VOGONS


First post, by Hoping

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Some time ago I've found two word-processing computers, both are Z80 based, and until now they were stored. A Philips P5040, without the monitor and keyboard, seems to boot because it beeps after trying to read from floppy drives. The display interface seems to be proprietary, it is DB9 but on the only CGA monitor I have it doesn't work, and the keyboard has a 5-pin DIM connector, but I guess it's proprietary too.
And a board from a word processor computer made by Nixdorf computers that I don't know anything about, it was in very bad condition, the CRT was broken, and the case was broken, so I could only save the board.
I think only floppy drives and some components could be of any use, but floppy drives are of a type that is not used in PCs, so I guess they will not be of use either.
I guess they are only interesting for collectors.
When I found the Philips, I thought it would be an XT PC, but I was very disappointed.

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Reply 1 of 8, by Joseph_Joestar

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Give them to George R. R. Martin so he can finally finish The Winds of Winer and A Dream of Spring?

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Reply 2 of 8, by Zup

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Some of those computers can boot CP/M (like Amstrad PCW), so maybe you could run other software.

I have traveled across the universe and through the years to find Her.
Sometimes going all the way is just a start...

I'm selling some stuff!

Reply 3 of 8, by retardware

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Yes they do run CP/M.
It will probably be difficult to find the OS diskette images and create workable boot diskettes, though, as they have some strange diskette format that is not being supported by neither Uniform nor Xenocopy iirc. In addition, they use hard-sectored diskettes iirc, making things not really easier.
They are successors of the P2000 series which I had to do some support for back in 1984.

Edit:
There is some guy who occasionally posts detailed reports and instructions for these old Philips on the German classic-computing forum.

Reply 4 of 8, by Hoping

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retardware wrote on 2021-10-30, 18:44:
Yes they do run CP/M. It will probably be difficult to find the OS diskette images and create workable boot diskettes, though, a […]
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Yes they do run CP/M.
It will probably be difficult to find the OS diskette images and create workable boot diskettes, though, as they have some strange diskette format that is not being supported by neither Uniform nor Xenocopy iirc. In addition, they use hard-sectored diskettes iirc, making things not really easier.
They are successors of the P2000 series which I had to do some support for back in 1984.

Edit:
There is some guy who occasionally posts detailed reports and instructions for these old Philips on the German classic-computing forum.

That does not look very promising, I already have two Amstrad computers, a CPC 464 and a CPC 6128, so I already used CP/M.
From what you have told me about the strange format of the floppy disks and the fact that I do not have the monitor or the keyboard, these computers are totally useless for me.
The fact that they were such closed hardware doesn't help today or then from what I understand.
I was curious if someone had hacked them to the point where they were useful for something.
The Philips has two Z80 processors on the main board and 512 kB of RAM and another Z80 processor and 128 kB on another auxiliary board.
For me it is curious to see three processors in a computer from that time and more if they are Z80.
At least the Z80 CPUs can be spares for the CPCs, and maybe the drams.

Reply 5 of 8, by retardware

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Hoping wrote on 2021-10-30, 20:04:
I was curious if someone had hacked them to the point where they were useful for something. The Philips has two Z80 processors o […]
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I was curious if someone had hacked them to the point where they were useful for something.
The Philips has two Z80 processors on the main board and 512 kB of RAM and another Z80 processor and 128 kB on another auxiliary board.
For me it is curious to see three processors in a computer from that time and more if they are Z80.
At least the Z80 CPUs can be spares for the CPCs, and maybe the drams.

Please, don't butcher these 😀
I mean, it would be like butchering a Bugatti for parts just because the key got lost, to save a Tata Nano ...

On the classic-computing.de forum there are some Philips experts who probably would be happy to give you a box full of CPCs for the Philips and its diskettes.
They will probably also be able to help with the pinout of the video output, so you can connect a CRT.

I'd suggest you to register there and introduce the computer. They are very friendly, it will be no problem posting in English.

Reply 6 of 8, by Hoping

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retardware wrote on 2021-10-30, 20:34:
Please, don't butcher these :) I mean, it would be like butchering a Bugatti for parts just because the key got lost, to save a […]
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Hoping wrote on 2021-10-30, 20:04:
I was curious if someone had hacked them to the point where they were useful for something. The Philips has two Z80 processors o […]
Show full quote

I was curious if someone had hacked them to the point where they were useful for something.
The Philips has two Z80 processors on the main board and 512 kB of RAM and another Z80 processor and 128 kB on another auxiliary board.
For me it is curious to see three processors in a computer from that time and more if they are Z80.
At least the Z80 CPUs can be spares for the CPCs, and maybe the drams.

Please, don't butcher these 😀
I mean, it would be like butchering a Bugatti for parts just because the key got lost, to save a Tata Nano ...

On the classic-computing.de forum there are some Philips experts who probably would be happy to give you a box full of CPCs for the Philips and its diskettes.
They will probably also be able to help with the pinout of the video output, so you can connect a CRT.

I'd suggest you to register there and introduce the computer. They are very friendly, it will be no problem posting in English.

Registered on that forum and posted there but a week later no answers, maybe these computers aren't so interesting after all.

Reply 7 of 8, by retardware

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Hoping wrote on 2021-11-20, 17:03:

Registered on that forum and posted there but a week later no answers, maybe these computers aren't so interesting after all.

Yes, their fan community is small. These guys also don't visit that forum regularly.
I guess you'll get a reply sooner or later.
Probably does not matter if you salvage CPU, RAM etc, as collectors of very rare computers usually are happy to find one, no matter in which state it is (incomplete, defective etc).

Reply 8 of 8, by Hoping

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retardware wrote on 2021-11-20, 17:20:
Hoping wrote on 2021-11-20, 17:03:

Registered on that forum and posted there but a week later no answers, maybe these computers aren't so interesting after all.

Probably does not matter if you salvage CPU, RAM etc, as collectors of very rare computers usually are happy to find one, no matter in which state it is (incomplete, defective etc).

They have more fun that way after all 😉.