HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer
Subject: Using the CMOS RTC (IRQ8) on an AT+
From: conrad@actrix.gen.nz (Conrad Bullock)
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 04:11:36 GMT
Organization: Actrix Information Exchange

I have written a profiler for JPI Modula-2 under DOS (*), based on the
scheme presented in DDJ Oct 92. However, rather than using the standard
trick of speeding up the 8253/4 timer interrupt, IRQ0 (because we had
other uses for that...), I decided to use the AT RTC Interrupt, IRQ8,
at the rate of 1024 times a second. I got it working perfectly, no real
problems, on several machines.

However, as soon as I try it on one particular machine, with a
particular motherboard... (in a terminal we have ordered 650 of....),
it doesn't go. The interrupt handler is set up, but no interrupts ever
arrive... It's as if the RTC hardware isn't there.... but it is!

My next step is to find some other program that uses that interrupt,
and see how that goes...

Anyway - does anyone have similar experiences with the RTC interrupt?
I believe I am delaying long enough between port accesses.
(The motherboard manual discusses a bit in the chipset which allows
the RTC interrupt to come from another source, but this appears to be
set correctly.

This interrupt doesn't seem to be used very much - is this why?

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: Michael.Kohne@launchpad.unc.edu (Michael Kohne)
Subject: my Priam and Fuji Drives
Organization: University of North Carolina Extended Bulletin Board Service
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 02:16:08 GMT

Thanks for all your help, I have identified both drives. The specs on the 
Priam are:
Summary of responses I received with respect to the PRIAM drive I've
got:
 
 The drive's model number is ID330-EC
 
 
Interface: ESDI or proprietary ML interface, depending on responder
			Either way, I can't hook it to my RLL or MFM boards.
			
Heads:	15
Cyl:	1218(from the folks who said is was ESDI) or 1225(the ML folks)
Platters: 8
Sectors : 36
Capacity: something in the 338Meg range.
 
 
the 808 cyl/16 hds I found written on the drive is probably a mapping
to fool an old BIOS.
 
Dip Switches:
DSEL 1,2,3 - drive select (#3? something in the funny priam interface,
		 I guess) factory set DSEL2 on , 1 and 3 off
SCNT 1,0	- sector size SCNT 1 0n, SCNT 0 off
SPN OP - unused according to one person, but when I flip it, the drive 
			doesn't spin up at power up.
ASK		-unused



The Fuji is :
Fuji FK305-39
It's a 39 meg RLL (32meg formatted) 1/2ht drive
2 platters
4 heads
615 cylinders
26 sectors/track
65 msec access
7,5 meg transfer rate

--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  laUNChpad.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
From: kxj6@po.CWRU.Edu (Kijin Jung)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Seagate & Maxtor Master/Slave Incompatability ?
Date: 6 Jan 1993 19:34:05 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: kxj6@po.CWRU.Edu (Kijin Jung)
NNTP-Posting-Host: thor.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, svirsky@tti.com (Bill Svirsky) says:
>
>I had the same problem with a Maxtor 7120A and a Seagate 1144A.
>I finally called Maxtor tech support. They told me that there are
>some IDE drive master/slave combinations that just don't work.
>
>

I have a Maxtor IDE drive (LXT340A) and am thinking of getting
another Maxtor. I take it that there will be no Maxtor/Maxtor
master/slave incompatibilities? Or will there?

Thanks in advance...


							-Kijin
-- 
 __ Kijin Jung ________________________ To affect the quality of the day, __
|   kxj6@po.cwru.edu                 |  that is the highest of the arts.    |
|   Case Western Reserve University  |                                      |
|__ (216) 754-1101 __________________|________________________ -Thoreau ____|
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: tictac@wam.umd.edu (Don't Techno 4 an Answer)
Subject: Zenon computers/Purchase
Keywords: Zenon, Purchase, Buy, Benchmark
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 02:37:58 GMT

I am in the market for a new computer, and have opted to
go with the Zenon for now, since it's prices are among
the lowest.

Here are the specs:
486DX 50
16M RAM
500M HD  (32 bit SCSI controller, Local Bus)
Diamond Speedstar 24x
Viewsonic 14" Monitor
External FAX 14,4 Modem
MS Mouse
10 Drive Bay Full Tower
250 MB Tape Backup

Soundblaster
Koss Speakers

(I have a soundblaster and am happy with it, and
 will be selling it to a friend.  While I wait
 for the wavetable market to settle a bit..
 particularly the heat between GUS and SB-16's
 daughterboard, I am content (and broke enough)
 to settle for an SB <: )

Zenon offers Three VLB slots, one of which will
be used by the controller,  I cannot afford
a Diamond Viper or similar card (like the Titan II).
For this reason I bought the VL board, but not the
card (for expandability).  I want to be sure I am not
overlooking something.

