                             EPSON AMERICA, INC.
                           Product Support Bulletin

 Subject: Equity 386/25 PLUS Questions and Answers

Date: 2/6/91                                                   PSB No: S-0125A
Page(s): 1 of 7                                                Originator: JDB


GENERAL:

 Q1.    What microprocessor does the Equity 386/25 PLUS use?

  A.    The Equity 386/25 PLUS utilizes 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.


                                                               
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 Q5.    Can the Equity 386125 PLUS support an 80387 co-processor?

  A.    The Equity 386125 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.


 Q6.    Can the Equity 386125 PWS use option cards that are available for the
        IBM PC/AT?

  A.    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 I/O expansion slots (one with 8-bit
        bus and 3 with 16-bit bus); The 16-bit slots will also accept 8-bit
        compatible boards. The Equity 386/25 PWS offers flexibility in tailoring the
        system to your needs.

 Q7.    Are there any tested internal modems that can be used?

  A.    The Epson link PC and the Hayes 2400 baud internal modems have been
        approved.

 Q8.    Does the Equity 386/25 PLUS have a built in PS/2 mouse port?

  A.    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.

 Q9.    Can the Equity "+" keyboard be used on this machine?

  A.    The Equity "+" keyboards are not the same keyboards used on the Equity
        386/25 PLUS and are not interchangeable. The cable on the Equity 386/25
        PLUS keyboard uses a mini 6-pin DIN connector.

                                                               
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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
        J13 on the system board, the user defines and enables the password using
        the Setup utility on the Reference disk.

Q11.    What terminal emulation boards are compatible with the Equity 386/25
        PLUS?

  A.    The following products have been tested and approved:

        3278/79 Emulation Adaptor               IBM
        IBM 5250 Board                          IBM
        IRMA/2                                  DCA Inc.
        SDLC                                    IBM

Q12.    Does the Equity 386/25 PLUS have a battery for the Real Time Clock?

  A.    The Equity 386/25 PLUS is using a "Dallas" model DS1287 which
        incorporates an HD146818 compatible real-time clock with an internal
        battery.

Q13.    What VGA adapters are compatible with the Equity 386/25 PLUS?

  A.    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

Q14.    Can the serial ports be disabled?

  A.    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.


                                                               
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Q15.    How many internal device bays does the Equity 3B6/25 PLUS have and
        will it support a full-height device? 

  A.    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.

Q16.    How many wait states does the Equity 386/25 PLUS have?

  A.    At 25Mhz the system utilizes 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 l/O channel hold
        the READY signal low, thus wait states are generated until the device
        can respond to the CPU.

Q17.    Are the wait states user selectable?

  A.    No, the Equity 386/25 PLUS automatically inserts them when needed after
        the command phase of the processor clock cycle.

018.    How many jumpers are on the system board?

  A.    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/Disables built-in VGA


                                                               
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Q19.    What kind of hard disk drives are available for the Equity 386/25 PLUS?

  A.    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.

Q20.    What hard drive controller is used in the Equity 386/25 PLUS?

  A.    The Equity 386/25 PWS uses a controller embedded on the hard drive.
        This controller connects to a Task File IDE interface that is integrated
        the system board.

Q21.    Can the Equity 386/25 PLUS use other hard disk drives and controllers?

  A.    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.

Q22.    What extended hard drive support is available in the ROM BIOS that
        comes with the Epson Equity 386/25 PLUS?

  A.    The Seiko-Epson BIOS will directly support hard drives that range in
        size from 1OMb to 153Mb. There is direct support for the Seagate ST-251 and
        the ST4096 hard disks, as well as, several ESDI drives. By providing
        this support for 3rd party hard disk drives, the Equity 386/25 PWS 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.


                                                               
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FLOPPY DRIVES:

Q23.    What types of floppy disk drives will work on the Equity 386/25 PLUS?

  A.    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.

Q24.    Will the Equity 386/25 PLUS support 3 floppy disk drives?

  A.    No, not directly. The Epson controller and ROM BIOS supports a maximum
        of two floppy drives.

Q25.    Can the floppy disk controller be disabled?

  A.    No. The floppy disk controller is integrated in the system board and there
        are no jumpers to enable or disable it. If an additional or 3rd party
        board is present the BIOS ROM auto-configure at bootup.

MEMORY:

Q26.    What type of RAM chips are used in the Equity 386/25 PLUS?

  A.    The Equity 386/25 PLUS utilizes eight (8) D424256C-70 (256x4),
        70 nSec RAM chips plus parity on the system board.

Q27.    How do I increase the memory of the Equity 386/25 PLUS?

  A.    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, 8Mb, 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 I/O slot. Epson does not recommend a third-party memory board.


                                                               
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Q28.    What SIMM chips should be used when adding memory to the Equity 386/25
        PLUS?

  A.    Use the Epson 70 nSec - 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 # A8081 01)
        to extend the system memory. Should you need to use third party
        SIMM modules we recommend the following:

                Toshiba                         1 MBit x 9 70 nSec
                Matshushita                     1 MBit x 9 70 nSec
                CDC Enterprises                 1 MBit x 9 70 nSec
                Samsung (#KMM591000-7)          1 MBit x 9 70 nSec
                Aculogic                        1 MBit x 9 70 nSec

        **NOTE**

        The following SIMM chips do not work in the Equity 386/25:

                IBM                     Panasonic
                Compaq                  NMBS
                Siemens                 Cumulus


SOFTWARE:

Q29.    What version of DOS is provided with the Equity 386/25 PLUS?

  A.    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.    Is the Equity 386/25 PLUS compatible with OS/2?

  A.    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. 2.1 and IBM PC Xenix Vers. 1.
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