It's a 1985 AT with the earlier motherboard, a 6MHz 286 and 512kB
memory (stacked memory chips!).
There are two memory boards. First is an 'AST Advantage Premium' that
has serial, parallel and 4 banks of memory. Only two banks are
filled, with a total of 512kB.
http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/5170/5170_ast.JPG
The second board is an 'Intel Above Board' - it's only marked 'Intel'
in the corner and has a total of 1MB is 256kB chips.
http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/5170/5170_intelaboveboard.JPG
I guess that the AST board was used to boost the motherboards 512kB to
1MB, and the Intel board to boost that to a grand total of 3MB.
The problem is, I can't seem to get the AT to recognise the boards.
With the AST board in place, the memory counts up to 640kB, but no
further. The AT Diagnostics disk has a setup for memory above 640kB,
but I always get an error message on bootup no matter what I put.
Anyway, back to the main questions!
Does anyone have the switch settings for the 'AST Advantage Premium'
and/or the Intel Above Board?
Also, how would I go setting them up in the AT's setup routine (I have
the diagnostics disk).
I understand that some DOS drivers might have to be loaded, however
the hard drive was replaced in 1991 with a 30MB Seagate and whoever
installed it didn't load drivers for the memory.
Oh, one final note! If anyone has an original IBM 1.2MB floppy drive
they want to sell, please let me know! Someone replaced mine with a
3.5" floppy. I've put a later 1.2MB drive back in place, but being
beige and out of a 486 it really doesn't match so well. There is a
second B drive fitted, an original (optional) AT 360kB drive.
Oops, a mistake there. The Intel Above Board has 2MB memory in total.
( inserting comments as I go..... )
"Howard Rose" <howard...@googlemail.com> wrote in message
news:1182122299....@w5g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
>I recently picked up an IBM AT that the owner had taken apart around
> 15 years ago and never managed to put back together. I've got it all
> working perfectly, except for the two memory expansion boards.
>
> It's a 1985 AT with the earlier motherboard, a 6MHz 286 and 512kB
> memory (stacked memory chips!).
>
> There are two memory boards. First is an 'AST Advantage Premium' that
> has serial, parallel and 4 banks of memory. Only two banks are
> filled, with a total of 512kB.
>
> http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/5170/5170_ast.JPG
>
> The second board is an 'Intel Above Board' - it's only marked 'Intel'
> in the corner and has a total of 1MB is 256kB chips.
>
> http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/5170/5170_intelaboveboard.JPG
Ah, those sure bring back memories...........
>
> I guess that the AST board was used to boost the motherboards 512kB to
> 1MB, and the Intel board to boost that to a grand total of 3MB.
>
> The problem is, I can't seem to get the AT to recognise the boards.
> With the AST board in place, the memory counts up to 640kB, but no
> further. The AT Diagnostics disk has a setup for memory above 640kB,
> but I always get an error message on bootup no matter what I put.
>
> Anyway, back to the main questions!
>
> Does anyone have the switch settings for the 'AST Advantage Premium'
> and/or the Intel Above Board?
>
Take a look here, might have them:
http://www.thegreenhouse.us/th99/
> Also, how would I go setting them up in the AT's setup routine (I have
> the diagnostics disk).
>
> I understand that some DOS drivers might have to be loaded, however
> the hard drive was replaced in 1991 with a 30MB Seagate and whoever
> installed it didn't load drivers for the memory.
>
Actually, it's more like DOS drivers will HAVE TO BE loaded for the cards to
be recognized. The AT won't even acknowledge the cards until you install
drivers.
I have a memory card in my XT that Windows 3.0 finds and installs, and uses,
but I can't remember if I installed DOS drivers for it. Wasn't planning to
do anything in DOS that would use the extra 3 meg.
