You'd be surprised. There was a PS2 Model 30 at my Goodwill for months. There has been a Panasonic Sr. Partner and an Amstrad CPM machine there for a couple months now too. Probably still there. I'd buy them but my time and space has been spoken for.
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found some 8088 stuff at goodwill. help identify.
- Thread starter oblivion
- Start date
You'd be surprised. There was a PS2 Model 30 at my Goodwill for months. There has been a Panasonic Sr. Partner and an Amstrad CPM machine there for a couple months now too. Probably still there. I'd buy them but my time and space has been spoken for.
vwestlife
Veteran Member
I'm amused by the other local thrift store that puts the bins of bowling balls right next to the CRT TV sets. I always wonder if they have a bowling party when they need to clear out some CRTs that didn't sell...
SpidersWeb
Veteran Member
I never got around to checking my theory, but they (and maybe even those video cards) may not be for an IBM PC, but something like an RT PC which were commonly used for CAD etc. 1Mb and 2Mb memory boards like that would be quite fitting in an early model.
Just a possible theory, I haven't checked specifics e.g. connectors
Edit: I have one but it's 3am and I can't get to it without annoying people, but see the third picture at the bottom of this page, there is 3 slots at the bottom that look like a possible match, http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/X1548.98A
Edit 2: see the 4Mb memory card on this page http://www.damage.fi/slas/rt/rtpics.html
(I could be barking up the wrong tree, but feeling more confident I'm on to something with that theory)
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oblivion
Veteran Member
hmmm, that 4mb card as well as the slots look very correct to me. finding them with the unknown possiblr CAD video card also makes sence for this kind of setup I think.
oblivion
Veteran Member
Went back to the goodwill today and the pile of stuff was still there. Mostly those men cards but also anouther video card just like the other. I didn't pick any up though. There was another video card 8 bit card that I think was mda as one cup hade a lable on it that said monochrome. It was in pretty rough shape though so I passed on it to. I did pick 2 cards up. One is a wd1002a-fox card which looks to be an 8 bit hd floppy controller. Second card I can't identify. Its 8 bit and has a lithium battery on it. A male db 9 port and female db 25 port. Card says Everex systems and pwa00109 ev-170
Chuck(G)
25k Member
The WD1002A FOX is a floppy controller. It should have an EPROM on it. These came in two flavors--one with a connector on the bracket for 4 drives and one with only an internal connector for 2 drives. Switch settings should be on the web--if not, I've got them. The EV-170 is a simple serial+parallel card with empty sockets for EIA drivers (MC1488 and MC1489) and 8250 UART and header for a second serial port. Some versions also have battery and clock chip.
I think you should pick up that second video card. It might be fun for someone to fool with.
I think you should pick up that second video card. It might be fun for someone to fool with.
oblivion
Veteran Member
The floppy controller has an external connector and is rev 004 so I think its the 4 floppy version. The other mystery video card or the one that says monochrome on it? i'll try to swing by there next saterday 50% off sale and if theres still there i'll grab those video cards. its will only cost a few dollars so if you think someone may appriciate them i'll def snag them.
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Chuck(G)
25k Member
It's not a rev--it's simpler than that 002 - 2 floppy; 004 - 4 floppy. I even have a couple here that are identified as WD1002-FOX PROTOTYPE. It's not a well-known card, but 5150 and 5160 folks who'd like to expand to high-density floppies would definitely be interested.
The video card with NEC 7220 is unusual enough that I think it might be worth snagging. The monochrome card is a yawn, particularly if it's got a 9 pin and 25 pin female D-sub connector on the bracket--they require a special monochrome monitor and many can only do text.
The video card with NEC 7220 is unusual enough that I think it might be worth snagging. The monochrome card is a yawn, particularly if it's got a 9 pin and 25 pin female D-sub connector on the bracket--they require a special monochrome monitor and many can only do text.
oblivion
Veteran Member
cool, if its still there i'll pick it up. thanks for all the info, youve been super helpful. i'll probibly hold on to that floppy controller though. to bad the pb500 machine I picked up though cant use it. apperently the built in floppy controller cannot be disabled so i'm stuck with 360k and 720k drives.
SpidersWeb
Veteran Member
If that video card IS for an RT (not a PC) some things to keep in your mind if you are unable to get it to do anything:
- any ROM code (if exists) will be for the 032 CPU
- From what I can tell the RT uses every address line on the ISA bus, so RT cards may be unaccessible on a PC, and PC cards which don't pay attention to these lines will appear multiple times in the RT address space.
- RT cards normally shipped with a driver for the VRM (Virtual Resource Manager - sits between BIOS and OS) to be initialised just before IPL (Initial Program Load - IBM speak for 'start the damn operating system') so it may need that to power up OR
- from memory the RT searches for more than MDA or CGA when it powers up - this card could be a clone of one of the advanced IBM cards
That's IF it's for the RT.
- any ROM code (if exists) will be for the 032 CPU
- From what I can tell the RT uses every address line on the ISA bus, so RT cards may be unaccessible on a PC, and PC cards which don't pay attention to these lines will appear multiple times in the RT address space.
