Existing Content & Credits

This website features content from the original Ardent Tool by Louis Ohland. In addition it includes material from many other PS/2 and MCA-oriented websites. Namely:

• MCA Mafia pages by Peter H. Wendt (original)
• PS/55 (Japanese PS/2) by Sandy (mirror)
• Multistation 5550 by Mr.Tahara (mirror)
• Extreme Computing with Microchannel by Tam Thi Pham (MAD Max) (original)
• PS/2 MCA Driver pages by Unal Z (original)
• Tavi PS/2 Pages by Bob Eager (original)
• P70 and other PS/2 pages by Jim Shorney (original)
• Fred's PS/2 8580 Information Collection by Fred Spencer (dead, archive)
  
• PS/2 Model 25 and EduQuest pages by William R. Walsh (original)
• Disk Collection by Daniel Hamilton (original)

Credit for the original content goes to the respective authors listed above.

Aside from the above sources many other pages were merged to the MAD Edition (see changelog). Name of the original author should always be noted either on the page itself or next to the link that leads to the particular page.

If you are one of the authors and you can't find your name anywhere, want to request some edits or content removal, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Most of the Email links are still pointed to the respective authors, as I think it's the right thing to do. Since it was them who collected or created the content. If you have a question specifically concerning this version of the website, please contact me directly.

Included in this version are some additional documents - such as technical references, brochures, articles from various computer magazines (PC Magazine, InfoWorld and many others) etc. Authors of these materials are either named explicitly on the page from where they can be accessed, and/or are named directly in the material itself.

New Content

The MAD Edition also features a significant amount of new content created by me - Tomáš Slavotínek. This includes technical explanations, tutorials, various text notes, board outlines (TS signature), schematics and other illustrations, pinouts, reverse-engineering and measurement results, hardware modifications, and more.

Many of the of the pre-existing pages were modified, merged, cleaned up etc. These changes include complete overhauls, improved and more consistent formatting, fixed links, and other adjustments. Some of the illustrations, tables, and other content were completely reworked. The main index page has been redesigned from a scratch, and should be much easier to navigate now.

Changelog

It would be nearly impossible, and of little value to list every single change here, but the most important additions and modifications are noted down bellow. It's possible that even some relatively large updates are missing from here, because I simply don't recall what changes were made during the early days, and even now I sometimes forget to update this page. Version control you say? Yeah, maybe one day...

16.06.2020 – 17.06.2020

• 8525-286 Planar & 8530-286 Planar - part ID, links & datasheets
• Updated Online INF Book Reader to version 0.6. Changelog here.

11.06.2020 – 14.06.2020

• Added Processor Documentation
• Type 4 Complex - Expanded the BIOS Updates section
• Processor Complex Pages - unified BIOS info section
• Complex Identification - overhaul
• Pentium Interposers and Upgrades - added Evergreen photos and jumper settings
• ASMP vs SMP - cleanup, style
• SCSI Drives Over 1 GB - cleanup, style
• 486 CPUID, S-spec & Steppings - cleanup, style
• Cleaned up the About & Other Random Stuff section a bit
• Updated Online INF Book Reader to version 0.5a. Changelog here.
• Some other minor changes

15.05.2020 – 16.05.2020

• Type 4 Complex - Added info about the Debug Port, relocated SynchroStream info
• Added some patents

09.05.2020 – 11.05.2020

• Added PowerStacker 5x86 Upgrade pages
• Added The Creation of the IBM PC (by David J. Bradley)
• Added Google Custom Search to the main index
• Added Personal Systems Magazine scans
• Added a couple Articles
• Recovered RAID Message Table
• 9595A RAID Bay - reworked, recovered some info and images
• Operator/Indicator Panel - minor update
• Jumpers - hardware reset button mod
• Updated Online INF Book Reader to version 0.5. Changelog here.
• Some other minor changes

05.05.2020 – 06.05.2020

• Added a bunch of Patents (Model 85/95 chassis, MCA features, SCB, IBL/IML etc.)
• Added IBM PC Assistant Ed. 108 INF books
• Added IBM PC Assistant Ed. 118 INF books
• Renamed the ServerGuide INF page to PS/2 INF Books, polished the list a bit

