HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jlaiho@ichaos.nullnet.fi (Juha Laiho)
Subject: Help needed: Comtrol Smart Hostess
Organization: NullNet r.y.
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 20:04:14 GMT

A friend recently obtained a multiport serial card that says "Comtrol/SMART
HOSTESS" on a label taped to the bracket.

This board is easily recognized as a 8-port serial card powered by i80186.
Now there still is a few problems.. the card has quite a lot of jumpers and
a DIP switch bank on it, and I'd dearly like to get some document concerning
these jumpers. Also there's a chip socket without a chip on the board, and
since the socket is placed quite near to the bus connector, I think this is
nothing "reserved for future expansion", but rather the chip has been ripped
out for a reason or another. The empty socket is labeled U108, it's the second
lowest place in the rightmost column.
There's also following text etched to one end of the board:
 (C) 1986  CONTROL SYSTEMS    P/N 90042 REV A

Also, any information of the existing drivers would be appreciated.
Due to the big flow on this group, please reply by email if possible.

..Wolf
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: tweten@wilbur.nas.nasa.gov (Dave Tweten)
Subject: Does This Port Board Exist?
Organization: NAS, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 07:17:00 GMT

I need some suggestions from the net for a "port" board for my new EISA
machine.  Port provisions on the Micronics motherboard are inadequate.
These things don't seem to come as "extras" on EISA bus boards either
(no wonder).  Finally, there is one unused slot which can't take an
EISA master board, so I'd like to fill it with a board described below.

Though my Micronics 486/33 EISA board has motherboard support for two
COM ports and a parallel port, the COM ports approximate 16450 chips
and the parallel port is output-only.  By contrast, my mythical "port"
board provides more up-to-date COM, LPT and game port support and is an
ISA board (that's right - EISA would be severe overkill).

It supports COM1 through COM4, using 16550A chips, and jumpers/switches
can route interrupts to IRQs 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 15 or nothing.

It supports LPT1 through LPT3.  A jumper/switch per port permits them
to work PS/2 style: control register bits 5 can be used to tristate the
data line drivers, permitting parallel input without "dueling drivers."
Jumpers/switches permit use of IRQs 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 15 or none.

If more than one COM and/or LPT port is set to use a given IRQ, the IRQ
line gets the logical OR of the signals (permitting shared interrupts -
at least on the board).  Each COM and LPT port can individually be
enabled or disabled by jumpers/switches.  COM and LPT port board
connections are headers, so cutouts in current cases can be used.  The
headers are wired so a ribbon cable with an insulation displacement
header connector on one end and an insulation displacement DB connector
of the appropriate size on the other end will produce standard pin
assignments.

Finally, it has a game port, with two female DB-15 connectors wired in
parallel and located on the board's mounting bracket.  One connector is
wired in the standard way and the other swaps the functions on pins 2-7
and pins 10-14 (more or less), permitting use of two joysticks without
a "Y" connector.

So, does my mythical board exist?  If so, where can I get it?  If not,
how close do real products come?  After considerable looking, I have
yet to find anything even close.  Please e-mail me any responses.  If
there's even mild interest, I'll post a summary of responses after the
dust settles.  Thanks.
-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave Tweten						tweten@nas.nasa.gov
NASA Ames Research Center, M/S 258-5			     (415) 604-4416
Moffett Field, CA  94035-1000				FAX: (415) 604-4377
From: charles@gremlin.muug.mb.ca (Charles)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Cyrix "486" cpu really compatible ?
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 03:18:30 GMT
Organization: The Haunted Unix Box

rseymour@reed.edu (Robert Seymour) writes:

>	The Cyrix chip is not a true 486. I mean this in the sense that it does  
>not support all of the 486 features, not that it isn't made by Intel. An  
>example of this is the fact that NeXTstep 486 will not support the Cyrix chip,  
>since it uses instructions particular to the 486 (as opposed to just a 386  
>instruction set, which the Cyrix chip mirrors along with most 486  
>instructions).

Could you elaborate on this?  It is my understanding that the 486 only has
5-6 more instructions than the 386, most of those dealing with cache
manipulation.  What would NeXTstep be doing that wouldn't run on this
chip?  Or at the minimal, require extremely small code changes?  (Assuming
the Cyrix is 100% 386 compatible of course).


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: sheldon@iastate.edu (Steve Sheldon)
Subject: Re: Is ZEOS financially sound?
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 20:18:34 GMT

In <1992Nov23.130144.12261@bsu-ucs> 00hmhammer@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu writes:

>If sales increase during a economic recovery, then crisis may be averted.
>The role of IBM is interesting since it is unproven that IBM can 
>function in a direct sales market. For that matter what is lead time
>on a Value Point right now?

