Franck at 14:2:15 Tuesday August 12 97
How can I access to SETUP Program to a PC1640 Amstrad answers:YOu can't cos there isn't one. Normally this
question comes from people who use AT type PCs and are used to setting
hard disk type numbers when the HD isn't working. I'm afraid that the
1640 was an XT not an AT and therefore didn't have all the type number
malarchy but instead the HD controller was matched to the drive.
Unfortunatrely this does mean that if the HD isn't working it really is
dead and it's not just a simple setting that will get it going again.
There again, you may have been after setup for a completely different
reason but I doubt it.Duncan Campbell in Troon Ayrshire, SCOTLAND at 9:0:23 Tuesday August 12 97
Please ignore my last question, I have now managed to solve
that problem, I have unfortunately encountered another.
I am now connecting to compuserve on the NC100 notepad from
amstrad on terminal emulation using the serial transfer
built in software.having only 6 lines on the page I find
the text scrolls past and I miss half of all menus and email
Is there any hotkey press on the NC100 to stop and start
scrolling of received text online or to buffer it and
`look` upwards for it.
If anyone can help I`d be very grateful as I want to use it for
my emAIL IN THE US on holiday
Many thanks
Duncan Amstrad answers:Oops, too late, I read these questions in
reverse chrono order and already stuck and answer on it below! I think
we must have talked via email but for other's benefit, the answer is to
try Ctrl-S and Ctrl-Q which are the Xon/Xoff characters that mean "stop"
and "go". The terminal program isn't clever enough to buffer and let you
scroll back I'm afraid.cn packer at 21:35:59 Monday August 11 97
previous to my last question it looks as though the possibilities of
upgrading a 1512dd are mighty slim, therefore could could say what word
proccessor will work on the machine and where could I get it. I cant
seem to fine GEM on the internet any chance of getting this
somewhere. Amstrad answers:On a machine with so little horse power as
the 1512 I think you've got to forget any type of graphic word
processor so you should look for something DOS based. I have heard of
people using Word Perfect on it (the early Amstrad PC manuals were
written in WP running on a 1640!!) however even that may be a bit OTT
for an 8MHz 8086 so I'd try scanning a few old bulleting boards for
sharewar/PC copies of DOS based word processors. Unfortunately the
Internet (in my experience) doesn't seem to be so good for finding this
really old stuff as it was in vogue long before the Internet took off
and no one seems to have made this old stuff available on the web.
However old BBS systems and also Compuserve are good places to find the
older 8086/XT type of stuff.Anthony Terry in Columbia SC at 21:26:44 Monday August 11 97
I live in columbia S.C. and am having a hard time finding blank 3"
discs for an amstrad 8256. Could you possibly be of assistance? I
would appreciate any help possible. Thank You. Amstrad answers:Do you have access to newsgroups I wonder?
If so then check out comp.sys.amstrad.8bit where
you'll find a lot of people with PCW stuff on offer and there are
regularly people offering to supply 3" disks. As an alternative I just
received a copy of PCW Today today (IYSWIM) and SD Microsystems are
advertising a box of five CF2 disks for £14.95. Their phone
outside UK is +44 1953 483750. Address: SD Microsystems, PO Box 24,
Attleborough, Norfolk, NR17 1HLDuncan Campbell in DJCAMP45@AOL.Com at 19:4:55 Sunday August 10 97
I have an Amstrad notepad NC100.I have been informed by
SCA products that it is possible to use a modem on the serial
port of the NC100. I am trying to find a listing for a
simple terminal emulator in BBC Basic that I could type
into the NC100 to allow me terminal access to my e-mail, whilst
on the move, on my NC100.
Any suggestions where I could get listings or a shareware
program for the BBC as I have a master 128 also, and could
get the listing from a disc also?
Hope someone can possibly help.
Duncan Campbell Amstrad answers:BTDTWTTS (Been There, Done That, Worn That T
Shirt). In the mists of time, as an experiment I wrote a simple terminal
program in NC BASIC which basically consisted of opening the "COM" device
as a file and reading/writing characters to it (sitting in a loop
printing received characters on the screen and looking for keys and
writing them out). The good news was that it does actually work (just)
but the bad news is that the speed of BASIC means that it couldn't cope
with more than 300baud. As such I'd have to say that it would be a bit
of a pointless excercise because once you get into the realms of email
(ie SMTP and PPP on top of TCP/IP) there is a whole lot more processing
involved which would probably drop the possible speed to about 30baud in
which case a good pen, piece of paper, envelope and stamp may be a
quicker solution!!Oscar Fattorini in Southport, Merseyside, UK at 13:19:31 Sunday August 10 97
I have a pc3386sx with 4x256k 80 ns sims (1 Mb) i need to upgrade to 8
Mb and bought 2x4Mb 70 ns simms but when I fitted them , the pc does not
start perhaps the links lk 17 throuh to lk 24 are not very clear in
your table, could ypu please indicate if the simms are the right choice
as far as size and speed are concerned or should I use some other
combination of simms? Amstrad answers:The problem you've got is that the 3386SX has
to have four identical SIMMs which means that the only possible options
are four 256K SIMMs to give you 1MB, four 1MB SIMMs to give you 4MB or
four 4MB SIMMs to give you 16MB. Therefore you will need to buy and
install another two 4MB SIMMs alongside the ones you just got. Having
done this remove all four links 19, 20, 21 and 22 to indicate that 16MB
is fitted.charles packer in Isle of Wight at 13:22:45 Saturday August 9 97
I want to upgrade a pc1512dd for a student friend. Ive got a Quantum
50mb hard drive that I would like to fit as well as a 3 1/2 drive. From
my memories of owning a 1640 it was very difficult to fit a higher
grade floppy due to the bios. Also are there any converters so that the
mono monitor will fit in a standard soket. Amstrad answers:It's not the BIOS that limits the floppy to
720K, it's the speed of the disk data separator in the FD interface so
you can add a 3.5" drive but it must be 720K, there's no way a 1.44 can
be used (short of a new FDC but then there's the problem that you cannot
disable the onboard FDC). As for the HD you didn't say whether it was
MFM, RLL or IDE. My guess is it's IDE but whatever it is, you are going to need
to find a matching XT (not AT) 8-bit hard disk controller. Once you've
got that it's a simple matter of plug in and go (the joys of XT versus
AT!!). As for the monitor, I wasn't clear whether you were hpoing to use
a different monitor on the 1512 or the 1512 monitor on a different
machine. However that is pretty incidental as the "weird" design of 1512
graphics controller means that no such switching round is possible.
