7 Jan
2020
7 Jan
'20
4:44 p.m.
I?m restoring a SWTPC 6800 that includes the Percom LFD-400 floppy controller. This
controller goes on the SS-50 bus instead of the SS-30 bus where the SWTPC controllers
installed. The standard Percom MiniDOS PROM is installed, and the other two PROM sockets
have a third party extension called ?Minidisk+?. This was made by a company called
Cer-Comp. These PROMs are instead of Percom?s own ?MiniDOS PlusX (MPX) PROM.
I?ve got the system working, and I can use Minidisk+ to save and load files, but I know
I?m missing some nuances of command parameters. I don?t have any sort of documentation for
Minidisk+, so before I go figure it out by disassembling the PROMs, does anyone have any
sort of documentation for Minidisk+ by Cer-Comp for the Percom LFD-400 floppy disk
controller?
Also, I?d like to burn the MPX PROM as an option. Does anyone have the MPX PROM or the
source code for MiniDOS PlusX?
Mike
8 Jan
8 Jan
8:31 a.m.
You might try asking on the Flex Users "fufu" list. I have a working MiniDOS
PlusX LFD-400 setup. I would be happy to trade dumps if you are interested.
Bill S.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Mike Douglas via
cctalk
Sent: Tuesday, January 07, 2020 7:45 PM
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Subject: SWTPC 6800 and Percom Floppy Controller
I?m restoring a SWTPC 6800 that includes the Percom LFD-400 floppy controller. This
controller goes on the SS-50 bus instead of the SS-30 bus where the SWTPC controllers
installed. The standard Percom MiniDOS PROM is installed, and the other two PROM sockets
have a third party extension called ?Minidisk+?. This was made by a company called
Cer-Comp. These PROMs are instead of Percom?s own ?MiniDOS PlusX (MPX) PROM.
I?ve got the system working, and I can use Minidisk+ to save and load files, but I know
I?m missing some nuances of command parameters. I don?t have any sort of documentation for
Minidisk+, so before I go figure it out by disassembling the PROMs, does anyone have any
sort of documentation for Minidisk+ by Cer-Comp for the Percom LFD-400 floppy disk
controller?
Also, I?d like to burn the MPX PROM as an option. Does anyone have the MPX PROM or the
source code for MiniDOS PlusX?
Mike
12 Jan
12 Jan
5:55 a.m.
I?ve been able to complete the system running under the MiniDisk+ PROMs and added several
programs like BASIC and an assembler to the disk. It all works together, but operations
don?t integrate with each other very well.
With much thanks to Bill Sudbrink, I also obtained the source to Percom?s MPX PROM so I
was able to create a system running under MPX. Bill also had several of the programs (in
S19 format) that would have been distributed with MPX, so I?ve got a pretty representative
Percom MPX system up and running now. This setup, in turn, is pretty darn slick and well
integrated for its day. It?s a lot like a Northstar DOS system, but a bootable disk is not
required to get started since the OS is in PROM. Add the fact that the standard SWTPC
configuration with MIKBUG or SWTBUG made it simple to get programs into RAM via the serial
port (e.g., S19 records from papertape, cassette, or today - a PC) and it?s easy to build
up a disk from scratch.
I?d still like to flesh this system out a bit more, so if anyone has any Percom disks or
software archived in any format on a PC, let me know, thanks!
Mike
On Jan 7, 2020, at 6:44 PM, Mike Douglas
<deramp5113 at yahoo.com> wrote:
?I?m restoring a SWTPC 6800 that includes the Percom LFD-400 floppy controller. This
controller goes on the SS-50 bus instead of the SS-30 bus where the SWTPC controllers
installed. The standard Percom MiniDOS PROM is installed, and the other two PROM sockets
have a third party extension called ?Minidisk+?. This was made by a company called
Cer-Comp. These PROMs are instead of Percom?s own ?MiniDOS PlusX (MPX) PROM.
I?ve got the system working, and I can use Minidisk+ to save and load files, but I know
I?m missing some nuances of command parameters. I don?t have any sort of documentation for
Minidisk+, so before I go figure it out by disassembling the PROMs, does anyone have any
sort of documentation for Minidisk+ by Cer-Comp for the Percom LFD-400 floppy disk
controller?
Also, I?d like to burn the MPX PROM as an option. Does anyone have the MPX PROM or the
source code for MiniDOS PlusX?
Mike
1805
days inactive
1809
days old
2 comments
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deramp5113＠yahoo.com -
wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net