I would consider VLB to be classic, or at least "legacy". I guess it depends on the definition. I don't think any VLB cards have been shipped for quite some time. They were mainly a 486 class bus. Did any Pentium or 386 class motherboards come with VLB slots?

> Chad Fernandez skrev: > > >I would consider VLB to be classic, or at least "legacy". I guess it > >depends on the definition. I don't think any VLB cards have been > >shipped for quite some time. They were mainly a 486 class bus. Did any > >Pentium or 386 class motherboards come with VLB slots? > > I think I've got a Pentium VLB mobo laying about in the public spaces

Based on OPTI chipset and very poor quality, works w/ 1 72pin simm but severely penalizes performance. Pair up of memory simms and performance improves but not as fast as true pentium chipsets. Some of them can be set up either 486 or pentium.

AST uses still-born CUPID slot. Usually grouped of 3 slots. I have seen 386dx, 486 CPUID cards but they don't exhange easily on different AST CUPID motherboard. I know because I have done that before. AST did make pentium CPUID cards also. > Another odd PC mobo I've got is a 486 board with ISA, possible VLB as well, > and a DX-50 Overdrive processor. Well, that's not so strange, but in the > middle of the board, there is a DIN connector, like a VME or Nubus

Sounds like AMI board for 486 or cache card upgrade for that DIN connector. I had this one before (386dx 25 version (baby AT w/ bit of left edge bit wider than rear half. That also has this DIN style connector for 486 upgrade). Very nice! I think that model I had was type 19 or 39 (386-486). Would like to find one again. The bizarre motherboard I can think of using 386sx style CPU based on IBM 486SLC2 50 w/ 2 VLB slots and 64K cache room for extra 64K for 128K total. It does work but performance stank due to 32 bits vlb crimped down to 16 then back up 32 and vice vesa. A vendor made them for IBM and IBM used them in their "early clones" machine. Took me long time to find the jumper info. Ugh. VLB was originally designed for 486 but also works w/ 386dx cpus based on OPTI. I had one but dumped it because the designer of it wasn't doing good job of it w/ certain cards espcially ATI Ultra in 16bit bios mode is dead. In 8 bit mode works but very slow. Cheers, Wizard

Ok, i know i see flames coming on this one but i have to ask, hell, it's for my mother. Does anyone have a spare AT pentium board with docs? Hers was for a 386/486/P90 when the P90's were new and it died the horrible death of blown circuits. She really loved the machine and i'm looking for a way to give it back to her working once again. No Sridhar, put the hammer down, hehe. Anyone have any ideas, it had 2 VESA Local Bus slots, 3 ISA and 2 PCI? I'm willing to pay reasonably for it, even more if it actually has a chip on it. I have an original Zoom 14.4 VFX14.4V Serial modem with working power block and DB25M/F Serial cable (components dated 1991 and 1993 - probably cuz this is the voice/fax model). Was the like the one used in that stupid movie "Hackers" and is only missing the black semi-see-through faceplate. I'd toss that up for grabs with money for anyone who can help me out. And yes, still working on figuring out all of the damned SOL stuff. Chandra, if Newburgh (45 mins from Danbury) isn't too far from Boston, let me know, the SOL's still here. -John At 03:27 AM 10/27/01, you wrote: >I saw a '386 motherboard with VLB slots on Tuesday, but didn't bite. It >took me >WAY too long to give away all my old '386's, and the only one I kept was one >that uses a '287 coprocessor, just for interest. > >more below ... > >Dick > >----- Original Message ----- >From: <jpero(a)sympatico.ca> >To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> >Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 6:34 PM >Subject: Re: VLB SCSI? > > > > > Date: 26 Oct 2001 22:36:6 +0100 > > > From: "Iggy Drougge" <optimus(a)canit.se> > > > Subject: Re: VLB SCSI? > > > To: "Chad Fernandez" <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> > > > Reply-to: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > > > > > Chad Fernandez skrev: > > > > > > >I would consider VLB to be classic, or at least "legacy". I guess it > > > >depends on the definition. I don't think any VLB cards have been > > > >shipped for quite some time. They were mainly a 486 class bus. Did

---------------------------------------- Founder, Lead Writer, Tech Analyst and Web Designer Boff-Net Technologies http://boff-net.dhs.org/index.html ---------------------------------------

I saw a '386 motherboard with VLB slots on Tuesday, but didn't bite. It took me WAY too long to give away all my old '386's, and the only one I kept was one that uses a '287 coprocessor, just for interest.

from Nokia) into the 286 socket, how will the clock frequency be derived? Will

If you're going to use it as a server, e.g. under Netware, you don't need a hot processor. The disk I/O proceeds via DMA at the rate at which the drives can go, and the network I/O does too. The CPU is idle much of the time, since it really only manages the transfers and handles directories. With one or two people, 4 at the most, even a '386SX-16 would be plenty.

