Epson Equity I Product Support Bulletin

EPSON

Product Support Bulletin

Subject: Proper Method for Running Benchmark and Diagnostics Programs

Date: 06/04/93

Page(s): 1 of 1

PSB No: S-0158

Originator: MWT

This bulletin describes the proper method for running any benchmark or diagnostics programs. This applies to any computer system.

In most cases, the computer should be started using an MS-DOS boot diskette that’s ‘clean’ - in other words, one with no CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files.

The appropriate executable can then be run, either from diskette or hard drive.

There will be some exceptions to the above rule. In attempting to benchmark or troubleshoot any add-on that requires a device driver (CD-ROM, local area network, etc.), obviously the necessary device driver(s) must be loaded. Also, some programs will require a minimum number of FILES or BUFFERS to be defined in the CONFIG.SYS file. Such programs will usually display this requirement if they are run without the necessary CONFIG.SYS file.

For the most consistent results, use the absolute minimal boot configuration that’s allowed by the hardware being tested.


Subject: Equity/Apex Compatibility with the SOTA 386si

Date:

Page:

3/02/90

1 of 3

PSB No: S-0111

Originator:

MS ;. CL5

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide the 80386 Accelerator board test results, conducted by the Computer Product Support Center, involving the

SOTA 386si from SOTA Technology, inc.

The Equity models tested were the Equity I, Equity II Equity I + and Equity le.

The Apex models tested were the Apex, Apex Plus and Apex 100. All were tested with Norton Utilities and MS - DOS.

The table below shows compatibility and the Norton SI rating of the various systems.

Model

Equity I

Norton SI

12.0

Equity I+

Equity le

12.0/16.9

NA

Compatibility

Functioned normally with Norton Utilities and

MS- DOS 2.11

Functioned normally with MS - DOS 3.3 and

Norton Utilities at both CPU speeds.

Unable to boot at 10MHz. Performance erratic at 4.77MHz

Equity II 14.3

Apex

Apex Plus

Apex 100

15.9

11.5

12.0/16.9


Norton Utilities. (Tested only at 7.16MHz.)

Unable to boot at 4.77MHz. Functioned normally at 8MHz with MS - DOS 3.2 and

Norton Utilities.

Unable to boot at 9.54MHz. Functioned normally at 4.77MHz with MS - DOS 3.2 and

Norton Utilities.


Norton Utilities.

PSB No: S-0111

Page: 2 of 3

Installation of the board in most of the units was quick and simple to do when following the installation instructions accompanying the boards. Installation of the SOTA 386si in the Equity I and the Equity II is rather difficult. Due to the amount of disassembly required, we strongly recommend that only Authorized

Service Centers install the board in the Equity I and Equity II.

Installation Instructions

Equity I

1. Remove the following from the main unit: a) upper case b) rear panel c) front panel d) FDD/power supply block.

2. Follow instructions for a standard installation for the SOTA 386si in an

8088 - based system.

Take care to fold the SOTA connector cable so as not to prevent reassembly.

The cable is sturdy and will tolerate being folded.

3. Reassemble the main unit and go through the testing and initialization procedure outlined in the SOTA manual.

Equity II


2. Follow instructions for a standard installation for the SOTA 386si in an


Take care to fold the SOTA connector cable so as not to prevent reassembly. This will necessitate routing the cable so that it does not conflict with the power connection to the main system board.



PSB No: S-0111

Page: 3 of 3

Our Computer Product Support Center receives numerous calls requesting information and recommendations on 80386 Accelerator boards for use with the

Equity and Apex (8088- and 8086 - based) personal computers.

We have found that the SOTA 386si may meet your requirements and are competitively priced!

Although these boards were tested by qualified product support specialists,

Epson America makes no representations that these third party products are compatible with all hardware configurations or software applications.

We recommend that you certify these products with your specific hardware and software requirements and consult with the third party vendor to ensure reliable operation.

SOTA Technology can be reached at:

SOTA Technology, Inc.

657 N. Pastoria Ave.

Sunnyvale, CA 94086

Phone: (408) 245 - 3366


Subject: Equity and Apex Series Compatibility with the Sysgen OmniBridge

Controller and BridgeFiler External Floppy Drives

Date:

Page:

04/11/90

1 of 3

PSB No: S-0088B

Originator: KAS 60

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide the results of compatibility testing conducted by the Computer Product Support Center with the Sysgen

OmniBridge controller and Bridge - Filer external floppy disk drives.

Equity I

Equity II

Equity III

Equity I +

Equity le

Comments

The Equity I was found compatible with the OmniBridge controller. It was able to support one or two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and 1.44M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.

The Equity II was found to be totally incompatible with the OmniBridge controller.

The Equity III was found compatible with the OmniBridge controller. It was able to support one or two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and 1.44M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.

The Equity I + was found compatible with the

OmniBridge controller.

It was able to support one or two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and

1.44M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.

The Equity le was found compatible with the OmniBridge controller. It was able to support only one external floppy drive, unlike the other models tested. The drive could be used as a high density (1.2Mb and 1.44Mb) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drive.

Equity II +

Equity lIe

Equity Ill +

Equity 386SX

Equity 386/20

APEX

APEX +

PSB No: S-0088B

Page: 2 of 3

The Equity II + was found compatible with the




The Equity Ile was found compatible with the




The Equity III + was found compatible with the



144M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.

The Equity 386SX was found compatible with the



144M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.

The Equity 386/20 was found compatible with the




The Epson APEX was found compatible with the




The Epson APEX was found compatible with the




APEX 100

APEX 200

PSB No: S-008B

Page: 3 of 3

The Epson APEX 100 was found compatible with the




The Epson APEX 200 was found compatible with the




NOTE: The recommended switch settings for the OmniBridge controller are as follows:

1-1 DOWN

1-2 DOWN

1-3 DOWN

1-4 DOWN

2-1 DOWN

2-2 DOWN

2 - 3 U P

2 - 4 U P

These settings select NO ADDRESS for the OmniBridge BIOS and allow it to coexist with the internal FDC of the computer in which it is being installed.

This way you do not need to disable the internal

FDC or connect any cables from the OmniBridge to internal floppy drives. This was found to be a universal setting for all of the computers listed above as compatible with the OmniBridge controller.


Subject: Apex / Apex Plus / Equity Series Keyboards

Date: 4/19/89

Page: 1 of 1

PSB No: S-0080

Originator: REMAL

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information on the various keyboards used with the Apex, Apex Plus and Equity series computers and the part numbers of the keyboard subassemblies used with these keyboards.

The Apex and Apex Plus computer keyboards are to be replaced as whole units.

The Equity series keyboards are repaired to the subassembly level.

The

Equity III keyboard PCB assembly is the only one that comes with the key top set attached.

Since some of the keyboards have the same model numbers, the difference can be determined by the FCC ID number in those cases.

The chart below provides a quick reference to determine the part number of the main keyboard PCB assembly, key top set, control logic subassembly, and keyboard cable.

Apex / Apex Plus

Model

Keyboard

Unit

Apex A265091A

Apex Plus 93553905410

Model Code FCC ID

Model

Equity I/II

Equity Ill

Equity I, II, Ill

Keyboard

PCB Assy

Y145501001

KAFLZ3AEPS1

Key Top set

Y145501021 attached

Equity I +, II +, Ill+, 386/20

Keyboard

PCB Assy

Control

Board attached attached none

Y171501017

Key Top set

Y127501022

Y127501022

Y127501022

Y127501022

Keyboard

Cable

Y144305000

KACCL060UCA

Keyboard

Cable

Y127501031

Y127501031

Y163502020

Y163504006

Model Code

E1160A -

FCC ID

C9S4D84701-201

Equity le

Keyboard

PCB Assy

Y163504007

Control

Board

Y171501017

Key Top set

Y171501007

Keyboard

Cable

Y171501006


Subject:

Date:

Page:

Equity Series HDD Controllers Jumper Settings

6/12/89

1 of 8

PSB NO.: S-0070A

Originator: APA ap’

This bulletin provides information on the jumper settings for the hard disk controllers used in Epson Equity computers.

Please refer to the following pages for information regarding specific hard disk controllers:

Model # Page #

WD1002A - WX1 . . . . . . . . . .

2

WD1002S - WX2 . . . . . . . . . .

3

WD1003 - WAH . . . . . . . . .

4

WD1002 - WAH . . . . . . . . .

5

WHDC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6

WD1006S - WAH . . . . .

. 7

ACB - 2320 . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8

HDD Controller WD1002A-WX1 (8-bit)

Model number --------

-- Extra jumper

FACTORY SETTINGS

Jumper Position Description

W1

W2

W3

W4

W5

W6

W7

W8

N / A

N / A

1 to 2

2 to 3

* hard-wired 1 to 2

2 to 3

* hard-wired 1 to 2

2 to 3

Not used.

Not used.

BIOS ROM is enabled (on controller).

Device address 320H.

BIOS ROM size (32K or 64K).

Reduced write current (< = 8 heads).

IRQ 5.

Disk controller I. D. (set to be the first).

* No jumper pins - 1 and 2 are connected by a PCB board etch.

HDD Controller WD1002S-WX2 (8-bit)

Jl

‘--Extra jumper

W1

W-2

W3

W4

W5

W6

W7

FACTORY SETTINGS

Jumper Position

1 to 2

1 to 2

1 to 2

2 to 3

* hard-wired 1 to 2

2 to 3

* hard-wired 1 to 2

Description

Required for this configuration.


BIOS ROM is enabled (on controller).

Device address 320H.

BIOS ROM size (32K or 64K).

Reduced write current (< = 8 heads).

IRQ 5.

Model number--j

0

I

I

* No jumper pins - 1 and 2 are connected by a PCB board etch.

HDD Controller WD1003-WAH (16-bit)

Model number

FACTORY SETTINGS

Jumper Position

W1

W2

W3

W4

W5

W6

1 to 2

No jumper

* No jumper

2 to 3

2 to 3

2 to 3

* No jumper pins.

Description

Status read is latched.

Primary address selected.



Standard configuration.

Standard configuration.

Connection of LED indicator cable :

Model

Equity III

Equity II +

Equity III +

Pin 1 of J6

Orange wire

Blue wire

Red wire

HDD Controller WD1002-WAH (16-bit)

FACTORY SETTINGS

Jumper Position Description

W1 1 to 2

W2

Primary base address.

Center to NL HDD activity LED only lights when the controller accesses the drive.

Model number -~ j

Connection of LED indicator cable : Model

Equity III

Equity II +

Equity III +

Pin 1 of J4

Orange wire

Blue wire

Red wire

CN6

0

: n l

-4

HDD Controller WHDC (16-bit)

FACTORY SETTINGS Connection of LED indicator cable :

Jumper Position

* JP1 (J1) *2 to 3 (B to C)

* JP2 (J2)

* JP3 (J3)

* 1 to 2 (A to B)

* 1 to 2 (A to B)

JP4 to JP8 No jumper pins.

Description

Primary address selected.

Status read is non-latched (select = drive busy).

WAH mode (dual HDD controller).

Hardwired to factory settings.

* “JP” may labeled as “J”, “1” as “A”, “2” as “B” and “3” as “C”.

Model

Equity III

Equity I I +

Equity I I I +

Pin 1 of CN6

Orange wire

Blue wire

Red wire

HDD Controller WD1006S-WAH (16-bit)

Model number

FACTORY SETTINGS

Jumper Position

W1

W2

W3

W4

W5

W6

* 1 to 2

1 to 2

No jumper

* No jumper

* 1 to 2

* No jumper

* No jumper pins.


