HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: feg@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (forrest.e.gehrke)
Subject: Re: Advice needed on Colorado Tape drive.
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 12:17:47 GMT

In article <1992Jul25.231730.32756@slate.mines.colorado.edu> cjmarsha@slate.mines.colorado.edu (Charles Marshall) writes:
>katuulos@polaris.utu.fi (Kalle T. Tuulos) writes:
>
>As for heavy usage:  I've been using a CMS tape drive 5 days a week, at
>least 1 hour a day for the last 11 months without any problems.  It's not
>the fastest system, nor the biggest.  But for the price, it's great.
>

My Jumbo250 failed totally at 15 months. "Tape drive error 99  0b".
Although the manual says this requires reformatting the tape,
which made no difference whatsoever, a call to CMS brought an 
immediate "Your drive has failed".

For $105 CMS will fix it.  Since they are so prepared, I have
a suspicion that short life is a problem.

Forrest Gehrke feg@dodger.att.com
From: "tom betz" <tom.betz@execnet.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: fast micro questions?
Date: 25 Jul 92 03:03:27 EST
Reply-To: "tom betz" <tom.betz@execnet.com>
Distribution: comp
Organization: Executive Networks Information


PV>I am considering buying a computer from Fast Micro, and would appreciate
PV>any input on the company or the computer.

PV>My main concern is with the company's reputation,

In two words, it sucks.

The only thing Fast about Fast Micro is the speed with which they will
charge your credit card.  In my own experience, an order placed on Monday
with a promised ship date of Wednesday had not shipped the following
Tuesday, and I cancelled the order.

The credit had not yet been posted to my credit card six weeks later!

Fortunately, I had written the credit card company and >they< issued the
credit.

Since I have had this experience, I have heard similar reports from ten
or so other people.

My advice?  Avoid Fast Micro like the plague.

---
  OLX 2.2  In a laissez-faire world, caveat emptor!
--
Executive Network Information System  (914) 667-4567
International ILink Host
Organization: The American University - University Computing Center
Date: Thursday, 30 Jul 1992 09:29:50 EDT
From: <SAHRABI@auvm.american.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject:    opinions on EPS Technologies ??

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has had experience with
EPS.  Any hands-on information on their 486-33 computers would
be much appreciated.

Please e-mail me directly, since I don't always make time to read this
group.

Regards,
Sajjad Ahrabi
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: kgermann@zeos.com (Ken Germann)
Subject: Re: Quiet power supplies?
Organization: Zeos International, Ltd. 
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 14:20:43 GMT

In article <711812431snx@crynwr.com> nelson@crynwr.com (Russell Nelson) writes:
>Does anyone know of manufacturers of quiet power supplies?  UL
>registered, of course...
>
>-russ <nelson@crynwr.com>  I'm proud to be a humble Quaker!
>Crynwr Software            Crynwr Software sells packet driver support.
>11 Grant St.               315-268-1925 Voice   [ if mail bounces, forward it ]
>Potsdam, NY 13676          315-268-9201 FAX     [ to uuadmin@uu.psi.com.      ]

Turbo Cool power supplies are quiet and they are made by PC Power and Cooling.
We sell them.. 1-800-423-5891.
From: kgermann@zeos.COM (Ken Germann)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: 486/50DX and 486/33DX:  P5 Upgradable?
Summary: One piece left out..
Date: 21 Jul 92 03:54:54 GMT
Organization: Zeos International, Ltd.

In article <1992Jul20.125911.10042@scott.skidmore.edu>, pvonk@scott.skidmore.edu (Pierre VonKaenel) writes:
> In article <7@zeos.COM> kgermann@zeos.COM (Ken Germann) writes:
> >
> >But, if you are not in direct need of that kind of computing power. I would
> >hold off and buy a 486-33 motherboard. The reason behind this is because
> >the DX2-66 will run faster than the DX50. Most 486-33 motherboards have a
> >66Mhz Oscillator already on them (yes, ZEOS' does). You will be in a 

There is a piece to this quote that needs to be included to make sure that
the message is not misread as a statement made by my employer. The piece
is that I stated that the above is my opnion and does not reflect any
statement made by my employer or reflect any marketing decision made
by my employer. 
Xref: sparky comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:20433 comp.sys.3b1:2954 comp.sys.att:1913 comp.sys.tandy:1226
From: dburr@sbphy.physics.ucsb.edu (Donald Burr)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.3b1,comp.sys.att,comp.sys.tandy
Subject: Name that hard disk
Date: 28 Jul 92 03:50:31 GMT
Reply-To: dburr@sbphy.physics.ucsb.edu
Followup-To: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Organization: UCSB Physics Department