For further information Zenon's ad appears in
this month's computer shopper, or if something
is unclear please mail me.

Anyways, I am curious as to any comments or suggestions
any of you might have.  I also like ZEOS computers
(just from the advertisement).  For now I am ordering
Zenon, though, I think.

Also, where can I get benchmark testing utility programs?
And what can I test besides WinMarks?  I have Norton's,
SpinRite, and PCTools, and they are decent, but Im sure
there are better Benchmark programs available.

In short
1) What do you think of Zenon computers, or of the
   system config I have listed above (noting the parts)
2) Can someone give me prices on VL cards (like
   the Diamond Viper), as well as stats and
   monitors that go with them?
3) Any other suggestions for someone in the market
   for a 486 you might have.

Mail to:
tictac@wam.umd.edu

Thanks!

A. Almeida

p.s. Derek Schott (schott@usc.orst.edu) I'd appreciate
     it if you could send any direct email you received
     concerning Zenon to me. 


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: ka@hropus.hr.att.com (Kenneth Almquist)
Subject: Displaying lots of text
Organization: AT&T
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 23:45:39 GMT

I'd like a PC similar to the workstations available a few years ago,
and the biggest problem seems to be finding a monitor that will do a
good job displaying lots of text.  What I'm looking for is

    1.  Size:  about 18 (or more) inches diagonal.

    2.  Monochrome.  (Color would be great if the dot pitch was about 0.12mm.)

    3.  At least 1024x768 resolution, and preferably higher.

Any suggestions?

Also, are there SVGA cards that allow you to use high resolutions in
*text* mode?  Graphics mode programming is a pain, and I suspect it is
slow in high resolution modes unless you get a graphics accellerator,
causing even more software headaches.
					Kenneth Almquist
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: Frank.Moehle@arbi.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de (Frank Moehle)
Subject: Omti HD controller prooblem
Organization: University of Oldenburg, Germany
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 17:01:29 GMT



Hello world of the net,

A while ago i dug out my dad's old Commodore PC-10 and decided to make it
become an AT. I have found a 8/10 Mhz AT motherboard and mamadged to
make all the old hardware work with it, except for the most important
thing :
The harddisk, an old Olivetti HD with 20 MB and connected to the computer
by an OMTI - controller, refuses to work. In fact, I can get the directory
of the HD if I boot from a floppy, but if I want to start any program,
I get something like a "SEEK ERROR" and the loading is aborted.
The omti controller has a lot of jumpers, does anybody know what they meen
and how to set them correctly ? In the old XT, none of them was set.
Is it possible to use the old Controller and Harddisk without re-formatting ?
(There is important data on this HD)


Thanx for any kind of help,

Frank.

PS : please reply via e-mail, I usually don't read this group.
-- 
============================================================================
	     CS Student                                   | I may be late,
Real       : Frank Moehle,  2900 Oldenburg, west germany  | but I'm worth
Inhouse    : faramir!moesel                               | waiting for.
UUCP       : moehle@uniol                                 +-----------------
DOMAIN     : Frank.Moehle@arbi.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de
------------------------------>Fascinating.<--------------------------------
****              It`s how you DO it, not how you don't.                ****
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: mtichy@fraser.sfu.ca (Martin Tichy)
Subject: Re: VLB Machines and Bus Mastering - AIR Motherboards
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 09:49:08 GMT

> |> You must be thinking of 1st Party DMA, not bus mastering.
> 
> What is "1st Party DMA"?
 
 
Ok, ok, I've been getting a lot of mail lately asking me 
this.  So I quote without permission from Roedy Green's 
article in the September 92 computer paper:
 
"DMA (Direct Memory Access) is a method of having a device 
such as the disk controller work independently of the CPU, 
read the disk and directly deposit the data in RAM, all 
without CPU intervention.  There are three types of DMA; third 
party DMA where the motherboard DMA chip controls the 
operation, first-party DMA where the disk controller itself 
takes over that function, and bus mastering where the disk
controller commandeers the entire bus for short bursts to blast 
the data into RAM.
 
