vlsi4@erato.cs.kun.nl (09/04/90)
[Because of many requests:]
New PC-XT Bridgeboard A2088T from Commodore
Turbo-PC-boards are offered by several firms, like eg. X-Pert. All
"improved" boards are based on the PC-board A2088 from Commodore. The
Turbo-PC-board A2088T is however an improvement with a new design.
To make it clear in advance: The Commodore-designers from Braunschweig,
Germany have put a bridgeboard on the market, that leaves all other
"Turbo-PC-boards" far behind. The A2088T realises the performance of a
Commodore PC 10-III on a single board.
As CPU a NEC V20 is used. This one is command- and pincompatible with
the Intel 8088 and can on the newbridgeboard be used with three different
tactfrequencies: with the default 4,77 MHz, with 7,15 MHz and with 9,54
MHz.
Between these turbo-modes can be switched over the keycombinations
<CTRL S>, <CTRL T> and <CTRL D>, that way the full compatibility remains.
The systemclock works normal in all modes. With the "upgrade-Turbo's" it
always ran too fast. Even with disk-operations the tactfrequency doesn't
have to be lowered. The accesses have therefore become considerably
faster.
The Turbo-PC-board is provided with 640 KByte RAM as default. For that
reason it is no longer necessary, to fill an extra PC-slot with a memory-
expansion card. MS-DOS doesn't support more than 640 KByte memory in the
XT. The developers have also thought of other, small details. There is
eg. a speaker in the form of a small Piezo-peeper built on the board.
The parallel port and the mouse are as before emulated by the Amiga.
A serial port is only needed, when PC-data has to be transferred to other
types of computer. However, the Amiga can also do that.
Until today Commodore delivered with every bridgeboard a 5.25 inch
drive, with the A2088T however the lack thereof attracts the attention.
A 3.5" drive can also be discovered nowhere. But what should one do with
an MS-DOS emulator without an MS-DOS-compatible drive? The answer to that
question is simple: why spend extra money on a diskdrive, when every
Amiga 2000 already possesses an internal 3.5 inch drive?
The developers have here succeeded in accomplishing an ingenieur-
technical masterpiece. The internal Amiga-drive can be used by the A2088T
as fully MS-DOS-compatible diskdrive. In practice this means, that you
can read and write two different disk-formats with the Amiga-drives:
Amiga-DOS and MS-DOS. But that still isn't all. The highlight to this
feature is, that you can use these formats simultaneously. Therefore a
well thought-out piece of software is used, that determines the
concerning format with the help of the inserted disk and then assigns the
drive to the corresponding computer (Amiga or PC). Such a drive is called
"multiplexed drive" in professional terms. Besides the automatic drive-
assignment there also exists the possibility, to assign a certain drive
"fixed" to one of the two computers. That means, that you can explicitly
state, whether the drive should be "owned" by the Amiga or the PC.
The bridgeboard is well finished and shows a piece of technological
advance. The board was developed as sixfold multilayer. They realised 6
layers over one another; All the time one on the upper- and lower side of
the board and four layers inside the boardmaterial. This way a high pack-
density is achieved with the assignment and intersection of the
construction-elements. That way the high-integrated elements like the
V20-CPU are deviced as square PLCC-elements. The hardware is free of
childrens' diseases.
All important signals are available on the board. By switchable
contact-bridges (jumpers) you can configure the bridgeboard hardware.
That way you can eg. turn off or switch the disk-controller. This becomes
necessary, when besides the "multiplexed drive" a "pure" MS-DOS drive
as internal or external drive is used. The following types of drive are
supported for this:
3-1/2 inch 5-1/4 inch
------------------------------------------------
720 KByte 360 KByte
1.44 MByte 1.2 MByte
To expose the performance, the A2088T was tested against other turbo-
boards. The result (see table 1) was on the basis of the technical facts
predictable. At a tactfrequency of 9.54 MHz the A2088T lies between the
8-MHz-A2088-upgraded board and the 8-MHz-AT-board A2286. You reach about
twice the XT- and half the AT-speed.
Besides that the A2088T-board has more BIOS-compatibility (Basic
Input/Output System) than the standard PC-board A2088. Some programs
(like eg. FDISK) use a BIOS-interrupt for the hardware-reset. This can
lead to a "crash" in the old A2088. The A2088T (like the A2286) does no
longer contain that error.
As systemsoftware the new and actual MS-DOS version 4.01 with DOS-Shell
on 3.5" disks is delivered. The DOS-Shell is a mouse-supported MS-DOS
user environment. There also is a "Pre-Install" disk in the package, that
enables a menu-supported installation of MS-DOS- as well as the Janus-
software on disk or harddrive. In relation to the documentation also
some things have changed. The handbooks for MS-DOS, DOS-Shell, GW-BASIC
and for the PC-board can be called good. Here Commodore has learned from
the past.
