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16 bit Intel ABOVE memory board in XT computer

Chuck(G) said:
There were, as nearly as I can remember, about 6 versions of the Intel AboveBoard:
  • PS-PC: 64-1524K; optional serial, parallel, clock 8-bit only (1985)
  • PS-AT: 128-1524K, optional serial, parallel, 16-bit only (1986)
  • PS-286: 512-2048K, optional serial, parallel 16 or 8-bit (1987)
  • 286: 512-2048K, 16 or 8-bit (1987)
  • AT: 128-2048K 16 bit only (1985)
  • PC: 64-2048K, 8 bit only (1985)
From the dates of introduction, it's pretty obvious what was going on--Intel decided to merge the PC and AT line of Above Boards in 1987 and provide a single pair of models (PS and non-PS) to handle both bus widths. FWIW, the 286 Above Boards don't have any switches; they use a small EEPROM to hold port addresses, etc.
Click to expand...
What about the Above Board Plus? I know it existed because I still have one in the box.

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?29566-Intel-Above-Board-Plus
 
You forced me to take mine out of my XT.

I have the same board; about all I can determine is that it's the same as the AB 286, but with memory expansion headers. It runs just fine with the AB286 LIM driver and setup at any rate.

I also stand corrected on the number of pins on U111 -- it is indeed 14, not 16. So if you've got another AB with a blank 14-pin socket, it's probably the same. Shunt the pins straight across if you want 8-bit mode. It might work.

Stone, do you have the Plus with I/O? I'd love to know what goes into the unpopulated IC sites. U29 is obviously an XCO for the UART in U32 (probably a 16450 or 550).

But the rest is subject to guessing...
 
Chuck(G) said:
JDR Microelectronics They might not help, but it's worth an email to find out--note that they still carry a few MCT-branded products.

Also, JDR didn't manufacture their own cards--they got them and relabeled them with their own brand. Some appear to be DTK products. Since you didn't post a photo of your MCT card on this thread, it's hard to say.
Click to expand...


Thats a computer shop, not the vendor who made those boards.. I dont think that shop have does old drivers still available...
 
Stone said:
What about the Above Board Plus? I know it existed because I still have one in the box.

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?29566-Intel-Above-Board-Plus
Click to expand...

There was also the AboveBoard Plus 8. It differs from the regular AboveBoard Plus in that it takes 8MB on the main memory-board itself, using 1Mbit memory chips. It still has the socket for the daugthercard, which allows it to be expanded to 14MB.

Unless I'm mistaken, one of the main differences between the AboveBoard 286 and AboveBoard Plus is that the AboveBoard 286 can't map swapable pages to conventional memory (something the AboveBoard Plus is capable of). This feature is however mostly only used by multitasking programs like DESQView.
 
Robin4 said:
Thats a computer shop, not the vendor who made those boards.. I dont think that shop have does old drivers still available...
Click to expand...

As I said, it was their house brand. They maintained the drivers and published the information. From Modular Cicruit Technology:

Trademark Owner History

Entry Number 1
Party Type 10
Party Type Description Original Applicant - Third and Additional Names
Nationality State CA
Legal Entity Type Code 03
Legal Entity Type Code Description Corporation
Party Name JDR MICRODEVICES, INC.
Address
110 KNOWLES DRIVE
LOS GATOS, CA 95030

Entry Number 1
Party Type 10
Party Type Description Original Applicant - Third and Additional Names
Nationality State CA
Legal Entity Type Code 03
Legal Entity Type Code Description Corporation
Party Name JDR MICRODEVICES, INC.
Address
110 KNOWLES DRIVE
LOS GATOS, CA 95030
Click to expand...

If the folks at JDR can't help you, probably no one can. This is an old product, mostly sold in the SF Bay Area. JDR is an old electronics store, started (I believe) in the 1970s. At least I recall shopping there.

But you can be "right" if you wish... :rolleyes:
 
@Robin4, please find your MCT driver files attached.

Guess where I found them? On the JDR Micro archived BBS (via the wayback machine). Someone really should grab the lot of them, since they'll probably be very hard to find.
 

Attachments

  • AEMS256.ZIP
    38.6 KB · Views: 4
hmm, the goods come out, after i get my ast board good to go :), but useful none the less, gives me an excuse to plug in my other st-251. Thank you for the info and the link. Side Note - Chuck(G) the pin trick works great for the mach 10, and my orchid tiny turbo, which is letting me pull some really neat tricks with qram.

Upon puting the above board with the socket shunted, the computer give me an error code
40000 AB 201, then just dumps right into basic.

I think there is a certain chip that goes into that socket.
 