I'm real sure someone here will have some drivers. I might, but finding them
will be ......." interesting" to say the least. :-)
> Oh, one final note! If anyone has an original IBM 1.2MB floppy drive
> they want to sell, please let me know! Someone replaced mine with a
> 3.5" floppy. I've put a later 1.2MB drive back in place, but being
> beige and out of a 486 it really doesn't match so well. There is a
> second B drive fitted, an original (optional) AT 360kB drive.
>
As usual, I have thrown so many of those away......... sigh.
Be interesting to see how the memory card install proceeds for you.
bobwatts
--
boBWattsŽŠ
EartH
Watts Carburetion Service
Whizzbang Computers
Official collector of: transfat asian plastic junk trinkets !
I have checked Total Hardware 99, and although they have similar Intel
boards I can't find the AST one there at all.
> Actually, it's more like DOS drivers will HAVE TO BE loaded for the cards to
> be recognized. The AT won't even acknowledge the cards until you install
> drivers.
> I have a memory card in my XT that Windows 3.0 finds and installs, and uses,
> but I can't remember if I installed DOS drivers for it. Wasn't planning to
> do anything in DOS that would use the extra 3 meg.
The reason I was wondering was because the AT Diagnostics Disk asks
for the amount of memory over 640kB. Whatever amount I enter, it
comes up with an error on bootup. That is *before* DOS boots from the
hard drive, so I don't think it is a DOS issue.
> I'm real sure someone here will have some drivers. I might, but finding them
> will be ......." interesting" to say the least. :-)
I do think that will be the case. Hopefully I will be lucky :-)
"Howard Rose" <howard...@googlemail.com> wrote in message
>
> The reason I was wondering was because the AT Diagnostics Disk asks
> for the amount of memory over 640kB. Whatever amount I enter, it
> comes up with an error on bootup. That is *before* DOS boots from the
> hard drive, so I don't think it is a DOS issue.
>
Well, no, any issue concerning motherboard memory on post count has nothing
to do with DOS.
Years ago, I used to spend a lot of time with IBM computers. PC, XT, 286-XT,
AT, and especially IBM PS/2 stuff. One of the most aggravating things ( to
me ) was having to use "setup disks" and diag disks. Downloading .adf files
for the PS/2 etc.
Are you supposed to have another disk for setup? I *think* there are two
disks for your computer, and I don't know if the diag disk will do what you
want. I'm pretty sure the setup disk is what you need to enter all the BIOS
information, then save it. ( if it's like the PS/2 anyway. )
And, of course, since it's been many years since I worked on one of these,
I'm probably wrong.
You know, I think I have an almost new AT manual I think. ( PC and XT too)
Back in "the day" IBM used to supply these really cool manuals and
literature that came in really neato hard binder books contained in a maroon
colored hard box cover. Pretty cool. The setup and diag disks were included
of course.
Don't worry, experts with better memory than I have will be along. :-)
bobwatts
Hi,
AST rings a bell. Isn't this LIM EMS memory? This would make sense: DOS
couldn't use anything beyond 1MB (well 1MB + 64kB to be precise) directly.
The expaned memory would present the available memory in pages somewhere in
the upper memory regions (D000-EFFF) through some I/O ports. If someone
messed up those settings, you may allready start with an I/O conflict to
begin with. Also, you probably must inform the drivers if you don't use the
default addresses.
Hope this helps your search.
Maybe interesting:
http://www.student.nada.kth.se/~d94-tan/pckort/ast6pack.txt
http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/io-cards/A-B/AST-RESEARCH-INC-Multi-I-O-card-ADVANTAGE-MEMORY-E.html
http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/io-cards/A-B/AST-RESEARCH-INC-Memory-Expansion-Multi-I-O-G-8-SI.html
http://www.textfiles.com/computers/ASTRESEARCH/
http://www.driverguide.com/boards/ast/index.htm
http://www.textfiles.com/programming/asttechnical.txt
closest match:
http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/io-cards/A-B/AST-RESEARCH-INC-Memory-Multi-I-O-SIXPACK-PREMIUM.html
Regards,
Alvin.
