Re: [M100] - Backpack

[Francois Gurin]

On Thu, Mar 2, 2023, 6:45 PM John R. Hogerhuis  wrote:

> Tap the machine 3 times, proclaim "no whammies!," sacrifice a chicken and
> move on.
>


Does where you tap affect the outcome? What about how hard.

My accent is a little thick but I don't expect an issue unless this is a
sensitive step.

I am most concerned about the chicken -- I only have ready access to live
pigeons and pre-butchered chicken.  Any experience with more readily
available substitutions in the city?

Couldn't resist
-fg

Re: [M100] Another slabtop? Or pc screen extension?

[Francois Gurin]

The ficihip with the mechanical keyboard is nice if you want an extra
screen on a desktop and is solid quality on the keyboard.  it comes with
standard hdmi and usb c cables, as well as a proprietary cable that is usbc
on the kb side and breaks out to usbc for power, usbc for hid, and hdmi on
the pc side.  Mine is flakey and they haven't responded for a replacement.

It'd take some work to be a standalone computer.  it;d need a battery, a
Computer, and a lot of cable management or fine soldering.  At that point
you;re looking at ready100 pricing and not as slick.

-f

 i wanted to make it into a computer,

On Sat, Aug 20, 2022, 4:07 PM David Szasz  wrote:

> Regarding the "slabtop" from the orig. post. Looking at it from a price
> vs. performance standpoint it may be better (& cheaper) to buy a tablet and
> Bluetooth keyboard. That would give versatility, choice of OS and "more
> bang for the buck".
> I could change my mind based on an excellent mechanical keyboard, build
> quality, etc... Probably not something you'd keep for 40 years and build an
> online community around.
>
> As for any Raspberry PI these days, try to find one w/o paying a premium.
> (Though a RasPi 400 w/ 8 gigs would be nice!)
>
> Cheers
> Dave
>
> On Fri, Aug 19, 2022 at 10:56 PM Ariel Millennium Thornton <
> arie...@thornton2.com> wrote:
>
>> The Raspberry Pi 400?
>>
>> I got one of those last summer and poked at it daily for light office
>> stuff.  It's a great little computer with a fantastic profile.
>> Aesthetically, it feels like it's begging me to stick it and a display
>> to a board and turn it into a slabtop.
>>
>> However, the keyboard mechanism feels like it isn't up to the task of
>> even light writing or occasional programming.  The keys don't always
>> register when pressed, even though the keys feel great, and the D key in
>> particular on mine has been that way since I took it out of the box.
>>
>> ~ArielMT
>>
>>
>> On Fri, 19 Aug 2022 18:12:39 -0400, Jeff Gonzales wrote:
>>
>> > Anyone try the red and white Raspberry PI PC?
>> >
>> > On Fri, Aug 19, 2022, 5:26 PM John R. Hogerhuis 
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > > What was wrong with it? I watched a YouTube review, the guy thought
>> > > the build quality was great but that it needed dedicated software
>> > > (presumably on the desktop side).
>> > >
>> > > -- John.
>> > >
>> > > On Fri, Aug 19, 2022, 1:17 PM Alastair Wiggins
>> > >  wrote:
>> > >
>> > >> Hi,
>> > >>
>> > >> I bought one from Amazon. It wasn't cheap and the quality was
>> > >> awful.
>> > >>
>> > >> Returned to Amazon for a full refund!
>> > >>
>> > >> Alastair
>> > >>
>> > >>
>> > >>>
>> > >>> -- Forwarded message --
>> > >>> From: "John R. Hogerhuis" 
>> > >>> To: m...@bitchin100.com
>> > >>> Cc:
>> > >>> Bcc:
>> > >>> Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2022 13:16:48 -0700
>> > >>> Subject: [M100] Another slabtop? Or pc screen extension?
>> > >>> Ain't that pretty?
>> > >>>
>> > >>>
>> > >>>
>> https://gagadget.com/en/156042-ficihip-mechanical-keyboard-has-an-integrated-126-inch-touchscreen-display/
>> > >>>
>> > >>> Not sure what it can actually do.
>> > >>>
>> > >>> -- John.
>> > >>>
>> > >>>
>> > >>>
>> > >>>
>> > >>>
>>
>

