I love these videos that go over all the old systems. I used to work at a TANDY Computer Center back in 1988-89 before moving to the regular Radio Shack stores since the computer centers were being phased out. The system I really want to see which I can't find anywhere is the TANDY 5000MC. I remember getting one at our store and going over it and I thought it was pretty cool. Those were the days! LOL
I'm glad you like them! I have already warned the wife: I'd probably pay more than she'd be comfortable with if a 5000 MC comes up. :D That's my last remaining unicorn. I don't expect that I'll ever have one, given its obscurity. Thanks again for watching!
Wow! This brought back fond memories and tears to my eyes. We used TRS-80s in high school back in the 80’s. After mainframe FORTRAN, my next language was BASIC and then Z-80 Assembler. Miss those days.
I really loved watching this for a few reasons... The narration was great, funny, educational, etc. Also, this brought back a flood of memories, as I remember my dad and I installing Xenix 1.3.5 on his Model 16-A and gargantuan 15 MB hard disk at least a few times. The basic install wasn't so bad, but the development package and Unify seemed like an all-day affair. I'm also impressed by the bravery here; I clearly remember both floppy drives on our 16-A crashing and destroying some of our 8" disks, including some precious original Tandy disks. The local Tandy service center at the time were eventually unable to fix the drives
Thanks! It's a ton of fun to experience a real-life install on one of these systems - and it's always more fun with a little snark. That particular floppy drive is holding up fairly well. The biggest problem with them was the disk eject spring would sometimes shoot the disk out before the head cleared the disk's jacket, causing the jacket to rip the head off. And this would trash any disks put in later...that's why I use a quick-flip motion when I open the drive. It may seem like I'm being tough on it, but it's the best way to mitigate it aside from removing the eject spring. Thanks again for watching and for the compliments!
I know that feeling all too well. These older systems can almost be "heard", so it's a little easier to tell. But because the keyboards have an independent controller, you can't use theCAPS LOCK trick we used on PC-era systems to see if it had hard crashed. On these beasts, the light will happily go on and off even if the system is out in space.
It's been a long long time since having to enter a media error map. As I recall, that information was taped to the back of the housing of the system and then later Radio Shack would put them in a plastic sleeve stuck to the back of the machine. Still very cool to watch (relive) installing Xenix on to a 16. Thank you!
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! I almost picked a few random cylinder/head combos to enter into the media error map just for the fun of it, but it would have just made less space available so I decided to skip it.
This was absolutely AWESOME! We need extensive follow-up -- installing applications, upgrading to 3.04, formatting floppies, transferring files from TRSDOS... and installing the development system if you can get your hands on it!
Thank you! I may have to follow up - I hadn't planned to do the 3.3 upgrade/install and upgrade to 3.4, but doing a "modern move-in" showcasing how you'd get started with what's available today might make a good show. Believe it or not, I do have the Development System disks, but I don't think anyone wants a four-hour video. :D Thanks for watching and for the suggestions!
@@TJBChris Oh man, even if you don't show the Development System installation, it would still be so cool to see some C being compiled. I could write up some example programs if you're interested!
Glad you liked it! In typical Radio Shack tradition, they really made it accessible with down-to-earth, educational documentation. It was written for regular folks.
fantastic, reminds me of watching paint dry, thanks for making this priceless video...its the slowness that reminds us how shit used to be...I kind of not missing it...I remember OS/2...25 floppies...22 was bad
Thanks! This was part of the experience for sure, and these days when installs happen automatically and with little fuss, it's easy to overlook how much a part of the experience this was. And oooooh yeah - the OS/2 install. I installed Warp 3.0 from floppies once. That was a looooong day.
@@TJBChris it took almost a decade, the year 2000 with MSFT windows 2K server/client for the home PC user world to be able to get a properly stable preemptive multitasking OS, making true use of the x86 family capabilities, while OS/2 was ready 9 years earlier, also XENIX or other Unix flavors would also have been a potential platform, but the world was hung on DOS/win9 mediocracy for roughly 15 years
@TJBChris Great job! Thank you for sharing with the rest of us :) Hmmmm original floppies? OH MY!!!! Sounds like someone needs to GreaseWeazle those disks! :D
Fortunately the set is already available on the Model II archive, or I'd have to make friends with someone with a GreaseWeazle. I don't have one, sadly...
