🚀 go-pugleaf

Rainbow EchoMail Digest                         Jul 15, 1990

In this issue:
  RE: DECCOMM
  ARTICLES WANTED FOR NEWSL
  RE: JUST GOT A RAINBOW!
  I DRIVE/DS DRIVES ON RAIN      (2 messages)


  Articles posted to either INFO-DEC-MICRO or comp.sys.dec.micro are
currently gatewayed to the Rainbow Echo on FidoNet. You do not need
to take special action to respond to articles in these digests.

  Please send reports of problems or suggestions for improvement of
this digest to GTHEALL@PENNDRLS.UPENN.EDU (Internet).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date:     07-14-90 (12:54)
To:       ALAN CONROY
Subject:  RE: DECCOMM
From:     FRANK MALLORY

 AC>   Rainbow/HST?!  What's "HST".  We ARE talking about DEC Rainbow
 AC> here, right?

HST = US Robotics Courier HST modem.  It's capable of 14,400 bps data
transfer  when communicating with another HST.


- --- msged 1.99L MSC
 * Origin: Silver Bullet - Silver Spring, Md. - 301-622-2247
------------------------------
Date:     07-13-90 (06:55)
To:       ALL
Subject:  ARTICLES WANTED FOR NEWSL
From:     DAVID MAROUN

I edit the Vancouver Area Rainbow Users (VARUG) newsletter.  I invite
anyone with information about the DEC Rainbow, other DEC small systems, or
any other personal computer operating in a Digital environment to submit
articles to the newsletter.  I post the newsletters regularly on the
Glacier Peak bulletin board.

Articles should be submitted to

    David P. Maroun
    Editor, VARUG Newsletter
    9395 Windsor Street
    Chilliwack, British Columbia
    Canada    V2P 6C5
    Telephone (604) 792-4071

The ideal format for submissions is ASCII form on diskette, but other
legible formats are also accepted.  Please include a covering letter
describing the submission briefly and indicating what disk format you
used.


- --- Opus-CBCS 1.12
 * Origin: Glacier Peak Rainbow, Bellevue, WA - 206/644-8431
------------------------------
Date:     07-13-90 (14:54)
To:       CHRISTOPHER WROTEN
Subject:  RE: JUST GOT A RAINBOW!
From:     BOB FULLER

        I have a Peachtree Accounting Package you could purchase
for $95.  The program includes General Ledger, Accounts Receivable,
Sales Invoicing and Inventory Control complete with software and
original documentation in four, standard one-inch binders

        The programs are designed specifically for the Rainbow's
CPM 80/86 operating system.

        Although the documentation says it will work with either
floppy or hard disk systems, I recommend a hard disk.

        Many hard disks will work on your Rainbow.  If you don't
have one already, the contriller card may be the most expensive part
of the conversion.  This BBS would be a good place to leave a message
to see what a controller would cost you.  There was a good article
written by Jerry Miller of Suitable Solutions on installing hard
drives in the Rainbow.  A users group in your area would be a good
place to find one or leave a message here and I'll send a copy to you

        For your information, the Rainbow will run both CPM and MS-
DOS software and you can partition your hard drive into sepereate
sections for both systems.

Bob

- --- Opus-CBCS 1.12
 * Origin: Glacier Peak Rainbow, Bellevue, WA - 206/644-8431
------------------------------
Date:     07-13-90 (08:45)
To:       ALL
Subject:  I DRIVE/DS DRIVES ON RAIN
From:     FRANK ZSITVAY


   Are any device drivers available that would let you put DS drives onto
the rainbow??  i don't know the first thing about writing said drivers,
but since the drivers for the I drive do exist, there must be others
around somewhere.

   and if there ain't, then how does one go about getting a set of Idrive
drivers and making a cable??


- --
fzsitvay@techbook.UUCP
...!tektronix!{nosun,tessi,sequent}!techbook!fzsitvay

Version 2 of anything is usually the version that works.


- --- QM v1.00
 * Origin: TECHbooks One, Fido Gate to techbook (503) 644-8135
------------------------------
Date:     07-15-90 (16:25)
To:       FRANK ZSITVAY
Subject:  I DRIVE/DS DRIVES ON RAIN
From:     GEORGE THEALL

FZ>   Are any device drivers available that would let you put DS drives onto
FZ>the rainbow??  i don't know the first thing about writing said drivers,
FZ>but since the drivers for the I drive do exist, there must be others
FZ>around somewhere.

    There's some source code available from the INFO-DEC-MICRO file
archives which purport to do this. Look for it as file RBIODIF.ZIP in
the [.PROG] directory. About 2 years ago a fellow named Richard
Thomsen patched his Rainbow's BIOS and DOS adding support for
double-sided drives. He also found a way to replace the normal RX50
drives in A/B with a pair of TEAC drives. He said this setup not only
let him use (read/write) standard PC floppies in drives A and B, but
also continue to use his RX50 floppies!

    From what I remember, the source code that's available is not the
complete BIOS and DOS code - since DEC holds a copyright on that he
can not distribute it. Rather, it consists of changes that must be
made to your BIOS and DOS. To do this you must somehow obtain the
original DEC source code and add in Thomsen's changes. Back when DEC
supported the Rainbow, it was possible to obtain a hardcopy of the
BIOS and DOS code - I believe it's part of the Rainbow Technical
Reference Manual. Things are probably quite different now with many
people now using MS-DOS v3.10 from Suitable Solutions. Anyway, after
purchasing a hardcopy listing from DEC, Thomsen then typed it in by
hand (wow!!!), corrected lots of mistakes in the DEC-supplied listing
(geez :-(, and went from there.

    I don't know enough about assembly language, but I've wondered why
one couldn't just apply a disassembler to the code on his/her own
machine to get the original DEC source code. Anybody know?


George
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