Tandy 1000A #2

(last updated: 08-Sep-2014)

Nickname: ??
Model: 25-1000A
Serial No: 000790
Enclosure: integrated
Mfg date: 1985

Operational Status

Fully operational

Configuration

Until August 15, 2007, this system had been running with 384KB of RAM and two floppy drives. Now, the system is setup with 640KB of RAM, a single floppy drive, and a 20MB Seagate ST-225 hard disk.

Software
Tandy-ized MS-DOS 3.3

Hardware

Motherboard

Tandy 1000A, 8088 CPU, 128KB RAM
ISA8	Tandy 25-1011 512KB Memory PLUS Expansion board
	SMC/Western Digital 8003-EP ethernet adapter (IRQ=3 IO=280 MEM=D000, AUI)
	Western Digital WD1002-WX1 MFM hard disk controller (IRQ=2 ...?)

Mass storage

5-1/4" DSDD Floppy, 360KB
Seagate ST-225 MFM Hard Disk, 20MB

Needed or Missing Items
NONE

Major Events

15-Oct-2006 - Memory board upgrade
08-Sep-2014 - Ethernet card replacement

Still To Do

NONE

Description

Memory board upgrade

15-Oct-2006

Yesterday I received two memory boards for the Tandy 1000:

- Tandy 25-1011 Memory PLUS Expansion board (s/n 169270) with 512KB - ATD, Inc. T512CLK-AI (s/n 08158) with 512KB

The ATD board has an empty 24-pin socket, and from the model number, I wonder if there was an optional clock chip that plugged into it. I can find no references to this board on a web search, though.

I tried each board and they are both functional! I'll be using the Tandy board as the permanent option, since it is Tandy branded, and has the PLUS expansion capability.

Ethernet card replacement

08-Sep-2014

I've had this system 'out' for exercise and some fun for the past couple of days. I'd been using NCSA Telnet/FTP to copy files to and from the system, but then got the idea that I really should try to get it on the LAN with the MS Network Client software, which I have used in the past. Using the NCSA FTP I copied the contents of the two installation floppies from my other Tandy 1000A and ran the setup. All went smoothly and I was mounting (NET USE [drive:] [\\server\share]) shares from other systems on the LAN. Suddenly, just about 10 minutes into this new setup, the network software would no longer load, complaining about missing/bad NIC hardware. Sure enough, right before my eyes, the NIC had gone bad. Further testing with the NCSA Telnet using the Crynwr SMC packet driver (self-modified to support the T1000, see notes on Tandy 1000A #1), or using the MSClient failed to work. Yup, the NIC had gone bad.

I removed the NIC and visually examined it, but could see nothing amiss.

My inventory shows that I have a total of five (5) these WD/SMC 8003 NICs, with two others installed in other systems, leaving two spares. I dug out the spares, and found that one was already tagged BAD from 2007, leaving me with just one more to try. Yes, it works!

For the record, I removed WD/SMC 8003EP s/n D2B649024, replacing it with WD/SMC 8003EP s/n K1C438491.

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