korn@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Peter "Arrgh" Korn) (08/01/86)
First off, many thanks to the many replies I've gotten re: my Plea for
help on a SuperBrain problem. I'll be posting my results shortly (I'm
taking an alternate route to solve the problem).
And now for my question: Is there a way to take a Kaypro 2/4 and modify
it to be IBM compatible? I've heard rumors to this effect, but as
yet I've gotten no names of places that'll do it.
Thanks again,
Peter
------- "Fred Astaire? Ginger
Peter Korn Rogers did everything
korn@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU he did, backwards
{decvax,dual,hplabs,sdcsvax,ulysses}!ucbvax!korn and in high heels!"jay@ethos.UUCP (Jay Denebeim) (08/05/86)
The answer to your question is 'sort of'. SWP makes (made?) a piggy
back board that contained an 8088 and 256/512K of memory. It gave you a ram
disk in Kaypro mode, and allowed you to run MS-DOS on the 8088. NOTE this does
not mean IBM compatible. It had no graphics, and the memory map doesn't look
at all like the IBM. It will run MS-DOS software, not IBM software. This
constitutes around 10% of the total IBM software. WordStar 3.0 would run, but
not 3.3, DBase II, but not DBase III etc. The reason for this is the IBM is
*SLOW* and people found the only way to get decient speed out of the beast was
to blow the DOS away and drive the hardware directly, added to this MS-DOS has
no graphics support in it, and you'll see that not very much IBM software is
going to run on the thing.
--
Jay Denebeim "One world, one egg, one basket."
UUCP: {seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!mcnc!rti-sel!ethos!jay
BBS: Deep Thought, ZNode #42 300/1200/2400 919-471-6436alford@ecsvax.UUCP (Ross Alford) (08/06/86)
Your question re Kaypro-->PClone modification is something I've wondered about. The SWP board is more useful as a ramdisk than as a MSDOS system--I have the 256k version, and it's great under CP/M, but almost completely IBM-uncompatible, and there is very little truly generic software around for MSDOS. However, just because SWP hasn't done it doesn't mean it can't be done: A Kaypro provides almost all of the parts you would need to build a PClone, except for the motherboard--a nice sturdy case, power supply, keyboard (which would need either modification or a tricky BIOS), two disk drives, and an external-synch monitor. It also has a large base of installed systems, many of the owners of which are feeling that the world is passing them by. A clever hardware person ought to be able to install one of these 'little-board' style all-in-one (serial, parallel interfaces and pseudo color- or mono- graphics adapter all on the board) motherboards in a Kaypro case for little more than the cost of the board. A REALLY clever hardware/software person could probably even build in Z80 support so the Kaypro could continue to fulfill its original role. I suspect that a kit of this sort could sell briskly for around $400-500 and make someone a mint. Ross Alford ...mcnc!ecsvax!alford