INTEL CORPORATION
ABOVE BOARD/AT
Card Type Memory card
Chip Set Unidentified
Maximum Onboard Memory 2048KB DRAM
I/O Options None
Data Bus 16-bit ISA
Floppy drives supported None
[Image]
USER CONFIGURABLE SETTINGS
Function Label Position
» Factory configured - do not alter SW2/2 N/A
DRAM CONFIGURATION
Size Bank 0 Bank 1 Bank 2 Bank 3
128KB (18) 64K x None None None
1
256KB (18) 64K x (18) 64K x None None
1 1
384KB (18) 64K x (18) 64K x (18) 64K x None
1 1 1
512KB (18) 64K x (18) 64K x (18) 64K x (18) 64K x 1
1 1 1
512KB (18) 256K x None None None
1
1024KB (18) 256K x (18) 256K x None None
1 1
1536KB (18) 256K x (18) 256K x (18) 256K x None
1 1 1
1664KB (18) 64K x (18) 256K x (18) 256K x (18) 256K x
1 1 1 1
2048KB (18) 256K x (18) 256K x (18) 256K x (18) 256K x
1 1 1 1
EXTENDED MEMORY CONFIGURATION
Size SW1/1 SW1/2 SW1/3 SW1/4 SW1/5 SW1/6 SW1/7 SW1/8
None Off Off Off Off Off Off Off Off
1MB N/A N/A N/A N/A On On Off On
1.5MB On On Off Off On On Off Off
2MB On Off On On On Off On On
2.5MB On Off On Off On Off On Off
3MB On Off Off On On Off Off On
3.5MB On Off Off Off On Off Off Off
4MB Off On On On Off On On On
4.5MB Off On On Off Off On On Off
5MB Off On Off On Off On Off On
5.5MB Off On Off Off Off On Off Off
6MB Off Off On On Off Off On On
6.5MB Off Off On Off Off Off On Off
7MB Off Off Off On Off Off Off On
7.5MB Off Off Off Off N/A N/A N/A N/A
MEMORY CHIP TYPE SELECTION
Type SW2/1
64KB Off
256KB On
Both On
CONVENTIONAL MEMORY SELECTION
Memory SW2/3 SW2/4
128KB On On
512KB through 640KB On On
None Off Off
BASE I/O ADDRESS SELECTION
Setting SW2/5 SW2/6 SW2/7 SW2/8
258h - 25Fh On Off On Off
268h - 26Fh On Off Off On
208h - 20Fh On On On On
218h - 21Fh On On On Off
2A8h - 2AFh Off On Off On
2B8h - 2BFh Off On Off Off
2E8h - 2EFh Off Off Off On
AST RESEARCH, INC.
ADVANTAGE! MEMORY EXPANSION AND I/O BOARD
Card Type Multi-I/O card
Chip Set Unidentified
Maximum Onboard Memory 3MB DRAM (with daughter board)
I/O Options Game port, parallel port, serial ports (2),
Advantage-Pak memory card
Data Bus 16-bit ISA
Floppy drives supported None
[Image]
CONNECTIONS
Function Label Function Label
Parallel port J1 Game port J4
Serial port 1 J2 Advantage-Pak connector J5
Serial port 2 J3
USER CONFIGURABLE SETTINGS
Function Label Position
» Serial port 1 CTS input forced true J7/A Closed
Serial port 1 CTS normal J7/A Open
» Serial port 1 CTS normal J7/B Closed
Serial port 1 CTS input forced true J7/B Open
» Serial port 1 DSR input forced true J7/C Closed
Serial port 1 DSR normal J7/C Open
» Serial port 1 DSR normal J7/D Closed
Serial port 1 DSR input forced true J7/D Open
» Serial port 1 DCD input forced true J7/E Closed
Serial port 1 DCD input normal J7/E Open
» Serial port 1 DCD normal J7/F Closed
Serial port 1 DCD forced true J7/F Open
» Serial port 2 CTS input forced true J8/A Closed
Serial port 2 CTS normal J8/A Open
» Serial port 2 CTS normal J8/B Closed
