Site News (2010-2012)

January 14, 2010 – Site Maintenance

Sorry for the lack of recent updates, I have been struggling with the (apparently well-known) problem of WordPress 2.9 requiring MySQL 5, but the site having been set up with MySQL 4. This might not otherwise be a problem if my host didn’t include a 2MB maximum on MySQL importing, roughly 30 times smaller than I needed. Only today did I manage to overcome, and WordPress is now MySQL 5 upgraded to the latest version.

In the interim, I have received some disk sets, been making boot disks for people, and procured a new CatWeasel 4+ (which seems to be working just fine).

I hope to get things moving again soon …

January 15, 2010 – CatWeasel Utilities Updated

Tim Mann has updated his CatWeasel read/write utilities to v4.4. Changes are:

• The Linux binaries included in this distribution are compiled on a 32-bit Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS system. The MS-DOS binaries are still compiled with a version of djgpp from the year 2000, under djgpp. The MS-DOS binaries are untested at the time of this release.
• Updated to the current Catweasel MK4 firmware from Individual Computers, moving from pre29.cw4 to rel2f2.cw4. Changed catweasl.c slightly to work with the new firmware — the write pulse width now must be set.
• Fixed cw2dmk bug where the total sectors read in each encoding counted all retries, not just the last one.
• Added -r option to cw2dmk and dmk2cw to reverse the sides. This is mostly to help split/join disks that have a separate one-sided image on each side but were written with a double-sided drive (that is, they are not flippy) to/from two separate DMK images.
• Fixed an incompatibility with newer versions of libpci that had prevented recompiled Linux binaries from recognizing a PCI Catweasel.
• Added a dmk2cw option to use only a prefix of the track in the DMK file.
• Changed the way dmk2cw generates fill data when the DMK track is shorter than needed to fill the disk. Added an option to select some alternative fill methods.
• Some small fixes and cleanups, mostly in documentation and messages.

January 26, 2010 – TRS80GP Emulator Updated

George Phillips has updated his TRS80GP emulator to v1.5.1 to correct a bug. It can be downloaded from the emulator page or from George’s site. His explanation for the change, as posted on his site is:

The pause/break key wasn’t activating the TRS-80 BREAK key on some computers. The problem was a little more involved than I realized. As Wikipedia hints, Pause/Break is a little unusual. On some systems, especially laptops, Windows will report the key is down and then immediately say it is up again – well before the key is actually released. I’m guessing this is a consequence of they key not actually reporting the up state at the hardware level. Windows is faking it to help programs operate.

This would be fine except that the emulated TRS-80 takes 2 or 3 frames to recognize the key. I presume that’s to avoid keyboard bounce. Now what I do is artificially sustain the down time of any key which takes care of Pause/Break and should help with the emulator’s propensity to miss keys. It wasn’t so bad, but I did notice dropped letters when I was typing things into the emulator.

I even documented the keyboard mapping while I was at it.

February 1, 2010 – New Hardware Manual (cover) Thanks To David Cooper

Model II TRS-80 Hard Disk Owner’s Manual
Pages: 100
Year: 1981
TOSEC: Model II Hard Disk Owners Manual (1981)(Tandy)
Publisher: Tandy
Cat: 26-4150

February 4, 2010 – More Zaps / Tips / Tricks

Those of you who are on comp.sys.tandy (which should be all of you) probably know that I have uncovered a notebook I kept back in the day which had weird routines, pokes, peeks, factoids, etc. I have been updating the Zaps/Mods/Pokes/Tricks pages accordingly, and envision getting the notebook contents onto the site.

February 10, 2010 – Lode Runner for the TRS-80

Mark McDougall has ported Lode Runner from the MSX computer (another Z80-based micro) to the TRS-80 Model 4/4P with MicroLabs Grafyx Solution hires board.

February 11, 2010 – Question

Update: Thanks to all those who responded.

Does anyone out there have a working Model 4P? If so, please contact me.

February 11, 2010 – Update to TRS32 Emulator

Matthew Reed has updated his wonderful TRS32 Emulator to v1.22. This update includes:

• Improved emulation of hard drive when formatting with NEWDOS/80 2.5
• Improved compatibility of text paste
• Miscellaneous improvements and fixes

February 17, 2010 – Update to TRSTOOLS

TRSTools is a utility written by Matthew Reed that makes it easier to work with virtual disk images. Matthew has updated his TRSTOOLS utility to v1.01. The new version supports emulated hard drives as well as incorporates bug fixes.

The changelog includes:

• Added support for virtual hard disks in both LDOS and NEWDOS/80 formats
• Greatly improved the NEWDOS/80 support
• Improved the recognition of marginal disk formats
• Added the ability to view EDTASM source files
• Created a new format for TRS-80 memory card interfaces and added support for it within TRSTools

The new version can be downloaded from the DSK and DMK Image Utilities page.

February 17, 2010 – For Those with a 4P

As far as we know, the Model 4P had only 2 BOOT ROM’s, v1(15) and v1(16), the former being dated October 11, 1983 and the latter being released 7 days later.

Although technically the v1(15) ROM would have been in every Model 4P released before October 18, 1983, the 7 day window leads us to believe that it would have applied only to very very very early models. However, there is no known dump of the v1(15) ROM.

If you have a Model 4P and are interested in helping, turn it on and hold down the “V” key. After a few seconds a message which reads “Boot ROM Version is ___”. If you have a 4P where it is 1(15), and are willing to dump the ROM (instructions will be provided), please send me an email.

February 24, 2010 – Update to TRS32 Emulator

Matthew Reed has updated his wonderful TRS32 Emulator to v1.23. This update includes:

• Model 4P emulation mode
• Improved consistency of directory handling with drag and drop

March 3, 2010 – New DSK/DMK Import/Export Utility

Matthew Reed has released his command line DSK/DMK image utility pair TRSREAD and TRSWRITE. They perform many of the same functions as TRSTools, only on the command line.

TRSREAD is a command line Windows program that can extract files from a TRS-80 virtual disk, with optional flags for including “S”ystem files and “I”nvisible files. You can use wildcards or a list of files you want to extract.

TRSWRITE is a command line Windows program that copies files onto TRS-80 virtual disk files.

March 12, 2010 – New Manual Covers Thanks To Joseph Chiu

March 18, 2010 – New DOSPLUS 3.5 Command Reference

The site has been updated to include command references for DOSPLUS 3.5. The page is still under construction as far as I need to add information ABOUT the DOS, but the command reference is complete.

March 24, 2010 – Symbolic Z80 disassembler for TRS-80 CMD files for the PC

Matthew Reed has just released Z80Disasm, a new symbolic Z80 disassembler for TRS-80 CMD files.

The disassembler is a freeware Windows-based command line utility that makes it easier to develop TRS-80 software on a Windows machine.

Z80Disasm can read CMD files from the Windows hard drive or off of a TRS-80 .DSK file, and it supports MISOSYS-style screening files for maximum flexibility.

Z80Disasm can be downloaded from Matthew Reed’s Z80Disasm Page [Hotlink Deleted].

March 31, 2010 – Update to TRSTOOLS DSK/DMK Import/Export Utility

Matthew Reed has released v1.02 of Windows GUI DSK/DMK image utility TRSTOOLS.

The changelog includes:

• Greatly improved the recognition of some marginal disk formats
• Added a new Z80 disassembly viewer as the default for CMD files
• Added the ability to switch between different file viewers
• Fixed the incorrect window sizes with larger DPI values
• Fixed the problem encountered when viewing blank binary files

April 4, 2010 – New Stuff Thanks To Joseph Chiu

April 7, 2010 – New Emulator Being Developed … for Android!

Someone is porting Tim Mann’s XTRS over to Android …

YouTube Video of it running can be found here [Hotlink Deleted].

March 8, 2010 – New Stuff Thanks To Joseph Chiu

April 19, 2010 – Free Truckload of TRS-80’s but Local Pickup by 4/22 ONLY

UPDATE 2: All Gone.

UPDATE: There is already one taker, but it is currently unknown if this is a done deal, and two other’s on the waiting list.

Original Post:A long time site visitor would would like to get rid of his entire collection of TRS-80 computers, software, manuals, accessories, etc. This includes somewhere between 10 and 20 TRS-80s…everything from Model I’s, Model III’s, Model IV’s, 4Ps, Coco’s, etc.

There is enough stuff to fill the entire back of a pickup truck or suburban.

It will all be free, but pickup only in Phoenix, AZ.

It needs to be picked up by Thursday 4/22 or it will probably go in the dump; and is all or nothing.

First come first served; I will put you in direct contact in the order I am emailed.

April 20, 2010 – Revlon Run/Walk for Cancer

The time of the year has arrived for my only charity solicitation! For those who have lost someone to breast cancer, or wish to donate toward the cure, my wife is participating in the Revlon Run/Walk for Cancer. If you wish to donate, go to this site.

NOTE: Nothing comes to me, nothing comes to the site; this is a direct matter between you and the charity. All donations are U.S. tax-deductible (to the extent allowed by law; the site says it and so will I).

April 28, 2010 – Update to TRSTOOLS DSK/DMK Import/Export Utility

Matthew Reed has released v1.03 of Windows GUI DSK/DMK image utility TRSTOOLS.

The changelog includes:

• Improved Windows 7 support in several areas
• Improved viewing CMD files on MULTIDOS disks
• Eliminated extraneous beep when viewing files under certain sound schemes

The new version can be downloaded from the DSK and DMK Image Utilities page.

May 7, 2010 – New TRACE Covers Thanks To Pascal Holdry

Pascal Holdry has provided the missing three TRACE MAGAZINES, and their information has been added to the TRS-80 Magazine Table of Contents Search. Thanks Pascal!

May 7, 2010 – New Hardware Manuals (Covers) Thanks To Pascal Holdry

May 15, 2010 – New Book (Cover) Thanks To Mike Ballantyne

Title: TRS-80 Pocket Handbook
Year: 1982
Author: William Barden
Publisher: Radio Shack

June 23, 2010 – Update to TRS32 Emulator

Matthew Reed has updated his wonderful TRS32 Emulator to v1.24. This update includes:

• Eliminated “Parity error during read” errors sometimes generated by NEWDOS/80 while formatting double-sided virtual disks


• Corrected behavior when pasting TAB characters

June 24, 2010 – DISK REQUESTS ARE OFFLINE

UPDATE 2: I am limping along right now on a drive which may or may not be good. It is entirely possible that it is good, but the disk set remains bad. I will hold off restoring the link to the Disk Requests until the new drives come in.

UPDATE 1: I have now spent a fairly decent amount of money to acquire 4 floppy drives (will they work, who knows) on eBay.

