18 Dec
2003
18 Dec
'03
1:57 a.m.
Couple of new Research Machines finds just turned up:
A 380Z in great condition, with the added bonus that it came with all
the manuals. Quick look inside shows it to be pretty stock, except that
I was told it had some sort of silicon disk option fitted. It does look
to have a memory-type board hooked up to the bus that I wasn't
expecting. Currently drying out prior to strip-down and checking as it
had to overnight in the car...
An RM NB300 laptop. Bet there aren't many of those about (I confess to
not even knowing that RM made a laptop until the guy I got the 380Z from
suddenly remembered that he had it!). Looks to be fairly standard stuff
inside - Conner crap-o-matic 40MB IDE drive, 386 cpu, 4MB RAM etc. but
probably a quite nice spec for the time.
The internal keyboard cable (one of those flat ribbons) is snapped -
anyone know of a UK source for them? Othwise I'll just have to keep an
eye out for replacements in broken laptops...
Oh, I also got various bits of software for both machines - system
disks, Windows 1.0 for the laptop etc.
cheers
Jules
18 Dec
18 Dec
4:35 a.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Jules Richardson
Sent: 18 December 2003 12:46
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: New Research Machines finds
Couple of new Research Machines finds just turned up:
A 380Z in great condition, with the added bonus that it came with all
the manuals. Quick look inside shows it to be pretty stock, except that
I was told it had some sort of silicon disk option fitted. It does look
to have a memory-type board hooked up to the bus that I wasn't
Swine :o)
--
adrian/witchy
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the online computer museum
www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - ex-monthly gothic shenanigans :o(
5:18 a.m.
On Thu, 2003-12-18 at 15:35, Witchy wrote:
Heh heh :p
It's not boxed though... although I must ask the person who I got it
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org
> [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Jules Richardson
Hmmm... something very odd be happening with my email, I need to go pick
the server apart I think...
Couple of new
Research Machines finds just turned up:
A 380Z in great condition, with the added bonus that it came with all
the manuals. Quick look inside shows it to be pretty stock, except that
I was told it had some sort of silicon disk option fitted. It does look
to have a memory-type board hooked up to the bus that I wasn't
Swine :o) from if he has the box. I know he has some more RM
stuff at an old
office but I think it's all Nimbus-era equipment.
Nice to have the proper manuals for the 380Z though - and they're from
that era of real computing, meaning that all the schematics etc. come
with them :)
Will hopefully check it out this evening and see if it fires up.
cheers
Jules
6:38 a.m.
Witchy wrote:
I had up until about 5 years ago two of these, with all original 8"
software disks, double 8" drive and two external winchester drives. The
external winchesters where big mfm disks with a convertor board to scsi
or sasi I can't remember. They are great looking machines with a BIG
reset button and keyswitch. I wish I hadn't given them away. One of them
still had all the server software on it to boot a network of 30 odd 480z
machines which it did with ease until they replaced it with a nimbus server.
On another note does anyone still have a nimbus with c-dos and the 480z
network software installed on it. I have very fond memories of these
-----Original
Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Jules Richardson
Sent: 18 December 2003 12:46
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: New Research Machines finds
Couple of new Research Machines finds just turned up:
A 380Z in great condition, with the added bonus that it came with all
the manuals. Quick look inside shows it to be pretty stock, except that
I was told it had some sort of silicon disk option fitted. It does look
to have a memory-type board hooked up to the bus that I wasn't
from school. I can remember when they replaced all the
480z's with
nimbus's (nimbi ?). They had a few 286's when I left which
I believe
where around the ?2000 mark then.
I know the borough I lived in (Bromley) used almost exclusivly RM
machines was that the same everywhere in the UK.
Dan
8:11 a.m.
On Thu, 2003-12-18 at 17:38, Dan Williams wrote:
I had up until about 5 years ago two of these,
with all original 8"
software disks, double 8" drive and two external winchester drives. The
external winchesters where big mfm disks with a convertor board to scsi
or sasi I can't remember. They are great looking machines with a BIG
reset button and keyswitch. I wish I hadn't given them away. One of them
still had all the server software on it to boot a network of 30 odd 480z
machines which it did with ease until they replaced it with a nimbus server.
