Hi All,
Been a while since I've lurked around here
I was wondering if there is a specific maximum processor speed to program most of the Mot radios ???
Currently I am using an old IBM think pad 386 I think.. but it has no hard drive and so its a pain to use...
I can find some older machines.. but I'm just wondering what the MAX speed would be.. as the real slow boxes are getting harder to find.
Thanks for anyhelp !
PC speed.. max ?
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PC speed.. max ?
Steve Lithgow
http://www.waycoolkennels.com
http://www.waycoolkennels.com
It depends on the radio and the RSS version. I had used a 386SX/16 for years and everything worked fine. I upgraded last year to a Compaq Lite 486/33 and everything seemed OK with all my Kenwood and Maxon and my Motorola HT600 RSS.
Then, last weekend I tried to program a Railroad Spectra and I got "error 7" com port failures when attempting to read the radio at random intervals of between 2 and 22 blocks read. It read OK on only 2 tries out of 20. The comport test worked fine and the service/aligment screens worked but would it would not read the radio codeplug reliably.
I tried the old 386/16 and it read the radio fine. I tried another known good RR Spectra on the Compaq and got the same failures.
After attempting changes in config.sys and autoexec and F5 "clean" boots with no affect, I used the Compaq bios power management features to reduce CPU speed from 33 to 16.5Mhz. It worked and read the Spectra perfectly every time. If I switch the CPU back to 33, it fails.
My HT600 RSS is R03.01.00 which is tolerant of higher CPU speeds. The RR Spectra RSS R04.05.01 and it apparently does not like a CPU faster than 16MHz.
Then, last weekend I tried to program a Railroad Spectra and I got "error 7" com port failures when attempting to read the radio at random intervals of between 2 and 22 blocks read. It read OK on only 2 tries out of 20. The comport test worked fine and the service/aligment screens worked but would it would not read the radio codeplug reliably.
I tried the old 386/16 and it read the radio fine. I tried another known good RR Spectra on the Compaq and got the same failures.
After attempting changes in config.sys and autoexec and F5 "clean" boots with no affect, I used the Compaq bios power management features to reduce CPU speed from 33 to 16.5Mhz. It worked and read the Spectra perfectly every time. If I switch the CPU back to 33, it fails.
My HT600 RSS is R03.01.00 which is tolerant of higher CPU speeds. The RR Spectra RSS R04.05.01 and it apparently does not like a CPU faster than 16MHz.
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- Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 4:00 pm
- What radios do you own?: Motorola, Icom, Sunair (HF).
Speed and cache
The problem is not so much the CPU speed as it is the processor's internal cache. The reason 386SX's work so well for RSS computers is because they have no internal cache to begin with.
To explain further: Older Moto DOS-based RSS (and by 'older' I mean written in the era of 286's and early 386's) was written in such a way that it required the program code to be executed in a specific sequence of steps. Later CPUs (the ones with on-board instruction caches) would, in the interests of trying to maiximize performance, execute those steps out of sequence, causing the RSS in question to crash.
This is why programs such as MoSlo have little or no effect on the problem. They do nothing to affect the CPU's cache. All they do is insert loops to slow down execution of the RSS code.
Googling for "cacheoff.com" reveals a couple of different Debug scripts you can create (under true DOS) to try and deal with this issue if you happen to be using a system with a 486-class CPU.
http://www.rigacci.org/docs/biblio/onli ... cheoff.htm
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/d ... 000007.htm
Keep in mind that this process may differ for different systems. However, you have nothing to lose by trying. Those same pages, especially the first one, should also have instructions for reversing the process and turning the internal CPU cache back on.
Happy tweaking.
To explain further: Older Moto DOS-based RSS (and by 'older' I mean written in the era of 286's and early 386's) was written in such a way that it required the program code to be executed in a specific sequence of steps. Later CPUs (the ones with on-board instruction caches) would, in the interests of trying to maiximize performance, execute those steps out of sequence, causing the RSS in question to crash.
This is why programs such as MoSlo have little or no effect on the problem. They do nothing to affect the CPU's cache. All they do is insert loops to slow down execution of the RSS code.
Googling for "cacheoff.com" reveals a couple of different Debug scripts you can create (under true DOS) to try and deal with this issue if you happen to be using a system with a 486-class CPU.
http://www.rigacci.org/docs/biblio/onli ... cheoff.htm
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/d ... 000007.htm
Keep in mind that this process may differ for different systems. However, you have nothing to lose by trying. Those same pages, especially the first one, should also have instructions for reversing the process and turning the internal CPU cache back on.
Happy tweaking.
Bruce Lane, KC7GR
"Raf tras spintern. Raf tras spoit."
I have an AT&T Globalyst that is a 486 25/50Mhz. It won't run the X9000 RSS at 50Mhz so i just set it to 25 in the bios and turned off the cache. Now it works 100% reliably.
The older computers are getting harder to find. I was thinking of finding another 486 laptop to have on hand just in case my current one ever dies. It's hard enough to find one now, another 5 years and it may be impossible.
Around here they had a recycling drive years back to get rid of old computers and tv's etc. I can hardly find a 486 let alone anything older than that locally. Even the Pentium I's that used to be so popular on the used market are dissapearing.
The older computers are getting harder to find. I was thinking of finding another 486 laptop to have on hand just in case my current one ever dies. It's hard enough to find one now, another 5 years and it may be impossible.
Around here they had a recycling drive years back to get rid of old computers and tv's etc. I can hardly find a 486 let alone anything older than that locally. Even the Pentium I's that used to be so popular on the used market are dissapearing.
Duct tape is like the force, it has a dark side and a light side and it holds the universe together.
"I Reject Your Reality And Substitute My Own!" - Adam Savage
"I Reject Your Reality And Substitute My Own!" - Adam Savage
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- Posts: 11
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2002 7:05 am
thanks !!!
I appreciate the run down... that is VERY helpful.. I mostly just have ht600, mt1000 HT's so.. this is good info indeed !
Yes. they are getting so hard to find... hope I can find one before my current laptop dies..
thanks again !
Yes. they are getting so hard to find... hope I can find one before my current laptop dies..
thanks again !
Steve Lithgow
http://www.waycoolkennels.com
http://www.waycoolkennels.com
There was a seller on ebay that had a bunch of AT&T laptops, all nice condition with power adapters. I was tempted to get another as a spare but had other priorities at the time. I don't know if he sold them all yet or not, but he had at least a dozen of them on there.
Duct tape is like the force, it has a dark side and a light side and it holds the universe together.
"I Reject Your Reality And Substitute My Own!" - Adam Savage
"I Reject Your Reality And Substitute My Own!" - Adam Savage