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Restoring an Olivetti ETV260 that doesn't start up
- Thread starter manumuna
- Start date
Sorry for the long delay... This is the file I got using the software dumppc.exe (I tried bio1351 first but the system halted and nothing else happened...). I hope it's useful. Please, let us know what you discover 
For @1ST1 I checked the position you specified for the paper sensor and I sadly have to tell you that is totally missing... I don't know why...
I wanted to ask you guys if I can publicly thanks you for the help on my little instagram account quoting your names. Let me know and feel 100% free to refuse
For @1ST1 I checked the position you specified for the paper sensor and I sadly have to tell you that is totally missing... I don't know why...
I wanted to ask you guys if I can publicly thanks you for the help on my little instagram account quoting your names. Let me know and feel 100% free to refuse
Thank you. That's dump of entire ROM mapping region, I split out the ETV Diags part.
Looks to be same graphics stuff, minus the colour part.
I can assume from this the signal output is the same output as plain (mono) M19, but looking at the monitor pictures, it is probably a different monitor set adhering to the same MDA like signal.
Don't know if this is interesting to ETV owners but the CGA monitor output option is disabled through removal of BIOS code and no switch, resistors, such stuff can be brought back with ease.
Looks to be same graphics stuff, minus the colour part.
I can assume from this the signal output is the same output as plain (mono) M19, but looking at the monitor pictures, it is probably a different monitor set adhering to the same MDA like signal.
Don't know if this is interesting to ETV owners but the CGA monitor output option is disabled through removal of BIOS code and no switch, resistors, such stuff can be brought back with ease.
That's quite interesting! Especially because I wanted to try using a CGA card... I saw that on the motherboard, connected to the paths for the switch of the M19 (very close to the video connector) there was a jumper with a weird label and I tought you could use it for setting the video card. You avoided me a lot of head aches... Thanks!
Yes, I forgot about the "internal switch". If those jumpers are still soldered you can switch to CGA path there.
Given some time I can try to patch in the missing CGA path initialization code into ETV BIOS.
Meanwhile if you want to try it, you can burn an eprom with M19 Resident Diagnostics image.
Given some time I can try to patch in the missing CGA path initialization code into ETV BIOS.
Meanwhile if you want to try it, you can burn an eprom with M19 Resident Diagnostics image.
1ST1
Veteran Member
Why you wanted to add a CGA card? The ETV 260 is already CGA software compatible with the original green monitor. So just go ahead and play Sokoban, Flightsimulator, Leisure Larry and whatever CGA dos games on it. When connection a mouse you can try Windows 1.0/2.0 and GEM on it in CGA mode. More interesting would may be adding a Hercules card, this does not conflict at all with the onbaord CGA card and you may be able to switch between them using the mode mono / mode color comand.
I'm not sure about running MDA/Hercules cards. I'm not saying it won't work, but MDA is programmed from PC BIOS, and Resident Diagnostics does not have MDA attributes - it has ones for the Olivetti display 640x400. The way I see things happening, is MDA/Hercules card receiving Olivetti style programming from the BIOS. Does that generate a correct image? Don't know.
The best option here is to actually utilize an EGA card that can output to MDA monitor and provides Hercules compatibility. In that case the card programs itself.
My train of thought wasn't manumanu getting a 3rd party CGA card, but restoring the pure CGA RGBI 15kHz video output on the ETV 260.
I'm comparing ETV, M19 BIOSes.
LPT code on the M19 is standard XT, ETV isn't, it reads some non standard registers and HLTs if they don't match. LPT routine also runs earlier on ETV.
The video code on ETV is completely missing the Paradise colour-path programming.
That looks to be the only differences. Everything else looks the same.
I see very very easy mod for the ETV for this but don't have the machine and cannot test.
The mod is just solder back the external graphics switch to the board and run the patched ETV BIOS. That's it. The machine video card is now M19.
For proof of concept testing, an owner could just run M19 BIOS on the ETV. The M19s LPT code is fire and forget. The state of LPT of ETV on this test shouldnt matter. Use a 1 mm piece of wire and small tape to connect the desoldered points of the internal graphics jumper, to jump it to colour. If the machine powers of as straight IBM CGA to RGBI screen, test done.
The best option here is to actually utilize an EGA card that can output to MDA monitor and provides Hercules compatibility. In that case the card programs itself.
My train of thought wasn't manumanu getting a 3rd party CGA card, but restoring the pure CGA RGBI 15kHz video output on the ETV 260.
I'm comparing ETV, M19 BIOSes.
LPT code on the M19 is standard XT, ETV isn't, it reads some non standard registers and HLTs if they don't match. LPT routine also runs earlier on ETV.
The video code on ETV is completely missing the Paradise colour-path programming.
That looks to be the only differences. Everything else looks the same.
I see very very easy mod for the ETV for this but don't have the machine and cannot test.
The mod is just solder back the external graphics switch to the board and run the patched ETV BIOS. That's it. The machine video card is now M19.
For proof of concept testing, an owner could just run M19 BIOS on the ETV. The M19s LPT code is fire and forget. The state of LPT of ETV on this test shouldnt matter. Use a 1 mm piece of wire and small tape to connect the desoldered points of the internal graphics jumper, to jump it to colour. If the machine powers of as straight IBM CGA to RGBI screen, test done.