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I was able to recently find a Multiplan disk set, complete 3 disk set, as show below in Photo #1 consisting of: Program Disk, Installation Disk and Template Disk.  As I couldn't find what particular version this is, nor any literature, I thought I would just try it my PC Jr.  The first attempt after putting in Disk 1 was the non-system disk error, so I figured DOS must boot first. After booting DOS 2.1, I got to the A> prompt and figured that MP was what you type in. When I did, you see the message in Photo #2 below.  A DIR showed in Photo #3 produced the Program Disk's Directory, and then just out of desperation, I put in the Installation Disk (Disk #2), and that produced the screen contents in Photo #4.

  image.thumb.jpeg.bad7e4cd139b5ef471a73afd56f9dab3.jpegimage.thumb.jpeg.907f004e6a1354f83a9ee6d0cc63a5ec.jpegimage.thumb.jpeg.887fbfeaf7f2769ee314c3d40ae35d2d.jpegimage.thumb.jpeg.d04fadcf5348419acdbeb1d49ca16066.jpeg

 

 

So my few questions:

 

A) I don't know what the message in Photo #2 is telling me, and/or what I have to do or if I should do this.... do you?

B) I didn't want to proceed any further with the message in Photo #4, so I just took out that Installation Disk and shut off the machine.

C) Most important question is... Are these disks usable in the PC Jr?  If so, can someone please provide the exact method to get them to work?  Please advise, thank you!

 

Edited by newTIboyRob

@OLD CS1  ... hello. So I'm trying to understand... I googled "CONFIG.SYS in MS DOS" and it said it is a text file containing DOS commands telling the OS how the computer is initially set up. It said it is located in the root directory of the drive, the same location from where the system is booted, and can be edited in any program. 

 

So naturally I couldn't find it on the DOS disk nor any of the Multiplan Disks, since it on the computer...does this mean the hard drive? 

I don't know much about this computer. Do you know exactly what I need to do to find it so I can type FILES=10 as you mentioned?

 

 

CONFIG.SYS does not contain DOS commands, so to speak.  It is a list of configuration commands used by DOS to configure its environment.  CONFIG.SYS should live on your DOS boot disk as it is examined during boot.  You can edit it with EDLIN, EDIT, or ED -- on that I am hazy, especially in relation to DOS 2.1.

Hmm.. I see the EDLIN file on the DOS disk, but from what can I gather above, CONFIG.SYS also would be on the DOS boot disk, yet it is not listed in a DIR/W... so I am puzzled how I can actually get in to that file to do any edits?   I played around a little in DOS and typed in edlin config.sys which eventually created a CONFIG.$$$ file... but was of no help, so I DEL that.

Puzzled.

Edited by newTIboyRob

Edlin should prompt "new file" if the specified file doesn't exist.  Edlin usage should be covered in the DOS reference guide.  If edlin is not on your boot disk, you'd have to run the command from one disk and create the file on a different disk.

 

Alternatively, if your boot disk doesn't have a config.sys file, you can create it directly on the boot disk with the following.

 

copy con config.sys

files = 10

[ctrl+z]

@mr_me  I wonder if I am at least getting closer. On my DOS 2.1 disk, at the A: > I typed in copy con config. sys  files = 10 cntrl z and pressed enter. Indeed, when I did the DIR/w, it had copied the file and appeared on the DOS 2.1 disk as "CONFIG.SYS."  That is the good news.

 

(I then tried the MP command at the A:> but same insufficiency error. )  So at the A:> I typed EDLIN CONFIG.SYS, and it came back with:

 

End of input file

*

...which seemed promising too, as the manual states that the entire file was loaded, and you can then edit the file.

 

Now the bad news. I wasn't sure what to do here (I tried the file=10, but that resulted in "Entry Error.")

 

So basically, now at least I have CONFIG.SYS file on the DOS 2.1 disk, but the MP command with the Multiplan Program Disk inserted still produced the same insufficiency message.

 

How can I proceed based on the above?

Edited by newTIboyRob

Double check that it is FILES = 10 in CONFIG.SYS. I looked at the PC-DOS 2.1 and I don't see an easy way to verify what the system settings for FILES and BUFFERS are. 

 

After entering the contents of CONFIG.SYS, reboot. The system won't change the memory allocation until the reboot. 

 

The disks you have are for version 3 which the Infoworld review indicates needs a minimum of 256K so if it does run, the spreadsheet will be tiny. 

