This page last updated June 21 2024, (c) Herb Johnson 2024To return to the document index click here.
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Cromemco was a Mountain View, California microcomputer company known for a series of high-end S-100 bus computers in the early days of the microcomputer revolution. They were one of the first S-100 producers, after MITS and IMSAI. Their machines were also known for generating computer graphics for television stations. They produced systems used by the US military, and by companies and institutions around the world. Companies descended from Cromemco still exist in the 21st century. (Some of this statement courtesy of Robert Kuhmann.)
I have an extensive collection of Compupro manuals and documents. This includes lists of documents, catalogs, promotional literature, and newsletters. Review the list carefully for documents of interest.
A series of notes on Cromemco history have now been moved to this Web page.
Barry Watzman, a former Heath/Zenith engineer in the S-100 era, posted the following in comp.os.cpm in later 2009. I copy it here with his permission. I got a reply in 2022, also here with permission from Jonathan Chapman. - Herb
In discussion of the 4FDC, there is a lot of mention of the data separator. FWIW, pretty much ALL 8" drives initially had an onboard data separator. It is trivial to do data separation on SINGLE DENSITY FM, and for the 1st five years or so of floppy diskettes, that's all there was. It is true that while almost all drives had an onboard one-shot data separator (it's basically a one-chip circuit), it usually wasn't used ... most diskette controllers did their own data separation from unseparated raw data.
The real problem with the 4FDC was that it purported to support both 8" and 5" drives, and 5" drives normally did not have onboard data separators (the Wangco (later bought by Siemens)) drive did; we used that drive in the Heathkit computers also, it was a good drive).
Of course, double density (MFM)was a whole different ballgame, no drives had onboard double density data separators that I am aware of, so when the 16FDC came out, it had an onboard data separator. And it was a much better FDC. - Barry Watzman, 2009
In Jan 2022, Jon Chapman was working on some 4FDCs, and sent this reply to Barry. "... there's a lot of misinformation out there, about the poor old 4FDC. It will in fact do [adequate] data separation on 5.25" drives. You can use any old 5.25" drive with it -- I use Tandon TM-100s with mine. Here's my [2014] writeup. The WD1771's internal data separator isn't great, but it's apparently adequate for 250 kHz FM. Cromemco chose to enable it when 5.25" disk mode is selected, but disable it in favor of 8-inch on-drive separators." - Jon Chapman. (The Shugart 800/801 is an example of 8-inch drives with their own data separators. That fell out of favor in later 8-inch drives. - Herb) Jon has some good suggestions about use of the 4FDC and RDOS and CDOS versions.
Barry also noted: "There were two different Cromemco 2708 "Bytesavers"..There was a later Bytesaver II which was much better. The big difference was that the II had bank select, which was actually a pretty big deal for a prom burner board. here was also a "32K Bytesaver", which was basically a Bytesaver II (with bank select) that programmed 2716's instead of 2708's. - end quote
Look for some discussion of the Persci floppy drive with the Cromemco 16FDC on this Web page.
In mid-2024 I worked on restoring and duplicating a Cromemco JS-1 Joystick.
I have some RDOS ROM images at this links page..
Roger Hanscom's Web site has a section where he's collected a number of Cromemco CBIOS sources, among others.
Dazzler hardware
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Dazzler Instruction Manual (Rev D), 023-0003, November 1978, 15pp.
Dazzler Instruction Manual (Rev c), 1977, 16 pgs
General Technical information, prob 1975, 10 pgs.
Schematic and Foil Diagrams (color), 1975, 6 pages
General Technical information rev C
Schematics rev C
Assembly manual rev C
"Build the TV Dazzler", Pop Elect article Feb 1976, 5 pgs from original
Dazzler Software packages
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Dazzler Graphics manual, 1978, 83 pgs. For "DSR" disk.
Software reference for line, point, char generator, etc.; DAZZLEPLOT
Dazzler Games Manual, 1977, 42 pgs
Software ref. for games, some source listings. for "FDG" disk.
Dazzlemation manual, with source, also papertape. 14 pgs
Kaleidoscope, with source. 5 pgs
Kaleidoscope 1.0, copy of source, 3 pgs
Spacewar, with hex listing, also with papertape. 15 pgs
DazzleChess instruction manual, 1978, 17 pgs
Tic Tac Toe manual, with paper tape, 12 pgs
Life manual, 14 pages with listing.