A particularly dirty set of disks sent to me for conversion has knocked my disk drive out; and my attempts to use spares are proving futile. I will not be able to convert disks or make DOS disks until this has been resolved.

June 28, 2010 – Vintage Computer Festival Southwest

A. G. (Gil) Carrick, the Director of the Museum of Information Technology at Arlington, has asked that I post the following about the upcoming Vintage Computer Festival Southwest …

The 1st annual Vintage Computer Festival Southwest will be held August 7th and 8th, in the Rio Grande Ballroom, in the E.H. Hereford University Center, University of Texas Arlington. The event is sponsored by the Museum of Information Technology at Arlington, the UTA College of Engineering, the UTA Office of Information Technology and Vintage Tech. The VCF is an international event that celebrates the history of computing. There have been VCFs at several locations since 1997

The mission of the VCF is to promote the preservation of early computers by allowing people to experience the technologies, people and stories that embody the remarkable tale of the computer revolution. Southern US companies played a large role in the early days of the computer industry and the VCF Southwest hopes to focus on their contributions.

VCF is not a swap meet, but you will have a chance to buy things or even come home with prizes. There will be speakers and videos each morning, exhibits each afternoon, and special events throughout the weekend. More details about the schedule will be available soon.

The VCF is held indoors, rain or shine. Admission is $10 for one day, $15 for both days, and free for ages 17 and younger. Parking is free. Hours are 9 A.M. – 5 P.M. on both Saturday and Sunday.

July 8, 2010 – Orchestra/90-PC Updated

Jon Bokelman, creator of the ORCH-80/85/90, has updated his Orchestra/90-PC program to v2.0.

For those who don’t know, Orchestra-90/PC is a simple, no-frills program that plays original Orchestra-80/85/90 and Piano-85/90 ASCII files on a PC using a sound card. It is launched from the command line.

The main change is that a new command line switch, “-w filename” has been added to output the ORC file to a WAV file of filename filename.

A readme file is included in the archive.

July 11, 2010 – New addition to the TRS-80.com Family

Although not TRS-80 related, I would like to announce the newest member of the TRS-80.com family … a 4 week old blue eyed siamese/tabby mix (a rescue) …

July 20, 2010 – TRS-80 Virtual Floppy Disk Manager Updated

Miguel Dutra has released v0.6 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.

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

The new version brings:

• Write-capable
• Fixed a bug which caused it to read an invalid sector when the file size exceeded one disk track.

July 31, 2010 – Need Model 4 Power Supply

Vernon Hester, who wrote MultiDOS and a few other programs, had been updating his programs and DOSes. Vernon was in the process of updating a few more items, and getting together a real copy of the last Model I single density MultiDOS, when his Model 4 power supply went out. Does anyone out there have a source for a Model 4 power supply for Vernon? Thanks

August 2, 2010 – New Downloads thanks to Vernon B Hester

Vernon B. Hester, author of MultiDOS and other wonderful programs, has made his software and manuals available:

• Astrocal Manual (5th Edition) – DOC Format
• Astrocal Manual (5th Edition) – PDF Format
• MultiDOS Manual – DOC Format
• MultiDOS Manual – PDF Format
• Zeus (9th Edition) – DOC Format
• Zeus (9th Edition) – PDF Format

When my host fixes my SQL upload, and I can get into the TRS-80 Archive Lookup, I will post the corresponding software packages here for download.

Also as previously noted, Vernon has a blown Model 4 power supply, which is preventing him from providing updated software. Any help is appreciated.

August 3, 2010 – Broader Net

If you were the author, and are the copyright holder, of TRS-80 software and would like to give me permission to post your stuff, please email me.

Who knew that the anniversary of the TRS-80 would be the day where some downloads came back online.

August 3, 2010 – More Downloads

Wayne Westmoreland & Terry Gilman have given the express ok to put their stuff online as well; so tonight look for their wonderful software as well.

August 3, 2010 – New Downloads

Vernon Hester’s downloads are live (so when doing an archive search you will get hotlinks with the findings). Since Scott Adams had long ago (and also today) allowed me to post his adventures, those links will go live tonight as well. If I can think of other authors who have authorized release, I will move those files over as well.

August 3, 2010 – Wired.com story

Since today is the anniversary date of the TRS-80 launch, wired.com has done a story which is on their front page today. The article is here [Hotlink Deleted]. Wish they would have consulted with me first, since they mis-attribute the historical accounts to me when I didn’t say them (lord knows who did). I am embarrased I didn’t realize it was the anniversary though 🙂

August 4, 2010 – More Downloads (Dennis Bathory-Kitsz)

Dennis Bathory-Kitsz has given the ok to put his programs online.

August 6, 2010 – More Downloads (Lazywriter)

David and Theresa Welsh have given the ok to put Lazywriter online.

August 7, 2010 – More Downloads (Jon Bokelman / Orchestra)

Jon Bokelman has given the ok to put his Orchestra 80/85/90 driver software online.

August 8, 2010 – More Downloads (Big Five)

Bill Hogue has given the ok to put most of the Big Five software online.

July 30, 2010 – Free Daisywheel for Local Pickup ONLY

TRS-80 Daisy Wheel II printer free for local pickup from Colorado Springs, CO but arrangements could be made to meet in Denver, Colorado.

The person with the printer advises that it does not have the daisywheel, but it has the ribbon and everything else seems to be intact.

First come first served; I will put you in direct contact in the order I am emailed.

August 8, 2010 – Free DMP2100

TRS-80 DMP2100 tractor feed printer (worked when last used) free for local pickup from St. Louis Park, MN but is willing to ship for the costs of pack & ship.

First come first served; I will put you in direct contact in the order I am emailed.

August 14, 2010 – TRS-80 Virtual Floppy Disk Manager Updated

Miguel Dutra has released v0.7 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.

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

The new version brings:

• CLI: Could not recognize the parameters “-td2” and “-td3”
• CLI: Crashed when “-k” was used with long file names
• CLI: Internal Win2Trs routine generated some ill-formed file names
• CLI: Internal Dump routine now prints blanks instead of dots in the ASCII column data
• TRSDOS1: Caused an abrupt program termination when allocating granules
• TRSDOS3: Caused an abrupt program termination when allocating granules
• NEWDOS/80: Created files with less than the requested space
• NEWDOS/80: Improved disk compatibility through better PDRIVE handling
• DMK: Improved disk compatibility through better geometry detection and sector addressing
• Other: Granule allocation routines failed to properly determine the available disk space
• Other: Improved GetFileDate routines to get date values with as little modification as possible
• Other: Improved OS detection routines to reduce the number of wrong identifications

August 15, 2010 – New Brochure (Cover) Thanks To John Iacono

September 5, 2010 – TRS-80 Model 4P – Free for Local Pickup or Pay Shipping

TRS-80 Model 4P is free for local pickup in Oconomowoc, WI or, for those who do not live in Oconomowoc, the cost of pack and ship. Normally I would say to email me, but the owner has advised a number of sites of the availability, so all I can say is, if you want it, email him quick. His email is leemil at att dot net.

September 7, 2010 – Flash Emulator

Alain Boudreault is working on a TRS-80 emulator running in flash player (using flashbuilder 4 mxml/as3 as the development tool). Eventually, it will emulate a MODEL I Level II BASIC with floppy drives, although the emulator is currently working in beta without floppy emulation.

A video of the emulator is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoXQssEC_8I [Hotlink Deleted].

September 10, 2010 – New Downloads thanks to Vernon B Hester

Vernon B. Hester, author of MultiDOS and other wonderful programs, has provided some additional copies of his DOS’s:

• Esoteric DOS v2.11 for Model 4
• MultiDOS v4.01 for Model I
• MultiDOS v4.01 for Model III
• MultiDOS v5.11 for Model 4

ESOTERIC is a Model 4 version of MULTIDOS with two differences: Video (Esoteric is 80×24 vs. MultiDOS which is either 80×24 or 64×16) and ESOTERIC is mapped significantly different than Model 4 MULTIDOS. The mapping of the Model 4 is very similar to the Model I, Model III, and MAX-80 version of MULTIDOS, while ESOTERIC’s mapping difference was desired to keep the DOS in contiguous memory (0000H through 1AFFH) allowing one to ORG applications at 1B00H.

September 15, 2010 – New Magazine (Cover)

David Sutherland has provided a number of new magazines. It has already been added as a new section to the H & E Computronics Page and has been added to the Magazine Search Page.

September 16, 2010 – New H & E Newsletters (Covers)

September 17, 2010 – New H & E Newsletters (Covers)

September 20, 2010 – New H & E Newsletters (Covers) thanks to David Sutherland

September 21, 2010 – New H & E Newsletters (Covers) thanks to David Sutherland

September 21, 2010 – Free Model 4 for Local Pickup Only

UPDATE: It has been claimed as of 9/23

A site visitor has a Model 4 for free for local pickup only in Oak Park, Michigan (USA). It appears to work. I will pass on the info in the order as I receive it.

September 22, 2010 – New H & E Newsletters (Covers) thanks to David Sutherland

September 23, 2010 – New H & E Newsletters (Covers) thanks to David Sutherland

September 24, 2010 – New H & E Newsletters (Covers) thanks to David Sutherland

September 24, 2010 – New ROM Hunt

In sorting thru the lastest software shipment I came across a little program which claims to identify whether your Model I ROM was v1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, or other. The ROMs out in the wild are either v1.0, v1.2, or v1.3. Does anyone have a Model I system with v1.1?? The program is as follows:

10 REM     PROGRAM TO FIND VERSION OF MODEL I ROM
20 CLS
30 FOR I=11264 TO 12287:V=PEEK(I):S=S+V:NEXT I: X=S/16
40 A=(X-FIX(X))*16:Y=FIX(X)/16:B=(Y-FIX(Y))*256
50 V=(A+B)
60 IF V=176 PRINT"ROM 1.0": GOTO 100
70 IF V=142 PRINT"ROM 1.1": GOTO 100
80 IF V=10 PRINT"ROM 1.2": GOTO 100
90 IF V=162 PRINT"ROM 1.3" ELSE PRINT"VERSION OF ROM UNKNOWN"
100 END

September 28, 2010 – New H & E Computronics Magazine # 39 (Covers) thanks to David Sutherland

TRS-80 Monthly Newsletter
Issue 39
Date: October 1981
Publisher: H & E Computronics

September 30, 2010 – Updates to Matthew Reed’s DMK Utilities

Matthew Reed has released:

• v1.04 of Windows GUI DSK/DMK image utility TRSTOOLS; and
• v4.27 of his TRSREAD and TRSWRITE command line utilities for TRS-80 virtual disks.

The changelog for both includes:

• Improved viewing of MULTIDOS BASIC programs; and
• Improved recognition of DOSPLUS and NEWDOS/80 disks.

