[patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

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ruben_balea
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[patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

Hi there,
The title of the post is self explanatory, there's also a file named "oli_pcs_readme.txt" with more information, both on diff file and RAR archive.
15/10/2017 EDIT: I changed the post title from "Partial emulation of the Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series" to "Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series" because I noticed that other machines are also not 100% completed.

This is the status of the four systems:

PCS 86: Not working. Only valid to remember the POST screen. Needs NEC V30, FARADAY FE2011ES-LR chipset, and many many other things...

PCS 286: Works with a few issues during boot and CMOS setup. Tested with: DOS, Windows 3.1 and some games. During boot it will complain about VGA and Protected Mode, just press F1 to skip. Needs HEADLAND GC101, GC102, GC103 chipset and a few things.

PCS 286 S: Works with a few issues during boot and CMOS setup. Tested with: DOS, Windows 3.1 and some games. During boot it will complain about CPU Protected Mode (and VGA but changed it to GO481) just press F1 to skip. Needs TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TACT82301BPB, TACT82302BPB, TACT82303BPB chipset and a few things.

PCS 386 SX: Works with a few issues during boot and CMOS setup. Tested with: DOS, Windows 3.11 and some games. During boot it will complain about 4 errors, just press F1 to skip. Needs HEADLAND HT101SX, HT102, HT113 chipset and a few things.

Basically will work everything except the EMS memory available via chipset on 286's, with PCS 386 SX you can use EMM386 driver provided with MS-DOS or similar to get EMS emulated via CPU.

This is all what I can do, I've no idea about how to write code to emulate chipsets, controllers and so on, sorry

If you're interested you can get a pre configured copy here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7SFZf ... sp=sharing but please note:

- Source only, you have to compile it.
- The four systems use the same hard disc image, use only one at a time.
- The hard disc image contains only a free MS-DOS compatible operating system isntalled.
- I can't provide EMS drivers, manuals or other things because I don't have them.
- All BIOS dumps are truncated to 0 bytes size, to let you know the file names to be used and their locations.
- Full dumps are here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7SFZf ... sp=sharing RAR archive is password protected, if you can't dump the roms from your own PCS please contact me.
- I do not have functional units of those systems available for testing, it has already been very difficult (and quite expensive!) to get to this point.
- don't blame me for bad code, failures or any incorrect things, instead make it better and upload your modifications. ;)


oli_pcs.diff.rar
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Last edited by ruben_balea on Mon 16 Oct, 2017 5:55 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: [patch] Partial emulation of the systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

PCS 386 SX - MSD.png
PCS 386 SX - MSD.png (12.35 KiB) Viewed 34741 times
PCS 286 S - MSD.png
PCS 286 S - MSD.png (12.43 KiB) Viewed 34741 times
PCS 286 - MSD.png
PCS 286 - MSD.png (12.32 KiB) Viewed 34741 times
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Re: [patch] Partial emulation of the systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

Windows 3.0 Enhanced Mode won't run Windows 3.0 Real Mode windowed.png
Windows 3.0 Enhanced Mode won't run Windows 3.0 Real Mode windowed.png (17.03 KiB) Viewed 34741 times
PCS 386 SX - Windows 3.1 386 Enhanced Mode with 32 Bit disk access.png
PCS 386 SX - Windows 3.1 386 Enhanced Mode with 32 Bit disk access.png (15.45 KiB) Viewed 34741 times
PCS 286 Windows 3.1 Standard Mode.png
PCS 286 Windows 3.1 Standard Mode.png (16.45 KiB) Viewed 34741 times
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Re: [patch] Partial emulation of the systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

PCS 386 SX.png
PCS 386 SX.png (13.09 KiB) Viewed 34739 times
PCS 286 S.png
PCS 286 S.png (12.09 KiB) Viewed 34739 times
PCS 286.png
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Re: [patch] Partial emulation of the systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

NOTE: PCS 286 original speed is 12MHz but I changed it to speed up Windows 3.0 setup and then I forget to revert it...

