23392 1JAN95-0354 T1000/1200/3000 RE: HD without boot sector (Re: Msg 23391) From: WALTBOYD To: WESF On 31-DEC 22:02 WESF said to ALL > I have a Tandy 3000HD with internal 40 meg hard drive. A while ba to purchase a Phoenix C&T BIOS and an AMI C&T BIOS. Both machines now have full access to UMB'S. These C&T BIOS's are 256K and turn my 3000's into great AT's. I do not know if there is any real difference between the 3000NL and the 3000HD. Since its been a couple of years, I do not know the current price for these BIOS replacements, but I would recommend checking out companies OTHER THAN TANDY before you buy. Several of these firms advertise in PC Magazine and Computer Shhopper. If the Tan dy BIOS replacement will activate the C&T Neat Chip Set then I would go for it. $15.00 is a very good price. If it will not activate the C&T Neat Chip Set then $69.00 is a much better price. Bye the way, I have been able to install IDE drives in both of these machines WITH NO PROBLEMS. One I even had an RLL controller and an IDE operating simultaneously. Windows did not like the arrangement and worked VERY slowly - but it did work. Good luck in your search. -*- 23394 1JAN95-0826 T1000/1200/3000 RE: IDE hard drive and 3000HD (Re: Msg 23343) From: TAHITI To: WESF After the BIOS upgrades I mentioned in message 23393, one of my 3000's is running a 540 Western Digital and the other a 420 Connor. NO PROBLEMS. -*- 23395 1JAN95-0842 T1000/1200/3000 RE: upgrade Tandy 1000 TX (Re: Msg 23350) From: TAHITI To: HRHJR (NR) Though I have accumulated several machines over the years I am typing this on a 1000SX with a 286 accelerator card (286 Express - Company now defunct). The TX is the same machine but with a 286 processor built in. I have tried several different hard driv es in this machine using NON TANDY CONTROLLER CARDS and found them all to work. 1. A 65MG Mitsubishi with a DTC RLL XT controller card worked fine. I had full access to the 65MG's even though some people said I would not. 2. A 540MG Western Digital using a Acculogic IDE XT controller. 3. A 30MG Seagate MFM using a DTC MFM XT controller card. Radio Shack people will allways tell you you must buy TANDY. Not true. By the way, I have been able to creat 48K of UMB's on this machine using the Micro Mainframe Board and QRAM. PCM could not do it, but I have tried the same process on one other SX and a TX and it worked in both cases. If anyone is interested just let me know. -*- 23396 1JAN95-0846 T1000/1200/3000 RE: upgrade Tandy 1000 TX (Re: Msg 23355) From: TAHITI To: WESF There is a program which came with my 3000 setup disks called SPEEDNL. When you type in SPEEDNL 10,10 this program increases the bus speed to 10MHz. Works in my machines. -*- 23397 1JAN95-0931 T1000/1200/3000 RE: IDE hard drive and 3000HD (Re: Msg 23371) From: TAHITI To: WESF My experience indicates that the "Tandy tech support guy" does not know what he is talking about. -*- 23398 1JAN95-1218 General Information From: HOWTAN To: ALL Wishing you and yours a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 1995! Howard Tanger -*- 23399 1JAN95-2203 T1000/1200/3000 RE: HD without boot sector (Re: Msg 23392) From: WESF To: WALTBOYD I agree it is probably just a sign of old age. I have used Microsoft's SCANDISK that came with DOS 6.2, but it doesn't show up anything. The only time it has crashed was when I was inside it working on something, only minor stuff like putting in another card. I guess it's just ready to die! Wesley -*- 23400 1JAN95-2204 T1000/1200/3000 RE: tandy 3000hd (Re: Msg 23393) From: WESF To: TAHITI Thanks. I think I will probably just get a job and a new computer though. This one has about had it, and is tooo slow. Wesley -*- 23401 1JAN95-2205 T1000/1200/3000 RE: IDE hard drive and 3000HD (Re: Msg 23394) From: WESF To: TAHITI That's what I figured. The BIOS was just plain tooooooo old. Wesley -*- 23402 1JAN95-2207 T1000/1200/3000 RE: IDE hard drive and 3000HD (Re: Msg 23397) From: WESF To: TAHITI After calling Tandy's 800 number for tech support, I have found they are usually a good help. Now as for the guys in my local store...I think they should change their slogan to something other than "You've got questions, we've got answers, so and so speaking", because they rarely have the answer to my tough computer questions... Wesley -*- 23403 2JAN95-1544 General Information 486/25mz upgrade From: MORRIS234 To: ALL hello all, please pardon my ignorance, I would like to upgrade my "Tandy Sensation" 486sx 25mz with an overdrive and maybe more Ram ,but I doen't know what the correct chip names to even shop for them. Thanks Robert -*- 23404 3JAN95-2151 General Information RE: 486/25mz upgrade (Re: Msg 23403) From: WESF To: MORRIS234 You would be looking for a 486 sx/25 overdrive processor, and I'm not sure where you would need to look for one of those...your computer probably uses SIMM chips for memory, and there again, I don't know what speed, etc. the sensation uses... Wesley -*- 23405 4JAN95-2139 T1000/1200/3000 hd crash From: WESF To: ALL Would moving or jarring a hard drive without the heads parked cause it to lose its boot sector and have to be reformatted? Wesley -*- 23406 6JAN95-1911 T1000/1200/3000 RE: hd crash (Re: Msg 23405) From: STANB To: WESF Hi Wesley, I guess it _could_ happen. However, I've been led to believe that hard drives these days are self-parking. Of course, if it's an older hard drive then YMMV. :-) Stan -*- 23407 6JAN95-2048 T1000/1200/3000 RE: IDE hard drive and 3000HD (Re: Msg 23402) From: LLASHER To: WESF Can you give that number? I need toa contact them. -*- 23408 6JAN95-2213 T1000/1200/3000 RE: hd crash (Re: Msg 23406) From: WESF To: STANB That's what I was wondering (the drive is 9 years old...). Maybe it isn't ready to die after all ;-) Wesley -*- 23409 6JAN95-2214 T1000/1200/3000 RE: IDE hard drive and 3000HD (Re: Msg 23407) From: WESF To: LLASHER The number for what? Wesley -*- 23411 7JAN95-2055 General Information RE: tandy 4000lx math co problem (Re: Msg 23384) From: TVDOG To: GTABERWB8LUJ (NR) I can't answer specific questions about the 4000LX, but a 33 or 40 MHz 387 will work fine at 20 MHz. The speed rating is a maximum determined by testing after the parts were manufactured. tvdog -*- 23412 7JAN95-2125 T1000/1200/3000 RE: My color has gone green!!! (Re: Msg 23389) From: TVDOG To: CHAZ37 (NR) Regarding the monitor going green, it's likely a problem with either the monitor or the monitor cable. Check the monitor cable for continuity, then borrow a CGA monitor from someone and see if the problem persists. If the monitor is faulty, you shouldn't try to repair it yourself unless you're a trained technician; a monitor can hold a deadly electric charge (up to 35,000 volts) for up to a week after it's unplugged. There are used CGA monitors around for $50 or less. I can't see that DOS 6.2 would be causing the problem. It also seems unlikely that DeskMate would cause it. DeskMate *does* store the first 6 colors (4 on the TX) in EEPROM, however; play around with the colors\ in DeskMate Setup. I'm assuming you still use the built-in video. Regarding the 4 DIP switches, there are two types of TX motherboards, the original and the Cleburn model. Both have a set of 4 DIP switches. The Cleburn also has a second set of 2 DIP switches near the keyboard jack. Here are the DIP switch settings for the original TX motherboard: 1 OFF composite mono monitor ON CGA monitor (default) 2 OFF hard drive uses IRQ 5, video uses IRQ 2 (IBM standard) ON hard drive uses IRQ 2, video uses IRQ 5 (default) 3 OFF floppy controller IRQ 6 disabled ON floppy controller IRQ 6 enabled 4 OFF printer port IRQ 7 disabled ON printer port IRQ 7 enabled (default) (3 is ON by default.) Here are the DIP switch settings for the main block of 4 switches on the Cleburn motherboard: 1 OFF composite mono monitor ON CGA monitor (default) 2 OFF on-board IRQ 5 disabled ON on-board IRQ 5 enabled (default) 3 OFF on-board IRQ 6 disabled ON on-board IRQ 6 enabled (default) 4 OFF on-board IRQ 7 disabled ON on-board IRQ 7 enabled (default) Jeff (tvdog) -*- 23413 7JAN95-2133 T1000/1200/3000 RE: upgrade Tandy 1000 TX (Re: Msg 23395) From: TVDOG To: TAHITI Could you mail or post the instructions for creating 48k of upper memory blocks on the Micro Mainframe card? I have a 1000TL with that EMS card and would be interested in how that is done. Question: do you lose access to expanded memory when you do this? Thanks in advance. Jeff (tvdog) -*- 23414 8JAN95-1914 T1000/1200/3000 RE: upgrade Tandy 1000 TX (Re: Msg 23413) From: TAHITI To: TVDOG Just uploded text file today with all the information. Should be posted soon. Keywords OTHER, TANDY. File name MIC_UMB.TXT. Hope it works on your machine. -*- 23415 11JAN95-0209 T1000/1200/3000 RE: upgrade Tandy 1000 TX (Re: Msg 23414) From: TVDOG To: TAHITI Got MIC_UMB.TXT. Thanks. Jeff -*- 23416 11JAN95-1949 T1000/1200/3000 Tandy 1000 EX From: SZIEMBA To: ALL