HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: korenek@ferranti.com (gary korenek)
Subject: Re: Gateway/Micronics motherboards
Reply-To: korenek@ferranti.com (Gary Korenek)
Organization: Ferranti International Controls
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 18:04:50 GMT

[...]
>I (somewhere) have the specs for both the g2000 motherboar (I own one)
>and the micronics VL-bus.  As far as I can tell the specs are identical.
>in addition, the picture on the VL-bus specs looks identical to the 
>g2000 motherboard.  If there are any differences, I don't know of them, 
>but I guess you could always call micronics and ask them. 
>Mike Gile

Short answer:  I don't know.

Long answer (with editorializing):

I do not see why Gateway would have Micronics make a "special" m.b. for
them, as Micronics' off-the-shelf product seems to be fine as-is.  It
would also seem cost-effective to use the standard product because
Micronics would not have to design and produce a "special" product, thus
adding cost.

I received a data sheet (from Micronics) on their VL-bus motherboard.  
Since I got only one sheet, I assume they make only one VL-bus m.b.
They simply plug in different processors and oscillators to make it go
from 25 to 33 MHz (of course 50 and 66 MHz speed-doubled).

The only "funny thing" I noticed:  The data sheet is not very specific
in some areas.  As I recall, Gateway advertises 2 local bus IDE con-
tollers integrated on the motherboard, while the Micronics data sheet
does not mention this.  If the "2 local bus integrated IDE controller" 
configuration is true, then I would rather have seen Micronics simply
make 2 extra VL-bus slots available (for a total of 4).  As it is now,
(with 2 VL-bus slots), I would use 1 VL slot for Display adapter, the 
other for an Ultrastor 34F VL-bus SCSI controller, and wish I had at
least one extra VL-bus slot (for maybe a network card).  In other words
I am disappointed that if I go VL-bus SCSI, the integrated IDE controller(s)
is (are) taking up what could have been 1 or 2 extra VL-bus slots.

The Micronics data sheet mentions "tested/burned in with DOS and UNIX"
which is attractive because I wish to run both.

Note that the ARIEL company features Micronics m.b.'s in their VL-bus
machines (look in Computer Shopper/PC Sources mags).  Again I assume
they use the Micronics standard product.

If I soon have an hour or 2 to kill, I will call my sales rep. at Gateway
and ask the "custom" m.b. question.   :-)   :-)

-- 
Gary Korenek (korenek@ficc.ferranti.com)
Ferranti  International  Controls  Corp.
Sugar Land, Texas          (713)274-5357
From: dhb@ksr.com (Don Barstow)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Bought cheap used 286 - now need some help
Date: 17 Nov 92 21:30:48 EST
Followup-To: poster
Organization: Kendall Square Research Corp.


I got a good price on this 4 year old 286, but, of course, it came
without any documentation.  I was hoping the experts on the net might
be able to help answer a few questions I have about it.

The motherboard is labeled as a VIP II/10 Rev B.  This is a 10
Mhz 286, with a socket for a 287.  It doesn't appear to use any
of the name brand chip sets.  It does have 1 meg installed via
4 rows of 9 21256 DRAMS (which are 256x1s).  

My first question is how to get to the upper 384k on this board.
Is there a jumper setting or something else I can do to make the
384k show up at the 1 meg address so it can be used as expanded
memory?  Or is there some other way to make use of that memory?

Second, there is a large chip on the board labeled AUTOCOMPUTER.
Some other numbers on the part are M5L8042-130P, HCT612, and 743104.
Does anyone know what this is and what it does?

Third, can anyone help me identify the expansion boards that are in
the machine?  If anybody can identify the manufacturer, and/or anything
about the jumper settings, it would be great.  There are three cards.
	1. CGA and parallel port - no labeling except "Achieve",
	   and "PCB-0067B".
	2. Serial I/O - one uart but a socket and connector for another.
	   Labeling includes "IK", "Model: KW509", and "KW002240"
	3. Floppy and Hard disk controller - labeled "8-2860-7" and
	   "K2008214".

Fourth, the disk drive is a Seagate ST251.  I know it is 40 Meg, but
any statistics on it's seek time and transfer rates would be appreciated.
Also, is this MFM or RLL? (or does that depend upon the disk controller?)

Finally, the BIOS is Phoenix 286 Version 3.07 02.  It seems to run DOS
5 OK, but is there something newer I should get, and if so, why?

