Mystery 386/286 "Tomato board"

[Super-Slasher]

I recently got an older motherboard, smaller than the typical Baby AT size. It's small enough as to hint to me it might be a Tomato board that I ran into a year ago, yet I cannot find any information on the internet about it.

The only identifying silkscreen marks I can find on it is "G.W386/486 main board". Oddly enough, it cannot support a 486 processor. It has two CPU sockets on it, for a 386 and 286 respectively. It has a total of 6 ISA (5 16-bit, 1 8-bit) slots as well as 8 30-pin SIMM slots.

If anyone can give me any information on this I would be most appreciateive. For instance, can it use a 286 and 386 seperately, or both at the same time?

I'll try to get a pic up soon.

 

[Anonymous Coward]

I think that what you have stumbled upon is a 386DX motherboard with support for 486DLC CPUs. The socket that you believe to be for 286 CPUs is most likely for a 387 math coprocessor, which use the same sockets as 286 processors. The reason that you cannot find a 486 socket on the board is because the 486DLC used a 386 pinout. 486DLCs aren't even really 486s. Think of them more as 386 cpus on steriods. Typically a 486DLC will not function correctly in a standard motherboard and a 486DLC BIOS is required. I am willing to bet that you have a 486DLC motherboard. You should definetly keep it, because it's difficult to find motherboards these days that support the DLCs.