Description

LED lights for drive selection (non- latched).

No reduced write current,

Enables cacheing.

Isolates mounting bracket from logic ground.

Primary controller port.

Non-latched mode.

Model Pin 1 of J1

Equity 386/20 Red wire

HDD Controller ACB-2320 (16-bit)

FACTORY SETTINGS

Jumper Position

J5

J6

J7

J8

J9, J10, J11

J12

J13

No jumpers

No jumpers

No jumper

No jumpers

No jumpers

1 to 2

No jumper


Description Model Pin 1 of J4

Used for hardware port addressing.

Manufacturing test points (DO NOT JUMPER).

Serial monitor output (DO NOT JUMPER).

Manufacturing test points (DO NOT JUMPER).

Not used.

Selects IRQ 14.

ACB-BIOS disabled (no ROM present in location U25).

Equity 386/20 Red wire

EPSON AMERICA, INC.

SERVICE

PSB NO. : S-0068

PRODUCT SUPPORT BULLETIN

DATE: 1/25/89 ORIGINATOR: RE PAGE: 1 of 6

SUBJECT: EQUITY I, II AND III MAIN BOARD JUMPER CONFIGURATIONS

This bulletin describes the jumper locations and settings on the Equity I MRS board and Equity II configuring the computers for third party keyboards and for enabling an 8087 math coprocessor.

It also describes the various releases of the Equity that each version supported.

II

MCY board used for

MCY boards and the features

The Equity III main board dip switch settings, to set up or change system configuration, are also provided.

Index

Equity I MRS Board jumpers........................Page 2

Equity II MCY Board P/N Y1442071000 Rev. OO.......Page 3

Equity II MCY Board P/N Y1442071000 Rev. O1.......Page 4

Equity II MCY Board P/N Y1442071000 Rev. O2.......Page 4

Equity II MCY Board P/N Y1442075000 . . . . . . . . . . . . ..Page 5

Equity II MCY Board P/N Y1442076000 . . . . . . . . . . . . ..Page 5

Equity III Main Board Dip-switch configuration....Page 6

EPSON AMERICA SERVICE, 23610 TEL0 AVENUE, TORRANCE, CALIF. 90505

u

MRS-MT BOARD

EQUITY I MARS BOARD JUMPER CONFIGURATIONS

CN3

I

CN1

1

I I

CN2 i

8087 socket 3D

8OC88 CPU 4D

MARS BOARD

I

1 8250 1

CN12 CN11

FDD(B) (A)

ml

CN10 CN9

PLEASE NOTE

Since setting the jumpers requires almost complete disassembly of the

Equity I computer it should be done only by authorized

Epson Customer Care

Centers.

opt. 256KB

RAM Board

CN5

Reset Dip Switch

I

1 82C59 1

=p]

Keyboard

* NON-EPSON KEYBOARD SUPPORT - Install jumpers in positions J2 and position J3 (Early systems did not have this capability and do not have these jumper positions installed.)

NOTE: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE THE EPSON KEYBOARD WITH THESE JUMPERS

INSTALLED AS DAMAGE WILL RESULT!

* 8087 SUPPORT - Remove the jumper from position J1.

* EGA MONITOR SUPPORT - Set dip switches 6 and 7 to the on position.

A

----- Page 2 of 6 -----

EQUITY II MCY BOARD Y147201000 REV. 00 JUMPER CONFIGURATIONS

Reset Dip Switch

JUMPER CONFIGURATIONS

Vol. Keyboard

* There are no jumpers on this version board. The board is hard-wired to provide RAM refresh to the option slots.

* An 8087 coprocessor cannot be used.

* There is no provision for using alternate keyboards.

----- Page 3 of 6 -----

EQUITY II MCY BOARD Y147201000 REV. 01 & 02 JUMPER CONFIGURATIONS

MCY board Y147201000 revision 01 differences.

and 02

Revision 02 MCY boards have the following improvements over the 01 revision MCY board.

* Serial port works over 1200 baud.

* Concurrent operation of 8087 & optional Dynamic

RAM or EGA/VGA.

* Topview fix incorporated on

MCY (main) board.

Reset Dip Switch Vol. Keyboard

JUMPER CONFIGURATIONS

*

*

J1 option slots for expanded memory boards or EGA/VGA video boards.

An 8087 will function concurrently with dynamic RAM boards on

Rev. 02 boards with the jumpers in position 2.

J1 and J2 should be in position 2 to enable DMA RAM refresh to the and J2 should be in position 1 to disable DMA RAM refresh. The

V30 runs about 20% faster in this position.

8087-2 enabled on

Rev. 01 MCY board.

* J3 and J4 are not available on these versions of MCY board.

Non-Epson keyboards cannot be used.

----- Page 4 of 6 -----

EQUITY II MCY BOARD Y147205000 & Y147206000 JUMPER CONFIGURATIONS

MCY board Y147205000 and Y1472056000 differences.

MCY P/N Y147206000 boards have the following improvements over the

Y147205000 board.

* Serial port works over 1200 baud.

* Concurrent operation of 8087 & optional Dynamic

RAM or EGA/VGA.

* Topview fix incorporated on

MCY (main) board.

On

Batt

Off

II

Reset Dip Switch Vol. Keyboard

JUMPER CONFIGURATIONS

*

*

J1

J1 and J2 should be in position 2 to enable DMA RAM refresh to the option slots for expanded memory boards or EGA/VGA video boards.

The 8087 will work in DMA refresh mode with the Y147206000 board.

and J2 should be in position

The V30 runs about 20% faster in this position. The jumpers must be in position

* J3 and

* J3 and

J4

J4

1 to enable an 8087 with the Y147205000 MCY board should be in position 1 to use an IBM compatible keyboard.

should be in position 2 (default) for the Equity II keyboard.

NOTE: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE THE EPSON KEYBOARD WITH JUMPERS J3 AND

J4 IN

1 to disable DMA RAM refresh.

POSITION 1 AS DAMAGE MAY RESULT!

----Page 5 of 6 -----

EQUITY Ill MAIN BOARD DIP-SWITCH SETTINGS

Switch

1-1

1-2

1-3 - 1-6

2-1

;I;

2-4

DIP SWITCH FUNCTIONS (*Factory settings)

Function On Off

RAM size

Monitor type

PROM size

Serial Port

Unused

Floppy Disk FDC

Parallel Port

640KB*

Color

Disable

Monochrome*

See Table 4-2 in User's Guide

Enable*

Enable*

Enable*

Disable

Disable*

Disable

Disable

----- Page 6 of 6 -----


Subject: Equity Compatibility with the SOTA 286i and the PC Technologies

286 Express

Date:

Page:

7/12/89

1 of 3

PSB No: S-0066A

Originator: KAS +@

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide the 80286 Accelerator board test results, conducted by the Computer Product Support Center, involving the

SOTA 286i from SOTA Technology, Inc. and the 286 Express from PC

Technologies, Inc.

The Equity models tested were the Equity I, Equity II and Equity I+. All three were tested with Norton Utilities and Windows/286. (The memory of the Equity

I used in the test was upgraded to 512K in order to accommodate

Windows/286.)

The table below shows compatibility and the Norton SI rating of the various combinations.

Model

Equity I

Accelerator

286 Express

Norton SI

NA

Compatibility

Not able to load driver to access 80286.

Equity I SOTA 286i 11.5

Equity II 286 Express NA

Functioned normally with

Windows/286, Notion Utilities and MS-DOS 2.11.

Not able to load driver to access 80286.

Equity II SOTA 286i 13.7

Equity I + 286 Express 16.5


Windows/286, Norton Utilities and MS- DOS 3.1 and 3.2.


Windows/286, Norton Utilities and MS - DOS 3.2.

Equity I+ SOTA 286i 13.7


Windows/286, Norton Utilities and MS - DOS 3.2.

PSB No: S-0066A

Page: 2 of 3

Installation of either board in the Equity I + was quick and simple to do when following the installation instructions accompanying the boards.

Installation of the SOTA 286i in the Equity I and the Equity II is rather difficult.

Due to the amount of disassembly required, we strongly recommend that only

Authorized Service Centers install the board in the Equity I and Equity II.

Installation Instructions

Equity I


2. Follow instructions for a standard installation for the SOTA 286i in an





Equity II


2. Follow instructions for a standard installation for the SOTA 286i in an



This will necessitate routing the cable SO that it does not conflict with the power connection to the main system board.



PSB No: S-0066A

Page: 3 of 3

Our Computer Product Support Center receives numerous calls requesting information and recommendations on 80286 Accelerator boards for use with the

Equity I and I + (8088 - based) and the Equity II (8086 - based) personal computers.

We have found that the SOTA 286i and 286 Express products may meet your requirements and are competitively priced! They join the PC Elevator board

(for use with the Equity I + and Equity II) as accelerator boards recommended for use with Epson 8088 and 8086 - based personal computers.

Although these boards were tested by qualified product support specialists,

Epson America makes no representations that these third party products are compatible with all hardware configurations or software applications.

We recommend that you certify these products with your specific hardware and software requirements and consult with the third party vendor to ensure reliable operation.

Vendor Reference

** Applied Reasoning

86A Sherman St.

Cambridge, MA 02140

Phone: (617) 492-0700

(PC Elevator)

PC Technologies, Inc.

(286 Express)

704 Airport Blvd.

Box 2090

Ann Arbor, Ml 48106

Phone: (313) 996-9690

Sota Technology, Inc.

(SOTA 286i)

657 N. Pastoria Ave.

Sunnyvale, CA 94086

Phone: (408) 245-3366

** NOTE: Applied Reasoning is no longer producing the PC Elevator board that is recommended as an accelerator board for the

Equity I+ and Equity II.

However, it may still be available in distribution stock.

EPSON

EPSON AMERICA, INC.

SERVICE P

RODUCT

S

UPPORT

B

ULLETIN

PSB NO.: S-0065 DATE: 1/5/89 ORIGINATOR: REM/ AGE: 1 of 1

SUBJECT: DISABLING THE FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER IN EPSON COMPUTERS

This bulletin covers the ability or inability to disable the floppy disk controller in the Epson computers.

COMPUTER

Equity I

FDC CAN

BE

D I S A B L E D

No

HOW

Equity II No

Yes Equity III

Equity I+ Yes

CPU Board - Switch 2-3 off

CPU Brd - Jumper 1 in Position B

Equity II+

1OMHz

12MHz

Equity III+

Apex

No

Yes

Yes

Multi-function Board

- Jumper 2 in Position B

Multi-function Board



Motherboard - Remove Jumper El

Apex Plus

Yes

No


EPSON AMERICA, INC.


Subject: History of ROM Versions for the Equity Computers

Date: 12/03/93 PSB No: S-0062I

Page(s): 1 of 18 Originator: MTD

EPSON

The purpose of this Product Support Bulletin is to provide a comprehensive history of the ROM versions released for use in the Equity series computers.

VER PART #

2.1D

2.1I

2.20

Y144800101

Y144800102

Y144800301

2.21

Y144800401

DESC

MSA-B1

MSA-B2

MSA-B3

MSA-B4

EQUITY I

TYPE

M27128

M27128

M27128

M27128

LOC REASON

12F

12F

12F

INITIAL RELEASE

12F

Corrects problems with EGA, PC-

NET, and hardcards. Adds support for

4 FDDs. See MIB SM0003 (6/2/86) and ECN EQ1-001 (7/29/86).

Allows use of the Canon MD-5201-55

FDD. See ECN EQ1-002 (1/19/87).

