Microdata disk/tape images

[jwsmobile]

On 2/6/2015 1:15 PM, Ian McLaughlin wrote:
>> On Feb 6, 2015, at 12:52 PM, Richard Swingwood <richardswingwood at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> On 5 February 2015 at 21:19, Ian McLaughlin <ian at platinum.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Long shot, but does anyone know of any available disk/tape/paper tape/ROM
>>> images for any of the Microdata machines (800/1600) or the relatives
>>> (Intertechnique Multi-8/Multi-4, MAI Basic Four BB-II)?
>>>
>>> There’s a bit of documentation available - Bitsavers has a bit, and I have
>>> some MAI documentation that I’m in the process of scanning.  I’m toying
>>> with the idea of emulating this machine, but I’m having difficulty locating
>>> any software for it.
>>>
>> I'm in the same boat though my interest is in the M1600 implementation of
>> Reality.  At one point I started a SIMH implementation of the 1600 CPU but
>> didn't get very far before the idea of trying a FPGA/Verilog solution took
>> over.  That has gotten a bit further but is not progressing very fast.
>> If you want to swap notes and ideas or even collaborate on an emulation
>> then I'd be happy to help (& be helped :)
>>
>> Richard.
> Richard,
>
>    I sent a private message off to Jim explaining what I have (nothing other than documentation) and what I would like to do (emulate any one of the Microdata-based machines, but preferably the MAI Basic Four 1200 unit that I used to own many years ago).
>
> In order to do any of this, there’s at least two pieces we would need - a dump of the ROM from one of the machines, and a copy of some boot media for the same machine.  There doesn’t appear to be any copies of media publicly available.
The MAI Basic 4 system which was based on the Microdata 1600 to my 
knowledge was distributed via disk media.  I did not see any half inch 
tape with Basic 4 on any systems, which is the other alternative.

Basic 4 moved on to their own implementation which was somewhat binary 
compatible with the 1600 implementation, which I think incorporated some 
bit slice technology.  The next turn moved to microprocessor designs.  I 
had a copy of the firmware from a system at one point in my pile from a 
system I got the remains of.
> If anything was to show up, I’d love to exchange notes and ideas with you.  I also dabble in FPGA, so the idea of an FPGA implementation is intriguing to me.
>
> Ian
>
>
>
Richard, please also contact me offline.  I already got a reply from Ian 
privately, and we can discuss things.  I'd prefer that discussion method.

I have recently gotten a large stash of Multi 8, Intertechnique 
documentation, which I will be getting to Al, as well. Intertechnique 
made the first clone of the 1600 under license from Microdata.

If the media was available other than with the disks, I'd certainly like 
to know, but I visited Basic 4, and I believe they used disk backup at 
that time.
thanks
Jim