Finally the non working PCS 86, CPU should be (NEC V30) but BIOS is able to display also (i8086) and original speed is 10MHz
PCS 86.png
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szadycbr
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Re: [patch] Partial emulation of the systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by szadycbr »

Ruben, welcome, regarding your first post, no one will blame you for anything, we are happy that You did this. Maybe some one else will complete the other parts, and it is very nice that You doing this for PCem. PCem has gone through long bumpy road and it will go through many more obstacles, Your input is Great and b cos people like You who willing to spent their time on it , PCem growing better and bigger. Take care and thank You for all Your work.
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

If I get some time next afternoon I want to test Windows 95 with PCS 386 SX, in my real computer it works, I don't know if having a 387 installed makes any difference for W95, on the worst case it will be even slower... :roll:
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

Windows 95 without FPU seems to be a lot slower at least to compress the drive with DriveSpace 3 with the UltaPack option included with Microsoft Plus! (not recommended even for 486)
A lot of time to make room for IE5.5 to discover that it won't run with only 8MB of RAM... fortunately there are still sites optimized for IE3 :lol:
To use Windows 95 on a 368SX@16MHz you'll need a SVGA, a FPU and at least 16MB of RAM, otherwise it's useless.
PCS386SX_WIN95.png
PCS386SX_WIN95.png (21.22 KiB) Viewed 34459 times
And OS/2 2.0 isn't much faster than Windows 95... I do think it's even a lot slower, I remembered 1993 when I uninstalled it from my PCS 386 SX just after installing it :shock:
PCS386SX_OS2-2.0.png
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

This picture shows the problem with BIOS SETUP, TIME and DATE are corrupt for some reason and this hangs the setup.
[The same corruption with date (? instead of numbers) happens sometimes on Amstrad MegaPC too, but on this one the SETUP still works]
There was a small shareware program to configure CMOS on most 286s and 386s, but after many years without using it I had to investigate a little to find it again...
Download Generic SETUP 3.1 here: http://ftp.labs.hp.com/ftp/pub/micro/pc ... etup31.zip
BIOS_SETUP.png
BIOS_SETUP.png (11 KiB) Viewed 34387 times
Settings to use with Generic SETUP 3.1:

[0] Time should be already correct
[1] Date same as above but if it shows year 19xx you can enter any date from year 2000 and the year will be updated to the correct one by PCem.
[2] Floppy Disk A: enter the same type as PCem config.
[3] Floppy Disk B: enter the same type as PCem config.
[4] Hard Disk 1 (C: ) see the green text below.
[5] Hard Disk 2 (D: ) see the green text below.
[6] Base Memory already correct, it's autodetected during boot.
[7] Expansion Memory already correct, it's autodetected during boot.
[8] Math Coprocessor for now it's only available in PCem for 486 and higher
[9] Primary Display on PCS 286 S set to "EGA/VGA/Other" and on PCS 286 and PCS 386 SX set to "Color/80 Column"

Please note that PCS BIOSes have (for some strange reason) hard disk parameter tables with some valid entries (listed below) and then some more invalid, incomplete or empty entries.
The computer won't boot when an invalid type was selected. Even real computers won't boot and the BIOS SETUP will display ???-???MB for disk type if an invalid entry was selected.
BIOS SETUP won't let you to configure more than one drive because you can't install more tan one HD on the real computer, there's no room nor power connector for a secondary HDD.
But if you manage to add another drive with an external case and an additional IDE controller without it's own BIOS you can configure the same drive types for the second HD,
BIOS SETUP won't display anything about that secondary HD, but won't delete it from CMOS and both drives will work fine.
In PCem it's easy to add a second drive if you need extra space, just use the CHS values of one of the supported drives from the next list:

Code: Select all

THERE ARE 2 DRIVE TYPES AVAILABLE ON PCS 286:
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------+
| DPT ENTRY | BIOS SIZE | BIOS TYPE |  BIOS CHS  | CHS BYTES |  OEM DRIVES   |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------+
|     1     |   20MB    |  1-020MB  |  615 4 17  |  21411840 | CONNER CP3022 |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------+
|     2     |   40MB    |  2-040MB  |  980 5 17  |  42649600 | CONNER CP346  |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------+

THERE ARE 2 DRIVE TYPES AVAILABLE ON PCS 286 S:
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------+
| DPT ENTRY | BIOS SIZE | BIOS TYPE |  BIOS CHS  | CHS BYTES |  OEM DRIVES   |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------+
|     1     |   20MB    |  1-020MB  |  615 4 17  |  21411840 | CONNER CP3022 |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------+
|     2     |   40MB    |  2-040MB  |  980 5 17  |  42649600 | CONNER CP346  |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------+