VER PART #

1.00

1.03

Y144519071

Y144803000

DESC

AGB-A1

AGB-A2

EQUITY I+

TYPE

M27128

M27128

LOC REASON

5M

5M

INITIAL RELEASE

Fixes serial port problem with MS

Word and keyboard problem with

3COM software.

EPSON AMERICA, INC.

TIonON


Subject: Equity I Computer - Answers to Common Questions

Date: 4/23/90

Page: 1 of 8

PSB No: S-0060A

Originator: REMfi

The following questions and answers have been compiled from the support calls received at the Epson Product Support Center.

Floppy Disk Drives

Q1. What type of floppy disk drives are used in the EQUITY I? Can other

IBM compatible floppy disk drives be used?

A. The following models of half - height, 5.25”, 360KB floppy disk drives have been used. The most common type was the MD- 5201- 55.

1. CANON MDD- 531- 51

2. CANON MD- 5201- 55

3. EPSON SD- 525- 501

Because of the non-standard FDD interface, other floppy disk drives cannot be used.

Q2. Can a 3.5”, 720KB or 1.44MB Floppy disk drive be installed?

A. No, the Equity I does not support 3.5” floppy drives.

Q3. Can a 1.2MB floppy disk drive be installed?

A. No, the Equity I does not support 1.2MB floppy disk drives.

Q4. What is a “601” error on power - up?

A. This is a floppy disk controller (FDC) error caused by an invalid response during the FDC status check. Refer to the Equity I diagnostics manual. It may indicate that the FDD cables are not connected properly or the controller is faulty.

PSB No: S-0060A

Page: 2 of 8

Q5. Is it possible to disable the Equity I floppy disk controller?

A. No. the floppy disk controller cannot be disabled.

Hard Disk Drives (See Hardware Update information on page 7)

Q6. Does the Equity I have enough power to support 2 floppy disk drives and a hardcard type hard disk drive?

A. Yes, although the power supply is rated for 53 watts the Equity I main system board was designed with many low power custom C - MOS components which draw very little current.

In order to conserve available power, it is recommended to use a hardcard which draws 12 watts or less.

Q7. Is the Plus Development Hardcard 20 compatible with the Equity I?

A. Yes, the manual installation procedure in the Plus Development installation instructions must be followed.

Q8. Can a hardcard be installed in addition to a hard disk drive?

A. No, this is not recommended as it may overload the power supply.

Q9. What type of hard disk does Epson supply with the Equity I and what is the average disk access time.

A. Epson originally supplied a half - height, 5.25”, 20 MB, Epson model HD- 860 hard disk (89ms) with controller.

This drive has since been replaced with the

HMD - 720 with an average access time of 69ms.

Q10. What hard disk controllers can be used?

A. The Western Digital (WD1002A - WX1 or WX2) hard disk controller is recommended for use in the Equity I for MFM type HDDs.

Most other IBM PC/XT compatible controllers will also work.

PSB No: S-0060A

Page: 3 of 8

Q11. Can hard disks from other vendors be used?

A. Yes, the customer should purchase a 1/2 height, low power unit such as the

HMD- 720 offered by Epson.

Q12. Can an EGA or VGA adapter board and monitor be used with the Equity I?

What are the dip switch settings for EGA and VGA video mode?

A. Yes, but ensure the ROM BIOS is version 2.20 or 2.21 and set the front panel dip switch 1 - 6 and 1 - 7 to “on”.

Q13. Some programs requiring Hercules graphics will not display graphics on the monochrome monitor used with the Epson MGA multigraphics adapter. Is there anything to correct this?

A. It may require a patch program that has been developed to overcome some compatibility problems that may occur with a few application programs.

See PSB# 0024. The patch utility files (PATCH.ARC) can be downloaded from the Epson Product Support RBBS system and from Compuserve's Epson Forum.

They are compressed and can be uncompressed with ARC.

The Product Support RBBS system can be accessed anytime by remote modem at Tel. (213) 534- 8506.

Protocol: no panty, 1 stop bit, 8 data bits, 1200/2400 Baud.

Q14. Is the NEC Multisync monitor compatible with the Equity I?

A. Yes, with the appropriate EGA video card.

Q15. My color monitor display blinks on and off when in 40 column mode using the

Epson MRS- CR, CGA color video board.

A. This can be corrected by replacing the MRS - CR board with an MGA video board or by modifying the MRS - MT board. The modification consists of cutting the printed circuit between CN1 - B30 and CN2 - B30 and adding a 39 Ohm 1/4 watt resistor in series with the OSC dock to the option slots.

PSB No: S-0060A

Page: 4 of 8

General Information

Q16. What is the latest MS - DOS version available for the Equity I?

A. Epson’s MS - DOS 3.2 has been certified for use with the Equity I. It is available from Epson’s Accessories Sales Department at 1-800- 873- 7766.

Q17. What is the latest ROM BIOS version for the Equity I?

A ROM BIOS version 2.21 (P/N Y144800401).

Q18. What kind of memory upgrade is available for the Equity I?

A. Epson offers a 384KB RAM board with Real Time Clock and Calendar (part number

Q515A - AA). It replaces the MRS - MT expansion slot board and provides 640KB memory. It is available from Epson’s Accessories Sales department. A similar board called the Tahiti Board is available from Image Technology Inc. at Tel. #

(383) 799-8433. If the Equity I originally came with 512KB, the 256KB RAM board plugged into the system board next to the floppy disk drive assembly must be removed.

Q19. How do you set the Epson 384K RAM Board Real Time Clock, date and time?

A. Use the SETRTC utility program supplied with the 384K RTC board.

Q20. After installing a 384K RTC board the Equity I will no longer boot What could the problem be?

A. Make sure the Epson RTC driver (RTCDEV.SYS) is the first file loaded from the

CONFIG.SYS file.

Q21. Does The Equity I have panty check for RAM?

A. No, the Equity I does not have panty checking capability.

PSB No: S-0060A

Page: 5 of 8

Q22. Which Math- Coprocessor chip do I need?

A. An 8087 Math-Coprocessor chip which runs at 4.77MHz is recommended. Jumper

J1 must be removed for 8087 operation. Refer to figure 1 on page 8.

Q23. Where is the 8087 socket located?

A. The 8087 socket is located on the main system board next to the CPU chip toward the rear of the board. The upper chassis, which holds the power supply and FDD assembly must be removed to install the 8087. Refer to figure 1 on page 8.

Q24. Will IBM compiled BASIC programs run on the EQUITY I?

A. BASIC programs written for the IBM PC- XT will run as long as they do not require IBM’s BASICA. BASICA is resident in IBM’s copyrighted ROMs. Equity computers. use a version of GW - BASIC which is loaded from diskette.

Due to some differences in BASIC, some programs will not operate correctly if they require

BASICA. Some applications look for the file name BASICA. Renaming the

GW - BASIC file to BASICA can sometimes solve these problems.

Q25. I can’t find some of the programs referred to in the MS - DOS manual on the

MS - DOS diskette. Where are they?

A. The GW - BASIC diskette contains many of the utility programs, such as EDLIN and XTree, which are referred to in the MS - DOS manual.

Q26. Can I use a third party type keyboard with the Equity I?

A. Yes, except for early production units which do not have any keyboard jumpers on the main logic board.

Third - party “enhanced- style” keyboards such as the IBM

XT - 101, NorthGate C/T - 101, Datadesk Turbo - 101, Keytronics 101, 5150 and

5151 or the standard PC/XT type 84 - key keyboards can be used. Jumpers must be installed in positions J2 and J3 on the main MRS board. The original keyboard may not be used once the jumpers have been installed. Refer to figure 1 on page

8.

PSB No: S-0060A

Page: 6 of 8

Q27. Can the Epson Plus series “Enhanced” keyboard be used with the Equity I?

A. No, the Epson Enhanced keyboards are not supported.

Q28. I

S the Equity I compatible with any 286 or 386 accelerator boards?

A. Yes, it has been tested with the Sota 286i from Sota Technologies, Tel.#

(408) 245- 3366 and the PC Elevator board from Applied Reasoning Corp,

(617) 492-0700.

It has not been tested with any 386 accelerator boards.

Q29. Can the 8088 CPU be replaced with an NEC V20 CPU chip to increase the processing speed?

A. Yes, but Epson does not support this configuration.

Q30. Is there any upgrade to run copy protected software?

A. No, due to the copy protection scheme used on various software programs such as most Electronic Arts game software, they are not compatible with the Equity I.

A non - copyprotected version is sometimes available from the manufacturer.

Q31. Can BACKUP and RESTORE be used to copy files over to an Equity I hard disk from another system?

A. Only if the Equity I is using MS - DOS version 3.2.

BACKUP and RESTORE was not supported with MS - DOS 3.1 or earlier.

Q32. What streamer tape drives can I use for high speed backup?

A. The Equity I is compatible with most IBM PC/XT streamer tape backup units.

Q33. Will the Equity I work in foreign countries?

A. Yes, the Equity I computer can be used internationally by using a 220 VAC to 110 VAC voltage stepdown transformer.

PSB No: S-0060A

Page: 7 of 8

*** HARDWARE UPDATES ***

EQUITY I MRS - BD (Main Board)

Initial Release

P/N Y144201000 00 (With VFO SUB BOARD)

P/N Y144201000 01 (VFO SUB BOARD eliminated)

VFO/MRS - SUB BOARD

Initial Release - Version CAA (wouldn’t work with a hard disk)

VFO upgraded to Version CAC (Required for HDD operation)

Units beginning with the following serial numbers have the CAC version VFO.

Model

Q501A-AA (1 FDD)

Q501A-AB (2 FDD)

Q501A-AE (2 FDD)

Serial Number

018670

022722

024510

PSB No: S-0060A

Page: 8 of 8

PLEASE NOTE

Since setting the jumpers requires almost complete disassembly of the

Equity I computer it should be done only by authorized

Epson Customer Care

Centers.

* NON-EPSON KEYBOARDSUPPORT - Install jumpers in positions J2 and position J3 (Early systems did not have this capability and do not have these jumper positions installed.)

NOTE: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE THE EPSON KEYBOARD WITH THESE JUMPERS

INSTALLED AS DAMAGEWILL RESULT!

* 8087 SUPPORT Remove the jumper from position J1.

* EGA/VGA SUPPORT - Set dip switches 6 and 7 to the on position.


Subject: Using Expanded Memory with Equity and Apex Computers

Date:

Page:

3/2/90

1 of 6

PSB No: S-0047C

Originator: KAS ‘/“p&

Q1.

A.

Q2.

A.

What is Expanded Memory?

Conventional memory, managed by MS - DOS, is limited to 640K. In response to the need for greater amounts of accessible memory, the

LIM EMS (Lotus/Intel/Microsoft Expanded Memory Specification) was introduced in 1984. EMS, version 3.2, provides usable memory beyond the 640K limit through “bank switching”. The expanded memory is divided into 16K portions called “pages”. The computer accesses these pages through a “page frame” or “window” which is

64K of memory located between 768K and 896K in 80286 - based systems and between 800K and 960K in 8086 - or 8088 - based systems.