Re: [M100] M10 on ebay

[Francois Gurin]

Thanks Brad, i'm looking forward to it!  And thanks everyone on the list
who resisted the temptation so t a list member get a deal!  I know it's not
easy :)

--francois


On Sun, Jul 17, 2022 at 9:48 PM Brad Grier  wrote:

> Congrats Francois, looks like a very nice unit!
>
> On Sun, Jul 17, 2022 at 7:42 PM Russell Flowers 
> wrote:
>
>> Gotta love that modem settings string written on the case!
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 17, 2022 at 3:55 PM Francois Gurin 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I hope it stays that way, I am the current bidder and would love an m10
>>> for the collection without spending a mint!
>>>
>>> --francois
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jul 17, 2022, 3:29 PM Brad Grier  wrote:
>>>
>>>> Heh... so far :) And doesn't ship to Canada :(
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, Jul 17, 2022 at 12:06 PM Stephen Adolph 
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.ebay.ca/itm/144643878847?mkevt=1=2=e112358.m43.l3160=8=43120694728=-1%7E1=16TE179892_T_ENDSOON_CT1=2022071709=osgood
>>>>>
>>>>> Super cheap!
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> --
>>>> Brad Grier
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>
> --
> --
> Brad Grier
>
>
>

Re: [M100] M10 on ebay

[Francois Gurin]

I hope it stays that way, I am the current bidder and would love an m10 for
the collection without spending a mint!

--francois

On Sun, Jul 17, 2022, 3:29 PM Brad Grier  wrote:

> Heh... so far :) And doesn't ship to Canada :(
>
> On Sun, Jul 17, 2022 at 12:06 PM Stephen Adolph 
> wrote:
>
>>
>> https://www.ebay.ca/itm/144643878847?mkevt=1=2=e112358.m43.l3160=8=43120694728=-1%7E1=16TE179892_T_ENDSOON_CT1=2022071709=osgood
>>
>> Super cheap!
>>
>
>
> --
> --
> Brad Grier
>
>
>

[M100] Amstrad NC200 Floppy drive

[Francois Gurin]

Hi All,

Seems like I'm not having a good year with floppy drives :p

I was working on repairing the drive for an Amstrad NC200 which was going
great until the final assembly.  Despite at least a dozen worken tests at
each step, looks like something misaligned at the last minute and I managed
to rip the upper drive head off the arm with the disk.

So that leaves me with:
1) A request for anyone with a spare NC200 floppy, it's a Citizen v1dc-65b
with a ZIF / Ribbon Cable connector instead of the standard parts.
2) Does anyone want a Citizen v1dc-65b that is mechanically working but is
now a single sided drive?  Free + Shipping

One of the Amstrad sites sells a modified Gotek with adapters for the NC200
which will be my fallback

--francois

Re: [M100] corroded battery contacts

[Francois Gurin]

Soaking in vinegar for a day softened the rust enough that i was able to
polish the springs i completely removed.  I was able the sand away enough
on the soldered springs to make a connection and get the board working.

Thanks all for the tips, I'm going to keep them all handy as there's some
more work to be done



On Mon, Oct 18, 2021, 8:23 PM Jeffrey Birt  wrote:

> That might work. I have also tried mixing a little glycerin with the acid
> to make it more viscous. This slows down the reaction but does help keep it
> in place.
>
>
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
> *From:* M100  *On Behalf Of *Francois
> Gurin
> *Sent:* Monday, October 18, 2021 7:04 PM
> *To:* m...@bitchin100.com
> *Subject:* Re: [M100] corroded battery contacts
>
>
>
> Thanks Jeff
>
>
>
> I'll give botH a try.   Do you think vinegar soaked cottton balls would be
> effective to clean them up in place?  If i open it up I may as well replace
> them!
>
>
>