Serial port 2 CTS input forced true J8/B Open
» Serial port 2 DSR input forced true J8/C Closed
Serial port 2 DSR normal J8/C Open
» Serial port 2 DSR normal J8/D Closed
Serial port 2 DSR input forced true J8/D Open
USER CONFIGURABLE SETTINGS (CON’T)
Function Label Position
» Serial port 2 DCD input forced true J8/E Closed
Serial port 2 DCD input normal J8/E Open
» Serial port 2 DCD normal J8/F Closed
Serial port 2 DCD forced true J8/F Open
» Factory configured - do not alter SW1/6 N/A
» Factory configured - do not alter SW1/7 N/A
Parity enabled SW1/8 On
Parity Disabled SW1/8 Off
Game port enabled SW2/6 On
Game port disabled SW2/6 Off
» Factory configured - do not alter SW2/7 N/A
» Factory configured - do not alter SW2/8 N/A
» Factory configured - do not alter SW3/8 N/A
DRAM SWITCH CONFIGURATION
Bank0 Bank1 Bank2 Bank3 Bank4 Bank5 SW1/1 SW1/2 SW1/3
SW1/4 SW1/5
128KB None None None None None Off Off Off Off
On
512KB None None None None None Off Off On On
On
128KB 128KB None None None None Off Off Off On
Off
128KB 512KB None None None None On Off Off Off
Off
512KB 512KB None None None None Off On Off Off
Off
128KB 128KB 128KB None None None Off Off Off On
On
128KB 128KB 512KB None None None On Off On Off
On
128KB 512KB 512KB None None None On Off Off Off
On
512KB 512KB 512KB None None None Off On Off Off
On
128KB 128KB 128KB 128KB None None Off Off On Off
Off
128KB 128KB 128KB 512KB None None On On Off Off
On
128KB 128KB 512KB 512KB None None On Off On On
Off
128KB 512KB 512KB 512KB None None On Off Off On
Off
512KB 512KB 512KB 512KB None None Off On Off On
Off
128KB 128KB 128KB 128KB 128KB None Off Off On Off
On
128KB 128KB 128KB 128KB 512KB None On On On Off
Off
128KB 128KB 128KB 512KB 512KB None On On Off On
Off
128KB 128KB 512KB 512KB 512KB None On Off On On
On
128KB 512KB 512KB 512KB 512KB None On Off Off On
On
512KB 512KB 512KB 512KB 512KB None Off On Off On
On
128KB 128KB 128KB 128KB 128KB 128KB Off Off On On
Off
128KB 128KB 128KB 128KB 128KB 512KB On On On On
Off
128KB 128KB 128KB 128KB 512KB 512KB On On On Off
On
128KB 128KB 128KB 512KB 512KB 512KB On On Off On
On
128KB 128KB 512KB 512KB 512KB 512KB On On Off Off
Off
128KB 512KB 512KB 512KB 512KB 512KB On Off On Off
Off
512KB 512KB 512KB 512KB 512KB 512KB Off On On Off
Off
SPLIT MEMORY ADDRESSING SELECTION
Address SW3/1 SW3/2 SW3/3 SW3/4 SW3/5 SW3/6 SW3/7
256KB AT On On On On On Off On
512KB AT On On On On Off On On
512KB AT On On On Off On On On
612KB AT On On On Off On On On
SERIAL PORT(S) ADDRESS SWITCH SELECTION (ONE SERIAL PORT)
Number of Serial SW2/1 SW2/2 SW2/3
ports in AT
0 On Off Off
1 Off On Off
2 Off Off Off
SERIAL PORT(S) ADDRESS SELECTION (TWO SERIAL PORTS)
Serial port 1 Serial port 2 J6/A J6/B J6/C
Setting Setting
COM1 (3F8h) Disabled Open Open Closed
COM2 (2F8h) Disabled Open Closed Open
Disabled Disabled Open Open Open
SERIAL PORT(S) ADDRESS SWITCH SELECTION (TWO SERIAL PORTS)
