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Last revision of this page: January 24, 2025

Personally, I find the Kaypro Robie very well thought-out and ergonomic. The screen is at the right angle, the case is narrower - you have more space on the desk - and the two floppy drives are where they don't bother. Perfect for a desktop computer. If it hadn't been for the problem with the Drivetec drives, the Robie could have been a big hit.

According to Rick Gordon [1], the design was created by Andrew Kay's daughter Janice Batter Kay, an architect. She has also designed several buildings for Kaypro.

• First Appraisal
• Better ROM
• Better Disk Drives
• Mainboard
• External Links
• References

Unpacked, CRT is fine, nothing is rattling, no loose parts. Thank God. A quick look inside was quite positive, I've seen worse.

Considering that the Robie was rescued (by the seller) from the bulky waste, it actually looks very good. There are already a few worn spots on the corners and edges. I find it much more surprising that the mainboard and the CRT have not been damaged.

So I plugged in another keyboard, the power cord and switched on ... No bang, no smells but no picture either, oops! Drive A: lit up as usual and the fan spun quietly. Since I had turned the brightness control just before, I turned it back and forth again and, lo and behold, a stable picture appeared.

I had already reckoned with a different ROM, after all, other drives are used. But this ROM version is completely unknown to me, never seen before

But at least the Robie works. Then I connected two known working floppy drives, installed a new ROM (4/84, 81-292A) and created an appropriate boot disk. Second try and the Robie starts perfectly. I can't believe it. I use CP/M 2.2F or G.

Monitor ROM

Since I am very curious by nature and the UNIVERSAL BOARD of the Robie is designed for an 8K ROM, I quickly burned the Micro Cornucopia PRO 84-52, PRO-884 MAX and Super MAX 2.7 ROM onto different 2764 EPROMs and tested them. All three work flawless. Currently I use the original PRO-884 MAX v1.0 by L. Stump and D. Cotant; not the Super MAX.

I can't quite figure out the Super MAX 2.7. It is originally from the Don Maslin archive and is specifically labeled "Kaypro 4/84 monitor Micro C Super MAX 2.7 (884max.rom)". But in the ROM itself there is not a single reference to Micro Cornucopia; lack of space?

Character Generator ROM

According to the manual, an 81-235 should actually be installed in the Robie. In fact, however, a 81-278-A is installed, as it is otherwise found in the Kaypro 10 ('83). By the way, the 81-187 and the 81-235 are identical.

Since the Robie no longer has the two original Drivetec HD drives, as already mentioned, I installed two NOS 1M/784K drives (Panasonic JU-475-5 AEG) instead. Both work perfectly with the Micro C Pro-884 Max ROM. Note: The Panasonic JU-475-5 is a real dual speed drive. You can use it with a fixed speed of 300 or 360 RPM. In this case 300 RPM.

Later I changed drive B: for a Gotek with FlashFloppy.

The mainboard looks flawless and the battery does indeed still have a voltage of 1.8 V. However, the battery has already been replaced once; recognisable from the solder joints on the back. A new one has already been ordered. I almost forgot to mention, really all ICs are socketed! Very good.

The exact designation of the mainboard can be found on the back of the PCB (solder side). In this case, it is printed there: P/N 81-184 REV A1; not 81-296.

This is correct. The PCB part number is 81-184 and the mainboard ASSY is 81-296. But the ASSY is not printed here, although it is provided with placeholder.

I have replaced the three RIFA interference suppression capacitors. Finally, I checked the voltages of the PSU. All three are within their target range. I once bought a complete harness for the Kaypro on eBay. It's very helpful. This way I can easily check a power supply unit outside the Kaypro.

The interior of the Robie is completely unspectacular. Nothing that is not already familiar from the other Kaypro's.

1. (↑) Rick Bartlett Gordon, former Kaypro software engineer and product manager of networking products, Facebook & Messenger correspondence, 2022ff

--> Go to Part 0 : Information
--> Go to Part 1 : Versions
--> Go to Part 2 : Hardware
--> Go to Part 3 : 8K EPROM Modification
--> Go to Part 4 : Formatting a Hard Disk
--> Go to Part 5 : USER areas
--> Go to Part 6 : MASMENU - Master Menu
--> Go to Part 7 : Terminal
--> Go to Part 8 : KayPLUS ROM
--> Go to Part 9 : Advent TurboROM
--> Go to Part 10: Multicopy Plu*Perfect
--> Go to Part 11: The Kay Family & Company
--> Go to Part 12: Kaypro Design Views
--> Go to Part 13: Micro Cornucopia
--> Go to Part 14: Repairing a Kaypro II
--> Go to Part 15: Kaypro Collections
--> Go to Part 16: Kaypro General
--> Go to Part 17: Kaypro Robie
--> Go to Part 18: MFM-Emulators
--> Go to Part 19: Roadrunner ROM
--> Go to Part 20: Software
--> Go to Part 21: FAQ
--> Go to Part 22: Kaypro Virtual
--> Go to Part 23: Formatting a Floppy Disk
--> Go to Part 24: ROM, EPROM
--> Go to Part 25: Kaycomp