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Socket 7 system build

As far as I can tell Jimmy, this one will be fine. I just need to find the parallel and serial ports to connect to the headers. That shouldn't be too hard. However, if there is a problem, I'll let you know and we'll go from there.

As always, thanks much.
 
I have a single TV/monitor in my computer hobby room. It has a 32 inch Hi-Def LCD screen. Right now, I have my current tweener, a TRS-80 Coco, Commodore 64, and occasionally, my Compaq portable. They all work fine with the setup, although I dare anyone to go behind the table to untangle the mess of cables and wires I have to support all of the connections.

Indeed, it sounds like I will have fun with this build. Like I said in my reply to Jimmy; I'll have to locate the parallel and serial ports that connect to the boards headers. But, even if those can't be found, there are alternatives. And since the board will also accept USB, well that's even better, because I just happen to have a great 3.5" internal universal card reader, or I can add a dual USB port that fills the same space.

Any idea where to find the ports to connect to the boards headers?

Agent Orange said:
bettablue:

That's a nice board. I think you'd really get a big kick out of WIN95 on that machine as opposed to WIN31. You can always independently dual boot your box with System Commander or something similar. WIN95 will support most (all) of your DOS stuff. See if you can get a little more info on you CPU and how much RAM you have installed. What about a monitor? Do you plan on a CRT or flat screen?
Click to expand...
 
Thomas:

This should be the specs on the board. I need to rummage around in the junk room and see what else I can find that may work with the board.

Model AP53
CPU: Socket 7
FSB 66MHz
Support Intel SKT 7 Pentium, AMD K5/K6, Cyrix M2
Chipset: Intel 430HX
Main Memory : 72-pin SIMM
Support ECC
4/8/16/32/64/128MB
FPM/EDO DRAM
Max Memory : 512MB
L2 cache: L2 cache : 512K
IDE: Integrated PIO mode 4 Controller
Max Disk : 8.4GB [24 bits BIOS INT13 Spec.]
Slot: PCI
ISA
Storage & Back Panel I/O: IDE Channel : PIO mode 4
Floppy Drive Connector : Floppy Drive Connector x 1
Printer Port : Printer Port x 1
COM Port : COM Port x 1
On Board Connector: CPU FAN
Front Panel Connector : Front Panel
BIOS: AMI PnP Flash ROM BIOS
Form Factor: Baby AT
Board Size: 220 mm x 330 mm
Accessory: Floppy Disk cable
40-wire IDE cable
 
Stone said:
Here's a large selection on eBay:
Click to expand...

Thanks stone... I followed your link and already found several items I like. However, like I've said many times before... I really do know absolutely nothing about these boards, or really anything until I began actually troubleshooting, and then I've never had to piece together a setup like this. I'm including links to each of the items I intend to purchase, so hopefully you'll all be able to tell if I'm getting the right things. As with all things, it's good to learn. And I'm actually learning something.

Yes, this is really already turning into a fun build. By looking at the items I chose to link to below, I think you should be able to see what I'm doing.

Parallel Port on bracket
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Parallel-LP...674?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337df6d9aa

Dual Serial Port on bracket
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-in-1-2-po...rial_PS_2_Cables_Adapters&hash=item484ede95e3

USB PS2 on bracket
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-USB-2-..._USB_Cables_Hubs_Adapters&hash=item43b4138cd6
However, I think I already have a 4 port USB bracket with the mobo connectors. Still, I think this will be a simple way for adding USB, AND dual PS2 ports for the keyboard and mouse.

Lastly: If the mobo accepts 3 floppy drives, or possibly an internal USB connection, I would also like to get a 3.5" multi-card reader to occupy the 2nd 3.5" expansion bay.


OK, there you have it; my shopping list. Did I miss anything?
 
I just read the specs that Jimmy posted. This will be a problem. Since the board only has support for one floppy, I won't be able to use it for what I really need it for. Everything else looks great, and the items I selected should all make this a fantastic computer otherwise, but I really do need dual floppy support. #.5" 1.44 Meg, and 5.25" floppy drives cant work together without it.

