VTech Write It Right Computer Specifications
Contents
1. 37 How to Care for Your Computer 1 Until you gain a great deal of experience do not attempt to probe the inside of your computer particularly the power supply Dangerous levels of high voltage exist Contact your dealer for service if necessary Turn off the computer and unplug it from the wall before you install anything inside the system unit such as an ex pansion card or memory chips Failure to do so will result in serious irreparable damage to both the computer and the add on device Keep the computer away from excessive heat humidity dust or moisture Do not cover the fan or ventilation holes on the back panel of the computer Do not use thinner oil or petroleum based cleaners on the cabinet or keyboard Use only a damp cloth with a mild detergent if necessary for cleaning Make sure the power is off If you need to move your computer system use the original packaging to shield it from shock If the system includes a hard disk drive you must run a special protection program before moving Refer to your hard disk manual for details Do not drop the main unit Handle it with care Do not attempt to use your computer underwater 38 Diskette Care The 5 1 4 Floppy Disk Drive of the computer uses 5 1 4 double sided double density 40 tracks per inch soft sectored floppy diskettes These diskettes are capable of holding 360K 368 640 bytes Each floppy diskette has a write protect notch on2. Day Discovering MS DOS 4th Printing 1987 Steven Simrin MS DOS Bible 4th Printing 1986 Angermeyer Fahringer Jaeger and Shafer Tricks of the MS DOS Masters ist Printing 1987 O Day and Angermeyer Understanding MS DOS 3rd Printing 1987 67 Other books available from computer retailers and book stores include Quick and Easy PC DOS MS DOS Alfred Publishing Company Inc Your IBM PC Made Easy Osborne McGraw Hill Your IBM A Guide to the IBM PC Osbome McGraw Hill Learning DOS Microsoft Corporation How to Use Your IBM PC American Training Interna tional Teach Yourself PC DOS American Training International Appendix 1 Dip Switches and Settings Switch Box 1 SW1 Position 1 Diagnostics A AO Normal operation Factory testing only Position 2 8087 1 Math Co Processor SONIN 34567 MON 2345 6 Without 8087 co processor With 8087 co processor Position 3 Conventional Memory Amount NDI MON 2345 67 8 123 45 67 512K conventional 640K conventional Memory Memory Installed Position 4 Not Used 69 Position 5 amp 6 Type of Display Enhanced Graphics Adaptor or Video Graphics array VGA Color graphics adaptor 40 x 25 mode IOAN 45 67 8 ONUN 23456 7 8 SUONI 1 2 3 4 56 7 8 Color graphics adaptor 80 x 25 mode Monochrome display adaptor or Hercules graphics card Position 7 amp 8 Floppy Disk Drives OO
3. 23 45 6 7 TUNN 34567 One 1 floppy drive Two 2 floppy drives TON AIN 123 45 6 7 3 45 6 Three 3 floppy drives Four 4 floppy drives 70 Switch Box 2 SW2 Switch SW2 is used for setting the I O Port address for the expanded memory installed in the computer If you have up to one megabyte of expanded memory the settings are easy The position of switches 1 2 and 3 on SW2 determine the I O port address of the expanded memory ttt n Ak w a w disabled 71 72 Appendix 2 The Multi I O Card The multifunction input output Multi I O card installed in the computer gives you several powerful features packed into a single expansion card You get e Centronics Parallel Printer Port RS232C Serial Port e Joystick Port A Real Time Clock Floppy disk interface On the Multi I O Card you ll find two jumper blocks Jumper JP1 is used for setting the interrupt request levels for the real time clock In reality you should never have to change the setting of JP1 Jumper JP2 shown below is responsible for configuring the ports on the Multi I O card Bracket RS232 Serial Interface Port Connectors Configuration Jumper Block Floppy Disk Interface Connector Real Time Clock Interrupt Level Select Jumper Parallel Printer Port Connector Game Port Connector Notice how the jumpers are set when the unit leaves the factory 2 0000000 piisid 1 A The letters under each
4. Card EEATT 79 Appendix 4 Glossary of Computer Terms cscs 83 Chapter 1 Installation Introduction The computer is a high performance expandable personal com puter system which is designed specifically to be compatible with software and peripherals conforming to the popular MS DOS and IBM PC XT standard In some versions of the computer there may be differences in memory size and expansion cards installed you may need to refer to a separate user s manual for any other expansion card installed e IBM PC XT compatible processor running at 4 77 or 10 MHz e 512K memory expandable to 1664K e 150 watt power supply e Two 5 25 360K floppy drives some versions come with one 5 25 360K and one 3 5 720K floppy drive additional space for one half height hard disk drive e Some versions of computer have hard disk installed 102 key enhanced keyboard e Multi I O Card supporting Centronics parallel printer interface RS232 serial interface and game port for a joystick e Monochrome Graphics Color Graphics Card supporting RGB Hercules and composite monitors Some versions of computer will have EGA card installed which supports EGA RGB Hercules and composite monitors Socket for an Intel 8087 math co processor e Eight expansion slots In this first chapter we will guide you through the installation of the computer and introduce you to the basic structure of the computer If you are u
5. Card Monitor power cable is not plugged in properly The monitor s power switch is not turned on The brightness or contrast knobs on the monitor are not properly adjusted The small slide switch on the Monochrome Graphics Color Graphics Card is not set correctly Set to MDA for monochrome TTL monitors or CGA for RGB color monitors Brightness or contrast knobs on the monitor are not properly adjusted 63 Symptom No response from the keyboard Disk drive error Suggestions Keyboard cable not properly connected Check to make sure it s plugged in properly on the back of the system unit System crash Restart your system using the reset button on the back of the system unit If neces sary turn your unit off then on again Keyboard lock is not off Latch on the disk drive is not closed properly The diskette was not placed in the drive correctly Make sure the label points up with the write protect notch pointing to the left You are using the wrong disk for start up Make sure you are using an MS DOS System Disk e The diskette is damaged e The diskette is unformatted If none of these measures work contact your computer dealer Beeps 1 Long 1 Short Base 64K RAM isn t usable Check the RAM chips 1 Long 2 Short The video selector switch on the Monochrome Graphics Color Graphics Card isn t properly set 1 Long 5 Short BIOS ROM checksum is incorrect
6. Replace the BIOS chip 65 Display Messages Message Video error Keyboard Error 0100 Keyboard Error 02XX Keyboard Error 04XX Memory Address Error Cause amp Suggested Solution e BIOS couldn t find the type of display adapter requested by the switch settings Check the DIP switches and switch on the Monochrome Graph ics Color Graphics Card Keyboard did not respond Check the connector on the key board Keyboard returned the wrong test code xx Replace the keyboard Keyboard interrupt would not clear Check Gate Array on the motherboard or replace the keyboard Problem with memory addressing Possibly unconnected RAM legs or shorted address lines Check the RAM chips by replac ing one at a time For errors generated by the MS DOS operating system consult the MS DOS User s Guide CHAPTER 6 Further Reading There are many popular books on the market written about IBM PC XT a computers and the MS DOS Operating System Whether searching for a good tutorial for beginners or an advanced reference manual for experts you can certainly mog a book geared toward your specific needs Here is a partial list of books available in retail stores or public libraries There are hundreds of other relevant books in print Consult your local library for a more complete listing These books are available from Howard W Sams amp Co Call 1 800 428 SAMS for a dealer near you Kate O
7. a registered trademark of WordPerfect Corporation Table of Contents Chapter 1 Installation aaaaaaaaatvvasssssisssoassssissssssn 5 INN OCG GU spe sass a r eneneees 5 Preparing for the Installation aaaaxnansvevasasananasananannnnnnannnasr 7 Checking the Contents of the Package 22 saas2v 220222 8 Hardware Features Overview sssssssssscscssescsessscscsseseeseseees 9 Connecting Peripherals ccsisasscscschuorsdevessevasshissereeaeteciecveinciaies 11 Starting the Computer s nisas k sn vraka aa ark an 13 Setting the System Clock a aaanvntsssst ssrsassaisssssnasn anndnnnnsnnnnninr 15 Operation Spell bura r 16 Chapter 2 Using the Keyboard ccc 0ve ii 17 The Keyboard Security Lock nssilsnsstslislsa srnd sselsb se a i 17 OVC Ve W rnae ress vacraeeneta E EA 18 Typewriter Keys sanskbrskk a ur K A 19 Numere Keypad ecusoane nier in A EEEE 22 Editing and Cursor Control Keys e esesesssesosesesosssessesesssesese 25 Pincho KEYS oeras oranan A EN EN 27 Chapter 3 Introduction for New Users 29 Facts You Should Know aaana na vnnnnavav sset sannnnannnnnannnnnnununnonnunanam 29 Introduction to MS DOS esesssesssesssesssesseossesssesseesssesserssesssesress 30 Storing Files on a Computer aaaaaaxaaaacatssisanassssassara nee 31 Organizing Files into Directories aaaaavaaaaeasessssssssssssninasuri 32 T
