Triumph-Adler · Dario
Triumph-Adler Dario 286
Documented 12 MHz 80286 desktop, equivalent to the Olivetti PCS 286
History
Triumph-Adler, owned by Olivetti from 1986, marketed this platform as Dario 286 and P35 while the same motherboard was sold as the Olivetti PCS 286. It is not documented whether it was a Triumph-Adler design adopted by Olivetti, an Olivetti commission or one product sold under two brands. The exceptionally detailed June 1990 technical training manual identifies the actual board assemblies, chip set, clocks, memory population, jumpers, CMOS layout and service diagnostics.
Hardware
- Processor
- Intel 80286 12/6 MHz, 1 wait state
- Memory
- 1 MB standard; board configurations from 512 KB to 4 MB
- Chipset
- G2 GC101A + GC102 with IOC
- Video
- Paradise VGA integrated
- Floppy drive
- 3.5 in, 1.44 MB
- Clock and CMOS
- Dallas DS1287, 128-byte CMOS
- Math coprocessor
- Intel 80287 optional
- Interfaces
- Two serial ports, parallel port, mouse and AT keyboard
Catalogue classification
- Form factor
- Desktop
- Mobility
- Stationary
- Processor generation
- 80286 class
- Graphics standard
- VGA
- Storage interface
- Floppy drive, IDE
Research
This page separates documented hardware facts, behavior observed in original firmware, and the current fidelity of BluMach emulation.
Architecture and memory
Evidence: documented or confirmed hardware
- CPU and bus
Intel 80286 at 12 MHz with one wait state; Extended Setup F7 switches memory and I/O operation between 12 and 6 MHz. An Intel 80287 is optional.
- Main circuits
The service manual identifies the G2 GC101A and GC102 controller pair plus the proprietary IOC. BluMach uses the GC10x core with the proven PCS 286 IOC02 behavior.
- Memory
Boards CSAA03/06/09 and their SIMM combinations allow 512 KB, 640 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB or 4 MB. The standard 1 MB configuration combines 512 KB soldered and two 256 KB SIMMs. As on the PCS 286, the 60000h-to-80000h reflection the BIOS uses to detect 256 Kbit chips only appears with 1 MB fitted.
- Storage
WD37C65B floppy control and IDE disks. Documented factory drives include Conner CP3022/CP3024 20 MB and CP346/CP3044 40 MB models.
Jumpers and physical configuration
Evidence: documented or confirmed hardware
- Jumper bank
A11 enables or disables the password; B07/B08 select DD or HD floppy operation; X04 selects the SIMM or system-board memory bank.
- CMOS and BIOS data area
The DS1287 exposes 128 CMOS bytes. The manual documents floppy at 10h, disk at 12h/19h/1Ah, equipment at 14h, memory at 15h–18h and 30h–31h, language at 1Bh, video at 1Ch, password at 37h–3Fh and checksums at 2Eh/2Fh and 7Eh/7Fh.
- Resident diagnostics
Resident Diagnostics run at boot. Customer Test is supplied on CSFA12 and started with CUSTOMER; its floppy test writes to disk number 1.
Emulation status
Evidence: documentation, reverse engineering and diagnostics
- Published identity
The Dario and PCS 286 are the same TA-built platform. In the absence of a separately labelled Dario dump, BluMach deliberately uses the preserved PCS 286 BIOS 1.37/1.42 set rather than inventing firmware differences.
- Verified
Shares the booted PCS 286 implementation: BIOS 1.42, Setup, Resident Diagnostics, MS-DOS, GC101/102 memory-control test and 20/40 MB IDE configurations.
- Pending or approximate
The original keyboard-controller firmware is not preserved and is represented by the Olivetti-compatible KBC behavior. A Dario-labelled BIOS dump would still be valuable for archival comparison. As on the PCS 286, the Setup RAM/IO frequency is applied approximately; the password keyboard-lock mode is not emulated and the keyboard repeat rate follows the host computer.
Sources
Preserved research material
Evidence: primary sources and research notes
- Original manual
- TA Dario 286 installation and operating manual (German)
- Video
- Western Digital WD90C00 VGA controller data sheet
- Serial and parallel
- Texas Instruments TL16C451 UART and parallel-port data sheet
- Serial and parallel
- Silicon Logic LD1107/VL16C451 UART and parallel-port data sheet
- Programmable logic
- Music Semiconductors TR9C1710 data sheet
- Memory
- Samsung KM41C464 DRAM data sheet
- Memory
- Goldstar GM71C464 DRAM data sheet