Re: [M100] Recompile multiple BA files

[Francois Gurin]

On Wed, Oct 20, 2021, 7:20 PM John R. Hogerhuis  wrote:

>
> For example, what LaddieAlpha does is it looks at the file and determines
> if it is formatted as plain text or tokenized basic, and when, say TS-DOS
> requests the directory it presents the filename with corrected extension on
> the fly. That's one way to handle it.
>


Firmware update for the Backpack to do the same? ;)

--fg

>

Re: [M100] corroded battery contacts

[Francois Gurin]

Thanks Jeff

I'll give botH a try.   Do you think vinegar soaked cottton balls would be
effective to clean them up in place?  If i open it up I may as well replace
them!


On Mon, Oct 18, 2021, 12:21 PM Jeffrey Birt  wrote:

> Soak in a mild acid such as vinegar or citric acid. Afterword rinse the
> coat with WD-40.
>
> It is possible to buy some nice new battery contacts now too. I did a
> video recently about this after a friend gave me a tip about the new
> contacts being available from Aliexpress.
>
> https://youtu.be/HwqvUbz0vPY
>
> Jeff Birt
>
>
>
> *From:* M100  *On Behalf Of *Francois
> Gurin
> *Sent:* Monday, October 18, 2021 10:45 AM
> *To:* m...@bitchin100.com
> *Subject:* [M100] corroded battery contacts
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi All,
>
>
>
> This isn't specifically an m100 question, but is one that relates and I'm
> sure people here will have experience with this.  I have an Amstrad NC-200
> with severely corroded battery terminals.  When it's just battery leakage,
> I have always had good luck with contact cleaner (I use WD-40 brand contact
> cleaner and a toothbrush for cleaning pretty much everything, it's a lot
> easier for me to work with that the various deoxits and other brands) and
> on extreme cases help from a knife or some steel wool.
>
>
>
> Contact cleaner isn't doing much, and it's very resistant to scraping.  I
> have a feeling this is straight up rust which I (knock on wood) don't have
> much experience with on electronics or a combination of both
> battery leakage and rust.
>
>
>
> Short of fully replacing the terminals, any ideas on how to clean up these
> terminals?
>
>
>
> --fg
>
>
>
>
>

[M100] corroded battery contacts

[Francois Gurin]

Hi All,

This isn't specifically an m100 question, but is one that relates and I'm
sure people here will have experience with this.  I have an Amstrad NC-200
with severely corroded battery terminals.  When it's just battery leakage,
I have always had good luck with contact cleaner (I use WD-40 brand contact
cleaner and a toothbrush for cleaning pretty much everything, it's a lot
easier for me to work with that the various deoxits and other brands) and
on extreme cases help from a knife or some steel wool.

Contact cleaner isn't doing much, and it's very resistant to scraping.  I
have a feeling this is straight up rust which I (knock on wood) don't have
much experience with on electronics or a combination of both
battery leakage and rust.

Short of fully replacing the terminals, any ideas on how to clean up these
terminals?

--fg

[M100] TPDD2 & Cambridge z88

[Francois Gurin]

Some time back I replaced the belt and had my TPDD2 working fine until it
took a tumble while accessing the disk.  It tries to read and write, but
throws device errors.  For the life of me, I can't figure out what is
wrong.  I got very excited by the service manual but haven't made headway.

Does anyone have a good home for it?  I'd love for someone local to NYC
swing by and carry it off, but am willing to ship if you cover postage.
Just the drive.  If I have to ship, keep in mind that I am slow at packing
things up and sending them out.

Completely unrelated, I  have a Cambridge Z88 with a broken screen, any
chance one of you have either a replacement screen or a busted one with a
possibly salvageable screen?