Anybody know if there is a way to add a high density floppy disk drive to a Tandy 1000 EX? Hate to get rid of it as it has served me well and I don't care if it can't run windowy won't be able to use 100% of the drive. Important things are to match # of heads and sectors/track. then look for a drive type that has close but NOT over the # tracks actually on the disk. Good Luck. Greg Lentz(GLENTZ) -*- 23419 13JAN95-0037 General Information RE: pc (Re: Msg 23387) From: GLENTZ To: SERAPIONS (NR) Don't have any suggestions for DOS 6.22 or Windows. I suggest the bookstore and just look through some of the computer reference books to see what fits your needs. Greg Lentz(GLENTZ) -*- 23420 13JAN95-0050 T1000/1200/3000 RE: upgrade Tandy 1000 TX (Re: Msg 23395) From: GLENTZ To: TAHITI I also have used third party HD controllers with no problem. In fact I have a Seagate RLL XT controller running the same 65MB Mitsubishi as well as an old SEagate 30MB MFM that was pushed out to 43MB because of the differences in RLL and MFM technology. I tried an Acculogic Rampat+ Memory card but it wouldn't because of some kind of weird tandy bus timing. INtel ABove Bd ISA and Intel Matched Memory classic board work fine. I keep thinking about switching to IDE and the Acculogic was one of only a few choices but I was worried it wouldn't work. Now I know it does. By the way the Intel ABove Bd gives me 96K of free UMB's after using 16K for the EMS driver. QRAM has access to all of it as well as DOS 5.0 Loadhigh and devicehigh. Greg Lentz(GLENTZ) -*- 23421 13JAN95-0058 T1000/1200/3000 RE: Tandy 1000 EX (Re: Msg 23416) From: GLENTZ To: SZIEMBA you should be able to do it. Try DCS industries in AThens OH or MIcro systems. Both advertise in PCM but PCM hasn't been published in awhile. Try some previous messages. I remeber somebody recently posting the #'s. I think it was in late NOvember. Person was STANB. Greg Lentz(GLENTZ) -*- 23422 13JAN95-0524 T1000/1200/3000 RE: Tandy 1000 EX (Re: Msg 23421) From: TVDOG To: ALL Here are the numbers for Tandy upgrade parts: PC Enterprises 2400 Belmar Blvd. Bldg. B-16 Belmar, N.J. 07719 sales (800) 922-7257 tech (908) 280-0025 DCS Industries 5265 Hebbardsville Road Athens, Oh. 45701 sales (800) 537-3539 tech (800) 637-3402 Micro Systems 1524 County Line Road York Springs, Pa. 17372 sales (800) 548-5182 tech (717) 528-8493 Tandy Corporation: Tandy Computer Support Services 400 Atrium ONe Tandy Center Fort Worth, Tx. 76102 ph. (817) 878-6875 Tandy Software Exchange (817) 347-7960 Tandy Software Replacement (800) 451-9409 Tandy Catalog Orders (800) THE-SHACK (they will refer you to other places you need to reach) Jeff (tvdog) -*- 23423 13JAN95-2050 T1000/1200/3000 RE: tandy 3000hd hard drive type (Re: Msg 23418) From: WESF To: GLENTZ I've heard some bad things about disk manager, and apparently, conner doesn't even like what it ships with its products...the reason the hard drive wouldn not work with my computer is that the BIOS is old enough that it does not support IDE drives... Wesley -*- 23424 13JAN95-2051 T1000/1200/3000 RE: upgrade Tandy 1000 TX (Re: Msg 23420) From: WESF To: GLENTZ Any idea why a Seagate ST-251 hard drive would not work in my 3000HD even though it has an MFM interface? Wesley -*- 23425 14JAN95-0051 T1000/1200/3000 RE: Tandy 1000 EX (Re: Msg 23421) From: SZIEMBA To: GLENTZ Thanks for the reply. I'll try it. Steve -*- 23426 15JAN95-0624 Printers and Peripherals DMP 207 printer From: JOHNEMLER To: ALL I have a client with a DMP 207 dot-matrix printer that won't print in color. Does anyone here have any suggestions on how I can fix the problem?? I have tried going in and loading several different drivers for printers that this model will emulate, and have gone thru all the various settings, to no avail. This has me quite frustrated, and that is not a normal condition for me!!! :) Any assistance would be GREATLY appreciated. -*- 23427 15JAN95-2153 Printers and Peripherals RE: DMP 207 printer (Re: Msg 23426) From: WESF To: JOHNEMLER Is there possible some DIP switch that has to be set? If you can't figure it out, call 1-800-the-shack. If you go through enough stupid menus "press 1 for whatever, 2 for whatever, etc" then you can get to tech support and hang on the line for a half hour, but when you get through, they are generally good help. Wesley -*- 23428 16JAN95-0011 Printers and Peripherals RE: DMP 207 printer (Re: Msg 23427) From: JOHNEMLER To: WESF thanks -*- 23429 17JAN95-0444 