26 Feb
2003
26 Feb
'03
11:08 a.m.
In a message dated 2/26/03 7:21:26 AM Pacific Standard Time,
rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com writes:
Correct, XEROX made a model 8/16 that had two CPUs,
one 8 bit and 16 bit. I
THINK one was a Z-80 and the other was a 8086 but I'm not sure any more. I
used to have the docs for an 8/16 and I've been looking for one but haven't
managed to find one yet.
Xerox made a couple of 8/16s. I have one of the 8086 second CPU boards for my
Xerox 820-II. I was going to install it till a house fire melted the 820.
The original 820 came with dual 8" floppies or an 8" floppy and an 8"
harddrive and ran CPM. It was a spendy little computer for its time. Then
they fit Dual 5 1/4" floppies in an external case, came out with a low
profile keyboard and the add on 8086 Board. They called it the Xerox
820II-8/16.
IIRC the design was taken from the Z80 Big Board which was a popular kit at
the time. It was mounted flat, underneath the CRT and looked much like a
terminal.
At the time the IBM PC came out the Xerox design was hopelessly outdated.
They redesigned the case to a rectangular shape with a separate monitor ala
the IBM PC. They used dual 5 1/2" half height floppies oriented horizontally.
I never saw an actual one but IIRC they used the same Big Board coupled with
the 8086 board that was in the 820 and sold it as the Xerox 8/16.
It ran CPM, CPM-86 and MS-DOS ( IIRC to 2.11). However it was not IBM
Compatible, and did not have IBM graphics.
By the time it was ready the bottom had fallen out of the crossover market. I
don't think Xerox sold any commercially. A liquidation company sold the
remainder for about three years. I doubt they sold many, I bet most were
scrapped for the drives.
The Xerox 820 II was my second computer system and still one of my favorites.
(The first was State Surplus Litton 1251 that I bought for $25.00) I have had
almost all of the various models of the 820 go through my hands over the
years. Besides my original melted one I still have another packed away with
all it's SW. Someday it will run again.
Paxton
Astoria, OR
26 Feb
26 Feb
6:45 p.m.
On Wed, 26 Feb 2003 Innfogra(a)aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 2/26/03 7:21:26 AM Pacific Standard
Time,
rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com writes:
The original 820 was a single board computer that used external
drives - two - in either 8" or 5.25" size. In either size they
were limited to single density. The next version, the 820-II
added two connectors to the board and one was occupied by the
Floppy Disk Controller (FDC) card which was both single and double
density capable. In the standard 820-II the second connector was
vacant, but could be occupied by an 8086 card giving a dual
processor capability. Additional external hardware could be added
such as the Disk Expansion Module (DEM) which provided for hard
drive capability as well as 5.25" DSDD floppies. When in DEM
configuration, the FDC card was replaced by the DEM interface card
and FD control was provided from the DEM. The 820-II-16/8 was
just such a configuration.
Correct, XEROX made a model 8/16 that had two
CPUs, one 8 bit and 16 bit. I
THINK one was a Z-80 and the other was a 8086 but I'm not sure any more. I
used to have the docs for an 8/16 and I've been looking for one but haven't
managed to find one yet.
Xerox made a couple of 8/16s. I have one of the 8086 second CPU boards for my
Xerox 820-II. I was going to install it till a house fire melted the 820.
The original 820 came with dual 8" floppies or an 8" floppy and an 8"
harddrive and ran CPM. It was a spendy little computer for its time. Then
they fit Dual 5 1/4" floppies in an external case, came out with a low
profile keyboard and the add on 8086 Board. They called it the Xerox
820II-8/16. IIRC the design was taken from the Z80 Big Board which
was a popular kit at
the time. It was mounted flat, underneath the CRT and looked much like a
terminal.
I have not tried it with a Big Board, but I know that there is a
great similarity between the 820 and the Kaypro computers as a
modem program configured for one will run on the other.
- don
At the time the IBM PC came out the Xerox design was
hopelessly outdated.
They redesigned the case to a rectangular shape with a separate monitor ala
the IBM PC. They used dual 5 1/2" half height floppies oriented horizontally.
I never saw an actual one but IIRC they used the same Big Board coupled with
the 8086 board that was in the 820 and sold it as the Xerox 8/16.
It ran CPM, CPM-86 and MS-DOS ( IIRC to 2.11). However it was not IBM
Compatible, and did not have IBM graphics.
By the time it was ready the bottom had fallen out of the crossover market. I
don't think Xerox sold any commercially. A liquidation company sold the
remainder for about three years. I doubt they sold many, I bet most were
scrapped for the drives.
The Xerox 820 II was my second computer system and still one of my favorites.
(The first was State Surplus Litton 1251 that I bought for $25.00) I have had
almost all of the various models of the 820 go through my hands over the
years. Besides my original melted one I still have another packed away with
all it's SW. Someday it will run again.
Paxton
Astoria, OR
27 Feb
27 Feb
7:19 a.m.
Many 820-II's and 820-I's were field upgraded to 16/8's. The external
5-1/4's were sucky. The DEM-II expansion case was nice, but the big
8 inch drives ruled. 980K each. I always thought one of the 8inch 16/8's
would be interesting, but in the end, they'd still only be DOS. The
820's with the big 8inch Shugart rigid drive nice.