8. its side as shown in this diagram Write protect notch If this notch is covered the computer will not let you write to the diskette This is a good way to make sure no one erases diskettes that are absolutely crucial Always handle your floppy diskettes carefully A small scratch stain or even a speck of dust can destroy the information stored on the diskette The following guidelines will help pro long the useful life of your diskettes and may help prevent the loss of important data e Always keep diskettes in their protective envelope when not in use e Never touch the diskette s shiny exposed surface Don t bend diskettes e Keep diskettes away from magnetic fields transformers motors magnets TVs radios 39 e Never lay a diskette on top of or next to the computer system unit e Write only on a diskette label and only with a soft felt tip pen Never use a ball point pen to write on diskettes o Keep diskettes out of direct sunlight and away from excessive heat They melt easily e Some versions of the computer has a 720K 3 1 2 Floppy disk drive installed These drives use 3 1 2 Floppy diskettes which are capable of holding 720K bytes maxi mally Hints on using 3 1 2 drive Before you are going to use the 3 1 2 drive there are some basic concept and terminology you need to know A physical drive is a drive that is physically connected to the computer A logical drive is a drive
9. large SHIFT and RETURN keys It is often said that the AT style keyboard feels more com fortable and is easier to work on because of its features BIOS BIOS stands for Basic Input Output System The BIOS is the central computer program which organizes your entire computer The BIOS acts much like a computer road map The BIOS contains a list of computer locations for everything inside of your computer from computer chips to floppy disk drives When the microprocessor needs to send a signal it asks the BIOS how to get there As an example you instruct your computer to read infor mation from disk drive B The microprocessor receives your command It then asks the BIOS where disk drive B is located At this point the BIOS will give the microprocessor specific directions from the location of the microprocessor chip to the location of the disk drive The microprocessor will then send an electrical impulse along the route the BIOS has described and this signal will in struct the disk drive to begin reading information Without the BIOS your microprocessor would be all dressed up with no place to go Boot Up This is a slang term used to describe the computer s start up procedure You boot up your computer when you turn power to your computer on 84 Bracket Brackets are the narrow metal pieces which cover the eight holes on the back of your computer The eight holes correspond to the eight expansi
10. or worksheets created with a spreadsheet package like Lotus 1 2 3 All files are referred to by their filename MS DOS filenames may not be more than eight characters long Filenames can contain letters numbers and the symbols amp or To further identify a file a filename can contain an extension of up to three characters The extension always appears at the end of the of a filename preceded by a period Extensions are a good way to categorize files into efficient groupings For example files containing Lotus spreadsheets end in the extension WKS an abbreviation for worksheet while word processing documents could end in DOC an abbreviation for document The following are all valid MS DOS filenames SALESLTR DOC Checking bal File 1 TXT OTR1 WKS MyFile WIN INI Menu BAS Work TST XXX Xxx 31 Organizing Files into Directories Files on a disk are grouped into directories A directory is simply a Table of Contents for the disk For each file residing on a disk an entry is made in a directory recording the name of the file its size and its location on the disk data of creation attributes Every disk contains one main directory called the root directory The root directory serves as a master index for the disk When you format a new diskette for use on your computer the root directory is automatically created When you start up the computer you are operating from the root directo
11. row are for illustration only They do not actually appear on the jumper block 21 I Row A Printer Port Enable Top of the card Top of the card 5 A A Parallel Printer Parallel Printer Enabled Disabled Row B Printer Port Address Top of the card Top of the card o H B B LPT1 LPT2 Row C Real Time Clock Address Top of the card Top of the card gt 8 A A 340H 2C0H 74 Row D Serial Port COM2 The Multi I O card normally has only one serial port named COM1 If you wish to purchase additional hardware you can add a second serial port named COM2 Contact your dealer for details Top of the card D COM2 Enabled Row E Floppy Disk Enable Top of the card E Floppy Disk Enabled Row F G H Not Used Row I Serial Port COM1 Top of the card o I COM1 Enabled Top of the card oe D COM2 Disabled Top of the card g E Floppy Disk Disabled Top of the card COM1 Disabled 75 Parallel Printer Port Used for connecting a parallel printer with Centronics standard input It is fully compatible with the IBM PC XT parallel printer port Pin Description Pin Description 1 STROBE 10 ACK 2 DATA 0 11 BUSY 3 DATA 1 12 PE 4 DATA 2 13 SELECT 5 DATA 3 14 AUTO FD 6 DATA 4 15 ERROR 7 DATA 5 16 INIT 8 DATA 6 17 SELECT INPUT 9 DATA 7 18 25 GROUND 25 pin D Style Connector 76 RS232 Serial Port Used for connecti
12. that can be accessed through the drive letter assigned e g A B Thus there may be more logical drives than physical drives since two or more logical drives may refer to the same physi cal drive An external drive is the drive that is created by the file CONFIG SYS The drive letter for that external drive is speci fied by assigning parameters on the CONFIG SYS file The installation procedure of external drive is shown below Normally after you have connected a 3 5 micro floppy disk drive to your computer you can access the drive as usual However you will not be able to format a 3 5 diskette with 720KB storage capacity This is expected because DOS presumes your drive is a 360KB 5 25 drive To use your 3 5 inch floppy disk drive as a 720KB drive you should follow the procedures below A If you are using DOS 3 2 1 Insert a DOS disk into drive A 2 If your 3 5 disk drive is the second drive create the CONFIG SYS file and include the following line drivparm d 1 Otherwise change the parameter d 1 to d 0 41 B Warm boot the system 3 5 disks can now be formatted on 720KB If you are using DOS 33 Insert a DOS disk which contains the DRIVER SYS into drive A If your 3 5 disk drive is the second drive create the CONFIG SYS file and include the follow line device driver sys d 1 This line tells the system to install an external drive C The parameter d 1 specifies that the ex
13. your computer make sure the power is off The switch on the right panel should be in the down or 0 position 2 If you haven t done so already remove the keyboard from its protective plastic bag The keyboard cable attaches into the rounded five pin socket on the back of the main unit Make sure the plug is lined up with the socket The small indentation should be pointing upwards 3 Connect the monitor s cable into the appropriate place on the Monochrome Graphics Color Graphics Card e For monochrome composite monitors use the top round socket e For color composite monitors use the round socket in the middle right above the slide switch e For Hercules or RGB monitors use the 9 pin D socket on the bottom of the adapter 4 Connect the power cord from your monitor into a grounded 3 prong wall outlet 5 If you are using a Hercules or RGB monitor set the slide switch to the up MDA position for a TTL monochrome monitors or to the down CGA position for RGB color monitors RGB Color Monitors TTL Monochrome Monitors MDA MDA CGA CGA 11 6 Insert the main power cable that comes with the computer into the socket on the back of the system unit Plug the other end into a grounded three prong wall outlet 7 Flip up the levers on the two floppy disk drives and remove the sheets of cardboard that protect the drives during shipping Remember to save these car