Whether the new A2088T will come instead of the old A2088, or will be
sold between her and the A2286 as "solution in-between", is still
unclear.
Table 1:
Test | A2088 | A2088 | A2286 | A2088T |
Programm | 4,77 MHz | 8 MHz | 8 MHz | 9,54 MHz |
----------+----------+-------+-------+----------+
Bench 1 | 88s | 54s | 24s | 40s |
Bench 2 | 101s | 61s | 34s | 53s |
Bench 3 | 105s | 63s | 30s | 50s |
Word 4.0 | 52s | 31s | 12s | 25s |
----------+----------+-------+-------+----------+
Bench 1 : calculate 1000 x SIN, COS, TAN
Bench 2 : calculate edgefunctions with output to screen
Bench 3 : calculate with the four basic kinds of calculations
Word 4.0: replace characters
[from: "MS-DOS im Vorrausch", Amiga Magazin 6/90, p.172 ]
price: about. 800 DM (about $500 (?))
Freddy Aries
Remark from the translator: I hope the CTRL-key in switching between the
frequencies is a mistake of the testers. Otherwise people might get real
big problems with MS-DOS software that uses these keys!
Apart from that I don't know when it's gonna be available, and I hope
that there will be some kind of upgrade-service from Commodore for all
those people with the old A2088 boards.
A pity the board still hasn't got more graphic modes (eg. Hercules or EGA).
FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA
A F
F Freddy Aries A
A Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science F
F University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands A
A Email: vlsi4@erato.cs.kun.nl F
F A
AFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAF
include <disclaimer.h>swarren@convex.com (Steve Warren) (09/04/90)
In article <2133@wn1.sci.kun.nl> vlsi4@erato.cs.kun.nl writes: >[Because of many requests:] > New PC-XT Bridgeboard A2088T from Commodore [...many interesting and useful details deleted...] >V20-CPU are deviced as square PLCC-elements. The hardware is free of >childrens' diseases ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ [...] Is this the German phrase for "bugs"? ;^) I'm certainly pleased that I won't be contracting the measles from my new bridge-board ;^). BTW, has anyone heard if the new bridgeboard will be compatible with the 3000? Any baseless rumors about the 386 bridgeboard? ;^) -- _. --Steve ._||__ DISCLAIMER: All opinions are my own. Warren v\ *| ---------------------------------------------- V {uunet,sun}!convex!swarren; swarren@convex.COM
BAXTER_A@wehi.dn.mu.oz (09/09/90)
In article <105767@convex.convex.com>, swarren@convex.com (Steve Warren) writes: > In article <2133@wn1.sci.kun.nl> vlsi4@erato.cs.kun.nl writes: >>[Because of many requests:] >> New PC-XT Bridgeboard A2088T from Commodore > [...many interesting and useful details deleted...] >>V20-CPU are deviced as square PLCC-elements. The hardware is free of >>childrens' diseases > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > [...] > Is this the German phrase for "bugs"? ;^) No. "Teething problems". Took me a while to work that one out :-) Regards Alan
a218@mindlink.UUCP (Charlie Gibbs) (09/10/90)
In article <12543@wehi.dn.mu.oz> BAXTER_A@wehi.dn.mu.oz writes: >In article <105767@convex.convex.com>, swarren@convex.com (Steve Warren) >writes: >> In article <2133@wn1.sci.kun.nl> vlsi4@erato.cs.kun.nl writes: >>>[Because of many requests:] >>> New PC-XT Bridgeboard A2088T from Commodore >> [...many interesting and useful details deleted...] >>>V20-CPU are deviced as square PLCC-elements. The hardware is free of >>>childrens' diseases >> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> [...] >> Is this the German phrase for "bugs"? ;^) > >No. "Teething problems". Took me a while to work that one out :-) Actually, the phrase I've always heard is "infant mortality." But I think "children's diseases" is clever too. Charlie_Gibbs@mindlink.UUCP Intel puts the "backward" in "backward compatibility."