October 12, 2010 – MultiDOS Update

The copies of MultiDOS for the Model I have been reviewed by Vernon Hester who has explained some of the images, and provided information necessary to restore others to verified true copies. If you downloaded the Model I MultiDOS images in the past, you might want to re-download them.

Interesting Notes:

• MultiDOS for the Model I came in three formats: Single-Density, Double-Density (similar to DOSPLUS and LDOS), and “P”-Density (similar to NEWDOS/80 Double-Density which has track 0 as single density, and all other tracks as double density).
• MultiDOS v1.5SK (at least my copy) was really just a special kernel made for Computer Shack so they could distribute SuperDirectory (since a disk cataloging program needs to be able to read as many DOS’s as possible; which is MultiDOS’s specialty). That is why the system files are all called CSx/sys (Computer Shack) and the version is SK (Special Kernel)! It has only 16 Library commands: Auto, Boot, Clear, Clock, Cls, Config, Date, Dir, Forms, Kill, Lib, List, Print, Skip, Time, Verify.
• MultiDOS II (at least my copy) was really just a distribution diskette for ZEUS. This DOS will boot on a Model I and a Model III.

While most of my MultiDOS images were modified to some level, the copies of v1.4S, 1.4D, 1.6D, 1.6S, 1.7D, and 1.7P are all now “correct.” Vernon *may* be providing “correct” copies of v1.0 and v1.5 in the future. Of course, Vernon has provided 2004 and 2005 updates to MultiDOS, but for those who want the classic versions, there you go.

October 12, 2010 – Possibly Found v1.0 and v1.1 ROMs

A site visitor has indicated that he believes he has a Model I which has the v1.0 and the v1.1 ROMs and intends to either dump them to cassette or read them in an EPROM reader. Of course, if anyone finds they have v1.0 or v1.1 ROMs, please let me know. ROMs can be dumped to disk as follows:

10 PC=0 : IR=0
20 OPEN "O",1,"NEWROM/ROM:0"
30 FOR X = 0 TO &H2FFF
40 PRINT #1,CHR$(PEEK(X)); : IR=IR+1
50 IF IR = 614 THEN IR = 0: PC=PC+5: PRINT PC"% ...";
60 NEXT X
70 PRINT "DONE!":PRINT
80 CLOSE

It takes about 1/2 hour to run (which is why I coded in 5% increment status updates)

October 13, 2010 – Update to TRS32 Emulator

Matthew Reed has updated his wonderful TRS32 Emulator to v1.25. This update includes:

• BUG FIX: There was a a one bit error in the emulated interrupt status ports which caused one NEWDOS/80 boot disk to kept generating “Device not available” errors instead of displaying a directory.
• BUG FIX: There was a Model III boot disk which was being identified as Model 4 by the “Autostart” feature. Although the disk still worked (it just ran in Model III mode), recognition of this unusual boot sector was added to the autostart routine.
• NEW FEATURE: Hovering the mouse cursor over the floppy drive indicator light in the status bar will display the current drive status and position; making it easier to determine if a boot disk is loading or just cycling endlessly.

The updated emulator can be downloaded from the TRS-80.com emulator page.

October 15, 2010 – Model I ROM v1.0 Found; v1.1 Still Missing

v1.0 of the Model I ROM has been dumped. Sadly, while the individual thought he had v1.1 too, it turned out to be v1.2. Anyone with v1.1, please give a shout out. Thanks!

Update: It was found in June of 2020!

October 16, 2010 – More Model I MultiDOS Images

Vernon Hester has kindly provided Model I MultiDOS versions 1.0, 1.5S, 1.5D, and 1.5P.

October 26, 2010 – Explanation as to Model I ROM Versions

In hopes of answering all of the questions which have arisen from the realization that there are 4 versions of the Model I ROM and we (at the time) had only 1 of them, Matthew Reed [Hotlink Deleted], author of the amazing TRS32 emulator, has posted a brief explanation of the ROM versions.

October 27, 2010 – Model I ROM v1.1 Found

v1.1 of the Model I ROM has been dumped by John Benson. Thank you John!

December 5, 2010 – New Guestbook

The Guestbook has been replaced AGAIN, as it became a spam magnet. Links have been updated. New guestbook is here and the old guestbook, converted to HTML for posterity, is here.

December 9, 2010 – Program to Dump ROM to Cassette

Kurt Baumgardner wrote a short BASIC program to allow those with Model I’s to dump their ROM’s to cassette if that is their only option. Kurt advises that it needs 16K of RAM and takes a little less than 3 and a half minutes to run. He did not test it on a Model III but assumes, at the very least, that the ROM line would need to be changed from ROM=12 to ROM=14

10 CLS : PRINT " ROM DUMP TO TAPE" : PRINT
20 FOR T = 32512 TO 32537 : READ B : POKE T,B : NEXT T
30 POKE 16526, 0 : POKE 16527, 127
40 ROM = 12 ' 12K OF ROM ... CHANGE AS NEEDED
50 POKE 32523, ROM * 4
60 INPUT "READY CASSETTE"; T
70 T = USR (0)
100 DATA 175, 205, 18, 2, 205, 135, 2, 33, 0, 0
110 DATA 14, 48, 126, 205, 100, 2, 35, 16 ,249
120 DATA 13, 32, 246, 205, 248, 1, 201

December 10, 2010 – 3 TRS-80 Model III’s for FREE (Local Pickup Only)

A site visitor has 3 TRS-80 Model III’s which he would like to give away free for local pickup. He has not tested extensively, but advises that they do not power up as currently configured. If anyone is interested in picking them up from Yorba Linda CA 92886 please contact me.

December 21, 2010 – New Wallpaper

Jeremy Cyr made wallpaper of the Model II TRSDOS Boot Screen.

December 31, 2010 – New Radio Shack Catalog (Covers)

Michael D’Alessio continues to supply missing catalogs. Thanks, Mike!

January 3, 2011 – Custom TRS-80 and Other Mysteries for Download

Dennis Bathory-Kitsz has posted his book, Custom TRS-80 and Other Mysteries online for free download.

Thanks to Peter Nield for the tip!

January 12, 2011 – TRS-80 Emulator in Javascript!

Peter Phillips has let me know that the TRS80GP Model III emulator has been ported to Javascript!

Code is provided which will allow anyone to put a TRS-80 Model III Emulator on their web page.

Creating a page with the emulator is as simple as this:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript" src="trsemu-1.4.js"></script>
<head>
<body
onload="trsEmu.screen('scrn').button('btn').perf('graph').focus();">
<div id="scrn">
<canvas width="512" height="384" style="background:black">
</canvas></div><br>
<div id="graph">
<canvas width="512" height="100" style="background:black">
</canvas></div><br>
<input type="button"id="btn" value="Run"
  onClick="trsEmu.run('toggle');">
<input type="button" value="Reset"
  onClick="trsEmu.run('reset');">
<body>
<html>

January 17, 2011 – Tandy Annual Report 1977

Thank you David Sutherland for winning the packet given out to attendees of the Beverly Hilton TRS-80 announcement in 1978. It contained the 1977 Tandy Annual Report, the first TRS-80 catalog, and a bunch of handouts.

David was nice enough to drop ship his eBay winnings to me first for scanning.

February 1, 2011 – Model 100 Disassembled

David Sutherland found an interesting Model 100 disassembled website at techrepublic.com.

March 7, 2011 – eBay Auction

Just a heads up as to some eBay auctions I have currently listed (ending Mar 14, 2011 at 09:03:54 PDT):

• TRS-80 Project Manager – Catalog Number 26-1580

March 27, 2011 – eBook Version of Priming the Pump

Theresa Welsh let me know that there is now an eBook version of the TRS-80 related book “Priming the Pump: How TRS-80 Enthusiasts Sparked the PC Revolution”. The announcement is as follows:

Priming the Pump: How TRS-80 Enthusiasts Sparked the PC Revolution, is in its second printing and we have just released it in two eBook formats: for the Kindle (sold by amazon.com) and for the Nook (sold by Barnes & Noble). These versions include illustrations in color (those that originally had color — some illustrations are original black & white photos, but we have many old magazine ads that are color, but appear in the printed book as black & white). The price for the ebook version is only $9.95.

Here are the links to where the ebook versions can be purchased:

Kindle version: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P8JNIS

People who don’t have an eReader can still view these versions by downloading the “Kindle for PC” app or the “Nook for PC” app available at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.

March 27, 2011 – New EACA CG Emulator

Jurgen Buchmuller has resumed work on his EACA CG emulator.

Atila Grosz compiled the work in progress into a windows binary.

April 3, 2011 – New Sydney TRS-80 Users Group Newsletter (Cover)

Ian Mavric was kind enough to provide (the cover for) Volume 7, Issue 5 of the Sydney, Australia TRS-80 Users Group Newsletter from January 1987.

April 9, 2011 – New Hardware and Software Manuals (Cover) Thanks To John Kauble

April 11, 2011 – New Hardware and Software Manuals (Cover) Thanks To John Kauble

April 12, 2011 – New Hardware Manuals (Cover) Thanks To John Kauble

April 12, 2011 – New Eastern Suburbs 80 Users Group Newsletter (Cover) from Ian Mavric

April 13, 2011 – New Hardware Manuals (Cover) Thanks To John Kauble

April 18, 2011 – New DosPlus Newsletter (Cover) from Ian Mavric

April 21, 2011 – New Newsletters, Hardware Manuals, etc (Covers) from Ian Mavric

April 22, 2011 – New Newsletters, Hardware Manuals, etc (Covers) from Ian Mavric

April 23, 2011 – New Newsletters, Hardware Manuals, etc (Covers) from Ian Mavric

April 24, 2011 – New Newsletters, Hardware Manuals, etc (Covers) from Ian Mavric

April 24, 2011 – New Newsletters, Hardware Manuals, etc (Covers) from Ian Mavric

April 26, 2011 – Revlon Run/Walk

For those of you who like boobs and/or hate cancer, but DEFINITELY like U.S. tax deductions, then you will be pleased to learn that it is time for the Revlon Run/Walk for Cancer!

May 1, 2011 – Color Computer for Free [UPD: GONE!]

Steve Halber has a long list of Color Computer hardware and software (which has been boxed up for the better part of 20 years) which he would like to give away in exchange for shipping costs.

