4055 InfoWindow software

[Louis Ohland]

Dave the Barbarian, what is the software called?
--
Reply to ohl...@charter.net

[Louis Ohland]

Fred Spencer wrote:

Thanks to the considerable efforts of Carlyle Smith, I now have a
working InfoWindow System. Some of you will recall that Carlyle
notified the group several months ago that he had seen a system at a
local salvage dealer. I responded and became the lucky recipient.

The configuration consists of:
1. IBM 4055 InfoWindow Display
2. Pioneer LD-V6200A (with GPIB) interface
3. Pioneer LD-V6000A (with RS-232C) interface
4. IBM InfoWIndow GPIB2 PS/2 Adapter/A (FRU 83X9227)
5. IBM InfoWIndow VGA PS/2 Adapter/A (FRU 63X4915 or 16F0481)

--
Reply to ohl...@charter.net

[IBMMuseum]

Hi Louis,
That's the post I found & commented on earlier on the thread. I
forgot to mention the one bit of good news is my "VGA Controller"
adapter is 16F0481. Your page shows the other is downlevel.
David
Da...@IBMMuseum.com

[Louis Ohland]

Dave, what is the type-model? Lenovo is pretty damn much worthless.

--
Reply to ohl...@charter.net

[IBMMuseum]

Hi Louis,
> ...what is the type-model? Lenovo is pretty damn much worthless.
"Type 4055", no submodel...
David
Da...@IBMMuseum.com

[Tim Clarke]

<gfre...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:87trj11jdbopiaorr...@4ax.com...

> On Fri, 30 Sep 2005 18:09:48 -0500, Louis Ohland
> <null...@charter.net> wrote:
>
> >The configuration consists of:
> >1. IBM 4055 InfoWindow Display
> >2. Pioneer LD-V6200A (with GPIB) interface
> >3. Pioneer LD-V6000A (with RS-232C) interface
> >4. IBM InfoWIndow GPIB2 PS/2 Adapter/A (FRU 83X9227)
> >5. IBM InfoWIndow VGA PS/2 Adapter/A (FRU 63X4915 or 16F0481)
>

> You still need a 3363 to complete the system. I have the 20 disk set
> for the leaning system and a 3363 if you want to "get smart". All
> sorts of courses but you may have a problem that some need a laser
> disk I don't have. The software is still there though amd perhaps an
> enterprising hacker

We prefer the term "Cracker" as in nut...

> could slice out the touch drivers and stuff.
> I can probably come up with a 3363 and card.

Wouldn't mind the LaserDisk and 5.25 MO setup myself, if anyone has the
parts available.
--
Regards,
Tim Clarke (a.k.a. WBST)

[Don Hills]

In article <Mbte.4510$O.4...@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net>,

"Tim Clarke" <SpamBlock.M...@cswebmail.com> wrote:
>
>Wouldn't mind the LaserDisk and 5.25 MO setup myself, if anyone has the
>parts available.

I have a stack of 7 of the 3363 cartridges. They're unlabeled though they
appear to have been labeled at some stage, and knowing a little of their
provenance I would suspect they have IBM Learning System stuff on them.
From visual inspection the carts range from 20% to 60% full. (The surface
changes appearance slightly when written to, if you hold it just right in
the light you can see it like you can on some CDs and CDRs.)
You (or anyone) are welcome to them, I've never had a drive for them,
though shipping from here may be a showstopper (and heartstopper) as usual.

--
Don Hills (dmhills at attglobaldotnet) Wellington, New Zealand
"New interface closely resembles Presentation Manager,
preparing you for the wonders of OS/2!"
-- Advertisement on the box for Microsoft Windows 2.11 for 286

[Tim Clarke]

"Don Hills" <black.ho...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:PMpPDtga...@attglobal.net...

> In article <Mbte.4510$O.4...@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net>,
> "Tim Clarke" <SpamBlock.M...@cswebmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >Wouldn't mind the LaserDisk and 5.25 MO setup myself, if anyone has the
> >parts available.
>
> I have a stack of 7 of the 3363 cartridges. They're unlabeled though they
> appear to have been labeled at some stage, and knowing a little of their
> provenance I would suspect they have IBM Learning System stuff on them.
> From visual inspection the carts range from 20% to 60% full. (The surface
> changes appearance slightly when written to, if you hold it just right in
> the light you can see it like you can on some CDs and CDRs.)
> You (or anyone) are welcome to them, I've never had a drive for them,
> though shipping from here may be a showstopper (and heartstopper) as
usual.

Thanks Don, I'll just keep it in mind for now, until I've got a drive to use
or whatever.

[IBMMuseum]

Hi Greg,
> You guys want the books? I have the operations guide
> and 2 hardware maintenance books. One is for the monitor,
> the other for the card set. Maybe someone could scan
> them if this is really catching on.
I would like the knowledge how to run the hardware I have. If you
even want the manuals returned after a scan I can do that. In time I'll
get the drives themselves for the full arrangement.
David
Da...@IBMMuseum.com

[Joe Bennett]

OK this is pretty much a shot in the dark considering the age of this conversation, but it can't hurt.

I worked on the IBM 4055 InfoWindow out of college from 1985-1987. It is certainly the first touchscreen computer I ever saw, and I have to assume it was one of the first ever.
I worked on both the hardware (in Raleigh) and later on the authoring system (in Atlanta).

Fast forward to 2020... the CEO of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA happens to be a former manager of mine at Microsoft.
I think a fully-working InfoWindow is of historical significance and would make for an interesting display. I am willing to spend my own time on such a project
to get the system up and running.

If I were able to get the museum to accept such a donation, is there anyone here who can help me get my
hands on a working system?

