HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: chandoni@husc8.harvard.edu (Part of the Problem)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: What's a 16550 UART?
Date: 16 Apr 92 23:18:56 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc3.1992Apr16.191858.11188
Organization: Harvard University Science Center

Is this part of any particular main board chipset, or does
it come on a serial card?  Is it specific to EISA or MCA?

I'm buying a new 486/33 system, and I know this is "a good
thing to have" regarding fast downloads in the background
(under os/2) and/or reliable use of COM3 and 4.  But I don't 
want to expose my ignorance to salespeople who usually say
"oh sure we have one of those" if you (and they) don't
know what you're talking about.

Thanks,
JMC
-- 
chandoni@husc9.harvard.edu    | I will not yell fire in a crowded classroom
John-Marc Chandonia           | I will not yell fire in a crowded classroom
Graduate Biophysics Program   | I will not yell fire in a crowded classroom 
Harvard University            | I will not yell fire ...
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: poffen@sj.ate.slb.com (Russ Poffenberger)
Subject: Re: more than two H/Ds. Is this possible?
Organization: Schlumberger Technologies, ATE division, San Jose, Ca.
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 92 21:38:49 GMT

u8acb@ohm.york.ac.uk (Alex Barclay) writes:
: In <1992Apr3.204041.3732@sj.ate.slb.com> poffen@sj.ate.slb.com (Russ Poffenberger) writes:
: 
: >ys@wam.umd.edu () writes:
: >: In article <chchoi.920402002546@banana.cse.eng.auburn.edu> chchoi@eng.auburn.edu (Cheong Hyeon Choi) writes:
: >: >
: >: > Hi. I just know that each machine can have at most two h/ds. I like to know
: >: >why. The limitation is dependent on DOS, isn't it? Otherwise hardware 
: >: >dependent?
: Nothing to do with hardware or DrOSs :-)
: 
: >: The fact is I beleive that the BIOS won't recognize the 3rd HD. At least in
: >: the AMI BIOS, it has configuration for upto 2 floppies and 2 HD, but I'm 
: >: sure there must be a way to get around this, because I've seen controller
: >: cards that support more than 2 HD's.
: I beileve that the two HD limit is imposed by the device BIOS I'm
: probably going to get horribly flamed for this but surely cards that
: support more than two like the SCSI ones must be written differently.
: 
: >There is a very good way to get more than 2 HD's, in fact up to 7, or a mix
: >of HD's, tapes, CDROM's, etc. It is called SCSI.
: Good point. But isn't this getting back to the argument of the device
: BIOS knowing about more devices.
: 
: Look guys doesn't anyone remember seeing those cute little
: DEVICE=THIRDHD.SYS in their config.sys Of course DOS can handle
: more than two HD's I know I don't like DOS but you have to 
: give it a small ammount of credit every now and again :-)
: 

Yes, you do need a device driver if you want more than 2 HD's of any kind.
However, more than 2 MFM, or RLL drives requires 2 controllers. They also need
to be controllers that can be jumpered for alternate BIOS and IO port
addresses, some, if not many, such controllers won't let you do this.
I am not sure it is possible at all with IDE.

With SCSI, you only need one controller. In fact, the Adaptec 1542 can be
re-configured to co-exist with existing MFM or RLL controllers. Then when you
want to add tape, or CDROM, or whatever else, you still don't need any
more cards. This is one of the beauties of SCSI.

Russ Poffenberger               DOMAIN: poffen@sj.ate.slb.com
Schlumberger Technologies       UUCP:   {uunet,decwrl,amdahl}!sjsca4!poffen
1601 Technology Drive		CIS:	72401,276
San Jose, Ca. 95110             Voice: (408)437-5254  FAX: (408)437-5246
From: Doug Dulmage <ddulmage@igc.org>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Date: 09 Apr 92 17:13 PDT
Subject: Re: Does AUTOCAD kill harddrives???
Nf-ID: #R:22.29e31946@wrglex:-1856145295:cdp:1531500002:000:467
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!ddulmage    Apr  9 17:13:00 1992


Hello, yes Acad does a lot of hard drive accesses, but I don't think that
it would "kill" a drive. The is a very easy and cheap way to prevent this
from happening, as well as speeding up Acad performance. Just use a software
disk cache. if you can set aside 1 or 2 megs of ram for a cache or ram drive,
you will find that your hard drive really is only accessed during loading
and saving of your drawings. It can also dramatically speed redraws and
other functions.