THERE ARE 5 DRIVE TYPES AVAILABLE ON PCS 386 SX:
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------+
| DPT ENTRY | BIOS SIZE | BIOS TYPE |  BIOS CHS  | CHS BYTES | OEM DRIVES                |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------+
|     1     |   20MB    |  1-020MB  |  615 4 17  |  21411840 | CONNER CP3024             |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------+
|     2     |   40MB    |  2-040MB  |  980 5 17  |  42649600 | CONNER CP3044 (CP3046*)   |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------+
|     3     |   80MB    |  3-080MB  |  529 8 39  |  84504576 | CONNER CP30084            |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------+
|     4     |  100MB    |  4-100MB  |  776 8 33  | 104890368 | CONNER CP30104 (CP30106*) |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------+
|     5     |  120MB    |  5-120MB  |  762 8 39  | 121724928 | CONNER CP30126 (CP30104*) |
+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------+
|*On stock ruptures and configured/formatted with size/translation of the original units |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
gsetup31.png
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ruben_balea
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

Just a curiosity that I've forgot to mention before: PCS 386 SX BIOS has some kind of built in debugger.

Maybe accessed by a key combination but I don't know it. I've used debug command g=f000:a3be
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biffuz
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by biffuz »

THANK YOU!!! You gave me a HUGE HINT to fix my PCS 286!!!

Years ago I tried to fix a PCS 286 but it wouldn't boot anymore after replacing the battery, I thought I damaged something so I put it aside. Then I found another one, and the same thing happened. Both machines could boot fine from floppies (but not from the HD) before the battery replacement, so that was very puzzling.
Over the years I looked for answers and asking for help, but all I found were more failure stories and morons who insisted that I damaged something or the drives were bad or I plugged the cables the wrong way, even after I pointed them to other people's stories (was everybody in the world so stupid? come on!), or who gave even more ridicolous explanations about secret caches or self-destructing chips.

I couldn't find any success stories.

Until now.

Until your comment in the code about the BIOS needing some NVRAM bytes initialized.

I never thought that the BIOS couldn't recreate all the NVRAM content it needed. In fact I thought the NVRAM was completely empty when the battery drained. Apparently, there was still some charge left, enough to keep the memory intact after almost 30 years.

Well, I will never thank you enough. The PCS 286 was the machine on which I learned to code, and now I am a developer. My dad got it in 1989 (he worked at Olivetti), when I was 9, for a ridicolous price (think nowaday's iMac Pro-level), and stayed in my home for five years. Then we gave it to a relative who lost track of it (that's a shame, it came with all the manuals and software, oh my).
Now I have four (!), including one original keyboard (it's a Cherry!), three different Olivetti mice (all period correct), and some of the manuals and software. The largest missing pieces to recreate my old setup are the monitor and the printer, but I guess I'll skip those. I also have a receipt of someone buying it in 1992, at today's 2500 €.

Now the question is, how do I write the NVRAM if this thing cannot boot?
Will it work with a SCSI controller?
Or do I have to desolder the DS1287 and program it externally?
Also, can you give me the password of BIOS files? I don't have an EPROM programmer (I have to get one someday).
Suggestions welcome!

To thank you, I'm willing to send one of them, if you want it, once I fix it.
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

:D Welcome, see the private message because it's not very related to PCem development to post here…
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

:arrow: I must clarify this a little, when I said:
As with physical machine BIOS expects some CMOS bytes initialised (using provided NVR image)
I meant to set DS1287 (for models using this RTC chip) control registers to proper values (enable RTC oscillator, disable low battery bits and son on) because the DS1287 may recover in factory mode (oscillator turned off to save battery)
The Olivetti PCS models using a DS1287 may fail to keep CMOS settings during reboots until those bits are correct.
Models fitted with other kind of RTC chips with a rechargeable battery will keep all settings once the battery has enough charge.

But they will ask during boot for the floppy drive types (will launch the 'BUILT-IN SETUP') and boot from floppy drive A: even if every other settings remain incorrect.

Then incorrectly configured models will show this message during boot but it doesn't affect booting from floppy if you have selected the correct drive type before.
This message is displayed also when any hardware change is detected or when a floppy or hard drive is set to a wrong type or not set at all.

