In article <002101c757b2$6a8c18f0$0100000a at pentium>, "Lance Lyon" <lance.w.lyon at gmail.com> writes: You could try and find something really small here: <ftp://ftp.simtel.net/.2/simtelnet/msdos/commprog/> Look for a small .COM utility that just barely transfers files. Dump it out in hex. Type it in via the debug command as raw memory :-( Save it to a file from debug. Run it to bootstrap yourself into a reall comm program. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html> Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>

On 23 Feb 2007 at 19:34, Fred Cisin wrote: I'll check--if so, a laplink parallel cable will work for parallel-to- parallel port transfers. I always thought that interlink was a blatant ripoff of laplink. Cheers, Chuck

Fred Cisin wrote: I am thinking interlnk/intersvr didn't turn up 'til MS-DOS 6.0. I used to use them to back up my HP100LX (with the 100LX running INTERSVR.EXE under its in-ROM MS-DOS 5.0), and I'm thinking they weren't available 'til I upgraded the desktop PC from MS-DOS 5.0 to MS-DOS 6. -Frank McConnell

Fred Cisin wrote: I have never heard of that at all -- What was the exact name, and why was it necessary? I have PC DOS 3.3 here but I don't see anything like what you're describing... -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/ Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/

The original IBM Printer card (the printer-only one used in the PC and XT), but not the MDA adapter (which also included a printer port, of course) have 3 little solder pads in a a line at 0.1" space. 2 of them are linked by a trace. If you cut this trace and solder a 3-pin header in place, you can fit a jumper link. In one position the card is a normal output-only card (the OE/ line of the '374 that drives the data lines is grounded), in the other potiion it's bidirectional (the OE/ line is linked to the noprmally unused output of the '174 that is the control output port). This is, AFRAK, not shown on the schematic in the techref for some odd reason. -tony

Sure. As can a lot of the clone printer cards. The mod is to disconnect the OE/ pin of the data latch ('374) from ground and to connect it to the bit 5 (?) output of the control port (nearly always a '174, and nearly always the input of this section is already wired to the D5 line from the ISA bus). It's just that the IBM printer (only) card had that postion for the 3-pin jumper header, and one of the traces going to those solder pads had no other function other than to make the port bidirectional. Incidentally, I once saw a clone dual serial and one parallel port card where there was a 40 pin ASIC that implemented the first serial port and most of the printer port (the control/status lines, for example). But the printer data port was a separate '374 on the board (D inputs from the data bus, Q outputs to the DB25 connector), but with no way to read it back. It was clocked by a pin on the ASIC. Writing to that port address latched the data into the 374 (and thus made it available to the printer) and latched the data in a register inside the ASIC. Reading that port address read the register inside the ASIC. Therefore it would pass the standard printer tests, but it couldn't detect a failure of the output latch, or a short in the cable, or... And of course it couldn't be made bidirectional That card ended up in somebody else's machine... -tony

By masking off you simply mean disconnecting, correct? It's not that I don't know, I'm merely testing you. software, >selecting the option Sort of sounds like the utility that came with the Zenith Minisport. The firmware had the ability to "take over" the command prompt of the computer it was attached to. Different now that I'm looking at it again, but the intention was the same, due to the fact that the MS came with a 2.5" floppy drive, and warez were never supplied on that medium. ____________________________________________________________________________________ We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love (and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list. http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/265

--- Roger Merchberger <zmerch-cctalk at 30below.com> wrote: Moooooooo. Moooooooooo. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com

Roger Merchberger wrote: That'll be different to the other sort of chicken that doesn't come from an egg, then ;)

Yes. Just that I envisioned a typical 3.5" drive and it seemed a tad inconsistent to use the term w/it's type of interface. I guess I was having a brain burp. When I typed the response to Chuck's reply, I remembered that an adapter would facilitate "masking off" a particular pin. But I just had din-din so I pormise to be much more alert :) ____________________________________________________________________________________ TV dinner still cooling? Check out "Tonight's Picks" on Yahoo! TV. http://tv.yahoo.com/

--- Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote: In the event where those adapter thingees weren't available, and the use of a more modern floppy cable was required (to accomodate a 3.5" drive w/a header connector), it would make the most sense IMHO to snip the pin 34 wire. It could always be soldered back together. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com

