pgil@sphinx.uchicago.edu (paul gilna) (10/21/87)
My thanks to all those who responded to my previous "Should I buy a 6300" query. About 95% of the responses were most favourable and included experiences on V30 and 8087 upgrades. HOWEVER (and this effects 8088-x users also) I saw a pre-release demo of Microsoft's EXCEL for the PC. It was excellent. My congrats to them for creating a 80x86 Mac II :-). My understanding is that EXCEL will only run on 80286 and 80386 machines. This is almost definitely the start of a most disturbing trend. SO. Can the 6300 be upgraded to 80x86 status by use of accelerator boards etc. Fact, Fiction or wishful thinking? (Intel has just announced a 80386 InBoard for 8088 machines). Thank you muchly, Paul Gilna. ...!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!pgil pgil@sphinx.uchicago.edu
dab@whuts.UUCP (Batman) (10/21/87)
From what I've been told by people at places like AST, and ORCHID etc..
is that since the 6300 is an 8086, many, if not all, of the accelerator
cards will not work( I don't know why).
However, the V30 is like an 80186 (apparetnly better). So you may not
have a problem. I find it hard to believe that Microsoft would ignore
such a huge chunk of the PC market my issuing a product that only works with a
portion of the PC market.
Does that help any?
--
Cogito Ergo Zoom
Chaste makes waste
"Intelligence without character is a dangerous thing" (G. Steinem)
Dave B. (no relation to Adam West) {ihnp4,allegra,ulysses}!whuts!dabrps@homxc.UUCP (R.SHARPLES) (10/22/87)
In article <2478@sphinx.uchicago.edu>, pgil@sphinx.uchicago.edu (paul gilna) writes: > SO. Can the 6300 be upgraded to 80x86 status by use > of accelerator boards etc. Fact, Fiction or wishful > thinking? (Intel has just announced a 80386 InBoard > for 8088 machines). > > Thank you muchly, Paul Gilna. > ...!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!pgil > pgil@sphinx.uchicago.edu All of the "turbo" boards that I have seen have a relatively short cable which plugs into the 808x's socket (after removing the 808x). This is done this way because the 8088 in an IBM PC/XT is mounted on its own card that plugs into the motherboard. The turbo board is inserted in an adjacent slot and the cable is routed around to the 808x socket. In a 6300, the 8086 is mouted on the bottom of the motherboard, the expansion slots are on the top. Physically the cable from the turbo board would have to be lengthened. Given what is traveling through this cable, it probably would not be a good idea (noise problems). Further, I have no idea whether there would be architecture, buss, or BIOS problems, but the 6300 is only a 90% compatible machine. BTW, this business of mounting the 808x on the motherboard is not unusual for compatibles. The only compatible I have seen that truly duplicates the physical structure of the IBM PC/XT was Kaypro. Russ Sharples homxc!rps NOTE: The above in NO WAY reflects the opinions of AT&T. These opinions are my own and the results of un-scientific and highly irregular analysis methods.
aptr@ur-tut.UUCP (The Wumpus) (10/23/87)
In article <3038@whuts.UUCP> dab@whuts.UUCP (Batman) writes: > >From what I've been told by people at places like AST, and ORCHID etc.. >is that since the 6300 is an 8086, many, if not all, of the accelerator >cards will not work( I don't know why). There is a card out, the manufacture and name escapes me, but it was something like Above Card, that uses one PC slot and is a seperate 386 processor, RAM and ROM (ie a computer with no I/O.). The does not depend on the microprocessor of the machine it is in, in fact, it allows true dual processing. (not co-processing, but dual processing.) Both micro processors run like they are stand alone computers and you can have different programs runnning in each. The output is controlled by what ever processor has the screen. I am not sure of the specifics, but I think it i/o is interrupt driven. The card sounds like a good idea, but it is not a new one. The Xerox 16/8 was actually similar to this except the main board was a z80 based computer and the dual-processor was an 8086. -- The Wumpus UUCP: {cmcl2!decvax}!rochester!ur-tut!aptr BITNET: aptrccss@uorvm Internet: aptr@tut.cc.rochester.edu Disclaimer: "Who? When? Me? It was the Booze!" - M. Binkley
psc@lznv.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm) (10/28/87)
In article <2478@sphinx.uchicago.edu>, pgil@sphinx.uchicago.edu (paul gilna) writes: > I saw > a pre-release demo of Microsoft's EXCEL for the PC. > It was excellent. My congrats to them for creating > a 80x86 Mac II :-). My understanding is that EXCEL > will only run on 80286 and 80386 machines. No way, and I'm getting tired of this (not your fault, Paul). Excel is a Windows application. It's (presumably) a bit of a pig, compared with text applications. But it'll run on an XT with a CGA, or a 6300 with 640x400 monochrome graphics (color with a DEB). They better not have used 286 protected mode, or it wouldn't run on one of the virtual 8086s in Windows/386. > SO. Can the 6300 be upgraded to 80x86 status by use > of accelerator boards etc. Maybe. The key is that most accelerator boards have a cable to the original CPU (the 8088). Those boards *won't* work. The 8086 isn't pin compatible with the 8088. (I'm pretty sure it isn't.) You need an accelerator board without such a cable. This would be possible: put the whole works on the board, and communicate entirely over the expansion bus. (You'd want lots of on-board RAM, or at least a cache.) That brings us to the second concern. The 6300 runs its bus clock at 8 MHz. Will the board be able to keep up with the bus? > (Intel has just announced a 80386 InBoard > for 8088 machines). Microsoft has, too, but they've got a cable to the 8088. Too bad. -Paul S. R. Chisholm, {ihnp4,cbosgd,allegra,rutgers}!mtune!lznv!psc AT&T Mail !psrchisholm, Internet psc@lznv.att.com I'm not speaking for my employer, I'm just speaking my mivoif
reza@accva1.UUCP (H. Reza Zarafshar) (11/02/87)
In article <1823@homxc.UUCP>, rps@homxc.UUCP (R.SHARPLES) writes: > In article <2478@sphinx.uchicago.edu>, pgil@sphinx.uchicago.edu (paul gilna) writes: > > SO. Can the 6300 be upgraded to 80x86 status by use > > of accelerator boards etc. Fact, Fiction or wishful > > thinking? (Intel has just announced a 80386 InBoard > > for 8088 machines). > > > > Thank you muchly, Paul Gilna. > > ...!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!pgil > > pgil@sphinx.uchicago.edu > > > All of the "turbo" boards that I have seen have a relatively short > cable which plugs into the 808x's socket (after removing > the 808x). This is done this way because the 8088 in an IBM PC/XT The twin board recently announced by Orchid Tech. will work according to the Orchid rep. It is an expensive board, but I think the quality of the Orchid products makes it worthwhile. Reza Zarafshar
johnm@auscso.UUCP (John B. Meaders) (11/03/87)
So Orchid says the Twin turbo should work with the 6300. Will it work
with a Compaq Deskpro (8086)? Will it run Xenix/286? The only thing
I have heard that works with protected mode programs is Sota's board.
Does anybody know of anything that will plug in to an 8086 machine that
will allow running of protected mode O/S's short of a motherboard
replacement (I am considering Happauge's 386 mother board, anybody out
there have any experience with it running Unix?).
--
John B. Meaders, Jr. 1114 Camino La Costa #3083, Austin, TX 78752
ATT: Voice: +1 (512) 451-5038 Data: +1 (512) 371-0550
UUCP: ...!ut-ngp!auscso!jclyde!john
\johnm