Matthew Reed's TRS-80.org


Correcting the LS-DOS 2012 Problem

Several people have contacted me over the past few weeks to ask if I can do anything about the LS-DOS 2012 problem. The short answer is yes, but here is a brief summary of the “2012 problem” for those of you who don’t know what it is.

All of the major TRS-80 operating systems (including TRSDOS 6 and LS-DOS 6) modeled the way they stored disk files dates on the file dating scheme created by Randy Cook for his VTOS 4.0 operating system. VTOS 4.0, released in 1980, allowed file dates spanning 1980 to 1987.

Back then eight years seemed like a long time, but 1988 eventually approached and something more needed to be done. In mid 1987 Logical Systems introduced LS-DOS 6.3 for the Model 4 and MISOSYS introduced LDOS 5.3 for the Model III and later Model I. Both LS-DOS 6.3 and LDOS 5.3 included many enhancements over previous versions, but their primary reason to exist was to extend file dating to 1999. (In the early 1990’s, MISOSYS extended file dating even further in both operating systems to 2011.)

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The Anitek MegaMem

The MegaMem, introduced in early 1990 by Anitek Software Products, was the ultimate memory upgrade solution for the TRS-80 Model III and 4. By using the same high capacity SIP (single in-line package) memory modules used in PC compatibles at the time, the MegaMem allowed a Model 4 to be upgraded as high as 8MB. Unlike the HyperMem, an earlier Anitek memory upgrade product, the MegaMem required no soldering, trace cutting, or other surgery to the computer. Peter Ray, the president of Anitek, described the MegaMem as the upgrade for “people who can spend extra money and hate soldering.”

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The TRSDOS "rummy buzzard" release

Jim Pickett wrote with an interesting question:

I seem to remember that you could look through some of the early TRSDOS disks with SuperZap (a wonderful program) and in some of the blank spots, i.e., unused disk space not holding part of a program, and it had a message like “You rummy buzzard, you” or something like that. The “rummy buzzard” part was the only sure thing.

I did a Google search on “rummy buzzard” but didn’t get any hits. Does anyone remember this?

Many people encountered that “rummy buzzard” message in Model III TRSDOS and several explanations were devised to explain it.

The best remembered explanation is the “Joe, you rummy buzzard” story. It was related as fact in magazines such as [80 Micro][1] and several user group newsletters, but I don’t think it is true, for reasons explained later. Here is the overview:

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Orchestra-80

Like many personal computers at the time, the TRS-80 Model I had fairly primitive built-in sound capabilities. That changed in 1980 with the introduction of the Orchestra-80, a small $79.95 unit that plugged into the TRS-80 and could play music with four simultaneous voices over a six octave range. Orchestra-80 was sold by Software Affair, Ltd., a company created by Bryan Eggers and Jon Bokelman. It became one of the best remembered hardware add-ons for the TRS-80.

Orchestra-80 had predecessors in two earlier kit products for S-100 computers. In 1977, Software Technology Corporation introduced the STC Music System, which featured “Musical Arrangements by Jon Bokelman.” In 1979, after the STC Music System was no longer available, California Software Co. introduced the Software Music Synthesis System. Also created by Jon Bokelman, the Software Music Synthesis System, or SMS, maintained the same syntax as the STC Music System, even though it was a completely different product.

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The TRS-80 Model 4

The TRS-80 Model 4, introduced on April 26, 1983, was the continuation of the TRS-80 computer line that had begun with the Model I in 1977. The Model 4 was officially launched for the press on April 27 at an event sponsored by the Boston Computer Society.

The Model 4 was 100% compatible with the Model III and was able to run all Model III operating systems and applications. The designers of the Model 4 had taken great pains to ensure this complete compatibility to avoid the same kind of problems encountered when the TRS-80 Model III was introduced. The Model III had been only partially compatible with Model I software and lack of compatibility was viewed as a costly misstep by Radio Shack. Don White, the Model 4 product line manager, stated, “I took it once on the Model I/III incompatibility and I won’t go through that again.”