The list is:

Actual system and peripherals:

• TRS-80 Color Computer (I), originally 16K, upgraded to 64K [26-3002]
• CGP-115 4-Color Graphic Printer [26-1192]
• Box with extra graphic printer paper rolls [26-1428]
• DMP-110 Dot Matrix Printer [26-1271]
• Extra ribbon for dot matrix printer [26-1283]
• Cassette Player for TRS-80 [26-1206]
• Disk Drive FD 301 [26-3131]
• Original Joystick [26-3008]
• Deluxe Joystick, 2x [26-3012B]
• Mouse [26-3025]
• Multi-Pak [26-3024]

Program Pak File, and game cartridges:

• Bridge Tutor [26-3158]
• Bustout [26-3056]
• Canyon Climber [26-3089]
• Checker [26-3055]
• Chess [26-3050]
• Color Baseball [26-3095]
• Crosswords [26-3082]
• Color Scripsit [26-3105]
• Football [26-3053]
• Graphic Pak [26-3157]
• Math Bingo [26-3150]
• Mega-Bug [26-3076]
• Monster Maze [26-3081]
• Music [26-3151]
• Polaris [26-3065]
• Skiing [26-3058]
• Space Assault [26-3060]
• Typing Tutor [26-3152]



Software on 5.25 disks:

• Trivia Fever [26-3295]
• Coco Max (with Program Pak)
• One on One
• Flight Sim
• Telewriter-64
• Various saved data/program files on disk

Software on cassette:

• Zaxxon [26-3062]
• Madness and the Minotaur [26-3313]
• Hi Res Screen Print Utilities [26-3121]
• Dungeons of Death (Aardvark Software)
• Various saved data/program files on cassette

Books:

• Getting Started with Color BASIC
• Going Ahead with Extended Color BASIC
• TRS-80 Color Computer Quick Reference Guide [26-3194]
• Clark: 101 Color Computer Programming Tips and Tricks
• Barden: TRS-80 Color Computer Assembly Language Programming [62-2077]
• Rainbow Book of Simulations (with programs on cassette)
• Student Manual – Part 1: Introduction to BASIC [26-2151]
• Student Manual – Part 2: BASIC Programming [26-2153]
• Manuals for all software

I suspect it is first come first served. Steve can be reached at [deleted].

May 2, 2011 – Voice Synthesizer Manual (cover) has been found, thanks to James Waggoner

May 4, 2011 – New Manuals/Books (covers) thanks to Tom Bourke

May 4, 2011 – TRS-80 Model III and 4 for FREE (Local Pickup Only)

A site visitor has a Model III and a Model 4 available (+ dust covers) for free for local pickup only in Natick, Massachusetts. When last used in July of 2009, the Model III worked perfectly, and the Model 4 worked other than drive :1 (although the individual did not attempt to determine why).

To avoid the standard problem of people emailing the individual to ask if they will ship, you are asked to contact me. I will pass on offers to pick up the computers. First come first served.

May 5, 2011 – New Manuals/Books (covers) thanks to Tom Bourke

May 6, 2011 – New Manuals/Books (covers) thanks to Tom Bourke

May 8, 2011 – WordPress Trouble and New Page

Now that I moved the NEWDOS/80 Manual to be on a non-Wordpress page (like I had to do with the individual magazine pages), I can add pages again. I guess I am hitting some kind of memory/size limit on WordPress.

Anyway, I thought it would be useful to put all the “TRS-80 For Free” listings on their own page, and so I did.

Also, David Cooper has been kind enough to convert the Disk Request Page to be usable for systems without a mailto: configuration. Thanks David!

May 9, 2011 – New Manuals/Books (covers) thanks to Tom Bourke

May 10, 2011 – New Manuals/Books (covers) thanks to Tom Bourke

May 13, 2011 – New Micro-80 Scans (covers) thanks to Terry Stewart and Ian Mavric

May 12, 2011 – New Manuals/Books/Catalogs (covers) thanks to Tom Bourke

May 11, 2011 – New Catalogs (covers) thanks to Tom Bourke

May 13, 2011 – New Scans (covers) thanks to David Cooper

May 14, 2011 – New Misosys Notes (covers) thanks to Tom Bourke

Instead of posting 3 pictures of a red cover – Let this just be an announcement that I have started to scan the Misosys Notes magazine, and have created a new magazine page for them here.

May 16, 2011 – New Scans (covers) thanks to Tom Bourke

Issue: 03
Date: July 1984
Pages: 60
TOSEC: Notes from Misosys Issue 3 (1984)(Misosys)

Table of Contents:

• THE BLURB
• CMD-FILE/PRO-CESS version 2
• CON80Z/PRO-CON80Z
• CONVCPM/PRO-CURE
• DSMSLR/PRO-DUCE
• EDAS/PRO-CREATE
• GRASP
• HELP/PRO-HELP
• LC/PRO-LC
• MACH2/PRO-MACH2
• PaDS/PRO-PaDS
• THE PROGRAMMER’S GUIDE
• SOLE
• ZCAT/PRO-ZCAT
• ZGRAPH/PRO-ZGRAPH
• ZSHELL
• CONTRIBUTIONS

Title: Machine Language Programming from the Ground Up, 1st Ed.
Year: 1980
Author: Hubert S Howe Jr
Pages: 160

May 19, 2011 – New Scans (covers)

May 20, 2011 – New Newsletters (Covers) from Ian Mavric

May 23, 2011 – New Manuals and Newsletters (Covers)

May 24, 2011 – New Newsletters (Covers) Thanks to Ian Mavric

May 25, 2011 – New Covers

May 31, 2011 – New Covers Thanks To Ian Mavric

May 31, 2011 – New Covers Thanks To Ian Mavric

June 1, 2011 – Updates to Matthew Reed’s DMK Utilities

For those of you tired of seeing endless numbers of scans, here is some big news.

As enthusiasts may know, Matthew Reed has been working on patching LDOS so that it can accept dates after 2012. A description of the problem and the technical solutions can be found at:

http://www.trs-80.org/ldos-and-ls-dos-2012-and-beyond/ for Part 1 – LDOS and LS-DOS: 2012 and Beyond

http://www.trs-80.org/ldos-and-ls-dos-2012-and-beyond-technical-information/ for Part 2 – LDOS and LS-DOS: 2012 and Beyond – Technical Info

http://www.trs-80.org/ldos-and-ls-dos-2012-and-beyond-a-solution/ for Part 3 – LDOS and LS-DOS: 2012 and Beyond – A Solution

Matthew has just released the new version of TRSTools, which includes the feature to automatically patch LS-DOS/LDOS boot disks to extend their file dating capability to 2079. No separate date conversion step is necessary. Just load the (non-write-protected) LDOS 5.3.1 or LS-DOS 6.3.1 boot disk into TRSTools and allow it to patch the disk when it asks. The LDOS patches don’t take up any additional disk space and didn’t require getting rid of any file passwords. The new TRSTOOLS also [1] improves recognition of all three MULTIDOS date formats, [2] fixes a problem with reading from a heavily fragmented Model III TRSDOS dsk, and [3] added an option in the file viewer to switch to a hexadecimal view.

Matthew has also released updated versions of TRSREAD and TRSWRITE that can handle the new extended dating format.

June 2, 2011 – Any C++ Programmers Out There?

If you are good at C++ and good at modifying someone else’s source code and knowledgable about the Catweasel, please read on …

… as many of you know, TRS-80 disks were never meant to hold data for 30+ years, and one of the things I do for people is read their disks into DMK images. Much of the time, people are trying to get their old documents and records off the disks, so getting the best possible read off the disks can mean the difference between a corrupt file or a good one.

To do the disk reading I have a dedicated system set up with a Catweasel, a floppy drive, DOS boot, and Tim Mann’s wonderful Catweasel utilities.

As any of you who have a Catweasel may know, Tim’s utilities allow for a command line option to give a specific number of retries for any track which reads with errors BUT it outputs the track as read on the LAST read rather than the track as read on the BEST read. You could have 19 reads of “9 good sectors, 1 bad sector” but if the 20th retry is “6 good sectors, 4 bad sectors” that is what you get, and 3 otherwise good sectors are lost (you can restart the process again, but it is all going to be a roulette game). Those sectors being good could easily mean the difference between a good file and a corrupted one.

The reason for this, however (and as Tim has previously told me), is that the Catweasel works only on a Track level, which is the rub.

I am wondering if anyone out there has the C++ know how to modify Tim’s CW2DMK.c program so that when a track is read (as currently written in the program), an array is populated with the actual sectors (which I guess might be one entry for any DMK header, and the remaining array equal to the track length divided by the sector size; but what do I know), and then if a successive retry produces a good sector where there was previously a bad one, the (bad) sector in the array is replaced with the newly successfully read one; and once the retry count is done, the array is assembled into a track; at which point the track is written out (as currently written in the program).

Tim has been busy with other projects (he has been well aware of the request for quite some time), and the track vs. sector nature of the Catweasel probably makes this a project he does not wish to tackle, but a recent set of disks where the person was desperate for their data has just triggered me to see if anyone out there can do it. Modifying the source code appears, on my quick read, to be permitted under the license under which it was issued, provided certain obligations are met.

However, it is Tim’s project, Tim’s source, and whether this is actually made public should be entirely up to Tim in my book. Certainly anyone who writes in the functionality is encouraged to send it to Tim; perhaps he will integrate it.

Links:

• http://www.tim-mann.org/catweasel.html – Tim’s Catweasel Page (with links to v4.4; source code is included)
• The DMK format is explained at the bottom.
• The FREE MSDOS C++ compiler which is used to compile the Catweasel utilities is the DJGPP Compiler (http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/). Tim’s makefile is makefile.dj for that reason.

June 5, 2011 – TRS-80’s in TV and Movies

David Sutherland has pointed me toward a web site which catalogs computers in movies. Check out the:

• Model I [Hotlink Deleted] page
• Model III [Hotlink Deleted] page
• Model 4 [Hotlink Deleted] page

June 13, 2011 – Matthew Reed’s LDOS 2012+ Patches

Matthew Reed has published his patches to get LDOS to accept dates after 2012.

June 27, 2010 – Update to TRS32 Emulator

Matthew Reed has updated his wonderful TRS32 Emulator to v1.26. This update includes:

• BUG FIX: On some Windows 7 systems, a synchronization conflict led to sluggish responses by the user interface. This problem has now been fixed.
• BUG FIX: Keyboard handling is now improved to make certain SHIFT+CLEAR key combinations more consistent.

June 27, 2010 – Update to TRS32 Emulator

Matthew Reed has updated his wonderful TRS32 Emulator to v1.26. This update includes:

• BUG FIX: On some Windows 7 systems, a synchronization conflict led to sluggish responses by the user interface. This problem has now been fixed.
• BUG FIX: Keyboard handling is now improved to make certain SHIFT+CLEAR key combinations more consistent.

June 28, 2011 – Updates to Matthew Reed’s DMK Utilities

Matthew Reed, author of the TRS32 emulator, has updated his DMK and DSK Management Tools: TRSREAD / TRSWRITE (Command Line) to v1.29 and TRSTOOLS (GUI) to v1.06.