Number of Serial SW2/1 SW2/2 SW2/3
ports in AT
0 On Off On
1 Off On Off
2 Off Off Off
SERIAL PORT(S) ADDRESS SELECTION (ONE SERIAL PORT)
Serial port 1 Serial port 2 J6/A J6/B J6/C
Setting Setting
COM1 (3F8h) Disabled Closed Open Closed
COM2 (2F8h) Disabled Open Closed Open
Disabled Disabled Open Open Open
PARALLEL PORT ADDRESS SWITCH SELECTION (COLOR-TYPE DISPLAY CARD)
Number of Parallel ports SW2/4 SW2/5
in AT
0 On Off
1 Off On
2 Off Off
3 Off Off
PARALLEL PORT ADDRESS SELECTION (COLOR-TYPE DISPLAY CARD)
IRQ J6/D J6/E
LPT1 Open Closed
LPT2 Closed Open
Disabled Open Open
Disabled Open Open
PARALLEL PORT ADDRESS SWITCH SELECTION (MONOCHROME-TYPE DISPLAY CARD)
Number of Parallel ports SW2/4 SW2/5
in AT
1 Off On
2 Off Off
3 Off Off
PARALLEL PORT ADDRESS SELECTION (MONOCHROME-TYPE DISPLAY CARD)
IRQ J6/D J6/E
LPT2 Open Closed
LPT3 Closed Open
Disabled Open Open
Disabled Open Open
AST RESEARCH, INC.
ADVANTAGE-PAK
[Image]
CONNECTIONS
Function Label
Advantage-Pak connector CN1
TOTAL DRAM CONFIGURATION
Size Bank 0 Bank 1 Bank 2 Bank 3 Bank 4 Bank 5
128KB (18) None None None None None
4164
256KB (18) (18) None None None None
4164 4164
384KB (18) (18) (18) None None None
4164 4164 4164
512KB(A) (18) (18) (18) (18) None None
4164 4164 4164 4164
512KB(B) (18) None None None None None
41256
640KB(A) (18) (18) None None None None
4164 41256
640KB(B) (18) (18) (18) (18) (18) None
4164 4164 4164 4164 4164
768KB(A) (18) (18) (18) None None None
4164 4164 41256
768KB(B) (18) (18) (18) (18) (18) (18)
4164 4164 4164 4164 4164 4164
896KB (18) (18) (18) (18) None None
4164 4164 4164 41256
1024KB(A) (18) (18) None None None None
41256 41256
1024KB(B) (18) (18) (18) (18) (18) None
4164 4164 4164 4164 41256
1152KB(A) (18) (18) (18) None None None
4164 41256 41256
1152KB(B) (18) (18) (18) (18) (18) (18)
4164 4164 4164 4164 4164 41256
1536KB (18) (18) (18) None None None
41256 41256 41256
1664KB (18) (18) (18) (18) None None
4164 41256 41256 41256
2048KB (18) (18) (18) (18) None None
41256 41256 41256 41256
2176KB (18) (18) (18) (18) (18) None
4164 41256 41256 41256 41256
2560KB (18) (18) (18) (18) (18) None
41256 41256 41256 41256 41256
2688KB (18) (18) (18) (18) (18) (18)
4164 41256 41256 41256 41256 41256
3072KB (18) (18) (18) (18) (18) (18)
41256 41256 41256 41256 41256 41256
MISCELLANEOUS TECHNICAL NOTE
Note: CN1 is located on the back side of the daughter board.
That's a good sign - at least the AST board is back-filling the
remaining memory to bring it up to 640k.
> The AT Diagnostics disk has a setup for memory above 640kB,
> but I always get an error message on bootup no matter what I put.
>
> Anyway, back to the main questions!
>
> Does anyone have the switch settings for the 'AST Advantage Premium'
> and/or the Intel Above Board?
>
> Also, how would I go setting them up in the AT's setup routine (I have
> the diagnostics disk).
