Site News (2009)


January 12, 2009 – New 80 Micro

Horacio has provided another 80 Micro, and the data for Issue 97 has been added to the 80 Micro 1988 web page, and the searchable 80 Micro Table-Of-Contents database.

This brings the count up to 98 out of 101 with only three (3) issues from 1998 remaining.

Thank you Horacio.


January 28, 2009 – New DSK/DMK Utility – PDRIVE Finder

Phil Ereaut has released PDRIVE Finder v0.5.

PDRIVE Finder will display the PDRIVE settings of any DSK or DMK image which was “formatted” by NEWDOS/80. Great for data disks where you cannot figure out what PDRIVE settings can be used to access the data.


January 28, 2009 – New DSK/DMK Utility – Emulator File and Sector Display

Phil Ereaut has provided an updated copy of his Emulator File and Sector Display utility.

This utility will display the characteristics of a DSK or DMK image, as well as act as a HEX/ASCII sector and file display/editor utility.

Download Emulator File and Sector Display v9.1 HERE

Update: Phil Ereaut has advised that this version is faulty. A replacement version is found under February 1, 2009 news. This download has been removed.


January 29, 2009 – CP-500 Manuals Thanks To Miguel Dutra

Miguel Dutra is gathering up some CP-500 (a Brazilian TRS-80 Model III Clone) documents and software.

Title:
CP-500 Microcomputador Operacao e Linguagem Basic
Publisher:
Editora Tecnica Eletronica Ltd
Year:
1984
Edition:
5th Edition, 2nd Impression
Pages:
232 Pages
TOSEC:
CP-500 Microcomputador Operacao e Linguagem Basic (1984)(Editora Tecnica Eletronica Ltd)
Title:
DOS-500 Sistema de Operacao de Disco
Publisher:
Editora Tecnica Eletronica Ltd
Year:
1985
Edition:
1st Edition, 9th Impression
Pages:
129 Pages
TOSEC:
DOS-500 Sistema de Operacao de Disco (1985)(Editora Tecnica Eletronica Ltd)
Title:
Circalc
Publisher:
Projeto Ciranda
Year:
1983
Pages:
26 Pages
TOSEC:
Circalc (1983)(Projeto Ciranda)[Portuguese]

February 1, 2009 – New DSK/DMK Utility – Emulator File and Sector Display

Phil Ereaut has provided an updated copy of his Emulator File and Sector Display utility. This replaces the faulty v9.1 posted previously.

This utility will display the characteristics of a DSK or DMK image, as well as act as a HEX/ASCII sector and file display/editor utility.


February 1, 2009 – New DSK/DMK Utility – Emulator File Type and Format Finder

Phil Ereaut has released his Emulator File Type and Format Finder 2009 v1.0.

This utility analyzes DSK and DMK files and shows filename, DOS, PDRIVES, Tracks, Density, Sides, Sec/Cyl and SPG. Will also note where Track Sectors start at 1.


February 4, 2009 – New DSK/DMK Utility – Emulator File Read and Copy

Phil Ereaut has released his Emulator File Read and Copy 2006 v3.1

This program reads .Dsk files, and displays the disk filenames in a list box. Clicking on a file, allows the file to be saved to a PC folder. It can be used just to view the Files on a .Dsk, if you dont want to copy the files.

It doesn’t always work, but it has definitely helped me extract files from DSK images which the emulator would not recognize.


February 4, 2009 – New The Alternate Source Magazine Cover

Issue Information:

Name:
The Alternate Source Magazine
Issue:
Vol 3 No 4 / Issue 16
Date:
1982
Publisher:
The Alternate Source Publications
Size:
19.4MB
Pages:
132
TOSEC:
The Alternate Source Issue 16 [OCR] (1982)(The Alternate Source)
Status:
COMPLETE

February 4, 2009 – New SoftSide Magazine Cover

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 4 No 10
Date:
July 1981
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
26MB
Pages:
N/A
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 4 No 10 [I] (1981)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
INCOMPLETE – MISSING PAGES

February 5, 2009 – New The Alternate Source Magazine Cover

Issue Information:

Name:
The Alternate Source Magazine
Issue:
Vol 3 No 6 / Issue 18
Date:
1982
Publisher:
The Alternate Source Publications
Size:
20.6M
Pages:
164
TOSEC:
The Alternate Source Issue 18 [OCR] (1982)(The Alternate Source)
Status:
COMPLETE

February 6, 2009 – Site Updates and Updated Emulators

As I continue to explore WordPress, I am toying with the idea of moving more of the site over. In connection with this transition, I have been reworking the emulator page to clean up HTML errors and make it more WordPress friendly.

In doing so, I also verified the links and have realized that a number of emulators have been updated. These include:

  • HT 1080/Z v1.6, updated on Sep. 17, 2007
  • VCC v1.40 Installer, updated on Jan. 3, 2008
  • MC-10 Emulator v0.73c, updated on May, 2008
  • Multi Emulator Super System (Binary) v1.29 updated on Jan. 6, 2008
  • Virtual T v1.3 updated on Sep. 25, 2008

February 11, 2009 – New Magazine Cover

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 5 No 06 / Issue 27
Date:
March, 1982
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
46.8MB
Pages:
102
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 5 No 06 [I] (1982)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
INCOMPLETE

February 12, 2009 – New SoftSide Magazine Cover

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 5 No 05 / Issue 26
Date:
February, 1982
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
XMB
Pages:
82
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 5 No 05 [I] (1982)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
INCOMPLETE

February 12, 2009 – Site Updates

While continuing to scan new materials, I am in the process of adding complete table of contents entries for the scanned magazines in an upgrade to the magazine pages.