Changes:

• Fixed: Faulty format detection routine that was rejecting many NEWDOS/80 disks is now fixed.
• Added: Read-only support for the most common Montezuma Micro and LNW80 CP/M formats.
• Added: Read-only support for Color Computer RSDOS disks.
• Changed: The file properties and disk properties dialog boxes now only show information pertaining to the file system.

June 30, 2011 – Update to TRS-80 in Java

Peter and George Phillips’ TRS-80 Emulator in Java has been updated to v1.3..

July 10, 2011 – Installing a 3.5″ Drive

Larry Kraemer has provided instructions on how to install a 3.5″ standard ibm floppy drives in a TRS-80 Model III or 4. The file is on the Hardware Modifications page.

July 10, 2011 – Tutorials for Linux

Larry Kraemer has developed some step-by-step tutorials on how to run David Keil’s DOS Emulators and Tim Mann’s XTRS Emulator under Debian and Ubuntu. As of December 2019 it is almost all incorrect so the link has been removed.

July 13, 2011 – Emulator Updates

George Phillips has updated his GP2000 TRS-80 Model I/III/4 Emulator to v1.8. Changes include:

• Works on displays whos width is not a multiple of 4.
• Recording in Flash video format (.flv).
• Supports Model 4 with hi-res graphics adapter.
• Debugger improved.
• Z-80 profiling has legend and branch taken percentages.
• HALT instruction now emulated properly.
• Model I double-wide video.
• Added “-time emulation” option to show CPU emulation time.

Stephen James Hurd and Ken Pettit have updated their Model 100 emulator, Virtual T, to v1.5. The update can be downloaded from the emulator page.

David Keil’s site appears to have gone down. Since that site was the only source of David’s emulators (and also because David’s emulators were entirely incompatible with Windows XP or LCD monitors since Dave chose to use direct hardware writes for screen updates) references to David’s emulators on the emulator page have been removed.

July 15, 2011 – Model 4P and DMP 110 Free for Seattle Pickup.

Model 4P with a DMP 110 printer for free, local pickup in Seattle, Washington only. The owner hasn’t used the printer since the 80s, but worked then. The owner booted up the 4P last year (with TRSDOS) and it booted great.

If interested in picking these up in Seattle, please email me. Emails will be forwarded to the owner in the order received.

August 16, 2011 – Non-working Network 2 Switchbox

A site visitor is offering a non-working Radio Shack TRS-80 Network 2 switchbox (e.g., for parts or for tinkerers) for free for local pickup or the cost of shipping from Baltimore, Maryland

• model no. 26-1211, serial # 003505
• 16 channel mux, using rotary dial, leds indicating selection
• undamaged, dirty but it looks like it’ll work
• no power supply or cables
• no disks or manuals

Owner originally bought it, but didn’t really use it. Recently found cleaning out some old stuff.

As always, first come first served. If you want it, please contact me. The posting will be taken down once I pass on the first offer.

August 24, 2011 – Roy T. Beck

Lance Wolstrup, editor in chief of TRSTIMES, has advised that Roy T. Beck passed away in March of 2011. Roy was a member of all the Greater Los Angeles TRS-80 user groups, and a regular contributor to TRSTimes, where he wrote about hardware, primarily Hard Drives. He was 80 years old and is survived by his wife, Barbara.

October 4, 2011 – New Book Cover Scan

October 30, 2011 – Working CoCo2 For Sale

A site visitor has a the following for sale:

• CoCo 2 (which he has verified as working)
• Some games
• Some program paks
• Some cassette tapes
• Some manuals
• Joystick (which he has verified as working)
• Hookup connections for a cassette player/recorder data storage
• Cassette player (won’t turn the cassettes anymore; it needs new belts).
• “Using Basic” (textbook) Book
• “TRS-80 Color Computer Assembly Language Programming” Book
• “Getting started with Extended Color Basic” Book (missing back cover)
• “TRS-80 Color Computer Programs” Book

He is asking $40 plus actual shipping costs (from Raleigh, North Carolina, USA) on a first come first served basis. The lot weighs around 15 pounds, divided pretty equally between the books and the other stuff. He can be reached at jdstout at gmail dot com.

November 1, 2011 – TRS-80.org.uk

I stumbled upon a new TRS-80 site, trs-80.org.uk. They have a few links, and some downloads, but most notedly, a currently published TRS-80 newsletter, called TRS8BIT, available for download.

I have put together a TRS8BIT cover page here, but like all the other pages, there are no downloads. The address is trs-80.org.uk should you wish to download.

Always good to see new TRS-80 sites … wishing them well!

November 2, 2011 – TRS-80 in Flash

UPDATE: Site no longer available.

VE2OUY has put up a web page which emulates most of a Model I in Flash (no source was found).

December 2, 2011 – TRS-80 Repairs Page

I have added a page for those offering to do TRS-80 repairs. If you are someone who can repair TRS-80’s and want to be added to the list, please contact me.

November 3, 2011 – VDK-80 v0.1 DSK/DMK Utility

Added Migue Dutra’s TRS-80 Virtual Disk Kit v0.1 utility to the DSK and DMK Image Utilities page. The VDK-80 is a command line utility which allows one to perform a series of operations (read, write, rename, delete etc.) on files stored in a TRS-80 virtual disk image.

December 4, 2011 – TRS-80 Model I in Canada / Free for Pickup

Visit the For trade/free page if interested in a somewhat working Model I in Ontario, Canada (local pickup only).

December 6, 2011 – TRS-80 Repairs Page Updated

The TRS-80 Repair Page has been updated. If you are someone who can repair TRS-80’s and want to be added to the list, please contact me.

December 10, 2011 – TRS-80 Repair Story

Josh Bensadon has provided a TRS-80 Repair Story including pictures as to how he got a Model I with bad video running again.

December 19, 2011 – Updates to Matthew Reed’s DMK Utilities

Matthew Reed has updated his DMK and DSK Management Tools: TRSREAD / TRSWRITE (Command Line) to v1.30 and TRSTOOLS (GUI) to v1.07.

Changes:

• Fixed: A format recognition bug was causing TRSDOS 1.3 data disks to sometimes be treated as Montezuma Micro CP/M disks.
• Fixed: Under some circumstances, TRSTools would crash when loading LDOS disks, even ones it had created.
• Added: NEWDOS/86 disks are now recognized for both read and write access.
• Changed: File viewer will now default to a hexadecimal view when an improperly constructed CMD file is viewed.
• Fixed: Amount of free space on a disk is now correctly calculated for NEWDOS/80 disks.

December 30, 2011 – MultiDOS Guides

Vernon Hester, author of the amazing MultiDOS operating system (and other programs) has provided a few guides to MultiDOS in DOC format:

• MultiDOS Features
• MultiDOS Library Commands
• MultiDOS Utility Commands

December 31, 2011 – More Vernon Hester Manuals

Vernon Hester has provided a few updated manuals, each in DOC format:

• Astrocal
• MultiDOS and Esoteric DOS’s
• Zeus Editor/Assembler

January 4, 2012 – New Downloads thanks to Vernon B Hester

Vernon B. Hester, author of MultiDOS and other wonderful programs, has provided some additional copies of his DOS’s:

Model I

• MultiDOS v4.01 [a] for Model I

Model III

• MultiDOS v1.0 for Model III
• MultiDOS v1.3a for Model III
• MultiDOS v1.6 for Model III
• MultiDOS v1.7 for Model III
• MultiDOS v1.71 for Model III
• MultiDOS v2.10 for Model III
• MultiDOS v4.01 [a] for Model III

Model 4

• Esoteric DOS v2.12 for Model 4
• Esoteric DOS v2.12 High-Resolution BASIC for Model 4
• MultiDOS v5.11 [a] for Model 4
• MultiDOS v5.11 High-Resolution BASIC for Model 4

January 6, 2012 – Ask Don French Your Questions

Don French, a buyer for Radio Shack who, after seeing a computer kit, designed a home computer which, together with Steve Leininger, became the TRS-80. Don has offered to answer your questions (to the extent he can). While no promises are made, please contact me with any questions you would like to see if Don French will answer. I will forward them to him and post questions and answers. I don’t know how long I will leave this open, but will post another news item when its time to close it.

January 11, 2012 – New Download thanks to Vernon B Hester

Vernon B. Hester, author of MultiDOS and other wonderful programs, has provided a previously unarchived version of MultiDOS … MultiDOS v2.00 for Model III. As always, Vernon is happy to allow the posting of his software for download, so click away. Thanks, Vernon!

January 11, 2012 – Ask Don French Your Questions

I have received very few questions to pass on to Don French. No one has questions for the inventor of the TRS-80?!?!??!

January 12, 2012 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

A little late in announcing, but Dusty has released his December 2011 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter.

January 15, 2012 – VDK-80 v1.3 DSK/DMK Utility

Added Migue Dutra’s TRS-80 Virtual Disk Kit v1.3 utility to the DSK and DMK Image Utilities page. The VDK-80 is a command line utility which allows one to perform a series of operations (read, write, rename, delete etc.) on files stored in a TRS-80 virtual disk image.

January 16, 2012 – New Model I MultiDOS Downloads thanks to Vernon B Hester

Vernon B. Hester, author of MultiDOS and other wonderful programs, has provided some additional copies of his DOS’s:

• MultiDOS v1.13 (Single Density)
• MultiDOS v1.14 (Single Density)
• MultiDOS v1.15 (Single Density)
• MultiDOS v1.16a (Single Density)
• MultiDOS v1.17 (Single Density)
• MultiDOS v2.00 (Double Density)
• MultiDOS v2.10 (Double Density)

He also supplied 4 others, but they are all problematic in one way or another and will not work, due to his lack of a working Model I. I have reached out to him to see what exactly he needs and will let everyone know, in case they can help.

January 20, 2012 – Don French Questions Sent

I have sent in the Don French questions that I have received. When/if I hear back, I will post the questions and answers. Thanks to all those who sent them in.

January 25, 2012 – Don French Questions Answered

I received back answers from Don French to many of the questions which were asked by the site visitors. The questions and answers can be found Here. Thank you very much Don!

January 30, 2012 – CoCo III in California / Free for Cost of Pack + Ship

Visit the For trade/free page if interested in a 128K Color Computer 3 (Model 26-3334) with Computer (keyboard), monitor, expansion chassis, hard drive with interface card, and RS-232 card.

February 3, 2012 – RamDisk v3.6x

Dave Huffman has given permission to make his RAMDISK drivers for the Model 4 available for download; so those search results are now live. Any other author that would care to do the same, please feel contact me!

February 8, 2012 – New Z80 Assembler for a PC

Matthew Reed, author of the amazing TRS32 emulator as well as the DSK/DMK Utility TRSTOOLS, has just released Z80Asm, a new Z80 macro assembler for creating TRS-80 CMD files.

