VOGONS


First post, by stalk3r

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Hi guys, I have this very compact ALI M1429 based motherboard , but cannot find the jumper settings for it. Someone might be able to recognize the model? Thanks

EDIT: I have found it based on the AMIBIOS ID, it's a Seritech Ser-386ad3

7dnIS5P.jpg

Reply 1 of 13, by computerguy08

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This is a Seritech 386-ADIII.

https://arvutimuuseum.ee/th99/m/S-T/32373.htm

I have this board as well, great 386DX machine.

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Reply 2 of 13, by stalk3r

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computerguy08 wrote on 2020-08-10, 10:31:
This is a Seritech 386-ADIII. […]
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This is a Seritech 386-ADIII.

https://arvutimuuseum.ee/th99/m/S-T/32373.htm

I have this board as well, great 386DX machine.
386ad3.jpg

Does yours work with 128K cache ? I tried to jumper it according to the manual, but it says BAD CACHE during boot. It boots normally when it jumpered to 32K, which is strange because the SRAM chips are 32K x 8 (i.e. 128k).

Reply 3 of 13, by computerguy08

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stalk3r wrote on 2020-08-10, 11:01:

Does yours work with 128K cache ? I tried to jumper it according to the manual, but it says BAD CACHE during boot. It boots normally when it jumpered to 32K, which is strange because the SRAM chips are 32K x 8 (i.e. 128k).

I had to fight this issue for a long time as well, it was saying "Cache memory bad. Do not enable cache" for me as well.

At first, I saw corrosion near the battery and cache sockets and I thought that was the issue. Fixed that, still reported bad cache.

In the end, it turned out that the cache tag chip was bad, I replaced the bad chip and it booted fine with 128KB of cache installed.

Reply 4 of 13, by stalk3r

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computerguy08 wrote on 2020-08-10, 11:16:
I had to fight this issue for a long time as well, it was saying "Cache memory bad. Do not enable cache" for me as well. […]
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stalk3r wrote on 2020-08-10, 11:01:

Does yours work with 128K cache ? I tried to jumper it according to the manual, but it says BAD CACHE during boot. It boots normally when it jumpered to 32K, which is strange because the SRAM chips are 32K x 8 (i.e. 128k).

I had to fight this issue for a long time as well, it was saying "Cache memory bad. Do not enable cache" for me as well.

At first, I saw corrosion near the battery and cache sockets and I thought that was the issue. Fixed that, still reported bad cache.

In the end, it turned out that the cache tag chip was bad, I replaced the bad chip and it booted fine with 128KB of cache installed.

Interesting... do you remember if yours booted with 32K cache before the fix, or only with no cache at all. Because mine works with 32k (it's also detected by cachechk), so I am wondering if it something else than the TAG chip (otherwise it would not work with 32k) . Thanks for the suggestion though!

Reply 5 of 13, by stalk3r

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I have replaced the TAG chip, but it didn't help. But then I replaced all SRAM chips and it boots and detects 128K. Too bad the the new chips are 20ns ones instead of 15. At least it works.

EDIT: this one is a beast 😀 It does 23.2 in 3DBench which is pretty much the top of all 386 platforms on the result database : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QGOxl … gx3U/edit#gid=0

Reply 6 of 13, by Deksor

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Well it's not that surprising considering you have a 486DLC-40 ^^
(the chipset is probably a good one as well)

Trying to identify old hardware ? Visit The retro web - Project's thread The Retro Web project - a stason.org/TH99 alternative

Reply 7 of 13, by stalk3r

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Deksor wrote on 2020-08-10, 14:00:

Well it's not that surprising considering you have a 486DLC-40 ^^
(the chipset is probably a good one as well)

I mean it tops the list including other 486 DLCs

Reply 9 of 13, by stalk3r

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Deksor wrote on 2020-08-10, 14:29:

Correct, what video card did you use ?

Actually both of these had the same result: Cirrus Logic 5422 ISA and Trident 8900 CL-B.
+tightest memory settings with AT CLK2/5

Reply 10 of 13, by computerguy08

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stalk3r wrote on 2020-08-10, 11:44:

Interesting... do you remember if yours booted with 32K cache before the fix, or only with no cache at all.

stalk3r wrote on 2020-08-10, 12:07:

I have replaced the TAG chip, but it didn't help. But then I replaced all SRAM chips and it boots and detects 128K. Too bad the the new chips are 20ns ones instead of 15. At least it works.

For me, it didn't work with 32KB cache setting either. Though, it was likely because my tag chip was bad, so it didn't matter what jumper settings I had, it wouldn't have worked anyways.

Yours happened to have bad cache chips instead, glad you were able to figure it out in the end.

I'm using my board with a RT3105, definitely not the fastest ISA card out there, but I chose it for the low profile form factor. It has to fit into this case.

Reply 13 of 13, by Am386DX-40

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Sorry to bump this thread, but I have the exact same motherboard (great performer btw!) and I'm having problems using it with an FPU. I've already tried 2 of them (both of them are IIT 4C87DLC-40) and it hangs at boot time. I've tried EVERYTHING with no positive results.

Can any of you guys check yours and see if they behave the same (provided you have an FPU to test)? I'm suspecting jumpers JP10 near the FPU socket. I've found no reference to what they do. Stason says "Factory configured, do not alter" but their position on the board just next to the socket makes me wonder...