LCD replacement (Z100)

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Glenn Roberts

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Sep 11, 2018, 8:03:22 PM9/11/18
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I picked up a Z-120 from a local recycler here in Northern VA but it has a broken CRT (literally- the neck is broken; CRT ruined).  It occurs to me that the Z100 might be a good candidate for replacing the CRT with an LCD.  I know Norberto messed with this a bit on the H19 (without satisfactory results as I recall) but my thinking is that the Z100 might be more straightforward?

 

My idea is to pull the CGA signal off the video board (DB9 connector in back) and use a CGA converter like the GBS-8200 on mikesarcade.com.  Does anyone on this list have thoughts on this pro or con?  How easy might it be to find an LCD that would fit in the Z100 12” opening?  It would be pretty cool to have a “color” Z100 all-in-one configuration!  Is the connector on the back of the Z100 a fairly “standard” CGA connection?

 

Tx.

 

  • Glenn

 

Darrell Pelan

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Sep 11, 2018, 10:05:40 PM9/11/18
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I needed a monitor for my Z-158. The GBS-8200 alone didn't provide a usable VGA input to my monitor. I also needed GGLABS CGA2RGB digital RGBI to analog RGB converter to feed the GBS-8200. The CGA2RGB can be plugged directly into the GBS-8200.  You can also run 5v power from the GS-8200 for the CGA2RGB. The color is little off (purple instead of white) and there is still some jitter, but overall the best solution I've found.

  Darrell

Alan Hampson

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Sep 11, 2018, 10:22:49 PM9/11/18
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Hi Glenn,

Was that the Z-120 that was on eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-Zenith-Data-Systems-ZWG-121-32-Computer-Terminal-w-Winchester-Drive-/123289149360?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l10137) with the big black mark on the screen? I thought it looked like the tube was broken.

When I got my first Z-110 from eBay, I tried running the video through one of the GBS-8200 boards. I could never get it to work, mainly because the Z-100 video output isn't true CGA. Not saying it can't be done, but I never got the right combination of connections, settings, tongue position and swearing to make it happen. :D

You probably should look into getting a copy of the Z-100 Technical manuals if you're going to do any hardware hacking. If you don't have them, take a look at these sites for PDFs:

amaus.net has the Z-100 service manual as well.

Hope you can get your idea working, it would probably be a good retro project for anyone who wants to run a Z-100 or Z-150 on a more modern screen.

    alan


in...@esx.com

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Sep 11, 2018, 10:59:17 PM9/11/18
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It's been almost forty years, but my recollection is that many of the video parameters may easily be reprogrammed in the CRTC.  Things such as front/back porch, dot clock frequency, etc., are all programmed in the boot ROM.  Look in the listing(s).

 

Don't know which operating system you intend to use, and I can't remember if MS-DOS reprograms things or not.  Have no clue about CP/M, having known Barry, it probably reprograms everything, and I am given to understand that it doesn't use the (patented) magic hardware to increase character mode performance either.

 

It would also probably be pretty easy to change the fonts, etc., if a different character size worked better for your monitor, although I remember things to be 640 wide: 8x?.  Height would be easy to change.  I seem to remember using an NEC Multi-Sync with my Z100, which worked quite well.  Don't remember using CGA signal though.  We did higher resolution than CGA.  I thought we did at least EGA, if not full VGA resolution.  My memory is a bit fuzzy as to the specifics though.

 

We used NEC monitors in Zenith cases when initially showing the Z100.  Zenith's first color monitor that we used for development was more TV than monitor.  It was huge and wasn't in a cabinet.  It sat in a lab on a wooden cart.  I was always a bit concerned about electrocuting myself.  It cackled quite a bit as I remember.

 

Mark's first implementation of Babu's first video design was a wire-wrap board, with at the wire wrap at least an inch thick on the back of the card.  My recollection is that it worked first time--or close to it--which was good, as fixing a nest of wires that deep would have been a real job.  Mark was pretty good, and Babu's initial design was a good starting point.  We played with it quite a bit to add hardware so that we could optimize software performance of graphics and character display.

