Questions tagged [ibm-pc]
For questions about the early IBM PC, clones and compatible systems.
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How to use ISA card in modern PC
(Posted this on HW Rec but got no responses.)
Would like to use an ISA expansion card in a modern PC. There are
Expensive PCI - ISA adapters (but I cannot find any actually for sale now)
USB-ISA ...
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4
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What were wait-states, and why was it only an issue for PCs?
PC compatibles in the 1980s were often advertised as having zero, one, two, or sometimes more "wait states". Zero wait states was the best.
Basically, the wait-states I am asking about are due to the ...
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When did MS Windows get Dual Monitor support?
I remember one of the features I admired on the Macintosh in the late 80s was support for multiple displays. First time I saw this was on an SE/30, using the internal display along with a big external ...
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IBM PC memory map - why RAM at the bottom?
The 8088 provided an address space of one megabyte.
The IBM PC allocated that address space as 640K RAM (not that the 5150 could physically take that much, but the address space was allocated) ...
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Why did CGA RGBI output leave DAC to the monitor?
CGA on the original IBM PC produced sixteen colors, one bit each for red, green, blue and overall intensity modifier.
The preferred output device was the later-arriving 5153 color monitor, which ...
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1
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What's the fastest way to ignore keypresses?
I'm writing a game for the IBM PC (running MS-DOS), complete with fancy cutscenes. Unfortunately, though, the keys pressed during those fancy cutscenes are carried out once the fancy cutscene has ...
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Did the PC/AT-bus use its expanded address space?
The system bus of the IBM PC had 8 data lines and 20 address lines, in a logical correspondence to the 8088 CPU.
The AT added a second inline edge connector to expand this to 16 data lines and 24 ...
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1
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Did the 286 go out of its way to follow the 8088 bus protocol?
In general, different CPUs don't use the same bus protocol. A 16-bit CPU would not in general be expected to use the same protocol as an 8-bit CPU. For example, the 68000 would not be expected to use ...
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Gotek drives for MS-DOS (plus few more constraints)
I have installed two gotek device instead of two old unworking floppy disk drives (in particular on an Olivetti PCS 86).
And the result is something like this:
(The one on the right should the the A:...
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Which communication protocol is used in AdLib sound card?
By "AdLib sound card" I mean AdLib Music Synthesizer Card released in 1987.
Wikipedia says that AdLib uses frequency modulation synthesis to produce sound, but does it use MIDI communication protocol ...
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Why separate cursor keys?
The original IBM PC keyboard didn't have separate cursor keys; the numeric keypad doubled as such. It wasn't long, however, until a new keyboard was introduced that did have separate cursor keys (so ...
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IBM PC expansion card latency
In the IBM PC and early successors and compatibles, it was commonplace for most of the computer's memory to be on cards in general expansion slots. (e.g. the original IBM PC could take 64K on the ...
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IBM would-be purchase of CP/M
It is well-known that on a sunny day in 1980, when the IBM representatives came knocking on the door of Digital Research, Gary Kildall was still in the air on the way back from visiting another ...
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Operating systems (on support or recent) to install on a i486 processor computer [duplicate]
What operating systems would you recommend for this type of hardware?
Though I keep the question text generic because answers can work for many others, but my specific case is a Laptop Siemens ...
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Did IBM encourage Bill Gates to retain the rights over PC-DOS?
As is well-known, Microsoft's negotiations with IBM to deliver PC-DOS 1.0 with the original IBM PC resulted in:
IBM licensing the OS from Microsoft, as opposed to purchasing it outright.
Microsoft ...
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What is this old PC truck game?
I've begun to recall a game I played as a child with my brother, and I can't remember what it was called for the life of me. The reason I'm asking for identification is because I remember how much he ...
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How can I edit CMOS hard drive geometry settings on a 1991 PC?
First, I am NOT asking how to use the BIOS Setup utility. I'm asking how to OVERRIDE the built-in settings my BIOS Setup supports for the HD geometry.
I have a 1991 NCR PC with a 386SX, on-board IDE, ...
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Who set the 640K limit?
We all know that "640K should be enough for everyone". But who actually set this limit? The quote is often attributed to Bill Gates, but it doesn't seem like a decision for an Operating System vendor ...
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Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 "DIVIDE BY ZERO" command
I was reading an Wikipedia article named "History Of Microsoft Flight Simulator" and I noticed something weird about Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0:
November 1982
sometime during 1981-82
...
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Why was preemptive multitasking so slow in coming to consumer OS's?
Preemptive (rather than cooperative) multitasking was a highly-touted feature for PC's in 1996, with its inclusion in Windows 95 for the first time. It was also highly-touted for 2001 Macs when ...
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How did Apple fail to tap the business and scientific markets?
Currently reading an excellent book called Blue Magic: The People, Power and Politics Behind the IBM Personal Computer, which is just what it says on the tin; highly recommended to anyone who wants to ...
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What were the early PC applications requiring a hard disk?
I had to wait about 5 years before hard drives (HDs) became affordable enough to begin moving off of floppies. During this time, I remember my desire for an HD being based on convenience. All the ...
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The almost-was Atari IBM PC
One of the more remarkable events in the history of personal computers was IBM contemplating basing their PC on Atari technology. That this was seriously considered, everyone agrees, but it's hard to ...
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What were the real competitors to the early IBM PC?
As I understand it, PC was not really competitive with Home computers until the 90’s. The PCs rise in popularity in the 80s must have been mainly in the business world.
So during that time, what ...
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How do CGA emulators for Hercules graphics work?
HGC cards on IBM PCs used to be able to run CGA software by using a CGA emulator. How exactly did those programs work? What were the limitations?