16K pages of memory are allocated for an application’s use and the EMM (Expanded Memory Manager) handles the job of mapping the pages in and out of the page frame as they are needed. However, in order to make use of expanded memory, the software must be written to take advantage of the EMS. Software such as Lotus 1 - 2 - 3, Microsoft Windows and Borland’s SideKick

Plus make use of expanded memory. EMS is limited to 8Mb of expanded memory.

What is EEMS?

A superset of EMS, AQA EEMS (AST/Quadram/Ashton - Tate

Enhanced Expanded Memory Specification) provides greater flexibility in the mapping of expanded memory. However, it also uses the technique of “bank switching” and has its own memory manager which accommodates such specially written software as Quarterdeck’s

DESQview. EEMS is also limited to 8Mb of expanded memory.

Q3.

A.

Q4.

A.

Q5.

A.

PSB No: S-0047C

Page: 2 of 6

What about the 155Mb RAM listed as the maximum for the Equity

III +?

This larger amount of RAM is the maximum usable memory range for an 80286 microprocessor and generally refers to extended memory. Extended memory starts at the 1Mb boundary and extends out to 16Mb. As it requires a 24 - bit address to access memory in this range, extended memory is handled by the protected mode of the 80286. Examples of currently available software that can switch into protected mode to use extended memory are Framework II,

AutoCAD, the VDisk RAM disk and Xenix OS.

How does LIM EMS 4.0, the latest version, differ from the earlier version, LIM EMS 3.2?

EMS 4.0 supports up to 32Mb of expanded memory where EMS 3.2

supported only 8Mb. EMS 4.0 has been changed to make it easier for applications to share expanded memory. In EMS 4.0, page mapping has been streamlined and new functions allow application programs to dynamically increase and decrease the amount of expanded memory allocated to them. In previous versions of EMS, the page frame was located in an unused 64K block of memory between 640K and 1Mb. EMS 4.0, subject to limitations in the system hardware, supports the page frame anywhere in the first 1Mb of memory. Before EMS 4.0, the page frame held four pages. Now you can define a page frame of up to eight pages in memory above

640K. The size of the page frame is limited only by the amount of available memory.

There has also been a change to support the smaller than standard (16K) memory pages used by some expanded memory boards.

Is EMS 4.0 compatible with my old expanded memory board?

The EMM 4.0 driver works with existing hardware. You don’t need to buy a new expanded memory board. However, until you use applications that have been written to take advantage of EMS 4.0, you probably won’t notice much improvement in performance over your older version.

Q6.

A.

Q7.

A.

Q8.

A.

Q9.

A.

PSB No: S-0047C

Page: 3 of 6

What memory expansion boards are compatible with the Equity I and

Equity II?

The following boards have been tested by Epson in the Equity I and

II:

All Card w/MMU Multifunction All Computers, Inc.

Liberty PC Quadram Corporation

Mini Magiccard (EV - 138) Everex Systems, Inc.

AST SixPak Premium

AST Rampage

AST Research

AST Research

What memory expansion boards are compatible with the Equity Ill?

The following boards have been tested by Epson in the Equity Ill:

Grande Byte

Intel Above Board AT

Liberty AT

AST Advantage

AST Rampage AT

AST Ramvantage

STB Systems

Intel Corporation

Quadram Corporation

AST Research

AST Research

AST Research

What memory expansion boards are compatible with the Equity I +?

The following boards have been tested by Epson in the Equity I +:

64/256KB Expansion Option

Above Board PC (1985)

Fastcard IV (1.6)

IBM

Intel Corporation

Thesys

What memory expansion boards are compatible with the Equity le?

The following boards have been tested by Epson in the Equity le:

64/256KB Expansion Option IBM

Quad Board II Quadram

Fastcard IV

RAMpage

Thesys

AST Research

Note: The Intel Above Boards do not currently operate reliably with the Equity le.

PSB No: S-0047C

Page: 4 of 6

Q10.

A.

What memory expansion boards are compatible with the Equity II + and Equity Ill + (10MHz models)?

The following boards have been tested by Epson in the Equity II + and Equity Ill + (10MHz models):

Advantage Premium

Rampage 286 *

Above Board 286

Above Board 286 p/s

Grande Byte

*

Rio Grande

*

Elite 16

* Will run at 8MHz, not at 10MHt.

AST Research

AST Research

Intel Corporation

Intel Corporation

STB Systems

STB Systems

Profit Systems

Q11.

A.

What memory expansion boards are compatible with the Equity II + and Equity Ill + (12MHz models)?

The following boards have been tested by Epson in the Equity II + and Equity III + (12MHz models):

Rampage 286 Plus

Elite 16

Above Board Plus

AST Research

Profit Systems

Intel Corporation

NOTE: Previously boards from Micron Technology were listed as compatible with the 12MHz models of the Equity II + and Equity Ill +. They have been removed from the list because Micron no longer produces

ISA memory boards.

Q12.

A.

How do you expand the memory of the Equity 386/20?

Memory expansion in the Equity 386/20 can be accomplished by adding SlMMs (single in - line memory modules) to the CHET - RM board. Both 256K and 1Mb SlMMs are available from Epson

America. The 256K SlMMs are sold in 1Mb kits and the 1Mb

SlMMs are sold in 2Mb kits. Compatible third party 1Mb SlMMs are available from Matsushita, Toshiba and CDC Enterprises. You can also use third party memory expansion boards such as those listed above for the Equity II +/Ill +.

Q13.

A.

Q14.

A.

Q15.

A.

Q16.

A.

PSB No: S-0047C

Page: 5 of 6

Are there any guidelines to installing the SlMMs in the Equity

386/20?

Yes, when SlMMs are installed to increase memory beyond 1Mb, they must be installed so that banks of SlMMs are installed as matched pairs.

See the matrix below:

Memory Bank 0 Bank 1 Bank 2 Bank 3

1MB

2MB

4MB

4MB

8MB

10MB

16MB

4X256KB

4X256KB 4X256KB

4X256KB 4X256KB 4X256KB 4X256KB

4X1MB

4X1 MB 4X1 MB

4X1 MB 4X1 MB 4X256KB 4X256KB

4X1 MB 4X1 MB 4X1 MB 4X1 MB

Note: Refer to PSB S - 0095 for 18MB RAM Setup information.

Is there a driver supplied with the Equity 386/20 to allow the use of the extended memory as expanded memory?

Yes, the Equity 386/20 system software includes the device driver

EEMM386EXE. This driver emulates LIM EMS 4.0 memory using the extended memory supplied by the additional SIMMs. It will support only the onboard memory above 1 MB, up to 15MB. This is the maximum memory that can be installed on the CHET- RM board. It will not support memory installed on memory expansion boards.

Are there any expanded memory boards that are compatible with the

Equity LT?

No, the option slots on the LT require a special connector. The hard drive controller and the LT cartridge modem are the only option cards currently available from Epson America.

What expanded memory boards are compatible with the Apex by

Epson?

The Above Board PC from Intel Corporation has been tested by

Epson in the Apex.

Q17.

A.

Q18.

A.

Q19.

A.

Q20.

A.

PSB No: S-0047C

Page: 6 of 6

Are there any general guidelines for determining the chip speed to install on the memory expansion boards?

Yes, if the CPU speed is 8MHz or less, use 150ns RAM chips. If the CPU speed is 10/12MHz, use 120ns RAM chips.

Is there anything that should be kept in mind during the installation procedure for the memory expansion boards?

Yes, when installing the memory boards in the Equity II + and Equity

Ill + (12MHz models), remember that the bus speed is 12MHz. For example, the Intel Above Board 288 and Above Board Plus allow you to set up the bus speed and chip speed in their installation programs.

What is meant by backfilling memory when using software such as

DESQview?

Backfilling is a function of many expanded memory boards which allows a portion of the board’s memory to be used as conventional memory. In this way, you could turn a 256K system into one with

840K memory or more.

In certain situations, you may want to disable some of the computer’s conventional memory and the use the memory on the expansion board (i.e. DESQview).

Which Epson computers have memory settings that allow backfilling memory?

The Equity I, Equity I +, Equity II + and Equity Ill + allow backfill.

The Equity I comes with 256K standard and the Apex comes with

512K, thus allowing backfill. The Equity I + has DIP switch settings allowing system memory to be disabled to 256K or 512K. The

Equity II+ and Equity Ill + have jumpers on the system memory boards to allow memory to be disabled to 256K and 512K.

EPSON

EPSON AMERICA INC.

SERVICE DEPARTMENT


DATE: 3/28/88 NUMBER: S-0041

SUBJECT: EPSON EQUITY I/II/III ENHANCED KEYBOARD COMPATIBILITY

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information regarding the compatibility of third party enhanced "AT" style keyboards with the Equity I, Equity II and Equity III computers.

1. Keyboard Compatibility

The enhanced Equity "Plus" series keyboard cannot be used on an

Equity I, II or III.

The enhanced Equity keyboard (as with

IBM's) requires explicit ROM BIOS available in the earlier machines.

support which is not

It is possible, however, to use a third-party "enhanced-style" keyboard such as the IBM XT-101, NorthGate C/T-101, Datadesk

Turbo-101, Keytronics 101, 5150 and 5151. Please note that early versions of the Equity I (serial numbers unavailable) and

Equity II (below serial number 29875) were not designed to support any third party keyboards (they do not have any keyboard-select jumpers on the main board).

The correct jumper settings for non-Epson keyboards are:

Equity I:

Equity II:

J2 and J3 jumpered

J3, J4 and J5 set for position 1

PLEASE NOTE

Once the above jumper changes have been made, attempting to use the original Epson keyboard will result in damage to the keyboard and Equity main board.

Page 1 of 1

EPSON




DATE: 3/3/88 NUMBER: S-0039

SUBJECT: EQUITY SERIES POWER AVAILABLE & CONSUMPTION

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information regarding the available power and the power consumption of the option boards and system subassemblies of the Equity series computers.

Page 2 provides the Equity series computer power supply available current output and typical current draw of the individual subassemblies found in each computer.

Page 3 provides information on the typical current draw of

Epson supplied option boards, floppy disk drives and hard disk drives for the Equity series computers.

Page 1 of 3

EQUITY SERIES COMPUTERS AVAILABLE POWER VERSUS

SYSTEM BOARD SUBASSEMBLIES CURRENT DRAW REQUIREMENTS

Output Voltage

Keyboard

I+ Avail.

I

110mA I 0

Equity II Avail. power

I

MCY board

Keyboard

Equity II+ Avail. power 1

ANDRO Board

(Including ADR-RM3)

SPFG/SPF2

Equity III+

Available power

ANTA Board

ANT-RM

SPFG

WHDC

4.4A

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

4.8A

I

7.5A

300mA 1300mA 1

1.8A

0 0

110mA 0 0

I

10A 1 300mA 1300mA 1

2.5A

0 0

600mA

20A

0

300mA

0

300mA

1.23A

500mA

540mA

530mA

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Page 2 of 3

EQUITY OPTIONS POWER CONSUMPTION

OUTPUT VOLTAGE

Color Video Adapter

Monochrome Video Adapt.

MGA Multimode Video Bd.

EGA Video Adapter Bd.