The Model 4 originally was available in three configurations:

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The TRS-80 Model 4D

The TRS-80 Model 4D (catalog number 26-1070) was Radio Shack’s final entry in the line of TRS-80 computers that began in 1977 with the Model I. Many people (myself included) consider it to be the best TRS-80 and one of the finest 8-bit computers ever produced.

Introduced in late 1985 at a price of $1199.00, the Model 4D was completely compatible with the Model 4 that it replaced and the wide range of Model 4 and Model III hardware and software. Unlike previous TRS-80 computers, the Model 4D was branded by Tandy (the parent company of Radio Shack) rather than Radio Shack itself. The full name was the “Tandy TRS-80 Model 4D Microcomputer System.” Also unlike previous models, there was no cassette version of the Model 4D and it doesn’t appear that it was ever sold outside of the United States and Canada.

The Model 4D differed from the original Model 4 in several areas:

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What was the inspiration for TRSDOS?

Just about all computer software has taken inspiration from other software that has preceded it, and operating systems are no exception. For example, it is well known that MS-DOS was based on CP/M, with some ideas borrowed from TOPS-20. Windows has strong structural similarities to VMS (both were designed by Dave Cutler). CP/M was itself inspired by TOPS-10. UNIX was inspired by Multics. And the list goes on.

But what was the inspiration for TRSDOS, the disk operating system for the TRS-80? Randy Cook designed TRSDOS from scratch in 1978, but I think Datapoint DOS was his model. Datapoint DOS was the operating system for computers sold by Datapoint Corporation (originally CTC), such as the Datapoint 2200. Randy Cook had worked at Datapoint and it seems reasonable to assume that he was familiar with its concepts.

For example, here are three representative characteristics present in TRSDOS and all TRS-80 operating systems derived from it:

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Alcor Pascal

In the early days of microcomputers, many considered learning Pascal to be the logical next step for beginning programmers after learning BASIC. Alcor Pascal, sold by Alcor Systems of Garland, Texas, was a “complete Jensen and Wirth Standard Pascal” and a popular choice for TRS-80 users who wanted to expand their programming horizons.

In addition to the TRS-80 versions (which cost $199.00), Alcor Systems also sold Alcor Pascal versions for CP/M (including the Apple II with the Microsoft CP/M SoftCard) and later on for MS-DOS computers. Starting in 1983, Radio Shack began selling licensed versions of Alcor Pascal for the Model I/III (catalog number 26-2211) and the Model 4 (catalog number 26-2212). Both versions cost $249.95

Alcor Pascal had its origins in 1978 as a Pascal compiler for CP/M systems, a history that was detailed in the first issue of the Alcor Systems Newsletter in 1982:

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The World Power Systems Fraud

In March 1979, a company named World Power Systems began running multi-page advertisement in many popular computer magazines, including Byte, Creative Computing, Interface Age, and Kilobaud Microcomputing. World Power Systems, founded by Jim Anderson, advertised a number of interesting and unusual products for the TRS-80 and S-100 computers at prices that seemed almost too good to be true. As it turned out, they were too good to be true; Jim Anderson was actually a prison escapee named Norman Henry Hunt and World Power Systems was an elaborate scam that ended up costing customers and suppliers hundreds of thousands of dollars.'

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Model I Level II BASIC ROM Versions

The original TRS-80 Microcomputer System, later known as the TRS-80 Model I, shipped with Level I BASIC when it was introduced on August 3, 1977. An improved Level II BASIC written by Microsoft was announced at the time but was released some time later.

Radio Shack used four different versions of the Level II ROM over the lifetime of the Model I, even though the part number (26-1120) remained the same. Radio Shack never officially named the ROM versions, or even acknowledged the existence of any version other than the last, so the names used were created by users.

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