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I'd like to find some documentation for this mainboard I just picked up for my very first retro computer, but I don't see any brand or model markings whatsoever. Does anyone have any tips?

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P. S. I know I need to replace this Ni-Cd rechargeable battery before it leaks and I already ordered a replacement, but the battery is in remarkable shape for its age (at least it's not leaking yet!), so I hope it will hold for a couple weeks until the replacement arrives.

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  • What kind of information do you need? I don't see any jumpers, and you can google directly for the chipsets. The BIOS menu should give you information about what RAMs you can use.
    – dirkt
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 10:49
  • @dirkt: there are some jumpers for setting the CPU frequency, but there's also a silk screen table for them. Right now I'm looking for some guidance on the PSU requirements because the system has been stripped of its original power unit.
    – Violet Giraffe
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 10:57
  • @dirkt, but also there are jumpers next to the empty FPU slot, and next to each of the two long DIP chips on the far right on the first photo.
    – Violet Giraffe
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 10:58
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    For the PSU I believe that's a (old) standard AT power supply. I had a mobo that also had an AMD 386DX40, it looked very similar, but couldn't say precisely what it was. The battery on mine had begun to leak, so I desoldered it and replaced it with a pair of legs, to which a replacement battery on wires could be plugged (I couldn't get one that fitted the gap easily at the time).
    – Soruk
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 11:17
  • A 386DX motherboard will have very modest power requirements, so probably any PSU you'll have lying around will do (though the PSU will be less efficient if it runs at a very low load percentage). It'll actually be hard to buy modern PSUs with such low power outputs.
    – dirkt
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 11:21

1 Answer 1

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Not a full identification, but a hint from the chipset:

It's an Acer (ALI - Acer Lab Inc) M1429, a somewhat late (1993+) ISA/VLB chipset for 386 and 486 systems. South Bridge is M1431 of the same series. Sometimes called Aladdin II as well.

This chipset was extremely common for low-end 386/486 consumer boards with VLB, back then, and Acer sold them to every other shack in Taiwan producing mainboards. Similarly, the BIOS serial is for a generic BIOS for this chipset. Without taking out the mainboard and looking for markings on the edges, front or back, there is little chance to pin it down.

In any case, it seems as vanilla as it gets.

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  • Much appreciated!
    – Violet Giraffe
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 11:48
  • I read M1429, BTW, which is also a valid chipset number.
    – dirkt
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 12:03
  • @dirkt, sorry for the poor photos. The larger chip is M1429 A1, the smaller one says M1431 A2.
    – Violet Giraffe
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 12:12
  • @dirkt Oops, typo, it is ofc, 1429 - 1439 doesn't go with a 1431.
    – Raffzahn
    Commented Sep 11, 2019 at 21:40

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