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Transferring text files from Kaypro II to Windows machine.

D

DavidWien

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2026
Messages
48
Location
Vienna, Austria
I have bought a Kaypro II, and when I have got it running as it should, I intend to use it for writing text with Perfect Writer. I used to do this in the 1980s with my first Kaypro, and wrote substantial documents with it. The documents I am now writing will need to be transferred to Word and sent to my publisher (who does all the pretty formatting).

In the fullness of time I expect to be using an HXC floppy emulator and I am not sure what would be the best way of transferring the text to the PC. Here are what in my naivety I imagine to be possible methods:

-- Put the SD card into the Drive B reader on my PC.
-- Transfer files via serial port to USB input.
-- Transfer files via Ethernet or WIFI.

Once on the PC, I will refine the text files in EMACS and transfer them to Word. (This is the part of the process that I know well!)

To start with I shall be using my Kaypro unmodified, using option 2 or 3. It may be that option 1 is not viable at all, so when the HXC is running I would then continue using option 2 or 3.

Many thanks for your advice.

David
 
I don't know your machine, but if it has a serial port and your other computer does too, it might be the easiest way as you can leave cabling in place, especially if you can get the speed up to around 19200 or 38400. Serial ports are always interesting to get the proper cable for though 🙂
 
Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen said:
I don't know your machine, but if it has a serial port and your other computer does too, it might be the easiest way as you can leave cabling in place, especially if you can get the speed up to around 19200 or 38400. Serial ports are always interesting to get the proper cable for though 🙂
Click to expand...
My Kaypro has a serial port (RS232), but the PC has only USB and Ethernet.
 
USB <-> RS232 serial dongles are kind of a standard thing.
The opposite of using Gotek/HXC/whatnot would be to get an extra disk drive and a GreaseWeazle (or Kryoflux) that you connect to your modern computer using USB, and allows you to read/write vintage computer disk formats.

Another issue is if there is any formatting in the documents you produce, and if so if it's important that they transfer correctly?
I would think that if it's a word processor rather than a text editor it adds line feed and/or CR whenever you press return/enter, and otherwise stores every paragraph as a single super long "line" of text. If so then you should be able to load it into Word or whatnot, and save it as a word document for your publisher.
If there are special control characters that end up in the document then you might have to do something to handle those correctly. If you use a serial port you might be able to configure the word processor to use the serial port as a printer port, and tell it that you have a "dumb" printer that only does the most basic things (I.E. basically just supports moving to the next line), and "print" to the serial port while you set a comm/terminal program on your modern computer to capture everything you receive.
The downside of doing something like that is that you have no error checking. There is probably no risk of errors in the form of line noise (like on the oldest modems without built in error correction), but it might be a good idea to anyway use some error checking, and then the idea of "print to serial port" won't work. Also to use error checking when transferring via the serial ports you need a Kaypro / CP/M program for sending files using any of the standard "send over serial line" protocols, like Kermit, X-Modem, Y-Modem, Z-Modem or whatnot.
 
Thanks for your help MiaM. Perfect Writer produces pure 7-bit ascii text, as it is based on EMACS, so no problems there.

I was thinking of using Kermit. The only problem, as I see it is in making the Serial-USB electrical connection. I know nothing about "USB <-> RS232 serial dongles". Wikipedia says there are various varieties of these. What am I looking for? Thanks for engaging!
David
 
Unfortunately, because practically no one back in the day followed any sort of standard for RS-232, getting the right combination of adapters is not easy. I have connected up the serial port on my Kaypro to a PC, but I was using parts I had on-hand. You'll need a DB25M-to-DB9F (or M) adapter, then a USB-DB9 dongle to match. Typically, that will work but sometimes you'll need a "null modem" adapter in between to swap the signals around.

There are many options out there, here is one for the DB25-to-DB9: https://www.digikey.com/en/products...ivity-solutions-aim-cambridge/30-9516/3830325. some of these adapters include a "null modem" pinout - which may or may not require an additional "null modem" to undo that. Here's one example of a null modem adapter: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/advantech-corporation/BB-31D1-28100/18697745.

The USB-RS232 dongles may also come in different types, different pinouts. That can also affect the need for a null modem to reverse things. Here's an example of one:https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/qvs/UR-2000M2/29177417. Note that these devices are everywhere, and many companies are making them. That means you can find good deals, but also a lot of variation as to pinout and connector gender. Try for one that mates with your DB25-DB9 adapter, just to avoid the need for more finagling.