 

Although the Z100 proceeded VGA, the I remember VGA graphics to be architecturally very similar to what we did in the Z100--much closer than CGA.

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Glenn Roberts

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Sep 12, 2018, 8:42:54 AM9/12/18
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Yes it was the one with the blown CRT.  They said that “it worked” … well maybe that was before someone broke the tube neck!  Anyway they slowly lowered the price and once it got dirt cheap I decided to spring for it.  This place is a local electronics recycler (Manassas, VA) that seems to get a lot of gov’t surplus equipment.  This system apparently was used by the Air Force.  I also picked up a terminal that was formerly NASA equipment.

 

The Z120 was filthy on the outside but is cleaning up nicely (household cleaners and a lot of elbow grease!). From the outside it looked like absolute junk but it’s actually turning out to be a pretty clean system (well except for the blown CRT!) Pics at:

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/T9G4cWrUA8hYh2QE6

 

This morning I powered on the motherboard (with external monitor attached) and it came up fine!  Passes the ROM-based keyboard and memory tests.  Next to try the floppy controller -I’ll have to dig around for my copy of the Z100 test disk – it has some pretty comprehensive tests on it.

 

This machine also has a 256k RAM card and a hard disk/controller combo!  I’m curious to see if the hard drive still works and (maybe even) boots!?

 

Thanks for the advice on the GBS-8200.  If this system boots and looks promising I may steal the CRT from my other one (H120 that I built as a kit) just to continue making progress. 

 

  • Glenn

 

 

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Glenn Roberts

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Sep 12, 2018, 8:56:56 AM9/12/18
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Thanks Gregg!  I agree there’s a ton of configurability in the hardware.

 

My reference to “CGA” was in response to this old posting from Barry Watzman on comp.os.cpm:

 

 

“disconnect the entire internal monitor, do this by disconnecting it's 
power cable going to the deflection board on the left side of the 
computer.  The socket for an external CGA monitor (a DB-9 socket) is 
already present and connected
, you don't need to do anything.  If you 
want a composite TV signal, you will have to make up a cable (you may 
even have to add a part or two and/or change some jumpers on the video 
board).  The Z-100 manuals, with schematics, are available online for 
free downloading from several sites, with Howard Harte's site probably 
being the best (I think it's www.s100-manuals.com or something close to 
that) [I know, because I scanned and submitted them].

Barry Watzman
Former Product Line Director and architect of the Z-100”

 

 

G. Beat

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Sep 12, 2018, 10:56:04 AM9/12/18
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Barry Watzman answered (Z120 CRT question on comp.os.cpm) on April 2, 2007

“The Z-100 all in ones (e.g. Z-120's) do have an external monitor socket
on the rear, but you need to find an old CGA type monitor, and they are
pretty rare at this point. You can also connect a monochrome monitor
(b&w TV set ... or, really, any TV but it's not a color signal), but you
will have to make the cable. The video card in the Z-120's are the same
as those in the Z-110 (the "low profile" models), and have the same
connections. I don't know where to find a CRT tube, but I suspect that
a lot of 12" monochrome CRT tubes will work. The base tube type you
have given is 12NK4, look for a sub for that. Many of these tubes are
substantially the same even if the numbers are different, but you do
need to check the pinout.”

“The Z-100 all-in-one was offered with internal monochrome 12" monitors
in white, green and amber. An internal color monitor was never offered,
but an external CGA color monitor (calling the ZVM-135, which was a
Zenith TV set without the tuner, a "high resolution" monitor is
extremely charitable at best ... I think it had a 0.39 dot pitch, which
is about as coarse and low resolution as they came).”

“Disconnect the entire internal monitor, do this by disconnecting it's

G. Beat

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Sep 12, 2018, 11:03:33 AM9/12/18
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BTW ....