You can't and shouldn't try. The option in IBM diagnostics setup will
only work with a genuine IBM XMA memory board. It isn't compatible with
the other memory boards. Just tell setup how much memory you have
installed on the motherboard itself.
> I understand that some DOS drivers might have to be loaded, however
> the hard drive was replaced in 1991 with a 30MB Seagate and whoever
> installed it didn't load drivers for the memory.
Yup - you need 'em to configure the memory on those boards and for the
system to access it. See Alvin's entries for more info about your
boards. Some of these board drivers will count and/or test the memory on
them when booting. (It's not so much a driver, rather a BIOS patch to
allow the system to find the memory and see it.) So you will have two -
or in your case maybe three - separate memory counts when booting if the
two extra memory boards each require a driver to access the memory.
Quite honestly, I'm not so sure how compatible this is going to be with
two memory cards from two different manufacturers installed. You said
you got this in pieces and I suspect that only one card was actually
installed in it, probably the Intel Above Board. An "enhanced" AT would
have come with 512MB already installed, a hard drive, and a serial and
parallel port - making the AST card with it's own ports redundant. The
AST card was probably a leftover from a PC or XT system.
Rick
I have removed the AST card for the time being. The memory is set to
640kB, and the above board software now loads at startup and counts up
to 768kB of expanded memory. I can't seem to get any more than that
(there are 2MB on the card), I have no idea where the remaining 768kB
has gone...
CONFIG.SYS has the line: DEVICE=EMM.SYS AT 258
The memory checking software can also detect all 8 banks of 256kB
chips and reports no errors?!?
If you have a real Intel Above Board in the machine, you need the
software that comes with the board with the right arguments to
properly make the rest of the ram available as EMS. What is the
*EXACT* model of the board? I have a few models with software; maybe
I have the original installation disks of the board you're using.
No idea why it wasn't counting up properly before though.
The CHKMEM software included in the Intel driver pack shows 2048kB as
expanded memory, as does CHECKIT, but I don't think I actually have
any software that actually needs expanded memory! (any suggestions?)
On 2 Jul, 16:09, Jim Leonard <MobyGa...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> If you have a real Intel Above Board in the machine, you need the
> software that comes with the board with the right arguments to
> properly make the rest of the ram available as EMS. What is the
> *EXACT* model of the board? I have a few models with software; maybe
> I have the original installation disks of the board you're using.
Although it doesn't say on the board itself, I think it is an Intel
Above Board AT. There's an Intel sticker in the lower-right hand
corner, 8 rows of 9 memory chips and two switch blocks.
If you have drivers/docs I would be very interested!
http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/5170/5170_intelaboveboard.JPG
Markings on the board:
*BB004212E51*
300096-001
107037 REV A
[1985] JUL 22 '85
I don't have that exact version, but I do have the software for my
particular above board AT. If you'd like to take a chance, email me
and I can send you the software.
Sorry to jump in - I've also got an old memory upgrade card
that I'd like to identify and possibly get working:
It came from a scrap machine about a decade ago, so I'm
not sure what it is; it looks most like the
AboveBoard Plus / Above Board 286 at
http://www.thegreenhouse.us/th99/i/I-L/52497.php
than the other Intel cards there.
It's a 16-bit card with 2 MB on board, daughterboard
connectors but no I/O connectors, FCC ID or, IIRC, switches.
The PCB is labelled "Intel", "8746" and "300347-005", and has
a sticky label "EC001194N74".
The big chip is socketed and is marked
L1A3502
300347-005
Intel PCE0
TAG 8747A
1471 Hong Kong
where the "A" is actually a capital delta.
>From http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/dta/INTEL286/00000005.htm
I'm guessing this is an Above Board 286 and provides
expanded memory.
- would it also do extended memory (in an AT)?
- is it likely to work in a PS/2 model 30 (8-bit)? The CN4
socket is bare, if I remember right:(
- anyone know where I could find drivers and possibly a
manual?
Thanks
Henry