Hello,

We experienced a power outage and it must have fried the controller card in the box.

I took the hard drive from the box...attached the dongle on the printer port, and changed the autoexec.bat and config.sys to reflect memory management. (autoexec.386 and config.386)

I'm able to access everything on the HD just fine but can't even get the 3 device drivers to load properly. (ASPI4DOS.SYS; USPI14.SYS & DPTDDL.SYS).

btw, the box I'm using is x686 with 32MB. I am using the oldest box I have.

Is this even possible or is the Infostar box propietary?

Thanks!

[email protected]

Did you put the Dialogic boards in PC?

The software i designed to run on a 486 IBUS computer. Never tried to run on another type of PC.

Good Luck!!

[This message has been edited by JJ (edited February 14, 2005).]

Thank you for your reply.

Actually, yes I did. I can't really tell if the original computer is a 286 or a 386. But even if the system will function on a 486, that's promising. I have a few 486's that are still in good shape that I can use as backups.

Anyway, I wasn't able to get it configured properly on the 586. So, I tested the power supply and it was bad. I replaced that. I'm able to access the drive just fine in the old box but I'm either having a configuration problem or the modem card is bad. I'm getting an error on the C:\MAIL\SBLOAD function:

Unable to configure memory D0000
Unable to configure memory D...

Still chuggin' along!

Rick

The original systems did not have modems, unless they had fax-on-demand.

The original PC is a IBUS technology. The CPU card should show you what it is. The majority are 286.

Power supplies are common to go out. You should have been able to replace power supple in origanl system and all should be well.

Good Luck!!

Five years ago I tried to migrate this VMS into 586. After 3 weeks I gave up. I am IDS certified, cmh-111 certified and have a degree in electronics. If you figure it out I would love to know.

I would like to help anyone that would like to migrate to another pc platform from the IBUS. Since I am I one of the original design engineers for the VX2 systems I can help here. The configuration and memory address allocation for the dialogic boards are very specific. Please contact me at [email protected] for further assistance.

I've done such a migration and it was fairly simple. I xcopied the files on the original drive to an IDE drive, so I could dispense with using the SCSI controller. I left the same CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT in place as was originally used, despite the advanced memory management available with the 486DX2-66 I used. I suggest you do the same, that may alleviate the SBLOAD errors you are getting.

Additionally, the files ASPI4DOS.SYS, USPI14.SYS, and DTPDLL.SYS are SCSI drivers, ASPI4DOS.SYS being for Adaptec, USPI14.SYS for the UltraStor 14F, and DPTDLL.SYS for the DPT 20xx controller cards. Make sure you have one of those cards!

The migration should be turnkey if you xcopy the files from the original HD to an IDE drive, and SYS the drive with the same MS-DOS version as your Infostar was running (mine was running 5.0.) Don't use too large an HD, either, as that can cause problems for the DOS kernel (I used a 2GB drive and made a 540MB primary DOS partition to ensure compatibility with the Infostar software, although MS-DOS 5 should handle a 2.1GB partition.) And make sure it's FAT16! If you use FAT32 the system won't boot as MS-DOS 5's IO.SYS doesn't have support for FAT32.

------------------
We can forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life
is when men are afraid of the light.
- Plato

Oh, and when you decided to stay with the 286 you went back to the original startup files? If you forgot and left them with 386 memory management, that could be causing the SBLOAD errors...

Hello everyone!

Besides the power supply going, the Digalogic card went as well which is why I was getting errors on SBLOAD. Replaced both and it's up and running again.

I am, however, going to take the opinions you've shared here and prove the Executone tech wrong. I feel quite certain that I can build a backup of this system with a 586 or 686. I still have some new and unused 540 MB hard drives so I'll be sure to use that sized drive and keep it at about 16 or 32 MB or RAM...and also reserving the memory range of D0000-DFFFF for the Digilogic card.

All of you have been very helpful and the responder who helped design the system...I will have note of your ID just in case I run into trouble.

Thanks!

Rick Forsythe

That could also explain the errors...

It's an easy migration; it might have taken me about three HOURS to do. If you also prove him wrong, try not to rub it in
You'll thank yourself for doing the upgrade. I always worried that the controller or the SCSI drive was going to fail in our original Infostar-- now it's using much newer (and ostensibly more reliable) hardware. I guess the weakest link now would be the Dialogic boards themselves.


For my part, you're welcome! Hope it all works out for you and you can solve it all using the forums.

[This message has been edited by Orac (edited February 23, 2005).]

[This message has been edited by Orac (edited February 23, 2005).]

I got one up and running on a old IBM 486.

I got some errors on bootup. Not sure if BIOS setting, or in operating system yet.
Will need to spend some more time on it. Got about 8 hours labor total so far.


When Executone did the Y2K thing. Alot of systems had to be upgraded to DOS 6.22, Executone software 5.0 or higher, and replace SCSI harddrive with a IDE.

Staples Communications had a single floppy that was loaded with a patch on it.

Good Luck it can be done, just takes time!!

Good morning,

Oh, I wouldn't rub it in too much with him. Overall their product has worked well for us and the tech support has been responsive. It's just that when I hear them say something like that, and after rolling up my sleeves and seeing how the memory confiuration and batch files work, I'm reminded of the time they told me the system wouldn't work unless we upgraded for the Y2K event. All of my testing indicated it would work fine so long as we could live with the report dates being incorrect.

I can appreciate them wanting to sell us an upgrade, but come on...we're a non-profit and our system wasn't that old. lol

Thanks!

RF

I know nothing about these phone systems, yet I've been charged with updating the system. Any idea who I can call to get some support on the infostar vx2 w/ executone and eclipese 2.5.1?

thanks

You might get better results posting a new thread-- and being more specific about this "updating" you are performing.

------------------
We can forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life
is when men are afraid of the light.
- Plato