Code: Select all

System Configuration Error
USE EXTENDED SETUP
When one of those systems doesn't boot from floppy then the drive can be bad or dirty, but all models support 'modern' 1.44MB drives so you can plug any tested drive and try to boot from boot floppy tested on other computer.
:idea: The drive must be connected using the original cable, long twisted cables used on most other computers won't work.
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by biffuz »

ruben_balea wrote: Sun 12 Aug, 2018 8:17 pm :idea: The drive must be connected using the original cable, long twisted cables used on most other computers won't work.
Please, not you too :lol:

Well.. unbelievably, I found out just today why it couldn't boot from floppy anymore: it needs the riser card with the ISA connectors installed. All these years I did all the test without it, it never occured to me it was actually needed. Apparently the few components on it are required, maybe it's the bus terminator? I have no idea.
I talked to a couple people I know with the same problem, and now we all feel so dumb...

Anyway, I found out the BIOS can do most of the work, once the battery is replaced. Then, booting off a floppy, using Gsetup you can fix the missing stuff, and VICTORY!

At least in the emulator, apparently the HDD I have here has died. I tried some larger HDDs, a CF and a SD adapter, and none of them work. Even OnTrack Disk Manager didn't help. In the emulator you can attach other disks, but it doesn't in reality. Is it a controller problem? Or maybe the disks I have are just too large? I don't know. I will do some more tests.

I like to share those info, hopefully it will help other people save their PCSs.
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

Nice to hear that, congratulations! and what a surprise by the way :o
I didn't know that, the few times I used it without the riser was booting from HD and with some card fitted on the mainboard slot for testing without conflicting with the other cards or having to remove them from the raiser.
Yess, the raiser has some termination resistors and a few capacitors but I always tought those were only there to prevent the riser from picking noise and thus no needed without the riser…
So a few cards that didn't worked on the PCS may work using them in the right place :? anyway that was a few years ago and I don't remember now what cards I was testing.

About the hard drives you may need one supporting SINGLE DRIVE setting. At least it's the only difference I can see.

:!: I've found by the hard way that those drives with single drive feature will die when connected to USB or SATA converters or even to modern mainboards. :!:
I'm not sure if setting them before to MASTER can solve this but I've already lost 3 working drives trying to make backups and after asking to some sellers I think that almost every drive of this type pulled from a working computer and then listed on eBay as damaged was tested with those USB adaptors.

Modern IDE drives have jumpers for MASTER, SLAVE and CABLE SELECT, in MASTER mode can work with or without a SLAVE drive.
Early IDE drives have also SINGLE DRIVE or 1 DRIVE, in MASTER mode will work only with a SLAVE drive.

CONNER CP3022, CP346, CP3024, CP3044, CP3046, CP30084, CP30104, CP30106, CP30126 are compatible.

Western Digital Caviar WDAC140 works fine and WDAC1170, WDAC1210, WDAC1270, WDAC1365, WDAC140, WDAC1425, WDAC160, WDAC21000, WDAC2120, WDAC21200, WDAC21600, WDAC2170, WDAC2200, WDAC2250, WDAC2340, WDAC2420, WDAC2540, WDAC2635, WDAC2700, WDAC280, WDAC2850, WDAC31000, WDAC31200, WDAC31600, WDAC32100, WDAC33100, WDAC34000 have the same settings and may work too.

The settings for WDAC series are:

Code: Select all

Jumpers are located in this way looking the back of the drive IDE 40 PIN - J8 - POWER
For single drive all J8 jumpers are removed, but I think you can keep the jumper for future use by placing it across the bottom left pins as shown here:

6 PIN J8     SINGLE DRIVE          MASTER             SLAVE          CABLE SELECT
             +---------+         +---------+       +---------+       +---------+
             | '  '  ' |         | |  '  ' |       | '  |  ' |       | '  '  | |
             | .__.  . |         | |  .  . |       | .  |  . |       | .  .  | |
             +---------+         +---------+       +---------+       +---------+

10 PIN J8 SINGLE DRIVE           MASTER             SLAVE         CABLE SELECT
       +---------------+   +---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+
       | '  '  '  '  ' |   | '  '  |  '  ' | | '  '  '  |  ' | | '  '  '  '  | |
       | .  .  .__.  . |   | .  .  |  .  . | | .  .  .  |  . | | .  .  .  .  | |
       +---------------+   +---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+