Also, disclaimer: The links I posted are just examples. While I personally use DigiKey, these particular products are just random examples. I do have a bunch of the null modem adapters, as I am/was often faced with getting a serial connection going.
 
durgadas311 said:
Unfortunately, because practically no one back in the day followed any sort of standard for RS-232, getting the right combination of adapters is not easy. I have connected up the serial port on my Kaypro to a PC, but I was using parts I had on-hand. You'll need a DB25M-to-DB9F (or M) adapter, then a USB-DB9 dongle to match. Typically, that will work but sometimes you'll need a "null modem" adapter in between to swap the signals around.

There are many options out there, here is one for the DB25-to-DB9: https://www.digikey.com/en/products...ivity-solutions-aim-cambridge/30-9516/3830325. some of these adapters include a "null modem" pinout - which may or may not require an additional "null modem" to undo that. Here's one example of a null modem adapter: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/advantech-corporation/BB-31D1-28100/18697745.

The USB-RS232 dongles may also come in different types, different pinouts. That can also affect the need for a null modem to reverse things. Here's an example of one:https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/qvs/UR-2000M2/29177417. Note that these devices are everywhere, and many companies are making them. That means you can find good deals, but also a lot of variation as to pinout and connector gender. Try for one that mates with your DB25-DB9 adapter, just to avoid the need for more finagling.

Also, disclaimer: The links I posted are just examples. While I personally use DigiKey, these particular products are just random examples. I do have a bunch of the null modem adapters, as I am/was often faced with getting a serial connection going.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for your help, Doug. I see that Digikey have an €18 charge for orders under €50. A few of these charges can seriously affect the bank balance. I normally make up my own leads, anyway, though I wont mess with the USB end! So I just need to know what needs to be connected to what. Your first paragraph looks like a good start.
David
 
I had to go out shopping and, thinking about it on the way, I realise that my PC may have another USB-C header on the mainboard and I may be able to achieve a connection to the Kaypro with a single cable, without the need to mess with a DB25-DB9 adaptor...
 
I was certainly not suggesting DigiKey as your supplier, that's simply a easy place for me to get reliable product information and URLs. From there, you can see product info enough to find a supplier of similar products that's closer to you.

I'm not following your bit about not needing a DB25-DB9 adapter, unless you're planning on USB-serial dongles that terminate in a DB25M. You may still need to add a null-modem if the pinout is not correct (this one being DB25 instead of DB9). You may find that DB25 components in modern times are scarce and more expensive, which might favor transitioning to DB9 right away. Once you're on DB9, all those components are useful for a wider range of systems.
 
durgadas311 said:
Unfortunately, because practically no one back in the day followed any sort of standard for RS-232, getting the right combination of adapters is not easy. I have connected up the serial port on my Kaypro to a PC, but I was using parts I had on-hand. You'll need a DB25M-to-DB9F (or M) adapter, then a USB-DB9 dongle to match. Typically, that will work but sometimes you'll need a "null modem" adapter in between to swap the signals around.

There are many options out there, here is one for the DB25-to-DB9: https://www.digikey.com/en/products...ivity-solutions-aim-cambridge/30-9516/3830325. some of these adapters include a "null modem" pinout - which may or may not require an additional "null modem" to undo that. Here's one example of a null modem adapter: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/advantech-corporation/BB-31D1-28100/18697745.

The USB-RS232 dongles may also come in different types, different pinouts. That can also affect the need for a null modem to reverse things. Here's an example of one:https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/qvs/UR-2000M2/29177417. Note that these devices are everywhere, and many companies are making them. That means you can find good deals, but also a lot of variation as to pinout and connector gender. Try for one that mates with your DB25-DB9 adapter, just to avoid the need for more finagling.

Also, disclaimer: The links I posted are just examples. While I personally use DigiKey, these particular products are just random examples. I do have a bunch of the null modem adapters, as I am/was often faced with getting a serial connection going.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for your help, Doug. I see that Digikey have an €18 charge for orders under €50. A few of these charges can seriously affect the bank balance. I normally make up my own leads, anyway, though I wont mess with the USB plug end! So I just need to know what needs to be connected to what. Your first paragraph looks like a good start.
David
 
>I was certainly not suggesting DigiKey as your supplier, that's simply a easy place for me to get reliable product information and URLs. From there, you can see product info enough to find a supplier of similar products that's closer to you.