Sorry about that.Rachna Gupta in India at 8:7:2 Friday August 8 97
Please refer to my earlier posting of 30th July. The problem of Machine
not recognising the hard disk is over. They have put new batteries in
their system. Now when they set the hard disk type as 17 , there is no
option on the screen to save it. Also as you indicated that the hard
disk is 40 MB, but the hard disk shows 63 MB. But in any case they can
now work on C:. But every time they boot the machine they have to repeat
the process of putting the setup disk in A: and the rest. On hard boot
if they do not have the setup disk in A: it gives a non system disk
error. Could you please advise what should they do so that they do not
have to repeat this setup process. Amstrad answers:When you press [Esc] to exit from the Setup
program, if you have made any changes, it should pop up and say "These
are the options you have picked, press [Esc] to discard them or [Return]
to save them". In your case you should press [Return] and (assuming the
battery is properly connected and working) it will save the hard disk
type number once and for all.Keith Woodhouse in Southampton - England at 14:4:6 Tuesday August 5 97
So if I cant make the Amstrad DMP-1 printer work with an Epson driver
(according to the info on the 'Printers' web sit) ,How can i get it to
work under Windows 3.1? Does anyone have a printer driver for this old
machine? Amstrad answers:The only driver you could possibly use in
Windows is the "Generic/Text only" driver but you obviously wont be able
to print any sort of graphics or Truetype fonts.Steve Way in Plymouth U.K. at 22:9:56 Monday August 4 97
I own an NC100 which I purchased cheaply as it did not have a manual
etc.... Recently I have been trying to transfer files from the NC100 to
my Win 95 Computer using Hyper Terminal. If I try to transfer using
XModem I just get errors stating "no packet". The setting I'm using are
1) On the NC100 9600, 8/1, none, off 2) Hyper Terminal 9600, 8, 1, none
, Hardware.
Heyelp Amstrad answers:There is a question on this very page where I
suggested how to connect NC100 and HyperTerm (sounds like you're on the
right lines anyway). I hope this might answer your question. Click here to see it.leisha in Sydney, Australia at 23:12:40 Sunday August 3 97
I have a NC100 notepad, can you tell me step by step how to get the
serial and terminal program to work so i can transfer, I hope you will
be able to help Amstrad answers:The very best description of this is to be
found in the user manual (wot I wrote!)Michael James in Harlow, UK at 12:56:30 Friday August 1 97
Can someone tell me where I can buy an NC200? I really
need a text editor which I can use anywhere and as I've
already used Protext on both the Atari ST and on my PC it
would be really useful. I've looked through all manner of
second hand magazines (Micro Mart etc), for sale ads in
the local papers but still have had no luck.
Hopefully someone has one for sale or can tell me where I
can buy one.
Thanks. Amstrad answers:The last I knew was that we had sold all
remaining NC100/200 units to Tandy and I have seen some NC100s on sale
in a local Tandy store so that would probably be the best place to ask
but it's possible that they have either sold the stock on or sold out in
which case I'm afraid it will be very difficult to find one. Sorry about
that as I agree that it would be a great solution for you (well I am a
bit biased as it's my computer!)Rachna Gupta in India at 7:23:15 Wednesday July 30 97
My Aunt has a PC 2286 (V1.11). Her brother bought it from London and
gave it to her in India. I haven't seen the machine but they have a
problem. When they power on the machine They get the following commands:
Please set time and date Please set user options - Run setup Please fit
new Batteries. Insert a System Disk into drive A. Then press any key.
Now they put in a System floppy of DOS6.22 and it comes to A: If they
try to do C: on the A prompt, it gives an error message - Invalid drive
specification So basically the problem is that it does not recognise the
C drive. They don't know what version of DOS do they have in their
machine. They have tries to format the machine but again it does not
recognise the C drive. They tried running wordstar from a floppy and it
works. So as long as their games or the software is in a floppy it reads
but does not reach drive C. I have also downloaded the setup program for
PC 2286 which you have provided. Please help Amstrad answers:The problem is simply that an AT type machine
won't recognise it's hard disk until the type number is set correctly.
