MBF COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL FIELD INFORMATION BULLETIN SERVICE GROUP(S): MICRO MFG: IBM NACS TYPE(S): 5150,9150 MFG. MODEL(S): 5150 CATEGORY: CPU DESC: PERSONAL COMPUTER *** TABLE OF CONTENTS AS OF 12/19/90 *** FIB 00001.General Information.........................................06/09/87 FIB 00002.AST RAMCLEAR.COM Rev 4.0 FAILURE............................07/28/87 FIB 00003.DISTORTION ON MONITOR.......................................07/28/87 FIB 00004.ERRORS WHILE PRINTING OR PLOTTING FROM THE ASYNC PORT.......07/28/87 FIB 00005.Parity check 2 with no location given.......................07/28/87 FIB 00006.PRINT BLOCK CHARACTERS IN PLACE OF CAPITAL LETTERS..........07/28/87 FIB 00007.DEFECTIVE DMA CHIPS.........................................07/28/87 FIB 00008.TESTING FLOPPY DISK DRIVES AS THE 3RD AND 4TH DRIVES........07/28/87 FIB 00009.PC-DOS/ DNA NETWORK SOFTWARE INCOMPATIBILITY................07/28/87 FIB 00010.RAMPAK PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC ARRAY.............................07/28/87 FIB 00011.DISPLAYWRITE II TO C.ITIOH P 1351 PRINTER...................07/28/87 FIB 00012.FORMATTING HARD DRIVES ON WESTERN DIGITAL CONTROLLERS.......07/28/87 CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------Table Of Contents Pg01 of 01 FIB 00001 06/09/87 *** General Information *** *** NACS MACHINE TYPES AND FEATURE NUMBERS *** 5150,9150 *** AVAILABLE DOCUMENTATION *** SHDBK-589 IBM PC TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL SHDBK-590 IBM PC HARWARE MAINTENANCE & GUIDE SHDBK-630 IBM PC GUIDE TO OPERATION SHDBK-628 IBM DOS 3.2 OPERATING SYSTEM SHDBK-878 NACS IBM PC HANDBOOK SHDBK-640 IBM TECH REF FOR OPTIONS/ADAPTERS SR28-0280 PERSONAL COMPUTER FAMILY SERVICE INFORMATION MANUAL *** AVAILABLE TRAINING *** IBM MICRO FAMILIARIZATION COURSE *** DIAGNOSTICS *** IBM ADVANCED DIAGNOSTICS included with hardware maintenance manual PC000777 Sorbus diagnostics *** SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES *** *** COMMON PARTS *** PC000001 8529205 SYSTEM BOARD PC000011 8529155 POWER SUPPLY 63.5 WATTS PC000020 4584656 KEYBOARD PC000005 8529146 COLOR MONITOR ADAPTER PC000006 8529148 MONO/PRINTER ADAPTER PC000007 8529149 PARALLEL PRINTER ADAPTER PC000008 8529150 ASYNC COMM ADAPTER PC000010 8529152 DISKETTE ADAPTER YY004541 8529142 16K RAM MODULE ORIGINATOR: R. ROWE CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------FIB001 Pg001 FIB 00002 07/28/87 *** AST RAMCLEAR.COM Rev 4.0 FAILURE *** IBM PC's XTs or Compatibles with memory that is not cleared during Power On Self Test, such as above 544K on a PC1 or memory above Video RAM (C0000-EFFFF), must be initialized before the memory can be used. AST supplies RAMCLEAR.COM to accomplish this. RAMCLEAR on the AST Rev 4.0 diskette has an eror in it. It fails to clear memory from C0000 thru C000F. When subsequent programs are run that utilize this area they may fail with "PARITY CHECK 2". This problem is corrected with RAMCLEAR.COM on Version 4.1 and above diskettes. ORIGINATOR: Jim Wilson 10/17/85 CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------FIB002 Pg001 FIB 00003 07/28/87 *** DISTORTION ON MONITOR *** CAUSE: The monitor is being affected by a magnetic field from the system. CORRECTION: The problem can be corrected by: 1. Relocating the monitor. 2. Put a magnetic shield between the system and the monitor. The customer may want to order the shield for his system. It can be ordered in a roll from: Magnetic Shield Division Profection MICA 740 Thomas Road Bensonville, ILL. 60106 ATTN: Tom Wheeler (312) 766-7800 ORIGINATOR: DAVID SCHAUB CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------FIB003 Pg001 FIB 00004 07/28/87 *** ERRORS WHILE PRINTING OR PLOTTING FROM THE ASYNC PORT *** PROBLEM: The printer or plotter will detect errors or print garbage. CAUSE: The Async UART may be slow to respond to the CTS (clear to send) controll signal. If the UART is a National Semiconductor (INS8250 N-B) it may be the cause. SOLUTION: Replace the UART with a Western Digital UART # WD8250-PL-OO. (Sorbus Part Number YY9733). ORIGINATOR: Ken Lovelady Mike Greil CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------FIB004 Pg001 FIB 00005 07/28/87 *** Parity check 2 with no location given. *** SYMPTOM: Intermittent parity check 2 with no location given even after replacing all of the RAM on PERSYST TIME SPECTRUM board. CAUSE: Two 74LS158N IC's at locations Z56 and Z61. CORRECTION: Replacing the IC's with 74LS258N's (Sorbus YY013736) or replace the board with one that has been upgraded. PERSYST (Mike Hoby) ORIGINATOR: Stewart Davis CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------FIB005 Pg001 FIB 00006 07/28/87 *** PRINT BLOCK CHARACTERS IN PLACE OF CAPITAL LETTERS *** MICRO PRODUCTS PARALLEL When printing to a Nec 3350 Printer with Diplay Write II or Multimate (possibly other word processing program). A block is printed in place of capital letters. This symptom occurs after the printer has become busy due to a full buffer. The problem can be corrected by: 1. Obtaining a software patch from the dealer. 2. Execute the following: DOS command before using the Word Processor. MODE LPTI:,,P ORIGINATOR: J. HILL CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------FIB006 Pg001 FIB 00007 07/28/87 *** DEFECTIVE DMA CHIPS *** The DMA chip manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) known as the 8237 or 9517 could cause the system to lock up or crash if two of the PC's DMA channels are used at the same time. The defective chip could cause: 1. Bad data to be written to the fixed disk. 2. Lock up the system. 