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Saved an old IBM from the trash pile and opened it up. It is about 9 years old. It is an old TX486DLC/E 40 GA on the chip on the board. It has an empty overdrive socket. Had some old memory chips so I upped memory to a gargantuan 40 mb. Has Win3.1 on it. It still runs and boots right up into Win3.1. My question is if I go to expense of putting a cdrom in it (about $30) will it run Win95 or Win98? I wonder if I could still find an overdrive chip for it and how much would that speed it up?
You might get 95 to run, 98 needs a 66mhz, you currently have 40mhz.
Google has a bunch of hits on it using TX486DLC/E as the search.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...=Google+Search
But finding a overdrive 100mhz for it might be hard to do. Someone on Ebay may have one.
This page has photos of what you are looking for.
Thanks for the links. I see a texas instrument chip TI486DX2-80 3.45v. I think this may be the overdrive chip for the TX486dlc/e 40 ga. It is doubling the speed from 40 to 80, but it says oem use only. It would probably be next to impossible to find.
I run Windows 95 on a 386sx 20mhz with 16mb RAM. So you should be able to do that much.
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I've run Win98 on a Cyrix 486DLC-40, although "run" is stretching it a bit. The installer won't let you install Win98 on a machine less than 66MHz, and, for some reason it also tests for a math co-processor. Because the 486DLC, like the 386DX, does not have an FPU, use the /nm switch on the setup command line to bypass the minimum system requirements check.
That empty "overdrive" socket is almost certainly a 387 socket -- if you want an FPU look for the Cyrix 387DX-40, or clock it down to 33MHz and use a 33MHz 387.
However, Win95 OSR2 runs much faster than does Win98 on such old hardware.
Thanks for input. Didn't know so many still used these old processors. This old system has an old modem in it. Haven't tried it yet but it has jumpers on it facing out the back by the phone sockets. First time I have seen this on a modem. It has a Rockwell chip on the modem board. Don't know what kind or what speed but will try it and see how fast it is. Probably a 24 bps modem. I think I will invest $30 in a cdrom and install Win95 and see how it does.
It has a modem with jumpers out the back. I never saw one like that before. It has a Rockwell chip. Probably 24 bps. It also has an I/O board where everything is plugged into it. The hard drive is plugged into the I/O board and there is only the one plug for the hard drive. If I put a cdrom in it can I remove that cable and replace it with a double outlet cable so I can use one plug for the cdrom or will the I/O board carry double outlets?
Probably faster than 24 bits per second (bps). The slowest modems I remember used acoustic couplers and used the Bell 103 standard at a mind-blowing 110 baud (110 line status changes/second, which at that time was 110bps. 9600bps modems operate at 2400 baud, but use 3 bits per state. You can see why baud is no longer used to describe modem speeds.)
Your modem is probably 14.4Kbps (14.4 thousand bits per second), or maybe 28.8Kbps.
You should be able to replace the cable on the I/O controller with one that supports two IDE devices. Also, some sound cards have an IDE interface supporting CD-ROM drives (and some have 40-pin interfaces which look like IDE interfaces but are proprietary.)
Well, I once had a ThinkPad 760L which was composed of a 90 MHz Pentium Processor, 24 MB Ram, an 860 MB Hard Drive, and some other extras. It was able to run Windows 98, but I needed some Advil waiting for it to boot up. Windows 98 is crazy slow on old things, but Windows 95 is super fast (Windows 3.1 is a rocket!).
Don't run Windows 98. Run Windows 95 OSR2 and do some upgrades.
if its too slow they make good doorstops
a laptop that is that slow can have a lot of uses but a desktop can be dull yet they dont interfere with tv as much
I say that is a very false statement. All of the computers that I own are extremely old (anywhere from 90 Mhz to 200 MHz), and I think they are very useful in the testing stage. If you think that they are pretty useless at their age, that's okay because it's your opinion, but I say that they make excellent computers just like the newer computers (as a matter of fact, olders one are much better power-wise because they consume less power!)Quote:
if its too slow they make good doorstops
yes theyre great for writing words on and checking email.. i hope they dont wind up in landfills ,, if i had room id store as many as i could
I'm back and I need some help pls!! I installed a 52X Samsung cdrom to that old dinosaur and I had a Win98 startup disk. I got another data cable for the hard drive that would handle the cdrom too. I hooked up the data cable and jumpered the cdrom as slave and the old hard drive as master and tried booting to the Win98 floppy startup disk. I got an error message saying something about a compressed cache file. I went into autoexec.bat and rem'd out the smartmon but didn't help. Anyone know how I can install the win95 cd disk so setup will install Win95??Is it possible to install it from within Win 3.1?
use a win 98 startup disc to install win 95 or 98 .. make sure cdrom is on end of cable ,, ask the store for a driver as well to be used for win 3.1
with win 98 startup disc when it gets to a promt again and says the diagnostic tools were loaded to drive d then type d:\setup
Probably an error regarding DRVSPACE/DBLSPACE. Having the specific error message will help you search for the solution on www.google.com.Quote:
Originally posted by onegojoe
I got an error message saying something about a compressed cache file.
