[Request] MS-DOS 3.x for TIPC?
Both a request, and a question if it really existed.
I came across this eBay auction the other day that lists a manual (pages are still in shrinkwrap) titled: "MS-DOS 3 Operating System Users Guide". It is a Texas Instruments OEM, and it is styled similar to the manuals for the TI Professional Computer.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/362981150055?nordt=true
Now, it could just be a TI OEM for some PC compatible clone, but I'm wondering is that is for the TI Professional Computer (A non-IBM compatible machine that ran DOS). I don't feel like buying the manual just to find out, and it does not have disks with it.
I do know DOS 3.1 was available for the Zenith Z-100, which was a similar non-IBM PC compatible. (We have a crufty dump of that on WinWorld).
So is this DOS 3.1 for the TIPC? I've never seen anything later than their DOS 2.x floating around anywhere. I like to make these uncommon DOS versions available here, as the manufacturer's version is often the only way to run some of these early machines.
Comments
It’s got the same color scheme as this one, which make me wonder if it was an upgrade to be snapped into the binder: https://www.ebay.com/itm/254521985039
So googling the part number for the DOS 3 manual only has one result. It seems someone has archived a copy of Xenix for a later machine called the TI Business Pro, and it mentions that part number: http://www.openjill.org/oldies/xenix/version_2.0_texas_instrument_1.01/documentation/ in book 2.
It appears to be an AT version of TI computer. I have no idea if the DOS was backwards compatible.
Very interesting. I don't recall hearing about the Business Pro before. It seems like a high end workstation/server class computer, so there probably were not very many of them. It sounds like it was built with PC AT compatibility, yet retained some backwards compatibility with the oddness of the TI Professional Computer.
So it sounds like this TI Business Pro MS-DOS 3.1 probably would not have run on the TI Professional.
Still, if it ever turned up, it would certainly be good to archive, it would have had stuff specific for operating this machine.
I think this is what you're looking for. I've attached disk images of MS DOS v3.2 for the TI Business-Pro.
I worked at TI during the years of the TIPC and the Business-Pro. We started with TIPCs on our desk. They were later replaced with the Business-Pros. The BPro was an AT compatible. It had a dual video card system for TI and CGA video. You could reboot the machine into either a TIPC compatible mode or an AT compatible mode. When we first received BPros they had just the TI video controller because the graphics were so much better than the CGA video in AT mode. Eventually we found some compatible PC video cards (EGA or VGA?) so we could migrate completely to AT compatibility.
The MS DOS v3.2 disks came with the BPro as the TIPCs were removed so I don't ever remember finding out if the TIPC was compatible with the later MS DOS. I'm not even sure if the BPro ever had a 3.0 or 3.1 version of MS DOS.
I wish that some smart people could make an emulator for the TIPC or BPro. I've got some commercial software for the TIPC that I'd love to see run again. (Sorry, only file dumps, no disk images).
Thanks very much for sharing this! At a glance, it actually looks like a fairly bog-standard PC compatible MS-DOS 3.2 OEM.
I'd also love to see an emulator. I had really wanted to add a TI Professional Computer to my collection, as well as some other non-PC compatibles, but the last number of years, prices on such things on eBay have gone nuts. (also out of space ). BTW, I wouldn't mind taking a look at any other software, even if they are file dumps.
The Xenix 286 for the TI Business Pro linked to above had errors on their disk images due to disk damage. Since they included kryoflux dumps, I used some different decoding tools to re-decode them and produce images that are error free (sector content matches all sector CRCs)
Added it here:
https://winworldpc.com/product/xenix/286
In my opinion, it seems odd that it did not have more support. With the right drivers and adaptions, it would have made a nice Windows 1.x/2.x machine.
I read somewhere that some fans adapted DOS 6 source code floating around to the Zenith Z-100, a similar non-IBM compatible DOS machine. So with enough effort, that might be doable.