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Messages - Dennis Smith

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Article Discussions / Re: NY Subway switching to contactless
« on: December 19, 2019, 07:29:05 am »
Oh.... I'd sell a kidney for a PC Server 500 (or even 720).

I had two PC Server 500s and one PC Server 720.  They were way too bulky to keep around and are long gone.  I did keep two PS/2 Server 95As since they are about half the size.

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Events / Re: Do not forget: Spock (Leonard Nimoy) introduced OS/2 Warp
« on: August 28, 2019, 07:51:02 pm »
My friend bought a new IBM Aptiva 486 in late 1994 or early 1995 and I never understood why it came with PC-DOS and Windows 3,1 installed instead of OS/2. Why didn't IBM ship OS/2 with its own computer models?

IBM had hardware compatibility and driver issues on Aptivas when OS/2 Warp was first released.  Retail Warp versions actually had a sheet of paper inside the box telling the buyer to call IBM Tech Support for a software update diskette and special installation instructions for Aptivas.  By mid-1995 IBM was selling Aptivas preinstalled with DOS/Win 3.11 and OS/2 Warp 3.  It was called Selecta-System.  You could chose between operating systems.  Later Windows 95 was added to the mix.

IBM offered quite a few computers models pre-installed with OS/2 during the 1994-1996 time frame.

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Off Topic discussions / Re: Should I go for it or better not?
« on: July 30, 2019, 11:39:11 pm »

Minor historical nitpicking vis a vis the OP's question, the Pentium FP bug only affected the first generation of 60 and 66 MHz processors, the Socket 5 processors like the P90 are not affected.

The FP bug also affected early production Pentium 75-100MHz processors.   I had some Pentium 90MHz IBM servers that needed to have the CPU replaced under the recall back in the 1990's.

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The new Twitter layout is atrocious.  Looks like it was designed by a 10 year old.  You may need to do it on a different OS with a more recent web browser but you can switch back to the old Twitter under settings.

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Article Discussions / Re: NY Subway switching to contactless
« on: June 28, 2019, 01:48:52 am »
I wonder how many IBM PS/2s and PC Servers they still have hidden away in a closet or back room that have been running non-stop for a quarter century.  Amazing how old some of the infrastructure is that is running some businesses.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it! 

I had an IBM PC Server 500 data server in use from 1995-2013.  It just kept on, keeping on.

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This is a big feat considering most of the source code is either lost by IBM or somewhere in Russia.  It must have taken a lot of reverse engineering of low level code to make it happen.

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Back in July 1994 IBM released a special XGA-2 device driver package that allowed the Windows 3.1 desktop, OS/2 Workplace Shell, and WIN-OS2 to be displayed across several monitors using multiple XGA-2 adapters installed in the computer.  Part number was 83G8292 and it came on two 3.5" diskettes.  Since it was a cost product and not a standard hardware driver package it was never offered for download on the IBM PC BBS or FTP site.   

Does anybody have this driver package maybe collecting dust in an old desk drawer that they could image the diskettes and load a copy onto the internet for download?

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General Discussion / Re: OS/2 at WinWorld Libary?
« on: January 09, 2018, 07:01:03 am »
Yes,  I have used WinWorld to get some of my older IBMs going again after 20 years.  I'm currently running OS/2 Warp 4.5 MPC2 on a PS/2 Server 95 and oddball PC Series 750 desktop that is PCI/MCA bus that IBM made for a short time before they finally gave up on Microchannel.  Also used their images of PC-DOS 2000 and WFW 3.11 on my PS/2 E pizza box computer.

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I was expecting a little more retro out of the 25th Anniversary Thinkpad.  Adding the multi-color Thinkpad emblem and a blue enter key on an existing model doesn't sound like much effort was put forth by Lenovo.

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Applications / Re: How to fit ArcaOS 5.0.1 ISO into a CD
« on: September 22, 2017, 09:48:46 pm »
Lewis Rosenthal has stated that most of the legacy ISA and Microchannel bus support has been removed from ArcaOS.

Even eComstation was modified enough for more modern hardware that it doesn't work on many computers produced before the late 90's.   The ABIOS.SYS and .BIO
files for Microchannel bus as well as Microchannel SCSI and IDE drivers were removed from the installation.  Manually adding them gets the installation process farther
but still eventually results in a TRAP error on the kernel with eCs 1.1 or a complete system lockup with eCs 2.0.

I have a mid 90's IBM PC Series 750 desktop that is PCI bus based with a Pentium 133MHz and I have had no luck getting eComstation to install on that as well.  OS/2
Warp 4.52 does install and work fine.

I'd be surprised if ArcaOS will install on a computer built before the early 2000s. 

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Hardware / Re: Reference diskette for PS/2 Model 95
« on: June 21, 2017, 08:21:41 am »
CMOS battery is on the planar behind the power supply.   The PSU has a blue twist knob that you unscrew and tilt the PSU down.  Then the battery
and memory SIMM connectors should be visible.

What is the model number of the PS/2 95?  It should be under the power button.  Can you post a picture of the processor complex?

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Hardware / Re: Reference diskette for PS/2 Model 95
« on: June 19, 2017, 05:20:19 am »
The ipv7.net site is an old mirror of the Ardent Tool.   Louis keeps the most up to date version on Kevin Bowling's server at http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohlandl/

There are four different types of processor complexes used in the PS/2 95 and each uses a specific Reference Disk.  The complexes can be identified on this page
as well as the Reference/Diag Disks download files:  http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohlandl/complexes/Complex_ID.html

Make sure to replace the CR2032 CMOS battery as low voltage has been known to cause erroneous memory errors and other hardware oddities
on PS/2 90/95 machines.

The comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware Usenet newsgroup is still up and running after all these years and always a good place for IBM PS/2 related information and
questions.

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