Searching for NEC PC-8001A software & hardware

jltursan · Jul 6, 2023

These tools paired with a good repository of マイコン BASIC or PiO Magazine listings could be great. Sadly I don't know of any...

cjs · Jul 6, 2023

I know that the Game Preservation Society (a Japanese non-profit) is working on creating machine-readable copies of all of the type-ins from a number of Japanese computer magazines. Unfortunately, due to Japanese copyright laws, I'm not sure that they'll actually be able to make this available to the public. But it might make sense for someone to start a project in another country to get all these sorts of things typed in (or OCR'd and corrected) and make that public, allowing the GPS to draw on it.

ldkraemer · Jul 6, 2023

ZIP file here:

Neo Kobe - NEC PC-8001 (2016-02-25) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

=== Overview ===The PC-8001 was one of Japan's first full-fledged personal computer systems, preceded only by the Hitachi BASIC Master. Although primitive, the...

archive.org

Larry

jltursan · Jul 6, 2023

Nice pack, thanks!; but I'm not sure if it has the original type-ins. I can see some coming from IO magazine (or at least I think so); but there's not too much info about the origin of each entry.

I'll try to find some the originals I know of...

ldkraemer · Jul 8, 2023

I downloaded the NEC8CPM.IMD and tried extracting the CP/M files.
A.BAT contains

Code:

IMDA NEC8CPM.IMD > NEC8CPM.TXT

IMDU NEC8CPM.IMD NEC8CPM.RAW X1=0,39 /B /E /D >> NEC8CPM.TXT

NEC8CPM.TXT

Code:

IMageDisk Analyzer 1.18 / Mar 12 2012
IMD 1.18: 18/11/2022 15:50:31

Required cylinders: 40
Required heads    : 2
Data rate         : 250kbps
Est. maximum track: 5541 bytes

Possible drives/options to write NEC8CPM.IMD :

 5.25" DD 40-track
   Double-step: OFF

 5.25" QD 80-track
   Double-step: ON

 5.25" HD 80-track
   Double-step: ON
   250 kbps -> 300 kbps

 3.5" DD 80-track   NOTE: *1
   Double-step: OFF

 3.5" HD 80-track   NOTE: *1
   Double-step: OFF

*1 40 track image will use only first 1/2 of 80-track drive.



IMageDisk Utility 1.18 / Mar 07 2012
IMD 1.18: 18/11/2022 15:50:31

Assuming 1:1 for Binary output
 0/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D  
 1/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D  
 2/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      D   D   D   DE5 DE5 DE5 DE5 DE5 D   D   D   D   D   D   D   DE5
 3/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D  
 4/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D  
 5/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D  
 6/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D  
 7/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      D   D   D   D   D   DFF DFF DFF D   D   D   D   D   DFF DFF DFF
 8/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      D   D   D   DFF D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D  
 9/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   D   DFF DFF
10/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      D   D   D00 D00 D00 D00 D00 D00 D00 D00 D00 D   D   D   D   D  
..
..
..

33/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      D   D   DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF
34/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF
35/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF
36/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF
37/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF
38/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF
39/0 250 kbps DD  16x256
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16 
      DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF DFF
80 tracks(40/40), 1000 sectors (513 Compressed)



BEGIN NEC5  NEC PC-8001A - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25" - 256 x 16
DENSITY MFM LOW
CYLINDERS 40 SIDES 1 SECTORS 16 256
SIDE1 0 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16
BSH 3 BLM 7 EXM 0 DSM 151 DRM 63 AL0 0C0H AL1 0 OFS 2
END

# NEC5  NEC PC-8001A - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25" - 256 x 16
diskdef nec5
  seclen 256
  tracks 40
  sectrk 16
  blocksize 1024
  maxdir 64
  skew 1
  offset 17408
  boottrk 0
#  boottrk 2
  os 2.2
end

# libdsk
[nec5]
description = NEC5  NEC PC-8001A - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25" - 256 x 16
cylinders = 40
heads = 1
secsize = 256
sectors = 16
secbase = 1
datarate = DD

[nec5]
cyls = 40
heads = 1
secs = 16
interleave = 1
bps = 256
id = 1
#rpm = 360
rpm = 300
rate = 250
mode = mfm
iam = no



