Mountain Racecard-286: looking for drivers and jumpers descriptions \ VOGONS

Mountain Racecard-286: looking for drivers and jumpers descriptions

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First post, by jheronimus

Posted on 2021-03-24, 00:38

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Hi, all

Just bought this card, going to get it (hopefully) in about 10 days:

This is a Mountain Racecard-286, a 286 upgrade card for XT computers. The card is actually made by PC Technologies.

Unlike cards like Orchid Tiny Turbo this board does not have a hardware switch or a socket for the XT CPU, the CPU speed is chosen through software. I was wondering whether anybody has the drivers for this card and/or the jumpers description.

Supposedly many versions of the card were available: the original PCT 286 Express, Tandy 286 Express, Kodak/Verbatim Data Life CPU Card, Micro1 286 SpeedCard, Viktor Speed Pak 286 and Maynard Surpise!286, though there is no way of telling which of them are identical and which of them are not.

These cards are also mentioned in a review in 80 Micro, and it looks like they were priced differently:

According a different review (can't find the link at the moment) the cards also differed in functionality: e.g., some cards were EGA-compatible and others used an earlier design from PC Technologies that wouldn't work with EGA.

Does anybody have any additional info on this card or any of its variations? So far I've only been able to find the manual and drivers for the Tandy version of 286 Express card, but it remains to be seen whether or not these drivers will work for the Racecard-286. The board layout is definitely different, and the card has DIP switches instead of jumpers:

Last edited by jheronimus on 2021-10-29, 20:37. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 1 of 11, by Horun

Posted on 2021-03-24, 02:57

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Very interesting ! I never saw a CPU upgrade card that actually had the removed 8088 plugged back into the Upgrade card.
Will look around but do not think will find anything. You might PM feipoa as he has worked with more cpu upgrade cards than anyone AFAIK.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 2 of 11, by jheronimus

Posted on 2021-03-24, 10:27

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Horun wrote on 2021-03-24, 02:57:

Very interesting ! I never saw a CPU upgrade card that actually had the removed 8088 plugged back into the Upgrade card.

I think for XT accelerators that is actually a norm rather than exception. The odd thing here seems to be a lack of a hardware turbo switch

Will look around but do not think will find anything. You might PM feipoa as he has worked with more cpu upgrade cards than anyone AFAIK.

Thanks, will do!

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Reply 3 of 11, by Doornkaat

Posted on 2021-03-24, 10:42

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Maybe you switch between processors using one of the typical key combinations used for switching between turbo and deturbo mode on other machines?

Reply 4 of 11, by jheronimus

Posted on 2021-03-24, 10:53

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Doornkaat wrote on 2021-03-24, 10:42:

Maybe you switch between processors using one of the typical key combinations used for switching between turbo and deturbo mode on other machines?

That is definitely how it’s done, but judging by the Tandy model of the card, you need to either load a .sys driver or use a utility for that. I don’t think this card has a BIOS of its own.

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Reply 5 of 11, by feipoa

Posted on 2021-03-24, 11:33

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Unfortunately, I have never used this accelerator card before. User Anonymous Coward has pretty much tested every 286 upgrade known to exist. I think he's your best bet for info.

Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.

Reply 6 of 11, by Doornkaat

Posted on 2021-03-24, 12:07

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jheronimus wrote on 2021-03-24, 10:53:

Doornkaat wrote on 2021-03-24, 10:42:

Maybe you switch between processors using one of the typical key combinations used for switching between turbo and deturbo mode on other machines?

That is definitely how it’s done, but judging by the Tandy model of the card, you need to either load a .sys driver or use a utility for that. I don’t think this card has a BIOS of its own.

Oh, ok. You can probably tell I have next to no clue about those cards.😅

Reply 7 of 11, by jheronimus

Posted on 2021-03-29, 22:33

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Still waiting for the card, but in the meantime it has dawned on me. Here's another photo of the card:

I thought the 8088 should be piggybacked into the end of the cable that goes into the motherboard CPU socket, but apparently it is not. The socket on the card is for the 287 FPU. So the card only has one CPU and as such doesn't need to switch between the two.

Furthermore, I've found a review on the original PCT 286 Express card, and it specifically mentions that the card didn't come with any driver disk:

So, the good news is that I don't need to find any software for the card. The bad news is, of course that if it works, I'm going to lose XT compatibility. My 1000SX does have original Tandy DOS3.2 installed with a modified mode.com utility that can slow the CPU down, and it worked reasonably well even with a V20, though.

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Reply 8 of 11, by Horun

Posted on 2021-03-30, 02:43

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heheh yeah I had never heard of one that you put the 8088 in to the upgrade but have very limited experience with the old XT cpu upgrades.
Well is good you do not need a driver and think most back then would have bought the upgrade (instead of buying a new computer) to run Windows 2 or newer apps on it and not for old XT style gaming... just a thought.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 9 of 11, by ia2115

Posted on 2021-11-28, 11:57

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Did you find out more about this card @jheronimus ? i have this exact same card, and also need jumper settings and documentations on it 😉

Reply 10 of 11, by jheronimus

Posted on 2021-11-28, 12:36

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Nah, I didn’t. But I’ve posted a review that says it didn’t come with any drivers. Jumpers remain a mystery, though

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Reply 11 of 11, by ia2115

Posted on 2021-11-28, 19:17

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@feipoa do you know this Verbatim Data Life CPU Card ? or has some dokumentation on them?

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