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Gateway 2000 486dx-33 Restoration

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First post, by Intel486dx33

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Hello, I have a Gateway 2000 486dx 33 desktop computer that I would like to get back up and running.
I recycled my old 486 computers from 1993 and I wish I had kept them. So I purchased some used 486 motherboards however had had no luck trying to get them working. I recently purchased 2 of these Gatewway 2000 486 computers thinking they would be easy to setup however they are a pain.
The old phoenix bios version 0.10 has limitations and difficulties trying to setup.

Bios problems:
1) Hard drive limitations of 1600mb. sectors and cylinders.
I tried some old IBM smart IDE Deskstar 12gb drives with a 2gb clip but they would not work with this bios.
I tried some IDE to Compact flash adapters with 20gb SD but they would not work with this bios.
I have some old Connor drive 512mb which does work with this bios.
I tried an old Seagate 528mb drive which I could not get to work.

So I was able to get 2 drive to work ( Connor 512mb )
2) Second problem is that I can NOT get the computer to boot off of the combo floppy drive. It is 1 floppy connection to a combo floppy drive ( 3.5 and 5.25 )
I had DOS preloaded on the Connor hard-drive and was able to boot to DOS. I was able to access the 3.5" floppy drive and read the floppy disk okay.
So I know that 3.5" floppy disk works. The problem is that I an unable to boot from the floppy at startup. The bios initializes both floppy drives and then exits to the hard-drive. There is no drive seek preferences in the bios. Unfortunately I formatted the Conner hard-drive and now have no way to boot off the hard-drive. If I press to seek drive again the bios tries to seek from the 5.25 floppy. Unfortunately I do not have any DOS boot disk on 5.25 floppy to check to see if the 5.25 floppy drive is working correctly.
I did disassemble the combo floppy drive and clean it of dust and debree and cleaned the heads with isopropyl alcohol and the drive appears to be working correctly.

Also I need to add a CDROM drive. The motherboard is an "Micronics JX30G"
http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/M/MI … 30G-VL-BUS.html
http://webpages.charter.net/dperr/micronics/900189.htm

I want to add a CDROM but I only have 1 IDE controller onboard. I purchased a Creative Labs CT1879 IDE controller card ISA.
which I hope will work with this computer.

I also have a Diamond ISA sound card with a build in CDROM controller that I could use.

I plan on installing Windows NT_351 workstation.

Cards I plan on using are:
Sound blaster Vibra 16 ISA ( Works vanilla with NT 351 )
3com 3C509 network card ISA ( Works vanilla with NT 351 )
Original Western Digital VGA card VLB ( should work vanilla with NT 351 )

So my problems are that I can not get this computer to boot from the 3.5" floppy so I can preform my installations.
I also need to add CDROM
and get this Hard-drive setup.

I want to add a larger capacity hard-drive but am limited by bios.
How can I get boot from 3.5 floppy to work ?
I bios appears to seek to boot from floppies first however It seeks the floppy drives and then exits to hard-drive.
I created some NEW DOS 6.22 bootable floppies and tested them in other computers so I know they work.
I just can't get this Gateway computer to boot off of them.

Bios info:
I was able to find the bios flash file however I was unable to get the motherboard to boot off the Bios flash disk to install the bios rom.
ftp://ftp.mpoli.fi/pub/hardware/ROM/OTHER/INDEX.HTM

Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2018-05-17, 11:19. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 1 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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Update:
I have two of these computers. I was able to get one of then to work and boot off the 3.5" floppy okay.
So it turns out that one of my combo floppy drives is not working. It could not read the 3.5" floppy.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this ?
I did clean the heads with isopropyl alcohol however drive is still unable to read disks. Its a proprietary combo drive.
I believe it is by TEAC.inc

Reply 2 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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The computer and floppy drive looks like this:

Reply 3 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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Update:
I was able to get one of my Gateway 2000 computers working. I used the Diamond sound card with CDROM interface to get the CDROM working.
However I could not get this card to work with WinNT351. I need the CDROM driver for this card so I can install WinNT351.
Does anyone know what and where I can get a WinNT351 cdrom driver for this Diamond sound card?
What driver file can I use to get the CDROM to work during the install of WinNT351 ?