vlsi4@erato.cs.kun.nl (Freddy Aries) (09/10/90)
BAXTER_A@wehi.dn.mu.oz writes: >>>V20-CPU are deviced as square PLCC-elements. The hardware is free of >>>childrens' diseases >> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> [...] >> Is this the German phrase for "bugs"? ;^) >No. "Teething problems". Took me a while to work that one out :-) Sorry. I don't know the english ways to say such things, and I (wrongly) assumed that it would be the same in english as it is in german and dutch. I tried to translate the article to the best of my capabilities, so if any errors are left, please don't blame me. Freddy Aries FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFA A F F Freddy Aries A A Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science F F University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands A A Email: vlsi4@erato.cs.kun.nl F F A AFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAF
janhen@wn2.sci.kun.nl (Jan Hendrikx) (09/10/90)
In article <105767@convex.convex.com> swarren@convex.com (Steve Warren) writes: |In article <2133@wn1.sci.kun.nl> vlsi4@erato.cs.kun.nl writes: ~~ ...................................................== |>V20-CPU are deviced as square PLCC-elements. The hardware is free of |>childrens' diseases | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |Is this the German phrase for "bugs"? ;^) ~~~~~~ People in the Netherlands generally speak Dutch, not German. That language is spoken by our eastern neighbours. |--Steve ._||__ DISCLAIMER: All opinions are my own. | Warren v\ *| ---------------------------------------------- | V {uunet,sun}!convex!swarren; swarren@convex.COM -Olaf Seibert
joseph@valnet.UUCP (Joseph P. Hillenburg) (09/11/90)
Would someone PLEASE stop this thread? Or please take it alt.baby.illness (fictional newsgroup)? -Joseph Hillenburg INET: joseph@valnet.UUCP ARPA: valnet!joseph@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu UUCP: ...iuvax!valnet!joseph x!valnet!joseph
BAXTER_A@wehi.dn.mu.oz (09/11/90)
In article <2136@wn1.sci.kun.nl>, vlsi4@erato.cs.kun.nl (Freddy Aries) writes: > BAXTER_A@wehi.dn.mu.oz writes: > >>>>V20-CPU are deviced as square PLCC-elements. The hardware is free of >>>>childrens' diseases >>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >>> [...] >>> Is this the German phrase for "bugs"? ;^) > >>No. "Teething problems". Took me a while to work that one out :-) > > Sorry. I don't know the english ways to say such things, and I (wrongly) > assumed that it would be the same in english as it is in german and dutch. > I tried to translate the article to the best of my capabilities, so if any > errors are left, please don't blame me. > > Freddy Aries > Hey! Don't worry about it! We are all very grateful to you for going to the trouble. It is these little quirks of the diferent languages that makes the net fun. Now, tell us about the "Blackhead" range of beauty products :-) Regards Alan
peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) (09/11/90)
In article <3122@mindlink.UUCP> a218@mindlink.UUCP (Charlie Gibbs) writes: >In article <12543@wehi.dn.mu.oz> BAXTER_A@wehi.dn.mu.oz writes: > >>In article <105767@convex.convex.com>, swarren@convex.com (Steve Warren) >>writes: >>> In article <2133@wn1.sci.kun.nl> vlsi4@erato.cs.kun.nl writes: >>>>[Because of many requests:] >>>> New PC-XT Bridgeboard A2088T from Commodore >>> [...many interesting and useful details deleted...] >>>>V20-CPU are deviced as square PLCC-elements. The hardware is free of >>>>childrens' diseases >>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >>> [...] >>> Is this the German phrase for "bugs"? ;^) Well, I don't know the English phrase either, but I can explain the meaning of the German word "Kinderkrankheiten": There we sum up all the problems in the younger status of any being or product. Example are the measles. When you have outgrown these instable beginning times, the thing is regarded to stay stable until it gets really old and gets the problems from this source. Is there also known the related term "bathtub curve" (or similar)? It tries to show the normal high error rate after shipping a technical product, then a rather long time of near error-free operation and in the end again increasing error rate because of old parts. -- Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel // E-Mail to \\ Only my personal opinions... Commodore Frankfurt, Germany \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk
JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu (JKT) (09/15/90)
>Well, I don't know the English phrase either, but I can explain >the meaning of the German word "Kinderkrankheiten": >There we sum up all the problems in the younger status of any being >or product. Example are the measles. When you have outgrown these >instable beginning times, the thing is regarded to stay stable until >it gets really old and gets the problems from this source. Thanks. Now, how about explaining "fahrvergnugen" which we all keep seeing in a certain series of overplayed commercials? ;-) Kurt -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- || Kurt Tappe (215) 363-9485 || Amigas, Macs, IBM's, C-64's, NeXTs, || || 184 W. Valley Hill Rd. || Apple ]['s.... I use 'em all. || || Malvern, PA 19355-2214 || (and in that order too! ;-) || || jkt100@psuvm.psu.edu --------------------------------------|| || jkt100@psuvm.bitnet jkt100%psuvm.bitnet@psuvax1 QLink: KurtTappe || -----------------------------------------------------------------------
peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) (09/17/90)
In article <90257.215203JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu> JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu (JKT) writes: > >Thanks. Now, how about explaining "fahrvergnugen" which we all >keep seeing in a certain series of overplayed commercials? ;-) You ask seriously? "Driving fun" -- Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel // E-Mail to \\ Only my personal opinions... Commodore Frankfurt, Germany \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk