• Ultra-X Launches - QuickPost PCI Rev. 2
• Ultra-X Launches - P.H.D. PCI^™
• Ultra-X Launches - PC Inspector

Santa Clara, CA -- Ultra-X, the manufacturer of specialized PC diagnostic equipment, announces the introduction of QuickPost PCI Rev. 2 (QPCI 2). The product will be introduced at this years CeBit (March 18 – 24) show in Hanover Germany. Available for sale on March 18^th, 1999.

QuickPost PCI is a diagnostic card for monitoring POST results in systems utilizing the PCI architecture. Using easy to read 7-segment numeric display indicates POST codes in hexadecimal notation for quick tracking of the POST sequence and easy failure identification. The card is also capable of testing power supply voltages. Furthermore, the card is capable of testing the presence of the Clock and Reset signals.

During Power-up, QuickPost PCI will display all the error codes generated by the system BIOS. If a failure occurs, POST stops at a particular error code. This error identifies the test that caused the system to fail.

The QuickPost PCI uses the latest decoding technology, follows established BIOS standards, and fully supports the complete PCI specifications to greatly reduce or eliminate the guesswork involved in troubleshooting systems that fail during pre-boot. The QuickPost PCI’s features include:

• Works with any PCI bus system.
• Monitors port 80h – the "standard" address that most BIOSes output codes to.
• Monitors port 81h – the address that BIOSes use for extended POST data.
• Plug and play design offers quick, easy installation without the need for switch selection.

QuickPost PCI will also monitor the system’s power supply voltages. New advanced circuitry offers precision system power voltage monitoring to help you ensure that a system’s power supply is operating correctly and outputting the proper voltages. QuickPost PCI checks for PCI and AGP power supply fluctuations, noises, high and low voltages, voltage spikes, and any other voltage conditions that are "out of spec." Separate "pass" green and "fail" red LEDs continuously show you the status of each systems power voltage, alerting you if a particular voltage goes "out of tolerance" for any reason.

The final feature of the card is monitoring the Clock and Reset lines. These are two of the most critical signals that a system needs to begin the boot-up process. QuickPost PCI again uses LED’s to notify users if the one or both of these signals are not present.

These three features make QuickPost PCI a must add-on board for any PC. Its ease of use makes it a necessity for all system integrators, network engineers and end users that are testing their own systems. The QuickPost PCI comes complete with a user friendly manual that describes error codes from all major BIOS manufacturers, including: AMI, Award, Phoenix and more.

Santa Clara, CA -- Ultra-X, the manufacturer of specialized PC diagnostic equipment, announces the introduction of Professional Hardware Diagnostic PCI (P.H.D. PCI). The card will be released on November 16^th.

P.H.D. PCI is a first of its kind, PCI test card for component-level testing of AT 486 through Pentium II systems (including Pentium Pro and Celeron, all Cyrix and AMD processors, and MMX technology). This unique test equipment provides users with a comprehensive range of circuit diagnostics for system PCI Bus, RAM, ROM, DMA controllers, page registers, 8042 keyboard controller, interrupt controllers, timers, CMOS clock, and many other support chips.

P.H.D. PCI will perform a series test of diagnostics targeting the proper functionality of the PCI Bus. The analysis of the PCI slot begins by testing the presence and the accuracy of the 3.3 volt signal. The analysis continues by testing the header space, PCI Bridge, and burst transaction capability. The PHD will also interrogate all PCI slot assignments. The PHD PCI can also be used to verify the PCI bus signals meet industry compatibility criteria.

P.H.D. PCI’s design incorporates on-board Flash firmware, memory, and video port to allow the card to test seemingly "dead" motherboards. The card is capable of running complete diagnostic even if memory, keyboard and video adapter’s are absent or dead. The card’s firmware will run automatically upon initialization and will continue to run until the system is powered down. Its use of Flash technology allows the card to be quickly upgraded.

On power-up, P.H.D. PCI initializes the system and runs a complete system bus test and PCI sub-system analysis. During this stage, it will test the bus functions, speed and performance. Then it continues by injecting its diagnostics (diagnostics are embedded on the on-board ROM) and displaying all information on the system monitor (using the card’s built-in software video drivers). If case’s of video failure, P.H.D. PCI has an On-board video connector to re-route test results directly to your VGA monitor. As each test is conducted, users see the results in simple to understand terms right on the screen. Although the tests are extensive and complex, P.H.D. PCI keep the output simple to understand.

P.H.D. PCI uses on-board processor emulation to generate true interrupt requests. This enables users to troubleshoot failures down to the exact interrupt line. The processor emulation capability enables P.H.D. PCI to pinpoint errors that other products may generalize or not detect at all. Processor emulation also checks system boards against industry standards. As tests are conducted, the card will detect incompatibilities or timing discrepancies in motherboard designs.

The Extended Diagnostic Mode of P.H.D. PCI allows users to test base, extended (to 4 gigabyte), cache and video memory, hard, floppy, and CD ROM drives, keyboards, I/O ports (serial and parallel), System Configuration, monitors, burn-in, and more without the need for disk based software.

Since P.H.D.’s Extended Diagnostics loads from ROM is does not require any external booting devices or operating systems. Its independence from operating system eliminate any conflicts that may occur between the tests and any loaded TSR’s, operating systems or system BIOS features. The convenience and reliability of ROM diagnostics means that technicians do not have to be concerned with the caring for floppy disks.

The comprehensive motherboard testing of the P.H.D. PCI card combined with the outstanding peripheral testing of the Extended Diagnostics ROM, makes the P.H.D. PCI one of the best values on the market. The complete range of diagnostic capability of the P.H.D. PCI provides the user with a large number of testing options, eliminating the need for multiple products and/or large monetary investment.

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Ultra-X Launches - PC Inspector^™
Advanced POST Diagnostic Card

Santa Clara, CA -- Ultra-X, the leading developer of specialized PC diagnostic hardware and software products for computer professionals, announces the release of PC Inspector.

PC Inspector is an advanced POST card for multi-function testing of AT 386 through Pentium II (including all AMD and Cyrix processors and MMX technology). The card provides users with visual digital indicators for identifying POST error codes, monitoring power supply voltages and system bus signals, and detecting IRQ and DMA conflicts. Furthermore, the card has an on-board Flash ROM for testing system peripherals.

When installed into any standard I/O slot, the PC Inspector will monitor the systems Power On Self Test (POST). The card monitors POST codes at Ports 80, 84, 90, 190 and LPT addresses. When POST detects an error, the test sequence is halted at the failing test error code. The accompanying users guide describes the meaning of the error codes. PC Inspector supports all BIOS’s that output POST error codes.

The card’s on-board LED’s monitor most system signals and power supply voltages. The card has 4 LED’s for monitoring the 5, -5, 12, -12 voltages with-in 5%. If any of the voltages are not present , the LED will fail to light up, clearly indicating the errant voltage. Power supply information is also routed to the screen to display exact reading of each line, just like a multimeter. On-board LED’s continuously test System Clock, Oscillator, Address Latch Enable, CHCHK, CHRDY, AEN, RESET, and Watch-Dog signals.

The final set of LED’s test for IRQ and DMA conflicts. By initializing any peripheral using and IRQ or a DMA line, an LED lights up corresponding to the occupied DMA/IRQ line. Since the cards can be used under any operating system, conflicts can be detected under any software or special configurations.

For advanced testing of "completely dead" systems using an oscilloscope, users can even attach PC Inspector’s reset line to the motherboard’s reset jumper. This features activates the reset every 2 seconds, allowing users to quickly test all system lines without having to manually reset the computer as they move from one signal to the next.

Finally, the card is equipped with a Flash ROM for testing system peripherals. The ROM automaticly loads after the successful completion of POST. Some of the test that can be performed are: Base, Extended and Cache memory, Hard/Floppy/EIDE CD ROM drives, Serial/ Parallel ports, Keyboard, CMOS RAM & RTC, Video cards, I/O Port Monitor, System Configuration, extensive burn-in, and more. The Flash ROM can easily be upgraded without any component replacement.

The above mentioned features make PC Inspector a must add-on board for any technician, MIS professional, systems engineer and system integrators. The PC Inspector comes complete with a user friendly manual that describes the complete use of the card as well as description for error codes from all major BIOS manufacturers, including: AMI, Award, IBM, Phoenix and many more.

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