• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

CP/M woes

Gracie

Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Messages
14
Location
UK
Hello People, I was on here a while some months back, and you were such a friendly and helpful lot, I have come back for seconds. :)

I have here a Genie3, which takes TRS-80 Model 3 format disks ( and maybe others too). I have got the machine to give me a green screen, but it doesn't seem to read the disks, even though the drive is working. I need to access the disks to extract any text files on there.
The machine was bought new by a writer when they first came out, and he used it a lot in the early years of his career. He died about a year ago, and his wife has asked me if I can recover his work.

As I could not get the machine to read the disks, someone suggested I try 22Disk. So I did, and it seems to be doing its job well enough, but even when I know I have the correct format in the drive, it still can't read it.

Can anyone advise me? Perhaps I am doing something wrong.

If I can't get the info off via 22Disk, then plan B is to get the Genie working somehow, so if anyone knows where I might get a schematic ( I know that is asking a lot) I would appreciate it.

My husband is an electrical engineer so the task is not as daunting as it would be if I had to do it alone, but even so, if I can get the 22disk to work, that would probably be the quicker option.

The machine I am using is a fairly elderly PC, running Windows 98. it has ISA slots in, should it be that I need to get a special controller card.

All help appreciated :)
 
Last edited:
I don't know a lot about your TRS-80 disks, I'm assuming their
5.25" Double Sided Double Density format. If you've got 22disk
with the correct format definition for 22disk but it's still
not working, I'm suspecting the 5.25" disk drive your using is
High Density, which might be why you can't read the disks -
somebody might have a better explaination though - cause if
the drives fine, then the format definition your using might
be incorrect. Unfortunately I'm not anymore familiar about
your system than that.

If you have no further luck here, I suggest you contact Gaby
Chaudry who might be able to help, hopefully.
 
ah, CP/M user, thank you.

Some of the disks are singlesided double density. Some disks have the info for the TRS-80 model they can be used in, and 22Disk has those parameters configured, but even then the disks cannot be read.

Someone tells me they use a Catweasel card to read TRS-80 disks, so I shall see if I can get one. I have one, but that is for an Amiga. I did not know they came for PC's as well, so e-Bay here I come! There is also something called a Compaticard from MicroSolutions ( I think) but I can't find that anywhere :(

thank you for the link to Gaby, I might well go knocking on that door a little later :)
 
I would suspect that media that old has just gone bad, and probably not readable any more. The Catweasel is very expensive, and I wouldn't recommend it for a one-time use project, especially when it will probably not work any better on bad media than what you're using now.

--T
 
Terry, I looked for a Catweasel card, and as you say - very expensive and even if I bought one there are all sorts of other if's and buts attached to it's use it seems. I shall persevere for a bit more in trying to find a way of reading the disks - can I do it through an emulator I wonder? - but plan B is getting more likely; trying to get the machine fully working ( it just gives me a green screen with random characters and does not seem to read the disks), and then, once (and if) I have identified which files I need to keep for further efforts in getting them copied to DOS, I can dispose of the machines and the mountain of manuals and other software that I no longer have a use for - and get my bedroom back - whoopee!
 
Gracie wrote:

> Some of the disks are singlesided double density.
> Some disks have the info for the TRS-80 model they
> can be used in, and 22Disk has those parameters
> configured, but even then the disks cannot be read.

Okay, you might have to use another program besides 22disk.
Generally I found it useful for using it in conjunction with
the Disk Drive you have on your IBM. If they were Double Sided
Double Density disks & you had a Double Sided Double Density
Disk Drive on your PC this should work in conjuction with the
correct image - if it didn't work, either the disks were
faulty & couldn't be read or you had a High Density 1.2Mb
5.25" Disk Drive on your PC. But if their Single Sided Disks,
you might have to get one of those Single Sided Double Density
Disk Drives (160k) for your PC - don't think their easy
obtainable either, not sure if a Double Sided Double Density
(360k) Disk Drive would help much either.

> thank you for the link to Gaby, I might well go
> knocking on that door a little later :-D

Yeah, Gaby might have a better answer, not sure if she has any
TRS-80 background, though where CP/M is concerned she maybe
able to help out in some way - or know alternative ways of
getting the files off a disk.

CP/M User.
 
Back
Top