HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ajb8886@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Subject: Re: Memory expansion and AMI BIOS
Reply-To: ajb8886@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 16:15:19 GMT

In article <C15oxs.yp@sci.kun.nl>, pieterh@sci.kun.nl (Peter Herweijer) writes:
>In <1993Jan20.002151.755@newshost.lanl.gov> masten@beta.lanl.gov (David A. Masten) writes:
>>[...]
>>Since you ask, I have a similar problem.  But mine says only 3712 Kb OK!
>>And I had the same difference of 284 KB "missing" when I only had 2 MB
>                                  ^^^
>                                  384
>
>>of memory.  Since they were entirely different chips, I presume it is
>>not a problem with the RAM itself.  I have an AMI BIOS date 5/5/91.
>
>I have the same amount of RAM, the same brand of BIOS and the same
>effect.  I assume that the chipset disables the RAM in the area that
>is needed for interface cards (the top 384k), without being able to
>move it to another place in the memory map.  It is partly used for
>shadowing, though.

It IS used for shadowing.  If you disable all ROM BIOS shadow features you'll
find you can get the 384K back.  But then you also get slower VGA and system
BIOS calls to ROM insteads of fast shadowed RAM.

Alex




>
>Peter Herweijer
>pieterh@sci.kun.nl
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: D1SAR@VM1.CC.UAKRON.EDU (Steve Rimar)
Subject: PC Ratings needed
Organization: The University of Akron
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 18:06:52 GMT

Is there any ratings of PCs floating around.  Sort of a Consumer Reports
type report.  I'm not sure what magazine to trust as far as their picks.
Someone might have kept track of the pros and cons from this list.
 
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*                                                                       *
*  STEVE RIMAR                       INTERNET: D1SAR@VM1.CC.UAKRON.EDU  *
*  INFORMATION SERVICES              BITNET:   D1SAR@AKRONVM            *
*  THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON                                              *
*  AKRON, OHIO  44325           "THE SPEED OF THE LEADER DETERMINES THE *
*                                THE RATE OF THE PACK"  W.L.            *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
From: psyrobtw@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Robert Weiss)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: 386 motherboards: who offers the most bang for the buck?
Date: 25 Jan 93 18:25:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41


	I have decided to upgrade my zenith 286 8mhz cpu on a card 
system to a 386-33. In looking at the computer shopper I notice a 
variety of prices and manufacturers. I have delat with JDR in the past 
and have been happy with their service and quality. But the price that 
they want for a 386 is a little on the high end. 
	I am looking for opinions on creditable boards within a decent 
price range.

Thanks,
Bob

=============================
Robert Weiss
psyrobtw@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
From: dcoleman@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Daniel M. Coleman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Gateway 4DX2-66V & -66E Queries
Date: 28 Jan 1993 04:49:47 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX
NNTP-Posting-Host: louie.cc.utexas.edu

In article <1993Jan19.155636.4442@cs.sandia.gov> rbsmith@sandia.gov (Randall B Smith) writes:
>Hello:
>It sounds like there is a lot of Gateway 486/66 experience
>out there. I have a few questions regarding both the
>4DX2-66V AND 4DX2-66E models:
>
>Is the serial-i/o implemented with a 16550 style UART (one
>that contains 16-word fifos)?
 

No.  The UARTs use your basic, no-frills 16450.


>Can one disable the serial-i/o and parallel-i/o to support
>the use of the address space + irq for an i/o adpater card?


Yes.  This is done through the Phoenix bios cmos setup.


>How many pins are in the CPU expansion socket (169, 238 or xxx)?
>I am curious about support for the Pentium Overdrive chip.


Mine has 169, so it from what I hear, nix on the Pentium.


>Do both machines have a total of 4 simm sockets?


The 66V does have 4.  Don't know about the E.


>What is the cost of a single 16MB simm upgrade?


I think about $500.


>What is the ramdac & 2MB upgrade cost for the ATI Ultra Pro?


$125 + shipping.




-- 
===============================================================================
Daniel Matthew Coleman			  Internet: dcoleman@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
The University of Texas at Austin		Electrical/Computer Engineering
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: storm@cs.mcgill.ca (Marc Wandschneider)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: BIOS Settings for PLus Impulses 80AT Drive
Date: 23 Jan 93 17:08:41 GMT
Organization: SOCS - McGill University, Montreal, Canada



I have a Plus Impulse 80AT 80MB HDD sitting here on my desk, and I have
no idea what the BIOS settings for it are.

