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Osborne Executive Drive C software found!

K

kc4bqk

Experienced Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2018
Messages
104
Location
Henderson KY
I think I have the only known copy of the Drive C software for the Executive. I did not have a copy of WordStar to finish the software install on the Drive C, but it did set the Drive C up as A: and changed A: to C:. The software is uploaded to the Osborne Computer Group right now!
 
Do you know the reason why they renamed A as C? And did A remain accessible?

Copying a drive name in CP/M is trivial, since the same tables can be used, but it still requires a DPH - around 14 extra bytes, and the code in the BIOS either must recognize it, or the BIOS needs to be patched post-boot and the jump table modified, and there needs to be a way to reload the software each time the BIOS resets.
 
cj7hawk said:
Do you know the reason why they renamed A as C? And did A remain accessible?

Copying a drive name in CP/M is trivial, since the same tables can be used, but it still requires a DPH - around 14 extra bytes, and the code in the BIOS either must recognize it, or the BIOS needs to be patched post-boot and the jump table modified, and there needs to be a way to reload the software each time the BIOS resets.
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The Drive C is by design to become the A: drive. It loads the software to the Drive C and you then can use the B: and newly changed designation C: to work from. Yes both of the drives still work.
 
I have an Executive with a 1MB(?) RAM upgrade that my dad paid someone to perform at their home in the mid-80s. I have a few disks with it that are labelled "memory-mapped Wordstar" that appear to set up a RAM disk at drive C on boot and copy the contents of the floppy to it. Is this the same software you found, or something different?

PXL_20211126_221056465.jpg PXL_20211126_221112576.jpg

PXL_20211126_153130091.jpg PXL_20211126_153400387.jpg PXL_20211126_153414534.jpg PXL_20211126_153541974.jpg PXL_20211126_153731759.jpg PXL_20211126_153829023.jpg
 
KennyPowers said:
I have an Executive with a 1MB(?) RAM upgrade that my dad paid someone to perform at their home in the mid-80s. I have a few disks with it that are labelled "memory-mapped Wordstar" that appear to set up a RAM disk at drive C on boot and copy the contents of the floppy to it. Is this the same software you found, or something different?

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Have you saved the software so that it is never lost? It would be nice to reverse engineer that board.
 
KennyPowers said:
I have an Executive with a 1MB(?) RAM upgrade that my dad paid someone to perform at their home in the mid-80s. I have a few disks with it that are labelled "memory-mapped Wordstar" that appear to set up a RAM disk at drive C on boot and copy the contents of the floppy to it. Is this the same software you found, or something different?

View attachment 1270920 View attachment 1270921

View attachment 1270914 View attachment 1270915 View attachment 1270916 View attachment 1270917 View attachment 1270918 View attachment 1270919
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What is the part number and company name on it?
 
kc4bqk said:
Have you saved the software so that it is never lost? It would be nice to reverse engineer that board.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have sector dumps and flux images of all of the floppies that came with that machine. That machine was my dad's daily-driver for years, but I'm not super fluent with CP/M myself. I was too worried about disturbing those bodge wires to even blow the dust off that board :oops:
 
kc4bqk said:
What is the part number and company name on it?
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On what specifically? The software? They're just hand-labeled disks:

PXL_20210716_162227472.jpg PXL_20210716_162551567.jpg PXL_20210719_191907090.jpg PXL_20210727_220053126.jpg

The only company name I see anywhere is "INOVA" on-screen when the RAM disk is being initialized. Dad thinks the guy that did the upgrade and provided the software was named "Joel Guerra" (spelling uncertain) and would have lived in the DFW area in TX in the mid 80s. Sounds like a one-man operation who did upgrades and repairs for the local Osborne user group. Indeed, this label is still attached to the machine:

PXL_20211126_195605967.jpg

I do have some advertising materials from back then and found a company named "Nuevo" that offered memory upgrades for the Executive, but maybe the somewhat similar name is just a coincidence:

PXL_20220827_215146937.jpg
 
KennyPowers said:
On what specifically? The software? They're just hand-labeled disks:

View attachment 1270926 View attachment 1270927 View attachment 1270928 View attachment 1270929

The only company name I see anywhere is "INOVA" on-screen when the RAM disk is being initialized. Dad thinks the guy that did the upgrade and provided the software was named "Joel Guerra" (spelling uncertain) and would have lived in the DFW area in TX in the mid 80s. Sounds like a one-man operation who did upgrades and repairs for the local Osborne user group. Indeed, this label is still attached to the machine:

View attachment 1270930

I do have some advertising materials from back then and found a company named "Nuevo" that offered memory upgrades for the Executive, but maybe the somewhat similar name is just a coincidence:

View attachment 1270931
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On the board there is the name and possibly the part number. They are not clear in the pictures.
 
kc4bqk said:
On the board there is the name and possibly the part number. They are not clear in the pictures.
Click to expand...
Oh ok, I didn't know there were different makes and part numbers for the Executive's logic and memory boards...they're just the stock parts that were modified. I'll look for any other identifying markings next time I have the machine open, but I've got another project in-progress right now so it might be awhile.
 
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