🚀 go-pugleaf

In <84...@ucrmath.ucr.edu> star...@ucrmath.ucr.edu (aaron greenwood) writes:

>North Star Advantage
>SN 029218
>North Star Computer Inc.

>Does anyone know anything about this computer such as what OS it users,
>type CPU, ect.

I remember the machine, but not the specifics -- it may be the same as
the North Star Horizon in some respects.  The Horizon was a Z80 machine
with an S100 bus.  It ran CP/M (what an operating system).  Sorry, we
got rid of all of our CP/M stuff about two years ago.

Jeremy

In article <84...@ucrmath.ucr.edu> star...@ucrmath.ucr.edu (aaron greenwood) writes:

   A friend of mine bought a pc at a swap meet for $10.00.  The crt, keyboard,
   cpu, and two 5.25 inch floppy drives are all in one housing.  On the back
   is the following information.  It looks like a collectors item.

   North Star Advantage
   SN 029218
   North Star Computer Inc.

   When we powered up we got a message to put in the system disk.  I tried DOS
   3.3 with no luck.

   Does anyone know anything about this computer such as what OS it users,
   type CPU, ect.

   Thank you,

   Aaron J. Greenwood

If memory serves me correctly, that would be an old Z-80 based system
running CP/M-80.  And used hard sectored disks.  Ah the good old days...

-randy
-- 
Randy Welch   Mail to :  ...!ncar!scicom!bldr!randy or rwe...@du.edu
Boulder, CO   VOICE   :  303-442-6717
"Unfortunately, life contains an unavoidable element of unpredictability"
-David Lynch "The Angriest Dog in the World"

In article <84...@ucrmath.ucr.edu> star...@ucrmath.ucr.edu (aaron greenwood) writes:
>A friend of mine bought a pc at a swap meet for $10.00.  The crt, keyboard,
>cpu, and two 5.25 inch floppy drives are all in one housing.  On the back
>
>North Star Advantage
>
>Does anyone know anything about this computer such as what OS it users,
>type CPU, ect.
>

Like everybody else with an opinion, I think it uses CP/M for an OS and
a Z80 CPU.  Somebody suggested that the drives might be hard-sectored,
and I don't know about that.

One problem is that you can't just find a CP/M disk and use it, since the
BIOS in a CP/M system is not in ROM, but is written for each individual
machine and resides on disk.  Digital Research wrote the BDOS (Basic Disk
Operating System), the CCP (Console Command Processor) and the utilities,
and the vendor (or hacker :-) wrote the basic I/O routines.

Therefore, you need a CP/M system disk configured for this particular
machine.

Another interesting fact is that there was never any particular standard
for CP/M diskettes (except for the 8" single-sided single-density) so
that even if you find a system disk, there is no reason to believe that
any given 5.25" CP/M diskette will be readable by that system.

Have fun!

DHT

In article <84...@ucrmath.ucr.edu>, star...@ucrmath.ucr.edu (aaron greenwood) writes:
> A friend of mine bought a pc at a swap meet for $10.00.  The crt, keyboard,
> cpu, and two 5.25 inch floppy drives are all in one housing.  On the back
> is the following information.  It looks like a collectors item.
> 
> North Star Advantage
>
> Does anyone know anything about this computer such as what OS it users,
> type CPU, ect.
> 
It's a Z80 CP/M machine. I think it used hard-sectored diskies like the
Horizon, but I never dealt with them. 

Try posting to comp.os.cpm and see if anyone responds.

===============================================================================
Roger Ivie

35 S 300 W
Logan, Ut.  84321
(801) 752-8633
===============================================================================

  I replied by email directly to the person who asked about a
Northstar Advantage, but since there seems to be interest in this
group, I thought I would post a general answer.