Thanks very much in advance,
Don Barstow
dhb@ksr.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: hoppie@kub.nl (Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers)
Subject: IDE drive killed by cntrlr -- solution?
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 92 13:05:53 GMT
Organization: Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

Hello world,

Last week my 100MB Kalok IDE disk went berzerk: immediately after I
pressed RESET, the disk gave two loud CLANKs and a lot of other noise.
After that, it reports lots of errors. With re-partitioning and
(high-level) formats, I can see that the sore spots are widely
scattered over the surfaces and apparently not related to one
particular head.

Assuming that sector translation does not fool me :-)  I tend to
think that the hardware is okay, but that the controller on the drive
steered the head assembly over the platters while still writing
or so. Thereby it destroyed some data, and... (you feel it coming):
it destroyed the low-level information on some places as well.

A) Can this be the case: a controller going crazy that wipes out
   low level information?

B) If so, can this be solved by a new low-level format? I know,
   chances are high that I cannot do this myself, but should the
   manufacturer be able to do it?

Since the original dealer went bankrupt last September :-( I cannot
simply return the drive to get a new one. A related company tells
me just to low-level it because they seem to remember that Kalok
drives can handle this. Right???

Any comment appreciated.



Jeroen


-- 
Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers, research engineer at     |  Stop connecting computers;
Infolab, Tilburg University, The Netherlands    |  start connecting people!
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: gaw2@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Gang Wu)
Subject: Help on Hitachi CD-ROM
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 21:10:01 GMT

Hi, this is the second post of the question. We have an old Hitachi
CD-ROM here in Barnard College, model number CDR-1503s. But we
don't have the software for it. Does anyone know where can we get
the driver? Hitachi tech support number? customer service number?
thanks,

Gang Wu

gaw2@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: ajb8886@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Subject: Re: How do you hi level format Hard Drive?
Reply-To: ajb8886@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 16:45:27 GMT

In article <1eedciINN9gf@agate.berkeley.edu>, vincent@garnet.berkeley.edu (Vincent J. Lee) writes:
>How do you hi level format a Maxtor 200 meg. Tried it and set the Dos partition
>for the enitre drive. Says it doens't work. Only formats 80 megs of it. Help!
>Thanks.


You probably set up your Maxtor in CMOS incorrectly and/or you entered the
actual parameters (ie.  more than 1024 cylinders) instead of the recommended
translated parameters.

The maxtor line will generally work with any number of cylinder, heads, and
sectors per track such that :
        cylinders * heads * sectors  <=  total available drive sectors
        total drive sectors * 512 bytes/sector = total drive capacity 
        total drive capacity  <=  220 mb (or whatever the upper limit for the
                                       drive is).

Note that there are recommended defaults (contact maxtor for this) for
translation so that if you lose your CMOS configuration (and of course you
never wrote down what configuration you set it up as [grin]) then you won't
necessarily lose your data.

I would suggest you leave the number of sectors per track at 34,
half the number of cylinders until # cyl is smaller than 1024, while
doubling the number of heads to compensate for that.  That is, assuming your
drive parameters were correct in the first place.

Please note:  It seems obvious, but MANY MANY people overlook this critical
detail and suffer later:  WRITE DOWN THE PARAMETERS you used to configure the
drive, and TAPE THEM INSIDE the machine.  I promise you this will save a load
of heartache when your CMOS eventually loses its configuration due to a
power-surge-burp or a drained CMOS backup battery.  Without the same exact 
parameters (or at least the exact number of heads and the exact number of
sectors per track), you would not be able to recover your data reliably in the 
future.

Hope the info was useful.

Alex


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: kkt@philabs.philips.com (Kim-Kiat Tan)
Subject: Re: Speestar 24x, was Microlab is a rip-off!!! BEWARE!!!
Organization: Philips Laboratories, Briarcliff, New York
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 21:54:17 GMT

	for those who are interested, I got mine speedstar 24x from MagiTech
Corporation in Ohio (216)461-9330. They don't take credit card, I paid $149.00
+ $4.00 shipping (they do have COD). It took almost 3 weeks to arrive because
some joker send it to OH rather than NY. If you don't mind waiting for a week or
two.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: des@inmos.co.uk (David Shepherd)
Subject: Re: How to INCREASE PROCESSOR SPEED (recommended?)
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 11:00:22 GMT

LAM (y70q@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca) wrote:
: I heard from my friend that there are guys in Hong Kong change the
: crystal of a 486DX2/66 to a 40MHz crystal. The machine instantly
: changed to a 80MHz machine. I know nothing further about this.

