Date: Wed, 14 Jun 89 06:05:04 EDT From: Wm E Davidsen Jr <386users@crdos1.crd.ge.com> To: 386users@TWG.COM Subject: 80386 mailing list, vol 4 #34 Resent-From: List Master (agent: James M Galvin) 80386 User's mailing list vol 4 #34 Jun 14 1989 In this issue: Intel 80486... Low cost UNIX box LynxOS Real-Time UNIX for 386; any users ?? Making PC Unix much faster with 10 minutes work NEC 386SX problem with OS/2 Need Info on a 33MHZ PC to run Xenix 386 New FAST 386 25Hz Motherboad FOR SALE PC Mos/386 Problem with Acer Sys-32/20 Re: QNX - real-time unix? help on buying a 386 clone trans board The addresses for the list are now: 386users@TWG.COM - for contributions to the list or ...!uunet!TWG.COM!386users 386users-request@TWG.COM - for administrivia or ...!uunet!TWG.COM!386users-request P L E A S E N O T E If you want to get on or off the list, or change your address, please mail to the 386users-request address, or the message will be delayed by having to hand forward it (for your convenience, not mine). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dave@mobile.UUCP (David C. Rein) Subject: Intel 80486... Date: 22 May 89 02:39:23 GMT Since we have no comp.unix.i486 to ask some questions on, I figured I'd start one off here. If its in the wrong group, sorry for cluttering the net... Well, from what I'm guessing, the 80486 is at least in some type of shipping state (pre-releases or what have you), and I really have not heared all too much about it, although I have looked around alot. So far, the only talk that I have hear is: 1. Every instruction in 2 cycles (beleivable) 2. It can virutalize itself (or was this a dream I had...) Anyway you look at it, its not much, and maybe not correct. Would someone out there in net.land who knows something about this PLEASE give a little more detail?? (Even a mag. issue with an article!!) Thanks in advance for anything!! Dave Rein "It just goes to show what you can do if your a total psychotic" -- Woody Allen UUCP: ..!uunet!ism780c!kodak!gizzmo!lazlo!mobile!dave ------------------------------ From: bshafer@dunike.UUCP (Bob Shafer) Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries Subject: Low cost UNIX box Date: 1 Jun 89 19:06:06 GMT We are looking for a reasonably priced UNIX box. An 80386 system probably makes the most sense - there may be a need to run DOS every once in a while. It would be used primarily for electronic mail and file transfer using tcp/ip over ethernet. It needs to support about 4 simultaneous users initially with room for some expansion. Reasonable price does not (in this case ) mean cheap. We seek reliability a stable operating system and ease of system administration. It would be nice if the tcp/ip implementation (whether part of the standard release or a third party product) supported (in addition to SMTP, telnet and ftp) the 'r' commands, (at least) a domain name service resolver and (maybe) NFS (both client and server). So, those with some experience, what would you recommend (or recommend against): What hardware? What UNIX port? What third party TCP/IP (if needed)? Thanks, Bob Shafer Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries Internet: bshafer@du.edu BITNET: BSTOCKER@DUCAIR Usenet: ...ncar!dunike!bshafer ------------------------------ From: anneser@pwa-b.uucp (Dean Anneser) Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, E. Hartford, CT Subject: LynxOS Real-Time UNIX for 386; any users ?? Date: 11 May 89 18:40:28 GMT We at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, are about to purchase a couple licenses for a Real-Time UNIX, targeted for the 386, sold by Lynx Real-Time Systems, out of Campbell, CA. We are going to be running this on a Texas MicroSystems platform (industrialized AT), as the O/S for a number of small data acquisi- tion systems. Is there anyone out there, who has had experience with this product (good or bad) ?? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you ! -- Dean W. Anneser Pratt & Whitney Aircraft "Whenever possible, Sr. Sys. S/W Specialist 400 Main St. it is best to eschew m.s. 161-05 East Hartford, CT 06108 obfuscation." {philabs,utah-gr}!pwa-b!anneser ------------------------------ From: mikez@radix.UUCP (Mike Zuhl) Radix MicroSystems, Beaverton Subject: Making PC Unix much faster with 10 minutes work Date: 13 May 89 03:34:56 GMT A friend of mine (John Light @ Graphic Software Systems) discovered this trivial fix to your PC to make it run Unix 2-3 times faster, and it has been working for months on all of the (386) PCs I've tried it on. Typically, multi-speed PCs come up in slow-mode and rely on the software to set the processor speed to fast. It seems that (some|most|all) Unices for PCs do not understand how to switch speeds! The fix is to flip the speed configuration switch from "auto" to "high" speed. On Compaqs (where I tried it) this switch is gotten to by popping open the case and poking around on the mother board toward the front of the case. There's a sticker labeling the switches. Other PCs may have an option on the set-up screen. Worst case, you have to figure out how to write to the keyboard controller (which usually controls the speed switch) after booting. (Like I said, worst case.) Don't confuse the processor speed switch with the bus speed switch, as I did the first time. It typically doesn't hurt, but then you don't get the performance boost either. If you ever switch back to DOS you may want to flip the switch back again. Cost/benefit for flipping the switch is truely amazing. One of the marketing guys here suggested that I charge $10 for an app note titled "Doubling Unix Performance", but I'll settle for feedback via mail on how well it worked for you. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Zuhl | tektronix!ogcvax!verdix\ Radix MicroSystems, Inc.| !radix!mikez Beaverton, OR 97006 | decvax!decwrl!mipos3!omepd/ Phone: (503) 690-1229 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: jxh@cup.portal.com (Jim - Hickstein) The Portal System (TM) Subject: NEC 386SX problem with OS/2 Date: 25 May 89 07:12:21 GMT Has anyone out there tried this and failed:? NEC PowerMate SX (80386SX + '87SX) MS OS/2 SDK 1.06 -or- IBM OS/2 1.10 Extended Edition SDK1.05 installs and runs fine. SDK1.06 install disk reads for a while and reports an "Internal Processing Error at 0090:????" and must be rebooted. 1.1EE doesn't even say that much: it just plain hangs. Good old IBM. :-| All of these work fine on a Compaq 386S (same CPU), so no, it isn't looking for the IBM copyright in the BIOS. I know NEC has a 1.10SE OEM, but I already spent all my money, and this *should* work! (I know, we're not talking about *should*, here. :-) Is the NEC machine *less compatible* (slightly ajar? hardly pregnant?) than the ostensibly identical Compaq? Is my Phoenix BIOS leaving a land mine in low core? Does my Video-7 V-RAM VGA reveal its identity? (It's got the extra RAM, by the way.) Moon phase? Sunspots? Your guess is as good as mine. Tomorrow I get on the blower and rattle some cages at NEC and Phoenix, not to mention my dealer, poor fellow. But I thought I'd launch this tonight anyway, in case I can't get a straight answer from the perpetrators, and in case someone else tries this or wonders what the other brave pioneers are up to. Thanks for any light anyone can shed on this. 0090:xxxx. Hmmph. Fat lot of good that does! Dump the descriptor, guys, not the selector! -Jim Hickstein OS/2 PMSDK Masochists Group :-) VSAT Systems, Inc. San Jose, CA jxh@cup.portal.com ...!