It's so neat to me that the US military used these systems...I know the Navy used them as well, and some systems saw time in the desert. Amazing for systems that were designed for office use. Thanks for watching!
I remember working at the "the shack" in the early 90's that the POS system was running on some version of Xenix. The main system in the back room was a PC at that time some 386 box as I I remember, it was dumb terminals at the counter.
I was always interested in Radio Shack's POS system, even back in the day as a customer...I'm always hoping a copy of it will surface one day. I think it'd be fun to recreate today. Thanks for watching!
@@TJBChris To totally clear it was the entire store operations system. POS, Personel, etc. Remeber having to swap the built-in backup drive tapes every night, and tell it to transmit the day to Tandy central. The only thing it didn't handle was the security system.
Your videos are great. Thank you. I do have a request for a video. "The do NOTs" & "Doesnt work" video for coco 1 2 and 3. Like for instance do NOT pull out a cartridge while its on. But what i would like to learn is more about what uses 12v and doesnt and what is safe or not safe for coco1. Can a coco3 be used with an CM11.. just odds and ends of what doesnt work and shouldnt do.
That's a neat idea...could be a fun series for sure. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll add it to my project list. Maybe it would be a good series for a future SepTANDY.
Thanks for watching! I'll never say no to subs (the RUclips kind or the food kind). That said, there is a plus side to being small: Expectations are lower and I can do pretty much what I want. I know folks who like it will watch, and the rest will come back next time and not give me any guff about it.
I've thought about playing with the TRSDOS-16 assembler. The thing that always stops me is the fact that it used non-standard mnemonics for the 68000. It might be worth playing with just to experience it...maybe do the "hello world"-style demo they have in the manual. Thanks for watching!
@@TJBChris Here's an idea: How about doing Hello World on all three of Xenix, CP/M, and TRSDOS-16 to compare them? That would also highlight the quirky syntax.
The license plate is from Germany - HD is Heidelberg. I spent some time there when I was a teenager. I didn't take the plate...it was given to me as a gift years later. It's always fun when people notice the things I keep in the background of the room, thanks for watching!
Wasn't the removable disk for the TRS-80 a Bernoulli drive? Years ago when I was revisiting old Magazines. I found some really interesting stuff. But, i have forgot it all. I want to say they have a PC-net adapter but it was not developed. One of the more interesting articles I read was about a guy who used I think a model II. Anyway he said when the other 2 terminals was being used. The system slowed down. I call of that of that stuff before my time. I was busy doing Ethernet and Novell Netware. The serial stuff that was kind of in place. Either a Unix system or a Dec system with VT terminals. One final note. When I first found out about Linux. I picked Slackware due to it being the most Unix like. Just like Xenix. I'm sure at one time. I was reading Microsoft Xenix thanks to Radio Shack was the largest Unix user base.
You're right, Tandy's Disk Cartridge Systems were Bernoulli drives. The 8" systems supported both the 10- and 20-MB DCS boxes. From what I gather, they were both made by Bernoulli and used standard Bernoulli cartridges. Tandy's XENIX systems were all over at one point, probably peaking in 1984 or so. I came in after this was already on its way out...like you, my first Linux distro was Slackwawre in the '90s. A great place to start...it was the most "hands-on" of the distros, which is why I liked it. Nothing teaches you more than untangling your own dependency hell, configuring and compiling the kernel, or re-compiling XFree86 for the 10th time because your last attempt died four hours in. All because of the aforementioned dependency hell you created for yourself. It taught me a lot! Thanks for watching!
There were little labels on the disks with the version printed on them, but almost every one fell off as I was removing the disks from the drives. Fortunately they didn't come off in the drive. :) I might glue them back on so the disks. Thanks for watching!
