wowbobwow
Experienced Member
Hi everyone! My family and I are prepping for an awesome retrocomputing exhibition this summer with Golden Gate University (I’ll post more details once they’re finalized!), and I really wanted to include an Osborne system. Fortunately I had three in the dark recesses of my storage locker and I was able to pull them out yesterday. I bought my first Osborne 8-10 years ago at VCF West, and after I mentioned it online at the time, someone gave me two more Osbornes. I was busy with other stuff and all three went into storage, only emerging again yesterday. I’ve done a quick wipe-down of all three machines and tested them, and the good news is that ALL THREE power up! I’m super happy and impressed that these first-generation portable computers still fired right up 40+ years after leaving the factory - Lee Felsenstein’s design work has certainly stood the test of time!
With that said, each machine presents an interesting mystery - here’s a summary in order:
1. The Osborne which some folks in another group had speculated might be an Osborne Executive is actually an Osborne 1 in an “Osborne Executive-style” outer case, complete with the sliding cooling vent on top and what I’m assuming is a modem in the left-hand slot. Can anyone say if this indicates that it’s a late-model O1 which might have been built when they had a surplus of “Executive” cases? What else might account for this variation? Either way, I’m happy to report that it booted right up to my Osborne CP/M disk, which is amazing!
2. The Osborne 1 which I first bought for $20 at VCF West many years ago turns out to be in much better condition than I thought. The keyboard is in fantastic shape, the monitor is easily the brightest and clearest of the three, and it’s overall just nice to look at. Of course, it’s missing its floppy drives, but I’m optimistic that I might be able to migrate the drives from the third one (see below). However, the mystery of the final Osborne below makes me reluctant to commit to any changes…
3. The third machine is quite interesting. It’s complete with dual floppy drives and a modem, but it has two quirks which I’m unsure about:
That’s it for now - thanks for any help untangling these Osborne mysteries!
With that said, each machine presents an interesting mystery - here’s a summary in order:
1. The Osborne which some folks in another group had speculated might be an Osborne Executive is actually an Osborne 1 in an “Osborne Executive-style” outer case, complete with the sliding cooling vent on top and what I’m assuming is a modem in the left-hand slot. Can anyone say if this indicates that it’s a late-model O1 which might have been built when they had a surplus of “Executive” cases? What else might account for this variation? Either way, I’m happy to report that it booted right up to my Osborne CP/M disk, which is amazing!
2. The Osborne 1 which I first bought for $20 at VCF West many years ago turns out to be in much better condition than I thought. The keyboard is in fantastic shape, the monitor is easily the brightest and clearest of the three, and it’s overall just nice to look at. Of course, it’s missing its floppy drives, but I’m optimistic that I might be able to migrate the drives from the third one (see below). However, the mystery of the final Osborne below makes me reluctant to commit to any changes…
3. The third machine is quite interesting. It’s complete with dual floppy drives and a modem, but it has two quirks which I’m unsure about:
- First, when it powers up, it shows a different boot screen than the other two - you can see the pic, but as best I can tell it reads “MICRO CZEK” followed by “Rev. 1.44 (c) 1983 OCC.” I’ve been searching online and can’t find a single reference to whatever “MICRO CZEK” is - if any of you have any idea, I’m all ears!
- Secondly, I can’t get it to actually attempt to boot by pressing the RETURN key with a boot disk in Drive A. I’ve re-seated the keyboard cable and also swapped its keyboard with one of the others, but nothing changes. Given this, I’m unsure if the “MICRO CZEK” ROM might be interfering with the normal boot process, or if perhaps there’s something wrong with the logic board. Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated!
That’s it for now - thanks for any help untangling these Osborne mysteries!