On the ISA bus, third-party DMA is too slow to use at all.  
The best you can hope for is first-party DMA--used only on 
high-end SCSI host adapters.  In contrast, the EISA cards use 
the extremely fast bus mastering method.  Often ISA 
first-party DMA is erroneously billed as bus mastering."
 
blah blah
 
"First-party DMA SCSI host adapters are able to work 
independently, allowing the CPU to work on other tasks.  Under 
DOS the CPU just spins its wheels waiting for the disk to 
finish, but under OS/2, the CPU does other useful work.  This 
independence is what makes SCSI so fast under OS/2"
 
I believe I might have been wrong in saying that VESA's VL-BUS 
spec doesn's support first party DMA.  What I meant to say is 
that it doesn't support multi-plexing.  However the mezzanine 
extension of the spec will have multi-plexing, 64-bit 
processor support, up to 10 local bus devices along with other 
goodies.  It's current problem being only local bus device can
the local bus path at one time.
 
Later.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: th@cci632.cci.com (Tim Hinton)
Subject: Royal Computers
Organization: [Computer Consoles, Inc., Rochester, NY
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 13:34:08 GMT

Has anyone had any dealings with this company?

Thanks.
From: burley@apple-gunkies.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Craig Burley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: SCSI compatibility on EISA: Recommendations.
Date: 4 Jan 93 15:06:05
Organization: Free Software Foundation 545 Tech Square Cambridge, MA 02139
	<1252@alsys1.aecom.yu.edu> <1992Dec31.192544.3386@mksol.dseg.ti.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: apple-gunkies.gnu.ai.mit.edu
In-reply-to: mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com's message of Thu, 31 Dec 1992 19:25:44 GMT

In article <1992Dec31.192544.3386@mksol.dseg.ti.com> mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539) writes:

   In <1252@alsys1.aecom.yu.edu> manaster@yu1.yu.edu (Chaim Manaster) writes:

   > I am aware that ASPI originated at Adaptec, unfortunately when I spoke 
   >to tech support at Corel, they told me that they work fine with the 1500
   >series from Adaptec but that they are having (unspecified) problems
   >running with the Adaptec 1700 (EISA) series of adapters!?

   >Have you tried using the Corel drivers with your board? Maybe the problem is
   > just some remote glitch but 99% of the functionality is OK (but I doubt it)?

   I've never used them with my board, but I do know that Adaptec
   themselves are apparently selling them and supporting them as an
   alternative to the ASW-410 package.  You might want to try calling
   Adaptec support and asking them whether they'll work with the EISA
   boards in Enhanced Mode and such, or whether they're just supporting
   them for the 154x series boards.

AHA-174x boards (at least the one I have, and others at that rev) don't
work properly in Standard Mode (compatible with 154x and 164x) doing
1024-byte read/write operations, or some such thing.  Apparently once
in a while stale data is read; maybe a similar problem happens on writes,
maybe not.  This caused me lots of lost usage on my 486/33 running Linux.
The workaround in Linux was to do 512-byte I/O on AHA-174x boards in
Standard Mode, just as DOS does (apparently).  Now Linux supports Enhanced
Mode, so I'm just waiting for the right diskette to arrive in the mail
so I can switch my AHA-1740 to Enhanced Mode, which apparently works fine.

So, maybe that's the problem the Corel stuff had -- doing 1024-byte reads
(or maybe any value other than 512 bytes) from an AHA-174x in Standard Mode.
--

James Craig Burley, Software Craftsperson    burley@gnu.ai.mit.edu
Member of the League for Programming Freedom (LPF) lpf@uunet.uu.net
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 22:26:51 EST
From: <RFM@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: OLD Epson HomeWriter 10 Anyone Help Me?

Isn't the Homewriter the same machine as Sears SR2000? Anybody out
there know? I seem to recall that it is. If so, you can maybe get
parts thru Sears.
BobM
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib)
Subject: Re: Gateway 2000 486DX2-66V vs. Zeos 486DX2-66 VESA Local Bus System
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 18:35:20 GMT

In article <palane.726565508@pv7428.vincent.iastate.edu> palane@iastate.edu (Paul A. Lane) writes:

>However, the ZEOS was one of the runner-ups, primarily because of a weak
>monitor. Howeverm, its graphics subsystem was the fastest ever seen.
>Given that you won't be buying video, this is not a consideration.


Which video card is standard in the Zeos?








