ISA GPIB Card for a Socket 7 Computer/Tektronix Oscilloscope Project

[Smoky]

Hey folks, I want to put together a PC for the purpose of accessing my Tektronix oscilloscope projects using a GPIB card.

I want it to be a retro build using only parts from the 1990's.

My last computer project was back in 1997 so I want to make sure I'm heading in the right direction. I have this Socket 7 motherboard with both  PCI and ISA slots. Since I don't need the ethernet or modem cards, it frees-up the two ISA slots.



Looking on Ebay, I found a seller who has brand new, made in the USA,  HP 82341-26503 ISA GPIB cards for $25 shipped and I was wondering if I can use it instead of buying a used National Instruments ISA GPIB card?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-82341-26503-GPIB-ISA-High-Speed-Interface-Board-New/254615768493?epid=1454863369&hash=item3b48484dad:g:qksAAOSwYBta-~xc



Thank you

[Smoky]

The motherboard itself looks pretty good but the fan that cools the CPU was locked-up. Hopefully, the AMD CPU survived!

I bought a new fan on DigiKey to replace the old one:

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/sunon-fans/MF50151V2-1000U-A99/7652226



The 3v CR2032 coin battery on the motherboard measures around 945mV so a new one is on its way too. I'm not sure if critical info has been lost but time will tell.

The parts that I have collected so far include a Sound Blaster SB0100 sound card, an ATI 109-43200-10 AGP video card, and my trusty old Fujitsu hard drive I bought in 1997! I use it as a back-up drive in a Acomdata desktop enclosure, so I know it still works



The board has one huge 128mb stick of memory, but it's made in the USA, so it has to be good



As for software, I have a CD of Windows 95 Upgrade and that's about it. I think it would be best to find MS-DOS 6.22 on 3.5 disks for starters.

[edpalmer42]

I don't see any jumpers or switches on that GPIB card.  I think that means you'll need the config program to set things like IRQ, DMA, and maybe memory address.  It's been a looonnnggg time since I had to deal with anything like that.  Better look for a manual for that card before you buy it.

[Tony_G]

That's an 82341D card I think - The same drivers I used in this post:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/windows-3-11-or-ms-dos-drivers-for-hp-82341c-hpib-card/msg1206031/#msg1206031

should work for DOS or Win3.x - I don't know if they did any NT codebase drivers for it so you might be limited to using those OSes.

TonyG

[Smoky]

Yep, this is going to bring back the days of editing the config.sys and autoexec.bat files alright!

I still have my DOS 6.22 manual if I need to brush-up on the commands.

I have the diskettes for the sound and video card though.

It's worth a shot

[Edit] I want it to be crude, so Windows 3.11 will be fine with me if that's all it takes.

[Tony_G]

Actually just checked the revision history and apparently, those drivers don't work for the 82341D - The first version of the IO Libraries that did was IO Libraries
G.02.02.

That you can download from Keysight here:

https://www.keysight.com/main/software.jspx?ckey=2175637&lc=eng&cc=US&nid=-33330.977662&id=2175637&pageMode=PV

Win95 only though (I suspect they'll probably install and work though on Win95/98/98SE but Win95 was the only supported OS).

EDIT: Revision matrix here:

https://www.keysight.com/upload/cmc_upload/All/AgilentIOLibrariesSuiteRevisionMatrix.htm

TonyG

[Smoky]

So maybe I should better stick with a National ISA GPIB card? I see jumpers on them and they're around $20 plus shipping.



...and maybe my topic should've started with the question "Folks, which GPIB card should I buy?"

[Tony_G]

How I would approach this is what card is the software you want to run written for. I needed to run so HPAK software so the supported card was an 82341 - I'd check to see what your software is expecting because, as bad as it is today getting the software to run on different vendor cards, it was way worse back in the DOS/Win3.X/Win9X days.

