Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!rutgers!apple!netcom!teda!bob
From: bob@teda.UUCP (Bob Armstrong)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec.micro
Subject: Re: DECmate III
Message-ID: <13411@teda.UUCP>
Date: 31 Aug 90 19:17:11 GMT
References: <1990Aug28.170919.21475@athena.mit.edu> <32332@cc.usu.edu>
Lines: 29

SLSW2@cc.usu.edu (Roger Ivie) writes:

>If you're interested in using the PDP-8 side of the machine, you can get
>OS/278 from DECUS. OS/278 is the version of OS/8 for the DECmates; that
>what I'm using on my DECmate II even as I type. OS/8 eventually became
>RT-11, which inspired CP/M that was eventually translated into DOS...


  OS/278 is certainly a great thing to have for your DECmate (it's at least
as useful as CP/M), but you should be aware that some of its functions
sort of depend on WPS.  You'll be able to run OS/278 from diskette without
anything else, but to use a hard disk will require the Master Menu (MM)
software that comes with WPS.  OS/278 contains a hard disk driver, but no
utilities to format or parition the disk (if someone knows how to do this
w/o MM, I'd like to hear!).

>KERMIT is available for OS/278 (again, I'm running it even as I type), but
>it's a bit difficult to get there in the first place; I was only able to
>do it by converting it from CP/M to WPS and then from WPS to OS/278.

  The SLU (serial line unit) driver that comes with OS/278 supports XON/XOFF
handshaking, so I just copied the source for KERMIT (K278.PA) over the
COM port from another computer using PIP.  Of course you have to fix any
transmission errors by hand, but it beats typing it all in.

  The KERMIT I have for my DECmate is about 3 years old.  Does anybody know
if there is a new, improved version ?

Bob Armstrong
{sun,decwrl,pyramid}!teda!bob