Hello Ben ..

 BR> Boot up CP/M under DOS and copy to C:  I think I 
 BR> have a 2.2 emulator around
 BR> here somewhere ...

Now this might be just the way I need to solve this thing.  I have two
Z100's and tons of ZDS stuff including the hard disks which are for these
two classics.  But at this point neither of them is 'working'.  I also have
a Heath H89 pure floppy creation, but it also isn't working. One of the
projects is supposed to be to get the Z120 fixed and per the other gent's
suggestion, use the Heath program to do what I originally did so long ago
to move from CPM to first Heath, then .. to the MDOS for the whole show.

However, the need for access to a few files on these few disks is ahead of
the fixit project.

OK, if you do have an emulator and I can get a copy of it, then the next
issue seems to pop up out of the rabbit patch!  I've got one more classic
computer around here that is a DOS box, a Heath 386 unit if my memory is
correct.  And it is hard drive oriented as well.  I tried it a couple
months back and it will boot.  But you have to reset the CMOS every time
you boot it.  In the cursory 'what do I do' question I asked on it, where
is the BIOS battery that I looked for and did not find, I got an answer. 
The thought is that it has one of these big BIOS modules with the built-in
battery in it.  Haven't taken that whole thing apart to see if I can either
replace it, somehow, or maybe use an external BIOS battery dongle, which I
do have around here, to crutch it along.

If I can use this creature, then what you are suggesting is that I could
then use the emulator with this DOS computer?  And then we hit the next
question.

Yes, I still have a plug-in pair of 8" floppy drives for the Z120 box.
That's what was on it way back when.  Also, since the Heath world was where
I grew up, there is the issue of the earlier 5-1/4" floppy drives and
the diskette density of the models.  I do know what density these floppies
are writtne to as it's been my habit all these years to tag each diskette
where that could be a problem with an identifying lable.

OK .. if I boot to DOS, then are we talking creating the CONFIG.SYS and
whatever to, perhaps, try to patch whatever floppy disk drive might be
required to this later Heath DOS computer?  And thence to get a copy from
that added drive to the C: drive and out to a modern day medium?

Or, are we perhaps better off to use what will be the BBS program for Fido
that I'm sure is on this older Heath DOS box,  Connect to the Fido
interface here with a modem.  Send the file data that way?

I also have paid for copies of LapLink and so on for DOS.  I actually have
LapLink on the modern boxes.  It is serial cable or parallel connectible. 
And the simplest thing would be to move the data to the real modern world
from the Heath DOS box this way?

Since you mentioned the emulator, you've also opened up a huge other
possibility for this job!  I'm a solid OS/2 operation here.  Which, of
course, has DOS in it that is, in my opinion, far better than DOS, grin! I
wonder?  Will this Emu (chuckle) pull it's head out and run under DOS in
OS/2?  If so, something Will Honea suggested in another post from months
ago when I was contemplating things like this is germain.

Will tells me that under OS/2, if you properly modify the floppy diskette
device driver with the correct command line additional parameters, you can
cajol OS/2 into customizing the floppy diskette interface for whatever
track and sector size is needed!  He told me that he has been able to
actually attach the old 8" floppy disk drives to the current OS/2
operating system operations in this way!  That message after which I sort
of gave up the original munch of trying to get the old Z120 back working.

Now .. grin .. in that you've mentioned the issue of the Emu running under
DOS, I'm wondering BIG time here!

Might the real simplest way to play this stunt is to take a current OS/2
box?  Cram the floppy disk drive track and sector count for even the oldest
possible interface I need for, say, the 5-1/4 inch floppy drive in the OS/2
CONFIG.SYS?  Plug it in and boot up OS/2?  Then run the Emu you suggest
under OS/2?  And get to see CPM/86 run that way?  Or, even,try to find the
Heath program cited by the other contributor here and try to run it under
DOS under OS/2 to get this task done?

Thoughts, if you have time?



--> Sleep well; OS/2's still awake! ;)

Mike {at} 1:117/3001



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