Directory located at 0x2000 = 8192 Decimal
00002000   00 48 45 4C  4C 4F 35 36  20 43 4F 4D  00 00 00 0E  .HELLO56 COM....
00002010   02 03 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ................
00002020   00 4D 4F 56  43 50 4D 20  20 43 4F 4D  00 00 00 50  .MOVCPM  COM...P
00002030   04 05 06 07  08 09 0A 0B  0C 0D 00 00  00 00 00 00  ................
00002040   00 50 49 50  20 20 20 20  20 43 4F 4D  00 00 00 3A  .PIP     COM...:
00002050   0E 0F 10 11  12 13 14 15  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ................
00002060   00 53 55 42  4D 49 54 20  20 43 4F 4D  00 00 00 0A  .SUBMIT  COM....
00002070   16 17 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ................
00002080   00 58 53 55  42 20 20 20  20 43 4F 4D  00 00 00 06  .XSUB    COM....
00002090   18 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ................
000020A0   00 45 44 20  20 20 20 20  20 43 4F 4D  00 00 00 34  .ED      COM...4
000020B0   19 1A 1B 1C  1D 1E 1F 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ................
000020C0   00 41 53 4D  20 20 20 20  20 43 4F 4D  00 00 00 40  .ASM     COM...@
000020D0   20 21 22 23  24 25 26 27  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00   !"#$%&'........
000020E0   00 44 44 54  20 20 20 20  20 43 4F 4D  00 00 00 26  .DDT     COM...&
000020F0   28 29 2A 2B  2C 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00  ()*+,...........



# NEC5  NEC PC-8001A - SSDD 48 tpi 5.25" - 256 x 16
diskdef nec5
  seclen 256
  tracks 40
  sectrk 16
  blocksize 1024
  maxdir 64
  skew 1
  offset 8192
  boottrk 0
#  boottrk 2
  os 2.2
end



$ cpmls -f nec5 -D NEC8CPM.RAW
     Name    Bytes   Recs  Attr     update             create
------------ ------ ------ ---- -----------------  -----------------
ASM     .COM     8K     64    
COPY    .COM     3K     18    
DDT     .COM     5K     38    
DEBLOCK .ASM    10K     80    
DISKDEF .LIB     7K     49    
DUMP    .ASM     5K     33    
DUMP    .COM     1K      3    
ED      .COM     7K     52    
FORMAT  .COM     2K     10    
HELLO   .ASM    14K    106    
HELLO56 .COM     2K     14    
KEY     .COM     4K     28    
LOAD    .COM     2K     14    
MOVCPM  .COM    10K     80    
PIP     .COM     8K     58    
STAT    .COM     6K     41    
SUBMIT  .COM     2K     10    
SYSGEN  .COM     1K      7    
USER    .ASM     9K     71    
USERIO  .ASM    12K     96    
WCLOCK  .COM     4K     32    
XSUB    .COM     1K      6    
   22 Files occupying    123K,      35K Free.



$ cpmcp -f nec5 NEC8CPM.RAW 0:*.ASM .

ALL *.ASM programs are SANE.

Larry

bruce7491 · Jul 30, 2023

Bonjour
je suis français et je possède un nec pc 8001B avec un pc 8031
je cherche à avoir une disquette système nBasic
j'ai essayé avec les images d88 avec un lecteur gotek à la place du lecteur 1
Certains jeux fonctionnent mais pas les OS cp/m et nBasic
L'idée serait de pouvoir recréer les disquettes système et de jeux sans lecteur gotek ...

ajacocks · Jul 31, 2023

Welcome to the forum @bruce7491 . You might want to post in English, as this forum is primarily visited by English speakers.

- Alex

bruce7491 · Jul 31, 2023

Hi

I am French and I have a nec pc 8001B with a pc 8031B floppy drive
And pc 8033A i/o adapter
I am looking to have an nBasic disk system
I tried with d88 dump with a gotek drive instead of drive 1
Some games work but not cp/m and nBasic OS
The idea would be to be able to recreate the system and game floppies without a gotek drive...

someone has the floppy to help me?