14. 1 produces an exclamation mark The diagram below shows several general keys like BACK SPACE SHIFT TAB and CAPS LOCK You ll also notice several special control keys specifically associated with computer operations including the ESC CTRL ALT and ENTER keys EJ ae S ZERE EI Sa HER I HJ ET IE TTTTT PTET P PEELE e MI E I Here s a brief explanation of some important typewriter and control keys CAPS LOCK This is similar to the Shift Caps Lock Lock key on an ordinary typewriter With this key you can type upper case letters without holding down the SHIFT key When CAPS LOCK is engaged the indicator light in the upper left hand corner of the keyboard lights up The CAPS LOCK key only affects the 26 letters of the alphabet To get special symbols you ll still need to press the SHIFT key 19 F gt a kE T Esc Ctrl ENTER As a RETURN key it ends the line being typed and advances to the next line As the ENTER key it s used to execute commands you have typed SHIFT For upper case letters punctuation or symbols either one of the two SHIFT keys can be pressed When the CAPS LOCK key is engaged the SHIFT key acts as an Un Shift key allowing you to type lower case letters BACKSPACE Like the Backspace key on a typewriter it will erase one character to the left of the cursor TAB Like the Tab key on the typewriter it moves the cursor to the next ta
15. 8 and U39 49 5 Set the switch on the system board so the computer recog nizes all 640K The computer has banks of switches labeled SW1 and SW2 SW1 is a bank switch having 8 small switches and SW2 is a bank switch having four small switches Locate Switch Bank 1 SW1 as shown in the diagram Right now switch 3 is ON To set your system to 640K of memory turn switch 3 OFF You can use the tip of a pencil or the head of a small screwdriver to move the switch 50 Installing Parity RAM RAM parity is a method the computer can use to continually monitor and test the performance and reliability of the memory chips The advantage of parity RAM is the error checking it performs Parity RAM spots potential failure in the RAM chips and informs the user Without parity RAM your system may lock up if a failure occurs providing no indication of the cause of the failure The disadvantage of parity RAM is its cost We feel the price of parity RAM far outweighs the benefits it produces so we recommend you don t make the extra investment for parity RAM In case you really want to install it here are the steps As always before you install anything MAKE SURE THE COM PUTER IS UNPLUGGED FROM THE WALL OUTLET 1 Purchase the proper chips e Ask your dealer for two 2 4164 RAM chips 64K RAM x 1 and two 2 41256 RAM chips 256K RAM x 1 e The chips must be 150 nanoseconds 150ns or faster 2 Install the ch
16. C_ TTT NN security lock Disk drive B Space reserved for hard disk When the security lock is switched at left position keyboard is unlocked and reset button is enabled with the lock switched at right position keyboard is locked and reset button is disabled The speed indicator is used to indicate the operation speed of the computer a 5 will be displayed when computer operates at normal speed 4 77MHz and a 10 will be displayed when the computer operates at high speed 10 MHz Notice the latch on each of the disk drives With the latch m the horizontal position pointing to the right the drive is open and ready to receive a diskette After inserting a diskette close the drive by turning the latch clockwise so it s pointing down wards Diskette are Inserted here UAN TA 7 T On the right side panel you ll find the ON OFF switch The 1 setting means ON and 0 means OFF On the back side there are several important connectors You should notice Joystick Monochrome monitor RS232 serial CGA monitor CGA monochrome or EGA monitor Toggle switch 3 Prong plug Keyboard Parallel printer Monochrome graphics Color graphics card In normal installations there is no need to open the system cabinet If you will be adding enhancements see Chapter 4 for instructions on opening the system unit 10 Connecting Peripherals 1 Before connecting anything to
17. For 10 MHz Turbo Operation Press Ctr and simultaneously 16 Chapter 2 Using the Keyboard The Keyboard Security Lock The computer features a keyboard lock on the front panel With the keyboard locked no characters can be typed in to the computer protecting your system from unwanted intruders You receive two keys with the unit Make sure you store one in a safe place Two LEDs are used to indicate whether the keyboard is locked or unlocked For example when the keyboard is locked the LED labelled with keyboard lock will be on 17 Overview The keyboard is your primary means of communicating with your computer Its layout roughly resembles an ordinary type writer To describe the keyboard clearly its helpful to divide it into four parts each with its own function In this chapter we ll refer to these four areas e The Typewriter Keypad with control keys e The Numeric Keypad e The Editing and Cursor Control keys e The Function Keys The diagram below shows the four principal keypads unction keys Typewriter keys Editing amp Cursor Control Numeric keypad 18 The Typewriter Keys The typewriter area of the keyboard behaves a lot like a standard keyboard Like a typewriter the SHIFT key produces capital letters To type the special characters shown above the numbers on the number keys hold down the SHIFT key and press the appropriate key For example the SHIFT key with the number
18. OFF and the unit is unplugged from the wall socket Attempting to install expansion cards memory or other internal components with the computer plugged in will cause serious and irreparable damage to both the computer and the add on accessory 43 Opening the System Unit To open the computer system unit you ll need a Philips screwdriver Begin by placing the computer system unit on a flat surface Unplug the power cord from the wall outlet Looking at the back of the system unit there are five screws you need to remove Remove the screws and put them in a safe place Grasp the cover of the chassis with both hands and slide it forward and off as shown below There are several ribbon cables present in the system If you encounter any resistance while you are removing the system cover reach in and gently press down on these cables Do not attempt to yank off the cover if it s stuck on a cable Road Map of Internal Components With the system unit open this is a good time to get a general overview of the internal parts of the system unit Notice the following areas of the system unit e System Board e Expansion Slots e Hard Disk Controller e Multiple Input Output I O Card e EGA card e Floppy Drives A and 5 1 4 360K e Floppy Drive B 3 1 2 720K e Socket for an 8087 Math Co Processor e Hard disk C e Power Supply e Sockets for Memory Expansion to 640K e Ribbon Cables 4 Empty Rows f
19. PERSONAL COMPUTER 7 y i ji V P rf J 4 7 Zi 7 Poet AT 4 M 7 n F f 4 Z Z 7 7 Sa F p j ay ff b lA r4 x rA J i 1 AA Z H y A x P j fi i alll a t ir i A Jy Ji h J r P l ar x JAV a O erations Manual of T pi p 7 a ff i j N VTECH 4 N Warning This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy If it is not installed and used properly that is in strict accordance with the manufacturer s instructions it may cause interference to radio and television reception It has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B computing device in accordance with the specifications in Subpart J Part 15 of FCC Rules These rules are designed to provide reasonable protection against such interference in a residential installation However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Reorient the receiving antenna Relocate the computer with respect to the receiver Move the computer away from the receiver Plug the computer into a different outlet so that computer and receiver are on different branc
20. ariety of sizes 7 10 and even full length 14 sizes Expansion cards are inserted in your computer s expansion slots At the bottom of each expansion card you will find a 62 gold fingered band 31 gold stripes on each side The gold fingers connect the card to your computer s main circuitry The expansion cards are secured in their slots by brackets which are firmly screwed into the main unit casing Real gold is used on the gold fingers so that the expansion cards are not susceptible to tarnishing Tarnishing can interfere with an expansion card s connection to the motherboard 3 Expansion Slot Your Computer computer has eight expansion slots They are located on the left hand side of the computer at the rear These expansion slots can be used to add features to your computer via expansion cards Female A female connector on a computer will have holes in comparison to a male connector which will have pins Floppy Diskette A floppy diskette is a disk which contains magnetic media A floppy disk is used to store information The information is stored on a floppy disk via the read write head of your floppy disk drive Floppy Disk Drive Floppy disk drives read retrieve or write save informa tion on floppy diskettes 87 Formatted Formatted diskettes are mapped out When you format a disk the disk drive creates divisions sectors on the diskette and numbers them With this data that is