3. Improper operation on LAN boards. 4. Improper operation of Communication boards. 5. Improper operation of Tape drives. ORIGINATOR: J. HILL CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------FIB007 Pg001 FIB 00008 07/28/87 *** TESTING FLOPPY DISK DRIVES AS THE 3RD AND 4TH DRIVES *** MICRO PRODUCTS FLOPPY DISK DRIVES To conveniently test a floppy disk drive on a PC or XT: 1. Connect a signal cable from the DB-37 connector on the rear of the floppy disk drive adapter (PC-10) to the drive. (cable part # MC23103-6 from Sorbus Supplies). 2. Use a PC power supply to provide power to the drive. 3. Use diagnostics to test the drive. ORIGINATOR: Paul Schaub CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------FIB008 Pg001 FIB 00009 07/28/87 *** PC-DOS/ DNA NETWORK SOFTWARE INCOMPATIBILITY *** MICRO PRODUCTS NETWORKS I have recently come accross an incompatability problem which occurs when a customer is running DOS and the software to support DNA's network. I have found 3 different problems: 1. Iomega Bernoulli Box disk copy program hang up. 2. PC-DOS's "More.Com" program display blank lines on the screen using DNA software version 2.12. 3. PC-DOS's "Format.Com" program doesn't work for floppy diskettes using DNA software version 2.16. To test for these "errors", I remove the network software and try the other software again. If this cures the problem, I have the customer contact DNA for a solution. Device Networks Architecture (DNA) Networks DevelopmentCorp. P.O. Box 1785 West Chester, PA 19380 215-296-7420 ORIGINATOR: Tom Dianora CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------FIB009 Pg001 FIB 00010 07/28/87 *** RAMPAK PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC ARRAY *** TECH TALKS PERSYST MICRO PRODUCTS RAMPAK The PERSYST TIME SPECTRUM Module with RAMPAK requires a specific memory addressing PLA (programmable logic array) based on the PC module and memory capacity of the system. If your PERSYST RAMPAK was attached to your TIME SPECTRUM board at the factory, a special PLA for the IBM PC or XT (256KB motherboard) was installed on the Time SPECTRUM. (That PLA has a brown dot and green dot on it). If that PLA is incorrect for your system according to the table below, insert the PLA (two green dots, shipped in your TIME SPECTRUM package) in your TIME SPECTRUM board according to instructions given in the RAMPAK INSTULLATION GUIDE, Section 5.1. If your RAMPAK is not attached to a TIME SPECTRUM board when you receive it, two PLAs are attached to RAMPAK. Select the correct PLA from the table below based on your model of IBM PC and install the PLA following the instructions given in the RAMPAK INSTALLATION GUIDE, Section 5.1. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 16-641C ORIGINAL PC XT PC X ORIGINAL PC with 64-256K with with PC Exp Box New PC 128KB 256KB -------------------------------------------------------------------- Max Memory 544KB 640KB 640KB 640KB 640KB Supported System 64KB 64KB 256KB 128KB 256KB Board Mem Max Additional 484KB 576KB 384KB 512KB 384KB Memory PLA to Use Green/ Green/ Brown/ Green/ *Brown/ . (Dot Colors) Green Green Green Green Green * PLA used on TIME SPECTRUM/RAMPAK (assembled) shipped from factory. ORIGINATOR: J. HILL CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------FIB010 Pg001 FIB 00011 07/28/87 *** DISPLAYWRITE II TO C.ITIOH P 1351 PRINTER *** MICRO PRODUCTS SOFTWARE WORDSTAR The IBM wordprocessing program display writer II, has been through two (2) revisions so far; revision 1.0, and revision 2.1. Problems have surfaced in the program when interfacing a C.ITIOH P1351 parallel printer with a 3270 compatable PC. When using the compressed print option and trying to print the printer will remain in 10 CPS. In order to correct this problem it is necessary to do two things. First you will need to upgrade your software to 3.0. (IBM's newest revision). Second you will need to remove your parallel adapter from the seventh slot in your XT and put it in any slot except 7, or 8. With the parallel card in slot 6 you will find that you can change your character spacing at will with ease. IBM has changed their software in their recent ver 3.0 to offer you two (2) more printer driver options. Currently, the 2.1 revision offers you four (4) optional drivers, A-D. 3.0 now offers the following: E. Permits you to designate your own driver perameters. F. Allows you to choose a driver for the newest IBM graphics printer. ORIGINATOR: Robert T. Vosburg CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------FIB011 Pg001 FIB 00012 07/28/87 *** FORMATTING HARD DRIVES ON WESTERN DIGITAL CONTROLLERS *** TECH TALK WESTERN DIGITAL MICRO PRODUCTS 5150-5160 When installing a new or replacement hard drive in a IBM - PC with a Western Digital Hard Drive Adapter, you must run a special format accessed through Debug on the Supplemental Programs DOS disks. Run Debug and at the "-" prompt enter "G= C 800:5", accept the standard defaults and the drive will format. After this format is complete, run the standard FDISK and FORMAT routines and the drive will be ready to go. ORIGINATOR: Howard Wilkens, Kansas City. CPU-IBM-5150----------------------------------------FIB012 Pg001