TonyG

[Smoky]

My mission is to bring these parts together in total harmony

And is it just me? but ever since I started with electronics a couple of years ago, I'm noticing more and more bags under my eyes

[Smoky]

I also have a Vertex M1 motherboard dated around 1993. It looks like it is set up as a server since there are two SCSI hard drives daisy-chained off of it. It has an Intel 486 DX2 CPU and a Dallas DS1387 IC and all of the slots are ISA.

I may do that mod where you cut the Dallas chip to add a coin battery on top of it just to see if this thing will run. I have a newer CD Rom and floppy drive too.







Quality made stuff 

[Tony_G]

Nice - Are those EISA slots?

Having an old machine (as compared to a VM) really helps with running this older software - This is why I grabbed a viper card and built up a Dolchpac.

TonyG

[Smoky]

Yes, there are two EISA slots.

I just went on Wikipedia and this Vertex motherboard is called a Baby AT. Wikipedia even uses this identical motherboard in their picture of one.

They say that it can be used as a PC or a server.

Woo-hoo

Here's a shot of the EISA Trident video card. It stretches over 10" long:



Other parts that I have are a Creative ISA sound card and a SCSI controller.

I'm going to get started by testing/rebuilding two power supplies

Btw, the seller on Ebay took my offer of $15 for the National ISA GPIB card too!

[edpalmer42]

Are you sure about those slots on that second motherboard?  Those 'ISA' slots look much too fancy.  I think you've got an EISA motherboard with two VESA Local Bus slots.

And that video card isn't EISA.  It's definitely VESA Local Bus.  EISA cards look somewhat similar to AGP in that they have sort of a 'two level' edge connector.

Baby AT is the name for a form factor rather than a nickname for your board.  Your board appears to be a Gigabyte GA-486TA.

[Smoky]

Thank you EdPalmer42.

I found GA-486TA Rev. 2 printed between the EISA slots.

The board measures 13" x 8.75" exactly.

Most of the IC's are dated 1991-1993.

Thanks for clearing things up 

[coromonadalix]

Damn loll  trashed some 486 and a pentium "1" the other day  loll  they where fully functionals  .... loll

[precaud]

In my experience, that NI AT-GPIB-TNT is the most versatile card that covers the most ground for early DOS and Windows systems, with drivers from DOS to XP. The computer on my bench has one, it's a dual-boot XP and 98SE, and you can boot to DOS from 98SE, so that covers all the bases at once.

[Rasz]

Damn loll  trashed some 486 and a pentium "1" the other day  loll  they where fully functionals  .... loll

how often do you throw $100 bills into the trash? 


isnt GPIB just a glorified parallel port? Checks wikipedia
>IEEE 488 is an 8-bit, electrically parallel bus which employs sixteen signal lines — eight used for bi-directional data transfer, three for handshake, and five for bus management — plus eight ground return lines.

is there any smarts in those isa controller cards, or is it just mapped to few arbitrary IO ports + triggering irq on SRQ?
google says

Code: [Select]

02E0-02EF ----	GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus, IEEE 488 interface)
		(GAB 0 on XT)
02E1		GPIB (adapter 0)
02E2
02E3

Code: [Select]

base I/O address 2B8 hex. With this setting, the board uses the I/O address space 2B8 hex through 2BF hex

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/ieee-488-(aka-gpib-or-hpib)/ has parallel to gpib interface documentation in attachment

[shakalnokturn]

While you're going to the trouble of building a retro-box to access a Tek scope wouldn't it be worth the extra effort getting your hands on the GPIB ISA cards that work with the Tektronix DOS calibration software just in case you need it at some point later?

[madao]

Tektronix field adjustment  software doesn't work with  HP GPIB card, also not with NI GPIB card without 7210 GPIB Controller (exception PCII/IIA  from NI)

It works only with   GPIB card with 8 bit ISA interface and  µpD7210  controller (and PCII/IIA from NI )
Tektronix FAS is written direct to  NI PCII  and NI PCIIA, both is a µpD7210  GPIB card. PCII and PCIIA has difference I/O address range.
Most  µpD7210 GPIB controller from other manufacture is compatible with PCII.