21. b top Tab stops occur every eight characters unless otherwise specified Using SHIFT with TAB moves the cursor backwards to the previous tab stop ESC The ESCAPE key has different meanings depending on the application you are using In the BASIC language for example ESC erases a line from the screen CTRL The CONTROL key does nothing on its own Like the SHIFT key CTRL is used only in conjunction with other keys CTRL performs many different functions depending on the application you are using Here are some examples of how CTRL is used in the MS DOS operating system CTRL SCROLL LOCK BREAK This function stops your program while it is running Alt CTRL PRINT SCREEN LCHO The computer prints each line as it is typed To cancel the function press CTRL Print SCREEN again CTRL NUM LOCK PAUSE This temporarily halts printing or a screen display Press any key to continue CTRL ALT DEL SYSTEM RESET When these three keys are pressed together the system resets and reloads the operating system ALT Like the CTRL key ALT performs no function on its own It is used in conjunction with other keys to perform special functions The meaning of ALT varies depending on the application you re using While using the BASIC language the ALT key allows you to quickly and easily enter BASIC keywords with a single keystroke For example ALT I generates the word INPUT Here s a table of ALT key combina
22. ds with the rest of the packaging 12 Starting the Computer For system installed with hard disk please follow the proce dure 1 Turn on the power to your monitor The ON OFF switch is normally found on the front of the video screen 2 Turn on the power to the system unit by flipping the red power switch on the right side into the up position labeled sT 3 During the start up procedure the system performs a mem ory test then loads the MS DOS operating system After several seconds the following display will appear LASER TURBO XT _ Start Up Utility Main Menu A Format a disk H Change directory B Format a sys disk I Display directory C Format hard drive J Run a program D Copy file s K Change date amp time E Copy disk L Check config F Make a directory M Display help file G Remove directory N JExit to DOS 1988 Video Technology Computers Inc 13 If your computer has no hard disk drive installed then follow the following procedures Open the package of diskettes that came with the system Locate the diskette labeled Microsoft MS DOS Insert the diskette into the floppy drive with the label side up The oval opening in the diskette should go in first When the diskette is all the way into the drive close the latch by moving the lever into the down position Then performs step 1 to step 3 as described above For computer with hard disk installed subdirectories are
23. e FORMAT EXE in the current directory Y or N Enter the drive letter for system format A D Do you have HARDFORMAT BAT in the current directory Y or N This command will completely ERASE the hard disk Are you sure you want to proceed Y or N Enter the source drive A D This is the drive where the file is located currently Enter the destination drive A D This is where you want the new file to go Enter the file name to copy If you leave this entry blank the computer will assume you want to copy all files in the current directory Command E Copy disk F Make a directory G Remove directory H Change directory I Display directory J Run a program K Change date amp time Function Copies the contents of a diskette in disk drive A to a diskette in drive B You must have the file DISKCOPY EXE in the current directory Creates a new directory or subdirectory Deletes a directory from the disk The directory must be empty of files before it can be removed Changes the current directory to something else Lists information about the files in a certain directory Used to start up an application program like a spreadsheet or word processing package Used to set or change the real time clock in the system 36 Options Do you have DISKCOPY EXE in the current directory Y or N Enter the name for the _ new director
24. h circuits If necessary you should consult the dealer or an experienced radio television technician for additional suggestions You may find the following booklet prepared by the Federal Communica tions Commission helpful How to Identify and Resolve Radio TV Interference Problems This booklet is available from the U S Government Printing Office Washington DC20402 Stock No 004 000 00345 4 Warning To ensure that the use of this product does not contribute to interference It is necessary to use shielded I O cables Copyright This manual is copyrighted with all rights reserved No portion of this document may be copied or reproduced by any means without the prior consent in writing from Video Technology Computers Inc While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book Video Technology assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein Copyright 1988 by Video Technology Computers Ltd IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp Hercules is a registered trademark of Hercules Computer Technology Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation MS DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation Lotus 1 2 3 is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation DBase III is a registered trademark of Ashton Tate WordPerfect is
25. hard drive J Run a program D Copy file s K Change date amp time E Copy disk L Check config F Make a directory M Display help file G Remove directory N Exit to DOS 1988 Video Technology Computers Inc This menu gives you an easy to use tool for working with MS DOS With one keystroke you can perform several common functions To use the menu 1 Touch the letter corresponding to the activity you wish to perform For example you would press the letter D to copy a file 2 The computer will ask you questions pertaining to the command After typing in your answer press the ENTER key The following is an overview of the menu options For more information about these commands consult the MS DOS User s Guide included with the computer 34 Command A Format a disk B Format a sys disk C Format hard drive D Copy file s Function Prepare a new blank diskette for use on your system You must have the file FORMAT EXE in the current directory Creates a diskette capable of being used as a system Start up disk Prepares a hard disk for use on the system This command should only be done once the first time the hard disk is used Copies a file from one disk to another or one directory to another Can also copy a file within a directory 35 Options Do you have FORMAT EXE in the current directory Y or N Enter the drive letter for format A D Do you hav
26. he Menu of MS DOS Activities aaaaaaxatnasssassussansnanananas 34 How to Care for Your Computer aaa2aaaaaassscssesuattastsiai 38 Diskette Care snmsb andual sinar E E T E E OE 39 Chapter 4 Enhancements 0 0 ccsssssessecssssessecseesesssensenseaes 43 Special Nol ks R N 43 Opening the System Unit u aaaaanvvnvansavaseseseser nsesnasanannnnnnnnnnnni 44 Road Map of Internal Components aaaasaanaacscsv 0200 evi 45 Expanding System Memory to 640KB aaaasac2 sec 24 o 4 47 Installing Parity RAM aaaaaaeassaasvanasssanananasannnnnnnannnnnnnnannnansss 51 Installing Expansion Cards aaaaxanaan ac savessnsannnnnnnnannnnnnnnannnnnnars 54 Installing an 8087 Math Co Processor a2a2asas c 200 000 02 56 Installing Expanded Memory aaaaaazaiasansaatannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 58 Using Expanded Memory aaaaanadasanasassssannssnsanannnnnnnnnnnannnnnnnnnn 60 Installing a Hard Disk Drive aaaaaaa avaa vtonsannnnnnnnnnnnnanans 62 Chapter 5 Troubleshooting Checklist 63 Symptoms and Suggestions aaaxatnssasanasanasnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnannnnananar 63 PEEPS a rr 65 Display MESS aves uaina ena n 66 Chapter 6 Further Reading Getting More Help 67 FAD DENG COS sorana E a ra 69 Appendix 1 Dip Switches and Settings 0 sesso 69 Appendix 2 The Multi I O Card TT 73 Appendix 3 The Monochrome Graphics Color Graphics
27. he end of the line Moves the cursor down PG DN Moves the cur sor down one page or 25 lines Moves the cursor left No function g o FN Cc S The The The The The The DECIMAL number number number number number POINT 24 Moves the cursor right HOME Moves the cursor to the screen s upper left hand corner Moves the cursor up PG UP Moves the cursor up to the beginning of a page INS Insert Turns on insert mode Characters typed are inserted before text that already exists DEL Delete Erases one character at the position of the cursor Editing and Cursor Control Keys This keypad sits between the Typewriter and Numeric keypads E HEA ede ed RAEH BEL E E E E E EEE HHF S LU s Fa a a JET E Ee P ECEE Ee FFT TE FT It performs the same functions as the keys on the Numeric keypad with the NUM LOCK key off HOME Moves the cursor to the first charac ter in the upper left hand corner of the screen CURSOR UP Moves the cursor up one line CURSOR DOWN Moves the cursor down one line CURSOR RIGHT Moves the cursor one character to the right CURSOR LEFT Moves the cursor left one character END Moves the cursor to the right of the last character on the line AAG G E 25 Delete nsert Be W Q 0 C He U U Q Q 53 DELETE Deletes one character at the posit
