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Wow, thanks for all of the pointers; I just ordered a StarTech unit since it seemed to be of slightly higher quality and it ended up being competitively priced. I also emailed member Osgeld above to see about his, since this is classic 386/486 computer #3 and these PSU's are not getting any younger...glad I did not opt for the ATX to AT adapter after the notes!

So my AT power supply died while installing DOS floppy disk 2 of 3, what was the final stretch of rebuilding my newest classic PC, an off-branded 386sx-16. It clicks, and...at least there was no magic smoke. So far it seems the best option for a replacement is a Athena branded AT power supply for about $24 shipped from newegg (Athena Power AP-AT30 300W AT Power Supply)...is this about the only option besides a used vintage unit?

Real life got in the way, but I finally completed the hardware work on this 486DX-50: installation of a battery holder went well, the BIOS is saving settings and my cards are installed and working in DOS. I was also able to get CD-ROM support going and I installed Doom and Duke Nukem 3d. Doom runs full screen at high detail fairly well, and the soundtrack with the AWE (Yamaha OPL) sounds great! The real surprise is Duke3d, with the VESA modes and a higher resolution, it performs almost on par with Doom, fairly speedy at 320x400 and only a two window sizes down from full screen. The video card really makes a difference. Perhaps there is a DOS version of Doom that supports VESA? Another surprise: The stickers on the interior of the case say I can upgrade this to a DX4 CPU.

Wow that does sound like trouble. The only advantage (I can think of) to getting into the BIOS is setting the boot order of the drives, but I do not plan on running any flavor of Windows, so it might be unnecessary. I can correct the date/time from DOS using the command line. Humm... My main roadblock with this machine is getting the old, dead, BIOS battery switched out (which requires a complete hardware disassembly), then I can finally start loading it up with more than just a basic DOS installation. The weather has cooled off here in Texas, so I hope to dive into it after work this week. After that I can load it up with my AWE, Diamond 4MB PCI, UniVBE, and 'Heretic-Shadow of the Serpent Riders' and have a blast.

Really, it doubles the speed? Doom might be actually playable in a normal-sized window? I'm all ears! I can not say much about this mini-motherboard: it is made by Flytech, the AC adapter lists the computer as a Carry-1, and it is silkscreened for a 386/486dlc. It has a built-in floppy/IDE controller/onboard video, almost like a laptop in that respect. The CPU is soldered onto the motherboard and is clearly labled as a 486dlc-40. I tried all combinations of jumper settings and this was the fastest I could get out of my bench marking utility. On a related note: I also see it has some sockets for cache and only two out of eight or so) slots were populated. I have no idea about populating more, if it is as simple as loading it with chips, or if there is more to it.

Yes, it was Phil's videos that helped me figure out the installer I was missing to get these plug 'n play cards going in pure DOS, and you are right, I enjoy both Youtube channels. My AWE64 is the regular non-gold version, hopefully I didn't make a bad purchase. I think I am set on older hardware that I am interested in: 386 upgraded, check! 486 desktop, check! 486 laptop, check! Even though I had a 586, and all of the Pentiums at one point, I am most nostalgic about this earlier era, the closest afterwards is with the 3dfx cards in and around 2000. I am dying to get out in the garage and swap out the dead BR2032 battery and replace it with a proper holder in this Compaq Desktop. Need to make some time! Once everything is together I will look into some of the benchmarking tools Phil mentioned. After a new video card (the Diamond ISA) and Soundblaster my 386 jumped to 59-60 in TopBench, about the level of a 386-33sx. Doom was still mostly unplayable at high detail and a large window size, but it was nice to finally complete the overall project and hear this machine "sing" with the Vibra soundcard!

Thanks Mitkraft, I will try it out as soon as I tear it apart and replace the dead BIOS battery with a CR2032 and a holder...then the fun can begin.

If ya'll figure out how to make the F10 floppy can you post some simple instructions? It looks like I will also need one for this Compaq Prolinea 450

I was reading about that, I tried to get an older 1994 Vibra with the Yamaha OPL, tracking says it is in my mailbox when I finally get home tonight. There were "2 available" so I'll see if the seller read my note saying..."hey, I want the one in the picture!" My soundcard problem is going to be the Plug 'n Play standard, the AWE64, and interfacing it with DOS. I found a youtube video on the topic and DOS installations, it appears I will need to install the PNP driver and then proceed with a normal DOS soundblaster install.

Thanks boxpressed, will do! I am still waiting on my Soundblaster Vibra16 to arrive and then I can finish the mini 386 computer and start on upgrading this 486, hopefully I can get some benchmarks and pictures this weekend after both are finished.

