strange z-80 / CP/M box

From: Philip.Belben_at_powertech.co.uk <(Philip.Belben_at_powertech.co.uk)>
Date: Wed May 13 08:31:51 1998

Grant Zozman wrote:

> Is the case white?
> Is there a red power switch surrounded by black plastic at the lower
> right corner on the front?
> Do the drives close using levers which twist 90
> degrees? Is the keyboard also built into the case?
> Does the screen blink off and on when the drives are being accessed?
> Weighs as much as a pallette of bricks?
>
> If so, I believe you have a 5120 (or possibly a 5110). These were
> produced around 1979-1980 just prior to the introduction of the PC.
> They would run either BASIC or APL, and could be equipped with an
> external disk drive module which was the size of a small filing
> cabinet, rolled on casters, and housed two additional 8" drives. A
> wide carriage dot matrix printer was also available. If I remember
> correctly there are three connectors on the back of the case of the
> computer in a triangular shape, with a threaded hole for a bolt in the
> middle. This is where the printer & drive unit connected.
>
> You might want to look for a silver tag on the back of the machine; I
> always thought IBM was pretty adament about putting a model number on
> anything they produced, but I don't remember there being any tags on the
> front of the machine I worked on years ago.
>
> Hope this helps! If you find out what you have, I would be
> interested in knowing the final outcome; I have heard others refer to
> a machine which fits this description as a "Datamaster", but have no
> idea what would make it different from a 5110/5120.

That mostly tallies with my memory of my Datamaster (which I haven't
powered up in ages). Mine is a 5322, and calls itself System/23

I've never met the 5110 or 5120, I'm afraid.

Word of warning: If you have a Datamaster and power it up without the
printer it fails diagnostics. However, if you then press the Error
Reset (or some such name) key, it goes on booting (into ROM BASIC) quite
happily.

But what's this in the subject line? IBM never made a Z80 CP/M box that
I know of. The Datamaster had an 8085, but didn't run CPM AFAIK; the
Displaywriter had an 8088 and ran CP/M86 as an option.

(Displaywriter: Much more modern styling. Tilt and swivel screen,
separate dual 8" disk unit, separate keyboard. Looked not unlike a PET
8032SK.)

Philip.
Received on Wed May 13 1998 - 08:31:51 BST