The DOS CD-ROM driver, as well as MSCDEX.EXE, on the Win98 startup diskette can be used with DOS/Windows 3.x. No need for additional drivers.Quote:
Originally posted by steppenwolf
ask the store for a driver as well to be used for win 3.1
If the diagnostic tools were loaded to drive D:, then D:\SETUP will not work. One must run the SETUP from the CD-ROM, not from the RAM drive. The CD-ROM typically gets a drive letter higher than the RAM drive, so it should be E:.Quote:
with win 98 startup disc when it gets to a promt again and says the diagnostic tools were loaded to drive d then type d:\setup
quote
"If the diagnostic tools were loaded to drive D:, then D:\SETUP will not work. One must run the SETUP from the CD-ROM, not from the RAM drive. The CD-ROM typically gets a drive letter higher than the RAM drive, so it should be E:."
i swear i did it as d or e if i had a partition on drive then its e
Whereas you are posting from hazy memory, I am posting from fact. If the RAM drive created by the Win98 Emergency Boot Disk is drive D:, then the CD-ROM drive must be E:.
This is because the RAM drive is assigned a drive letter when its driver, RAMDRIVE.SYS, is loaded in CONFIG.SYS. The CD-ROM drive is not assigned a drive letter by its driver in CONFIG.SYS, rather, it is assigned a drive letter by MSCDEX. One can force MSCDEX.EXE to take a specific drive letter as long as two conditions are met: 1) The drive letter desired is not in conflict with the LASTDRIVE= statement, and 2) The drive letter is not already in use. Because RAMDRIVE.SYS loads before MSCDEX.EXE, the drive letter assigned to the RAM drive is unavailable to the CD-ROM drive.
I tried to load Win95 from the cd. I am using the Win98 startup disk but after everything loads from the startup disk and I use E: setup I get the following messages:
compressed drive cannot be setup correctly - setup found a compressed volume or a disk-cache utility on your computer, quit setup and check your compressed volume with your disk compression software or remove the disk cache utility, then run setup again?????? I don't know what that means? Does anyone have a clue to where I go from here?? Pls some input.
Err Msg: Setup Found a Compressed Volume or a Disk-Cache Utility
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows 95
- Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release 1, 2, 2.1
Hi would see if you can find diskmanager for the hdd ,This would be a big help---and make sure you have dos 5.0---
This is the only dos that I could get to load on older machines.
Don't know how to do things yet so use disks but am trying lol
If the machine can't handle a version of DOS over 5.0, then how can we expect it to handle Win9x?Quote:
Originally posted by ernit
Hi would see if you can find diskmanager for the hdd ,This would be a big help---and make sure you have dos 5.0---
This is the only dos that I could get to load on older machines.
when I low-level-format this hdd with diskmanager for my hdd that I downloaded from samsungs webpage in asia it removes all the information from the hdd--including primary dos--the hdd isQuote:
Originally posted by AlaricD
If the machine can't handle a version of DOS over 5.0, then how can we expect it to handle Win9x?
blank nothing on it ---I can just get to the A: no C: drive installed.
to load an operating sys. I have to use dos 5.0----dos 6.0--6.22
will not load---remember there is nothing on the hdd---now with dos 5.0 installed I go back to C: and format the hdd then I can install the OS with d/m---remember this is d/m for my hdd only it is not for any other samsung hdd.
This d/m has all the tools for my hdd --how to set it up --how to config it --I think dos 5.0 is a true operating sys. not to sure about this--jusy my idea.
To get MS-DOS version 6.xx installed on an empty hard drive, you first exit its Setup program (press [F3]), run FDISK and create your partition(s), then reboot from the diskette and let Setup do its thing.
Early versions of MS-DOS had no Setup program. You simply booted from the first diskette, ran FDISK, did a "FORMAT C: /S", created a C:\DOS directory and then copied the files from A: to C:\DOS.
Hi if you have an empty hdd where are you getting the operating sys from---you see the hdd is not empty---primary dos and the dos sys. are still on the hdd ---if they weren't you would not be able to get past the A: drive ---when there is nothing on the hdd you are running on the bios setup---and a blank bios chip still has the information to tell it to go to the A: drive to receive more information--this information is setup information thats loaded into the operating sys.---now if the dos 6.22 has setup information on it --fine and dandy if not it will sit at the A: till it receives the proper setup information
You are getting the operating system from the installation diskettes.Quote:
Originally posted by ernit
Hi if you have an empty hdd where are you getting the operating sys from---you see the hdd is not empty---primary dos and the dos sys. are still on the hdd ---if they weren't you would not be able to get past the A: drive ---when there is nothing on the hdd you are running on the bios setup---and a blank bios chip still has the information to tell it to go to the A: drive to receive more information--this information is setup information thats loaded into the operating sys.---now if the dos 6.22 has setup information on it --fine and dandy if not it will sit at the A: till it receives the proper setup information
Nice signature. Surprised the moderators haven't taken as much exception to it as I have.
but the setup.exe is in dos not on dos 6.22 -- sorry you took that saying the wrong way , thats a sign I saw while traveling around the country.