The Military, Heathcare, and CNC Manufacturing industries still have CRT-based systems.
Thomas Electronics (Clyde, New York) supplies these industry segments with replacement CRTs.
They have a Chicago area facility, not far where original Zenith CRTs were mfg. (and 4 miles west of me).
https://www.thomaselectronics.com/manufacturers/#about_thomas

Thomas Electrinics
Addison, Illinois
330 S. LaLonde Ave.
Addison, IL 60101
P: 315-923-2051
F: 315-923-4401

G. Beat

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Sep 12, 2018, 11:09:56 AM9/12/18
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Dynamic Displays (Eau Claire, WI) supplies a large number of
12 inch LCD replacements (mono and color) for the CNC manufacturing industry.
https://www.dynamicdisplay.com/about/

G. Beat

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Sep 12, 2018, 11:20:07 AM9/12/18
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OmniVision (Roselle, IL) formerly offered CRT monitor replacements,
http://www.omnivisionusa.com/Industrial-LCD-CRT-Monitors/replacement-crt/crt-monitors/industrial-monochrome-crt-monitors-.html

BUT they have now migrated to LCD replacements.
http://www.omnivisionusa.com/index.html

Omni Vision Inc.
504 Congress Circle North. Unit B.
Roselle, IL 60172. USA.
PHONE: 1.630.893.1720
FAX:1.630.893.9991
Email: in...@omnivisionusa.com

in...@esx.com

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Sep 12, 2018, 11:38:00 AM9/12/18
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The Z100 did higher resolution than CGA.  My recollection is that CGA is essentially a composite specification, i.e. low resolution.  I may remember wrong.

 

You must take some of Barry's comments with a grain of salt.  (May he Rest In Peace.)  He was not the architect of all (?or even most?) that was in the Z100.  He wanted the 8085.  He might have contributed the bank switching.  Other than that, I would argue that Babu was really the architect of the Z100.  Many of us contributed to Babu's design.  Barry was definitely not the architect of the video subsystem.  I worked with Babu and Mark as we figured it out.

 

My recollection is that the Z100 did have a composite video option, but you are better off interfacing to the non-composite video, it should be higher resolution.  I am pretty sure that the NEC Multi-Sync, which I still have, was used with my Z100.

 

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From: "G. Beat" <gregor...@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2018 10:56am
To: "SEBHC" <se...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [sebhc] LCD replacement (Z100)

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in...@esx.com

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Sep 12, 2018, 12:01:29 PM9/12/18
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Barry also wanted the S-100 bus.

 

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To: se...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [sebhc] LCD replacement (Z100)

Lee Hart

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Sep 12, 2018, 1:10:18 PM9/12/18
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in...@esx.com wrote:
> The Z100 did higher resolution than CGA. My recollection is that CGA is
> essentially a composite specification, i.e. low resolution. I may
> remember wrong.

As I recall, the Z-100 uses the same vertical and horizontal frequencies
as CGA (and EGA). It also has the same horizontal dot clock frequency,
which makes the horizontal resolution 640 pixels/line.

But CGA has 200 vertical lines; the Z-100 was 225. Where CGA formed its
25-line text mode with 8 lines/character, the Z-100 uses 9
lines/character (and the H19/H89 uses 10 lines/character).

CGA also had far less video RAM. That put serious limitations on the
number of colors any given pixel could be. Full 640x200 graphics could
only be black/white, or just 4 colors with 320x200 resolution. In
contrast, the Z-100 had enough video RAM for an 8-color 640x225 display
(with 3 sets of 64K video RAMs).

> My recollection is that the Z100 did have a composite video option, but
> you are better off interfacing to the non-composite video, it should be
> higher resolution. I am pretty sure that the NEC Multi-Sync, which I
> still have, was used with my Z100.

That's my recollection as well. There is a composite output, but the
separate RGB output produces a better picture.

