In this post I will write a few paragraphs about my “Victor” 386. The computer is a “Swedish” made 386, with a rather unique form factor. I bought it for about $50 in 2019. I remember back in the early 2000s when these computers were collecting dust in the second hand stores for $5 a piece. Quite the price development!
Victor V386MX specifications
CPU: 386 SX 16 MHz
Memory: 4 mb (expanded with 30-pins memory sticks)
Floppy + IDE controllers
The Victor V386MX has a unique, slim form factor for a 386. The doors in the front are 3.5 inches. CPU + memory + VGA + controllers are located on an ISA card illustrated in the image below.
Dallas RTC DS1287 battery replacement
The real time clock, Dallas RTC DS1287 had a depleted battery so I had to replace it, as shown in this post: Dallas RTC DS1287 battery replacement, and illustrated below.
IDE2CF
As storage device, I used a 4 gb compact flash card with MS-DOS. I describe the procedure to install MS DOS on one of these cards here: installing MS-DOS on a IDE2CF-card on a computer without a floppy. Thanks to Ontrack Disk Manager I can use large partitions (2gb) on an older computer.
OPL3LPT
I’m using a OPL3LPT-card I had laying around for a while, as a soundcard in this machine. No sound effects, but Adlib-support in older DOS-games!
I also replaced the noisy 80mm-fan inside the chassi with a modern, silent model.
Now, all I need to add is a serial mouse, and this machine is ready to use!