README file

Diamond Technologies Sound System
Software Installation and Setup

DOS and Windows 3.1 Installation for Diamond Sound System:

Setup.exe for Windows 3.1:

The Setup.exe is a Windows 3.1 setup program that installs DOS and Windows
3.1 drivers and utilities.

The user can run Setup.exe by selecting File \ Run... and typing "A:SETUP" on
the command line under Windows 3.1 Program Manager, or by typing "A:SETUP" at
DOS prompt if Windows directory is in the PATH. The Setup.exe copies all the
DOS drivers and utilities to the directory that user specifies during the
setup program. All the Windows 3.1 drivers and VxDs are copied to the
Windows system directory. When the user installs the Diamond Sound System
for the first time the Dtconfig.exe is started to configure the board setting
after the Setup program is finished.

Dosinst.exe for DOS Only installation:

DOS Installation for Diamond Sound System.

The Dosinst.exe is a DOS installation program that copies all the DOS drivers
and utilities to the directory that user specifies. When the user installs
the Diamond Sound System for the first time the Dtconfig.exe is started to
configure the board setting after the Setup program is finished. Dosinst.exe
can be installed by typing A:Dosinst.exe at the DOS prompt.

Windows 95 installation procedure for Diamond Sound System:

1. After user installs the Diamond sound card into the ISA slot in the computer
and powers on the system, Windows 95 will prompt user with a "New Hardware Found"
dialog box since the Diamond sound card is ISA plug and play. To install the
Windows 95 drivers, select "Driver from disk provided by hardware manufacturer"
and click on OK.

2. Insert the "Diamond DOS/Win3.1/Win 95 Drivers and Utilities"
diskette into the appropriate drive and select that drive from the prompted
dialog box and click on OK. Windows 95 will copy all the needed files and
set up all the logic devices on the board automatically.

3. Install the RACK player by running the Setup.exe file (also provided on the
"Diamond DOS/Win3.1/Win 95 Drivers and Utilities" disk) from the Windows 95
Start menu. This will create the Diamond Sound Program Group with the
RACK utility icon. (See Appendix below for full description of RACK functions).

Troubleshooting:

This appendix provides some tips and information for some of the
problems you might encounter with your Diamond sound card either
during installation or normal use.

Problems in DOS

Problem: Cannot load IDE CD-ROM drive.
Cause: IDE port is not enabled. Check the config.sys file under
C: root directory and you should see "device=c:\dtsound
\cdsetup.sys" before loading your CD-ROM driver. The
cdsetup.sys enables the IDE port.
Solution: Run c:\dtsound\dtconfig.exe again and select the CD-ROM
IDE. When you leave the dtconfig program, device=c:\dtsound
\cdsetup.sys will be added to config.sys. Make sure
that this line is before loading the CD-ROM driver.

Problem: No sound in a DOS application
Cause: There could be conflicts in the SB16 settings.
Solution: Rerun the c:\dtsound\dtconfig.exe and try another Port,
DMA, or IRQ.

Problems in Windows 3.1

Problem: There is no "Sound..." or "MIDI Sequencer..." item
under the menu "Device" in the Media Player. Or
Mixer application doesn't work.
Cause: Mixer driver is not loaded.
Solution: Open the SYSTEM.INI file with any file editor. You
should see the following:
[drivers]
Wave=dtsndsys.drv
Aux=dtsndsys.drv
Mixer=dtsndsys.drv
Midi=dtopl.drv
Midi1=dtmpu401.drv

[386Enh]
device=dtsndsys.386
device=dtopl.386
device=dtmpu401.386

[boot]
drivers=mmsystem.dll msmixmgr.dll

Problem: Third party mixer application with Sound Blaster compatibility
will not run with Diamond Sound System.
Cause: Diamond Sound System is Microsoft Sound System compatible.
Diamond Technologies. does not support previous Sound Blaster
Mixer Interface.
Solution: Use RACK.EXE application that is shipped with this disk.