On the original topic: I tried a couple inexpensive LCD monitors, and
was not happy with the results. The problem seems to be that the LCDs
have discrete pixels. If the number of pixels does not match the Z-100
(640), I got annoying artifacts. For example, with an 800x600 LCD, the
800 horizontal pixels don't divide evenly by 640. So the vertical bar of
a "T" might light up one pixel, or two, depending on where it is on the
screen. The 600 vertical pixels also do not divide evenly by 225, so
some lines are single and some are double.

Very high resolution "smart" monitors help a lot to minimize this
problem. When the vertical bar of a "T" is 3 or 4 pixels wide, you don't
notice the variation. Plus, they have anti-aliasing circuitry to reduce
the brightness of the 4-pixel bar slightly to match the 3-pixel bar.

You just have to try it, and see if you're satisfied with the results. :-)

--
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(Albert Einstein)
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Lee Hart

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Sep 12, 2018, 1:27:46 PM9/12/18
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in...@esx.com wrote:
> Barry also wanted the S-100 bus... He wanted the 8085...
> He might have contributed the bank switching. Other than that,
> I would argue that Babu was really the architect of the Z100.

The Z-100 was a good design, but I do think that it missed the mark. It
was a bit like the Edsel; it was an OK car, but wrong for the times.

The Z-100 would have been a great computer if it came out a couple years
sooner; when the S-100 bus was still popular, and the 8085 and 8088 were
state of the art.

But by 1982, it was a dated design. The 8085/88 design was pulled right
from the Compupro S-100 card and Intel's application note several years
earlier.

I wish they had used the Z80 and 8086. Heath already had tons of
software for the Z80 on the H89. The 8086 cost the same as the 88, but
was considerably faster and had a 16-bit bus (easier to upgrade when the
later 186, 286, 386 etc. came out). I put the Z80 and 8086 on the same
bus in the H-1000, so I *know* it was no harder than the 8085/88.

The IBM PC was a game-changer. You could tell that it was going to be
*big*; but IBM's design had so many serious shortcomings that it created
golden opportunities for all their competitors.

Of course, this is 20/20 hindsight: But I wish that Heath had made the
Z-150 "PC clone" series instead of the Z-100. And, that they had come up
with a worthy successor to the H89 (H-189?); perhaps something smaller
and cheaper and portable.

geneb

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Sep 12, 2018, 5:12:02 PM9/12/18
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That's one of those places where if you have to ask to see the prices, you
can't afford them. ;)

g.

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Glenn Roberts

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Sep 12, 2018, 10:28:25 PM9/12/18
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Yeah we had this discussion before (but then it was about the H19). There's a pretty big market out there for industrial display replacements (think security systems, power plants, etc.) but they're not priced for the hobbyist!

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> geneb
> Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2018 5:12 PM
> To: SEBHC <se...@googlegroups.com>
> Subject: RE: [sebhc] LCD replacement (Z100)
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Glenn Roberts

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Sep 12, 2018, 10:45:43 PM9/12/18
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I’ve gotten everything cleaned up on the Z120 I got from the recycle center. This morning I installed the 256K RAM card and it passes the built-in-ROM memory tests.  Tonight I reconnected the hard drive and 5.25” floppy.  From the boot ROM I can attempt to boot from either device and the activity lights come on.  The hard drive sounds good but fails to boot, however this drive would certainly have been wiped at some point as this was an Air Force computer so perhaps it just needs to be initialized.  I’ll look around for test disks and may even try to PREP/PART the hard drive.  Still no CRT of course – I’m using an external monitor for now…

 

  • Glenn

steve shumaker

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Sep 13, 2018, 9:10:42 PM9/13/18
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For what it's worth, don't automatically assume the drive is wiped....   That was long before the Air Force started systematically doing drive wipes.  At most it was only employed where units process classified - ans sometimes not even then!   As a federal agent with AFOSI,  I scanned many a hard drive and rarely found one wiped until much later on.