28. instructions 1 The Start Up Utility Main Menu As shown on page 9 should appear on the screen 2 Type in the letter C This option formats your hard disk drive This should only be done once when the disk is first used This option completely erases all information on the hard disk so be careful when running this option 3 The system displays the question Drive C is a fixed disk drive Do you want to completely erase it Type in Y to format the hard disk drive If the hard disk did not come built in to the unit from the _ factory you can add one yourself Any hard drive compatible with the IBM PC XT can be used You must also purchase a hard disk controller that works with the drive you select Hard disk and disk controller installation varies depending on the model you select You will need to do a low level format on the disk before using the Start Up Utility to do the high level format Consult the manual that comes with the hard disk for specific instructions 62 Chapter 5 Trouble Shooting Checklist Symptoms and Suggestions Symptom No response from the main unit No screen display Poor screen display quality Suggestions The ON OFF switch should be in the ON or 1 position e Make sure the outlet itself works e The power plug may be improp erly connected to the back of the system unit Monitor cable is not properly con nected to the Monochrome Graph ics Color Graphics
29. ion of the cursor All characters move left one position to fill in the deleted character INSERT Turns on the insert mode Char acters you type will be inserted before text that already exists pushing the existing text to the right With insert mode off characters to the right are overwritten PAGE UP PAGE DOWN Its functions are defined by the application you are using In general these keys move the cursor up or down one page 25 lines 26 Function Keys Located along the top half of the keyboard these twelve function keys allow you to perform complex commands with a single keystroke HEI PEER HEIEI FREE S HAE KE EEEE E Te ame e FEEL EEE e _ ase i D ERA Most applications use function keys for different purposes When running the MS DOS operating system the function keys per form the following activities Fl Copies one character from a temporary storage area to the display Each time you enter a command MS DOS store the command in a temporary storage area _ F2 Displays all characters preceding a specified character from the temporary storage area F3 Copies all remaining characters from the storage area to the display F 4 Deletes the characters preceding the speci fied character from the temporary storage area 1 A 7 F5 Enters the currently typed line into the temporary storage area 7 on 27 Chapter 3 Introduction for New Use
30. ips in the right sockets on the system board As shown in the diagram the two 4164 chips go in sockets U35 and U50 while the two 41256 chips go in sockets U25 and U41 3 Make sure the chips are pointing the right way As before notice the indentation on the chips is pointing towards the center of the system board toward the back of the unit Make sure you install the parity RAM with the chips pointing in the same direction 4 Press the chips into place in their proper sockets Once again make sure no pins are bent or protruding from the socket 5 You ll need to adjust a jumper to tell the computer that parity RAM is now enabled In the diagram on the next page locate jumper JP5 located almost right next to SW1 SBREAERGEEEE o o F C mn G n G aan E E E o J nm R eae COI cqa cqa CI CI 1VVIJ OQ I co coa eaa caa n G n CoCo E 0 aa a a SOJ GQ230Q2 ARAR AS F F As a poo FrEE SS CJOAE E S SS DE v Coico A C ole E aa a L coa o Notice that the jumper is currently set for RAM Parity dis abled RAM Parity Disabled Jumper JPS mI To enable RAM parity gently lift the jumper of the two pins it s on now and place it on the two pins shown below RAM Parity Enabled Jumper JP5 Jumper JP7 is now set to recognize that parity memory 1S installed i 53 Installing Expansion Cards Installing expansion cards into slots is a ve
31. itches inform the computer how much memory is installed how many floppy disk drives there are etc The computer uses this critical information to test and orient itself every time the power is turned on If a DIP switch is set incorrectly your computer may not function properly DIN Connector A DIN connector is a round plug connection The most common type of DIN connector is a five pin DIN connec tor which is a round plug with five pins male connector or five holes female connector DSDD DSDD stands for Double Sided Double Density and refers to floppy diskettes DSDD disks are the most common type of floppy disks used on IBM and compatible comput ers You can store more information on DSDD disks than on SSDD Single Sided Double Density disks because DSDD diskettes can hold information on both sides of the diskette EGA EGA stands for Enhanced Graphics Adaptor providing a much higher quality picture on your computer s monitor _ EMS EMS stands for Expanded Memory Specification Some software such as Lotus 1 2 3 uses EMS The conventional computer memory maximum is 640K EMS is a set of standards where programs can use up to eight megabytes of memory above beyond the 640K barrier 86 Expansion Card An expansion card is a device you plug into a computer which allows you to add new features Expansion cards are delicate electronic instruments and should be handled with care Expansion cards come in a v
32. l calculations for large spreadsheets etc 8086 The 8086 is a main microprocessor chip This chip could be considered the brain of an IBM or compatible com puter because the 8086 chip processes all of your computer s commands When you program your computer to do something the 8086 chip receives your commands and executes them 8086 1 The 8086 1 chip is an improved version of the 8086 chip The 8086 1 replaces the 8086 and performs the same functions that the 8086 chip does However the 8086 1 is a turbo computer chip The 8086 1 can run at a speed of either 4 77 MHz or the turbo faster speed of 10 MHz Some IBM software programs are designed to run only at 4 77 MHz To run these programs your computer would need a microprocessor that runs at 4 77 MHz However many software titles written today are more flexible You can run them at either 4 77 MHz or you can run them at turbo speed The advantage to owning a computer with a turbo chip like the 8086 1 is that your computer can execute commands and work for you faster when software allows it to Happily almost all IBM software these days lets you take advantage of this turbo speed feature 83 AT Style Keyboard IBM has manufactured a few different models of personal computers PC PC JR PC XT PC AT The PC AT style keyboard is generally considered to be superior The AT style keyboard is designed to feel like an IBM Selec tric typewriter and has
33. nfamiliar with the meaning of a cer tain term you can consult the glossary in Appendix 4 for a definition Preparing for the Installation Before you install the computer you should have a large clear area on which to work Clear a tabletop large enough to hold the system unit and keyboard The monitor can sit on top of the system unit if space is at a premium You will need the following e A grounded three prong power outlet e A small flathead screwdriver These tools are sufficient for a normal installation If you need to open up the system unit to install additional memory disk drives or expansion cards you ll also need the following e A small Philips screwdriver e A cup or an ashtray to hold loose screws Checking the Contents of the Package Carefully unpack the computer from its carton Make sure the carton contains the following e The computer system unit e A keyboard e A power cord e A video cable for composite monitors A package with manuals for MS DOS and GW BASIC optional e A package containing four diskettes e A warranty card It is important to save the carton and packing materials in case you need to ship your unit in the future Be sure to return the warranty card as soon as possible Hardware Features Overview With the computer on a level surface examine the following features on the front panel Keyboard lock unlock LED indicators Speed indicator A NN A ARAR Keyboard
34. ng a serial printer or modem with RS232 standard input It is fully SPERANO with the IBM PC XT serial port Pin NY ONAN PWN FE 22 Description CHASSIS GROUND TRANSMIT DATA RECEIVE DATA REQUEST TO SEND CLEAR TO SEND DATA SET READY SIGNAL GROUND CARRIER DETECT DATA TERMINAL READY RING INDICATOR OTHERS NOT USED 25 pin D Style Connector 77 Joystick Port Used for connecting a joystick mechanism to the Laser Turbo XT using a 15 pin D style connector r l 4 r Switch 3 H Switch 2 78 Appendix 3 Monochrome Graphics Color Graphics Card Overview As a color graphics adapter this card provides a flexible interface to RGB monitors as well as color and monochrome composite monitors Graphic resolutions of 320 x 200 or 640 x 200 are available When selected for monochrome operation the Monochrome Graphics Color Graphics Card is fully compatible with the Hercules graphics card providing 720 x 348 resolution When the Monochrome Graphics Color Graphics Card is installed in a Laser Computer the slide MDA switch on the card faceplate is used to select CGA color graphics or monochrome operation Once you have set pole 5 and 6 or the DIP switch SW1 to ON there are no other switches to set and no need to open the system unit The Laser BIOS on the graphics adapter assures perfect operation when inside a Laser Computer 79 U
