On Sat, 19 Jun 1999, LordTyran wrote:
> I got a few fun bits from the Milford Amateur Radio Club Hamfest today...
> besides a nice 386 laptop w/ docking station for $20 (which I probably
> shouldn't mention.. don't think it's over 10.) I also got a TRS-80 model 2
> with one floppy drive... my first machine (now sadle departed..) was a
> model 3. I would like to do something with this machine... just about
> anything ;) as I don't have any software for it. Any sources? Can a Pc
> floppy drive read/write TRS-80 disks? And where can I get a serial cable
> to hook it up to a modem / one of the serial ports on my Linux machine?
The TRS-80 Model 2 had 8 inch drives. To handle those on a PC, you'll
have to start with interfacing 8 inch drives to your PC. Most 1.2M PC
disk controllers can handle an 8 inch drive if you're willing to make a
special cable.
In addition to the hardware, NO TRS-80 uses an MS-DOS disk format. So,
you'll need to run special software on the PC. The programs will usually
handle file transfers; you're still going to need a boot disk (Don
Maslin?). There are several file transfer rograms available: 22-disk
(shareware), Uniform, Media Master, Hypercross, XenoCopy-PC, . . . Guess
which one I prefer :-)
There are several OS's that you can run on the Model 2: Model 2 TRS-DOS
(related only in name and distribution to Model 1/3/4 TRS-DOS), and
multiple flavors of CP/M (Lifeboat, Pickles and Trout, etc.) Xenix
requires the 68000 co-processor board (which converts the machine into a
Model 16?)
As for serial cables: I don't remember whether the Model 2 had a db25,
or a dual row header for serial (I remember parallel had a dual row
header). If you don't have the pinout for the serial connector by Monday,
remind me and I'll look it up for you.
--
Fred Cisin cisin_at_xenosoft.com
XenoSoft http://www.xenosoft.com
2210 Sixth St. (510) 644-9366
Berkeley, CA 94710-2219
Received on Sat Jun 19 1999 - 20:45:00 BST