Thanks for your Tandy 1000 TL video. Hope you have more adventures to show with the Tandy 1000 in the future. My TL/2 had deskmate In rom so it booted up really fast. Back in the day, Tandy graphics and sound was unbeatable in the PC market.
Sweet, complete system! My grandfather, the one who got me a CoCo2 for my fifth birthday, had a TL/2. One day I want one of these full-desktop size Tandy machines, 1000 RLX, RSX, some combination, or all of the above ;)
I've got a 1000RSX. I upgraded it with a Sound Blaster 16 and a SCSI card for a larger internal hard drive (bigger than 504MB), and SCSI CD-ROM and Zip drive in a two-bay external enclosure. Makes a very sweet retro rig for playing Sierra games, but a 2500RSX would probably be a better one to go for than the 1000RSX, if you can find one for a good price. It's the same motherboard as the 1000RSX, but the 5.25" bay in the 2500RSX makes adding a CD-ROM a LOT easier, and the ISA riser has an extra slot. Note: if you need to replace one of the 3.5" floppy drives, the floppy controllers throughout the 1000 line use the Shugart pinout, and some of them even have power over the ribbon cable, so you'll need to modify the ribbon cable appropriately if you can't find an original drive.
@@BollingHolt 25MHz is the fastest that Tandy released officially for the 1000 line, so far as I'm aware, though there's a 2500RSX on Vogons that's at 33MHz. Maybe that one was upgraded with a solder rework station, I'm not sure.
Tandy graphics and 3-voice sound were the cat's ass before VGA and SoundBLASTER became popular. The CM-5 is nice for gaming, but if you want to try programming or anything that's heavily text-based, I'd recommend getting a CM-11, if you can luck across one at a good price. Higher dot-pitch.
The Tandy sound system also included PCM waveform sound recording and playback on the SL and later 1000s. Deskmate included a sound recorder app and a music composition app that used a single instrument sample on floppy for each instrument that was pitch shifted to cover the scale. It was mind blowing to anyone who hadn't heard a soundblaster yet.
Sometimes older hard drives come back to life with a little "percussive" attention. It's also possible that the stepper motor has come out of alignment during shipping or other movement. There are other videos here somewhere about that. Older drives like that WD use steppers instead of voice coils to move the heads. Some people have had luck using sewing machine oil to lubricate the stepper shaft. Be careful not to move it unless you're sure that it's out of position. Thanks for the video!
@@CanadianRetroThings Bad tantalum capacitor on the slot maybe? I used to know where to find some Tandy circuit diagrams. When I have a minute I'll check.
Nice pickup, an 8Mhz 286. I was surprised when you spoke of the volume knob on the front it's a nice feature. I assume that it controls the volume of the buzzer or PC speaker, or did the 1000 have some kind of sound card built in? Thanks for the video Ken I haven't seen one of these before.
All of the Tandy 1000 line, from the original 1000, to the 1000 RSX, have the Tandy 3-voice sound. Not all of them have it on the same address though, so results may vary, depending on which games you're trying to play.
I recently acquired an XT-IDE card, but I haven't tried it in the Tandy yet. I got distracted because it came packaged with an NEC V20 that I put in one of my IBM 5150s along with the XT-IDE. One of these days I'll pull it out again...
@@BlackEpyon It didn't work on my SL when I tried it. I think I need to disable the ROM DOS in order for the boot sequence to scan option ROMS... I haven't had time to fiddle with it yet. :) The XT-IDE uses an option ROM similar to how VGA cards and some Network cards do. The PC boot sequence scans for and runs these before booting the OS.
Does it come with DeskMate on ROM as well, or is that from floppy? The Tandy 1100FD laptop has DOS 3.3 and the DeskMate shell both on ROM (minus the programs).
This will depend on the configuration of the non-volatile memory. Each model of 1000 has it's own setup program which was included on it's DOS floppy. It's almost like AT BIOS with the setup program run under DOS. The contents of the ROM doesn't change. There are flags though that specify boot order and whether each onboard peripheral is enabled or disabled. There's also a flag that enables or disables the ROM based DOS. I remember there was a site by a guy who called himself tvdog that had the setup programs available for download.
The setup files are available at ftp.oldskool.org Here's an html directory of them: www.oldskool.org/guides/tvdog/setups.html I hope I'm being more of a help than a bother!
As I said, this is the first computer like this I have ever used (I went from my CoCo2 and Apple 2 to a Windows ME computer) so all of the info is great! Thanks.
Thanks for your Tandy 1000 TL video. Hope you have more adventures to show with the Tandy 1000 in the future. My TL/2 had deskmate In rom so it booted up really fast. Back in the day, Tandy graphics and sound was unbeatable in the PC market.
I do plan on doing more with this computer as I learn more about it.
I enjoyed this video. My first PC was a Tandy 1000 TL/2 in 1990.
Sweet, complete system! My grandfather, the one who got me a CoCo2 for my fifth birthday, had a TL/2. One day I want one of these full-desktop size Tandy machines, 1000 RLX, RSX, some combination, or all of the above ;)
Now that I have tried one, I want more!
@@CanadianRetroThings I COMPLETELY understand! LOL
I've got a 1000RSX. I upgraded it with a Sound Blaster 16 and a SCSI card for a larger internal hard drive (bigger than 504MB), and SCSI CD-ROM and Zip drive in a two-bay external enclosure. Makes a very sweet retro rig for playing Sierra games, but a 2500RSX would probably be a better one to go for than the 1000RSX, if you can find one for a good price. It's the same motherboard as the 1000RSX, but the 5.25" bay in the 2500RSX makes adding a CD-ROM a LOT easier, and the ISA riser has an extra slot.
