386 update

As I have recently acquired an 3C87-33 math coprocessor from IIT, I have thought about getting back to finishing the 386 setup I have.

I managed to install the coprocessor easily, despite its bent legs. The POST test and BIOS info claims that the IC is working which is a very good info for me. Additionally I have recently acquired an 3com Etherlink II 8 bit ISA Ethernet card. This card also is installed now in the 386 machine. This means that all five ISA slots are currently occupied. wow.

Pictures update:

The inserted shiny FPU (left), next to the grim, black CPU. You migh note that the 3C87 FPU is rated for 33 MHz and the CPU is running at 40 MHz... that's true, but still the FPU works, beeing overclocked a little  (20%, heh).

Two empty 8 bit slots on thie riser for the I/O card and ethernet controller. Everything is so crammed here that I had to remove the power supply in order to put the FPU and cards inside. You might note that there are still empty RAM slots - this will be filled as soon as I get some 30 pin SIMM sticks.

3com Etherlink II ethernet (UTP and AUI) card. An 8 bit ISA NIC, a thing that you do not see often. I hope It will work properly under MS-DOS or something similar.

Everything packed together except the PSU.

PC summary from BIOS. Still no success with the FDDs. This is the only lacking hardware issue to solve now. Apart from that everything is working alright I guess.

Back connectors - an overwiew. Starting from the top left:

COM                      COM                     VGA

MIDI/Gameport         LPT                 SCSI-1

UTP        AUI           Digital I/O card bracket.

Lots of outputs :-).

Now I have to fix some minor issues with the FDD controller and install MS-DOS on this setup to run some tests (especially I would love to test the floating point math of the 3C87). After that? installing software I guess - some calculation software would be good (mathematica?) and Turbo C I guess, to develop my own software and to use the digital I/O card.