Another idea would be to crimp another IDC connector onto the cable alongside the connector that's already there (the same side of any 'IBM twist, for example). You could pull the pin 34 contact out of the connector before fitting it to the cable. And of course you could use a header socket, not an edge conenctor, to plug directly into the 3.5" drivc. -tony

In which case, buy a suitable conenctor to fit the controller (either a header socket or an edge connector), connectors for the 2 drives (all IDC types) and a length of 34 way iDC ribbon cable. Make up a new drive cable, with the 'IBM twist' and pin 34 pulled on the 3.5" connector . When you've finished using the 3.5" drice, put the original cable back in the machine. -tony

On 3 Mar 2007 at 7:27, Chris M wrote: My quibble with both Tony's (and your) suggestion is that the responders with the pin 34 suggestion (Fred and me, for two) weren't *sure* about the fix--we just had a suspicion--as in "try this". Building a cable that's potentially a throwaway might be more cost than the OP wanted to bear. Yes, in theory, you could pry the connectors off and reuse them, but I think that's not a very reliable practice. OTOH, using a 3.5-5.25 adapter and simply maskng the contact with a bit of tape is completely reversible. Cheers, Chuck

On 3 Mar 2007 at 8:05, Chris M wrote: As far as I know, one was usually part of the 3.5" to 5.25" floppy adapter frame. My first 1.44MB drive, a Sony, came with one as part of the kit. They're simply not that uncommon. That you hadn't seen one is more of a statement of your sheltered life than of their ubiquitousness. Cheers, Chuck

That's where all mine came from. I never actually used them, since I made up my own cables with the right connectors, positioned as I wanted them. Some of my adapter kits came with little PCBs with the jumper link I mentioned earlier. This type has all the ground connections commoned on the PCB. The other type is a plastic molding containing 34 contacts that fits over the plug on the back of the 3.5" drive and has a tongue that fits into the edge connector socket. This type, of course, has all 34 connections electrically isolated from each other. I've used those to make plugs to fit edge connectors in other devices -- I remember kludginh a wire-wrap DIL socket into one using a bit of stripboard to extend some of the pins. And I used that to make EPROM cartridges for the Vectrex without having to etch a PCB. -tony

--- Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote: Apology accepted LOL LOL ____________________________________________________________________________________ Get your own web address. Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains/?p=BESTDEAL

Fred Cisin wrote: I'm not sure which group I fall into, you insensitive clod! ;) -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/ Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/

I am not sure what my name is doing on that list... -tony

On Tue, 27 Feb 2007, Tony Duell wrote: On Tue, 27 Feb 2007, Dave Dunfield wrote: I accused both of you of being extraordinarily knowledgeable. If that is offensive to either of you, then I apologize. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com

There's at least one person on the list (other than me ;-)) who would disagree with you... -tony

--- Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> wrote: Most 3.5ers have header type connectors, not card edge. I think he's going to have to snip the wire on that particular cable. Unless of course he's using one of those little adapter thingees with an available card edge connector on the end of his cable. That would be preferred. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097

Worked! I have one of these connecters; machine now has 1.44mb flopy in it (working as a 720k). Thanks everyone for their suggestions. cheers, Lance // http://www.commodore128.org Commodore 128 forums & more! //

At 01:17 AM 2/24/2007 -0600, you wrote: This may not help on a machine of that vintage, but I have a software/hardware bundle here I'm looking to sell. It's Laplink Remote Access, Laplink V, TS Fax, TS Online, and Laplink Alert. It's got a still sealed plastic bag with 3 disks (3?" with two holes, so therefore 1.2mb?) and a cable in a box. The cable is some sort of hydra, with two DB-9S and one DB-25S, the later stamped SERIAL and TRAVELING SOFTWARE. The manual looks like a few hundred pages and is copyright 1993. -T [Haiku error messages] A file that big? / It might be very useful. / But now it is gone. --... ...-- -.. . -. ----. --.- --.- -... tpeters at nospam.mixcom.com (remove "nospam") N9QQB (amateur radio) "HEY YOU" (loud shouting) WEB ADDRESS http//www.mixweb.com/tpeters 43? 7' 17.2" N by 88? 6' 28.9" W, Elevation 815', Grid Square EN53wc WAN/LAN/Telcom Analyst, Tech Writer, MCP, CCNA, Registered Linux User 385531