Does anybdoy know what the like Cylinder, Heads, and Sectors entries are 
for this drive...?

Thanks!


Toodlepip!
Marc 'em.
-- 
  storm@cs.mcgill.ca           McGill P.O.W Camp         "Oh crap---It's not
  Marc Wandschneider           Montreal, CANADA             random enough"
	Any opinions expressed are not mine, but those of the Demon Lord
      Yeegeheeegenogohugu who possessed me whilst I munched on Raisin Bran.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: tictac@wam.umd.edu (Shake it to the Left)
Subject: Zenon Computers & SB Install/Conflict
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 05:39:13 GMT

Newsgroups: ofteda881@snake.cs.uidaho.edu
Subject: Zenon Computers/SB Install problem
Summary: 
Expires: 
Followup-To: 
Distribution: 
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Keywords: Zenon, Soundblaster, SB, Install, Conflicts, FM

Recently I purchased a Zenon VLB machine, it's a full tower
with an Orchid 32-bit IDE Controller, an Orchid Farenheit VLB,
16M RAM, a 540M Connor IDE, and:

a) a tape backup
b) a vanilla 8-bit soundblaster

Well, I couldn't install the tape backup because I found out
that the VLB controller was too fast for the Colorado tape backup
machine (your good ol' 250M tape backup.. fast 80 I think).
I found out I will need a tape controller card (another $90).

Now here's where I am completely annoyed.. the Soundblaster doesn't
work!  This is a regular 8-bit Soundblaster (2.0), and I tried
*more than one* Soundblaster card in the port.  I tried changing
it to irq 5 and 7 using the jumpers, and I tried changing it
from port 220h to 240h.  When I run sb-test, FM voice fails.
Only the digitized output seems to work.  Any suggestions? 
I am really stuck on this one and need any hints or techie
support.

Please email me at tictac@wam.umd.edu.

I will post in a a few weeks as to my initial feelings about
the Zenon computer and how it is coming, and whether or not
I was able to solve the tape backup problem and the soundblaster
problem.  And I also already tried installing a GUS in the machine,
but it acted strangely (well, hehe, SBOS can do weird things <: )

Anyways, please email me with what you think may be a solution..
I dont know why, but the soundblaster doesn't work in the machine
and trying to run FM hangs it.

A. Almeida
tictac@wam.umd.edu
From: djcavana@nyx.cs.du.edu (David Cavanaugh)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Phoenix BIOS w/ IDE drive -- strange booting problem
Date: 26 Jan 93 15:17:18 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix @ U. of Denver Math/CS dept.



I'm trying to build a PC, using an old 386 DX motherboard, with
Phoenix 1.10 BIOS.  I installed a noname IDE controller, with a
Western Digital 2200 (212MB) hard disk.  At boot time, I get
"hard disk initialization error", and it asks if I want to run
setup.  If I run setup, I can exit (without changing anything),
and the machine boots - no problem.  Has anyone seen this kind
of problem before?  I have assembled a considerable number of
PCs over the years, but I never encountered this kind of glitch.
I suspect that a BIOS upgrade would solve the problem, I just
want to see if anyone else has fixed a similar problem, and is
a BIOS upgrade the real answer.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: dhess@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Drew William Hess)
Subject: Re: Help with a Colorado Jumbo 250
Organization: CS Department, Stanford University, California, USA
Date: 21 Jan 93 06:49:00 GMT

rsilver@exa.cs.umn.edu (Roy M. Silvernail) writes:

>In article <1jhdpdINNqfo@morrow.stanford.edu> salem@pangea.Stanford.EDU (Bruce Salem) writes:
>>My problem is that I cannot even format a tape. Format, which takes
>>two hours!, only gets 50% done and does seeks on the tape forever after
>>that and past the time estimated.

>I just got a Jumbo 120 this past weekend.  The software is deadly slow.

>>I have a Mycom Computer with a 20 mHz 386, 387, and 4 mb ram runing DOS 3.30
>>and Windows 3.1 . 

>Try running with turbo off.  I have to do that or drive communication
>fails.  On the other hand, the backup restored smoothly onto newly
>formatted hard drives.  (I lost a controller card at the same time, and
>the tape drive was a real help in the transition)

>I've formatted 2 tapes so far, and neither went on the first try.  I'm
>hoping there is something better in driver software available.

I don't know whether or not this applies in either of your two cases, but
I remember reading somewhere (I doubt it was in the docs, since they're so
godawful) that you should turn off the "simultaneous disk drive access"
option in the setup program if you're having performance problems.  Sorry,
I don't remember much more than this (I don't have a Jumbo, but I tried to
set one up for someone last summer).

