Re: Laser 128

[bheinz <bheinz@hawk.phantasy.com>]

John Ruschmeyer <jruschme@hiway1.exit109.com> wrote:
<snip>
: Taking a page from the recent Laser 128 discussions, I've also pulled
: mine out of storage and set it up. Personally, I've decided to go the
: color monitor route by using an old IBM CGA monitor and a Laser 128 RGB
: cable. I won't get a chance to try it until this weekend, but I suspect
: it should work very well.

I'm not sure that a CGA monitor will work with the Laser, depending on the
refresh rate of the monitor (it needs to be 15Mhz, not the modern standard
30, but and old CGA MAY support this.)

: As for the faster modems, they should work, but you may need to 
: build/buy a //c High-speed modem cable. This does some remapping of the
: signals to provide better flow control. Pinouts for the cable should
: be available at Nathan's web site.

Yes, I fooled around with this last night trying to hook up an AT&T
DataPort 14.4 external using the info fron Nathan's page and a little of
my own "field engineering" skills (I install and repair electronic
security & communications systems for a nationwide electronics retailer).
For one thing, there is an error in his pinouts for the handshaking cable,
Pin 1 of the DIN-5 connector needs to be jumpered to BOTH pins 4 and 20 on
the DB-25 side.  I'm still having problems getting it to work well at
higher speeds, I can't connect reliably any faster than 9600, and even at
that speed, I still have overflow problems.  Part of the problem could be
not having the comm software set up for RTS/CTS flow control.  Anyone know
how to do this? I have ProTerm 2.2 and 3.0, but no manuals for either.  I
also need to know how to set ProTerm 3.0 for ANSI emulation.  I used to
have it, but I can't seem to change from "No Emulation" in the options,
am I missing a data file or something?

: Some other things I'm considering, but don't know if they will work
: in as Laser 128:

: 	1) Zip chip (What's the going price for one these days.)
: 	2) Apple // Workstation card
: 		(Can this work in a Laser 128? Does it have to be
: 		 in slot 7 or can I use slot 5?)

If you have the external expansion box, this gives you two more slots,
which happen to be 5 and 7.  I too was wondering about the expansion
connector, since I have the original Laser, not the EX, and am currently
searching like mad for the RAM expansion.

: Lastly, I also need to clean my keyboard. Is there any trick to it
: or do I just need to open the CPU, remove it and try to get to the contacts.
: (Or run the whole KB under the faucet? :-)

Cleaning the KB on these is very simple, but a little tricky, since the
keyswitches are odd.  You can take off the top cover by removing 6-8
screws on the underside, and the keyboard unit should come right off,
there's 4 connectors that link it to the motherboard.  There's about 10
screws on the back holding the KB together, and be careful after you
remove them, the keyswitches are rubber "domes" with plungers that
close the contacts on the PC board.  Be sure not to lose any keswitches,
and clean off the PC board with a mild cleaning solution (rubbing alcohol
works well).  Then carefully re-assemble, and put the whole thing back
together.  You may need to do this a couple of times, I've still got a
couple of sticky keys (the ones I use most, of course).

Hope that helps..
Brian Heinz
bheinz@unix.phantasy.com