Old Compaq Deskpro Expansion Slots

[deadkenny]

Hi All,

I'm looking at this old socket 7 Compaq business machine. It's a footprint style (rather than tower) and rather than having PCI / ISA slots on the board itself, there are multiple slots on a single card that itself plugs into a single slot on the board. Some of the slots definitely appear to be PCI, however I find that I can't fit in a regular PCI card because the distance between the slot and the back of the case is too small. I'm just wondering if this is some older spec, or some kind of Compaq trick to force people to buy non-standard expansion cards from Compaq. Is anyone familar with this. Otherwise, it appears to be an unexceptional socket 7 board.

[jeeperscompshop]

You are looking at a backplane or backboard as some call it and YES it is COMPAQ PROPRIETARY.... Wasn't that nice of them to do.

Ken.

[deadkenny]

Thanks for your reply jeeper. Not exactly what I wanted to hear though. So basically I can't use any PCI or ISA expansion cards with this board unless they're 'special' Compaq cards? Do you happen to know if the slot itself is compatible, i.e. if a regular PCI card would work in the slot if it could physically fit? I could possibly look at a case mod, but I don't really want to get into it without knowing whether or not it will work.

[jeeperscompshop]

Kenny:
Give me some info and I will see what I can find out for you.

Model #:

Model Name:

Serial #:

Product #:

Bar Code #:

Date of Manufacture:

Anything would be helpful.

Ken.

[deadkenny]

Thanks jeeper, I really appreciate your assistance. :) You must be a real expert on old pieces of junk. :D

O.K., I'll do my best. The case says it's a "Deskpro". It's a socket 7 board and says "Compaq Computer Corp. 1996-1997" on the board. Looks like it might be a Via chipset, at least there are a couple of larger chips (north / south bridge?) with "Via" prominently displayed on them. The board has 3 SDRAM DIMM slots, no SIMM slots. The m/b has integrated video. There's a sticker on the board says "P07A10D25FCNQF" It has DIP switches on the board that allow FSB settings of 50, 60 and 66MHz and multipliers of 2.0 to 3.5 in 0.5 increments. The board has built-in 2X PS2 (keyboard and mouse), 2X USB, 1Xserial, 1Xparallel and the integrated video socket. Otherwise, the only add-ons are via the 'card' stuck into the board that I described before (excluding the usual floppy, CD-ROM, HDD of course).

[jeeperscompshop]

Kenny check this manual out at the site below. I think this is what you have.

Deskpro EN Manual:

ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/supportinformation/techpubs/qrg/deskproen.pdf

Ken.

[deadkenny]

Thanks again for your help Ken. I doesn't look like it's an "EN" though. I checked the link, and it refers to 440BX, 810 and 815 chipsets with the "EN". The board I'm looking at is socket 7, and doesn't appear to be an Intel chipset. It looks more like it's a Deskpro 2000 or something, but the case only says Deskpro. When I have time I'll check out the Compaq site further. Thanks again. :t

[jeeperscompshop]

Did you ever find out which Compaq you have???

Ken.

[deadkenny]

Yes actually I did. Apparently it's a Deskpro 2000. The riser card does have standard ISA and PCI slots. However, the cards didn't fit until I removed the screws at the top of the card holding it securely to a cross member. Once the riser wasn't held firm at the top, there was enough play to squeeze in the ISA / PCI cards I wanted to add. Thanks again for your help Ken.

[lito pospos]

for deskpro 2000

to install or remove card in your system you have to remove your expansion board cage or riser no need to un-screw just grasp the expansion board cage by placing one hand on the back lip of the cage and two finger of the other hand in the finger hole near the front on the cage ,,,,,,pull up and out to remove the expansion board cage, and for your system board no need to unscrew just dis connect all the cable grasp the back edge of the system board tray and slide it out the chassis and install it back just follow metal guide rail left and right both end,