A while back I started studying more about the Sharp PC-5000 (and had it up
and running at VCFSW in 2023). I'm now coming back to that project, and
one thing I was never able to find was a compatible 5.25 disk drive.
I've collected some information about this system at here:
https://voidstar.blog/sharp-pc-5000/
And I am hoping to put together a video about out. But one challenging
aspect is that its LCD screen is difficult to record (lots of
reflections). And despite having lots of schematic documentation now, I'm
still not savvy enough to try to export its screen content to an external
device that might have a backlight.
From my notes, as I recall.... The 37-pin connector at the back of the
PC-5000 is not the same as the 37-pin connector at the back of the IO card
with the original IBM PC 5150. I believe the Sharp product model number
I am looking for CE-510F (which might be the same as MZ-80B in certain
markets).
This isn't an urgent thing - the Bubble Memory modules of this PC-5000 are
still all working fine and make the system functional. But I do have a set
of disk with the system that might be interesting to try out. So just
broadcasting here, on the off-chance someone might be familiar with these
and know of a stash of accessories (most likely within a Japanese-speaking
community, where I think Sharp products were generally more popular).
Thanks!
Steve v*
If I remember right I was told back in the early 70s by our IBM CE that physical damage could be done to our model 30 or 40 if we ran a program that did an Assembler instruction, B * For those non-Assembler people that is an instruction to branch to the location of the instruction. I think it might have caused a heat problem in the core or CCROS or TROS.
Possible? Or is my 76 year old brain hallucinating?
Hi everyone,
Does anyone have the source for the ZRQCxx formatter? I have found a pdf
for ZRQCE0 but am curious if the actual source code for that one, or ZRQCH0
is available? I'd like to make some changes to the UIT table.
-Peter
You'd think an IBM operating system on an IBM ThinkPad would be easy-peasy
- but good grief, it's taken me over a year to finally get a magic formula
that works. Not too new, not too old.... (and yes, I have ArcaOS too, but
I wanted an OG 1994 install)
One interesting thing I found is that OS/2 can actually run SecondReality
(in full screen, but it suspends it when I ALT-ESC to something else) --
including with SBPro audio. I couldn't do that with WinXP yet (same
hardware), even though trying explicit DOS settings. I may tinker some
more on that, but rebooting to "MS-DOS Mode" in 95/98 can changing EMM386
from NOEMS to RAM then SR works.
I'll do a write up on the adventure soon-ish, I'm still trying to figure
out the TCP/IP settings stuff for OS/2. My first experience on the
Internet was "borrowing" my sister's credit card and racking up $100 for an
afternoon of web-surfing on dial up, with OS/2 Warp in 1994. A graphical
Traceroute was so neat to see, a graphical Gopher, and some early web
sites. Frankly, that day I fully realized that "BBS's are done for" (or
cute ANSI couldn't compete with HTML).
I paid my sister back, eventually. At the time I thought it was just an
activation gate, didn't realize there was a per-minute charge. Sorry sis!
Don't leave your card out on the table :P
-Steve
Hi guys,
I've got a bunch of TMS32020 and two TMS320C25 Chips and I want to play
with them a little :-)
Is the old DOS (orf VMS?) Software still available from somewhere?
(Yes, I have an VS4000-90 under the desk..long time ago since I've last
booted it, but ...simh also exists).
I'm looking for assembler, linker and the simulator that was abailable
when those chips came out (1986...) but I can't find any occurences
of that old stuff anymore.
Was a C compiler available for those old DSP's?
Regards,
Holm
--
Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe,
Goethestrasse 15, 09569 Oederan, USt-Id: DE253710583
info(a)tsht.de Tel +49 37292 709778 Mobil: 0172 8790 741
Sorry you'll notice also on the lower half of the front is an aluminium cover that detaches with a couple of screws, revealing another card with additional labelling on it. Also have a look around the inside of the case. Any of those thin, printed strips are where you'll likely find one (or more) of these 005- series numbers. On my unit, the '6098-4' label can be seen on the external rear of the machine, adjacent to and below where the label describing the power characteristics is located.
Hi Paul,
Actually I've got a couple of these units, and as Bruce has indicated yes they're a Data General manufactured product. (Bruce is the one with vastly more DG knowledge than myself).
Mine is a '6098', which is really an integrated combination of fixed disk drive, floppy disk drive and controller card.
As Bruce has mentioned there will also be the internal DG product number, prefixed with 005, on it somewhere (it's possible yours isn't exactly the same model as mine).
This manual is up on Bitsavers:
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dg/disc/Disc_Subsystem/014-000638-00_6097_6098…
DG manufactured drives up through 300MB removable pack type drives, and fixed drives with capacities into the multi-GB area (used in MV series systems).
Can anyone identify the 14" HDD seen in the following photo (not mine)?
It's unusual in that there are two moving heads on the top surface of the
platter. I presume that there's a fixed head on the bottom surface for the
clock track. This is from a Data General 6100 disc subsystem which is
advertised as 25MB capacity. There's a related model with half that
capacity.
https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?attachments/img_5116-jpeg.1288418
The only thing that I can say for sure is that it's visually not a Shugart
SA4000 and that exhausts my knowledge on the subject..
While I presume that the 25-signal twisted-pair ribbon cable is for control
signals, there is also a 16(?) line grey ribbon cable connected to the left
side of the DG-specific power control PCB. I'm guessing that would be
data/clock lines from hidden electronics where the 25-signal twisted-pair
ribbon originates; not sure what else may be then happening on the
DG-specific power control PCB.
Thank you for any insights into manufacturer, model, and documentation.
-paul