All you need do is make sure there are healthy batteries in the machine
then put a copy of that Setup.Exe program onto the DOS 6.22 disk that is
being used to start the machine. Once the A:\> prompt appears type the
command Setup then use the screen that appears to set the hard
disk type number to 17 (which is the correct number the standard 40MB
drive as supplied in a 2286). Save the change and reboot after removing
the floppy disk. You should now find that MS-DOS loads from the hard
disk. Even if it doesn't you should find that typing C: allows
you to access the data on the hard disk. As it probably contains MS-DOS
4.01 you will probably want to boot from the 6.22 floppies and then give
the command SYS C: to upgrade the hard disk to 6.22. Finally copy
the contents of the 6.22 floppies into C:\DOS o replace the 4.01
utilities with their 6.22 equivalents.Giorgio Verdiani in Carrara, Italia at 17:28:44 Monday July 28 97
Does the PPC640 need a special operative system to operate?
I tried with a boot-disk made with Dos 6.22 and with Dos 3.3
But none of them works...
Thank you Amstrad answers:You definitely should be able to boot a PPC
with any version of MS-DOS, PC-DOS or DR-DOS but the one very important
fact to remember is that it's floppy drive can ONLY read 720K, not 1.44M
disks. So if you are preparing a boot disk on another DOS based machine
that has DOS 3.3 or 6.22 installed you MUST use the command FORMAT A:
/S /F:720 to force it to be a 720K system format disk.Paul W. Yocom in Titusville, Florida USA at 15:45:51 Monday July 21 97
I have a Amstrad PPC640 that will only give me a "Please wait ....."
message when I turn it on. Maybe the problem is related to the ROM BIOS
but I don't have a copy of the ROM BIOS. I will take any and all
assistance. Also, is it possible to put 1.44 Meg. floppy drives on this
model and have them recognized as 1.44 Meg. units?
Help, right now my PPC640 is nothing more than a paperweight until I can
fix it. Amstrad answers:Not sure what you mean by the statement that
you don't have a copy of the ROM BIOS. It is the ROM BIOS that is
printing that "Please wait..." message. Basically the machine starts up,
prints "Please wait" then prints a dot as it completes each teest of
things like parallel, serial, memory, keyboard, RTC, etc. If it fails
during this process it will normally print a message to say what failed
but if, for example, it was a ROM fault then it might crash during the
process which explains what you're seeing. As it will almost certainly
cost more to repair the machine than it is actually worth (about
£20-30, $32-$48) you might be better off using it as a paper weight and
looking for a replacement machine second hand.
As for adding a 1.44Mb I'm afraid that the disk data separator chip in
the PPC does not run at sufficiently high a clock speed to do anything
better than 720K. There is no way round this.Chris Johnson in Sheffield, UK at 13:45:17 Saturday July 19 97
Old (old) computer - Speccy +2 (Grey case *not* the enhanced
black case version): Amstrad made this computer many moons
ago when the 8-bits were all the rage, but I've had no
success finding information on the RS232 port on the back
of this beast. What I'm looking for is either the ROM calls
for sending/receivng data, and setting baud rates et al, or
how to program it manually (ie, what port is it on). I'd
prefer the ROM locations as it is less problematic :-)
Alternatively, Amstrad wouldn't know of a terminal emulator
for the +2 would they (just something to read & write to
the serial port, a la Windows Terminal).
Cheers,
Chris... Amstrad answers:While I wasn't involved in the +2 I did write
quite a lot of the code in the +2A and I have a strong feeling that the
serial interface on that was implemented in exactly the same way as the
+2 so looking at the +2A manual it says that the serial interface is
actually done using the parallel I/O register (14) in the AY-3-8912
sound chip with the bits assigned as 2=CTS out - pin5, 3=RxD out - pin
3, 6=DTR in - pin 4 and 7=TxD in - pin 2. The AY-3-8912 is read/written
by first writing the register number (14 in this case) to port FFFD and
then reading back from FFFD to see the current contents or writing to
BFFD to write new contents. If you get stuck with this there is an
excellent news group for Sinclair machines which I believe is called
comp.sys.sinclair and you'll find loads of "gurus" there who know
an awful lot more about this than I do. There's probably also a FAQ with the
information in.Neil Soper in Guildford, UK at 21:38:39 Thursday July 17 97
My wife just bought an NC100 from a Tandy shop for £50 as it came
without a box or manuals. She would like to use it for document entry
for later upload to our Windows 95 PC. I have bought a female/female 9
pin null modem cable to connect the 2 machines, kicked of Hyperterms
XMODEM receive, then done an XMODEM send from the NC100. However no
characters are being sent. What comms settings should I be using? I
have tried 2400 bps with 8 bit no parity and 1 stop bit, and both
RTS/CTS and XON/XOFF. However no joy. I don't want to have to send off
for a manual set just to do this, please advise ... (Sorry if this is
trivial) Amstrad answers:The following is a short precis of part of my
NC100 manual. First look at the menu reached by pressing the
Secret/Menu key from the opening NC screen. Make sure that Document
transfer port and format is set to either Serial/ASCII or Serial/Protext
(depending on whether you want formatting codes removed during
transfer). Next make sure that the cable is wired (from the NC100
end) 2 to 3, 3 to 2, 4 to 6, 5 to 5, 7 to 8 and 8 to 7 (may be able to
check this with a multimeter/battery and bulb). Connect the two
computers and start HyperTerm on the PC and press Function-S on the NC
to start it's Serial Terminal program. Press the Secret/Menu key while
in the terminal to get to the screen where you configure baud rate etc.
