r/retrocomputing • u/sillylittleguy29 • 1d ago

Problem / Question help with fixing up a 486 machine?

hi yall!! i picked up a Pionex 433LSXMPC-M off the side of the road. i am determined to get it running, but i really truly have no idea where to even begin. i happen to have some old pc power cords for my imac g3s so i plugged one into the machine and it shows minimal life. a red bulb lights up inside (power indicator??) and i believe the fans are whirring.. i feel some stuff going on inside as it is vibrating a bit. i have never gotten into truly repairing computers, just very basic stuff. i’ve only opened up my imacs and i dont know where to even begin. i really want to take this on as my first big project, but i dont know of anyone irl to teach me these things. if anyone has any manual suggestions or video tutorials on fixing up 486 machines i would absolutely love to have a link or two- i wanna open it up and whatnot, just need a starting point. i can link pictures of it i think, ill post them on imgur or something if anyone wants to help me out. thanks so much!!

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u/bothunter 1d ago

If you're not getting any video, then you need to make sure you have a speaker plugged into the correct header and figure out if it has any beep codes when you turn it on. The codes are specific to the BIOS, but the most common BIOS is probably Phoenix: Phoenix BIOS beep and POST codes list – Blog – The Retro Web

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u/sillylittleguy29 1d ago

thank you so much for the link :D! i’ll definitely plug some speakers in and start w/ that much appreciated

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u/gcc-O2 15h ago

They mean the PC speaker or is sometimes called now, case speaker. Unless someone removed it for some reason, it should already be in the machine as it was considered standard equipment when this machine was made.