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From: dalegass@dalcsug.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Sperry(?) DOS Problems
Message-ID: <116@dalcsug.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 7-Aug-87 06:08:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: dalcsug.116
Posted: Fri Aug  7 06:08:53 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 8-Aug-87 18:42:16 EDT
Organization: Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada
Lines: 31
Keywords: Sperry,MS-DOS

At work, we're having some problems regarding Sperry's Implementation of DOS...

Although generic MS-DOS 2.11, 3.1, and 3.2 will boot and run perfectly on
the sperry PC-HT and PC-uIT, problems occur when using diskettes written under
sperry DOS with MS-DOS.

I'm interested in finding out just what differences Sperry made in their version
of DOS.  This only one I really could see and expect was a CLOCK` driver which
kept the real time clock correct.  Here are some of the symptoms:

o	Diskettes written with Sperry DOS 2.11 will not read under MS-DOS 3.2
	I believe normal MS-DOS 2.11 diskettes will read fine.

o	When Sperry DOS 3.1 for the Micro IT is booted on a Sperry HT, problems
	occur.  First of all, the clock does not get set right, which is to
	be expected, as the RTC accessing address is wrong.  A patch has been
	written to fix this problem.
		However, the disk reads are *extremely* slow.  Sperry's version
	of 3.1 for the PC-IT involves a BIOS ROM exchange!?!?

What is it that Sperry has done to it's DOS to make it so dependant upon
the specific machine it's running on?  Is this a ploy to force you to buy DOS
from them (since a ROM upgrade is needed)?

I don't know why they'd make these silly incompatibilities, when MS-DOS 2.11,
3.1, and 3.2 all run on the Sperry perfectly, with no disk speed problems.
The only hassle is the RTC on the HT, but as I said, we've patched this.
MS-DOS 3.2 does set the clock right on an PC-uIT, since it has the AT-compat-
ible RTC.

-dalegass@dalcsug.uucp