Some Seagate drives have a jumper for MASTER or SINGLE DRIVE but I think this is to help users what jumper to set on systems with only one drive rather than compatibility with the early single drive feature.
I'm not sure if those IDE to SD and IDE to CF adapters can work on old controllers, I've tried a few ones and neither worked on old mainboards without SATA ports, perhaps they need some SATA features or some modern translation modes :?:
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by biffuz »

ruben_balea wrote: Mon 13 Aug, 2018 2:48 am :!: I've found by the hard way that those drives with single drive feature will die when connected to USB or SATA converters or even to modern mainboards. :!:
I'm not sure if setting them before to MASTER can solve this but I've already lost 3 working drives trying to make backups and after asking to some sellers I think that almost every drive of this type pulled from a working computer and then listed on eBay as damaged was tested with those USB adaptors.
This is very discomforting to hear. I wonder how many drives I killed that way :(
I don't remember if I tested this one on other machines, but I probably did.
I guess those disks are pre-standard IDE and something changed when the standard was finalized in 1990. Finding documentation seems very hard.
This may also explain why newer drives don't work. I guess I'm going the SCSI way, then, I want more than 40 MB anyway :)
ruben_balea wrote: Mon 13 Aug, 2018 2:48 am I'm not sure if those IDE to SD and IDE to CF adapters can work on old controllers, I've tried a few ones and neither worked on old mainboards without SATA ports, perhaps they need some SATA features or some modern translation modes :?:
Nah, I have one on a Pentium, and LGR has one on his 486.
But they seem to die easily...
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by Greatpsycho »

ruben_balea wrote: Thu 12 Oct, 2017 6:36 pm PCS 286: Works with a few issues during boot and CMOS setup. Tested with: DOS, Windows 3.1 and some games. During boot it will complain about VGA and Protected Mode, just press F1 to skip. Needs HEADLAND GC101, GC102, GC103 chipset and a few things.

PCS 286 S: Works with a few issues during boot and CMOS setup. Tested with: DOS, Windows 3.1 and some games. During boot it will complain about CPU Protected Mode (and VGA but changed it to GO481) just press F1 to skip. Needs TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TACT82301BPB, TACT82302BPB, TACT82303BPB chipset and a few things.

PCS 386 SX: Works with a few issues during boot and CMOS setup. Tested with: DOS, Windows 3.11 and some games. During boot it will complain about 4 errors, just press F1 to skip. Needs HEADLAND HT101SX, HT102, HT113 chipset and a few things.
Recently, I've implemented Headland HT102 chipset emulation on this thread. Headland GC103 and HT18 chipsets have same EMS function with HT102 chipset.
ruben_balea wrote: Thu 12 Oct, 2017 6:36 pm - I can't provide EMS drivers, manuals or other things because I don't have them.
If you need EMS driver for Headland GC103 chipset, please send your e-mail address as PM for me.
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

biffuz wrote: Mon 13 Aug, 2018 1:00 pm
ruben_balea wrote: Mon 13 Aug, 2018 2:48 am :!: I've found by the hard way that those drives with single drive feature will die when connected to USB or SATA converters or even to modern mainboards. :!:
I'm not sure if setting them before to MASTER can solve this but I've already lost 3 working drives trying to make backups and after asking to some sellers I think that almost every drive of this type pulled from a working computer and then listed on eBay as damaged was tested with those USB adaptors.
This is very discomforting to hear. I wonder how many drives I killed that way :(
I don't remember if I tested this one on other machines, but I probably did.
I guess those disks are pre-standard IDE and something changed when the standard was finalized in 1990. Finding documentation seems very hard.
This may also explain why newer drives don't work. I guess I'm going the SCSI way, then, I want more than 40 MB anyway :)
ruben_balea wrote: Mon 13 Aug, 2018 2:48 am I'm not sure if those IDE to SD and IDE to CF adapters can work on old controllers, I've tried a few ones and neither worked on old mainboards without SATA ports, perhaps they need some SATA features or some modern translation modes :?:
Nah, I have one on a Pentium, and LGR has one on his 486.
But they seem to die easily...
Then maybe my very old CF cards are lacking True IDE Mode support because the same adaptors worked fine with Hitachi 4GB Microdrive units removed from broken IPods…

This must be related to the mainboard because in PCem every PCS BIOS can use any hard disk. One PCS286 board has a PC87310AVF, this can support one drive (XT) or two drives (AT) and may have been configured to run in XT mode.
I'm not sure what is the IDE controller on my 386, there's a WD37C65C floppy controller and then other chip with the same PLCC-44 packaging made by ST and labeled as OLIVETTI IOC02, is sounds like I/O Controller 02 :?
I think I seen a 286 board with this IOC02 chip or a similar one...

