Subj : Re: win 3.1 on intel inboard
To : StormTrooper
From : poindexter FORTRAN
Date : Sat Jun 21 2025 08:58 am
-=> StormTrooper wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-
pF> I thought the bus was driven by the CPU clock back then? Up the CPU
pF> clock, up the bus speed - hence the concern about timing and crashes.
St> Anecdotally this was the case for a large number of what I think of as
St> lower end 286 mobos. With the odd case, particularly later models that
St> gave you more ability to change all the BUS speeds to variety of
St> different options. Related to oscillator speed, derivitives of that,
St> CLK/2 CLK I had one that would even let you use the KB strobe..
There's a certain window of time in any hobby when the impossible
becomes possible, because you don't know it won't work.
In college, I wanted a faster AT, as I was doing lots of compile work.
Instead of buying a 287, I thought - hey, there's a 16mhz quzrtz
crystal on the motherboard. What if I swap it out with a faster crystal
from Radio Shack. Got the fastest crystal I could find, a 32mhz one,
desoldered the old one and put in the new. Instant crash. Sweated that
I'd destroyed the motherboard, went and found a 24 mhz crystal and that
worked - 12 mhz AT!
I should have just bought a 287.
St> Given the ISA bus was around so long, you had to be a little careful,
St> as usually older cards tended to fail when driven to hard. Given that
St> 10Mhz is near 200% spec its a big ask for an old card with slower
St> components.