Z80ASM assembles TRS-80 assembly language programs and creates /CMD files that will run on a real or emulated TRS-80, but it runs on the command line of your Windows PC. The assembler is a shareware Windows-based command line utility designed to make it easier to develop TRS-80 software on a Windows computer.

The unregistered version differs from the registered version in that the unregistered version:

• Generates only CMD files, not HEX, core image, or COM files
• Does not generate an equate listing
• Does not allow reading from or writing to TRS-80 virtual disk files

February 9, 2012 – New MISC UTILITIES Page

In light of Matthew Reed having created a few utilities that do not fit into other categories on the site, I have created a new Misc Utilities page.

February 13, 2011 – Updates to Matthew Reed’s TRSREAD Utility

Matthew Reed, author of the amazing TRS32 emulator, has updated his DMK and DSK Management Tools: TRSREAD / TRSWRITE (Command Line) to v1.31.

Changes:

• Fixed: TRSREAD could sometimes crash when displaying the directory of a damaged disk with corrupt date entries. This bug has been fixed.

March 5, 2012 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

Dusty has released his March 2012 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site. You can find all of the issues on his downloads page.

March 6, 2012 – Updated TRS-80 Archive Search

Updated the TRS-80 Software Archive page to point out that there are, in fact, downloads available for files where express permission was given. Added a second (optional) description line for those who want to do a boolean AND search.

If you are a copyright owner who has entries on the list, and wish to allow your program to be available for download, please contact me.

March 9, 2012 – Site visitor looking for ORCH-90

A site visitor has approached me looking for an ORCH-90. While I would not normally post such requests, there never seems to be any on eBay so I wanted to post a news item. If you have one you are willing to sell, please contact me.

March 14, 2012 – New TRS-80 Arcade Game

Shawn Delahunty has written a new “Retro Invaders” game for the TRS-80 and discussed the trials and tribulations of that undertaking on his Armchair Arcade site.

March 17, 2012 – New Magazine Covers, Thanks to Ian Mavric

March 19, 2012 – New Anitek Newsletters, Thanks to Ian Mavric

March 29, 2012 – New MultiDOS Downloads thanks to Vernon B Hester

Vernon B. Hester, author of MultiDOS and other wonderful programs, has provided some additional copies of his DOS’s for the Model I:

• MultiDOS v1.60S (Single Density)
• MultiDOS v1.60D (Double Density)
• MultiDOS v1.60P (Pseudo Density)*
• MultiDOS v1.60aS (Single Density)
• MultiDOS v1.60aD (Double Density)
• MultiDOS v1.60aP (Pseudo Density)*

* = Does not seem to work well with v1.26 of Matthew Reed’s TRS32 Emulator; I have sent the images to Matthew for review.

April 2, 2012 – Update to TRS32 Emulator

Matthew Reed has updated his wonderful TRS32 Emulator to v1.27. This update includes:

• BUG FIX: The bottom three screen pixels are no longer cropped in Model I mode.
• BUG FIX: The shifted behavior of the 7 key on the numeric keypad now matches the other numeric keypad keys.
• BUG FIX: The odd double-wide behavior upon boot-up of Model I MULTIDOS 1.60P is now fixed.

April 3, 2012 – New TRS-80-related Android App (Live Wallpaper)

Rob Cole has pointed me to an Android App (well, live wallpaper) on the Android Market called “TRS-80 Android Live Wallpaper.” The company describes the app as:

“Now TRS-80 computer fans can personalize their android devices with something TRS-80 related! This recently released interactive live wallpaper from GNOTSOFT features the android that we all remember and love–an icon from our TRS-80 days!

This fun wallpaper features a lone android patiently looking around while you go about your business. It’s also interactive and will look over to where you touch on the screen!

The developers at GNOTSOFT have a deep appreciation for the TRS-80 and are excited to be developing for the android platform. Many more fun projects are underway! All feedback and suggestions are welcomed.”

The market entry indicates it requires no “Special Permissions” and costs 99 cents.

April 8, 2012 – How to Replace a CRT

Ian Mavric, who is also the Australia source for TRS-80 disk requests and who repairs TRS-80s, has put a YouTube video up entitled “How to Repair a TRS-80 CRT in a Model 3 or 4”. You can watch it on the right.

May 2, 2012 – TRS-80 Software Library Cover Scans

Ian Mavric has scanned a bunch of the TRS-80 Software Library product sheets. The cover scans can be found on the Product Catalog Page.

May 10, 2012 – TRSEMU v1.4 – Model III Emulator in Java – Updated

Peter Phillips, twin brother of George Phillips, has released v1.4 of his Model III in a Web Page. You can see it in action at http://people.cs.ubc.ca/~pphillip/trs80.html where you can also download the few files necessary to implement your own Model III emulator in a web page.

May 11, 2012 – Using a PC In Lieu of TRS-80 Parts

It is getting harder and harder to use real magnetic media in a TRS-80 (mono cassette players, disk drives with good heads, a source of 5.25″ low density disks). There are a couple of solutions out there, and I have created a new page devoted to hardware and software products which will substitute for having to use magnetic media in a real TRS-80. That page, which is listed on the left under the “Emulation” heading, can also be found here.

May 12, 2012 – PIC32 … a Tiny Hardware TRS-80 Emulator?

While there is not a lot of information available, it seems that Ken Segler has created something called a PIC32 TRS-80 Emulator.

It uses a piece of generic hardware called a Duinomite Mini out of Bulgaria. Ken reports that it was a proof of concept that actually worked very well (the only thing that needed work was the floppy emulation).

Anyone wanting to reach out to Ken can email him at kensegler@gmail.com.

May 13, 2012 – Cleaning Up The Site

The introduction of PC Operating Systems without direct hardware access (2000, XP, Visa, Windows 7) and without 16 Bit Access (Windows 7/64), and the removal of ISA ports and 5.25″ Disk Drive support in the BIOS of current PC’s, has left many pages on the site drastically out of date. I have been working to clean up and consolidate pages, move/remove software which is too old to run, and generally get rid of information which is no longer relevant or viable. The Disk and Cassette pages (both conversion and manipulation utilities) have been rewritten, the Emulator page has been cleaned up, and the Scott Adams adventure page updated with new stuff. I have no the slightest clue how to make the Hardware Mods or the Zaps/Mods/Pokes/Tricks more user friendly, but perhaps inspiration will hit.

The revised pages will have a Model 4P on top (a system which this web site ‘supports’) instead of the Model 100 (a system which this web site does not ‘support’). Please report 404 errors on files, as those have been restructured and cleaned up as well.

May 16, 2012 – Still Cleaning

I am continuing to try to clean up the site. Currently there are 419 news posts (well, now 420) and 129 pages comprising the site and I am slowly dropping needless pages (or combining them with others). Please let me know of any 404’s or missing images. Thanks.

May 21, 2012 – Still Cleaning / New Pages

As I continue cleaning (pages with a Model 4P on the top instead of a Model 100 have been completed) I have come across a few pages I had in development and never hooked up. While the MultiDOS pages (noted on the right menu) are still in development and will not go live until Vernon Hester says they can, I have added a pagefor my attempt to classify the TRS-80 ROMS.

May 22, 2012 – Searchable Radio Shack Catalog Number List

A Searchable Catalog Number page has been added. It differs somewhat from the other catalog lists out there in that all but 13 items have the actual catalog entry available. If you know of any items which are missing regarding the Model I/III/4/4P, please let me know the item, the catalog it appears in, and the page number.

May 24, 2012 – Interview with Lewis Kornfeld from 1980

Ian Mavric has found a 6 page Interview with Lewis Kornfeld from 1980. Thanks!

May 24, 2012 – New Downloads from Nels P Olson

Nels Olsen has allowed his software to be downloaded. To check it out go to the TRS-80 Software Archive Search and search for Nels P Olsen in the Author/Publisher field. Download links are live. Thanks Nels!

May 29, 2012 – Tim Mann’s site down; Tim looking into it

For those concerned about Tim Mann’s site being temporarly down, rest assured that Tim is looking into it and that we do not have another Dave Keil situation going on.

Update: Problem has been found and Tim’s site should be back up shortly.

May 30, 2012 – Search Options

The CATALOG NUMBER SEARCH PAGE and SOFTWARE ARCHIVE SEARCH PAGE continue to be updated, as do their underlying databases. In order to facilitate adding catalog numbers to the software archive, three new changes have been introduced … 1) Sorting can be done by catalog number (not a particularly useful feature) in the Software search and 2) You can search for all Radio Shack or Tandy software by entering TRS (capitals only) into the Author field of the software search (as some items were copyright Radio Shack and some Tandy; and neither search produced complete results independently), and 3) The catalog search page can limit results to Model I/III/4 only.

What strikes me is how many Radio Shack software products have not been archived. Had no idea it was that many.

May 31, 2012 – SuperScripsit File Structure Description

A description of the file structure and byte layout of SuperScripsit files has been added to the TRS-80 Zaps/Patches/Pokes/Tips Page. A direct link can be found here.

June 4, 2012 – Non-working CoCo

If anyone wants a non-working CoCo for the cost of shipping, please let me know. It is currently in Santa Barbara, California. Emails forwarded in the order of receipt.

June 5, 2012 – TRS-80 Assembly Language Made Simply Book – Download

Earles McCall has reminded me that he is the copyright owner of TRS-80 Assembly Language Made Simple and that he had given permission to post his book. Other than the foregoing link, the book is now downloadable from the Books Page. Thank you very much Earles.

June 6, 2012 – 3-D Android Nym by Leo Christopherson

Leo Christopherson (R.I.P.) has released PC and MAC versions of his Android Nym program.

June 7, 2012 – Adventure International Added to Catalog Search Page

In addition to Radio Shack catalog entries, Model I/III/4 entries from the few adventure international catalogs I have have been entered into the Catalog Search Page; in all cases, with scans of the actual entry.

June 11, 2012 – MultiDOS History / Info / Download Pages

I have been working with Vernon Hester for over a year to compile the history of MultiDOS, provide downloads for existing copies of MultiDOS, and include any information for each release that Vernon could remember. While the pages (there are FIVE) are still in the works, Vernon’s schedule has been a bit hectic, so while the pages are not yet done yet, he has allowed me to make them public. The link can be found on the right navbar under DOS’s or Right Here. Thank you Vernon!

June 12, 2012 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

Dusty has released his June 2012 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site.

June 24, 2012 – TRS-80 Floppy Disk Drive Replacement

Scott Goldman is busy trying to get a Lotharek SD Floppy Emulator working in his newly acquired Model 4. The SD Floppy Emulator seems to be a replacement for an actual floppy drive within a TRS-80. It supports JV1, JV3, and DMK images which are stored on a removable SD Card and selected by scrolling through the disk images using the push buttons located on the bottom right of the board.
 

