Televideo TS-806/20 - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

12 Jun 1999

you wrote

"I can pop it into my 286 and try to salvage the data."

NO!!!!! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!! YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY MOVE IT TO AN ENVIRONMENT
WHERE IT CANNOT BE ROACHED UP BY A PC OR OTHER MACHINE!!!!.  Preferably a
county (better yet, country, or, better still, planet) totally devoid of
other computers.

The floppy drive is a dsdd 48 tpi drive, quite standard, and, as the error
messages suggest, the system loaded from the hard disk expects to find
something on the FDD.  All diskettes are not alike.  Not even all boot
diskettes are alike, but you should have enough on the HDD to create a boot
diskette from what's there and live happily ever after.  You might even be
able to save the "network" OS, which it may have on it, though that's not
necessarily what YOU will want to do.  Still, if someone else wants it,
you're better off with having it than not.

What you have now works, though it's looking for something you probably
haven't got.

Bdos Err On A: Bad Sector doesn't mean anything except that it can't read
what it thinks it ought to read on drive A, the floppy.

if you hit <enter> a few times, it should give up.  If you hit <CTL-C> it
should terminate whatever it's doing and warm boot, though that might lead
you back to the BDOS Error.  I don't remember whether CP/M retries its
submit files (like a DOS Autoexec.bat) on a warm boot.

Try to figure out what it's looking for.  There might be a file of the form
*.sub, though that might be hidden,  (look in user 15)  which you can write
to a floppy formatted (heaven knows what that procedure is called on this
machine) right there on it's own drive so you'll have it.  Perhaps you
should get someone local to you to help you find the missing item and save
it on a floppy.

I can send you a boot diskette, but there's no guarantee that it will
contain what your system is looking for because my system didn't have the
same OS.

Dick

-----Original Message-----
From: Devon &lt;bobcaar(a)cyberdude.com&gt;
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
&lt;classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu&gt;
Date: Saturday, June 12, 1999 1:32 PM
Subject: Re: Televideo TS-806/20

...
 My machine has one floppy, one HDD & no free bays. 
The floppy is a TEAC
FD-55B-01-U.  The hard drive is a CD JOHNSON & ASSOCIATES LTD.  The only
daughter board in it is the HDC board.  There are around two empty small
dip sockets under the drive rack.  I finally got it to boot after a few
power cycles.
On boot it displays:
System IPL from Hard disk in progress

TELEVIDEO SYSTEM TS-806/20 V1.2
60k CP/M Vers. 2.2
Tandon TM-503 Winchester.

Copyright 1985, Software 2000, Inc. (9/1541)
Testing 64K of memory...............no errors
A:OSMASTER.SYS loading from 915C to FFFF, size 6EA4
TurboDOS 1.42, Copyright 1985, Software 2000, Inc. (9/1525)

and I am left in TurboDOS.  After a while, I started to get read errors.
And now on boot I get:
System IPL from Hard disk in progress

TELEVIDEO SYSTEM TS-806/20 V1.2
60k CP/M Vers. 2.2
Tandon TM-503 Winchester.

Bios Read Error on A:
Track = 0002, Sector = 00
WDC status = 51H,  WDC error = 01H

Bdos Err On A: Bad Sector

So, It seems like I'm going to need that boot disk after all.
Also, Do you know if this hard disk interface is MFM?  If it is (as it
looks), I can pop it into my 286 and try to salvage the data.

 T.H.x.
 Devon

At 08:45 PM 11/06/1999 -0600, you wrote:
>The computer has bays for two floppy and two hard disk drives.  You do have
...
 >to open it up to see them, but if you've seen
the controller board, and if
>you've seen the dip switches, you must know whether or not you have the
>winchester drive(s).  A -20 normally had a single 20MB drive, which, for
>those days, was pretty decent.  Two of them -  WOW! that was a BIG machine.
...
 >If you haven't got hard disks in the box, or if
they're disconnected, you
>should probably connect them up and try to see if they boot.  That "IPL .
.
...
 >." message is what you get when it sees
there's nothing in the Floppy Drive.
...
 >Do you have a floppy drive?  Let's figure out
what's on this machine before
...
 >we go off half-cocked.
>
>The boot disk is no big deal to create, though my '806's are both sitting
>outdoors, having had their HDD's cannibalized years ago.  I can probably
>read the things with my AMPRO, which means I should be able to write them as
...
 >well.
>
>I need to know whether your floppy drives are 48TPI or 96 TPI drives, since
...
 >both were in common use.
>
>Next time you're inside the box, see what else is inside.  Are there any
>daughterboards, or are there any empty sockets?
>
>Dick
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Devon &lt;bobcaar(a)cyberdude.com&gt;
>To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
&gt;&lt;classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu&gt;
>Date: Friday, June 11, 1999 8:28 PM
>Subject: Re: Televideo TS-806/20
>
>
>>I hadn't known thats what they were for (winch)...If I ever get some, I
bet
...
 >>I can rig something up.  After fiddling around
some more (thanks for the
>>info, all), I've got it to work...kind of...When it starts it now says
>>"System IPL from Hard disk in progress".  Then no more... I know the
disk
>>booted before ...I could type garbage back when I was getting garbage
>>(about 4 times before it quit)...  It would be great if you could send me a
...
 >>boot disk... Televideo hasn't replied to my
e-mails yet...I'll give them a
...
 >>few more days..
>>
>> T.H.x.
>> Devon
>>
>>At 06:24 PM 11/06/1999 -0600, you wrote:
>>>Well, I'm not sure I agree about the relative importance of cables with
>>>which to interface a hard disk.  That's probably the one thing that
makes
...
 >a
>>>computer compute fast enough to be useful.
>>>
>>>First of all I'd try 9600 baud before anything else, since I believe
>that's
>>>the default.  I don't remember what the board switches do, but I can
hunt
...
 >>>around for the manual and get back to you. 
I wouldn't use PCAW, as a
>>>terminal, myself.  I haven't had good luck with it.  How about
>Hyperterminal
>>>of Procomm.  I've used both of those in connection with a PC and had
>better
>>>luck than with PCAW, though I've had good luck using PCAW for file
>>>transfers, etc.
>>>
>>>This box was ostensibly a file server and probably contains VERY
important
...
 >>>software, e.g. the MMMost (or whatever it
was called) network OS, which
>>>isn't around any longer.  This box is capable of serving as a
single-user
...
 >>>system, but if you still have the HDD, from
which it should boot all by
>>>itself if it hasn't been roached up, you might want to preserve it.
>>>
>>>Well you're in luck . . . I got a phone interruption after which I
thought
...
 >>>of a place to look for the manual...Oddly
enough, that's where it was.
>>>
>>>The manual says the  "upper" four bits of the dip switch is used for
baud
...
   >rate settings.  The lower four bits (5,6,7,8) are
unused except for position
 >8 which is reserved for diagnostics. 
Obviously, the one who wrote this
>manual was on drugs.  A closed switch is a zero.
>
>The baud rates go from 19.2K down to 75, with ascending values from 0000 to
 >1000, remembering that a 0 means CLOSED. 
Switch 1 is the lsb.
>
>I hope that helps you get it going!
>
>If you need a boot diskette, maybe I can help you there as well.
>
>Televideo, by the way, is still in business, so it's not inconceivable they
  might be
able to help too, if you ask them.

Dick 