HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: paladin@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Robin Yang)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: MD: Sony's new Mini Disk technology
Date: 11 Jan 1993 06:52:22 GMT
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucscb.ucsc.edu


     Sony recently introduced a new generation of music compact disks--2.5"
in diameter with the same playing time as a normal CD.  The key differences
other than size are its caddy (it looks like a smaller version of a 3.5"
floppy disk) and re-writability--more than one million times per bit.  The
technology is still new so they go for $750, with prerecorded disks $16 and
recordable ones $20 or so. 
     I'm curious how adaptable MD's will be to pc's.  On the surface it sounds
like they could replace current CD-ROM technology.  Certianly the rewritability
will be greatly appreciated.  Then again flopticals are only 21 mb on a 3.5"
optical disks.  Hmm...

-- 
The snipers zero in on us.  Each shot becomes a word spoken by death.  Death
is talking to us.  Death wants to tell us a funny secret.  We may not like
death but death likes us.  Guns tell the truth.  Guns never say, "Just
kidding."  War is ugly because the truth can be ugly and war is very sincere.
ARPA : paladin@ucscb.ucsc.edu             UUCP: ...!ucbvax!ucscc!ucscb!paladin
                      BITNET: paladin@ucscb@ucscc.BITNET
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: jre@zeos.com (Jim Erickson)
Subject: Re: SIMM query
Organization: Zeos International, Ltd
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 16:19:10 GMT

In article <1993Jan11.085528.27858@nuscc.nus.sg> isc10085@nusunix1.nus.sg (NG YENG YONG) writes:
>Albert Chu (jacklord@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu) wrote:
>: Forgive this newbie question, but . . .
>: I'm looking to increase the amount of RAM in my 386-33.  It uses the standard
>: 3 chip SIMMs, but I don't know the speed (ns) of the existing SIMMs.  What
>: possible problems could arise if the speeds don't match from one bank to 
>: another, and if it is not advisable to do this, is there anyway to determine
>: the speed of the existing SIMMs (besides calling the vendor, since I have
>: acquired my system second hand, and the previous owner has no clue)?
>
>Hello, you can find out the speed of the SIMMS from the chip itself. On
>the first row of codes, the last 2 digits indicate the speed of the
>chips. For Eg, 70 means 70 ns, 12 means 120 ns, 10 means 10 ns and so
>on.
>


-10 would mean 100ns, -07 (or -7) would be 70ns, etc. 

>Different speeds of SIMMs on different banks should not pose any problem
>to the system, but the RAM read/write wait state must be set to the
>slower RAMs.
>

If the SIMMs are too slow for the machine they will: 1)work without any
problems or 2)produce errors ranging from GPFs to parity errors either all of
the time or intermitantly.  

---JRE---
>
>
>Best regards,
>Steve
>
>
>===========================================================================
>=                                          =                              =
>=  Ng Yeng Yong, Steve                     =   Life is short,             =
>=  ISC10085@NUSUNIX1.NUS.SG                =       Play Hard,             =
>=  1st Year, Computer Science              =            Work Hard,        =
>=  Department of Information System        =                 Have Fun.    =
>=  and Computer Science (DISCS)            =   So, let our hair down      =
>=  National University of Singapore (NUS)  =      and have lots of fun.   =
>=                                          =                              =
>===========================================================================
>


-- 
Jim Erickson             ZZZZ EEEE  OO   SSSS   ZEOS International, Ltd.  
support@zeos.com   INET     Z E    O  O S       Technical Support Dept.
uunet!zeos!support UUCP    Z  EE   O  O  SSS    1301 Industrial Blvd. N.E.
Any opinions expressed    Z   E    O  O     S   Minneapolis, MN 55413
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: dschmitz@iastate.edu (Daniel C Schmitz)
Subject: Need info on THE COMPLETE PC HANDSCANNER
Keywords: scanner handscanner
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 19:46:05 GMT

	I'm looking for a good color handscanner under $400.  If one doesn't
exist then I won't bother getting one yet.
	Anyway, I saw a listing of scanners in the Computer Shopper that listed
2 small scanners by "The Complete PC" for about $200.  It claims that they
both can handle lineart, half tones, continuous tones, color and photos.

