Uncreative Labs

Guest

I finally figured out my floppy drive problems. As I suspected, it had to do with the pin that I broke off of my Dallas clock chip. I soldered it back in place, and now all is pretty much well. It took me a while to find the correct EISA config file for my board, but it's currently working. I am running an Adaptec 2742W (wide) EISA controller with a 2.1GB 7200RPM barracuda. It seems pretty quick, but I don't have any benchmark software currently installed. The system is also running a 486DX/50, so I am using a 50MHz system bus. For those of you who have never ran a 50MHz 486, it's definetly something worth experiencing. Because of this, I am using a Mach64 ISA (VRAM) since my VLB version can't handle the high bus frequency. I don't yet know how fast this board will be, but it's the best I can do until I can get my hands on an EISA display board that is Matrox or S3 based. This system is also running 64mb using 4x30 pin SIMMs. I am thinking about upgrading to 128mb soon. I was pretty happy that this board actually supports the 16mb SIMMs. Several other boards I tried did not. I have my 3com 3c597 coming in the mail, and I am looking forward to watching this sucker scream over the network. The only two major pieces I still need to obtain are a TSENG ET4000W32P VLB card and a voltage regulator for my AMD 5x86. I am really excited about the idea of 3x50MHz (150MHz). Wish me luck!!!

Guest

Well, it looks like I have a small problem. I can't seem to get my hands on a VRM for the socket3. I might have to order one of those from Europe or something. I also think I need to get another AMD 5x86. I currently have the ADZ, and I found out the the ADW version puts out significantly less heat. I think it might even work passively, but I'll probably put on a small heatsink just to be safe. I ran into a little bit of a problem with my intel DX-50 chip. I thought I could get away with running it without a heatsink and fan since it's made on a smaller process than the other 5v 486s. Nope, it's a power pig. I can usually only get abotu 10 minutes running benchmarks before the machine locks up. I have completed benchmarks a couple of times though, and I have to say I am a little bit dissapointed by some of the results. The CPU scores are right where they should be. The memory scores are GREAT!!!! The Graphics adapter was benched at 1280x1024@256 and it managed to keep up with computers of the day....but I am definetly not impressed with the results from the harddisk. I'm only pulling between 4-6MB/sec. I've used this barracuda in a Pentium class system and I know it's capable of about 15mb/sec average transfer rates. So....something must be holding it back. Wide SCSI allows for 20MB/sec, and EISA allows up to 33MB/sec....so what could it be? I am running smartdrv.exe. Does smart drive work well with SCSI controllers? Perhaps there is something I missed in the SCSI BIOS. I really need to figure this one out!!!

Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 169 Location: behind you!

Once you get it running it will smoke even a p60/66 system. With a 5x86 at 150 it will score about on par with a p90 or 100 system. The eisa bus is a huge leap over isa and it's compatible with isa cards unlike pci. I have 3 eisa systems (all compaq. one socket 5 and two 486's).

The DX50 must have a heatsink and fan. A 5x86 also must have a heatsink/fan and I recommend modding a good socket 7 heatsink for this (if you keep the chip cool you should hit 150mhz with ease) With either I suggest thermal compound or a thermal pad(items almost unknown back in the 486 days) to help things.

Guest

Ah, it's nice to know that somebody other than myself can appreciate the EISA bus. I am curious as to what kind of EISA hardware you are running. What are you doing as far as a display adapters go?

Anyway, I am trying to avoid active cooling at all costs. I don't want to deal with the extra noise of a CPU fan, and I don't like worrying about replacing them when they die. I think if I stick with an ADW I should be fine. Many people have reported the ADW running than the SX-33s that they replace. I have a really great heatsink to use on my chip though...it's probably one of the best 486 heatsinks ever made. The heatnsink is just over half an ince high, and is held in place by a plastic bracket and a wire retaining clip. I'll have to take some pictures...it's pretty neat.

Guest

More parts are on the way.

In the mail....
-Mach64 VRAM upgrade
-another 64mb in 30pin SIMMs

Soon to be mine....
-Powerleap VRM for Socket3
-Boca Research IOAT55

The following components are still needed:

-Tseng ET4000W32p VLB card with 2mb
-STB Lightspeed
-Hercules Dynamite Pro
-Diamond Stealth 32

-Full sized desktop Gateway 2000 case & AnyKey keyboard
-I saw one on ebay last month in mint condition!!!! I'm such an idiot.

-An EISA video coprocessor with 3MB+ of video memory
-This one might take my several years to find, but they do exist

-A quiet 7200RPM WIDE SCSI drive
-My 2.1GB Barracuda is LOUD!!!!

I think that's really all I can do to this machine without horribly ruining it's 486ness. PCI is just simply out of the question. What else is left to buy? An NEC 17" CRT?

Guest

This TMC EISA motherboard of mine has the ability to take up to 512k of cache memory, but the sockets for the higher density chips do not look like they are of standard size. They are the correct length, but slightly wider than the standard 1024mbit density chips. Does anybody know where I can get some of these, or how I can build an adapter to use standard chips? I am looking for 12ns or 15ns parts. The faster the better. I need to run 50Mhz 0WS.