 I asked about this.  I was told:

 about 10 days on the 386 models
 about 2-3 weeks for the 486SX models
 about 4-5 weeks for the 486DX models

 For educational orders, double or triple those times.

 I imagine things will probably get better over the next several months as
they're able to get production up to full capacity and meet demand.

 I was told by the dealer that if they have it in the warehouse they
can get it within 3 working days.  So probably by early next year, lead
times should be under a week for all models.
-- 
sheldon@iastate.edu                Steve Sheldon
This space left intentionally      ICSS Resource Facility
blank.                             Iowa State University
From: cj337@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Etienne Tasse)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Joystick to PC connections
Date: 21 Nov 1992 04:44:33 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: cj337@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Etienne Tasse)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, wjm@utrc.utc.com (Bill) says:

>I'm looking for some technical info on joystick connection to a PC game 
>port.  I know the game port pin out, but it is somewhat cryptic as to the 
>actual hookup.
>
>What I want to do is use an analog joystick from an old computer system on 
>my PC.
>
>I know, joysticks are cheap, why bother.  Well, I like this joystick 
>layout, plus, being a hardware hacker, I can't resist.
>
>The joystick I want to use contains 2 potentiometers and 2 pushbuttons.
>How should they be connected to the game port?
>
>Thanks,
>+ ><> + ><> + ><> + ><> + ><> + ><> + ><> + ><> + ><> + ><> +
>+ Bill Mazeika   WJM@UTRC.UTC.COM                           +
>+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
>+ God's got an army, not afraid to fight.                   +
>+ Soldiers of the cross, and children of the light.         +
>+ Warriors of righteousness, with healing in their hands.   +
>+ God's got an army, marchin through the land.     -Carman  +
>+ <>< + <>< + <>< + <>< + <>< + <>< + <>< + <>< + <>< + <>< +
>
>

The pinout is numbered as follows:
 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8

   9  10  11  12  13  14  15

1 - +5v ( Common for Joy1X,Joy1Y)
2 - Button1A detect (with pin 4)
3 - Joy1X detect (with pin 1)
4 - 0v  ( Common for Button1A,Button1B)
5 - 0v  ( Common for Button2A,Button2B)
6 - Joy1Y detect (with pin 1)
7 - Button1B detect (with pin 4)
8 - No connection
9 - +5v ( Common for Joy2X,Joy2Y)
10- Button2A detect (with pin 5)
11- Joy2X detect (with pin 9)
12- Soundblaster MIDI Send
13- Joy2Y detect (with pin 9)
14- Button2B detect (with pin 5)
15- Soundblaster MIDI Receive

Source: Soundblaster Reference Manual

BTW - using this you can build yourself a joystick splitter:

For the first joystick : Straight thru : 1-1  2-2  3-3 4-4  6-6  7-7
For the second         : Get J2 to J1  : 9-1 10-2 11-3 5-4 13-6 14-7

Fun stuff:
Use an old slider potentiometer to build a throttle control for
Flight Simulator -- Perhaps some rudder pedals too?
-- 
-----
cj337@hela.INS.CWRU.EDU      /  Earth: Mostly Harmless
Etienne TassEh?             /
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: arthuro@rosa.nbr.no (Arthur N. Olsen)
Subject: Re: Funny Quantum 240AT HD noise?
Keywords: quantum hard disk
Organization: The National Library, Rana, Norway
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 15:50:44 GMT

>>
>>>I just bought the Quantum 240 AT hard disk drive. It has an on-board
>>>256K cache, supposedly, and is supposed to be blinding fast. I haven't
>>>really gotten a chance to test its speed, but I have noticed that
>>>even when nothing's going on, it seems to make a chukka-chukka-chukka
>>>sound about every ten seconds.
>>
>>>Is this normal? Am I misinterpreting what I'm hearing? I didn't get
>>>any docs with this drive (it came installed in a system I bought)
>>>and I'd like to know what's going on. It's a little disconcerting
>>>and I'm sure it's going to bother me when I'm trying to think.

This is quite normal behavior for hardware cached drives, its just the
onboard cache flushing every now and then.