-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iskandar Taib                          | The only thing worse than Peach ala
Internet: NTAIB@SILVER.UCS.INDIANA.EDU |    Frog is Frog ala Peach
Bitnet:   NTAIB@IUBACS                 !
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: srheintze@happy.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: Buying a SCSI controller board.
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Distribution: usa
Date: 12 Jan 93 11:26:45 MDT

In article <edwards.726808783@yacht>, edwards@ee.fit.edu (John Edwards) writes:
> In <KEVR.93Jan9164818@idt103.is.morgan.com> kevr@is.morgan.com (Kevin Reilly) writes:
> 
>>1. I know I must buy a SCSI controller board. But which one?
> 
> the IN2000 scsi adaptor by Always Technology was designed to work
> with other controllers.  I had no problem using with a MFM at least.
> I've never tried it with a IDE though.
> 
 I ran a MAXTOR HD on my IN2000 that coexisted nicely with a 80MB RLL
Micropolis for over a year.

 In early december I removed the RLL controller and drive and replaced the
drive with a HP SCSI and received nothing but grief for about a month.  Its
been working fine for about a week now and I am mystified as to the cause of
the problem (I posted a separate query on this strange behavior, I hope someone
replies).

Since the IN2000 has been working so well for over a year, I would recommend
the IN2000/MAXTOR combination.  I have some reservations about the IN2000/HP
combinations however.
			Sieg
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: robj@netcom.com (Rob Jellinghaus)
Subject: Reputation of ALR Systems?
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 18:40:39 GMT

A friend is looking for a cheap new 486.  He'd found a deal from
"Uncle Ralph's" in Berkeley--$1700 for 486/25, 170MB HD, 8MB RAM,
mouse, windows, 1024x768 monitor.  But I then found an ad in PC
Week from "Advanced Logic Research, Inc." (ALR for short), for a
486/25 80MB with 1024x768 monitor, for $1200!  This seems like a
pretty exciting deal, but I told him I'd ask on the nets whether
ALR is a shoddy company before he goes and orders it.  So: anyone
have an ALR machine?  Is it good, or bad?  Would you buy another
from ALR?




-- 
Rob Jellinghaus    |  "Next time you see a lie being spread or a bad 
robj@netcom.com    |   decision being made out of sheer ignorance,
robj@xanadu.com    |   pause, and think of hypertext."
uunet!netcom!robj  |       -- K. Eric Drexler, _Engines of Creation_
From: wai@mackinac.ecn.purdue.edu (Benjamin Wai)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: com 3 & 4 problem - continue...
Date: 11 Jan 93 03:54:54 GMT
Organization: School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University
Disclaimer: as usual...

Original problem...
>	Problem: trying to get com 3 and 4 working.
>	I have just added a new I/O card with 2 serial ports for com 3 and 4.
>	The hardware doesn't seem to automatically accept the two new ports.

	It has been suggested that I need to disable the default com 3 and 4 
	switches on the motherboard, however after searching through what 
	seemed to a 40 or so pages 'reference manual', and looking around
	(and testing varies jumpers) the motherboard, I didn't find anything
	that helped.

	Can anyone suggest anything else I can do?
	I got the machine configed in HK. Not much help from there.

	Please reply by e-mail.  Many thanks in advance.

	System board: InformTech 486DX/33.
	P/S: By the way, what does the jumper J28 do? Not a word mentioned 
	on the manual.                               J 28
                                               __-| 1 : 3 |-__
                                                 -| 2 : 4 |-

	- Benjamin Wai  < wai@cn.ecn.purdue.edu > < wai@sage.cc.purdue.edu >
---
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: joet@dcatlas.dot.gov (Joe Trott)
Subject: Re: Why memory costs doubled
Organization: U.S Dept. of Transportation
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 17:04:37 GMT

f88hv@efd.lth.se (Henrik Vallgren) writes:

>A few years back, I read a book review in BYTE. The story
>of the book was how Sony got into the television set market 
>in the US. It's not about unfair trade, it's about short-
>sighted american businesses trying to make a quick buck.

>Sony offered a US manufacturer to sell tv sets cheaper than 
>the US manufacturer could make them. In stead of trying to
>cut costs in production, the US manufacturer gladly accepted 
>Sony's offer, i e invited Sony into the US market.
>A few years passed and Sony learned how the US market worked.
>It was time for Sony's next move. They offered the same tv 
>sets directly to the stores, just a bit cheaper, and put a 
>new label onto their sets. The US "maker" was now almost out
>of business.