I have completed working on THE ALTERNATE SOURCE and THE 8IGHTY magazines.


February 13, 2009 – New SoftSide Magazine Cover

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 5 No 04 / Issue 25
Date:
January, 1982
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
42.1MB
Pages:
104
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 5 No 04 [I] (1982)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
INCOMPLETE

February 14, 2009 – New SoftSide Magazine Cover

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 5 No 08 / Issue 29
Date:
May, 1982
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
45MB
Pages:
100
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 5 No 08 [I] (1982)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
INCOMPLETE

February 15, 2009 – New SoftSide Magazine Cover

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 5 No 07 / Issue 28
Date:
April, 1982
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
29.5MB
Pages:
104
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 5 No 07 [I] (1982)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
INCOMPLETE

February 16, 2009 – Site Updates

I have updated the 80 NOTEBOOK magazine page to include larger cover scans and the tables of contents. The 80 NOTEBOOK ran for 7 issues.


February 16, 2009 – New SoftSide Magazine Cover

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 5 No 12 / Issue 33
Date:
September, 1982
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
57.3MB
Pages:
102
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 5 No 12 [I] (1982)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
INCOMPLETE

February 17, 2009 – Site Updates

While I am continuing my efforts to continue scanning SoftSide magazines, I am also continuing the efforts of breaking magazine pages out so that each issue has its own page with tables of contents (like the 80 Micro pages have always had). I am currently pushing through the 80-US JOURNAL pages, and will not post news items for each update, but as of this writing, I have updated Volumes 2 and 3, and am in the middle of Volume 4.


February 17, 2009 – New SoftSide Magazine Cover

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 5 No 03 / Issue 24
Date:
December, 1981
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
37.6MB
Pages:
102
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 5 No 03 [I] (1981)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
INCOMPLETE

February 17, 2009 – New SoftSide Magazine Cover (# 15)

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 3 No 06 / Issue 15
Date:
March, 1981
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
21.7MB
Pages:
100
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 3 No 6 [I] (1981)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
INCOMPLETE

February 17, 2009 – New SoftSide Magazine Cover (# 18)

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 4 No 09 / Issue 18
Date:
June, 1981
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
27.5MB
Pages:
102
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 4 No 9 (1981)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
COMPLETE

February 17, 2009 – New SoftSide Magazine Cover (# 17)

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 4 No 08 / Issue 17
Date:
May, 1981
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
20.9MB
Pages:
94
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 4 No 8 [I] (1981)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
INCOMPLETE

February 17, 2009 – New SoftSide Magazine Cover (# 16)

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 3 No 07 / Issue 16
Date:
April, 1981
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
30.5MB
Pages:
100
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 3 No 7 [I] (1981)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
INCOMPLETE

February 17, 2009 – Free Model III For Local Pickup Only

A site visitor has a Model III (unsure if it works) which he is willing to give away to anyone who will pick it up near Kalamazoo MI.

Since the person is not willing to ship, I will only pass on emails which offer to pick it up.

Please send me an email, and I will forward it on.

First come, first served.


February 18, 2009 – Site Development Continues

I continue to push hard to move as much of the site as I can over to WordPress and to otherwise upgrade the information present. Pages without a “*” on the navbar have already been moved over (although some of those need further work as well). I have also started upgrading the images on the site, including updating all of the book cover images to be substantially larger.


February 24, 2009 – New SoftSide (Vol 5, No 11)

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 5 No 11 / Issue 32
Date:
Aug, 1982
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
53MB
Pages:
102
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 5 No 11 [I] (1982)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
INCOMPLETE (Missing Pages 9 and 10)

March 2, 2009 – Problems with WordPress

UPDATE: I found my answer after a LOT of searching.

If anyone out there is familiar with WordPress and PHP errors, please email me. WordPress is giving me Internal Error 500 when I try to post or view or edit pages. No other functions (news, media, links, etc) are affected – only “pages”. Thanks!


March 3, 2009 – Still Having WordPress Problems

I suspect that the site is too big for WordPress. Although I had solved the problem yesterday, it re-emerged as I continued to port pages over. I was able to move about 2/3 of the entire site before WordPress’ capabilities were exceeded. I am still ‘locked out’ of page functions with a “500 Internal Error” on the php code, but I can transition the site back to the old format, and still keep WordPress for the news. Thank goodness I never implemented anything in WordPress without implementing it in my HTML first.

The good news is that the attempted WordPress port spurred me to add magazine details, increase the cover scans, and clean things up. Those benefits will continue.

Of course, I do continue scanning, and have some new stuff on the way.


March 4, 2009 – WordPress Limitation Workaround

In addition to the php.ini at 25MB (didn’t work alone, but left it there anyway), I added a line to HTACCESS which some stated solved some PHP5 processing problems on 1and1 hosted sites. This gave me access to the ‘pages’ functions again. I realized that 1/2 of the pages were single magazine pages (showing the cover, giving issue information/stats, and setting out the tables of contents). I have realized that if I port the entire site over (or as much as can go … I don’t think my SQL pages can go) but leave the single magazine pages as they were, I should not hit the WordPress limitation.


March 5, 2009 – PROG-80 (Volume 1, Number 1)

Issue Information:

Name:
PROG-80 Magazine
Issue:
Vol 1 No 01 / Issue 11
Date:
March, 1979
Publisher:
PROG-80 Publications
Size:
8.0MB
Pages:
48
TOSEC:
PROG-80 Magazine Vol 01 No 01 (1979)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
Complete

March 18, 2009 – Free TRS-80’s For Local Pickup *ONLY*

The following TRS-80 items are available, first come first served, for LOCAL PICKUP ONLY from Marstons Mills, Massachusetts (photos are for reference only).

Since the donator has no interest in shipping, please email me which models you would like to pick-up and I will forward on the request in the order received.

I will update this news posting to strike off any items which have already been claimed.

  • TRS-80 Model I – Current working status unknown but worked when last used.
  • TRS-80 Model III – Current working status unknown but worked when last used.
  • TRS-80 Model 4P – Current working status unknown but worked when last used.
  • TRS-80 CoCo – In box; current working status unknown.
  • DWP 220 Printer – Current working status unknown but worked when last used.

March 22, 2009 – New SoftSide (Thanks to Thomas McNair)

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 3 No 01 / Issue ??
Date:
OCtober, 1980
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
55.9MB
Pages:
108
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 3 No 01 (1980)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
COMPLETE

March 24, 2009 – New SoftSide (Thanks to Thomas McNair)

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 3 No 02 / Issue ??
Date:
November, 1980
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
60.6MB
Pages:
100
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 3 No 02 (1980)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
COMPLETE

March 25, 2009 – Developing DOS Pages

[NEWDOS80 2.0 MAIN SCREEN]

As I have been converting the site over to WordPress, I note that information surrounding many of the DOS’s is splattered all over the site. While I will leave that information where it is, I am in the process of developing pages which are devoted to each DOS. The first of which will be NEWDOS/80.


March 27, 2009 – WordPress Done (I Think)

  • Although some pages require a little tweaking (most notedly, those magazine issue pages which were backed out of WordPress due to WordPress limitations), I believe all of the pages that are going to be transitioned to WordPress have been transitioned.
  • I have updated the H&E Computronics page to provide for larger cover images, additional issue details, and, of course, the associated Tables of Contents from each of the issues.
  • Finally, the NEWDOS/80 Page is now complete. Of course, if anyone has additional information, tips, hints, patches, etc., I would love to hear!

March 28, 2009 – New SoftSide (Thanks to Thomas McNair)

Issue Information:

Name:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 3 No 03 / Issue ??
Date:
December, 1980
Publisher:
SoftSide Publications
Size:
57.3MB
Pages:
100
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 3 No 03 (1980)(SoftSide Publications)
Status:
COMPLETE

March 29, 2009 – New 80 Microcomputing

Horacio has provided another 80 Micro, and the data for Issue 99 has been added to the 80 Micro 1988 web page, and the searchable 80 Micro Table-Of-Contents database.

This brings the count up to 99 out of 101 with only two (2) issues from 1998 remaining.

Thank you Horacio.

Issue Information:

Name:
80 Micro
Issue:
99
Date:
April 1988
Pages:
86
Load-80:
No
Status:
COMPLETE

March 30, 2009 – New CLOAD MAGAZINE Page

Took the better part of a day, but I have added a CLOAD MAGAZINE page which includes ‘cover’ scans and the listing of the contents of each cassette in the series.


May 1, 2009 – Additional Site Updates

I apologize for the serious lack of updates to the site, but things at work have been fairly intense. The following has been added to the site:

  • Putting tape FS1 on Disk
  • Backing Up Tape FS1
  • Concatenating TABLE/CIM into DISASM/CMD
  • Modifying ORCH-85 and PIANO-85 to Take Command File Inputs
  • Disabling Passwords in DOSPLUS 3.4
  • Forcing VERIFY in DOSPLUS v3.4
  • Undocumented Z-80 Opcodes
  • Set MEMORY SIZE from BASIC
  • Added ‘To get print arrows to print in a BASIC program’ in Keyboard Tips and Tricks

May 6, 2009 – Update to Matthew Reed’s TRS32 Emulator

Matthew Reed, creator of the fantastic TRS32 (Model I, III, 4 emulator for Windows) has just released an update to v1.19.

Changes include:

  • Corrected problem with flickering and incorrect colors while in full-screen mode
  • Fixed problem with double-wide status in Model I mode (Thanks to Al Wallace)
  • Added a new Level I, Model III mode

May 5, 2009 – Mythical Model III, Level I Found

David Cooper has located, with the aid of John Benson, a Level I Model III, and has taken pictures of the insides as well as dumped the ROM. David wrote:

Well, folks, the Model III, Level I ROM is no longer an extinct species! I have purchased a Model III, Level I machine and have made an image of it’s ROM.

Before I continue, please allow me to thank John Benson of Australia for locating this machine. He notified me of the machine for sale so that I could purchase it. Without his locating the machine, I would never have been able to obtain the machine and image the ROM.

It appears that the ROM is a 4K ROM, even though it’s plugged into the ROM A socket on the Model III motherboard (which supports 8K ROMs). I say this because when I read the ROM, the A12 line *appeared* to be ignored. This makes sense because Model I, Level I ROM was only 4K. But, it’d be nice to see a datasheet on this ROM. I couldn’t find one anywhere. The chip number is SCM91616P, which is a Motorola ROM.


May 11, 2009 – Model I / Free for Pickup

TRS-80 Model I with expansion interface, floppy drive, cassette recorder, and Line Printer VII (with complete dust covers), as well as TRS-80 power strip, joystick, and a bunch of manuals and books, are free for pickup

As for the working status, here’s what I am told: The Model I does power up and does operate, but there may be an issue as the letters not all right. A test program ran. The E/I may or may not work (hard to tell), so it was not possible to test the floppy or the printer.

The items are in Auburn, California (Sacramento area).

As always, first come, first served (through emailing me only – not through usenet postings). If you are willing to pickup, please let me know, and I will put you in contact with the donator.


May 12, 2009 – New Pages

  • Added: NewDos/80 *Unofficial* Zaps page
  • Added: Electric Pencil Zaps Page.

May 14, 2009 – New Pages

  • Added: NEWDOS/80 v2.0 Program Reference

May 18, 2009 – New Softside Cover from Thomas McNair

Title:
SoftSide Magazine
Issue:
Vol 6 No 06 / 39
Year:
1983
TOSEC:
SoftSide Magazine Vol 6 No 06 (1983)(SoftSide Publications)
Pages:
88
SIZE:
57.3MB

May 18, 2009 – New Book Cover from Rainer Fredrich

Programming Microprocessors
Year: 1981
Author: M. Stubs
Publisher: Ing W Hofacker
Pages: 217
TOSEC: Programmieren mit TRS-80 (1981)(Ing W Hofacker) 8.9MB


May 19, 2009 – New 80 Micro Cover from Horacio

Horacio has provided Volume 100 of 80 Micro, and the data for Issue 100 has been added to the 80 Micro 1988 web page, and the searchable Magazine Table-Of-Contents database.

This brings the count up to 100 out of 101 with only one (1) issue from 1998 remaining.

Thank you Horacio.

Issue Information:

Volume:
# 100
Date:
05/88
Load-80:
No
Pages:
86
Size:
54.1MB

May 19, 2009 – Last 80 Micro Cover from Horacio

Horacio has finished scanning the 80 Micro’s!!!! The data for Issue 101 has been added to the 80 Micro 1988 web page, and the searchable Magazine Table-Of-Contents database.

Thank you for all your hard work, Horacio.

Issue Information:

Volume:
# 101
Date:
06/88
Load-80:
No
Pages:
84
Size:
53.0MB

May 19, 2009 – Beta Testing New Search Function

With Horacio having finished scanning the rest of the 80 Micro’s, and with Thomas McNair busily scanning missing SoftSide’s, I have used my extremely limited knowledge of HTMLized SQL to expand the (now deleted) “80 Micro Magazine Search Page” to a “TRS-80 Magazine Search Page”. Right now it can accept Softside or 80 Micro (through some fairly sloppy coding which will NOT scale well once additional types of magazines are added), and I have added SoftSide Issue 39 to the NEW Database.

If anyone is interested in helping convert tables of contents to lines of database code, please contact me. It will basically involve typing in the tables of contents in a specific way, and you can do as little or as much as you want.


May 22, 2009 – New Software Manual (cover) Thanks To David Cooper

Stratos

Stratos
Year: 1982
Publisher: Adventure International
Pages: 12
Size: 3.7MB
TOSEC: Stratos (1982)(Adventure International)


May 31, 2009 – New Book Covers from David Sutherland

Directory of Microcomputer Software for Libraries
Year: 1986
Publisher: Oryx Press
Pages: 586
TOSEC: Directory of Microcomputer Software for Libraries (1986)(Oryx Press)
Size: 24,658,727
Educational Software Directory
Year: 1982
Publisher: Libraries Unlimited Inc
Pages: 298
TOSEC: Educational Software Directory (1982)(Libraries Unlimited Inc)
Size: 59,381,017
TRS-80 for Kids from 8 to 80 – Volume 1
Year: 1982
Publisher: Howard W Sams
Pages: 146
TOSEC: TRS-80 for Kids from 8 to 80 – Volume 1 (1982)(Howard W Sams)
Size: 77,962,762

Title: TRS-80 for Kids from 8 to 80 – Volume 2
Year: 1982
Publisher: Howard W Sams
Pages: 210
TOSEC: TRS-80 for Kids from 8 to 80 – Volume 2 (1982)(Howard W Sams)
Size: 91,273,244
Z-80 Microcomputer Design Projects
Year: 1980
Author: William Barden Jr.
Pages: 210
TOSEC: Z-80 Microcomputer Design Projects (1980)(Bill Barden)
Size: 42,763,455
Library Micro Consumer MRC Guide to Library Software
Year: 1986
Publisher: Metric Research Corporation
Pages: 336
TOSEC: Library Micro Consumer MRC Guide to Library Software (1986)(Metric Research Corporation)
Size: 16.2MB
Computer Discovery: Junior High
Year: 1981
Publisher: Science Research Associates
Pages: 130
TOSEC: Computer Discovery – Junior High (1981)(Science Research Associates)
Size: 78MB

May 8, 2009 – LNW Research Expansion Board

A site visitor from Ann Arbor, Michigan has found a LNW Research Expansion Board, and many, if not all of the parts to go into the board.

He is asking for $50 (which includes U.S. shipping & handling). If you are interested, please contact me.


June 13, 2009 – Fake Ad from Mike Yetso

Mike Yetso provided a fake ad, which used to be on a 24×36 glossy photoprint (which he no longer has). He writes:

This is a real ad. Well, it was real, but it wasn’t to the general public. It was for an industry magazine. If I remember right, it was called ‘The Yellow Jaundice’. I think it was a ‘trade journal’ that dealt with sunday newspaper supplements. Anyway, every April they would make a ‘spoof’ ad. They did one with three guys standing at urinals, and one had a PC (pocket computer in those days). The ad read “The PeeWee computer that goes where you pee”, or something like that. When some people at Tandy saw it, they said if you’re going to poke fun at us, at least make it a good one. The magazine responded with “Ok, YOU do one next year”, and the ad was what was actually published in the magazine.
Tandy actually got coupons from the ad back!
If I remember right, one of the guys in the ad was Sal Greski (sp?)”