The normal default of 9600, 8 bit, no parity, 1 stop should not need to
be changed. Exit from the config menu and as long as PC is also set to
9600,n,8,1 you should find that typing on each keyboard produces
characters on the screen at the other end. Only once you've got this
simple conversation working can you then contemplate the complexities
of Xmodem transfer. One thing to realise is that NC uses
Xmodem/Checksum while HyperTerm is Xmodem/CRC. This doesn't really
matter but it does mean that on a transfer it will take HyperT 10
seconds after starting the transfer before it will switch back to
Checksum from CRC. Fraid that's about as much of the manual as I can
reproduce in this limited space. If you still get no joy email me or
drop another question/message on this page.Robert Newman in Adelaide AUSTRALIA at 10:56:35 Thursday July 17 97
Have alt386 laptop. Using Dos 6.22. Unable to access functions to use
external monitor or keyboard. Also unable to locate original disks in
australia. No-one here seems to want to have anything to do with them.
Pity, they are a top machine. Any ideas of how to overcome those
problems. Amstrad answers:You need the DISPLAY or SWITCHER utilities that
you can download from my file library here. However this doesn't explain why the external
keyboard isn't working. It should just work without any program being run and
it has nothing to do with which version of DOS you are using.john rowan in tidworth at 23:12:7 Tuesday July 15 97
The local club that i am a member of have purchased a 2nd hand pc3386
without any instructions/handbooks. We are trying to load msdos 6.22
and ultimately windows. The problem that we have is that it will not
accept the disks. It is perfectly alright when loading msdos 5. It
will not however even read dos 6.22 or windows disks from the dir
command. I understand that dos 6.22 can't or shouldn't be loaded over
the top of dos 5 and have even formatted the hd and tried to boot from
the 6.22 disks. There is no fault with the 6.22 disks as I have used
them on my own machine recently. Can you help? Amstrad answers:There should be no problem upgading from DOS 5
to 6.22 and I can't think of any reason why a 3386 should have a problem
reading the disks. All I can think is that you made copies of the disks
on a machine who's drive was running too slow/fast or that the 3386
drive is running too slow/fast so that each machine can read it's own
disks but not those from the other. Do you have some other 3rd
party disks that you could try reading in each machine to see which one
has the dodgy floppy drive. Once you've identified that you may find
that it is the motor drive band in the faulty drive that has stretched and
needs replacing.Tom Gubler in Australia at 12:18:59 Thursday July 10 97
I have been given a NC100 Notepad computer. If I turn it on holding down the
Function, Control & Symbol keys a Self Test program runs that
says the computer is fine but I cannot access the programs that
I presume are stored in the ROM - (word processor, etc).
There is an empty memory card slot, is something required in it?
How can I determine if the computer is faulty or get information/manuals etc.
Thanks for this
Tom Amstrad answers:Nope that slot is for expansion and does not
need to be filled for the machine to work. It should simply be the case
that switching on shows three panels across the screen that allow you to
select various functions including th word processor. If they don't
appear at a normal power on then it suggests that there is a fault with
the ROM. Because the test software is stored in lower order addresses
within the ROM it is possible that it could execute even if a PCB fault,
dry joint, solder splash or whatever meant that the upper address lines
to the ROM were faulty. You could try contacting CPC in the UK to see
about getting a replacement ROM but even that may not fix the problem as
it is more likely that the problem lies somewhere in the addressing
logic that runs to the ROM chip. I think it would need to be serviced by
a professional engineer who could, for example, put a scope on the upper
address lines from the CPU and on the lines to the ROM and see if one or
more is stuck.raj patel in london at 14:39:46 Tuesday July 8 97
Where can i find driver files for my amstrad printer lq5000i or nearest
to this model? I have upgraded to windows 95 and I can't use this
printer. Thank you Amstrad answers:I guess you didn't see this then?Dave Church at 11:56:37 Tuesday July 8 97
Where do you get a software disc for the PPF600 plain paper fax, so you
can use it with a computer Amstrad answers:All fax products are dealt with by Betacom
plc (one of the Amstrad group companies) so I suggest you contact them
about the software. They have an email domain so try sending a message
to postmaster@betacom.co.ukStefan Farrelly in SURREY UK. at 15:42:17 Wednesday July 2 97
I have Windows 3.1 on an Amstrad PC 2386 and an unable to run the
existing mouse. I have tried it both with and without the DOS driver
but with no success. I have also tried a serial mouse which did not
work either. HELP. Amstrad answers:This is actually such a common question that
your message is the straw that broke the camel's back and persuaded me
to finally up date the information here.Jacky Malcolm in Carnoustie, Angus at 22:35:42 Tuesday July 1 97
My friend has just been given an Amstrad PC1512 with no manual. He
knows nothing about PCs and I don't know much more, but he has invited
me to try to activate his machine...Help!! I haven't seen it yet but
from what I understand it has 2 disk drives (5 1/4 inch) and he has a
bundle of disks. Could you please give me a quick run down of how to
boot it up and get it running before I go there tomorrow and embarras
myself due to my ignorance? I would be eternally grateful. Jacky
Malcolm Amstrad answers:Well I guess the first question is - have
you ever used an IBM PC compatible computer? If you have then you
already know all the answers. The 1512 was the first really successful
clone of the the IBM PC XT and works just like it. That means that when
you first switch it on it will try and read the floppy disk in A: and
if it finds a bootable operating system (MS-DOS, DR-DOS, PC-DOS, DOS
Plus, etc.) it will load it and start running presenting you with the
familiar A:\> prompt at which you can then type any of the
MS-DOS commands or the name of an executable program file (.EXE) that
you find on the disk (using the DIR command). If you don't put a disk
in when the unit is switched on it will either give you a message
inviting you to do so or it will start from the hard disk if one is
fitted.R. S. Kohus in Atlanta, GA United States at 5:2:24 Tuesday July 1 97
I have given an old 1512 to my 4yr old nephew so that he can get used to
"banging" around on a computer before I give him something more up to
date [For Multimedia Learning]. The problem is that during a recent
move his parents have lost the mouse, now the system will not boot up.
