All my content and ptohos
Slimline 386DX
Here we have an early, but higher-end 386 computer,
made at late 1992. These times most computers were 286s, so 386 had to
visually stand out - and this one does, it is built in a slimline case.
These cases were smaller than desktop ones, their height was smaller
than height of an ISA board. How it was possible to install boards in
it? Boards were installed parallel to the mainboard by using special
riser card.
In this computer, we have rather high-end components as for 1992. CPU is
socketed, so it is from time when people were thinking that there will
be faster 386 (in fact, there was no faster 386 than Intel's 33MHz and
AMD's 40MHz). Trident 512kB VGA board allows to work in 800x600 in 256
colours. And hard disk is bigger than 100MB while in early 1990s 60 or
80MB was known as too large for one user. As in all computers from this
age, it has 2 floppy drives: One for 5.25" disks and one for 3.5".
| Approx. year | Early 1993 |
|
| Class | AT | |
| CPU | AMD Am386DX | |
| Speed | 40MHz | |
| RAM | 8MB (8x1MB, SIMM30) | |
| ROM | AMI BIOS | |
| Mainboard | PC Chips M321 (TH99) | |
| Graphics | Trident TVGA9000i, 512kB, 16-bit ISA |
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| Sound | PC Speaker | |
| Ports I/O | Super I/O card (manual below) | |
| Network | None | |
| System expansion bus | 6x 16-bit ISA slot 2x 8-bit ISA slot |
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| Floppy/removable media drives | 1x 3.5" 1.44MB floppy
disk drive 1x 5.25" 1.2MB floppy disk drive |
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| Hard disks/ATA devices: | WD Caviar 1170 (170MB, PATA) CHS: 1010/6/55 |
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Peripherals in collection: |
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| Other boards:
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None | |
| Casing | SLimline AT with riser | |
| Non-standard expansions: | None | |
| Operating system(s): | MS-DOS 6.22 + Windows 3.11 For Workgroups |
Because I know this unit since it was purchased, I can
track the history of it very well. It was bought for one University in
Poland in late 1992/early 1993, and it was the fastest unit in this
University until someone got 486 in 1994. It was used there sometimes by
few people by using multiple document directories, and it was my first
computer when I was young. It came with 14-inch color Cordata monitor,
keyboard and Dexxa mouse, I preserved these components with manuals and
the display is still used as my service monitor.
Soon after purchasing, problems started to emerge. 120MB Xebec drive got
some bad sectors and they were cut out by partitions... lots of
partitions. Taking into account that hard disk became compressed, a
whole number of drive leters oscillated around 8. Next, cache memory
failed and the computer has been sent to service. The service disabled
cache memory in BIOS Setup and "evaporated" (read: stolen) 4MB of RAM,
so only 4MB left from 8MB. Such "repairs" were, and still are frequent
in Poland. Currently it is restored back to original 8MB configuration.
The most frequently used programs were TAG word processor, Quattro Pro
spreadsheet and, for writing papers with illustrations, Ami Pro under
Windows 3.11.
The computer has been used this way until 1998 or 1999 when hard disk
finally gave up. There were tries to install first edition of Win95 on
it, but it was unusable on 4MB of RAM. Finally, the machine was replaced
near 1999 and put to storage being a source of 3.5" disk drive, finally
being erased from inventory as electronic junk in 2004 when I acquired
it (this awful photo is from November 2004).
Since begining there was no front sticker on it, I put this blue "LM"
one ca. 2006. I used it in my retrocomputing projects (some were
described on now-defunct starepro.info portal), finally restoring it to
near-initial condition near 2010.
| Contents: | Starting, usage | Drivers |
Starting
Very typical 386 mainboard. Del to enter Setup. AMI BIOS.
The casing is in a "slim" style. It is not as high as desktop one, and boards are plugged into riser, so they go in parallel to mainboard plane. The problem with these cases is that you need to remove many parts to get into mainboard as everything is quite condensed.
Slimline cases usually have small or no vents in front. This particulas case has no opening for air coming into case, but has power supply fan pulling the fan from inside the case. In a small space of slim case, it can cause overheating but there is something more - all aitr comes into casing through floppy disk drives. When I cleaned 5.25" drive, I pulled a good few cubic inches of dust in form of "balls" from underside of the drive mechanics.
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Super I/O card manual |
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TVGA9000i manual |
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M321 AMI BIOS ver. 910505 |
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Trident TVGA9000 (DOS/Win3.x) |
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TVGA9000i driver disk files recovered from original disk. |
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Dexxa mouse driver disk - with Rainbow Paint |