June 25, 2012 – TRS-80 CP/M Page Added

Since I am trying to sort through the unsorted TRS-80 CP/M files I have, I have created a TRS-80 CP/M page.

The project is somewhat of a bear because the ONLY way I have figured out how to get files ONTO a CP/M virtual disk, is to utilize a program called NWD80CPM written by Blandford Computers for the Genie III running under an emulated CP/M disk; and for some reason they require you to enter the CP/M Destination Disk, the NEWDOS/80 Source Disk, the NEWDOS/80 Filename (NO WILDCARDS, even though they are supported under CP/M), A yes/no as to whether you want to add line feeds to carriage returns, and then a yes/no that confirms that the disks are mounted … FOR EACH FILE. Should you run out of disk space at any point in this process, you must start over, as not exiting the program gracefully leaves a corrupted directory. It also will not process filenames which are illegal under NEWDOS/80 even if they are legal in CP/M. It will also error out if you attempt to copy a zero length file.

June 26, 2012 – TRS-80 CP/M Added to the Archive Search Page

The TRS-80 Software Archive Search page has been updated to include sorted CP/M programs. Only CP/M programs which run on a Model 4 system are included.

June 29, 2012 – Catalog Search Page Updated

Thanks to a combination of Adobe Acrobat’s built-in OCR (for what it is), QuickBasic/64 (how did I not know you existed?!?!), and Textpad, I was able to have the computer determine whether RSC-17B had any catalog entries that were not yet added to the TRS-80 Catalog Search Page. The answer was a resounding yes, and the TRS-80 Catalog Search Page is now up to 2250 entries, all but 35 of which have the actual catalog entry present as an image.

These efforts have also shown me that Radio Shack re-used catalog numbers. So far, I have found 3 instances:

25-1151

26-1225

26-1601

I am not sure I will continue adding Radio Shack entries, as we have long exhausted the Model I/III/4 entries, and I am not so interested in what the 6000 might have in store for the Xenix operating system. If I had a better scan of a Med Systems catalog I would do that as well, but I do not. Off to other projects I guess.

June 29, 2012 – Catalog Search Page Updated Again

The TRS-80 Catalog Search Page has been updated again, but do not worry, there is no end in sight for what the Tandy 5000MC has to offer. Almost 200 more entries (complete with images) has been made, bringing the catalog database to 2,429 entries, all but 35 of which have the actual catalog entry present as an image.

July 2, 2012 – Catalog Search Page Updated Again

While I continue to wait for my next project, the TRS-80 Catalog Search Page has been updated again. Almost 50 more entries (complete with images) has been made, bringing the catalog database to 2,482 entries, all but 32 of which have the actual catalog entry present as an image. It is getting tougher to find new items in the sea of catalogs.

I also sorted through the hardware manuals to make sure that everything was presented, and horrendous copies of otherwise existing manuals were removed. Covers will be replaced shortly.

July 3, 2012 – Book Page and Catalog Search Page Updated Again

While I continue to wait for my next project, the TRS-80 Catalog Search Page has been updated again. 89 more entries (complete with images) has been made, bringing the catalog database to 2,571 entries, all but 32 of which have the actual catalog entry present as an image.

I also cleaned up the Book page to include all books present, and to add cover shots. Cover shots are being regenerated using a PDF to JPG program (which also names the JPG based on the TOSEC file, so updating all covers can be done with a macro).

July 4, 2012 – Catalog Search Page Updated Again

While I am still standing by in hopes of the release of something which will allow me to continue another project, I continue to work on the TRS-80 Catalog Search Page. The page has been updated again with 190ish new entries (complete with images), bringing the catalog database to 2,757 entries, all but 5(!!!!!!!!!!) of which have the actual catalog entry present as an image.

July 6, 2012 – Catalog Search Page Updated Again

The TRS-80 Catalog Search Page. The page has been updated again with 230 new entries (complete with images), bringing the catalog database to 2,987 entries, all but 5 of which have the actual catalog entry present as an image. I honestly don’t know about those 5 … I am currently doing a final sweep of RSC-2 through RSC-19 in one big OCR’d PDF looking for missing numbers, and they are not in any of those catalogs.

July 7, 2012 – Catalog Search Page Info

I have received a few questions about the TRS-80 Catalog Search Page so let me try to answer a few.

1. I have not tracked which RSC any given item listing came from. It may have been based on nothing more than it being the cleanest copy, or the PDF’s OCR showing one issue over another.
2. For those interested in seeing the whole catalog, simpy search for a dash as the catalog number; its the one common denominator. However, if you do so, the graphics will require serious scrolling as lightbox seems to place picture in the center of the page; and the page will be 3000 lines long.
3. I am not done, but I am almost done. All of the remaining items I know I am missing are in the 90-xxxx block.
4. Anyone and everyone is welcome to contribute. If anyone would like to provide JPG’s of catalog entries, feel free.

July 9, 2012 – Catalog Search Page Updated Again

The TRS-80 Catalog Search Page has been updated for what is probably the last time. The catalog is now up to 3188 items, all but 5 with images. 736 images were re-processed.

The search page itself has been updated to advise that simply pressing SEARCH will bring up all results.

July 10, 2012 – Color Computer Font Released

Ray Larabie of Typodermic Fonts has released the Color Computer font.. Note: Downloading requires registering at fontspring.com.

July 12, 2012 – Lightbox Bug Fixed

Thanks to Al Petrofsky, I have been advised of an update to the Lightbox plug in which will remove the bug of having pictures appear MUCH lower. The fixes have been made to the Catalog Search page and Archive Search Page. Thanks, Al.

July 15, 2012 – Vernon Hester Q & A … Questions?!?!?

Vernon Hester, author of MultiDOS and many other programs, is willing to answer your questions! Please contact me with your questions and Vernon will endeavor to answer. The Q & A will be posted on the site.

July 15, 2012 – Vernon Hester Software Now in Public Domain

Vernon Hester, author of MultiDOS and many other programs, has asked that I post the following statement:

Any software that I have written that you have in your possession and any software available on www.trs-80.com may be freely distributed without restriction.

I hereby place all of my software in the public domain.

This includes any and all versions of: ZEUS, MULTIDOS, ESOTERIC, ASTROCAL, and Z’DOS.

No warranties are expressed or implied, and support will be available on a limited basis.

Vernon continues to provide additional copies of his DOS’s, additional information on the MultiDOS page, and is willing to take Q & A. Thank you so much Vernon for your generosity.

July 29, 2012 – Youtube Video Transferring Files

Ian Mavric has pointed out a YouTube video on transferring files via RS-232. The Video can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM_SjUpGX5k [Hotlink Removed].

July 30, 2012 – Control Data Diskettes

A very brave David Cooper is going to attempt to read Control Data diskettes. My experience over the decade+ of reading disks is that any data stored on a Control Data disk is irretrievable because the diskettes immediately shred their magnetic oxide coating all over the disk head and mechanism upon first access; destroying the disk and destroying (or resulting in a need for a very good cleaning) the disk drive. Our thoughts should be with David and his soon-to-be-ex floppy drive.

July 31, 2012 – David Cooper vs. Control Data Diskettes Part II

David Cooper is having some luck with the Control Data diskettes. It seems that these Control Data disks treat a disk drive exactly the same way that an moldy diskette treats a disk drive; when you insert them they sound like sandpaper, and the bumps are enough to get caught on the drive head, flake a little, which then turns the drive head into a rough surface which cuts more out of the disk, which flakes more, which coats the head more, etc. With the Control Data disks, though, it also seems that they had some serious issues with adhesion, and this process wears deep grooves in the disk almost immediately. With this, the disks seem to be only readable once (or at least, you cannot re-read and then re-re-read them), so it is basically a handful to read them. David is going to look into modifying CW2DMK to cache good read sectors (and then write out the best compiled sectors, rather than simply the random number of sectors that happened to read when the retry counter ran out) and to allow for starting at a specific track, both of which are somewhat necessary to get through many bad disks, but neither of which are not currently supported.

How is David reading them? He tries to pre-clean the diskette with alcohol to get as much of whatever is on these disks off as possible. Mind you, there are no visible stains on these disks to give a hint that this would need to be done. If one can get enough of the mystery goo off the disks, they won’t flake and they won’t clog the head, carving chasms into the diskette. Unfortunately, the disks also aren’t very good at retaining data, so once the errors creep up, he cleans the head again and tries again. This process will be smoother when/if CW2DMK is modified.

David may put together a video on how to clean a diskette; but his general theory is to apply rubbing alcohol to the exposed area, and then manually turn the disk by hand by grabbing inside the ring and applying gentle pressure to the diskette jacket to use the cloth inside to spread and clean the disk. Of course, if this brand of disks was not bad enough, the center reinforcement ring pops off at the slightest bend, so be prepared for that to happen too.

To clean his drive, he uses an actual 5-1/4 inch disk cleaner and uses the “clean” feature of imd.exe to step the heads back and forth in a good motion of disk cleaning.

I have never been successful cleaning a disk, and to clean my heads after a good coating, I just use que-tips and rubbing alcohol. I keep the screws out of the drive, and any time I start getting progressive errors, I simply pull the drive out (still connected), wet the que-tip, and clean the head. Of course, YMMV and I usually keep a decent supply of spare disk drives around because such rough treatment can only go so far.

August 2, 2012 – New OCTUG Covers

Ian Mavric has provided some new newsletters (covers). Thank you Ian.

August 3, 2012 – Happy 35th Birthday, TRS-80

On August 3, 1977, at a press conference at the Warwick Hotel in New York, Radio Shack announced the TRS-80 Model I. They expected to sell 600-1000 units the first year … and we all know the rest of the story.

Happy 35th Birthday, TRS-80!

May your legacy continue to shine brightly in our hearts.

August 3, 2012 – Happy 35th Birthday, TRS-80

Matthew Reed, author of the TRS32 emulator and other invaluable tools, has a very nice historical write up for the 35th anniversary.

Other web pages covering the 35th Anniversary:

• Wired.com [Hotlink Deleted] – “Aug. 3, 1977: The TRS-80 Is Bad, and That Ain’t Trash Talk”
• Time.com [Hotlink Deleted] – “Please Don’t Call It Trash-80: A 35th Anniversary Salute to Radio Shack’s TRS-80”

August 6, 2012 – Do YOU Have TRS-80 Disks?

Those Control Data disks which were David Cooper so masterfully read were part of a disk set which Robert David was kind enough to send. I have started going through those disks and came across the first found copy of: Radio Shack Stockpak (CAT 26-1507), Adventure International’s Airline, and v1.41 of Lifeboat CP/M, in addition to the missing SETUP file from Radio Shack Accounts Payable (CAT 26-1554).

