GBU - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Article Info | |
---|---|
Author | |
Date | |
OS Version | |
Companion File | N/A |
Source | N/A |
GBU Version 1.09
- What is GBU?
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
It is no secret that many people have had less than wonderful experiences getting OS/2 to work with sub-standard computer hardware. This document is an attempt to minimize these problems in the future. It can be used as a shopping list, or to compare against your machine to find if other people using the same hardware have had similar problems.
As is the case with any document of this type, it can only be helpful if it is supported by the potential users. This means that enough people must send in enough messages that a representative sample of the available hardware gets listed. Please email me new submissions at altstadt@mprgate.mpr.ca. New versions will be posted as additions are made to the list.
Feel free to upload this document to any ftp site, BBS, or online service that does not already have it, or that has an older version of it.
Detailed Description
Since many of the problems people have had with OS/2 stem from semi-compatible PC hardware, I will maintain a live document of computer hardware with respect to its performance with OS/2. I will make this document available by uploading it to a local BBS, ftp-os2.nmsu.edu, and ftp-os2.cdrom.com. It will be distributed both as a viewable INF file and as clear text.
Please send me messages about any hardware experiences you want to share. In particular I am looking for information on motherboards, video cards, multi-I/O cards, SCSI controllers, floppy drives, hard drives, CD-ROM drives, printers, modems, mice, track balls, graphics tablets, multi-serial port cards, and any other hardware you have had good, bad, or ugly experiences with.
The definitions I am using are:
- GOOD
- hardware that caused no known problems, software drivers were available in shrink wrap either with OS/2 or with the hardware, or drivers were freely available on BBSs.
- BAD
- hardware that has proved to be incompatible with OS/2 due to excessive numbers of trap messages, or OS/2 drivers do not exist. The hardware might still work in DOS or Windows sessions with appropriate drivers.
- UGLY
- hardware that has had problems which could be corrected only after some serious work (changing jumpers doesn't qualify as serious), the available drivers take advantage of only some of the features of the hardware, only beta level (or worse) drivers exist, or the hardware works only in a "compatibility mode". If there are several messages with conflicting votes for a piece of hardware, it will automatically be placed in this category.
The specific information I need includes: type of hardware (mother board, video card, etc.), the manufacturer, model number, chip set, serial number range (if it matters), version of OS/2 used to test the hardware, and a vote on Good, Bad, or Ugly, with a specific problem report or glowing recommendation, and any caveats regarding the GBU vote.
To decide which category your submission fits in, ask yourself if you would recommend this hardware to someone who does not have any DOS or Windows programs. I may change the GBU designation based on the comments or caveats if they point to a different designation using the guidelines above.
Any script files or chunks of code supplied with a submission can be included as a footnote. Cross references to other submissions will be maintained as hypertext links.
If you wish to refute a previous category for a piece of hardware, please provide adequate documentation that the hardware should change from one category to another. It is almost impossible to promote something from Bad to Good directly without said hardware spending at least one release of GBU in Ugly. Likewise for the opposite (less likely) demotion.
Please send messages directly to me via Internet or the networked IBM BBS based in Canada. On the (Canada) IBM BBS, send messages to John Altstadt. Private messages may be sent via the Ibm.Bbsmsg forum or uploaded as files with a note to the sysop to forward the file to me.
To reduce the time required to generate a new edition of GBU, I prefer that messages are sent to me in IPF format, as I can just cut & paste them into the source files, and then bang out a new version quickly. If this is a problem for you, then send them in ASCII format and I will do the appropriate conversion. Please use only one format for any submissions. These panels show example text that you would be replacing highlighted this way.
Not all fields will make sense for all hardware categories.
The examples given are for hardware that does not exist.
IPF Source Format Example.
Select this window, press <Ctrl> to copy this text to the clipboard, then press <Shift> to paste it into your editor.
Category: CD-ROM drive GBU rating: good :p.---- :hp8. :dl break=all tsize=3. :dt.:hp2.Type:ehp2. :dd.SCSI-2 interface, octuple speed :dt.:hp2.Manufacturer:ehp2. :dd.Toshisonic :dt.:hp2.Model Number:ehp2. :dd.XJ-9/4000 :dt.:hp2.Chip Set:ehp2. :dd.Fish &. Chips :dt.:hp2.Comments:ehp2. :dd.Driver included with OS/2. Uses 25 disk cartridges. :dt.:hp2.Caveats:ehp2. :dd.The drive will overheat and melt the CD-ROM after 50 milliseconds if the liquid helium coolant hose is disconnected. :edl. :dl compact tsize=18.:dthd.:hp2.OS/2 Version:ehp2.:ddhd.:hp2.Rated by:ehp2. :dt.Warp 5.0 :dd.altstadt@mprgate.mpr.ca - good :edl. :ehp8.
A skeleton format without the sample text. Delete the text above before saving the file.
Category: GBU rating: :p.---- :hp8. :dl break=all tsize=3. :dt.:hp2.Type:ehp2. :dd. :dt.:hp2.Manufacturer:ehp2. :dd. :dt.:hp2.Model Number:ehp2. :dd. :dt.:hp2.Chip Set:ehp2. :dd. :dt.:hp2.Comments:ehp2. :dd. :dt.:hp2.Caveats:ehp2. :dd. :edl. :dl compact tsize=18.:dthd.:hp2.OS/2 Version:ehp2.:ddhd.:hp2.Rated by:ehp2. :dt. :dd. :edl. :ehp8.
ASCII Source Format Example.
Select this window, press <Ctrl> to copy this text to the clipboard, then press <Shift> to paste it into your editor.
Category: CD-ROM drive
GBU rating: good
Type: SCSI-2 interface, octuple speed
Manufacturer: Toshisonic
Model Number: XJ-9/4000
Chip Set: Fish & Chips
Comments: Driver included with OS/2. Uses 25 disk cartridges.
Caveats: The drive will overheat and melt the CD-ROM after 50 milliseconds
if the liquid helium coolant hose is disconnected.
OS/2 version: Warp 5.0
Rated by: altstadt@mprgate.mpr.ca - good
A skeleton format without the sample text. Delete the text above before saving the file.
Category:
GBU rating:
Type:
Manufacturer:
Model Number:
Chip Set:
Comments:
Caveats:
OS/2 version:
Rated by:
Other Sources of Help
Check for the following documents on BBSs, Internet archive sites, Usenet news groups, and WWW sites.
- PCMTAB.ZIP
- IBM's list of 3rd party hardware that has passed compatibility tests with OS/2. This is an excellent list, but each entry is limited to the information that can be contained on a single line. Information on equipment that has failed the standard set of tests is not included. Much of the list covers complete systems as supplied to IBM by the various clone manufacturers, so it would be a good resource for people about to purchase a new system.
- Patrick Duffy's PCI Lists
- Patrick Duffy posts several lists to the Usenet news group comp.os.os2.misc every week. These lists cover PCI chip sets, motherboards, video cards, and SCSI controller cards.
- FAQxxx.ZIP
- The FAQ maintained by Timothy Sipples contains some tips regarding hardware and OS/2 in general.
- http://pclt.cis.yale.edu/pclt/default.htm:The PC Lube and Tune site has general information on the PC architecture.
This is a list of anonymous ftp sites mentioned elsewhere in this document.
creative.creaf.com drivers and software for Creative Labs cards ftp-boi.external.hp.com drivers for Hewlett-Packard printers ftp.europe.ibm.com drivers for PCMCIA on Compaq Contura Aero ftp-os2.nmsu.edu collection of OS/2 shareware, freeware, and information ftp.gate.net drivers for Optics Storage CD-ROM drive microsoft.com Windows drivers, mscdex
What's New?