Re: [M100] TPDD2 (FLOPPY) vs Barcode Wand (UPC.CO)

[Francois Gurin]

This doesn't help with the relocation, but instead of a ccr-81 couldn't you
make an mp3 of  UPC and load it from anything convenient that can play back
the audio (phone, mp3 player, reel to reel ;)?

fg


On Fri, Apr 2, 2021, 9:29 PM Greg Swallow  wrote:

> Kurt,
>
> Would work for sure, but I'm trying to get three M100 to do scanning and
> only have two with REX. Am using 3 M100 that have only a Y2K ROM and 32K
> RAM. The TPDD2 is a way to reload -- in case of crash, while at the job
> location. I can clear UPC.CO easy enough and CLEAR 256, MAXRAM should do
> the trick to remove FLOPPY. Then I can load UPC.CO with the app from RAM.
> A couple of extra steps to clear FLOPPY and reload, but the TPDD2 is still
> a lot easier than lugging around a CCR-81.
>
> God Bless,
>
> GregS <><
>
> Apr 2, 2021 5:39:41 PM Kurt McCullum :
>
> Use TS-DOS in ROM and you won't have a memory conflict.
>
> Kurt
>
> On Fri, Apr 2, 2021, at 4:44 PM, Greg Swallow wrote:
>
> Peter,
>
> Yeah, I was hoping, but UPC.CO does trample on top of FLOPPY. Even with
> any efforts to re-locate it to another segment of memory. Should've took to
> heart a clue in the TPDD2 manual noting FLOPPY is not for use/compatible
> with the DVI.
>
> God Bless,
>
> GregS <><
>
>
> Apr 2, 2021 4:32:45 PM Peter Noeth :
>
> Greg,
>
>   Memory conflicts have always been a problem in earlier computers with
> TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) drivers. It wasn't until the "Microsoft
> Windows" era that methods of more sophisticated Memory Management were
> created that alleviate much of this.
>
>   Problems for this class of Operating System are:
>
>1. No real Memory Management. Software designers figured that
>reserving some space from the Top of Memory would be a safe place to put
>their TSR code, as normal programs and data grow from a lower point in
>memory towards the top.
>2. The 80C85 does not have a Jump Relative command. So all program
>jumps must be absolute. This prevents these TSR programs from being moved
>in memory to another location without being re-assembled to operate from a
>different range in memory.
>
>   The only way to make the two TSR drivers/programs play together is to
> have the source of one of them, and re-assemble; or to disassemble one of
> them to create a source file, that could be edited and re-assembled. There
> are people on this list with the tools that could do this, but I am not
> going to volunteer anyone.
>
> Regards,
>
> Peter
>
>
>
> --
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2021 22:34:41 + (UTC)
> From: Greg Swallow 
> To: m100@lists.bitchin100.com
> Subject: [M100] TPDD2 (FLOPPY) vs Barcode Wand (UPC.CO)
> Message-ID: 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> All,
>
> Working on the proof-of-concept for using barcode at work again. Changes
> in management had forced a pause. New super/lead likes the idea even more
> than previous.
>
> Am trying to use TPDD2 to store BASIC and barcode softwars for 3 M100.
> Trying to figure relocating barcode module UPC.CO to work with FLOPPY.
> Since the TPPD2 file manager is somewhat different in TOP, END, and EXEC
> addresses to identify all FLOPPY segments, I thought maybe someone could
> help with getting them to work together. And, avoid too much
> trial-and-error.
>
> Normally (without FLOPPY) UPC.CO is loaded after a CLEAR 110, 61784
> statement. This will cause an AO error (I think it was) with FLOPPY loaded.
> I have been able to get UPC.CO on a floppy with READBC.BA and my code. I
> am hoping something like CLEAR 110, MAXRAM will set a proper loading point
> and avoid loading on top of any part of FLOPPY. The TOP of UPC.CO should
> then be at MAXRAM+4 with END and EXEC adjusted and savable with new
> numbers. At least I hope so and I am understanding it.
>
> Please. Any advise or wisdom, even a smack on back of my head, is welcome.
>
> God Bless,
>
> GregS <><
>
>
>

Re: [M100] RS232 Wifi Modem

[Francois Gurin]

On Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 8:59 PM Brian K. White  wrote:

>  > if you want to use rj45 -> db25 hoods, you should check out a cable
> like https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078PT5N24
>  which will just plug into
> an android device with usb c port and give you a rj45 end to plug into
>  > --francois
>
> Then you still have to cut off the rj45 end and solder on a db25.
>
> It also  assumes the android device has a usb-c jack.
> I made an equally unsafe assumption that the android device has micro-usb.
>
> If you're assuming usb-c, you could combine the OTG cable and usb-serial
> in one with this:
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074VM88G1
> Then you just need the serial cable I showed, or the two mini adapters
> in the mComm manual.
>
> I guess the advantage with the usb-c adapter is, if you have both a new
> phone and a new laptop, then they both have the same usb-c jacks, so the
> same adapter works on both without an extra OTG cable for the phone.
>

  You wouldn't cut off the rj45 adapter, you'd use an rj45-db25 hood either
pre-wired or one you custom -- wired
https://www.amazon.com/InstallerParts-Female-Modular-Adapter-Ivory/

Not so much these days, but it was common to have multiport serial servers
terminate in rj45 so you could either connect them directly to console
ports (with, for example, cisco devices) or wire them up to appropriate de9
and db25 adapters.  because the adapters are inexpensive, you could easily
have them terminate as straight through or null modem, and this was helpful
for servers that had very particular serial console pinouts.

the OP mentioned using these connectors already, I have boxes of them
somewhere myself so it's a way of leveraging existing hardware.  it
wouldn't be efficient to use a usb -> 9pin usb serial adapter, then a 9pin
-> rj45 cable, then an rj45 to db25 hood (but it would work!).  also, the
rj45 -> db25 wired as a null modem takes up less space behind the m100 than
a usb -> serial adapter and the matching slim null modem and de9->db25
adapter (unless you've created a custom connector).

i linked to a usb c cable, you can get a similar cable with usb a and use
it with an otg adapter.  my favorite usb serial adapter is
https://www.amazon.com/DTECH-Serial-Adapter-Supports-Windows/dp/B01AT2FTOU/
as it has both 9pin and 25 pin availableat a right angle, but you still
need a null modem adapter

However your cable is short, which is a different advantage I didn't
consider --- you don't want 6ft of cable between 2 devices that are going
to be close together!

--francois

Re: [M100] RS232 Wifi Modem

[Francois Gurin]

if you want to use rj45 -> db25 hoods, you should check out a cable like
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078PT5N24 which will just plug into an
android device with usb c port and give you a rj45 end to plug into
--francois


On Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 3:51 PM AvantGuard Systems <
cavaug...@avantguardsystems.com> wrote:

