[comp.os.cpm] Non-Standard S-100's

rzh@lll-lcc.llnl.gov (Roger Hanscom) (12/03/88)

In item <5534@cadnetix.COM>, rusty@cadnetix.COM (Rusty) mentions:

>BTW, you GOTTA do this if you have an SD systems Expandoram II or the
>Jade DD disk controller (neat, huh? *THEIR* cards don't even work together!).

All of SD systems S-100 stuff seems to suffer these sorts of troubles!
I have an SD SBC-200 CPU card that will not even work with SD Expand-
oram.  I can only use static memory with it.  Years ago I bought a SSM
EPROM blaster to run with the SD card.  Hah.....fat chance!  All it was
good for was the 4 on-board EPROM sockets!  (i.e. an expensive, small
EPROM card!)  The programmer never worked because it tried to use SD's
pSYNC (or was it sMEMR...forgotten now), and SD's rendition of S-100 was
never standard.
                           Roger (long-time SD sufferer)
<------------>
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mwilson@crash.cts.com (Marc Wilson) (12/04/88)

In article <2168@lll-lcc.llnl.gov> rzh@lll-lcc.llnl.gov (Roger Hanscom) writes:

>All of SD systems S-100 stuff seems to suffer these sorts of troubles!
>I have an SD SBC-200 CPU card that will not even work with SD Expand-
>oram.  I can only use static memory with it.  Years ago I bought a SSM
>EPROM blaster to run with the SD card.  Hah.....fat chance!  All it was
>good for was the 4 on-board EPROM sockets!  (i.e. an expensive, small
>EPROM card!)  The programmer never worked because it tried to use SD's
>pSYNC (or was it sMEMR...forgotten now), and SD's rendition of S-100 was
>never standard.

     All my Compupro stuff is the same way.  Remember that the REFRSH line
went the way of the front panel stuff when 696 came out.  It's the
responsibility of each dynamic memory card to provide its own refresh
logic, not the processor's.  Under 696, you don't even know for sure that
the processor is on the bus... it may have been put to sleep by a DMA
controller somewhere else in the system, or perhaps by a TBM ( temporary
bus master ).

     Look at your Expandoram.  No refresh logic.  I know... I've got one
right here.

     Why are you complaining about having to use static memory, anyway?

>                           Roger (long-time SD sufferer)


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