It locks with a check mouse and keyboard message. My question is this,
Is there a way to bypass the machine looking for the mouse or is there
a mouse that would fit it still available? While I still had this
machine I made several modifications to it. Through the use of cards I
have it using an American made trackball through a serial port on the
card and with a Western Digital 8bit HD card have added a pair of
External hard drives. It also has an old 2400 modem. It has always
been a good running machine and would be a shame to lose it now due to
a missing mouse. I would appreciate any advice I could get on getting
this machine up and running again, without spending a ridiculous amount
to do so, Thanks for your help. Looking forward to a responce. By the
way, I tried using a standard 2 button mitsumi mouse with a gender
changer attached, but it still gave the same error message. Amstrad answers:I think you are being a little bit misled by
that error message. At switch on the machine does not go looking for a
mouse. It does, however, look to see if any keys appear to be
permanently stuck down and that includes the two buttons on the mouse as
well as the 96 keys on the keyboard. So what the message is really
saying is "I've had a look at your keyboard and the two mouse buttons
and something appears to be stuck down". As you've said that the mouse
isn't present this means that the problem must lie in the keyboard.
Perhaps a key got damaged in transit? The second reason why the message
might be produced is if you turn on without the keyboard (but NOT
mouse) being connected at all it will also complain - so maybe the plug
isn't pushed in completely. Other meece cannot be used on the 1512 mouse
port because it has extremely strange electronics/timing signals. Only
an Amstrad mouse can be used. If you want to use the Mitsumi mouse then
get a 9 to 25 pin converter and plug it onto the 25 pin serial port at
the back of the machine.Tom Palmer in Colorado Springs, CO at 20:13:10 Monday June 30 97
My father has an AMSTRAD PC 1512SD. However, he does not have a manual
for the PC. I have checked the alternate web sites and have not found
any info on how to locate one. Please advise on how to obtain the
manual. Thank you. Amstrad answers:As noted elsewhere on these pages all spares
including manuals are available from CPC. However if you just have a
single specific question it might be easier just to ask here or email
me. The fact is that the 1512 is pretty much an IBM PC workalike so you
should be able to just do all the standard things you would on a PC.paul friel in N.IRELAND at 2:23:45 Saturday June 28 97
I am having a problem booting my machine,with no disk in floppy drive,it
halts before starting ms-dos, as if it is not reading the hard drive. It
had drvspace installed and had three drive letters C:D:I: I tried to
changed it back to a none compressed drive, but could only get rid of
drive I: I can't get into the bios,the normal keys don't seem to work.
The machine I am using is a amstrad sx 386. I would be very happy if any
one could help?
Thanks Paul Friel Amstrad answers:If booting from hard disk does not work then
you should try booting from a floppy disk. That should always work. Once
you have got DOS started you can then start to investigate what's wrong
with the HD. First try a C: command and see if you can access the
hard drive. If not have a look at it with FDISK and see what that has to
say about partition information. If you have a drivespace problem then
I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere for help as I used to
understand how it works whn I used it but I'm afraid that's a bit of a
distant memory now. You didn't say which model of 386SX it was (3386,
4386, 5386, 7386?) but in any case it should be possible to get to the
BIOS using either [F1] or [Del] as it boots up or possibly [Ctrl],
[Alt], [S] at the A:\> prompt.Spartacus in Niagara Falls, Canada, Tuesday June 24, 1997 at 18:29:18 Tuesday June 24 97
I have an old DMP3160 24 pin printer, and I'd like to use it with Win95.
I have tried diferent Epson drivers included with Win95 and it doesn“t
work. I do not know what I should do? Amstrad answers:I'm not sure what's going on here with both
you and Sergio (below). The fact is that the DMP printers ARE Epson
compatible and so Windows 95 shouldn't be able to see any difference
between driving a DMP or a "real" Epson. I wonder if the problem is a
more fundamental low level thing? If it was me the first thing I would
try is to select the "Generic/Text Only" in Win95 and see if that will
print. If that doesn't work then it shows that the is a more fundamental
electronic problem because that doesn't assume any intelligence in the
printer and just sends it plain ASCII characters. If they don't print
then it suggests a problem in the interface/cable. If anyone else readin
this has a DMP working under Win95 I wonder if they could email me or
write here just to let us all know that we're not going nuts!sergio laspalas in pamplona, spain at 6:31:4 Tuesday June 24 97
I have an old DMP4000 printer, and I“d like to use it with Win95. I have tried with FX100 drivers from epson included with Win95
and it doesn“t work. What should I do? Amstrad answers:Please see answer to the question above.Kevin Evans in Derby, England at 17:42:58 Sunday June 22 97
I own an Amstrad Pen Pad (PDA600), and have somehow managed
to crack the screen...
How do I go about getting it repaired?
Please help as my wife uses it for work daily! Amstrad answers:I presume it is the digi rather than the
actual LCD that is broken? In either case it is fairly easy to replace
either unit as they have clip on connectors to the PCB (pull surrounding
collar forward to release ribbon cable). Replacement LCDs/digis may be
available from CPC or, failing that, SCA (sca@sussex.co.uk) or that
German company listed on the PDA page. However be warned that spare
components are priced at the time of building the machine (so the LCD
may cost $80) and now you can buy a whole PDA for $80!!nasser ali el-sayed bakr in UK (norwich) until 04/07/97, then Egypt at 17:38:0 Tuesday June 17 97
I am on a study course in England. I have recently bought a
second-hand PCW9512 and would like to take it back to Egypt
with me at the end of my course. But I would like to know
first whether I may be the only owner and user of this type
of computer in Egypt. Are there any other PCW9512's in Egypt?
