Boy does this bring back memories. I was there at DG in RTP, NC and was the engineering manager responsible for the systems software on the DG/One. The most amazing thing was when prior to release that a few of us armed with DG/One packaged products gave them to IBM PC software vendors throughout the US and Canada. You can't imagine the compatibility issues and new 3.5 micro diskette nightmares we dealt with. It was an amazing time and, except for the excitement of Apple innovations since then, there hasn't been a more fast-paced, innovative thrill ride!
@THEPHINTAGECOLLECTOR
10 ай бұрын
So what secret first hand stories can you share with us? I‘m curious!
@SoftwareManiacLSM
10 ай бұрын
@@THEPHINTAGECOLLECTOR sworn to secrecy!
@dosgos
23 күн бұрын
Grandparents worked at DG and had at least 100 different programs in their OEM boxes for the DG One. All the software I saw was labeled for DGOne. I think that was because the laptop was not quite 100% IBM compatible (and for the new 3.5" discs). Wish we still had this stuff.
@ChrisAthanas
Ай бұрын
I got one second hand back in 1988 for super cheap and this video was my experience back then I sold it at a loss The keyboard and form factor were the only things that worked well
@Max_Mustermann
4 ай бұрын
Cool looking machine. It wouldn't look out of place as a prop in a sci-fi movie.
@telengardforever7783
Жыл бұрын
LapLink XL was one hell of a tool that I used a lot back then.
@kai990
Жыл бұрын
Very interesting, thanks!
@wiwbssjh8233
2 жыл бұрын
I'd love to see you restore it
@THEPHINTAGECOLLECTOR
2 жыл бұрын
Restore what, the DG/1? There‘s not much to do here, the machine works fine now the CMOS battery was replaced.
@georgemaragos2378
2 жыл бұрын
Hi, i enjoyed your video. Back in the day i use to often borrow a Compaq SLT 286 when it was new - it cost more than my car. Comms wise i used my works 1.0 and also Telix There was also a free public domain program called PC-Talk that worked with modems, not sure it it handled machien to machine without a phone line To talk to my PC XT that only had 5.25 drive i am sure i used lap link 3 as it was "free from work" , i later purchased lap link 5 - it looks very much like dos 5 edit program, fast lynx and fx2 was another program i sued by 386/486 days With this older equipment i found you need to start slow, eg 2400, try and get both machines to talk, then change both speed to 4800 / 9600 etc slowly upspeed In 386 days there is a uart limitation the 8250 uart may or may not work at 9600, to run this speed or go faster you need a 16550 uart, this was common if you ran 14.4k or fast as the older pc errored the 8250 has a 1 byte buffer the 16550 16 bytes or more I use a simple 3 wire null modem or cross over cable - all genuine laplink cables will work, but some people pick up a serial printer cable or serial extension cord by mistake Also the coms port mode setting eg 2400,8,n,1 has to suit your coms port so check the laptops com port specs to see it it works on 8 r 7 bits or some weird combinations need 2 stop bits at the end - oh both machines have to match if they dont the result is garbled Your machines 8251 does not help, but i really dont know how compatible it is with normal 8250's on pc's - but i cant imagine it is totally incompatible otherwise , people with that chip could not communicate with another not running the same chip and it defeats the purpose Oh, try something like pc tools version 4 or dos info utilities ( nortons info is good ) like dos 5 msd.exe to examine the hardware and report back - you can search phils computer lab and pick up his dos benchmark kit and use the hardware info to assist you Regards George
@THEPHINTAGECOLLECTOR
2 жыл бұрын
@george maragos Oh wow, you're mentioning the SLT 286, while I'm just in this very moment negotiating about getting exactly one of those :-) The main issue with the DG/1's UART chip is really, it's not register compatible to the 8250, so all software accessing the hardware directly fails. And I somehow was unable to locate serial comms software, which uses the much slower DOS calls instead. The latter would work, at least in theory, though there was good reasons, why everyone bypassed DOS and interacted with the hardware directly. I'm still going through old DOS software, to find one, that eventually would work with the DG/1.