As a reminder, if you have TRS-80 disks lying around, please contact me to convert them to DMK; there are still VERY many files which have not been found, and they could well be sitting in your collection 🙂 Thanks!

August 11, 2012 – Another Author OK’s Download!

Jim Baker has allowed the download of Kill-a-Pede to go live. Thank you Jim.

Anyone else holding a copyright that wants to allow for download?!?!?

August 15, 2012 – New S-80 Computing Magazine Covers

Ian Mavric has provided some new magazines (covers). Thank you Ian.

August 15, 2012 – Another Author OK’s Download!

Ian Robertson has allowed the download of Multiple Disk Format Utility and Scripsit Enhancements for EPSON (Source Code) to go live. Thank you Ian.

Anyone else holding a copyright that wants to allow for download?!?!?

August 16, 2012 – Ian Mavric strikes again

Ian Mavric has been busy scanning newsletters and magazines. Thank you Ian.

August 17, 2012 – CLOAD Ownership?

If anyone knows whether CLOAD took copyright in their submissions, or left it with their authors, please let me know.

August 17, 2012 – Ian Mavric strikes again

Ian Mavric has been busy scanning newsletters and magazines. Thank you Ian.

August 17, 2012 – CLOAD Ownership?

If anyone knows whether CLOAD took copyright in their submissions, or left it with their authors, please let me know.

August 29, 2012 – New Virtual Disk Conversion Utility

Aaron Brockbank has written a Windows utility to convert from TD0 (Teledisk Format) or IMD (ImageDisk Format) to DMK format. The file can be downloaded from the Virtual Disk Utilities Page.

Thank you, Aaron!

September 5, 2012 – TODMK Utility Updated

Aaron Brockbank has updated his “TODMK” utility to v1.03.20. Changes are:

• Fixed DMK import and Export
• Fixed TD0 import
• Changed DMK export to write a copy of DMK file
• Exports CRC and BadID sectors as read, doesn’t attempt to ‘fix’ nor ‘repair’ them
• Added D88 Format Compatibility

While all these features are great, what Aaron has in store for this utility is mind blowing.

The file can be downloaded from the Virtual Disk Utilities Page.

Thank you, Aaron!

September 9, 2012 – Model III

A Model III is available for the cost of pack and ship from Pennsylvania. Details are on the TRS-80 for Free page.

September 10, 2012 – New TRS8Bit Newsletter

Dusty has released his September 2012 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter on his trs-80.org.uk web site.

September 11, 2012 – Model I – Free for Local Pickup Only

TRS-80 Level II, complete with CPU, dual disk drives, monitor, and printer is available for LOCAL PICKUP ONLY in Chagrin Falls, OH.

September 12, 2012 – TRS-80 on FPGA – Thoughts?

Michael, a site visitor, has some experience with FPGA’s and is wondering if anyone out there in the Interwebs would be interested in building a new Model III or IV (i.e., real Z-80, real RAM, fpga for glue logic, rom, serial port, video & keyboard, and a floppy disk emulator). Please sound off in the comments.

September 12, 2012 – New Searchable Database – ORCH-80/85/90

A searchable database of the archived ORCH-80/85/90 files has finally been created, and can be found on the ORCH-80/85/90 page.

Regrettably, the copyright code has not yet been modified (110 years to go, folks), so there can be no downloads.

September 15, 2012 – VDK-80 v1.5 DSK/DMK Utility

Miguel Dutra’s TRS-80 Virtual Disk Kit utility has been updated to v1.5. The new version includes the following changes:

• Fixed a file corruption issue in the NEWDOS/80 module. If a file occupies more than one extent, the program accesses a wrong sector when crossing extents.
• Fixed a file corruption issue in the TRSDOS 4 and RAPIDOS modules. If a disk is formatted as double-sided but the DOS is occupying only one side, the program incorrectly accesses sectors in the other side.
• Added two new command line switches that control whether the disk is supposed to be single or double-sided.
• Disabled all functions in the CP/M module, except DIR. This module is still under development.
• Fixed a disk detection issue in the JV1 module. Now the program properly detects disks that contains 400, 720, 800 or 1440 sectors, ranging from 34 to 96 tracks.

The file can be downloaded on the Virtual Disk Utilities Page.

September 27, 2012 – Tutorial: How to Test the Serial Port on a Model III/4

Ian Mavric has created out a YouTube video on testing a serial port.

September 29, 2012 – Tutorial: What to look for when buying a used TRS-80 Model III or 4

Ian Mavric has created a YouTube video on what to look for when buying a used TRS-80 Model III or 4.

October 5, 2012 – Answers to Q & A With Vernon Hester

While not a lot of people sent in questions for Vernon Hester, his answers to the questions which had been sent in can be found here.

October 10, 2012 – “DiskManip” Utility Updated

Aaron Brockbank has updated his “DiskManip” (formerly “TODMK”) utility to v1.0.6.40. Changes are:

• Bug Fix: CRC calculation for Single Density disks is now correct.
• New Feature: DMK Repair* by merging two different DMK images into one.
• New Feature: Import real Double Density (NO SD) disks into DMK and D88 formats using the built in floppy disk controller (provided “fdinstall” is installed beforehand).
• New Feature: Automatically determines drive size (as in 8in, 5.25in, 3.5in) and density (SD, DD, and HD).
• New Feature: Analyze (experimental). Display directory of Model II disks (TRSDOS 1.2 and 2.0, LS-DOS 6.3.1 and DOSPLUS II A.00).

* This is a biggie folks, if you have 2 DMK reads with different errors (say one disk image had a bad track 11 and another had a good track 11 but a bad track 22) it will automatically create a DMK which uses the good tracks/sectors from the different reads.

The file can be downloaded from the Virtual Disk Utilities Page. Thank you, Aaron!

October 11, 2012 – “DiskManip” Utility Updated

Aaron Brockbank has updated his “DiskManip” (formerly “TODMK”) utility to v1.0.6.41. Changes are:

• Bug Fix: Single Density “FA” DAM is now read and written correctly for DMKs
• Bug Fix: Cosmetic changes to the User Interface

The file can be downloaded from the Virtual Disk Utilities Page. Thank you, Aaron!

October 16, 2012 – Another Author OK’s Download – NAME THAT SONG

Arnold Gross has let me know that he and Rik Pierce hold the copyright to NAME THAT SONG (a musical quiz game) and that they are permitting it to be available for posting for everyone to enjoy.

Since TRS-80 disks are very unlikely to hold data for the (approximately) 110 years of copyright; if anyone else is holding a copyright in TRS-80 software that they are willing to allow people to download, please contact me.

October 20, 2012 – Play ORCH-80/85/90 on FOO

Jon Bokelman, one of the creators of the ORCH-80/85/90, etc., has written a plugin for foobar to play Orch and Piano files.

October 23, 2012 – Lots of ORCH Dupes Identified

As Jon Bokelman fine tunes his plugin for foobar to play Orch and Piano files, he has written a program to check the compiled output of an ORCH text file and has identified about 1,600 duplicate files in the ORCH archive and in the Searchable ORCH Database. They have been updated accordingly. Thanks, Jon!

October 31, 2012 – GDC Panel on TRS-80 Gaming has been Posted.

John McGinty’s lecture at this past years GDC, entitled “Inspirations from the Trash: The TRS-80’s Lost Game Designs” has been posted to the GDC website (WARNING: Be prepared to here it called the TSR-80 throughout the lecture). Thanks for keeping the spirit alive, John.

November 5, 2012 – Metatronics Extent-80

Scot Silvestri provided some pictures of a Metratronics Extent-80 he found in the trash. The Extent-80 apparently allowed for up to 8 disk drives on a Model I.

The product announcement in the 12/81 issue of 80 MICROCOMPUTING read …

“Metatronics (a subsidiary of Meta Technologies Corp., as of September 1, 1981) introduces a unique device allowing the connection of as many as 8 disk drives to a TRS-80 Model I computer. Its integrated design is compatible with application software running under VTOS, LDOS, NEWDOS/80, NEWDOS+ and TRSDOS 2.3. Features include a U.L.-approved power supply, power-monitor LED, operating environment protection circuitry, high-impact metal case and gold-plated contacts. Complete with instructions and patch program diskette for configuring your favorite operating system.”

Glenn Emelko advised …

I designed this product for MTC, and did all of the OS patches for TRSDOS, LDOS, and Newdos/80 personally. The device decoded the four drive address lines so that codes 1, 2, 4, and 8 (0001, 0010, 0100, and 1000) addressed the first four drives 0-3 directly. Other combinations of the drive select lines then selected subsequent drives allowing addressing of drives 4 to 7 (iirc it was 0011, 0101, 0110, and 0111 respectively), and we internally experimented with a 15 drive system using 8,9,A..E for the next drive numbers but never released it that way. One code 0000 was reserved for no drives selected. The operating system patches were tricky but once complete it worked great.

November 6, 2012 – Looking for Driver.

Does anyone out there have a copy of the LDOS 5.3 MSCSI5/DCT driver and formatter which is needed to run a Misosys hard drive. Thanks!

November 16, 2012 – New and Updated ORCH Players

Jonathan Bokelman is still at it, perfecting ways to play ORCH-80/85/90 files on a PC. He has just released ORCH90CD, a command line ORCH player, as well as an update to his FOO plugin. Instructions and download links can be found in the “ORCH-80/85/90 Players, Programs, and Downloads” section of the ORCH-80 page.

November 20 – Tutorial: Reviving a TRS-80 which has Sat Idle for Decades

Ian Mavric has created a YouTube video on what to do to revive a TRS-80 which has sat idle for decades. Many many people ask this question, so Ian was kind enough to do a video.

The video covers:

• Opening the Model III and looking for stuff inside
• Re-capping the power supply
• Keyboard repair
• Disk drive maintenance
• Putting it all back together and testing it

December 19, 2012 – Updated ORCH Player/Utility

Jonathan Bokelman has updated his ORCH90CD utility to v2.3. ORCH90CD is a command line ORCH player, but can also suss out a CRC calculation of a compiled ORCH for testing for duplicates. Instructions and download links can be found in the “ORCH-80/85/90 Players, Programs, and Downloads” section of the ORCH-80 page.

December 20, 2012 – Harry McCracken on TWiT Network

Eric Hacker has let me know that this week’s “Triangulation” show (#83) on TWiT Network featured an interview with Harry McCracken. Harry’s first computer was a TRS-80 and he has been very pro-TRS-80 in his reporting for PC World, Technologizer, and now Time Magazine.

December 31, 2012 – Happy New Year

Just wanted to take a moment to wish TRS-80 fans everywhere a very happy New Year.