I have several TRS-80 Model 1 computers. monitors and expansion units, along with a new-in-box 5.25" drive. Im thinking of selling or trading this in for something else. What are my best options for getting a decent system? What do you think it costs to put together a working model 16 like you have or a model 2 or similar? It's either that or I may want to try and find an Altair 680 or 8800.
It's hard to say - prices for the 8" systems are getting higher, like everything else retro these days. These systems are particularly heavy and shipping tends to destroy them, especially if the person shipping it doesn't ship the system in pieces. Unfortunately, that means you're stuck with something within driving distance from you, but you can expect several hundred dollars at a minimum, and that's for a system that may not work without being repaired. But sometimes you get lucky...and often times retro shows like Tandy Assembly for the VCF shows have them available if you can attend and lug the system home. Good luck, I hope you find one!
Thank you. I enjoyed every minute and retained virtually nothing. Well, except, I had been taking my breaks wrong for all these years... and I definitely did not hit return when my break was over. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
At least from what Radio Shack offered, it was a lot of your standard office management stuff, like payroll, general ledger, word processing, databases like FilePro/ProFile, COBOL, BASIC for home-grown programs, Westlaw software, and the like. RS had a fairly large selection of multi-user software available that ran under Xenix. These machines also saw lots of use doing things like UUCP over phone lines for file transfers and mail.
I love these videos that go over all the old systems. I used to work at a TANDY Computer Center back in 1988-89 before moving to the regular Radio Shack stores since the computer centers were being phased out. The system I really want to see which I can't find anywhere is the TANDY 5000MC. I remember getting one at our store and going over it and I thought it was pretty cool. Those were the days! LOL
I'm glad you like them! I have already warned the wife: I'd probably pay more than she'd be comfortable with if a 5000 MC comes up. :D That's my last remaining unicorn. I don't expect that I'll ever have one, given its obscurity. Thanks again for watching!
@@TJBChrisI OWN 2 of them Chris, they work.. but will never be used or seen by anyone but me.
Wow! This brought back fond memories and tears to my eyes. We used TRS-80s in high school back in the 80’s. After mainframe FORTRAN, my next language was BASIC and then Z-80 Assembler. Miss those days.
I really loved watching this for a few reasons... The narration was great, funny, educational, etc. Also, this brought back a flood of memories, as I remember my dad and I installing Xenix 1.3.5 on his Model 16-A and gargantuan 15 MB hard disk at least a few times. The basic install wasn't so bad, but the development package and Unify seemed like an all-day affair.
I'm also impressed by the bravery here; I clearly remember both floppy drives on our 16-A crashing and destroying some of our 8" disks, including some precious original Tandy disks. The local Tandy service center at the time were eventually unable to fix the drives
Thanks! It's a ton of fun to experience a real-life install on one of these systems - and it's always more fun with a little snark. That particular floppy drive is holding up fairly well. The biggest problem with them was the disk eject spring would sometimes shoot the disk out before the head cleared the disk's jacket, causing the jacket to rip the head off. And this would trash any disks put in later...that's why I use a quick-flip motion when I open the drive. It may seem like I'm being tough on it, but it's the best way to mitigate it aside from removing the eject spring. Thanks again for watching and for the compliments!
Bringing back memories of "is this working or not?" while waiting for onscreen prompts.
I know that feeling all too well. These older systems can almost be "heard", so it's a little easier to tell. But because the keyboards have an independent controller, you can't use theCAPS LOCK trick we used on PC-era systems to see if it had hard crashed. On these beasts, the light will happily go on and off even if the system is out in space.
Thanks for sharing these excellent machines that you have saved from oblivion!
Glad you liked it! There'll be more where that came from. :)
It's been a long long time since having to enter a media error map. As I recall, that information was taped to the back of the housing of the system and then later Radio Shack would put them in a plastic sleeve stuck to the back of the machine. Still very cool to watch (relive) installing Xenix on to a 16. Thank you!
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! I almost picked a few random cylinder/head combos to enter into the media error map just for the fun of it, but it would have just made less space available so I decided to skip it.
Low areal data density and proper storage really helps those ancient 8" media survive.
This was absolutely AWESOME! We need extensive follow-up -- installing applications, upgrading to 3.04, formatting floppies, transferring files from TRSDOS... and installing the development system if you can get your hands on it!
