William Lindley
formerly wlindley.com, l.l.c., Lindley Software, Lindley Systems
Shelbyville, KY 40065
☎ 480-947-6100 (landline) or 502-257-6767 (landline)
Bill's SysAdmin Blog − an occasionally updated journal of my take on this world and the computers and people in it. Topics: Linux, Perl, Mojolicious,…
Also see the vi/emacs Rosetta Stone
Mr. Lindley has been a software developer and computer consultant since 1980, when he started the predecessor company to wlindley.com, l.l.c.
About Me:
My first home computer was an RCA VIP, which used the 1802 processor (the same as on NASA’s Galileo probes, which are still operating). While I did learn FORTRAN on cards punched on an IBM 029 card-punch, I learned to program on a language called CHIP-8 on the VIP. I had two articles published in the VIPER magazine:
- A CHIP-8 Editor for the VIP, Volume 4 Issue 4, October-November 1982
- A CHIP-8 Assember in BASIC, Volume 6 Issue 1, September 1984
My first commercial product was the “Ultimate Printer Driver” originally released in August 1980, which I co-developed with my father, Robert A. Lindley. This driver permitted a variety of printers to be used with a Heathkit H-89 running HDOS (Heath Disk Operating System, typically with 48K of RAM and a single 90K disk drive). The standard HDOS distribution only supported Heathkit printers; our Ultimate Driver supported printers from BASE-2, Epson (starting with the MX-80 and MX-100), Okidata, Dataproducts, and many more.
Robert Lindley passed away in 2014 after fighting colon cancer and we miss him dearly.
1982 — The Heathkit H-89
(with Maxwell 1200 modem and
dual drives on both hard and soft sector controllers)
In the mid-1980s, I expanded from printer drivers and sold hard disk systems (known as “Winchester” back then) which combined standard hardware components with custom engineering and software drivers.
1986 — The Heath/Zenith Z-100
(with Lindley Systems’ 10 Megabyte MEGADISK drive)
We continued developing software for the IBM PC and the Zenith series of computers. Here I am in 1986 with the Z-150 running Zenith MS-DOS 2:
The software below, originally copyright © wlindley.com, or its predecessors LS Software, or Lindley Systems, is hereby released into the public domain, “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.
These drivers and other programs for the HDOS and CP/M operating systems may be used on H/Z-89/90 and H/Z-100 computers. Source code is included, with object / executables where applicable. These drivers are good examples of how very small, efficient code can be incredibly powerful.
HDOS/CPM/MS-DOS/Z-DOS
- PC89LINK v 2.01. Miscellaneous bits, HDOS and CP/M source code in C, missing .ABS and .COM files but with .EXE’s for MS-DOS and Z-DOS.
Productivity
- DIAMOND Accounting for HDOS. ZIP file includes contents of both original disks.
Ultimate Driver
- Runs the printer with standard [serial or parallel] cable, no special wiring or soldering, just set the switches.
- Controls all printer functions from any text file or your keyboard.
- Special code for long lines, overstrike, underlining, super and subscripts.
- HDOS SET options displayed with the HELP command.
- HDOS version has LP0: -> LP4: programmable initialization sequences.
- Assembly switches for serial and parallel interfaces: H/Z-89, H8-4, H8-5 serial; FBE, TRUDATA, H8-2 parallel; or add your own.
- Full source code included; change as desired.
- Full documentation included on disk.
- [Originally] $20.00 postpaid.
- Download:
- HDOS Ultimate Printer Driver, version 6.0 or
- CP/M Ultimate Printer Driver, version 6.0 (both in ZIP format)
UPC (Universal Printer Character) Driver
- Easy to use 8×10 character generator to design your own set of 128 characters.
- Normal and inverse printing of all characters.
- H/Z-19 character set supplied. You can start with this set and generate any language or special graphics you desire in the 8×10 matrix.
- All characters can be printed from keyboard or text file.
- Supports ESC p, q, F, and G; not ESC Y.
- Produces 60 or 120 characters, 480/960 dots, per line.
- Excellent for forms and special effects.
- [Originally] $25.00 postpaid.
- Download:
- HDOS Universal Printer Character Driver, version 6.0; or
- CP/M Universal Printer Character Driver, version 3.4 for Epson ™ and compatible printers (both in ZIP format)
Other Heathkit Resources