AST RESEARCH TECHNICAL BULLETIN TB-0080 4-2-85 QUICK REFERENCE: ADVANTAGE! To facilitate answering questions or configuring the AST Advantage!, the following information has been assembled: TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Installing the Advantage! in a 256K AT ........ 2 Running the AT Setup Program .................. 3 Advantage! Switch Block #1 .................... 4 Advantage! Switch Block #3 .................... 5 Parallel Port ................................. 8 Serial Port ................................... 8 TB-0080 PAGE 2 INSTALLING THE ADVANTAGE! IN A 256K AT If you are installing your Advantage! in an AT equipped with a 256K system board, please note the following: * An Advantage! being used in a 256K AT MUST be configured for the Split Memory Addressing mode of operation. Figure 3-4 in the Advantage! User's Manual shows the correct switch settings for Switch Block #3 on the Advantage! in a 256K AT. (In a 512K AT, you may use either Split or Contiguous Memory Addressing on the Advantage!) * The AT system board may be equipped with either 256K or 512K installed. A jumper on the system board (J18) determines the maximum amount of memory the system board will accept. With the jumper in one position, the system board will accept a maximum of 256K, while in the opposite position, the system board will accept a maximum of 512K. IBM ships some 256K ATs with this jumper in the 512K position. This means that in such a 256K AT, there is an additional "phantom" 256K memory block present. When the Advantage! is then installed, its memory will conflict with this "phantom" 256K block on the AT system board. The usual symptom of this problem is an error during power on self test such as "040002...201". * To avoid this memory addressing conflict, before you install the Advantage! in a 256K AT, verify that the jumper on the AT system board is in the correct 256K position. The jumper is identified as "J18" and is located underneath the disk controller card at the very front of the AT chassis. It may be necessary to lift the disk controller card up in order to gain access to the jumper. NOTE: As a portion of the data is in pictorial form, it is not included here. To obtain a complete copy of this technical bulletin, contact: AST RESEARCH, INC. 2121 Alton Avenue Irvine, California 92714 ATTENTION: Product Support (Technical Bulletin) TB-0080 PAGE 3 RUNNING THE AT SETUP PROGRAM * When running the "SETUP" program to tell the AT how much memory is installed in the 640K base memory area, the screen display indicates that the only valid responses are 256, 512 or 640. Although not indicated by the display, you may also enter 384 if that is appropriate for your machine. * Likewise, when telling the AT how much extended memory you have, the screen display indicates that the only valid responses are 0, 512, 1024, etc. Although not indicated by the display, you may enter any value falling on a 128K boundary, e.g. 0, 128, 256, 384, etc., up to 15360 (15 megabytes). TB-0080 PAGE 4 ADVANTAGE! SWITCH BLOCK #1 TABLE A-1: This table is used to tell Advantage! what memory you have in each bank. Number of Rows Installed on Advantage Row 1 Row 2 Row 3 Row 4 Row 5 Row 6 SW1 SW2 SW3 SW4 SW5 1 128K OFF OFF OFF OFF ON 1 512K OFF OFF ON ON ON 2 128K 128K OFF OFF OFF ON OFF 2 128K 512K ON OFF OFF