Good Audio cards
Type 8-bit mono card Manufacturer CPS Model Number Soundblaster Junior Caveats Does work only with recent Soundblaster drivers. The CD audio connector has to be changed from 1234 to 2143 for use with a Mitsumi FX001D CD-ROM drive OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 marc_van-woerkom@ac3.maus.de - good
Type 16 bit stereo with SCSI-2 port Manufacturer Creative Labs Model Number Sound Blaster 16 SCSI-2 Chip Set Creative CT174x Comments Drivers supplied on MMPM diskettes. The card comes with DOS and Windows drivers and software. New drivers for DOS, Windows, and OS/2 are available via anonymous ftp from Creative Labs The DOS drivers will let you change the IRQ and DMA channels, so the card can be set for IRQ10 under OS/2 and Windows, while older DOS programs can use IRQ 2, 5, and 7 inside a BAT file wrapper. OS/2 will allow DOS programs to change the IRQ on the fly. See the Good SCSI Controller cards section for more info. Caveats The SB16 cards are known for hiss, clicks, and pops when playing 8-bit wav files. Some of the system sounds skip the first chunk of the file, but sound correct when using the Audio Player. The updated drivers from Creative Labs solve these problems. OS/2 will allow DOS programs to change the card IRQ on the fly, which has potential for serious problems. OS/2 Version Rated by 2.11 - 3.0 altstadt@mprgate.mpr.ca - good
Type 8-bit FM synthesis card Manufacturer Creative Labs Model Number SoundBlaster "Value Edition" Chip Set Creative Labs Comments Very minimal card, but works fine. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Manufacturer MediaVision Model Number Pro Audio Spectrum-16 Basic Comments Requires 3rd party drivers for OS/2 2.1GA. Readily available. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 jim.royer@nmebbs.org - good
Type ISA 16-bit Manufacturer Orchid ? Model Number Sound Producer Pro Comments Cheap!, Creative Sound-Blaster Pro emulation - runs Doom in stereo under DOS fine :) Works perfectly with the v2.1 and newer Creative Labs SB drivers (OPL 3) with a wide range of IRQs and base addresses. Also includes a Panasonic CD-ROM ifce. and optional (and pretty useless) CD-ROM only Trantor SCSI chpiset. The CR563 hitched without any problems as long as you remember (1) to turn on the CDROM interface and (2) ignore the CD drivers that come w/ the SP-Pro card (my disks are v1.1)! They didn't work, but the CDROM drive came with IBM's ISA CDROM drivers which installed first time under DOS and seem to work fine. Under OS/2 I have v2.11 (serviced v2.1) and installation was rather worse: Selective Install mentions the 563 but installation requires putting disks 3-9 in succession into the drive and very little is done. After reboot the SBCD2.ADD driver had NOT been copied to the OS/2 directory on my boot disk, so I did it manually and lo! the Feb 94 driver from Hobbes worked first time, though I think Selective Install damaged the file system slightly on my OS2 boot drive which CHKDSK subsequently fixed. Caveats Only 8-bit sound. OS/2 Version Rated by 2.1 j.c.w.price@qmw.ac.uk - good
Ugly Audio cards
Type 8-bit stereo Manufacturer ATI Model Number Stereo F/X Chip Set Yamaha Comments Run with driver for SoundBlaster (SBD2.SYS) included in OS/2. The card setup (Channel, IRQ, DMA) is done by DOS software - no jumpers! Caveats Not the whole functionality of the ATI Stereo F/X is supported by the Soundblaster driver: playback of MIDI, digital stereo and files with a sample rate of 44,1 kHz doesn't work. If many sounds are played in a short period of time, the WPS often hangs, due to bad driver programming. Quite old model, which is scarcely supported by ATI. OS/2 Version Rated by Warp 3.0 gerber@kilo.emk.e-technik.th-darmstadt.de - ugly
Type 16 bit sound card Manufacturer Advanced Gravis Model Number Gravis Ultrasound Comments I used a revision 2.2 board; there is little physical difference between the early 2.2 rev. board and the more recent boards, rev 3.X I believe. The Gus Max is similar and uses the same drivers. The GUS ACE is a add on for the soundblaster series and may work differently under OS/2 than the GUS card. Caveats Only drivers available are _alpha_ Gravis drivers and shareware drivers. Winos2 support non-existant unless you register the shareware drivers because Windows drivers are VXDs. Emulation of the soundblaster and roland cards under dos also not possible for same reason. Manley drivers, when registered will address this in a future release. No Midi support for os/2 unless you have midi device attached. (Not tested) OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 homi@netcom.com - ugly
Type 8-bit mono Manufacturer MediaVision Model Number Thunderboard Chip Set MediaVision Thunder Comments Other soundcards which claim to be SoundBlaster 2.0 compatible (some using the Thunder chipset) do not work with the Warp SB 2.0 driver either. It has to be patched in order to work. See below. Caveats Not the whole functionality of the Thunderboard is supported by the Soundblaster driver, most notably playback of MIDI (FM synthesis with OPL3). o 2.1: search for the patch tbos2.zip on ftp.cdrom.com, etc. o 3.0: search for the patch sb2warp.zip on ftp.cdrom.com, etc. OS/2 Version Rated by 2.1, 3.0 leeuw@fwi.uva.nl - ugly
Bad Audio cards
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good CD-ROM drives
Type AT-BUS, double-speed Manufacturer Mitsumi Model Number FX 001D Comments Good and cheap Double Speed successor of the LU-Drive; driver kit available on various BBSes (mitfx.zip; 17131 bytes). Includes MMPM/2-Support (CD-Player). Easy to install. Can use upper interrupts (10,11) or software polling. Caveats I had to change the audio connector from 1234 to 2143 to connect to to my soundblaster clone. This may not be a problem with other Soundcards No OS/2 drivers shipped with the drive, To install OS/2 from CD-ROM you need to change the first boot disk (explained in the mitfx.zip archive). OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 marc_van-woerkom@ac3.maus.de - good < 3.0 Pascal.Gienger@uni-konstanz.de - GOOD
Type proprietary interface Manufacturer Mitsumi Model Number LU005 Comments Driver available from the usual sources. Caddyless. Caveats Can't install OS/2 from CD-ROM unless you've modified the OS/2 installation disks to include the driver. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type SCSI-1 interface, double speed Manufacturer NEC Model Number CDR-84 Comments Driver included with OS/2. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type SCSI-2, triple speed, caddy Manufacturer NEC Model Number CDR 510 Comments OEM version of NEC 3Xi. Cdthru says that the drive tops out at 401 kbytes/sec. OS/2 2.1 GA and later recognize the drive as either an NEC Multi-Spin or as an NEC 3Xx right out of the box. Caveats There are rumors that NEC doesn't support OEM drives in any way, and is even hostile to people that buy such drives. OS/2 Version Rated by 2.10 - 3.0 altstadt@mprgate.mpr.ca - good
Type SCSI-2, Quad Speed, internal Manufacturer Plextor Model Number 4Plex (PX43-CH) Comments Fast. 1Mb Buffer ram. Uses caddies. OS/2 Warp recognizes it automatically. Software Eject. Caveats No automatic loading, you have to push the caddy all the way into the drive by hand. For some reason it suddenly developed a problem with spinning certain discs, but then the problem disappeared. Expensive. OS/2 Version Rated by Warp 3.0 tam@usc.edu - good
Type SCSI-II, double speed Manufacturer Plextor (formerly TEXEL) Model Number DM3028 Comments Driver included with OS/2 (use the Texel 3024 driver). Uses caddies. Self-cleaning lens mechanism. Software eject. Caveats Does not support digital transfer on audio-CD's OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 paltiel@cnj.digex.net - good < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type proprietary interface Manufacturer Reveal (Panasonic) Model Number CD-620 (Panasonic CR-563b) Comments Requires SBCD2.ADD or SBCD2PAN.ADD drivers to operate in OS/2 2.1 GA. Fully supported under OS/2 2.11. Panasonic CDROM support under OS2 is excellent provided you have OS/2 v2.11 or greater which supports the 563 directly. The DOS drivers are out of date, but drivers that ship with the CDROM drive work fine. Appears to be a decent standard port, though there is no support for IRQ-driven data transfer, which is supposedly quicker and less CPU-intensive than the pure I/O port stuff. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 jim.royer@nmebbs.org - good 2.1 j.c.w.price@qmw.ac.uk - good
Type Quad speed, Panasonic/creative labs interface Manufacturer Teac Model Number CD-55a Comments Requires driver CD55os1.zip from Hobbes, found in /os2/drivers. Works with both Warp (under which I tested it) and 2.11. Caveats Installation procedure on driver disk is both simple and thorough. Drive installs without incident, and seems to work well in OS/2, DOS, and Windows 3.1. (note: some users have reported that this drive requires either the TEAC proprietary interface card, or a genuine Creative Labs Soundblaster card. Clones may or may not work properly.) OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 farnold@alberich.duch.udel.edu - good
Type SCSI-2 Single Speed Manufacturer Toshiba Model Number 3301 OS/2 Version Rated by <=3.0 dguthrie@iisys.com - good Type SCSI interface Manufacturer Toshiba Model Number 3401 Comments Driver included with OS/2. Uses caddies. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type SCSI Interface, double speed Manufacturer Toshiba Model Number 4101 Comments Driver included with OS/2. Caddyless OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 reinhard@ifki50.informatik.fh-muenchen.de - good
Type Proprietary interface, double speed Manufacturer Wearnes Model Number CDD-110 Chip Set Philips Comments Includes interface card and DOS drivers. Caddyless Caveats Sony OEM drive but it doesn't work with the Sony drivers. OS/2 drivers are available at ftp-os2.nmsu.edu in /os2/2_1/drivers/wearnes.zip. This driver works with OS/2 2.1 and OS/2 3.0 Warp. OS/2 Version Rated by 2.1, 3.0 peterpv@ice2.utwente.nl - good
Ugly CD-ROM drives
Type Proprietary interface, double speed. Manufacturer Optics Storage Model Number Dolphin 8000AT Chip Set Philips Comments Includes interface card & DOS drivers. Caddyless. Caveats From what I can tell the drive is a Sony OEM. However, no drivers for OS/2 can be found nor do the current Sony drivers work with the card. However, the DOS drivers provided do load in a DOS box if only someone can find a MSCDEX.EXE that will access the drive from a DOS box. [sandman]
Sony OEM drive but it doesn't work with the Sony drivers. OS/2 drivers are available at: ftp.gate.net /pub/users/pyle/dolat001.exe
This driver works with OS/2 3.0 Warp. [peterpv] OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 sandman@netcom.com - ugly 3.0 peterpv@ice2.utwente.nl - good
Bad CD-ROM drives
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good Flopticals
Nothing supplied in this category.
