Epson Apex Product Support Bulletin
Product Support Bulletin
Subject:
Date:
Page:
The purpose of this bulletin is to provide the 80386 Accelerator board test
results, conducted by the Computer Product Support Center, involving the
SOTA 386si from SOTA Technology, inc.
The Equity models tested were the Equity I, Equity II Equity I + and Equity le.
The Apex models tested were the Apex, Apex Plus and Apex 100. All were
tested with Norton Utilities and MS - DOS.
The table below shows compatibility and the Norton SI rating of the
various systems.
Model
Equity I
Equity I+
Equity/Apex Compatibility with the SOTA 386si
3/02/90
1 of 3
Norton SI
12.0
12.0/16.9
Compatibility
Functioned normally with Norton Utilities and
MS- DOS 2.11
Functioned normally with MS - DOS 3.3 and
Norton Utilities at both CPU speeds.
PSB No:
Originator:
S-0111
MS ;. CL5
Equity le
Equity II
Apex
Apex Plus
Apex 100
NA
14.3
15.9
11.5
12.0/16.9
Unable to boot at 10MHz. Performance
erratic at 4.77MHz
Functioned normally with MS - DOS 3.2 and
Norton Utilities. (Tested only at 7.16MHz.)
Unable to boot at 4.77MHz. Functioned
normally at 8MHz with MS - DOS 3.2 and
Norton Utilities.
Unable to boot at 9.54MHz. Functioned
normally at 4.77MHz with MS - DOS 3.2 and
Norton Utilities.
Functioned normally with MS - DOS 3.3 and
Norton Utilities.
PSB No: S-0111
Page: 2 of 3
Installation of the board in most of the units was quick and simple to do when
following the installation instructions accompanying the boards. Installation of
the SOTA 386si in the Equity I and the Equity II is rather difficult. Due to the
amount of disassembly required, we strongly recommend that only Authorized
Service Centers install the board in the Equity I and Equity II.
Installation Instructions
Equity I
1. Remove the following from the main unit:
a) upper case
b) rear panel
c) front panel
d) FDD/power supply block.
2. Follow instructions for a standard installation for the SOTA 386si in an
8088 - based system.
not to prevent reassembly.
folded.
Take care to fold the SOTA connector cable so as
The cable is sturdy and will tolerate being
3. Reassemble the main unit and go through the testing and initialization
procedure outlined in the SOTA manual.
Equity II
1. Remove the following from the main unit:
a) upper case
b) rear panel
c) front panel
d) FDD/power supply block.
2. Follow instructions for a standard installation for the SOTA 386si in an
8086 - based system.
not to prevent reassembly. This will necessitate routing the cable so that it
does not conflict with the power connection to the main system board.
The cable is sturdy and will tolerate being folded.
3. Reassemble the main unit and go through the testing and initialization
procedure outlined in the SOTA manual.
Take care to fold the SOTA connector cable so as
PSB No: S-0111
Page: 3 of 3
Our Computer Product Support Center receives numerous calls requesting
information and recommendations on 80386 Accelerator boards for use with the
Equity and Apex (8088-
We have found that the SOTA 386si may meet your requirements and are
competitively priced!
Although these boards were tested by qualified product support specialists,
Epson America makes no representations that these third party products are
compatible with all hardware configurations or software applications.
We recommend that you certify these products with your specific hardware and
software requirements and consult with the third party vendor to ensure reliable
operation.
SOTA Technology can be reached at:
SOTA Technology, Inc.
657 N. Pastoria Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Phone: (408) 245 - 3366
and 8086 - based) personal computers.
Product Support Bulletin
Subject:
Date:
Page:
The purpose of this bulletin is to provide the results of compatibility testing
conducted by the Computer Product Support Center with the Sysgen
OmniBridge controller and Bridge - Filer external floppy disk drives.
Equity I
Equity II
Equity and Apex Series Compatibility with the System OmniBridge
Controller and BridgeFiler External Floppy Drives
04/11/90
1 of 3
PSB No:
Originator:
Comments
The Equity I was found compatible with the OmniBridge
controller. It was able to support one or two external
disk drives (daisychained) together. The external drives
could be used as high density (1.2M and 1.44M) or
normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.