I'll try if a DeLOCK 512MB Disk On Module works on my PCS 386 even limited to the supported BIOS sizes, if it works then Ontrack Disk Manager will do the trick to access full capacity.
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

Greatpsycho wrote: Mon 13 Aug, 2018 2:56 pm
ruben_balea wrote: Thu 12 Oct, 2017 6:36 pm PCS 286: Works with a few issues during boot and CMOS setup. Tested with: DOS, Windows 3.1 and some games. During boot it will complain about VGA and Protected Mode, just press F1 to skip. Needs HEADLAND GC101, GC102, GC103 chipset and a few things.

PCS 286 S: Works with a few issues during boot and CMOS setup. Tested with: DOS, Windows 3.1 and some games. During boot it will complain about CPU Protected Mode (and VGA but changed it to GO481) just press F1 to skip. Needs TEXAS INSTRUMENTS TACT82301BPB, TACT82302BPB, TACT82303BPB chipset and a few things.

PCS 386 SX: Works with a few issues during boot and CMOS setup. Tested with: DOS, Windows 3.11 and some games. During boot it will complain about 4 errors, just press F1 to skip. Needs HEADLAND HT101SX, HT102, HT113 chipset and a few things.
Recently, I've implemented Headland HT102 chipset emulation on this thread. Headland GC103 and HT18 chipsets have same EMS function with HT102 chipset.
ruben_balea wrote: Thu 12 Oct, 2017 6:36 pm - I can't provide EMS drivers, manuals or other things because I don't have them.
If you need EMS driver for Headland GC103 chipset, please send your e-mail address as PM for me.
Thanks you, I've already found the custom Olivetti driver, it was on a separate floppy and I never used it because for the programs I had at the time requiring EMS none of them required highest performance and I was happy enough with EMM386 driver.

I'm not very sure about how to use the chipset code, perhaps I can test your emulated system with the BIOS of my Olivetti?
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ruben_balea
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

It seems that IDE PIN 28 was early used for ALE (Address Latch Enable) later for SPSYNC (Spindle Synchronization) and finally for CABLE SELECT.
And the drives recognised by the Olivetti PCS can be jumpered for SINGLE DRIVE, MASTER, SLAVE and CABLE SELECT.
Then I guess that those drives used on Olivetti PCS:
- In SINGLE DRIVE mode PIN 28 will act as ALE
- In MASTER or SLAVE mode PIN 28 will act as SPSYNC
- In CABLE SELECT mode PIN 28 will act as CABLE SELECT

And Olivetti PCS controllers supports only ONE drive using PIN28=ALE because I tried to connect two of those drives one jumpered as MASTER and the other as SLAVE and this doesn't work at all on the PCS386SX, it says "1782-Disk controller failure"
removing the SLAVE drive doesn't solve the problem, it won't work until there's only one and jumpered as SINGLE DRIVE.
Also the same drive when in SINGLE DRIVE mode is not detected by a 486 board but works fine in MASTER and SLAVE modes.

:!: Of course I've no way to confirm this but that's what makes more sense for me.

:arrow: Already tried also the 512MB DeLOCK module and doesn't work at all on the PCS386, appears to behave the same as a modern 3.5 inch drive.
biffuz
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by biffuz »

I DID IT!!!

I studied the IDE interface, and found about that ALE/CS pin too. Since I found no other relevant differences, I thought that maybe that was the problem. Modern HDs in CS mode become master if it is grounded, or slave if it is unconnected. So, if they're fine with it unconnected, why not try that? All you have to do is use an 80 wires IDE cable with 3 connectors and plug the HD to the MIDDLE connector, since the pin 28 on it is not connected! Set the HD as master and BINGO!

My PCS now has a 4.1 GB hard disk, and Ontrack Disk Manager does its job just fine. I'm SOOOOO happy :D

Some final notes:
- the old HD actually killed my IDE-USB adapter (the SATA port on it is fine). They seem dangerous!
- connecting a second FDD makes the HD not working again, and the BIOS doesn't display the setting for it. Still, the board does have the connector, so it must work somehow. I'll experiment with the remaining machines I have someday.
- I haven't tried to connect a slave HD. It's not going to work with a standard cable, but maybe cutting the wire for pin 28 will do the trick. I would like a CD, even if I have to find a way to extend the cable out of the case (damn Olivetti, did they really think 5,25" bays were obsolete? Sorry Tim, Apple isn't the first one to show some "courage"!)
- I haven't tried a standard 40 pin IDE cable, I don't have one ATM. Good ones should work, but I remember there were a lot of sketchy ones.
- I installed a SB16 and with the default settings (A200 I5 D1 H5) it didn't work. I had to set the low DMA to 3. I couldn't find what DMA 1 is used for. In PCem it works fine.
- all PCS 286 I seen have the Dallas RTC, Headland chipset and that mysterious Olivetti IOC02 chip. The boards with TI chipset and external battery belongs to the PCS 286S. Maybe some were mixed up?

