LIN@XX.LCS.MIT.EDU.UUCP (03/22/87)
I currently run a Compupro S-100 system with CPM 2.2 or MPM 8/16 -- 8 inch floppies. Any ideas how I can transfer my important stuff (documents, spreadsheets, databases) to an IBM-compatible layout? I guess what I need is some way to write all my files onto a 5 1/4 inch floppy that my IBM can read. Help? thanks.
gardner@kodak.UUCP (03/23/87)
In article <LIN.12288442266.BABYL@XX.LCS.MIT.EDU> LIN@XX.LCS.MIT.EDU writes: > >I currently run a Compupro S-100 system with CPM 2.2 or MPM 8/16 -- 8 >inch floppies. Any ideas how I can transfer my important stuff >(documents, spreadsheets, databases) to an IBM-compatible layout? > >I guess what I need is some way to write all my files onto a 5 1/4 >inch floppy that my IBM can read. > >Help? > I think the easiest way is to do it is Kermit-Kermit file transfer. I did this successfully when I made the switch from CP/M to PC-DOS. Just connect serial ports together and go. (You will probably have to switch XMIT and RECV lines - 2&3) =#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=# Dick Gardner Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester, New York 14650 (716) 477-1002 UUCP: rochester!kodak!gardner To err is human -- to really screw it up you need a computer! =#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#=#
hanscom@lll-es-s05.UUCP (03/23/87)
> Message-Id: <LIN.12288442266.BABYL@XX.LCS.MIT.EDU> > From: LIN@XX.LCS.MIT.EDU > Subject: converting a CP/M operation to IBM PC >I currently run a Compupro S-100 system with CPM 2.2 or MPM 8/16 -- 8 >inch floppies. Any ideas how I can transfer my important stuff >(documents, spreadsheets, databases) to an IBM-compatible layout? >I guess what I need is some way to write all my files onto a 5 1/4 >inch floppy that my IBM can read. One of the best (and cheapest!) ways I have found for ASCII and text files is to get a copy of the pd comm. program QMODEM (for the Clone) and use an RS 232 link. Quick and easy. QMODEM has a very nice download feature, that lets you capture everything that comes over the serial line. I have used this method with a Cromemco S-100 w/8" disks, and it works great. In fact, the Cromemco uses an RS 232 device for the console, so the IBM (Clone) with QMODEM makes a great DUMB TERMINAL from which I can run the S-100. I have even gone as far as DUMPing small .COM files, moving the dump text as above, and then using a TURBO-PASCAL program on the clone to put them back in binary. You could do the same thing with HEXIFY/LOAD (assuming you can transfer copies of those guys some other way first). DUMP is a rude and crude approach, but it's easy! While I'm at it.....you'll need a good editor (I use a copy of micro- EMACS I got from the C-user group pd software), and the pd disk utility DT is pretty good for looking at the internals of files on the Clone. Both are available for next to nothing. Good luck.
"Robert_V._Muckley.henr801E"@XEROX.COM.UUCP (03/24/87)
I can convert files from 5.25" to 8" or 8" to 5.25" and CP/M (most any format) to MS-DOS or MS-DOS to CP/M. The only limitation is that I can't easily handle single density disks (Double or single SIDED makes no difference). If you're still interested, message me and we can discuss details. Bob
rbloom@APG-1.ARPA.UUCP (03/24/87)
Herb et all, > I currently run a Compupro S-100 system with CPM 2.2 or MPM 8/16 -- 8 > inch floppies. Any ideas how I can transfer my important stuff > (documents, spreadsheets, databases) to an IBM-compatible layout? I have [had] the same problem (approximately - an Zenith AT clone and a CPM 3.0-like TurboDOS NorthStar Horizon.) Both your and my systems have the same problem - your 8" floppies won't fit in the IBM drives (or at least not with using undo force :-) and the *hard*sectoring* of the NorthStar makes the 5-1/4 disks physically and mentally incompatible (sometimes I think I need a good divorce lawyer.) So, put the two of them next to each other, run a nice 3 or 4 wire cable between serial ports on each (pins 2,3,7, maybe reversing 2&3), obtain an commo program for each (preferabily with 'batch' capability) and transfer at the highest rate that they can manage. My TurboDOS to Zenith connection runs at 38400 baud (!), the NorthStar Advantage to Zenith a more prosetic 9600 baud. Text files worth best (natch) but there's no problem with binary files either - as long as you don't try to run programs on the wrong machine. Works so good that I often download a batch of files to the Zenith, use pkarc to archive them, and then upload them back to the CP/M machine. (I've might be called perverse - to me the IBM machine is the 'down' and the CP/M machine is the 'up'!) bob bloom
ari@well.UUCP (03/25/87)
There are several options open to people converting from CP/M machines
with 8" floppies to 5-1/4" MS-DOS diskettes. The simplest is to contact
a disk conversion service. Prices from transferring the data can be as
low as $7.50/disk, and you then have the exact files you had on the CP/M
diskettes. The .COM files will be useless in their new environment, but
the data files may be used if the equivalent program exists under MS-DOS--
this is especially painless for people using WordStar and dBaseII.
Another transfer method would be to get the 8" floppy disk controller
marketed by the people who make the UNIFORM CP/M disk reading software.
This costs about $200, fits into your PC-compatible machine, hooks up to
an 8" drive (presumably disconnected from the CompuPro) and you are ready
to read whatever is needed at your convenience.
A less expensive variation on the same these is to hook up a cable
between two machines and use some convenient file protocol to transfer
the files. The eliminates the need for a special disk controller on the
PC end, but it can be a hassle figuring out the proper ports and making
the transfer work.
If you have trouble using the data once it is transferred, send me
e-mail and I should be able to help--we have done hundreds of machines
over the past few years and usually know what we are looking at and how
to get from there to someplace else.ari@well.UUCP (03/25/87)
For Northstar/DOS transfers you may be interested in a board put out by the people who market UNIFORM--it fits in the PC and lets you read Northstar CP/M diskettes in the PC drives. It doesn't help if your diskettes are in the Northstar DOS format, but otherwise it's incredibly convenient. I think it runs for about $200, which is a bit expensive., On the other hand, you can read/write/format the Northstar diskettes on the PC, and as an added bonus, if you just want to work with the Northstar data while your Northstar is doing something else, you don't even have to transfer the data--the UNIFORM program will allow you to treat the Northstar diskette as a PC diskette. As an added bonus, the board also reads several Apple II formats (including Apple CP/M).
jshaver@APG-5.ARPA.UUCP (03/26/87)
We are making a transition from an Otrona CPM system to an MSDOS environment. We have found two software products useful. We purchased MultiMedia, a utility which permits one drive of an MSDOS system to be configured into one of about 60 diffent systems including about 20 CPM systems. (Apple not included). We also use the public domain software from SIMTEL20 which permits the Emulation of an 8080 on the MSDOS system. Not all CPM programs are compatible. Our favorite, NewSweep, has sone non-standard calls to bdos and will not work. Many do. I have mixed emotions about MSDOS, as the CPM world did most of the things which I required on a daily basis. and as someone else has said, Anyone can make a computer dance with a meg of memory. Real programmers do it in 8 bits. LONG LIVE CPM. John