If I take my one to Egypt, and I have a hardware problem,
can I get it repaired? Are there any sources of software in
Egypt? Are there any users in Egypt who would like to make
contact with me so that we can collaborate? Amstrad answers:I don't think we ever "officially" sold the
PCW in Egypt but it was sold in the Greece, Cyprus and Malta which
(according to my rather hazy grasp of geography) maybe aren't a million
miles from Egypt. You might be able to get one repaired there if
necessary. If it did need repairing it might actually be easier to get
the necessary spares from CPC in the UK then get a local TV repairman to
have a look at actually doing the repair.Ben Tayler, in UK. at 11:30:32 Monday June 16 97
Dear Cliff ,
Thanks for your Previous advice.
Is there any chance that you could help me with this request for GEM software files?
At the moment my poor old Amstrad, Is asking for the Gem Desktop files, but the problem is that i dont have the 3 files it requires.
1) desklo.icn
2) deskhi.icn
3) desktop.inf (? I believe that is right)
Unfortuanatly i dont know the gem version (that is if there is more than one), The Amstrad is a 1640.
But the gem does enable me to pull up Finnesse (DTP) and use it. Having tried to use a diferent version of gem that i had previously used on the 1512 i seem to be getting mouse trails, but it worked perfectly on the old 1512.
Thanks for your time,
P.S. I will add a link to the 'Amstad Home Pages' Amstrad answersLI believe this might just be your lucky day!
I was able to find sets of both 1512 and 1640 systems disks (and a PC
that would read 10 year old 360K disks!) so I have put copies of the
complete disk sets for both 1512 and 1640 into my archive which you can
access here.Robin Fiddelaers in Belgium at 14:12:41 Sunday June 15 97
In april '96 I bought me an Amstrad Integra P75. Now the store where i
bought it doesn't exist anymore. But there is a password that bothers
me from accessing my BIOS. I tried all overrides i could think off
(jumper on Mainboard, disconnecting battery, several BIOS cracking
programs) but i simply can't access the BIOS. I am a PC-technician for
several years now, but i feel leek a mechanic who can't open his own
car. Are there any solutions for my problem. Oh yeah, Amstrad doesn't
exist anymore in Belgium I heard ? Great ! Please Reply Amstrad answers:It's not just Amstrad in Belgium that has
closed, by the end of July there will be no more Amstrad at all. However
I'll still try to keep these pages going even though I now work for
Betacom.
As for the BIOS password on that machine. I'm totally astonished that
either making the "reset BIOS" link or disconnecting the battery didn't
clear it. Did you give it long enough. I'd give it at least 30 minutes
just to be sure in case residual capacitance continues to power the
CMOS. If all else fails I fear you'll have to contact Viglen who provide
support on the more recent Amstrad PCs (cos we own them). They can be
found at www.viglen.co.uk.Jeremy Crook at 16:13:26 Friday June 13 97
Thanks for the programming info on the Notepad NC100. I have a few more
questions :- In the Programming notes it says that the Parallel port is
write only, does this port have a uni-directional output buffer or can
I convert it into an input port (or better still a proper I/O port).
Secondly, do you know of any good data sheets/books on the PCMCIA
standard as used on the notepad (most of the books I,ve seen are realy
expensive.) And lastly is there any chance of a circuit diagram (I,m
sorry if I give the impression of being pushy but thats the effect the
Internet has on me). Thanks once again. Amstrad answers:The parallel is quite definitely
unidirectional however if you think about it there are actually
something like 9 bits of output (D0..D7 and Strobe) and 4 bits of input
(Ack, Paper Out, etc.). I know that, for example, Arnor created a
parallel file transfer kit for the NC machines which basically used 8
bits from NC to PC and used a 4 bit nybble mode channel using those
control lines (I think that the IEE1284 standard goes into immense
detail about all this).
As for PCMCIA I can't help feeling that there must be a
www.pc-card.com or suchlike. I wonder if they'd have freely
available documents about it? Remember that the PCMCIA (more recently
known as simply PC card) interface on an NC is NOT type 2 so it does NOT have
anything but memory address and data lines. It CANNOT be used for
connecting I/O devices such as modems, ethernet cards, etc. etc.
As for circuit diagrams, I do have some in Orcad format somewhere but
they don't appear to be on my HD which means they're on an old archive
tape so the chances of me finding them are probably between nil and
zero.Giel van Noort in The Hague (Netherlands) at 23:51:31 Wednesday June 11 97
Dear Cliff, I'm looking for a more modern (true windows) version of the
Index Link PC-software for the Amstrad IndexPhone ix1000 . I guess this
may be not the complete right place to put this question but I thought I
recognized your picture as an icon in the original software. Thanks in
advance! Amstrad answers:Shucks, I cannot tell a lie - it was I!