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.unix.msdos,comp.unix.misc
From: ice@skynet.uucp (Ice)
Subject: Re: Hardware for pc unix?
Organization: Cyberdyne Systems Corporation
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 1992 04:59:41 GMT

In article <willimsa.702223297@unix1.tcd.ie> willimsa@unix1.tcd.ie (Gavin Williams) writes:
>
>	HI,
>I'm getting a Pc, probably 486Dx/33, one of the things I'll want on it is Unix.
>What sort of hardware recommendations do you have, i.e HDD size, controller etc.
>I assume if, eg I get a 200Mb Hard disk I can partition it into 100Dos and    
>100 unix1, (correct me if i'm wrong :-) ).
>
>Anyway, to sum up, what is generally regarded as good.
>Later,
>
>--
>         ______________________________________________________________
>	|  A.G. Williams          |        Plus qu'il n'en faut.       |    
>	|  willimsa@unix1.tcd.ie  |                                    |
>	|_________________________|____________________________________|


Plan to run X? 100 Mb won't really be enough. X is HUGE. Try for a bigger
drive if you wish to have DOS as well. FYI, Unix <-> SCSI, BTW.
-- 
/* Ice's Hypermedia Sig */ #include <cyberpunk.h> #include <industrial.h> 
Hardware required: biological neural net with _unsupervised_learning_
Audio() Burning Inside by Ministry; "The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste" 
Visual() Sarah Connor's flesh on fire blasted away leaving screaming skeleton 
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware

>(Joseph G. Toth Jr.) 
>The real problem was;
>  1 - The guy had 4 (I think) Meg of Memory.
>  2 - Boot info tests 3.7Meg
>  3 - Boot info showd 512K available (640K if translated to decimal K)

This is wrong. 1K=1024. A decimal K=1000 so the 640K in decimal K is
actual 655K. If the boot info show 512K then 128K of conventional
memory is missing if the system actually had 4MB.

>The question was;
>  what about my other memory.
>
>The real answer is;
>  Well it's still there, but it is the Expanded Memory (EMS) that overlays
>  the 'reserved' area.  It is still avaiable for certain functions by
>  using a memory manager ('emm386', or whatever is supplied due to the
>  hardware design).

This is wrong and confusing. What is done with the RAM between 640K and
1M varies with the BIOS and the memory controller used in the system.
In some systems the memory is still there and is unusable without
a memory manager. Other systems allow the RAM to be re-mapped into
EXTENDED memory. There is no auto re-mapping into expanded memory
as that requires a software driver as well. It cannot be done in
just CMOS or the BIOS. Typically what goes into the reserved area
is the EMS page frame. Some 808x based laptops allow the 640k to 1m
area to be re-mapped as expanded memory IF you load their special
EMS driver.

			   Danny Low
    "Question Authority and the Authorities will question You"
	   Valley of Hearts Delight, Silicon Valley
	     HP NPCD   dlow@pollux.svale.hp.com
From: wadams@nmt.edu (Wayne Adams)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: maxtor 210 meg scsi disk
Date: 10 Apr 92 18:17:35 GMT
Organization: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

In article <1992Apr10.011943.2024@serval.net.wsu.edu> msmith@beta.tricity.wsu.edu (Mark Smith) writes:
>In article <csjohn.702703604@knuth> csjohn@knuth.mtsu.edu (John Wallace) writes:
>>Not too long ago, there was a lot of talk here about
>>a new scsi drive that Maxtor was going to start selling
>>this month.  It was to be fast & cheap & 210 megs.  
>>Does anyone know anything more about this drive?  
>>Is anyone selling it now?   How much does it cost?
>>How fast is it?
>>
>Supposed to be real fast.  14ms access and a drive transfer rate of 9Mb/sec.
>Transfer rat from controler to memory will be quite slower, maybe 1Mb.  Maxtor
>should be mass producing them as we speak.  OEM price was $395.  Who knows when
>we'll see any prices on the street.

I called MAXTOR directly, and both the technician and sales person I talked
said that the new, cheap, and fast 200 IDE drive would be out in may, and that the new , cheap, and fast SCSI drive would be out late JULY.