My point is that there are no longer any suppliers of such products with brick and mortar stores in Austria. Everything has to be mail-ordered on the internet, with the need to weigh shipping and costs against buying everything at the same company. Mouser is now usually the most expensive, whereas I used to do a lot of business with them.

As I understand it, a "null modem" is in the wiring and doesnt require extra hardware. If I make my own cables, it is simple to cross over the connections. Why should I want to buy this already done for me? :)
David
 
DavidWien said:
As I understand it, a "null modem" is in the wiring and doesnt require extra hardware. If I make my own cables, it is simple to cross over the connections. Why should I want to buy this already done for me?
Click to expand...
Modern day wiring diagrams are designed around the pinout used on PCs - which generally does not match hardware designed before it became dominant.
 
DavidWien said:
As I understand it, a "null modem" is in the wiring and doesnt require extra hardware. If I make my own cables, it is simple to cross over the connections. Why should I want to buy this already done for me? :)
David
Click to expand...
The RS-232 pin mapping is asymmetrical - for connecting e.g. a computer to a modem so the modem can tell the computer that a character is available and to hold back sending until the previous character has been transmitted - and therefore the pins do not map up when wanting to connect a computer to another computer. The null-modem cable is a trick to make each computer think that the other computer is a modem by switching pins around, and there are several ways to do this depending on what you want to actually work and what you want to fake, and it may take research and trial and error to get the cable right.

If you think that is fun and enjoyable (like I did) then get something that can help you see if signals are high or low, and play with a fully populated cable. If not, then research what cable variety your computer supports and buy that - they are not expensive.

I found that Claude Code (my current AI minion) could program USB-adapters with the FDTI-chip on my host, and help me verify the cable was correct, before doing experiments on the speed.
 
DavidWien said:
I have bought a Kaypro II, and when I have got it running as it should, I intend to use it for writing text with Perfect Writer. I used to do this in the 1980s with my first Kaypro, and wrote substantial documents with it. The documents I am now writing will need to be transferred to Word and sent to my publisher (who does all the pretty formatting).

In the fullness of time I expect to be using an HXC floppy emulator and I am not sure what would be the best way of transferring the text to the PC. Here are what in my naivety I imagine to be possible methods:

-- Put the SD card into the Drive B reader on my PC.
-- Transfer files via serial port to USB input.
-- Transfer files via Ethernet or WIFI.

Once on the PC, I will refine the text files in EMACS and transfer them to Word. (This is the part of the process that I know well!)

To start with I shall be using my Kaypro unmodified, using option 2 or 3. It may be that option 1 is not viable at all, so when the HXC is running I would then continue using option 2 or 3.

Many thanks for your advice.

David
Click to expand...
David -- Here is what I use for serial transfer on an old Xerox 820. Obviously, it is just a 3-wire interface, so it would not work with something like Kermit (that requires handshake). The RS232 to TTL jig uses a SMT MAX232 that is powered from the USB side. The USB jig is just one of those ubiquitous things (maybe IDed as 2102?). I don't know how the Kaypro II serial compares to what is used on the Xerox 820.

Roger
 

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This is what I've used on my Kaypro. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to fire it up and confirm the exact configuration - it may or may not require the NULL MODEM adapter.
1777998165570.png 1777998410347.png
 
deramp5113 said:
Here are XMODEM utilities that work on a Kaypro 10 if your serial port confirmation is similar to that. See the readme file for more info.

deramp.com

deramp.com deramp.com

Mike D
Click to expand...
Thanks, Mike, for your response. I have downloaded PCGET.COM and PCPUT.COM from your link; but I do not know how to get these files on to my Kaypro II and the problem is actually a hardware one, which I have not yet solved. Here in Austria, everything has to be bought from Germany by mail order and can take weeks to arrive.
David
 
DavidWien said:
Thanks, Mike, for your response. I have downloaded PCGET.COM and PCPUT.COM from your link; but I do not know how to get these files on to my Kaypro II and the problem is actually a hardware one, which I have not yet solved. Here in Austria, everything has to be bought from Germany by mail order and can take weeks to arrive.
David
Click to expand...
How much is working now? You only need a few wires to get the no-hardware handshake working, which can be enough to get small transfers across as HEX with a slow enough baud rate.
 
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