ISA bus on newer computers
Placeholder for rob's answer, if he ever gets around to it. Rob, drop me a comment when you post your own version.
Adek Industrial makes ATX mobos with ISA slots. Looks like they only offer one model per CPU/memory generation. Here's the MB-P4BWA Industrial ATX Motherboard for Intel® LGA775 Core 2 Quad/Duo Processors.
- Supports Intel Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo & Pentium D LGA775 processors 533/800/1066 FSB
- 4 x 240-pin DDR2 533/667/800 MHz RAM up to 8 GB
- Intel Q965 & ICH8DO chipset
- Built-in Intel Extreme GMA 3000 video (up to 256 MB shared RAM)
- 6 X SATA II interface with 300 MB/s transfer rate
- Supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 10
- 2 x Intel 82573L Gigabit Ethernet & Realtek ALC888 high defination audio
- 1 x PCI-Express X16, 1 x PCI-Express X4, 1 x mini-PCI, 4 x PCI & 2-ISA
- 4 x USB 2.0 ports
Other models are available. Contact them for a quote.
As to DOS workability, my best guess is "uh..... try it and see". Since these mobos are designed for newer CPUs, faster (and more) memory, modern USB, etc... it might "just work", minus newer fancy features like USB, and it might not be remotely bootable. I'd love to try it though.
I found some bus adapter cards, including a USB to ISA device (no DOS support).
You could always just pick up a couple of P4 boards with everything they need, test them, then put them in a box and say "spares." I found a few companies making modern boards with with ISA slots, but they all has a "ask for quote" link, which I've found means "this board is ~10x what you would pay for a normal motherboard.
Also, how does the ISA card work? Could it be replaced by some software and the RS232 port?
The PRO 700 PCI-to-ISA bus extender kit allows you to attach ISA cards to a PC with a PCI slot.
the $600 price tag is quite a show stopper. :)