Batboard

how slow of a computer would i need for programming an Ontario Hydro Maxtrac.
I know the syntors required a 286 or older processor. I am just trying to find out how old i would need to go to program the 99 channel Maxtrac. The RSS gives me an integer error on every computer i have tried so far. My slowest computer is running at 66mhz and pure dos. I just am trying to find out what i need to try and find.
Thanks
Paul

I would say try to use Dosbox, from Dosbox.org, on a Windows computer with a real serial port. I've had pretty good luck with it emulating the speeds, etc. Make sure to set up the COM ports correctly in the dosbox configuration.

Hello:
Motorola recomends no faster than 25 mhz in pure DOS mode.
Sounds like to me you may be in need of a computer program called MoSlo.
What it did was slowed the computer down by percentage .
As an example your 66 mhz clock speed slowed down 75 percent by MoSlo would put you at around 16 mhz clock speed.
I can confirm a 386 dos computer at 16 mhz clock speeds works just fine on the Max 99 maxtrac.
If you google MoSlo you will find the computer programm and info about it.
THIS IS NOT MOTOROLA RSS SO IS PERMISSIBLE INFO :
satelite

that is good news as i can get a 386 15mhz for the price of shipping. the only issue will be getting a floppy drive for it as the one in it has failed. the slower 386 machines are also cheaper on greedbay than the 286's.
I have tried moslo and it does not like my slowed down computer. the computer running 66mhz is a pentium II 233 clocked down as slow as i could get it.

kb2crk wrote:that is good news as i can get a 386 15mhz for the price of shipping. the only issue will be getting a floppy drive for it as the one in it has failed. the slower 386 machines are also cheaper on greedbay than the 286's.
I have tried moslo and it does not like my slowed down computer. the computer running 66mhz is a pentium II 233 clocked down as slow as i could get it.

There is also a DOS program called "CACHEOFF.COM" that you might try. Some computers are finiky about how they handle the serial port data. I have found that the computers that gave me problems, worked fine without using MOSLO when I ran the CACHEOFF.COM program. It is just a very small program, but works wonders. You can do a search on the Internet and download it. Start it up before you start the radio software.

Jim

Jim202 wrote:

kb2crk wrote:that is good news as i can get a 386 15mhz for the price of shipping. the only issue will be getting a floppy drive for it as the one in it has failed. the slower 386 machines are also cheaper on greedbay than the 286's.
I have tried moslo and it does not like my slowed down computer. the computer running 66mhz is a pentium II 233 clocked down as slow as i could get it.

There is also a DOS program called "CACHEOFF.COM" that you might try. Some computers are finiky about how they handle the serial port data. I have found that the computers that gave me problems, worked fine without using MOSLO when I ran the CACHEOFF.COM program. It is just a very small program, but works wonders. You can do a search on the Internet and download it. Start it up before you start the radio software.

Jim

i was able to disable all cache functions in the bios as my main programming computer has those options in set up. it has been this way since i started messing with the motorola radios.
the reduced clock speed was also an option but the minimum was 66mhz.

maxkelley_kc2spy wrote:I would say try to use Dosbox, from Dosbox.org, on a Windows computer with a real serial port. I've had pretty good luck with it emulating the speeds, etc. Make sure to set up the COM ports correctly in the dosbox configuration.

I tend to use older computers so a serial port is not a problem. I programmed my spectras using this dell laptop with a 2ghz p4 and do any cps based work with it. my 66mhz machine runs windows 98 or dos and i use it for my maxtracs and maratracs without a problem. the 99 channel maxtrac software seems to have an issue with the speed and moslo did not help. time to find a relic...

I had been using a 486-25 but it died. That machine seemed to be fine for the older software. The next machine I tried was a 486-33 and it was too fast. I downloaded the trial version of Mo Slo and had no problems at 75%. If I have to run that machine again I may have to actually break down and BUY a copy of Mo Slo, since the trial period will have expired.

I've used a Dell Pentium-3 / 850 MHz on MaxTracs, Spectras, GTXs, MSF5000s, MTR2000s with no problems. The only products that seem to require a slow machine (such as a 386/40 or 486/25) are HT600 and some of the real old MaxTracs. Once they fixed the serial port speed issue and got rid of that "divide by zero" error, computer speed was no longer an issue. That error comes from a speed/delay calibration routine that the program goes through; it counts iterations through a loop for a specific amount of time, and the faster computers are so fast that the count - which starts at zero - never changes; when they try to divide by that counter, BANG. Everything worked fine on the old 286 and PC/AT machines that were common in the late 1980s when the software was designed and written.

Bob M.

Ahh crap:
Time for a new radio.
Dont ya just hate a new toy ?

satelite

kcbooboo wrote:I had been using a 486-25 but it died. That machine seemed to be fine for the older software. The next machine I tried was a 486-33 and it was too fast. I downloaded the trial version of Mo Slo and had no problems at 75%. If I have to run that machine again I may have to actually break down and BUY a copy of Mo Slo, since the trial period will have expired.

I've used a Dell Pentium-3 / 850 MHz on MaxTracs, Spectras, GTXs, MSF5000s, MTR2000s with no problems. The only products that seem to require a slow machine (such as a 386/40 or 486/25) are HT600 and some of the real old MaxTracs. Once they fixed the serial port speed issue and got rid of that "divide by zero" error, computer speed was no longer an issue. That error comes from a speed/delay calibration routine that the program goes through; it counts iterations through a loop for a specific amount of time, and the faster computers are so fast that the count - which starts at zero - never changes; when they try to divide by that counter, BANG. Everything worked fine on the old 286 and PC/AT machines that were common in the late 1980s when the software was designed and written.

Bob M.

the divide by 0 error is what is happening. everything else i have is newer but i was planning on getting a syntor low band which i know will also require the slower computer. so it is time to hunt one down or try and find a floppy drive for one i know i can get.

You can turn a PC,up to PIII-800 into a 386~25 if you disable the cache.
Even the very old RSS from the mid 80th run without any problems!
You can download the cache disableing software here:
http://www.agh-technik.bravehost.com/cache.zip

Andreas

Andreas wrote:You can turn a PC,up to PIII-800 into a 386~25 if you disable the cache.
Even the very old RSS from the mid 80th run without any problems!
You can download the cache disableing software here:
http://www.agh-technik.bravehost.com/cache.zip

Andreas

the cache is disabled and 25 mhz is too fast for the rss.

I can get old stuff to run with dos box, but I haven't been able to get the serial port to work with it yet..

"the cache is disabled and 25 mhz is too fast for the rss."

Some of the older programs had a timer calibration field in the PC Setup screen. Try changing the value. A 486-25 should be slow enough; mine was.

Bob M.

Well I have a 386/16 mhz on the way. now i wait to see what kind of floppy drive i need to replace.
either that or try transferring software through the serial cable from one computer to the other..

well a 386/16mhz works great. had to fix the floppy drive but the 99 ch maxtrac rss runs great on it.