I think HP recently bought out Colorado Memory Systems; hopefully they'll
upgrade the dogshit software.

You might want to try Central Point Backup for Windows (7.2, I think, is the
most recent version).

-dwh-
dhess@cs.stanford.edu

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: pec2@ra.msstate.edu (Paul E. Carroll)
Subject: Credit Card here!! Need QUICK MONITOR & CARD INFO!!!
Organization: Mississippi State University
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 01:54:21 GMT

Whoohoo!!!  The credit card came in and I'm ready to "Charge it!".

I will NOT be running Windows.
------------------------------

I am considering a ViewSonic 6  and a Diamond Speedstar 24.

What is the vert. scan rate of the 6 at 1024x768 ?????

Most importantly... -->>  Where can I get these for the cheapest!??

Please respond as soon as possible via E-mail or this group.

Thanks all,
-Paul

-- 
-Paul Carroll

-(pec2@Ra.MsState.Edu)    (pec2@ERC.MsState.Edu)
-NSF Engineering Research Center for Computational Field Simulation
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: sie@fulcrum.co.uk (Simon Raybould)
Subject: Seagate STO-2
Organization: Fulcrum Communications Ltd., Birmingham, England
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 13:19:10 GMT


A friend of mine is having difficulty getting a Seagate STO-2 SCSI
interface working on his PC. The drive he is connecting is a Quantum
Q280.

He is able to format and partition the disk but when he then tries an
MSDOS format of the partition (i.e. format c: /s) he gets track 0
unusable.

Any advice much appreciated.

Sie

--
Simon J Raybould    (sie@fulcrum.co.uk)               //              {o.o}
"What's on the end of the stick, Vic?"              \X/AMIGA           \-/
===========================================================================
Fulcrum communications L.T.D., Fordrough Lane, Birmingham, B9 5LD, ENGLAND.
From: crs@siesoft.co.uk (Chris Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Jumbo tape on Promise controller
Date: 28 Jan 93 11:14:12 GMT
Organization: Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems Ltd.
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]

Is anyone out there using a Jumbo 250 tape drive connected to a Promise
2031/2032 ide disk controller?  This controller has a third floppy connection
marked 'floppy tape'.  Do the drivers that come with the Jumbo tape
work 'out of the box' or are special drivers required?  The compatability
list doesn't mention Promise one way or the other.

--
===========================================================================
	Chris Smith				<crs@sni.co.uk>
	       SNI House, Oldbury, Bracknell, BERKS, England
	Phone +44 344 850997                     FAX +44 344 850401
===========================================================================
From: hwrvo@kato.lahabra.chevron.com (W.R. Volz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Gateway 66V LB 8M SIMMs
Date: 26 Jan 93 00:29:18 GMT
Organization: Chevron Oil Field Research Company

In article <1993Jan25.030644.485@sfu.ca>, mtichy@fraser.sfu.ca (Martin Tichy) writes:
|> SR> I have not sent the 2 8MB SIMMS back (have 14 days to do
|> SR> it). I was wondering if anyone has tried using these
|> SR> successfully on a MICRONICS 486 66VLB motherboard.
|>  
|> My manual for my Micronics 486-33 VL-Bus says it only supports
|> 4Mx36 -70ns and 1Mx36 -70ns simms.
|>  

That is correct, the Micronics MB only supports 4 and 16 mb simms.
I called Micronics and asked why and was told it involved the decoding
on the simms themselves. I also have a GW 66v and am now considering
whether to add 8 mb or 16 mb. Unfortunatly, windows only supports
16 mb, so the extra 8 mb above 16 may be wasted. But it might be useful
with windows-nt or some flavor of unix. Who knows??????

-- 

======================
Bill Volz
Chevron Petroleum Technology Co.
Earth Model/Interpretation & Analysis Division.
P.O. Box 446, La Habra, CA 90633-0446
Phone: (310) 694-9340 Fax: (310) 694-7063
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: mcdonald@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (J. D. McDonald)
Subject: Re: ATI Ultra Pro: Good or SUCKS????
Organization: UIUC SCS
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 01:29:26 GMT

In article <C185EB.Moz@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib) writes:
>From: ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib)
>Subject: Re: ATI Ultra Pro: Good or SUCKS????
>Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 22:06:10 GMT
>>In article <1993Jan19.213036.3561@VFL.Paramax.COM> pastor@prc.unisys.com (Jon Pastor) writes:
>
>>>I can't give you a comparison with other cards, but the ATI Ultra Pro in a
>>>GW2000 486DXV (i.e., on a VESA local bus) is so fast that I can't imagine any
>>>use for anything faster.  Scrolling, moving and resizing windows, the
>>>bouncing cards when you win in Solitaire (;-)) -- all happen quickly and
>>>smoothly, with no detectable lag.
>
>How soon before all the cards are gone? 9-)
>
>

28 seconds while Trumpet is running in the background. Note that 
there are random factors in this number.

