HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: sting@hfglobe.intel.com (Joe Bennett)
Subject: Re: 486SLC chip..NextStep on Cyrix
Organization: Intel Corporation
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 17:15:52 GMT

In article <1992Dec15.192635.1133@mala.bc.ca> bigras@mala.bc.ca writes:
>In article <Bz89I7.23u@hfglobe.intel.com>, sting@hfglobe.intel.com (Joe Bennett) writes:
>> 
>> As for why the 486SLC by Cyrix will not run NeXTStep, I think
>> something should be considered:
>> 
>> NeXTStep is the first, to the best of my knowledge, 32 bit
>> anything for the general PC market since Cyrix and AMD started
>> their clone operations.  I don't believe that Cyrix could have
>> possibly tested 32 bit stuff adequately, because there was very
>> little of it out there, and they were aiming for the entry level
>> market as well.
>> 
>> My feeling is, they booted up DOS, Windows, probably a flight
>> simulator and a spreadsheet, and said, "It's compatible" (okay,
>> I'm sure the tests were more involved than that, but that's the
>> general idea.)
>
>   Yea right, this guy must be speaking from his first hand experience
>with how Intel tested their first batch of 386 chips.  They ran
>DOS and Flight Simulator but didn't produce valid results on their
>32 bit opps.

   No.  Let me speak very slowly so you'll understand.  What I am
saying is that with very little amount of pure 32 bit 486 code out there,
and with Cyrix aiming for the entry level desktop market, thorough
32 bit testing would be very difficult and probably with little value
added.  Think of it this way: what are you going to spend the money to
test?  DOS, or a Unix flavor, from say SCO or Sun?

If you are trying to sell something to the general PC market, working
with DOS/Windows 3.x/DOS application software is going to be infinitely
more important to you than getting Sun Solaris going.  (As an aside,
does anybody know of SCO Unix or Sun Solaris require a 486?  I'm under
the impression that they only require a 386.)  I'm not saying they
*didn't* test anything that was 32 bit, but I doubt they could have
possibly tested much that was written for the 486 with its changes to
the supervisor mode/exception handling/etc. because *there* *was* *not*
*much* *out* *there* that a general PC user would use.

Comprende?


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: hand@spc9.jpl.nasa.gov (Kolin Hand)
Subject: Adaptec 1540B Price
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Distribution: all
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 06:35:35 GMT


+===========================================================================+
+  "Guilt Trip:  The nuclear weapon of relationships."  -- K. Hand          +
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+  Kolin E. Hand                              hand@spc7.jpl.nasa.gov        +
Xref: sparky comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:33821 comp.sys.mac.hardware:24671 comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy:3332
From: tracer@majestix.cs.uoregon.edu (Roger M. Wilcox)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.mac.hardware,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy
Subject: Windows Memory Protection (was Re: "Windoze" slow? Naah...)
Date: 21 Dec 92 06:20:31 GMT
Article-I.D.: cs.1992Dec21.062031.8868
Organization: University of Oregon Computer and Information Sciences Dept.

In article <trimble.724558422@ph-meter.beckman.uiuc.edu> trimble@ph-meter.beckman.uiuc.edu (Chris Trimble) writes:
>cbusch@ub.d.umn.edu (Chris) writes:
>
>>    If the mac is suppose to be truly a multitasking system, then why do
>>you have to load multifinder on top of the mac os?
>
> Well, I just want to know if you're comparing it to Windows here. If so,
> I'm afraid you should take a second look at Windows. Windows is a GUI
> (graphical user interface) that runs on top of DOS. It does not have
> protected memory or any of the other benefits that most OSes have 
> (the Mac doesn't either), like SunOS or OS/2.
>
> I just want to point out that Windows, although it may be an OS of
> sorts (virtual memory is the only thing that warrants this claim), is
> not a good OS at all. There is no memory protection! It's totally
> ridiculous that one crash actually brings down the system. This
> is my main gripe about the MacOS as well - so don't think I'm just
> picking on Windows.

Actually, Windows doesn't so much run *on top of* DOS as it *replaces* DOS.
Windows replaces the keyboard input handler, the video display output calls,
the executable loaders, the memory manager -- EVERYTHING in DOS except for
the file system.

