Help with Convergent Technologies - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

8 Jul 1997

Oh and the floppy drives are f0, f1 etc.  I think a question mark an the
Command? prompt will give you more commands, What version of Ctos is it?

----------
...
  From: thedm &lt;thedm(a)sunflower.com&gt;
 To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
&lt;classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu&gt;
...
  Subject: Re: Help with Convergent Technologies
 Date: Tuesday, July 08, 1997 5:33 AM

 Okay, [SyS][sys] is the first hard disk, then d1, d2 d3 etc
 It was strictly an office automation machine, usually it came with Document
...
  designer, Office spreadsheet and Bmail.  When it
boots, it has a bunch of
 dots run across the screen, seems to me at this point it tells you the
 software license. The licenses are, standalone, 5user, 10 user, 25 user and
...
  48 user.   These machines had the networking built in.
There are two RS422
...
  ports on the side, you can put 24 machines in a daisey
chain on each side. 
...
  There is a surplus store here with buttloads of them
and no one wants them
...
  because they don't know what they are.  These
boxes are INtel based, but
 propriatary as hell. There is a DOS emulator available or was.  Unissys
 currently owns this platform as of 1986, before then it was sperry, and
 then your model convergent, allthough convergent still made alot of the
 hardware under subcontract.  If you ask me more specific questions I can
 probably remember more. It's been 5 years since I even touched one.  

 ----------
  From: Ray Stricklin
&lt;kjaeros(a)u.washington.edu&gt;
 To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers 
&lt;classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu&gt;
  Subject: Re: Help with Convergent Technologies
 Date: Monday, July 07, 1997 7:53 PM

 On Mon, 7 Jul 1997, thedm wrote:

 > Is this a little square box cpu with a buss on the side? and ad ons  that
 > > lock onto the side of it? If it is I used to administer a Convergent
 > > network, it uses the BTOS/CTOS operating system and uses JCL for batch
...
  > > programming. Its almost useless with out the
native software and if I
 > > recall our licenses where about 10,000 for a 48 user network.  They do
...
  make
 > > a standalone version, but I'll be darned if i would ever know where
to
...
  find
 > > it.
 > 
 > That'd be the one.
 > 
 > It has an OS installed; with the CPU I also picked up a QIC unit, 10 meg
...
  > disk/floppy unit, a 'disk expansion' unit
of unknown size (I'm short one
...
  > power supply), and a GC-001 graphics unit, as
well as boxes of QIC tapes
...
  > and 360k floppies. The OS is installed along with
lots of other stuff of
...
  > unknown purpose on the hard disk/floppy box. It
boots fine; I can play a
...
   little with
it, but I really don't know what's there.

 I'm able to get file listings of [sys]<sys> which I'm assuming is the
 hard
 > disk.
 > 
 > I wish there'd been an operator's manual in the lot..
 > 
 > ok
 > -r 