> Now it makes sense why there's 20 on here:
> 7 Wire Cable
> PC   Model-T
> DCD  1  NC
> RX  2  ←  2  TX
> TX  3  →  3  RX
> DTR  4  →  6  DSR
> GND  5  ↔  7  GND
> DSR  6  ← 20  DTR
> RTS  7  →  5  CTS
> CTS  8  ←  4  RTS
> RI  9  NC
>
> So I only use 7 of the 8 wires. I guess I can just punch down the
> wires onto a DB25 adapter and see what happens?
>
>  Curtis
>
> On Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 12:43 PM AvantGuard Systems <
> cavaug...@avantguardsystems.com> wrote:
>
>> Now I'm re-reading the Club100 instructions and it looks like I have to
>> use the RS232 jack. That really changes things.
>> The instructions say the best solution is to solder the wires to the DB25
>> connector. Where? The pin out makes no sense to me.
>>
>>
>>  Curtis
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 11:45 AM AvantGuard Systems <
>> cavaug...@avantguardsystems.com> wrote:
>>
>>> OK, so it seems like the easiest thing for me to try for now is using an
>>> Android device, which I have plenty of. I've installed the mcomm program
>>> from Club100's website. Now I just have to figure out the proper pin out
>>> for a DB9 cable. Let me explain.
>>> I have a Cisco DB9 to RJ45 cord.
>>> The pin out is explained here:
>>> https://allpinouts.org/pinouts/cables/serial/cisco-console-rj45-to-db9-pin/
>>> When I look at the instructions on Club100 it looks like only pins 2-8
>>> are used.
>>>
>>> HOWEVER! I'm no electrician, but I tested each pin for the DB9 to RJ45
>>> and here's how they came out. First item is the DB9 pin and the second the
>>> RJ45 from the top (the side without the clip).
>>>
>>> 1 > 2
>>> 2 nowhere
>>> 3 > 6
>>> 4 > 7
>>> 5 > 4
>>> 6 > 2
>>> 7 > 8
>>> 8 > 1
>>> 9 nowhere
>>>
>>> Looking at various Cisco charts however, it seems to me that I'm reading
>>> things completely wrong. That the RJ45 should be read not from left to
>>> right, but the other way. And this lines up more with various Cisco docs.
>>> So that get us:
>>>
>>> 1 > 7
>>> 2 nowhere
>>> 3 > 3
>>> 4 > 2
>>> 5 > 5
>>> 6 > 7
>>> 7 > 1
>>> 8 > 8
>>> 9 nowhere
>>>
>>> My question is what is the right pin out as I could rewire however I
>>> want easily. Cut off the old jack and put in a new one.
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>>  Curtis
>>>
>>> On Tue, Feb 23, 2021 at 4:58 PM Brian K. White 
>>> wrote:
>>>
 On 2/23/21 6:38 PM, AvantGuard Systems wrote:
 > Now, I'm wondering whether there's a way to transfer files from my
 > computer to the M100.

 Many ways.

 How to decide which of the many ways depends on what your priorities
 are, convenience or cost, and on what you have available for a modern
 machine.

 For instance one super convenient option is there is an Android app
 that
 is both a TPDD server and TPDD client installer/bootstrapper. You don't
 have to buy anything but the serial cable and usb adapter, but you
 always need that anyway. But that's only super convenient if you happen
 to have an Android phone or tablet. And I suppose only if moving files
 to a phone instead of your real computer is good enough, maybe via
 google drive.

 The generally most convenient and robust way is a serial cable and a
 TPDD emulator and a REX#.

 Whatever other software or hardware you use, you pretty much always
 need
 this cable:
 http://tandy.wiki/Model_T_Serial_Cable

 Then there are several different things you can do that are all
 different levels of convenient, reliable, binary-safe, expensive,
 requiring special cables or parts or software, etc.

 You can use just the plain built-in telcom app and teraterm-pro or
 putty
 or really any serial comm program on the modern machine to transfer
 plain text. This gets you text documents and *some* basic programs but
 not all, maybe not all database/spreadsheet files either, definitely no
 tokenized basic and no binary executables.
 The advantage here is you don't have to buy anything but the serial
 cable and usb-serial adapter, and don't have to somehow get software
 installed onto the 100 the first time before you can start using it.
 But
 it's limited and error-prone and inconvenient.

 Better is to use a tpdd server on the modern machine and tpdd client on
 the 100.

 But that requires a few more pieces, for one thing, you need to get a
 tpdd client onto the 100 somehow the first time. It's a chicken and egg
 problem. If you already had an easy way to transfer files to transfer
 the tpdd client program, then what do you need the tpdd client program
 for? If you need the tpdd client program to transfer files, 

Re: [M100] TPDD2 help

[Francois Gurin]

Thanks for the advice!  I did some tinkering and the TPDD2 still reports an
I/O error or Communications error when trying to format (depending on DOS),
you can see it homes and seems to step through each sector.The felt pad
on the drive seems to be on a plastic arm, not a metal one.  It seems
to be making decent contact with the disk from a quick visual.

I did notice the low battery led wasn't flashing and seems to have broken
off the solder points.  I haven't had a chance to fix this yet, but can't
imagine it's related.