A friend of mine just got hold of a 45MB MFM hard disk.  He would like
to use it in his Tandy 6000HD XENIX machine.  Or I might buy it from him
and use it in my PC7300 (3b1, UNIX PC)  However, he bought it with NO
DOCUMENTATION (oooh!) and thus does not know the jumper settings to
change it from DRIVE0 to DRIVE1, or what any of the other jumpers mean.
We NEED this information because it is currently set to DRIVE0, and it
must coexist with the Tandy's built in drive, which is also DRIVE0,
which basically means we must set it to DRIVE1.

Any other information on this drive would be helpful as well (i.e.
confirmation of what our idea of the disk geometry [heads, cylinders,
etc] is)

If youu know of this drive, please PLEASE get in touch with me through
email.

Attached is a description of the drive that my friend gave me over the
phone.

Thanks in advance!
 

===begin message
It says NEC on the side.  Lemme get the numbers for you.  Lesse..It
sez...

D3142 DISK DRIVE    P/N 134-500558-531
                    S/N 8951604193

It's got 641 cyls, 8 heads and 17 sectors per track.  The 17 sectors
puts it in the MFM category instead of RLL.  

It's got two banks of DIP switches.  One has 8 switches and is labeled
BS8-01    The other has 4 switches and is labeled 
BS4-01.  There are also 5 jumpers labeled JP5 thru JP9 as well as 4
other, unlabeled jumpers.  All of which are open.  There is also a
single jumper in another part of the drive with both its pins labeled
(TP0 and TP1) that is jumpered.  Oh, and on the DIP switches, both of
the #1 switches are off and the rest are on on both sets.  This drive
was previously used by itself.

: Donald Burr, Coordinator          : dburr@sbphy.physics.ucsb.edu   INTERNET :
: Santa Barbara Area Network(SBANET): dburr@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Backup)  ======== :
: Santa Barbara, CA  USA            : DonaldBurr@aol.com (AOL gateway)        :
: uunet!dsc.com!dschub!sbanet!dburr : America OnLine: DonaldBurr              :
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: keith@ksmith.uucp (Keith Smith)
Subject: Re: 5.25" FD Won't Read 360K Format
Organization: Keith's Computer, Hope Mills, NC
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 92 02:37:00 GMT

In article <1992Jul20.180948.17100@aero.org> srt@aero.org (Scott "TCB" Turner) writes:
>My 5.25 floppy drive suddenly stopped reading 360K format disks.  This
>includes 360K disks that it wrote itself not too long ago.  It has no
>problem with 1.2M format disks.  Any ideas on what is wrong?  Possible
>fixes?  Recommendations on how to diagnose the problem?  Predictions
>for the upcoming NFL season?  :-)
>
>						-- Scott T.

Pin 2 is out.  It is the High/Low Density control pin.  Touch a logic
probe to pin 2 on the header at the controller while formatting a Low D
disk, and follow it from there to the drive to determine WHICH device is
broken.  (If you don't have a logic probe a sensitive multimeter will do
in a pinch).  Levels are 0, +5.  +5 should be high, 0 is for low, I
THINK but don't hold me to it, and I don't have the book handy

-- 
Keith Smith          uunet!ksmith!keith            5719 Archer Rd.
Digital Designs      BBS 1-919-423-4216            Hope Mills, NC 28348-2201
Somewhere in the Styx of North Carolina ...
From: nall@sun8.scri.fsu.edu (John Nall)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Care and feeding of recuperating ST251...
Date: 23 Jul 92 15:29:10 GMT
Followup-To: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Organization: SCRI, Florida State University

A week or so ago, I requested advice on a dead Seagate ST251 hard
disk which bit the dust.  My request was phrased something along
the line of "tell me things to try - it's already dead so if I
ruin it for life, no big deal."

To my surprise, several people chimed in with the same advice - tap
the bottom of the spindle with a plastic screwdriver!  I gotta tell
ya that it sounded like a pretty drastic measure, but since that was
pretty much the sum total of the advice, I decided to give it a shot.

Well - as you can guess - the little sucker came back to life, and
passed disk diagnostics after that.  So I've loaded DOS 5.0 onto it,
and am going to give it another opportunity to do its duty in life,
having been narrowly saved from the trash dump.