OFF OFF 2 512K 512K OFF ON OFF OFF OFF 3 128K 128K 128K OFF OFF OFF ON ON 3 128K 128K 512K ON OFF ON OFF ON 3 128K 512K 512K ON OFF OFF OFF ON 3 512K 512K 512K OFF ON OFF OFF ON 4 128K 128K 128K 128K OFF OFF ON OFF OFF 4 128K 128K 128K 512K ON ON OFF OFF ON 4 128K 128K 512K 512K ON OFF ON ON OFF 4 128K 512K 512K 512K ON OFF OFF ON OFF 4 512K 512K 512K 512K OFF ON OFF ON OFF 5 128K 128K 128K 128K 128K OFF OFF ON OFF ON 5 128K 128K 128K 128K 512K ON ON ON OFF OFF 5 128K 128K 128K 512K 512K ON ON OFF ON OFF 5 128K 128K 512K 512K 512K ON OFF ON ON ON 5 128K 512K 512K 512K 512K ON OFF OFF ON ON 5 512K 512K 512K 512K 512K OFF ON OFF ON ON 6 128K 128K 128K 128K 128K 128K OFF OFF ON ON OFF 6 128K 128K 128K 128K 128K 512K ON ON ON ON OFF 6 128K 128K 128K 128K 512K 512K ON ON ON OFF ON 6 128K 128K 128K 512K 512K 512K ON ON OFF ON ON 6 128K 128K 512K 512K 512K 512K ON ON OFF OFF OFF 6 128K 512K 512K 512K 512K 512K ON OFF ON OFF OFF 6 512K 512K 512K 512K 512K 512K OFF ON ON OFF OFF NOTE #1: You must have 128K banks filled before going to 512K banks. NOTE #2: As a portion of the data is in pictorial form, it is not included here. To obtain a complete copy of this technical bulletin, contact: AST RESEARCH, INC. 2121 Alton Avenue Irvine, California 92714 ATTENTION: Product Support (Technical Bulletin) TB-0080 PAGE 5 ADVANTAGE! SWITCH BLOCK #3 Table D-1. Split Memory Addressing Memory Allocation _______________________________________________________________________ Total Number Number Total| 256K AT | 512K AT Memory Rows Rows Advtg.| | Rows 64K 256K Memory|Base Exp. Total|Base Exp. Total Populated Chips Chips (KB)|Mem. Mem. Mem.|Mem. Mem. Mem. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 1 0 128 384 0 384 640 0 640 1 0 1 512 640 128 768 640 384 1024 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 2 0 256 512 0 512 640 128 768 2 1 1 640 640 256 896 640 512 1152 2 0 2 1024 640 640 1280 640 896 1536 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 3 0 384 640 0 640 640 256 896 3 2 1 768 640 384 1024 640 640 1280 3 1 2 1152 640 768 1408 640 1024 1664 3 0 3 1536 640 1152 1792 640 1408 2048 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 4 0 512 640 128 768 640 384 1024 4 3 1 896 640 512 1152 640 768 1408 4 2 2 1280 640 896 1536 640 1152 1792 4 1 3 1664 640 1280 1920 640 1536 2176 4 0 4 2048 640 1664 2304 640 1920 2560 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 5 0 640 640 256 896 640 512 1152 5 4 1 896 640 512 1152 640 768 1408 5 3 2 1408 640 1024 1664 640 1280 1920 5 2 3 1792 640 1408 2048 640 1664 2304 5 1 4 2176 640 1792 2432 640 2048 2688 5 0 5 2560 640 2176 2816 640 2432 3072 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 6 0 768 640 384 1024 640 640 1280 6 5 1 1152 640 768 1408 640 1024 1664 6 4 2 1536 640 1152 1792 640 1408 2048 6 3 3 1920 640 1536 2176 640 1792 2432 6 2 4 2304 640 1920 2560 640 2176 2816 6 1 5 2688 640 2304 2944 640 2560 3200 6 0 6 3072 640 2688 3328 640 2944 3584 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversion Chart for calculating the amount of base memory and expansion memory in the AT when using split memory addressing on the Advantage! Table D-2 Switch Block #3 Settings (Starting Address) _______________________________________________________________ Advantage! Advantage! Advantage! Start Start Start Advantage! Switch