01.05.2020 – 02.05.2020

• Peter's Blue Book pages - partial rewrite, tech. details, etc. (changelog included)
• Type 3 Upgrades & P90 Upgrades - reworked, added links to other upgrade pages
• Added Madex Interposer pages - English, German, Jumper Settings
• Cross-linked complex info pages with complex upgrades and interposer pages.
• Processor Complex, Complex Announcements & Complex Sub-Model Matrix - reworked the tables, added some new info
• Some other minor changes

17.04.2020 – 24.04.2020

• Model 5560 & Model 5580 - reorganized and rewritten
• Added PS/55 Complexes - info moved from the 5560/5580 pages, rewritten
• 386, 486, and Pentium Interposer/Upgrade pages - overhaul
• PS/55 Files - overhaul, recovered some files
• 8570 Reply Turboboard & 60/65/80 Reply Powerboard - minor update with PowerBoard info from Sandy
• Reworked/cleaned up most other PS/55 pages, file/directory structure overhaul
• Cross-linked some PS/2 and PS/55 pages
• Complex Announcements - tabularized, added FCC dates, added files from Louis
• Added PC Series 700 index - very basic
• Tim's IBM 8570 Pages - reworked and cleaned up
• Fixed a bunch of broken inernal links

14.04.2020

• Bermuda & Lacuna - overhaul, part ID, links & datasheets
• 35, 40, 56, 57, 76, 77 - removed duplicate info (planar replacing, riser types...)
• 35, 40, 56, 57, 76, 77 - Common Parts - overhaul
• Added 35, 40, 56, 57, 76, 77 - Power Supply - resolves some more redundancy
• 9576 & 9577 - overhaul
• Merged T4 "P" and T4 "Q" pages to Type 4 "P" / "Q" - updated FRUs, FCC IDs,
  FDIV info, additional info about PCB layouts, got rid of some redundancy
• Type 4 "Y" - additional FCC IDs, FDIV info
• Complex Identification & Type 4 Index - updated to reflect above changes
• 85/95 & 3511 PSU - overhaul, separated Side Cover Fan & 95A PSU Exposed
• Some other minor changes across the board

07.04.2020 – 09.04.2020

• Type 1 Complex - "G" outline update, fixed descr. of some parts, consistency, etc.
• Documents - added a few more versions of the good ol' PS/2 FAQ
• Complexes, Planars, and ADF Definitions - renamed, updated the table with some now known submodel IDs, added descriptions, cleanup
• Complex Sub-Model Matrix - added a separate column for the 95A planar, cleanup
• Clean up of some other processor complex pages
• Some other minor changes

04.04.2020 – 05.04.2020

• Multistation Index & PS/55 Index - minor rework, cleanup
• RS/6000 Index - complete overhaul, merged with the temp. RS/6000 "bridge page"
• Moved RS/6000 Announcement Letters to a separate page, cleanup
• Some other (mostly structural) changes

02.04.2020 – 03.04.2020

• SynchroStream errata - SSC is present on the "N" complex, it's the CCGA chip...
• Processor Complex Pinout - two more signals discovered: -RESET and -CD SFDBK
• Processor Complex Index - cleanup and minor update
• 8595 Planar - confirmed purpose of the two main ASICs
• IBM ASICs - added some new info, new parts, corrected errors etc.
• Definitions - cleanup
• Added T4 level 09 BIOS Update
• Added Prodigy Screenshots
• Some other minor changes

27.03.2020 – 28.03.2020

• Merge of the latest Louis's changes; snapshot taken 26.03.2020
• A minor index page update, some sub-index pages updated as well
• IBM HD Pinouts - uses global pinout styles now
• 9585 "X" Planar, 9585 "K"/"N" Planar - cleanup, links, datasheets etc.
• Some other minor changes

24.03.2020 – 26.03.2020

• Updated Online INF Book Reader to version 0.4. Changelog here.
• Added "PSINFO" INF books
• Added a couple of PDF documents to the collection
• Processor Complex pages - minor tweaks