Life, V 2.0 w/source and dump, 1976, 10 pgs
Life, hex dump and description, no date but early, 2 pages
Service manual series from Cromemco - part 1
-----------------------------------
Structured Basic Instruction Manual,December 1982, 023-0080, 400 pp. (2 copies)
Addendum to above:023-0094, 30 pgs
68000 Fortran 77, instruction manual 023-4046, July 1983, 200 pp.
TDS tape drive system user manual, 023-6036, September 1982, 20 pp.
Cromemco 68000 Pascal instruction manual, 023-4047, april 1983, 150 pp.
Monitor and control basic instruction manual, 023-4044, August 1982,125 pp.
3355A Printer driver instruction manual, 023-4005, March 1980, 5 pp.
16K extended BASIC instruction manual, 023-0037,December 1979, 275 pp.
3K control BASIC, 023-0023, June 1979, 65 pp.
3703 printer users manual, 023-0075, September 1982, 30 pp.
3703 printer technical manual, 023-0074, September 1982, 150 pp.
3102 terminal tech manual, 023-6001, September 1982, 200pp.
3355A printer theory of operation, 023-6003, March 1980, 150pp.
3102 video terminal users manual, 023-6004, March 1980, 75pp
3355A NEC Spinwriter printer maintenance manual, 023-6005, March 1980, 200pp.
3355A printer product description, 023-6007, January 1982, 50 pp.
RGB-13 users manual, 023-6014, September 1980, 10pp
Technical manual for above, 023-6019, February 1981, (Mitsubishi model C3419 color monitor), 50 pp.
GPIB instruction manual, 023-2007, April 1983, 100 pp.
CSP instruction manual, 023-2009, June 1982, 100 pp.
TDS Tape Drive System Instruction Manual (Cipher F880 drive), 023-6031, June 82, 120pp.
CNET Interface instruction manual, 023-2019, April 1983, 170pp.
64KZ-2 instruction manual, 023-2020, November 1982, 16 pp.
256KZ instruction manual, 023-2021, October 1982, 15 pp.
64FDC instruction manual, 023-2022, March 1983, 75 pp.
ADC12 instruction manual, 023-2025, August 1983, 25pp.
DAC 12 instruction manual, 023-2026, August 1983, 25pp.
Cromix operating system instruction manual, 023-4022, June 1982, 500 pp.
299B PerSci disk drive technical manual, 023-6000, April 1981, 50 pp.
as above, allignment procedure, 023-6009, November 1980, 50pp.
3355A printer operator's guide, 023-6006, January 1982, 30pp.
PerSci maintenance and installation manual, model 277, 023-0056, 50pp
Wangco model 82 floppy drive operatinand maintenancemanaual, 023-0058, July 1981, 50pp.
3355B printer technical manual, 023-6035,April 1982, 200pp.
33779 Centronics 779 printer operators guide, 023-6015, December 1980, 25pp.
3715 Centronics 715 printer instruction manual, 023-6024,September 1981, 25pp.
3779 printer technical manual, 023-0076,November 1982, 50 pp.
PerSci drives: Cromemco PerSci 299B disk drive technical manual, Cromemco #023-6000, April 1981, 50 pp.
PerSci 277 disk drive allignment procedure, Cromemco #023-6008, March 1980, 15 pp.
PerSci model 277 diskette drive product spec, Cromemco #023-0057, 25 pp.
PerSci 277 disk drive instruction manual (parts list and schematics), Cromemco #023-0016, May 1980, 50 pp.
PerSci drives used by IMSAI, model 70, 270, 277, 1070 documents - See my IMSAI Web page
Fortran IV reference manual, 023-0038, June 1981, 170pp.
C reference manual, 023-4029, February 1981, 100 pp.
COBOL reference manual, users guide, 023-0049, November 1980, 200 pp.
SDI graphics software instructional manual, for High-Resolution software, 023-4015, August 1980, 115 pp.
LISP instruction manual, 023-4006, June 1980, 140 pp.
IOP development software, 023-4032, October 1982, 130 pp.
RATFOR reference manual, 023-0067, June 1979, 35pp.
Link & LIB reference manual, 023-4026, September 1980, 26pp.
Reformatter disk utility, 023-4028, April 1983, 50 pp.