The Equity II was found to be totally incompatible with
the OmniBridge controller.
S-0088B
KAS
60
Equity III
Equity I +
Equity le
The Equity III was found compatible with the OmniBridge
controller. It was able to support one or two external
disk drives (daisychained) together. The external drives
could be used as high density (1.2M and 1.44M) or
normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.
The Equity I + was found compatible with the
OmniBridge controller.
two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The
external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and
1.44M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.
The Equity le was found compatible with the OmniBridge
controller. It was able to support only one external
floppy drive, unlike the other models tested. The drive
could be used as a high density (1.2Mb and 1.44Mb) or
normal (360K and 720K) disk drive.
It was able to support one or
PSB No: S-0088B
Page: 2 of 3
Equity II +
Equity lIe
Equity Ill +
Equity 386SX
The Equity II + was found compatible with the
OmniBridge controller.
two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The
external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and
1.44M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.
The Equity Ile was found compatible with the
OmniBridge controller.
two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The
external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and
1.44M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.
The Equity III + was found compatible with the
OmniBridge controller.
two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The
external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and
144M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.
The Equity 386SX was found compatible with the
OmniBridge controller.
two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The
external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and
144M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.
It was able to support one or
It was able to support one or
It was able to support one or
It was able to support one or
Equity 386/20
APEX
APEX +
The Equity 386/20 was found compatible with the
OmniBridge controller.
two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The
external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and
1.44M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.
The Epson APEX was found compatible with the
OmniBridge controller.
two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The
external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and
1.44M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.
The Epson APEX was found compatible with the
OmniBridge controller.
two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The
external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and
1.44M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.
It was able to support one or
It was able to support one or
It was able to support one or
PSB No: S-008B
Page: 3 of 3
APEX 100
APEX 200
NOTE:
The Epson APEX 100 was found compatible with the
OmniBridge controller.
two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The
external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and
1.44M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.
The Epson APEX 200 was found compatible with the
OmniBridge controller.
two external disk drives (daisychained) together. The
external drives could be used as high density (1.2M and
1.44M) or normal (360K and 720K) disk drives.
The recommended switch settings for the OmniBridge controller are
as follows:
1-1 DOWN 2-1 DOWN
1-2 DOWN 2-2 DOWN
1-3 DOWN
1-4 DOWN
2-3 UP
2-4 UP
It was able to support one or
It was able to support one or
These settings select NO ADDRESS for the OmniBridge BIOS and
allow it to coexist with the internal FDC of the computer in which it
is being installed.
FDC or connect any cables from the OmniBridge to internal floppy
drives. This was found to be a universal setting for all of the
computers listed above as compatible with the OmniBridge controller.
This way you do not need to disable the internal
Product Support Bulletin
Subject: Tape Backup System Test Results
Date: 6/13/89
Page: 1 of 2
The Epson America Product Support Center has recently tested four tape
backup systems:
Archive VP - 150i Internal, 150MB
Mountain Series 4000 FileSafe
Tallgrass TG - 4060 +
Tecmar
The tape drives were tested on a variety of systems (please see the notes
below). In all cases, the drive manufacturer’s documentation was used as a
guide to installation and operation. Note that for 8086/88 computers, the
XT- type settings were used. For the 80286/386 computers, the AT- type
settings were used. This is important for correctly configuring the host
adapters or controller cards for IRQ, DMA and I/O port address.
Archive VP - 150i
QT - 60e
The VP - 150i was tested on the Equity II +, Ill + and 386/20. Due
to the capacity and nature of the drive, it is not particularly suited
for use in any of the 8086/88 computers. This was the only drive
supplied with Unix/Xenix device drivers. It was tested under MS -
DOS 3.3 and SC0 Xenix 286 System V version 2.2.1 with no
problems encountered. The VP - 150i is also Novell tested and
certified under the NetWare operating system.