Steve

Glenn Roberts

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Sep 13, 2018, 10:17:17 PM9/13/18
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Well the drive isn’t bootable but it seems responsive.  I’m working on recreating a copy of the Winchester utilities disk so I can experiment to see if it’s still alive.

Glenn Roberts

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Sep 15, 2018, 11:19:34 PM9/15/18
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For anyone interested I’ve finished my cleanup & initial restore of the Z120 I got from the recycle center.  Pictures on my google photos album:

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/T9G4cWrUA8hYh2QE6

 

(I’ve also included the shots from the original eBay posting so you can see where I started).  These machines clean up nice!  For now I just have black cardboard in for the CRT but you can envision how an LCD would look if/when I find a solution that works (and that I can afford!).

 

It passes most tests with flying colors! (there does appear to be a bad video RAM chip but I haven’t seen any problems with the display).  The system has a minimal VRAM configuration so can only do monochrome at the moment.

 

Next step is to find or recreate the Winchester utilities disk so I can see if the hard drive is any good.  Herb Johnson is helping with that…

G. Beat

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Sep 15, 2018, 11:37:35 PM9/15/18
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Remember the H-100/Z-100 model well, from early 1980s.

Many of the CNC shops for automotive industry manufacturers ....
use the original monitor chassis / frame for their LCD retrofits.
https://youtu.be/wPTg-SpA12M

Repair Zone
Bill Hamilton, tech
615 Andre St
Bay City, MI 48706
Phone: 989-922-0043
Email: sup...@repairzone.com
Owned and Operated By York Repair, Inc.

Darrell Pelan

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Sep 19, 2018, 3:16:09 PM9/19/18
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Hi Glenn,

Let me know if you need the disk and I can send you the IMD file or mail a disk. I recently went through  similar process, though was lucky enough to have a functioning CRT. I've now got the system running with 704k RAM. The original hard disk was bad, so I replaced it with a Seagate ST-225. It now boots MS-DOS 3 and CP/M 85 from the hard drive. 

I loaded CP/M 86, but can only boot from a floppy. I'm having trouble running BOOT217. It says memory not available and I haven't found any documentation on it's use. If anyone knows how to make the hard drive bootable with CP/M 86, I'd appreciate some guidance.

Regards, 

  Darrell


Glenn Roberts

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Sep 19, 2018, 3:47:39 PM9/19/18
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If you could send me a floppy disk that would be great!  I can get the IMD on line but don’t currently have a way to run ImageDsk to write out to a disk… can you contact me off line to follow up?

 

Where did you locate an ST-225?  They seem to be available from a number of sources as “refurbished” – wonder what that really means?  Surely not truly remanufactured…

 

If I can get the hard drive to function I’ll steal some hardware from the H120 I built years ago to get a fully functioning system…  then I can follow in your footsteps (and perhaps help!)

 

Thanks.

 

  • Glenn

 

From: se...@googlegroups.com <se...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Darrell Pelan
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2018 3:16 PM
To: SEBHC <se...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [sebhc] Re: LCD replacement (Z100)

 

Hi Glenn,

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Darrell Pelan

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Sep 19, 2018, 6:22:09 PM9/19/18
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Will do. The ST=225 came in an H-150 I bought. I upgraded it with a new IDE interface card and used an old 40 GB drive for it, the moe the ST-225 to the Z-100.

Glenn Roberts

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Oct 1, 2018, 10:18:35 AM10/1/18
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Another update on my Z100 restoration.  With Help from Darrell Pelan and Herb Johnson I was able to get the Winchester utilities and the version of the Z100 diagnostics that has the Winchester diag program on it.  With that (and a few re-reads of the manuals plus some trial and error) I was able to get this Z-120 to PREP, PART and FORMAT the disk.  I now have a bootable system!  To try things out I loaded a version of CP/M-85:

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/H6WC8tTUf7Hj4uME8

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5URJJU5gPazFFgVf8

 

I realize one has to worry about these old hard drives and how long they’ll last.  This one seems pretty strong.  I wonder if re-running “PREP” somehow rejuvenates the drive a bit?? it certainly identifies questionable/problematic sectors and locks them out (for fun I will take a look at the Bad Sectors table and see how many are locked out…)

 

Anyway, now I can figure out how I want to configure the system.  I will probably steal components from other Z100s that I have to get the best overall setup.

