HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Organization: University of Maine System
Date: Friday, 21 Aug 1992 11:08:20 EDT
From: <REE700A@MAINE.MAINE.EDU>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: 60nSec memory - Will 486/33 be faster?
 <exuptr.354.714339161@exu.ericsson.se>


In article <92233.100402REE700A@MAINE.MAINE.EDU> REE700A@MAINE.MAINE.EDU writes:


>   The change from 70 or 80 nS RAM to 60 nS RAM is only necessary if :
>a) Your board doesn't properly perform interleaved cache fills
>b) It does, but all four banks of SIMMS are full (16 SIMMS!)
>or
>c) You are truely concerned about to 10-20 nS hit the first time a cache
>   miss occurs.  I assume your 486/33 has 256K cache (if not - upgrade
>   that before all of the main memory).  For a modest 90% cache hit rate,
>   a 25% reduction in SIMM cycle time corresponds to about a 2.5% memory
>   system speed-up on an effective zero wait state system.

>   Therefore, my recommendation:  Fill all four banks (16MB of 1MB simms!)
>Shut off any virtual memory bullshit.  Get a 256K cache with less than 30
>nanosecond cycle time.   If you are currently running 4MB in 256K simms,
>don't replace them with 4MB of faster 256K simms!  Get 8MB of 1MB simms,
>take the temporary wash-out in performance (two way interleave of 60's
>compared to 4-way 80's) and add the other 8MB when you can afford it.

   Patrick Taylor Replies:
I second that.  In fact, if you can stretch your budget, go for 4MB sticks.

  I must add that apparently newer board designs (like the MCT386U3) use
only two banks and require the fast page-mode SIMMs to perform the quick
cache fills.  They further state that most simms larger than (or equal) to
1MB suport this mode.  They give further specs on CAS-only access of 15-20
nS and RAS-mode access of 60-80 nS.  Presumably, with a write-through
cache (I think that's the kind that doesn't cache writes), the RAS will
only influence first cache miss and all writes.  CAS-only paging is set for
cache-fills and effective 0 wait state transfers.
    Jeff Andle - In search of a computer which will age as gracefully as
  my 1976 KZ900 - 28K mi and no sign of stopping!  Plenty of HP and MPH!
Xref: sparky comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:22005 comp.misc:3256
From: vincenti@pilot.njin.net (William Vincenti)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.misc
Subject: PS2 Model 25
Keywords: Hard drive
Date: 17 Aug 92 13:22:51 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.


	I am about to install a hard drive in an IBM PS/2 Model 25.
Can anyone in netland tell me if I need a setup diskette? I would like
to do this in the next couple of days before my son goes off to
college with the machine. I can be reached via EMail at:
vincenti@pilot.njin.net.

Thanks, Bill Vincenti
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: stu@Warren.MENTORG.COM (Stu Brown)
Subject: Re: Is a 486-33 with 0 ws cache faster than a 486-50 with 1 ws ?
Organization: Mentor Graphics, Silicon Design Division
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 14:47:12 GMT

From article <1992Aug16.060405.15165@ariel.ec.usf.edu>, by fevrier@sunburn.ec.usf.edu. (Ian Fevrier (EE)):
> 
> 
> 
> HELP!!!
> I just upgraded from a 486-33 to a 486-50 and have noticed a
> few strange things that I can't understand.
> 
> The 486-33  cache operated at zero wait state using 25ns
> sram; at 33mhz that works out to 30ns per hit .
> 
> On the 486-50 the cache (20ns chips) operates at 1 wait
> state. At 50mhz that's 40ns per hit ??????
> 
> Does that mean that the 486-33 will out-perform the 486-50
> on memory-intensive operations ???? (both machines have 70ns 
> Dram).
> 
> Another curiosity, I disabled both internal and external
> caches on the 486-50 and ran the Norton benchmark;  the
> speed rating dropped from 107.2 to 15.
> 
> With just the 256k external cache enabled the speed
> increased to 37.
> 
> With just the 8k internal cache, the speed was 106 !!! ,
> almost the same as having both caches enabled.
> 
> Does this mean that my 256k external cache has been a waste of
> hard earned money????
> 
> 
> Any feedback will be appreciated, especially on ways to run
> my cache at zero wait state. Are there even 486-50's with zero wait
> caches ?.
> 

As of yesterday I was considering a 486/50 over a 486/33, but
I read some things which changed my mind.

An article in Sept Computer Shopper said that some vendors were
using 33MHz board designs and just upgrading chups to 50MHz. I would
certainly want a board that was designed for 50MHz is I paid that
premium. Since there is no way to verify that a vendor is doing
this until after you've bought the board (and can't return it),
I was really bothered by that.

