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Erik
March 22nd, 2007, 05:52 PM
I just picked up a really nice Osborne Executive that seems to be as complete as a system can get without the original box.

It has all of the manuals and original disks as well as piles of other software (including just about every programming language available then.) It even has the original owners packet with the warrantee, etc.

Overall the system is in very good to excellent condition with only a bit of yellowing.

The best part, though, is that this is a factory custom system. It was an employee purchase and has a plaque on the front with the employee's name and a custom BIOS with the employee's name showing up on the boot screen.

Very interesting! :)

I'm probably not going to be able to take pictures until this weekend but I'll post those when I can.
Terry Yager
March 22nd, 2007, 06:39 PM
If I rattle my brain enough, I might be able to help you change the boot message to your own name (course, then you'd have to invest in a new plaque too).

--T
atari2600a
March 22nd, 2007, 07:06 PM
Is there any word in existence other than the word "awesome" that can describe your finding?
Druid6900
March 22nd, 2007, 07:18 PM
Lucky $#^&$%# comes to mind, actually LOL
atari2600a
March 23rd, 2007, 03:05 PM
Any updates, Erik?
Erik
March 23rd, 2007, 06:22 PM
Any updates, Erik?

Not quite yet.

It's sitting right next to me, but I need to clear the Kenbak off "the bench" before I can take pictures. :)
Mike Chambers
March 24th, 2007, 10:12 AM
awesome erik!

i have an osborne 1 (the original edition) that still seems to work perfectly. all i need is some BOOT DISKS!!!! argh...

but really, you should put some pics of your executive up.
Erik
March 25th, 2007, 02:02 PM
http://www.vintage-computer.com/images/osborneexecutivecustomsw.jpg

Here's a teaser pic. The rest can be found on the page at http://www.vintage-computer.com/osborneexecutive.shtml

Cheers.
atari2600a
March 25th, 2007, 02:26 PM
Very nice! </borat>
dongfeng
March 25th, 2007, 02:42 PM
Wow, such a cool find!

Does the machine get the personalised info from the custom ROMS? Or is that software actually custom edited?

A very nice touch :)
Erik
March 25th, 2007, 03:14 PM
Does the machine get the personalised info from the custom ROMS? Or is that software actually custom edited?

I couldn't tell you without doing some hacking. The software pictured says that it's a "Limited Osborne Employee" version so I'm guessing the software is designed to hit the employee ROM - but that's just a guess.
Terry Yager
March 25th, 2007, 04:25 PM
CP/M's BIOS lives on the bootdisk. The ROM only contains a small boot-loader program to begin reading the disk. Anyone with a hex editor can create thier own custom BIOS (and sometimes it even works).

--T
Erik
March 25th, 2007, 04:28 PM
CP/M's BIOS lives on the bootdisk. The ROM only contains a small boot-loader program to begin reading the disk. Anyone with a hex editor can create thier own custom BIOS (and sometimes it even works).

Yes, but the startup screen that's been customized on this box shows before a disk is in the drive. That's in ROM.
Terry Yager
March 25th, 2007, 04:31 PM
Did it by any chance come with a listing of the ROMs and/or CBIOS? (Or is that the hacking you need to do?)
Oh yeah, very pretty, BTW.

--T
curtis
March 25th, 2007, 04:51 PM
Wow, such a cool find!

Does the machine get the personalised info from the custom ROMS? Or is that software actually custom edited?

A very nice touch :)

It's a customized ROM. Had one of those for a while. Really nifty.

Curtis
Erik
March 25th, 2007, 05:15 PM
Did it by any chance come with a listing of the ROMs and/or CBIOS?

Not that I'm aware of. It may be on one of the disks I haven't explored yet.