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VG Vector 1++ floppy drive power connector

Looks like address line A4 is stuck high or stuck low. Since the monitor ROM seems to be working fine, then it's probably not a problem with the system bus or an address buffer on the ROM board (assuming the monitor ROM and the MZOS ROM are on the same board). Most likely, it's a pin/socket problem with the MZOS ROM and socket. Pull the ROM and reinsert it a few times to scrape the pins/sockets a bit. Be careful though - don't want to damage that chip - seems to be pretty rare!

If the duplicate "row" problem goes away when dumping from the monitor, then dump the ROM through the serial port again. Thanks!

Mike
 
So here's the funny part... I tried to remove the MZOS boot chip and all of the other chips on the PROM/RAM board to reseat them. No luck. Turns out I have another one of these VG PROM/RAM cards and still same thing. I took a look at the chip and...

MZOS Pin 4 Missing.jpg

That can't be good with pin 4 missing :)

Made a quick wedge...

MZOS Wedge.jpg

You will have mail shortly.
 
The new dump looks good! At quick glance, it's clear the MZOS ROM requires a Z80 CPU. It also assumes the FDC is at D800. However, looking at the pictures you posted, your system didn't come with a Z80 and the FDC is strapped at F800. I'm thinking the previous owner may have given up on MZOS and moved to Lifeboat CP/M (VG version but 8080 compatible).

Do do you want to proceed with CP/M or get MZOS up and running?

Mike
 
I have another S-100 computer that came in the lot. It had a strange Z80 card and now that I looked up the VG Z80 card, looks like it's a VG that's unmarked. Probably an early one that came out of the Vector 1++.

Here's a pic:

VG Z80 card.jpg

That computer also has a VG Micropolis controller in it. Is this one strapped for D800? It might be the original for the Vector 1++ as well:

VG Micropolis Contoller card.jpg

This was where I got the other PROM/RAM card and it also had the same Monitor but not a similar MZOS chip.

I'll look for the VG Micropolis manual and figure out how to see what address it is set up for.

I appreciate the help. I'd like to try to get the Vector 1++ back to stock.
 
Looks like this controller is strapped for F800 and 4mhz as well. Though the 4mhz isn't "hard" - software just looks at it as a flag to adjust disk timing loops for a 2mhz or 4mhz processor. The MZOS ROM may be hard coded for a processor speed for all we know.

A new wrinkle: I don't have access to MZOS disk images after all. They're in the catalog of files in the archive, but the actual disk image files for MZOS don't exist. I'm trying to get a disk from someone who may have some MZOS disks so I can archive them. I want to get MZOS up and running as well.

I see a CP/M binder in one of your photos. Maybe we should get you started with CP/M first.

Let me know how you'd like to proceed.

Mike
 
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I looked at the VG Micropolis Controller manual and I see the table with the jumpers but I don't see where they are on the actual board. Can you point them out?

Logically for me, the next step is to try to get some floppy drives in place. I can't do much without the drives. Yesterday I opened up one of my dual Micropolis drives to see if the individual drives could be removed. The drives are not individually self-contained with their own PCBs but rather, a single internal controller board is used for both drives. I don't think I can use the internals of this dual drive because there's way too many connectors and I don't see specific connectors like in my first post. I'll have to figure out something there.

I did find two floppy disks in the drive and this came from the same lot so I'd like to try to get the controller set up for MZOS and see if one of the two floppies works. One is trashed but the other may be usable.

In terms of the CP/M manuals, they are for 8" disks (which I also have) but I'm not sure where this fits into the picture. I think they are for an Exidy Sorcerer (some labels indicate this on 8" floppies that I have) but I don't have an S-100 expansion unit nor an 8" controller card for it. I do have one card as noted here: http://vintagecomputer.ca/the-exidy-sorcerer-mystery/ but it's unpolulated. That's a whole other matter.
 
Here is the jumper location on the board, and then location of jumpers within the detail area:

VG Micropolis Contoller card.jpg
address jumpers.jpg

The dual drive cabinet with a single internal disk PCB will work as-is with your Micropolis controller if you want to do some tests, but I imagine you'd rather fill the hole in the front of the Vector 1 with a couple of drives at some point.

We can get CP/M working on the 5.25" dual Micropolis drive with your Vector 1. The most likely hurdle will be mechanical disk drive problems. These drives typically need some cleaning and lube to get the door latch working, the worm gear cleaned and working, etc. Remove the drive belts and rotate the hub flywheels by hand. Do they spin freely or do you feel "detents" as you rotate the flywheel? I've had several of these drives with bad hub bearings.

I can attempt to read and archive the good floppy disk if you want.

Mike
 
I have imaged an MZOS 1.5 and 1.52 disk, but unfortunately, it appears that these versions of MZOS expect a newer version of the MZOS ROM than the one snucci has provided for us.

Snuci - please see if you can find an MZOS version number in the documents you have, or at least a date from the manual from which you posted a pic of the "new" MZOS operating system.

Anyone else have an MZOS ROM and/or versions of MZOS on disk prior to 1.5?

