Quick update. Found an historic ad of 1992. It's about a 'professional' line of computers.
The models shown have 4MB of RAM pre-installed, upgradeable to ~32MB. Windows 3.0 is also for sale.
And they do run Blockout, of course. That's what a professional computer is supposed to do, after all. 😉

Edit: Also notice the caches.. The 386 has 128KB, for example. Which is what my father's 386DX-40 had, as well.
PCem merely emulates 64KB for a generic 386 (AMIBIOS), by contrast.

Edit: I double checked. It's correct that 128KB are an adequate amount of cache memory for a 386 motherboard. 256KB cause a fine performance boost, even! 🤤

https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/386 … nd-cache.41497/

So PCem is kinda wrong for using a small 64KB cache.
I wonder why the value 64KB was chosen. 🤷‍♂️
Being among the quickest, the emulated OPTI board is almost predestined for a generous cache.

Quick update. Found an interesting blog.
An user had gotten an used 12 MHz mainboard with 4MB of RAM pre-installed (DIP/DIL).
It also uses a Siemens 80286, like mine did back then.

https://vswitchzero.com/2018/07/09/the-286-revival/

Jo22 wrote on 2023-05-18, 21:08:

Quick update. Found an historic ad of 1992. It's about a 'professional' line of computers.
The models shown have 4MB of RAM pre-installed, upgradeable to ~32MB. Windows 3.0 is also for sale.

Yes, at certain point 4 MB of RAM became the factory default for 386DX and above.
And, when the professional line finally got ready for OS/2 1.x, there came the 2.0 version, and raised the memory requirement to 8 MB.

And they do run Blockout, of course. That's what a professional computer is supposed to do, after all. 😉

Nice to see it, the first (and for many years the only) Polish game that also got popular abroad.

BTW: I've got a tower case indentical to the one in that ad.
Obviously brought from Germany - there's a sticker "On-Line Computer Systems GmbH", and the software on HDD was in German.
Originally, there was 386DX-25 inside, currently it hosts my "The Ultimate 386" build, with 386DX-40 and 64 MB of RAM.
The case is built like a tank, and lifting it can be painful, but I love it nonetheless - good old German stuff!

Hi there! Quick update. I've further progressed on the little 286 build. 🙂
The chassis is now painted, the front bezel got some clear acrylic paint for protection.

I've also installed the Gotek, since this build is for testing/demonstration purposes mainly.
The original floppy drive gets a nice little box for resting.

The ES688 sound card is working, too.
I'm using it because it doesn't absolutely need an init utility (has jumpers).
So chances are higher it may work in DOS simulation in OS/2.

So far, I've run a few games and diagnostic programs.
I've also run 3D Benchmark, which gives this PC a 14,6 rating.
Which is a bit strange, since dosdays has lower ratings. It should be 4,9 rather for such a system (16 MHz, Trident 9000). Hm.

http://dosdays.co.uk/topics/get_a_286_running … e_a_386_pt1.php

Anyway, I'm glad to tell you that OS/2 1.3 is running fine in dual-boot with MS-DOS 6.22.
The BOOT command seems to still recognize DOS 6.22 from two years later.

I'll post some OS/2 pictures next time. ^^

Also interesting, just learned about an 80286 PC clone entirely made in Russia/ex-USSR.
Except for the CPU, maybe. Though GDR had succeed in making a replica..

That PC even has installed a Russian EGA graphics card - in '93!
One unit was made in 1993, according to the website.

The PC' s design uses a simplified motherboard with the rest of the hardware on a CPU card.
The keyboard controller and some ISA buffers seem to be on the motherboard.

But all in all, it looks very tindy and clean. The golden connectors (no corrosion!) and transparent ISA slots are pretty, too! 😃👍

It's not the typical messy Russian design someone would expect, I think.
It's rather the scientific, industrial or military design, with all the gold and such. The PCB layout is fine, too.

Sadly, the CPU card has merely 1MB of RAM installed, like my Schneider Tower AT made in 1988 has (also has EGA, but on-board and as Super EGA). That's about 5 years behind, at least.

Or 7 years, if we include the popular Amstrad/Schneider PC 1640 of '86 or' 87, which had EGA graphics, too.

Anyway, if an ISA memory board was installed, there should be no technical reasons why this PC couldn't boot Windows 3.1 or OS/2 1.x.

