21 Jun
2005
21 Jun
'05
12:05 a.m.
(this is a copy of a message I just sent to the comp.os.cpm user group. I'm
relaying it here since these are the two pools of people who might have a line
on the information I seek -- sorry to those who lurk both here and there).
I was recently given a Data Science XOR computer system, the version with four
S-100 slots. There is precious little information on the web -- the one web
site with any real information gives credit to "dave coughlin" for the
information, but the email address is no longer good.
Anyway, here is what condition it is in:
The outside of the box is all gummed up and yellow from 20 year old cellophane
tape that was used to hold the case together (I'm not sure why the previous
owner didn't use screws). A 2"x4" window was put in the side of the case so
that the serial port baud rate dip switch could be accessed (why so big a
hole?). The insides are pretty dusty and grungy. There are three boards, all
Data Science designs it seems. One is the Z80 CPU (4 MHz), two serial ports,
one parallel port. The next is a 64 KB DRAM board. The last is the disk
controller, with connectors for 8" and 5.25" drives. There are two 8" half
height drives in the box. The 50 pin cable from the controller to the drives is
missing. The parallel port connector is missing.
Nevertheless, after slowly powering up the system with a variac and messing with
the baud rate settings, I get the monitor prompt.
XOR DATA SCIENCE
SYSTEM MONITOR
VERS 01.85
F800
I've figured out most of the commands from trial and error, but I'm not sure
what the H and X commands do even though I know the parameter syntax. I'm not
sure how to boot (if I am ever able to get a boot disk).
Unless somebody on this list remembers this monitor, I guess I'll disassemble it
(it is 2KB located at F800 to FFFF) and figure it out myself. Better yet, if
anybody has a pointer to documents or can and is willing to make a boot disk for
me, please reply.
In the mean time, I'll work on de-gunking everything.
Thanks.
21 Jun
21 Jun
7:12 a.m.
On Tue, 21 Jun 2005, Jim Battle wrote:
I've figured out most of the commands from trial
and error, but I'm not
sure what the H and X commands do even though I know the parameter
syntax. I'm not sure how to boot (if I am ever able to get a boot disk).
Maybe X is eXecute? Try X<addr> or <addr>X?
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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8:16 a.m.
Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
On Tue, 21 Jun 2005, Jim Battle wrote:
No, G nnnn is for that. (GO)
Typing X gets the prompt "Bank ?" Typing 0 seems to have no effect. Typing
another number (1-F) causes a machine hang. I assume it is bank switching for
banked (eXtended) memory switching, but I don't know for sure.
H is weirder still. The format is
H aaaa bbbb cc dd ee ff ... <CR>
You can enter any number of bytes cc dd ee ff. aaaa is a start address, and
bbbb is an end address (exclusive). Whatever you type, whether it is one or N
bytes, cc is stored at address aaaa. The other bytes aren't stored. Depending
on the contents of memory and the bytes supplied, some of the addresses between
aaaa and bbbb-1 are printed out. I was guessing it is a byte string search
command, but the fact that the first byte is saved to memory disproves that
assumption.
I guess I'll have to disassemble it. The monitor is 2KB and it seems like the
available commands aren't very powerful given the 2KB size of it. Perhaps the
boot code takes up a lot of it.
Since classiccmp archives these messages, I might as well supply the other
commands in case somebody googles this message in the future:
Connecting a serial cable from COM1 of my PC to the lower port on the back
of the XOR box, set at 9600 baud, 8 data, 1 stop I get a response. Inside
the box is a little diagram showing settings for 1200 and 9600 baud.
On power up it says:
XOR DATA SCIENCE
SYSTEM MONITOR
VERS 01.85
F800
F800 - FFFF is where the monitor lives, making it 2 KB.
Anyway, these commands appear to exist:
D AAAA BBBB : dump memory in hex from address AAAA to BBBB.
hitting any key stops this mode and is taken
as the first keystroke of a new command.
F AAAA BBBB CC : fill memory from AAAA to BBBB-1 with byte CC
G AAAA : jump to address AAAA (eg. G F800 reboots)
H AAAA BBBB CC DD EE FF ... : not sure
F 0000 F800 00 (fill memory with 00)
H 1000 1010 00<CR>
shows 1000, 1001, etc one per line.
also, memory 1000 gets set to 00.
H 1000 1010 11<CR>
shows 1000 alone on a line and memory
1000 gets set to 11. Adding more bytes
doesn't appear to do anything extra.
L AAAA : shows the current byte at address AAAA
and waits for input. entering CR then
moves to the next byte; entering a hex
value replaces that value; entering "."
exits this mode.
M AAAA BBBB CCCC : block move from AAAA to BBBB for CCCC bytes
V AAAA : dumps memory in ASCII, 64 chars/line,
stopping after each 24 lines, waiting for
a CR. Hitting space instead of CR stops
this mode.
X : gets a "Bank ?" message. Hitting 0 seems
like no problem, 1 causes a hang.
The spaces aren't entered -- the parser enforces them. You can enter
fewer than four (or two for byte values) nibbles by hitting CR when the
given field is complete, eg
F10<CR>20<CR>3<CR>
will fill bytes 10 to 1F with the value 03.
I'm not sure how the disk is booted.
I've figured out most of the commands from
trial and error, but I'm not
sure what the H and X commands do even though I know the parameter
syntax. I'm not sure how to boot (if I am ever able to get a boot disk).
Maybe X is eXecute? Try X<addr> or <addr>X?
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