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| Thread ID: 60472 | 2005-08-03 04:34:00 | Floppy disk conversion | philkiwi (8651) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 377745 | 2005-08-03 04:34:00 | Several years ago my wife had her university thesis saved to 5 1/2" floppy disks on a Decmate II or III computer. Does anyone know how I could have these converted to be able to be read on a Windows PC and copied to 3 1/4" floppies or CDs? | philkiwi (8651) | ||
| 377746 | 2005-08-03 06:18:00 | Its easily possible to transfer the files, I have an old computer with both 5 1/2 and 3 1/4 drives so it is easy, the only problem is the format they may be saved in, which may make them difficult to open on a windows PC. Should be alright though. Just ask around at your local computer stores to see if they are able to transfer them for you. |
roddy_boy (4115) | ||
| 377747 | 2005-08-03 11:09:00 | An alternative would be to add a 5.25" drive to your own computer, which shouldn't be difficult. I am sure if you put out a call on this forum or at a cptr repair shop that has been going for >10 yrs someone is bound to have an old one lying around. Make sure that you get a data cable that fits it. The cptr that the files were saved on should be immaterial (provided that it was a PC), but the application that was used might be needed to open the files. M$ Word will import a number of 'alien' file types but you may need an older version of Word to open older other apps (eg AMI Pro which was reasonably popular around 10 years ago). If the worst comes to the worst you may be able to open the files as plain text files, but they may be riddled with formatting codes and and editting all those out could be a real pain. If possible, try to identify the original app that was used to write the files and see if you can track down a copy of it or something that will import its files. |
Robin S_ (86) | ||
| 377748 | 2005-08-03 21:45:00 | The real problem is not the conversion from 5 1/2" to 3 1/4" or installing a 5 1/2" drive, the problem is that having been created on a Decmate II or III the files are unreadable on a PC. A local expert has done his best but cannot retrieve anything readable. What I need is someone to convert them from Decmate format to PC format. | philkiwi (8651) | ||
| 377749 | 2005-08-03 22:06:00 | Did a quick bit of research, found this: ....(I've been able to convert from DECmate to Wordperfect 5.1 using the ALL-IN-1/Wordperfect Integration product though KeyPak should do the same if you have it...... This info may help when finding a way to convert (sorry had to cut this short, kid requires attention :cool: ) |
Myth (110) | ||
| 377750 | 2005-08-06 02:31:00 | Ahem. It's not quite that simple. It never is. :groan: There were personal computers before IBM made a Personal Computer. DEC made a few ... the Decmate (www.columbia.edu/acis/history/decmate.html), the Rainbow, the PRO-350 ... If the disks are 5.25", they will be RX50s. That's not too bad (though they are single-sided) ... you might be able to find a copy of "RT11" somewhere ... look at Simtel ... (that was written for RT11 files, but I'm pretty sure that the disk format was the same) . After the files are on more convenient media, the next problem is decoding them. The Decmate was a "micro PDP8" using the Intersil/Harris 6120 chip. The PDP8 stored text as two 6-bit bytes in a 12-bit word. A 12-bit word was stored as three 8-bit bytes for each word. (Though the WPS, the word processing software which was the user interface, might have used 8 bits. I never used it. ;) But the 8 was a bit limited for memory space (maximum 32k words, though it used it very efficiently) so they probably used the 6-bit ASCII code, with codes to shift case etc. If you are very lucky, the disks were written with the Decmate III Z80), under CP/M. I once wrote a programme to produce 5.25" disks (using the CP/M format) on a PDP11's RX50s which DOS 3.x could read OK. But you've had no success, so I'm not optimistic. The same applies to the vague possibility of a true DOS format. The RX33 drive on a VAX could read RX50 disks, probably in one of the VMS compatibility modes.. The problem is to find someone with a VAX with a RX33 drive. ;) (I've got one, but it's only at the stage that the drive I've jumpered up does work as a RX33. I haven't got around to bringing up an OS). ;( |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 377751 | 2005-08-06 03:21:00 | I've had a bit of a browse: Simtel seems to be a bit difficult to find, but search for a file called rt11 . zip . There is a (possibly not free) product called OmniFlop (8bs . com/othrdnld/utilities/omniflop/OmniFlop . htm)which might handle RX50s . Worth a look at its manual . Google search strings: "Omniflop", "RX50 floppy", "RT11 . zip" (I'm pretty sure the newton . canterbury . ac . nz link is long defunct) . |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 377752 | 2005-08-06 04:35:00 | Even better . . . I've found a place to get the RX50 (custom . lab . unb . br/pub/computing/history/pdp-8/rx50/) reading programme rt11 . zip . I think that's the one Mark wrote in 1990 . I've downloaded it, and I'll have a play with it later . Have a browse around that site; it will tell you quite a lot . The " . gz" files are "gzip"ped but I think WinZip handles that OK . The Omniflop programme looks pretty clever . . . I'll have a read of its manual before I decide . ;) |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 377753 | 2005-08-07 04:52:00 | Another look today found a driver which looks to be the best bet. I suspect that "RT11" programme might have done it , but RX50.zip looks extremely encouraging. I found it at bookcase.com (www.bookcase.com/library/software/msdos.util.disk.html). You'll need to space down the page a long way to find it. |
Graham L (2) | ||
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