Ugly Flopticals
Type SCSI-II
Manufacturer Insite
Model Number Unknown (Only one revision, known)
Comments Driver support from 3rd party (Corel via CorelSCSI), reads and writes 1.44MB, 720K, 21MB 3-1/2" floppies, reads normal floppies at 2-3 times speed of a normal 3-1/2" drive
Caveats Software conflict with MMPM/2's system sounds, incorrectly formats 21MB flopticals, unable to format any media from OS/2 WPS, format created by OS/2 version of CorelSCSI unrecognizable by DOS based floptical drivers, unable to change size of floptical software cache, accessing drive locks WPS OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 paltiel@cnj.digex.net - ugly
Bad Flopticals
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good Hard Disks
Type 513MB IDE HD
Manufacturer Fujitsu
Model Number M2624T
Comments Very fast, durable, reliable, 5-year replacement warranty OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 fredng@io.org - good
Type SCSI-2 interface
Manufacturer IBM
Model Number 1 GB SCSI-II HD
Chip Set
Comments Fast and reliable. Flawless installation and operation with ADAPTEC AHA 2842VL adapter.
Caveats A bit noisy when busy. OS/2 Version Rated by <= 2.11 100424.3441@compuserve.com - good
Type SCSI-2 / SCSI-3 / SCSI FAST 4GB
Manufacturer Quantum
Model Number Grand Prix 34301
Comments Super fast, great for multimedia server OS/2 Version Rated by <=3.0 dguthrie@iisys.com - good
Type Fast SCSI-II, 340MB
Manufacturer Seagate
Model Number ST3390N
Comments Audible high-pitched whine; makes loud popping noises when powered on or off. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type 340MB IDE HD
Manufacturer Western Digital
Model Number Caviar 2340
Comments Fast, reliable OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 fredng@io.org - good
Ugly Hard Disks
Type SCSI-II (?), 540MB
Manufacturer Quantum
Model Number LPS540S
Comments When used with a PCI-bus NCR chipset on a J-Bond or Asus motherboard, OS/2 2.1 refuses to boot from the hard disk unless the /!SN option is specified in the OS2CAM.ADD driver. OS/2 2.99 Warp Beta II will boot, but there's a 45-second delay during boot (operation is normal after bootup). Functions corectly when used with an UltraStor 34F VLB SCSI controller on a Diamond FastBus VLB motherboard with either OS/2 2.1 or OS/2 2.99 Warp Beta II.
Caveats In above OS/2 2.1 scenario with NCR SCSI chipset, the boot partition was occasionally WIPED OUT (OS/2 identified it as unformatted and gave error messages when access was attempted). OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - ugly
Type SCSI-2 interface, 220 Meg
Manufacturer Seagate
Model Number ST3283N
Comments Overall, the performance of the drive is actually quite good. I've had few problems with the drive itself, by itself.
Caveats It intensely dislikes other SCSI devices. It uses weird termination, which throws off the entire SCSI chain. You will only get three devices working, for example, by terminating every device in the chain. Needless to say, troubleshooting is an absolute nightmare. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 jcarmack@phoenix.sas.muohio.edu
Bad Hard Disks
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good IDE cards
Type ISA bus, with floppy controller
Manufacturer Boca Research, Inc.
Model Number IDE002
Chip Set GoldStar
Caveats Tested for floppy controller only; IDE adapter disabled. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type ISA 16-bit 4xIDE HD/2xFDD controller
Manufacturer Promise
Model Number Promise DC200
Comments Caching HD controller for the lame ISA bus. Flawlessly handles 1-4 IDEs under DOS and OS/2 (v1.0 driver supplied for OS/2, 1.0C and v1.2 available by ftp), allows use of two IDE drives that wont master/slave properly. Takes 1Mb/4Mb SIMMS in pairs (3 chip or 9 chip 80 ns OK)
Caveats Shutdown does not write the cache immediately, so you must wait for the drive light to go out! v1.2 drivers seem to be for the VL-Bus version, loses support for the second IDE cable :( OS/2 Version Rated by 2.1 j.c.w.price@qmw.ac.uk - good
Type ISA IDE Controller
Manufacturer Western Digital
Comments Not very fast, but rock solid OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 fredng@io.org - good
Ugly IDE cards
Nothing supplied in this category.
Bad IDE cards
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good I/O cards
Type 1 (bi-directional) parallel 2 serial (16550) ports, 1 game
Manufacturer Circo Technology 1-800-678-1688 818-369-5779
Model Number AT I/O for 2S 1p(bi-di). 1g
Chip Set 16550
Comments Cost $30.00 After trying many parallel printer ports that were NOT bi-directional and didn't work with WARP 3.0, I finally found one that works with my second printer. Most IDE/SCSI Multi I/O cards are already bi-directional; try finding a second printer port that is however--good luck! OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 ged17r1@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu - good
Type serial/parallel/game port
Manufacturer Kentech
Chip Set 74LS series parts
Comments jumper selections for COM ports at 1/3 and 2/4, jumper selections to put PRT at 1/2, one UART is socketed OS/2 Version Rated by 2.0 - 3.0 altstadt@mprgate.mpr.ca - good
Type ISA bus
Manufacturer Kouwell
Model Number KV 66
Chip Set SMC
Comments One of the better I/O cards I've seen. This one has support for two floppies up to 2.88, two 16550 compliant serial ports, one EPP/ECP parallel port and one game port.
Caveats Limited choices when it comes to IRQ's. OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 sbowers@primenet.com - good
Type 4 port, 16554 chip
Manufacturer STB
Model Number 4-COM
Chip Set 16554
Comments Allows 4 com ports on 1 interrupt OS/2 Version Rated by <=3.0 dguthrie@iisys.com - good
Type 2S/1P/1G card
Manufacturer ZyXEL
Model Number I/O 16550-1
Chip Set One 16450, one 16550 UART for serial ports
Comments In contrast to fredng@io.org's account, my card has a GoldStar 16450 and a Startech 16550. Still works fine, though.
Caveats Game port can't be disabled. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Ugly I/O cards
Nothing supplied in this category.
Bad I/O cards
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good Keyboards
Manufacturer Focus Model Number FK6000 OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Manufacturer Fujitsu
Model Number FKB4700
Comments full use of grey keys
Caveats keyboard driver would trap in version 2.0 GA + SP OS/2 Version Rated by 2.0 - 3.0 altstadt@mprgate.mpr.ca - good
Manufacturer IBM
Model Number 1391401
Comments Rock solid! It's been dropped, had liquid spilled into it and it still runs great.
Caveats Required a 6 pin Mini DIN to 5 pin DIN convertor OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 sbowers@primenet.com - good
Type Programmable Keyboard
Manufacturer KeyPro
Model Number FK-9000
Chip Set
Comments Standard OS/2 drivers work great
Caveats Contains 12 programmable keys (limited to 14 characters though) and (my favorite feature) a built in calculator that uses the numeric keypad OS/2 Version Rated by 2.1, 3.0 scott@wymer.demon.co.uk - good
Manufacturer Keytronics
Model Number E03601Q
Comments full use of grey keys OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 jim.royer@nmebbs.org - good
Manufacturer Monterey
Model Number K104 OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type 101-key
Manufacturer NMB Technologies
Model Number RT101+
Comments Sold as CompUSA "generic" keyboard; above manufacturer taken from label on keyboard, and does not appear on display shelf box. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type 101-key Enhanced
Manufacturer NorthGate
Model Number OmniKey/101
Comments Great tactile feeling, persistent to my abuse (I don't type, I pound on my keyboard hard!), even better than IBM keyboards! [fredng]
Unusual keyboard layout, especially around cursor keys. Light but "clicky" feel. [rsmith] OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 fredng@io.org - good < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Ugly Keyboards
Nothing supplied in this category.
Bad Keyboards
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good Magneto Optical drives
Type SCSI-2 interface
Manufacturer Fujitsu
Model Number DynoMO 230
Comments Great, fully re-writeable technology. Drivers not included with OS/2 but can be found on Fujitsu BBS or Internet, contact Fujitsu for filename. After drivers are obtained install is as easy a 123. Works in DOS and Windoze sessions great.
Caveats Only gripe I have is that OS2 and DOS seem to need a bit of customizing to get top performance, it may be my lack of experience with SCSI and Optical devices. Not that it is slow, it just claims to be able to do 2 Meg per second (I think), and it doesn't seem to be doing that. OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 myersd@cadvision.com - good
Type SCSI-2, 3.5in, 128Mb
Manufacturer Sony
Model Number SMO-F331 (internal)
Chip Set
Comments Good reliable performance. Tough, I accidentally dropped it 3-4 feet before I installed it and still works fine. Tested with Sound Blaster 16 SCSI-2 interface and Adaptec 2940 PCI. Worked flawlessly. Needs Optical.sys driver which I think could be found at hobbes. Has to be formatted the IBM way as one large floppy for OS/2 to read.
Caveats Termination cannot be set. Not that fast with only 220kb/sec transfer rate. OS/2 Version Rated by Warp 3.0 tam@usc.edu - good
Ugly Magneto Optical drives
Type 3.5", SCSI Interface
Manufacturer Fujitsu
Model Number M2511A
Comments OS/2 recognizes it's there, but thinks it's a 2.88MB floppy drive. I've been unable to get it to work better, but haven't tried too hard, either. [rsmith]
Tested with an Adaptec AHA1542CF SCSI adapter. OS/2 recognizes that the M.O. drive it's there, but the WPS format utility apparently thinks it's a 2.88MB floppy drive. However a properly FAT formatted cartridge is obtained nonetheless.