The vendors I called quoted the Landmark speeds for various boards.
386/33 (which I have now) is 68MHz (mine measures 48MHz, but I have
80Ns RAM and 32K cache, so I probably have a RAM wait state). The
486/33 is 151MHz (a 3x performance boost to me). But 486/50 was
just 200MHz - not anywhere near what I will see for 486/33 over 386/33.

Another article I read in Byte said that their tests showed very little
difference between 64K cache and 256K cache in a 486 machine.

I was suprised to learn that a 486/33 was so much faster than a 386/33
and that a 486/50 was not that much faster than a 486/33 (considering
the >$200 price difference).
-- 
Stuart Brown
Mentor Graphics Corporation
I.C. Group, Warren NJ
stu@warren.mentorg.com or uunet!sdl!stu
From: marluova@sara.cc.utu.fi
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Dataexpert notebook question
Date: 15 Aug 92 08:37:24 GMT
Organization: University of Turku, Finland


	Does anyone know anything about Dataexpert 25 MHz 
	Notebook (60MB 2MB). I especially want to know about 
	reliability of the harddisk and the quality of the 
	screen.

	It is very cheap compared to other same level 
	notebooks here in Finland and that's why I am 
	worried about the quality.


        If You know something about it please Email comments
	to me.


	Thanks,

              Markku Luova
	      Student of CS
	      University of Turku
	      Finland

	      Email adress: marluova@kontu.utu.fi				
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: thomasc@ms.uky.edu (Thomas Campbell)
Subject: Re: Ibm Pc-Jr (yeah, i know i know but, bare with me)
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 17:12:10 GMT
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences

First off, this is sort of a re-post.  I'm still looking for info
on a modem for a pc-jr.   Secondly someone did reply to me but
I lost their letter with all info they sent me could you send again
to me.  Something I did catch in their letter was something about 
a place called PC Enterprise or something along those lines if anyone
has thier phone # could you send it to me? 


Thank,
Alex
From: tea6219@evtprp0b (Terry E. Acker)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Help with NEC Floppy Drive
Date: 19 Aug 92 18:12:24 GMT
Organization: evt_prop

I have an NEC FD1157C 5.25" floppy drive that was moved from an Apollo
workstation to a 386 PC.  The drive will correctly read and write the
high density (1.2mb) format, (this is the only format supported on
the workstation), but it will not read/write 360k format.  Does anyone
know if there is a jumper on the drive that could be set to enable use
of the 360k format?  Muchos Gracias


|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|Terry Acker, KG7SP                                              |
|Boeing Commercial Airplanes   ....uunet!bcstec!evtprp0b!tea6219 |
|M/S 0F-AU,     P.O. Box 3707,     Seattle, WA     98124-0346    |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
From: dougmac@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca (Doug Mackintosh)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Help: Zenith keyboard clicks
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 92 08:59:06 MDT
Organization: Edmonton Remote Systems #1, Edmonton, AB, Canada

for all Zenith machines, hit Alt-(top left key). By top-left key i mean 
that key which is in the top left corner of the keyboard, but not the top 
row with Esc and F-keys. On my Z-248, it is (i think) `. On my Z-151 it 
is Esc (XT keyboard). 

Doug Mackintosh              dougmac@ersys.edmonton.ab.ca
Edmonton Remote Systems:  Celebrating 10 years of service to Northern Alberta
From: kdj@sw.stratus.com (Ken Jordan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: ZEOS modem - reports??
Date: 17 Aug 92 21:10:57 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc.

I'm interested to hear from any individuals who have used the ZEOS modem
mentioned below. 

	Does it work out of the gate (no pun intended w/ Gateway)?
	Any technical issues?
	Good/bad reports on Tech Support?
	Good/bad reports on Documentation?

I'd have a hard time believing that its worse then Gateways past 
performance(!).  You can send mail to me (and I'll post) or you
can post directly.

Thanks

Ken

In article <1992Aug15.192425.20354@zeos.com>, kgermann@zeos.com (Ken Germann) writes:
> In article <1533@dg.dg.com> greene@sequoia.webo.dg.com (Jon Greene) writes:
> >Has Gateway successfully addressed the Telepath's problems?  The price is right and I'd love to get one, but not until there is a consensus that the board is fixed.
> 
> ZEOS Just released the Cardinal 14.4 S/R Fax modem for 195.00 dollars. 
> Interested parties may contact our sales department at 800-423-5891.
> -- 
>   	   New! ZEOS 486 Upgradable VESA Local Bus Motherboard.  
> 
> 			   info@zeos.com
> Ken Germann		support@zeos.com 	Zeos International, Ltd.