35. ns or faster 2 Install the chips in the right sockets on the system board In the diagram below notice there are two banks of empty sockets for installing expanded memory The banks are labeled Bank 0 Bank 1 The first 512K of expanded memory goes in Bank 0 The first sixteen chips get installed in sockets U50 through U57 and U60 through U67 If you are using parity RAM install another chip at U58 and U59 If you are installing 1 MB of expanded memory fill up Bank 1 Remember the socket at U76 and U77 need to be filled only if you are using RAM parity checking 3 Make sure the chips are pointing the right way Make sure you install the RAM chips with the indentations pointing towards the center of the system board toward the back of the unit 4 Press the chips into place in their proper sockets Once again make sure no pins are bent or protruding from the socket 5 Set the switch on the system board so the computer recognizes the correct amount of expanded memory Locate Switch Bank 2 SW2 n diagram maoa EE C E NY CE os C iss C a SY Teams Right now all the switches are on To set your system to recognize the correct amount of expanded memory set the switches as above 59 Using Expanded Memory As mentioned previously MS DOS does not recognize any memory past 640K All memory over 640K is called expanded memory Some software packages are written to aut
36. nstall the chips in the right sockets on the system board As shown in this diagram the sockets for the four 4464 RAM chips are highlighted The chips will be installed in sockets U36 U37 U38 and U39 3 Make sure the chips are pointing the right way Take a careful look at the top of the memory chips You ll see a small indentation notch or marking at one end of the chip Examine the two rows of memory chips currently installed in the computer Notice the indentation on the chips is pointing towards the center of the system board toward the back of the unit You must install the new memory chips with the indentation facing the back of the system unit in the exact same direction as the other memory chips 4 Make sure none of the pins on the chip bend when you insert them into their sockets Now that you know what kind of chips to use where they go and which direction they point you are ready to actually install the RAM chips With the chip facing the right direction carefully place the prongs from the RAM chip into the holes on the socket Press downward No force is required to install RAM chips If you have to press hard you are probably bending a pin The pins that connect each chip to its socket are easily bent out of shape After installing the RAM chip make sure no pins are bent or protruding from the socket Keeping all these things in mind install the four 4464 RAM chips in sockets U36 U37 U3
37. omatically recognize expanded memory For example Lotus 1 2 3 and Microsoft Windows 2 0 take full advantage of expanded memory Other programs will not recognize expanded memory at all It depends specifically on the application you are using We have supplied two software programs which are used with your expanded memory The first program is EMMSYS It must be installed before the expanded memory can be used The second program is ERAMDISK SYS a helpful program for implementing a RAM disk in expanded memory EMM SYS e The MS DOS driver for managing expanded memory e The following line must appear in the file CONFIG SYS DEVICE EMM SYS M3 _ 10 ERAMDISK SYS This is a driver to turn your expanded memory into a RAM disk A RAM disk program sets aside a portion of memory and treats it as if it were a physical disk drive In other words with two floppy disk drives on your system Drive A and B the RAM disk becomes Drive C If you also have a hard disk installed the RAM disk becomes Drive D e To use 512K of expanded memory as a RAM disk the following line must appear in CONFIG SYS DEVICE ERAMDISK SYS 512 e To use 1MB of expanded memory as a RAM disk the following line must appear in CONFIG SYS DEVICE ERAMDISK SYS 1024 61 Installing a Hard Disk Drive If your computer is equipped with a hard disk drive you will need to prepare the disk for use by formatting it Follow these simple
38. on slots in your computer Brackets are used for two main purposes one they help anchor expansion cards securely and two they cover the openings for empty expansion slots so that dust and dirt can not enter your computer and damage it CGA CGA stands for Color Graphics Adaptor Clock A clock keeps time and computers can have the option of a clock installed This option can be used many ways but the main idea is always the same If you have a clock in your computer it will keep time for you Cold Start When all power to your computer is turned off and you then turn power to your computer on you have cold started your computer COM COM is the computer abbreviation for a serial computer port Computers can be configured for more than one serial port Because of this COM ports are always desig nated as COM1 COM2 COM3 etc Configure To configure means to specifically set something up a cer tain way When a computer dealer says that his computer is factory pre set he means that the computer has been configured or set up a certain way Conventional Memory MS DOS regularly addresses or accesses a maximum of 640K RAM Therefore OK to 640K RAM is considered conventional memory l 85 DIP Switch The DIP in DIP switch stands for Dual In line Package DIP switches on your computer must be turned either on or off in order to tell your computer some very basic information The main DIP sw
39. opened for MSDOS GW BASIC and start up utility These users can practice with DOS BASIC and start up commands 14 Setting the System Clock Your computer has its own clock to keep track of the date and time while you work The clock is not set in the factory so youll need to set it the first time you use it 1 The Computer Main Menu As shown on page 9 should appear on the screen 2 Type in the letter K MS DOS treats upper and lower case letters the same way so it doesn t matter whether you re using capital or small letters 3 The system will display the current date Type in the correct date in the form mm dd yy lt ENTER gt For example to set the date for New Year s Day 1988 you would type 01 01 88 lt ENTER gt 4 The current time now appears on the screen Press lt EN TER gt if no change is necessary or type in the correct time using the format hh mm ss lt ENTER gt The system s real time clock is now set Every time the computer is started it will retrieve the correct date and time 15 Operation Speed The computer can operate at two different speeds Some software requires you to operate at 4 77 MHz to maintain full compatibility with the original IBM PC XT When possible though you should try to operate your computer at the turbo speed of 10 MHz After warm or cold start your computer will operate at 4 77MHz For 4 77MHz Operation Press and simultaneously
40. or Installing Expanded Memory 2 DIP Switches 45 Hard disk controller card Multiple input output I O card Expansion slots _ Monochrome graphics Color graphics card EGA card 2 DIP switches Sockets for memory expansion to 640K 4 empty rows for installing expanded memory System board Socket for an 8087 math co processor Power supply Ribbon cables 5 1 4 floppy drive A or 5 1 4 floppy drive B 3 1 2 floppy disk B Hard disk C Expanding System Memory to 640K MS DOS itself recognizes up to 640K of memory Because the computer comes with 512K of memory one of the first en hancements we recommend is expanding the system memory to its full 640K There are four simple tricks to successfully installing memory on the system board 1 Purchase the correct memory chips 2 Install the chips in the right place on the system board 3 Make sure the chips are pointing the right way when you install them in their sockets 4 Make sure none of the pins on the chip bend when you are pushing the chip into the socket 5 Set the proper switch on the system board so the computer recognizes all 640K Let s take each step in detail As always before you install anything Make sure the computer is unplugged from the wall outlet 1 Purchase the correct memory chips Ask your dealer for four 4 4464 RAM chips 64K RAM x 4 The chips must be 150 nanoseconds 150ns or faster 47 2 I