On Sat, 24 Feb 2007, Frank McConnell wrote: Ah, alas. My dynamic RAM becomes unreliable if it isn't refreshed. RECV35.COM might have been on the "startup" or "reference" disks of the PS/2s, instead of the PC-DOS 3.30 disk. That would mean that you will need to get RECV35.COM (or equivalent Laplink, etc.) onto the machine. At least, with DOS on the machine, there'll be a copy of DEBUG. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com

Frank McConnell wrote: I could've sworn it was 5.0 actually. interlnk/intersvr were the final form of FastLynx, which I still use occaisionally to this day to get stuff between machines. Still have the "high-speed" parallel cable too :) -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/ Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/

Hiya Chuck, From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2007 1:10 PM Subject: Re: Restoring an XT - transfer problem The PC5 will not recognise a 3.5" disk, even using driver.sys to set the parameters it always gives a "device not ready" error. No go, 3 different machines, 5 different drives - all the same error - "Sector not found". cheers, Lance // http://www.commodore128.org Commodore 128 forums & more! //

Fred Cisin wrote: Why would that make a difference, if Chuck does the former routinely? What does pin 34 do? -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/ Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/

Some drives used pin 34 for READY, and some used it for DISK CHANGE. If your computer is expecting it to be used for READY, then you will get erroneous "DEVICE NOT READY" responses, particularly when you change disks. Conversely, a mismatch can give you a situation where DOS doesn't realize that there has been a disk change, and uses buffered copies instead of reading the disk after a change!! If you ever get the DIR of the previously read diskette showing up instead of the current ones, then ALWAYS press ctrl-C every time that you change a disk! -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com

Jim Leonard wrote: Could his problem be with the fact that all modern floppy drives are hard-set as the 'B' drive, and his machine is looking for an "A" drive? I remember seeing some "PC like" machines that were not wired for 'B'.

On 24 Feb 2007 at 14:06, Lance Lyon wrote: What Fred said about pin 34. Also, make sure that the 3.5 is jumpered right--I don't know how closely the Commodore followed standard PC conventions. Should work unless you're doing something funny. 3.5" DS2D diskettes (not DSHD) share the same data rate as 360Ks. Only the number of cylinders differs--oh, and the 5.25" 360K drive won't do high- density. The only other reason that I can think of getting a SNF error is that you're using a really really old 5.25" drive that can't step at a 4 msec rate. Cheers, Chuck

(XT have need Now this is going to sound very vague, but perhaps it'll jog someone else's memory. Once upon a time, it was possible to buy a serial file transfer package that supported transfer to/from MS-DOS machines with no removable media, e.g. machines with dead floppy drives, so long as they were able to load MS-DOS or similar in some way. The process went something like this: 1. Make sure the two machines have compatible RS232 settings. 2. Connect the two machines with a null-modem cable. 3. On the driveless machine ('client'), type a short command that effectively mapped the serial port to the console. 4. On the 'server' machine, run the transfer software, selecting the option that sends the software to the client machine. The server would then upload and start the client software - instant networking. The downside - I don't remember which package it was that did this. LapLink? XTLink? Google wasn't helpful in this case. Mike.

On Sat, 24 Feb 2007, Lawrence Wilkinson wrote: 7 bit is correct. The DOS COPY command refuses to COPY a "binary" file COMMAND.COM. Therefore, it is necessary that the stage of the bootstrapping that uses COPY must be a text[able] file. Fortunately, a program that will "copy" from a device does not need to be very long.

- Borrow the drive from the Commodore and attach to another machine long enough to write the files you need. - Attach a 3.5" drive to the Commodore. - Try INTERLINK which was distributed with DOS 6.0 - I don't think I've ever tried it with DOS 4, but it works fine with DOS 5. It has a /RCOPY option which will let you install it from a host PC without having to move it on a disk. I doubt it will run under XP however. - Use CTTY to redirect your console to the serial port, then write a program on the host PC poke a .COM transfer program into memory using DEBUG and save it. - You might want to consider picking up an old DOS (or Win9x) box - they can usually be had for free or close to it. XP is very limiting when it comes to communicating with things that MicroSloth doesn't wish to support. 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

Tony Duell wrote: Best to go to the source: http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/mskermit.html Go to the bottom of that page, under "also see", and then look at the link ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/a/tcomtxt.asm There used to be a lot of ways to get kermit on a new machine. If you download a version of mskermit, the info might still be there in one of the documents.