General Information RE: Radio Shack Complaints (Re: Msg 23127) From: EXIBAR01 To: TKLIMCHAK (NR) Well, lesse where should I start? :) I have had many bad run-ins with the local radio Shacks around here (please note the plural!) I have yet to find a Radio Shack that gives any kind of good service. I have found that if you go in there to get a component, or an item for yourputer you are best to NOT talk to any of the salespeople there. Usually they won't have a clue. One time sticks out in my mind most: I was looking for a simple centronics 34 pin ribbon connector, at the last resort, I called radio shack. The manager picked up the phone, I'll call him "MOE" Well, I asked Moe what I was looking for, and he said "HUH? A centrical connector? How many pins?" I said" No, a Centronics 34 pin ribbon connector. The type that is used for printers." He paused, asked me to hold. When he came back to the phone he said that he had a couple connectors and that I would have to go down and see if they have the one I need. Then he asked me "Is this for a Tandy?" (Now I was like "huh? what's it matter???) But, I told him that is was not for a Tandy, then he said, now get this, "OH, well these connectors will not work on anything other than a Tandy!") Can you imagine that? A printer connector that will only work on a Tandy! Now I am not saying that there are people in Radio Shack stores out there that know what they are talking about, After reading a few messages here I KNOW there are stores out there that are a genuine help to people. But, the person I spoke to was the manager, and I have had a few dealings with him in the past as well... Oh well, I wish you luck with your problem with radio shack, you are not alone... Just my two cents worth :) Exibar01 -*- 23430 18JAN95-1958 General Information RE: Radio Shack Complaints (Re: Msg 23429) From: WESF To: EXIBAR01 Actually, believe it or not, there is a printer cable that will work ONLY with a Tandy. Some of the older computers (1000SL is what I had), you have t432 22JAN95-0104 T1000/1200/3000 tl2 hard disk upgrade From: KEVINGIBSON To: ALL My brother owns a Tandy 1000 Tl/2. He recently asked me to assist him in finding a larger hard drive for his machine. I have had some experince working on 100% compatibles. The problem is I know almost nothing about Tandy machines. I already suggested buying a new machine, but he wants to keep his TL/2 a couple more years. I need to know what kind of hard drives will work on this machine. From reading old messages in the Forum it appears that not just any hard drive will work. I believe the Tandy TL/2 uses the XT style IDE drives -- but I'm not sure if they are the standard XT-IDE drives or Tandy's own special version. He doesn't want to spend much money on this old machine, so the budget is tight on this upgrade. He is currently running a 20 Meg drive. I suggested going to an 80 meg drive, but I do not know what the Tandy BIOS supports. 40 Megs may be enough if the BIOS does not support 80 megs. Another issue is that he is running DOS 3.? which doesn't support large hard drives -- I do not know how to handle this problem on the Tandy -- on 100% compatibles partitioning the drive is the answer -- I'm not sure if the Tandy DOS supports this. To keep the cost and complexity of this upgrade low, we would like to find a drive that is compatible with the motherboard controller. -- One last note, I am assisting him in the installation by phone so I need to keep the procedure as simple as possible. I would appreciate any advice on how to perform this upgrade!! -*- 23433 22JAN95-1005 T1000/1200/3000 RE: tl2 hard disk upgrade (Re: Msg 23432) From: RSALOMON To: KEVINGIBSON You might contact DCS Industries, 1 800 537-3539. They have hard drives for Tandy. -*- 23434 22JAN95-2151 T1000/1200/3000 RE: tl2 hard disk upgrade (Re: Msg 23433) From: KEVINGIBSON To: ALL I've seen DCS industries ad in Computer shopper. I was shocked at the prices that they were charging for hard drives. A 42 meg smart drive goes for $219! Another ad from a different company on the same page has a 364 meg drive for $202 (not Tandy of course). I hope there is a more reasonable source of hard drives. I'm sure that my brother will not be willing to pay that much for a hard drive for this old machine. I'm wondering if a generic xt-compatible hard card might work in the tl/2 -- has anyone tried one of these?? Also -- if anyone has a used drive comatible with the