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What was the first integrated PC compatible computer?
When IBM developed the PC, they famously chose a bunch of off-the-shelf components. Besides making the machine relatively easy to clone, another effect of this was it used a lot of chips and board ...
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Using floppy disk interface on Future Domain TMC-1680 SCSI ISA card
I have this old card, a Future Domain TMC-1680 ISA SCSI card that has a 34-pin floppy disk connector on it. I am trying to research that to see if I can make it work (before anyone asks - just for the ...
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IBM 5153 monitor vertical resolution
The IBM 5153, the color monitor accompanying the original IBM PC, was designed to work with the CGA graphics card, vertical resolution 200 scan lines. This was quite unsurprising and straightforward.
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How do I create a boot menu to select between Windows and DOS?
I was not a PC user before Windows 98. But I remember one of my friends was using a boot menu in his 486 machine to select between Windows/DOS.
The menu was like:
1. EMS
2. XMS
3. Windows
If we ...
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What specific technical advance(s) allowed PCs to play "Full-screen full-motion" video?
In the early 1990s, the new buzzword for PCs was "Multimedia", and the gold standard for multimedia performance usually talked about was "full-screen full-motion" video playback. Many will remember ...
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Where are the authoritative specs for legacy PC/AT devices still in use in today's PCs?
For example, the 8250/16550 chip used to handle serial communication is still simulated by modern chipsets and is enumerated by ACPI as PNP0500/PNP0501. You can find datasheets for these chips.
...
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How did Drive Overlay programs break BIOS disk barriers on older PCs?
I was just reading a thread on Vogons about OnTrack and EZ-Drive setup, and it occurred to me that I have no idea how they work.
Please explain why the barrier existed and then how the overlay ...
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First 80286 Based Computer
The 80286 was released in early 1982. The IBM PC AT, which used it, was released in late 1984.
Two and a half years is a long time to design a new computer that is a fairly modest upgrade on existing ...
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Unused RAM Chips on x86 machines
On classic x86 machines the upper 384 KB of system memory contains video RAM and BIOS ROM Besides other things. Those areas overlay over conventional RAM, so that you can't use all upper memory, but ...
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Is there really 1MiB of physical memory in the motherboard of a PC AT/XT?
This is a question that has been puzzling me for a while.
What happens with devices like graphic cards that have their own memory chips? Do these cards read/write from their own internal memory to/...
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What we commonly call PCs are in fact ATs, correct?
I remember all those video game boxes stamped with IBM PC (and compatible), while bringing good memories I felt this was rather incorrect.
Most of these games would never run on such computers, i.e. ...
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Thinkpad 350 keyboard
Am wondering how to use the keyboard from a Thinkpad 350.
There are three cables, with 6, 10, and 18 pins (but the big connector on the motherboard seems to have only 17).
I assume this is a grid of ...
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First commercial DOS game?
What was the first commercial game sold for use on IBM/MS/PC DOS after the IBM August 12, 1981 release.
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Who were the first engineers to "cleanroom" the IBM PC BIOS?
In the first season of the AMC show Halt & Catch Fire, the protagonist "Cameron Howe" is introduced.
Cameron portrays a rookie engineer who is recruited for being extraordinarily talented, and is ...
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Why did tactile-feedback keyboards lose popularity?
IBM spoiled me for hardware quality. I've gone through many computers, including a TRS-80, Heathkit H-89, Commodore Vic-20 and C-64, and countless PC's but my first original IBM PC will always be my ...
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Why did the IBM PC need a sound card?
The original IBM PC and later variants used an Intel 8253 or 8254 as a sound chip. Why did users add sound cards such as the Adlib or Sound Blaster. I remember voice output with programs like ...
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Cannot boot from a Compact Flash card
I am trying to fix up an old work computer I have from the early to mid 90's.
Everything works fine, but the hard drive makes a horrible clicking noise when it loads anything, so I decided to ...
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Was there ever any reason to wait 30 seconds to restart a c.1995 PC?
I owned a PC in the mid-to-late 90s, and while everyone said when you turn it off and back on again, count to 30. But it also had an instant reset button down below. Was there ever really any risk ...
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What character is the MS-DOS cursor?
The cursor used on my 486 (and Pentium 3) in MS-DOS 6/7 has a thick underlined character. I cannot find that in code page 437. The underscore character is the closest to it, but is thinner.
Where ...
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Adding the third floppy drive?
I've seen a few computers with more than two floppy drives, most with two 3.5" and one 5.25". My question is how was this achieved? I've heard that it could be done with a second controller card, but ...
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How to repair paint on IBM PC?
I have an IBM XT 286 which has essentially the same case as the original IBM PC. It has a few minor blemishes, some places where the paint has been chipped off, and some tiny spots of rust. How should ...
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With better character handling capability, why didn't PC-98 system succeed in rest of East Asia?
From my understanding, an important advantage PC-98 have over IBM compatible PC was that it is better at handling ideograph based characters which are common in East Asian countries.
Why didn't other ...
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How did an IBM 5150 with 16KB RAM work?
I keep reading that when it was first released, there was a variant of the IBM PC model 5150 that had only 16KB of RAM installed. From a hardware perspective, this would clearly work - the 5150 ...
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What makes a floppy disk bootable?
A lot of web sites describe how to create a bootable floppy disk using an existing image (via dd). But what about the image makes it bootable?
I'm interested in making my own bootable floppy images ...
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Does an ISA card have a fixed memory address?
A PCI card does not have a fixed memory address, the PCI card specifies how much memory it wants, and the OS will assign whatever address it wants for this memory, and will set this address in the PCI ...
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