TSDI instruction manual, 023-4039, July 1983, 20 pp.
Service manual series from Cromemco - part 2
-----------------------------------
ZPU 023-0012, June 1981, 20pp.
TU-ART (TUART) 023-0011, January 1983, w/ TMS5501 UART data sheets, 35 pp.
16KPR, 023-0010, April 1979, 10 pp.
4KZ, 023-0006, July 1980, 10 pp.
16KZ, 023-0007, January 1982, 20 pp.
Joy stick, 023-2317, November 1978, 10 pp.
4PIO instruction manual, 023-0079, July 1979, 50 pp.
Signiture analysis and troubleshooting procedures, 023-6010, March 1980, 15pp.
System 2, instruction manual, 023-6021, February 1983, 70 pp.
CTI and C-1 instruction manual, 023-6041, March 1983, 80 pp.
Bytesaver II, 023-0001, March 1980, 25pp.
32K Bytesaver, 023-0002, September 1981, 50pp.
PRI instruction manual, 023-0055, March 1982, 35pp.
Dazzler (Rev D), 023-0003, November 1978, 15pp.
Dazzler Assembly manual & schematics, Rev C, 6 pp.
D+7A, 023-0004, October 1981, 15pp.
4FDC, 023-0005, January 1980, 50pp.
8PIO, 023-0047, February 1982, 25pp.
68000 board family, 023-2016, May 1983, 50pp.
Debug, 023-4038,June 1981, 50 pp
Z80 macro assembler, 023-0039,February 1982, 200pp.
Text editor, 023-0040, August 1978, 50 pp.
Screen editor, 023-0081, January 1981, 70 pp.
Z80 monitor, 023-0021, February 1980, 30 pp.
DBMS, 023-0063, January 1981, 60 pp.
Slide master, 023-4034, September 1981, 250 pp.
RBTE remote batch terminal emulator, 023-4033, September 1981, 100pp.
Overlay linker, 023-4035, August 1981, 70 pp.
Dazzler graphics, 023-0044, October 1978, 85 pp.
RDOS, 023-0052, January 1979, 30 pp.
Multiple SDI system appnote, 023-9022, March 1981, 9 pp.
System 0, 023-6018, March 1982, 100 pp.
System 3, 023-6038, March 1983, 100 pp.
SCC (single card computer), 023-0050, May 1982, 100 pp.
SDI Graphics Interface, hardware manual, 023-2001, April 1980, 75 pp.
48KTP, 023-2002, July 1980, 25 pp.
16KTP, 023-2003, April 1982, 25 pp.
BRZ-II, BRZ-III ventilation units, 023-6016, April 1981, 20 pp.
16FDC, 023-2004, May 1981, 75 pp.
Quadart, 023-2005, November 1981, 200 pp.
IOP instruction manual, , 023-2006, May 1982, 120 pp.
Signature analysis, 023-6010, March 1980, 25pp
3102 video terminal, 023-6025, October 1981, 85 pp.
7710 IMI 7700 hard disk, 023-6027, January 1982, 100 pp.
HD5, IMI 5007 disk drive, 023-6028, January 1982, 100pp.
MDM1200 modem, 023-6029, September 1982, 75pp.
Service manual series from Cromemco
-----------------------------------
3703G operators and programmers guide, Centronics 703 printer, 023-6030, January 1982, 50 pp.
3355B printer, NEC 7700 Spinwriter, 023-6032, December 1982, 30pp.
3355B printer users manual, 023-6033, January 1982, 20 pp.
HD-5 installation, 023-6034, September 1982, 12 pp.
HD-20 installation, 023-6042, April 1983, 20 pp.
CLQ printer operation, 023-6046, June 1983, 30 pp.
KSAM instruction manual, 023-4043, January 1982, 80 pp.
Font master, 023-4037, October 1983, 65pp.
Write master word processor, 023-4031, January 1982, 145 pp.
Formatter II, 023-4027, December 1980, 75pp.
DBR Database reporter, 023-4024, September 1981, 150 pp.
RPG II, 023-4002, January 1983, 300 pp.
Cromemco user manuals
----------------------
CSP CBus Serial-Parallel inerface, 023-2009, June 1982, 86pp.
RDOS instruction manual, 023-0052, January 1979, 30 pp.
Series II CDOS, 023-0036, February 1980, 125 pp.