So, Jimmy, if you have another board that does support dual floppy drives, let me know and I'll send this board back to you. Since I bought the case, and can't return it, I'll need an AT style mobo. Unless there is an option that I'm not aware of.

bettablue said:
Thanks stone... I followed your link and already found several items I like. However, like I've said many times before... I really do know absolutely nothing about these boards, or really anything until I began actually troubleshooting, and then I've never had to piece together a setup like this. I'm including links to each of the items I intend to purchase, so hopefully you'll all be able to tell if I'm getting the right things. As with all things, it's good to learn. And I'm actually learning something.

Yes, this is really already turning into a fun build. By looking at the items I chose to link to below, I think you should be able to see what I'm doing.

Parallel Port on bracket
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Parallel-LP...674?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337df6d9aa

Dual Serial Port on bracket
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-in-1-2-po...rial_PS_2_Cables_Adapters&hash=item484ede95e3

USB PS2 on bracket
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-USB-2-..._USB_Cables_Hubs_Adapters&hash=item43b4138cd6
However, I think I already have a 4 port USB bracket with the mobo connectors. Still, I think this will be a simple way for adding USB, AND dual PS2 ports for the keyboard and mouse.

Lastly: If the mobo accepts 3 floppy drives, or possibly an internal USB connection, I would also like to get a 3.5" multi-card reader to occupy the 2nd 3.5" expansion bay.


OK, there you have it; my shopping list. Did I miss anything?
Click to expand...
 
You'll be able to use both types of floppy disk drives on the same ribbon cable connectred to the single on board floppy header on the mobo.
 
bettablue said:
Thanks stone... I followed your link and already found several items I like. However, like I've said many times before... I really do know absolutely nothing about these boards, or really anything until I began actually troubleshooting, and then I've never had to piece together a setup like this. I'm including links to each of the items I intend to purchase, so hopefully you'll all be able to tell if I'm getting the right things. As with all things, it's good to learn. And I'm actually learning something.

Yes, this is really already turning into a fun build. By looking at the items I chose to link to below, I think you should be able to see what I'm doing.

Parallel Port on bracket
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Parallel-LP...674?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337df6d9aa

Dual Serial Port on bracket
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-in-1-2-po...rial_PS_2_Cables_Adapters&hash=item484ede95e3

USB PS2 on bracket
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-USB-2-..._USB_Cables_Hubs_Adapters&hash=item43b4138cd6
However, I think I already have a 4 port USB bracket with the mobo connectors. Still, I think this will be a simple way for adding USB, AND dual PS2 ports for the keyboard and mouse.

Lastly: If the mobo accepts 3 floppy drives, or possibly an internal USB connection, I would also like to get a 3.5" multi-card reader to occupy the 2nd 3.5" expansion bay.


OK, there you have it; my shopping list. Did I miss anything?
Click to expand...
The parallel bracket has a serial port on it as well. IIRC, Jimmy said the board only had one serial port on it so do you really need three ports?

Regarding the PS/2 & USB bracket... You said you had a USB card. Doesn't that have the ports on it?


bettablue said:
I just read the specs that Jimmy posted. This will be a problem. Since the board only has support for one floppy, I won't be able to use it for what I really need it for. Everything else looks great, and the items I selected should all make this a fantastic computer otherwise, but I really do need dual floppy support. #.5" 1.44 Meg, and 5.25" floppy drives cant work together without it.
Click to expand...
It has dual floppy support -- every floppy controller supports two floppy drives.
 
Stone said:
It has dual floppy support -- every floppy controller supports two floppy drives.
Click to expand...

In theory, yes, but some P1, P2, P3, P4 and AMD boards support only a single floppy. The issue arises from the "Super I/O" chip not having enough pins to support an entire range of I/O devices and still have pins left over for an extra drive select and motor control. A few laptop systems will allow you to reconfigure the Super I/O to support a second floppy in lieu of a parallel port, for example.

I have a couple of such motherboards. Apparently, a second floppy drive was considered outdated even then.
 
Chuck(G) said:
In theory, yes, but some P1, P2, P3, P4 and AMD boards support only a single floppy. The issue arises from the "Super I/O" chip not having enough pins to support an entire range of I/O devices and still have pins left over for an extra drive select and motor control. A few laptop systems will allow you to reconfigure the Super I/O to support a second floppy in lieu of a parallel port, for example.