  The Northstar Advantage is/was a wonderful computer (my first!)  It
is a Z80 machine with both CP/M and Northstar DOS operating systems
available.  It has 6 (non-standard) expansion slots.  One accessory
adds an 8086 processor, and if added, one can run MSDOS.  The
resulting hybrid is totally IMB incompatable, so only generic MSDOS
programs will run.  Because CP/M never had the rigid hardware
requirements of the IBM clone world, virtually all CP/M programs will
run.  The disks are 5.25" 10 hard sectored "quad density" (360K/disk).
The format is also used on Northstar Horizons (an S100 buss machine).
Really, nothing but a Northstar can read or write to these disks.  All
of the software in the world cannot deal with holes punched in the
disk.  Northstar (R.I.P.) used to carry on a vigorous defense of their
decision to go with hard sectored disks.  They claim to have made the
first 5.25" drive system for microcomputers.  (I am told that the
original name of the company was "Kentucky Fried Computers", but that
the Colonel persuaded them to change.)  Although Northstar is out of
business, there is a company still supporting the line.  They sell
software and hardware, including hard disk expansion kits, etc.

  What makes this machine so neat is the graphics capability (unusual
on CP/M machines) and to a lesser extent, the memory management.  It
has a 640x240 pixel black and green bitmapped screen.  Like the Mac,
everything is graphics, including text.  The address space of the Z80
is increased from the normal 64K to 256K by the addition of address
registers.  64K is mapped as main memory, 20K is mapped into a second
64K chunk as video memory, and up to 8K is mapped into a third 64K
space for rom (4k rom is standard).  64K is unused.  Graphics is
accomplished by writing to video ram.  Graphics subroutines
(accessible from assembly language) are provided with Northstar's CP/M
and with Northstar DOS, graphics are available from BASIC.  Northstar
also sold some business graphics programs.  The DEMO disk had some
really neat graphics displays!  The character set is stored in
rom, along with bootstrap routines.  My Advantage was customized by
the dealer by the addition of an 8k rom containing an alternate
character set which included a set of greek and mathematical
characters useful for scientific writing.

  I believe the main thing which kept the Advantage from being a
raging success is that it came out at the wrong time; just as IBM PCs
took over the world.

  For the interested, there is a comp.sys.northstar newsgroup which at
present is very low traffic.

-David Steffen- (ste...@mbir.bcm.tmc.edu)

In article <18...@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu> ste...@merlin.bcm.tmc.edu (David Steffen) writes:
>                                    ... Although Northstar is out of
>business, there is a company still supporting the line.  They sell
>software and hardware, including hard disk expansion kits, etc.

As a side note, there are plenty of Northstar Horizons chugging along right
alongside Cray X-MPs.  Cray used the Horizon as a console processor on the
X-MP (and maybe the Cray-1 and Cray-2, but I haven't spent a lot of time up
close and personal with those beasties to know).

The Y-MP uses some sort of OEMed Motorola thingamajig for their console
workstations (the COW, or Console Operator Workstation, and the MOW, or
Maintenance Operator Workstation -- also referred to by Cray-ons at the "MOO"
for obvious reasons.)  Did I get that right, Frank? :-)

							spl (the p stands for
							pass the MegaFLOPS,
							please...)
-- 
Steve Lamont, SciViGuy -- (408) 646-2752 (subject to change at random)
NPS Confuser Center / Code 51 / Naval Postgraduate School / Monterey, CA 93940
"You're okay," said Honeysuckle.  "The dogs like you."
			- Charles Bukowski, "How to Get Published"

star...@ucrmath.ucr.edu (aaron greenwood) writes:

>A friend of mine bought a pc at a swap meet for $10.00.  The crt, keyboard,
>cpu, and two 5.25 inch floppy drives are all in one housing.  On the back
>is the following information.  It looks like a collectors item.

>North Star Advantage
>SN 029218
>North Star Computer Inc.

>When we powered up we got a message to put in the system disk.  I tried DOS
>3.3 with no luck.

>Does anyone know anything about this computer such as what OS it users,
>type CPU, ect.

It's a CP/M machine, with a Z-80 processor.  You'll need a customized copy
of CP/M for the Advantage.  Collector's item?  Dunno.  There is a chain
of shoe stores in Eugene, Oregon that is still using these as point-of-sale
machines (complete with an automatic cash drawer).

Morethanyoueverwantedtoknow,andless.

-- 
// David A. 'Dak' Keldsen:  d...@sq.com or utai!sq!dak
//"If people think nature is their friend, then they sure don't need an enemy."
//          -- Kurt Vonnegut