Cheers

Ksinfos · Sep 24, 2023

Hi all,
I have a NEC PC8001B with 8011B and 8031B...
i doe nost have any documentation and i would like configure 8011B for activate 32kb RAM extend...
Because it's necessary to have 32kb ram extend for launch CP/M...
Nice day,
Carl

ajacocks · Sep 24, 2023

Welcome to the forum @Ksinfos !

- Alex

seat safety switch · Sep 25, 2023

I did a quick search and I found some info on setting the PC-8011 modes here on Enri's website. It's in Japanese, but Google Translate does a reasonable job of it.

Mode configuration is set as follows:

SW1-1	SW1-2	...produces Mode
ON	ON	0
ON	off	1
off	ON	2
off	off	3

It seems like you would get 32K of RAM address space no matter what, although I know my own PC-8001 does not have that much actual RAM. Maybe the PC-80s31 helps fill this in by adding another 16k to that of the base machine?

Mode 2 looks like the way to go for a full 64K, but he cautions:

However, even if the power is turned on in mode 2, virtually unusable as there is no program. Used for reset after program transfer

Not sure how that squares with CP/M. He also has a good page on the PC-80s31 disk unit, but I haven't read it yet. There is also the possibility of building this internal 32K board made by one of the Japanese hobbyists, but I'm not sure how CP/M wants to see the address space and/or ROMs.

Ksinfos · Sep 25, 2023

Hi,
Thank you for this information!
It clarified the subject for me...
Mode 2 doesn't allow you to boot into CP/M mode...
The machine boots but without a base ROM... so you can't do anything with this mode unless you have a custom ROM to boot from..?
In mode 0, 1 and 3, the machine boots, in BASIC, print FRE(0) displays 26786 free ram...probably, nBasic can't access the 32kb of module 8011...
I think my problem with CP/M is that I don't have any SSDS floppy or IMD image...and my PC-8031 is equipped with a double single-side drive...
Thanks again for everything!
Carl

jltursan · Sep 27, 2023

Yep, the CP/M images around are 340K. In my PC-8031 I've replaced drive 0 with a standard 3.5" drive, if it's a PC drive you only need to change from B: to A: (using jumpers, modding the PCB or simply swapping wires in the cable). Can't remember now if the RDY signal is also needed...

Ksinfos · Sep 27, 2023

Hi jltursan
Thanks for your advice, I think I read that you have to change the ROM of the 8031 in order to use a floppy DSDD ?
Carl

jltursan · Sep 28, 2023

Not change, just simple replacement as it was bad. You don't really need nothing special to replace one of the 5.25" drives with a 3.5" one, simply look for the right 3.5" drive and you're done.

Using an old PC drive with jumpers for DS0/DS1 and RDY/DCHG signal is your best bet as you can use a unmodified cable (of course with 3.5" headers). If you only have "modern" PC drives, you'll need to mod the PCB, most of them have internal jumpers to change all the needed settings or as a last resort, modding the cable.

alank2 · Sep 28, 2023

I'd love to see a picture of it jltursan!

jltursan · Sep 28, 2023

Yep, I'll open the PC-8031 and take the picture. My bad as I've been rotating this hardware recently without taking pics.
I've tested my PC-8801s and found that one needs some maintenance, the 8031 still booting 3.5" floppies flawlessly

jltursan · Sep 28, 2023

Here they're:

In the second picture you can see the replaced ROM with an EPROM (thinking about that, I can't be sure that the ROM was replaced with the same content, so I've dumped my EPROM, a TMS2516 and attached it as a binary file).
To the right, a tantalum cap can be seen replaced (badly) with an electrolytic one.

The cable is a straight one, just 5.25" and 3.5· headers. The power connector is obviously adapted to the 3.5" plug type.
The floppy drive is an Alps DF354H090F, detailed information about how to mod it to set it as DS0 and enable RDY can be found here: PC-Laufwerke für Amiga umbauen

Hope this helps...

Ksinfos · Sep 28, 2023

Jltursan, Many thanks !

My configuration :

Ksinfos · Sep 28, 2023

following a search in my attic, I found the PC8001, 8011 and 8031 documents!
As soon as I have a bit of time, I'm going to digitize them...

Searching for NEC PC-8001A software & hardware

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