Epson Equity 386/25 PLUS Dimensions

EPSON
Product Support Bulletin
Subject: Proper Method for Running Benchmark and Diagnostics Programs
Date: 06/04/93 PSB No: S-0158
Page(s): 1 of 1 Originator: MWT
This bulletin describes the proper method for running any benchmark or diagnostics
programs. This applies to any computer system.
In most cases, the computer should be started using an MS-DOS boot diskette
that’s ‘clean’ -
in other words, one with no CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files.
The appropriate executable can then be run, either from diskette or hard drive.
There will be some exceptions to the above rule. In attempting to benchmark or
troubleshoot any add-on that requires a device driver (CD-ROM, local area network,
etc.), obviously the necessary device driver(s) must be loaded. Also, some
programs will require a minimum number of FILES or BUFFERS to be defined in
the CONFIG.SYS file. Such programs will usually display this requirement if they
are run without the necessary CONFIG.SYS file.
For the most consistent results, use the absolute minimal boot configuration that’s
allowed by the hardware being tested.

EPSON
Product Support Bulletin
Subject: Equity Series SIMM Compatibility
Date: 12/4/91
Page(s): 1 of 1
PSB No: S-0136
Originator: JAD
Due to the influx of third party SlMMs on the market, there are some that are not
compatible with Epson products. This bulletin is intended to be an aid in ensuring
that only compatible SlMMs are chosen for use in Epson’s Equity Series of
computers.
The SlMMs in question were SEIMENS, CUMULUS and KINGSTON. Installing these
SlMMs in Epson products may cause the following errors:
Parity Check 1
18FFFE 0000 202 Memory Address Error
164 System Options Not Set
1500 E000 201” DOS RAM Address Error
It was thought that the chips used in these SlMMs were of poor quality.
Epson Portland evaluated the SlMMs in question and found that this was not true.
The problem is caused by the SIMM circuit boards (ITE and TECAP circuit boards)
used to manufacture the SIMM modules. The dimensions of these boards are not
compatible with industry standard SIMM sockets. This may result in incomplete
contact between the SIMM assembly and it’s socket. This is caused by insufficient
size of the contact surfaces in these products. Also enlarged holes in the TECAP
product allow the component pin to pass entirely through the hole without making
contact.
It is recommended that only SIMMS meeting industry standard contact surface
specifications be used in Epson Equity computer products.
Some recommended SlMMs that were tested and found Compatible are:
Toshiba
Matsushita
CDC Enterprises
Samsung
Aculogic
For more information contact Technical Support.

EPSON
EPSON AMERICA, INC.
INFORMATION
Product Support Bulletin
Subject: Maximum Number of Printers Supported by Current Equity Computers
Date: 02/06/91
PSB No: S-0128
Page(s): 1 of 1 Originator: KAS
As computing environments increase in complexity, there has been an increasing
number of instances that require the support of several printers by one computer.
One common example is that of using Novell Netware’s print server capabilities to
provide printer access to a large group of users with differing printer requirements.
Netware is capable of supporting three (3) parallel and two (2) serial printers on one
server. Recent testing has shown that the Equity 386/25 Plus, Equity 386/25, Equity
386/20 and the Equity 386SX Plus will support three (3) parallel ports along with two
(2) serial ports. The key factor in providing support for a third parallel port is the
need for a parallel interface card that can be set to the IBM Monochrome
Graphics/Parallel printer I/O address at 3BCh. The computer looks for this address
first and, if present, will assign the parallel port on that card as LPT1. The built-in
parallel port (I/O address 378h) will then be addressed as LPT2. We also had an
AST I/O Mini serial/parallel card addressed at l/O address 278h, which was then
reassigned to LPT3. Each of the three parallel ports was attached to a printer. There
was also a printer attached to each of the two serial ports. All five printers were then
set to print simultaneously under Netware Version 2.15 Rev. C using PCONSOLE. All
five printers were able to print the documents assigned to them, simultaneously. The
units were then tested using WordPerfect 5.1 on the network and again were
successful in printing to the five (5) printers at the same time. The last tests were run
with the units booting under DOS 4.01 and screen prints being directed to each of
the printers. WordPerfect 5.1 was also used to direct documents to each of the
printers. Again all five (5) printers were able to print the files that were sent to them.
Although not all Equity computer models were tested in this situation, the Equity
models 386SX, lIe, Ill+ and II+ should work in a similar manner if the instructions
above are used as a guide. There is one item of which to be aware when using the
this setup and that is the system will complete the RAM count and lock up if using a
monochrome monitor. If you need to use three parallel ports, USE A COLOR
MONITOR.