However what I'm afraid I can also tell you is that there only was ever
that one version of the software made. There was no later Windows based
version so I'm afraid it has to be that DOS app with just the icon that
runs it from the Program Manager/Start Menu.Jeremy Crook in UK at 17:36:48 Wednesday June 11 97
I,ve just been given two NC100 Notepads. One works OK the other seems to
be a bit unwell. I'd like to use the machines to control some home made
robots as my P.C. isn't that portable. The BBC basic seems to work quite
well and i've used the inbuilt assembler with some success although I
don't know how to make O.S. calls as you can on a BBC computer. My first
question is, is it possible? My second question is have you got the
details and can I have them as well? Thirdly, is there any data on the
Hardware i/o addresses, lcd programming codes, memory paging techniques
etc. Lastly I have in the past reprogrammed ROMS for other small 8 bit
Z80 computers, is there any chance you could put me in touch with the
necessary information to do this with the Notepad as it would be ideal
to use as the basis for some other projects I am working on. Sorry about
all the questions but your little machine seems to be the answer to a
lot of my problems. Thanks very much :-) Amstrad answers:I kind of guess you will already have found
it but the low level programming info about NC100 is to be found here. Those fixed firmware entry points can be called
from your BASIC based ASM program just as easily as from a PCMCIA card
program.
As for programming ROMS to make a turnkey solution that isn't entirely
possible as there's no real way to separate the existing menu system
from the underluying OS (and hence replace the main ROM). However there
are two other potential mechanisms for running your program but they
will both require a double key press after switch on to start them.
First you can call a Basic program "Auto" and then it will run
automatically when you press Function-B. The alternative is to generate
a binary program image on a PCMICA SRAM card and this would then require
the user to press Function-X after switch on to eXecute the program on
the card.Ben Tayler in Uk. at 14:48:12 Tuesday June 10 97
I have a amstrad 1640. Is it posibe to fit a second hard disc. if so How ?
P.s. Nice site. Amstrad answers:Yup, fairly easy. You've got two choices. If
you can find a mechanism that's identical to the one already attached
to the existing controller then it'll just be a question of hanging it
off the same controller card (usually there are two sets of
connections). If you want to add a different type then you'll need a
second controller (the 1640 is one of the few XT PCs ever made that could
host two different HD controllers). Usually the simple answer is to
stick with the existing HD/controller and stick a "hard card" into one
of the slots. You may be able to pick up a second hand one but make
sure it's 8-bit. As an alternative you might want to try and find an
8-bit IDE card then just hang a single, large capacity, modern drive
off it. Course then you want to consider whether it is really worth
spending very much on a computer who's complete value is about
£30.Martin Connelly in Leasingham, Lincs at 20:58:50 Monday June 9 97
Sorry about forgetting to mention the type of computer on Saturday,
your guess at a PCW was correct, specifically a 9512. As nothing
happens when the printer is disconnected I presume the fault is on the
CPU board. Could you be more specific as to which chip(s) are fried or
is it impossible to say without testing? Additionally I have a working
CPC6128 and wonder if this can be used to retrieve files from the 9512
and if so how. Amstrad answers:As you'll see there isn't very much on a PCW
main board. You've got a Z80, a gate array, some RAM, a disk controller
and then there is a printer controller chip which actually serves two
purposes in life. It obviously interfaces to the cable connecting the
printer but it's second, less obvious job in life, is that because the
PCW does not have any other ROM memory, when it is switched on the
printer controllers own ROM is switched to vbe visible in the Z80's
address map and it is code there that runs the "bootstrap" that is
responsible for loading the rest of the CP/M or Locoscript from floppy.
Thus you can see that if the printer controller is damaged it explains
why the machine won't boot. The solution might be to replace
that chip but it may be something else connected (perhaps address
decode or something) that has gone West. Like I say, CPC might charge
you £20 for the chip alone while you can get a whole PCW for
about £25. A CPC cannot normally read PCW disks because it uses a
slightly different format but they are effectively two different
flavours of the same thing (as long as they are 170K not 720K disks!)
and I think there may be utility software for the CPC that allows it to
read PCW disks. I'd suggest a look at comp.sys.amstrad.8bit as you may
find someone who's got a suitable utility there. However that's only
half the battle because you may be able to read the files but you won't
understand them as they will be in Locoscript format.Martin Connelly in Leasingham, Lincolnshire at 14:0:15 Saturday June 7 97
What goes wrong when the printer plug is connected/dis-connected whilst
the machine is switched on. I would like to fix my neighbours machine
for her as she has old files she wants to access and it went wrong when
the printer plug was loose and was re-attached with power on. The disk
drive light comes on but the screen remains blank. Amstrad answers:You didn't say what type of computer but I'll
take a wild stab and guess that we are talking about a PCW here because
probably the most common way of "killing" one was to plug/unplug the
printer while the thing was switched on. The problem is that there are
some 24 volt lines in the printer cable and plugging/unplugging while
"live" often results in the printer controller chip on either the PCW
main board or within the printer mechanism "blowing up". This is very
expensive to repair and as a second hand PCW only costs about £25
it is actually cheaper to pick up a whole replacement machine from the
small ads of a local paper.Lawrence R Clayton in Warwick, Qld. Australia at 10:32:57 Saturday June 7 97
I'm currently working on an Amstrad PC 1512DD. The computer is to be used by my Mother in Law.
I have taken out a hard disk controller and hard disk (20meg) from a dead PC 1640 and
put same into the PC 1512.
My problem is that I have the last 3 original disks of the four supplied with the
PC 1640. Hence I need (possibly) a display driver file called dispchk.com and
the mouse driver.
I got the mouse driver off this Web page, but still need the dispchk.com file.
Can you email same to me.
Thanking You for any help.
