GoldenGate vortex 386

[keropi]

For ISA VGA cards I can suggest a Cirus Logic or a WD90C31 one, they are both fast+compatible and not "rare".
You can ofcourse use the zorro+isa inline slots, no problem whatsoever as long as the cards fit

You need to boot from a boot floppy and then "SYS A: C:" to transfer the system files to C: and make it bootable, a simple copy won't work.

 

[Timtheloon]

GoldenGate vortex 386

You will need to format c: as a system disk i.e. Format c: /s


Oh and remember if your using a HDD bigger than 504mb use what I mentioned above with EZ-Drive

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BlindGerMan]

Well, I prefer ET4000 ISA cards (they are something cheap) or better the 2 mb cards like ATi Mach64 or S3-801, but they are more expensive!

Well, may be there is a 80387sx laying around here, let me have a look...

 

[cugar124]

Hi guys well good news is I have windows 3.11 on and working so now its the 387 and Yes please if you have One I will certainly be interested found on on the other bay for 12 pounds but its from china so never sure there LOL must have a look for the et4000 cards too

 

[Timtheloon]

Great that your up and running and welcome back to the bridgeboard club

 

[cugar124]

Thanks Tim never got this far before now I have a working windows 3.11 so just need to get that graphics card and if I am lucky and Blindman has the 387 she will be cooking lol

 

[keropi]

well keep in mind that the 387 is nice to have but don't expect it to do much... like in the amiga world you can live without a 68882 just fine

 

[cugar124]

LOL yeah but its just like most things Amiga you can do without but Hell why would you its Amiga only the best LOL

 

[cugar124]

well update time got the Trident 9280 today with its massive 512kb of ram LOL and she works perfect which is awesome some pics below, still after that 287 if its still on offer guys.

One thing I did learn today is that an ISA card can run alongside a zorro card as you can see the vga card is beside the fastata IV

 

[fordav1]

the 387 is not used at all by **ANY** software except Autocad. Noobs think it's good to have, but the bottom line is it will not be used and all it will do is consume power and make the box hotter.
Also remove the nicad barrel battery otherwise you'll end up with a dead Amiga. If you must have a working clock in there get a CR2032+battery holder and add a diode to stop the motherboard charging the battery.

 

[cugar124]

Nice to Be called a Noob after 30 years of using Amiga's LOL plus the battery is a brand new one put on after a recent recap but thanks for concern. to be honest only putting the 287 on because I can I know better than most about the early FPU's we used to have customers demand ones for PC's in the early days only to come back and say OH it makes no difference LOL. I will have the battery removed when the board goes back in for the simm sockets to be replaced. Its nice to use win 3.11 again and to see it working in full colour with games the 386 runs really well last golden gate I had was the 486 version but it never liked my old 4000 and just would not run correctly but then places like Amibay did not exist and getting info on issues like the No ram was not widely spread. Mind you still wish I had not sold My PPC system in micronic tower it went to a guy in France LOL.

Now to sell my Commodore 2286 which is sitting in my cupboard LOL

 

[fordav1]

I don't recall mentioning anything about Amiga and 387. Let me check the last reply. Hmmm, nope, nothing there about Amiga and 387.
Obviously the 'noob' part was in reference to PC's/Bridgeboards and the 287/387, which is not used except by high-end engineering software, none of which is used nowadays and doesn't run well on a Bridgeboard anyway. It's simply a wasted expense to get one. The Bridgeboards were pretty stupid actually, it's about half the power of the same spec'd real PC at double the price. The concept is great but it's not practical. I bought an A2286 back in the day and then wised up and bought a real 386DX-33 PC a year later, probably about 1989-90. I do have one of every Bridgeboard ever made but that's only because they came along at the right price 20 years later and some were free. A couple of them even have the math co-processor (as purchased) but I definitely would not add one now if they didn't have one.

 

[cugar124]

I would have loved to have had one in the late 80's or early 90's it would have been a great space saver as I was serving oversea's and having both PC and Amiga just would not work with the space we were allowed.
one of the guys had one fitted to the A2000 and was running software on it suppose because I was new to PC'S it looked great and the A2000 looked awesome too.
Ive had a few of the cards as I said but this is the first that really worked the way they should the others either did not like the Amiga it was using or I could not get the software to run would have been great to have had guys like yourself around then to advise but hey cant change the past plus no Internet LOL. Think maybe I will listen then and not Bother with the 387 my poor 4000 is already like a toaster without adding more heat.

 

[fordav1]

The only program worth running would be the DOS version of Autocad. If you didn't have any idea how to use the program or any actual use for it then it's a waste of time having a math co-pro. The bridgeboard I bought back in mid 80's never really worked right either. It would only work if I bent it in the middle using a pencil eraser jammed against one of the other boards (in my A2000). Eventually even that didn't work so I took it to the Commodore service center and they fixed it. That worked for a while but stopped again a few months later so I took it back and they fixed it again. Eventually it stopped again but by then the warranty had expired so I gave up. Maybe a year later I sold it to a friend as non-working for a very cheap price and he took it in for repair again and they gave him a new one!!
Maybe 5 years ago I got an A2286 for free. It worked but smoke would pour out of it while it was working LOL! I checked it and one of the little blue 104 capacitors was fried. I changed it and it's worked fine ever since. This one has lots of patch wires on it so it's obviously had the same type of bad connection problem fixed on it.

 

[Dale423]

Did anyone ever get the English manual scanned? All I can find online is the German. I have the Vortex 386, but it is getting upgraded to 486.

 

[Kitman]

Ditto to the above comnent about an English manual.
Surely they exist somewhere?

 

[Niezgodka]

I do have english manual. Actually it is in German, but other half inside is in English. I can make pictures of pages, or maybe scan them one day. If somebody reliable is willing to do it more proffesionally for the community, I can send the book for scanning.
https://i.postimg.cc/85QSmdHm/image.jpg

 

[Timtheloon]

I do have english manual. Actually it is in German, but other half inside is in English. I can make pictures of pages, or maybe scan them one day. If somebody reliable is willing to do it more proffesionally for the community, I can send the book for scanning.
https://i.postimg.cc/85QSmdHm/image.jpg

From what I remember of this manual it is actually quite big, you will be taking a lot of pictures even just for the English only part, but this would be great if we can make an online reference for it, I can't seem to locate my manual I've put it in a safe place , I was lucky enough to find one on here

 

[trixster]

I have the manual too, so could take photos of the pages and upload them if someone wanted to make a pdf

 

[Dale423]

I would be willing to actually scan them as PDF as opposed to JPG's if someone is willing to let me borrow the manual . I am in the US.

- - - Updated - - -

I too am in the US. I would be willing to do the work if you wouldn't mind sharing the manual.

I do have english manual. Actually it is in German, but other half inside is in English. I can make pictures of pages, or maybe scan them one day. If somebody reliable is willing to do it more proffesionally for the community, I can send the book for scanning.
https://i.postimg.cc/85QSmdHm/image.jpg