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Identify 386SX Motherboard

alejack12001

alejack12001

Experienced Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2020
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417
Location
Fredericksburg, VA
Unknown motherbaord picture.jpg

The above motherboard was extracted from a Gateway 386SX-16 machine. However, I cannot seem to find any markings to identify the manufacturer of the board. If anyone could help, it would be appreciated. The closeup is the BIOS manufacturer.
 

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Is there a sticker on the side of one of the ISA slots ?, That board looks like it has suffered a battery leak ???
 
Well if it's original to the computer it would be manufactured for/by Gateway. And yeah that battery needs to come off ASAP. It might already be too late to save, there is a lot of corrosion.
 
Battery is off the first thing. I am not finding much information on the board, regarding the jumpers, external battery connections and the like. According to Compute Magaziine, Gateway marketed a 2000 series as the 386SX-16 in 1991. There is got to be a users manual for this product, but, where to find it.
 
The PLCC socket for the FPU on this board looks really interesting. I haven't seen one like that before.
The SIMM sockets are also unusual. I HAVE seen those before, and they were kind of a pain in the arse.
 
Plasma: you were right there was some battery leakage, however, there seems to be a lot of copper corrosion as seen in the picture. So, I am now seeking the best method to clean this corrosion without damage to the board?
 

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Vinegar will neutralize the corrosion (rinse with isopropyl alcohol). I've never had good luck getting all the corrosion out once it reaches the ISA slots. But maybe someone else will have a technique.
 
The board I initially posted did have a name engraved on the reverse side of the board where the FTK is shown. I have been able to find a source that illustrated this board on their website when the FTK was in better condition. The source was https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ftk-friend-386sx-16-motherboard-isa-3860140477 . I haven’t been able to find any information on the motherboard under the FTK logo other than the board being built in Taiwan, ROC.

I am seeking information on this board mainly jumpers such as JP8 near the keyboard bios and JP9 (poorly marked) near slot 8 as well as another jumper near U11. I don’t know the purpose of any of these jumpers.
 

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I think I may have a real lemon here as the keyboard BIOS chip didn't take much effort to remove and the corrosion appears to have eaten through the keyboard bios chip holder. I don't have the ability to move this socket or re-seat a new socket because of a directed tremor in my hands. Unless I can find someone to do this, I believe I am stuck.

Thanks for all the help.
 

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It looks like there is also corrosion on the PSU connector and the traces have some pretty serious damage. In theory it can be repaired if you replace enough components and run jumper wires but IMO it's not worth it.

If you are trying to restore the Gateway, you could replace it with an SC386SX which is very similar. (Or any baby AT motherboard really.)
 
Plasma: There is even more that I didn't show in the picture. Initially you saw the battery had leaked. Well it ate through the copper connections that were adjacent to the battery location. There are broken cap's, corrosion on some of the chips and as you saw corrosion in the power connector. No, this set of posts is a follow-up to an earlier post on a IBM 286 that I was restoring. It was suggested that I replace that motherboard with a 386. The seller has initiated a refund my payment and I can keep the board. Frankly, I don't know what I will do with it. There is no schematic diagram to define say the broken cap's, which are probably bias caps in the pf range, but what size, I don't know. The power connector would have to come off along with the corroded chips and the socket that I mentioned. I'd have to find some sort of wire to replace the corroded copper connections eaten by the battery acid. Yeah its not worth the time or effort.
 
alejack12001 said:
View attachment 1241161

The above motherboard was extracted from a Gateway 386SX-16 machine. However, I cannot seem to find any markings to identify the manufacturer of the board. If anyone could help, it would be appreciated. The closeup is the BIOS manufacturer.
Click to expand...
Hi,

I have a fair bit of knowledge on early Gateway 2000 machines - I may be able to help identify this board some more. This board may be from an early Gateway before they changed the design of their cases in early 1991 - I'm basing this off of the 1989 Copyright on the chips. Do you happen to have a photo of the original machine you sourced this from - that could help us narrow the search.

Hope you are well,

-bostonvintage1993
 
Looks like a few boards I own, except mine are socketed. The chipset is called NeatSX. Get some naval jelly and water it down a tad and spray the whole board down and let it sit a few hours, then rinse it off with soap and water really well. That should get it mostly clean! And works way better then vinegar.
 
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