There is no model 600 service manual in that ebay ad. Everything in that ad is available for free download from archive.org and several other copies on line, and already known. If you just google "tandy 600" you find them all.
There were 4 manuals related to the 600 that I've been able to find so far, and I just added a 5th last week. All are in my google drive model 600 directory, just for convenience, but they are also already on archive.org and others. None is the service manual. Ooooold forum posts talked about the service manual. At least one person said he had one. But it was all 20 years ago. -- bkw On Feb 5, 2017 7:03 PM, "Gary Hammond" <[email protected]> wrote: > Users manual at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/62992334/Model%20600% > 20Owners%20Manual%20%281985%29%28Microsoft%29%20307p.pdf > > On 6/02/17, 12:48 PM, "M100 on behalf of Rick" <m100-bounces@lists. > bitchin100.com on behalf of [email protected]> wrote: > > In theory, this person has the Model 600 26-3901 service manual and > BIOS reference on DVD. (But it isn't cheap either.) > > http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultimate-Tandy-Radio-Shack- > TRS-80-Operation-Repair-Service-Manuals-DVD-manual-/252456781419?hash= > item3ac798c66b:g:VbsAAOSwBahVeB8e > > If they managed to get it on DVD for resale then it has to be out > there 'in the wild' some place. > > I expect though it will be very much like the 102 reference manual - > it will explain what everything is in great detail but you aren't going to > find any service notes in there. > > --- > Rick > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > > Are you up to a little component level repair? I have 2 600's > > > > > > My first one was working except for the floppy drive, and some > > keyboard keys were corroded. > > > > > > I took it apart to replace the batteries and clean up the keyboard > > keys. > > > > > > Afterwards, the machine boots up and the system manager loads, but > > there is no response from any keyboard keys except the power button, > > and the clock on the screen does not advance. > > > > > > I have a 2nd fully working 600, and I have verified that the > > keyboard, it's cable, screen, it's cable, and the daughter card the > > screen connects to, are all good. They all function fully when > > connected to my other 600. > > > > > > Similarly, plugging the known good copies of all those from the good > > 600 into the bad 600, I get the same locked up behavior. > > > > > > I haven't yet swapped the floppy drives to see if the floppy drive > > problem was in the drive or on the motherboard. I will, but that's a > > separate issue. Previously everything worked fine aside from the > > floppy drive, and that includes both with and without a 96k ram > > board installed, that includes after I had replaced both the memory > > battery and the main battery. > > > > > > So, the problem is on the motherboard, and somehow allows the boot > > process to go far enough to load the system manager. The main cpu > > clock must be ok or else that couldn't happen. A lot of things must > > be ok or else that couldn't happen. Yet once the manager loads and > > draws the initial screen, that's it. No further action. The clock > > doesn't even advance. The keyboard which might have been > > questionable since I had it out and apart and drenched in DeoxitD5, > > has been proven good. Same for the screen and daughter card, though > > I never messed with those so they weren't suspect anyway. > > > > > > If you think you have a shot at diagnosing that (without any model > > 600 service manual, since no one has one these days), you can have > > this machine. Same goes for anyone else reading this if not you. > > > > > > I have to say, even having a fully working unit, WITH basic > > installed, this thing is terrible. 9 1/2 lbs and almost useless, > > even compared to other machines of the day. > > > > > > > > > > Everything is incredibly slow for a machine with an 8088 in it. There > > is almost no software for it, and there might have onlybever been a > > single 3rd party machine language program for it, which we don't > > have a copy of, just a review describing it. What little software > > there is is a mix of interesting but very low level utils, like > > utility.lib, and utter crapware games. I should make a video of > > actually using art.bas and playing spider.bas . There isn't even a > > ram test app, which I would like to test the new ram modules > > designed by Jayson Lee-Steere