mikez@radix (Mike Zuhl) (05/13/89)
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 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------