Epson Mouse & Interface

8087/80287 Coprocessor

WD1002-WAH HDC

WD1002-WX2 HDC

WD1003-WAH HDC

MD5201-57/58 360KB FDD

Equity II/II+/III+

MD-5501-61 1.2MB FDD

Equity II+/III+

FD1155C 1.2MB FDD

Equity II+/III+

SMD-489 3.5" 720KB FDD

Equity I+/II+/III+

HMD-720 3.5" 20MB HDD

NEC D5146 (40MB) HDD

(Half height)

Equity III

CDC 92405 (40MB) HDD

(Half height)

Equity II/III+

Miniscribe (40MB) HDD

(Full Height)

Equity III+

+12V

0

0

TBA

TBA

0

0

0.5mA

0

+5V

500mA

270mA

TBA

TBA

50mA

310/375mA

1.5A

630mA

0.5mA

1.0A

250mA(Typ) 140mA(Typ)

460mA(Max) 180mA(Max)

1.31A Start


1.66A(Max) 170mA(Max)


390mA(Max)

900mA Start

0 400mA(Typ)

1A(Max)

580mA(Typ) 200ma(Typ)

2A Start up 360mA(Max)

1A(Max) 1.2A(Typ)

2A Seek

3A Start

1.5(TYP)

2A (Max)

4.5A Start

400mA(Typ)

600mA(Max)

1A Start


1.8A (Max)

3.5A Start

-12V

0

0

TBA

TBA

0

0

0

0

10mA

0

TBA

0

0

0

-5V

0

0

TBA

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Page 3 of 3

EPSON




DATE: 3/3/88 NUMBER: S-0038

SUBJECT: EQUITY SERIES FLOPPY DISK DRIVE SPECIFICATIONS

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information on technical specifications of Epson supplied floppy disk drives used in the Equity series computers.

Also contained in this document is information on floppy disk drive adjustments, test points, and service tools.

Page 1 of 2

Page 2 of 2

EPSON




DATE: 12/14/87

SUBJECT:

NUMBER: S-0031

Equity Series with Microsoft Word and Serial Printers

This bulletin is to inform you of a potential problem when using

Microsoft Word, certain Equity computers and a serial printer. The situation exists on:

Equity I

Equity I+

Equity II+

Equity III+ (10 MHz)

Equity III+ (12 MHz)

Apex

BIOS rev.

2.21 or earlier

BIOS rev. 1.02

BIOS rev. 2.00

BIOS rev.

1.50 or earlier

BIOS rev. 2.00

BIOS rev. 1.00

When Word is configured to drive a serial printer via COM1 or

COM2, it will print a character every 1 to 2 seconds. A single line of text may take up to a minute to print.

Word uses BIOS interrupt 14h (serial output) function 1 (send character to port) for driving either COM port. The function number is placed in the AH register and the interrupt called. On return, AH is supposed to contain the line control status. However, AH is still set to 1, indicating that a character is ready to be received. Word then calls interrupt 14h, function 2 (receive character) and attempts to receive the character. After 1 to 2 seconds, the routine times out and transmission is resumed.

There are three methods of correcting this situation:

1)

2 )

3)

If the printer supports hardware handshaking, redirect the printer output (MODE LPT1:=COM1:) and configure

Word for LPT1.

This works reliably with Epson printers or similar devices.

Epson has developed a patch program (SERFIX.COM).

This is a TSR that insures that proper status is returned from INT 14h, function 1.

This program is available from CompuServe (Epson and Microsoft

Forums) and the Product Support Center BBS.

A revised ROM BIOS has been developed for 'the above systems. This is a limited release and will only be supplied on an as-needed basis.

Method 1 is the easiest solution.

Method 2 is effective and is recommended for individual users.

Method 3 should be reserved for large, multi-unit upgrades on an as-needed basis.

Please contact the Systems Support Group if you need additional information.

Page 1 of 1

EPSON

EPSON AMERICA, INC.

SERVICE

B NO.: S-0028A

P

RODUCT

S

UPPORT

B

ULLETIN

DATE: 6/29/88 PAGE: 1 of 1

UBJECT: EPSON 3.5" 720KB FLOPPY DISK DRIVE COMPATIBILITY

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information regarding the compatibility of the Epson 3.5", 720KB floppy disk drive (Product Code and Equity series computers.

A112A-AA) with the Apex

The 3.5" floppy disk drive must be used with MS-DOS 3.2

or higher.

Please refer to the following table for compatibility information.

Apex

Equity I

No special setup required

Not supported

Equity

Equity

II

III

1 Must include DRIVPARM = /D:1 /F:2 in CONFIG.SYSI

Not supported*

Equity I+ No special setup required

Equity II+ No special setup required

1 Equity III+ 1 No special setup required

I

I

The Epson 3.5" floppy disk drive is not compatible with the

Equity I or the Equity III.

* Manzana Microsystems Inc. offers a 3.5", 720KB floppy disk drive which is compatible with the Equity when used with their 3FIVE device driver.

III computer

Refer to Product Support Bulletin # S-0027A for detailed information on using the DRIVPARM command to configure

Equity II systems for using the 3.5" floppy disk drive.


E P S O N

EPSON AMERICA INC.

SERVICE DEPARTMENT

PRODUCT SUPPORT

DATE: 11/3/87

SUBJECT: EQUITY I/II PATCH PROGRAMS

BULLETIN

NUMBER: S-0024

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information on the availability of patch programs which have been developed to overcome some compatibility problems which may occur with a few application programs on the Equity I and Equity II computers.

These programs are available from the Epson America Inc. Service

Department, Product Support Systems Group on diskette.

The patch disk files (PATCH.ARC) can also be downloaded from the

Epson Product Support RBBS system and from CompuServe's Epson

Forum, they are compressed and can be uncompressed with ARC.

The Product Support RBBS system can be accessed 24 hours/day -

7 days/week by remote modem at Tel. (213) 534-8506.

Protocol: no parity, 1 stop bit, 8 data bits, 1200/2400 Baud.

The following is a list of the files which comprise the Patch disk:

A U T O E X E C . B A T

COMPOSIT.BAT

COMPOSIT.MOD

EGAN-PAT.ASM

EGAN-PAT.COM

EQRAMDVR.DOC

EQRAMDVR.SYS

FIXRPORT.ASM

FIXRPORT.COM

F L O P P Y . B A S

GOLDCARD.BAT

GOLDCARD.MOD

H A R D I S K . B A S

HERCDUMP.ASM

HERCDUMP.COM

H G C . C O M

H G C . D O C

MATHBLAS.DOC

M O D E . C O M

M O D E . D O C

MODEHERC.COM

MODEHERC.DOC

MUSTREAD.DOC

P A T C H E S . T X T

PATCHES2.TXT

PATCHES3.TXT

P S H E R C . A S M

P S H E R C . C O M

READYPAT.ASM

READYPAT.COM

ROMPATCH.COM

ROMPATCH.DOC

V P H E R C . C O M

V P R E A D . M E

The disk contains patch programs and documentation (TXT and DOC) files which are also contained in this Product Support Bulletin.

A detailed explanation of each patch program and their use is explained on the following pages.

Page 1 of 9

FOR EQUITY I:

COMPOSIT.BAT - Modifies DU.EXE, SETUP.EXE, ARCHIVE.EXE and

HDSIT.EXE to improve the brightness of messages when using a composite monitor.

GOLDCARD.BAT

- Modifies DU.EXE, SETUP.EXE, ARCHIVE.EXE,

SETPRINT.EXE and XTREE.EXE so they will run with the QUADRAM Goldcard with the Keysaver enabled.

EQRAMDVR.SYS For those RAM DISK utilities which need it, an

"empty" space disk drive is created. (See pages

6 and 7 for instructions on installing and using this file.)

ROMPATCH.COM Equity I systems with ROM BIOS versions earlier than 2.20 will require this patch to increase the stack space in order to run certain application programs (Lotus 1-2-3 Version 2, for example).

(See page 9 for instructions on installing and using this file.)

READYPAT.COM

- Allows screen dump to take place while Living

Videotext's READY! is loaded.

MATHBLAS.COM

- Allows Math Blaster to run correctly. (See page

5 for instructions on using this file.)

PSHERC.COM

- Allows Print Shop to run in Hercules graphics mode.

Run PSHERC.COM before loading Print Shop.

EGAN-PAT.COM

- Allows use of Honeywell's PC VIP terminal emulation software.-

Page 2 of 9

FOR EQUITY II

ROMPATCH.COM Equity II systems with ROM BIOS versions earlier than 1.11 will require this patch to increase the stack space in order to run certain application programs (Lotus 1-2-3 Version 2, for example).

(See page 9 for instructions on installing and using this file.)

MODE.COM

- The supplied version of MODE did not function properly when used to switch from color to monochrome display (MODE MONO); this version does.

MODE.COM is a modified version of the Equity II

MODE utility.

The MODE utility supplied with the

Equity II will not work properly in the following configuration:

Internal video: Set to monochrome mode with monochrome monitor attached.

External video: IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter (or equivalent) installed with color monitor attached.

Using the MODE utility to switch from color to monochrome display (MODE MONO) will freeze the cursor in one position on the monochrome display, or the cursor will disappear completely. The modified MODE utility will fix this problem. It will work exactly the same as the normal MODE utility in all situations, even when the IBM EGA adapter (or equivalent) is not installed.

MODEHERC.COM

- RAM-resident utility which allows the use of

Hercules monochrome graphics. MODEHERC.COM allows programs such as Lotus 123 release 1A to use

Hercules emulation on the Equity II. These programs require that you run the Hercules utility HGC.COM

(usually HGC FULL) to be able to utilize graphics.

SuperCalc 3 exhibits a different problem. It will display one graph successfully, then subsequent graphic displays will be garbled.

MODEHERC.COM

will also fix this problem.

Since MODEHERC.COM remains resident in memory, it only needs to be run once.

It is recommended that

MODEHERC.COM be the last memory resident program loaded on the system.

For example, if you will be using Sidekick, run MODEHERC after Sidekick has been loaded into memory.

Page 3 of 9

EQUITY II PATCHES

(continued)

HGC.COM Epson utility which allows the use of Hercules monochrome graphics.

(See page 8 for instructions on installing and using HGC.COM.

PSHERC.COM

- Allows Print Shop to run in Hercules graphics mode.

Run PSHERC.COM before loading Print Shop.

EGAN-PAT.COM - Allows use of Honeywell's PC VIP terminal emulation software.

HERCDUMP.COM

- Allows screen dump in Hercules Graphics mode. It is a memory resident program used in conjunction with GRAPHICS.

The GRAPHICS program must be run first.

VPHERC.COM

- Allows VP Planner to work in Hercules mode.

READYPAT.COM Allows screen dump to take place while Living

Videotext's READY! is loaded.

HGC.COM

- Epson utility which allows the use of

Hercules monochrome graphics. (See page 8 for instructions on installing and using HGC.COM.)

FIXRPORT.COM

- Program to let Lotus Report Writer use Equity II

Color mode.

Report Writer apparently forces the

Equity II into monochrome video mode even when a color video adapter is attached.

Page 4 of 9

MATHBLAS.COM INSTALLATION

Math Blaster is an educational game produced by Davidson and

Associates in Torrance Calif.

It works well with the entire

Equity series except the Equity 1 running color mode.

The large numbers that Math Blaster places on the screen are done in graphics mode.

These numbers appear as square blocks of garble on the Equity 1 color screen.

Unlike the GWBASIC used on the Equity

II and III, GWBASIC for the Equity certain memory areas.

1 does

In particular, not initialize area 510 of segment 0 is not initialized (this area is used by BASIC to hold the default data segment value).