June 21, 2009 – New Softside Cover #38 from Thomas McNair

SoftSide Magazine
Issue: Vol 6 No 05 / 38
Year: 1983
TOSEC: SoftSide Magazine Vol 6 No 05 (1983)(SoftSide Publications)
Pages: 116
SIZE: 76.1MB


June 21, 2009 – New Softside Cover #40 from Thomas McNair

SoftSide Magazine
Issue: Vol 6 No 07 / 40
Year: 1983
TOSEC: SoftSide Magazine Vol 6 No 07 (1983)(SoftSide Publications)
Pages: 96
SIZE: 63.7MB


June 21, 2009 – New Softside Cover #41 from Thomas McNair

SoftSide Magazine
Issue: Vol 6 No 08 / 41
Year: 1983
TOSEC: SoftSide Magazine Vol 6 No 08 (1983)(SoftSide Publications)
Pages: 80
SIZE: 53.1MB


June 21, 2009 – New Softside Cover # 42 from Thomas McNair

SoftSide Magazine
Issue: Vol 6 No 09 / 42
Year: 1983
TOSEC: SoftSide Magazine Vol 6 No 09 (1983)(SoftSide Publications)
Pages: 88
SIZE: 57.5MB


June 23, 2009 – New Softside Cover # 43 from Thomas McNair

SoftSide Magazine
Issue: Vol 6 No 10 / 43
Year: 1983
TOSEC: SoftSide Magazine Vol 6 No 10 (1983)(SoftSide Publications)
Pages: 104
SIZE: 72.8MB


June 23, 2009 – New Softside Cover # 45 from Thomas McNair

SoftSide Magazine
Issue: Vol 6 No 12 / 45
Year: 1983
TOSEC: SoftSide Magazine Vol 6 No 12 (1983)(SoftSide Publications)
Pages: 112
SIZE: 77.1MB


June 24, 2009 – New Softside Cover # 44 from Thomas McNair

SoftSide Magazine
Issue: Vol 6 No 11 / 44
Year: 1983
TOSEC: SoftSide Magazine Vol 6 No 11 (1983)(SoftSide Publications)
Pages: 108
SIZE: 69.6MB


June 24, 2009 – New Softside Cover # 46 from Thomas McNair

SoftSide Magazine
Issue: Vol 7 No 01 / 46
Year: 1984
TOSEC: SoftSide Magazine Vol 7 No 01 (1984)(SoftSide Publications)
Pages: 88
SIZE: 61.8MB


June 24, 2009 – New Softside Cover # 47 from Thomas McNair

SoftSide Magazine
Issue: Vol 7 No 02 / 47
Year: 1984
TOSEC: SoftSide Magazine Vol 7 No 02 (1984)(SoftSide Publications)
Pages: 80
SIZE: 52.8MB


June 25, 2009 – Also updating magazine search

As I add magazine (covers) to the web site, I am also expanding the Magazine Table of Contents search with those magazines. As always, if anyone is interested in helping add magazines to the searchable index, please let me know!


June 26, 2009 – Update to Matthew Reed’s TRS32 Emulator

Matthew Reed has updated his fantastic TRS32 emulator to v1.20, this time adding Exatron Stringy Floppy emulation support (and increasing the window margin sizes to improve readability).

This is the emulator I use in maintaining the site and in addition to being one of the very few emulators out there which is Windows NT/XP/Vista compatible, it is also the only one which is updated regularly.

You can download a copy from Matthew’s web site [Link Deleted] or from the first entry on the TRS-80.com emulator page.

I heartily recommend you register the emulator [Link Deleted] (and no, I do not get a penny from that registration; it is just very very good software).


June 29, 2009 – Exatron Stringy Floppy Basic Operation

For those of you who use Matthew Reed’s TRS32 emulator and wish to make use of the ESF module, please note the following:

  • The ROM esf.rom needs to be in your ROMs directory
  • Exatron Stringy Floppy needs to be enabled in your configuation screen
  • You need to invoke the ROM through a SYSTEM command
  • For file I/O, you will need to mount a virtual wafer.

To invoke the ESF ROM use the SYSTEM command with the following addresses:

/12340
To enable the ROM and load the next file on the wafer
/12341
To enable the ROM and load the 1st file on the wafer
/12342
To enable the ROM and load the 2nd file on the wafer
/12343
To enable the ROM and load the 3rd file on the wafer
/12344
To enable the ROM and load the 4th file on the wafer
/12345
To enable the ROM from non-disk BASIC with Debounce (MOST COMMON)
/12346
To enable the ROM from non-disk BASIC WITHOUT Debounce

ESF Commands are:

@NEW
Erase the entire wafer. After execution the @NEW command will display the number of bytes available on the wafer.
@NEW1
Erase the entire wafer.
@NEW[x]
Erases program #x (e.g., @NEW4 erases program 4).
@SAVE[x]
Saves a BASIC program to location #x (e.g., @SAVE2 saves to program 2). Attempting to @SAVE a program without a file number, or using a file number 0, will result in a syntax error. All files must be saved in sequential order, starting with 1 and progressing up to a maximum of 99. There can be no gaps in the file numbers on a wafer. The ESF software will allow up to 99 files to be saved on one wafer.
@SAVE [x], Start Address, Length[, Autostart Address]
Saves a machine language program (e.g., @SAVE1, 17152, 3800, 18000 will save 3800 bytes starting at 17152 with program entry at 18000 to wafer location 1). If you do not want your program to execute automatically autostart, then do not include an autostart address as part of the command. When you want to load your machine-language program back into the computer, it is done in exactly the same manner as is a BASIC program: i.e., through the use of the @LOAD command, with or without a file number.
@LOAD[x]
Loads the program stored in location [x] (e.g., @LOAD3 loads the third program). If you simply enter the @LOAD command without a file number then the next file, that the ESF software finds, will be loaded.