Thank you! I may have to follow up - I hadn't planned to do the 3.3 upgrade/install and upgrade to 3.4, but doing a "modern move-in" showcasing how you'd get started with what's available today might make a good show. Believe it or not, I do have the Development System disks, but I don't think anyone wants a four-hour video. :D Thanks for watching and for the suggestions!
@@TJBChris Oh man, even if you don't show the Development System installation, it would still be so cool to see some C being compiled. I could write up some example programs if you're interested!
I enjoyed that little bit of Radio Shack lore.
Hah, I'm glad somebody liked that bit! I had to think of something to ramble while I was waiting. Thanks for watching!
Very nice system and install routine, they really polished it up and I see why it became a success after they released Xenix and apps. I enjoyed. :)
Glad you liked it! In typical Radio Shack tradition, they really made it accessible with down-to-earth, educational documentation. It was written for regular folks.
fantastic, reminds me of watching paint dry, thanks for making this priceless video...its the slowness that reminds us how shit used to be...I kind of not missing it...I remember OS/2...25 floppies...22 was bad
Thanks! This was part of the experience for sure, and these days when installs happen automatically and with little fuss, it's easy to overlook how much a part of the experience this was. And oooooh yeah - the OS/2 install. I installed Warp 3.0 from floppies once. That was a looooong day.
@@TJBChris it took almost a decade, the year 2000 with MSFT windows 2K server/client for the home PC user world to be able to get a properly stable preemptive multitasking OS, making true use of the x86 family capabilities, while OS/2 was ready 9 years earlier, also XENIX or other Unix flavors would also have been a potential platform, but the world was hung on DOS/win9 mediocracy for roughly 15 years
RUclips algo doing me a solid and bringing up another retro channel to binge for the long weekend.
@TJBChris
Great job!
Thank you for sharing with the rest of us :)
Hmmmm original floppies? OH MY!!!!
Sounds like someone needs to GreaseWeazle those disks! :D
Fortunately the set is already available on the Model II archive, or I'd have to make friends with someone with a GreaseWeazle. I don't have one, sadly...
@@TJBChris
Hmmmmm I wonder who would be able to help you with that if that was the case??? :O :D
The US 1st Armored Division attempted to use Model 16s for logistical work back in ~1985.
It's so neat to me that the US military used these systems...I know the Navy used them as well, and some systems saw time in the desert. Amazing for systems that were designed for office use. Thanks for watching!
I remember working at the "the shack" in the early 90's that the POS system was running on some version of Xenix. The main system in the back room was a PC at that time some 386 box as I I remember, it was dumb terminals at the counter.
I was always interested in Radio Shack's POS system, even back in the day as a customer...I'm always hoping a copy of it will surface one day. I think it'd be fun to recreate today. Thanks for watching!
@@TJBChris To totally clear it was the entire store operations system. POS, Personel, etc. Remeber having to swap the built-in backup drive tapes every night, and tell it to transmit the day to Tandy central. The only thing it didn't handle was the security system.
wow its not broken rusty mechanical type writter sir
Your videos are great. Thank you. I do have a request for a video. "The do NOTs" & "Doesnt work" video for coco 1 2 and 3. Like for instance do NOT pull out a cartridge while its on. But what i would like to learn is more about what uses 12v and doesnt and what is safe or not safe for coco1. Can a coco3 be used with an CM11.. just odds and ends of what doesnt work and shouldnt do.
That's a neat idea...could be a fun series for sure. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll add it to my project list. Maybe it would be a good series for a future SepTANDY.
Love your channel! We need to get you some more subs.
Thanks for watching! I'll never say no to subs (the RUclips kind or the food kind). That said, there is a plus side to being small: Expectations are lower and I can do pretty much what I want. I know folks who like it will watch, and the rest will come back next time and not give me any guff about it.
I'd love to see setting up a dev system on this machine. As an old Z80 and 68000 guy TRSDOS-16 is as interesting to me on this as Xenix is.
