Lucky you. Photos?

Since the launch of the updated forums, everyone seems to ignore the basic rules it seems. Please do not ask where to download DOS or any other OS. Asking for or sharing abandonware is not allowed here.

Anyway, from what I know, it was shipped with MS-DOS 5.0 and Counterpoint, which was the GUI.

derSammler wrote on 2020-01-07, 17:47:

Since the launch of the updated forums, everyone seems to ignore the basic rules it seems. Please do not ask where to download DOS or any other OS. Asking for or sharing abandonware is not allowed here.

Anyway, from what I know, it was shipped with MS-DOS 5.0 and Counterpoint, which was the GUI.

Hello. I have removed that question. My apologies but thank you for the info!

kolderman wrote on 2020-01-07, 17:46:

Lucky you. Photos?

here you go, I also have the system after years of searching for a complete setup 😁

Amstrad Desktop is just some gui for clock settings and some documentation

"Your Software" launches Counterpoint frontend for DOS programs

so the system came with DOS5 , windows 3.0 (or 3.1 I am not sure) and some dos gui frontends - no special OS or anything like that.

keropi wrote on 2020-01-07, 18:54:

here you go, I also have the system after years of searching for a complete setup :D […]
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kolderman wrote on 2020-01-07, 17:46:

Lucky you. Photos?

here you go, I also have the system after years of searching for a complete setup 😁

"Your Software" launches Counterpoint frontend for DOS programs

so the system came with DOS5 , windows 3.0 (or 3.1 I am not sure) and some dos gui frontends - no special OS or anything like that.

Thanks, I have the base unit, will need to find a suitable monitor. So it is Counterpoint judging from that last screenshot. I'm not entirely sure if I will keep the unit myself or pass it through but for now it's a restoration project (need to replace the battery for one).

Interesting. I think there was a megadrive/genesis PC as well, all black.

kolderman wrote on 2020-01-07, 19:41:

Interesting. I think there was a megadrive/genesis PC as well, all black.

Yes the terradrive , it was a 286 system but the megadrive part was more integrated so it could also be used for debugging/development (or so I have read)
The megapc is just a 2in1 system, there is no communication between megadrive and pc hardware. Basically all the megadrive does is take power from the isa bus.

@FrankDM
the system has the nasty varta-like battery that leaks and wrecks havoc... hope your restoration is successful!
you can jumper the system as following - so the megadrive card is not needed and it outputs VGA-only, just remove the ribbon cable and install these jumpers:

makes it way easier to test the pc-side of the system

You might want to send a fellow vogons member banjo a message, he has images for some of the mega PC software including the desktop. I have a copy of what he has however he might have something more complete that I don't know about.

keropi wrote on 2020-01-07, 19:54:

Yes the terradrive , it was a 286 system but the megadrive part was more integrated so it could also be used for debugging/devel […]
Show full quote

kolderman wrote on 2020-01-07, 19:41:

Interesting. I think there was a megadrive/genesis PC as well, all black.

Yes the terradrive , it was a 286 system but the megadrive part was more integrated so it could also be used for debugging/development (or so I have read)
The megapc is just a 2in1 system, there is no communication between megadrive and pc hardware. Basically all the megadrive does is take power from the isa bus.

@FrankDM
the system has the nasty varta-like battery that leaks and wrecks havoc... hope your restoration is successful!
you can jumper the system as following - so the megadrive card is not needed and it outputs VGA-only, just remove the ribbon cable and install these jumpers:

makes it way easier to test the pc-side of the system

Have you ever seen Teradrives for sale or around in general? Its such a cool piece of tech.. but I get the feeling it really was never too common. I wonder how many of them made their way out of Japan over the years.

Also side note. Awesome Amstrad.. I had no idea this existed and played Mega drive games.

EDIT: According to the Wiki pages.. they are quite rare:

The system proved unpopular with the Japanese market and ultimately failed. Production numbers are unknown.

The system is moderately rare in Japan, although prices are rising rapidly due to collector demand. The price to buy a TeraDrive in June 2003 was triple the price it was 2 years prior.[3]

A new PC was also in the discussion stages to be developed by Sega under the leadership of ex-IBM executive Narutomi.[5] but this likely never got past the discussion stages due to the failure of the TeraDrive.

gca wrote on 2020-01-07, 20:10:

You might want to send a fellow vogons member banjo a message, he has images for some of the mega PC software including the desktop. I have a copy of what he has however he might have something more complete that I don't know about.

Amstrad Desktop originated from me after I found it installed on the system I got... To my knowledge there is no user installable media for it. That archive was created with amstrad desktop and counterpoint as installed in the hdd of my system - but now images of amstrad counterpoint have surfaced so only the desktop part is needed.
Both are nothing spectacular but they do complete the pre-installed software of a megapc.

keropi wrote on 2020-01-07, 20:47:

Amstrad Desktop originated from me after I found it installed on the system I got... To my knowledge there is no user installable media for it. That archive was created with amstrad desktop and counterpoint as installed in the hdd of my system - but now images of amstrad counterpoint have surfaced so only the desktop part is needed.
Both are nothing spectacular but they do complete the pre-installed software of a megapc.