Doug McDonald
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: jrc@brainiac.mn.org (Jeffrey Comstock)
Subject: Jumbo 120 and NFS
Summary: aaaarrrrrgggh
Organization: Sewer of Source Code
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 07:51:40 GMT

Gee, why call tech support when we have Usenet :-)

I am trying to back up a unix box connected to a pc via ethernet.  I have
used both Sun PCNFS 3.5 and FTP PCTCP.  Pretty much all the files have
long unix file names.

Some of the files generate 'access denied' errors and don't make it to
the tape.  As you can guess, I have RW privs to all the files in the
directory.  I have tried ^ and ~ as a map character.  I am using the
tape.exe program, it is Jumbo VERSION 2.53 .

Got any clues for me ?????

An email response to jrc@brainiac.mn.org would be appreciated.....

-- 
Jeffrey R. Comstock 
HOME  jrc@brainiac.mn.org
CW    -. .-. ----- -..
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib)
Subject: Re: local bus hard disk
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 15:14:46 GMT

In article <1k1njuINN6mu@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu> dcoleman@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Daniel M. Coleman) writes:

>Well, I guess the keyword there is *some*.  I'm having no problems with my
>Western Digital Caviar 340 in my Gateway 2000 486-66DX2, which uses the local 
>bus for both video and IDE interface.  I guess the HD has to be specifically 
>designed for the faster local bus.

There is likely a huge cache on the paddle board, _and_ a large
cache on the integrated controller.




-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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: frigo@psl.wisc.edu (Sean P. Frigo UW-Madison SRC (608)877-2332,-2001(FAX))
Subject: HP LJIIP memory problem
Reply-To: frigo@psl.wisc.edu
Organization: University of Wisconsin - Physical Science Lab
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 16:14:59 GMT

I have been trying to use 3rd party 4 MB memory boards with a Hewlett-Packard
Laserjet IIP printer.  The board will work fine for awhile, but eventually
I will get "Error 53" at power up, which says the board is bad.  I can pull
out the board, reinsert it, and power up with no error reproducably.

1	Is there a device to test the integrity of the DRAM chips on the
	expansion board?

2	Is there any way that the printer could be "stressing" or charging
	a portion of the memory board, leading the the error condition?  HP says
	this is impossible.

3	Does anyone know of 3rd party boards which will accept 256 KB 9 chip
	SIMMS to use as printer expansion memory?  There must be a ton
	of these lying around from people who have upgraded PC's to larger
	capacity SIMMS.

Help!  I am on my 3rd replacement board and can't figure this out.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sean P. Frigo					    internet: frigo@src.wisc.edu
UW-Madison SRC and Department of Physics                  bitnet:  frigo@wiscpsl
3731 Schneider Drive                                       voice:   608-877-2332
Stoughton WI 53589-3097                                      fax:   608-877-2001

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: walder@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu (John Walder)
Subject: Northgate Slimline: alternative motherboard source?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 05:50:42 GMT

Does anyone know of an alternative source for a replacement motherboard on
the Northgate Slimline series (other than Northgate).  I checked with their
replacement parts dept. and I can buy a new computer for what they want for
one.  The board uses a vertical daughterboard that contains five horizontal
slots.

Thanks, John
From: rbrown@bbn.com (Ralph Brown)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Ultrastor SCSI Kit vs CorelSCSI
Date: 27 Jan 93 14:44:48 GMT
Reply-To: rbrown@bbn.com
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: spca.bbn.com

In article <21860@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu>, fuad@madrone.eecs.ucdavis.edu (Turnando Fuad) writes:
|> I was informed that I needed to get driver software for external SCSI devices.
|> I have an ultrastor 34F and my choice is either Ultrastor Driver Kit($39+S/H) or
|> CorelSCSI(??)? If anyone have any info on these packages, I would appreciate
|> the help. Thanks
|> 
|> --
|> Turnando Fuad 				Phone: (916)752-2387
|> CIPIC (Center for Image Processing and Integrated Computing) 
|> University of California		Internet: tfuad@ucdavis.edu
|> Davis, CA 95616				Bitnet:   tfuad@ucdavis.bitnet

I also have a 34F and bought the UltraStor disk rather than the CorelSCSI
because it was much cheaper (Corel is ~$90). The UltraStor supports
several removable optical storage devices, I was only interested in CDROM
(I have a Texel 5024) and it works fine.