a few days ago i mentioned that elonex were doing this to produce
a 75MHz 486 machine. i have subsequently re-read the article i got this
info from a realise i am maligning elonex. it was in fact another company
who were doing this ... elonex had triggered in my mind as they compared
this machine with a 66MHz elonex that that been reviewed in the previous
issue. apologies to elonex for misrepresenting their designs.

for you interest, the 75MHz machine uses a clock double DX2-33 running
at 37.5MHz to get the 75MHz internal speed. The motherboard is a 50Mhz
motherboard so all that logic is spec-ed at that speed (i.e. its not
an uprated motherboard as well). to cope with the processor heat 
they have attached a mini fan onto the top of the 486!

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
david shepherd: des@inmos.co.uk or des@inmos.com    tel: 0454-616616 x 625
                inmos ltd, 1000 aztec west, almondsbury, bristol, bs12 4sq
                1992: celebrate the quincentenary of columbus getting lost
From: llamas@itd.itd.nrl.navy.mil (Winston Llamas)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: modem & hd question
Date: 19 Nov 92 14:54:53 GMT
Reply-To: llamas@itd.nrl.navy.mil
Distribution: usa
Organization: Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC

I am interested in buying a v.32bis fax modem.  I've been reading the latest
issues of various PC magazines and have pretty much decided on the Supra
14.4 modem until the new issue of PC magazine came out, where they extolled the
virtues of the Zoom modems.  Are there any big qualitative differences
between these products?  Any recommendations?  Where can I get the modem as
cheaply as possible?

Also, there seems to be a bevy of inxpensive hard drives in the 170-210 mb
range.  Conner, Maxtor, Western Digital are all available for under $400.  Any
recommendations (product and purchase place)?

Thanks for any info.

Winston

--
#========================================================#
# Winston M. Llamas       email: llamas@itd.nrl.navy.mil #
#========================================================#
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: wai@mackinac.ecn.purdue.edu (Benjamin Wai)
Subject: Re: How to INCREASE PROCESSOR SPEED (recommended?)...
Organization: School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University
Disclaimer: as usual...
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 19:35:39 GMT

 In article <wiegand.722013797@lido16> motcid!wiegand@uunet.uu.net writes:
>y70q@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca (LAM) writes:
>>In article <7347@kielo.uta.fi> f1sami@uta.fi (Samu Mielonen) writes:
>>>A subject of increasing processor speed by changing the crystal on 
>>>motherboard has popped up in this newsgroup a couple of times. This.....
>
>>I heard from my friend that there are guys in Hong Kong change the
>>crystal of a 486DX2/66 to a 40MHz crystal. The machine instantly
>>changed to a 80MHz machine. I know nothing further about this.
>
 
	Just a querry...
	Is the process of changing the crystal as descibed above, and 
	reselling it (which it seems likely to be occurring), somewhat 
	an illegal practise??

	I understand that this method affect the reliability of the machine.
	However, are there any distinct features or symptoms between, for 
	example, an original 486DX2/66 and a tempered one like above which 
	a person can distinguish? especially while purchasing (if possible)?

	P/S: I don't believe Intel have come out with a 486DX2/80 or 100 yet?
	     or have they? ... to be sure.

	     I seem to recall seeing some shops selling what they claimed
	     386DX at 144Mhz while I was back in HK a year or two. Might 
	     that also be obtained by using this crystal-changing method?

	Thanks.


	- Benjamin Wai  < wai@cn.ecn.purdue.edu > < wai@sage.cc.purdue.edu >
---
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: chiu@alumni.berkeley.edu (David Chiu)
Subject: Re: 24 bit video with faster bus?
Summary: Pushin' the bus
Originator: chiu@alumni
Organization: University of California Society of Electrical Engineers
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 03:03:07 GMT

In article <Bxrywq.MHq@cs.psu.edu> robinson@sml.cs.psu.edu (Andrew Robinson) writes:
>I have read that the Diamond SpeedStar 24X will not work at higher than
>standard ISA bus speeds (~8 MHz).  Is this true of most 24 bit video cards?
>(The reason I am asking this is because my system's bus speed is currently
>set at ~16.5 MHz, and I don't want have to slow it down to add a new video
>card.)