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!jxh ------------------------------ From: VIC_F_DUGURAN@cup.portal.com The Portal System (TM) Subject: Need Info on a 33MHZ PC to run Xenix 386 Date: 31 May 89 04:33:19 GMT Hello!, We need some info on what harware will support the following specs, or if anybody can point us to a vendor/s that can provide them, please email the reply, thanks!. A: Hardware(Basic): 1. "PC", Intel 80386 CHIP Based, 33 MHz, "TOWER" Configuration, with the following specs: a. 8 MB (60 ns) Memory, Exp. to 16 MB. b. 8.0 MIPS Minimum. c. Dual Bus Architecture w/64 Bit Internal Cache Bus, with 128 KB (25ns) Static RAM. d. Shadow RAM Cache Memory. e. 1.44 MB FLoppy (3-1/2"). f. 1.2 MB Floppy (5-1/4"). g. Minimum of 1 Serial and 1 Parallel Port. h. High (800x600) Res. Mono Monitor w/ VGA. i. 150 MB HD w/Second HD Capability(Full). 32 KB Disk Cache. 1.875 KB/Sec Xfer Rate. 20 ms Min. Access time and 1:1 inter- leaving with full track buffering. j. Intel 32 Bit 80387 Coprocessor Support with 33 MHZ System Clock. B. Hardware(Networking): 1. Intelligent Networking Hardware to support SCO Xenix 386 OS Multiuser Environment. a. 16 Bit Controller w/8 Mhz Processor and 64K RAM Offloading I/O processing from main processor w/4 terminal concentrator ports. b. 2 Terminal Concentrators w/16 RS232 port capability and 6 MHz processor, attachable to controller card concentrator ports. c. Thin twisted pair wire connection from terminal concentrator to ascii terminals and PCs. C. Hardware(Satellite), (Quantity of 8 Units): 1. ASCII Terminals Complete with all necessary hardware to connect to basic Network "B" above. a. 78 Hz Refresh Rate. b. 110 Vac. c. 2 serial ports, 1 parallel port. vic_f_duguran@cup.portal.com Saipan Computer Services Caller Box PPP 1011 Saipan, MP 96950 FAX: (670) 234-9119 ------------------------------ From: misha@aeras.UUCP (Michael Umansky) Arix Corporation, San Jose, Ca Subject: New FAST 386 25Hz Motherboad FOR SALE Date: 31 May 89 00:25:11 GMT FOR SALE: Brand New Micronics 25/25Weitek 386 25Mhz Motherboard + Runs any UNIX for 386 systems. + Uses Intel's 80386DX-25 25Mhz CPU, 82385-25 Cache Controller. + Landmark Speed Test shows 44Mhz and Norton SI Test shows 32. + Sockets for 80387 (25/20/16 Mhz) and/or Weitek 3167 FPUs. + Direct Mapped 32K Static CACHE with sockets for 32K more (for 2-way-set). + 2 8-bit XT compatible slots + 5 8/16-bit XT/AT compatible slots + 1 32-bit dedicated high speed memory card slot + From 1 to 8 megabytes of 80ns Page Mode Dram on memory card. + Latest Phoenix BIOS with ROM setup, shadow RAM support and MEMM software. + Cache can be turned ON/OFF. Speed select of 6/8/16/20/25 Mhz using + combination of speed switch and cache on/off control. + IO bus speed selectable either 8 or 12 Mhz. + Standard AT mounting size. + Technical documentation for motherboard. + With 2 (TWO) Megabytes of 80ns 256K DRAMS -> $2000.00 + With 4 (FOUR) Megabytes of 80ns 1Mb DRAMS -> $2600.00 +++ NO REASONABLE OFFERS REFUSED +++ -- NAME: Michael Umansky (sun!aeras!foxy!misha) WORK: Arix Corp.; 821 Fox Lane; San Jose, CA 95131 HOME: 4331 Lincoln Way; San Francisco, CA 94122 PHONE: (408) 922-1751 (work); (415) 564-3921 (home) ------------------------------ From: JAJZ801%CALSTATE.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu Subject: PC Mos/386 Date: Sun, 04 Jun 89 07:56:25 PDT I would appreciate comments by actual users of PC-MOS 386. In particular the reliability, performance and adaptability with multi-user database managers. How many users can it efficiently support, maximum disk sizes, and terminals supported. (I am aware of the PC Magazine review of Feb 28, but am interested in actual, practical experience). Jeff Sicherman jajz801@ccs.csuscc.calstate.edu jajz801@calstate.bitnet ------------------------------ From: herder@myab.se (Jan Herder) Myab Gothenburg, Sweden Subject: Problem with Acer Sys-32/20 