But now I am wondering if there is some sort of routine which I should
follow to help it live a full and useful life?  Perhaps a drop of
machine oil applied to the bottom of the spindle?  Perhaps leaving it
powered on more?  Talking to it?

Thanks for your thoughts.

John

--
John W. Nall              | Supercomputer Computations Research Institute
nall@mailer.scri.fsu.edu  | Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306
  Stephen King, bah!   The best horror story ever written is "Dance of the Dwarfs" 
     by Geoffrey Household.  Probably you never heard of it, though :-(
Xref: sparky comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:20426 comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc:10889 comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer:288
From: nyp00@cd.amdahl.com (Nicholas Y. Pang)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer
Subject: Unix on a 486 PC
Keywords: unix 486 pc
Date: 27 Jul 92 20:05:02 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

What are some of the flavors of UNIX available for running on a 486 PC?
Which are your favorites? How much does it cost?
Any minimal hardware requirements?   

Any info appreciated :-)

-- 
Nicholas Pang         nyp00@cd.amdahl.com       
Amdahl Corporation    nyp00@outs.ccc.amdahl.com 
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: sasghm@theseus.unx.sas.com (Gary Merrill)
Subject: Hard Drive in Leading Edge Mod M?
Originator: sasghm@theseus.unx.sas.com
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 15:34:17 GMT
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.


Some time ago I posted a request for information concerning the
Leading Edge Model M, and several people came up with that info.

I now hope that someone can offer me some additional advice/help
with this machine.

I would like to put a hard drive in it.  I got a new ROM (for
a Sperry PC) that seems to work just fine.  Then I ordered an
XT hard disk controller and tried to use it to format an old
20M Seagate drive I had.  It apparently did the low-level
format fine, but FDISK won't recognize the drive.  Okay, so
I thought maybe the disk was funny.

I have recently tried formatting my Mitsubishi MR535 drive and
had the same result.  The low-level format appears to work, and
FDISK can't see the drive.  I even tried using a copy of ONTRACK
I had, with virtually the same result:  the low-level format
appears to work, and when ONTRACK goes into its "verify" mode
it gets write or time-out errors on every head for every track.

I know the following:

	1) The disk is okay -- it works fine in an AT I have.

	2) The controller is okay.  The first time this happened
	   I sent it back and they sent me a new one.  Same
	   problem.  This time, when I called in, they checked
	   their records and said the original controller had
	   tested okay when they got it back.

	3) I've tried two different sets of cables -- both of
	   which seem to work elsewhere.

The company I got the controller from is quite willing to send
me a different controller they say sometimes works better in
various circumstances.  I've been told that virtually any XT
controller will work in this machine.

Any ideas?  Any funny switches I need to set?  Is this a ROM
problem?
-- 
Gary H. Merrill  [Principal Systems Developer, C Compiler Development]
SAS Institute Inc. / SAS Campus Dr. / Cary, NC  27513 / (919) 677-8000
sasghm@theseus.unx.sas.com ... !mcnc!sas!sasghm
From: amigan@cup.portal.com (R Michael Medwid)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: 386->486 upgrade?
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 18:02:51 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: na

I would like to get more speed out of my 16MHZ 386sx Compaq Deskpro.
Might it be possible to upgrade to a '486 or a faster '386 
processor?  I've seen small upgrade boards from Evergreen Systems
which allow you to upgrade a '286 to a '386 or '486 but they said
theyy didn't yet have such an upgrade for '386s..tho they indicated
they would in another few months.  Any info on current upgrade paths
is appreciated.  THanks.  amigan@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: me00222@epx.cis.umn.edu ()
Subject: Help for ESDI cards : WD1005A-ARM and Adaptec ACB-2322
Summary: Need help for WD1005A-ARM and ACB-2322
Keywords: Hard Disk controller
Organization: University of Minnesota
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 15:37:48 GMT

Hi! netters,
I have two ESDI hard disk controllers.  I am going to use either of them with
Seagate 89Mb (I don't have the Model number in front of me).  My old Zenith
doesn't have shadow RAM capability.  But Zenith BIOS has  function which you
can specify any hard disk using its hard disk low level format program (PREP)
instead of edting the BIOS table for the unknown hard disk type.
Would you give me any info about either (or both) controllers for this kind
of situation?  e.i. Jumper info, Toggling controller's BIOS on and off, etc.
I appreciate your help in advance.  Thank you.
Xref: sparky comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:20406 comp.os.os2.misc:25673
From: darnold@felix.filenet.com (Dave Arnold)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.os.os2.misc
Subject: Can I mix 70ns SIMMS with 80ns SIMMS
Date: 27 Jul 92 20:19:12 GMT
Reply-To: darnold@fritz.filenet.com (Dave Arnold)
Organization: FileNet Corp., Costa Mesa, CA

I am upgrading to OS/2 2.0, and so I need 8 megabytes of RAM.

