Synthmind's Tyan Tiger 100

This is my MIDI computer. It is never connected to the net. All my music processing software runs on this computer. I am asked, why do you use this old computer? It's because when I drop in the graphics card, the RAM, the Adaptec SCSI card, the Korg 1212IO, then install Win98, and the software that talks to all my outboard gear- all of this stuff just works. No hassle, no fuss, and no interrupt conflicts as all of theses components are of the same vintage. Oh my, they say! You have no virus protection because Microsoft doesn't support Win98 any more. I say, did you miss the part where I said it's never connected to the net. Data only leaves this computer. I am the input. But, they say, a phone now-a-days has more processing power than that old thing. This old thing can handle 16 MIDI channels or 12 audio channels or record the equivalent of more that four simultaneous CDs in real time and never break a sweat. Well, there is the occasional blue screen of death. But all in all, this is a very powerful computer, works with my gear and I can compose, arrange and mix music on it and have yet to tap all of it's capacity.

In 1998 I assembled my first Tyan Tiger 100 dual Pentium 2 x P2-400Mhz computer. This motherboard served me well until it fried and died as a result of me upgrading the RAM in 2012 while not using proper ESD preventions. On the bright side, I now I have an extra ROM and two spare P2 400MHz processors.

The S1832DL F type motherboard shown below was purchased used on Ebay. This is what it looks like before the video, SCSI and Korg 1212IO cards are installed. It works very well even though there are burns on the power connector. These burns don't appear to affect its functioning. The PSU I'm using is the Antec VP-450. This PSU was highly rated in 2008 and shouldn't cause problems, provide enough juice, and work for a long time. Maintaining a legacy computer takes time and finding parts, drivers and equipment is difficult. The SCSI drives are just for piping in the 12 audio channels through the Korg 1212I/O card and mixing the wave files. There is a 3" (Radio Shack #273-242) AC venturi type fan pulling out air from the top drive chamber in this case keeping the 10,000 and 15,000 RPM SCSI drives cool. This full tower case is steel, has separated drive and processor chambers, six external drive spaces, three additional internal drive spaces a 3-1/2" external drive and a washable filter in the front behind all the perforations.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST380011A 80GB 7200 RPM 2MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 / ATA-6 3.5" drives are configured for the day to day operation of the MIDI computer.

This 68 pin, 9GB, SCSI 160 10,000 RPM drive, works great on the old AHA Adaptec 2940-UW. This is a combination SE or LVD SCSI compatible hard drive.

This 68 pin, 18GB, SCSI 160, 15,000 RPM drive, works great on the old Adaptec AHA 2940-UW. This is a combination SE or LVD SCSI compatible hard drive. These run very hot but have the fastest write (recording) speed of any of the SCSI drives I have. With the introduction of one of these in my primary full tower MIDI computer, I have had to convert all the flat cables to newer molded round cables to increase the air flow through the drive chamber.

There is good air flow over all the hot surfaces in the front. The two fans are 1u above and below the Cheetah and the lower one is above the SCSI CD burner.

I changed out all the old flat IDE and SCSI cables for the newer round cables. These dress-up the case and really increase the air flow keeping the components cooler. The IBM 15,000 RPM is adjacent to the AC fan in the back. With the air flow through the case now, the normally hot drive is just warm.

I can barely believe it. I found someone on Ebay that had four of these motherboards that were brand new. So I snatched up two!

I have built another computer to match the one above because maintaining a legacy system is so arduous and the likelihood of doing so in ten years is very slim. I acquired five P3 500 MHz processors (all for $15.50 including shipping), a half dozen CPU fans, a spare Korg 1212I/O, three ATI 128 Rage AGP4x video cards, four Matrox G400 Max Dual Monitor AGP 4x video card, eight PC-100 256 MB RAM modules, various cables, and an ANTEC VP-450 PSU. I already had a spare Adaptec AHA 2940 UW SCSI card.

The case is a Lian LI PC-70 Brushed Aluminum, silver, full tower. This is manufacture discontinued. This case is beautiful.