I'm running my bus at 13.3 MHz right now with a 24x, no problem yet.
(Now if I can scrap enough money to get an UltraStor 15FM, I can push the
bus to 16 MHz... or even 20 MHz)
>--
>     -- Andy
>robinson@cs.psu.edu


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
From: sasbge@unx.sas.com (Gantt Edmiston)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,biz.zeos.general
Subject: Re: Lotsa ?'s about new ZEOS computers
Date: 23 Nov 92 00:52:06 GMT
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.

kgermann@zeos.com (Ken Germann) writes:

...[lots of good informative stuff, now deleted]...

>We humbly request that questions that you are not sure about be left to the
>ZEOS techs to answer. We request this to avoid creating any confusion. It
>is very important to us that the correct answers are given. 
>-- 
>Ken Germann              ZZZZ EEEE  OO   SSS    ZEOS International, Ltd.  
>support@zeos.com   INET     Z E    O  O S       Technical Support Dept.
>uunet!zeos!support UUCP    Z  EE   O  O  SS     530 5th Ave N.W.
>                  VOICE   Z   E    O  O    S    St. Paul, MN 55112
>#include <disclaimer.h>  ZZZZ EEEE  OO  SSS     

Anyone looking for information about ZEOS systems will get lots of
information from Ken and Jim via these newsgroups or private email to
either.  Because of all the detailed info that *I* received, I placed
an order for the new ZEOS 486DX2-66 on Oct 1, 1992.

The one question that *I* would really like answered is why it is now
EIGHT WEEKS later and I haven't received my new system yet? =-()
The Customer Service folks are very nice and they appear to be as
concerned as I am.  Unfortunately, CS doesn't build the systems
and until now, they have been physically separated from the production
line.  This past weekend, Customer Service was moved to same
location as production.

Maybe then, they could go down to the line and get some answers... ;-)

If you got time to kill and want a good computer, call ZEOS.



--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gantt Edmiston - SysAdmin     o |If you always do what you have always done,
SAS Institute Inc.          <(  |you'll always get what you've always gotten!
Quality Assurance - V416     [\.+--------------------------------------------
Cary NC 27513 919-677-8000 x6091|            sasbge@unx.sas.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: artc@iplmail.orl.mmc.com (Art)
Subject: HELP-> WHO is making the PC-MA???
Organization: Martin Marietta
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 16:09:17 GMT

A friend of mine told me about a new
tech -> called the PC-MA??
IT IS A CREDIT-CARD SIZE memory module
that can store HIGH density ( jus like a HD )
can store up to 64 MEG...
Does anybody out there know anything about it??

ALSO looking for the company that makes the 2 in
hgh density "liquid CD"....

Thanks
Art

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: flick@cwis.unomaha.edu (John Anderson)
Subject: GVC Tech Support Number Needed
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 05:49:54 GMT

Does anyone have the technical support number to GVC?  They make modems
and mine has gone batty.  I can't find my manuals and I deperatly need to
contact them.  Please email a reply at once!!!  THANKS!
 

--
|  John Anderson                      | The views expressed are usually   |
|  U. of Nebraska at Omaha            | my own, and occasionally someone  |
|  Omaha, Nebraska, USA               | other than myself...but they are  |
|  Internet: flick@cwis.unomaha.edu   | usually %100 correct!             |
From: fdeck@grumpy.helios.nd.edu (francis deck)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: IBM PC power connector
Keywords: Windows, video, monochrome graphics
Date: 20 Nov 92 16:56:14 GMT
Organization: OUC, University of Notre Dame

This is definitely a FAQ, but what is the pinout for the standard
PC power connector?

Furthermore, I have an old Zenith 286 PC, which has a non-standard
power connector and a blown motherboard.  I want to install a    
new m'board which uses the standard power connector, so I also need
to know the pinout for this Zenith's power connector if possible.
That'd allow me to make an adapter!

Is this reasonable?

f.deck
From: aron@samarra.ced.berkeley.edu (aron bonar)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Graphics Accelerator Cards
Date: 18 Nov 1992 02:24:54 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: samarra.ced.berkeley.edu


In article <1992Nov17.213906.504@cbnewsh.cb.att.com>, young@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (young.u.huh) writes:
|> I am looking for an inexpensive way to improve the speed of Windows
|> applications running on my PC.  An example of the type of improvement 
|> in speed I'm looking for:  I compared the speeds of Quicken for DOS 
|> and Quicken for Windows.  In DOS, I can scroll through the transactions 
|> very fast by holding down the up-arrow or down-arrow, and as soon as I 
|> release the key, the scrolling stops.  In Windows, however, the 
|> response is much slower.  When I hold down the key, it scrolls very 
|> slowly, and after I release the key, it keeps on scrolling for a while.  
|> 
|> The PC has an Intel 386SX/16MHz processor, 8 MB of RAM, and a Trident 
|> SVGA card with 1MB RAM running at 640x480 with 256 colors.  In the
|> above example, is the speed bottleneck in the graphics card or in the 
|> processor?
|> 
|> Would I get a significant improvement in the speed by replacing the
|> graphics card with a graphics "accelerator" card?  If so, then which
|> graphics accelerator cards would be good choices for my PC?
|> 
|> yhuh@ihlpe.att.com


