Uncreative Labs

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:38 am

PS/2 Model 56slc
What kind of co-proc can it take, it's got a 386 style co-proc socket on it, do i need an adf to install a co processor? i'm also trying to hunt down an mca sound card, i know creative made one, but can't find it, i JUST got an mca-isa reversible ethernet card, so i'm gonna give that a whirl once i find the adf files

*update*
The net-card was made by an outfit called DCA, it appears to be a DCA 007746 Revision B. Supports ISA and MCA
Uses the DCA chipset
the markings on it are these

9125AS 195692
VC5832-00002
DCA DIVINE
010616 A1

Pleeeeeeease?! i can't find anything on the net about it..

**update of the update**

what scsi adapter does this thing use??

Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 264 Location: Ohio/USA

http://www.ibmmuseum.com/OhlandL/9556/9556.html

Sound cards are rare and expensive.

Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 594 Location: Western NC

>>>"Sound cards are rare and expensive."<<<

Amen to that. And don't expect a lot out of a model 56. I've had several, all with 16-bit MCA bus (which translates into not handling WfWG/Win9x as well as a "real" 486 would). You're also limited by the CPU as well. A 486SLC is merely a "revved-up" 386sx, so it'll only utilize 16MB of RAM and has the Co-Pro issue you've already observed...

http://www.mcamafia.de/mcapage0/mcaindex.htm

http://www.computercraft.com/docs/ps2htm.shtml

Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 488 Location: pennsylvanai

I have a mca ibm 486,
I have decided it " is what it is" and no more
it is scsi and the ide is only solder blobs on the motherboard. ( the OTHER model had ide)
it has a video card and works acceptibly as a dos wfwg machine.
my wife did a yearly job for a person who still used a do app and needed data entered.
\since he has vanished for 3 years, I suppose it is safe to toss the machine.
I considered a sound card and usit for a game machine for the kids, But rapidly found no cards were
available.

Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 264 Location: Ohio/USA

wdegroot wrote:

I have a mca ibm 486,
I have decided it " is what it is" and no more
it is scsi and the ide is only solder blobs on the motherboard. ( the OTHER model had ide)
it has a video card and works acceptibly as a dos wfwg machine.
my wife did a yearly job for a person who still used a do app and needed data entered.
\since he has vanished for 3 years, I suppose it is safe to toss the machine.
I considered a sound card and usit for a game machine for the kids, But rapidly found no cards were
available.

What model is that, and are you going to recycle it?

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:59 am

Ok, for the coproc, i can slap in the green math 40mhz one i've got and it should work ok

Sound Card. I may be able to find one, but expect to pay out mianus for it.

And the scsi, i'm still confused about that one
Is the onboard the ibm fast scsi-2 adapter /a or the future domain, it says they are similar but i just don't get it on that one.

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:13 am

i also just found out what the dca card is too. it's a 3270 terminal card....

Good thing i didn't pay anything for it.....

I also did a little looking into the adf files on my machine....
Anyone know where i can find an ultimedia card?

Joined: 20 Nov 2004 Posts: 589 Location: Shandong, China

There exist sound blaster and sound blaster pro cards for the MCA bus. It is said neither are very good.

The 486SLC is a good little chip. Much faster than 386SX thanks to 16kb L1 cache. The 16mb isn't a limitation unless you're planning on running a 32-bit operating system. Most 486s never had more than 8mb anyway.

Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 488 Location: pennsylvanai

it''''s a 486 no ide but has 50 pin scsi and a separate mca video card.
there is the bermuda with scsi
and the laguna that has ide and scsi
the doc says there are some physical differences
but it's a working pc kept clean in a plastic bag
and not too heavy.
it is "looking for a home"
I read the doc and did not look at the pc as it is buried in this room. behind a desk dry and covered..

Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 594 Location: Western NC

>>>"Most 486s never had more than 8mb anyway."<<<

Well, maybe most other peoples didn't. But most of the ones I had got maxed-out when I had them (usually 32-128MB), and the first 486 I had took 8x4MB 30-pin SIMMS. Not cheap at a time when memory was about $25/MB...

NT4 used to run really nice on an old Compaq Prosignia Server w/64MB of memory. One cheat, however. The 486DX2-66 was replaced with a AMD 5x86-133 upgrade.

Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 264 Location: Ohio/USA

I upgraded my 386DX/40 to 16MB of RAM to run excel under 3.1 back in the day (the RAM was $200 or so). Pretty sure my 486 were 32MB back when they were new.

Maybe a stock DELL had 8MB.

Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 594 Location: Western NC

Yeah, I had a 386DX/33 which would take up to 64MB (16x4MB simms). Never got it past 28MB (4x4MB+12x1MB), though. Would have been nice to see what NT3.51 would have done on that one...

Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 264 Location: Ohio/USA

I recieved a Mac SE/30 a while back with its max 128MB of RAM (16MB x 8 30 pin SIMM), when the machines was new the RAM would have been uber expensive (it didn't exist).

Getting back on the subject, anybody have a model 80 with those huge propreitary RAM cards? Mine have like 2 x 2MB for 4MB of main RAM. No idea if they are any faster then the MCA RAM cards most people used.

Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 488 Location: pennsylvanai

I used the intel ram cards that held either 4 or 8 mehs of 1mb chips. ( dips)
the cards were intended for 286 machinmes and the software was limited to 16megs total
\I could use the cards in 386 and 486 machines but a query to intel told me there was not software upgrade and 16 mb was the limit.
my pcchips 486 100-120 & eventually 133 mhz
seemed to see only 84 mb.

earler faster cpus based in the intel 440? chipset only saw 128 m of ram.
even later mb with "slot" cpus and intel chipsets are picky about 256m 168pin dimms.
effectingly limiting ram to 384m.
certain 256m dimms will work.