Mike
 
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Hi Mike,

It's version 1.4 of the manual. I've scanned it and uploaded it here if you'd like to have a look: http://vintagecomputer.ca/download/vector-graphic-moz-1-4-manual/

As an update, I added the jumper to my Micropolis floppy controller card but it turns out my Z80 card doesn't work. It was wired in to the reset switch of the TEI computer chassis so that might need to be reversed to work. I don't have another Z80 card so I'll try again with the 8080 card just to try to get some activity out of a floppy drive. I have one floppy that came in the drive but I doubt very much that it's an MZOS boot disk. I'll look further into my Z80 card to see if I can get it to work shortly.
 
This is great - thanks! I'll get the manual posted on the Vector Graphic archive and my website soon. Looks like information in the manual agrees with what I've found about the differences between MZOS ROMs and MZOS disk versions.

I was able to make a few simple patches to MZOS 1.5 and 1.52 last night to make them function with your MZOS 1.4 ROM. So even if we can't find an MZOS 1.5 ROM, or an MZOS 1.4 disk, we do have a working combination! Presently I have this running on a version of the Simh emulator I updated to support MZOS disks. I'll configure my MZ to run this for real soon.

In regard to your system, let's get it running Lifeboat CP/M 2.2 on your 8080 card. As a quick test to see some activity on the drive, restore your Micropolis FDC to the F800h base address. Turn on the computer and type "G F800" to call the boot ROM on the FDC. You should see the drive select light turn on and hear the head load. If you have disks we can use, I can get you up and running CP/M in less than 10 minutes without having to send you a disk (assuming the drive and FDC still work, of course!)

Mike
 
I'll give it a shot tonight. Thanks and glad the document helped. Where is the archive? I can look through what I have and see if anything is is needed that I may have.
 
Ok, I tried it with the IMSAI 8080 board and removed the jumper on the Micropolis board so it was like it was originally and nothing. I did find my video was flaky so knowing the 8080 board was good, I wiggled everything and it worked.

I then removed the jumper, tried with the VG Z80 board ans it is good but when I hit "e", it would say retrying and cycle through. I hit the reset and I did catch it saying "disk offline".

I have two of three working Micropolis drives (as far as working). They don't make a sound until I put disk in and it spins and spins until i take the disk out (as you mentioned previously). My units both light up with "2" on top and "3" on the bottom. Should there be a "0" and "1"?

I am off to find the Micropolis drive manual...
 
I'm not quite sure if I follow your sequence of tests, but when you have the FDC strapped at F800, try a disk boot by using the GO TO ("G") command with an argument of F800 (I.e., not the "E" command). The boot drive is drive 0, so yes, it sounds like you may need to adjust some jumpers in your drive cabinet.

If nothing happens, run a checksum on the FDC ROMs by typing "Q F800 F8FF." The result should be BC.

When running a Z80, you can try booting with the MZOS boot ROM by strapping the FDC at D800 and using the "E" command with no arguments, or the "G" command with an argument of C400.

Mike
 
I'm not quite sure if I follow your sequence of tests, but when you have the FDC strapped at F800, try a disk boot by using the GO TO ("G") command with an argument of F800 (I.e., not the "E" command). The boot drive is drive 0, so yes, it sounds like you may need to adjust some jumpers in your drive cabinet.

I had a bad power supply in one unit which is a 1053 Mod II so I took out the main board and put it into one of my other 1035-II units (numbers not transposed). I hooked up the wires similarly (the boards are different) and powered it up. It is now Drive 0 and Drive 1. First off, when I put a disk in, the spindle motor goes but the little felt backer for the head doesn't come down. Nor does the head move.

When I do a "G F800" the cursor doesn't go to the next line but freezes.

If nothing happens, run a checksum on the FDC ROMs by typing "Q F800 F8FF." The result should be BC.

I did a checksum on F800 and it returns "BC".


When running a Z80, you can try booting with the MZOS boot ROM by strapping the FDC at D800 and using the "E" command with no arguments, or the "G" command with an argument of C400.

I did the "G" but it says 'Retrying" and cycles through in a loop. I hit the reset button and I did catch it saying "Disk Offline".

I don't know these drives so it's kinda difficult to know what is supposed to happen. I will read the manual that I found for the newer 1053 Mod II drive and see what I can do. If I have to, I'll take out the 1053 Mod II drives and put them in the other chassis to see if that makes a difference.

I'm pretty sure I have two bad disks but it should, at least try to read. I don't see that happening at this point but I am getting closer.

Thank you for the help.
 
I'll have to look. I think I might have that but definitely not the MZOS code that I was looking for. I'll take a look tomorrow.

This morning I grabbed a Micropolis binder that had some code in it an took it to work. Turns out it's the same as http://www.textfiles.com/bitsavers/...oppy/1084-01_1040_1050_Users_Manual_Apr79.pdf. It has some code in it but it doesn't specifically say Monitor 2.0. I'll keep looking.

Looking at that Metafloppy directory, I think I have all of those manuals. I brought mine to work to scan it but since it's already up, there's no need.

Hope this helps.
 
It spins continuously until I eject the disk. I thought you mentioned that you noticed it was set this way before?

Yes, that sounds correct. This means the motor-on line from the controller is getting to your drives. Minor success, but at least we know pin 16 is making it from one end to the other and that the drive electronics see that signal.

Drive select for drive 0 is on connector pin 10. When this asserts, the light on the front of the drive should come on and you should hear the head load (if a floppy is inserted). Check this signal before you boot and verify it's high, then verify the signal goes to ground when you issue the GOTO command to boot. Verify this at the controller end and at the drive end.

Mike
 
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