The following commands will only work if you load the “Data I/O Program” from a wafer that came with the Stringy Floppy. To date, no wafers have been dumped. Each functions exactly the same as it does for TAPE and DISK.

@OPEN[x]
OPENs the wafer similar to Tape and Disk Data File I/O.
@PRINT lexp
PRINT to the wafer similar to Tape and Disk Data File I/O.
@INPUT lexp
READ from the wafer similar to Tape and Disk Data File I/O.
@CLOSE
CLOSEs the wafer similar to Tape and Disk Data File I/O.

July 1, 2009

Sorry about the lack of updates … I have been adding Tables of Contents of various magazines to the web site and to the searchable table of contents archive. As of now, all of my 80 Micro’s, SoftSides, Micro-80’s, Prog-80’s, H & E Computronics, and The Alternate Source have been added. The archive page shows the status of all of the magazines, and that status will update as more tables of contents come online.

Additionally, Kim Watt was kind enough to send over a box of disks and manuals, and I have been reading the disks and scanning the manuals.


July 7, 2009 – More Magazines in Search

While I continue to scan the manuals which Kim Watt kindly sent over, I have updated the searchable table of contents to include all of the 80-NW Journal and 80-US Journals, as well as all the Basic Computing (which is what 80-US turned into) I have. I do not know the last published issue, so I have flagged it as yellow (=entered all I have) rather than green (=all known issues entered).


July 9, 2009 – Three More Magazines in Search

Three more magazines have been added to the searchable table of contents: Barons Microcomputing (the few issues I had), The 8ighty (the few issues I have), and The 80 Notebook (all of them). The corresponding pages have also been updated to include the tables of contents.


July 9, 2009 – TRS-80 Virtual Floppy Disk Manager by Miguel Dutra

Miguel Dutra has released a BETA of his new Virtual Disk Manager utility for Windows. This is a small utility which allows you to access virtual TRS-80 disks at a file level, as if they were normal PC disks.


July 10, 2009 – One More Magazines in Search

TRSTimes has been added to the searchable table of contents.

By the way, for those who are uaware, all of the TRSTimes issues are downloadable.


July 11, 2009 – Terry Stewart’s Blog

For those who do not know, Terry Stewart has been spearheading the effort to get Exatron Stringy Floppy images moved over for use in Matthew Reed’s emulator. Terry has a blog [Link Deleted] on a fairly diverse set of topics, sometimes discussing TRS-80’s, but in almost all cases, involving problem solving. Terry’s blog can be found at http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/.


July 13, 2009 – Another Magazine Updated

The few issues I had of the French magazine, Trace, has had its tables of contents added to the searchable table of contents. Of course, since it is in French, results which search for words (instead of, for example, by issue number, year, etc) are unlikely to show up given the incompatibilities of the international character set.


July 14, 2009 – TRS-80 Microcomputer News

I have updated the TRS-80 Microcomputer News page with bigger thumbnails and not-yet-implemented links to separate pages which will contain their tables of contents. I am slowly adding new pages (and updating the Searchable Table of Contents page to include the TRS-80 Microcomputer News. This part will be slow going.


July 15, 2009 – TRS32 Updated to v1.21

Matthew Reed has issued an interim update to his FANTASTIC TRS32 emulator. Changed in this update is:

  • Added sound to the Stringy Floppy emulation
  • Improved the sound used by the floppy disk emulation
  • Fixed a problem with returning Stringy Floppy status
  • Changed the floppy autostart order to favor the Model I
  • Fixed emulated floppy disk sector not found behavior
  • Added copy and paste features
  • Corrected behavior of an emulated Model I without lowercase

For those who have not yet registered Matthew’s emulator, I encourage you to do so. This emulator (unlike 98% of the others) is still in development and is phenomenal. You can register at Matthew’s site.


July 16, 2009 – TRS-80 Microcomputer News

Issues 1 through 27 of TRS-80 Microcomputer News have now been added to the Searchable Table of Contents page, and their TOC’s have been added to their respective pages.


July 17, 2009 – Puget Systems

I realize this is off topic, but when you come across something really cool, sometimes you gotta mention it. Although my TRS-80 was the last system I had purchased as an assembled unit (preferring to build my own), I have been familiar with Puget Systems [Link Deleted] for a while. Puget allows you to select brands and types (A corsair TX 850 power supply or w WD Caviar SE16) rather than just generic (850 watt; 200GB Hard drive, etc). I elected to go with them and, although I have not yet received the system, every question I have asked them (and I have asked a TON) has always been met with a quick and technologically correct answer. What I just noticed, though, is their order status page. This thing not only has each component and each test they ran, but temperature logs of the system under load over time, and performance benchmarks. They also email pictures of the inside, front, and back of your computer once its built, including a thermal picture of the inside. Crazy stuff.

