Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!umcp-cs!eneevax!hsu From: hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu) Newsgroups: net.micro,net.wanted Subject: Re: Info wanted on Ohio Scientific micro Message-ID: <96@eneevax.UUCP> Date: Sun, 10-Aug-86 16:15:11 EDT Article-I.D.: eneevax.96 Posted: Sun Aug 10 16:15:11 1986 Date-Received: Tue, 12-Aug-86 11:22:53 EDT References: <119@unx1.UUCP> Reply-To: hsu@eneevax.UUCP (Dave Hsu) Organization: Imperial Widget Research Center, Kingdom of Maryland Lines: 70 Keywords: memory,8bit,Ohio Xref: mnetor net.micro:5803 net.wanted:3646 In article <119@unx1.UUCP> qsfa1@unx1.UUCP (Graham Thomas) writes: >this for the lineater > >A friend of mine has just inherited an ancient micro and would be >grateful for any information (especially a memory map) that anyone >can provide. It's 6502-based and was made by Ohio Scientific, though >there's no model name visible. It has a whole 24k of RAM and twin >8-inch floppies. The only software he's got for it is a BASIC >interpreter, a database program that's only good for address files >and a primitive word processor. Hot dang! The memories come back already... Quick guide to (semi-) popular OSI boxes: (only the Challenger series:) If the keyboard is integral to the unit and it has wooden sides, what you have is probably a C1-P, although I think the C-4 was similar. Otherwise, you should be looking at a detached keyboard and a large steel case with a single reset switch for a processor box. This means you probably have either a C2 variant, or a C3. I think you would notice a C3 (triple processors, I think 6502, 6800, Z80) so odds are it's a C2 variant. If the box comes up with "D/W/M", what you have is the C8-P with basic and dos on a disk, occupying 12.75k of memory. I'm not that familiar with the other old OSI's, so I'll go ahead and babble about the C8P. First, a warning. The dual drives were (I think) made by Siemens, and the control circuitry is very poor. That is to say, never turn the drive off/trip over the power cord with a disk inside, because it will completely trash the disk. Also, be sure you have pushed the floppy all the way in, or else you'll experience a remarkable crunching sound when you try to close the door, and the floppy will have a wrinkled hub. They are, of course, soft-sectored, single-density, single-sided. Quick overview: the display is selectable 64x32 or 32x32, based on the setting of a switch location I can't remember. In fact, the only memory location I can remember right now is poking 2073 with the right values enables/disables control-C. The display is of course bitmapped, and the keyboard is polled (of course it's polled, look at it, it's a bit-paired layout). In 32x32 mode, the display controller displays the left half of the 64x32 bitmap, and I guess you've already browsed the character set. Yup, no true descenders. The 8 little tanks from 248 through 255 are quite useful for games. The UART, if I remember, was a standard 6850, and I think you'll find that OSI basic (one of the earliest Microsoft jobs) was very limited and if you disassemble it, you'll find that it did lots of grungy things. BTW, I guess I should point out that your friend is very fortunate to have any editor at all; OSI didn't provide one. As the company was sold to a firm 1/10 their size and dismantled about 3 years ago, getting old docs from them is highly unlikely. Well, I don't remember too much else about the unit; it was the first micro I hacked on, and except for the puny memory, I have somewhat fond memories of it. Oh, and also, the DISK!"IO ,8" business was gross. -dave -- David Hsu (301) 454-1433 || -8798 || -8715 "I know no-thing!" -eneevax Communications & Signal Processing Laboratory / EE Systems Staff Systems Research Center, Bldg 093 / Engineering Computer Facility The University of Maryland -~- College Park, MD 20742 ARPA: hsu@eneevax.umd.edu UUCP: [seismo,allegra,rlgvax]!umcp-cs!eneevax!hsu "Evil...pure and simple!"