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ND-210190K02 — FORTRAN for ND-500, version K02

Status: IN-PROGRESS — installer program identified and partially analysed, exact live dialogue NOT captured · Install source: [OBS] (directory listing) + [INF] (binary string analysis)

Field Value
Part number 210190K02
Base product ND-210190
Version K02
Release date files dated 1987-07-30 through 1987-12-12
CPU target ND-500
OS requirement SINTRAN III

Description

Native ND-500 FORTRAN compiler, shipped as an ND-500 domain (:LINK/:DSEG/:PSEG segment triple) with a real installer program — not a plain-file, manual-copy product like every ND-100 FORTRAN floppy in this catalog.

Distribution media

Floppy volume Contents
210190K02-XX-01D DESCRIPTION-FILE:DESC (domain description, 11 pages) · FORTRAN-500-K02:LINK/:DSEG (47 pages)/:PSEG (152 pages) — the compiler domain · FORTRAN-LIB-K02:NRF (51 pages), FORTRAN-TPS-K02:NRF (53 pages) — runtime library and an optional "TPS" component · IN-FORT-XX-K02:PROG (66 pages, the installer) / :INIT (11 pages) / :RSRC (11 pages) — installer program + its data files · SCRATCH-SEG-01:LINK/:DSEG/:PSEG and FIL-1-K02:PSEG/FIL-2-K02:PSEG — empty placeholder segments, user FLOPPY-USER

Confirmed by downloading the image (MD5 7cde7e416ca1ec59c9698dc06896d4a0) and reading with ndtool -t/ndtool -x.

What the installer binary reveals (recovered without a live run)

IN-FORT-XX-K02:PROG is a compiled program, not a plain-text :MODE script, so it cannot be decoded the simple bit-masking way that worked for the CC-100 :MODE files. Its embedded string constants were extracted directly, though, and they show enough to characterize it with confidence, even without running it:

  • It follows the same module family as the ND-500 Linkage-Loader installer already documented in ../../../INSTALL-ND-LINKAGE-LOADER-AND-BACKUP-SYSTEM.md §4 — embedded labels ^get_environment: / ^check_environment: and conditional branches keyed on a <prog_part> variable ('1' → get environment, '3' → check environment) mirror that installer's "Get start information" / "Check environment and resources" modules. [INF — structural analogy, not a byte-for-byte match]
  • It creates and sizes users: literal command templates for @CREATE-USER <<P0>>, @GIVE-USER-SPACE <<P1>>:<<P0>> <<P2>>, @DELETE-USER, @DELETE-USER-FILE, and @LIST-USER(S) are all present as string templates with <P0>/<P1>/<P2> substitution placeholders — this is an XCOM-style command-file generator, the same kind of macro engine seen driving other ND installers.
  • It has an optional component, controlled by an <install_tps> flag: when true, it copies FORTRAN-TPS-<ver><rev>:NRF (and otherwise FORTRAN-LIB-<ver><rev>:NRF) — i.e. the installer asks whether to install the TPS-related library variant, matching the two :NRF files seen on the floppy. What "TPS" stands for in this context (Transaction Processing System? Test Program System?) is not determined from the strings available.
  • It manages previous versions: RELEASE-DOMAIN/DELETE-DOMAIN <prev_dom_<file_nr>> and @DELETE-FILE <prev_file_<file_nr>> templates exist, consistent with a "delete old version" module like the NLL installer's module 2.
  • Some strings carry Norsk Data's own internal build artifacts: the path (PACK-THREE-6248:VAN-THUAN)IN-FORT-XX-500:PROG and Norwegian-language error text ("$Doing ESC ESC !!$" alongside "$COM startet p} nytt.$" — p} is a mojibake på) are leftovers from the compiler/installer's own build environment, not install-time output.

No prompt text resembling "Please specify..." or "(Y/N)" (the phrasing seen live in the NLL and Backup-System installers) was found in the extracted strings — either such prompts are constructed dynamically from smaller fragments (plausible, given the macro-template style seen above) or a live run is genuinely required to see them.

Installation procedure

Not confirmed. Given the strong structural resemblance to the NLL installer, the safe starting point is the same general flow documented in ../../../INSTALL-ND-LINKAGE-LOADER-AND-BACKUP-SYSTEM.md §4:

@(210190K02-XX-01D:FLOPPY-USER)IN-FORT-XX-K02:PROG
then expect a multi-module menu (get environment info → check environment → copy → exit), likely asking for a domain-owning user and whether to install the FORTRAN-TPS component. This has not been run — do not treat it as a confirmed procedure. If it follows the NLL pattern closely, the same gotchas likely apply (a missing default user aborting the whole installer, a silent domain-copy failure requiring @LIST-FILES verification afterward, etc.) — see ../../../INSTALL-ND-LINKAGE-LOADER-AND-BACKUP-SYSTEM.md §5 for the full gotcha list from that (different, but structurally similar) installer.

Configuration / post-install

Unknown — likely a DEFINE-STANDARD-DOMAIN-style step for cold-start persistence, by analogy with the NLL installer, but not confirmed.

Documentation

Provenance & open items

  • Source: floppy directory listing via ndtool -t; installer binary string constants extracted via ndtool -x + a raw ASCII scan (not disassembly) of IN-FORT-XX-K02.PROG.
  • TODO (blocking): run the installer live (RetroCore emulator or a real machine) to capture its actual prompts, module structure, and any gotchas — everything above the "what the binary reveals" section is inference from static strings, not observed behavior.
  • TODO: determine what "TPS" means in FORTRAN-TPS-K02:NRF.

Parent: ../README.md (ND-210190 product overview)