Wanted: PC parts (was: Re: free pc stuff (Salford, UK))

From: Tothwolf <tothwolf_at_concentric.net>
Date: Sun Apr 27 02:47:00 2003

On Sat, 26 Apr 2003, Rob O'Donnell wrote:

> Hi, am trying to do a clear-out, and have a hefty box containing the
> following available FOC to anybody who wants to collect it, from
> Salford, UK, else it goes in the bin... There is nothing particularly
> noteworthy here, btw, but it might interest someone.

Darn, on the wrong side of the pond :/

> 10 x 486 motherboards, some with processors, at least one with RAM. AT
> form factor.
> 6 x Pentium 1 motherboards, AT form factor
> 1 x Socket 7 motherboard, ATX form factor. works sometimes..

I've been talking about this off-list for awhile now, but I might as well
mention something here too. I've been playing with the idea of building a
Mosix or similar distributed CPU project from old (obsolete? whats that?
:) 386/486/Pentium boards. I drew up a CAD design for a rack that can hold
12 such boards on edge. The design uses right angle ISA adapters to allow
NICs to be plugged into the motherboards.

> I know there are processors and RAM of similar vintage, not to mention
> SCSI cards, network and video, etc, I can add to it.

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Recycled text from an older email:
(Maybe I should put up a better list on web page?)

I am looking for certain bits of odd, or in some cases very common PC
hardware if you happen to come across much in the way of used PC stuff. I
use such boards for driver development/testing for Linux, BSD, etc for
older hardware when time permits. Since I don't make money from working
with free drivers, I can't afford to spend much on the hardware, but I am
happy to cover shipping costs. [Of course, there is a limit to what I can
afford, so if lots of people contact me, I may have to ask about putting
some things on hold...]

The kinds of boards I'm always looking for are:

  S3 chipset based video boards, ISA, EISA, VLB, PCI
  Other older ISA, EISA, VLB, PCI video boards (*except* most 'trident'
  chipset)
  Promise Technology caching controllers, ISA, EISA, VLB, etc
  Promise Technology (other boards)
  BusTek, BusLogic, Mylex [all the same company] SCSI controllers
  Adaptec SCSI controllers (practically any type)
  Madge Token Ring cards
  Token Ring cards (3Com, IBM, etc)
  SMC Arcnet and Ethernet cards (some originally made by Western Digital)

The more "unusual" cards are also often helpful, including boards with
EISA or MCA interfaces. Some old motherboards and such are also quite
helpful, such as old multi-processor types.

In addition to the kind of hardware above that I can use for driver
development and testing, 3Com Etherlink III cards of most any type are
always helpful. I tend to give lots of those away to local schools and
such, as they are very reliable and were (are?) extremely popular cards.
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-Toth
Received on Sun Apr 27 2003 - 02:47:00 BST