At 04:38 PM 4/16/98 -0700, you wrote:
>I have an AST 386SX to which I want to add an internal modem and a 3.5"
>floppy drive.
>
>Are drives and modems still available for this generation of machine?  Where
>(web sites, or general recommendations) can they be found?
>
AST like you have are full of proprietary parts! Work on them at work.
For the modem there are WinModems that work only under windows. So you may
have to check the packaging to see if it one fo those. If not you'll have
to go into the CMOS setup of AST (Ctrl Alt Esc) on boot and disable the
comm port your modem is using. Check the mouse (some later versions of the
AST SX line had PS/2 mice) and see what comm port it's using and disable
the other one and set the modem for that one.

For the power and data cable for the drive there are gizmos that change the
large power plug to the mini sytle and slot data cable to pin style. Check
you local computer hacker shack. These aren't AST parts you can use generic.

One area where you can not use generic is memory. Up until recently AST had
a proprietary memory system called JEDEC that supposedly was faster and
better than standard simm chips -- it was also more expensive.  You can
find memory for these at Kingston and Viking.  You need the 501xxxx-xxx
part number to look for it though.


Patrick Meyer
A French Norman in a foreign land,
pining for the fiords.