What I would like to know is:
	Do these scanners actually scan color or is it some special software
		that tries to interpret color from gray scale?
	Do the scanners use a red or yellow/green led for the scanning light?
	What is the size of the scanner?
	What software is packaged with the scanner?
	Anything else of interest about these scanners.

Thank-you,
Dan Schmitz
dschmitz@iastate.edu
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 09:07:12 EST
From: Greg Spath <GKS101@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Help! Computer has an attitude!

Ok.  Since Gateway Tech Support is always busy and never returns my calls,
maybe some kind soul on the net can help me out.

I own a Gateway 2000 486/33 ISA bus.  It has the old Diamond Speedstar video
card and also has a Soundblaster Pro.  That is the only board that I have
added to the system.  The Soundblaster is on IRQ 5, DMA 1, and Address 220h.

The system initially boots fine.  Everything works.  After about a minute
though, it locks up.  It continues to do this through about 4 reboots and
then everything seems to be fine.  I have torn the computer apart several
times and have come to the following conclusions:

                     1.  It is NOT an interrupt problem.
                     2.  There are NO loose expansion cards.
                     3.  All jumpers etc. are properly set
                     4.  It is probably not a DMA conflict (i don't know
                         for sure because i can't find any info about
                         DMA in the tech ref for the computer.)

I am pretty sure it is not the sound card.  I can't say for sure because
the computer had already warmed up when i tested it with and without the card
in it.  What i'm looking for here are other possible reasons for this odd
behavior.  The problem is really starting to drive me nuts.  The only other
thing i can figure out is that maybe the power supply is really sensitive
to any power fluctuations on boot up.  If this is the case, a power purifier
would solve the problem.  I don't want to jump to conclusions yet tho.  Any
help anybody can give me is greatly appreciated
                                       Greg
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: EISA & Local Bus from V-Comm
From: jit@unisys.co.nz (Jit Tan)
Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1993 00:43:10 GMT
Organization: Unisys New Zealand
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]

I am new to this news network and please accept my apology if the above subject should have been posted in another group.

My query concerns the following:

1. What advantage does an EISA & Local bus motherboard offer  over the ISA or EISA compliance motherboard? 

2. Has anyone heard of V-Comm Enterprises or its EISA/Local bus offering?

3. Who else in the industry offer an EISA & Local bus motherboard?

Thank you in advance for your kind response and wishing you a Happy New Year.


Best regards,

JP Tan
From: sergei@upenn5.hep.upenn.edu (Sergei Borodin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Why memory costs doubled
Date: 5 Jan 93 00:53:12 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania

In article <palane.725673526@pv7427.vincent.iastate.edu> palane@iastate.edu (Paul A. Lane) writes:

>They pulled up stakes and left the market before it became profitable again.
>Short term smart. Long term stupid. That's why you can find no mass-market
>consumer electronics made in the U.S. and only one domestic TV set (Zenith).

  I beleive (well, I read it in EE times) that Zenith is owned by 
  SGS Thomson. So - no more American TVs.

  And I agree with the rest of your article. And I'm tired of the 
  flag waving - "don't buy japaneese - buy american".

>Paul

 S.B.


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: tfisher@CERIS.Purdue.EDU (Tom Fisher)
Subject: Re: Gateway vs. Austin questions
Organization: Center for Environmental and Regulatory Information Systems, Purdue University
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 21:28:52 GMT

I missed out on how this thread began, but the more recent RE:'s
have all dealt with Gateway delivery delays.  Nothing is said about 
Austin.

Well, I have an Austin 486/33 ISA system and I am real pleased.  I 
ordered it in May 92 and was told that it would be shipped within two
weeks.  Four *DAYS* later, it was on my doorstep.  I've only had to call
tech support once (a toll free call, I might add) and that when well.
After about five minutes of music, I talked to a tech rep who was very
courteous and knowledgeable (but not condescending or "uppity").  I
think Austin's cost a bit more, but it's well worth it to me.

Tom Fisher
From: kzt50@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (  911  Kevin Thomas)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Voice synthesis
Date: 7 Jan 93 21:02:08 GMT
Reply-To: kzt50@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (  911  Kevin Thomas)
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA


 Hi,
Could somebody please help me I need alot of information on a voice
synthesis program using the allophone method, if any one has this information
I would be very greatfull if you could contact me.
Kevin.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: jt@fuw.edu.pl (Jerzy Tarasiuk)
Subject: Re: Electrical Shielding
Organization: Warsaw University Physics Dept.
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 19:21:42 GMT

>>>>> On 29 Dec 92 00:52:25 GMT, datta@cs.uwp.edu (David Datta) said:
David> X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]

David> Is there an easy way to add shielding to cards in a PC? I have a
David> Creative Labs Video Blaster and a SoundBlaster. Both cards are noisy
David> and interfere with each other. Is there a way I can shield one from the
David> other?