My Northgate elagance currently has 4MB of 80 nanosecond RAM (I determined
this by looking at the chips which have a -8 suffix).  I am having trouble
finding 80 nanosecond chips.  Can I safely mix 80ns chips with 70ns chips
for use with OS/2?  I was told that OS/2 is very sesitive to memory.

My System:  Northgate Elegance 386DX/20.

Thank you.

--------
Dave Arnold - KD6IFY    
Internet: darnold@filenet.com    UUCP: uunet!felix!darnold
--- The opinions expressed above are only mine, not FileNet's
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: claude@bauv106.informatik.unibw-muenchen.de (Claude Frantz (RZ))
Subject: Prototyping boards
Keywords: prototyping
Organization: Universitaet der Bundeswehr Muenchen (Germany)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 12:28:49 GMT

Hello !

Can you recommand me a good prototyping board for AT bus, having
the basic interfacing hardware on board.

Thanks
Claude F.
From: wedgerat@wpi.WPI.EDU (Erik Swimm)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Advice needed on Colorado Tape drive.
Date: 26 Jul 92 15:01:13 GMT
Distribution: world,local
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute


  On the subject of tape drives, I just acquired a Colorado Memory Systems
tape drive, but have no software for it, nor a way to determine the tape size.
I have the drive, and controller card.  The card has the connections marked
'from floppy controller', 'to floppy drives', 'to tape drive', and a 37 pin
D-type connector on side.  It all seems pretty straight forward, execpt for
the 37 pin D connector.  I can't find any markings on the drive, saying what
size tapes it takes, all I can find is the serial number and rev, which are 
S/N 0091224L and FW REV:  36.  I don't know if you can tell the size from that,
but that's all I've got.  Also, does anyone know where I might be able to
purchase tapes for it, as I didn't get one with the drive.

  Thanks in advance.

				-Erik A. Swimm
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: ken@tlc-486.clemson.edu (Ken Bauman)
Subject: Re: "flicker" and monitors
Summary: flicker and color monitor
Keywords: flicker, color monotors, beats
Organization: SAES, Clemson University
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 01:07:26 GMT

In article <unruh.712365376@physics.ubc.ca> unruh@physics.ubc.ca (William Unruh) writes:

>'ve been looking at some color monitors (svga) and get some wierd
>effects. In particular in many stores, the white windows background 
>seems to flicker- at VGA, at 800X600 but not at 1000X700 interlaced.
>That same monitor will not flicker in another store, or even when driven
>in VGA in DOS. They are supposed to be running at 70Hz or so (bot on a
>VGAWOnderXL and a Trident card) I really do not believe that it is the 
>refresh, since there is no way that you should be abloe to see 70Hz, and
>furthermore the frequency of the intenisty variation is too low- it
>seems to more like 10HZ rather than 50 or 70. 
>Does anyone understand this? Can you get some sort of beating between
>the video refresh and the 60Hz line frequency somehow on these monitors or
>on the video cards?
>Bill unruh
>unruh@physics.ubc.ca

I think it quite likely that you are seeing a beating effect from the 60 Hz 
of fluorescent lights in the store and the refresh frequency of the 
monitors.  My eyes are very sensitive to the flicker of monitors with low 
refresh rates, and particularly on interlaced monitors since their effective 
refresh rates are even lower.  70+ Hz seems to be fine unless I am very 
tired.  White, yellow, or other very light backgrounds intensify the 
effect.  Any experts care to comment?

Ken

 /---------------------------------------------------------\
/  Ken Bauman @         |    My opinions are irrelevant.    \
\  tlc-486.clemson.edu  |  Everything I say is fact.  NOT!  /
 \---------------------------------------------------------/
From: revpk@cellar.org (Brian 'Rev P-K' Siano)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Can I use a 387DX 33MHz on a 386DX 40MHz
Date: 20 Jul 92 06:19:28 GMT
Organization: The Cellar BBS and public access system

forest@soda.berkeley.edu (Forest Edward Wilkinson) writes:

