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Nixdorf 8870 info needed

K

kcsl

New Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Messages
6
Hi,

I'm desperatly looking for information on the Nixdorf 8870, either operating system (Niros) or hardware info.

I've managed to get an original Niros 3.3 manual from the HNF museum in Germany but that's about all they've got.
I really could do with either a field engineering manual, or access to somebody who used to mantain these beasts.

Any information that anybodies got would be really helpful.

I've managed after much negotiation to get a 8870/M25 and it's being shipped right now.
One burning question is what type of SMC tapes did it use; I need to order some blank ones on the off-chance that this beast actually boots when I get it.

Many thanks,
Joe
 
Minicomputer was either a DCC D116 (long gone) - or a Data General Nova 2 (also long gone)
They were basicall the same machine. CPU Slots in the chasis were slightly different but I/O slots were the same.
They both ran the same instruction set and both could run Niros.
Niros was a custom version of IRIS (Educational Data Systems - Later Point 4 Data Corporation)
Niros had a few statements in the application language known as "calls" that were not part of the standard IRIS OS.
IRIS was incorporated into a product called Unibasic (Dynamic Concepts ) - and is still available today. You can download a Unibasic manual which will get you close.
Most 8870 systems did not use tape drives.
 
Thanks for that. As it happens, in the last couple of days I've received a copy of the original field engineering manual that lists the instruction set and as you say, its a Nova.

The Niros / IRIS link is interesting. I always thought it came from WANG.. don't know why; probably some throw-away comment made back when I just started with NCAG.

As for the tape backup, only the early 8870's used disks (HAWK, Phoenix and SMD) for backup. The M15/M25/M40/M80 all used SMC and the M45/M75 used 1/2" tape.
 
I think some of them also used "Diablo" disk drives.
I do remember some of them with Cypher 1/2 in tape drives.
Always liked the 8870's - ahead of all the rest of the systems available at that time.
Nixdorf may have been the first to standardize the application software.
Let me know if you need anything else.
BTW - Point 4 Data Corp still exists. Their Application software was built on the backbone of the 8870.
 
kcsl said:
Hi,

I'm desperatly looking for information on the Nixdorf 8870, either operating system (Niros) or hardware info.

I've managed to get an original Niros 3.3 manual from the HNF museum in Germany but that's about all they've got.
I really could do with either a field engineering manual, or access to somebody who used to mantain these beasts.

Any information that anybodies got would be really helpful.

I've managed after much negotiation to get a 8870/M25 and it's being shipped right now.
One burning question is what type of SMC tapes did it use; I need to order some blank ones on the off-chance that this beast actually boots when I get it.

Many thanks,
Joe
Click to expand...

I just started to search about the 8870. I owned one in the early 70's. The only part I still have are hard disks. They are about 15 inches in diameter and hold 5 megs, if memory serves me correctly. I have no idea if they are still usable.

David
 
Info on 8870's

Info on 8870's

The Niros O.S. is an early version of IRIS, the operating system was created by Point4Data in the late 70's. Nixdorf bought a special copy of IRIS version 6.0. Eventually they upgraded to Iris 7.0 as they got more sophisticated. I probably converted over a hundred Nixdorf 8870's to Point 4 machines and eventually to the Unibasic version of IRIS basic running on the Intel processor under SCO Unix. I am probably the US expert on that machine now. E-Mail me if you have some specific questions.
 
I worked for Nixdorf when we built the first 8870. In order for you to boot IRIS a "key" slipped onto the wirewrap pins of the d116 cpu.

Rich
 
Don Burden said:
The Niros O.S. is an early version of IRIS, the operating system was created by Point4Data in the late 70's. Nixdorf bought a special copy of IRIS version 6.0. Eventually they upgraded to Iris 7.0 as they got more sophisticated. I probably converted over a hundred Nixdorf 8870's to Point 4 machines and eventually to the Unibasic version of IRIS basic running on the Intel processor under SCO Unix. I am probably the US expert on that machine now. E-Mail me if you have some specific questions.
Click to expand...
Don,

If you are still on this forum, I would very much like to talk to you.

We are re-constructing another Point4Data-related machine that ran IRIS, called the Microtech.

I'm creating a website about this:

http://MicrotechM1.blogspot.com

Please reach out to me if you are still here. I could certainly utilize your services and knowledge.

Thanks,
-AJ
 
Hi!

I hopefully will get a Nixdorf 8870 Micro 7 next week; I am just wondering if anybody here has such a system up and running?

Regards
Stephan
 
The first NIROS version I could find was 3.3 (not EX 3.3, just NIROS 3.3), the first version I used. It has seen many improvements and updates over the years.
 
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