41. rs Facts You Should Know This chapter is intended for people with no computing experi ence If you fall into this category we hope you ll find some of the concepts introduced here to be helpful Let s start with a few general facts e A computer is not like a television set that you can simply take out of the box and plug in It will require both time and patience to learn If you try to learn things too quickly under pressure you may get frustrated We recommend leaving plenty of time for learning e There is a fan on the back of the computer system unit This fan is absolutely essential for cooling the internal components Do not block this fan Make sure you leave plenty of space for air to circulate behind the computer e Static electricity can damage your system Your body picks up static electricity without you even knowing it and even a mild static shock can harm delicate computer compo nents To protect against static shock always touch the metal chassis of your system unit before touching other electronics e Electrical interference and power surges can destroy com puter components Do not plug your computer into an outlet that powers heavy equipment like copiers or refrig erators If you live in a rural area with unreliable power you may want to purchase a surge suppressor to protect your components from overload 29 Introduction to MS DOS MS DOS stands for MicroSoft Disk Operating System An operating s
42. rs from RAM memory in that you can not write or save information to the ROM memory locations The only thing you can do to ROM memory is retrieve or read from it Serial Port A computer serial port is typically labelled as a communi cations port A serial port can be used to hook up either a serial printer or a modem both of which communicate between the computer and the outside world Software Software is best described as any information you load or read into your computer Software is contained on floppy diskettes Typically software allows you to do some thing with your computer i e play a game write a letter or design a spreadsheet for mathematical calculations Turbo Turbo is a term used to mean faster speed A turbo computer like your computer runs at a faster speed than other computers Turbo computers work faster giving you the advantage of being done faster with whatever it is you want to do TTL stands for Transistor to Transistor Logic TTL is a term used to describe one type of display monitor TTL monitors are typically monochrome monitors that will always give you a crisper picture due to their advanced transis tor logic Write When you save information you are writing information to your floppy diskette or hard disk drive Write is the technical term for saving information to your computer 91 Write Protect Every floppy diskette has a notch or cut out portion on it Thi
43. ry The root directory can be subdivided into more directories for the sake of organization For example all word processing documents could be stored in a directory named Letters Checkbook balances and your home budget could be grouped into a directory named Finance For many purposes especially if you are using floppy disks only you may not need any additional directories The root directory alone should suffice However when you add a hard disk organizing your files into directories becomes essential because the hard disk is capable of storing thousands of files To summarize the root directory can contain several subdirecto ries and each subdirectory in turn can contain other subdirectories In the illustration below directory names appear in boldface text while file names appear in normal text 32 ROOT FINANCE LETTERS File1 File2 Budget OFFICE PERSONAL Checkbk Bills SlsDept AuntMary Acctg Janice Thank You The rules for naming directories are the same as those for naming files Names can be up to eight characters long and contain letters numbers and the symbols amp orl 33 The Menu of MS DOS Activities The computer features a helpful menu of the most common MS DOS commands The menu appears whenever you start up the machine LASER TURBO XT Start Up Utility Main Menu A Format a disk H Change directory B Format a sys disk I Display directory C Format
44. ry simple process With six expansion slots free you have a lot of room to enhance the capabilities of your computer 1 Before you begin e Unplug the computer from the wall outlet _ Remember that circuit boards are sensitive to static elec tricity Rid your hands of static electricity by touching the system chassis every time before touching a circuit board 2 Choose an empty slot and remove the screw holding the slot cover to the back of the chassis 54 3 Slide the card into place with its tab meeting the grooves in the expansion slot 4 Replace the slot cover screw which will secure the endplate bracket of the card to the back of the system unit 55 Installing an 8087 Math Co Processor The computer has a socket available for an 8087 math co processor chip This chip is specialized to do floating point arithmetic very fast If you are working intensively with enormous spreadsheets or mathematics it could speed number crunching significantly It s manufactured by Intel and should be purchased from an authorized Intel dealer 1 Purchase the correct chip Ask the dealer for an 8087 1 math co processor The 8087 1 is necessary to take full advantage of your 10 MHz turbo speed 2 Identify the correct socket The 8087 1 is installed in the long empty socket located immediately next to the CPU 3 Make sure the chip is pointing in the right direction The notch on the 8087 1 should be pointing to
45. s notch allows the computer disk drive heads to write information onto the floppy disk When you cover this notch you can not write information onto the floppy disk Write protect tabs are typically included with floppy diskettes when purchased so that you can use this safe guard measure for important data Warm Boot Restarting your computer using the Reset Button on the back of the system unit or the CTRL ALT DEL key sequence 92 91 2124 13 1988 VTCL Printed in Hong Kong 1
46. saved on a formatted disk can be located in say sector 1 etc Formatting gives your computer the ability to locate data with precise coordinates on each floppy diskette Hard Disk Drive A hard disk drive or fixed disk can store much more information than a floppy disk drive A hard drive is made of many layers of special magnetic media specifically de signed to hold high quantities of data As a rough ex ample installing a 20 MB hard drive in your computer is like adding 125 floppy disk drives to that same computer A hard disk allows you to access information more rapidly because you do not have to repeatedly load floppy disk ettes One note of caution because a hard drive is made up of so many layers of specialized magnetic media it is much more delicate Use care when handling or moving a computer with an installed hard drive and carefully read all precautions before handling or moving any hard disk drive Hardware Hardware is considered to be any part of your computer that you can actually touch in contrast to software which is considered to be information stored on magnetic media floppy diskettes Items of hardware include printers moni tors floppy disk drives etc Hercules Hercules Compatible Hercules or Hercules compatible is a monitor display standard of 720H x 350V resolution 720 refers to the number of tiny dots called pixels appearing across the screen I C Socket I C socket stands for In
47. sing the Adapter in Non Laser Computers If you install the Monochrome Graphics Color Graphics Card in a non Laser computer or the Monochrome Graphics Color Graphics Card coexists with another graphics card e g EGA CGA or MDA You may have to disable the Laser BIOS built in to the graphics card When you disable the built in BIOS you will need to set the DIP switches inside the non Laser computer to match the MDA CGA slide switch on the card s faceplate To disable the built in BIOS 1 Locate the Jumper JP2 on the Graphics Adapter Enable the built in BIOS g Disable the B built in BIOS 2 Move the jumper so it covers pins 2 and 3 on JP2 g o JP2 80 With the jumper set in this manner the BIOS on the Mono chrome Graphics Color Graphics Card is disabled If your Laser computer is installed with EGA card please refer to user manual provided for the EGA card If your Laser computer is installed with hard disk controller card please refer to the user manual provided for the hard disk controller 81 82 Appendix 4 Glossary of Computer Terms As with any industry the computer world seems to have a language all its own Listed below are some of the most common words and phrases you will see in relation to personal computers 8087 Coprocessor The 8087 is a computer chip designed to work with the computer s main microprocessor The 8087 chip is designed specifically to speed up mathematica
