Thank you very much for the offer, Steve. Someone else on another
forum sent me their NDOS master disk about a week ago. My system
booted fine, and I now have a full set of CP/M and NDOS disks. I had
one problem/challenge to overcome. Many CP/M programs I wanted to
run were not contained inside an image. And from what I have been
able to ascertain, the Dunfield utilties only can export/import text
files. I have tried others, but corruption seems to occur (in CP/M,
that is). I was able to work around this by using a KERMIT transfer
program on the NSTAR and a PC. Now I can transfer any files. I also
purchased a 1/8 inch hole punch. It's a slow process, but I have
been able to make working hard sector disks.

Thanks again for the offer. If it wasnt for generous collectors like
you, I would still be staring at a 150 pound paperweight (antique
papereight, that is!)

-Brian

--- In NorthStar_Computers@yahoogroups.com, "Steve Walker"
<automusic63@...> wrote:
>
> --- In NorthStar_Computers@yahoogroups.com, "brianties" <btt@>
> wrote:
> >
> > I just acquired a really nice N* horizon with 64k ram. Had to
> make a
> > small repair when a tantalum capacitor exploded. However, I
> replaced
> > it, and I am ready to test. Problem is, none of the tools out
> there
> > are going to get me anywhere without n*dos or a PROM monitor.
> Would
> > anyone out there be willing to sell me a boot disk? I should be
> able
> > to transfer anything I want from that point forward.
> >
> > Thanks for any help,
> > -Brian
> >
>
> Hi Brian,
> Welcome to the group! I acquired my Northstar Horizon about a year
> ago and had the same problem. Dave Dunfield's simulator is a must
> have and is great to transfer disks with. However, you cannot
> transfer disks with it unless you have a Northstar dos boot disk to
> start with! You could use a monitor in ROM to do the initial
> transfer of the NST stub program in order to make your own boot
disk
> but I don't know of any available. Also you would probably need to
> modify it anyway for your own I/O. If you can modify the I/O
> routines then you can probably write your own monitor but then you
> would still need a ROM card to be able to use it. Very frustrating!
> Usually the only ROM in a basic Northstar Horizon is a small
program
> to boot the floppy. It's a classic Chicken and Egg story. You need
a
> chicken (Northstar running a monitor program) in order to make an
> egg (a boot disk) but in order to make the chicken you need the
> egg!!
>
> Now for the good news. Andrew came to my rescue with boot disks
when
> I needed them. Now it's my turn to help. I can and will make the
> boot disks you need. I have a working hard sector disk punch and
can
> make 10 and 16 sector disks from soft sector disks. The disks I
make
> are identical to factory made 10 and 16 sector disks and work
> perfectly. Media is not a problem for me. I can make you a
NorthStar
> DOS Boot disk and a CP/M Boot disk. You need to be careful with
CP/M
> disks because CP/M can be set up for fast disk access (stepping) or
> normal disk access. If the CP/M you are trying to boot is set up
for
> fast disk access and your drives can't handle it you will have all
> kinds of weird things happen. You will think (as I did) your
> hardware or memory is bad. Some programs load while others do not.
> The directory may look fine but the file names are not correct or
> have illegal characters. The CP/M disk I send will be set for
normal
> stepping. Please let me know if you still need boot disks. If so,
> also let me know what disk controller you have so I can make the
> correct disks.
>
> Steve
>