Lawrie Amstrad answers:Well I imagine you'll already have found the
mouse driver as it is on my file download page here. As for DISPCHK. You will not need this for a
1512 because it existed in the batch files of a 1640 where it was
possible that the user might have either a CD, ECD or MD type of display
and the software had to adapt accordingly. On the 1512 there was no such
program as all 1512's are effectively CGA (even the black and white
ones!).Roberto Elini in Bologna - Italia at 2:27:50 Saturday June 7 97
I'm not sure you received my message two days ago, so I re-write.
About my PC2386/65 that doesn't boot (my message on May 31):
I already set extended memory to 3456 and in Config.sys Himem.sys
is before Emm386.exe, but when system reads "C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE"
it locks up without any message, while if I delete the above
statement the machine boots normally. Thanks a lot Amstrad answers:Unless I'm very much mistaken the answer to
your question is the very next paragraph below this one... - I think
your copy of EMM386 is corrupt.Roberto Elini in Bologna - Italia at 0:8:47 Friday June 6 97
About my PC2386/65 that doesn't boot:
I already set extended memory to 3456 and in CONFIG.SYS Himem.sys
is before Emm, but when system reads "C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE, it locks up
without any message.
One more question: how is it possible connecting a 200Mb HD
(685Cyl,16H,38Sec) if there is no a user defined type hard disk
in BIOS table? Amstrad answers:Sounds like a corrupt copy of EMM386 then
because be assured that it most certainly does work normally on a 2386
as I used it for several years before changing to QEMM and eventually
WIn 95
As for adding an HD there are some words of wisdom about this here. The best answer is probably an "intelligent" IDE
interface but I think you'll also find that with big drives (>512M) where
you've got to use something like "Disk Manager" anyway, that it doesn't
really matter what the BIOS is set to as DM handles it all anyway.Alex Borthwick in Aberdeen at 0:28:6 Thursday June 5 97
I installed windows for workgroups on my PC2386/65 and the
mouse no longer works in windows. The mouse works ok in DOS
When I purchased the computer I had to run a program called
UPDATE.W3 so that the mouse would work in windows 3.0. Said
program having been carelessly mislaid I can't try it again. I
assumed that it was really mousefix.exe and downloaded this to
find that the patch had already been applied to mouse.sys. Can
you give me any pointers (sorry, its getting late) to my problem?
Many thanks, Alex Amstrad answers:You should still be able to use that
MOUSE.SYS - if it is loaded in CONFIG.SYS then when Windows starts it
should see that there is already a mouse driver in memory and not bother
to try and use it's own internal mouse driver. Having said that I
believe that the MS mouse driving method changed betweeb Win 3.1 and Win
4WG so if all this fails the next easiest thing is to throw away the
existing mouse and spend about £5 on a new serial mouse which will
work fine.holovathy pal in Budapest at 10:59:19 Wednesday June 4 97
I have typ #1640. I hope ask inform of expanded of my mashine
Possible extend and mode of expand. please inform me. Thank you.
Pal Holvaty Amstrad answers:There isn't very much you can do to expand a
1640. It's only an 8068 processor so processor upgrades are not really
possible. It already has the full 640K that an 8086 can address so the
only way to expand memory is to add a LIM Expanded memory card but that
would probably cost more than a whole new PC. The HD could be increased
but you'd need to find an 8-bit IDE interface card and they are VERY
difficult to find. To be honest you'd be better off selling the machine
2nd hand and then using that money towards a newer machine.Andy Thring in Sydney, Australia at 6:12:29 Tuesday June 3 97
What an excellent site you have - congrats. I left the UK for Oz to
escape 1) Margaret Thatcher, 2) Alan Sugar, to date it's been a good
decision. However, I am now crawling to your superior knowledge on
bended knees.
My mate is a vet who uses an LQ3500 printer to do labels from a
continuous roll using tractor feed; it is hung off a Novell 3.12
network. When he tries to print, he gets an "out of paper" error. Having
checked ot the LAN, I'm pretty sure the printer is at fault. I'll
confirm this by loading up an Epson LQ550 driver onto my Win95 laptop,
and connecting it directly.
I can't source an LQ3500 replacement over here, so is there any simple,
bleeding obvious fault (such as a sticky microswitch, etc) that could be
causing the error? I'm reluctant to recommend he replaces the printer
with a bubblejet, because then I'll have to dig into his network,
install new drivers, get new stationary, etc, etc . . .
Andy Thring Amstrad answers:Well the way the Novell print server gets the
impression that the printer has no paper is that one of the control
lines from the printer is something like "Paper Out" so I guess you
could just cut that wire in the cable (and perhaps tie it to +5) and it
will never tell the PC that the paper's out.Mike at 14:30:34 Sunday June 1 97
Where can I find info + drivers for the sound card fitted in the 4386 SX PC ?
Thanks. Amstrad answers:If I remember rightly that's a bog standard
Adlib compatible so just use Adlib drivers for it but be warned that
Adlib implies ONLY FM synthesis so it won't play WAV files. As these
days you can get a decent SB compatible for only a few dollars I'd
recommend replacing that card with something a bit more 1990's.Roberto Elini in Bologna - Italia at 1:50:39 Saturday May 31 97
I have a PC2386/65 (I got it from a friend) and I put DOS
6.2 on the HD, but when the machine boots, it stops at the
statement "DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE" in config.sys.
If I rem the above line, it boots normally. Why??? Amstrad answers:You say it "stops" does it produce an error
message or are you saying that it "locks up"? It could be as simple as
the fact that you must set extended memory in Setup to 3456 and load
Himem.sys before Emm in Config.Sys Back to the main Questions page Back to latest Questions & Answers page Back to the Amstrad home page