Apple (Lisa 2/10) MAC XL UNIX 5

[Ray Arachelian]

Depending on what version of UniPlus that is, a version was found a few
years ago which was imaged and is installable.  UniPlus is a bunch of
floppies (a bit under twenty off the top of my head), not just one, if
you have the full set and it's a different version than what's out there
already and can recover it, it would be useful.

I don't know what VPI is, so you might actually have something that's
somewhat unique!

Do you have a classic Mac with an 800K or 400K floppy drive that can be
used?  If so, see if you can make an image using Copy II Mac.  You can
try one of the Mac software archives such as Macintosh Garden or other
abandonware sites for this.  You can even use your Lisa to run Copy II
Mac if you have MacWorks.

Alternatively if you have a Lisa you can try BLU
http://sigmasevensystems.com/BLU.html   but not sure if it will handle
bad blocks.

Each Lisa has a serial number written in the VSROM (Video State ROM)
which drives the horizontal and vertical signals for the CRT state
machine.  Part of this hides a bunch of bits for the serial number.  The
BOOT ROM reads this on startup and writes the serial number to low
memory before booting an OS.  Some software such as UniPlus and Lisa
Office System will brand their applications with the serial number of
the machine it was installed on to prevent copying.

UniPlus did something more, their install disk actually used
activation.  It would take the Lisa's serial number and some random
numbers and put up a display saying to call a phone number and get an
activation key.  This key would then allow you to install a boot block
and boot loader on a hard drive.  However this process has been, um,
reversed in the past and can be done so again, so it's not something to
worry about.

If the manual mentions installing on a screen modified Lisa XL or 2/10
(i.e. ROM version 3A), that would be very unique, and certainly the VPI
label makes it unique.

I'd love to scan in whatever manuals you have and make them available
for bitsavers as well as try to recover whatever bits are on that disk. 
Pls contact me offlist if you're willing to loan me this for a few days.


On 06/13/18 08:33, Bill Degnan via cctech wrote:
> I have a diskette labeled
>
> UNIX SYSTEM V
> VPI UNIX
> disk 'A'
> (vpi)* 8/85
>
> UniPress Software, Inc.
>
> I have the small installation manual that talks about inserting the disk to
> serialize it, and how to install UNIX onto the Lisa 2/10 in Mac XL Mode.
> It is a small implementation of AT&T UNIX V.
>
> The disk is bad.  Anyone have a process for recovering or reading an Apple
> Mac XL disk?  This seems like a piece of software that should be preserved,
> as a curiosity.  Does anyone actually have a working copy of UniPress
> Software UNIX for the Lisa XL?
>
> Bill
>