Layout of MCA Slots |
Some people ask: "What the heck are there so many different slots in MCA-machines." "And which is what ?" Let's look at the slots and what the difference between "The short ones" and "the longer ones".
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16-bit standard MCA slot
01 45 48 58 --Side A +--------------------+-------+ (component) REAR | ================== | ===== | FRONT +--------------------+-------+ (soldering) 01 45 48 58 --Side B 16-bit MCA slot with AVE "8514/A Slot"
V10 V1 01 45 48 58 +-------+--------------------+-------+ | ===== | ================== | ===== | +-------+--------------------+-------+ 01 45 48 58 32-bit MCA slot
01 45 48 89 +--------------------+-----------------+ REAR | ================== | =============== | FRONT +--------------------+-----------------+ 01 45 48 89 32-bit MCA slot with MME "Memory Card Slot"
MM 1 45 48 89 +-----------------------+-----------------+ | ===================== | =============== | FRONT +-----------------------+-----------------+ MM 1 45 48 89 32-bit MCA slot with MME and BVE "Video Slot"
V10 V1 MM 1 45 48 89 +-------+-----------------------+-----------------+ | ===== | ===================== | =============== | FRONT +-------+-----------------------+-----------------+ MM 1 45 48 89
All views are from the top looking down to the slot
The 'component' and 'soldering' referres to an
AVE = Auxiliary Video Extension
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AVE = Auxiliary Video Extension The AVE part of the MCA connector consists out of 20 pins (2 x 10) at the rear end of the MCA connector, separated by a key (notch in the cards' connector).
The AVE is intended for cards that have no own base-video system - like the IBM 8514/A Display Adapter /A. Other additional video-cards that *do not* use the AVE cannot display the VGA text/graphic mode on the same screen along with their own native modes. They need a second monitor attached to the onboard VGA / XGA card. In a way this AVE is the MCAs Video Feature Connector: cards can use the onboard video-system and -for example- syncronize their output to the onboard video.
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MME = Matched Memory Extension The MME part of the MCA connector consists out of 8 pins (2 x 4) at the rear end of a 32-bit MCA connector. There is no separation between the 32-bit connector and the MME-part. The MME part is used from 32-bit Memory Expansion adapters, which support Matched Memory Cyles. This can improve the data transfer capabilities between the system master and channel-resident memory (means: between planar memory and that on expansion cards).
The use of MME is system-dependent and varies between the line of PS/2-machines.
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BVE = Base Video Extension The BVE part of the MCA connector consists out of 20 pins (2 x 10) at the rear end of a 32-bit MCA connector and after the MME-part. There is a separating key between MME and BVE, which causes a notch in a cards' MCA connector with a size of 2 connecting pins.
This slot can only be found on machines, that do not supply an onboard Base-Video system, like the Models 76, 77, 90 and 95.
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© 1997 by Peter H. Wendt / pw-software production