tl/2 and is willing to let it go ultra-cheap --- please leave me e-mail. Thanks, Kevin Gibson -*- 23435 23JAN95-1521 T1000/1200/3000 Labels From: CRYAN To: ALL I am looking for a shareware program that can print labels on a Tandy 1000. IS there one available? Christopher. -*- 23436 24JAN95-2201 T1000/1200/3000 RE: tl2 hard disk upgrade (Re: Msg 23432) From: WESF To: KEVINGIBSON One drive that seems to me was an 8-bit xt-type was the Seagate ST-351 A/X or something like that. Can's say for sure. Try calling Tandy at 1-800-the-shack, and go to the technical support thing through the menus, they should be able to tell you what you need to know. Wesley -*- 23437 26JAN95-1827 General Information Radio Shack - JUNK From: 1008OM To: ALL Having worked at Radio Shack for a couple of years and owning a couple of Tandy computers myself I can positively say that Radio Shack deals in junk. Not only has the return rate for one problem or another been very high if not the highest in the industry but their prices are indeed the highest when compared ratiowise to other brands and that includes IBM. People find it easy to get a Radio Shack brand because of their credit but in the final analysis they end up paying much more. Computers don't go awok after 90 days, 6 months or even a year monitor included. Now as far as my experience with the Radio Shack models I have... 3 times in the repair shop in a year and a half. Monitor out of order after ayear and a half. If my experience along with those that have bought their computers back for one problem or another doesn't justify my comments then I'm sorry for you. By the way... full time I work at a place for 20 years where IBM's are used and in 10 years of usage only one had major problems out of 25 computers. My point is proved. -*- 23438 26JAN95-2254 General Information RE: Radio Shack - JUNK (Re: Msg 23437) From: POGI To: 1008OM My Tandy 1000 has been going since May of 1989 no problems. I even have the original hard disk. -*- 23439 26JAN95-2332 T1000/1200/3000 RE: tandy 3000hd hard drive type (Re: Msg 23423) From: GLENTZ To: WESF Sorry to hear about your bios and IDE drives not getting along Greg Lentz(GLENTZ) -*- 23440 26JAN95-2334 T1000/1200/3000 RE: upgrade Tandy 1000 TX (Re: Msg 23424) From: GLENTZ To: WESF Need more info on what actually happens? I have some old MFM drives and various controllers. Some are not compatible. Greg Lentz(GLENTZ) -*- 23441 27JAN95-0218 General Information RE: Radio Shack - JUNK (Re: Msg 23437) From: SEAFROMAN To: 1008OM Geez...it sounds like you and Radio Shack parted on bad terms. It seems to me that the Tandy's couldn't have been too bad or you wouldn't have purchased two of them. Myself, I own three Tandys and every one of them is still operational. I have a Model IV, 1000 TX and a 2100. I also have two DMP printers that still work. As far as prices go, I've checked around in the past and Tandys were usually one of the lower priced PCs available. True, some of their add ons are highly priced but there are enough third party dealers around to find what you need at a resonable price. As for feeling sorry for anyone, you should feel sorry for yourself that you parted Radio Shack on such bad terms that you feel a need to come on this forum and bad mouth Tandy and don't even have enough backbone to put your name after the post. Yo! Here's a quarter! Jeff Seawell Lynchburg, Va seafroman@delphi.com -*- 23442 27JAN95-1040 General Information RE: Radio Shack - JUNK (Re: Msg 23437) From: RSALOMON To: 1008OM I really don't think your point is proved, unless your point is that you are unhappy with Radio Shack. Radio Shack charges too much for computer add-ons but outside of that I don't see any problem with them. I have a 2500 that has been going fine for about three years and before that I had a TL-2 that I had no problems with and which I gave to someone and it is still being used. Dick -*- 23443 27JAN95-2144 T1000/1200/3000 RE: tandy 3000hd hard drive type (Re: Msg 23439) From: WESF To: GLENTZ Yeah, tell me about it. If an IDE hard drive won't work, I'm sure an IDE CD-ROM won't work either...question: do you have to set up a proper drive type for a SCSI drive? Wesley -*- 23444 27JAN95-2146 T1000/1200/3000 RE: upgrade Tandy 1000 TX (Re: Msg 23440) From: WESF To: GLENTZ Well, not sure what you meant, but when I was trying to get a new MFM drive to work, it would not. My controller is a WD-1003 WA2 (maybe WA3 or wa5), not sure. Sure it's a WD-1003. The hard drive I was trying to get to work was a Seagate ST-251. Even tried another controller, and it still wouldn't work! Wesley -*- 23445 28JAN95-1520 General Information RE: Radio Shack - JUNK (Re: Msg 23437) From: KEVINGIBSON To: 1008OM In all the years when I had a Tandy COCO III, I never had trouble with it. My brother has never had trouble with his TL/2 either. I must say that Tandy does not express confidence its own products, however. That 90-day warranty just does not measure up to the warranties offered by other electronics companies. 