harmsen@cs.vu.nl (Harmsen H) (03/29/91)
Hello,
I'm thinking of buying a 386 based machine, but I'd like to keep as
much as possible of the stuff in my XT. Since everybody tells me I can
forget about my RAM (EMS) and Harddisk, I was wondering if it would be
possible to have the 386 connected to the XT, with a device driver
running on the 386 which controls a RAM-disk on the XT, the harddisk
and the floppy-drives. Is there anybody who has been working on
something like this, or who has another solution? Please e-mail.
H.P. Harmsen. (harmsen@cs.vu.nl)david@kessner.denver.co.us (David Kessner) (03/30/91)
In article <9507@star.cs.vu.nl> harmsen@cs.vu.nl (Harmsen H) writes: >Hello, > >I'm thinking of buying a 386 based machine, but I'd like to keep as >much as possible of the stuff in my XT. Since everybody tells me I can >forget about my RAM (EMS) and Harddisk, I was wondering if it would be >possible to have the 386 connected to the XT, with a device driver >running on the 386 which controls a RAM-disk on the XT, the harddisk >and the floppy-drives. Is there anybody who has been working on >something like this, or who has another solution? Please e-mail. > > H.P. Harmsen. (harmsen@cs.vu.nl) Eeek! While what you want is technically possible, in practace it is too slow for practical work. What I mean by too slow is that you will get "disk" transfer rates no faster than a floppy-- and possible even less. The reason for this is the XT cannot keep up with the data-hungry speeds of the XT. In addition to plain-old CPU tasks, the interface between the two machines cannot reach acceptable speeds without a ARCnet or Eithernet card. At a cost that I gather you are not willing to pay. The benifits of using "good" hardware on the 386 is great. If you are on a money pinch I suggest that you sell the XT, and use that money for your 386. It is the only "good" solution... -- David Kessner - david@kessner.denver.co.us | do { 1135 Fairfax, Denver CO 80220 (303) 377-1801 (p.m.) | . . . If you cant flame MS-DOS, who can you flame? | } while( jones);