First, don't put such a cards on adjacent slots.
Second, if you have >0.7mm distance between adjacent cards, can put
shield between them: thin (max 0.1mm) metal (best copper) plate put
inside at least 0.3mm plastic (don't use too thin or too soft plastic:
its purpose is to protect electrically connected parts from touching
the plate, such a touching can cause computer damage!!!) and connected
electrically to ground (e.g. computer case). Note the metal plate must
be fixed firmly inside the plastic to make sure it will not touch any
computer part. It should have size slightly larger than card shielded
by it. This of course makes electrical shielding only, for magnetic
shielding need more place: 0.5mm (or more) iron plate + 0.1mm of copper,
all put inside plastic isolator (for safety), put around the card:
I -----------------------------------------------+
I===========the=board=to=be=shielded============ I
I  (elements on the board ..................)    I
I -------------------------the-shield------------+
I-main board
The magnetic shield must be made of one plate of magnetically soft iron.
I just looked into my PC and saw there is 2-5mm between cards, this is
a lot of space for shielding.
From: ram@cs.umb.edu (Robert Morris)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: CMS JUMB0303.ZIP
Date: 11 Jan 93 22:23:45 GMT
Reply-To: ram@cs.umb.edu
Organization: University of Massachusetts at Boston

Recently I downloaded JUMBO303.ZIP to try with my CMS 250 tape drive.
When I installed it and tried to run it, it complained "language file
not found" and refused to run.  Is this something which I get from my
windows disks, or should it have unzipped, or what?

Replies by email please

Thanks
Bob
ram@cs.umb.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: yenchee@csie.nctu.edu.tw (Yeng-Chee Su)
Subject: performance of GD542X
Organization: Computer Science & Information Engin., Chiao-Tung U, Taiwan, ROC
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 02:16:27 GMT

[ Article crossposted from comp.os.msdos.apps ]
[ Author was Yeng-Chee Su ]
[ Posted on Wed, 6 Jan 1993 02:07:36 GMT ]


  I'm considering for buying a cirrus login GD542X super vga card.  Does
this card support high color vesa mode?  I've a WD90C31 and ET4000 hi-color
now.  The WD90C31 has no 32K color VESA driver and seems problem under a
super vga game, Tristan.  I like the ET-4000 very much, but its performance
under Windows is not satisfied.  Does anyone have comment about cirrus logic?
By the way, I can't find the data in some Super VGA programmer's book.  Is
cirrus logic a name brand?

--
   ______________________________________________________________________
  /             National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan               / \
 |  Name: Yeng-Chee Su              Dept:  Computer Engineering       |__/
 |  Phone: +886-35-716843 (home)    E-mail: yenchee@csie.nctu.edu.tw  |
 |  Address: 5F, 9, 23 Lane, Dong Sun Street, HsinChu, Taiwan 30038   |___ 
  \___________________________________________________________________\__/

--
   ______________________________________________________________________
  /             National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan               / \
 |  Name: Yeng-Chee Su              Dept:  Computer Engineering       |__/
 |  Phone: +886-35-716843 (home)    E-mail: yenchee@csie.nctu.edu.tw  |
 |  Address: 5F, 9, 23 Lane, Dong Sun Street, HsinChu, Taiwan 30038   |___ 
  \___________________________________________________________________\__/
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib)
Subject: Re: Will Windows crawl on my system?
Organization: Indiana University
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 05:16:29 GMT

In article <1992Dec28.041533.6795@netcom.com> ergo@netcom.com (Isaac Rabinovitch) writes:

>This is an issue of backward-compatiblity, which is the only reason
>any of us are bothering with Windows in the first place.  All of us
>have DOS applications we need to use.  

I've basically switched over to all-Windows apps. The only DOS-based
apps I use are some of Novell's network consoles. I hope they come 
out with Windows versions soon. I agree that DOS apps are nicer in a 
Window but Windows apps are nicer - no need to worry about strange 
memory managers etc.

>(If you're not a DOSier, why
>not buy a Mac, now that they're the same price?)  

Ummm.. they aren't. They're slow. Mac OS is annoying once you've 
been using Windows for a while. Enough said 9-)

>In standard mode,
>you *cannot* run DOS programs and Windows simultaneously; you can only
>suspend Windows until you are done with the DOS program.  That makes
>using DOS and Windows software together pretty painful.  In enhanced
>mode, you can use a DOS program almost as if it were a Windows
>program, with cut&paste, side-by-side programs, etc.   I find most of
>my DOS programs easier to use under Windows enhanced mode than when
>they have the machine all to themselves.

Agreed here. I love WP 5.1 in a little 4x6" window! Though I've gone 
over to Word 2 entirely I still have to know and support WP 5.1. I 
do still use InfoSelect for DOS but now the Windows version has come 
out.




-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iskandar Taib                          | The only thing worse than Peach ala
Internet: NTAIB@SILVER.UCS.INDIANA.EDU |    Frog is Frog ala Peach
Bitnet:   NTAIB@IUBACS                 !
From: ahummel@ems.cdc.com (H. Austin Hummel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Gateway Simms - 9 bit or 36 bit?
Keywords: SIMMS
Date: 7 Jan 93 15:43:47 GMT
Reply-To: hah@ems.cdc.com
Organization: Empros Systems International, a division of CDC

In article <1993Jan5.164339.4604@oracle.us.oracle.com>, nparshot@ap1seq.us.oracle.com (Naresh Parshotam) writes:
|> I've been talking to some people about this and have received conflicting
|> answers from even the Gateway folks.  I believe there enough Gateway users
|> here in netland with this answer.  Can someone please tell me for certain
|> which Simms are used in the new Gateways? 
|> 
|> Also, is it wise to get them from a mail-order place and if so, does anyone
|> know of any which price these competitively?

This depends on the motherboard you have and its current memory,
some of their motherboards take 9 bit, some 36 bit, some 3 chip (1 Meg),
some 9 chip (1 meg) . They have what each customer has in their data
base. I also found out they are competative with the market.
From: jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: MS Ball-point mice.....?
Date: 11 Jan 93 15:20:55 GMT
Organization: The MITRE Corporation

Steve.Withers@bbs.actrix.gen.nz writes:

>Does anyone know if the MS Ball-point mice are MS mouse compatible? Or do you
>need special drivers?
 
They work quite cheerfully with the normal MS drivers, although they come
with some extra code which allows you to do local customization (like
setting which way is "up" for ball travel, and which buttons on the 
ballpoint mouse map to which normal rodent buttons.

Given my druthers I prefer a normal mouse, but the ballpoint works nicely
with my Toshiba notebook.  The only problem is that the MS cable plugs 
into the side of the box at the front end, making the cord something of 
an irritation...but I can't really blame MS for that problem.

Joe Morris / MITRE
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: pastor@prc.unisys.com (Jon Pastor)
Subject: scanner mystery
Organization: not much...
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 19:59:09 GMT

I got a Mustek 800GS scanner (up to 800dpi, 256 gray-scale) to hook up to my
Gateway 486DX33V system; it came with:

	1. Scankit, a simple Windows-based program to permit you to scan
	2. Perceive OCR
	3. Micrografx Picture Publisher LE

The scanner offered me the choice of IRQ 3, 5, or 10; I picked 10.
It offered me the choice of DMA channel 1 or 3; I picked 3.
It offered me eight choices of address; I have settled on 22b.

Scankit can talk to the scanner with no problems.
Perceive can scan vertically with no problem, and can recognize characters,
but when I try to scan horizontally I get a general protection failure in
MACH32.drv at address 0001:NNNN.
From Picture Publisher, I can't activate the scanner via the 'Scan' menu-item
in the File menu, but if I hit the F3 key a few to many times rapidly, I can
sometimes activate the scanner, and then it sometimes drops out a few to many
lines from the scan.

Micrografx thinks that it is not their problem, and I'm inclined to agree.  It
feels like some sort of an interrupt problem, but why should Pic Pub be able
to get to the scanner *sometimes*?  Why should it then be able to scan
80-100%, not always 100%?  Why can't I scan horizontally in Perceive?  Does
anyone out there have any plausible theories, based on general knowledge about
scanners, interrupts, and/or interactions among peripherals on PCs?  I am
fairly experienced in some venues, but PC hardware isn't among them.

