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SINTRAN OS Distribution Floppies — Volume & Content Patterns

Validation: all volume names, page counts, boot-format flags, and file listings below are observed via ndtool (the NDFS disk-image tool, -i / -t, read-only) on the floppy images in the SINTRAN distribution archives (SINTRAN-*/FLOPPY/). Interpretations of what name fields mean are marked [inf] where not confirmed by a manual.

1. Two separate things: volume NAME vs floppy CONTENT

  • The volume-name scheme is a general Norsk Data product-floppy convention — it is NOT unique to SINTRAN OS. ENCOS, BRF-LINKER, S3-CONFIG, the assembler subsystem, etc. all use the same NNNNNN<L><VV>-XX-NND form (verified: 210580B01-XX-01D = ENCOS, 210721C01-XX-01D = BRF-LINKER, 210400B00-XX-01D = MAC/FMAC assemblers).
  • What uniquely identifies a SINTRAN OS floppy is its CONTENT signature (§3), not its name. The user's assumption is correct: the OS file set is distinctive.

2. Volume-name pattern (general ND convention)

[N-] NNNNNN <L> <VV> [-XX] - <DD> D
      │      │    │     │      │   └ format/density indicator (always "D" here) [inf]
      │      │    │     │      └──── disk number within the set (01, 02, 03)      [obs]
      │      │    │     └─────────── option/sub-product field ("XX" = standard)   [inf]
      │      │    └───────────────── release revision (e.g. 03, 05, 06, 07)       [inf]
      │      └────────────────────── SINTRAN release letter (K, L, M)             [obs]
      └───────────────────────────── ND article/product number (6 digits)        [obs]

Observed OS-floppy volume names:

Version Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3 Pages Floppy
H (old scheme) N-10-102-I N-10-102-II N-10-102-III 154 360 KB
K N-220046K03--01D N-220046K03--02D — 616 1.2 MB
K05 N-250306K05--01D N-250306K05--02D — 640 1.25 MB
L 250305L07-XX-01D 250305L07-XX-02D 250305L07-XX-03D 616 1.2 MB
M 250306M06-XX-01D 250306M06-XX-02D 250306M06-XX-03D 616 1.2 MB

Notes: - H uses an older naming scheme (N-<part>-<roman numeral>), not the NNNNNN<L><VV> form. - K/K05 use a double dash -- where the -XX option field would be; L/M use -XX-. [obs] - The release letter embedded in the name (K03, K05, L07, M06) = SINTRAN release + internal revision. This is the most reliable name-based version cue for K/L/M. [obs]

3. CONTENT signature — what makes a floppy a SINTRAN OS floppy

Every OS floppy set has exactly one USER: SYSTEM and a fixed role per disk:

Disk 1 = the BOOT floppy (the strongest signature)

  • Boot format: FLOMON (verified on every version's disk 1: H-I, VSXK1, K05-01D, VSXL1, VSXM1)
  • Contains exactly 2 files: MACM-1718x:BPUN + the first SINTRAN image part:
Version MACM loader SINTRAN image (part 1)
H MACM-1718K:BPUN SINTRAN-I:DATA
K MACM-1718L:BPUN SINTRAN:DATA
K05 MACM-1718L:BPUN SINTRAN:DATA
L MACM-1718L:BPUN SINTRAN-L-1:DATA
M MACM-1718L:BPUN SINTRAN-M-1:DATA

MACM-1718*:BPUN together with a SINTRAN*:DATA file on a FLOMON-boot floppy is the definitive SINTRAN-OS-boot-floppy fingerprint. No other ND product floppy has this pair.

Disk 2 = continuation of the SINTRAN image (mostly)

  • H: SINTRAN-II:DATA; L: SINTRAN-L-2:DATA; M: SINTRAN-M-2:DATA (single file, the rest of the OS image).
  • K/K05 differ: disk 2 is the tools/symbols disk (see disk 3 content) rather than image part 2 — K's full OS image fits on one 574-page file.

Last disk = tools + symbol lists (the post-load setup kit)

Common files across K/K05/L/M last disks (verified): - NEW-SYSTEM:PROG — the guided post-install program (run after entering main directory) - DMAC-191x:BPUN, F32-FMAC-1920C:PROG, F48-FMAC-1408D:PROG - COS-TADADM:BPUN - Symbol lists: SYMBOL-1-LIST:SYMB, SYMBOL-2-LIST:SYMB, FILSYS-SYMBOLS:SYMB, RTLO-SYMBOLS:SYMB, LIBRARY-MARKS:SYMB, N500-SYMBOLS:SYMB - L/M add XMSG: XMSG-COMMAND:PROG, XMSG-STARTEX:MODE, XMSG-STARTEX:BATC, XMSG-SYMBOL-LIST:SYMB - M adds: N5000-SYMBOLS:SYMB, ND500-MONITOR:BPUN, ER-S3WD-* (error-logging) — matching the richer M feature set.

H's disk III is the equivalent kit (NEW-SYSTEM, symbol lists, DMAC-1915E, F32/F48-FMAC).

4. Recognition algorithm (how to detect a SINTRAN OS floppy)

Given a floppy image, classify with ndtool -i + ndtool -t:

  1. Single user SYSTEM and small volume (154 / 616 / 640 pages) → candidate.
  2. Boot floppy? Boot format: FLOMON AND files = {MACM-1718*:BPUN, SINTRAN*:DATA} → SINTRAN OS boot floppy. Read the MACM version (MACM-1718K = older/H, -1718L = K+).
  3. Continuation floppy? single SINTRAN*-2:DATA (or SINTRAN-II:DATA) file → OS image part 2.
  4. Tools/symbols floppy? contains NEW-SYSTEM:PROG + the *-SYMBOLS/SYMBOL-*-LIST:SYMB set + DMAC/FMAC → OS distribution kit disk.
  5. Version cue: the volume name's embedded release token (K03/K05/L07/M06); confirm with the SINTRAN-<x>-*:DATA filename (L/M encode the letter in the file name) and the MACM build.
  6. Patch floppy (related, not OS): own product number, Boot format: Binary, contains PATCH-FILE:MODE + PATCHES:PATC + NEW-SYSTEM:PROG (verified: ND-PATCH-SIN-M.img = vol 250360M04-XX-01D).

Counter-examples confirming the rule: 210400B00-XX-01D is Boot format: FLOMON too, but contains only assembler BPUNs (FMAC/MAC/QED/NPL) — no MACM-1718, no SINTRAN:DATA → not an OS floppy. So FLOMON-boot alone is insufficient; the MACM+SINTRAN pair is decisive.

5. Per-floppy verified inventory (summary)

See §3 tables. Full file listings were captured via ndtool -t on the floppy images in each distribution archive's FLOPPY/ folder: - SINTRAN-H: N-10-102-{I,II,III}.img - SINTRAN-K: VSXK{1,2}.img - SINTRAN-K05: N-250306K05--0{1,2}D.img - SINTRAN-L: VSXL{1,2,3}.IMG - SINTRAN-M: VSXM{1,2,3}.IMG

Re-run ndtool -i <img> / ndtool -t <img> to recover details.

Parent: ../README.md