[Info-vax] Help save a Rainbow

[Rich Jordan]

On Aug 24, 1:58 pm, VAXman-  @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote:
> In article <9391c98b-dc33-45c6-87d7-f98d4ed16... at a36g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>, starchild <totheedgeoft... at msn.com> writes:
>
> >Just saved a Rainbow 100+ from the recycle bin. The unit powers up,
> >but the hd appears to be doa. I recall that the Rainbow only supported
> >mfm drives. Does anybody recall what mfm drives the Rainbow would
> >support and does anybody have a copy of the Rainbow OS available. I
> >think the Rainbow supported CP/M 80/86, but the Rainbow didn't support
> >the standard MS-DOS. Any help in restoring this classic DEC machine
> >would be helpful.
> >tks
>
> I'm pretty sure it was just an ST-251.  I may have RX50s here with CP/M
> for the Rainbow.  If you can get the drive replaced (and those old MFM
> drives are priced like gold these days so good luck), I can give you a
> copy of CP/M or put you in touch with people who can.
>
> --
> VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker    VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
>
> All your spirit rack abuses, come to haunt you back by day.
> All your Byzantine excuses, given time, given you away.

Darn those are expensive.  Makes me sad my packrat tendencies
overlooked things like that.

I have seen within the last year a few very old PCs at thrift shops
(one PC/AT, a couple of clones) that could have included hard drives.
While the big ones like Goodwill probably pitch/recycle anything too
old perhaps you could ask them also.  The ones here have pretty nice
people working who might be willing to set aside really old stuff for
a few days so you have a chance at it.

You could also search for a complete 'clone' system from Zenith (hint)
on ebay (hint), or the multitude of other vendors of the day who used
disks of that type.  Probably cheaper than a 'genuine IBM XT or PC/
AT'...