Thank you,

Joe Bennett
joe...@outlook.com

[WBSTClarke]

The actual 4055 Infowindow display, parts and adapters may be long gone by now, but there were PS/2-related successors:
https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/1/897/ENUS191-191/index.html&lang=en&request_locale=en
http://ps-2.kev009.com/pcpartnerinfo/ctstips/6c52.htm
Old software ALET apparently lost from Louis's current site:
ftp://69.160.37.58/incoming/ohlandl/Infowindow/287-134.txt
Mirrored bistsavers PC-related:
http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/pc/SA38-0037-00_Personal_Computer_Family_Service_Information_Manual_Jul89.pdf

[Louis Ohland]

http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohlandl/Infowindow/287-134.txt

[Joe Bennett]

Thank you. Does anyone here know Fred Spencer (menitoned above in a 2005 post) and does he still have a working InfoWindow System?
-Joe Bennett

[WBSTClarke]

I think Fred may not be "with us" anymore, you could try his old e-mail address, but I think you'll be "spitting into the wind":
fspe...@intergate.ca
Louis has incorporated most of Fred's good work and website into his.

You're "very late to the party", I myself am 67 years old and none of us are getting any younger. We're dying off one by one, and sheer geographical distance has meant that many of us know (and trust) each other only by historical online evidence and occasional e-mail, postal or other exchanges.

Cheers,
Tim "WBST" Clarke
Guildford, U.K.

[IBMMuseum]

> ...and does he still have a working InfoWindow System?

I did have a prior reply, but Google ate it (for the better) - a month prior (and leading to this topic in October 2005) there is this: https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware/c/eSdKMVgGIjw/m/mHsqeb0m9IcJ

I say that I spent $20 on it - monitor and both adapters in a Model 50, but the drive was dead (it probably wasn't from Greg, but he still frequents the group and may remember better - I may have received some manuals for it from him). There were pictures I put up, but that link is going to be dead now. For some reason I started disassembling it (repair I think), although I remember bagging up the parts to keep them together. October 2005 was hectic for me (I married at age 40) and at least the three years afterwards.

The next few days will be busy for me, but I will try to locate what I have - and the condition it might be in - to go from there.

[IBMMuseum]

Looking through the information again, I may have got it from a seller in Alabama - often he would tell me to pay only for shipping for whatever he put in a box. I did get the two adapters in a Model 50 a year prior from him - he may have located the monitor after I identified the adapters and had him search - or it could have been from eBay. The "weekend trip" was my Reserves at that point.

[gfre...@aol.com]

I sent out 2 of those optical drives, one in the enclosure and one
bare with an MCA adapter and an ISA adapter. They were working when I
sent them. I had the whole "FIS" (Field Instruction System) 4055
system for a while but it ended up being given away too. IBM had 2
versions, the PS/2 mod 50 and one on an AT. The software was on one
of the disks that came with the set and there were many updates,
involving sending another disk so there were lots of copies out there.
That also coupled with a Pioneer 12" Laser Disk player that the actual
A/V course material was on, along with some written narrative on the
5" laser disk. When FIS was abandoned the AT was repurposed as a dial
up FARLINK server and the 50 was scrapped. I always considered the 50
as the worst PS/2. It was a 286 in a 386 world, hampered by the
limitations of MCA. The Mod 30/286 was a better platform if you just
needed a 286.

[WBSTClarke]

My apologies, Louis, buth where's the Main Page link to drill down to that?

Cheers,
WBST

[Joe Bennett]

Wow thanks to those who replied to my post yesterday. I have sent an email to Fred Spencer at the email address provided by WBSTClarke (in the fervent hope that he is still with us). Where did Mr. Spencer live? One wonders if the system is still in his possession, or possibly the possession of his family.

I don't know the full name of "IBMMuseum" but I did find an email address and tried that too.

And finally I do not have any contact info for Carlyle Smith but if someone has that I would appreciate it.

Thank you all it is a great trip down memory lane to see all these references to various PC and PS/2 models. I very clearly remember the PS/2 launch (which I attended in Tampa, FL as a young IBM employee).

[WBSTClarke]

Fred was resident in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

[Joe Bennett]

OK well I am in the Seattle area and could easily make that drive when the border reopens... if anyone up there is willing to donate or sell a working IBM InfoWindow setup! Thanks

[IBMMuseum]

> I don't know the full name of "IBMMuseum" but I did find an email address and tried that too.

David Beem - My first name in front of my domain or the IBMMuseum at a GMail address.

[Louis Ohland]

http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohlandl/Infowindow/Infowindow.html

[Joe Bennett]

Thank you David and Louis pleased to meet you online. I can report that I heard back from Mr. Fred Spencer and he is alive and well in Vancouver! Since I am in Seattle I will try to connect with him in person if we ever reopen the border.

Thanks all,
Joe Bennett

[moussa]

Hi David

I have a saying which i came up with

"people alike with similar circumstances, tend to find each others
across space and time, given enough time in life, no matter language,
race, color and beleive"

- married for 28 years (Colombian), divorced for the last maybe 10 but
who's counting anyway?:-)

- 1 Child High Function Autism (now a man)
- depression
- PTSD
- one foot in the grave

you and i we had our differences in the past, but believe me when i say,
i hold no grudges or anything against you or anyone else.

IMMSR, when i was in France, in Paris around 1986~87, in one of the
Champs Elyse buildings, there was a Saudi forum/house of some sort, it
was the first time i saw it, many people including myself didn't know
what was the point of having a monitor/TV without a keyboard, but one of
the people was explaining that they are touch screen menu driven
information thing, and ATM they are having problem with the system.

to keep the story short, i was walking, i saw the monitor, it caught my
attention, thinking is a PC forum or sale.

Moussa