CDOS users manual, 023-0036, November 1978, 110 pp.
ZPU, 023-0012, April 1979, 30pp.
64KZ, 023-0008, January 1980, 30 pp.
RDOS instructio manual, 1978, 30 pp.
64FDC instruction manual, 023-2022, March 1983, 80 pp.
Bytesaver II, 023-0001, March 1980, 25 pp.
Cromemco catalog, summer 1978, 35 pp.
Z2 (21 slot bus and chassis?), Z-2/Z-2D, 1978, 15 pp.
Cromemco catalog, automn 1980, 70 pp.
TU-ART, 023-0011, January 1983, 35pp.
(copy) 4FDC, 023-0005, January 1980, 50 pp.
(copy) HDD system instruction manual, 023-0092, September 1979, 25 pp.
4FDC, 023-0005, January 1980, 50 pp.
Macro assembler, 023-0039, October 1978, 200 pp.
Macro assembler addendum, 023-4001, January 1980, 50 pp.
Cromemco trace system simulator, 1978, 35 pp.
RDOS source code, ver. 2.01, with service notes, 100 pp.
z80 macro assembler, 023-0039, February 1982, 200 pp, with updates
Link and Lib, 023-4026, September 1980, 25 pp.
Debug, 023-4038, June 1981, 50 pp.
D+7A, 023-0004, October 1981, 15 pp.
Quadart, 023-2005, October 1980, 25pp.
Fortran IV instruction manual, 1978, 35 pp.
Fortran IV users manual, 023-0042, 1978, 30 pp.
16K extended BASIC instruction manual, rev. 2.0, 023-0037, 1978, 230 pp.
Macro assembler, 023-0039, October 1978, 180 pp.
Trace systems simulator, 1978, 35 pp.
RDOS, 1978, 30 pp.
CDOS users manual, 023-0036, November 1978, 120 pp.
Text editor, 023-0040, August 1978, 60 pp.
Text formatter, 023-0046, August 1978, 50 pp.
Database management system, 023-0063, 1978, 25 pp.
COBOL, 023-0049, September 1978, 140 pp.
CDOS users manual, 1978, 32 pp.
Z80 monitor, 1978, 26 pp.
16K extended BASIC, 023-0037, rev. 2.0, 1978, 230 pp.
CDOS users manual, 1978, 30 pp.
Bytesaver, 1976, 15 pp.
CDOS users manual, 023-0036, November 1978, 100 pp.
Cromix, 023-4022, December 1982, 500 pp.
CDOS, 023-0036, December 1982, 170 pp.
4FDC, 023-0005, 1977, 50 pp.
Screen editor, 023-0081, January 1981, 60 pp.
Screen editor, 023-0081, January 1981, 60 pp.
PRI, 1978, 10 pp.
PRI, 023-0055, March 1982, 35 pp.
System One, 023-6022, March 1983, 70 pp.
System One, 023-6022, March 1983, 70 pp.
Text editor, 023-0040, August 1978, 50 pp.
4FDC, 023-0005, 1977, 50 pp.
Bytesaver, 1976
TM848 Tandon 8" floppy disk drive, 023-6040, Decemer 1982, 60 pp.
Formatter II, 023-4027, December 1980, 75 pp.
CDOS users manual, 1978, 30 pp.
Additional manuals
-------------------
STDC hardware manual, 27 pgs
BRZ Ventilation manual: copy, ask
CTD Instruction manual, 023-6056 rev C 1985, 36 pgs
WDI-2 hardware manual, 80 pgs
Cromix system manuals
----------------------
These are not all completely cataloged. Ask me about any Cromix product or manual.
There was a Cromix, and a Cromix Plus, pair of products. An early version of Cromix
ran on the Z80; a later version ran on the 68000 and 68010. I believe the latter was
a derivative of UNIX System V. Any info on this would be appreciated. "update notes"
are documents from Cromemco which provide updated info or revision info, issued at
intervals.
CDOS/CPM simulator - 300-400 pages with source listings, ask for details
Cromix Software Update Release notes, 1982-84 about 150 pages. Ask.