Last edited:
This is the board i mentioned earlier

$(KGrHqQOKokE3F!V(bN4BN7KIG!(eQ~~_12.JPG


I bought it, because else a other one does..

And i did first some research on it..
The advertisment said:

RamBank

MCT-EMS

Made By Modular Circiut Technology

Many older chips

RamBank Expansion Memory Board 8 Bit ISA Taiwan

Its a Taiwan board as the titel says..

So i tried to found out the manual / more information on stason.org.. And finding this one:

http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/memory-cards/MODULAR-CIRCUIT-TECHNOLOGY-Memory-MCT-EMS.html

and

http://museum.ttrk.ee/th99/i/M-O/51046.htm

and

http://jdelliott.org/wiki/index.php5?title=MCT-EMS

I did also search on google..

Found some infomation on
http://books.google.nl/books?id=C6V...q=MODULAR CIRCUIT TECHNOLOGY MCT-EMS&f=false

The price was 129,95 USD for this board..in the time of release / when it was available on the store.

Only had to need a driver for it.. Because of the help of chuckG (thanks) i found a driver, that should be for this board.

If found it also here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010609052411/http://ftp.jdr.com/ftp/io_controllers/

http://web.archive.org/web/20010223032644/http://ftp.jdr.com/ftp/io_controllers/_io_controllers.txt

AEMS256.ZIP File Size: 39,486 | Expanded memory manager for the
Date: 01/08/80 Downloads: 19 | MCT-EMS

Now waiting if the card arrives and the drivers working.. Then iam a very glad vintage computer user..

Thanks anyone for the help.
 
well bad news, the trick didn't work on the 8mb above board, but it did fry my tiny turbo some how, had them both plugged in, turned it on, it gave me the 40000 xx 201 error, swapped out 286's still the same, flipped the switch to 8088, put new chip in, wouldn't come up at all, when did come up on the 286 from me bypassing the error with f1, floppies and hard drives both reported not ready, and my st-251-1's bood record is gone, i'm afraid it may have a bad track 0, i need to research it a bit on my pentium computer, as my real 286 motherboard absolutely refuses to see anything that has 26 sectors per track or any controllers newer than around 1990, which leaves my wd 1002-wx2 and my 1003-wah. It won't even boot properly from my 4-floppy controller.

So my next question is this.
If anyone has any accelerator boards that needs a good home, shoot me a pm..
 
Thats why i dont like to put things in socket or make strange connections. It isnt worth to demolish the whole system for one stupid thing
 
k2x4b524[ said:
well bad news, the trick didn't work on the 8mb above board, but it did fry my tiny turbo some how, had them both plugged in, turned it on, it gave me the 40000 xx 201 error, swapped out 286's still the same, flipped the switch to 8088, put new chip in, wouldn't come up at all, when did come up on the 286 from me bypassing the error with f1, floppies and hard drives both reported not ready, and my st-251-1's bood record is gone, i'm afraid it may have a bad track 0, i need to research it a bit on my pentium computer, as my real 286 motherboard absolutely refuses to see anything that has 26 sectors per track or any controllers newer than around 1990, which leaves my wd 1002-wx2 and my 1003-wah. It won't even boot properly from my 4-floppy controller.

So my next question is this.
If anyone has any accelerator boards that needs a good home, shoot me a pm..
Click to expand...

Sorry to see that happened. It seems unlikely that a card jumpered wrong could produce multiple failures. Try determining the problem step-by-step.
 
that or i just got really really unlucky. There was a reason i had that 64 to 256kb board out and about. Maybe that was why.I know my ast board is still good, both 286 chips and 8088s are good, but i'm pretty sure the tiny turbo's done for, i'll have to find another one of them, but i'd like an inboard 386 or somethin if i can find one on the cheap. I've got my 386sx board goin now, it's formatting the st-251 in question. I can use my at for more testing when i get it. That might be better fos dos gaming anyhoo rather than trying to soup-up my rom burner. Thing is when i plugged the ast board back into the xt board, it kept coming back error 101, interrupt failure, on my x-turbo board, worked just fine. i'm sure the xt board is pretty dodgy.. Maybe i'll mount it on the wall.....
 
If got an email back form JDR.

Hi,



Unfortunately, those drives are no longer available.



Sorry for the inconvenience,



Regards,



Niki Oveissi

JDR Microdevices

229 Polaris Ave, Ste 17, Mountain View, CA 94043

Phone: 650-625-1400, Fax: 408-416-0906

Email: nikio@jdr.com

www.jdr.com

(stupid people of JDR) Thanks to chuckG i have got the drivers. But have to wait to try them out if the board arrives.
 
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