IMHO it's a bit chintzy for them to sell the software separately.

Ralph
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Mail Order printers
From: jmbarthol@ualr.edu (John M. Barthol)
Date: 28 Jan 93 08:24:03 GMT
Organization: University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Hi

Does anyone know of a good mail order house for printers.  I am in need
of a decent dot matrix printer for wordprocessing purposes.  It doesn't
need to be very high speed but reliability is important.  I've seen the
ads in computer shopper but do not know which companys are the most
reputable.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Please reply by
E-mail.

Thanks in advance
John
-- 

-------------------------------------------------------------
| John M. Barthol               E-mail:  JMBARTHOL@UALR.EDU |
| Computing Services, University of Arkansas at Little Rock |
| Disclaimer:  The opinions expressed herein are my own and |
|              not my employers.                            |
-------------------------------------------------------------
From: dcm@iris.mincom.oz.au (Doug Merrett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Oz Supplier for Hauppage M/B (i860 + 486 on one board) ??
Date: 29 Jan 93 03:49:04 GMT
Organization: Mincom, Brisbane, Australia
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]

Steve Madden (smadden@titan.trl.OZ.AU) wrote:
: G'Day,
: 	We've got a little problem in that we require an extremely fast
: floating point accelerator for a PC based system, but one that doesn't
: cost the earth. I've seen i860 plug in cards, but here in Australia,
: these retail somewhere around the $8-15k range, more than we can afford.
: I seem to recall that a company named HAUPPAGE (if I remember correctly)
: used to sell a 486 motherboard with an i860 built into it. Further, I'm
: sure I saw a PC on sale in the UK with this board for around 3k pounds
: sterling. So does anyone have a contact for an Australian supplier (or
: failing this, the US suuplier) of these motherboards, or any comments
: generally about them ?

: Thanks a lot,

:       /~~~\   !                           
:       \___    !---   ___ .    .  ___       ###########################
:           \   !     /___> \  /  /___>      # smadden@titan.trl.OZ.AU #
:       \___/   \__/  \___   \/   \___       ###########################

--

I understand that WESTERN COMPUTER in Brisbane is the Australian Distributer

-------------------------------------------------
Doug Merrett
Internet: dcm@mincom.oz.au
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: danb@shell.portal.com (Dan E Babcock)
Subject: Re: local bus hard disk
Organization: Portal Communications Company -- 408/973-9111 (voice) 408/973-8091 (data)
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 02:12:32 GMT

In article <1993Jan24.014406.27423@mlb.semi.harris.com> sonny@trantor.harris-atd.com (Bob Davis) writes:
>In article <1993Jan23.231824.24755@rose.com> gyl.midroni@rose.com (gyl midroni) writes:
>	Even the fastest single drives can only spin the bytes under
>the drive's head at around 3 million bytes/sec.

That's about right. A few can break 4MB/s.

>	So, isn't a 5.33 million bytes/sec 16-bit slot on the ISA bus pretty
>much up to the task of delivering and retrieving data to and from a
>single hard drive that is only capable of spinning the data off or onto
>the platters at a 3 million bytes/sec rate?
> 
>	And isn't it expensive overkill to provide a 132 million bytes/sec
>truck (local bus) to haul 3 million bytes/sec freight ( a fast hard drive's
>maximum, spin-limited data transfer rate)?  Seems like that expensive local 

The "132MB/s" figure is just for marketing. The actual transfer rate is
limited by the speed of DRAMs. 20-30MB/s is realistic.

>	Perhaps in a heavy, multitasking environment there may be some
>merit to the ability of the local bus to more than double (98/44 = 2.2) the
>amount of time relative to an ISA bus that the memory address bus is freed up.

You hit the nail on the head: all this only matters if you're using an
OS that will take advantage of it (i.e. not MSDOS :-))

>system without heavy multitasking requirements. Certainly, I am not going
>to improve the prolonged data transfer rate onto or off the disk -- 
>3 million bytes/sec is as fast as data physically can be sucked up or spewed
>out.

Right. It goes without saying that a faster bus is not going to improve
single-drive performance.

>expensive, heavily promoted, and increasingly popular decisions regarding 
>hardware for the machine my wife keeps her recipes on :-).

:-)

Dan