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CP/M for Xerox 1800

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lyonadmiral

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I recently purchased this from California Digital. Of course, I usually look before I leap, and discovered it won't boot an x86 at all considering the format the disc is (is different) and the processor arcitecture is different (Z-80) I still think it was a worth while purchase for a brand new CP/M kit with documentation & disk.

Does anyone here at VCF have a Xerox 1800?
 
Hi Chuck, yes it can, but my problem is getting it over to the system in the first place, which is why I spearheaded the VCF Disk Tool idea over in the Programming section.
 
I think I can send some self-extracting images. All you need to do is get them to the DOS machine with the 360K floppy and run them. How's that?

PM me with your email address and I'll get something going.

My notes say that there were two variations on this system--a 48 tpi one and a 96 tpi one Try the attached file (48 tpi) and see if it loads on your 1800.
 

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lyonadmiral said:
Hi Chuck, yes it can, but my problem is getting it over to the system in the first place, which is why I spearheaded the VCF Disk Tool idea over in the Programming section.
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I gotta ask the same thing here that I did there: why can't you use Interlink, for example, and/or a comm program of some sort?

@Chuck: What are you using to make compressed self-extracting images? Anything free (as in beer)? Is CopyQM Plus still a commercial product?
 
Hi Mike,

No--CopyQM went with Anadisk, etc. I do have a utilty for DOS disks called DISK2SXD that can do blind copying, but it's not nearly as thorough as CopyQM. I don't have a non-compete agreement, so I suppose that I could write CopyQM from scratch, but who the heck would use it? Most people wouldn't even recognize a floppy when you showed it to them.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Hi Mike,

No--CopyQM went with Anadisk, etc. I do have a utilty for DOS disks called DISK2SXD that can do blind copying, but it's not nearly as thorough as CopyQM. I don't have a non-compete agreement, so I suppose that I could write CopyQM from scratch, but who the heck would use it? Most people wouldn't even recognize a floppy when you showed it to them.
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So what did you use to create that .exe file?
 
lyonadmiral said:
I recently purchased this from California Digital. Of course, I usually look before I leap, and discovered it won't boot an x86 at all considering the format the disc is (is different) and the processor arcitecture is different (Z-80)
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What do you plan to run it on?
 
lyonadmiral said:
I've got a disk for the 1800, but its an 1800 that I don't have.
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Ah, so you mean that you have the disk(s) and docs for an 1800 but no computer? So you're looking to buy an 1800, sell the disks to someone with an 1800, or?

And where does the VCF Disk Tool come in?

Sorry, I'm not quite following this...
 
You have disks but no computer?

Golly, I've got disks for a Compugraphic phototypesetter and any number of CNC setups, SEMs, embroidery machines, spectrometers, etc.. Anyone have one of those? :)

I checked the 1800 floppy--it's version 2.2 of CP/M. 22Disk knows about the format, so it's able to extract files if you need to do it. I wonder if the programs themselves might not run on an 820 II.
 
Ah, so you mean that you have the disk(s) and docs for an 1800 but no computer? So you're looking to buy an 1800, sell the disks to someone with an 1800, or?
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I have a nice brand new (NOS) box of CP/M 2.2 and a disk. The systems I do have are IBM PC. I'd like to get my hands on CP/M-86, so I'm hoping somebody can make some for me or give me some instructions to make it.

And where does the VCF Disk Tool come in?
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The VCF Disk Tool is my pipe dream project to make a tool where you could boot up your PC, XT, or AT (or clone) and use it to make disks usings its own disk drives connected to a host machine via serial port. You can read more of the discussion over on the programming section of the forum.

You have disks but no computer?
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That's right Chuck. Not knowing anything about the Xerox 1800 but knowing enough about Gary Kildall and CP/M, I still think that $15 bucks for a NOS shrinkwrapped copy of CP/M 2.2 was worth it. Even though CP/M-86 may be different from CP/M 2.2, I'd still like to get my hands on it for my IBM 5150 and am wondering if you or somebody else in the forum could make me a disk if I send them some 5.25's.
 
lyonadmiral said:
The VCF Disk Tool is my pipe dream project to make a tool where you could boot up your PC, XT, or AT (or clone) and use it to make disks usings its own disk drives connected to a host machine via serial port. You can read more of the discussion over on the programming section of the forum.
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I know, I've been commenting over there as well, and I'm still not clear why you need it (now that we're talking about a computer that is up and running DOS); maybe you can explain it to me here?

If you find an image for the CP/M86 that you're looking for why can't you just copy those images (preferably make them self-extracting first) to the PC using Interlink and make your own disks? This has come up quite a few times on here, so what am I missing?
 
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I don't want to turn this thread or the programming thread into a flamewar over the need for VCF-DT. There isn't a practical use for it considering the number of hours that need to be invested in programming and testing it, but I still think it would be a fun project to try where all you need is a serial cable and the program itself.

The machine I have is a 5150 with 360k drives. I do have DOS 5 around here somewhere and I could get Interlink set up on the 5150, but I don't have an intermediary machine to get disk images to that can run Intrsvr. It could be argued that any real tech or vintage lover would have such a machine and a while back I did, but depending on our individual situations and circumstances we may or may not have room for one. I had to get rid of mine.
 
lyonadmiral said:
That's right Chuck. Not knowing anything about the Xerox 1800 but knowing enough about Gary Kildall and CP/M, I still think that $15 bucks for a NOS shrinkwrapped copy of CP/M 2.2 was worth it. Even though CP/M-86 may be different from CP/M 2.2, I'd still like to get my hands on it for my IBM 5150 and am wondering if you or somebody else in the forum could make me a disk if I send them some 5.25's.
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There's a copy of CP/M-86 for the 5150 on Gaby's site.. If it doesn't work for you, let me know and I'll email a copy to you that does.
 
There's also a large software repository, linked through Gaby's site, that caters specifically to CP/M-86 on the IBM PC/XT/AT.

If you /really/ can't get disk images written out to real media, let me know. I've got ~750 new-in-bulk-sleeves 5.25" DSDD floppies, so I can make a set and you can get them when we trade for the AT. Plus, I can test them -- I currently have two 5150's on the bench at my parents' house.
 
lyonadmiral said:
I don't want to turn this thread or the programming thread into a flamewar over the need for VCF-DT...
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I don't either, honestly; I think it'd be a fun project and I wish you luck and fun here the same as we did in the other thread (once we were talking about a running PC). Most of the other thread was trying to explain why an ADTpro equivalent was not practical on a PC without a boot disk.

I'm just trying to understand why you need someone to make those CP/M-86 disks for you instead of you making them yourself from an image. You have a 5150 with a serial port and you obviously have a computer capable of downloading a disk image; your proposed system will use the serial ports, so presumably you also have that needed serial port on the "server" and the connecting cable.

As far as I can see, if you have the hardware that you need to run your proposed VCF-DT then you should be able to do the equivalent with existing software; folks do this all the time as you'll read in the many other threads on the subject.

I'll ask again: What am I missing? Where exactly is the problem getting the image from your Internet box to the PC that you would not have with VCF-DT?
 
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