Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!bu.edu!snorkelwacker!bloom-beacon!pae
From: pae@athena.mit.edu (Philip Earnhardt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops
Subject: Interfacing to the T1000SE 100-pin connector
Message-ID: <1990Oct2.005928.7722@athena.mit.edu>
Date: 2 Oct 90 00:59:28 GMT
Sender: Phil Earnhardt (onecom!wldrdg!pae)
Organization: Netwise, Inc.
Lines: 33

I've been looking for a mechanism to connect a (non-portable) hard disk to
my T1000SE for a while. I wanted to do this through the 100-pin connector
to not tie up either the serial or parallel ports and to minimize data
transfer latency that would be introduced by the interface.

There appears to be a solution on the horizon! Connect Computer Company is now
selling a product called WONUnder cradle, which provides a single 8-bit XT
card slot. The company has successfully plugged in a variety of cards from
VGA controllers to network cards.

They also tried the Plus Hard Card, but it didn't work. They claimed that
the T1000SE thought that there were already 2 hard drives on the machine and
wouldn't configure a third. I've managed to avoid the Wonderful World of
DOS Drivers for most of my career...does anyone have any ideas if this is
something they can fix via a config change? Doesn't the T1000XE have the same
ROM Disk/RAM Disk setup?

Anyhow, CCC has shipped one of these beasties off to Toshiba. If a disk drive
can be configured, they should figure out how to do it. Also, Toshiba's 
"official" docking station for the T1000SE is now available in Japan. It
covers the entire back of the machine, so it must have pass-throughs for
all of the connectors. The Japanese cost is a bit over $1000 US. Ouch!
I believe that's for 3 8-bit slots. The WONUnder appears to cost around
$300 on the street. There's on ad in the October issue of Computer Shopper
that lists the WONUnder...Excel Micro on Page 208P.

Anyhow, I'll keep in touch with CCC to see when they have figured out the
hard disk configuration problem. This sounds like the cheapest way for
someone to add "just one card" to their T1000SE.

Phil Earnhardt          Netwise, Inc.  2477 55th St.  Boulder, CO 80301
Phone:303-442-8280      UUCP: onecom!wldrdg!pae
My opinions do not reflect any official position of Netwise.