My DAP has died...

11/11/2012

I had a stroke of luck this morning. A random internet search turned up some software that's supposed to emulate a BA80 terminal. Whilst it was downloading, I switched on the 8870 which hasn't been used for a couple of months; it powered up fine and was showing status 26 (VDU Does Not Reply) within a few seconds. Unfortunatly, the DAP4 I have refused to power up correctly; it won't allow me to enter it's keyboard parameters. It' been flaky for a while and looks like it's now given up the ghost.

Later on, I'll open it up and see if I can get it going again. I've got several spare CPU boards I can try - no idea if they work or not, and it could be a PSU fault.

I had a very quick look at the new software I found but I'm going to have to experiment with the cable to PC connections a bit I think.

I really need to find BA80 - they always seemed much better than the DAP4s and more robust.

4 Comments

Michael

23/3/2013 01:23:14 am

I don't really know much about the 8870, in fact the only contact I've made with these machines was when replacing them with Unix systems and converting data from COMET. It's interesting to see, however, that they cloned (legally or not?) the DG Nova.

Related to BA80 emulation, Kermit95 seems to emulate a BA80 (see http://www.kermitproject.org/). This might be especially interesting since Columbia University has released the source code for Kermit95, making improvements to the emulation (I have no idea how well it works) feasible.

Matias

2/12/2013 12:59:27 pm

Hi, can you say what is the price of a DAP4 VDU? I´m going to sell one and I really need to know how much I can ask for it. Btw when you turn the DAP4 on without plugging it to Nixdorf computer, is the screen black, is there any lights (On/Off Switch of course) that will turn on when the power is on? Because in my DAP4 has a black screen and a light in a power switch. The reason why I´m asking this, is that I want to be sure that It´s working, before I sell it.

Please excuse my bad english, I´m from Finland you see.

administrator

3/12/2013 11:44:11 pm

A scrap or spare parts, it has little value. You cannot connect it to any other computer system so it's useless is a generic dumb terminal. However, to somebody who needs a DAP4 for their Nixdorf system it could have significant value. If you were in the UK for example, and I could see it working, I would offer around £150 - £200 for it. You need to understand that the DAP4 was used on many different Nixdorf computers; it can have a different processor board or PROMS fitted but looks exactly the same. When you turn the VDU on, you will only get the green power LED on the keyboard lit. Also, to the bottom right of the front of the VDU below the actual CRT is a clear plastic window. You will also see some LEDs light in there. When you turn the keyboard on, a Green LED should light immediately, then a few seconds later a red and yellow. There is a red LED to the right that only flashes when the VDU is connected to a computer.
The HT for the VDU will not be turned on until the VDU detects that it is connected to a computer so there is no way to test this.
From experience, most of these DAP4s now have problems with the PSU

See if the DAP will allow you to enter keyboard parameters.
If you turn the keyboard on, then press the blank button above the keyboard power switch, press the CR key (on the numeric keypad), then 0815 (again on the numeric keypad) and then the blank key. if you can complete this without the keyboard beeping at every key press there's a good chance the terminal is working. However, the only way to prove this is connect it to a suitable Nixdorf computer. I wish Nixdorf had added a self-test option.

Matias

5/12/2013 11:55:45 am

Thanks for your answer!

I didn´t realize that I have to press the on/off button from the keyboard. When I did, all the lights that you described, came on. Thank god it´s working!

My DAP has died...

Leave a Reply.

Author

Archives

Categories