Example, which, it works with tektronix FAS.

NI PCII-compatible (not sure )
https://www.ebay.de/itm/GPIB-PC-Karte-CEC-488-GPIB-ISA/203193175298?hash=item2f4f41cd02:g:H-IAAOSwEVhfsqe7
NI PCII compatible
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Retro-CEC-01000-00300-PC-488-GPIB-ISA-Interface-Card-IEEE-01000-60300/174356113464?hash=item28986f2838:g:Ow4AAOSwh~xeHNzP


https://www.ebay.de/itm/National-Instruments-GPIB-PCII-IIA-Interface-Card-8-Bit-ISA-Rev-E-Vinatge/353227225777?hash=item523dfbbab1:g:6qIAAOSwp2Vfe9VZ


Greetings
matt


BTW:  You doesn't need highend VGA , Board for this work. Only  FPU  and  640kb memory is important  (of coruse ISA also)

[Rasz]

Has anybody have any low level programming documentation for those cards? How do you talk to them? is there a driver and you call some interrupt with parameters in registers? do you do direct IO? do you program DMA transfers?
This is one of those things dosbox or PCem + usb dongle could solve easily with proper emulation.

[Smoky]

Matt, I'll order the correct model of GPIB card that you recommended.

The Socket 3 motherboard power supply is cleaned up inside and out. It looks really nice with no burn marks to be found. The fan was tested separately and it runs well. All of the electrolytic capacitors are made by Rubycon and are 105c types.





The +5 measures 5.15VDC with no load
The +12 measures 11.59VDC with no load (seems low)

*Btw, I found a great web-page regarding the GA-486TA board. Layout, Jumper info, CPU's that can be used, memory and how they're installed, etc. Very helpful:

https://arvutimuuseum.ee/th99/m/E-H/32006.htm

The quality of the PC board is incredible. I've never owned so much gold in my life!



The 486 BIOS chip:



The Cache:



And fan technology has come a long way too in these past 30 years! Here is the new Sunon MagLev Vapo fan resting on the old heatsink with the old fans in the foreground. The new fan is 30% larger and fits just right and blows like no tomorrow:



The old fans are rated between 60 and 80mA. I measured 76mA for this one:



The new fan measures just over 45mA and spins like a top. Its life expectancy is 70,000 hours

[precaud]

I have a spare PCII/IIA, PM if interested.

[Smoky]

I tackled the Dallas DS1387 battery mod a few moments ago and all went well

I first ground down the areas near pins 16 and 20 using a Dremel cut-off tool. I stopped when I seen the shape of the legs appear. Pin 20 has its leg folded back twice so you'll only see the base of the pin:



I ordered several styles of CR2032 batteries that had legs attached and the Panasonic CR-2032/VCN worked the best. Mounting it vertical on the Dallas chip is fine since I have plenty of clearance in the computer:



I drilled through pin 16's leg at the tip to sever its connection to the internal battery (confirmed with a continuity test). I then pre-tinned both the battery and the chip's surfaces and on she went. Easy-peasy!





As for the Socket 7 motherboard battery, it was a cinch. Just take out the old and put in a new:

[Rasz]

That looks heaps better than my usual 'melt it with old soldering iron until you struck gold' method

[george.b]

Are you sure about those slots on that second motherboard?  Those 'ISA' slots look much too fancy.  I think you've got an EISA motherboard with two VESA Local Bus slots.

And that video card isn't EISA.  It's definitely VESA Local Bus.  EISA cards look somewhat similar to AGP in that they have sort of a 'two level' edge connector.

Baby AT is the name for a form factor rather than a nickname for your board.  Your board appears to be a Gigabyte GA-486TA.

You're absolutely correct. Those are 8 EISA slots, two of which also have VLB. The video card is definitely VLB. Very nice, both of them, by the way.