Adaptec SCSI drivers included with OS/2. Available also at ftp-os2.nmsu.edu. [marziani]
Caveats Only FAT seems supported. No HPFS for 128MB cartridges. Not all (i.e. very few) SCSI adapters and their respective OS/2 drivers seem to support this unit. Adaptec 1542CF works fine. [marziani] OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - bad < 3.0 marziani@vaxfe.fe.infn.it - good
Bad Magneto Optical drives
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good Modems
Type external
Manufacturer AT&T Paradyne
Model Number Dataport
Chip set AT&T
Comments Flawless operation with both ZOC and Fax/PM
Caveats Does not come with OS/2 software. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type V. 34 28,800bps Fax/modem, internal
Manufacturer Practical Peripherals
Model Number PM288HC II V.34
Chip Set Rockwell
Comments Good, basic, reliable and fast. No fancy features like auto data/voice detection. Works with ZOC, Fax/PM, OS2CIM, and PPP. Built in 16550A UART. Computer to modem rates of up to 115,200bps. Connects to V.FC modems as well. Group 3 Fax under Class 1 and Class 2 operation at up to 14,400 bps. I've gotten CARRIER rates up to 24,000bps only, but probably due to bad phone lines.
Caveats Manual is a little too brief. No Flash Rom for easy bios update. OS/2 Version Rated by Warp 3.0 tam@usc.edu - good
Type External
Manufacturer Supra
Model Number FaxModem 288
Comments Documentation excellent, configuration easy, new led display is great. The power switch is on the front for very easy access. Performance is excellent and above average reliablility, compared to my past Zoom 28.8 modem (which lost carrier often). The re-negotiating, due to line quality, is great, and with the led display it shows instantly what the current modem-modem speed is.
Caveats The Fax software it comes with is lacking, but Data software is just ok. OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 myersd@cadvision.com - good
Type 14.4k Fax Modem
Manufacturer US Robotics
Model Number 14,400 Fax Modem
Comments Supported by virtually all communication programs, inexpensive, reliable, although not a screamer in performance OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 fredng@io.org - good
Type internal v.32bis (14,400 bps) fax-modem
Manufacturer US Robotics
Model Number Sportster
Chip Set 80186 with DSPs
Comments User should change the default settings, since it's set up for COM3 with an IRQ shared with COM1. Includes built-in 16550 UART. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type 14.4 Fax/Modem 16550UART ISA (internal)
Manufacturer Zoom
Model Number VFP V.32bis
Chip Set Rockwell 14.4Kbps
Comments 20 Mhz controller and v.32bix data pump on board. 16550UART. MNP 5 and v.42bis. Group III, Class 1 and 2 Fax (V.17). Selectable port settings at (COM/IRQ): 1/4, 2/3, 3/4, 4/3, 3/2, 4/2, 3/5, 4/5 through jumpers. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 davmp@alumni.caltech.edu - good
Type external
Manufacturer ZyXEL
Model Number U-1496E
Chip set 68000 cpu & TI DSPs
Comments Flawless operation with many DOS, Windows, and OS/2 programs
Caveats Some versions of ZyXEL's Z-Fax DOS software don't run under OS/2; does not come with OS/2 software. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Ugly Modems
Nothing supplied in this category.
Bad Modems
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good Monitors
Type 15" SVGA
Manufacturer KFC
Model Number 1511
Comments Handles 30-60KHz horizontal, 50-90Hz vertical -- enough for 1024x768 at 70Hz but not (quite) 1280x1024 at 70Hz. Manual controls.
Caveats First two units I received were defective; the third seems OK. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type 17" Multisync
Manufacturer Mag Innovision
Model Number DX17F
Comments Large display area. Microprocessor controlled multifrequency. 100Mhz bandwith. 30-64kHz Horizontal Refresh, 50-100Hz Vertical Refresh. Supports up to 1280x1024. Good price. Supports DPMS
Caveats 1280x1024 Resolution will only work at up to 60Hz Vertical Refresh rate, non-interlaced. OS/2 Version Rated by 2.1, 3.0 tam@usc.edu - good
Type 15" Multisync, supports up to 1280x1024
Manufacturer MAG
Model Number MX-15H (MX-15F in U.S.), 1992 model
Comments Microprocessor-based Multi-freq. monitor, 100MHz bandwidth OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 fredng@io.org - good
Type 15" SVGA
Manufacturer NEC
Model Number XE15
Comments Plug and Play compliant.
o VGA at 640 x 480 at 60, 72 & 75Hz o SVGA at 800 x 600 at 56, 60, 72 & 75Hz o 1024 x 768 Non-interlaced at 60, 70 & 75Hz
On-screen management, DPMS aware. Curently running with a Techworks Thunderbolt VL: using a Tseng ET4000 w32i chipset
Caveats None OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 sbowers@primenet.com - good
Type 14" SVGA
Manufacturer Panasonic
Model Number C1381
Comments Can (barely) handle 640x480, 72Hz or 800x600, 60Hz. Manual controls. Adequate, but not recommended for a new system. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type 17" SVGA
Manufacturer ViewSonic
Model Number 17G OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Ugly Monitors
Nothing supplied in this category.
Bad Monitors
Type 17" SVGA
Manufacturer Samtron
Model Number SC-726V
Comments 70Hz up to 1024x768, .28dp, analog controls, cheap!
Caveats 1st unit was defective 2nd unit has had problems with a capacitor.. works good now though! OS/2 Version Rated by 2.1 darryl.teichroeb@t8000.cuc.ab.ca - bad
Good Motherboards
Type 486 (any type) EISA/VLB, 486DX2-66, DX2-50, DX-50
Manufacturer AIR
Model Number 486EI
Chip Set SiS, AMI BIOS
Comments VERY solid board. Personally tested with no problems using DX50 and DX2-66. Takes nifty new 72-pin SIMMs. [greck]
Very stable from day one. No problems running OS/2 2.11, or 2.99. Uses 72-SIMMs. Good Docs [jaycee]
Caveats Only 5 of 8 EISA slots are master-capable. [greck]
Memory bank configurations are limited above 16M(28M). [jaycee] OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 greck@catt.ncsu.edu - good < 3.0 jaycee@emh.osan.af.mil - good
Type 486 EISA/VESA, SX/20, 25, DX/25, 33 or 50, DX2/50, 66, P24
Manufacturer AMI
Model Number Enterprise IV
Chip Set AMI
Comments Personally tested with a DX/33 and a DX/50. Uses 72 pin SIMMs. VERY good board! Stable on 2.1 and Warp. Has on-board floppy, 2 16550 compliant serial ports, 1 EPP compliant parallel port, PS/2 mouse port and IDE drive connector. Outstanding docs!
Caveats Six of the seven slots are Bus-Mastering (5 EISA, 1 EISA/VESA) OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 sbowers@primenet.com - good
Type 486DX/50, ISA
Manufacturer Amptron
Chip Set Opti, AMI BIOS, 08/30/91, 256K (20ns) RAM Cache
Comments The system has been used extensively (at least 16 hours a day, sometimes on for a week or so without resetting), and yet is still operating with extreme stability
Caveats Never used with more than 16MB of RAM OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 fredng@io.org - good
Type 486 CPU, PCI bus
Manufacturer Asus
Model Number SP3G; motherboard revision 1.8
Chip Set Intel Saturn II (revision 4), 82420ZX; NCR 53c810 SCSI controller; Award flash BIOS version 4.50G
Comments Includes on-board SCSI, IDE, 2.88MB floppy, two 16550 UART serial, and parallel ports. Uses 72-pin SIMMs in pairs. Has 3 PCI and 4 ISA slots (1 shared slot). Takes 486DX, DX2, and DX4; and Pentium Overdrive CPUs. Includes "green" features (only work with Intel CPUs). Comes with OS/2 drivers for the SCSI port.
Caveats This board reportedly doesn't work with AMD 486DXL-series CPUs, but does work with AMD 486DX-series CPUs, as well as Intel and Cyrix CPUs. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type ISA/VLB Multi-speed Intel Chip
Manufacturer BioStar
Model Number 1433/50AEA-V
Chip Set AMI
Comments 2 VL Bus slots. 6 ISA. 8 32-pin SIMM slots. No ZIF socket. Came with 256K cache. I run mine with an Intel 486DX-66 and 16MB of 70ns RAM - no problems. CMOS settings (and jumpers if I remember right) for setting of clock speed. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 davmp@alumni.caltech.edu - good
Manufacturer generic clone, Intel 386DX20
Model Number ECS 386/32, ISA Bus
Chip Set C&T 8230, 1991 AMI BIOS, no cache
Comments With 8 MB RAM, 2 IDE drives on generic ctrlr, VGA Mono. Just goes to show how primitive a system can still run OS/2 acceptably. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rwh@gov.on.ca - good
Type 486DX2-66 ISA/VLB
Manufacturer Gigabyte
Model Number GA-486VM
Chip Set UMC, AMI BIOS 256K 20ns cache, up to 32MB (2 simm banks)
Comments Reliable, small board
Caveats Not tested with more than 16MB; 1 bank of simms must be filled to work (ie. for 4MB to work, 4 1MB simms must be used) OS/2 Version Rated by 2.1 darryl.teichroeb@t8000.cuc.ab.ca - good
Type 486DX2-66 EISA/VLB
Manufacturer Gigabyte
Model Number GA-486TA
Chip Set SIS,AMI BIOS, 256K (20ns) Cache, up to 128M (standard SIMMS)
Comments The system has been extremely stable.