14.03.2020

• Brand new and more accurate processor complex outlines (all of them!)
• Cleaned up all processor complex pages + some errata here and there
• Complex Identification - new previews, added FCC IDs, cleanup...
• T3 Complex - additional part ID + some other info
• T1 Upg-66 Complex - Vpp generator
• Added Processor Complex Pinout page
• MCA Pinouts - updated signal descriptions (from a newer tech. ref.)
• Added Memory Pinouts page
• Model 80 Memory page - cleanup
• 9595 Planar - ASIC description + some additional info
• M-ACPA Rev. B - additional info, J3 + JPR3, expansion header pinout
• Updated External Links, moved dead links to a separate page
• Added some new Media Links
• Some other (mostly structural) changes

22.02.2020

• Updated Online INF Book Reader to version 0.3a. Added "About" page.
• T4 "N" and "Y" - updated outlines
• Additional info about T4 Flash ROM + programming voltages
• T4 pages - corrected some errors + clean-up
• Added more PS/2, MCA patents (posted by Louis)
• Streamlined the main index and some sub-index pages for easier navigation
• The "Complex Thoughts" page now serves as the main "Processor Complex" index. All processor complex-related pages can be reached from here now.
• Added "MCA Pinouts"
• Reworked the "MCA Slots" page. Replaced the original ASCII art with pictures.
• Moved the HIMEM.SYS Update info to its own page.
• T4 - added info about diag. LEDs
• T4 - added info about SDL POST diags and SDL POST diag jumper
• Op Panel - added some SDL info
• Added SDL programming page

31.01.2020

• Updated Online INF Book Reader to version 0.3
• Added ServerGuide 3.01 INF files (thanks Tim)
• Added IVIEW 2.1, level 100 (fixes some font rendering issues)

21.01.2020

• Updated Online INF Book Reader to version 0.2

20.01.2020

• Added Online INF Book Reader

02.01.2020 – 04.01.2020

• Added Operator Panel Upgrade for 9585 K/N
• Added ServerGuide 2.50 INF files (thanks Wolf)

26.12.2019 – 27.12.2019

• Minor index and disks page tweaks
• Links/media links update

01.12.2019 – 16.12.2019

• Index page update, sections reorganized
• Minor Operator/Indicator Panel changes, 85 Indicator Panel schematic update
• Added Flash ROM info page
• Reworked 85 K/N planar outline and description
• Updated 9595, Bermuda, and Lacuna planar outlines and description
• Merge of the latest Louis's changes; snapshot taken 15.12.2019

20.11.2019 – 23.11.2019

• Index page update, new index menu, reworked sub-sections, a little bit of SEO
• Fixed some broken links and URL case inconsistencies.

14.11.2019 – 16.11.2019

• Updated and fixed the Processor Complex Matrix (from Louis)
• Added Tech. Ref. for PS/2 76/77 i/s, Server 85, Server 95, 95A (INF) (from Louis)
• Index page update (simplified and reorganized)
• New index pages for PC, RT, RS/6000, ThinkPads, and other systems
• Tweaked colors of the PS/2 form factor previews
• New index image (from Wikipedia, made by Raymangold22, public domain - CC0)
• Reorganized the Needham's Programmers section a bit
• Added a few more IBM patents
• Added some new POST/IML error codes + other minor tweaks

26.09.2019

• Model 76/77 - added some more flash BIOS files, minor cleanup

21.08.2019 – 23.08.2019

• Added RM Nimbus index and files
• Added some Olivetti files
• A few additions to the Link collection
• Minor index update and some other changes
• Tweaked "Peter H. Wendt's Adapter Picture Collection and made it available locally

18.08.2019

• Made The MAD Edition available online at ardent-tool.com. Finally!