And what it replaces DOS with is actually quite a powerful OS in its own
right.  True, even in Protected Mode (Standard/Enhanced) all applications
run at privilege level 0 (Kernel level), but most memory protection violations
are of the accidental sort that even privilege level 0 can detect and
interrupt before any damage is done to another process (by writing to an
invalid segment descriptor, past a segment's limit, etc.).  I understand that
in Mac System 7, 95% of all address references/jumps outside a process's
address space can be caught, but I have yet to see it catch anything outside
a good old-fashioned bus error.  (Apple's decision to have the Mac OS run
all applications in Supervisor Mode still stands out in my mind as their
biggest and easiest-to-have-avoided blunder.  I only wish Windows Standard
and Enhanced Modes would have taken better advantage of the 286's built-in
protection features as well.)

-- 
Roger *M.* Wilcox   (aka Jeff Boeing)
tracer@majestix.cs.uoregon.edu
Aleph null bottles of beer on the wall, aleph null bottles of beer, ...
From: ulrich@galki.toppoint.de (Ulrich Gall)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: 24 bit BGI driver? (was Re: Boca Research 24-bit true color VGA)
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 92 15:31:50 GMT
Organization: Private UUPC OS/2 system near Kiel, Germany
Keywords: Boca Research 24-bit true color VGA

In article <BzGpzu.3rp@unx.sas.com> sasbnb@diesel.unx.sas.com (Brian Barnes) writes:
>I recently purchased a Boca Research 24-bit true color VGA board for my
>PC. It does Windows nicely at 1024 X 768 X 256. I have wanted to try
>some true color fractals on it and I need an assembler function that
>can be called from a C program with the form:
>
>    int putpuxel(int x, int y, unsigned char red, unsigned char green, 
>        unsigned char blue);
>
>Is there anybody at Boca Research on the news reader?
>(This project would be a GREAT PROMOTIONAL TOOL!)

Does anyone know of a BGI driver or a Toolkit for TP/TC to do true-color
graphics? I do not think it is too had to write that putpixel procedure,
but if you want text in your graphics, you need more.

Thanks and merry christmas,

Ulrich

--
Ulrich D. Gall, Seebrooksberg 2, W-2300 Klausdorf/Schw.
EMail: ulrich@galki.toppoint.de, Phone: +49-431-790292
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: bsardis@netcom.com (Barry Sardis)
Subject: Re: Mac & PC living together ????
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 06:41:43 GMT

bambi@informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de (Stefan Bamberger) writes:


>Hi netters,


>I'm going to buy a DOS computer with a SCSI disk controller. I decided for
>the Adaptec 1542B, because of trying to minimalize any compatibility and
>driver problems.
>Now my questions:

>1.) I heared of an Adaptec 1542C. Is it better, faster, cheaper? 

I have a B - never heard of a C.

>2a.) We use a lot of Macintosh computers in our department linked together
>with
>     an ethernet. They do their backups within the net. I will join the net
>with
>     my PC ethernet adapter. I'm looking for SW, so that both _worlds_ (PC
>&
>     mac) are transparent to each other.

I have my PC and Mac SE networked, but on Appletalk. I am using the PhoneNET 
Card PC and Localtalk software from Farallon. I believe that the Farallon 
software (perhaps another version) will allow the PC the connect over ethernet. 

I did need to upgrade the Mac to System 7 to get the file sharing, but it 
works with regular Appleshare (which I didn't want to use/buy).

>2b.) Now the hat-trick ! ;-))
>     The Macintoshs use a backup software called RETROSPECT. With it, it is
>     possible to make remote backups of all macintosh in a net to a
>     predefined time. I would like to use this service, too !!!
>     Probably, I need a driver which lets the AT looking like a Macintosh
>     for the backup software.

>Especially to the net problem it seems, as if _nobody_ has ever tried to
>link a PC in an Mac ETHERTALK net. The other way round is easygoing with
>NOVELL etc., but with the peer-to-peer Mac net as host it looks rather
>difficult.

I've "requested" that Farallon provide the System 7 file sharing capability 
for the PC side, but as of now it is only one way.

>I could imagine that the answer of the net problems is not only interesting
>for me. If I got any solutions, I would post them.