@georgemaragos2378
2 жыл бұрын
@@THEPHINTAGECOLLECTOR Hi, the SLT 386 is a great machine, i used it for about 3 years at that job. Only negative is that dont open the battery lid and remove the battery wile connected to AC, also being a early compaq, you require the correct factor boot / cmos setup diskette i left the original install of dos 3.2 or 3.3 on the oem 20meg hard drive, and it was one of the rare machines that i could format 720 diskette and they worked on almost any other machine
@Micro-Motive
Жыл бұрын
I worked for Data General (Australia) in the mid 1980s as a Repair Centre Engineer, and subsequently a Technical Support Specialist. The Data General One, was indeed one of the first 'proper' laptops, and almost 100% IBM compatible. It used significant integration, and was almost entirely Surface Mount Components. A pair of DG-1s were used on the Australian Yatch/Boat that WON the America's Cup - ruggedised against the marine environment. I was personally given approval and parts from the USA to repair DG-1s to an SMD component level, due to previous SMC design experience. The DG-1 Design Team included an Australian Engineer. 😉 Unfortunately you're seriously lacking in the knowledge of, and the hardware and software skills, to make a sound judgment of the DG-1, and it's pros and cons in the manner you have. Yes, it used Intel i8251A CMOS UARTS, possibly because the National Semiconductor 8250 parts weren't available in SMD form at design time. There were three display types available - Orange vacuum fluorescent, monochrome LCD, and colour LCD. For high screen contrast the Vacuum-fluorescent display was preferred, for lowest power consumption the Monochrome LCD, and for full functionality the Colour LCD. The Monochrome LCD you have is almost 40 years old - it would be normal to have significant contrast ageing. As well, MOST LCD displays of that era, Computer or Calculator, had a narrow viewing angle.
@THEPHINTAGECOLLECTOR
Жыл бұрын
@Micro-Motive Thank you for your insights. I do think that sourcing the Intel 8251 in favor to the NSC 8250 was a mistake. It's worth nothing claiming "almost 100 % IBM compatibility", if it is not. And, at least from the tests that I had done, the serial simply doesn't work, neither with contemporary nor with more recent software. Unless, and yes, I may be lacking some skill here to fully and correctly diagnose this, my serial line is broken. However, don't overlook that all of the scarce online resources concerning the DG-1 claim the same about the missing UART compatibility. There have been many online discussions in various web forums about people failing to run serial host2host transfers using a variety of software, so I'm tempted to believe it's not a user-level issue but infact a real incompatibility owed to the i8251. And if history has shown us one thing, then that compatibility was and still is a key to success. Maybe the i8251 was a better chip in terms of the low power consumption, and maybe NSC didn't have an equivalent CMOS component at the time. Still, offering a product, that was seemingly impossible to interface to other machines was propably not the best choice. As far as many online research indicated, the screen issue is not just an observation by myself. This is a general claim. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_General/One Furtherly, even ackowledging that these components age and become worse over time, the claim dates back to PC Magazine, 1986 (books.google.ch/books?id=5hdeC0k_JHwC&pg=PA108&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false). And reading through many online forums, many people confirm this independently, and so do I based on the experience with my machine. To my best knowledge, the additional display options you mentions were only available for later years revisions of the DG-1, and actually excluded the possibility to use the DG-1 on battery power at all then. According to what I have read, the DG-1 was simply not offered with a battery-power option to go along with these alternate display variant. So at this point the latest, the battery-powered portable machine sort of killed off itself.
@dosgos
23 күн бұрын
Grandparents worked at DG and had several DG1 laptops, but only in the early monochrome LCD (difficult to read) and the improved monochrome LCD (with HDD). They had a lot of the commercial software packages (probably more than 100 boxes with 3.5" floppy discs). The portable printers, portable power supplies, and big grey carry bags. Interestingly, Data General sponsored Dennis Conner, who also sailed in the America's Cup. DG purchased some sails but I don't know if they were used in competition.
@rachidtessoudali9337
2 жыл бұрын
Great 👍
@Lobo2265
9 ай бұрын
I have a DG One model 2t and it finally works, i was wondering if i could burn a disk with DOS 3.2 and have it work in the computer or no?
@theoriginalrecycler
2 жыл бұрын
Laplink worked for me
@THEPHINTAGECOLLECTOR
2 жыл бұрын
I tried several Laplink releases. which one do you use? And did you apply specific settings?
@theoriginalrecycler
2 жыл бұрын
@@THEPHINTAGECOLLECTOR lol the last time I used laplink was before 1996. I don't recall the version.
@Lion_McLionhead
Жыл бұрын
A room full of soldering equipment, but he couldn't make a circuit that bridged the 2 serial protocols.
@THEPHINTAGECOLLECTOR
Жыл бұрын
Your comment implies it's a problem of logic levels on the serial I/O. But the issue is rather the Intel 8251 CMOS being used in the DG/1 being register incompatible to the NSC 8250, hence all software assuming the 8250 was incompatible to the 8251 CMOS. Soldering up TTL converters would IMO not help a thing here, as the software would still not know how to deal with 8251 correctly.
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