has a Cyrix 486SLC-40 on board.
You can have a look here to try and identify your boards: http://arvutimuuseum.ee/th99/#1
Look for something unique in terms of the layout of your boards when searching.

Reply 3 of 5, by carlostex

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

What keropi said. Please dump the BIOS of this motherboard, you can use NSSI.

Reply 4 of 5, by Dabombinable

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
keropi wrote:

does the 386DX40 mobo have a MR-BIOS bios? If yes can you dump it so we can add it to the repository?
How about a MR-BIOS ROM file repository?

I'm not sure since I don't have a VGA card that works (they are mostly monochrome, and all of them have dip switches+no manuals)-all I know is that its the original AMI BIOS chip. If it is still the original BIOS then according to the label on the edge of the motherboard, its just "386/486DX ISA BIOS AA0020535".

jesolo wrote:

That last one has a Cyrix 486SLC-40 on board.
You can have a look here to try and identify your boards: http://arvutimuuseum.ee/th99/#1
Look for something unique in terms of the layout of your boards when searching.

Brilliant!!! Thanks for the link, because going by layout will make things a lot easier. Though the board might end up being under the 486 list since it does apparently support them.

Edit:

Just looked at the image again, the largest socket is for 387DX and 486DX. This is one strange motherboard. And would fit a far better 486 than that Cyrix SLC.

Reply 5 of 5, by Jo22

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
Dabombinable wrote:

Edit:[/b]
Just looked at the image again, the largest socket is for 387DX and 486DX. This is one strange motherboard.

That's normal, I've seen that on several late Baby AT motherboards back in the day, so don't worry. 😀

Dabombinable wrote:

And would fit a far better 486 than that Cyrix SLC.

Perhaps yes, the 486SLC has a 386SX pinout, I believe. Not sure if 486SLC uses a 16 or 32-Bit data path.
The 486DLC and 486SXL do have a 386DX pinout. Main difference is L1 cache size, I recall.
Some models also use a clock doubling mechanism, but that makes little sense if the chipset has to
run on a lower speed in comparison when, say, using a 486DLC40. Anyway, I'm going slightly off-topic. 😅

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//