- RT cards normally shipped with a driver for the VRM (Virtual Resource Manager - sits between BIOS and OS) to be initialised just before IPL (Initial Program Load - IBM speak for 'start the damn operating system') so it may need that to power up OR
- from memory the RT searches for more than MDA or CGA when it powers up - this card could be a clone of one of the advanced IBM cards
That's IF it's for the RT.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
The memory cards do appear to be RT cards, right down to the use of ECC. Makes them pretty uncommon. Here's a photo of one:
But I suspect the video card is not intended specifically for the RT, as the RT would have used 16-bit ISA slots for high-performance displays. The Megapixel display used, IIRC, two 16-bit slots. But the video cards that Oblivion has could probably be used on an RT, given the right driver software, but not limited to it.
Up until now, we've made the assumption that the two DE9s on the video cards were outputs for two monitors. But I wonder if one isn't really an input and the 7220 card superimposes a graphics display on the normal text display. It would make sense, as the 7220 card doesn't have any ROM on it, so it couldn't display text without software drivers--and text display that way would be very slow on a PC.
But I suspect the video card is not intended specifically for the RT, as the RT would have used 16-bit ISA slots for high-performance displays. The Megapixel display used, IIRC, two 16-bit slots. But the video cards that Oblivion has could probably be used on an RT, given the right driver software, but not limited to it.
Up until now, we've made the assumption that the two DE9s on the video cards were outputs for two monitors. But I wonder if one isn't really an input and the 7220 card superimposes a graphics display on the normal text display. It would make sense, as the 7220 card doesn't have any ROM on it, so it couldn't display text without software drivers--and text display that way would be very slow on a PC.
per
Veteran Member
I'm pretty sure the SR-12 sticker means that connector is supposed to connect up to a monitor. There were a RGB monitor under the name of "SR-12" from Princeton Graphics, which seems to match pretty well with what this card seems capable of delivering. Here are some observations:
1. It doesn't seem to be any RGB DAC cirquit on the card, so it's problably either digital RGB or RGBI. Some high-res pictures of the card would really clarify this.
2. It has a composite output, so it problably has scanrates compatible with NTSC.
3. Markings on the (problably SRAM) memory chips has been obscured, and there seems to be 3 banks of it on the daugthercard (and problably 3 banks under the daugthercard too). This implies that there are banks for R, G and B at least.
The SR-12 is a digital RGB monitor capable of doing 690x420 non-interlached, working at the standard 31.5 KHz scan rate. It does regular RGBI (CGA) too, if a scan-doubler is used.
1. It doesn't seem to be any RGB DAC cirquit on the card, so it's problably either digital RGB or RGBI. Some high-res pictures of the card would really clarify this.
2. It has a composite output, so it problably has scanrates compatible with NTSC.
3. Markings on the (problably SRAM) memory chips has been obscured, and there seems to be 3 banks of it on the daugthercard (and problably 3 banks under the daugthercard too). This implies that there are banks for R, G and B at least.
The SR-12 is a digital RGB monitor capable of doing 690x420 non-interlached, working at the standard 31.5 KHz scan rate. It does regular RGBI (CGA) too, if a scan-doubler is used.
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oblivion
Veteran Member
took a few closer images if it helps
under the daughterboard
daughterboard
under the daughterboard
daughterboard
Chuck(G)
25k Member
Curious--a bunch of repeating clusters of 2 16Kx4 DRAMs, feeding through some de-labeled 24-pin device feeding a 8-bit SOPI shiftt register (all clocked from the same line). . I note some other de-labeled packages on the main board. This is usually done as a (largely ineffectual) way of thwarting reverse-engineering.
The HCT166 shift registers are pretty unusual for a 1985-vintage design. HCT was only just coming into use then and offered no cost advantage over plain old LSTTL. CMOS-to-LSTTL was one justification for using it--note that they're the only HCT logic that I can see on the board.
If you look at it, there really isn't a ton of memory on the board--each pair of 4416 DRAMs is only 16KB. That bunch of resistors and the transistor (Q1) near the RCA jack on the bracket are certainly for generating NTSC video out--you can see a similar configuration on a standard CGA. I wonder if the large 24 pin packages are just FIFOs.
The use of plain LSTTL logic indicates that this isn't meant to run at high-res data rates. There is a single 74F244 that I can see--the rest is SSI LSTTL "glue".
Does anyone else see anything that I've missed?
The HCT166 shift registers are pretty unusual for a 1985-vintage design. HCT was only just coming into use then and offered no cost advantage over plain old LSTTL. CMOS-to-LSTTL was one justification for using it--note that they're the only HCT logic that I can see on the board.
If you look at it, there really isn't a ton of memory on the board--each pair of 4416 DRAMs is only 16KB. That bunch of resistors and the transistor (Q1) near the RCA jack on the bracket are certainly for generating NTSC video out--you can see a similar configuration on a standard CGA. I wonder if the large 24 pin packages are just FIFOs.
The use of plain LSTTL logic indicates that this isn't meant to run at high-res data rates. There is a single 74F244 that I can see--the rest is SSI LSTTL "glue".
Does anyone else see anything that I've missed?