Sort of ruined my spring buying plans!!

wayne,
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: russest@ampex.com (Steve Russell)
Subject: Re: Attaching 1.44MB 3.5" to
Organization: Ampex Corporation, Redwood City CA
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 19:06:06 GMT

In article <1992Apr13.210011.6510@cs.mcgill.ca> mingmar@cs.mcgill.ca (Ming MAR) writes:
>In <1992Apr3.002039.3879@iitmax.iit.edu> ee448rsw@iitmax.iit.edu
>(Robert S Wojtowicz) writes:
>
>>In article <702106093.0@ship.UUCP> Clayton.Little@NO (Clayton Little)
>>writes:
>>>ZW*>I tried to attach a new 3.5" floppy drive as drive B to my old
>>>ZW*>original(!) IBM-AT currently running DOS 3.3 and using 1 5.25"
>>>
>>>        Well, a simple solution... DOS 3.3 doesn't support 1.44's.
>>>        Change your DOS to 4.01 or 5 and life will be simpler for you.
>>>        ;)
>>
>>DOS 3.3 does support 1.44, that is what I am using at home on my XT
>>compatible. What might not be compatible is your BIOS, as there is
>
>I'm using MS-DOS 3.20 at home on an XT and it works fine.
>The floppy disk controller includes a ROM high density BIOS.
>Obviously, a current version of DOS isn't needed.

So, now that we've beat this to death .....

Depending on the bios, dos, and firmware in the disk controller you may
or may not be able to talk to the 1.44mb floppy disk.

The old IBM-AT did not natively support 1.44mb disk drives, or 720kb for
that matter. 

You could get a new controller with extended bios features or get a
motherboard bios upgrade. I'd opt for the motherboard bios on the chance
you may want an IDE drive in the future and you'll need a user-configurable
setting at that time.

-steve
From: nap42487@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Nishith A. Patel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Myoda 386/486 Computers
Date: 10 Apr 92 22:59:23 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

<U58288@uicvm.uic.edu> writes:

>A company called MYODA has some of the best 386 and 486 system
>prices in Chicago.  They appear to be a large outfit, with
>outlets in many cities, but I know no one with one of their
>computers, and I have not seen these computers mentioned on
>the net.  Has anyone had good or bad experience with these
>machines?  Thanks for any news. - Alan Hinds


Nish Patel   nap42487@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
From: RKooijman@dnpap.et.tudelft.nl (Richard Kooijman DNPAP)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: SoundBlaster technical info
Date: 12 Apr 92 12:20:40 GMT
Organization: Delft University of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering

Is there somebody who has technical info on the SoundBlaster, enough
to make a compatible board on my own?


Richard.

--
-- ir. Richard Kooijman ------------------- Email: RKooijman@ET.TUDelft.NL --
-- Intelligent Network Management Project (INEMA) ---------------------------
-- CARDIT, Delft University of Technology ------------ Tel: (31)-15-786209 --
-- P.O.Box 5031, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands ------ Fax: (31)-15-784898 --
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: jws@IASTATE.EDU (James William Shoemaker)
Subject: Help me find QICstream.
Reply-To: jws@IASTATE.EDU (James William Shoemaker)
Organization: Iowa State University
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 18:08:06 GMT

	I have a Problem.  I have a Heath HBT-40 that I put into my closet after I
bought a SCSI tape backup.  I just put together a machine from left over parts
and would like to use it for backup, but the disk with the software has gone bad
while the drive was in storage.

	The software was QICstream 1.92B.  It is from archive, so I probably could get
it from them, but I don't have their number.


				JWS

Xref: sparky comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:13895 comp.os.msdos.programmer:5469
From: garyf@wang.com (Gary Field)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: Combatting Idleness
Date: 16 Apr 92 12:33:50 GMT
Distribution: comp
Organization: Wang Labs, Lowell MA, USA

ara@zurich.ai.mit.edu (Allan Adler) writes:

>I am posting this for a friend of mine. Please reply to him at
>SHOTLAND@SBBIOVM.BITNET and not to the address above.

>OK all you DOS experts  --  here's a problem that has been bothering me for
>some time.  

>When you request disk services from Microsoft DOS or the BIOS, the
>actual data transfer takes place using DMA, right?  So DOS/BIOS must just be
>sitting there waiting for the DMA to complete.  

You're already wrong. Disk transfers from MOST PC disks are done via
REP INSW (polled I/O). The only truly idle time is when the processor is
waiting for the disk heads to seek to the proper cyl/hd. I'll grant you
that this is a fair bit of time, and real O/Ses (like Unix) release
the processor for use by other waiting processes, but I know of no way
to do this under DOS.

For those who are chomping at the bit to flame me for the above generalization,
I do realize that SOME SCSI host adapters do their data transfers via DMA.
These are certainly the exception, and not the rule.

>QUESTION: Assuming this is correct, does anyone know how to get
>control back while the tranfer is taking place, or while the heads are 
>moving into position, for that matter?  

>I have a very tight data  acquisition task that could use this 
>dead time for several purposes. 

>If there is a flag DOS or the BIOS sets to indicate that it is currently 
>idle, that would be a big start, because I could schedule an interrupt 
>to occur shortly after I ask for disk access, and do some additional 
>processing contigent upon this flag's being set.