-- 
Ken Jordan    kdj@sw.stratus.com|"Daddy, daddy, look, a spagito bit me", 
Stratus Computer        	|"Da-da, wa-wa" - partial conversations
Marlboro, MA, USA      		| with my kids...
-------------------#include <standard_disclaimer.h>-------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: kak1@cypress31.cray.com (Kevin Kramer)
Subject: Re: How much is RAM in the States?
Originator: kak1@cypress31
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Date: 12 Aug 92 09:26:06 CDT


In article <BsvDwK.BHu@iai.kfk.de>, seldner@hdi3sun.kfk.de (David Seldner) writes:
> The subject lines says it. I'm thinking of getting maybe 4 MB RAM.
> Can anyone tell me what price to expect?
> 
> Thanks a lot!
> 
> dave
> seldner@hdi3sun.kfk.de
>

I got a pretty good deal and got 1X9 70 ns SIMMs for $32 each. (this is a good price isn't it?
I got 8 meg for $255) I got this through a friend so I can't help you. The standard mail order 
price that I have seen is around $34 - $38 dollars, but that means you have to send your money 
to a 5" advertisment in San Francisco CA and I have always been unable to do that.  
I never trust mail order companies that only have a 5" ad in the back of a mgazine.

Kevin
From: berger@atropa (Mike Berger)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Any use for 4-floppy controllers?
Date: 14 Aug 92 20:05:32 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.Bszp59.4pr
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

kevin@kosman.uucp (Kevin O'Gorman) writes:
>I keep seeing these HD controllers that include logic for 4 floppy drives.
>I keep wondering why bother?  I thought MS-DOS (what most of these will
>be used for) only recognized 2 floppies, no matter what logic was actually
>present.

>Am I wrong?  Can one use the 3rd and 4th for something else, like floppy tape?

>Anybody have any idea?
*----
The only limitation is that the PC BIOS only supports two floppy
disk drives.  Like everything else not directly supported by the
PC BIOS, you can still run a device driver and have four floppy
disk drives.
--
	Mike Berger
	Department of Statistics, University of Illinois
	AT&TNET     217-244-6067
	Internet    berger@atropa.stat.uiuc.edu
From: CS19240898X@LUST2.LATROBE.EDU.AU (MINNELLI, DAVID)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Lap Link Serial And Parallel Pin-outs
Date: 13 Aug 92 23:17:01 GMT
Organization: La Trobe University
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.22



To Lap-Link Users,

		Could someone please post the pin-outs for the serial and
parallel lap-link cables. (I will be using Lap Link 3).

		Thanks in advance.
From: Hamish.Moffatt%f3.n30173.z3@cloud.pub.uu.oz.au (Hamish Moffatt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Local bus
Date: 12 Aug 92 05:52:37 GMT


Can anyone tell me, what is a local bus?

Thanks in advance.

Hamish
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: velhart@epas.utoronto.ca (Nicholas Velharticky)
Subject: Good inexpensive hand-held scanners?
Organization: University of Toronto - EPAS
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1992 15:05:59 GMT
Followup-To: velhart@epas.utoronto.ca
Keywords: scanners

     I am looking for a good inexpensive ($100) hand-held scanner for
my computer.  My primary purpose is to scan text, so I would want
included a program with good optical character recognition.  My
computer is a laptop 386sx with a scanner port built-in, and a 16 gray
scale LCD.  My computer supports an external VGA color monitor, and I
have the following software:  Microsoft Windows 3.0, PFS: WindowWorks,
Microsoft Word for Windows, and WordPerfect 5.1 (for DOS).

     Does anyone have any suggestions/advice/horror stories  about
inexpensive hand-held scanners?

     Also, is a scanner port supposed to be/look like another serial
port?  Mine is round with 9 holes in it (very technical description, I
know  :-)  ), unlike my serial port.  Additionally, how can I find out
which com # it is assigned to?  (My mouse is on com 1; my modem is on
com 2; scanner on com 3?).

     Any advice would help.  I know I am a computer idiot.  Please
help out the disadvantaged.  Thanks in advance.

--
                          |        "Not only do I deny the allegation,
Nick Velharticky          |         but I also deny the allegator."
velhart@epas.utoronto.ca  |             -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: jern@visual1.jhuapl.edu (Bob Jernigan)
Subject: HD Problems, what I had missed...
Reply-To: jern@visual1.jhuapl.edu (Bob Jernigan)
Organization: Johns Hopkins Univ. APL
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 12:00:50 GMT

Thanks to the many who replied to my previous post obout geometry on the
Maxtor 7120 drive.  What I has missed was the obvious.  Use FDISK after
setting the geometry.

