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An old programmer ..software needed.

Posted on 2018-01-20, 19:17

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

So I dug this programmer out ..and tried it .. I powers up ok but I have no software so basically it is just a doorstop atm .. Perhaps someone recognises it ..or perhaps had/has a similar unit .. It is a throw back to early PC ..DOS even ? It is connected via LPT to the PC ...and uses its own psu. …

Re: Toshiba T5200 mods and upgrades

Posted on 2018-01-20, 12:55

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm adding this info here Ian ..as it might get buried on my thread.. rgds VS --------------------------------------------------------------- My 2x NEC D27C1024D chips arrived today .. Claimed erased/blanked but both were attempted to flash the modified bios.. both failed at around 30% .. 12.5v VPP …

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-20, 12:27

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Hi Hamby ..congrats on aquiring one of these venerable old machines.. My first suggestion is to replace the RTC battery .. you can adapt a standard AA lithium battery in a holder to do this job they are available on ebay .. 3.7volts We are all learning as we go here ..but some are far more advanced …

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-20, 09:53

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Tested the chips this morning .. neither will boot the 5200. I do not believe it is the bios firmware ..but rather the chips at fault.. I erased one of them and flashed with a copy of my own bios ..thus cloning it.. This cloned bios will not boot either yet the original does.. All chips were flashed …

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-19, 19:00

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

My 2x NEC D27C1024D chips arrived today .. Claimed erased/blanked but both were attempted to flash the modified bios.. both failed at around 30% .. 12.5v VPP - 100 us delay - VDD 6.25v .. So out came the UV eraser ..and both chips subjected to 20 mins UV .. This time both chips appeared to program …

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-19, 11:56

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

cheers buddy .. plenty to go at there .. A searching I shall goooooo..... ;) ..they do seem plentiful in the US .. not so much here.. for example the mitsumi is cheap enough ..but 50 dollars wanted to ship it .. Eeeeek!! I may well be asking you to help in this regard..If I cant find a UK solution.. …

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-19, 11:24

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Searching Ebay doesn't seem to get results for a suitable ultra slim ..but you mentioned they are usually to be found inside usb floppies ? Perhaps that would be my best route to go down ..IF I knew which units had suitable drives inside ? can you advise some more JZ ?

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-19, 11:18

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

..well fwiw ..I got it off ..but hard to see how one would describe the edge connector as ZIF ..since it would require some force to reinsert it I think .. 🤣

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-19, 11:03

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

No, that doesn't look proprietary. Just as I thought, the cable is not soldered to the floppy drive. You can detach it by pulling it out (carefully). It seems to be a standard 26-pin ZIF cable, that most 1/3rd height 3.5" floppy drives use. Just to make sure I took out one of my spare super slim- …

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-18, 23:49

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

So ..as you can probably tell ..this is no easy strip down .. The plastics are thin and brittle ...and just releasing ..not disconnecting the floppy requires complete disassembly.. ..at least you should now be able to see how the floppy drive is connected .. Proprietory again ?? rgds VS

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-18, 21:20

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Took a look inside the T4900CT floppy drive and found it was belt driven.. And surprise surprise ...the black neoprene rubber had turned to goo .. thus nothing is spinning .. the belt or whats left of it is melted and bonded to all drive surfaces. This is not easily accessible and cleaning it will …

Re: Most frustrating part of working on old computers?

Posted on 2018-01-18, 19:59

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Totally agree with JaZz here .. proprietory non standard hardware and connectors ...propietory Bios etc... but also much needed drivers removed from hardware vendors websites for Legacy support .. That's PCs and laptops covered.. Grrrrrrrrr Even my collection of Commodore and AppleII hardware was …

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-18, 16:19

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Heh, you can totally see what went one there. The one-use-only label that is used to cover the screws of the display has been ripped only half way. Somebody probably wanted to look inside the machine and after experiencing this was like: "Nope! Not touching that.." It probably hasn't been taken …

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-18, 15:58

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Here is a photo from the listing...

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-18, 15:46

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

------- For sale Vintage 1980s Toshiba T3200 T3200SX model Portable PC Computer "Laptop" Screen is cracked and not working. Used external VGA screen to test it. Unable to test floppy drive as got no discs. 40MB HD starts oryginal Toshina DOS5.0. Not tested otherwise, sold as Spares or Repair so no …

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-18, 15:33

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Useful info .. thanks guys .. They dont make life easy Toshiba ...do they.. I will still be able to use the 3200 with an external vga monitor I guess... But I have read somewhere that a 10.4 inch vga panel can be fitted ..and hard wired internally to the vga out .. this too is something I'm …

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-18, 13:28

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

I must be mad .. just put in an offer on a t3200sx with broken screen .. Probably paying too much but I figured it might be an inexpensive way to get more memory ...a working floppy...and a complete keyboard.. Are the above parts transferrable to my 5200 ? rgds VS

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-18, 11:24

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

My 5200 keyboard is going to be a problem ...as the key highlighted with a yellow square is totally missing its contacts .. This key was hanging off when I got the unit .. I suspect the others are all ok ..and the iffy ones may respond to cleaning (I can only hope).. Unless one of you guys has spare …

Re: A couple of retros I'm working on.

Posted on 2018-01-17, 20:08

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

Thanks Ian .. I have printed off the pin connections you posted in the other thread. cheers VS

Re: Toshiba T5200 mods and upgrades

Posted on 2018-01-17, 19:38

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Thanx for the detailed info Ian .. very helpful..though I had planned to power my floppy this way.

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