I built a wagon (dolly) for this computer using 3/8" Baltic Birch plywood and four plate mounted twin wheel casters. (This link takes you to Service Castor Corporation a good company to work with!)

This case can now sit under the table and be pulled out easily for maintenance. The case is bolted to the wagon. The wagon is about 1" bigger all around than the aluminum case to act as a bump rail. The front center of the wagon is cut back to allow access to remove the front cover.

Converted the video cards from the ATI 128 Rage to a Matrox G400 Max dual monitor card.

Uninstalled all the ATI drivers and apps. Replaced the video card with the Matrox G400.

executed the W9x_683 file. It installs the drivers. With two monitors connected the system will step you through to make it all work. Very simple. Now I can have a voice editor in one window and Cakewalk in another. Yey!

Now that I this works in the aluminum Lian Li computer, I'll do this in the steel case too.

This is the picture of the Tiger motherboard from the Tyan web site. Checkout my photo on the left showing the inside of the computer. The Tiger actually has the IDE connectors parallel and outside of the RAM slots. Not adjacent and perpendicular. So the board I have is the Tiger 100, S1832DL revision (B) now F

Tyan Tiger 100 is a quality, high performance dual processing solution which supports the powerful Intel Pentium II / III microprocessors. This mainboard is designed around the Intel 440BX AGPset. Please refer to the Motherboard CPU Compatibility Chart for more specs. See Intel 100 MHz Pentium II processor 440BX AGPset Dual Processor Schematic See 440LX Dual Processor Schematic for comparison

The Tiger 100 supports SPD SDRAM memory and ECC SDRAM. The board's PCI Local Bus and new 32-bit AGP bus provides high performance capabilities that are ideal for a wide range of demanding applications such as: CAD, CAM, CAE, real-time 3D, and simulations.

This integrated system board achieves the highest reliability and is based on an ATX-2.2 form factor. Some of the features included are: integrated dual channel PCI IDE, integrated floppy controller, integrated high speed I/O, Universal Serial Bus, on-board PS/2 mouse connector, and optional System Management.

Flexibility and expandability have been considered when designing the Tiger 100. With I/O and drive controller support built on, the Tiger 100 allows many upgrade paths not found on other boards. With four 168-pin DIMM sockets, the Tiger 100 can provide a very flexible memory configuration of up to 1 GB SPD SDRAM or SDRAM+ECC in addition to the new 100 MHz SDRAMs (PC100 memory required for 100 MHz operation)

:
ADAPTEC AHA-2940 screen capture and startup screenviews

Acer V173 17" Flat Screen

Asus VB195 19" Flat Screen

Adaptec web site for ADA 2949 UW

Accessing Your SCSI

DirectX 8.0
DirectX Update

W98 Drivers for ATI Rage Right click to download.

W98 Driver for AHA-2940 UW Right click to download.

KORG 1212IO v2.0 Right click to download.

Korg1212IO v1.1 Right click to download.

External connections

MOTU MIDI Timepiece AV
.
SOFTWARE
:
Samplitude Studio 4.0
Cakewalk Pro Audio 9.3
Midi Quest 9.1
Unisyn 1.5

:
See the MIDI Studio Schematic
:
Go to My Recording Studio Page

Where to Get Wide Ultra 68 Pin SCSI Dives?