Caveats Not tested with more than 32MB. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 reinhard@ifki50.informatik.fh-muenchen.de - good
Model Number EISA486P, ME009
Chip Set HiNT, AMI BIOS, EISA/VLB OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Model Number G486HVL
Chip Set HiNT Caesar, AMI BIOS, "Super ISA"/VLB
Caveats "Super ISA" is a subset of EISA; most EISA boards work, but not all. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Type PCI Pentium Motherboard
Manufacturer Intel
Model Number Premier/PCI II 90MHz Pentium
Chip Set Plato
Comments Fast. Very Fast!
Caveats Mine has the Pentium FDIV bug. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 Dave@OCCL-cam.demon.co.uk
Manufacturer Silicon Star, Intel 486DX33
Model Number AV433, ISA/VL bus
Chip Set SIS, AMI BIOS, 06/06/92, 256 K external cache
Comments One known problem (the Pentium APAR) corrected in CSD 2.11.
Caveats Not tested with more than 16 Meg of RAM. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 jim.royer@nmebbs.org - good
Manufacturer generic Taiwan clone, Intel 486DX33
Model Number Rev D2 486SC-P, June 1991, ISA bus
Chip Set Symphony, AMI BIOS, 07/07/91, 128 K external cache
Comments The system has been extremely stable.
Caveats Not tested with more than 8 Meg of RAM. OS/2 Version Rated by 2.0 - 3.0 altstadt@mprgate.mpr.ca - good
Ugly Motherboards
Manufacturer Diamond Model Number FastBus VLB, Flash EPROM revision 1.2I Chip Set Chips & Technologies with Diamond-modified C&T BIOS Comments Problems with speed of QIC-80 backup unit when UltraStor SCSI controller installed. Also some bugs in BIOS. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - ugly ---- Type VL SCSI Manufacturer DTC Model Number DTC 3270 VL SCSI Chip Set SiS Comments Card is *loosely* supported by OS/2. Using the latest *beta* drivers provided by DTC, access times for any units below unit 0 is increased by 10 to 20 *times*. (It usually takes my OS/2 system) 10-20 minutes to boot depending on whether or not it has to run CHKDSK. Better support is gained by ditching current DTC .ADD files and using IBMINT13.I13 which supports only the first two DASD devices at a fairly large but usaeable performance hit (compare 3x slower compared to 10-20x). Latest DTC .ADD files for 3270/3280 dated 11/7/94. DTC is aware of the problem but has *no clue* as to when it will be fixed and a corrected driver released. (They've been saying "A couple of months..." for the past *4* months. Apparently users with 1 drive systems aren't experiencing problems to this degree, however, there is still a slight slowdown even on 1 disk systems. OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 cbwood@cbwood.beva.blacksburg.va.us - ugly ---- Manufacturer Unknown Model Number Laser 9000 Chip Set Unichip U4800 with Ami BIOS, 256K external cache Comments Machine operates with AMD 486DX40 CPU run at 50MHZ, jumper selectable CPU speed, otherwise very stable Caveats System hangs and occasionally reboots when Mediavision PAS-16 uses 16-bit DMA channels, sometimes displays errors about not finding basic ROMS during 16-bit DMA induced reboot, PAS-16 sometimes works flawlessly if there is no hang on system boot-up. Not tested with more than 16MB of ram. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 paltiel@cnj.digex.net - ugly
Bad Motherboards
Type 486DX2-66/256K Manufacturer ASUS Model Number PCI/I-486SP3G Chip Set Intel Saturn II, NCR 53c810 SCSI controller (BIOS V3.06) & PCI-SC200 (for external SCSI devices); Award bios V4.05G (flash Revision 3.02) Comments Includes on-board SCSI, IDE, 2.88MB floppy, two 16550 UART serial, and parallel ports. Uses 72-pin SIMMs in pairs. Has 3 PCI and 4 ISA slots (1 shared slot). Takes 486DX, DX2, and DX4; and Pentium Overdrive CPUs. Includes "green" features (only work with Intel CPUs). Comes with OS/2 drivers for the SCSI port. Caveats Tried two different motherboards. Floppy based tape drives won't work reliably, they hunt or fail on excessive errors(DOS included). Three different drives tried. Won't wake up on incomming calls on a modem attached to built-in com port 2. NE-2100 network card just paused for 10 to 50 seconds at a time. Proaudio Spectrum 16 drops out after randomly. All boards used successfully on other systems. Internal IDE was disabled and only SCSI devices used on board. OS/2 Version Rated by 2.1, 3.0 102176.16@compuserve.com - bad ---- Type 486 CPU, PCI bus Manufacturer J-Bond Model Number PCI400C-A Chip Set Intel Saturn I (revision 2), 82420TX; NCR 53c810 SCSI controller; Phoenix BIOS Comments Manufacturer attempted to blame drivers for the below problem, but changing to the IBMINT13.I13 driver doesn't help. Has 3 PCI and 5 ISA slots (1 shared). Comes with OS/2 drivers for the SCSI port. Caveats Board occasionally crashes when doing SCSI I/O. Disabling the external cache seems to fix this. This is a known Saturn revision 2 bug. As of 9/27/94, J-Bond doesn't use the fixed (Saturn II, revision 4) chipsets. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - BAD ---- Type 486DX2-66, DX2-50, DX-50 Manufacturer Micronics Model Number EISA-VL-Bus (Part #09-173-05 Rev A) Chip Set Intel / Pheonix BIOS Comments Very unstable from day one. Manufacturer support was poor (they refused to call me back, said it was OS/2 and not their board, would not provide RMA for return of Board for them to test; even after I offered to pay for the testing and shipping to and from, etc). Continous Trap 000D, 000E, and 0002 when I was able to even get it to load. Used built-in controllers, even worse. Used 3 different video boards, 2 different HDD/FDD boards, 8 differnt HDD, 4 different FDD, 3 different CPUs, 8 different SIMMs (56Meg, same manufacturer, one of their reccomeded ones and Part #), etc. The only thing I didn't change was the MB itself (even changed the cache). Spent 4 months on this board, over 225 reloads before giving up (PC mag gave this board a #1 reccomendation). Fair Docs P.S. ALL of the hardware used works fine on another MB and my current MB! Some of the problems I am sure are also attributable to the BIOS and not the MB. Caveats When, for the short time periods, it was running it ran like a champ (Better than the AIR I currently use). Fast, clean, crisp. REALLY wish this board worked. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 jaycee@emh.osan.af.mil - bad
Good Multi I/O cards
Type VLBus Manufacturer AIR Model Number Q-Access Chip Set Adaptec Comments Supports 2 IDE, 2 Floppy (up to 1.44 MB), SCSI-II, 2 ser, 1 LPT. Included disk contains required drivers (replacements for OS/2's AHA154x.ADD). With ver 1.0 BIOS, COM ports will not work under OS/2. Problem fixed with V1.01 BIOS. Caveats ASIC emulates a 16450 and cannot be replaced by 16550 OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 jim.royer@nmebbs.org - good ---- Type VESA LB IDE Controller with Multi-Functional I/O Manufacturer Data Technology Corporation (DTC) Model Number DTC 2278VL Comments IDE controller with 2 serial, 1 parallel and 1 game port. Jumper configurable ports, IRQ's, addresses, enable/disable feature. OS/2 2.x drivers available on DTC BBS and found on ftp.cdrom.com. Caveats 16450 UART. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 gsteckma@sdcc15.UCSD.EDU - good ---- Manufacturer GoldStar Model Number IDE Plus-V3, December 1991, ISA BUS Chip Set GoldStar Comments jumper selections for primary, secondary, and disabled floppy and hard drives, jumper selection to disable game port, jumper selections to put COM ports at 1/3 and 2/4, jumper selections to put PRT port at 1/2, jumper selections to put COM and PRT ports at IRQ3, 4, 5, 7, 9, jumper selections to disable COM and PRT ports Caveats ASIC emulates a 16450 and cannot be replaced by 16550 OS/2 Version Rated by 2.0 - 3.0 altstadt@mprgate.mpr.ca - good ---- Manufacturer StarGATE Model Number One Slot combination multiport board, ISA BUS Revision Unknown (Not first revision, known) Comments 4 COM and 3 PRT ports, jumper selections to put COM ports at {4,3,3,3}, {4,3,4,3,}, {4,3,12,15}, {4 AND 3 - with interrupt sharing}, PRT ports at {7,5,5} and {7,7,5}, jumper selections to disable individual interrupts and addresses Caveats Unable to get PRT3 to work under OS/2 2.1GA OS/2 Version Rated by 2.1 paltiel@cnj.digex.net - good ---- Manufacturer ZyXEL Model Number I/O 16550-1, ISA Bus Chip Set HM82C11C, NS16550AFN (National Semiconductor 16550AFN, the real McCoy), HM83450 (16450 clone) Comments Jumper selections for COM ports at 1/3 and 2/4, jumper selections to put PRT at 1/2, both UART chips are socketed. One game port (two can be supported through a "Y" adapter cable). Highly recommended. Caveats Extremely hard to find (my friends have been trying for eight months to no avail) OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 fredng@io.org - good
Ugly Multi I/O cards
Nothing supplied in this category.
Bad Multi I/O cards
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good Multimedia Kits
Nothing supplied in this category.
Ugly Multimedia Kits
Nothing supplied in this category.