Tests have been run on ROM BIOS versions 2.1i, 2.20 and 2.21.

The following programs have proved to be an effective fix for cases tested so far:

HARDISK.BAS

- For hard disk versions:

10 PRINT)" This patch will not work with config.sys files"

20 DEF SEG =0

30 POKE &H510,&HC9

40 POKE &H511,&H14

50 RUN "color

FLOPPY.BAS

- For Floppy disk versions.

10 DEF SEG =0

20 PRINT "this is a fix for the floppy disk system"

30 PRINT "make sure no CONFIG.sys file is active"

40 PRINT "try this version on floppy systems"

50 POKE &H510,&HC3

60 POKE &H511,&H14

70 RUN "color

CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT move things around in memory.

These patch programs will not work if either of these two programs are activated on boot up.

Please copy the appropriate program to the disk that contains your

Math Blaster program.

Run these programs and they will run the

Math Blaster program for you.

Page 5 of 9

WHY AND HOW TO USE EQRAMDVR.SYS

Many RAM disk programs supplied with expansion boards do not work with an Equity I with dual floppy disks.

The Equity I supports only two floppy disk drives, and these programs expect the operating system to treat it as a floppy disk.

RAM disk utilities that are in device driver form (must be specified in CONFIG.SYS) should have no problems.

Any RAM disk utility that is executed from the system prompt will have problems on a dual floppy Equity.

These are the programs EQRAMDVR.SYS

was designed to support.

The device driver EQRAMDVR.SYS provides the support needed for these utilities by creating an 'empty' disk drive that a RAM disk program can use when it is executed.

HOW TO USE EQRAMDVR.SYS

Since EQRAMDVR.SYS is a device driver, it must be specified in the CONFIG.SYS file on your boot disk.

See pages 3-1 to 3-4 in

"MS-DOS for the Equity I" for a description of the CONFIG.SYS

file.

The boot disk can either be a floppy disk or a hard disk.

The file EQRAMDVR.SYS must also be copied to your boot disk.

In the following instructions, [ENTER] means press the ENTER key, and [F6] means press the F6 key.

1. Boot your system with your working copy of MS-DOS.

If you have a hard disk that is set to autoboot, boot from the hard disk.

2. When the MS-DOS prompt appears, place the disk with

EQRAMDVR.SYS in drive B: (A: for hard disk systems).

For a floppy disk system, type:COPY B:EQRAMDVR.SYS [ENTER]

For a hard disk system, type: COPY A:EQRAMDVR.SYS [ENTER]

3. Check if CONFIG.SYS already exists on your boot disk by typing: DIR CONFIG.SYS [ENTER]

If the message "File not found" appears, follow step 4a, otherwise follow 4b.

4a.

Type: COPY CON: CONFIG.SYS [ENTER]

DEVICE=EQRAMDVR.SYS /2 [ENTER]

[F6] [ENTER]

4b. Type: COPY CONFIG.SYS + CON: CONFIG.SYS [ENTER]

DEVICE=EQRAMDVR.SYS /2 [ENTER]

[F6] [ENTER]

Note: The /2 above is optional.

It will be explained in the following section.

5. Reset the system, and your Equity I is now ready to use a RAM disk program.

Page 6 of 9

EQRAMDVR.SYS OPTIONS AND OPERATION

There is one option for EQRAMDVR.SYS.

Typing a /n (where n is a number from 1 to 4) after DEVICE=EQRAMDVR.SYS sets the number of

RAM disks that can be supported.

In the instructions above, the

/2 will allow the Equity I to support two RAM disks.

If the /n option is omitted,- EQRAMDVR.SYS sets up support for one RAM disk.

When the system boots, EQRAMDVR.SYS will display a sign on message similar to this:

RAM disk emulator support installed at drive(s)-C:, D:

There will from one to four drive letters shown, depending on the

/n option.

When you execute your RAM disk program, be sure to use the drive letter shown in the sign on message.

For example, using Tecmar's MEMDISK program, you would type this command at the MS-DOS prompt:

MEMDISK D: -BUF160

This would set up a 160K RAM disk at drive D:.

If you attempt to use one of the EQRAMDVR.SYS drives before running your RAM disk program, you will get one of the following error messages:

Not ready error reading drive x

Abort, Retry, Ignore?

or

Bad command error reading drive x

Abort, Retry, Ignore?

The x would actually be the letter of the drive you tried to access.

Press A to abort, then run your RAM disk program.

Page 7 of 9

HGC.COM INSTALLATION

The Equity II offers Hercules compatible graphics.

In order to use Hercules modes with certain applications, for example Lotus 123 release 1A, you must select "HGC FULL" and for Enable V2.0 you must select "HGC HALF" with the program HGC.

The program HGC.COM is designed to act like the Hercules Graphics utility of the same name.

It supports three commands, which must be on the command line after program name:

DIAG -

HALF -

Enter diagnostic mode (IBM monochrome mode 7 compatible). Type: HGC DIAG

Enter half-memory mode.

This enables Hercules graphics for page 0 at b0000-b8000. Type: HGC HALF

FULL -

Note: 1.

2.

Enter full-memory mode.

This enables Hercules graphics for both pages 0 at b0000-b8000 and 1 at b8000-c0000.

Type: HGC FULL

Commands may be upper or lowercase.

This version does not support the SAVE command.

VP PLANNER PATCH

SYSTEM: EQUITY II HERCULES MODE

VPHERC.COM is a TSR (MEMORY RESIDENT) program which enables VP

PLANNER to function properly when running on the Equity II configured for HERCULES video support.

Run VPHERC before running

VP PLANNER.

It is suggested that you make a batch file in order to accomplish this.

Page 8 of 9

ROMPATCH INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

Some Equity I and Equity II computers have trouble running certain application programs (Lotus 1-2-3 Version 2, for example) because they have an early version of ROM BIOS. This diskette contains a patch named ROMPATCH.COM which either corrects the problem (by patching the ROM) or tells you that your computer does not need it.

Follow the instructions below to install the patch if you have an

Equity I or an Equity II,

Installing the Patch

At the MS-DOS system prompt, type: ROMPATCH and press Enter.

One of the following messages appears:

Resident portion of ROMPATCH version 1.0 loaded

This indicates that the patch was necessary and has been properly installed in the lowest available memory. If you see this message, you need to install this patch every time you load MS-DOS.

You may want to include ROMPATCH in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, so it is installed automatically every time you boot your Equity.

(See your MS-DOS manual for instructions on creating an AUTOEXEC.BAT file.)

ROMPATCH version 1.0 already installed

This indicates that ROMPATCH.COM has already been properly installed since you last booted your Equity.

No need to install ROMPATCH version 1.0

This indicates that your Equity's ROM BIOS does not need the patch and you can disregard this patch and these instructions.

If your system does need the patch, remember to install it each time you boot your Equity or include it in your AUTOEXEC.BAT

file.

Page 9 of 9

E P S O N

EPSON AMERICA INC.

DEPARTMENT

SERVICE


DATE: 12/2/87 NUMBER: S-0019B

SUBJECT: EQUITY SERIES/APEX MATH CO-PROCESSOR SELECTION GUIDE

The purpose of this bulletin is to assist in selecting the appropriate numeric co-processor for use in the Epson,Equity series computers and the Epson Apex computer.

Use the following table to determine which type of Numeric

Co-Processor is recommended for the corresponding computer.

EPSON

COMPUTER

CPU

SPEED

NUMERIC

CO-PROCESSOR

NXP

SPEED

80287-6 6 MHz

* Product enhanced with increased CPU speed of 6/8/12Mhz starting with all units manufactured in the U.S.A..

Page 1 of 1

EPSON

EPSON AMERICA, INC.

SERVICE

PSB NO.: S-0017A

P

RODUCT

S

UPPORT

B

ULLETIN

DATE: 6/29/88 PAGE: 1 of 1

SUBJECT: EQUITY COMPUTERS AND FLOPPY DISK DRIVES

There is still some confusion regarding which FDDs will work with which Equity. Here is a quick reference for FDD selection

(for detailed information, refer to PSB Number S-0001).

I

I+

II

II+

III

III+

Epson Q520A-AA (360 KB)l

Epson Q213A-AA (360 KB)

Epson A112A-AA (720 KB, 3.5")


Epson Q911A-AA (1.2 MB) 2


Epson Q212A-AA (1.2 MB)

Epson A112A-AA (720 KB, 3.5")





Epson A112A-AA (720 KB, 3.5")

1 This is the only FDD compatible with the Equity I.

2 - This is the only 1.2 MB FDD compatible with the Equity II.

One of the key issues is: NEVER USE ANY 1.2 MB FDD OTHER THAN

THE Q911A-AA IN THE EQUITY II!

The interface is slightly different from the AT "standard". As a result, an AT-type drive will work erratically (if at all). One of the problems is a disk change error, or continuing to use the directory from a previous disk.

Also on the Equity II, MS-DOS 3.2 does not allow sufficient retries on diskette read/write with the Q911A-AA.

Consistent

"Abort, retry, ignore?" messages result when attempting to log a new disk.

Typically, "r" for retry will overcome this situation. MS-DOS 3.2 operation with the Q213A-AA is correct.


E P S O N


SERVICE DEPARTMENT

PRODUCT

SUPPORT BULLETIN

DATE: 08/25/87

SUBJECT: Equity Series Compatibility Certifications

NUMBER: S-0016

Recently, four leading vendors of communications products have issued certifications of compatibility for the Epson Equity series of PCS. The products range from local-area networking to multi-user applications to micro-tomainframe connectivity.

Arnet Corporation

Arnet Corporation produces multi-user expansion boards that allow terminals to be connected to PCs using multi-user operating systems. They have certified the Equity

I+ and III+ for use with their products.

A typical configuration would be an Equity

III+ host, the Xenix operating system, an Arnet Multiport Multi-8 board and cabling to connect other PCs

(such as the Equity I+) or standard

ASCII terminals. Other compatible operating systems include Microport Unix, Theos, BOS, PC MOS and Others.

The Arnet Twin port offers 2 serial ports for smaller installations. The

Multiport board is available in Multi-4 or Multi-8 configurations, and the

Multi-4 can be upgraded; The Smartport is an intelligent version of the

Multiport that uses the 80186 processor to handle heavy data transfer. The

Smartport is compatible only with the Equity

III+.

II lConfirmation o f Compatibility1

IArnet Product 1 E q u i t y

I t 1 E q u i t y III+ 1

* Smartport is compatible only with AT type systems

IDEAssociates, Incorporated

Offering a wide range of micro-to-mainframe and other connectivity and enhancement products, IDEAssociates has certified the Equity

It and III+ for use with their 327x and 525x mainframe products (both bisync their async 1200 baud modem, plus their range of hard disk and SNA/SDLC), and tape drives and memory products.

Page 1 of 3

Recognized as a top alternative to

IBM connectivity products, IDEAssociates provides a full selection of 3270/78 and 5250/51 hardware and software solutions for micro-to-mainframe applications. Please see the following list for a complete breakdown of their Epson-compatible products.

Epson-compatible Products - IDEAssociates

Page 2 of 3

3Com Etherlink/Etherlink+

3Com Corporation has certified the entire Equity series for use with the

Etherlink and Etherlink+ networks, as follows:

*

* *

Equity I not tested as a server. Workstation compatible.

Equity

II has limited server capability; intended primarily as a workstation.