I was hired to worry those matters. Nevertheless, I've got a '386 motherboard sitting downstairs somewhere that uses a '287 rather than the usual '387. I

didn't buy it for that reason, but I did keep it for that reason. If I'd gotten enough documentation to explain what was going on, I'd have more info for you, but with the PC-"standard" falling apart with the release of the '386, because IBM no longer provided a firm ISA-equipped standard that everyone else could clone, there was nothing but chaos, and that's the way it's been ever since. The whole concept of "standard" was corrupted in the course of this evolutionary step, and it was a step into the quagmire we're all swimming in today.

BTW, if that "bulky old PSU" still works, I'd happily relieve you of the fan and PSU board, and pay you for the freight, except for where you're located. I find

The ISA Ram will run at the ISA rate, which is not terribly fast, but it's normally as fast as the CPU requires. Unfortunately, the ISA clock is a STANDARD, at 8 MHz, so, even in cases where the CPU runs at 10 or 12 MHz, (I've got one that runs at 24), the ISA is still limited by that 8 MHz clock.

Dick

Richard Erlacher skrev: >I saw a '386 motherboard with VLB slots on Tuesday, but didn't bite. It

287? I didn't think that would be possible. Don't they use different length arithmetic, just to name one difference?

The bizarre motherboard I can think of using 386sx style CPU based on IBM 486SLC2 50 w/ 2 VLB slots and 64K cache room for extra 64K for 128K total. It does work but performance stank due to 32 bits vlb crimped down to 16 then back up 32 and vice vesa. A vendor made them for IBM and IBM used them in their "early clones" machine. Took me long time to find the jumper info. Ugh.

I would consider VLB to be classic, or at least "legacy". I guess it depends on the definition. I don't think any VLB cards have been shipped for quite some time. They were mainly a 486 class bus. Did any Pentium or 386 class motherboards come with VLB slots?

The combination of VLB and PCI apparently is the only way you can use fast ethernet together with solid, reliable, proven SCSI. ISA doesn't support fast ethernet, and from what I've seen, neither does VLB, though those 2842's are hard to beat. The 2940's surely don't do the job. I've still got about 75 of them out there that I visit from time to time, and their owners are, in nearly all cases loath to part with them. They give little or no trouble, all but half a dozen or so are running Win95 or 98 with few complaints. That one particular board seems to have had the formula.

The combination of VLB and PCI apparently is the only way you can use fast ethernet together with solid, reliable, proven SCSI. ISA doesn't support fast ethernet, and from what I've seen, neither does VLB, though those 2842's are hard to beat. The 2940's surely don't do the job. I've still got about 75 of them out there that I visit from time to time, and their owners are, in nearly all cases loath to part with them. They give little or no trouble, all but half a dozen or so are running Win95 or 98 with few complaints. That one particular board seems to have had the formula.

EISA was, by the time the Pentiums came out, pretty much a dead duck.

Compaq made plenty of EISA based Pentium servers. Chad Fernandez Michigan, USA Richard Erlacher wrote: > EISA > was, by the time the Pentiums came out, pretty much a dead duck.

YES! I own an annoying Compaq Proliant 2000 server, pure EISA with a P90 and a backplane for all the other baords (CPU, RAM expansion, etc.) It has a nice 2 channel Fast-20 Narrow SCSI controller and a nifty Ethernet card that has all the connectors (AUI, TP and 9pin D-sub) so, with a daughtercard, it turns into 16/4 TokenRing. At 10:39 PM 10/26/01, you wrote: ---------------------------------------- Founder, Lead Writer, Tech Analyst and Web Designer Boff-Net Technologies http://boff-net.dhs.org/index.html ---------------------------------------

What I dislike about either system is that it's so awfully software-based. IMO you can't really can't call MCA or EISA plug'n'play. That entire business with reference partitions (my own Prosignia is dormant since I overwrote its "BIOS" while installing OpenBSD), ADFs and config files is not much more elegant than jumpers. Yes, EISA had a good selection of SCSI. And the PC has a good selection of software. That's no reason to like either, though. ;-) -- En ligne avec Thor 2.6a. Life begins at '030. Fun begins at '040. Impotence begins at '86.

Some like my 8573-121 use a reference disk instead. Anytime you add or remove a board you use the setup disk to copy the appropriate ADF file to that disk and it sets it up. I think it's a bit easier to manage than the reference partition. Jeff -- Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File http://www.cchaven.com http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757

I never really liked Eisa much because of the little problem caused when the user no longer has his setup disk... Having it in Rom is pretty nice and solves that problem completely.

As for not being able to assign interrupts for PNP, it isn't really true. Depends on your Bios make and rev. Some you deny all IRQ's but the ones you want the system to assign, some you set the irqs you want the systems to assign, some you can't customize at all. My PNP bios is set to exclude irq 11 from it's PNP table of available resources thereby allowing my Adaptec scsi isa controller to sieze that interrupt as it is shunted to take 11.

Douglas Quebbeman skrev: I've got some nice motherboards with both ISA, PCI and VLB. =) But it's hardly a decade old, and only dead since about five years... -- En ligne avec Thor 2.6a. Haben Sie schon mal einen Wegweiser gesehen, der selbst den Weg geht, den er weist? --- Ludwig XV (K?nig von Frankreich, 1710-1774)