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Tandy 3800 HD Repair/Restoration

leeb said:
A favor if you please...
Pop the memory cover off the 1500 and tell me how many jumpers are on the pins to the right of the memory? and what orientation?
(2 both horizontal, 2 both vertical, 1 lower horizontal, 1 left vertical, etc)

I would appreciate it! The 1500 I have constantly acts like the internal battery is dead but it was replaced... well, recently. I think the jumpers there have something to do with it.

Thx!
Click to expand...

This 1500, despite being a piece of crap, has a functional internal battery. I will check that jumper config for you.
 
Awwww... Its not a piece of crap... its an XT. It is also the one that arrived with a broken upper head (long since replaced!)
Maybe it isn't the bestest thing out there... but it IS able to run a CP/M environment emulator!

Okay, so that aint much either... :rolleyes:

... but the CGA display is SO QUAINT! :p
:D
 
I'm still at the convention... I'll be flying home tomorrow (today) and arriving at midnight so ill have basically time the day after tomorrow!
 
Conmega said:
I'm still at the convention... I'll be flying home tomorrow (today) and arriving at midnight so ill have basically time the day after tomorrow!
Click to expand...

I look forward to hearing if it will revive your system.

I ran into an issue with the 3800 I have, I wanted to change the cursor from line style to block style using the setup program, and I was successful, but then it wouldn't boot because it tried to re-detect the HD and set the wrong type. So I had to unhook the HD internally, run the Snooper program to change the CMOS HD to Type 24 (which seems to be some kind of User Defined value which works with the DDO) and it was fine. So there is indeed a way to reset the HD type without having to pull the CMOS battery.

Also, Conmega, you paid too much for your belt. I was able to find them online elsewhere for about $7.75.
 
Paralel said:
Leeb, I checked the jumper config, there are no jumpers there at all, all four pins in that square are free.
Click to expand...

Thanks! NOW I know for sure how it should be!
I realized (again) today that it TOO uses the unique 35-pin RAMs... but I think I'll wait until the 'repros' are viable before testing one of them in the 1500...
:D

EDIT:
Well, I stuck my wallet in my mouth and did a 'best offer' on the last 2 math chips this guy had... and he accepted.
So... I will have to live on bread and water till payday.
(Believe me, it wouldn't hurt... much)
:D
 
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leeb said:
Thanks! NOW I know for sure how it should be!
I realized (again) today that it TOO uses the unique 35-pin RAMs... but I think I'll wait until the 'repros' are viable before testing one of them in the 1500...
:D

EDIT:
Well, I stuck my wallet in my mouth and did a 'best offer' on the last 2 math chips this guy had... and he accepted.
So... I will have to live on bread and water till payday.
(Believe me, it wouldn't hurt... much)
:D
Click to expand...

Good stuff. Those were the 287XLTs you wanted?
 
I hope so...
Actually the one I bought all those years ago was a 387xlt but was pin-compatible with the 287... same size, etc.
These, being the 44-pin PLCC, AND being 287s, should work right!
:D
 
I got your package leeb and I noticed you left a bracket on the drive... I hope you didn't need that?
Also GGRRRRR I stuck the drive in and it sounded like the heads were moving on the drive I got all excited to find it telling me there is no boot device!!!
:(

Edit: hah, funny you taped the warranty sticker back on XD
 
Conmega said:
I got your package leeb and I noticed you left a bracket on the drive... I hope you didn't need that?
Also GGRRRRR I stuck the drive in and it sounded like the heads were moving on the drive I got all excited to find it telling me there is no boot device!!!
:(

Edit: hah, funny you taped the warranty sticker back on XD
Click to expand...

That concerns me. I wonder if your FD/HD controller is shot... Once you get your FD belt, if it doesn't accept a known working boot disk, I would say that is strong evidence that your controller is gone. Did your system ever have a battery leak? That can blow the FD/HD controller.

Also, on the 1500, I should be able to send you the monitor assembly (Monitor, plastics, interface, etc...), motherboard, and power supply. So, the only things you'd be missing are the keyboard and plastics. Your 3800 keyboard should work with it, they use the same keyboard. Good enough, or you just want me to forget about it?

As far as my 3800, I was finally able to get the 32-bit Disk Access in WfW 3.11 working. For some reason, the Seagate FastDisk driver didn't work, but the generic one from OnTrack worked great. Def. see a speed difference. Now I just have to run all the updates for WfW.

Leeb, did changing the jumper config get your 1500 to boot?
 
I was afraid of that... it may not be configured the way your 3800 is expecting it.
If you have the floppy working it might show up after you boot from floppy into DOS.
You may have to use HSECT.COM to get it properly setup for your machine.
Embarassing, this is... yes! :(

Another thought... was there any battery corrosion on the chip closest to the FD/HDs?
 
leeb said:
1800,2810,3800 are all using the same LCD panel. Why do you ask?
Click to expand...

Just curious. I didn't remember the contrast ratios sucking quite so badly, so I wondered if they were indeed different. Apparently I just remember the screen being better than it was :D

Also good to know which models can act as donors if, heaven forbid, I ever need another screen.

Also, have either of you guys ever come across a 3810 or 3820. I can't even seem to find a picture of them, not even in the old Radio Shack catalogs. I'm guessing they were either very unpopular or had a very limited run? I like the idea of a PS/2 port, I could hook up my clicky keyboard!
 
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I didn't either...


I think its an age thing. :p

IIRC, the 3810 was a 386 version of the 2810... and I remember seeing ONE 'way back when'. It probably needed the 'speshul' RAMs too...
:D
 
leeb said:
I didn't either...


I think its an age thing. :p

IIRC, the 3810 was a 386 version of the 2810... and I remember seeing ONE 'way back when'. It probably needed the 'speshul' RAMs too...
:D
Click to expand...

Ah, that would explain why the Tandy site discusses RAM "modules" for those units, rather than SIMMs. I guess of the original system designs (the 9" models), the 3800 was indeed the best of the bunch. Best processor & no weird RAM.

Also, do you happen to know where I can find the driver to get the PC speaker working in Windows 3.1? I figured it would find a driver automatically when installed, but no such luck. I'm figuring it's some kind of Tandy specific driver of some kind?
 
Well, the nice thing about the 2810s is that they can connect to external mice and monitors... IN COLOR!!!
:D
 
leeb said:
Well, the nice thing about the 2810s is that they can connect to external mice and monitors... IN COLOR!!!
:D
Click to expand...

True, but running a 286, no 386 enhanced features. Plus, I never had an external monitor hooked up to mine back in the day, so my heart is in grayscale when it comes to Tandy laptops.
 
Oh... the sound thing.

That was a hand-made driver (IIRC) to get the internal beeper to generate sound the way they do/did for the Model 1/3/4... As I recall, it was simply called SOUND.DRV...
I know I don't have it, but you may be able to find it by googling for it... you might want to put Windows 3.1 in there to help sort things.

Okay, so I did it for you... this might work.

http://www.pcworld.com/product/949201/pc-speaker-driver-for-win-3-1.html

Im at work now so I cant test it...
:D
 
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