Oh, and for the skeptics out there, NO I am not getting any payment from them. I am just THAT impressed (kinda like the way I talk about Matthew Reed’s emulator).


July 19, 2009 – New TRS-80 Emulator by George Philips

George Philips has released v1.5 of his TRS80GP Emulator which is available for download from the emulator page.

George describes the emulator as “built primarily as a development tool for software written for real TRS-80’s and for experiments in improved emulation fidelity. It can load programs in .cas, .hex, .bas or .cmd format directly but has no disk emulation nor can use use CLOAD or SYSTEM to load .cas files (as in most normal emulators).

I would say that this ’emulator’s strength is that you do not need to set up a ROM (it is built in), import files onto DSK/DMK’s, have boot disks, etc. If you have a /CMD file or a /BAS file or a /CAS file, you would simply execute the emulator FROM A COMMAND LINE, and your program would run. No fuss.

More details can be found by running the emulator with a -? flag will also provide details.


July 22, 2009

Issues 1 through 43 of TRS-80 Microcomputer News have now been added to the Searchable Table of Contents page, and their TOC’s have been added to their respective pages.


July 23, 2009 – TRS-80 Virtual Floppy Disk Manager Updated

Miguel Dutra has released v0.2 of his new Virtual Disk Manager utility for Windows. This is a small utility which allows you to access virtual TRS-80 disks at a file level, as if they were normal PC disks.

The TRS-80 Virtual Disk Manager shows the file name, size, date and attributes of each directory item, supports reading both .DSK and .DMK image files, and allows exporting TRS-80 files to the Windows file system.

Miguel lists each possible DOS for the TRS-80 and whether or not it is currently supported, with his ultimate goal being 100% of all OS’s.

Explanations and the program can be found on the TRS-80 Disk and Tape Conversion Utilities page.


July 24, 2009 – TRS-80 Virtual Floppy Disk Manager Updated

Miguel Dutra has released v0.2.2 of his new Virtual Disk Manager utility for Windows. This is a small utility which allows you to access virtual TRS-80 disks at a file level, as if they were normal PC disks.

Explanations and the program can be found on the TRS-80 Disk Utilities page.


July 28, 2009 – TRS-80 Microcomputer News

All issues of TRS-80 Microcomputer News have been added to the Searchable Table of Contents page.


September 13, 2009 – TRS-80 Virtual Floppy Disk Manager Updated

Miguel Dutra has released v0.4 of his command line version of his Virtual Disk Manager utility for Windows. This is a small utility which allows you to access virtual TRS-80 disks at a file level, as if they were normal PC disks.

Explanations and the program can be found on Miguel’s web site and on the TRS-80 Disk and Tape Conversion Utilities page.


September 27, 2009 – TRS-80 Virtual Floppy Disk Manager Updated

Miguel Dutra has released v0.5 of his GUI version of his Virtual Disk Manager utility for Windows. This is a small utility which allows you to access virtual TRS-80 disks at a file level, as if they were normal PC disks.

It appears that this utility can read all known TRS-80 DOS’s except for (1) CPM and (2) anything made by Percom.

Explanations and the program can be found on TRS-80 Disk and Tape Conversion Utilities page.

The new version brings:

  • Open DSK and DMK files by just double-clicking over them
  • Choose whether to detect file formats automatically or manually
  • Choose whether to show or hide system and invisible files
  • Sort files by name, extension, size, date and attributes
  • Export multiple selected files at once
  • See disk properties including name, date, DOS version etc.
  • Navigate through disk sectors

October 3, 2009 – New Hardware Manual (cover) Thanks To David Cooper

Title:
Line Printer II Interface Cable
Pages:
12
Year:
Unknown
TOSEC:
Line Printer II Interface Cable (19xx)(Radio Shack)
Publisher:
Radio Shack

October 5, 2009 – External Model III Drives for Pickup or Shipping Cost

The drives have been claimed. Thanks.

A site visitor has four external floppy drives with power supplies for the TRS-80 Model III. He is not sure if they work, but advised advised that they are from a working system that was retired two decades ago.

He has popped the cover off of one of them and confirmed no unusual corrosion, and the belt appears to be in decent shape. The ribbon cables are also with the drives, and the set includes a matching, under-desk bay that can hold two of the drives.

He is willing to give them away as long as he is not out-of-pocket. If you want to pick them up (Prior Lake, MN) that’s fine, and if you want to pay pack/shipping, that’s fine.

Email me if interested – first come first served.


October 15, 2009 – New TRS-80 Users Group Newsletter (cover) Thanks To Stefan Kasarik

Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group
Issue: July 1980
TOSEC: Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group 1980-07 (1980)(Octug)
Page Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Pages: 24


October 15, 2009 – New TRS-80 Users Group Newsletter (cover) Thanks To Stefan Kasarik

Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group
Issue: January 1981
TOSEC: Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group 1981-01 (1981)(Octug)
Page Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Pages: 24


October 15, 2009 – New TRS-80 Users Group Newsletter (cover) Thanks To Stefan Kasarik

Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group
Issue: April 1980
TOSEC: Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group 1980-04 (1980)(Octug)
Page Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Pages: 24


October 15, 2009 – New Hardware Manual (cover) Thanks To David Cooper

8-Meg Hard Disk Service Manual
Pages: 114
Year: 1982
TOSEC: TRS-80 8MB Hard Drive Service Manual (1982)(Tandy)
Cat: 26-4150/4151
Publisher: Tandy


October 15, 2009 – New TRS-80 Users Group Newsletter (cover) Thanks To Stefan Kasarik

Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group
Issue: March 1980
TOSEC: Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group 1980-03 (1980)(Octug)
Page Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Pages: 28


October 16, 2009 – New TRS-80 Users Group Newsletter (cover) Thanks To Stefan Kasarik

Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group
Issue: May 1980
TOSEC: Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group 1980-05 (1980)(Octug)
Page Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Pages: 28


October 16, 2009 – New Software Manual (cover) Thanks To David Cooper

Level III BASIC Reference Card
Pages: 16
Year: 1979
TOSEC: Level III BASIC Reference Card (1979)(GRT Corp)
Publisher: GRT Corp


October 19, 2009 – New TRS-80 Users Group Newsletter (cover) Thanks To Stefan Kasarik

Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group
Issue: September 1980
TOSEC: Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group 1980-09 (1980)(Octug)
Page Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Pages: 24


October 19, 2009 – New TRS-80 Users Group Newsletter (cover) Thanks To Stefan Kasarik

Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group
Issue: November 1980
TOSEC: Orange Country TRS-80 Users Group 1980-11 (1980)(Octug)
Page Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Pages: 24


October 25, 2009 – Update to Attila Grosz’s HT/Video Genie/TRS-80 Emulator

Attila Grosz has updated his HT/Videogenie/TRS-80 emulator to v1.6.2. New Features/Changes:

  • custom screen refresh frequencies (between 5 and 200)
  • copy screen contents to the clipboard (text format)
  • better AY-3-8910 sound IC emulation (mixer)
  • bugfixes (reenabled breakpoints)

Download from the emulator page.


November 4, 2009 – Unofficial TRSDOS 1.3 Zap Page Added

A page listing all unofficial TRSDOS 1.3 zaps which I had has been added here. If you have any to contribute, please let me know.


November 5, 2009 – Model 4 TRSDOS Zap Page Added

A page listing unofficial Model 4 TRSDOS zaps has been added here.

If you have any to contribute, please let me know.


November 6, 2009 – XTRS Updated to v4.9d

Although it happened in July, I just found out that Tim Mann’s TRS-80 Emulator in Unix, XTRS, was updated to v4.9. The updated version can be downloaded from Tim Mann’s XTRS web page [Link Deleted] or from the emulator web page.


November 6, 2009 – SDLTRS – New TRS-80 Emulator for PC/MAC

Mark Grebe has ported Tim Mann’s XTRS emulator for Macintosh OSX, Windows, and Linux. While it is always good to have a new emulator on the scene, this is big news for those MAC users out there, as there has not been a workable TRS-80 emulator for the MAC in many years.

As many know, Tim Mann’s XTRS offers Model 1, 3, and 4/4P emulation, with cassette, 5″, 8″ and hard drive emulation. It emualtes sound, mouse, joystick, and printer, and can do data I/O between the emulator and the host operating system.

SDLTRS expands on this and adds:

  • Windows and Mac OS X support.
  • Fullscreen display.
  • Text based GUI on Windows and Linux, and in Fullscreen mode on the Macintosh.
  • Configuration files.
  • Disk LED Indicators on screen.
  • Creation of Disk images inside of the program.
  • Saving and loading of disk sets.
  • Saving and loading of emulator state.
  • Copy and Paste of text to/from host and emulator.
  • USB Joystick support.

The MAC version also adds:

  • Graphical interface, include Media management with graphical representation of the disk drives and cassette.
  • Printer emulation of Epson FX-80 and CGP-115 Plotter/Printer, with output to PDF files.
  • Debugger in seperate program window.

SDLTRS can be downloaded via the SDLTRS Web Page [Link Deleted] or from the emulator web page.


November 11, 2009 – Various Site Updates

A page with TRSDOS 1.2 patches has been added, the page of the TRSDOS 1.3 patches has been GREATLY expanded, and Miguel Dutra’s VDISK utility has been added to the Virtual Disk Utilities page.


December 3, 2009 – New DSK/DMK Tool from Matthew Reed

Matthew Reed, author of the wonderful TRS32 emulator [Link Deleted] has released “TRSTOOLS,” a utility that makes it easier to work with virtual disk images.

TRSTools features include:

  • Open an existing virtual disk image
  • Create a new virtual disk image
  • Add files to or extract files from the disk image (with file dates preserved)
  • Preview files (with integrated viewer)
  • Rename files
  • Delete files
  • Change the disk label and volume date
  • Drag and Drop support to and from Windows Explorer
  • Integrated file viewer

That last point, the built-in viewer, can preview several different types of TRS-80 file formats, including:

  • Text files, with any line ending
  • Tokenized Model III BASIC programs
  • Model III and Model 4 high-resolution images (/HR)
  • Model 4 compressed high-resolution images (/CHR)
  • Model 4 super-compressed high-resolution images (/SHR)
  • Binary files (which can be viewed as a hexadecimal dump)

TRSTools supports the following TRS-80 Operating Systems:

  • TRSDOS 2.3 (Model I)
  • TRSDOS 1.3 (Model III)
  • TRSDOS 6 and LS-DOS (Model 4)
  • LDOS (Model I and III)
  • DOSPLUS (Model I, III, and 4)
  • MULTIDOS (Model I, III, and 4)
  • NEWDOS (Model I)
  • NEWDOS/80 (Model I and III)
  • ULTRADOS (Model I)
  • DBLDOS (Model I)
  • VTOS (Model I)
  • RAPIDOS (Model 4)

TRSTools v1.0 can be downloaded from Matthew Reed’s web site [Link Deleted] or from the Utilities Section of the DSK and DMK Image Utilities Page.