after I build the first set. > > > > > > The development kit is lost to time. Although we have a manual that > > describes it and it seems to be tantalizingly simple. So there are > > no 3rd party machine language programs, nor the tools to make them > > any more. > > > > > > But *almost*. The way the manual describes the executable format, > > it's basically compiled with a standard DOS 8086/8088 compiler, but > > your code just does things that wouldn't actually work on a dos > > machine, and a post-processing step strips off a dos exe header. So > > it's like it might be a very small step from a ms-dos 8088 compile > > to a model 600 compile. > > > > > > We do have a small handful of executables to examine to reverse > > engineer. There are all the files from the utility floppy. There is > > basic.!55. There are all the "files" in the system roms and > > multiplan rom which can be copied to stand-alone files from the > > system manager. So it might be possible to make a new toolchain to > > produce new machine language programs, in theory. > > > > > > We also have a full proper manual for BASIC now (I scanned it and > > uploaded to archive.org last week). So, BASIC.!55 plus UTILITY.LIB > > (which provides peek and poke and similar) and the basic manual, and > > the new ram modules so no one needs to be stuck with 32k or 96k any > > more, means at least the stuff is available now to make the most out > > of basic at least. > > > > > > One positive factor when it comes to trying to diagnose and fix the > > hardware without any service manual, apparently it is all 100% > > generic parts. No asics, fpgas, cplds, gals or pals. So no mystery > > chips or unobtanium chips. Should be possible in theory to debug it > > 100%. I don't claim it would be worth the time it might take, only > > that it falls on the right side of possible vs not-possible. > > > > > > -- > > bkw > > > > > > On Feb 5, 2017 4:13 PM, "Willard Goosey" < [email protected] > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > Just when I'd convinced myself that I don't need more old computers, > > you have to go and get me all interested in the T600! ;-) > > > > > > I was sort of interested anyway, because it's the only 8088 box I've > > ever heard of that runs neither MSDOS or CP/M-86. OTOH it was such a > > failure! > > > > > > I don't actually have anything useful to say, besides "good luck". > > Now I'm going to go *stay off ebay*. :-) > > > > > > Willard > > > > Sent from Samsung tablet > > > > > > -------- Original message -------- > > From Brian White < [email protected] > > > Date: 02/05/2017 12:42 PM (GMT-07:00) > > To Model 100 Discussion < [email protected] > > > Subject [M100] Model 600 basic rom > > > > > > > > I started to try to tease apart whether the basic.!55 file is maybe a > > copy of the option rom, even though it's too large to fit on a chip. > > > > > > I was thinking, maybe someone copied the option rom to disk via the > > system manager, and the disk/ram copy just gets some kind of headers > > or tails added to it which could be stripped off to get a rom image. > > > > > > To find out, I looked at the multiplan rom. I took a direct dump of > > the multiplan rom in an eprom programmer, which makes a guaranteed > > exact and working copy, because I then flashed that image back to a > > new eprom on a molex carrier and it worked. > > > > > > Then used the system manager to copy plan.!50 from rom to disk. Then > > removed the rom. Then copied from disk to ram. Then used xmodem to > > copy to a modern machine. > > > > > > Then compared those two images. Also armed with a tiny bit of info > > about rom structure from one of the developer manuals scanned in > > archive.org > > > > > > I seem to have found the opposite of what I was hoping. The the rom > > dump of multiplan is larger than the ram copy of the very same > > physical rom chip. > > > > > > The bulk of the two images are identical in the middle, but the rom > > image has 64 bytes of header prepended and 64 bytes of tail > > appended. And both versions have some dead space at the end, though > > the ram copy fills it with spaces and the rom image fills it with > > nulls. > > > > > > So basic.!55 remains a mystery. It's a ram/disk executable, which is > > larger than a rom image is possible to get. > > > > > > https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bys6eLbSbYyhNHBIdk1rSlZORlk > > > > > > > > https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bys6eLbSbYyhSFhFZ29TSEZkTUk > > > > >
