Epson Equity 386/33 PLUS Troubleshooting Guide

EPSON AMERICA, INC.

Product Support Bulletin

Subject: Epson Equity 386/33 PLUS and Monochrome Video Installation

EPSON

Date: 06/04/93 Page(s): 1 of 3

This bulletin provides information regarding the installation and compatibility of

Monochrome Video sub-systems.

Hardware Configuration: CPU:

Memory: Additional: BIOS Rev: FDD: FDD: HDC: HDD: Video:

Display:

Epson Equity 386/33+ [ Serial Number: 64E2010044 ] [ Configured System ]

4.0MB Standard, soldered on system board not installed D386-6080-031892-K2 Canon MD5501 5.25” half-height 1.2MB Canon MD 3641G 3.5” half-height 1.44MB

Integrated on Main Logic Board Quantum LPS-120 EIZO Enhanced MDA [ Monochrome Display Adapter ] Epson Monochrome Monitor [ MBM-2095-E ]

PSB No: S-0162 Originator: JAM

Product Code (A314221)

(A811371) (A811381)

(A811951)

Note: The Epson Monochrome Monitor (Model MBM-2095-E) was discontinued

as a sales item as of June 1991. However, it is available as a warranty exchange item from the parts department.

2. Compatibility: Monochrome Display Adapters are compatible on the Epson Equity 386/33

Plus system.

this document for details.

3. Display Symptoms & Causes: System CMOS must be pre-set to successfully install a Monochrome video

sub-system. The system will not sync properly after a Monochrome adapter and display are installed. A common complaint at that point is that the system is dead (no boot activity or keyboard response).

Pre-configuring system C-MOS is required. Refer to page 2 of

PSB No: S-0162 Page: 2 of 3

Hardware CMOS settings are incorporated into the BIOS ROM. VGA is the hardware default setting for video support. If a monochrome display adapter and monitor are installed and the system booted, the monochrome monitor will not synchronize properly because VGA BIOS calls are still being refreshed. Two possible indications can occur at this point:

a) constant diagonal raster [loss of Horizontal Sync] b) randomly lite pixel characters on display, no raster update visible.

The system is operational even though display is garbled or not apparent. The system has encountered a conflict between CMOS settings and the hardware that is sensed by the system. Hitting the ‘F1’ key will allow the boot process to continue and the system will load the operating system even though no display may be present.

Changing CMOS for Monochrome Video Support

A.) Attach a VGA monitor to the external VGA port on the rear of the system.

B.) Boot the system. During boot process hit the delete, <Del>, key to enter

the CMOS setup program.

C.) A ‘Start operating system/Run Setup’ screen will be displayed. Hit the

down-arrow key to highlight ‘Run SETUP’. D.) Hit the ‘Enter’ key to start ‘SETUP’. E.) Hit the down-arrow key to the ‘Primary Display’ option. ‘VGA or EGA

setting is currently highlighted. F.) Hit the PgUp/PgDn key twice to set ‘Monochrome’. G.) Hit the Escape key, <Esc>, and a message ‘Save SETUP configuration

(Y/N)?’ is displayed. Enter the letter Y and hit enter to continue.

H.) The system will reboot and go through ‘POST’. An error message will be

displayed:

CMOS display type mismatch Press <F1> to run SETUP or RESUME.

I.)

Press the <F1> key to continue

J.) The ‘Start operating system/Run Setup’ screen will be displayed. ‘Start

operating system’ is highlighted. Hit the ‘enter’ key to start the operating

system and load DOS.

PSB No: S-0162 Page: 3 of 3

Changing Hardware jumpers for Monochrome Video Support. A.) Power down the system and change the hardware jumpers for

monochrome support.

J1 Onboard VGA video port: (3” from rear of main pcb on RtSide)

J4 Color/Monochrome Monitor Used:

(4.5” from rear of Main PCB on RtSide) (1” from the DC power connector)

A setting Video port enabled

B setting Video port disabled

A setting Color monitor attached

B setting Monochrome Monitor attached

B.) Configure the video adapter card appropriately for the monitor, in particular

the Horizontal frequency output from the video card being used. In our test, the default Horizontal output frequency from the MDA card had to be changed from 31.5KHz to 18.44KHz. When the adapter was installed using the factory defaults, 31.5Khz, upon powering-up the system item ‘b’ under display symptoms mentioned above was encountered.

C.) Install the video adapter in an available expansion slot. Attach the

monochrome monitor to the MDA’s video port.

D.) Power up the system and then the monochrome display. The system will

reboot and load to DOS. Epson MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows 3.1 and Lotus 3.1 were tested without any operation or video errors.

7. General Installation Tip: During the test, a configuration error was noted when the Color/Monochrome

jumper, (J4), was not moved to the Monochrome setting. Upon boot, the

monitor displayed four legible ‘DOS’ prompts in 4 equally spaced quadrants of the screen. Setting the J4 jumper to the Monochrome setting corrected the problem and the system functioned under general testing criteria (i.e. DOS, Windows applications, Lotus etc.)

The setting of the system jumpers is of critical importance for a successful

Monochrome video sub-system installation.

8. Third-Party Products Tested/Used: Mfg:

Product:

Hitec Associates Ltd. EIZO PROFESSIONAL Enhanced MDA (Monochrome Display

Adapter) Model: Name: Address:

MD-B05

Hitec Associates Ltd.

601, 87BLDG., 7-50

Yokogawa, Kanazawa, 921, Japan Phone:

0762-41-8600

EPSON AMERICA, NC.

Product Support Bulletin

Subject: Epson Equity 386/33 Plus & Super Dual VGA Adapter Installation.

EPSON

Date: 06/04/93 Page(s): 1 of 4

This bulletin provides information regarding the installation and compatibility of the

Super Dual VGA adapter by Colorgraphic Communications in the Equity 386/33 Plus.

Hardware Configuration: CPU:

Memory:

Additional: BIOS Rev: FDD: FDD: HDC: HDD: Video:

Display:

Epson Equity 386/33 Plus [ Serial Number: 64E2010044 ] [ Configured System ]

4.0MB Standard, soldered on system board not installed D386-6080-031892-KZ Canon MD5501 5.25” half-height 1.2MB Canon MD 3641G 3.5’ half-height 1.44MB

Integrated on Main Logic Board Quantum LPS-120 Colorgraphic Super Dual VGA adapter [ Serial Number 310024 ] Epson Professional Series 17’ Color VGA Monitor [ Model T1184U ]

PSB No: S-0157 Originator: JAM

Product Code (A314221)

(A811371) (A811381)

(A811951)

(A804241)

2. Operating Systems: Epson MS-DOS Version 5.0 installed at factory. (Configured System)

Microsoft Windows Version 3.1 installed at factory. (Configured System)

3. Compatibility:

The Super Dual VGA adapter from Colorgraphic Communications is compatible

in the Epson Equity 386/33 Plus system. MS-DOS and MS-Windows applications were tested and no operational errors were encountered. Changing the video hardware jumpers on the main system board is required. Refer to page 3 of this document for details. page 4 of this document. The ability to display a Windows session across two monitors was confirmed and no errors were apparent. This product may prove beneficial in an AutoCAD for Windows environment.

The video drivers tested are on

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