In fact, good old Windows 3.1 itself might already start-up without the upgrade (if himem.sys loads).
But only a few KBs will remain for Windows applications, then. Clock, Cardfile and Calculator may run.

Source: Wikimedia

http://www.leningrad.su/museum/show_calc.php? … 5&lang=0&test=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYT0shUtqhY

I've found an interesting photo of an early 90s setup..

Except that it isn't a real photography, at all.

See https://kottke.org/18/02/early-90s-computing-nostalgia

Still, the setup is similar to what I had back in the 90s.
An AT compatible PC, a PS/2 style monitor, big gray keyboard..
An CD-ROM drive, a printer and the big PC loud speakers are missing, though. So it's not complete, maybe.

Because back then, shareware CDs were becoming overly popular.
Not having a single-speed CD-ROM drive, at least, was a big drawback.
At least a parallel-port CD drive was an option here.

I mean, Lucas Arts games of the time were available as Talkie versions on CD, for example. So I'm not making things up here.
Virgin games like Star Trek: 25th Anniversary had a Talkie version, too.

Edit: To be fair, though, the PC loud speakers weren't necessary here, maybe.
We could pretend that the ghet.., err, radio cassette recorder on the right has line-in or microphon input.
If so, it could act as an amplifier for the AdLib card inside that Model 5170! 🙂👍

Edit: Here's an example of an external CD-ROM drive.
The rectangular metal case was also used by first gen SCSI CD-ROM drives.
DOS drivers were available for Microsoft CD-ROM Extension (MSCDEX).

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTIYgRvIKw

Grzyb wrote on 2023-05-19, 17:14:

And they do run Blockout, of course. That's what a professional computer is supposed to do, after all. 😉

Nice to see it, the first (and for many years the only) Polish game that also got popular abroad.

Blockout is a classic! ^^
It was even on those shareware compilation disks (floppies).

Btw, there are two modern remakes, too ! 😃👍

https://gamereality.se/blockout/index.php

http://www.blockout.net/blockout2/worldrankin … php?setupid=458

Quick update. Made a quick video about OS/2 v1.1..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYjSNWvxhNE

Quick update. Here's an interesting video about a professional application for an AT/80286 system.
The ROLM PhoneMail system had up to 6,5 MB of RAM in 1989.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdJwel466ss

Speaking of RAM, there's another phenomenon that speaks for a large RAM expansion, especially on MS Windows: memory leakage.
Not all applications give back the allocated memory.

If you're working (multi-tasking) with multiple programs, you loose memory over time.
That's because Windows uses contiguous memory (understandably).
And if memory starts to fragment a lot, it will be inaccessible to Windows, sadly.

On Windows 2.x, you can see this by checking the about dialog and do a comparison before and after you start a couple of little programs.
The memory will become less and less.

OS/2 seems not to suffer as much from that, maybe due to virtual memory.

If you're curious, have a look at my short video that I've uploaded. 😃
There's an example of that shown (the part with Easel/Omaha The Cat Dancer).
- Thanks for watching. ^^

Hi again. Here's a little piece of 90s history, the 'cheap' Mitsumi CD-ROM drive that started it all: LU005(s)

As can be seen from this advertisement from the UK, it was quite a capable little fellow.

The multi-session feature was notable, too. My own Sony SCSI CD-ROM of the time didn't support it.

Built-quality wasn't bad, either. Good plastic, heavy metal, sturdy joints and springs..

For a single speed drive (150KB/s) with a top-loader design, that wasn't the most natural thing.

Edit: OS/2 2.11 or 3.0 had built-in support for this Mitsumi drive and its controller card.

Pre-dating IDE/ATAPI, that combo was one of the earliest being supported out-of-box by operating systems.

The other kind of drives often had a standard SCSI interface or required a proprietary interface card and special drivers.
Like, for example, the ancient Philips CDD 461.