Date: 1 Jun 89 17:30:16 GMT I have an Acer 386/20 that are running Bell Technologies UNIX/386 3.2u. On it is an ACE 8 port serial card form Bell Technologies, and a WD1007-WA2 ESDI card. This configuration seem to work. Resently I tested plugging in a newer version of the ACE card. With this the Acer resets it self after just a few characters (10-300) are sent to a terminal. The only differens between the two ACE cards are that the AT interface are faster, S and F chips instead of LS. Since the ACE card works in lot of machines and some other cards has also failed I supect that the AT bus on the Acer is buggy. Does anyone know if there is problem with the AT bus on Acer Sys-32/20. -- Jan Herder, MYAB Sweden | Phone: +46 31 18 75 12 Internet: herder@myab.se | Fax: +46 31 18 28 42 UUCP: uunet!enea!chalmers!myab!herder | Address: Dr. Forseliusg 21 ARPA: herder%myab.se@uunet.uu.net | 413 26 Gothenburg ------------------------------ From: vik@lynx.UUCP (Vikram Sohal) Lynx Real-Time Systems Inc, Campbell CA Subject: Re: QNX - real-time unix? Date: 23 May 89 15:56:54 GMT We have a real-time, UNIX-compatible operating system called LynxOS that is compilant with POSIX 1003.1, Berkeley 4.3 and System 5.3. It is a complete rewrite of UNIX and contains no AT&T code in it or the utilities provided with it. Over 90% of LynxOS is machine-independent and is written in "C". In terms of real-time response, LynxOS has a worst-case task response time of 350 microseconds on a 25MHz 386 PC AT. It also has various additional features for real-time (contiguous files, dynamically loadable device drivers, etc). In addition, we now have binary compatibility that allows us to run off-the-shelf binaries for versions of SYSTEM V on 386 PC AT's directly on the 386 version of our system without modification (we have tested this with System V versions of Informix, WordPerfect, Q-Calc, etc). It comes with a complete development environment (VI-compatible editor, over 112 utilities, C compiler, etc) and complete documentation. There is also support for TCP/IP under Ethernet. Currently, LynxOS is available for our own 80386-based AT systems as well as for other 386-based AT's (Dell, Nec, Compaq, etc). We also have versions for the Motorola MVME147 as well as our own 68010 and 68030-based VME systems the Lynx 10 and Lynx 30. Source code licenses are also available. Any further questions can be directed to me: Vic Sohal, or to Paul Pinnapinto at Lynx Real-Time Systems (408) 370-2233 or you can send messages via the NET to vik@lynx. ------------------------------ From: nbeck%weber@ucsd.edu Subject: help on buying a 386 clone Date: Thu, 18 May 89 13:16:39 pdt I have finally found some money to enter the true 386 world (over my current board in an ATT6300). But I haven't found a lot of money. There is a clone house in San Diego that will sell me the following for 3K 386 20mh board made by DTK (no cache) 387 60Mb Mitsubishi Hard disk with 1:1 RLL controller Hercules graphics, standard monochrome monitor, serial and parallel port, keyboard 3Mb RAM (can be expanded to 9 on motherboard) My application is very intensive number crunching in a DOS environment using a statitical package that runs protected mode under DOS. 3MB Ram seems adequate for my data sets. Any comments on the price/performance of this package. Anyone have any bad experience with DTK motherboards with a 20mh 386/7. Thanks in advance Neal Beck Dept. of Pol. Sci. (beck@ucsd.edu or beck@ucsd.BITNET) ------------------------------ From: nbeck%weber@ucsd.edu Subject: trans board Date: Fri, 19 May 89 18:58:59 pdt Does anyone know anything about a TRAN 386 clone? Thanks in advance Neal Beck Dept. of Pol Sci (beck@ucsd.edu or beck@ucsd.BITNET) ------------------------------ End of 80386 M/L Vol 4 #34 **************************