I still have one of the fileservers with the winchester as you describe
- I don't know of any other survivors, although 380Z standalone machines
seem reasonably common still.
I have several 480Z machines too, but unfortunately all of the
plastic-cased variety and not the metal ones.
I know where there's one of the 8" floppy units too which I have my eye
on in case it becomes available...
Shame you don't have the fileserver software still - I'm missing all the
stuff I need to get my fileserver going again if the hard drive ever
toasts itself :-( (currently it works happily and the 480Z machines
will boot nicely from it)
A 380Z in great condition,
On another note does anyone still have a nimbus with
c-dos and the 480z
network software installed on it. I have very fond memories of these
from school. I can remember when they replaced all the 480z's with
nimbus's (nimbi ?). They had a few 286's when I left which I believe
where around the ?2000 mark then.
I'm yet to look through quite what software I got along with this 380Z
and RM laptop, but there *may* be the relevant stuff there. Bit of a
long-shot though.
I know the borough I lived in (Bromley) used almost
exclusivly RM
machines was that the same everywhere in the UK.
Most places ended up with Acorn hardware in the end I think, even if
they had a 380Z or two - but it does seem to have varied between
regions. You mention Bromley, and RML hardware seemed to be quite
widespread in Milton Keynes too (that's where all of mine has come from
so far)
cheers
Jules
10:06 a.m.
I have several 480Z machines too, but unfortunately
all of the
plastic-cased variety and not the metal ones.=20
I have a metal-cased 48Z somewhere (in fact I've never seen a
plastic-cased version). I also have a 380Z with 56K, high-res graphics
and 2 intenral 5.25" drives. And all the schematics. I don't suppose you
got the COS (ROM monitor) source listings? They were available from
Research Machines, but I never met anyone who had them.
I know the
borough I lived in (Bromley) used almost exclusivly RM=20
machines was that the same everywhere in the UK.
Most places ended up with Acorn hardware in the end I think, even if
they had a 380Z or two - but it does seem to have varied between
regions. You mention Bromley, and RML hardware seemed to be quite
11:39 a.m.
On Thu, 2003-12-18 at 21:06, Tony Duell wrote:
I have a metal-cased 48Z somewhere (in fact I've
never seen a
plastic-cased version).
I'll do you a swap... I have seven of the plastic-cased ones ;-)
I would like to get one of the metal ones sometime just to complete the
collection a little. I've never even seen one to be honest, just the
plastic variety. Even Bletchley don't have one, just a mammoth pile of
380Z's.
I also have a 380Z with 56K, high-res graphics
and 2 intenral 5.25" drives.
I'm not sure what this one has yet. It came with a mono monitor, but a
quick glance the other day shows some circuitry behind the BNC
connectors for the colour output too - but maybe they all had that
anyway. I'm going to have a closer look at it in a moment.
And all the schematics. I don't suppose you
got the COS (ROM monitor) source listings? They were available from
Research Machines, but I never met anyone who had them.
Nope. The COS Reference Manual says that a listing is available on
request, as you say. However, the 380Z Information File says that "A
complete specification of the Research Machines resident monitor program
used with the current disc systems is given in Research Machines'
Firmware Reference Manual"
That latter document might be useful and is on Paul's site -
http://vt100.net/rm/docs/pn10971.pdf
However, a) it's a web document, b) it's in PDF format and c) it's 30MB
so I'm not sure what your chances are of being able to get it and read
it! It's 190 pages or I'd print it out and post a copy if it looked like
it contained relevant stuff.
I just downloaded it but PDF rendering is slow as hell on this computer
so I'll look at it on a different machine tomorrow.
cheers
Jules
11:45 a.m.
Jules Richardson wrote:
I would like to get one of the metal ones sometime just to complete the
collection a little. I've never even seen one to be honest, just the
plastic variety.
That's not surprising, as the metal ones were a stop-gap measure. I have
a metal one (but only one, sorry). Our two at school were metal, but RML
were just a few miles away!