1 year is the minumum warranty in my opinion. 2-years is my preference. Hewlett Packard warrants its printers for 3 years! Unfortunately, I have had trouble with one Radio Shack product -- a portable CD player. Less than 1 year after I purchased the player, it started skipping. I could put the same CD player into an OLDER CD player and it would not skip. The trouble was not limited to a particular CD either. I took the player to RS and shelled out the $50 fee to have it fixed - they said it was out of alignment. (--no, I did not drop it!) I thought that this was the last problem I would have with it ---- WRONG!!! Shortly after the service warranty ran out, the player started skipping again. I wrote a letter of complaint and enclosed a recording of the skipping and sent it to the president of Tandy. After it went through upper management, the manager in charge of consumer service offered to fix the CD player free of charge. So one would think that this story has a happy ending -- right? -- WRONG!!!~!!!! Less than three months after I received the player, it began doing the same thing again. I haven't bothered to talk to Tandy again. I did find a way to stop the skipping -- by moving the read head all the way to the end of the track -- so at least I can use the CD player. I will not buy another CD player from RS for this reason. This may be an isolated occurence, but there is still no excuse for it. On the last service call, RS should have REPLACED it instead of repairing it. Any device that has a history of trouble should be considered a lemon and discarded by the service people. I also mentioned the inadequate warranty period in the complaint, but I have yet to see longer warranties at Radio Shack. I suppose any big company will have a few problems such as this one, and I do NOT say that Radio Shack sells junk -- but I do think that they do not express enough confidence in their products through their warranties. -*- 23446 28JAN95-1530 T1000/1200/3000 RE: tl2 hard disk upgrade (Re: Msg 23436) From: KEVINGIBSON To: WESF Thanks for the number. According to a book of mine, there are three Seagate drives which are similar to that number. The ST351a, ST351a/x, and the ST351x. All three are 42 MB drives with identical physical parameters. I must assume that they are MFM drives -- are they hard cards or must one buy a separate controller? Thanks again, Kevin Gibson -*- 23447 28JAN95-1614 General Information Sensation answering machine problem From: DAN25 To: ALL I have a Tandy Sensation.It came with a program to answer the phone.It did what it was supposed to do until I had to have a faster modem.I installed a USR Sportster 14.4.I had problems with the two modems trying to work at the same time time I guess.What I know about computers you could put in a thimblnyone,rack your brain and try to find me an answer.You will never know how much it will be appreciated.Thank you for your time in advance. Sincerely, DAN25 P.S.I guess it goes without saying that the new modem works fine or else you wouldn't be reading this.Thanks again for any help you might be able to give me. -*- 23448 28JAN95-2208 T1000/1200/3000 RE: tl2 hard disk upgrade (Re: Msg 23446) From: WESF To: KEVINGIBSON I am now lost as to what we were talking about...anyhow, the drives you mentioned, as far as I can tell are IDE drives and not MFM drives. The ST-251 (not 351) that is a MFM that I was trying to get to work with my computer and would not...As for the 351 series drives you were talking about, you have to have an IDE controller card in order to get them to work with your ssystem. You can pick them up for $20 or less... Wesley -*- 23449 28JAN95-2209 General Information RE: Sensation answering machine problem (Re: Msg 23447) From: WESF To: DAN25 Ok, if you can give me the following info, I can almost guarantee you that I can help. What com port is the original modem on? What com port