Questions tagged [ibm-pc]
For questions about the early IBM PC, clones and compatible systems.
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Which pointing devices were used by early laptop computers?
I've started reading this article on the history of the ThinkPad. In it, the TrackPoint (pointing stick/"nipple" mouse) is heralded as an important innovation in the design of portable computers at ...
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When did the tower form factor appear and when did it become popular?
Essentially, my question is there in the title.
Tower cases are commonplace these days, and probably are the "default" form factor for personal computers (or at least were, before they were surpassed ...
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Windows 98 Aptiva IBM not booting from CD
I have this old Windows 98 Aptiva IBM which I can't seem to get out of DOS mode or boot from a CD. When I switch it on, it goes through the BIOS checks and then prompts me to click enter to boot or F1 ...
user5365
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Windows 95 boot disk cannot detect my CD-ROM drive
I have an IBM 466 DX2 with the default CD-ROM drive installed like normal. I wanted to install Windows 95, so I first tried to install on top of the version of DOS already on the hard drive. It had ...
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Looking for a specific BASIC music program from the 80s
When I was a kid, we had a PC-XT with a lot of GW-Basic programs on it. I am trying to track down one in particular -- it was a music player of sorts. A menu (all monochrome text as I recall) and you ...
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How did DoubleDOS work?
Back in the MS-DOS days, there was a program DoubleDOS that you could run that would split your machine in half and multitask two separate DOS programs. While it didn't particularly work well for ...
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How to get started writing C for the IBM PC in 1980-81
Suppose it's late 1980 to early 1981, you've got some software you want to write for the IBM PC which will be released later in 1981, want to get started ASAP, and believe C is the right language for ...
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What was the first C compiler for the IBM PC?
When did a C compiler first become available for the IBM PC? I have fond memories of Turbo C, but that didn't become available until the mid to late eighties; it definitely wasn't the first one. ...
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Transferring files between Commodore PET and IBM PC
Suppose you have two early eighties computers, a Commodore PET with 8050 disk drive and an IBM PC with its 5.25" disk drive. Is there a way to transfer files between them? Not machine code programs, ...
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Is it safe to provide 5V to CMOS RAM from PSU instead of CR2032 battery?
I have a motherboard which stores BIOS settings in a DS12887 chip with internal battery. The battery is long dead, and the pin of chip's socket is not connected to any power supply so the chip doesn't ...
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How did the IBM PC handle multiple physical devices serving memory at the same physical address?
I'm trying to figure out how the IBM 5150 PC handled the case where multiple physical devices (memory chips) were mapped to the same address within the 8088's physical address space.
The closest I've ...
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What PC "Clone" technology standards were introduced by clone manufacturers?
IBM famously created the PC standard with the introduction of the first IBM PC in 1981. IBM also extended the standard with the introduction of the PC/AT (1984) and the PS/2 line (1987). However, by ...
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How did MS-DOS assign drive letters in the case of more than two floppy disk drives?
The IBM PC BIOS had provisions for up to four floppy disk drives, by virtue of returning the number of floppy disk drives in a two-bit field plus a none/some flag (allowing for reporting values of 0, ...
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What was the IBM PC cost saving for using the 8088 vs 8086?
The decision to use the 8088, a version of the 8086 with the data bus restricted to 8 bits, in the original IBM PC, seems strange on the face of it, certainly hurt performance and intuitively shouldn'...
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What is most appropriate choice for DOS for a 1990 80386 PC?
I plan to install Windows 3.0 and PC/GEOS on top of DOS. Plus I will install numerous games from the 1984-1992 timeframe. Some of the later games will require >640K RAM and make use of an EMM driver.
...
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Using a 1995 model M with a modern setup
Looking to get my Model M keyboard working on a modern setup, I believe I need an active converter to go from PS/2 to USB. What adapter / part would be compatible with this keyboard?
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Does every retrocomputer and console with NTSC composite output have 'artifact color' ability?
Artifact color is heavily associated with the Apple ][, since that is the only method the machine had to produce a color display. I was looking at the fantastic demo for IBM PC + CGA, 8088MPH, and I ...
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Windows 98 with 2GB of RAM
I have assembled a retro-gaming PC out of an old Shuttle SN45G with a Windows 98/Windows XP dual boot.
The motherboard can handle 2GB of RAM, but apparently Windows 98 can only handle 1 GiB.
Windows ...
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Windows 98 / XP Dual boot
I have acquired an old Shuttle X PC (Windows XP, Mini-DTX form factor HTPC) that works fine.
As I can't do much with this form factor (I can't fit a modern motherboard in the case) and that the ...
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Can the IBM PCjr be upgraded to support the better features of the Tandy 1000?
It is well known that the IBM PCjr was a commercial failure and that the Tandy 1000 series of computers not only matched the features of the PCjr (other than maybe the wireless keyboard), it also ...
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Were there VLB cards other than video cards and SuperIO controllers?
VESA local bus was an expansion bus used to overcome speed limitations imposed by ISA bus. In theory VLB could reach 1280 Mbit/s (with 40 MHz CPU) which was way more than ISA's 66.7 Mbit/s. The speed ...
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Restore corroded AT motherboard with dead CMOS battery
I have acquired a nice MS-DOS PC from EET Computer (I couldn't find any information about them).
It actually works, but I have two errors on boot:
Floppy disk drive controller failure;
CMOS Battery ...
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Cost of expansion slots
Among other early computers, the Apple II and IBM PC made the consequential decision to provide internal expansion slots.
How much did this add to manufacturing cost? Intuitively, it seems like it ...
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Installing hdd on PhoenixBIOS A486 on Gateway 2000 4DX-33
I'm fixing up a Gateway 2000 4DX-33 which came with a Fujitsu hard drive. The CMOS battery was dead after over 20 years without use, and needed to be replaced. This meant that all BIOS settings were ...
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IBM PS/2 Model 53 Not Powering On
I bought a PS/2 with the intent of robbing it's case for a restomod project, but since that is on the backburner right now I decided to see if it would work. When I flip the power switch, the PSU ...
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Only "Drive A:" detected with two floppy disk drives
I am trying to repurpose an old Acer Aspire M1641 to copy/format bulks of 3.5'' floppy disks. I think it's one of the last generations of computers to have a 34 pin floppy disk drive header as it also ...
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How can I connect a DIN plug keyboard to USB?
I have a wonderful IBM Model M keyboard, which has the best key action of all keyboards I ever used. The problem is it has the big round 5-pin DIN connector used in AT PCs.
I have some PS/2 to USB ...
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Memory timings for a 430VX mainboard
I'm trying to troubleshoot a memory-detection problem on an old Pentium MMX system with a 430VX chipset. I've got the following memory timing options in the BIOS:
DRAM Precharge Wait State: 0, 1
...
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Does the 25-pin IBM PS/1 serial port connector contain two serial ports?
I got my hands on an IBM PS/1 computer and it provides a 25-pin serial port connector. Whith the help of an adapter I can get a 9-pin serial port on COM1 and transfer data that way. I would like to ...
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Why did connecting the IBM PC 3.5" FDD backwards cause the problems it did?
When the 3.5" FDD was introduced for the IBM PC and compatibles (or possibly earlier), someone made a decision to make the data cable between the controller and drive unkeyed. This, of course, meant ...
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What were the differences in floppy disk formats between Amiga and IBM/PC compatible computers?
The capacity in Amiga Old File System format (OFS, OS version 1.x) was 840KB, with the Fast File System ("FFS" (!)) introduced for OS 2.x onwards able to store 880KB. The PC format stored 720KB on the ...
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