I have a couple of such motherboards. Apparently, a second floppy drive was considered outdated even then.
Click to expand...

The Aopen AP53 supports two floppy drives. Here is a link to the BIOS doc. http://oldman.ixbt.com/mb/Aopen ap53/AP53-AMI.PDF

All docs for the board here

It seems the confusion stems from Jimmy's description which mentions one floppy connection. "Floppy Drive Connector x 1"
 
As per the consensus, it's definitely a Pentium board & I reckon will take up to a Pentium MMX - although an AOpen board, it is very similar to a board that I have.
My board will take up to a 233MHz CPU, using a 66MHz Bus clock and a 3.5 multiplier.
For keyboard, you can use adaptors to go from AT to PS/2 & to USB if you want to. For a mouse you can put in a serial port connected to the onboard connector(s) or you might find that the board has a PS/2 mouse connector that you can take out to a PS/2 mouse connector (my board has one of these).
There are also USB connectors on board, so you could use USB keyboard & mouse directly if you prefer.
 
OK Great! Really! So what do I need to purchase to make the double connection? Is there a connector, or cable that I need to get for the dual floppy?

USB support... It looks like I have a pretty good list of parts going. What I would like to do is use the extra 3.5" bay for a multi-card reader connected to an internal USB. Can I use one of the newer USB 2.0, or even 3.0 expansion cards with an internal connection to run the card reader.

As you can see by the list of items in one of my previous replies in this thread, this computer will be used quite extensively for input and output to various drives, and connection types. I hope it will handle them all.

I do believe Windows 95B is going to be a great OS for this system too. I just hope everything works after it's all assembled. Do I need a professional to come down to help me build this beast?

Thanks again RJBJR and everybody.


RJBJR said:
The Aopen AP53 supports two floppy drives. Here is a link to the BIOS doc. http://oldman.ixbt.com/mb/Aopen%20ap53/AP53-AMI.PDF

All docs for the board here

It seems the confusion stems from Jimmy's description which mentions one floppy connection. "Floppy Drive Connector x 1"
Click to expand...
 
Early USB motherboards can be a little dodgy in their support; some work and others installed the controller "just in case" and never really fully tested it. So again, be careful.

All in all, my vote for a board of this era would a SS7--can run a P1 if desired, but can also run AMD K6 and generally support more memory as was have better PCI and USB support.

But that's just my opinion.
 
Standard floppy cables usually provide connectors for dual floppy drives - the ability to use dual floppies is pretty common. If you want you could use a 5.25" & a 3.5" as long as you get the appropriate cable.
Regarding USB, the BIOS will probably only support USB 1, so anything connected to onboard USB connectors would be limited by that.

Get a professional to help you !?! - building it yourself is half the fun, provides education, a knowledge of what you have got & a great sense of achievement.
 
bettablue said:
OK Great! Really! So what do I need to purchase to make the double connection? Is there a connector, or cable that I need to get for the dual floppy?
Click to expand...

Just a regular floppy cable with two connectors - for the A: & B: drives. The one cable will support two drives just like on the IBM 5150.

Usually a 3.5" drive has a pin connection and a 5.25" drive has a card edge connection.
 
Thomas,

I would suggest searching for an out-of-date version of "Upgrading and Repairing PCs" by Scott Mueller. Even the older versions (10th/12th) cover most of these topics. Some background reading would do you well and cut down on a lot of repetitive questions.
 
I have already started reading one of the copies on modem7s site. So I'm in complete agreement with you. I have already picked up a few things. I'm sure that after I read this one, which is 8th edition, I'll have a better understanding of what I'm doing. The next one I'll be reading is the 12th edition. I intend to use that one as more of a reference as I go through the build.

mbbrutman said:
Thomas,

I would suggest searching for an out-of-date version of "Upgrading and Repairing PCs" by Scott Mueller. Even the older versions (10th/12th) cover most of these topics. Some background reading would do you well and cut down on a lot of repetitive questions.
Click to expand...
 
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