Bad Multimedia Kits
Type soundcard with integrated SCSI controller and external cd-rom drive attached to it Manufacturer Media Vision Model Number Memphis Chip Set PAS16, Trantor SCSI, NEC CD-ROM Comments according to documentation, OS/2 2.1 support exists. Not supplied however. In theory everything should work with the standard drivers supplied with Warp... Caveats CD-ROM drive won't initialize; except when you turn the drive off and on again during boot-up. When you change a CD, OS/2 will hang. Had to go through lots of pain before making this conclusion... OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 reinout.van.schouwen@p25.f545.n281.z2.topnet.nl - bad
Good Notebooks
Nothing supplied in this category.
Ugly Notebooks
Type Sub-Notebook Manufacturer Compaq Model Number Contura Aero (4/33C, 4/25, 84, 170 & 250MB HDD) Chip Set CPU: intel 80486SLJ; VGA: Tseng Labs ET4000, 256KB RAM, Compaq BIOS; PCMCIA: VLSI i82365 clone Comments Works well overall. PCMCIA is supported (drivers at ftp.europe.ibm.com in /pub/psmemea/os2drivers/pcmcia/cvlsi3.zip), but not at the same time as the floppy drive (although plug-and-play with the PCMCIA floppy can be 'fudged' - e-mail dcheong@student.ecel.uwa.edu.au for details). note: there is a mailing list for the Contura Aero - send e-mail to listproc@lassp.cornell.edu.au with message text "subscribe aero-l <your name>" Caveats You MUST install sp1073.exe from ftp.compaq.com (Flash BIOS) to get the floppy drive to work when the system is booted from the hard disk. Hence, you must install this BIOS to install OS/2 in the first placewith (although it is possible to do so by response file). This all stems from the lack of OS/2 PCMCIA Floppy drivers. Unfortunately this BIOS does not correctly return the battery status to OS/2, but this is only a minor problem. OS/2 Version Rated by 2.1-3.0 dcheong@student.ecel.uwa.edu.au - ugly
Bad Notebooks
Manufacturer Compaq Model Number Contura 4/25, 4/25c Chip Set Compaq AVGA Comments No drivers for AVGA display adapter (640x480x256) OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 marc@igwe1.vub.ac.be ---- Manufacturer Toshiba Model Number 1910 Satellite Comments I saw this one at a friend's. Sorry, didn't write down the CPU etc. I wanted to try Linux since it can detect PCMCIA chipsets (it is supposed to support the Toshiba PCMCIA chipset) but just never bothered after reading frustrated posts of people trying to talk to Toshiba... Caveats PCMCIA chipset not supported. OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 leeuw@fwi.uva.nl - bad
Good Pointers
Type mouse Manufacturer CompuDyne (CompUSA house brand) Model Number Serial 3-button mouse Comments OS/2 doesn't automatically identify the mouse type when set to 3-button mode, and it's inactive until installation is complete, but it IS supported by OS/2's drivers. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good ---- Type Joystick Manufacturer Gravis Model Number GamePad Comments 4-button game pad permits greater control in games like DOOM and Mortal Kombat Caveats [Strictly speaking, this should not be listed under "good" since OS/2 does not support joysticks, but where else can it go? - ed.] OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 fredng@io.org - good ---- Type mouse Manufacturer Logitech Model Number MouseMan, Serial-MousePort, M-CJ13-9F Comments the serial pointing device drivers supplied with OS/2 recognize that it is a 3 button mouse, although the middle button is unused OS/2 Version Rated by 2.0 - 3.0 altstadt@mprgate.mpr.ca - good ---- Type Serial 3-button Mouse Manufacturer Logitech Model Number First Mouse Comments Works great with OS/2 mouse driver. Very reliable, mine is 2.5 years old and has had zero problems. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 walgate@umr.edu - good ---- Type trackball Manufacturer Mouse Systems Model Number Trackball II, GK-T321 Comments Full support in OS/2 2.1 OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 jim.royer@nmebbs.org - good ---- Type Optical Mouse Manufacturer Mouse Systems Model Number Optical Mouse, M411 Comments OS/2 recognizes the mouse out of the box, never needs cleaning Caveats Mouse must be held perpendicular to pad or screen movement will be jerky OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 paltiel@cnj.digex.net - good ---- Type 3-button optical mouse Manufacturer Mouse Systems Model Number PC Mouse, 403533-001 Comments The mouse is inoperative during OS/2 installation, but becomes active after installation is complete. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good ---- Type mouse Manufacturer Z-Nix Model Number Serial 2-button mouse Comments OS/2 recognizes the mouse out of the box. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Ugly Pointers
Nothing supplied in this category.
Bad Pointers
Type joystick Manufacturer Advanced Gravis Model Number Phoenix Flight and Weapons Control System Comments Caveats Completely incompatible with Warp, Gravis software will not recognize the Phoenix in a DOS session. Gravis' response: "Yep, it won't work and we're not really concerned." OS/2 Version Rated by Warp raddy@unf.edu - bad ---- Type Joystick Manufacturer Logitech Model Number Cyberman Comments Caveats Compatability with WPS and Win-OS2 not tested, I can't imagine this to be a good general purpose mouse. Its strength would be with DOS games that are designed to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, it cannot be used in DOS session, according to Logitech. OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 raddy@unf.edu - bad
Good Printers
Type Bubble Jet, portable Manufacturer Canon Model Number BJ-10ex Comments Driver is not included with OS/2 nor is one available for this model. However, it can be used in IBM Proprinter emulation of 180X180 dpi for OS/2 apps with poor results. Dos and Windows printing works fine for the printer in native 360X360 dpi mode. [walgate] A driver is supplied with OS/2.1 GA, you use the IBM4070IJ driver! This gives you access to all functions and resolutions of this printer!! [rwalford] Use the IBM 4070-IJ driver, which is include with OS/2 2.1 and later. Make sure the printer is in native Canon mode. Text performance is acceptable, graphica performance tends to drag a little, so boost your PRINTMONBUFSIZE settings. [jdunlop] OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 walgate@umr.edu - bad < 3.0 rwalford@mogul.apana.org.au - good < 3.0 jdunlop@db-soft.wmeonlin.sacbbx.com - good ---- Type Bubble Jet Manufacturer Canon Model Number BJ-200 Comments Drivers are available through BBS and Internet. Caveats Printing is almost as good as in MS-DOS/Windows, but not quite. Drivers are being worked on to improve performance. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 walgate@umr.edu - good ---- Manufacturer Epson Model Number Stylus 800 Comments excellent resolution in printing words Caveats OS/2 driver does not support high resolution (360x360dpi) graphics modes. Use a MSWindows or DOS based program with appropriate drivers to print complex graphics or high resolution CAD art. [mhinkle] I never had any problems reaching this resolution. The Stylus 800 driver that comes with Warp is fine. Using JoeView I can print images just as neat as any windows program would do with the supplied windows-driver. [Reinout.van.Schouwen] OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 mhinkle@NMSU.Edu - good 3.0 Reinout.van.Schouwen@p25.f545.n281.z2.gds.nl - good ---- Type color ink jet Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard Model Number DeskJet 1200C Comments Latest HP drivers available from ftp-boi.external.hp.com; these drivers support color printing from OS/2 applications. Caveats Printer may run out of memory when printing large color images. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good ---- Type laser Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard Model Number LaserJet 4L Comments Latest HP drivers available from ftp-boi.external.hp.com. Printer is supported directly by OS/2 out of the box. Caveats Printer jams more frequently than it should. Jams intensify if double-sided (two-pass) printing is attempted from a program which supports this (such as DeScribe). OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good ---- Type 4PPM PCL5 laser printer Manufacturer Hewlett Packard Model Number LaserJet 4P Comments HP quality, 600 dpi, Excellent printer drivers (4P drivers in 2.11) by IBM OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 fredng@io.org - good ---- Type 300/600 dpi laser printer Manufacturer Lexmark Model Number 4039r Comments Driver included with OS/2. Lexmark provides drivers and support software for OS/2 Caveats Rock solid printer, low maintanence, very versatile; PS and HP laserjet emulation; VERY upgradeable, bios and PS interface on flash card, takes HP font cartridges, takes up to 16M RAM; GREAT tech support and manuals from Lexmark OS/2 Version Rated by tested with OS/2 2.1 and Warp scott@wymer.demon.co.uk - good ---- Type printer switchbox: automatic 1-computer/4-printer or 4-computer/1-printer Manufacturer Computer Accessories (CompUSA house brand?) Comments Works in 4-computer/1-printer mode with no special drivers or hardware (except for extra cables) Caveats Not tested in 1-computer/4-printer mode under OS/2; comes with DOS driver software for this, so functionality for this is uncertain. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Ugly Printers
Type B&W ink jet Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard Model Number DeskJet 500 Caveats Margin problems -- depending upon the program, the top margin is from 0" to 0.5" too small, and the bottom margin is correspondingly too large. If it weren't for this, I'd call the printer "good," but this problem can be very obnoxious in some situations. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - ugly ---- Type Ink Jet Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard Model Number DeskJet 520 Comments Successor to DeskJet 500; capable of 300x600 resolution (but see below) Caveats OS/2 printer drivers don't support the 520's 300x600 resolution, only the 500's 300x300 resolution. They also have margins problems with many applications (see comments on DJ500). OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good ---- Manufacturer Hewlett Packard Model Number PaintJet Comments Contains instructions on cleaning, priming, and testing inside printer's chassis on plastic coated quick-ref sheet Caveats OS/2 driver does a bad job at dithering color images, leaving colors too dark, digital on/off switch does not automatically turn printer on when power is supplied, external power supply required for use OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 paltiel@cnj.digex.net - good
Bad Printers
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good Removable Media
- Type
- SCSI-1 interface
- Manufacturer
- Iomega
- Model Number
- Zip 100
- Comments
- Attached to an AMI Enterprise IV motherboard and an Adaptec 2740AT SCSI card. Drivers for OS/2 are not included. Must be purchased separate or downloaded from Hobbes, Compuserve.
