Thank you for writing that up, Santo. I'm glad you got everything working! I'm curious how usable it feels to you as a portable CP/M machine. How heavy is it and what's the battery life like? Have you taken it out to a local café and explored its computing potential while sipping espresso?
The PicDisk ads make some bold promises. What does the "MENU DRIVEN" system actually do? Is it as easy as the standard Model T "point and shoot" interface or is it just a gimmick? Another ad says the PicDisc does "BAR GRAPHICS"; is that on screen or only to a printer? I know you said the custom ROM had "almost nothing on it", but you could upload a dump of it? And finally, if it is not too much trouble, would you be able to save the images you recovered on archive.org? Thanks! —b9 On Thu, Jun 4, 2026 at 8:27 AM Santo Nucifora <[email protected]> wrote: > Just to close this off, I made a post on what I found with the PicDisc on > the Olivetti M10 here if anyone is interested: > https://vintagecomputer.ca/picdisc/ > > Thanks, > Santo > https://vintagecomputer.ca > > On Mon, Jun 1, 2026 at 11:25 PM B9 <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Now _that_ is a snazzy Model-T for the fashion-conscious, high power >> businessman of the 1980s! When you whip that out it'll impress even the >> Old Boys in the board room. >> >> Of course Radio-Shack could never pull that off, but I wonder if anyone >> ever hot-rodded their Model 100 for style. Maybe some racing stripes to >> make it go faster? >> >> --b9 >> >> >> On June 1, 2026 6:48:45 PM PDT, Santo Nucifora <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> Thanks for asking about it. I actually got it working this afternoon >>> after changing the 12 volt battery, replacing a bad diode and the internal >>> fuse. An intermittent ribbon cable issue didn't help either but sorted >>> that out. I had to archive the disks before using them so I was happy to >>> be able to reproduce them for testing. I could go on and on so I'll put up >>> a blog post and post a link when done. >>> >>> Here is a quick picture. >>> https://vintagecomputer.ca/files/TRS-80/PicDisc/PicDiscOlivettiM10sm.JPG >>> Sorry, tried to include a picture but it was too big for the list so I >>> posted a link to the picture. >>> >>> It is CP/M only. Shows 60 columns by 8 rows but you can window around >>> with the arrow keys so it actually supports 80 x 24 as advertised. I need >>> to figure out how to put some CP/M software on the floppies. I'll make a >>> full blog post and post here soon. >>> >>> Thanks, >>> Santo >>> >>> On Mon, Jun 1, 2026 at 9:19 PM B 9 <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> I had never heard of PicDisc before. The advertisement in Portable >>>> 100/200/600 Magazine (February 1986) makes it sound like quite the >>>> wonderbeast with every feature one could wish for: floppy drive, CP/M, 64K >>>> RAM, 60-column display, light-weight, and rechargeable. And all that for >>>> just $600. In the same issue, the Chipmunk is advertised at $500 and >>>> that's just a floppy drive. >>>> >>>> I hope that once you get your PicDisc working, you'll post more about >>>> it so there won't be such a dearth of information for the next person who >>>> finds one. >>>> >>>> —b9 >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> [image: image.jpeg] >>>> >>>> On Sat, May 30, 2026 at 5:45 AM Santo Nucifora < >>>> [email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi folks, >>>>> >>>>> It's my first post but I am not new to the M100. I've refurbished two >>>>> or three via recapping and they are great little machines. I was recently >>>>> intrigued by and acquired an Olivetti M10 with PicDisc drive from someone >>>>> on eBay who got it from an estate sale. They have no idea how it works >>>>> AND >>>>> there's no documentation, of course. It would not power on for them but I >>>>> expected that. >>>>> >>>>> I've since received it and taken it apart and the M10 works fine. >>>>> Caps all look fine but I had to remove the battery as there was some >>>>> corrosion but not much. It pops up a PicDisc battery warning and then >>>>> shuts down immediately. Makes sense, I guess. I am waiting for a new 12 >>>>> volt rechargeable lead acid battery to arrive. I'm surprised there was >>>>> one >>>>> that small but at 1.2ah, it's supposed to last for 20 hours on a single >>>>> charge with normal use. In case anyone is wondering, it uses the same >>>>> Teac FD-35E 3.5" single sided drive mechanism as the Chipmunk drive that >>>>> Hey Birt! had in the drive he restored recently. I think I'll chance >>>>> firing it up as is. >>>>> >>>>> First off, I would love to hear from anyone that has had experience >>>>> with a PicDisc. I think I may have a CP/M disk or two that might work as >>>>> the PicDisk boots up CP/M 2.2 from what I've read. I haven't gotten up to >>>>> powering it up yet but I have already archived the disks I think might >>>>> work >>>>> with it. Initially it also came with a bunch of MS-DOS disks that don't >>>>> seem to be related at all and nothing screams "PicDisc" expect for one or >>>>> two single sided double density 3.5" diskettes with hand written labels. >>>>> >>>>> I was going to play with the PicDisc this morning with the dead >>>>> battery installed as there is a barrel jack on the PicDisc unit but no >>>>> markings as to what voltage. I might guess 12VDC because to the >>>>> recharging >>>>> needed but there is a mystery barrel plugged wire that is hand-soldered to >>>>> the M10 battery terminals that was just coiled up near the PicDisc barrel >>>>> jack. It fits the barrel jack of the PicDisk and would be 6VDC (battery >>>>> compartment voltage on the M10). Because of this, it makes me pause as to >>>>> what voltage is needed on the PicDisc so for now I wait for the battery. >>>>> That should make it work as it will come fully charged. The board in the >>>>> PicDisc has 32K of static RAM on it along with a bunch of other >>>>> electronics >>>>> so I don't want to fry anything accidently with the wrong voltage. >>>>> >>>>> If anyone has any experience with the PicDisc, I'd love to fine any >>>>> software, documentation to even just your experience with it and what that >>>>> input voltage should be on the PicDisc because, of course, it did not come >>>>> with an adapter. With the 12VDC battery recharging needed, I am just not >>>>> sure. >>>>> >>>>> I've only been able to find ads, a comparison article of the Chipmunk >>>>> drive VS the PicDisc and one post that talked about 22Disk settings for >>>>> the >>>>> format used by the PicDisc so I am hoping to find someone who might have >>>>> had one. >>>>> >>>>> Any help or feedback is much appreciated. Let's hope I can get this >>>>> PicDisc working like it used to. >>>>> >>>>> Santo Nucifora >>>>> https://vintagecomputer.ca >>>>> >>>>