EPSON
EPSON AMERICA, INC.
INFORMATION
Product Support Bulletin
Subject:
Equity 386/25 PLUS Questions and Answers
Date: 2/6/91
PSB No:
S-0125A
Page(s): 1 of 7Originator: JDB
GENERAL:
Q1. What microprocessor does the Equity 386/25 PLUS use?
A. The Equity 886/25 PLUS utilities the Intel 80386/25 DX microprocessor
running at 8 or 25Mhz. Use of this CPU gives you 386 performance and
compatibility in a 16-bit based computer architecture.
Q2. What speed does the Equity 386/25 PLUS operate at?
A.
The Equity 386/25 PLUS operates at either a 8Mhz or 25Mhz processor
speed. The speed can be set by using the CPU speed switch located on
the front of the machine. At either processor speed, the system bus
operates at a fixed speed of 8Mhz.
Q3. What is
the Auto Speed function?
A.
The Equity 386/25 PLUS is capable of operating at 8MHz or 25MHz. Some
copy-protected applications require the computer to run at 8MHz while
accessing the program diskette. By enabling the Auto speed function the
computer automatically switches to 8MHz when accessing the diskette
drive. It then switches back to 25MHz for optimal performance. Auto
speed is accessed through the SETUP program under the Auto speed
option.
Q4. Does the Equity 386/25 PLUS use the Phoenix or Award ROM BIOS?
A. No. All Equity desktop computers utilize a Seiko-Epson proprietary ROM
BIOS.

PSB No: S-0125A
Page: 2 of 7
Q5.
A.
Q6.
A.
Q7.
A.
Q8.
A.
Q9.
A.
Can the Equity 386/25 PLUS support an 80367 co-processor?
The Equity 386/25 PLUS has a setup for an optional Intel 80387-25 or the
Weitek math co-processor which Operates at 25MHz. This allows extra
processing power for math intensive programs like Lotus 1-2-3 or
AUTOCAD.
Can the Equity 386/25 PLUS use option cards that are available for the
IBM PC/Al?
The Equity 386/25 PLUS uses an AT-compatible ISA (Industry Standard
Architecture) bus structure that enables you to install any of the various
add-on products designed for IBM PC, XT or AT computer, such as:
expanded memory, EGA or VGA video, internal modems and many more.
It also supports all of the option boards manufactured by Epson for the
EQUITY series. There are 4 standard l/O expansion slots (one with 8-bit
bus and 3 with 16-bit bus); The 16-bit slots will also accept 8-bit
compatible cards. The Equity 386/25 PLUS offers flexibility in tailoring the
system to your needs.
Are there my tested internal modems that can be used?
The Epson Link PC and the HayeS 2400 baud internal modems have been
approved.
Does the Equity 386/25 PLUS have a built in PS/2 mouse port?
Yes, it has a PS/2 compatible mouse port on the rear panel of the
computer. The connector is a 6 pin mini DIN for an IRQ12 mouse or other
device.
Can the Equity “+” keyboard be used on this machine?
Th8 Equity “+” keyboards is not the same keyboards used on the Equity
386/25 PLUS and not interchangeable. The cable on the Equity 386/25
PLUS keyboard is a Mini Din, 6-pin connector.

PSBNo: S-0125A
Page: 3 of 7
Q10. What is the Password Security?
A. This system provides three levels of password protection against
unauthorized access: password before boot, network-server mode
password and password disable. The password is user definable and
consists of a 7-byte (character) string. The password protection feature is
not case sensitive. When the system is booted for the first time, or the
password has been disabled and re-enabled by moving jumper J13 on
the system board, the user defines and enables the password using the
Setup utility on the Reference disk.
Q11.
A.
Q12.
A.
Q13.
A.
Q14.
A.
What terminal emulation boards are compatible with the Equity 386/25
PLUS?
The following products have been tested and approved:
3278/79 Emulation Adaptor
IBM 5250 Board
IRMA/2
SDLC
IBM
IBM
DCA Inc.
IBM
Does the Equity 386/25 PLUS have a battery for the Real Time Clock?
The Equity 386/25 PLUS is using a “Dallas” model DS1287 which
incorporates an HD146818 Compatible real-time clock with an internal
battery.
What VGA adapters are compatible with the Equity 386/25 PLUS?
The following VGA adapters have been tested in the Equity 386/25 PLUS:
Paradise VGA Plus 16 Card
Paradise VGA Professional Card
Video Seven 1048i High Resolution Card
Can the Serial and parallel ports be disabled?
No. The parallel and serial ports auto configure at boot up from the BIOS
ROM. They are set up as LPT1 and COM1 respectively and there are no
hardware jumpers or DIP switches to set them to LPT2 and COM2.