is the new modem on? What is the built-in com port (what #)? With that info, I should be able to help (no guarantee though...) Wesley -*- 23450 29JAN95-0025 General Information RE: Radio Shack Complaints (Re: Msg 23430) From: EXIBAR01 To: WESF Yes, I agree, the local Wal-Mart would have a better price for a printer cable. But, I was looking for a 50 pin ribbon connector. I am sure he had a printer cable in his hand (standard 34 pin DB) and thought it would only work on a Tandy. Oh well.... As far as that printer cable on the 1000sl... Leave it to Radio Shack to make a non-standard printer connector! :-) Exibar01 -*- 23451 29JAN95-1900 General Information RE: Sensation answering machine problem (Re: Msg 23449) From: DAN25 To: WESF The original modem is on COM2.The new modem is on COM1.I believe the built in com port is COM2.I set it up with the disk that came with the modem that checkedout the system and told me which com port to use.I hope this helps.Also why can't I re-enable the built in serial port in the system setup? Thank you for your time. DAN25 -*- 23452 29JAN95-2101 General Information RE: Radio Shack Complaints (Re: Msg 23450) From: WESF To: EXIBAR01 Yep. When that special printer cable went bad, I just put in a second (standard) printer card so I wouldn't have to put out $30 for another special cable! Wesley -*- 23453 29JAN95-2103 General Information RE: Sensation answering machine problem (Re: Msg 23451) From: WESF To: DAN25 Hmmm...sounds like a big mess. Well, start out this way. Set the original modem on COM2, the new one on COM3, and then re-enable the serial port in the system setup. If that won't work, set up the original as COM1 and see if you can re-enable the on board port. Sounds like your problem is in the COM port settings and having conflicts. You can only set one device per COM port. Let me know if that works. Wesley -*- 23454 30JAN95-2045 T1000/1200/3000 RE: tl2 hard disk upgrade (Re: Msg 23448) From: KEVINGIBSON To: WESF I was looking for either an IDE drive or a hard card for this system. I was hoping to find an 80 meg drive compatible with the motherboard controller -- something which may not be possible. Although the price for adding the IDE controller for the ST-351 isn't bad. If I do add an IDE controller, the mother board controller will need to be disabled. I hope there are jumpers to do that. If I disable the motherboard hard drive controller, does it also disable the motherboard floppy drive controller?? Will just any 8-bit IDE card work on the TL/2 or does Tandy require an unusual type? I'm helping my brother do this upgrade over the phone and I must try to keep the procedure simple since he has no experience upgrading machines. All of my experience has been with AT compatibles (non-Tandy) and I am constantly worried about compatibility problems with generic hardware and Tandy machines. Thanks for the help. Kevin Gibson -*- 23455 30JAN95-2346 General Information RE: Radio Shack - JUNK (Re: Msg 23438) From: 1008OM To: POGI The Tandy 1000EX/HX was probably the best around from Radio Shack. I am not knocking it but the current ones 486+. When I had my HX I put a 90meg hard drive and 2400 modem. The inserting of diskettes and out again was a pain but I got used to it. It served it purpose back then. I did not work at Radio Shack back then. I can only relate when I was working there and the amount of returns was above average with the prices being one of the highest in the industry. Parts or additions cost an arm and a leg... thank you for your reply. -*- 23456 31JAN95-0005 General Information RE: Radio Shack - JUNK (Re: Msg 23441) From: 1008OM To: SEAFROMAN First of all I did not leave Radio Shack in bad terms at all. In fact I got along very well with the Manager and everybody else who worked there. When Christmas was over I knew that things would get slow so I made my money and got out. You're probably a die hard Radio Shack man but you should take those rose colored glasses off. The pay at Radio Shack f I worked there for 2 years and saw what was going on. The repair rate was very high for someone buying a new computer in relation to other brands. THe add ons and cost an arm and a leg. One could get a better deal with other brands. At my place of work which is highly technical in computer aspects I took a little survey of some 60 people and guess which computer was mentioned as the worst one?....you guessed it... Radio Shack caters to one who has no