  Arthur N. Olsen                  Nasjonalbibliotekavd. i Rana
  Senior Executive Officer         The National Library, Rana Norway
  Systems Development              " The furthest north of any national
  E-MAIL arthuro@rosa.nbr.no         library in the world: 66:30 N ! "
From: ab245@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Sam Latonia)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: MAG 15" monitors - are users really happy with them?
Date: 23 Nov 1992 12:19:23 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc4.ins.cwru.edu


I am running the Speedstar x24 with a Sony CPD-1604S Multiscan 17"
display and have had no problems at all with either the x24 or the 
Sony at any settings. I get 6510chr/ms and am running at 62.40MHZ
with my bus set at 13mhz. I have a 386DXL-40 Forex upgradable
mother board and a Promise Super IDE DC/99M caching disk controller
card with 2 1/2 mb on it, and 8 mb of 1x9-70 simms.
I do not use Windows or OS/2, just straight DOS programs.
I am happy with this setup 100% Oh ya I did upgrade the 64K
cach on the mother board to the 256K but I don't see any difference
with the programs that I run as yet...
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: johnson@spectra.com (boyd johnson)
Subject: 386xx and 486xx chips differences?
Organization: Spectragraphics Corporation
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 16:57:58 GMT

I submitted this article a week ago to c.s.i.p.hardware and got no
replies either on Usenet or email.  Surely someone must know more about
the differences between the Intel type chips.  Maybe I was asking for
too many details.  Any additional details would help.  
Thanks in advance for any replies.
_________________________________________________________________________

In article <1992Nov13.230316.20749@spectra.com> johnson@spectra.com (boyd johnson) writes:
There have been so many new 80x86 chips lately.  Does anyone have an 
objective description of the differences between them in quality, 
compatibility, features and performance using various benchmark tests?
(Whetstone, Dhrystone, SPECmark, Linpack, SysInfo, etc)
Also, the performance difference between a 386 + 387 compared with a 486
would be nice also.

NOTE: How about if we make an _assumption_ of using a standard 25MHZ
clock for all of them when comparing performance?

I'll get it started with what I _think_ are the differences:

386SX-25 Intel (and AMD?)
	16 bit I/O, 32 bit internal all running at 25 MHZ

386DX-25 Intel (and AMD?)
	32 bit I/O, 32 bit internal all running at 25 MHZ

386DX2-50 (clock doubled 25 MHZ) Intel (and AMD?)
	32 bit 25 MHZ I/O, 32 bit 50 MHZ internal CPU processing

486SX-25 Intel (and AMD?)
	32 bit I/O, 32 bit internal all running at 25 MHZ
	8KB CPU cache

486DX-25 Intel (and AMD?)
	32 bit I/O, 32 bit internal all running at 25 MHZ
	8KB CPU cache, numeric co-processor

486DX2-50 (clock doubled 25 MHZ) Intel (and AMD?)
	32 bit 25 MHZ I/O, 32 bit 50 MHZ internal CPU processing
	8KB CPU cache, numeric co-processor

486SLC-25 (Cyrix)
	16 bit I/O, 32 bit internal all running at 25 MHZ
	1KB CPU cache, CPU multiplier (not co-processor)

486DLC-25 (Cyrix)
	32 bit I/O, 32 bit internal all running at 25 MHZ
	???

P5 (Pentium) {80586} ????????????????

Please either post information or email it to me and I will summarize
next week.

Thank you!

-- 
======== Boyd Johnson    nosc!spectra.com!johnson  San Diego, Ca. ========
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: THOGER@bg1.hbg.hydro.no (Terje Thoegersen)
Subject: Re: How to detect bus speed?
Organization: Norsk Hydro, Hydro Data
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 92 19:06:36 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.11

In <VICTOR.16.722001228@gribb.hsr.no> VICTOR@gribb.hsr.no writes:
> In article <1992Nov16.204700.29378@netcom.com> ewadams@netcom.com (Ernest Adams) writes:
> >From: ewadams@netcom.com (Ernest Adams)
> >I have a 50 MHz 486 DX system with an ISA bus which is experiencing
> >difficulties with an 8-bit device. I suspect a bus speed problem.
> >How can I detect my bus's speed in software? Are there any PD or
> >shareware programs around that do it?
> >-- Ernest
> I guess this might be of public interest, so please answer in this group.
> By the way,-does anybody know how to change the bus speed? Would be nice if 
> it ran a bit faster.... 
> Thanks......victor@gribb.hsr.no

Regarding Ernest's problem with an 8-bit device : I've seen this problem 
when an 8 bit card shares adress space with a 16-bit card. (That is, 
they're within 128k of one another in the memory adress space) 

Picture this : There's a transfer underway to the 8-bit card. The problem 
seems to be that the bus HW asks 'is it OK if I do a 16 bit transfer?' 
Since the two cards are withing 128k of each other, *both* will answer, 
the 16-bit 'yes' and the other 'no'. If the 'yes' carries, the 8-bit 
card will get a garbled, 16-bit transfer.