>-Stefan
-- 
Barry Sardis		| Home:   (408) 448-1589
1241 Laurie Avenue	| Office: (408) 448-7404
San Jose, CA 95125	| Fax:    (408) 448-7404
Email: bsardis@netcom.COM or 70105.1210@compuserve.COM
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: tpearson@titan.trl.OZ.AU (Trevor Pearson)
Subject: Re: RODIME Drive Specs Needed
Organization: Telecom Research Labs, Melbourne, Australia
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 03:09:13 GMT

Kermit@cup.portal.com (Kermit Royce Woodall) writes:
> If someone out there can email me the following, I would be most grateful.
> I'm looking for the specs in order to setup the following MFM drive in my
> clone as an extra drive.  It's a Rodime RO3055, Type 90 - thanks!
> 
> Kermit Woodall


42Mbyte
872 cylinders
6 heads
650 write precomp
871 landing zone


Xref: sparky comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:33540 comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc:15935
From: szhang@bcm.tmc.edu (Shide Zhang)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: More Help! Apple joystick-->PC game port
Followup-To: poster
Date: 17 Dec 1992 19:44:05 GMT
Organization: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx
NNTP-Posting-Host: bcm.tmc.edu
Keywords: Was: HELP! Pc game port pin connections?

I posted a few days ago asking how to built a convertor to connect an
Apple //e //c joystick to my PC's game port. With the help of some VERY
NICE netters I'v figured out the pin layout of both sides and the
wiring diagram of my Apple joystick (See the charts below). However, I
have another problem:

on the PC game port, when the fire button is pressed, a 0 volt signal is given
but the Apple joystick will give a 5 volt siganl.

Do I have to re-wire the Apple joystick? Before I operate on my joystick,
I'd like to hear some suggestions. Any comments?

Chart 1: the PC game port requires the following wiring diagram on joystick:

Pin 1-7 are for joystick A and 9-14 for joystick B.

            +------------------------> 1,9 +5VDC
            |
            +------^^^^^^  0-100K
            |        ^
            |        |
            |        +---------------> 3,11 X control
            |
            +------^^^^^^  0-100K
                     ^
                     |
                     +---------------> 6,13 Y control
           
                   _I_
             +-----o o---------------> 2,10 Fire button 1
             |
             |     _I_
             +-----o o----------------> 7,14 Fire button 2
             |
             +-----------------------> 4,12 GND

Chart 2. The wiring diagram of Aplle //e //c Joystick

             +-----------------------> 2  5VDC
             |
             +------^^^^^^  0-140K
             |        ^
             |        |
             |        +--------------> 5 X control
             |
             +------^^^^^^  0-140K
             |        ^
             |        |
             |        +-------------> 8 Y control
             |
             |      _I_
             +------o o-------------> 7 Fire button 1
             |        |    270 Ohm
             |        +--^^^^^^-----> 3 GND
             |
             |      _I_
             +------o o-------------> 1 Fire button 2
                      |    270 Ohm
                      +---^^^^^^----> 3 GND




Please e-mail me if you can help.

Thanks in advance!

szhang@bcm.tmc.edu

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
From: downs@helios.nevada.edu (Lamont Downs)
Subject: Re: What is "stacker" and "shadow memory"
Organization: UNLV
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 20:03:08 GMT

>Recently I have come across lot of articles discussing following topics:
>
> ** stacker
> ** shadow memory
>
>Would somebody mind shedding some light on these topics. Any help & pointers
>in this direction is much appreciated.
>
Stacker is commercial disk compression software--when you write to your hard 
disk it intercepts the operating system calls and compresses the information 
first; when you read from the disk it decompresses the data before passing 
it along. This is done transparently, so that if you've "stacked" a hard 
disk with 80 megs DOS will tell you you have anywhere from 90 to 160 or more 
megs, depending on the types of files you're using (text and raw graphics 
compress well; already compressed graphics and program files tend not to 
shrink as much). There are several other commercial products on the market 
that do the same thing, such as SuperStor; I've heard that DOS 6.0 will 
include built-in compression software.

Shadow memory is specialized memory used to store a copy of the BIOS 
routines normally read from the computer's built-in ROM chips (also video 
boards); the operating system is then tricked into reading from the shadow 
memory instead of the ROM chips. Since ROM chips are a lot slower than 
regular memory chips, this can speed up software that relies heavily on 
these calls.

Somebody flame me if I've botched this explanation...