On Wed, Oct 7, 2020 at 1:57 PM Jeffrey Birt  wrote:

> In addition to what Josh said you can look for the low battery LED to very
> briefly flash when you turn it ON (or OFF, can’t remember which just now).
> This is a sign that the power supply is putting out 5V and it is getting to
> the control board.
>
>
>
> The connector from the battery compartment/ext. power jack it a pain to
> snap in place and may have popped loose.
>
>
>
> Worse case would be something popped loose from the power supply. I worked
> on one last week that had a battery leak in its past which did a number on
> the power supply board. A board in that shape could have a component
> knocked loose from a fall. The video for that repair will be out this
> Saturday in fact.
>
>
>
> Good luck let us know if you get it or if you need help.
>
>
>
> Jeff Birt
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* M100  *On Behalf Of *Josh
> Malone
> *Sent:* Wednesday, October 7, 2020 11:45 AM
> *To:* m...@bitchin100.com
> *Subject:* Re: [M100] TPDD2 help
>
>
>
> Most of the PDD design I think is pretty robust - physically at least.
> Things I would check off the top of my head:
>
>
>
>  - Is the belt still in place?
>
>  - Does it still power up (PSU board has connector that could shift loose)
>
>  - Does disk still insert / eject smoothly?
>
>
>
> One non-obvious thing I've seen on a couple of PDDs now is this:  There is
> a metal tab on the top of the frame that lifts the felt pressure-pad off
> the disk cookie during eject. This tab was physically bent on 2 of the
> drives I've seen, preventing the felt from making contact. The result was
> that the cookie was not pressed firmly against the drive head and the disk
> was not read properly. Bending this tab is very touchy as the felt needs to
> raise up quickly enough to clear the disk shell on eject, but still lower
> fully to press the cookie to the head.
>
>
>
> Good luck!
>
>
>
> -Josh
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 7, 2020 at 12:40 PM Francois Gurin  wrote:
>
> Reaching out to the list for advice and help.
>
>
>
> I recently replaced the belt on my TPDD2 and was in the process of writing
> to a test disk when the drive fell a few feet onto the carpeted floor.
> There's no obvious physical damage, but as you can expect it's no longer
> able to read or write to disks.I'm going to guess the head is
> physically out of alignment, but I haven't a clue where to start.
>
>
>
> Any ideas?
>
>
>
> If not, anyone interested in taking a look?
>
>
>
> --FG
>
>

[M100] TPDD2 help

[Francois Gurin]

Reaching out to the list for advice and help.

I recently replaced the belt on my TPDD2 and was in the process of writing
to a test disk when the drive fell a few feet onto the carpeted floor.
There's no obvious physical damage, but as you can expect it's no longer
able to read or write to disks.I'm going to guess the head is
physically out of alignment, but I haven't a clue where to start.

Any ideas?

If not, anyone interested in taking a look?

--FG

Re: [M100] TPDD Disk Imaging?

[Francois Gurin]

Never tried this, but came across it recently

http://cowlark.com/fluxengine/doc/disk-fb100.html

Fluxengine seems to be an everymans xcopy/catweasel

I know one person with a new todo on their list !

On Tue, Jul 14, 2020, 11:49 PM RETRO Innovations 
wrote:

> On 7/14/2020 9:27 PM, Kurt McCullum wrote:
>
> TPDDClient only works with a TPDD2
>
> Well, that's a bummer.  Any ideas on a suitable TPDD app?
>
> Jim
>
>

Re: [M100] TPDD Disk Imaging?

[Francois Gurin]

... And thank you for it.  I bought one for the TPPD2 recently and can say
the attention to detail is clear.   As a favor I would expect a generic
floppy with a hand wriiten label.  The disk I got from arcadeshopper is on
display on a shelf.