Thanks.
From: dic5340@hertz.njit.edu (David Charlap)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: PC graphics programming
Date: 11 Jan 93 21:48:30 GMT
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.

In article <VAITKUS.93Jan7122736@ceres.lexmark.com> vaitkus@lexmark.com (Keith Vaitkus) writes:
>I need info on:
>
>Register/assembly level controls for graphics cards.
>How to write device drivers for cards.
>The practical differences btw one resolution and another. 
>The practical differences btw one card or chip-set and another.
>
>I have no interest in CGA and EGA. So I want to focus on VGA and higher
>resolutions, ie XGA, SVGA, etc.

You should learn about CGA and EGA.  They both do things that all
other modes do, and in a simpler way.  For instance, it's easier to
learn 4-plane pixel maps on an EGA than on an super VGA, where you
also have to know about memory banks and other overflow registers,
etc.

I assume you already know assembly-language in general.  Otherwise,
you're not going to be able to write much in the way of device
drivers.  C can only get you so far on a device level.

As for differences between modes and chipsets, there are tons.  For
CGA/EGA/VGA modes, everything is standard, but for sVGA, everything is
manufacturer dependant.  It becomes critical to know the manufacturer
of the board, and you'll need separate procedures for each card.

For 8514, XGA, and S3 boards, there's a world of difference.  These
three are co-processor based.  You'll be accessing another
microprocessor when you use them, instead of setting values into
memory somewhere, like other boards do.

>Thanks in advance, and please note that I am looking for _PC_ specific
>information and not general graphics algorithms.

There are tons of books on the subject.  For VGA, it's rather simple,
and most people will tell you to use the BIOS for everything but
actually drawing pixels.  And that isn't very hard.  For sVGA, its
also not that hard.

Note, that if you're running your PC in protected mode (like under
OS/2 or Unix), you can't access the BIOS, leaving you to directly mess
with I/O ports.  There is plenty of documentation on them for
IBM-standard modes, but sVGA has much less.  Some vendors (like ATI)
try to keep all their register-level documentation under lock-and-key,
making it difficult (if not impossible) to do anything with them
without the BIOS.
-- 
  |)  David Charlap          | .signature confiscated by FBI due to
 /|_  dic5340@hertz.njit.edu | an ongoing investigation into the
((|,)                        | source of these .signature virusses
 ~|~
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: khor@bnr.ca (Kyle Hor)
Subject: Re: SIMM query
Reply-To: khor@bnr.ca
Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd.
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 15:51:19 GMT

In article <1993Jan11.085528.27858@nuscc.nus.sg>, isc10085@nusunix1.nus.sg (NG YENG YONG) writes:
|> Albert Chu (jacklord@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu) wrote:
|> : Forgive this newbie question, but . . .
|> : I'm looking to increase the amount of RAM in my 386-33.  It uses the standard
|> : 3 chip SIMMs, but I don't know the speed (ns) of the existing SIMMs.  What
|> : possible problems could arise if the speeds don't match from one bank to 
|> : another, and if it is not advisable to do this, is there anyway to determine
|> : the speed of the existing SIMMs (besides calling the vendor, since I have
|> : acquired my system second hand, and the previous owner has no clue)?
|> 
|> Hello, you can find out the speed of the SIMMS from the chip itself. On
|> the first row of codes, the last 2 digits indicate the speed of the
|> chips. For Eg, 70 means 70 ns, 12 means 120 ns, 10 means 10 ns and so
|> on.
|> 
In addition to that, there are 2 sets of digits on the IC.  One of
them (4 digits) is the date-code and is usually on top.  You can tell
that it is the date-code as it has something like 9123 which translate
to 1991 workweek 23.

Just look at the other code (which usually have 1 or 2 alphabets) for
your speed rating.
 
............................................................................
. Kyle Hor                    .    /       / _   .  Email  khor@bnr.ca     .
. Bell-Northern Research Ltd. .   /__\  / / /_\  .  Phone  (613) 763-2488  .
. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada     .  / \  \/ /  \__  .  ESN          393-2488  .
....................................__/.....................................
................  standard disclaimer, 2 cents opinion  ....................
.............  searching forever, for the perfect solution  ................