04.07.2019 – 17.08.2019

• Cleaned up a few pages
• Localized a few more links, added internal links
• Promoted the "ALR files" page to a proper ALR index page
• Added NCR index page, NCR file libraries, system files, documents etc.
• Added Olivetti index page, Olivetti system list, service guides, documents etc.
• Configuration index and Technical Background index are now two separate pages
• Technical Background - added info about MCA-specific programming routines
• Imported Model 25 pages from William R. Walsh's website + new sub-index
• Imported EduQuest pages from William R. Walsh's website + new sub-index
• Added Apricot index page, system info, and some files.
• Merge of the latest Louis's changes; snapshot taken 17.07.2019
• 95/95A planar cleanup, new outlines, fixed links
• Parallel port & mouse cleanup (fixed links, localized files, reworked tables etc.)
• Floppy pinouts reworked tables, added 40-pin planar pinout, cable diagrams...
• Resolved the networking index vs adapters index vs main index redundancy
• Localized Token Ring NIC benchmarking info from Wolfgang Gehl
• Added Infotronic IGP64 CHROMA/MCA page, based on info from Wolfgang Gehl
• Resolved the 9590 planar vs 9590 common devices redundancy
• Added a proper 9590 index page, cleaned up the 9590 pages, new planar outline
• Cleaned up the Op Panel page, replaced all the ASCII-art with proper schematics
• Added some more PS/2 and MCA patents held by IBM, new patent folder and index
• Added memory technology docs from IBM Microelectronics (DRAM, VRAM etc.)
• Reworked the Op Panel page, added schematics for 85, 95 XP, and 95A panels, pinouts and much more...
• Localized Intel FDIV Processor Replacement Program pages
• Localized Processor Complex-related IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletins + links
• Reworked the PS/55 and Multistation index pages, fixed up a few other PS/55 pages.
• Added memory chip conversion chart (DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, FLASH...)
• Fixed a multitude of broken links and URL case inconsistencies.
• Some final pre-release touches across the board.

29.05.2019 – 25.06.2019

• Merge of the latest Louis's changes; snapshot taken 29.05.2019
• Cleaned up a few pages
• Localized a few more links
• Fixed some internal links
• Added a few more scans/articles
• Removed some more duplicate pages (serial, parallel, error index etc.)
• Added a list of the RETAIN books
• Added PS/2 brochures (from 1000bit.it)

30.04.2017 – 13.06.2017

• Merge of the latest Louis's changes (apart from some "broken" bits and parts that already were tweaked in the MAD Edition); snapshot taken 30.04.2017
• Added PS/2 Model List and PS/2 Form Factor pages
• Added a collection of PS/2 and MCA related articles from PCMag, InfoWorld and other mags. (Thanks Google Books!)
• Added a few more PS/2 PDFs
• Added a local copy of reconstructed Piper Research website
• Added Kingston Files
• Cleaned up a few pages (burn in hell WYSIWYG HTML editors!)
• Localized a few more links
• Some plain text tables reworked to HTML format
• Added 6900 - Personal Typing System page with info and pics from Scott Peterson
• Added detailed 8580 20MHz planar layout picture and component list
• Reworked/corrected/added a few more planar layouts (8525, 8530...)
• Added a list of common IBM PS/2 ASICs
• Added Technical Information Catalog (by IBM) - list only, no files
• Added PCI/Micro Channel White Paper (by IBM) - PCI/MCA comparison
• Added a local copy of (MCDA) Micro Channel Developers Association, just for fun...
• Fancy new index images :>
• Fixed/tweaked PS/55 and Multistation "Timelines"
• Tweaked a few more PS/55 and Multistation pages (mostly formatting)
• Added Kentie's Model 95 and Model 95 Case Conversion pages
• Reorganized the Networking sections
• Added CNet 650E/2 adapter info and files
• Added/localized 3Com EtherLink/TokenLink files

16.08.2016 – 01.09.2016

• Merged with many other PS/2 and MCA-oriented websites (see above)
• Index page reworked
• PDF documents section extended and cleaned up (added files from MCA Mafia, schematics...)
• Some missing bits and pieces (pages, pictures...) recovered
  (Thanks to web.archive.org!)
• Many external pages and content added, links localized (pictures, documents, binary files...)
• Many internal links fixed
• Some duplicate pages and sections removed or merged, links updated
  (Like the four, mostly identical, versions of the "SCSI w/Cache" page. :>)
• Some plain text tables reworked to HTML format
• Some pictures reworked, tidied up, etc.
• Fixed formating of many pages (to a truly unified form shared across the website)
• Other minor changes (typos, text formating, file names, dir. hierarchy...)