Depending on what version of UniPlus that is, a version was found a few years ago which was imaged and is installable. UniPlus is a bunch of floppies (a bit under twenty off the top of my head), not just one, if you have the full set and it's a different version than what's out there already and can recover it, it would be useful.
I don't know what VPI is, so you might actually have something that's somewhat unique! Do you have a classic Mac with an 800K or 400K floppy drive that can be used? If so, see if you can make an image using Copy II Mac. You can try one of the Mac software archives such as Macintosh Garden or other abandonware sites for this. You can even use your Lisa to run Copy II Mac if you have MacWorks. Alternatively if you have a Lisa you can try BLU http://sigmasevensystems.com/BLU.html but not sure if it will handle bad blocks. Each Lisa has a serial number written in the VSROM (Video State ROM) which drives the horizontal and vertical signals for the CRT state machine. Part of this hides a bunch of bits for the serial number. The BOOT ROM reads this on startup and writes the serial number to low memory before booting an OS. Some software such as UniPlus and Lisa Office System will brand their applications with the serial number of the machine it was installed on to prevent copying. UniPlus did something more, their install disk actually used activation. It would take the Lisa's serial number and some random numbers and put up a display saying to call a phone number and get an activation key. This key would then allow you to install a boot block and boot loader on a hard drive. However this process has been, um, reversed in the past and can be done so again, so it's not something to worry about. If the manual mentions installing on a screen modified Lisa XL or 2/10 (i.e. ROM version 3A), that would be very unique, and certainly the VPI label makes it unique. I'd love to scan in whatever manuals you have and make them available for bitsavers as well as try to recover whatever bits are on that disk. Pls contact me offlist if you're willing to loan me this for a few days. On 06/13/18 08:33, Bill Degnan via cctech wrote: > I have a diskette labeled > > UNIX SYSTEM V > VPI UNIX > disk 'A' > (vpi)* 8/85 > > UniPress Software, Inc. > > I have the small installation manual that talks about inserting the disk to > serialize it, and how to install UNIX onto the Lisa 2/10 in Mac XL Mode. > It is a small implementation of AT&T UNIX V. > > The disk is bad. Anyone have a process for recovering or reading an Apple > Mac XL disk? This seems like a piece of software that should be preserved, > as a curiosity. Does anyone actually have a working copy of UniPress > Software UNIX for the Lisa XL? > > Bill >