- Caveats
- Requires some type of lockdrv.flt driver.The Syquest drivers work better than the Iomega drivers.
OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 sbowers@primenet.com - good
Ugly Removable Media
Nothing supplied in this category.
Bad Removable Media
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good Scanners
Type SCSI-2 / 1200 dpi / 24-bit / Flatbed Manufacturer HP Model Number IIcx Comments Works with Galleria for scanning under OS/2. All windows apps supported. OS/2 Version Rated by <=3.0 dguthrie@iisys.com - good
Ugly Scanners
Nothing supplied in this category.
Bad Scanners
Type hand scanner, 400 DPI by 16.7mil colors Manufacturer Logitech Model Number Scanman Color Comments Not supported by OS/2--uses VxD in scanner software. Ancillary image editting and OCR software works in WinOS2, but you can't scan anything. Uses it's own interface adapter which requires an IRQ. [jeff] No OS/2 drivers supplied or available. The Windows drivers do not work under OS/2, because the are VxD drivers, which do not work under OS/2. And there are no DOS drivers supplied or available. [zalmstek] Caveats Logitech support does not know if and when OS/2 drivers wil be available. The current version of ImpOS2 (v1.2) does not support this scanner. [zalmstek] OS/2 Version Rated by 3.0 jeff@advance.com - bad 2.1-3.0 zalmstek@euronet.nl - bad ---- Type PCY interface Manufacturer Microtek Model Number 600Z Comments No known OS/2 drivers. Not many OS/2 graphics packages. Caveats Using the notbook settings, DOS_Devices I am able to successfully load device driver and scan from Windows software. Some times after a couple of scans the scanner stops responding to the application (PhotoStyler V1.1, Picture Publisher V4.0). Just close the windows session and restart Windows, somtimes I must cycle the power on the scanner.Twain drivers have never worked with this scanner even in straight DOS/Windows (cause divide by zero error).. OS/2 Version Rated by 2.0, 2.1, 3.0 102176.16@compuserve.com - ugly ---- Type hand Manufacturer Reveal (Mustek) Model Number HS150, 400 DPI Grayscale Comments Not directly supported by OS/2. Works well in OS2 DOS or Win session. Uses it's own interface adapter which requires an IRQ. (5-12 supported) OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 jim.royer@nmebbs.org
Good SCSI Host Adapters
Manufacturer | Model Number | Chipset | Type | Comments | OS/2 Version | Rated by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adaptec | AHA-1542C | AIC | ISA | Very reliable with OS/2 drivers, but not as fast as most VLB or EISA controllers. | < 3.0 | rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good |
Adaptec | AHA-2740/2742/2742T | AIC | EISA bus-mastering SCSI-2 host adapter | PhaseEngine™ coprocessor (support scatter/gather, tagged queueing, etc.) really speeds along IO. The T version has two SCSI buses (up to 14 devices). Uses new 50-pin high-density connector. OS/2 drivers in box work great.
Caveats: No cache. |
< 3.0 | greck@catt.ncsu.edu - good |
Adaptec | AHA-2842VL | AIC | VLB | OS/2 drivers included in the card's box. Seems to work fine. [rsmith]
Very stable from day one. Worked great! Just plugged it in and it ran. Great Docs and on OS/2. Drivers enclosed. Built-in BIOS support for a lot of SCSI devices (too many to list), eliminating the need for additional drivers for CDROM, HP scanners, etc. Very configurable too!!! If all cards were this easy you wouldn't GBU! [jaycee] Caveats: Installing OS/2 from a SCSI-based CD-ROM with this controller may require adding the drivers to the OS/2 boot disk and deleting one or two unneeded drivers. [rsmith] To the people and designers of this board, stupendous! Can't think of any others. [jaycee] |
< 3.0 - good | |
Adaptec | AHA-2840 | AIC | SCSI-2 interface card for VL-bus | Driver included in the Kit. Very good documentation. One external SCSI-interface. Easy configuration as BIOS-settings can be modified during boot-time. Fast enough for the fastest available HD (e.g. Seagate Barracuda). Runs stable for 12 month with several devices (CD-ROM, HD's, tape streamer, SYQUEST 250MB). | 3.0 | 100424.3441@compuserve.com - good |
Adaptec | AHA-2940 | AIC-7870 | SCSI-2 Bus Mastering PCI | Fast, up to 10Mb/sec synchronous data rate. On board RISC Processor to handle the transfers. Bios support for HD's and other devices, computer can be booted from SCSI device. One external SCSI port. Easy configuration, BIOS settings could be changed at boot up. PCI bus makes simple installation, just plug it in, no dip switches, no jumpers. Drivers for other devices (CD-ROM, MO, Scanners, etc.) included in box, OS/2 Warp comes with drivers too.
Caveats: Requires PCI IRQ A to be free. BIOS does not support that many different types of devices. |
3.0 | tam@usc.edu - good |
Creative | Sound Blaster 16 SCSI-2 | Adaptec AIC-6360L | ISA SCSI-2 with sound capabilities | OS/2 recognizes the card as an Adaptec 1510/1520 and installs the appropriate drivers. People have reported a 1 Meg/sec transfer rate using hard drives with this card. The card comes with DOS and Windows drivers and software. See the Good Audio cards section for more info.
Caveats: MSCDEX is not included on the diskettes supplied with the card, so if you want to use a CD-ROM with the card under DOS, you will have to obtain mscdex via anonymous ftp. |
2.11 - 3.0 | altstadt@mprgate.mpr.ca - good |
Data Technology Corporation | DTC3270VL | VL-Bus SCSI-2 interface | Standard SCSI Driver included with OS/2 works well. DTC also provides OS/2 driver
Caveats: Modest performance but solid compatibility and good price; very good tech support |
2.1, 3.0 | scott@wymer.demon.co.uk - good | |
NexStor | NXT-93N | NCR 53C825 | PCI Fast SCSI-2 controller | OS/2 driver as shipped was for wrong card. Correct driver installed with no problems. Excellent performance and much cheaper than comparable Adaptec.
Caveats: Make sure it is in a bus master PCI slot. |
< 3.0 | Dave@OCCL-cam.demon.co.uk |
Type SCSI-2 interface, VLB Manufacturer QLogic Comments
Comes with OS/2 drivers, new drivers are available from QLogic BBS. Card also comes with Corel SCSI for DOS, Windows, and OS/2, which includes CD-ROM support. OS/2 Version Rated by 2.1-3.0 pikus@physics.ucsb.edu - good
Manufacturer UltraStor Model Number 34F, VLB Chip Set UltraStor
Comments
Reliable and fast. OS/2 drivers come with card, but may be old; newer drivers available from the usual sources. Does NOT include a floppy port.
Caveats
Older cards have an outdated EPROM that causes OS/2 to crash sporadically. This ROM has a sticker with a number ending in -005, and should be replaced with a -006 EPROM. UltraStor will ship a new EPROM free of charge if needed. If installing OS/2 from a SCSI-based CD-ROM, will need to modify the OS/2 installation disks to include the UltraStor driver.
OS/2 Version Rated by
< 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Ugly SCSI Controller cards
Manufacturer | Model Number | Chipset | Type | Comments | OS/2 Version | Rated by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Future Domain | TMC-1680 (SVP Package) Bios v3.2 | Fast SCSI-II, Floppy controller, ISA Bus | Driver included with OS/2. Updated drivers available. Jumpered settings for:
Caveats: Will not boot OS/2 v2.1, or Warp Beta I/II, off SCSI drive if set to IRQ 15, yet will happily run and access these drives if booted off of IDE drive. (Will boot DOS/Windows, Win NT, Win 95 Beta at IRQ 15.) IRQ14 and IRQ5 both allow OS/2 to boot off SCSI drive. Others not tested. |
< 3.0 | davmp@alumni.caltech.edu - ugly |
Bad SCSI Controller cards
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good Tape drives
Manufacturer | Model Number | Type | Comments | OS/2 Version | Rated by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Archive | Viper 2150S | SCSI-based DC-6xxx drive (250MB max. capacity uncompressed) | Works fine with UltraStor 34F using ASPI driver for GTAK 2.12b. Not tested with other software. | < 3.0 | rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good |
Archive (Conner) | Viper 2525S | SCSI-based DC-6xxx drive (500MB uncompressed) | Works fine with GTAK 2.40. Can read & write Viper 2150S tapes. Tested with UltraStor 34F (works fine) and NCR controller on J-Bond PCI motherboard (works fine, except for crashes due to Saturn chipset bug on motherboard) and NCR controller on Asus SP3G motherboard (works fine). | < 3.0 | rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good |
Colorado Memory System | Jumbo 250MB | QIC-80, floppy interface | Works great with Fastback Plus for OS/2 and BackMaster, with optional higher performance dedicated controller cards available.