>Any ideas?  I know DOS is not meant to do preemptive multitasking, but this 
>is a much limited version of that problem.

-- 

/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Gary A. Field - WA1GRC, Wang Labs M/S 019-72B, 1 Industrial Ave      
   Lowell, MA 01851-5161,  (508) 967-2514, email: garyf@wiis.wang.com
-----------  Anything not worth doing, is not worth doing well. -----------*/
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: friesenda@skyfox.usask.ca
Subject: QIC-80 Tape Drives
Organization: University of Saskatchewan
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1992 08:51:37 GMT

Hello all,

I noticed alot of questions asking which QIC-80 tape drive to
buy, and I just thought I would mention that the latest issue
of PC-MAG has a review of 13 different drive, as well as some
shorter articles discussing alternatives (WORM, DAT, 21M floptical
even a *VERY* expensive VHS system) and newer products (like
IDE systems).

They picked the Colorado Memory System's Jumbo 250 External,
with price being a big factor ($510 plus $40 for pre-formatted 
tape, $350 for internal). Based on speed, it was middle-ground 
until you added a $300 accelerator controller. (PC-MAG say that
street prices may be up to $100 less for the drive).

If you don't need 100% QIC-80 compatibility they say the Irwin
AccuTrak Plus A250E is a good drive to have. "One point in
its favor is that it's practically a standard unto itself, with
a 40% market share" (pg 202). It did very well in the benchmarks
too.

Just a note for OS/2 users: Colorado doesn't have backup software
for OS/2 and it doesn't look like any is coming in the near future.
Someone from the comp.os.os2.misc area was told by Colorado that
they were going to focus on finishing their Windows software first,
and would think about OS/2 if it caught on. (Irwin on the other hand
does have OS/2 software, but it presently costs $269!!!)

I have been reading this area for a while and have picked up quite
a bit (University teaches you a lot about theoretical bulsh!t but
nothing about how to USE a machine or what's INSIDE one), so I hope
someone looking to buy a tape system will find this at least a
little helpful.

Darryl Friesen
friesenda@sask.usask.ca

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: wilson@schaefer.math.wisc.edu (Bob Wilson)
Subject: Re: Servo-writing a tape in a tape backup drive---HELP
Reply-To: wilson@math.wisc.edu (Bob Wilson)
Organization: Univ. of Wisconsin Dept. of Mathematics
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 92 21:20:44 GMT

In article <1992Apr10.130104.7173@donau.et.tudelft.nl> eddy@dutecai.et.tudelft.nl (J.G.E. Olk) writes:
>mts@wam.umd.edu writes:
>
>>not the drive.  Does anyone have any tips?  Also, is there any way to bulk
>>erase a tape without buying a tape eraser?  I have for the moment been setting
>>the tapes on a large speaker magnet to erase them and it atleast lets me 
>>begin to servo write the tapes.  Do the tapes have to be totaly erased before
>>the drive will servo them correctly?  Is it possibly to wrap some length of 
>>wire around a cardboard tube and run a current through it to create a field
>>strong enough to erase the tapes?
>>Any help will be greatly appreciated.
>
>work fine, one tape couldn't be servo written properly. So if you have
>useful information on how to bulk erase a DC1000 tape without using a
>bulk-eraser (if there exists such a beast) please POST THIS!! (Do I sound
>desperate enough?)
Bulk erasers for audio tapes are pretty common and cheap, and more
than adequate for the job. You may find some friend has one, or around
a college or high school there will be erasers at language labs.
Bob Wilson
wilson@math.wisc.edu
From: peter@sysnext.library.upenn.edu (Peter C. Gorman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: HP DeskJet cartridge life?
Date: 9 Apr 92 15:47:59 GMT

Hello -

I'm trying to get an idea of the cost of maintaining a number of HP DeskJets.   
HP says that their ink cartridge is good for 800-1000 pages.  Can anyone confim  
or deny this from experience?  What's your best estimate?

Also, can anyone tell me their experience using this printer in a student  
computer lab situation?  Can it take the workload/abuse?

Thanks for your help.
--
Peter Gorman
University of Pennsylvania
Library Systems Office
peter@sysnext.library.upenn.edu
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Saturday, 11 Apr 1992 00:03:43 EDT
From: Jeff Wolfe <JTW106@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Gateway info..