Cromix MultiUser MultiTasking Operating System, 023-4022, Dec 1982, 500 pgs
68000 Linker Instruction Manual, 023-4055 Feb 83 30 pgs
68000 Debugger Instruction Manual, 023-4054 Feb 83 40 pgs
68000 Assembler Instruction Manual, 023-4053 Feb 83 150 pgs
Modifying a Cromix Driver, 023-4052 Feb 83 46 pgs
68000 Fortran 77, instruction manual 023-4046, July 1983, 200 pp. also rev B
Fortran 77 software update notes Oct 82 - May 87
Cromemco 68000 Pascal instruction manual, 023-4047, april 1983, 150 pp.
Cromix operating system instruction manual, 023-4022, June 1982, 500 pp.
Cromix Instruction Manual, utility descriptions, over 300 pages
68000 Basic Plus Reference Manual, 023-4062 Sep 83 169 pgs
Cromix Plus Drivers Instruction Manual, 023-5027 rev B Jan 86 8 pgs
Cromix Plus Users Reference Manual 023-5013 rev E Feb 87 300 pgs. Also rev D
Introduction to Cromix Plus reference Manual, 023-5012 rev F Oct 87, 110 pgs. Also rev D
Cromix Plus Programmers Reference Manual, 023-5014 rev F Oct 87, 150 pgs. Also rev c, E
Cromix Plus Systems Administrators Guide, 023-5020 rev i Jul 88, 100 pgs. Also rev E
Cromix Plus Software updates notes, May 85 to Aug 88
68000 Symbolic Debugger Reference Manual, 023-4080 rev B May 87, 120 pgs. also rev A
68010 C reference Manual (Cromix Plus), 023-4056 reb B may 87, 120 pgs
68000 C programming Language reference, upgated 1,2, 3, 4, about 30 pages
Cromemco literature, publications, indexes
------------------------------------------
We have a number of Cromemco app notes, articles, price lists, etc. We
will try to add these to the list below as time permits.
International Association of Cromemco Users Resource Guide, 1986, 230 pgs
(list of cromenco software vendors and products)
Documentation Control Report 11/4/85: list of docs, app notes, article reprints! 15 pgs
Cromemco Catalogs and Sales Literature
Working Wonders with Cromemco: an engineer's perspective, 14pgs color
Microcomputer Systems - Summer 1981 catalog, 80 pgs
Microcomputer Systems - short form catalog, prob. 1982, 8 pgs
Microcomputer Systems - Autumn 1978 catalog, 46 pages
product sheets, 1982: System 1, 68K processor, DPU, prices, etc. 14 pgs
Dealers and distributors list, 1983, 8 pgs
Cromemco C-10 brochure, 2 pgs
Cromemco C-10 brochure, 1983, 10 pgs
Board level catalog, 1983, 52 pgs
Systems Catalog, 1983, 70 pgs
assorted product descriptions, 2 pgs each, 1983-84, 22 pgs total
1984 price list, 8 pgs
System 100/300 catalog, 1984, 8 pgs
1985 price list, 12 pgs
XXU catalog & upgrade offer, 11 pgs
1986 price list, 12 pgs
System 115 brochure, 1987, 4 pgs
System 460 brochure, 1988, 4 pgs
1988 price list, 12 pgs
Cromemco "NEWS for OEM's and ISO's" from Cromemco, press releases mostly
issue 68 Sept 82 to 92 July 84; issues 129 for 1988
Sofware Customer Service, Dealer Hotsheets (fixes), #5, #4, #2 for 1983
Spare parts price list for April 1982 (no cards)
I/O News (magazine of the Inter. Assoc. of Cromemco Users)
1985 1986 1987 1988
Vol 3 #2, 48 pgs Vol 4 #1, 44 pgs Vol 5 #1, 36 pgs Vol 6 #1, 42 pgs
Vol 3 #3, 48 pgs Vol 4 #2, 48 pgs Vol 5 #2, 38 pgs Vol 6 #2, 36 pgs
Vol 3 #4, 34 pgs Vol 4 #3, 40 pgs Vol 5 #3, 40 pgs Vol 6 #3, 32 pgs
Vol 3 #5, 44 pgs VOl 4 #4, 36 pgs Vol 5 #4, 30 pgs
Vol 3 #6, 48 pgs Vol 4 #5, 36 pgs Vol 5 #5, 36 pgs
Vol 4 #6, 36 pgs Vol 5 #6, 36 pgs
Herb Johnson
Copyright © 2024 Herb Johnson