LEOR@mit-mc@sri-unix.UUCP (07/16/83)
From: Leor Zolman <LEOR@mit-mc> Mine has been delivered and installed, and it works beautifully, allowing for teething problems typical of first units shipped (mine is THE first). For the $1200 price tag (not $1400 as earlier reported, though the price may go up if Rick wants any dealers to be able to afford to carry it!), you get a Suntronics controller, one DSDD 40 track 5-1/4" drive in a 2-drive cabinet, cables and software. An optional second 96 track drive may be obtained. The software consists of three programs and a database file. One program configures the system to your specifications (clear-screen string, drive-group where the drive(s) will be addressed, and error diagnostic options); the second program formats floppies in one of the 25-odd supported formats; the last program "installs" the drive as emulating one of the formats. That is, a typical sequence to produce a disk in , say, Osborne format would run as follows: 1. Run DMFORM.COM to format the disk. It comes up with a menu, you pick number 1 (Osborne), and it goes and formats/verifies the disk 2. Run DMSET.COM, pick menu number 1, and it echoes the string: Disk Format is: Osborne SSSD A> (or whatever) at which point you're back at CP/M command level with drive D: (or whichever you've configured it to be) being an Osborne format drive. Any time you warm-boot, the "Osborne" message flashes to remind you you've got the Disk Maker emulator running. 3. Now just write your data onto drive D: any way you want (PIP, SWEEP, CP, whatever) !! All normal CP/M commands, such as STAT, work fine on that drive and tell you all the things that apply to an Osborne drive. 4. To switch to another format, just run DMSET again and pick another format. Once a format has been installed with DMSET, the drive may be both read from and written to just like any CP/M drive. The following formats are supported in my version, with more coming probably soon: Osborne (90K, 183K); TRS-80 Mod I Omikron, TRS-80 MOD III MM, Xerox 820 (82K, 155K); IBM-PC (CP/M-86) 154K; Kaypro II; TI professional; Televideo 802/803; Zorba; Otrona Attache; Superbrain(162K, 340K); Heath H-37 (148K, 304K); Heath Magnolia; Heath Z-100 (148K, 304K); NEC PC-8001A; Access; Dec VT180; DEC Rainbow 96-TPI (with optional 96-TPI drive). The software is terse, well-executed and effective. Obviously the system is expandable to new formats by obtaining updates to the database file. HARD-SECTORED FORMATS ARE NOT CURRENTLY SUPPORTED, although some thought is being put into this problem. Again, this neat little package is available from New Generation Systems, phone: (800) 368-3359. -leor