Intro & boot disks...

[geneb]

My name's Gene and I'd be surprised if anyone here didn't know who I was already. :)  I run www.retroarchive.org among other things.

I've got a C-10 that appears to work fine, but I don't have any boot disks for it.  I've also got a System One with a hard disk that /might/ work, but I don't know what baud rate the serial console is at or whether or not it needs a null modem.  I suspect I need a boot disk for that as well.

I've also got a weird little Z-2D chassis that's had the two floppy drives replaced with a huge fan: https://i.imgur.com/fMbR4fu.jpg - if memory serves, it's got a 22 slot backplane in it.

tnx!

g.

[Roger Hanscom]

Hi Gene,

>> I've also got a System One with a hard disk that /might/ work, but I don't know what baud rate the serial console is at 

>> or whether or not it needs a null modem.

If it has a Cromemco FDC card in it, I believe that it will auto-baud at power up.  Just hit a few carriage returns and it will sense the baud rate of your console.  I think that mine works fine with 9600 N/8/1?

>> I suspect I need a boot disk for that as well.

I could help with that.  I have a boot diskette with a nice version of CP/M 2.2 and one with CDOS and one with Z-80 Cromix (I'm assuming yours is Z-80 based?).  The thing is the media I could supply is all 5.25" HD.  My 8" and 360k floppy drives have long since bit the dust.  Also, can't help with the hard drive.  I have no native Cromemco HD hardware.  I run CP/M 2.2 with the S100 computer group's IDE/CF card.  There are sixteen 8 MB file systems on it.  It boots up from the 5.25" HD floppy, and then I run a little application that switches over to the IDE/CF card.  CDOS and Z-80 Cromix just run from floppy.

Roger

[geneb]

On Fri, 24 Sep 2021, Roger Hanscom wrote:

> Hi Gene,
>
>>> I've also got a System One with a hard disk that /might/ work, but I
> don't know what baud rate the serial console is at
>>> or whether or not it needs a null modem.
>
> If it has a Cromemco FDC card in it, I believe that it will auto-baud at
> power up. Just hit a few carriage returns and it will sense the baud rate
> of your console. I think that mine works fine with 9600 N/8/1?
>

I'll give that a shot. I don't recall precisely what boards are in it,
but I'm pretty sure the CPU card has a 68000 on it.
This is the machine I have: https://i.imgur.com/KKaSWxx.jpg

>>> I suspect I need a boot disk for that as well.
>
> I could help with that. I have a boot diskette with a nice version of CP/M
> 2.2 and one with CDOS and one with Z-80 Cromix (I'm assuming yours is Z-80
> based?). The thing is the media I could supply is all 5.25" HD. My 8" and
> 360k floppy drives have long since bit the dust. Also, can't help with the
> hard drive. I have no native Cromemco HD hardware. I run CP/M 2.2 with
> the S100 computer group's IDE/CF card. There are sixteen 8 MB file systems
> on it. It boots up from the 5.25" HD floppy, and then I run a little
> application that switches over to the IDE/CF card. CDOS and Z-80 Cromix
> just run from floppy.
>

Thanks Roger. If you can supply IMD images, I can write those out myself.
I'm in the middle of finishing off a media imaging/mastering system so I
can do everything except hard sectored disks. For those I have an FC5025,
but that will only allow imaging, not mastering.

thanks!

g.


--
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A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.
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[Roger Hanscom]

On Fri, Sep 24, 2021 at 10:34 AM geneb <ge...@deltasoft.com> wrote:

>> I'll give that a shot.  I don't recall precisely what boards are in it, 

>> but I'm pretty sure the CPU card has a 68000 on it.

Oh, well ... that is probably an XPU or DPU if it has a 68k.  Then you probably don't want to mess with anything but Cromix?

>> Thanks Roger.  If you can supply IMD images, I can write those out myself. 

I'm not set up to create IMD images, but I can snail mail you a couple of boot diskettes (I'm nearby -- about an hour north of Seattle).  I have Cromix 20.63 and 31.08 on 5.25" HD diskette.  My system is quite limited because I have no hard disk.  I have to run Cromix from floppy.  I believe that there are newer, more capable, versions of Cromix that might be a better option for you (with a HD)?  Maybe somebody on this list can chime in with better information?

Also, Marcus' archive (on github) has lots of software, if you can get access to that.

Roger

[geneb]

On Sat, 25 Sep 2021, Roger Hanscom wrote:

> On Fri, Sep 24, 2021 at 10:34 AM geneb <ge...@deltasoft.com> wrote:
>
>>> I'll give that a shot. I don't recall precisely what boards are in it,
>>> but I'm pretty sure the CPU card has a 68000 on it.
>
> Oh, well ... that is probably an XPU or DPU if it has a 68k. Then you
> probably don't want to mess with anything but Cromix?
>

I have no idea. :) The machines I have are part of a rescue I did last
year and I'm still in the process of (slowly) evaluating systems.

> I'm not set up to create IMD images, but I can snail mail you a couple of
> boot diskettes (I'm nearby -- about an hour north of Seattle). I have
> Cromix 20.63 and 31.08 on 5.25" HD diskette. My system is quite limited
> because I have no hard disk. I have to run Cromix from floppy. I
> believe that there are newer, more capable, versions of Cromix that might
> be a better option for you (with a HD)? Maybe somebody on this list can
> chime in with better information?
>

Once I've gotten photos of the board set, I'll decide whether or not to
take you up on the disks. Thank you for the offer!

> Also, Marcus' archive (on github) has lots of software, if you can get
> access to that.

I did get access to it, thanks. Unfortunately, the "OS" things I've seen
are basically file dumps with no imaged media, rendering it nothing more
than a curiosity for my needs. :( Hopefully, I'll be able to at least get
the C-10 booted up. The machine works great - it's got some kind of
system monitor you end up in with no disks attached. You can dump ram,
etc.

[Roger Hanscom]

On Sat, Sep 25, 2021 at 8:13 AM geneb <ge...@deltasoft.com> wrote:

<snip> ...

>>                                                     Hopefully, I'll be able to at least get 

>> the C-10 booted up.  The machine works great - it's got some kind of 

>> system monitor you end up in with no disks attached.  You can dump ram, 

>> etc.

Yep ... probably RDOS.

BTW, you are one lucky guy to have the kind of Cromemco gear that you apparently have!  *smile*

Roger

[geneb]

On Sun, 26 Sep 2021, Roger Hanscom wrote:

> On Sat, Sep 25, 2021 at 8:13 AM geneb <ge...@deltasoft.com> wrote:
>
> <snip> ...
>>> Hopefully, I'll be
> able to at least get
>>> the C-10 booted up. The machine works great - it's got some kind of
>>> system monitor you end up in with no disks attached. You can dump ram,
>>> etc.
>
> Yep ... probably RDOS.
>

Ah, ok. I didn't get to the machines today, but I got things a bit more
organized towards that goal. :)

> BTW, you are one lucky guy to have the kind of Cromemco gear that you
> apparently have! *smile*

Incredibly lucky. They were among the two storage units of vintage gear I
got last year.