Yes, it seems like my simple Diamond 4MB PCI will be just fine for this build, much better than the 2MB ISA Diamond Speedstar I was considering (which will now go to the 386 mini-computer). Nice to see some experimentation with 3dfx cards in DOS on the vogons forum posts, good reading! Also, thanks for the F10 floppy disk idea. I searched around HP's support site and found a few links; it will be nice not to have to wipe, re-install, and partition the drive assuming I can figure out how to get it on a floppy. This Compaq is also getting an AWE sound card to make the ultimate version of what is very similar to my first computer.

Wow, that is strange configuration CatPix; related to that, AT keyboards are very rare to find in thrift stores now, I have not seen one in several years. I am still looking for a serial mouse for the 386 I mentioned, hopefully that will be a little easier to find. The date codes on this 486 say it was made right before the Windows95 wave of Pentiums. What may have been a cost cutting move back then makes for the beginnings of a really nice DOS gaming system now.

I feel like I have won the vintage computing lotto! Short story: My 486 Compaq desktop arrived late last night and it has a single PCI slot mixed in with more period correct ISA slots. This means I can use any PCI video card with it, all the way up to my 3dfx Voodoo cards if I wanted. Long story: I was inspired by LGR's Youtube 486 build, which got me to finally upgrade a 1993 vintage mini-computer I have owned for several years. I hunted down an ISA video card, a Soundblaster, more RAM and found that the mini-computer was, more or less, a 386. While I am grateful for this 386, it is not powerful enough for the older games I want to run. I decided what I really wanted was a 486DX class computer desktop that could be upgraded... In addition to the PCI slot I also have PS/2 slots for the keyboard and mouse, which are a lot more common than AT style keyboards and serial mice. I installed DOS 6.22 and I am looking for the BIOS partition creation tools (a simple function key at boot does not work on Compaqs of this era). Does this mean anything to anyone else? I fully expected to be running an ISA video card, and I have read of the later and rare VLB standard, but never PCI. I have a 4MB Diamond PCI video card that I will be using for now (the 3dfx cards are all in use in my other vintage computers). What would a 3dfx Voodoo 5 PCI do on a 486?

This is one of a handful of older machines I own, for me they function as a nostalgic trip back to my first PC (which was a 486DX-33). This one is a generation before the 486 (as much as I can determine, the Cyrix processor is...odd). I would like it to have some sort of role in my retro computer collection next to my more powerful 486 hardware. Last week, midway through upgrading, I realized the Cyrix 486DLC was not a low power version of the 486 but a "386 with a 486 instruction set," per Wikipedia. Youtube videos say there are a few speed sensitive 386 games like, Wing Commander 2, that would be ideal on the hardware; I am looking for a few more that I might not have known about or considered. Thanks all for the recommendations so far! My loading software process on my DOS only machines: remove the hard drive and connect it to my Windows98SE box through an IDE cable, autodetect it in the bios, and transfer directories back and fourth that had been installed in Win98. I have a small collection of floppies that I use for smaller installations. It is all very ancient equipment, nothing modern, but it's period correct. This mini PC has only an onboard floppy, I will see what UniVBE and a newer video card will do later tonight.

I am looking to broaden the games I have on my newly rebuilt and upgraded 386 compatible PC. Wolfenstein 3-d runs well, there is Prince of Persia, Tetris and a few others. Once I find a serial mouse for it, that will open up Lemmings and maybe some of the Lucas SCUMM games (Indiana Jones-Atlantis is highly talked about), and perhaps the Leisure Suit Larry VGA remake. Wing Commander 2 is also on my short list once my Soundblaster arrives. Any other community favorites for the pre-486 era? [Doom & Heretic run terribly] My machine: I-Carry mini PC Cyrix 486DLC-40 (TopBench score in the low 50's, nowhere near a real 486 cpu) 16MB RAM DOS 6.22 1MB Cirrus Logic video card (arriving in the mail today) Soundblaster Vibra16 sound card (in the mail)

Thanks for the tips! I think I will spring for an Amiga brand mouse since I have read any of them will work, and some have averaged out to less than the mouse adapter. I am still searching for a 1000 keyboard and mouse and regret not bidding on a combo auction last month when I first got the Amiga. Oh well, I will be more prepared next time! I may also spring for a real Amiga joystick assuming I can find one; in the meantime my other option is a two Button Sega Master System joystick.

