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From: kaleb@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov (Kaleb Keithley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: does anyone know if any i486 have bugs?
Message-ID: <1991Mar7.185651.9476@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov>
Date: 7 Mar 91 18:56:51 GMT
References: <1991Mar7.114128.14955@nntp-server.caltech.edu> <1991Mar7.180156.25560@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu>
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Lines: 49

In article <1991Mar7.180156.25560@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> smsmith@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) writes:
>antonyc@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Antony Chan) writes:
>>
>>i was thinking about getting an i486/25 system, but
>>i seem to recall hearing about some of the i486's having
>>problems.  does anybody remember which serial numbers
>>they were and what the problem was, or am i going
>>senile already?
>
>It's not so much a serial number as it is a series letter.  On
>the BOTTOM of the i486 chip is a letter signifying what version

Not necessarily true...  My 486 has [...]B5 on the bottom, and SX250
on the top.  Some don't have anything on the bottom according to
some reports.  Someone posted an SX### to Rev. table, if I remember
correctly, SX250 is not B5.

>it is.  There were some problems with version B5 and earlier,
>particularly when running OS/2 or Unix.  Version B6 is, I think,
>the last made in the "B" series; series "C" is the current one.

For what it's worth, my SX250/B5(??) ran OS/2 and runs ESIX(UNIX) without 
any problems.

> [...]

>The only other "problem" that I've heard concerning 486's
>is that there is sometimes trouble with HD-->FD and FD-->HD
>data transfers (with large files).  I've seen people post queries
>about this several times, and I haven't yet heard from anyone
>what causes this or what their solutions were.  (Obviously only
>a few people are having this problem; it sounds to me like their
>busses are running at faster than 8 MHz and their HD controller
>can't keep up.)

I'll second that opinion, I've not had a single problem in almost six
months of operation.  But I do know that some games just don't work
on the 486; at least some of the older ones.  The release notes for
a game I received for Christmas had a comment like: "fixed 486 instruction
scheduling," and a friend's game that works fine on his 386 just won't
run on my 486.



-- 
Kaleb Keithley                        kaleb@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov

As of right now, I'm in charge here now...                  Alexander Haig.
Voodoo Economics, that's what it is, voodoo economics.      George Bush