That latter document might be useful and is on
Paul's site -
http://vt100.net/rm/docs/pn10971.pdf
However, a) it's a web document, b) it's in PDF format and c) it's 30MB
so I'm not sure what your chances are of being able to get it and read
it! It's 190 pages or I'd print it out and post a copy if it looked like
it contained relevant stuff.
It doesn't contain the source listing, but it is a thumping good read,
with details of EMT instructions, RML's CALR "instruction" for writing
PIC on the Z80, and the front panel details.
I just downloaded it but PDF rendering is slow as hell
on this computer
so I'll look at it on a different machine tomorrow.
You have Acrobat Reader for Linux, haven't you? I struggled along with
xpdf for a bit, but it crawls along when dealing with scans.
--
Paul
12:16 p.m.
On Thu, 2003-12-18 at 22:45, Paul Williams wrote:
I just have xpdf here... is Acrobat much better?
ImageMagick might also be an option given that the images are scanned -
I think it can just pull all the pages out of a pdf file and convert
them to individual tiff images.
cheers
Jules
Jules Richardson wrote:
I just
downloaded it but PDF rendering is slow as hell on this computer
so I'll look at it on a different machine tomorrow.
You have Acrobat Reader for Linux, haven't you? I struggled along with
xpdf for a bit, but it crawls along when dealing with scans. 
9:50 p.m.
However, a) it's a web document, b) it's in PDF
format
and c) it's 30MB so I'm not sure what your chances are of
being able to get it and read it! It's 190 pages or I'd
print it out and post a copy if it looked like it
contained relevant stuff.
Well if it were not for (a) (and Paul!) you'd not even be
having any difficulty reading it :-)
As for (b), as Eric has pointed out in the past, of the
available formats, it seems to be the one that causes
fewest problems.
And as for (c) 30MB is tiny :-). If I get the chance over
the weekend, I'll have a go at OCRing it. Don't expect the
results to be stellar though (or me to remember for that
matter!)
Antonio
--
---------------
Antonio Carlini arcarlini(a)iee.org
22 Dec
22 Dec
4:29 a.m.
Antonio Carlini wrote:
[about the one of the RML docs]
If I get the chance over the weekend, I'll have a
go
at OCRing it. Don't expect the results to be stellar
though (or me to remember for that matter!)
I've already OCRed them, but only in batch mode, so the results haven't
been reviewed. However, I'll link in the files to that page.
(Sorry, I've only just seen this message. I hope you either didn't get
round to it, or your results are much better than mine!)
--
Paul
19 Dec
19 Dec
5:10 a.m.
Jules Richardson wrote:
On Thu, 2003-12-18 at 21:06, Tony Duell wrote:
Would I be right in thinking that the metal ones where black and the
plastic cream or did they swap over at some point.
Dan
I have a metal-cased 48Z somewhere (in fact
I've never seen a
plastic-cased version).
I'll do you a swap... I have seven of the plastic-cased ones ;-)
I would like to get one of the metal ones sometime just to complete the
collection a little. I've never even seen one to be honest, just the
plastic variety. Even Bletchley don't have one, just a mammoth pile of
380Z's.
5:23 a.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Dan Williams
Sent: 19 December 2003 16:11
To: General(a)jupiter.easily.co.uk;
Discussion@jupiter.easily.co.uk:On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: New Research Machines finds
Would I be right in thinking that the metal ones where black and the
plastic cream or did they swap over at some point.
RM had to do a metal one first because (apparently) someone dropped the tool
that was for the plastic milling machine, and it was coloured to match the
380Z. Whether this was because painting metal cream wasn't easy to do or not
I don't know. It does make the black ones more uncommon than the later
plastic ones though.
cheers
--
adrian/witchy
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the online computer museum
www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - ex-monthly gothic shenanigans :o(
6:43 a.m.
On Fri, 19 Dec 2003, Witchy wrote:
RM had to do a metal one first because (apparently)
someone dropped the
tool that was for the plastic milling machine, and it was coloured to
match the 380Z. Whether this was because painting metal cream wasn't
easy to do or not I don't know. It does make the black ones more
uncommon than the later plastic ones though.