We are uploading a copy of 3Com’s Application Note for the Equity

II to the

Product Support BBS. Please feel free to read and/or download it.

Standard Microsystems Corporation

Finally, SMC has certified their ArcNet Network Controller Boards* on the

Equity I+ and

III+. They have verified correct operation with all hardware topologies - bus, star, and fiber optic. The software tested includes:

SMC NETBIOS Emulator

Novell Advanced Netware/86

Novell Advanced Netware/286

Novell SFT Level 1

Western Digital ViaNet

* ArcNet PC100, PC200, PC300 -- Rev. D and above

ArcNet PC110, PC220, PC330 -- All

Page 3 of 3 a

EPSON




DATE: 3/9/88

SUBJECT: MS-DOS 3.2 FOR THE EQUITY I/II/III

NUMBER: S-0014A

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information on the availability of MS-DOS 3.2 for Equity I, Equity II and Equity III systems.

Also included are instructions for installing MS-DOS 3.2

on hard drive systems currently using earlier revisions of MS-DOS.

The Equity I+ MS-DOS 3.2 package has been certified for use with the Equity I, Equity II and Equity III.

This software is now available for customers who wish to upgrade their system.

It can be ordered under Product Code Q390A-AA -

This package includes MS-DOS documentation for the Equity I+.

3.2/GW-BASIC

$85.00 retail.

software with

The following is a simple procedure to perform the transfer of the new MS-DOS 3.2 files to an existing hard disk system.

1.

Insert the MS-DOS 3.2 diskette into drive A.

2.

If the system is powered up, press RESET.

If not, turn the system on.

3. At the A> prompt, type SYS C: and press ENTER.

The system will respond with the message, SYSTEM TRANSFERRED.

4. At the A> prompt, type REPLACE A:\*.* C:\ /S and press ENTER.

This will replace the existing MS-DOS files with version 3.2

files.

5.

At the A> prompt, type REPLACE A:\*.* C:\[path] /A and press

ENTER.

This will copy new MS-DOS files to the subdirectory indicated by [path].

6. Remove the MS-DOS diskette and insert the GW-BASIC diskette into drive A.

7. At the A> prompt, type C: and press ENTER.

8. Repeat steps 4 and 5 above.

(Prompt, listed in steps 4 and

5 as A>, will now be C>.)

9. Remove the GW-BASIC diskette from the drive.

Put the original diskettes in a safe place for storage.

Page 1 of 1

E P S O N

EPSON AMERICA INC.

SERVICE DEPARTMENT

PRODUCT SUPPORT

DATE: 6/8/87 NUMBER:

SUBJECT: EPSON EQUITY ENHANCED KEYBOARD COMPATIBILITY

S-0012

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information regarding the compatibility of the enhanced "AT" style Equity Plus series keyboard with the Equity family of computers and a general statement on software support.

With the introduction of the Equity It and III+, Epson brought out an enhanced keyboard design very similar to the enhanced keyboard introduced by IBM on the Model 339 AT. There are a couple of areas to make note of.

1. Keyboard Compatibility

The enhanced keyboard cannot be used on an Equity -‘I, II or

III. The enhanced keyboard (as with IBM's) requires explicit

ROM BIOS support. The Equity It and Equity III+ incorporate this support; the earlier machines do not.

It is possible, however, to use a third-party "enhanced-style" keyboard (such as the Datadesk Turbo-101) which offers switch selection for PC/XT or AT usage.

(Please note that early versions of the Equity I and II did not support any third party keyboards.)

The correct jumper settings for non-Epson keyboards are:

Equity I:

Equity II:

J2 and J3 jumpered

J 3 , J4 and J5 set for position 1

Also note that once the above jumper changes have been made, attempting to use the Epson keyboard will result in damage to the keyboard-and main board.

2. Software Compatibility

Not all applications "know" about the enhanced keyboard. The scan codes and mapping are subtly different. If you experience difficulties with certain applications (particularly any that re-program the keyboard), contact the software vendor and ask about enhanced keyboard support.

Page 1 of 1

E P S O N

EPSON AMERICA INC.

SERVICE DEPARTMENT


DATE : 2 / 6 / 8 7

SUBJECT: EQUITY I/II HARD DISK INITIALIZATION

NUMBER: S-0005

This is a basic guide for the installation and initialization of hard drives for the Equity I and II, Those of you that have the

SPHDD.BAT may continue to use it; there are a l s o a number of excellent third-party utilities, such as SpeedStor, that may be used.

However, this method can used with just ‘the systems software as provided with each machine.

1.

Before physically installing the drive, either copy the information from the defect list on the top of the drive or make sure that you have the copy that was included with the drive.

What you'll be needing is the cylinder/head information

- you don't need the byte location.

2.

Verify that the terminating resistor pack is installed and that the drive select jumper or switch is correctly set. The drive should be selected as the lowest number - i.e., DS0 assuming a range of DS0-DS3.

3. Some drive manufacturers do the physical or "low-level" format at the factory.

DON'T ASSUME THIS! One indication is this: start the HDFMTALL program.

If the cylinder count-down goes quickly (approx. 1 sec.

per cylinder), then the physical format is very likely sound. If it takes longer than this, other measures are called for. Re-boot the system and proceed to step 4.

4.

Invoke the DEBUG program. At the dash (-) prompt, enter: g=c800:5 and press ENTER. At this point, DEBUG executes (Goes to) the instructions at hex address c800, offset 0005. This is the ROM BIOS on the HD controller card. Stored at this address is the physical formatting routine provided by the controller manufacturer: You may encounter two types: Western Digital or

National Computer Labs (NCL). The Western Digital is the simpler of the two.

It presents you with information about how the drive number and interleave factor are stored in the AX register and prompts "Press y to begin formatting drive C with interleave 03".

Press any key other than "y" and it aborts. If you enter "y", it IMMEDIATELY proceeds with the format. DON'T

PRESS "Y" UNLESS YOU REALLY MEAN IT!

It will then inform you when the format is complete and return you to the A prompt.

Page 1 of 2

The NCL format is somewhat more complicated. It will ask you for drive number (0), number of cylinders (615), number of heads (4), reduced write current (615), write precompensation

(615) and maximum ECC data error burst length (11). The numbers given here in parentheses would be typical for the

HMD-720-802. It will then ask if all is correct; if yes, it proceeds with the format. If not, it returns you to the top of the input menu. In any case, when it completes the format, it may ask you if you wish to enter alternate track selections.

Tell it "no".

5.

.

Invoke the program HDFMTALL. This program will allow you to reconstruct the bad track table, which we just knocked out with the physical format. HDFMTALL will ask if y o u want a

"standard" format; press "N".

It will then ask if you want the default interleave of 3; you can accept this or change it.

(I've found that an interleave of 6 seems to be pretty optimal on the I and II.) HDFMTALL will then display the bad track table and give you the chance to edit it.

If any bad tracks are displayed, make sure that any bad locations from the error list you took off of the drive are indeed flagged. If not, enter them manually.

If the scan turned up an excessive (more than 50) number of bad tracks, you might want to delete them and then manually enter the ones from the error list. Press

"F" when you are finished and HDFMTALL will proceed with the warnings and then the actual format.

6. You're now ready to use HDPART. This program sets up the

MS-DOS partition and writes the DOS file structure to the disk.

Typically' you'll use the entire disk for DOS, so that simplifies matters.

Just make sure that the DOS partition is specified as BOOTABLE.

When y o u exit HDPART, the system automatically re-boots.

7.

The final step HDFORMAT.

From the A prompt, enter the following: HDFORMAT C: /s/v.

The /S switch transfers the operating system to the hard drive.

The /V switch causes

HDFORMAT to prompt you for a volume name for drive C. HDFORMAT now performs the logical format.

When finished' remove the floppy from drive A and press CTRL-ALT-DEL. The system should boot from the C drive.

For those of you familiar with the IBM world, the DEBUG format is the same.

HDFMTALL is the equivalent to IBM's Diagnostics level format; HDPART is our version of FDISK, and HDFORMAT is the same as IBM's FORMAT.

Page 2 of 2

E P S O N

EPSON AMERICA INC.

SERVICE DEPARTMENT


DATE: 2/4/87 NUMBER: S-0003

SUBJECT: NEW RELEASE - EQUITY I SOFTWARE/DOCUMENTATION PKG.

A new EQUITY I MS-DOS 2.11

Software/Documentation package

(Product Code Q595A-AB) was released from Epson America's

Computer Products Division in January 1987.

Product

Code

HP

Class

Mini

Class

Unit of

Measure

Std. Ord.

Quantity

Sugg.

Retail

Q595A-AB SDYS SD3 EA 4 $85.00

------^-------------------------------------------------------

This new version supports the floppy drive units (MD-5201-55) currently being shipped with the Equity I CPUs as well as all previous floppy drive models. This version of software has been shipped with all Equity I units since approximately 10/86

(starting with serial number 080001) with the introduction of the

Canon MD-5201-55 floppy drive.

At that time the Equity I ROM BIOS was also updated to MSA-B4 to support the step rate of the new floppy drives.

The MS-DOS 2.11 version software should be used with the MSA-B4 Equity I ROM BIOS.

This new software package is already included in Equity I boxes with the "S1" product code.

If you currently have Q595A-AA software packages in your inventory, they should only be used to replace software in Equity

I units not having the " S1 " product code (units with serial numbers below 080001), unless they are being retrofitted with the

MD-5201-55 floppy drives.

In that case the ROM BIOS must also be updated.

The new MS-DOS 2.11 software and new ROM BIOS have no other functional differences from the previous version other than compatibility to the MD-5201-55 floppy disk drive.

Page 1 of 1

E P S O N

EPSON AMERICA INC.

SERVICE DEPARTMENT


DATE: 2/4/87 NUMBER: S-0002

SUBJECT: USING THE PLUS DEVELOPMENT "HARDCARD" WITH EQUITY I/II

The Plus Development "HardCard" is a 20 megabyte fixed disk mounted on an expansion slot card, for use in IBM PC/XT and compatible computers.

The unit employs controller circuitry from

OMTI/Scientific Micro Systems, and uses 2,7 RLL encoding.

The HardCard has been found to be compatible with the Equity I and II computers, but there has been some confusion among customers who are running through the installation procedures.

This is due to the HardCard's special installation procedure which has been designed specifically for use with PC-DOS.

Because of certain file name differences between Epson's MS-DOS and IBM's PC-DOS, the Plus install program will not run using

Equity MS-DOS.

Unfortunately, Plus Development does not officially support the use of the HardCard in the Equity computer series, because it has not been formally tested and approved by Plus Development. It has, however, been tested and officially approved by Epson's

Vendor support staff.

The HardCard is shipped in a partitioned and formatted state, with a number of files included on it.

The directory of files is as follows:

INSTALL EXE

HCD BAT

HCD1

HCD2

HCD3

BAT

EXE

DAT

HCD3

HCD6

DIF

SCR

PREPARE BAT

SHELL BAT

LIGHT COM

SOUND COM

PATCHFMT EXE

INSTALL DAT

47479

30

128

54769

13440

704

4224

235

18

145

145

12670

425

1-01-80 12:06a

1-01-80 12:07a

1-01-80 12:07a

1-01-80 12:07a

1-01-80 12:07a

1-01-80 12:07a

1-01-80 12:07a

1-01-80 12:08a

1-01-80 12:07a

1-01-80 12:07a

1-01-80 12:07a

1-01-80 12:08a

1-01-80 12:06a

Page 1 of 3

These files comprise the installation routine (INSTALL.EXE,

INSTALL.DAT, PATCHFMT.EXE, PREPARE.BAT, and SHELL.BAT), the Plus

Development fixed disk menu program (HCD*.*), and supplemental utilities (LIGHT.COM and SOUND.COM).

