5150 - unidentified card connected to CPU socket

[arjoll]

Hi - it's been a long time since I've been on here! A couple of years ago I chanced on a number of machines that a client had in storage, and wanted to dispose of. Commodore CBM 8032 and 8050, Amstrad CPC 6128, HP 85, Compaq LTE 4/25s, yet another Apple IIe and a 5150.

Over the last few weeks I've tidied up the workshop enough start looking through what I have. The dead CBM and HP will wait, I was dying to have a look to see what was in the 5150.

It's had a hard drive added - which appears to be a Microscience HH 612, 10 MB half height MFM. The label is damaged, and it looks like a HH 612(something), but I can't find any models starting with 612, only the 612 itself. Anyway, that's not what brings me here.

It also has a card with a switch on the back, 18x 256x1 DRAM chips (so I'm guessing 512kb with parity) and - weirdly - a ribbon cable heading from the board to a 40 pin DIP plug in the CPU socket. There doesn't appear to be any CPU there at all - so all I can assume is that this is some kind of CPU card. I didn't think the 286 came in DIP, so I'm not sure what's going on here.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? Any idea what it could be?

The card itself has (C) 1984 SMC along the edge, but an Emulex sticker on what appears to be the main IC (micro?) and the Emulex logo on a serial number sticker. The part number on the main IC brings up nothing.

I guess I'll find out more once I fire the machine up. I've cleaned it out and replaced the X2 caps, but it turns out the keyboard with it was a Model M from a PS/2, not the original Model F, so I'll need to borrow an XT keyboard (I presume an XT keyboard is close enough to work with a PC?).

 

[arjoll]

And this shows the card in place.

 

[gslick]

Maybe a Persyst SUPERCHARGER ?

ftp://ftp2.emulex.com/pub/persyst/instl/bullet42.txt

                            SUPERCHARGER


JUMPER SETTINGS FOR ALTERNATE DMA PAGE ADDRESSES

                                
                     W2|W3|W4|W5|                 ***** LEGEND ****  
FACTORY SETTING       O  X  O  X                 X = POSITION OF JUMPER
A000                  X  X  X  X                 O = VACANT PIN
                      X  O  X  O
 -----------------------------------------
C000                  O  O  X  X
                      X  X  X  X
                      X  X  O  O
------------------------------------------
D000                  X  O  X  X
                      X  X  X  X
                      O  X  O  O
------------------------------------------
E000                  O  X  X  X
                      X  X  X  X
                      X  O  O  O
-------------------------------------------


JUMPER SETTINGS FOR PROCESSOR BOARD MEMORY SIZE


		     W6|W7|W8
FACTORY SETTING       X  X  O
512K                  X  X  X
                      O  O  X
------------------------------------------


JUMPER SETTING FOR POWER-ON SPEED SELECTION


		     W9
FACTORY SETTING       X
FAST (9.54 MHZ)       X
                      O
------------------------
SLOW (4.77 MHZ)       O
                      X
                      X
------------------------

NOTE:  THIS SETTING HAS EFFECT ONLY WHEN THE PROCESSOR BOARD CONTROL SWITCH
       IS IN THE SOFTWARE CONTROLLED POSITION.


POWER-ON SPEED CONTROL SWITCH SETTING


UP     = FAST (9.54 MHZ)
MIDDLE = SOFTWARE CONTROLLED
DOWN   = SLOW (4.77 MHZ)

 

[1ST1]

Remove the sticker from the 40 pin chip and tell us what you can read under the sticker. I guess there is some CPU, maybe a faster one.

 

[SpidersWeb]

Some Model M models can auto-switch to XT mode. IBM actually sold them with XT's at one point, so I'd at least try it if it has the right connector or you have an adapter. I've also found that the 101 key Commodore PC keyboards are auto-switching.

I remember the Emulex Peresyst brand here, in the early 90's I remember going to swap meets and purchasing a whole bunch of their cards sealed in boxes for a few bucks! I'm guessing this is an 8088 turbo card but you'll find out when you get it started and run Checkit or similar.

Edit: Advert for the Persyst Supercharger gslick mentioned - PC Mag 85 advertisement with photo
and information on the release (assuming it's a match) Infoworld '85 which would make it an 8086 @ 9.5Mhz with 512KB 16 bit memory (hence the two banks).

 

[k2x4b524[]

That's exactly what it looks like, and from the ad, it looks like they sold a memory board to go with it, and from the txt in the ad, you can have more than one of those stretch boards. 2mb on an 8086, i'm guessing that is some kind of either a proprietary implementation for extended memory, or a lim 4 board that can go pretty high up. That looks like something you would use in a business environment, like the microsoft mach 10 or 20 boards.

 

[Chuck(G)]

I believe that you'll find an 8086 under that sticker. ISTR that it runs at around 9 MHz and can have 512KB of private memory; there's a header for a piggyback expansion board.

 

[arjoll]

Remove the sticker from the 40 pin chip and tell us what you can read under the sticker. I guess there is some CPU, maybe a faster one.

I was holding off doing that until I couldn't avoid it. I'm not totally retentive about authenticity, but usually try to avoid disturbing this kind of thing unless absolutely necessary.

Some Model M models can auto-switch to XT mode. IBM actually sold them with XT's at one point, so I'd at least try it if it has the right connector or you have an adapter. I've also found that the 101 key Commodore PC keyboards are auto-switching.

That makes sense, a couple of the XTs I used to manage at E&Y had 101 key keyboards, so the newer ones with HH floppies and 20 MB drives potentially came with the bigger keyboards. I think I have a DIN to modular cable here somewhere from an old Wang keyboard, and if not I'll see if I have a mini DIN to DIN adapter that's the right way around and see what happens.

If not another local collector has a switchable XT/AT keyboard, so I'll ask nicely if I can borrow it

Still gutted about giving those four XTs away in the late 90s to someone who promptly lost them... nice, unmolested, original... then again I butchered a 5170 around the same time, installed a 386 board for a brother-in-law (now estranged). I kept all the cards, including a PGC but not the monitor....no idea what he did with it, the motherboard or case.

Maybe a Persyst SUPERCHARGER ?

I remember the Emulex Peresyst brand here, in the early 90's I remember going to swap meets and purchasing a whole bunch of their cards sealed in boxes for a few bucks! I'm guessing this is an 8088 turbo card but you'll find out when you get it started and run Checkit or similar.

That's exactly what it looks like, and from the ad, it looks like they sold a memory board to go with it, and from the txt in the ad, you can have more than one of those stretch boards. 2mb on an 8086, i'm guessing that is some kind of either a proprietary implementation for extended memory, or a lim 4 board that can go pretty high up. That looks like something you would use in a business environment, like the microsoft mach 10 or 20 boards.

It certainly looks exactly like a Supercharger. It makes sense, I found these machines in a medical laboratory, and the Apple IIe has a video capture board which I've found reference to being used for analysing radiography. The HP 85 is a very science-y type computer too. The Amstrad seems a little out of place in that lot, but any staff who would have known why the machines were stashed there were long gone.

Thanks for your help, I'll be sure to keep you all updated with progress - and flood you with questions on anything I can't get working :D