Are you sure it didn't have anything to do with radio frequency
emissisions regulations?
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
20 Dec
20 Dec
2:36 a.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Vintage Computer
Festival
Sent: 19 December 2003 17:43
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: RE: New Research Machines finds
On Fri, 19 Dec 2003, Witchy wrote:
Could've been anything really, though that tale came from a good industry
magazine of the day that was featuring the recently released 480Z. The real
reason could've been summat really boring :o)
cheers
w
RM had to do a metal one first because
(apparently) someone dropped the
tool that was for the plastic milling machine, and it was coloured to
match the 380Z. Whether this was because painting metal cream wasn't
easy to do or not I don't know. It does make the black ones more
uncommon than the later plastic ones though.
Are you sure it didn't have anything to do with radio frequency
emissisions regulations?
19 Dec
19 Dec
1:11 p.m.
On Thu, 2003-12-18 at 21:06, Tony Duell wrote:
Round here, metal cases tend to last longer than plastic ones (less
damage when some heavy PSU topples over onto them...)
I have a metal-cased 48Z somewhere (in fact
I've never seen a
plastic-cased version).
I'll do you a swap... I have seven of the plastic-cased ones ;-)
I would like to get one of the metal ones sometime just to complete the
collection a little. I've never even seen one to be honest, just the
plastic variety. Even Bletchley don't have one, just a mammoth pile of
380Z's.
Before this thread, I didn't ever realise there was a plastic 480Z. I
assumed all were metal, like the 380Zs (those _were_ all metal, I trust).
And I would never regard Bletchley as having anything close to a
definitive computer collection!
I also have a 380Z with 56K, high-res graphics
and 2 intenral 5.25" drives.
I'm not sure what this one has yet. It came with a mono monitor, but a
quick glance the other day shows some circuitry behind the BNC
connectors for the colour output too - but maybe they all had that
anyway. I'm going to have a closer look at it in a moment. However, a) it's a web document, b) it's in
PDF format and c) it's 30MB
so I'm not sure what your chances are of being able to get it and read
I have no intention of downloading 30Mbytes using a 14K4 modem....
-tony
9:37 a.m.
Jules Richardson wrote:
Couple of new Research Machines finds just turned up:
A 380Z in great condition, with the added bonus that it came with all
the manuals.
I look forward to seeing some additions to the documents list then!
Oh, I also got various bits of software for both
machines - system
disks, Windows 1.0 for the laptop etc.
Which reminds me, I must get round to cataloguing my software.
--
Paul
10:56 a.m.
On Thu, 2003-12-18 at 20:37, Paul Williams wrote:
Which reminds me, I must get around to stopping saying "I must catalogue
my software" and actually catalogue my software :-) I think most of
what I got is data (which can be interesting in its own right) but there
are probably a few goodies in the pile - I walked away with about 50
floppies for the 380Z (and ten or so for the laptop)
cheers
Jules
Jules Richardson wrote:
By all the manuals I mean the standard set - unfortunately no extras.
However there is the COS 3.4 reference manual which (if your site is up
to date!) you don't have, and a document titled "380Z Mini Disc System
for 40 Character Systems". Oh, and a "COS Monitor Quick Reference Guide"
pamphlet, which I suspect came with the COS reference manual.
I'm a bit snowed under to scan them at the moment, but maybe make a note
(mental or otherwise!) that I have them...
Couple of new Research Machines finds just turned
up:
A 380Z in great condition, with the added bonus that it came with all
the manuals.
I look forward to seeing some additions to the documents list then! Oh, I also got
various bits of software for both machines - system
disks, Windows 1.0 for the laptop etc.
Which reminds me, I must get round to cataloguing my software.
7559
days inactive
7563
days old
18 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
-
arcarlini＠iee.org -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
dan_williams＠ntlworld.com -
julesrichardsonuk＠yahoo.co.uk -
paul＠frixxon.co.uk -
vcf＠siconic.com -
witchy＠binarydinosaurs.co.uk