pkc@twitch.UUCP (05/15/87)
Does anyone have any experience with the DOS-73 board for the 7300 UNIX PC?
The product specification says it has an 8 MHz 8086-2 processor,
512 kbyte RAM and one RS-232 serial port and it will run "most standard"
MS-DOS software. Any experience of running DOS software on it would be
appreciated.
Peter Chen
AT&T-BL
{att-machines-that-you-can-think-of}!twitch!pkcgmv@cblpf.UUCP (05/18/87)
> Does anyone have any experience with the DOS-73 board for the 7300 UNIX PC? > > Peter Chen > AT&T-BL > {att-machines-that-you-can-think-of}!twitch!pkc The Bell Labs Product Centers have a list of the common software packages that run on the DOS-73 board, as well as ones that don't. A rule of thumb: this of this board as "the LOTUS 1-2-3 board for the 7300" and you won't be far off the mark. -- +---------------------------------------------------------+ | Mike Vrbanac AT&T Bell Laboratories Columbus, Ahiya | | Unix: {cbosgd|ihnp4}!cblpf!gmv CompuServ: 76054,113 | +---------------------------------------------------------+
psfales@ihlpe.ATT.COM (Peter Fales) (05/19/87)
In article <720@twitch.UUCP>, pkc@twitch.UUCP ( P.K.Chen) writes: > Does anyone have any experience with the DOS-73 board for the 7300 UNIX PC? > The product specification says it has an 8 MHz 8086-2 processor, > 512 kbyte RAM and one RS-232 serial port and it will run "most standard" > MS-DOS software. Any experience of running DOS software on it would be > appreciated. I have been using a DOS-73 board in my 7300, and have been very pleased with it. Everything that limits itself to standard DOS system calls seems to work fine, and I have had little or no problems with software that uses ROM BIOS calls. I have successfully run several C compilers, editors, spreadsheets, and many utilities, even TSRs such as CED and pop-up desk accessories. The only things that have failed to work are those that try to go out and access the PC hardware directly. This category includes games like flight simulator, and TSR clock programs. The display works by simulating a Hercules graphics card, so you may have problems with software that doesn't support Hercules mode though, again, anything that uses DOS for its screen access should work fine. If you have any package that might be questionable and you plan to use it on the 7300, I would suggest locating a system with a DOS-73 card and trying it out before you buy one. -- Peter Fales UUCP: ...ihnp4!ihlpe!psfales work: (312) 979-7784 AT&T Information Systems, IW 1Z-243 1100 E. Warrenville Rd., IL 60566
jimk@hou2f.UUCP (J.KAUFELD) (05/20/87)
> ..... A rule of thumb: > this [think?] of this board as "the LOTUS 1-2-3 board for the 7300" > and you won't be far off the mark. > -- Unfortunately, that is not a good rule of thumb. From personal experience I can testify that the 7300 will not run Release 2.0 or later versions of 1-2-3. It will run Release 1A - if you can find a copy. It will also not run the Microsoft Flight Simulator, Ashton Tate's DBASE III or Autodesk's AUTOCAD. DBASE III is available in a UNIX version for the 7300. Jim Kaufeld
andys@genesis.UUCP (a.b.sherman) (05/22/87)
In article <720@twitch.UUCP>, pkc@twitch.UUCP ( P.K.Chen) writes: > Does anyone have any experience with the DOS-73 board for the 7300 UNIX PC? > The product specification says it has an 8 MHz 8086-2 processor, > 512 kbyte RAM and one RS-232 serial port and it will run "most standard" > MS-DOS software. Any experience of running DOS software on it would be > appreciated. I have done a fair amount of work with the DOS-73 board, and have the following observations: 1) If your application absolutely must run on a 512K machine, it probably won't run on the DOS-73. If you do a CHKDSK you will find that somebody stole some of your memory. 2) The mouse is Microsoft Compatible and the display is Hercules compatible are statements that rank with "The check's in the mail" and "I'll love you in the morning" for believability. The Hercules compatibility is restricted to only one page, and the mouse driver does t support all commands. This means that Framework cannot use the good display stuff, but must run in dumb display mode. GEMDraw cannot find the mouse. 3) A lot of copy protection schemes work so well that you cannot use the software at all on this baby. Now the good stuff: 1)) If you want a UNIX engine that will run some of the DOS applications that you just can't live without, this is for you if your applications will run. I got someone to unlock my LEGAL copy of Symphony so that it would stop checking for the specific floppy controller. Once that was done, it worked great. -- andy sherman / at&t bell laboratories (medical diagnostic systems) room 2h-097 / 480 red hill road / middletown, nj 07748 (201) 615-5708 / andys@shlepper.ATT.COM ...The views and opinions are my own. Who else would want them?
moran@aluxp.UUCP (Alan Lustiger) (05/22/87)
I have gotten Lotus 1-2-3 release 2.01 to run on PC7300s. I
believe that there is still a problem with printing graphs.
One of the keys to get it to work is to use COPYIIPC to break
the copy protection (running NOKEY and NOGUARD). Rename the
123.COM file to something else and it will execute 123.EXE
on the hard drive.
Sorry, don't remember all the details. Someone here did come
up with an inelegant solution solving the printgraph problem.
-Alan Lustiger
AT&T Engineering Research Center, Hopewell, NJ
(AT&T machines)!pruxc!alu
(609)639-2604
--
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Alan Lustiger {Bell Labs machines}!aluxp!pruxc!alu
AT&T Engineering Research Center
Princeton, NJchute@chutepc.UUCP (Chris Chute MD) (05/25/87)
[ I wrote this in response to a similar question on the unix-pc network ] I have had the board running for almost a year without major complaint. Several protection techniques on software don't interact well, thus I find myself in the ironic position of being able to run only pirated versions of Lotus 2 or DBase III (ie those with disable protection schemes). DOS-73 (as it is affectionately called) runs under its own window in UNIX and is very happy to co-exit. I often have very numerically-CPU intensive tasks running on the DOS board (GLIM statistical utilities in particular) which does nothing to degrade my UNIX performance. DOS tasks that compete for disk attention do noticebly decrease performance, as do tasks that write a lot to the screen device (I guess the window manager has to service these). Disk partitions are very convenient. One can define 256 logical DOS disk units (two work just fine for me) of just about any size. I have a 300K C drive and a 10meg D drive on my 40meg Tandom system drive. I can run UNIX and friends comfortably in the remaining 30meg or so. I find the ability to use the UNIX file system as another logical DOS drive (the E drive in my case) amazingly convenient. I have become the major translation station between DOS users and various VAXen in our department via the DOS-73/UUCP link. I don't think this combination can be beat. I've heard rumors that AT&T has discontinued this Alloy product, too bad if that's true. But then I've heard that AT&T has discontinued the 7300 for what that is worth. Cheers, Chris Chute M.D. UUCP: ...!harvard!hscfvax!chute OR Harvard School of Public Health UUCP: ...!ethos!chutepc!chute Department of Epidemiology Voice: (617)732-1480 677 Huntington Ave Data: (617)732-1843 Boston, MA 02, p,