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Site for information/pictures for S-100 boards

monahan_z

Experienced Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
263
Location
San Ramon, CA
Well I have spent the past 2 months putting together a central database of most S-100 boards with pictures, comments and (where possible) manuals for each board for the web site www.S100Computers.com.

If I had known it was going to be so much work I'm not sure I would have started! Anyway most of the major S-100 board companies are there. I obtained pictures and manuals from all over the web, my own fairly large collection, and pictures and manuals sent in by a number of great individuals who helped out. They are listed in the acknowledgement section.

From the S-100 Boards section of www.S100Computers.com you arrive at a central page from which you go to each manufacture. To get started go
here:-

http://www.s100computers.com/Hardware Index Page.htm

As you can see we are still missing pictures of a few boards (or they are very poor). A number of manuals are missing. Please look through your pile of S-100 board manuals and see if you have any that are missing. They are indicate on the above page by grey text for the boards name. If you have one, could you scan it and send me a .pdf file, or, mail it to me and I will scan it and return it back to you.
My address is at the bottom of the home page. You will be doing your colleagues and perhaps future generations a great favor.

Enjoy the view!
 
I probably have some Cromemco cards and manuals that you don't have listed but frankly I can't find a complete list anywhere of just which cards you do have; some are listed, in apparently random order, several items on a line, and then there are "others"...

But kudos for what does indeed look like a lot of fine work!
 
Sorry it's not clear MikeS. I have manuals for ALL the Cromemco cards listed except the original WDI (Winchester disk controller) and EXCEPT for the cards shown as photographs in "Other Boards". The latter were very late Cromemco boards and now hard to find. If you have manuals for any of these it would really help.

If you have info, pictures, manuals of other boards would like to add them as well. Notably missing is the Cromemco Bytesave II and their famous Z80/68000 board. Just cannot find pictures of them.
 
Well, I have WDIs and the manual; at a fast glance I didn't see any of the larger (>256K) memory boards or controllers, or the IO coprocessors (IOP/Quadart, Biart, Octart), Maximizer, etc.

I've never seen a separate manual for the DPU, but it is included in the 68000 board family manual if you have one of those.

Any chance of a *list* of just what cards, photos and manuals you have?

In case you don't have a copy, Bob Kuhmann has a pretty complete index of Cromemco systems, cards, manuals, etc.:

www.kuhmann.com/Cromemco/Cromemco Part Number Xref.xls
 
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Follow-up on info/pictures for Cromemco S-100 Boards

Follow-up on info/pictures for Cromemco S-100 Boards

Mike, thanks for that info. Looks like Bob Kuhmann updated his site since I did Cromemco back in May. It’s really the penultimate Cromemco site. Here is where I stand for Cromemco boards/manuals:-

Boards that I have pictures & manual (i.e. nothing needed)
ZPU (Z80 board)
Dazzler
8K Bytesaver
16K PROM board
16K Dynamic RAM
64K Dynamic RAM
256K Dynamic RAM
4FDC (Floppy disk controller)
16FDC
64FDC
WDI-II (Winchester Disk controller, second version)
STDC (ST506 type HDC)
TU-ART
8PIO
D+7AIO
PRI (Printer I/O board)
SCC (Single board computer)

Boards for which I need a picture
4KZ (4K Static RAM,1977 era)
4PIO (The current picture is poor quality)

Boards for which a manual is needed:-
ESDI Disk controller
XXU (68020 board)
XMU board
GPIB board
WDI (see below)

Boards for which I need a picture AND manual.
DPU (Z80/68000)
Bytesaver II

For my own personal use I would really like to try and find a manual for the original WDI hard disk controller. I have this board without a manual. I would like to try and interface it to a IMI/Corvis 10MG hard disk for which I understand it is the only HD that will work with it.

Hope you can help out. It will I am sure be appreciated by many in the future.
 
I'm going to be out of town for a few days but when i get back I'll try to remember to look and see if I have a spare WDI manual; if not, I'll try to find the time to scan the one in my "library."

As you say, the WDI was for the IMI 8" 7700 series drives; I believe that is also what the old Corvus drives were, before they went to ST-506 drives. BTW, the WDI-II was not just for the HD-11 and HD-5; in fact most of them were used with the HD-20 which was an IMI 5018/5021. To make things confusing, those drives were also available with an ST-506 interface and I believe IBM even used those at one point. Also, Cromemco supplied a conversion kit which replaced the IMI interface with an ST-506 for use with the STDC, so you will find IMI 20MB drives with either interface but the same model number.

I'm still not clear about boards other than the ones you have listed. I see that you're looking for picture and manual for only the DPU and Bytesaver II so I assume that you don't have those boards, but why are you just interested in those two and not any of the others not mentioned?

As I said, the DPU manual, such as it is, is in the "68000 Board Family" manual which Marcus has on his site AFAIK.
 
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More on Cromemco Boards

More on Cromemco Boards

Thanks Mike,
I spent most of the day updating the Cromemco section. A number of the manuals/pictures I had asked for above I have now gotten from other people and Marcus’s site. (He has updated it since I was last there).

I am delighted you think you can get me the WDI controller board manual. I want to have a hard disk where I can see the heads move. Since that Corvus drive was also, (I think, seeing pictures), used in early Radio Shack computers I should be able to find one. My alternative here is an old Shugart 8” drive and an S-100 XComp controller. The drive is large and noisy.

Since you seem to know your Cromemco boards… I am confused about the naming of the Cromemco XMU board. The board itself has “XMU” written on it. Yet the manual says “XMM”. Is there a difference?

The reason I would in particular like to get a picture of the DPU is that it was such a pivotal board. Used by many to get from Z80 to 68K systems. I have the manual.

My goal is to have pictures and manuals of all Cromemco boards. Long term for all companies!

Anyway at the moment I am trying to locate manuals for the following Cromemco boards:-
Pictures of then can be seen here:-
http://www.s100computers.com/Hardware Folder/Cromemco/Other Boards/Other Boards.htm

The ESDI Disk Controller, The strange “Diagnostic” board, The MCUX board, and the 2MSU 2MG RAM board and the QUADART Serial board.

All look interesting but I can get no info!
 
Bad news I think: after building up your hopes it looks like I might not have a WDI manual after all; I have the card and my doc list says I have a manual but I haven't been able to find one. I'll keep looking as soon as I get back; can't ya use a WDI-II (or a WDI-II manual for that matter)?

The XMU goes with the XXU, the XMM goes with the XPU.

Ask Keith on the Cromemco UG; he just sold a DPU on eBay a while back and had a nice photo. I'd take one but my camera (and skill) aren't up to your standards ;-)

All those boards (ESDI,DIAG etc.) except the Quadart are very late boards and relatively rare; I've only seen them in those CS-250s from General Dynamics, but I don't think any of those systems had manual sets with them. Again, try asking on the Cromemco UG.

The Quadart is no problem although ISTR it's a pretty thick manual; it is actually a sort of daughter board and not much use without an IOP I/O co-processor.

Maybe it's time to move this off-list; PM me.
 
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