PSB No: S-0087
Originator: MWT
External, 40MB
External, 60MB
External, 60MB
w
Mountain Series 4000 FileSafe
The Series 4000 FileSafe was tested on the Equity II+, III + and
386/20. Due to the use of a 16 - bit controller, it was not tested
in any of the 8086/88 computers. It was tested under MS - DOS
3.3 with no problems encountered. A chapter is included in the
tape software documentation on backup and restore operations on
a local area network, including Novell.
Tallgrass TG - 4060 +
The TG- 4060+ was tested on the Apex, Apex +, Equity I +,
II +, Ill + and 386/20. It was tested under MS- DOS 3.2 and 3.3
with no problems encountered. There is no documentation on LAN
operations.
Tecmar QT - 60e
The QT- 60e was tested on the Equity I +, II + , III + and 386/20.
Testing was conducted under MS - DOS 3.3 with no problems
encountered. The Tecmar documentation includes extensive
information on installation and operation in a LAN environment.
General Notes
Of the four units tested, the Archive and Tecmar drives offered the
easiest installation. They also provided the best performance, with
the Tallgrass drive giving the slowest disk-to-tape and tape to- disk operations. All four drives were supplied with menudriven tape utility software for the MS - DOS environment.
Command-line and timed, scheduled operations are also
available. As previously mentioned, the Archive drive also included
device drivers for use in a Unix/Xenix environment, offering the
greatest level of flexibility.
PSB No: S-0087
Page: 2 of 2
Please contact the manufacturers for additional information.
Archive Corporation
Data Storage Division
1650 Sunflower Ave.
Costa Mesa, Ca. 92626
(800) 237-4929
Tallgrass Technologies Corp.
11100 West 82nd St.
Overland Park, KS. 66214
(913) 492-6002
Mountain Computer, Inc.
360 El Pueblo Rd.
Scotts Valley, Ca.
(408) 438-6650
Tecmar, Inc.
6225 Cochran Rd.
Solon, Oh. 44139
(216) 349-1009
95066
Product Support Bulletin
Subject:
Date: 4/19/89
Page: 1 of 1
Apex / Apex Plus / Equity Series Keyboards
PSB No: S-0080
Originator: REM
AL
The purpose of this bulletin is to provide information on the various keyboards
used with the Apex, Apex Plus and Equity series computers and the part
numbers of the keyboard subassemblies used with these keyboards.
The Apex and Apex Plus computer keyboards are to be replaced as whole
units.
The Equity series keyboards are repaired to the subassembly level.
The
Equity III keyboard PCB assembly is the only one that comes with the key top
set attached.
Since some of the keyboards have the same model numbers, the difference
can be determined by the FCC ID number in those cases.
The chart below provides a quick reference to determine the part number of
the main keyboard PCB assembly, key top set, control logic subassembly, and
keyboard cable.
Apex / Apex Plus
Model
Apex
Apex Plus
Model
:zE?
Q203A A&AA
Q203A A103A-AA
Model
E1160A -
Keyboard
Unit
A265091A
93553905410 Equity Ill
Code
AA
Code
Equity I +, II +, Ill+, 386/20
FCC ID
BKM9A8Q203A
BMK9A8Q303A
C9S4D7Q203A
C9S4DB4701
FCC ID
C9S4D84701- 201
Equity I, II, Ill
Model
Equity I/II
Keyboard Control
PCB Assy
Y127501001
Y127501001 attached Y127501022
Y163502001
Y163504007 Y171501017
Keyboard
PCB Assy
Y145501001 Y145501021
KAFLZ3AEPS1
Board
attached
none
Key Top
set
attached KACCL600UCA
Key Top
set
Y127501022
Y127501022
Y127501022 Y163504006
Equity le
Keyboard Control
PCB Assy
Y163504007 Y171501017
Board
Key Top
set
Y171501007
Keyboard
Cable
Y144305000
Keyboard
Cable
Y127501031
Y127501031
Y163502020
Keyboard
Cable
Y171501006
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