Note: if you need to replace one of the 3.5" floppy drives, the floppy controllers throughout the 1000 line use the Shugart pinout, and some of them even have power over the ribbon cable, so you'll need to modify the ribbon cable appropriately if you can't find an original drive.
@@BlackEpyon A 2500 RSX would be sweet! Is the 33MHz release of it the top end release of it?
@@BollingHolt 25MHz is the fastest that Tandy released officially for the 1000 line, so far as I'm aware, though there's a 2500RSX on Vogons that's at 33MHz. Maybe that one was upgraded with a solder rework station, I'm not sure.
Tandy graphics and 3-voice sound were the cat's ass before VGA and SoundBLASTER became popular.
The CM-5 is nice for gaming, but if you want to try programming or anything that's heavily text-based, I'd recommend getting a CM-11, if you can luck across one at a good price. Higher dot-pitch.
Good to know, I will keep my eye out.
The Tandy sound system also included PCM waveform sound recording and playback on the SL and later 1000s. Deskmate included a sound recorder app and a music composition app that used a single instrument sample on floppy for each instrument that was pitch shifted to cover the scale. It was mind blowing to anyone who hadn't heard a soundblaster yet.
good video...i am an 80s kid too..and i lovec my life back then....arcades music movies everything was great in the early 80s 82 being my best year...
The early 80's was when I got my first home computer (TRS-80 CoCo2) and video game console (ColecoVision) so, yes, my favourite time as well.
@@CanadianRetroThings ☺️
Sometimes older hard drives come back to life with a little "percussive" attention. It's also possible that the stepper motor has come out of alignment during shipping or other movement. There are other videos here somewhere about that. Older drives like that WD use steppers instead of voice coils to move the heads. Some people have had luck using sewing machine oil to lubricate the stepper shaft. Be careful not to move it unless you're sure that it's out of position. Thanks for the video!
So far the hard drive seems to be working fine in, nothing worked in the one expansion slot so I am sure that was the problem.
@@CanadianRetroThings Bad tantalum capacitor on the slot maybe? I used to know where to find some Tandy circuit diagrams. When I have a minute I'll check.
Also could be corrosion or a broken cold solder joint.
I have a VGA card in the SL mainly so that I can do the EGA 43 line text mode on my IBM 5151. The Tandy video only does Hercules modes.
I had "Out Of Box Experience", which I renamed "Excitement!"
I wish I had one of these back in the day!
I'm jealous! I've got an SL/2 but always wanted a TL!
There are more Tandy 1000s that I have my eye on!
Nice pickup, an 8Mhz 286. I was surprised when you spoke of the volume knob on the front it's a nice feature. I assume that it controls the volume of the buzzer or PC speaker, or did the 1000 have some kind of sound card built in? Thanks for the video Ken I haven't seen one of these before.
It controls the PC Speaker, when I booted KQ1 the music was from the internal speaker.
All of the Tandy 1000 line, from the original 1000, to the 1000 RSX, have the Tandy 3-voice sound. Not all of them have it on the same address though, so results may vary, depending on which games you're trying to play.
I had an RLX 1000. I liked DOS 6.22, I loved Desk Mate 3. Many games!
The games, sold separately, were Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and a Print Shop app.
I skipped these type of computers when they were out (I used my Apple 2GS all through the late 80's and 90's) but am enjoying it now!
I recently acquired an XT-IDE card, but I haven't tried it in the Tandy yet. I got distracted because it came packaged with an NEC V20 that I put in one of my IBM 5150s along with the XT-IDE. One of these days I'll pull it out again...
It should work just fine. I designed a custom XT-IDE for my 1000 HX (with the PLUS slots), and it boots without issues.
@@BlackEpyon It didn't work on my SL when I tried it. I think I need to disable the ROM DOS in order for the boot sequence to scan option ROMS... I haven't had time to fiddle with it yet. :) The XT-IDE uses an option ROM similar to how VGA cards and some Network cards do. The PC boot sequence scans for and runs these before booting the OS.
If you disconnect the flash or hard drive the TL will instantly boot into DOS 3.3 from the onboard firmware.
Thanks, I am learning as I go with this computer!
@@CanadianRetroThings It is a fantastic machine. I just wish I still had mine as well as my CoCos.
Does it come with DeskMate on ROM as well, or is that from floppy? The Tandy 1100FD laptop has DOS 3.3 and the DeskMate shell both on ROM (minus the programs).
This will depend on the configuration of the non-volatile memory. Each model of 1000 has it's own setup program which was included on it's DOS floppy. It's almost like AT BIOS with the setup program run under DOS. The contents of the ROM doesn't change. There are flags though that specify boot order and whether each onboard peripheral is enabled or disabled. There's also a flag that enables or disables the ROM based DOS. I remember there was a site by a guy who called himself tvdog that had the setup programs available for download.
The setup files are available at ftp.oldskool.org Here's an html directory of them: www.oldskool.org/guides/tvdog/setups.html I hope I'm being more of a help than a bother!
As I said, this is the first computer like this I have ever used (I went from my CoCo2 and Apple 2 to a Windows ME computer) so all of the info is great! Thanks.