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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!rutgers!husc6!wjh12!maynard!campbell
From: campbell@maynard.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.org.decus
Subject: Re: Wanted -- Formatter for DEC Rainbow Disks
Message-ID: <826@maynard.BSW.COM>
Date: Mon, 9-Feb-87 23:07:20 EST
Article-I.D.: maynard.826
Posted: Mon Feb  9 23:07:20 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 11-Feb-87 05:38:12 EST
References: <486@ubu.warwick.UUCP>
Reply-To: campbell@maynard.UUCP (Larry Campbell)
Organization: The Boston Software Works, Inc.
Lines: 29
Keywords: formatter, DEC, Rainbow
Summary: DEC shipped one three years ago

In article <486@ubu.warwick.UUCP> daffy@ubu.UUCP (Steve Hunt) writes:
>
>A friend of mine is the (proud?) owner of a DEC Rainbow micro with
>two 360k drives.  But, as many of you are no doubt aware, DEC in their
>wisdom did not distribute a formatter with the machine -- so he is
>stuck at the moment with a very limited number of usable disks.

   1.	The drives are 400K, not 360K.

   2.	A formatter IS included with both operating systems (CP/M and
	MS-DOS) for the Rainbow.  Admittedly, the first releases of
	CP/M and MS-DOS for the Rainbow omitted the formatter.  But
	later releases, beginning about three years ago, included
	a formatter.

	If you are missing a formatter, you also have ancient and fairly
	crufty operating system software.  The current version of MS-DOS
	for the Rainbow is 2.11.  2.05 is OK;  2.01 (what you have if you
	don't have the formatter) is garbage.  There are various bootleg
	copies of 3.10 for the Rainbow floating around but it's not yet
	officially released by DEC.

	If you're still under DEC maintenance, you can get the latest
	OS free of charge.
-- 
Larry Campbell                                The Boston Software Works, Inc.
Internet: campbell@maynard.uucp             120 Fulton Street, Boston MA 02109
uucp: {alliant,wjh12}!maynard!campbell              +1 617 367 6846
ARPA: campbell%maynard.uucp@harvisr.harvard.edu      MCI: LCAMPBELL