Parallel SCSI

Interface	Alternative names	Specification document^[8]	Connector	Width (bits)	Clock^[9]	Maximum						Electrical
Interface	Alternative names	Specification document^[8]	Connector	Width (bits)	Clock^[9]	Bandwidth (MB/s)^[10]	Bandwidth (Mbit/s)^[11]	Length (single ended)^[12]	Length LVD^[13]	Length HVD	Devices^[14]	Impedance [Ω]	Voltage [V]
SCSI-1	Narrow SCSI	SCSI-1 (1986)^[15]	IDC50; Centronics C50	8	5 MHz	5 MB/s	40 Mbit/s	6 m	NA	25m	8	SE 90 ± 6 Ω^[16]	5
Fast SCSI		SCSI-2 (1994)	IDC50; Centronics C50	8	10 MHz	10 MB/s	80 Mbit/s	3 m	NA	25m	8	SE 90 ± 6 Ω^[16]	5
Fast-Wide SCSI		SCSI-2; SCSI-3 SPI (1996)^[15]	2 x 50-pin (SCSI-2); 1 x 68-pin (SCSI-3)	16	10 MHz	20 MB/s	160 Mbit/s	3 m	NA	25m	16	SE 90 ± 6 Ω^[16]	5
Ultra SCSI	Fast-20	SCSI-3 SPI^[15]	IDC50	8	20 MHz	20 MB/s	160 Mbit/s	1.5 m	NA	25m	8	SE 90 ± 6 Ω^[16]	5
Ultra SCSI	Fast-20	SCSI-3 SPI^[15]	IDC50	8	20 MHz	20 MB/s	160 Mbit/s	3 m	NA	NA	4	SE 90 ± 6 Ω^[16]	5
Ultra Wide SCSI		SCSI-3 SPI^[15]	68-pin	16	20 MHz	40 MB/s	320 Mbit/s	NA	NA	25m	16	SE 90 ± 6 Ω^[16]	5
								1.5 m	NA	NA	8
								3 m	NA	NA	4
Ultra2 SCSI	Fast-40	SCSI-3 SPI-2 (1997)	50-pin	8	40 MHz	40 MB/s	320 Mbit/s	NA	12m	25m	8	LVD 125 ± 10 Ω^[16]
Ultra2 Wide SCSI		SCSI-3 SPI-2	68-pin; 80-pin (SCA/SCA-2)	16	40 MHz	80 MB/s	640 Mbit/s	NA	12m	25m	16	LVD 125 ± 10 Ω^[16]
Ultra3 SCSI	Ultra-160; Fast-80 wide	SCSI-3 SPI-3 (1999)^[15]	68-pin; 80-pin (SCA/SCA-2)	16	40 MHz DDR	160 MB/s	1280 Mbit/s	NA	12m	NA	16	LVD 125 ± 10 Ω^[16]
Ultra-320 SCSI	Ultra-4; Fast-160	SCSI-3 SPI-4 (2002)^[15]	68-pin; 80-pin (SCA/SCA-2)	16	80 MHz DDR	320 MB/s	2560 Mbit/s	NA	12m	NA	16	LVD 125 ± 10 Ω^[16]
Ultra-640 SCSI	Ultra-5	SCSI-3 SPI-5 (2003)	68-pin; 80-pin	16	160 MHz DDR	640 MB/s	5120 Mbit/s				16

Seagate ST19171W, Seagate ST1917M Manual, Burned out after 13 years. Where it now sits is on the window sill with the cover off.

CPUs Supported	Single or Dual Pentium II 233-450+, With 1/8/99 Bios: single Celeron (A)300-366 and single or dual Pentium III 450/500
Clock Multipliers (Jumpers)	Documented: 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5 Undocumented: 2.0, 2.5, 3.0
Bus Speeds	66.8, 68.5, 75, 83.3, 100, 103, 112Mhz
CPU voltage settings	Auto detect
System Memory	Four 168-pin DIMM sockets supporting SDRAM, 1024 MB max. (8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 MB), SPD and ECC support
Expansion Slots	1 32-bit AGP, 5 PCI, 2 ISA (All Full length)
Internal/External I/O	Supports up to two 2.88MB floppies Ultra DMA/33 IDE supports up to 4 devices Two built-in external USB connectors Two 16550 fast UART serial ports Built-in Standard/ECP/EPP parallel port PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors Infrared port header (not external)
Form Factor	ATX: 12 inches x 9.8 inches
Miscellaneous	AMI Plug and Play BIOS Motherboard CPU temp, CPU fan speed, and voltages monitoring Year 2000 compliant
Boot Options	First Drive: Any + Network Second Drive: Any Third Drive: Any (Except SCSI) (Any = Floppy, Hard Drives, CD-ROM, SCSI)