Problem: CD audio will not play after the Diamond drivers are installed.
Cause: The user did not install the [MCI]CD-AUDIO driver.
Solution: Manually add [MCI]CD-AUDIO driver via Control Panel.

Appendix - Driver Reference:

Windows drivers
Diamond sound has three sets of driver and VxD for Windows 95 and Windows
3.1. They are listed below:

Sound System Driver OPL3 Driver MPU401 Driver
Windows 95 Drivers Dtsndsys.drv Dtopl.drv Dtmpu401.drv
Windows 95 VxDs Dtsndsys.vxd Dtopl.vxd Dtmpu401.vxd
Windows 3.1 Drivers Dtsndsys.drv Dtopl.drv Dtmpu401.drv
Windows 3.1 VxDs Dtsndsys.386 Dtopl.386 Dtmpu401.386

The Diamond Sound System, OPL3, and MPU401 drivers are binary compatible with
Windows 95 and Windows 3.1 but the VxDs have different binaries for Windows 95
and Windows 3.1. The Windows 3.1 VxDs have their extension .386 and the
Windows 95 VxDs have their extension .vxd.

The Windows 95 joystick drivers are the Msjstick.drv and Vjoyd.vxd
that are Microsoft drivers shipped with Windows 95. Besides these
eight Windows 95 drivers and VxDs, a Dtsound.inf file is needed for
Windows 95 installation.

For Windows 3.1, drivers and VxDs have to be specified in the system.ini
file and be loaded when the Windows 3.1 starts. The entries listed in below
should be added to system.ini file by the setup program.

[386Enh] [drivers]
device = dtsndsys.386 wave = dtsndsys.drv
device = dtopl.386 mixer = dtsndsys.drv
device = dtmpu401.386 aux = dtsndsys.drv
midi = dtopl.drv
midi1 = dtmpu401.drv

DOS drivers:
The DOS drivers include Cdsetup.sys, Dtinit.exe, and Dtconfig.exe.

Cdsetup.sys
The Cdsetup.sys initializes the CD-ROM IDE port before the CD-ROM driver is
loaded if the user has a CD-ROM drive attached to the IDE port on the Diamond
sound board. The Cdsetup.sys is specified in the Config.sys file as below.
device = C:\Dtsound\Cdsetup.sys
device = C:\Sony\Atapi_cd.sys /D:SNIDE01
The Cdsetup.sys is not a TSR program. There is no harm in running this
program if there is no CD-ROM drive attached to the IDE port on the Diamond
sound board.

Dtinit.exe
The Dtinit.exe initializes the Diamond sound chip. It is specified in the
Autoexec.bat file followed by a path name as below.
C:\Dtsound\Dtinit.exe C:\Win31
Dtinit.exe and Dtconfig.exe use the path that follows the Dtsinit.exe
in the Autoexec.bat to find the initial data file Dtsound.ini. The Dtsoun.ini
follow the standard Windows ini file format. The Dtsound.ini file will be
copied to the Windows directory or the same directory as Dtinit.exe for DOS-only
installation. The Windows sound system driver Dtsndsys.drv and the Windows
sound rack application Rack.exe also share Dtsound.ini file for initial values.

If the user wishes to enable or disable sound during
initialization, it may be changed using the option
value in the Dtsound.ini file:
[Option]
PlaySoundAtInitial=No/Yes

Dtconfig.exe
The Dtconfig.exe is a DOS program to help users change the IO, IRQ,
and DMA resource for the Diamond sound system on board devices and to
test the new settings through playing the Stest8.wav, Stest16.wav,
and Fmtest.mid test files. The new settings are saved in the Dtsound.ini
file which will be used when Dtinit.exe initializes the board.

Information Files:

The is a Windows 95 installation information file for Diamond sound chip
product:
DTSOUND.INF
They tell Windows 95 where the drivers should be copied during installation.
See the instructions above for Diamond Sound Windows 95 installation.