Ah, I wasn't made aware of where banjo got them from (maybe he did tell me and its skipped my mind). If you are referring to the clean copy of counterpoint that banjo got his hands on then it probably came from me. I gave him a set of original 4386SX disk images. This Amstrad stuff is still kind of obscure in some parts and can be hard to come by so its good to preserve it where possible.

heh I am not trying to get any credit or anything, just commenting on the origin of the software (that could be altered or have something missing but all seem to work ok)
I actually got the rest of the images from a user at assemblergames, I think it was shanemcretro that uploaded them in his site... it's been a while
And I totally agree - that amstrad stuff is really obscure and the fact they only came in pre-installed form does not help so archiving them in order to help people restore their old systems to "factory" condition is always a good idea!

solidus wrote on 2020-01-07, 20:24:

Have you ever seen Teradrives for sale or around in general? Its such a cool piece of tech.. but I get the feeling it really was never too common. I wonder how many of them made their way out of Japan over the years.

I remember seeing some on yahoo.jp (when yahoo had an auction site) a number of years ago, they always went for ridiculous monies. The teradrive was a sega product (Japan only), where as the MegaPC was Amstrad licensing the megadrive tech from sega, only avaliable in the UK I think. I remember lusting for one after seeing an advert in Sega Mean Machines magazine years ago. iirc Unlike the teradrive, you can't play the megadrive at the same time as using the PC 🙁. I think SquallStrife (user here) did a video about the teradrive a few years ago. Wonder if he still has it?

Looks like keropi's is pretty complete with the white megadrive pad and that awful looking amstrad joystick o.0 Might struggle to find the peripherals for the MegaPC these days.

The disk images work just fine, though counterpoint looks like it has had some changes made by the original owner (colours and a few icons do not look original). I set it up in virtualbox just to see what it was like. Believe it or not it actually appears to be Y2K compliant in the VM at least, it showed the year correctly which was a bit of a surprise.

counterpoint is not changed at all, it came with some weirdness by default 🤣 🤣 🤣

That's Amstrad for you, where they are concerned weirdness isn't a fault its a feature.

I have the orinal disk of Amstrad branded Counterpoint as well as Amstrads MS Dos 3.3 and the two games disks that came with an Amstrad 286 I scrapped.

spiroyster wrote on 2020-01-07, 21:45:

solidus wrote on 2020-01-07, 20:24:

Have you ever seen Teradrives for sale or around in general? Its such a cool piece of tech.. but I get the feeling it really was never too common. I wonder how many of them made their way out of Japan over the years.

I remember seeing some on yahoo.jp (when yahoo had an auction site) a number of years ago, they always went for ridiculous monies. The teradrive was a sega product (Japan only), where as the MegaPC was Amstrad licensing the megadrive tech from sega, only avaliable in the UK I think. I remember lusting for one after seeing an advert in Sega Mean Machines magazine years ago. iirc Unlike the teradrive, you can't play the megadrive at the same time as using the PC 🙁. I think SquallStrife (user here) did a video about the teradrive a few years ago. Wonder if he still has it?

Looks like keropi's is pretty complete with the white megadrive pad and that awful looking amstrad joystick o.0 Might struggle to find the peripherals for the MegaPC these days.

Yeah that's what I figured. I found out about them from an article in RetroGamer mag. Ever since then Ive been lusting over them. Definitely an impractical find especially for me in the US

solidus wrote on 2020-01-07, 23:25:

spiroyster wrote on 2020-01-07, 21:45:

solidus wrote on 2020-01-07, 20:24:

Have you ever seen Teradrives for sale or around in general? Its such a cool piece of tech.. but I get the feeling it really was never too common. I wonder how many of them made their way out of Japan over the years.

I remember seeing some on yahoo.jp (when yahoo had an auction site) a number of years ago, they always went for ridiculous monies. The teradrive was a sega product (Japan only), where as the MegaPC was Amstrad licensing the megadrive tech from sega, only avaliable in the UK I think. I remember lusting for one after seeing an advert in Sega Mean Machines magazine years ago. iirc Unlike the teradrive, you can't play the megadrive at the same time as using the PC 🙁. I think SquallStrife (user here) did a video about the teradrive a few years ago. Wonder if he still has it?

Looks like keropi's is pretty complete with the white megadrive pad and that awful looking amstrad joystick o.0 Might struggle to find the peripherals for the MegaPC these days.

Yeah that's what I figured. I found out about them from an article in RetroGamer mag. Ever since then Ive been lusting over them. Definitely an impractical find especially for me in the US

And of course being UK, the MegaPC would only accept UK PAL MegaDrive games... unless modified 🙁