On Wed, 26 Feb 2003 Innfogra(a)aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 2/26/03 7:21:26 AM Pacific Standard
Time,
rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com writes:
M. K. Peirce
Rhode Island Computer Museum, Inc.
Shady Lea, Rhode Island
"Casta est quam nemo rogavit."
- Ovid
Correct, XEROX made a model 8/16 that had two
CPUs, one 8 bit and 16 bit. I
THINK one was a Z-80 and the other was a 8086 but I'm not sure any more. I
used to have the docs for an 8/16 and I've been looking for one but haven't
managed to find one yet.
Xerox made a couple of 8/16s. I have one of the 8086 second CPU boards for my
Xerox 820-II. I was going to install it till a house fire melted the 820.
The original 820 came with dual 8" floppies or an 8" floppy and an 8"
harddrive and ran CPM. It was a spendy little computer for its time. Then
they fit Dual 5 1/4" floppies in an external case, came out with a low
profile keyboard and the add on 8086 Board. They called it the Xerox
820II-8/16.
IIRC the design was taken from the Z80 Big Board which was a popular kit at
the time. It was mounted flat, underneath the CRT and looked much like a
terminal.
At the time the IBM PC came out the Xerox design was hopelessly outdated.
They redesigned the case to a rectangular shape with a separate monitor ala
the IBM PC. They used dual 5 1/2" half height floppies oriented horizontally.
I never saw an actual one but IIRC they used the same Big Board coupled with
the 8086 board that was in the 820 and sold it as the Xerox 8/16.
It ran CPM, CPM-86 and MS-DOS ( IIRC to 2.11). However it was not IBM
Compatible, and did not have IBM graphics.
By the time it was ready the bottom had fallen out of the crossover market. I
don't think Xerox sold any commercially. A liquidation company sold the
remainder for about three years. I doubt they sold many, I bet most were
scrapped for the drives.
The Xerox 820 II was my second computer system and still one of my favorites.
(The first was State Surplus Litton 1251 that I bought for $25.00) I have had
almost all of the various models of the 820 go through my hands over the
years. Besides my original melted one I still have another packed away with
all it's SW. Someday it will run again.
Paxton
Astoria, OR
2:13 p.m.
On Thu, 27 Feb 2003, Merle K. Peirce wrote:
Many 820-II's and 820-I's were field upgraded
to 16/8's. The external
A field upgrade of an 820-I would amount to a motherboard
replacement, I'd think.
5-1/4's were sucky. The DEM-II expansion case was
nice, but the big
Boy, were they ever!
8 inch drives ruled. 980K each. I always thought one
of the 8inch 16/8's
would be interesting, but in the end, they'd still only be DOS. The
820's with the big 8inch Shugart rigid drive nice.
Yep! Bulletproof and pretty adequate amount of storage.
- don
On Wed, 26 Feb 2003 Innfogra(a)aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 2/26/03 7:21:26 AM Pacific
Standard Time,
rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com writes:
M. K. Peirce
Rhode Island Computer Museum, Inc.
Shady Lea, Rhode Island
"Casta est quam nemo rogavit."
- Ovid Correct, XEROX made a model 8/16 that had two
CPUs, one 8 bit and 16 bit. I
THINK one was a Z-80 and the other was a 8086 but I'm not sure any more. I
used to have the docs for an 8/16 and I've been looking for one but haven't
managed to find one yet.
Xerox made a couple of 8/16s. I have one of the 8086 second CPU boards for my
Xerox 820-II. I was going to install it till a house fire melted the 820.
The original 820 came with dual 8" floppies or an 8" floppy and an 8"
harddrive and ran CPM. It was a spendy little computer for its time. Then
they fit Dual 5 1/4" floppies in an external case, came out with a low
profile keyboard and the add on 8086 Board. They called it the Xerox
820II-8/16.
IIRC the design was taken from the Z80 Big Board which was a popular kit at
the time. It was mounted flat, underneath the CRT and looked much like a
terminal.
At the time the IBM PC came out the Xerox design was hopelessly outdated.
They redesigned the case to a rectangular shape with a separate monitor ala
the IBM PC. They used dual 5 1/2" half height floppies oriented horizontally.
I never saw an actual one but IIRC they used the same Big Board coupled with
the 8086 board that was in the 820 and sold it as the Xerox 8/16.
It ran CPM, CPM-86 and MS-DOS ( IIRC to 2.11). However it was not IBM
Compatible, and did not have IBM graphics.
By the time it was ready the bottom had fallen out of the crossover market. I
don't think Xerox sold any commercially. A liquidation company sold the
remainder for about three years. I doubt they sold many, I bet most were
scrapped for the drives.
The Xerox 820 II was my second computer system and still one of my favorites.
(The first was State Surplus Litton 1251 that I bought for $25.00) I have had
almost all of the various models of the 820 go through my hands over the
years. Besides my original melted one I still have another packed away with
all it's SW. Someday it will run again.
Paxton
Astoria, OR
8167
days inactive
8168
days old
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