Lamont Downs
downs@helios.nevada.edu
From: liuyu@acf3.nyu.edu (Bill Clinton)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Terminal (televideo 965) to modem connection. HELP.
Date: 21 Dec 92 01:56:00 GMT
Organization: New York University

Hi,
  I have a televideo 965 terminal. It has two female DB25 connectors. I
connected the modem which also has a female DB 25 connector to the
'main' connector on 965. This setup didn't seem to work. I set the comm
mode to full duplex. When I tried to send the command to modem, the
modem seemed to receive the characters I typed and echoed back to the
terminal. The problem is that terminal does't show the characters that
modem echoed back.
Am I using the wrong cable? I've seem other terminals that have *male*
DB25 connectors (DTE). Do I need a nullmodem cable for televideo 965?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
From: wjin@cs.uh.edu (W. Woody Jin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: New Cannon LBP-4SX Laser Printer
Date: 15 Dec 1992 07:26:22 GMT
Organization: University of Houston
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: rodin.cs.uh.edu

I saw the LBP-4SX Laser Printer at Best Buys and its output was
astounding (I thought that the output quality was better than LaserJet III).
The size was compact and price was reasonable (some $8xx.xx).
(I saw an advertisement of this laser printer in Computer Shopper
 at $470 but I think that this is a misprint - I have not checked it yet)

I asked a sales person whether postscript option is available,
but he did not know what it was.
Does anyone know whether the Postscript option for this printer is available ?
The printer is said to emulate PCL5.  Does this mean that any cartridge
(like postscript cartridge) for HPLJ-III can fit this laser printer ?

Does anyone have in-depth experience with this printer ?

Thanks.

-- 
____   ____  ____ ____________________________________ (___) _________________
|  |   |  |  |  |  W. Woody Jin (wjin@cs.uh.edu)       (o o)      Moo.... 
|  |   |  |__|  |  PhD Student. Research Asst.  o=======\ /  I'm  a Cow Lover.
|  |   |        |  Dept. of Computer Science   / |     ||O   My wife  was born
\  |---|  |--|  |  University of Houston      `  ||'---||    in Cow year. Mooo
 \____/|__|  |__| _______________________________^^    ^^_____________________


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
From: 93gke@williams.edu (oldwanda)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: What does the IORDY jumper mean on an IDE "controller"?
Date: 19 Dec 1992 09:23:13 GMT
Organization: Williams College, Williamstown, MA
NNTP-Posting-Host: hancock.cc.williams.edu

I got one of those cheapo IDE "controllers" and it came with no docs.
It has a jumper on it which indicates IORDY and that's it. My drive
works without it but what the hell does it mean?

Thanks in advance
93gke@cs.williams.edu


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: goyal@utdallas.edu (MOHIT K GOYAL)
Subject: Re: Why does 8Mb RAM mean swapping?
Organization: Univ. of Texas at Dallas
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 22:04:38 GMT

This is weird.  I have a 386-40 with 8megs and GASP only starts up with a 1meg
swap file.  

It doesn't take much to grow to two megs..I have to load say Telemate and NortonCommander for DOS, but it ususally doens't hit 4megs and never goes over 4megs.

OS/2 runs very nice on my system.

(GASP = OS/2 2.0 GA + Service Pack)
From: rogers@rtf.bt.co.uk (Neal Rogers)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: ESDI disc controller
Date: 18 Dec 92 12:38:24 GMT
Organization: BT Customer Systems, Brighton, UK

Does anybody out there know anything about an ESDI disc controller
from National Computer Limited (NCL). It arrived with no documentation
and the only distinguishing marks are NDC5355 etched onto the board.

In particular I'd like to know what the jumpers are for.

Thanks for any help.

-- 
Neal Rogers
rogers@rtf.bt.co.uk   BT Customer Systems, Brighton Systems Centre.
From: Michel_Gerber@bearsden.UUCP (Michel Gerber)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: GATEWAY 2000 CD-ROM Package
Date: 12 Dec 92 05:25:04 GMT
Organization: The Bear's Den BBS   (715) 839-7997

Has anyone tried Gateway 2000's new CD-ROM Drive?
 
I am considering getting a CD-ROM, and I was wondering about how GATEWAY's
compares to others.  It is produced by Sony and has data transfer rates of
150 kb/sec and is Photo CD compatible??? (will someone explain that last
term to me?)  The price is $230 and comes with the hardware required to
hook it up to my Gateway computer.

Does this sound like a good deal?  I don't need the highest quality of
CD-ROM drives, just an entry level unit so that I atleast have access to
this method of computer storage.  If not this one, what would you recommend
for a decent internal CD-ROM for under $250?

While I'm writing, I would also like to know about information about Laser
printers.  Right now I'l looking at the Panisonic (Model 4440 or something
like that)  I don't need 600 x 600 resolution or anything, but I would like
a realible printer.  Any suggestions???