> In article <4689@unixhub.SLAC.Stanford.EDU> johnw@jupiter.SLAC.Stanford.EDU (
> >He wants to add a math coprocessor which is rated at
> >33MHz to his 386DX 40MHZ motherboard (AMD CPU) with 64k cache.
> 
> Sure it's possible.  Just be sure you don't overheat the coprocessor
> by running it at a speed it's not rated for.  Use a heat sink if
> possible.
> -- 
> Forest Edward Wilkinson
> forest@soda.berkeley.edu

        So, what you're saying is, if you want to buy a math coprocessor, it 
has to run at the same MHz as the CPU. Correct?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian "Rev. P-K" Siano                                  revpk@cellar.org
"Best Reason Not to Vote for Perot-- If he wins, it might encourage Bill 
Gates to run." 
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: wiegand@rtsg.mot.com (Robert Wiegand)
Subject: Re: Orchid Fahrenheit 1280 dirver for OS/2?
Reply-To: motcid!wiegand@uunet.uu.net
Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 18:13:38 GMT

Jim_Johnson@abcd.Houghton.MI.US (Jim Johnson) writes:

>From what I just read (Computer Shopper, I think) OS/2 is limited to
>standard VGA (640X480), and requires a XGA board to get any higher
>resolution.  Makes some sense - other than the 8514/A, IBM never released a
>VGA with higher resolution. Notice I said it makes some sense, NOT that I
>said IBM's attitude is correct.

>-- Via DLG Pro v0.995

>Jim Johnson-
>*** Remember, they're only tools - Not a way of life! ***

Actually - I believe their excuse was that there are too many different
SVGA boards around for them to support them all. Therefore, thay have
left it up to the board suppliers to write the SVGA drivers.

It makes some sense - but its pretty frustrating if you board isn't
supported yet.


-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Wiegand - Motorola Inc.
uunet!motcid!wiegand
Disclamer: I didn't do it - I was somewhere else at the time.
From: lodzins@pilot.njin.net (Dean Lodzinski)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: IDE,SCSI,486
Keywords: IDE,SCSI,486
Date: 27 Jul 92 00:54:32 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.


What is the maximum number of IDE drives that can be in an ISA system
at one time.  I know only 2 per controller, but can there be more than
one controller?

Can an ISA system have both a SCSI AND IDE controller installed at the
same time?  If so, are there any limitations to note?

Please reply via Email if possible.  I will forward replies to anyone
that Emails me for them.
    Dean
-- 
=======================================================================
Dean Lodzinski         dean_l@turbo.kean.edu, lodzins@pilot.njin.net,
47 Mercury Circle      dean_l@support.kean.edu or D.LODZINSKI on GEnie
South Amboy, NJ        Dean Lodzinski on Hologram Inc., FNET Node 133, 
08879-2464  USA          at 908/727-1914 (1200/2400/9600)
From: ericwolf@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Eric Wolf)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: 486-33 prices
Date: 28 Jul 92 21:24:00 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center

I was wondering how inexpensive can a 486-33DX CPU and motherboard be purchased
for?  The reason I ask is that its time to replace my "I'll run when I feel
like it" 386-25 motherboard and CPU.  And with a 386-40 CPU, Math Coprocessor
and motherboard for about $325, I am wondering how much MORE it would take to
make the jump to a 486-33DX (which already has the math coprocessor installed.)

Thanks for any info you can provide.

- Eric

PS:  Company names and phone #s would also be appreciated if citing specific
     businesses.  Thanks again!
From: furballs@sequent.com (Paul Penrod)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Advice needed on Colorado Tape drive.
Date: 27 Jul 92 00:55:15 GMT
Distribution: world,local
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems Inc.

[ stuff deleted ]

> 
>    I, too, am considering purchase of a tape drive and had wondered how
>the floppy connections worked. Thanks for clearing this up. One further
>question, though: does this procedure degrade the performance of the
>floppy drives in any noticeable way?
>- - - -
>   William J. Dixon
>   Dept. of Political Science          Phone: (602) 621-7600
>   University of Arizona              Bitnet: DIXONW AT ARIZVM1
>   Tucson, Arizona 85721            Internet: dixonw@arizvm1.ccit.arizona.edu

No, it does not. I have used one for 2 months and it works without
interferance to my floppies on the Adaptec 1542B controller. The
only thing to remember on the Adaptec is to cut the bus timing back
to 2 usec, when using the tape drive, so it cuts back on the number
of resets to the drive. I can stream about 5 megs/min without the
supporting hardware card on a 486/33 machine, with resets at 2 to 4
meg intervals.

...Paul

-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
            Bureaucracy: noun, plural - Bureaucracies.
         The process of turning energy into solid waste.
---------------------------------------------------------------------