Well, I have to thank you and PCem for all the help!
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

My PCS now has a 4.1 GB hard disk, and Ontrack Disk Manager does its job just fine. I'm SOOOOO happy
I'm really happy to hear that :D
- the old HD actually killed my IDE-USB adapter (the SATA port on it is fine). They seem dangerous!
The old hard disk finally wins a battle against USB adapters ;)
- I installed a SB16 and with the default settings (A200 I5 D1 H5) it didn't work. I had to set the low DMA to 3. I couldn't find what DMA 1 is used for. In PCem it works fine.
For the CD-ROM if the sound card has IDE port you can made something like Creative CT1810
https://web.archive.org/web/19961225121 ... t1810.html
https://www.vogons.org/download/file.ph ... &mode=view

This card is a Panasonic CD-ROM interface, it goes above a Sound Blaster (I mean in the next ISA slot) because it does almost nothing, the analog sound goes to the sound card by the CDAudio connector, and the Panasonic interface more of the same, it uses a short (perhaps only 5 cm long) 40 pin cable with same connectors as IDE to connect it to the Sound Blaster card Panasonic interface.
Also this card gets the +5V and +12V from the ISA BUS because the external drive uses a single cable for power, audio and data lines.
- all PCS 286 I seen have the Dallas RTC, Headland chipset and that mysterious Olivetti IOC02 chip. The boards with TI chipset and external battery belongs to the PCS 286S. Maybe some were mixed up?
I don't know the reason but there were PCS 286S and PCS 286 with both Headland and TI chipset boards, perhaps both models where available in 12 and 16 MHz configurations?
I have even this board removed from a working PCS 286 with each half of the BIOS labeled for different models :lol: and the top one says "PC286 S" instead of "PCS 286" or "PCS 286S" :roll:
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And also they sold occasionally computers with a 100 MB hard drive configured and formatted to give just the 80MB paid by the customer 8-)
biffuz
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by biffuz »

ruben_balea wrote: Fri 17 Aug, 2018 3:38 am The old hard disk finally wins a battle against USB adapters ;)
Not really, it died too...
For the CD-ROM if the sound card has IDE port you can made something like Creative CT1810
This is a CT2770, with the Panasonic interface. No way I'm using that, I have several IDE DVD burners. They're a lot faster and much better at reading CD-RWs and obviously DVD-RWs, it will make my life much easier.
I think I will replace the SB16 with one with an IDE port. In fact, it'll be easier to pull out the cable from the top slot than all the way from the mainboard.
For now on, I'll just use my parallel Zip drive to move files around. I want to install EVERY game I can :D

Before finding out about the pin 28, I was thinking of getting a sound card with an IDE port and connect the HD to it. Then, get a network card with a BIOS chip and reflash it with the XT-IDE to boot from that HD, because of course the BIOS wouldn't do it. This discovery saved me a lot of work, apparently...
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

Not really, it died too...
Then it was killed in the line of duty :(

If you want to know what's using DMA1 you can use Dr. Hardware Sysinfo https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/detail ... sinfo.html it's shareware and you can test almost everything (chipset tests are disabled) for 14 days before having to register.
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

I found one archived page with Olivetti setup disks and drivers for some models http://web.archive.org/web/199804181351 ... oftlib.htm

And about IDE PIN 28 'controversy' it was docummented at least on some FIC mainboards:

Code: Select all

_______________________________________________________

IDE connector pin 28 open 
J6 Open 
   
IDE connector pin 28 linked to BALE signal 
J6 Closed 
_______________________________________________________

BALE to IDE select connected to CN8 pin28 
J45 Closed 
   
BALE to IDE select not connected 
J45 Open 
_______________________________________________________

IDE BALE disabled 
J9 Open 
 
IDE BALE enabled 
J9 Closed 
_______________________________________________________

IDE interface address latch enabled at IDE pin 28 
JA-5 Closed 
   
IDE interface address select spindle sync at IDE pin 28 
JA-5 Open 
_______________________________________________________
Mainboards of other brands seem to have similar settings but many jumpers were labeled as 'reserved'
Zup
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by Zup »

I've got a set of two spanish disk for Olivetti PCS 86. Disk 1 have MS-DOS 3.30, Disk 2 have some MS-DOS files, a tutorial and a diagnostic utility.