Right...probably the most improvement for your money would be in getting an accelerated graphics
card...The ones that offer the most improvent for windows would be a card with the S3 chip.  
The Diamond Stealth Vram or Orchid Farenhiet 1280 are 2 such cards.  But from what I hear, the stealth
isn't such a good card outside of windows...but I guess it depends on the application.  The Orchid is a
pretty reliable card....the newest versions of it will do 640x480x16.7million colors.  And it does 256 
colors at 800x600 and 1024x768.  

I'm sure there are other cards you might want to look for as well.
But take all this with a grain of salt because windows just isn't gonna run insanely fast with a 386sx.
I know...cuz I used to have one.  But having 8 megs of RAM  definitely helps.

Aron

spring93/aron 28 

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: mpalmer@encore.com (Mike Palmer)
Subject: Re: Diamond 24X
Organization: Encore Computer Corporation
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 16:52:04 GMT

edwong@bu.edu (Edward Wong) writes:

>Let me ask you guys who own the Diamond Speedstar 24X some questions.  How
>do you like the card, is it fast enough?  I have ordered an ATI graphics
>ultra plus since the beginning of last month (october), and again, the
>release date is pushed back for another 3 weeks.  I am frustrated, and I
>want to change my order.  All I want is something fast and has 24bit colors
>on it, possibly on the 800x600 resolution.  Can someone out there give me a
>suggestion?  Thanks.


It's very fast.  The  ATI graphics ultra plus is probably better, but 
probably 3 times the price too.  Also I wouldn't want to get any of the first
production run of cards that are breaking engineering frontiers.  Get the 24X,
use it for a while, then get the ultra & sell the 24X.  You probably won't
lose much on the deal.
From: grtorlba@sumax.seattleu.edu (George Torralba)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: I don't get high transfer rates-BOCA 14.4-why?
Date: 24 Nov 92 05:32:09 GMT
Organization: Seattle University

In article <1992Nov23.153121.29189@crash> jbjones@crash.cts.com (John Jones) writes:
>I have a BOCA 14.4 modem which I'm happy with, but I'm afraid I don't get the
>file transfer performance I should get.
>

How fast (in cps) is it transferring compressed binary files?

George


-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 USMail : 8728 Phinney Ave. N. #8             Phone : (206) 781-7622
          Seattle, WA  98103               Internet : grtorlba@seattleu.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: turkstra@cs.hope.edu (Screwtape)
Subject: Re: How to INCREASE PROCESSOR SPEED (recommended?)
Organization: Hope College Dept. of Computer Science
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 00:14:34 GMT

Ok, I feel confident enough to hack this.  What do I do?  
Simply swap the crystal?  
	Turkstra@cs.hope.edu
From: rick.johns@nitelog.com (Rick Johns) 
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: KEYBOARD ERROR
Date: 21 Nov 92 08:29:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Nitelog BBS - Monterey, CA - 408-655-1096
Reply-To: rick.johns@nitelog.com (Rick Johns) 

Hi, Iv'e got the strangest keyboard error.  The most promonate symptom
is the END key actually does a PRINT SCREEN.  Iv'e got an IBM PS2 30/286
anybody have any suggestions on whats going on.

thanks

-= Rick =-
                                            
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: c8931389@jupiter.newcastle.edu.au (PETER LINDSAY GENTLE)
Subject: Maxtor 7040 AT slave mode settings wanted (de ja vu?)
Summary: request jumper settings to put 7040AT into slave
Keywords: Maxtor 7040 slave
Organization: Uni of Newcastle, Australia
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 16:11:39 GMT

I have exactly the same problem as someone here has/had a little while
back... Unfortunately i seem unable to contact them through email.
Basically i would like to know the jumper settings to get my Maxtor
7040AT to be slave (not to the grind!).  If the author of the origional
message has the solution or whoever emailed him/her still has it, make
a tired old man very happy and forward it on to -
c8931389@jupiter.newcastle.edu.au
you'll feel so much better for it!

pete.