Block #3 Address Address Address (Megabytes) (K-Bytes) (Hexadecimal) SW1 SW2 SW3 SW4 SW5 SW6 SW7 --------------------------------------------------------------- 0.250 256 040000 ON ON ON ON ON OFF ON 0.500 512 080000 ON ON ON ON OFF ON ON 1.000 1024 100000 ON ON ON OFF ON ON ON 1.125 1152 120000 ON ON ON OFF ON ON OFF 1.250 1280 140000 ON ON ON OFF ON OFF ON 1.375 1408 160000 ON ON ON OFF ON OFF OFF 1.500 1536 180000 ON ON ON OFF OFF ON ON 1.625 1664 1A0000 ON ON ON OFF OFF ON OFF 1.750 1792 1C0000 ON ON ON OFF OFF OFF ON 1.875 1920 1E0000 ON ON ON OFF OFF OFF OFF 2.000 2048 200000 ON ON OFF ON ON ON ON 2.125 2176 220000 ON ON OFF ON ON ON OFF 2.250 2304 240000 ON ON OFF ON ON OFF ON 2.375 2432 260000 ON ON OFF ON ON OFF OFF 2.500 2560 280000 ON ON OFF ON OFF ON ON 2.625 2688 2A0000 ON ON OFF ON OFF ON OFF 2.750 2816 2C0000 ON ON OFF ON OFF OFF ON 2.875 2944 2E0000 ON ON OFF ON OFF OFF OFF 3.000 3072 300000 ON ON OFF OFF ON ON ON 3.125 3200 320000 ON ON OFF OFF ON ON OFF 3.250 3328 340000 ON ON OFF OFF ON OFF ON 3.375 3456 360000 ON ON OFF OFF ON OFF OFF 3.500 3584 380000 ON ON OFF OFF OFF ON ON 3.625 3712 3A0000 ON ON OFF OFF OFF ON OFF 3.750 3840 3C0000 ON ON OFF OFF OFF OFF ON 3.875 3968 3E0000 ON ON OFF OFF OFF OFF OFF 4.000 4096 400000 ON OFF ON ON ON ON ON 4.125 4224 420000 ON OFF ON ON ON ON OFF 4.250 4352 440000 ON OFF ON ON ON OFF ON 4.375 4480 460000 ON OFF ON ON ON OFF OFF 4.500 4608 480000 ON OFF ON ON OFF ON ON 4.625 4736 4A0000 ON OFF ON ON OFF ON OFF 4.750 4864 4C0000 ON OFF ON ON OFF OFF ON 4.875 4992 4E0000 ON OFF ON ON OFF OFF OFF 5.000 5120 500000 ON OFF ON OFF ON ON ON 5.125 5248 520000 ON OFF ON OFF ON ON OFF 5.250 5376 540000 ON OFF ON OFF ON OFF ON 5.375 5504 560000 ON OFF ON OFF ON OFF OFF 5.500 5632 580000 ON OFF ON OFF OFF ON ON 5.625 5760 5A0000 ON OFF ON OFF OFF ON OFF 5.750 5888 5C0000 ON OFF ON OFF OFF OFF ON 5.875 6016 5E0000 ON OFF ON OFF OFF OFF OFF 6.000 6144 600000 ON OFF OFF ON ON ON ON SW1 Used for formation of 128K and 512K banks on Advantage! (See Page 4.) SW2 Not used for memory. SW3 Used for starting address. Use Table D-2 only if you do not split memory. If split memory is used, Table D-2 is used only to give expansion memory amount in Set-Up program. NOTE: As a portion of the data is in pictorial form, it is not included here. To obtain a complete copy of this technical bulletin, contact: AST RESEARCH, INC. 2121 Alton Avenue Irvine, California 92714 ATTENTION: Product Support (Technical Bulletin) TB-0080 PAGE 8 PARALLEL PORT IRQ JUMPER BLOCK IRQ7 = LPT 1 IRQ5 = LPT 2 If you have no Parallel Ports in the system. IRQ JUMPER BLOCK IRQ5 = LPT 2 No Interrupt for LPT3 If you already have one parallel port in the system. NOTE #1: Figure C = No parallel ports installed except on the AST Advantage! card. Figure D = Parallel port installed as LPT1. NOTE #2: As a portion of the data is in pictorial form, it is not included here. To obtain a complete copy of this technical bulletin, contact: AST RESEARCH, INC. 2121 Alton Avenue Irvine, California 92714 ATTENTION: Product Support (Technical Bulletin) SERIAL PORT NOTE: As a portion of the data is in pictorial form, it is not included here. To obtain a complete copy of this technical bulletin, contact: AST RESEARCH, INC. 2121 Alton Avenue Irvine, California 92714 ATTENTION: Product Support (Technical Bulletin)