Quick update. I'm making a little pause. 😴 There surely will be updates in near future, though. I have still some projects to complete. 🙂

Hi again! Found and interesting read at virtuallyfun.com about Multi-Tasking DOS 4 and the roots of OS/2..
https://virtuallyfun.com/2023/01/17/looking-b … there-was-os-2/

You should probably read this one too. The Xenix connection to Windows NT:
https://virtuallyfun.com/2023/06/01/fun-with- … some-xenix-fun/

I guess all that work writing Multi Tasking DOS in C paid off. Besides, even that kind of had its start with Xenix in mind too.

the3dfxdude wrote on 2023-06-16, 22:39:

You should probably read this one too. The Xenix connection to Windows NT:
https://virtuallyfun.com/2023/06/01/fun-with- … some-xenix-fun/

I guess all that work writing Multi Tasking DOS in C paid off. Besides, even that kind of had its start with Xenix in mind too.

Thank you very much! It was very interesting to read! ^^
- It's fascinating to see such an early Windows 3.1 Beta GUI, too, by the way.
At this point in time, the "real" Windows 3.1 wasn't out, even. Windows 3.0 MME was the best we had.

Quick update. I've tinkered a bit with OS/2 v1.1 again..
- Hope that's okay, because I still need time (and space) to set up that little 286 (it's fully functional by now).

Okay, so what I did was testing a couple of games and the result is.. impressive! 😳
I mean, there's a little slowdown compared to a real MS-DOS installation, but otherwise they're playable.
With VGA, Sound Blaster and joystick. And mouse.

That's impressive in so far, because the DOS compatibility box was being heavily criticized back then.
I mean, it's understandable that the box is being criticized, it's very limited and doesn't use V86.
There's no EMS or XMS, just about 640KB of conventional memory. But that memory is mostly free, at least.

The only game that needed special treatment was Lemmings.
I had to use the EGA game and PS/2 machine selection (AdLib and mouse worked fine).

So yeah, if I had lived in 1990 with a 286 PC running early OS/2, most common things would have worked. 😀 👍
The "loss" of XMS and EMS could have been fixed somehow, maybe, as well.
A bootable system diskette with MS-DOS 4 or 5 would have been able to load himem.sys and read the FAT-formatted HDD, at least.

PS: Attached a few example pictures for you!

There's no sound card support in any native OS/2 1.x apps, right?

I know that MMPM appeared sometime around OS/2 2.11 or Warp 3, but in theory it should be possible to use a sound card without MMPM - though I doubt if anybody ever cared...

Grzyb wrote on 2023-06-25, 11:50:

There's no sound card support in any native OS/2 1.x apps, right?

I know that MMPM appeared sometime around OS/2 2.11 or Warp 3, but in theory it should be possible to use a sound card without MMPM - though I doubt if anybody ever cared...

That's quite an interesting question, actually!

While I do know that some Windows 3.0 games had music support* before MCI/WinMM, I'm not sure about OS/2.

I mean, in theory, AdLib support is easily possible. It's just a port write to 388h/389h.
Some Windows 3.1 and 95 games did that, in order to support true FM rather than just MIDI.
Warpath!, Dominate and some Sega PC titles come to mind..

Re: Boxedwine (Wine on multiple platforms)

(Some "FM Organ" program did do that, too.)

But here comes OS/2! It uses memory-protection and privilege levels by making (near) full use of the x86 ring scheme.
It's not just using rings 0 and 3, for kernal space and user space, but also ring 2 (graphics system ?).

So I'm not sure if OS/2 applications can directly fiddle with i/o ports.
Hm. Maybe they can. Indirectly, I mean. If they call a device driver or an DLL that has the required privilege level.

On Windows NT, the PortTalk DLL serves a similar purpose, I believe.
It allows DOS and Windows 9x programs to talk to PC Speaker or parallel port (Windows has no LPT port API).

(*Super Tetris had direct MPU-401 support)

Meanwhile, I've found pre-MMPM/2 driver and utilities for Sound Blaster cards - search for "sbos2new.zip".
But that's for OS/2 2.0, still no trace of anything sound-related for 1.x.

It's possible for OS/2 userland programs to access I/O ports, but I don't know about servicing IRQ and DMA.

Grzyb wrote on 2023-06-26, 10:10:

Meanwhile, I've found pre-MMPM/2 driver and utilities for Sound Blaster cards - search for "sbos2new.zip".
But that's for OS/2 2.0, still no trace of anything sound-related for 1.x.

It's possible for OS/2 userland programs to access I/O ports, but I don't know about servicing IRQ and DMA.

Thank you very much ! I'll have a look at it soon.