                             Thank you in advance.
                             Michel Gerber, M.C.O.C. Systems
                             E-Mail:Michel_Gerber@bearsden.UUCP


-- Via DLG Pro v0.992
From: lars@cs.tu-berlin.de (Lars With)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: HD Conner 540 MB (IDE)
Date: 15 Dec 1992 10:12:32 GMT
Organization: Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: platon.cs.tu-berlin.de

I heard that Conner 540 MB AT-bus harddisks have trouble with
fast bus speed.

Has anyone heard about this?
Has anyone experiences with such an HD?

Lars.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.mac.hardware
From: ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib)
Subject: Re: Where the mac really wins
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 22:19:28 GMT

In article <1ftmu0INN1jk@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> an780@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Travis Grundke) writes:
>>But can a single Mac video board display 
>>
>>1280x1024x256 1024x768x32K 800x600x16.7M 640x480x16.7M
>>
>>all accelerated, all for $350?  

Diamond Speedstar 24X. $155. Oops.. thats not $350. Well,
buy two then.


> And I guess hard sculled PC users aren't up to waking up to the new way of
>doing things- the easy way. EASY DOES NOT EQUAL WEAK!


Sculled? Hmmm... I fail to see the connection..







-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iskandar Taib                          | The only thing worse than Peach ala
Internet: NTAIB@SILVER.UCS.INDIANA.EDU |    Frog is Frog ala Peach
Bitnet:   NTAIB@IUBACS                 !
From: williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Williams)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Need help with strange XT clone
Date: 14 Dec 92 20:51:40 GMT
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

I have an old Pitney Bowes PC/XT Clone that I got from a friend, who's
friend used to work for PB.  Along the way, a lot got lost in the way
of manuals and documentation.  Basically, this is a generic PC clone.
Everything I know about it is given below, followed by a few
questions.  If anyone can answer the questions, I'd be grateful.

Pitney Bowes Model A211 Computer with

	Two Panasonic model 455 5-1/4" floppy disk drives.
	4.77MHz motherboard with 512K RAM on MB.
	BIOS chips have "ITT" on the label.
	Floppy controller is on the MB.
	One serial and one parallel port on the MB.
	
Cards in the machine are:

	Monochrome (MDA) adaptor, doesn't seem to do Herc.
	
	128K Memory card with 9-pin male connector labelled "Port 3",
	and 25pin female connector labelled "LPT 2".  There is no LSI
	serial port chip I can find on the board and the Norton
	sysinfo program doesn't seem to see these ports.

	A card with a 9-pin male connector labelled "Port 1" and a
	9-pin *female* connector labelled "Doc Ptr".  A flat cable
	from this card goes to a second plate with a 9-pin male "Port 2"
	connector and a 25-pin female "Host" connector.  A second flat
	cable goes to a plate with two 9-pin female connectors labeled
	"MM1" and "MM2".  The board has three WD8250 chips on it, a
	flat Panasonic 2330 battery (for a clock, I presume), an Intel
	8741 microcontroller, an 8251, an 8253, some random PALs and a
	Ricoh chip labelled "6D1 25"/"RP5C15".  This card shows up as
	8K of RAM at C000-C200.  

The keyboard is a custom model, with lots of specially labelled keys.
However, a normal XT keyboard works fine.  One of the two monitors I
got with it has a display burned into the phosphor.  This was
obviously a dedicated machine, with lots of special, custom I/O.

The questions I have are

	Any guess how to set/read the clock, if there is one, on the
	third expansion card?  None of my various clock reading
	programs worked.

	Any idea what all those non-standard ports are about?  Anyone
	own one of these and have the drivers for those ports?

	Is this a custom PB machine, or a relabelled machine made by
	someone else?  The BIOS chip is labelled ITT.  Did they make
	clones? 
	
The monitor connects to a special power socket on the back that give 
about 16VDC!  I'd like to use the second monitor on a regular PC I'm
giving away, but I'll have to hack up a 16VDC supply for it.  I'm
wondering how many Watts it takes...

If this machine rings any bells with anyone out there, I'd love to
hear what you can tell me about it!

Thanks!
Jim
-- 
Spoken: James W. Williams			Company: Hughes STX
Internet: williams@nssdcs.gsfc.nasa.gov		Phone: +1 301 286-1131
USPS: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Code 633; Greenbelt, MD 20771
Maryland Car Tags: DEV CAR