16 Jul
2008
16 Jul
'08
4:41 p.m.
I've found machine that I think is a prototype for the Osborne Vixen.
From the outside the case looks exactly like a Vixen
case except that mine
is a ugly brown color rather than the grey/white color scheme
you usually
see and when you open it up it's slightly different from a "production"
Vixen - the floppy drives in mine are horizontal rather than vertical and
the back panel is re-arranged a little. There are no labels of any kind on
the machine except for the giant "OSBORNE" that's molded into the plastic,
and the PCB inside says "Osborne Computer Corp, Rev 2". When you turn it
on, though, it identifies itself as an "OCC 4" and asks for a boot diskette,
so I'm thinking that must be what it is.
Has anybody seen a Vixen in this style? None of the photos I've found on
the web look like this configuration.
And does anybody have software for the OCC4? Will the boot diskettes for
an OCC1 or Executive work on it?
Thanks,
Bob Armstrong
16 Jul
16 Jul
5:17 p.m.
On Wed, 16 Jul 2008, Bob Armstrong wrote:
I've found machine that I think is a prototype
for the Osborne Vixen.
I have a Vixen that looks exactly like the one here:
http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/osborne/index.htm
...except that it has no nameplate on the front and no labels in the
back. There are no signs that it ever had them. Mine powers up with
"OCC4 1.04" with a copyright date of 1984, and asks for a disk.
http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/Osborne/Vixen.html
Dave has a set of disks for the Vixen:
http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/img03806/d/o4vixen.zip
They work on my machine.
Mike Loewen mloewen at cpumagic.scol.pa.us
Old Technology http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/
From the outside the case looks exactly like a
Vixen case except that mine
is a ugly brown color rather than the grey/white color
scheme you usually
see and when you open it up it's slightly different from a "production"
Vixen - the floppy drives in mine are horizontal rather than vertical and
the back panel is re-arranged a little. There are no labels of any kind on
the machine except for the giant "OSBORNE" that's molded into the plastic,
and the PCB inside says "Osborne Computer Corp, Rev 2". When you turn it
on, though, it identifies itself as an "OCC 4" and asks for a boot diskette,
so I'm thinking that must be what it is. 
7:25 p.m.
Dave has a set of disks for the Vixen:
http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/img03806/d/o4vixen.zip
They work on my machine.
I was wondering if you could explain to me what is not clear about
this request, which is posted (bolded) at both the top and bottom
of my disk images page:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please DO NOT link to any section below this page - It is important that
anyone accessing these files view this page first.
NOTE: These pages are moved on a regular basis to discourage direct links.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
You couldn't possibly have gotten to the file you posted without passing
through this page - there simply are no other stable links to that file
than on the page carrying these notices.
I'm trying to understand why people are don't see or understand this simple
request - I think it's a reasonable request... There are notices on the images
page that I want people to see before downloading files. Plus, the images
page will give them access to the tools and information they need to recreate
disks from the images. And ... they even get a little description telling them
that the file they are downloading might be. Yet people ignore this request,
and continue to post broken links (fwiw, the link you posted is broken by now).
The best way to access the disk image archive is by going to the main site:
www.classiccmp.org/dunfield
And clicking on the "Download Software/Images" link at the bottom of the
main page.
If you really just can't bear to go to the main site, then the images page
itself is relatively stable:
www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/index.htm
although I won't make any guarantees about this. Anything further in *IS*
guaranteed to NOT be stable, and moves on a regular basis.
Dave
--
dave06a (at) Dave Dunfield
dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com
com Collector of vintage computing equipment:
http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/index.html
6:50 p.m.
New subject: deep linking policy (was Re: Osborne Computer 4 (Vixen) prototype?)
Dave Dunfield wrote:
I was wondering if you could explain to me what is not
clear about
this request, which is posted (bolded) at both the top and bottom
of my disk images page:
The problem is the usage model of the web. Just because something
happens to be on a page, at the top or bottom (or both), doesn't mean
that anyone is going to bother to read it.
Your URL randomization scheme is a (somewhat) reasonable way to prevent
deep linking. Expecting people not to do so simply out of respect for a
statement on a web page that they may or may not have actually read is
doomed to failure.
I'm trying to understand why people are don't
see or understand this simple
request
If I search for "sinusoidal depleneration" using a search engine, and go
to a web page from the results, I'm more likely to just hit control-F
and search for that term within the page, rather than bother to read
notices at the top of the page.
I think it's a reasonable request...
Opinions are bound to vary on that. I would argue that simply by virtue
of that fact that almost no web sites make such a request, that it is
effectively not reasonable.
Best regards,
Eric
6:56 p.m.
New subject: deep linking policy (was Re: Osborne Computer 4 (Vixen) prototype?)
Eric Smith wrote:
Dave Dunfield wrote:
Dave,
You can always have your web server software check the referring URL for
all of your downloadable files to make sure that people are clicking
through your website. Not foolproof, but it'll work the vast majority
of the time.
Peace... Sridhar
I was wondering if you could explain to me what
is not clear about
this request, which is posted (bolded) at both the top and bottom
of my disk images page:
The problem is the usage model of the web. Just because something
happens to be on a page, at the top or bottom (or both), doesn't mean
that anyone is going to bother to read it.