RACK for Diamond Sound System:
1. Structure and components:
The RACK consists of a MIXER control panel, MIDI panel, WAVE panel,
and CD panel.
1.1 To enable or disable a panel:
Clicking the mouse button on the MIDI, WAVE, or CD in MIXER control panel
will cause the corresponding panel to disappear, another click will cause the
corresponding panel to re-appear.
1.2 To change a channel:
Click channel LEFT or RIGHT button to change to the channel you want.
1.3 To activate volume and balance control:
Change to the channel you want (see 1.2), then click up or down arrow buttons
to change the volume, or click balance LEFT or RIGHT arrow buttons to change balance.
1.4 To mute system:
Change to the channel you want, then click MUTE check mark to disable sound,
click again to re-enable sound.

2. MIDI panel
2.1 To open or close a MIDI file:
Click the button of the MIDI sign on the MIDI panel, choose OPEN to open a
MIDI file, or choose CLOSE to close a file.
2.2 Auto repeat and show information:
Click the button of the MIDI sign on MIDI panel. Clicking on AUTO REPEAT or
SHOW INFORMATION will enable or disable the selection. When AUTO REPEAT is
selected, the MIDI file will be played again when it reaches the end.
When SHOW INFORMATION is selected, the MIDI window will open and the
information from the MIDI file will appear on the MIDI window. When a MIDI
file is opened, you can also click the MIDI window to show the information of
that file.
2.3 Other operations:
When a MIDI file is opened, you can click PLAY to play it, or click PAUSE,
STOP, FF or RW to manipulate the selection. You can also use the volume control
buttons on the MIDI panel to control the volume directly.

3. WAVE panel
3.1 Select TAPE I or TAPE II to playback:
There are two TAPE boxes on the WAVE panel. TAPE I can only play wave
files. TAPE II can play and record wave files. There is one set of
control buttons on the right of WAVE panel. When Tape I is selected,
the control buttons will take effect for TAPE I. When Tape II is selected,
the control buttons will work for TAPE II. Click the button
TAPEI/TAPEII to select between TAPEI or TAPEII, or push the button TAPEI
PLAYBACK on TAPE I box to select TAPE I, while pushing the button TAPEII REC/PLAY
on TAPE II box to select TAPEII. It can not be play wave and record wave
simultaneously.

Note: When you want to playback a wave file, you need to select TAPE I/TAPE II first.

3.2 Open a wave file to play:
Push the OPEN button, select OPEN on the menu, select a wave
file to play. When the wave file is opened, the TAPE containing the
file is automatically selected, just push the PLAY button to play it.
3.3 Record a wave file:
Push the button REC.INPUT to select the input media (Line in, MIDI,
Audio CD, or MIC), then push the the button OPEN on TAPE II and select NEW
to create a new wave file. The TAPEII indicator will be red to show it
is waiting to record. Play the source media, and push recording button on TAPEII
to begin recording. When finished recording, push the record button (now it is a
red square) to stop. After finished, save the file as the name you specified.
3.4 Synchronous recording (record and play simultaneously):
After selecting an INPUT media and new wave file for recording, push button
SYNC.REC to begin a synchronous recording. The mixer will automatically
play the source file and begin recording at the same time.

4. CD
4.1 EDIT and Program:
Push EDIT to select which tracks (selections on the CD) to play
and add it to the Playlist. Then click the Program button to play the selected tracks.
4.2 Random play:
The Random button plays tracks in a random order.
4.3 Repeat:
To repeat one track of a CD, select the track and push the repeat button one time.
A single repeat signal will appear in the CD player window.
To repeat the full CD, push the repeat button 2 times.
A full repeat signal will appear in the CD player window.

Reply 4 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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I bought these back around 1995 and had them lying around.
I was able to get these to work with Win_311 and DOS 6.22

Diamond Sound Card ISA MF-009

Reply 6 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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Yes, I am just using this card right now for the cdrom controller.
I plan on using the Sound blaster Vibra 16 ISA which is not that great but may be a little better in sound quality.
The problem is I only have ISA and VLB slots for cards.
If I can find an Sound Blaster AWE32 or AWE64 ISA card then I will get it. Hard to find.