Guest

This TMC EISA motherboard of mine has the ability to take up to 512k of cache memory, but the sockets for the higher density chips do not look like they are of standard size. They are the correct length, but slightly wider than the standard 1024mbit density chips. Does anybody know where I can get some of these, or how I can build an adapter to use standard chips? I am looking for 12ns or 15ns parts. The faster the better. I need to run 50Mhz 0WS.

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

SCORE!!!!

I just landed a wonderful buy on ebay!!! A Hercules Dynamite Power VL with 2MB. Comes with the original box and manual. I've been looking for one of these damn ET4000 cards for three months now!!! I believe the hercules is considered to be the best of them. I was willing to settle for a Cardex or a Diamond...but this hercules is just great!!! I have also found a VRM which I will be bidding on shortly.

Also, my extra 64mb in 30pin memory came in today. Something's a bit funny though. Though the memory test counts all the way up to 128MB, the CMOS setup only reports 64mb, and so does the table that lists off system specifications. My software is also only seeing 64mb as well. I still need to try a newer version of himem.sys. If I can get the extra 64mb going, I will probably use it as a RAMdrive.

Joined: 04 Oct 2004 Posts: 114 Location: ~/

The XMS device driver (himem.sys) included with MS-DOS versions prior to version 7 will only see 64 MB. Try copying himem.sys from a Win95 OSR2 or Win98 installation or boot diskette.
Better yet, use FreeDOS since it is still developed and supported. Smile

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

How do I rob the Windows 98 CD of it's DOS installation files without actually having to install Windows 98? I wish to run MS-DOS 7.xx.

Joined: 04 Oct 2004 Posts: 114 Location: ~/

Just boot from a Win98 boot diskette and sys c: (or format c: /s), then copy the \WINDOWS\COMMAND directory from a Win98 installation. You can probably extract (what would be) the contents of \COMMAND (after installing Win98) manually from the cabinet files on the Win98 CD if you don't have access to a Win98 installation.

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

I have encountered some difficulties with my EISA system. The first is the problem with the memory configuration. While this board supposedly supports 128MB in 30 pin SIMM, I can only seem to use 64MB...even though it counts the full 128MB at startup. I have tried many versions of HIMEM.SYS using various parameters. Might this have anything to do with the fact that I only have 256kb of cache memory installed? I cannot test 512kb, because the board seems to use non-standard SRAM modules. I am considering going to a new board. Either the AIR 486EI or a Tyan of some sort.

The second problem is with the video adapter. I had originally planned to use two display adapters in my system. The ATi seems to support this setup, but the Hercules Dynamite Power VLB card I am using states in it's manual that it does not. Therefore, I must choose between the two. I would like to use the Hercules since it is faster, but I am having problems with the driver crashing in windows. I have no yet determined if this is due to running at 50MHz, or because the card is conflicting with my Adaptec SCSI controller (an int13 device). I plan to drop the bus down to 33MHz later, but I am too lazy to change the jumper settings at the moment. If I have to go back to the Mach64, I will probably use that until I can locate an EISA ELSA Winner2000 Pro card, which is based on the S3 chipset. The Tseng card is pretty bloody fast in DOS however. A real shame I might not be able to use it.

I still have not recieved my 3.3V adapter yet, but I expect it to arrive any day now. I would also expect it to create further stability problems for me. The adapter is made by powerleap, and it would appear to have all the bells and whistles I require. I plan to try using both the Cyrix and AMD 5x86 chips. I will go with whichever one is faster. I plan to run at 50MHz...even if that means scrapping the VLB card. Well. I think that's about it for now. I will report back in one week.

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

Well, it looks like this project is going to have to be put on the shelf for a little while. I recieved my 3.3V adapter but have hit a roadblock. The adapter I bought is made by powerleap and does not have a model number printed on it, but I believe it is a very early revision of the "PL/586" adapter. I can't find the jumper settings for this adapter, though I can find settings for the later revisions. Anyway, I was playing around with the regulator for a while, and I was actually able to get my system to boot up at 150MHz, however it was not very stable. I supect it had something to do with the writeback cache setting. However, all of a sudden the adapter stopped working entirely. I tried several other 3.3V CPUs with no luck whatsoever. I suspect that the voltage regulator itself is somehow fried as it nolonger seems to get hot. Fortunately, it should be an easy fix....but I don't have the time to test it or repair it. I am hoping that another regulator will show up on ebay....one with documentation this time.

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

I haven't had any luck finding another 3.3v adapter yet....but, I did manage to find another goody. a 4MB EISA display adapter with the S3-928 chipset....this should be pretty interesting.

Guest

seems some of the problems you are having sound familiar.
I was limited to 64 mb on a pcchips m571 mb while running dos 6.22 and wfwg, it was a pantium/ amd k6 capable board and i was running an amd k6-2 -300. it would clock up to whatever i had installed but dos or wfwg would not "see" above 64megs. someone suggested it was a chipset limitation.

64meg 30 pin.. WOW i was never able to find 30 p chips larger than 4 megs!
I heard rumors of 30 p 16 meg chips. but never saw one.
I recall when i upgraded from 8megs of ram to 20 megs wfwg really speeded up!

w98 " dos". there is supposedly a patch for the dos "7 & 8 "
that lets you run the windows 3.x versions. If you are interested.

I tried NT 3.51 ( looks like wfwg) nut it had limited driver support, esp for video cards.