I received a lot of responses with many suggestions about different geometries.
If anyone would like a copy, drop me a line.  Perhaps a summary belongs in the
FAQ.

What I didn't receive and would like for completeness is a discription of the
algorithm used by IDE drives to may from a logical geometry to the physical
geometry.  If someone would forward that to me or tell me where to find it I
will include that in the file.

Thanks again to all.

bob jernigan   jern@spaceaix.jhuapl.edu   or jern@visual1.jhuapl.edu
From: moriarty@tc.fluke.COM (Jeff Meyer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: SUMMARY : INTEL SatisFAXtion /400
Keywords: summary
Date: 12 Aug 92 18:35:11 GMT
Reply-To: moriarty@tc.fluke.COM (Jeff Meyer)
Organization: The John Fluke Mfg. Co.  /a.k.a. The Gizmonics Institute/

In <qian.713390784@honte> qian@beta.uleth.ca (Hua Qian) writes:

>    1) the board needs a special file to be loaded into memory so that the 
>       computre can recognize the board.  The reason is that the board have
>       no switches and all setup information is stored conventional memory
>       and can't be load high. 

What?  CASMGR.EXE can't be loaded high?  Can anyone confirm this?  (I've
been loading it high (and having some problems), but I thought they were do
to other reasons.)

                        DEEP THOUGHTS by Jack Handey:
                           "I hope in the future Americans are thought of as a
                            warlike, vicious people, because I bet a lot of
                            people would pick `Americans' as their mascot."
---
                                        Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
INTERNET:     moriarty@tc.fluke.COM
Manual UUCP:  {uunet, uw-beaver, sun, microsoft}!fluke!moriarty
CREDO:        You gotta be Cruel to be Kind...
                 **>> Keep circulating the tapes <<**
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: enu321d@barney.eng.monash.edu.au (A. Walker)
Subject: KEYBOARD + DOS 5  !!!??
Organization: Monash University
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 02:54:58 GMT

I've noticed something going strange with DOS 5 and an my extended AT
keyboard.  Every few minutes (randomly) the keyboard becomes very
sensitive to key presses; pressing a key registers really quickly.  I
was going to return my keyboard but!
But on several (different) computers at university i noticed the same
thing (at the DOS prompt, using a word processor etc). This never
happenned on any computers until the last week.  BTW it never
happenned under Linux.  Also the uni computers remote boot off a LAN so
no viruses are present.

I then became fed up, deleated my DOS 5 partition , reeinstalled a DOS
3.3 partition and havent had a problem since.

Does this seem farmiliar to anyone?  Bug in DOS 5?
From: hsu@pix.com (Dagwood Splits the Atom)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: 3 unrelated ques
Date: 18 Aug 92 03:05:41 GMT
Organization: Pix -- The company with no adult supervision.

In article <+ndyh3c@rpi.edu> gilem@aix02.ecs.rpi.edu (Michael R. Gile) writes:
>2)	Local bus: OK, who is the wise guy.  Micronics and Zeos
>say there is a VESA standard, and they are following it.  Intel
>says that there currently is no standard, and that there won't 
>be until Jan. 93.   Many companies are complaining that there
>is no standard, and since they were 1st to use local bus technology
>(i.e. - gigabyte), doesn't that make it seem a bit strange that
>some claim it exists already?

The wise guy is probably Intel.  The last Intel rep I spoke to was firmly
convinced that PCI would go head-to-head with (and crush) VL-bus, instead
of playing a complimentary role (as Sun's M-bus does to their S-bus).
This suggests to me that either Intel is planning to make fast bus mastering
really, really, really cheap, or their marketing organization is as confused
as ever.

Who's complaining about a lack of standardization?  Odds are it's not the
motherboard manufacturers, it's the integrators who are now in the
uncomfortable position of having to figure out what to do with all these
de-facto standard Opti chipset motherboards.

IMHO.