PSB No: S-0125A
Page: 4 of 7
Q15.
A.
Q16.
A.
Q17.
A.
Q18.
A.
How many internal device bays does the Equity 386/25 PLUS have and
will it support a full-height device?
The Equity 386/25 PLUS has 2 half-height bays to support up to 2 half-
height devices. There is no room for a full-height device.
How many wait states does the Equity 386/25 PLUS have?
At 25MHz the system utilities a "0 wait state” architecture for memory
access and 0 wait states for ROM BIOS access on the motherboard. At
8MHz, memory and ROM BIOS access require 0 wait states: on the
expansion bus, all memory or device requests are 0 wait states. If
additional wait states are required, devices on the I/O channel hold the
READY signal low, thus wait states are generated until the device can
respond to the CPU.
Are the wait states user selectable?
No, the Equity 386/25 PLUS automatically inserts them when needed after
the command phase Of the processor clock cycle.
How many jumpers are on the system board?
There are fourteen (14) jumpers on the system board:
System Board:
Jumper 1: Enables input/output channel ready
Jumper 2: Base memory
Jumper 3: Base memory
Jumper 4: Extended memory
Jumper 5: Extended memory
Jumper 6: Extended memory
Jumper 7: Extended memory
Jumper 8: Extended memory
Jumper 9: Not used
Jumper 10: Enables/Disables build-in mouse
Jumper 11: Enables/Disables option card for mouse Jumper 12:
Enables/Disables color or mono option card
Jumper 13: Enables/Disables power-on password
Jumper 14: Enables/Disabies build-in VGA

PSB No: S-0125A
Page: 5 of 7
Q19.
A.
Q20.
A.
Q21.
A.
A.
What kind of hard disk drives are available for the Equity 386/25 Plus?
The Equity 386/25 Plus is available in one hard disk configuration. A
100Mb 3.5” (Conner CP-3104, 25ms access time) hard disk is available.
The hard disk drive offers a 1:1 interleave and uses an embedded
controller with an IDE interface. When installing the 100Mb drive use type
60 in SETUP.
What hard drive controller is used in the Equity 386/25 PLUS?
The Equity 386/25 PLUS uses a controller embedded on the hard drive.
This controller connects to a Task File IDE interface that is integrated in
the system board.
Can the Equity 386/25 PLUS use other hard disk drives and controllers?
Yes, the IDE Interface on the system board can be disabled and other
third party hard drive controllers and drives can be used. The interface
can be disabled by installing a third party controller. The system
automatically detects the controller and disables the embedded IDE
interface. Other embedded controller AT-type drives can also be used with
the IDE Interface.
What extended hard drive support is available in the ROM BIOS that
comes with the Epson Equity 386/25 PLUS?
The Seiko-Epson BIOS will directly support hard drives that range in size
from 10Mb to 153Mb. There is direct support for the Seagate ST-251 and
the ST-4096 hard disks, as well as, several ESDI drives. By providing this
support for 3rd party hard disk drives, the Equity 386/25 PLUS has the
capability to use most 3rd party 8-bit and 16-bit hard disk controllers.
SCSI drives have their own controllers attached to the drive and should
work correctly when attached to the bus with a host adapter.
The Equity 386/25 PLUS also has a User Definable setting that allows you
to set up hard disk drives that are not supported by the Equity 386/25
PLUS Drive Type Table. In SETUP, a sub-menu lists the settings you can
change for each drive: the number of cylinders (tracks), the number of
read/write heads, the number of sectors, the precompensation cylinder,
the landing zone (the cylinder on which you Want to park the heads when
moving the computer), and the total storage capacity in megabytes.

