Converting RS/6000 Ultimedia Audio (7-6) for PS/2?

[EverythingIBM]

What exactly causes the incompatibility between a microchannel RS/6000 and a PS/2 regarding the Ultimedia Audio Adapter 7-6.
http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohlandl/RS6000/rs6000_7-6.html

Would that be different logic? I quite like the layout and design of those cards, plus they tend to be cheaper. If there's a way to mod it to work with a PS/2, that'd be cool.

Unfortunately I have no clue about the pinouts or anything for MCA or this odd card.

 

[NeXT]

Wait, that card isn't supported under a regular PS/2?

S#@*

 

[EverythingIBM]

Wait, that card isn't supported under a regular PS/2?

S#@*

Well they were made specifically for IBM's pSeries of computers, which are not x86 compliant. pSeries is now the iSeries.

One reason why I vouched for a Corvette instead of a Corvette Turbo is that there's FRUs in the mix that are RS/6000 specific, you can read more here:
http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohlandl/IBM_SCSI/SCSI-DFW.html#D_FW

So since that tipped me off that IBM was using MCA in non-x86 machines, when I saw some cheap Ultimedia 7-6 adapters for sale, and not already sold-- I knew there was some sort of catch; the only people who buy uncommon microchannel stuff are specific collectors/hoarders/hobbyists, and if it's not gone within seconds, they know something we don't. Others on the forum (like IBMMuseum) already commented about these ultimedia adapters.

Hey, I wonder if you could flash it with a different Ultimedia BIOS to get it working?

On an un-related note, I just saw that 8595/9595 non-95A systems may not even be able to utilize all of the features of fast-wide-- then there's a link to a file to update the system partition, hmm.

**Update**

I was just doing some digging, and it looks like Ryan Alswede got the Ultimedia 7-6 working on a 9595:
http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohlandl/RS6000/ibm9595.htm
But under NT.

Maybe you have to use this specific ADF file for it that he had posted?

 

[EverythingIBM]

On a different page of wild Bill's website, procures this bit:

Ryan Alswede rewrote and adapted a Microsoft driver to enable the IBM Ultimedia 7-6 adapter for use with Windows NT 4.0 on x86 MCA. Finally -- an inexpensive and relatively easily found audio adapter for MCA computers! (The original page is in questionable status. While still online, I don't know that the author is still around and running MCA **(text copyright William Walsh)**

I'm not sure if that also allows 9x/DOS to use as well, or if it's just exclusive to NT.

If you could let me know, that'd be awesome.

 

[NeXT]

NT's drivers are not designed to be backwards compatible with 9x/3.x/DOS so it's an NT-only fix, which is unfortunate since NT is one of the least supported operating systems for MCA machines.

 

[mbbrutman]

Well they were made specifically for IBM's pSeries of computers, which are not x86 compliant. pSeries is now the iSeries.

What?

RS/6000 -> pSeries

AS/400 -> iSeries

Two different machines, with two different operating systems. Mostly common hardware at this point, but still two very different use cases.

RS/6000s used MCA back in the stone ages. The AS/400 never did. Both moved to PCI later on.

 

[EverythingIBM]

NT's drivers are not designed to be backwards compatible with 9x/3.x/DOS so it's an NT-only fix, which is unfortunate since NT is one of the least supported operating systems for MCA machines.

I wonder if we could design a windows 9x/DOS workaround.

What?

RS/6000 -> pSeries

AS/400 -> iSeries

Two different machines, with two different operating systems. Mostly common hardware at this point, but still two very different use cases.

RS/6000s used MCA back in the stone ages. The AS/400 never did. Both moved to PCI later on.

I'm referring to IBM's current machines. System p does not exist anymore. It was all consolidated under the System i branch, and subsequently everything under POWER7 now. In other words, there's no distinguishing between RS/6000 or AS/400 hardware anymore, it's all under POWER now.

 

[mbbrutman]

I'm referring to IBM's current machines. System p does not exist anymore. It was all consolidated under the System i branch, and subsequently everything under POWER7 now. In other words, there's no distinguishing between RS/6000 or AS/400 hardware anymore, it's all under POWER now.