I had a friend that had a Olivetti PCS33. It came with DOS 5.0, Windows 3.x (I think it was 3.1, but maybe it was 3.0) and a disk compression utility (stacker?) installed. I don't remember if it had a complete set of disks or if it was only preinstalled on HDD.
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

Zup wrote: Mon 20 Aug, 2018 5:15 am I've got a set of two spanish disk for Olivetti PCS 86. Disk 1 have MS-DOS 3.30, Disk 2 have some MS-DOS files, a tutorial and a diagnostic utility.

I had a friend that had a Olivetti PCS33. It came with DOS 5.0, Windows 3.x (I think it was 3.1, but maybe it was 3.0) and a disk compression utility (stacker?) installed. I don't remember if it had a complete set of disks or if it was only preinstalled on HDD.
I've the original floppies of my PCS86 and those have MS-DOS 3.30a and Diagnostics but not the tutorial, perhaps my disks are older than yours.

:arrow: Anyway SETUP disks available at http://web.archive.org/web/199804181351 ... oftlib.htm are only for CMOS SETUP and DIAGNOSTICS (something like the IBM Reference disks used on PS/2 machines) because several models did not have any SETUP built into the BIOS.
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by biffuz »

ruben_balea wrote: Fri 17 Aug, 2018 3:38 am I don't know the reason but there were PCS 286S and PCS 286 with both Headland and TI chipset boards, perhaps both models where available in 12 and 16 MHz configurations?
I have even this board removed from a working PCS 286 with each half of the BIOS labeled for different models :lol: and the top one says "PC286 S" instead of "PCS 286" or "PCS 286S" :roll:
Isn't there a sticker on the board itself? Mine has it.
ruben_balea wrote: Sun 19 Aug, 2018 8:34 pm And about IDE PIN 28 'controversy' it was docummented at least on some FIC mainboards:
I see. I don't remember seeing it, but I began assembling motherboards with Pentium, I only handled memories and expansion boards before that. Like everyone, I guess :)

But this doesn't explain why the disks die. Or why they kill adapters. More study is needed. Or maybe not, I don't really care ATM :D
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

Yes, all boards have stickers but all them say "PCS286" even on the 286S... other mystery like the USB to IDE interface.

About the PIN 28 I've searched explicitly for any jumper settings related to ALE and BALE at https://stason.org :geek:
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Re: [patch] Systems from the first Olivetti PCS series

Post by ruben_balea »

Updated Olivetti PCS patches for PCem 14. Because Headland chipset emulation is required this includes also "[Patch] Headland chipset improvement and more machines" by Greatpsycho https://pcem-emulator.co.uk/phpBB3/view ... and#p11082

Current status:
PCS 86 don't work at all.
PCS 286, 286S and 386 SX have at least those problems:
- VGA ERROR during post. This can be skipped pressing F1 or avoided using the generic VGA or other videocard instead of Built-in video in PCem configuration.
- CPU PROTECTED MODE ERROR during post. This can be skipped pressing F1.

* the emulated CPU don't pass all tests, SUPERSOFT ROM POST DIAGNOSTICS shows the same error on any emulated machine, and Olivetti PCS BIOS on Bochs pass the protected mode tests *
Anyway what fails seems to be some protected mode function used only for testing purposes only because other protected mode programs doesn't have problems



- The hardware EMS support provided by the chipsets don't work.
- BIOS SETUP. 'EXTENDED SET-UP' mode accessed by CONTROL+ALT+DEL+SHIFT don't work. The 'BUILT-IN SETUP' mode which loads automatically on boot up when hardware is modified works on most cases.
- On PCS 386SX a memory manager like EMM386 will 'convert' XMS memory to EMS memory, for 286 models there's a freeware EMS driver called EMM286.EXE but I don't have any experience with programs requiring EMS on any pre 386 machine so I don't know what programs will and won't work with this driver.
It's available here http://files.mpoli.fi//hardware/misc/other/emm286.zip

PCS 386 SX:
- I/O controller error during post. This can be skipped pressing F1.

Source code already modified: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CN_A6S ... sp=sharing
Patch:
headland+olivetti.7z
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