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From: leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: Need Help with Compaq 386/20
Message-ID: <1991May21.182205.19710@qiclab.scn.rain.com>
Date: 21 May 91 18:22:05 GMT
Article-I.D.: qiclab.1991May21.182205.19710
References: <1991May18.220139.13173@cbnewsl.att.com>
Distribution: na
Organization: SCN Research/Qic Laboratories of Tigard, Oregon.
Lines: 43

sgilley@cbnewsl.att.com (The Idealistic Cynic) writes:

<I recently bought a Compaq 386/20.  The montior it
<came with doesn't work -- it is made by Compaq
<and I believe it is a monochrome monitor.  The person
<I bought it from said that he had it checked out, and
<only problem it had was the monitor.  As you read this,
<keep in mind that while I'm experienced with Unix
<software and hardware, I know next to nothing about
<IBM compatable systems.

<I've decided to upgrade the thing to a VGA monitor.
<Is this computer compatable enough that I can go
<buy brand X VGA card and monitor and have it work
<without problems?  Are there any brands or types
<I should avoid?

Shouldn't be any problem with that. Though you may want to 
pull the current display adapter card to avoid conflicts.
Do note that a new monitor will only cost about $50-70.

<Another question I have is about the drive card --
<the computer has two hard drives and a single 5.25
<floppy drive.  The card says "Winchester" on the top.
<On the back of the card is one (maybe two) ports.
<A 25 pin connector and maybe a nine pin connector.
<What are these?  Is the 25 pin a serial port? (I hope.)

The 9-pin is a serial port. The 25 pin is a parallel printer
port. "Standard" PC connector types (at the computer, not the cable):

25 pin male: serial
25 pin female: parallel
9 pin male: video
9 pin female: serial (adapters to 25-pin are cheap)

Oh yes, a warning. The hard drive controller on that card is non-standard.
It'll only work with Compaq drives. But it can be disabled.

-- 
Leonard Erickson			leonard@qiclab.uucp
personal:	CIS: [70465,203]	70465.203@compuserve.com
business:	CIS: [76376,1107]	76376.1107@compuserve.com