25 Feb
1998
25 Feb
'98
7:41 a.m.
Mike wrote:
I have an IBM Pascal System for the PC
Does anyone know if it's possible to use a hard drive with this system?
There are no references and no seeming commands for manipulating
storage....
Ideas??
UCSD pascal? I never used the IBM version but the S-100 version had a way
to add device drivers for hard drives ( I recall doing that to add in hard
drive support for UCSD on DYNABYTE S-100 boxes). Vague on this, but the
drivers were very low level, block read/write like in CP/M. If the IBM
version allows for it, you should be able to do a small driver that just
makes ROM BIOS calls for the hard drive.
25 Feb
25 Feb
2:57 p.m.
At 10:41 AM 2/25/98 -0800, you wrote:
Mike wrote:
>I have an IBM Pascal System for the PC
>Does anyone know if it's possible to use a hard drive with this system?
>
>There are no references and no seeming commands for manipulating
>storage....
>
>Ideas??
Assuming the program isn't copy protected or uses a key-disk most of the
old stuff could simplely be copied to the hard drive and it would work.
Almost all programs went back to the default drive/directory when they
looked for a file so if you install everything in a hard drive sub
directory all you have to do is to change to that sub directory before
starting the program. Occasionally a program would be hard coded to expect
a disk in the A: or B: drive, using the ASSIGN command to redirect the call
to the hard drive subdirectory usually takes care of that problem. Best
bet is to try it and see.
Joe
PS What version are you using? Is it Micro_Soft? I just looked and I
have Zenith (MS) Pascal ver 3.2. I can try it and see if it works if need be.
2:50 p.m.
Joe wrote:
At 10:41 AM 2/25/98 -0800, you wrote:
The UCSD p system used a nonstandard disk format technique, the floppy
was formatted in "blocks" and you booted the systeem off the a drive.
It wasn't just a language, but an entire operating system/environment.
I still have a copy of it around here somewhere from a class I took in
the early 80's.
Mike wrote:
>I have an IBM Pascal System for the PC
>Does anyone know if it's possible to use a hard drive with this system?
>
>There are no references and no seeming commands for manipulating
>storage....
>
>Ideas??
Assuming the program isn't copy protected or uses a key-disk most of the
old stuff could simplely be copied to the hard drive and it would work.
Almost all programs went back to the default drive/directory when they
looked for a file so if you install everything in a hard drive sub
directory all you have to do is to change to that sub directory before
starting the program. Occasionally a program would be hard coded to expect
a disk in the A: or B: drive, using the ASSIGN command to redirect the call
to the hard drive subdirectory usually takes care of that problem. Best
bet is to try it and see.
Joe
PS What version are you using? Is it Micro_Soft? I just looked and I
have Zenith (MS) Pascal ver 3.2. I can try it and see if it works if need be.
4:17 p.m.
At 07:50 PM 2/25/98 -0600, you wrote:
Joe wrote:
>
> At 10:41 AM 2/25/98 -0800, you wrote:
> >Mike wrote:
> >
> >>I have an IBM Pascal System for the PC
> >>Does anyone know if it's possible to use a hard drive with this system?
> >>
> >>There are no references and no seeming commands for manipulating
> >>storage....
> >>
> >>Ideas??
>
> Assuming the program isn't copy protected or uses a key-disk most of the
> old stuff could simplely be copied to the hard drive and it would work.
> Almost all programs went back to the default drive/directory when they
> looked for a file so if you install everything in a hard drive sub
> directory all you have to do is to change to that sub directory before
> starting the program. Occasionally a program would be hard coded to expect
> a disk in the A: or B: drive, using the ASSIGN command to redirect the call
> to the hard drive subdirectory usually takes care of that problem. Best
> bet is to try it and see.
>
> Joe
>
> PS What version are you using? Is it Micro_Soft? I just looked and I
> have Zenith (MS) Pascal ver 3.2. I can try it and see if it works if
need be.
The UCSD p system used a nonstandard disk format technique, the floppy
was formatted in "blocks" and you booted the systeem off the a drive.
It wasn't just a language, but an entire operating system/environment.
I still have a copy of it around here somewhere from a class I took in
the early 80's.
He hasn't said if it's UCSD though. That's why I asked if it was
Micro
sloth. FWIW I'm very familar with the techique that you're talking about,
I have Forth and APL packages that do exactly same thing.
Joe
26 Feb
26 Feb
2:21 a.m.
Not quite...
This is the UCSD P System which means that there is no way to copy it to
the HD as this _IS_ the operating system. That's what I'm looking for a
way to "find" if you will, the hard drive to at least work from, if not
boot from.
Thanks,
-Mike
Joe wrote:
At 10:41 AM 2/25/98 -0800, you wrote:
Mike wrote:
>I have an IBM Pascal System for the PC
>Does anyone know if it's possible to use a hard drive with this system?
>
>There are no references and no seeming commands for manipulating
>storage....
>
>Ideas??
Assuming the program isn't copy protected or uses a key-disk most of the
old stuff could simplely be copied to the hard drive and it would work.
Almost all programs went back to the default drive/directory when they
looked for a file so if you install everything in a hard drive sub
directory all you have to do is to change to that sub directory before
starting the program. Occasionally a program would be hard coded to expect
a disk in the A: or B: drive, using the ASSIGN command to redirect the call
to the hard drive subdirectory usually takes care of that problem. Best
bet is to try it and see.
Joe
PS What version are you using? Is it Micro_Soft? I just looked and I
have Zenith (MS) Pascal ver 3.2. I can try it and see if it works if need be. 
6:36 a.m.
On Thu, 26 Feb 1998, Mike Allison wrote:
Not quite...
This is the UCSD P System which means that there is no way to copy it to
the HD as this _IS_ the operating system. That's what I'm looking for a
way to "find" if you will, the hard drive to at least work from, if not
boot from.
I think this calls for the development of a custom Pascal unit to access
foreign filesystems (ie. FAT). I don't think Pascal gives you enough low
level control to do this right from the language itself, but I'm sure
there are ways to link in assembled code. A project to add to the
spare-time list.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
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3:35 p.m.
Where can I buy some used spare time???
-Mike
Sam Ismail wrote:
On Thu, 26 Feb 1998, Mike Allison wrote:
Not quite...
This is the UCSD P System which means that there is no way to copy it to
the HD as this _IS_ the operating system. That's what I'm looking for a
way to "find" if you will, the hard drive to at least work from, if not
boot from.
I think this calls for the development of a custom Pascal unit to access
foreign filesystems (ie. FAT). I don't think Pascal gives you enough low
level control to do this right from the language itself, but I'm sure
there are ways to link in assembled code. A project to add to the
spare-time list.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
Coming Soon...Vintage Computer Festival 2.0
See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details!
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