Once the HardCard has been physically installed in the computer, the user boots the system with PC-DOS/MS-DOS (from the floppy drive), runs SYS.EXE (which is named SYS.COM on Equity MS-DOS) to transfer the o/s to the HardCard, then copies several DOS files to the root directory of C:.

The user then invokes INSTALL.EXE

which runs an 8-10 minute "hands-off" procedure that fully prepares the HardCard for use.

This consists of partitioning and formatting, and loading their menu program and preparing it for auto execution.

For Equity "power users" who are comfortable with MS-DOS, and who don't wish to use the Plus-supplied menu program, they can set up the HardCard by simply copying the Plus files to a formatted floppy diskette, and then using HDPART and HDFORMAT in the normal fashion (Equity II users should run SETUP.COM first to make sure that drive C: is properly specified - for the HardCard, it should be set as "Not installed or other").

Users may want to copy the

LIGHT.COM and SOUND.COM utilities back to the HardCard, as these files control visual and audible signals that are used to indicate HardCard access.

The visual indicator is a flashing "+" sign at the upper right of the display (defaults to ON), and the audible indicator is a buzzing sound (defaults to OFF). However, if the user would like to set up the HardCard as though the Plus installation was performed (i.e.

complete with their "shell"), then they should manually duplicate the Plus routine, as detailed in the following section.

This procedure was outlined by the

Plus Development technical staff, and I have substituted the alternate commands that the Equity MS-DOS uses.

Note that, while some of the steps seem redundant, the procedure was designed so that disk swapping on a single floppy system would be minimized, and also for automatic operation.

Page 2 of 3

HARDCARD INSTALLATION - MODIFIED FOR EPSON EQUITY I/II

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Boot the computer using the Epson MS-DOS disk (EQUITY II

USERS ONLY: run SETUP.COM and set drive C: for "Not installed or others").

Enter SYS c: to transfer the operating system to the hardcard.

Copy COMMAND.COM and FORMAT.COM from the MS-DOS diskette into the root directory of the HardCard.

Remove the MS-DOS diskette and insert a blank diskette in drive A:.

Log onto C: and enter FORMAT A: to prepare the blank diskette.

COPY all files from the HardCard to the formatted diskette.

Label this diskette "Plus Utilities".

Remove the Plus Utilities diskette and press the RESET button on the Equity.

The system should reboot from the HardCard.

Reinsert the Equity MS-DOS diskette (EQUITY II: insert the

Equity GW-BASIC/UTILITIES diskette), log onto drive A: and run HDPART and HDFORMAT/S to partition and format the

HardCard.

When finished, remove the Equity diskette and reset the system.

Ensure that the Equity boots from the HardCard.

Reinsert the Plus Utilities diskette.

Copy all the files from the Plus Utilities diskette back into the root directory of the HardCard.

Remove the Plus Utilities diskette and-store in a safe place.

Copy all files from the Equity diskette(s) into the root directory of the HardCard.

Log into the root directory of drive C: and enter the command

PREPARE.

This will run a batch file that will create 16 empty subdirectories on the HardCard, into which applications software will later be loaded.

Also in this directory, rename the program SHELL.BAT to

AUTOEXEC.BAT.

This will cause the system to automatically load the Plus menu "shell" on bootup.12).

Finally, erase

PATCHFMT.EXE, PREPARE.BAT, and INSTALL.* from the root directory of C:.

The HardCard installation is now complete.

Test the system by rebooting - the Plus menu "shell" should run.

NOTE: The original Plus install program creates a floppy diskette containing the Plus files, as above, but also performs several other operations to make it what they refer to as the "REINSTALL" diskette.

This Reinstall diskette can later be used for reformatting of the

HardCard.

Using the modified Equity procedure, however, the "Plus Utilities" diskette that is created cannot be used as the Reinstall diskette.

If an Equity user wants to reformat the HardCard, the user should use ARCHIVE to back up the contents, run HDFORMAT/S, then use ARCHIVE to restore the files.

Page 3 of 3

EPSON

EPSON AMERICA, INC.

SERVICE

PSB NO.:

S-0001C

P

RODUCT S UPPORT

B

ULLETIN

I

DATE: 6/29/88 PAGE: 1 of 5

SUBJECT: EQUITY SERIES FDD/HDD COMPATIBILITY MATRIX

This document provides updated compatibility information on floppy disk drives, hard disk drives and hard disk controllers which have been supplied or are currently being supplied with the Equity series computers from Epson America,

Inc.

Also included is information on which low level hard disk format procedures should be used with the various versions of hard disk controller boards.

Please refer to the Equity

I, II, III

IBM-PC COMPATIBLE

HARDWARE/ SOFTWARE DIRECTORY supplied by Epson America's

Marketing Department for information regarding third party floppy disk and hard drive compatibility.


1 NUMBER:

S-0001C

PAGE: 2 of 5 I

JU-595-10

PANASONIC

COMMENT CODE EXPLANATIONS:

A. Requires insulating sheet when installed in lower position in

Equity

C. Equity

II.

See TIB Equity 11-006.

B. Jumper block

SS1

- Position DS0 for drive A, DS1 for drive B

Release 1.04 or higher to use this drive.

D. Must set drive select jumpers on FDD logic board for A

(position S1) or B (position S2).

E.

It

I must have ROM BIOS version 2.21(MSA-B4) and MS-DOS 2.11

is not necessary to remove the terminating resistor pack.

F. Handle drive with care - possibility of short circuit between screw head on frame and FDD logic board (could damage FDD)!

G. Terminator must be removed when used as 2nd floppy drive unit.

H. See Product Support Bulletin S-0020 for set-up information.

I.

Same as MD-5201-57 except comes configured as 2nd drive.

J.

Jumper block

JJ1

- Position S1 for drive A, S2 for drive B.

NUMBER: S-0001C PAGE: 3 of 5

EQUITY SERIES HARD DISK DRIVE

COMPATIBILITY MATRIX

HMD-720-802

COMMENT CODE EXPLANATIONS:

A. Comes with black front bezel.

B. When used with Equity

III use format procedure #2 on page 5.

C. Follow format procedure #2 on page 5. The NCL Hard Disk

Controller Board (NDC5027-49) and DK-505-2 HDD must be used

D. For Equity

III

- Only use HMD-720 hard drives NOT stamped with: "Do not use with Equity

III”.

NUMBER:

S-0001C

I+ II I I + I I I

PAGE:

I I I +

4 of 5

EQUITY SERIES HARD DISK CONTROLLER COMPATIBILITY MATRIX

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION COMPATIBLE WITH EQUITY MODEL COMMENTS

HARD

DISK

CONTROLLER

I

WD1002S-WX2C027

ROM 62-000062-010

WD1002S-WX2C027

ROM 62-000062-010-1

X

X X X

B,E

B

WD1002A-WX1E027

ROM 62-000062-010-1 or 62-000062-13

NCL NDC5207-49

WD1002-WAH

ROM 62-001020-10

AND

62-001027-11

EPSON WHDC BOARD

P/N Y127203000

ROM VERSION

WD1015PL-27 or -27B

62-002008-011 or -061

X

X

X X

X

X

X

X

B,C,D

A

F,G

CODE EXPLANATIONS:

A. Follow format procedure #2. NCL Hard Disk Controller Board

(NDC5027-49) and DK-505-2 HDD must be used together.

B. Follow format procedure indicated on PSB # S-0005.

C. Short version Western Digital HDC board.

Released late 1986.

D. ROM BIOS 62-000062-010-1 and 62-000062-13 are equivalent.

Either ROM may be found on this board.

E. This version HDC ROM BIOS with WD-1015-24 firmware CPU will not allow auto-boot from hard disk. WD-1015-14 firmware CPU will work.

F. ROM

BIOS

# WD1015PL-27 is equivalent to 62-002008-011 these

ROMs have been updated to # WD1015PL-27B or 62-002008-061 which are also equivalent to each other.

G. HDC ROM BIOS must be revision “B” to work with XENIX software.

NUMBER:

S-0001C

HARD DISK FORMATTING INFORMATION

PAGE: 5 of 5

*

*

*

*

*

*

*****IMPORTANT**************IMPORTANT **++****+**+*+++++IMpQRTANT*****

ALWAYS FORMAT THE HDD WITH THE SAME VERSION CONTROLLER

BOARD AND HDC CPU FIRMWARE VERSION IT WILL BE USED

WITH.

*

*

IT IS

NOT NECESSARY TO REFORMAT

IF

THE ROM

UPGRADED AS LONG AS THE SAME FIRMWARE CPU

BIOS IS

IS

USED.

*

*

*

*

FOR LOW LEVEL FORMATTING:

1 . E Q U I T Y I / I I

FORMAT

See PSB # S-0005 titled Equity

I/II

HDD intialization procedure using software which is included with each system.

2 . E Q U I T Y I I I

FORMAT a. Run PFORMAT - Enter bad tracks - Time approx. 5 minutes.

b. Run HDFMTALL - Time approx. 8 minutes.

C .

Run HDPART - Time approx. 2 minutes.

d. Run HDFORMAT - Time approx. 5 minutes.

3. EQUITY

III+

- See Product Support Bulletin # S-0006

Notes:

1.

Early production Equity

I units without HDD S must be upgraded with the CAC version VF0 SUB-board to operate with a hard drive.

2. Equity I, DOS ver. 2.11 problem - Bad sector information erased when HDFORMAT (MS-DOS utility) executes formatting.

Corrected in DOS version 2.2 (MSA-B3) and 2.21 (MSA-B4).

3. Equity I/II - HDFMTALL erases bad sector information.

Delete HDFMTALL from the system disk.

Epson Equity I Product Support Bulletin

EPSON

Product Support Bulletin

Product Support Bulletin

Product Support Bulletin

Product Support Bulletin

HDD Controller WD1002A-WX1 (8-bit)

HDD Controller WD1002S-WX2 (8-bit)

HDD Controller WD1003-WAH (16-bit)

HDD Controller WD1002-WAH (16-bit)

HDD Controller WHDC (16-bit)

HDD Controller WD1006S-WAH (16-bit)

HDD Controller ACB-2320 (16-bit)

SERVICE

PRODUCT SUPPORT BULLETIN

EQUITY I MARS BOARD JUMPER CONFIGURATIONS

FDD(B) (A)

EQUITY II MCY BOARD Y147201000 REV. 00 JUMPER CONFIGURATIONS

EQUITY II MCY BOARD Y147201000 REV. 01 & 02 JUMPER CONFIGURATIONS

EQUITY II MCY BOARD Y147205000 & Y147206000 JUMPER CONFIGURATIONS

II

EQUITY Ill MAIN BOARD DIP-SWITCH SETTINGS

Product Support Bulletin

EPSON

RODUCT

UPPORT

ULLETIN

Product Support Bulletin

EPSON

EQUITY I

EQUITY I+

TIonON

Product Support Bulletin

Product Support Bulletin

I

EPSON

RODUCT

UPPORT

ULLETIN

EPSON

RODUCT

UPPORT

ULLETIN

EPSON

P

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