I worked at IBM for 18 years. In Rochester, MN where the iSeries hardware used to be designed and where most of the operating system team is still based.

System p is very much alive and well: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/p/

System i is not System p: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/i/

That is as current as it gets. Live links to IBM product pages.

Both use common hardware. I was working there when we moved the machines to use common hardware. But they are two *very* different products. System p runs AIX. System i runs whatever they are calling OS/400 these days. Both can run Linux in a partition, and both are based on Power 7. But is is absolutely ridiculous to say that System p does not exist anymore.

 

[EverythingIBM]

I worked at IBM for 18 years. In Rochester, MN where the iSeries hardware used to be designed and where most of the operating system team is still based.

System p is very much alive and well: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/p/

System i is not System p: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/i/

That is as current as it gets. Live links to IBM product pages.

Both use common hardware. I was working there when we moved the machines to use common hardware. But they are two *very* different products. System p runs AIX. System i runs whatever they are calling OS/400 these days. Both can run Linux in a partition, and both are based on Power 7. But is is absolutely ridiculous to say that System p does not exist anymore.

Unfortunately, you're mistaken, System p and System i have indeed been merged into one. You cannot order either discreet system, and IBM recommends to replace either one with a POWER based system.

Here's the excerpt from the original announcement when System i and System p were both integrated into one:

Power = i + p
IBM announces the first of a new generation of Power™ Systems, a major new platform that provides a compelling new choice for companies of all sizes. IBM Power Systems unifies IBM's highly successful integrated platform, IBM System i™, with its fast growing UNIX® operating system platform, IBM System p™.
Now you can take advantage of a single, energy efficient and easy-to-deploy platform for all of your UNIX, Linux and i applications, of which there are over 15,000 available across all three operating platforms. The first of the new family begins with the new IBM Power™ 520 Express, the new IBM Power 550 Express and the new IBM BladeCenter® JS12, with industrial strength virtualization provided by PowerVM™ — all designed to help small and mid-sized clients focus on running their businesses instead of their computers.
In this announcement, IBM also emphasizes its commitment to System i clients by recognizing its IBM i operating system (formerly i5/OS) as a top-tier choice on the new Power Systems alongside AIX and Linux. In March 2008, IBM made available a major new version, IBM i 6.1, again demonstrating that it will continue to deliver and enhance the integrated operating system that AS/400™ , iSeries and System i clients have valued for over two decades.

 

[mbbrutman]

Unfortunately, you're mistaken, System p and System i have indeed been merged into one. You cannot order either discreet system, and IBM recommends to replace either one with a POWER based system.

Here's the excerpt from the original announcement when System i and System p were both integrated into one:

Yes. Common hardware - just like I said. I was working there.

System p != System i. IBM sells them under the umbrella as Power based system. But nobody is going to mistake AIX for i5 OS. You specifically said "pSeries is now the iSeries." - that is not true.

 

[NeXT]

BuMP for confirmation. Were you also getting the same conflicts with the DMA? Support is indeed extremely limited so I can only use either channel 1 or 3.

Also, I'll be experimenting with this note I found.

Crystal Semiconductor manufactures a number of chips and chipsets, including the CS4231, CS4232, CS4236, CS4248, CS9233 (for wavetable support), and CS8905 (for reverb/chorus support). I'm unclear about precisely what most of these do, but many of them are in use in many products. CS is also now moving into the PCI arena with at least one PCI audio chipset (the 4610), but the last I'd heard, it was not yet supported under OS/2. Some boards using some CS chipsets (particularly the CS4231) may work with OS/2 3.0's "Business Audio" drivers, and others have drivers in the OS/2 Warp 4.0 box as part of the standard install process.

Seems kind of odd considering that I'm not aware of anything else using those channels, or at least nothing is visually telling me.
I can probably report back on if this is true by the end of the day.

Edited: Nope. It died with a stop error. It also appears that my odd DMA conflicts are with the IrisVision which takes DMA 3. The best I could do would be in or out only.