>THIS DISCUSSION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH UNFAIR COMPETITION.
>What it's about is how much profit an investor demands out
>of his investment. If the japanese always are willing to
>accept lower returns than american "businessmen", free trade 
>will, justly, result in japanese taking over market after 
>market.

Right!  Good for them (the Japanese).  That *is* how the free market is
supposed to work.

>In fact, in the same review (I think), it was made clear that
>american "businessmen" where only too happy to let go of the
>memory market, since profits where too low for them. What has
>now occured to them is that memory has become a good way for
>asian industries to learn how to produce hightech silicon.
>The idiots who gave up the memory market and concentrated on
>the highprofit areas will soon fidnd them selves some real
>hard competition. To the benefit of us endusers of course.

To our benefit until the U.S. Government steps in, wielding force so that
some parasite politicians can claim to be looking out for American businesses
and American jobs in order to get votes.  They'll impose tariffs and other
fees that represent money taken by force for which no product or service of
value is provided, i.e. extortion, and we'll all have to pay the higher
prices that will result.
Of course, if I mailed a bucket of puke to Congress, I'd probably get
arrested for something...

>This discussion is about longterm vs. shortterm investment.
>Those not willing to make longterm investments don't belong
>in the industry.

They don't belong in business, period.

-JTT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: rpl@world.std.com (Bob Lofblad)
Subject: INFO REQ: Can you explain CMOS settings
Summary: It seems that the last great secret is contained in CMOS...
Keywords: BIOS CMOS Setup 
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 23:36:04 GMT

It seems that the last great secret is in the CMOS... we know what to set
all the BIOS parms to, CAS RAS Concurrent refresh enabled etc. but what
we can't find is the explanation to each settings.  Do you know of a book, or
can I call you and ask a few questions please help!!

-- 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
rpl@world.std.com                                       Home: (617) 235-1494
Robert P. Lofblad                                       Work: (617) 235-5363
18A Stonecleve Rd                                       Fax : (617) 235-5223
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: pd@world.std.com (Peter F Davis)
Subject: Re: Gateway vs. Austin questions
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 17:32:07 GMT

c2xnkb@kocrsv01.delcoelect.com (Nick Boland) writes:

>> |> >I ordered my 66DX2 and got it 12 days later.  It's like the signs
>> |> >at Disney Land that say how long the wait in a line is for a ride.
>> |> >Management says give them a big number and they feel happy when
>> |> >the get it faster.
>> |> 
>> |> I wish that were always true.  I ordered mine 3 weeks ago and I'm still 
>> |> waiting.  My credit card hasn't been billed yet and customer service won't 
>> |> return my calls.
>> 
>> Looks like I'm about to get the waiting line too.  I ordered mine 3 weeks
>> and 1 day ago (12/16) and haven't heard anything yet. They said it would take
>> 3 weeks too. I specifically asked if that was what they told everyone or
>> was that a realistic wait. I said that I'd rather be told up front rather tanh
>> to be PO'd if it's late and she said that it was taking about 3 weeks.
>> I even asked if that included the holidays and she said yes. 

>I ordered by 66DX2 on December 4th.  It was on my door step
>December 21st.  I was told 3.5 weeks and it only took 2.5.  The only
>thing special is that I ordered the tower case with it.   I'm happy!
>-- 

I ordered my 4DX2-66V on Dec. 11, but I made the mistake of telling the person
taking my order that I had already spoken to a different salesrep.  Well, for
one reason or another, probably that the order was left on my original
sales rep's desk instead of being immediately entered, the order didn't get
logged until Dec. 23.  I'm still waiting.

-pd
From: hwrvo@kato.lahabra.chevron.com (W.R. Volz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Micronics 1-800 number?
Date: 8 Jan 93 00:24:10 GMT
Organization: Chevron Oil Field Research Company

In article <1993Jan7.143205.6464@desire.wright.edu>, jbatka@desire.wright.edu writes:
|> I have a Micronics memory board and need the users manual.
|> 
|> Does anyone have their Email, snail mail, and/or 1-800 number?
|> 
|> Thanks,
|> -- 

I'd like the number of their tech support too. If you know, let me know.

-- 

======================
Bill Volz
Chevron Oil Field Research Co.
Exploration Research/Geophysics Division.
P.O. Box 446, La Habra, CA 90633-0446
Phone: (310) 694-9340