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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2019 November 28

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November 28

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Computer Peripherals Inc. 7-Pack

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Back side
 
Front side

I recently found this expansion board in an IBM PC XT. Looking online for the name or FCC ID does not lead me to any helpful information. Presumably, the 7-pack refers to it having 7 different features on one PCB, but I can only identify 3, being RAM expansion, the port on the side, and the 26-pin header on the front which leads to another similar connector via a ribbon cable. I would love some assistance in finding what else this card can do and any information about its production. Stilfehler (talk) 18:44, 28 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

FCCID Search is here (I used the "FQU" digits as the grantee code). Some discussion of the card here (Same FCC ID, right?) They are speculating about a real-time clock. I wonder if it has two serial ports because of the two blocks of DIP switches by the 26-pin header? Elizium23 (talk) 19:33, 28 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I can confirm that it has two serial ports, one on the main pcb itself and one attached to a ribbon cable from the 26-pin header. This is probably the reason there are two banks of DIP switches. --Stilfehler (talk) 00:19, 29 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The OKI M5832 chip just below the battery is a real-time clock and calendar (that might count for 2 of 7?): datasheet here. Elizium23 (talk) 19:45, 28 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Given that CPI was chiefly involved with printer technology, I'd be surprised if this wasn't a printer buffer/spooler card. If that DB25 connector is female, it's probably a parallel port - which could (latterly) support up to 8 parallel printers daisy chained off the one port. So I'm guessing (and without the documentation we don't seem to be able to find, a guess is all we can manage) that the "7 pack" version will drive up to 7 printers, and the RAM expansion adds more buffer space to allow more, or larger, print jobs to be stored. Without buffer memory, it was usually the case that a print job would stall the host OS until it was finished printing (as printers were dumb, and had next to no memory of their own). Obviously 7 printers is useless overkill for a normal desktop, but if this were shared over a network (as a print server) using something like Banyan or NetWare, it could allow a whole workgroup to print over the network, to a bunch of printers. -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 22:46, 29 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
In the forum post I linked, CheckIt indicates that it has an RS-232, which would not be out of character for a printer buffer card, as some printers use a serial interface. Elizium23 (talk) 00:01, 30 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I don't recognize that specific card, but multipack cards of that era usually had a real-time clock, floppy controller, HDD controller, serial port, parallel port, RAM expansion, and maybe some kind of CPU or FPU upgrade. 108.46.239.236 (talk) 01:16, 30 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
On second glance I'd expect it to have more pin headers to fulfill all those functions, though... 108.46.239.236 (talk) 01:22, 30 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Actually I can't imagine such a full-featured expansion to have a mere 8-bit expansion bus interface. Elizium23 (talk) 02:05, 30 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
You'd be surprised what they managed even with just ISA. 108.46.239.236 (talk) 04:38, 30 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The card you linked doesn't have CPU, FPU, or HDD controller, which are precisely the kinds of things I was thinking about that would flood an 8-bit XT bus. Elizium23 (talk) 04:10, 1 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I'm almost certain they made one with an 8087 on board, but since I can't find any reference to it online I'll concede the point. 108.46.239.236 (talk) 05:27, 2 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Didn't the 8087 go in a socket on the motherboard? Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 05:39, 2 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I think some of the earliest PCs didn't have the 8087 socket? I distinctly remember seeing a RTC/FPU combo card advertised in the very early days of the PC. 108.46.239.236 (talk) 05:45, 2 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The original IBM PC had a socket for the 8087 (see File:IBM PC Motherboard (1981).jpg). Were there others that used the 8088 or 8086? Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 06:03, 2 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I have never seen an 8088-based PC without a place for an 8087, but I have seen some where they didn't bother installing a socket in the holes. There were a lot of 80486SX PCs with no provision for adding the optional 80487DX, but the 80487DX wasn't really a math coprocessor. It was a variant of the 80486DX that disabled the 80486SX.

I did a google search on "Computer Peripherals 7-Pack PCM1-PSC2 384 KB RAM expansion" and found a page and an image matching the board, but I couldn't find the board on that page. Could someone else please take a look?

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Computer+Peripherals+7-Pack+PCM1-PSC2+384+KB+RAM+expansion%22+%22Classic+Computer+Shop%22

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Computer+Peripherals+7-Pack+PCM1-PSC2+384+KB+RAM+expansion%22+%22Classic+Computer+Shop%22&tbm=isch

--Guy Macon (talk) 04:47, 30 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Has anyone else tried looking on that page to see if I missed something? --Guy Macon (talk) 07:28, 2 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The devices 1488 and 1489 are serial port drivers. So there mus be an UART. Its an serial port, possibly a RS-232. The bottom view shows typical 9 of 25 wires. Jumpers and switches are to set hardware addresses, where die port are, I guess the 26 pin header on to is a LPT port. --Hans Haase (有问题吗) 15:04, 2 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I think you are right. So 384KB of RAM, serial, parallel, and real time clock. Quite a nice combo for an IBM PC XT with 256MB of RAM. I wonder what the other three parts of the "7-pack" are? --Guy Macon (talk) 17:35, 2 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Cant read the 40 pin chip due labeled. I guess it is the UART. The other chips are standard 74xx series and latches, demultiplexers, to split up bus addresses to enable pins, flipflops, drivers, inverters, NAND gates etc. --Hans Haase (有问题吗) 18:53, 2 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks at this point for all replies so far, this was quite helpful already. But I'll stay put here for any new contribution. --Stilfehler (talk) 14:28, 3 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]


December 2019 - From original manual:

Standard features on the 7-Pack include:
1. Memory expansion up to 384KB.
2. An RS232 serial asynchronous port
3. A 20 ma. current loop serial asynchronous port
4. A parallel printer port
5. A clock-calendar
6. Programmable leap year in clock-calendar.
7. Self-charging battery.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.23.105.192 (talk • contribs) 20:43, 3 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Cool! Where did you find the manual? I searched all over and couldn't find it. --Guy Macon (talk) 02:40, 4 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Just bought an IBM 5150 a few days ago, and the "manual" was in one of the IBM binders... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.23.16.198 (talk) 13:39, 4 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, yes. About 1987 I bought a Dell 310 - their first 80386 system. It had a similar binder from Dell about the computer and another binder from Microsoft about BASIC. Those were the days... Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 05:01, 5 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

A new computer with ISA slots!

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I did find something interesting while searching for the above; a new computer with ISA slots!

There is a bit of old automation that I still maintain, and it uses a custom-built ISA card. The above looks like a good alternative to buying a used computer from the ISA era. -Guy Macon (talk) 17:35, 2019

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