FYI, typically CONFIG.SYS is marked as a hidden and/or system file, which hides it from normal directory display.  If so, the command 'dir /ah' would show it.  The command will also show the MSDOS.SYS and IO.SYS files (for MS-DOS) or IBMBIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM (for PC-DOS).

@Krebizfan  thank you for that info, especially for telling me that is version 3. I am at 128K so, yes, I see your point, not only will it be tiny, it will be very limited, that is, if I could get it to work at all.

 

Just to add to your post, if I type in CONFIG.SYS at the A:> prompt, all I get is "Bad Command or File Name", so I wouldn't know how to double check it is FILES = 10 in CONFIG.SYS since I can't even get in there.

 

I found an old book in my collection on the PC Jr, and it mentions in the glossary that Multiplan version 1.10 will work on the PC Jr. That's the good news and a great find. But then I am just back to my original issue of:   Can anyone, if I reimburse you for the postage, get version 1.10 and its accompanying disks (I think 3: Install, Program, Template) onto a floppy/ies that I can just use in PC Jr?  (I have gone through tons of trouble just trying to get ANY spreadsheet to run in Jr, but since the book told me that one definitely will work, which at least was half encouraging, I'd better just stick to that version 1.10 and that version 1.10 only.)

 

But... I don't have any emulators and I don't want to buy any emulators. I am also not the tinkerer and don't want to tinker.

 

Thus... I am (still) looking for someone who is willing to, and able to get me this program on disk. This would be a HUGE help, and give closure to yet another saga I have encountered!

3 hours ago, newTIboyRob said:

@mr_me  I wonder if I am at least getting closer. On my DOS 2.1 disk, at the A: > I typed in copy con config. sys  files = 10 cntrl z and pressed enter. Indeed, when I did the DIR/w, it had copied the file and appeared on the DOS 2.1 disk as "CONFIG.SYS."  That is the good news.

 

(I then tried the MP command at the A:> but same insufficiency error. )  So at the A:> I typed EDLIN CONFIG.SYS, and it came back with:

 

End of input file

*

...which seemed promising too, as the manual states that the entire file was loaded, and you can then edit the file.

 

Now the bad news. I wasn't sure what to do here (I tried the file=10, but that resulted in "Entry Error.")

 

So basically, now at least I have CONFIG.SYS file on the DOS 2.1 disk, but the MP command with the Multiplan Program Disk inserted still produced the same insufficiency message.

 

How can I proceed based on the above?

You have to reboot the machine for a modified or new config.sys to have any effect.

 

To list the contents of the file in edlin type L.  Alternatively you can display the contents of the file at the dos prompt with "type config.sys".

Edited by mr_me

@mr_me   I had turned the machine off a few hours ago. After you last post just now, I booted up the DOS 2.1 disk and at:

 

A> copy config.sys con

yielded:

files = 10

           1 File(s) copied

 

...so that was good. I put in the Multiplan program disk and typed MP but got the same error as above, so that was bad.

 

.....?

Edited by newTIboyRob

@mr_me  ... wow, could you/we have gotten ANY closer?  With your help, I was able to copy the file, see it was listed in a DIR/w, and check the file's contents. Indeed it displayed as files=(X whatever number I would create.)

 

You were correct, no spaces around the equals character. So I tried:

 

files=10   ...insufficient handle error message

files=12   ...(same result)

files=15   ... got really excited here, because the drive was churning, no message like I'd seen above, but then...a new screen:   **** UNABLE TO LOAD MULTIPLAN... INSUFFICIENT MEMORY AVAILABLE...  ***

files=20   ...(same result)

 

So that does it.

 

...Which takes us back to @Krebizfan 's comment 2 hours ago, it's being 256K (with mine being 128K),  that is like a strict brick wall for it, no ifs ands or buts really.  In short, essentially will not work with these disks on this machine.

 

But thanks for all your help. I will send these disks back and hope that Version 1.10 as mentioned will work can come to me by some miracle.

  • 3 weeks later...

Hello.

Your version of Multiplan 3.
You won't be able to run this on a PCjr.
PCjr has a hard RAM limit of 128k (no expansion).
This is not enough to run this version of Multiplan.
The latest version officially compatible with PCjr is 2.01.
The standard Multiplan 2.01 distribution includes a special patch file PATCH21.COM, which optimizes the executable file for working in the PCjr environment.
I recommend you find version 2.01.
Naturally, earlier versions (1.10, 1.20) are also compatible with your computer.

 

Lotus released a special ROM module to run 1-2-3 in a PCjr environment (due to the small RAM size).
Microsoft didn't do this.

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