This Diamond card does not sound that bad. It is Sound Blaster 16 compatible.
It sounds okay with my Klipsch Pro media 2,1 speakers.

Reply 7 of 22, by dondiego

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That was my first sound card and i came from pc speaker, it was incredible at first... 🤣 until i got another sound card. I had very good sony speakers with megabass (they're still kicking after 25 years).

LZDoom, ZDoom32, ZDoom LE
RUDE (Doom)
Romero's Heresy II (Heretic)

Reply 8 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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I also have some Intel 486dx2-50 and dx4-100 CPU that I was planning to use in a 486 build however I can not find an good socket-3 motherboard.
So I might just put these in these Gateway's. What do you think? Keep it original or Max it out ?
I also have some L2 cache saved up from 1993. I can max it out to 512kb of L2 cache. currently only has 128kb.
The mobo supports up to 64mb EDO ram. ( 4x16mb ). that is good for Win 3x, NT351, or Win95.

Reply 9 of 22, by PC Hoarder Patrol

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I have a similar problem with my TEAC floppy combo (FD-505-000), with the 3.5" not working even after head cleaning (may be a head alignment problem but that's much harder to solve). It seems you can replace the floppy drive separately IF you can track down the correct TEAC model number. Problem for me is that the one I need seems to have been used mainly in Tektronix oscilloscopes and medical equipment.

The combo drive in your picture looks more like the TEAC FD-S05 -lxx -2xx -3xx (different eject mechanism to mine) so the replacement 3.5" will have a different model number.

Reply 10 of 22, by chinny22

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Re the Hard drive.
You can use drive overlay software to get around the limitation, Phils computer lab has a video on it as well as more info here somewhere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edmg43t28jg

I'd upgrade the CPU. you can always take it back to original once you find a motherboard.
Rest of the PC I'd upgrade simply to make it more usable, people will recommend keeping ram under the cacheable limit for ultimate performance however for NT I'd go with the full 64MB, It'll appreciate it more then the performance hit in the other OS's

Reply 11 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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It's and Epson SD-800/700 floppy drive.
The 3.5" drive is NOT working correctly. Heads need repair or cleaning. Unable to read disk.

Reply 12 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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Update:
Waiting on parts.
1) VLB controller card
2) Memory 64mb EDO ( 4x16mb dimms )

Reply 13 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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Work in progress Photos:

Reply 14 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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More photos

Reply 15 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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dondiego wrote:

I had that exact same card back in the day and it was very cheap, sound quality was really AWFUL.

Yes, The sound is NOT the quality of a Sound blaster that is for sure. This Diamond card has more bass than clarity and there is NO way to modify the audio with the software that is provided by this company.

The Sound blaster has good bass and high clarity.

Like I said I am just using this card for testing purposes to get this computer up and running and checked out.

Everything appears to be going okay now that I have figured out this bios limitations and determined that the floppy drive was bad.

Reply 16 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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Here are the drivers for this Diamond sound chip card.
Works with DOS/3x/NT/95/98
I did not see the drivers in the library list.

Reply 17 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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Anyone know where I can get drivers for the Turtle Beach TBS-2000 sound card ?

Reply 18 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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Update:
The Creative labs cdrom controllers will not work in this build as I want to use WinNT351 and there are NO drivers for this card.
Only Win95/98 drivers.

I was able to find an NEW Epson floppy for this combo floppy drive setup.
it's actually a "EPSON SMD-1100 1.44 MB, 3.5" FLOPPY DISK DRIVE"
I was able to find a NEW one for only $6 plus shipping. $3.75
So now I can fix my combo floppy drive setup.

Reply 19 of 22, by Intel486dx33

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I just purchased some Sound Blaster AWE64 ISA cards for these Gateway 2000's.
Works with DOS thru Win-10