Ok, I have a 486 motherboard which I need help identifying. I've tried doing this myself but am not having much luck unfortunately.
If someone could help me out, it would be greatly appreciated 😀
Here are 3 photos of the board:
Not sure but it's a 386 / 486 hybrid board. Very handy to have. Also 256 KB cache.
Should make an excellent board for an AMD 386DX-40!
Well I know it works fine as I pulled it out of a working PC to replace it with an Asus PVI-486SP3 as I wanted PCI slots and to use my Intel 486 DX4-100.
Just wish I at least knew the brand of it so I had a place to start. Would be good to find a PDF manual on it.
Interesting-looking board.... has solder pads for external PS2 mouse, COM1 and VGA ports, EISA slot, and 2 extra sockets. Haven't seen a hybrid like that before.
I believe this is a very close match:
Ooohh, the pain......
wrote:Interesting-looking board.... has solder pads for external PS2 mouse, COM1 and VGA ports, EISA slot, and 2 extra sockets. Haven't seen a hybrid like that before.
I believe this is a very close match:
A very close match indeed! Almost identical. So, is the Fair Friend Enterprise Company the brand of the board as I've never heard of them before? Do you think the board is honestly any good?
wrote:So, is the Fair Friend Enterprise Company the brand of the board as I've never heard of them before?
i would say it is, haven't seen any other brand that even comes close in its layout.
wrote:Do you think the board is honestly any good?
Since you took it out of a working PC I would say yes, as long as you keep in mind its capabilities and limitations (ISA/EISA only, max CPU 486DX2-66, maxed out system cache).
Now what I'm about to say it's only speculation, but it seems to be the only thing that makes sense: this particular motherboard was originally made for commercial applications only, not for consumer use. There are two reasons for me to assume this:
- Besides th99, the only info I can find is the AMI BIOS ID (1109); no manuals or other details are available.
- Fair Friend Enterprise Company, Ltd. is still around, but only manufactures metalworking machine tools; no mention of any PCs or motherboards with their name exists anywhere (not even on the Wayback Machine).
Given this, it's probably safe to say that this motherboard was part of a PC used in a commercial setting - most likely to control a lathe or metal stamping tool. This means that no additional info is available, unfortunately; these PCs didn't come with manuals or driver disks, and if any ever existed they are long gone by now. This also explains why the th99 illustration differs slightly from your board - these were made to order according to its specific use. Unless someone else knows more, what you see on th99 is probably all the info there is for this brand.
Ooohh, the pain......
@JayCeeBee64, thanks a lot for your help 😀
The guy I bought the PC from stated that he bought the PC back in the 90's from a retail computer store. Didn't mention anything about it being used in an industrial area or similar. Who knows if he told me the truth though. All I know is that I was more concerned about the case it came with.
Anyway, after some careful consideration, I've decided to sell this one instead of using it as where I would've used it, the other 486 motherboard I have is running fine so I don't really have a need for it.
If anyone wants it, it's on eBay so just send me a PM for the details as I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the link as it may be deemed as "advertising my own stuff".