 

Overall pictures of before, during and after are in my google photos album:

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/T9G4cWrUA8hYh2QE6

 

Thanks to all but especially Darrell and Herb!

Steven Hirsch

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Oct 1, 2018, 10:52:01 AM10/1/18
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On 10/01/2018 10:18 AM, Glenn Roberts wrote:

> I realize one has to worry about these old hard drives and how long they’ll
> last. This one seems pretty strong. I wonder if re-running “PREP” somehow
> rejuvenates the drive a bit?? it certainly identifies
> questionable/problematic sectors and locks them out (for fun I will take a
> look at the Bad Sectors table and see how many are locked out…)

MFM drives of that vintage are a failure that's on the verge of taking place.
This seems like a perfect application for David Gesswein's MFM emulator:

http://www.pdp8online.com/mfm/mfm.shtml

I have six of them in use across a spectrum of Olde Computers.


Glenn Roberts

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Oct 1, 2018, 11:02:43 AM10/1/18
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Agree. I'll be looking at those options. Thanks for the pointer! Meanwhile assume the drive can fail at any time so just experimenting/learning - anything important would be backed up to floppys. But at least now I know the controller is operational!

Here's another option (which can also emulate floppys) but pretty pricey... this looks like a Cadillac solution though. Anyone have experience with it?

https://www.drem.info/technical-specs


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> Subject: Re: [sebhc] Re: LCD replacement (Z100)
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Lee Hart

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Oct 1, 2018, 2:04:17 PM10/1/18
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Glenn Roberts wrote:
> Another update on my Z100 restoration. With Help from Darrell Pelan and
> Herb Johnson I was able to get the Winchester utilities and the version
> of the Z100 diagnostics that has the Winchester diag program on it.
> With that (and a few re-reads of the manuals plus some trial and error)
> I was able to get this Z-120 to PREP, PART and FORMAT the disk. I now
> have a bootable system! To try things out I loaded a version of CP/M-85:

Congratulations! The Z-100 is my favorite S-100 computer. I didn't
actually use it with DOS much; it was mainly used with CP/M-85 and CP/M-86.

I did get the DOS 4.0 package for it from Mike Zinkow and John Beyers.
That let me upgrade the hard disk to a 60 Mb unit. :-) However, it
"broke" CP/M compatibility; so I didn't use it much. Would anyone be
interested in it?

I also have a Zenith 8087 adapter card #85-2946-1 for the Z-100. Anyone
interested?

Lee Hart

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Oct 1, 2018, 2:26:08 PM10/1/18
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Glenn Roberts wrote:
> Agree. I'll be looking at those options. Thanks for the pointer! Meanwhile assume the drive can fail at any time so just experimenting/learning - anything important would be backed up to floppys. But at least now I know the controller is operational!

Another idea occurs to me. The MFM drive in my old Zenith Z-159 PC
failed earlier this year. I replaced it with a "Glitch Works" PC bus to
IDE hard drive controller card <http://www.glitchwrks.com/xt-ide>. This
card let me replace the MFM drive with a newer IDE drive.

It's a pretty simple card, and the design seems to be pretty much
open-source. I wonder if an S-100 version could be made? That could work
not only for the Z-100 but many other classic S-100 computers.

Darrell Pelan

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Oct 1, 2018, 3:05:26 PM10/1/18
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Hi Lee,

Do you know anything about Boot217 ad making the system bootable for CP/M 86?

Thanks,

  Darrell

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Darrell Pelan

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Oct 1, 2018, 3:09:16 PM10/1/18
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Hi Lee,

I'm running the XT-IDE in my 158 with DOS 3.22 from a Z-100 archive for the gemini board. With the XT-IDE card installed, it will not boot MS-DOS 5 or 6, As soon as I pull the card, the system boot fine.