knowledge or little knowledge in computers and the easy credit it offers makes one jump into buying one. You can say all you want to about how great RS is but my experience says otherwise. -*- 23457 31JAN95-0318 General Information RE: Radio Shack - JUNK (Re: Msg 23456) From: SEAFROMAN To: 1008OM Mr. no-name (or is it a Miss/Mrs.?) - What is it you are trying to say? >>First of all I did not leave Radio Shack in bad terms at all. Then why did you come on this forum carrying on like a disgruntled employee, spewing forth inaccuracies and unsubstantiated arguments? >>When Christmas was over I knew that things would get slow so I made my >>money and got out. >> . >> . >> . >>I worked there for 2 years and saw what was going on. The first statement sounds like you were seasonable help and the latter statement sounds like you this was your regular job...which was it? >>The repair rate was very high for someone buying a new computer in relation >>to other brands. What other brands does Radio Shack sell besides Tandy brands? This appears to be an unjustified comparison. (Yes, I'm aware that currently Radio Shack sells AST brand computers but the PCs they currently sell that bare the Tandy emblem are also made by AST). >>I took a little survey of some 60 people and guess which computer was >>mentioned as the worst one?....you guessed it... You mean to tell me that everyone in this whopping group of 60 all had owned Tandy computers and have first hand knowledge of ownership? >>Radio Shack caters to one who has no knowledge or little knowledge in >>computers and the easy credit it offers makes one jump into buying one. Would you like the name of a doctor to have your foot removed from your mouth? I'm begining to wonder if you've even seen inside the box of a Tandy because if you had, you would realize very little of it is "Tandy", the bios chip is from AMI or Pheonix, the hard drive might be from Seagate, the floppies might be Teacs, the CPU is Intel, the OS is from Microsoft, just to name a few of the componets. This just further illustrates my point that you're a disgruntled Radio Shack employee because if Tandy computers were as bad as you say they were, you would have to include all these other manufacturers in your complaint. But because you don't, you're obvioulsy not as knowledgeable as you claim to be and you're trying to mask your disgruntled feelings towards Radio Shack by attempting to smear their PC product line. Give it a rest! Jeff Seawell Lynchburg, Va seafroman@delphi.com -*- 23458 31JAN95-1934 T1000/1200/3000 RE: tl2 hard disk upgrade (Re: Msg 23454) From: WESF To: KEVINGIBSON Hmmm...I kinda doubt that you'll be able to disable the on-board hd controller. I know on my old 1000SL there was no way to disable the floppy controller. You'll probably need a controller with its own BIOS, but I don't know for sure. Maybe someone else here can tell you more. If the "Smartdrive" is the same thing as an "IDE" drive, then the same controller should work, but I don't know for sure, as I have no experience with a tl/2, only its 8086 cousin, the sl. Wesley -*- 23459 31JAN95-2345 General Information RE: Radio Shack - JUNK (Re: Msg 23455) From: POGI To: 1008OM > The Tandy 1000EX/HX was probably the best around from Radio Shack. I am > not knocking it but the current ones 486+. When I had my HX I put a 90meg > hard drive and 2400 modem. The inserting of diskettes and out again was > a pain but I got used to it. It served it purpose back then. I did not work > at Radio Shack back then. I can only relate when I was working there and > the amount of returns was above average with the prices being one of the > highest in the industry. Parts or additions cost an arm and a leg... thank > you for your reply. > > I had an HX too, good machine. The new Tandy's (486s) are not made by Tandy any more I think they are ASTs. I can agree with you on the pricing, I thought the price of my TX1000 was high, so I waited for one of there holiday sales, then got it. Upgrades and parts are somewhat higher than other places. If Tandy started making there own again I woud purchase from then again, high prices and all, heres why. I presently have a 486 from a reputable local vendor, I looked at the motherboard one day and found two very thin wires bridging what appears to be a missing trace, and a capacitor scabbed on to the under side of the board. You wouldn't find anything like that coming from a Tandy factory. Pogi@delphi.com -*-