48. tegrated Circuit socket An I C socket is a location on the computer motherboard where you can insert a computer chip without soldering Initializing Diskettes When you initialize a floppy diskette you are formatting the floppy diskette See formatted LPT LPT is an abbreviation for computer parallel ports Since computers can have more than one parallel port parallel ports are always designated LPT1 LPT2 LPT3 etc Male Male computer connectors have pins as compared to female connectors which have holes MHz MHz is the abbreviation for Megahertz Megahertz is a unit of measurement for computer s microprocessor speed Microprocessor See 8086 or 8086 1 Monochrome Monochrome means single color displays Typical mono chrome monitors are either green or amber with black backgrounds Motherboard The motherboard is the main circuitry board of your computer which houses all computer microcircuitry and offers room for expansion via I C sockets and expansion slots Nanoseconds Nanoseconds are very small increments of time one billionth of a second Nanoseconds are used as a rating method for RAM chips the lower the number of nanos econds the faster the RAM chip 120 nanosecond or ns chips are faster better quality than 150ns chips 89 Parallel Port Parallel ports are computer ports typically used for parallel Centronics printer hook up RAM RAM stands for Random Access Memory Yo
49. ternal drive C is logically linked to the second physical drive B That is to say you can access physical drive B via logical drive C in addition to drive B If your 3 5 disk drive is the first drive change the pa rameter d 1 to d 0 Warm boot the system The message Loaded External Disk Driver for Drive C will be displayed which indicates the external drive is suc cessfully installed 3 5 disks can now be formatted in 720KB via drive C in the 3 5 disk drive While drive C is specifically created to allow formatting in 720KB normal disk access through drive B drive A for first drive is still permitted except that the disk can only be formatted in 360KB not 720KB _ New diskettes must be formatted before they can be used on your computer Refer to the How to Format Your Disks section in the MS DOS User s Guide 42 Chapter 4 Enhancements Special Note The enhancements described in this chapter let you improve the power and performance of your computer system The parts required for each enhancement are available from your dealer All these enhancements require you to open the system unit and install add on accessories inside Furthermore some of the instructions may seem complicated especially for first time computer users If you are a new computer user you may want to have your dealer install the enhancements Before opening your system unit make sure the power to your computer is
50. the rear of the unit towards the back panel 56 3 Make sure the chip is pointing in the right direction The notch on the 8087 1 should be pointing to the rear of the unit towards the back panel 4 Press the co processor chip into place in its socket Once again make sure none of the pins are bent or protruding from the socket 5 Set the switch on the system board so the computer recog nizes the 8087 math co processor Locate Switch Bank 1 SW1 as shown in the diagram V 234567 Right now switch 2 is ON To set your system for the 8087 1 turn switch 2 OFF ch 23 4567 57 Installmg Expanded Memory As mentioned before MS DOS only recognizes up to 640K of memory Any memory above and beyond 640K is referred to as expanded memory Some applications like Lotus 1 2 3 and Dbase III make use of up to 8 megabytes 8 MB or 8 192K of expanded memory On your computer system board there is room for you to add one megabyte 1 MB of expanded memory You must add expanded memory in increments of 512K so you can add 512K or 1 MB As always before you install anything MAKE SURE THE COMPUTER IS UNPLUGGED FROM THE WALL OUTLET 1 Purchase the correct memory chips For every 512K of expanded memory you install Ask your dealer for sixteen 16 41256 RAM chips 256K RAM x 1 If you plan on using RAM parity you ll need eighteen instead of sixteen The chips must be 150 nanoseconds 150
51. tions in BASIC Ecama ELSE Undefined Fisa FOR Rriten RUN G GOTO S SCREEN H eee HEX Taan THEN eee INPUT eters USING os Undefined V VAL 21 The Numeric Keypad The numeric keypad shown below performs a dual function With the NUM LOCK key engaged indicated by the status light in the upper right and corner of the keyboard the keypad is useful for the rapid data entry of numbers Without NUM LOCK the keypad can be used to move the cursor or do special editing features Eder Ferd Eel mE Me He We Ms We rik E S El EE Se TE The 102 key enhanced keyboard provides a separate keypad for cursor control and editing located immediately to the left of the numeric keypad For this reason most users will find it convenient to leave the NUM LOCK key on This allows the numeric keypad to be used for rapid entry of numbers These keys operate the same regardless of the status of the NUM LOCK key ENTER Works the same as the ENTER key on the Typewriter Keypad Enter 22 H M H Displays the PLUS symbol Displays the MINUS symbol r Po the ASTERISK used for multiplica Displays the SLASH used for division These keys behave differently depending on the status of the NUM LOCK key SIC 27 Bii The The The The The NUM LOCK ON number 1 number 2 number 3 number 4 number 5 23 NUM LOCK OFF END Moves the cursor to t
52. u can read or write to RAM memory versus ROM memory which you can only read from RAM memory is dynamic you can change RAM memory contents by adding to or delet ing from RAM at your discretion Re Boot Re booting your computer means to restart the computer from scratch Read When you read information from a floppy disk you are retrieving information that has been stored on the diskette Real Time Clock A real time clock keeps time for your computer even when it is turned off real time clocks traditionally have a battery back up A real time clock is an optional accessory for IBM XT s which frees you from having to repeatedly enter the date and time every time you boot MS DOS Resolution Every monitor display picture you see is made up of tiny dots called pixels Resolution is typically given in terms of horizontal dots by vertical dots The more dots pixels in the resolution the clearer your picture will be As an example 640H x 200V a typical CGA color resolution is not as good or as clear as CIN x 350V typical EGA color resolution RGB RGB stands for Red Green Blue RGB is a term used to describe one type of monitor display for your computer RGB monitors are color monitors which divide and then recombine the picture signal so as to make the picture clearer 90 ROM ROM stands for Read Only Memory ROM memory is information your computer can readily access necessary information ROM memory diffe
53. y The directory must have 0 files for this to work Does it Y or N Enter the name of the directory to remove Enter the drive letter A D Enter new directory name Enter qualifier Default If you leave this entry blank all files will be listed Enter the name of the program If the program is not located in the current directory you ll need to specify the drive letter and directory name Do you have GETCLOCK EXE and SETCLOCK EXE in the current directory Y or N What is the current date Use MM DD YY format What is the current time Use HH MM SS format Command L Check config M Display help file N Exit to DOS Function Displays details about your system configuration i e how many drives how much memory Prints a copy of the help file pertaining to these menu selections Ends this Menu Program and returns you to the standard DOS prompt To restart the menu program enter MENU at the DOS prompt Options Do you have WHATAMI EXE in the current directory Y or N Do you have HELPTXT in the current directory Y or N No options The MENU program allows you to perform several activities without having to learn MS DOS in great detail However we recommend becoming familiar with the most common and most useful MS DOS commands for further information consult the MS DOS User s Guide or one of the books suggested in Chapter 6
54. ystem is a group of programs that acts as e A manager for your computer monitor and peripherals e An interpreter conveying your instructions to the computer If you plan on running application programs only software written to perform specific tasks e g Lotus 1 2 3 0r WordPer fect you actually need to know very little about the MS DOS operating system On the other hand if you plan on writing your own programs you may have to learn quite a bit about it We recommend learning enough about MS DOS so you can take advantages of all the features of your computer We will provide a basic introduction to MS DOS in this booklet To find out more you should consult the MS DOS User s Guide included with your system There are several excellent instruction manuals and tutorials written about MS DOS Refer to Chapter 6 for a listing of relevant books 30 Storing Files on a Computer To learn more about how your computer works you have to learn how MS DOS organizes and stores data All information on disks is stored in f les A file is simply a collection of information Computer files can be broken down into three categories e System Files contain MS DOS information that man ages the computer operations e Program Files contain information that lets your computer perform a series of specific tasks e Data Files contain information which you enter such as documents created in a word processing package
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