From the author's post, he had to use his Amiga 600 model to make the first image (000?) on the Gotek the kickstart image. Is there anyone in the USA (vendor or otherwise) that can make this simple change for the Amiga 1000? Or, do I not quite understand how the Gotek works?

Ah, I think I see what you are saying. If nothing else, I could load the kickstart disk and "hot swap" the cable over to this device? Part of me would worry about blowing something out that way, since the Amiga seems to be always reading the diskette drive. I left a post in the comments asking for help or vendors that would be willing to make the required additional modification to the Amiga version of the Gotek USB replacement floppy drive for the 1000 units. I can't be the only one in the USA needing one of these...I am willing to go worldwide got get it done, sure! I am also interested in the search terms or the device name that enabled the additional 512K RAM upgrade using the side mounted slot on the 1000. That would make my 'classic' machine pretty much as good as it would need to load a lot of software and demos from what I have read. Still nothing on a 1000 mouse and keyboard, but I keep at it on auction sites.

A bit of further research leads me to this blog, where the author got it to work with the aid of an Amiga 600. Does anyone in the states provide the conversion service for the 1000? Here is the blog entry, looks very promising: http://amigax1000.blogspot.com/2015/02/gotek-floppy-drive-emulator-on-amiga.html

Once I get a mouse and keyboard, would a floppy emulator solve all of my software problems? Here is a page I am looking at specifically: https://cortexamigafloppydrive.wordpress.com/ If I am understanding this correctly I could load (1) the Kickstart image as one file, (2) the Workbench as the next and then (3) any game demo from that point onwards? A workable plan? I saw these on a few youtube videos and they seem to work okay...perhaps the perfect solution?

It works! The floppy works, the computer works! As you can see FastRobPlus's diskettes came in today and they work well, proving also that the computer appears to be functional! My next step is to get a keyboard and mouse and perhaps I can even track down a joystick and the freeware copy of R-type on disk. Yay!

Yes, I am reading forum post after forum post, dating back at least five years, that had other Amiga 1000 owners begging for a keyboard for this system. The break-out good news is that FastRobPlus above has very generously agreed to help me out with the Kickstart and Workbench floppies so I can at least see if the floppy still works along with most of the hardware. I am carefully weighing my options of either (a)buying a mouse now or (b)waiting until a 1000A model mouse and keyboard show up together as a bundle. So far the only source I can find is ebay where both together seem to be a minimum of $65 shipped if I find an underpriced BIN. No one told me this would be easy :-) I'll even settle for a keyboard that is yellowed and missing keys right now. I will be glad to post pictures when I get it booting, exciting time getting my first Amiga running!

Brand new Amiga owner, my local search for hardware ended yesterday when I found a loose, expensive, 1000A model. Honestly, this being the first Amiga brand anything I have found, after knowing about it for a decade, I don't mind the money too much. It has the RAM expansion. It outputs color composite in stereo, so one of my old 4:3 LCD TVs works well as a monitor. The hardware still looks nice: clean inside with a non-yellowed case. An LED wire for the floppy broke off (looks like metal fatigue, I was not the first inside), but I resoldered it to the stub that's left. What are my options for a keyboard and or mouse? The keyboard connector appears to be identical to a telephone. Is the mouse custom also, or will any IBM 2 button serial mouse work? I have a few Sega Master System and Genesis game controllers which the Internet tells me should work as 8-way one button Amiga game controllers. I also have a Sega Master System trackball, but I do not know if that would substitute for an official mouse. I even have a three button Genesis 'Mega Mouse' if that would also work. I was hoping making the Kickstart and Workbench floppy discs would be easy, but this seems to be a big problem. Research says I need to find someone that has the discs already and is willing to mail me copies. I am interested in the games and music mostly, with R-Type, Turrican, Shadow of the Beast, and Cannon Fodder at the top of my list. R-type and a few other games seem to be freeware from the original Factor5 studio's website. Having R-type be the first game I play on it would be fantastic (I have spent a lot of time with the SMS, TG-16, and PS ports). Obviously I need a lot of guidance from the community. Time to stock up on floppies? Will this take the regular 1.44MB variety that can be made to work with Amiga's own format?

I just got a Lynx 1 and I think it is much superior in build quality and collectability versus the 2nd revised unit. Your price was about what I paid, and mine also came with California Games from Best Electronics. As far as it being a refurb, it looks nearly new (which is important with the first model because the black paint on the sides tends to wear off with use). I am very happy overall.

That's better than the obvious bootleg I could probably make myself if given the proper proto-board and binary data. Is the Songbird version the "good" non-crashing revision?