5 Nov
2011
5 Nov
'11
8:14 a.m.
I am sure that I represent a very small number of the members of this list,
the great majority of whom have more technical knowledge in their pinky
than I have in my whole body. But I may represent those of us at whom the
Kryo-Flux is at least partially aimed. I built my Sol-20 from a kit
because I wanted a personal computer, could program in BASIC, FORTRAN, a
little COBOL, a little C, and I knew which end of a soldering iron to hold
on to. I am still a Heathkit/Dynaco kind of a hardware guy. I have a
general understanding of maybe half of the technical concepts discussed on
the list and can't contribute much beyond my 'power user' knowledge of
S-100 machines and CP/M and what I remember from Sol Libes' S-100
Microcomputing, PC Tech Journal, BYTE, Interface Age, etc. I could patch a
BIOS if necessary but my longest assembly language routine was about 13
bytes long. But I lurk here because I still have my Sol, some NorthStar
drives, and even an 8" drive (which I once had Steve Ciarcia help me get
working on my IBM AT!).
My interest in the KryoFlux and the DiscFerret is both personal and
potentially of use to the wider micro community in that I still have
hundreds of 5.25" and 8" disks, many of them original, many more not. I
simply enjoy tinkering with my machine and old software. I publicly give
loud thanks to Jim Battle, Dave Dunfield, and others who have provided
emulators, but I lack the determination (and space) (and my skills are VERY
rusty) to set up my PC and Sol with both 5.25" and 8" drives under both
NS-DOS and CP/M to read (and write?)and transfer the variety of hard and
soft-sectored formatted software I have (with Kryo-Flux and DiscFerret in
their present states). And I want to be able to preserve this software.
Most of the big-name commercial software I have has already been preserved
(but I may have a missing version). I was a software junkie back then and
have more stuff than I can even recall. I am more than willing, nay, I am
eager to save this stuff. I can offer my time and effort but I don't have
the skills at the currently necessary levels to further the general effort.
But what I need is a more semi-'turnkey' solution. I want something like
Grumpy Ol' Fred's Xeno-Disk running under Windows or OSX or linux talking
to a Kryoflux or DiscFerret attached to my still operating (for now) 5.25",
8" and plain vanilla 3.5" drives (and one at a time is fine). I want to be
able to save my old programs in a format that can be used by the emulators
available. I will send copies (and what documentation I have or can
create) to any preservation society that wants it. This may not be much of
a contribution but it is what I can do. And I suspect that there may be a
whole lot more of 'me' out there. Whether we do it for fun, for nostalgia
or for giving back to the micro community, it has got to be a 'plug 'n'
play' type solution. I don't have and never expect to see some of the more
exotic formats that some on this list deal with regularly. OTOH, I believe
that I represent a mainstream portion of 'old geeks' who were the early
adopters in the '70's and '80's and can still contribute something now if
we have the tools.
Maybe what I want will eventually happen. Maybe publicity efforts by
libraries, preservation societies, etc. can make people aware that their
cache of old disks has value and that they can contribute them directly or
they can buy a device that easily connects their current computer to older
drives so they can do it themselves. I don't mind paying $150 for the
hardware AND software to do this. I hope that there are others (hopefully
many others) like me out there. Are there? I don't know, but if you are
reading this, please chime in.
I applaud the people involved in these efforts. I have sent N* formatted
disks and some technical docs to Phil (and have offered the same to
KryoFlux). But that's about all I can do now. I'll just keep 'lurking'
and hope that a solution which fits me will get here before I 'shuffle off
this mortal coil.'
Bob Stek
Saver of lost Sols