What version of DOS are you using?

Thanks,

  Darrell

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Glenn Roberts

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Oct 1, 2018, 4:02:07 PM10/1/18
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Darrell: I’ve got the full set of CP/M-86 doc’s including the Winchester supplement information.  In storage unit but I’m going by there later..  I’ll grab that.

 

From: se...@googlegroups.com <se...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Darrell Pelan
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2018 3:05 PM
To: se...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [sebhc] Re: LCD replacement (Z100)

 

Hi Lee,

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Norby

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Oct 1, 2018, 4:03:35 PM10/1/18
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I’m impressed that you got the hard drive to boot. Great and outstanding restoration.

Sent from my iPhone

Lee Hart

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Oct 1, 2018, 4:24:13 PM10/1/18
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Darrell Pelan wrote:
> Hi Lee,
>
> Do you know anything about Boot217 ad making the system bootable for
> CP/M 86?

I used to. :-) I had it running on my Z-100. I still have the CP/M-86
manual and all the master disks, too. With all that, I'm sure we can
figure it out.

Lee Hart

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Oct 1, 2018, 4:30:09 PM10/1/18
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Darrell Pelan wrote:
> Hi Lee,
>
> I'm running the XT-IDE in my 158 with DOS 3.22 from a Z-100 archive for
> the gemini board. With the XT-IDE card installed, it will not boot
> MS-DOS 5 or 6, As soon as I pull the card, the system boot fine.
>
> What version of DOS are you using?

I'm using DOS 6.20. It also works with DOS 5.0 (I have a floppy boot
disk with it).

Darrell Pelan

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Oct 1, 2018, 4:50:46 PM10/1/18
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Thanks, Lee. 

Must be me or my system then. When I boot from the floppy, I get the message "Boot Sector Detected", the cursor drops one line, then the floppy drive light stays on and nothing else happens. I do have a VGA card and a PAL burner from the 80's installed in addition to the XT-IDE.

  Darrell

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Glenn Roberts

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Oct 1, 2018, 10:14:23 PM10/1/18
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BOOT217.CMD is actually a system image; it is not a program that can be executed from the command line.

 

CP/M-86 uses a command “LDCOPY” to copy the OS between disks (including from floppy to hard drive).  Fortunately, it has help built in so LDCOPY ? should give you what you need.

 

I was able to create a bootable CP/M-86 partition by:

 

                Creating a partition (using PART) called CPM86, then from CP/M-86 command prompt:

                ASSIGN C:=CPM86

                FORMAT … C:

                LDCOPY … Source:A:BOOT217.CMD

                PIP C:=A:*.*[RV]

 

Then to boot from Z100 ROM:

 

                B <f3>:CPM86

 

 

From: se...@googlegroups.com <se...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Darrell Pelan

Sent: Monday, October 01, 2018 3:05 PM
To: se...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [sebhc] Re: LCD replacement (Z100)

 

Hi Lee,

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Darrell Pelan

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Oct 1, 2018, 11:17:13 PM10/1/18
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Glenn,

Worked like  champ. THANKS!

Interesting that the hard drive is A:. Now, I just need to take the system apart to install the ST-225.

  Darrell

Alan Hampson

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Oct 3, 2018, 12:16:38 AM10/3/18
to SEBHC
Hey Lee,

I'd be interested in both the DOS and the 8087 card if no one else has spoken for them. Let me know what you're thinking for pricing.

Thanks,
    alan

Alan Hampson

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Oct 3, 2018, 12:29:18 AM10/3/18
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The crew at S-100 Computers has done this: http://s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pages/IDE%20Board/My%20IDE%20Card.htm. They actually use the board with IDE/CF adaptors to remove the mechanical drives from the equation. It accommodates two IDE/CF connections plus a drive connector.

alan
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