Caveats: Bundled DOS and Windows software don't work under OS/2, and no OS/2 backup program is included. |
< 3.0 | fredng@io.org - good |
Conner | TapeStor 250 | QIC-80, floppy interface | Previously sold as Archive XL-80. QIC-80 tape format. BackMaster works with it quite well on four tested machines.
Caveats: Does not come with OS/2 backup software. |
< 3.0 | rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good |
HP | 35480A | SCSI-2 / 4GB DDC | Works FastBack, Backmaster and more | <=3.0 | dguthrie@iisys.com - good |
Iomega | Tape250 | QIC-80, piggy-back on floppy controller cable | Comes with DOS/Win software. Supposedly Iomega is working on OS/2 software. Works great with BackMaster 1.1a | 3.0 | cgraingr@hpb.hwc.ca - good |
Ugly Tape drives
Nothing supplied in this category.
Bad Tape drives
Nothing supplied in this category.
Good Video cards
Manufacturer | Model Number | Chip Set | Comments | OS/2 Version | Rated by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ATI | Graphics Ultra, ISA Bus, 1MB VRAM | ATI mach8 | Although the drivers for mach32 and mach64 are pretty good, the one for mach8 is not worth the hassle to install it. It simply screws up the DOS sessions. [fredng]
I just want to state that I disagree with the 'ugly' rating given the ATI Graphics Ultra by fredng. I have used this card with OS/2 2.0, 2.1, 2.11, and 3.0. Some of the early drivers were less than ideal, but the recent ones work very well. |
< 3.0 2.0 - 3.0 |
fredng@io.org - ugly philb@noif.ncp.bc.ca - good |
Cardinal | VGA700, 1991, ISA BUS | Tseng ET4000, 1 Meg RAM | Completely supported by drivers supplied with OS/2, need to use the supplied DOS support tools to set up refresh rates before running SVGA ON.
Caveats: quite slow |
2.0 - 3.0 | altstadt@mprgate.mpr.ca - good |
Cardex | Challenger | ET4000/W32p | Includes drivers for OS/2 2.x; Warp beta II includes TrueColor support for this board. Comes with 1MB of RAM upgradeable to 2MB | < 3.0 | rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good |
Cirrus Logic | VI-720 | Cirrus CL-GD5434 | OS/2 drivers worked fine. Amazing performance for the price. No OS/2 support for 1280x1024. Minor blitter bug seems to leave black rectangles occasionally. | < 3.0 | Dave@OCCL-cam.demon.co.uk |
Cirrus Logic | CL5426 | Cirrus Logic 5426 | Drivers come with OS/2, but more recent and faster drivers are available by ftp and from BBSes. Caveats: More recent drivers give some people installation problems. Had to re-install old seamless Windows drivers to get them to work on this system. | < 3.0 | rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good |
Diamond | Stealth 64 PCI VRAM | S3 Vision964, Brooktree Bt485 RAMDAC | I have 4 Mb of VRAM. Fast with high resolutions. Max res. at 1600x1200. I don't know how many colors it does at this res. since my monitor can't support it and the manual doesn't say. At 1280x1024 it does 65k colors and it does 24bit color at up to 1152x864. I have my desktop at 1280x1024x65k and it runs at a fine speed. Tested with Intel Premier II motherboard and MAG DX17F monitor. The drivers that come with it works fine for OS/2, but you'll to download the updated installation script and readme file for Warp from Compuserve or the Diamond BBS. VESA bios compatibility without software drivers. Supports DPMS. For people who uses straight DOS too, the DOS performance is good too.
Caveats: I couldn't seem to be able to change my desktop to 1024x768x65k. Everytime I try it, my monitor won't sync to it. Haven't tried changing to other res. yet. Drivers seem to have a glitch when playing videos with MMPM/2. Sometimes the Digital Video Player would just display a blank video window and if you try to play it, the sounds would play, but the window remains blank. Rebooting the system would fix the problem. This card may be getting out dated with the availability of the Stealth 64 Video VRAM which uses the S3 Vision968 chip and accelerates video playback too. |
3.0 | tam@usc.edu - good |
Diamond | Viper VLB w/2MB | Weitek P9000 | Stable from day one. Their driver supports all resolutions I can think of and is available via Internet or their BBS. Zero Wait State is dis/enable/able. Also VGA (IRQ2) is dis/enable/able. Good Docs
Caveats: Only works with 2.1, 2.11, Feringi, or Warp, not anything earlier. Instructions on how to use it with Feringi or Warp is not included with the VLB drivers but can be obtained from the PCI driver. Due its built in drivers some games won't run or require special configurations to run (SimCity 2000, Empire Deluxe) |
< 3.0 | jaycee@emh.osan.af.mil - good |
miro | miroCRYSTAL 8S | S3 805 (VL-Bus) | Don't use the video drivers from S3 (version 2.2) as their WinOS/2 drivers don't work with this card. | < 3.0 | seidel3@wrcs1.urz.uni-wuppertal.de - good |
National Design Inc. | Volante Warp10LB 1 or 2 MB DRAM | S3 86C805 | Fast enough for 640x480x16M 800x600x65536 1024x786x256, S3_16M drivers work superbly with this board, fast in DOS (48 FPS in 3DBENCH)
Caveats: Anything above 1024x768x256 interlaces |
2.1 | darryl.teichroeb@t8000.cuc.ab.ca - good |
Number Nine Computer Corporation | #9GXE Level 11 and #9GXE Level 12 | S3 928 | very fast, up to 76Hz refresh rate at a resolution of 1280x1024, runs with manufacturer drivers and IBM S3 drivers. | < 3.0 | reinhard@ifki50.informatik.fh-muenchen.de - good |
Orchid | Fahrenheit 1280/VLB | S3-805 (?) | Drivers come with some recent OS/2 package; are available from usual sources for other packages.
Caveats: Beta-level S3 drivers from IBM crashed one machine when installing; final S3_16M drivers gave no problems. |
< 3.0 | rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good |
STB | Evolution, 1991, ISA BUS | Cirrus Logic GD-5428, 1 Meg RAM | Requires 3rd party drivers for use under OS/2 2.1. Directly supported under OS/2 2.11.
Caveats: quite slow |
< 3.0 | jim.royer@nmebbs.org - good |
TechWorks | ThunderBolt VL2 VESA bus | Tseng ET4000w32i 2Mb DRAM | This card is the most cross compatible I've seen. It runs with Windows 3.1, NT, Linux & OS/2.
Caveats: Not the fastest but acceptable. Requires a bit of manipulation to use its full capabilities. But this is a limitation of the chipset and not the card. |
3.0 | sbowers@primenet.com - good |
Manufacturer "Color Designer" (generic)
Model Number ?? VL-bus
Chip Set Tseng ET4000, 1 Meg RAM
Comments Completely supported by drivers supplied with OS/2, need to use the supplied DOS support tools to set up refresh rates before running SVGA ON. OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good ----
Type VLB accelerated
Manufacturer generic
Model Number ????
Chip Set Tseng ET4000/W32I
Comments OS/2 drivers included in the card's box (available on ftp.cdrom.com, too). Installation went smoothly, but drivers not as feature-laden as S3 drivers. Fast card (similar to Orchid S3-805 cards in this respect). OS/2 Version Rated by < 3.0 rsmith@psych.colorado.edu - good
Ugly Video cards
Manufacturer | Model Number | Chip Set | Comments | OS/2 Version | Rated by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Diamond | Stealth 32 VLB | Tseng ET4000W | These boards are prone to conflicts with other devices in your system. In a few installations, I've had no trouble getting them to run; in others, nothing would get them to work. They're really hit-or-miss. OS/2 drivers are included in the box.
In talking to the guy that puts together most of our systems, he said that the Diamond Stealth 32 seems to have the most problems with motherboards using the SiS chipset. |
< 3.0 | bobdehn@mprcamnl.wr.usgs.gov |
Bad Video cards
Manufacturer | Model Number | Chip Set | Comments | OS/2 Version | Rated by |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
INFOTEL | Ultra DS600 | S3 801 | This board is a duplicate of the STB Powergraph board, and evidently the architecture of these boards uses an external clock that OS/2 cannot support. 1) no seamless windows, 2) cannot start DOS windows (but can windowize a FS DOS session), and 3) no background processing to FS windows. | < 3.0 | CGaylord@vt.edu - bad |
Prostar (Taiwan) | OTI-087 | (Oak Technology) | Does not work for DOS window or MS window in super VGA - Video sync problems.
Caveats: OK with OS/2 windows. OK in VGA mode. |
< 3.0 | g-fulford@adfa.edu.au - bad |
Publication History
Ver | Date | Release Notes |
---|---|---|
1.00 | 94/04/25 | Initial release. |
1.01 | 94/05/10 | Removed graphics characters, added notebooks, floptical drives. |
1.02 | 94/07/07 | |
1.03 | 94/09/18 | Added IDE controllers, hard disks, and monitors. Changed rodents to pointers. Removed file sizes from history since it was a pain to maintain. |
1.04 | 94/09/24 | Discovered the alphabet. |
1.05 | 94/10/02 | |
1.06 | 94/11/05 | Changed introductory text. Added What's New section, pointers to other sources of help, and OS/2 version numbers. |
1.07 | 95/05/13 | Added submission skeleton. |
1.08 | 95/06/17 | |
1.09 | 95/07/16 | Added Multimedia Kits, Removable Media. |