As a FYI to anyone who ordered a telepath from gateway, the newest
estimation on ship dates is "May 1 1992". They're still having
"parts availability problems." I had a nice chat with the customer support
person, though. She told me all kinds of neat things about the way they
process orders.
 The order seems to be taken on paper. it is then passed to stock, where they
decide if the part/system is available. If it is, it continues, if not, it sits
 here.
 The paper(work?) then goes to accounting. If your payment request is approved,
 a pic list is printed in the warehouse for your order. If you ordered a system
 It goes into production..
 When the item is shipped, a return signal charges your card (assuming credit
was used for the purchase.)

Whenever I order anything from Gateway, I call every other day, to check on
the status of my order.
 (It keeps me happy, and I know what the real story is. they can't tell you the
wrong thing 4 times in a row..)

 -- Jeff Wolfe                        "May the forces of evil become
 Inet: JTW106@psuvm.psu.edu (prefered) lost and confused on the way to
       jefwolfe@endor.cs.psu.edu       your door."  -Carlin

Hi! I am a .signature virus. Copy me into your .signature to join in!
From: vlaurent@cactus.org (Vince Laurent)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Looking for a New System
Keywords: 486 Purchase
Date: 6 Apr 92 21:43:13 GMT
Reply-To: vlaurent@cactus.org (Vince Laurent)
Organization: The Capital Area Central Texas Unix Society

I am interested in purchasing a new system.  I have it boiled down to
to buy-by-mail companies.  Has anyone purchased from Tri-Star (specifically
the Tri-CAD 486 33Mhz ISA system) or an Ares (486/33 or 486/50 system).
Both are close in price and hardware but they are both mail order
of which I have no experience.  

Any and ALL help would be GREATLY appreciated!
Please send replies via e-mail to vlaurent@cactus.org!

		-vince

-- 
Vince Laurent 
Internet  vlaurent@cactus.org
Connect America BBS 1:382/10
Xref: sparky comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:13601 comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc:7421
From: cpp@cci632.cci.com (Carl P. Petito)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Help with 386 setup
Keywords: 386, BIOS
Date: 10 Apr 92 17:46:18 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Computer Consoles Incorporated


I've just upgraded my system with a 386SX motherboard (VLSI's 82C311 SCAMP
chip) with AMI's BIOS.  The manual is a little light on jumpers and advanced
cmos setup.  I'd appreciate any information on the following:

	Jumpers:
	Pipeline mode - enabled, but what are we pipelining?

	Advanced Setup:
	Global EMS Control - no idea what this is for; I'm using EMM386.
	Turbo Video - enabled or disabled QA Plus gives the same video
		      performance results; Video ROM is shadowed.
	Non-Turbo Mode CLK2 Divider - Clk2/2 ???
	Fast Clock Divider - /2 ???
	Ext BUS Oscillator Control - Slow ???
	Slow Clock Divider - /2 ???

Also, if I do a clean boot, QA Plus says my VGA card does ~15K cps.
After installing EMM386, this number drops to ~5K cps.  Why? And is there
anything that can be done to negate the decrease?

If there is sufficient response, I'll post a summary.

Thanks for your help,

Carl Petito

rochester!cci632!op632!cpp
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: <kokody2>@me.utoronto.ca
Subject: Re: WORLD-WIDE SHORTAGE OF 3.5" DISKS
Organization: University of Toronto, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Date: 9 Apr 92 19:17:20 GMT

In article <1992Apr9.105909.26987@olymp.informatik.uni-bonn.de> volker@sfb256.iam.uni-bonn.de ( Volker A. Brandt ) writes:
>In article <1992Apr7.142624.29747@a.cs.okstate.edu> ong@a.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) writes:
>>From article <1868@wrdis01.af.mil>, by swsmith@wrdis01.af.mil (Scott Smith):
>>>         If anyone else has heard of the "world-wide" shortage, please
>>> let me know.
>>
>>I read rumors in the trade papers saying that even Borland had to beg
>>Microsoft for some 3.5HD disks for their production use.
>
>We have a serious shortage here in Germany, and our rumour has it that the
>asian manufacturers artificially introduced this shortage because the prices
>had gotten too low.

At a PC Windows show here in Toronto, Bill Gates gave an opening address
speech. In it he was plugging Windows 3.1. One of the tid-bits he had
mentioned that Microsoft had induced a shortage in diskettes in preparation
of shipping MS Windows 3.1 out on April 6th so as to meet the demand for
the newer version.

Gerry Kokodyniak


Gerry Kokodyniak, Ph.D. Student            Department of Mechanical Engineering
kokody2@me.toronto.edu                            University of Toronto
kokody2@me.utoronto.ca                       Structural Integrity Fatigue and
kokody2@ME.UTORONTO.BITNET                     Fracture Research Laboratory
{linus,allegra,decvax,floyd}!utcsri!me!kokody2        (416) 978-6853