Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!bionet!agate!ucbvax!ucsd!rutgers!att!alberta!ubc-cs!van-bc!sl
From: sl@van-bc.UUCP (pri=-10 Stuart Lynne)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: FSF/AT-bus architecture
Message-ID: <2342@van-bc.UUCP>
Date: 31 Mar 89 20:03:14 GMT
References: <5768@ux.cs.man.ac.uk>
Reply-To: sl@van-bc.UUCP (pri=-10 Stuart Lynne)
Organization: Wimsey Associates, Vancouver, BC.
Lines: 21

In article <5768@ux.cs.man.ac.uk> dente@s2.uucp (Colin Dente) writes:

>I must agree with the original idea - use of this bus *would* give access
>to loads of cheap peripherals - just so long as nobody suggests it should
>run MSDOS - I think I'd unsubscribe immediately if that happened!!!
>

Just a note that various (Televideo and Zenith comes to mind) PC manufacturers 
actually manufacture machines that don't really have a motherboard. It is
simply a bus, plus power. They implement the CPU on a card allowing you (for
example) to upgrade from a 286 to 386 just by adding a processor. 

Typcially in the larger 386 systems, memory is hooked in via a daughter
board or ribbon cable to avoid delay of access of the AT bus.

This might be the way to go in developing a low cost hobbyist machine. It
does allow access to a large number of very low cost cards. You can have a
10 or 12 slot bus and just plug whatever you want into it.

-- 
Stuart.Lynne@wimsey.bc.ca uunet!van-bc!sl 604-937-7532(voice) 604-939-4768(fax)