-dave

-- 
Dave Hsu                           <hsu@pix.com> -or- <hsu@eng.umd.edu>
Caffeine and Salsa Czar	          "Yeah?  Well there are a lot of people out
Pix Technologies Corporation       there who are full of shit and making money.
Have nerds, will telnet.           And *I'm* not going to be the exception."
From: bobo@hpcvra.cv.hp.com (Bob O'Donnell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Max Res for NEC Multisync II?
Date: 17 Aug 92 20:15:36 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Corvallis, OR, USA

Even though the manual gives 800 by 600 as maximum, the monitor will
do 1024 by 768.  However, it is interlaced rather than non-interlaced
as the lower resolutions are.
From: Ed_Lee@mindlink.bc.ca (Ed Lee)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: VGA to TV Adapter Flicker Free
Date: 18 Aug 92 18:24:53 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Distribution: world

I am going to buy an external VGA to TV adapter. One of the feature of
such kind of adapter is with or without Flicker Free (or Anti Flicker).
I am quite confused. Could some experts or experienced users in this net
tell me about:
        1. What does Flick Free mean?
        2. Without Flick Free, how badly is the TV screen picture shown
           for DOS and Windows based text and graphic applications?
        3. Which manufacture has a better quality product, PE-VON,
           Grandtec or others?
        4. Any comments on your experience using external VGA to TV
           adapter will be appreciated.

Please send your reponse by E-mail or post to this news group or fax to
(604) 263-9535 (canada). Thank you in advance!
                                                        Ed

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: tytso@athena.mit.edu (Theodore Y. Ts'o)
Subject: Can I replace a 16C450 with a 16550AN?
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 01:50:37 GMT

I have an AST FourPort board which I bought from a salvage dealer for
$25.  It had four UART's marked: 16C450.  (Yes, that's right a "C").

Question 1)  Does that C mean that it is a CMOS chip?  Are 16450's
	(without the 'C') normally not CMOS?  (These chips were made in
	Korea, and the manufacturer's logo is MX.)

At a computer show, I bought for 16550A's.  When I came home and looked
at them closely, I noticed that they were labelled as 16550AN's, instead
of the more commonly mentioned 16550AFN's.  These chips *were* labelled
as being made by National Semiconducter

Question 2)  Is this the difference of 16550AN vs 16550AFN significant?
	If so, what does it mean.

When I tried replacing the 16C450's with my new 16550AN's, it worked fine
--- except it ran a *lot* hotter.  It was hot enough that it was painful
enough to touch for long periods of time.  It seemed to work, except for
the COM1 port, which was closest to the motherboard and so it had the
worst airflow.  I think that one got the hottest, and it stopped
working.  (Although it started working again after I shutdown my
computer and waited for that chip to cool.)

Question 3)  Is this because of the incompatibility of a 16C450 vs. a
	16550AN's? 

Now, it's possible that this was because I was running with the cover
off, so the airflow/cooling in the computer was pessimal.  On the other
hand, it could be that because of an incompatibility of the 16C450 vs.
the 16550AN's.  Can anyone give me a hint?  Thanks!

							- Ted
From: gunthar@milton.u.washington.edu (John Jacobson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Disabling memory checks
Date: 17 Aug 92 23:30:59 GMT
Organization: University of Washington

In article <1992Aug17.125117.18400@linus.mitre.org>, dbrake@cyclone.mitre.org (Dennis Brake (PSI) X7767) writes:
> 
> I have a 486/25 with an AMI BIOS 5/90. I've just upgraded the memory
> to 8Mb. Now it takes a few minutes for the system to check all of the
> memory. Does anyone know how I can disable the memory checks?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Dennis

Can't you just do it in the BIOS by I think hitting/holding the delete key 
as it is doing its initial bootup <<Power On>>  ???
I think that it is set in the BIOS menu the same place where you
told the computer you had 8Mb of RAM...just a suggestion


																													John
From: REE700A@MAINE.MAINE.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: 60nSec memory - Will 486/33 be faster?
Date: 20 Aug 92 14:04:02 GMT
Organization: University of Maine System


   The change from 70 or 80 nS RAM to 60 nS RAM is only necessary if :
a) Your board doesn't properly perform interleaved cache fills
b) It does, but all four banks of SIMMS are full (16 SIMMS!)
or
c) You are truely concerned about to 10-20 nS hit the first time a cache
   miss occurs.  I assume your 486/33 has 256K cache (if not - upgrade
   that before all of the main memory).  For a modest 90% cache hit rate,
   a 25% reduction in SIMM cycle time corresponds to about a 2.5% memory
   system speed-up on an effective zero wait state system.

   Therefore, my recommendation:  Fill all four banks (16MB of 1MB simms!)
Shut off any virtual memory bullshit.  Get a 256K cache with less than 30
nanosecond cycle time.   If you are currently running 4MB in 256K simms,
don't replace them with 4MB of faster 256K simms!  Get 8MB of 1MB simms,
take the temporary wash-out in performance (two way interleave of 60's
compared to 4-way 80's) and add the other 8MB when you can afford it.