Your URL randomization scheme is a (somewhat) reasonable way to prevent
deep linking. Expecting people not to do so simply out of respect for a
statement on a web page that they may or may not have actually read is
doomed to failure. 
7:05 p.m.
New subject: deep linking policy (was Re: Osborne Computer 4 (Vixen) prototype?)
It was thus said that the Great Sridhar Ayengar once stated:
Eric Smith wrote:
And on the page you want people to hit first, add the following to the
<HEAD> section:
<meta name="robots" content="index,nofollow">
That means (to the search engines that respect it, like Google) to index
the contents of the page, but not to follow any links (like, to the
individual files).
-spc
Dave Dunfield wrote:
Dave,
You can always have your web server software check the referring URL for
all of your downloadable files to make sure that people are clicking
through your website. Not foolproof, but it'll work the vast majority
of the time. I was wondering if you could explain to me what is
not clear about
this request, which is posted (bolded) at both the top and bottom
of my disk images page:
The problem is the usage model of the web. Just because something
happens to be on a page, at the top or bottom (or both), doesn't mean
that anyone is going to bother to read it.
Your URL randomization scheme is a (somewhat) reasonable way to prevent
deep linking. Expecting people not to do so simply out of respect for a
statement on a web page that they may or may not have actually read is
doomed to failure. 
11:21 p.m.
New subject: deep linking policy (was Re: Osborne Computer 4 (Vixen)prototype?)
Sean Conner wrote:
And on the page you want people to hit first, add
the following to
the <HEAD> section:
<meta name="robots" content="index,nofollow">
That means (to the search engines that respect it, like Google) to
index
the contents of the page, but not to follow any links (like, to the
individual files).
Doesn't that mean that the Internete Archive (aka wayback) won't make
copies of stuff?
This has turned out to be pretty useful in recovering "vanished" stuff
before now!
Antonio
5:33 p.m.
On 16 Jul 2008 at 16:41, Bob Armstrong wrote:
I've found machine that I think is a prototype
for the Osborne Vixen.
Is that "ugly brown" the color of the foam on a root-beer float? If
so, that's the color of the high-density foam used to make cases.
Maybe not a prototype, but at least unpainted. Could be a Vixen
cobbled together for internal use (by the technical staff) or by some
enterprising technician who got his hands on a pile of parts.
The prototype O1 that I saw didn't have a case. It was simply a
bunch of stuff wired up and strewn across a tabletop at Sorcim.
Back then, a lot of model shops would machine up prototype cases from
acrylic sheet and have then painted. It was usual for the molding
shops to produce a few unpainted "proof" cases of the structural foam
for the customer's approval--that's likely what you've got.
Cheers,
Chuck
From the outside the case looks exactly like a
Vixen case except that mine
is a ugly brown color rather than the grey/white color
scheme you usually
see and when you open it up it's slightly different from a "production"
Vixen - the floppy drives in mine are horizontal rather than vertical and
the back panel is re-arranged a little. There are no labels of any kind on
the machine except for the giant "OSBORNE" that's molded into the plastic,
and the PCB inside says "Osborne Computer Corp, Rev 2". When you turn it
on, though, it identifies itself as an "OCC 4" and asks for a boot diskette,
so I'm thinking that must be what it is. 
6:06 p.m.
Bob Armstrong wrote:
I've found machine that I think is a prototype
for the Osborne Vixen.
From the outside the case looks exactly like a Vixen case except that mine
is a ugly brown color rather than the grey/white color scheme you usually
see and when you open it up it's slightly different from a "production"
Vixen - the floppy drives in mine are horizontal rather than vertical and
the back panel is re-arranged a little. There are no labels of any kind on
the machine except for the giant "OSBORNE" that's molded into the plastic,
and the PCB inside says "Osborne Computer Corp, Rev 2". When you turn it
on, though, it identifies itself as an "OCC 4" and asks for a boot diskette,
so I'm thinking that must be what it is.
Has anybody seen a Vixen in this style? None of the
photos I've found on
the web look like this configuration.
I'm remembering....
There was an issue of Microcomputing/Kilobaud that ran photos of Adam
Osborne showing the Executive and the Vixen, and the Vixen in those
photos had drives in the "other" orientation from the example I have.
I don't recall which issue this was, but am certain that it was in
Microcomputing/Kilobaud, and I'm thinking it was the issue that went
to press just after OCC filed Chapter 11.
I'm thinking the unit shown may have had a smaller CRT than the production
Vixen/OCC4 too.
And does anybody have software for the OCC4? Will
the boot diskettes for
an OCC1 or Executive work on it?
I think I've got it but it'll take a while for me to get to 'em.
-Frank McConnell
7:25 p.m.
And does anybody have software for the OCC4? Will
the boot diskettes for
an OCC1 or Executive work on it?
I have images of the O4 (Vixen) disks up on my site.
www.classiccmp.org/dunfield
- Visit "Software/Images" near the end of the main page.
Dave
--
dave06a (at) Dave Dunfield
dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com
com Collector of vintage computing equipment:
http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/index.html
6002
days inactive
6003
days old
9 comments
9 participants
participants (9)
-
arcarlini＠iee.org -
bob＠jfcl.com -
cclist＠sydex.com -
dave06a＠dunfield.com -
eric＠brouhaha.com -
fmc＠reanimators.org -
mloewen＠cpumagic.scol.pa.us -
ploopster＠gmail.com -
spc＠conman.org