I've thought about playing with the TRSDOS-16 assembler. The thing that always stops me is the fact that it used non-standard mnemonics for the 68000. It might be worth playing with just to experience it...maybe do the "hello world"-style demo they have in the manual. Thanks for watching!
@@TJBChris Yeah that syntax is quite offputting! Thanks for making deeper videos on the m68k TRS-80s!
@@TJBChris Here's an idea: How about doing Hello World on all three of Xenix, CP/M, and TRSDOS-16 to compare them? That would also highlight the quirky syntax.
What country is that license plate from? I can't find "HD" in the list of international license plate codes.
The license plate is from Germany - HD is Heidelberg. I spent some time there when I was a teenager. I didn't take the plate...it was given to me as a gift years later. It's always fun when people notice the things I keep in the background of the room, thanks for watching!
Wasn't the removable disk for the TRS-80 a Bernoulli drive? Years ago when I was revisiting old Magazines. I found some really interesting stuff. But, i have forgot it all. I want to say they have a PC-net adapter but it was not developed. One of the more interesting articles I read was about a guy who used I think a model II. Anyway he said when the other 2 terminals was being used. The system slowed down. I call of that of that stuff before my time. I was busy doing Ethernet and Novell Netware. The serial stuff that was kind of in place. Either a Unix system or a Dec system with VT terminals. One final note. When I first found out about Linux. I picked Slackware due to it being the most Unix like. Just like Xenix. I'm sure at one time. I was reading Microsoft Xenix thanks to Radio Shack was the largest Unix user base.
You're right, Tandy's Disk Cartridge Systems were Bernoulli drives. The 8" systems supported both the 10- and 20-MB DCS boxes. From what I gather, they were both made by Bernoulli and used standard Bernoulli cartridges. Tandy's XENIX systems were all over at one point, probably peaking in 1984 or so. I came in after this was already on its way out...like you, my first Linux distro was Slackwawre in the '90s. A great place to start...it was the most "hands-on" of the distros, which is why I liked it. Nothing teaches you more than untangling your own dependency hell, configuring and compiling the kernel, or re-compiling XFree86 for the 10th time because your last attempt died four hours in. All because of the aforementioned dependency hell you created for yourself. It taught me a lot! Thanks for watching!
@26:41 "Glue these back on." The hairs?!?!?
There were little labels on the disks with the version printed on them, but almost every one fell off as I was removing the disks from the drives. Fortunately they didn't come off in the drive. :) I might glue them back on so the disks. Thanks for watching!
I have several TRS-80 Model 1 computers. monitors and expansion units, along with a new-in-box 5.25" drive. Im thinking of selling or trading this in for something else. What are my best options for getting a decent system? What do you think it costs to put together a working model 16 like you have or a model 2 or similar? It's either that or I may want to try and find an Altair 680 or 8800.
It's hard to say - prices for the 8" systems are getting higher, like everything else retro these days. These systems are particularly heavy and shipping tends to destroy them, especially if the person shipping it doesn't ship the system in pieces. Unfortunately, that means you're stuck with something within driving distance from you, but you can expect several hundred dollars at a minimum, and that's for a system that may not work without being repaired. But sometimes you get lucky...and often times retro shows like Tandy Assembly for the VCF shows have them available if you can attend and lug the system home. Good luck, I hope you find one!
@@TJBChris Ill see if I can find out when the next ones are in SoCal.
Thank you. I enjoyed every minute and retained virtually nothing. Well, except, I had been taking my breaks wrong for all these years... and I definitely did not hit return when my break was over. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I never like RETURN-ing after a BREAK haha. Glad you liked it!
@@TJBChris Looking forward to whatever you may have in store for SepTandy…
even though every month feels like it on your channel. Cheers🍻
What would some example uses for people using Xenix for on the trs 80?
At least from what Radio Shack offered, it was a lot of your standard office management stuff, like payroll, general ledger, word processing, databases like FilePro/ProFile, COBOL, BASIC for home-grown programs, Westlaw software, and the like. RS had a fairly large selection of multi-user software available that ran under Xenix. These machines also saw lots of use doing things like UUCP over phone lines for file transfers and mail.