The ms-dos 5.0 is the only one I know about that has the ms-dos
setup.exe at the start of the program.
Sorry to all that took offence to that saying ,will remove it.
When you buy a new hard drive there is no Operating System installed on it. The steps you must take to get one installed on it have been pretty much the same for quite some time:
- Physically hook up the hard drive, (ribbon cable(s) and power lead).
- Reconfigure the computer so it will recognize the drive. (CMOS/BIOS Setup or, on old machines, via little switches on the motherboard).
- Boot from a storage medium that contains your Operating System, (such as a floppy diskette, tape, or, most of today's PCs can boot from CD-ROM).
- If you're installing an old MFM, RLL or ESDI hard drive, this is where you would use DEBUG to launch the low-level format routine stored in a BIOS chip on the hard drive controller. (IDE drives are low-level formatted at the factory).
- Next step is to partition the hard drive, (usually with FDISK. While you're in there, make sure the boot partition is marked as "A"ctive).
- Then FORMAT each partition. (FORMAT's "/s" parameter will transfer the system files [IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS and COMMAND.COM] to a specified partition, usually "C:").
- And finally, you're ready to run the SETUP.EXE that is on your Operating Systems floppy diskette or CD-ROM and let it do its thing. If you're installing an older version of MS-DOS, simply copy all of the files from A: to C:\DOS.
edit:
well, vernon beat me to it. i'll leave the post here anyway.
original post:
disclaimer: this is my understanding. i am open to constructive criticism; feel free to pick this apart and point out anything incorrect - i'll appreciate it.
an empty hard drive is just that: empty. there is no information on it. 'primary dos' is a type of bootable partition. by 'bootable' i mean that the computer has the ability to load an operating system from it, not that it actually contains an operating system - it doesn't unless one is installed. as vernon stated, running fdisk and creating partitions on the hard drive creates letters for those partitions; a partition can have a letter without having an operating system installed on it. as alaricd stated, you are getting the operating system (and fdisk in this case) from the installation diskettes.Quote:
if you have an empty hdd where are you getting the operating sys from---you see the hdd is not empty---primary dos and the dos sys. are still on the hdd ---if they weren't you would not be able to get past the A: drive
is ms-dos the only operating system? can you imagine the royalties hard drive manufacturers would have to pay if they included proprietary operating system code on all of their hard drives?
in this case, the bios itself is firmware in a chip on the motherboard - it is the most basic software. the bios contains instructions for initializing, testing and communicating on a basic level (directly, if you will) with hardware. though it doesn't need to, it also contains instructions for loading an operating system from bootable media such as floppy diskettes, hard drives and cd-roms (this is probably treading a fine line, but technically a computer with a functional bios can function without an operating system - not that it'd be of much use. the operating system and subsequent software give it certain functionality and allow the user to communicate with it in a way the user will understand. this is kinda like removing the tires and steering wheel from a car: it'll run, but it won't go very far.). the bios setup is a secondary utility which allows the user to configure certain alterable bios options such as drive parameters, the boot order, resource settings, etc. the alterable information is stored in something called the cmos. bios and motherboard manufacturers haven't always provided bios setup utilities.Quote:
when there is nothing on the hdd you are running on the bios setup
how do you think we used computers before there were hard drives?
a blank bios chip is just that: blank. there is no information, the computer will not even post, much less load an operating system. it can't because it doesn't know how (remember the 'instructions' part of my second paragraph?). there are certain instances where the bios can become corrupt and a little piece of bios code called a 'bootblock' might allow one to reflash with a system (bootable) diskette that has the proper utility and bios image. but that isn't even close to being related to this discussion so i don't know why i'm even including it...Quote:
---and a blank bios chip still has the information to tell it to go to the A: drive to receive more information
this information is the operating system which is loaded into, well, ram (remember the 'bootable media' part of my second paragraph?). nothing is 'loaded into the operating system'.Quote:
--this information is setup information thats loaded into the operating sys.
in this case, ms-dos 6.22 is the operating system. when you boot off of the installation diskette you are loading an operating system which in turn runs an installation program that installs an operating system to the hard drive, which is what the machine hopefully loads when you remove the diskette, restart and attempt to boot off of the hard drive. if there is no operating system there will be no way for the user to communicate with the computer (the prompt).Quote:
---now if the dos 6.22 has setup information on it --fine and dandy if not it will sit at the A: till it receives the proper setup information