PSB No: S-0125A
Page: 6 of 7
FLOPPY DRIVES:
Q23.
A.
Q24.
A.
Q25.
A.
MEMORY:
Q26.
A.
Q27.
A.
What types of floppy disk drives will work on the Equity 386/25 PLUS?
The Equity 386/25 PLUS comes standard with a 5.25”, 1.2Mb floppy disk
drive. There is built-in BIOS support for industry standard 360Kb and
1.44Mb, 3.5” half-height floppy disk drives as well as the 720Kb, 3.5”
floppy drive. All four drive sizes are available from Epson.
Will the Equity 386/25 PLUS support 3 floppy disk drives?
No, not directly. The Epson controller and ROM BIOS supports a
maximum of two floppy drives.
Can the floppy disk controller be disabled?
No. The floppy disk controller is integrated in the system board and there
are no jumpers to enable or disable it. lf an additional or 3rd party board is
present the BIOS ROM auto-configure at bootup.
What type of RAM chips are used in the Equity 386/25 PLUS?
The Equity 386/25 PLUS utilities eight (8) D424256C-70 (256x4), 70 nSec
RAM chips plus panty on the system board.
How do I increase the memory of the Equity 386/25 PLUS?
The standard Equity 386/25 PLUS system includes 2Mb of on-board
memory. You can add SlMMs (single in-line memory modules) to increase
on-board memory. With added SIMMs the total amount of on-board
memory in the computer must be one of the following: 1 Mb, 2Mb, 3Mb,
4Mb, 6Mb, 8Mb, 9Mb, 10Mb, 12Mb or 16Mb.
SIMM configuration can be found on page 5-17 in the Users’ Guide.
Memory can also be expanded through the use of third party memory boards
using an l/O slot Epson does not recommend a third-party memory board.

PSB No: S-0125A
Page: 7 of 7
Q28. What SIMM chips should be used when adding memory to the Equity 386/25
PLUS?
A. Use the Epson 70 nS8c - 9 bit SIMM module kits, either 1-MB kit (4-256Kb
SIMM’s, Part # A808231) or the 2MB kit (2-1 Mb SIMM’s, Part # A808101), to
extend the system memory. Should you need to use third party SIMM modules
we recommend the following:
Toshiba
Matshushita
CDC Enterprises
Samsung (#KMM591000-7)
Aculogic
1 MBit x 9 70 nSec
1 MBit x 9 70 nSec
1 MBit x 9 70 nSec
1 MBit x 9 70 nSec
1 MBit x 9 70 nSec
**NOTE**
The following SIMM chips do not work in the Equity 386/25:
IBM
Compaq
Seimens
Panasonic
NMBS
Cumulus
SOFTWARE:
Q29.
A.
What version of DOS is provided with the Equity 386/25 PLUS?
The Equity 386/25 PLUS is not bundled with an operating system. When the
system is purchased, the customer can choose between MS-DOS 3.3 and 4.01
or a third party operating system like OS/2 Xenix or Unix.
Q30.
A.
Is the Equity 386/25 PLUS compatible with OS/2?
Yes, since OS/2 is much more hardware-specific than MS-DOS, the Epson
version of MS OS/2 is required.
Q31.
Will it support Unix and/or Xenix? Which versions?
A. The Equity 386/25 PLUS has been tested w/ Santa Cruz Operations Xenix Rel.
21 and IBM PC Xenix Vers. 1.

PSB No.: S-0062I
Page: 1 of 18
EQUITY 386/25 PLUS
VER PART DESC TYPE LOC REASON
1.00.02
1.00.02
CWAE-A01
CWAE-B01
27C256
27C256
U81
U82
INITIAL RELEASE
1.03.07
1.03.07
Y707801001
Y707802001
CWAE-AO2
CWAE-BO2
27C256
27C256
U81
U82
To allow the use of dual monitors with
Microsoft Quick C. To allow the use
os Seagate SCSI controller and/or a
NIC remote boot ROM with the
password function. To allow the use
of ARCNET NICs at base address
2E0H. See ECN EQ386/25+-001
(2/6/91).
1.05.03
1.05.03
CWAE-A03
CWAE-B03
27C256
27C256
U81
U82
1.06.3B
1.06.3B
Y707801003
Y707802003
CWAE-A04
CWAE-B04
27C256
27C256
U81
U82
Fixes problem with rapid keystrokes
using the enhanced 10-key area of
the keyboard. This problem may
cause shift key lock and/or keyboard
lockup. See ECN No: EQ386/25+-
002 (2/7/92).
1.06.4B
1.06.4B
Y707801004
Y707802004
CWAE-AS4
CWAE-BS4
27C256
27C256
U81
U82
Fixes problem with rapid keystrokes
using enhanced 10-key area of the
keyboard. This problem may cause
shift key lock and/or keyboard lockup.
Fixes problem with Conner HDDs that
causes failure with INT 13h function
0bh, write sector long. To allow
CMOS to indicate daylight saving time
mode. To resolve incompatibility with
E1181A, T1183A, Seiko, Nec,
Capetronic and other monitors for
modes 60, 61, 62 and 64. Upgraded
to be compatible with VESA monitor
timing guideline. See ECN No:
EQ386/25+-003 (4/3/92).