This goes the other way around, too, an 8-bit Hercules card may/will 
switch a 16-bit VGA card into 8-bit modus because of this effect.

In my case, an 8-bit ST02 locked up the system as long as the 16-bit 
VGA card was installed in a 16 bit slot.

I'm pretty sure, too that this is related to the 'quality' or design of
the motherboard and the expansion cards. The ST02/VGA card combo gave no
problems in a Compaq 386/20, and the ST02 plus a better VGA card gives 
no problem in the 386sx/16 in question. 

Regarding detecting bus speed : I've seen some programs who claim to 
be able to sense this. One, the installation program for a Bocaram 
AT/plus card, 'guessed' right in the Compaq, but gave up on the 386/16.
The manual stated that this was related to the way the bus implemented
wait-states. (might be rotten programming for all I know..)

Finally : boosting bus speed : I've tried this, (by way of a jumper
on the motherboard (on a 386/40)) with varying results. I measured the
speed of my SCSI harddisk (using Coretest) and could not detect any 
significant improvement in transfer-rate with the bus at 10 MHz. At
13 MHz it would not boot. Again at 10 MHz, I had problems when I 
installed a CD-ROM card. It's now back at 8 again. 

On an AT I used to have, a Bocaram AT RAM card on the expansion bus 
worked OK at 8, locked up at 10. AST Advantage cards worked at 10 if 
installed as extended, had intermittent failiures as expanded. Your 
mileage will vary, but from my experiences, it's not worth it.

  -Terje 

(who just set a personal record for posting length...)

-------------------------------------------------------------
Terje Thoegersen    Norsk Hydro    Hydro Data    Oslo, Norway
Xref: sparky comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:30676 comp.sys.intel:2306
From: davidt@bellcore.com (David Turock)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.intel
Subject: What's the x86 box with the most available slots?
Date: 23 Nov 92 15:42:34 GMT
Reply-To: davidt@bellcore.com
Organization: Bell Communications Research


I'm working on a project where I need to fit as many boards as I can
into an x86 box.  It doesn't have to be a 486 since most of the
work is done on the boards (in fact a cheaper 386 is prefereable).
I know that Northgate makes a box that has 8 or so slots but
I've heard that their financial status may be in some trouble.

Does anyone know of a vendor that puts out a box with a lot of open
slots (8 or more?) with about two thirds or so being 16 bit slots?

Thanks,
David

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Turock
Bellcore
davidt@bellcore

 
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: rg9538@ehsn2.cen.uiuc.edu (Ronald E Garnett)
Subject: Re: NANAO 9070U sensitive to power fluctuation
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 22:59:56 GMT

chyang@orpington.engin.umich.edu (Chung Hsiung Yang) writes:


>In article <1992Nov16.144523.5222@walter.cray.com>, dpp@cray.com (David Peterschmidt) writes:
>> In article Lry@news.cso.uiuc.edu, rg9538@ehsn2.cen.uiuc.edu (Ronald E Garnett) writes:

>> >The problem is with my Nanao 9070U monitor.  It usually has a fairly crisp display,
>> >but lately I've noticed quite a bit of flicker and wavering of the screen.  At first
>> >I though that the monitor was going to monitor heaven, but then I thought to measure 
>> >the input power levels.  
>> >
>> >What I discovered is that the input power to my apartment varies between around 112 V
>> >and 120V, depending on what other people have turned on, refrigerators, etc.  This
>> >is normal, but the Nanao problem follows the voltage. When the voltage drops much below120 V, the flicering starts.  Around 112 it gets really annoying, as the screen is     wavering as much as an1/8 of an inch.  For a $1000 monitor, this is quite distur> bing!
>> 
>> I've had a similar problem with my monitor (Mitsubishi Diamond Pro
>> 17).  The screen bobs up and down occasionally about 1/16 inch and I
>> don't know what causes it.  It could well be the same problem you're
>> seeing.  If it is the incoming voltage that causes it, I suppose a UPS 
>> could be one solution, but I sure don't want to have to buy one.  Is 
>> there a cheaper alternative?
>> 
>> 

>	Do you guys live near a radio station, a transmission communication
>towar, or a place with a lot of sattilite dishes???

Nope.  I don't.  I live near a bunch of cornfields and a lot of bars! 
(College area)


>	The power fluctuation really should not affect the monitor performances
>because I think the monitor it self should take care of that problem.  
>Secondly, the frequency at which the power is operating at 60Hz should not
>affect you monitor because the monitor tube is firing electron at a much
>higher rate than your power frequency.