On Tue, Jul 14, 2020, 10:32 PM Brian K. White  wrote:

> On 7/14/20 8:36 PM, Ben Strewens wrote:
> > I have one of these drives, but no disk for it. I was able to do the PC
> > hack to make it work, but I'd rather have the disk. Is there anyone in
> > Canada that could make one for me for a small fee?
>
> I made up a bunch of TPDD1 and TPDD2 disks from NOS disks, designed and
> laserprinted nice labels on good glossy stock, and they are for sale on
> arcadeshopper.com
>
> (I don't run that shop, I just sent him the stuff to distribute that way
> so they are discoverable, and so that he can deal with 100 different
> mailings and I only have to deal with one.)
>
> I DID pay it forward several times over, the fact that someone sent me a
> disk for free, and made several copies for free for people for a while
> before making one big batch and dumping them on Greg to deal with via
> his store. (and then a couple times saw that disk appear on ebay
> immediately after spending time and one of my few nos 720K disks sending
> it to someone for free incuding mail...)
>
> I do feel a little self-conscious or defensive saying something is for
> sale that should just be a favor, but it's only a favor a few times,
> after that it's a time-consuming chore, and I don't want to have a 2nd
> job as an ebay seller. So I just slogged through 20 of each in one big
> job, and sent them all to arcadeshopper in one shipment, charged him
> enough to cover the disks, labels, bags, shipping, and now it's someone
> else's actual compensated job to deal with mailing the individual ones
> out any time someone needs one.
>
> There is no way to hurry the process of making a disk with the included
> backup utility, especially if you test-boot each one, and it puts wear
> on the drive. Especially the TPDD1 disks are a pain because the TPDD1
> bootstrap procedure is a pain.
>
> The same goes for the DVI disks for 100, DVI disks for 200, the TPDD
> cables, and the DVI cables.
>
> Plus I thought, being a store, it would have a better chance of turning
> up in google searches when a new person got a TPDD on ebay or smething,
> and they go to search for info about it, they would have a better chance
> of finding out that the lost special disk or cable is available, vs a
> post or two here where only a few people who happen to be on the list at
> that time ever see it. I don't know how true that's turning out to be,
> but it's got to be better than nothing.
>
> --
> bkw
>
> > On 2020-07-14 7:32 p.m., Doug Jackson wrote:
> >> Ohhh A,
> >>
> >> Stephen, are you hinting that with an actual drive I could recreate my
> >> own TPPD 1 disk?   That would be cool.  I am just about to do a belt
> >> replacement on one who's belt turned into black goo - When I removed
> >> the belt it literally went everywhere - and then the cleanup of the
> >> workshop bench was spectacular. Alcohol worked a treat :-)
> >>
> >> While there are beautiful solid state versions of the TPPD now, but
> >> the concept of a drive that clicks and whirs is very appealing to
> >> me, Just like the 8" drives in my PDP11.
> >>
> >> Kindest regards,
> >>
> >> Doug Jackson
> >>
> >> em: d...@doughq.com 
> >> ph: 0414 986878
> >>
> >> Check out my awesome clocks at www.dougswordclocks.com
> >> 
> >> Follow my amateur radio adventures at vk1zdj.net 
> >>
> >> ---
> >>
> >> Just like an old fashioned letter, this email and any files
> >> transmitted with it should probably be treated as confidential and
> >> intended solely for your own use.
> >>
> >> Please note that any interesting spelling is usually my own and may
> >> have been caused by fat thumbs on a tiny tiny keyboard.
> >>
> >> Should any part of this message prove to be useful in the event of the
> >> imminent Zombie Apocalypse then the sender bears no personal, legal,
> >> or moral responsibility for any outcome resulting from its usage
> >> unless the result of said usage is the unlikely defeat of the Zombie
> >> Hordes in which case the sender takes full credit without any
> >> theoretical or actual legal liability. :-)
> >>
> >> Be nice to your parents.
> >>
> >> Go outside and do something awesome - Draw, paint, walk, setup a
> >> radio station, go fishing or sailing - just do something that makes
> >> you happy.
> >>
> >> ^G ^G ^G ^G ^G ^G ^G ^G- In more laid back days this line would
> >> literally sing ^G ^G ^G ^G ^G ^G ^G ^G
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 10:08 AM Stephen Adolph  >> > wrote:
> >>
> >> I believe that it is just not possible to use PC hardware ...
> >> drive, controller...