### But the fluctuations I am seeing are not high frequency fluctuations,
but more like 60 Hz fluctuations.  In other words, the intenisty flickers at
a rate which is roughly 60 hertz, and the screen wavers at the same rate.
The Power fluctuations are smooth not erratic as one would expect if the    
cause was a strong high frequency component.  I have not put a scope to the
power, but since the problem is directly correlated with the power fluctuations,I don't see how it could be NOT related.


>	However if there is a strong signal nearby such as a radio station 
>or microwave transmission towar or even a tv or video transimission 
>dish would conceivably interrupt your video signal because the power line
>is able to pick it up quite easily.  (The power line is nothing but a huge


I'll agree with you that electromagnetic interference can be a serious problem.
But I don't think it's the problem here.  If I find out differntly when I
get a chance to scope the thing, then I'll repost!   
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 03:21:29 -0500 
From: Kenton Shaver <ks3l+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: FAX modem suggestions

I'm looking at a practical periphs 2400 external fax.
Does that have group 3?  Is group 3 faxing needed?
Are a majority of fax machines group 3?  Help!

KWS
--
ks3l@andrew.cmu.edu
From: jleon@usc.edu (Juan Carlos Leon)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Cyrix "486" cpu really compatible ?
Date: 20 Nov 1992 19:15:32 -0800
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: girtab.usc.edu


Let me add from the same file (and with the permission of the author):

"The Cyrix 486DLC is the 386DX replacement with the highest integer performance
With the internal cache enabled, integer performance of the 486DLC can be up to
80% higher compared with a Intel 386DX at the same clock frequency, with the
average speed gain for integer applications being 35%. Enabling the internal
cache provides about 5-15% more performance than with the cache disabled for
both integer and floating-point applications. Floating-point applications are
accelerated by about 15%-30% if the Cyrix 486DLC (with cache enabled) is used
instead of the Intel 386DX. Compared with the Intel 486DX, the Cyrix 486DLC
provides about 70% of the integer performance and about 50% of the floating
point performance at the same clock frequency."

Juan Leon
 

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: pec2@ra.msstate.edu (Paul E. Carroll)
Subject: HELP! Losing Time/Date but not other CMOS settings!
Organization: Mississippi State University
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 07:42:39 GMT

HELP!  I keep losing my time/date info!
This happens at an astronomical rate even when the computer is on!
I have tried to attach an external battery pack because I thought
it was just the battery dying but that's not the case.
I do not have any problems losing any other CMOS data..
And even when the computer is turned on, The clock seems to be running
backward!  I checked it with "Checkit" right after resetting the time/date
It passed the test.  I ate dinner and checked it agian (never turning off
the computer or even exiting "Checkit".  It was off by an hour!
If I turn the systemoff for a night, the time/date info is reset to
Jan 1 1980, 00:00:00.  I am very frustrated... and I KNOW it's no tjust
a battery problem.... Is there a clock chip or something that has gone
bad??  Somebody Please Help!!!

				-Frustrated
				-Paul Carroll
				-(pec2@ERC.MsState.Edu)
----
NSF ERC for Computational Field Simulation
----

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
|      \/\/\/\/\/\/                                        |
|         @   @                  -Paul Carroll             |
|           |                     (pec2@Ra.MsState.edu)    |
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: wolff@zen.et.tudelft.nl (Rogier Wolff)
Subject: Re: Funny Quantum 240AT HD noise?
Organization: Delft University of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 19:15:19 GMT

[someone writes:]

>>>>I just bought the Quantum 240 AT hard disk drive. It has an on-board
>>>>256K cache, supposedly, and is supposed to be blinding fast. I haven't
>>>>really gotten a chance to test its speed, but I have noticed that
>>>>even when nothing's going on, it seems to make a chukka-chukka-chukka
>>>>sound about every ten seconds.
>> 
>> I have a Quantum 120lps SCSI disk and it does the same thing.  I am not quite
>> sure what it is doing, but it does appear to be the normal thing for
>> Quantum's lps drives to do.

Quantums recalibrate their track alignment every time the temperature
changes a certain amount. I'm not sure wether they measure the temperature
or that they notice that their alignment is off. Anyway, that's what
they do. (you should notice that it starts out about once every 40 seconds,
and after a few hours it is limited to about once every 15 minutes>)

				Roger
-- 
****   a 486 in V86 mode is like a VW buggy with a 6 litre V12 motor.  ****
EMail:  wolff@duteca.et.tudelft.nl   ** Tel  +31-15-783644 or +31-15-142371
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware