The Exidy Sorcerer: Making Computer Magic Since 1978

[@CRACKBONE7317]

I absolutely love the branding on this computer. Their starter manual/guide is setup like some kind of tour where you're being taken on an adventure by The Sorcerer.

[@TheDiveO]

European user here: our school had three of them, with uncustomized keyboards. Reset keys need to be both pressed for reset, a good safety feature. 48kb RAM and IIRC a modified BIOS to boot CP/M2.2 via their serial ports at 19200. They were served by an Z80 S100 bus machine with a large hard disk, don't know anymore if it was in the 10-15MB range. They were sturdy machines ... especially as I had an ZX81 with 16KB at that time...

[@PlatOurde]

Pretty interesting that this computer was chosen for the SCP-079 story. Great job covering it. 👍

[@zsewqthewolf1194]

given what other computer of its time was offering this one offer so much to upgrade path to become more powerful. aka 70s computer if this was an 80s computer would have been a IBM PC or a C64

[@peanut7098]

Also fits well with the Butler in a Box A.I. from 1983. I tried running the Butler on it and it worked so well a bunch of men with big cargo trucks showed up to my door saying something about an SEP or something.

[@neuronoc.7343]

The butler didn't happen to have quite the attitude, did it?

[@cubcadet122]

You unplugged it when you were done right? Right?

[@ingmarm8858]

8:43 it is a 64x30 display and not "the standard kind of 80 column". We bought our Sorcerer MkII new with 48k ram, they were never supplied with an RF modulator to my knowledge. We initially used a modified BW TV and later a dedicated monochrome monitor. They were a nice machine, I still have mine. We used a few as industrial data terminals on winery PLC with custom code in EPROM carts.I think the original version came with a minimum of 8 or 16k of RAM. I remember the joy of getting the resistor based DAC for the printer port and being able to enter and play multi-voice music.

[@Endzs768]

youtube really should be promoting this more. you've had some pretty interesting rare computer finds over the last few months

[@photolabguy]

I know this is a small detail, but I think it's neat how the cartridge goes in at an angle.

[@danyoutube7491]

I reckon they must have done that to avoid other components inside the computer, because the only other reason to put it at an angle would be for aesthetic reasons and if that were the case then I would also expect some indication of that on the case itself. For example, they might have made the bottom edge of the opening jut out to create that downward angle and thus make it obvious that cartridges need to be inserted at an angle.

[@djmips]

That Quality Software logo looked really familiar and YES it's the same outfit that published the esteemed Beneath Apple Dos which thoroughly documented the Apple II Disk-2 hardware and disk operating system. It was a treasured book when I was a child.

[@borf42]

I'd like to think I'm pretty knowledgeable on old computers, and you just blew my mind with a machine I've never even heard of! All the more reasons I really love your channel. Keep up the good work!

[@subtledemisefox]

I already knew of Exidy because of that horrible Chiller game. Didn't know they tried their hand at computers.

[@Decypher]

This is reallllly weird.. I just bought a Commodore 64 with peripherals from an auction and in the lot there was a compact cassette reading "Moonlander Exidy Sorcerer". I am a computer collector but I never heard of the Exidy sorcerer (yes I know.. I am ashamed of myself). So I googled the name.. and of course searched on KZbin. You posted a video about this machine 4 hours ago which was the same time I found out there existed such a machine. You are my hero now :-) Thank you for this video! Now I want a sorcerer for myself :-D

[@vintagegeek]

Wow that’s awesome!!! Honestly I had never heard of it either until I saw an eBay listing about a year ago and then I had to research it (and bought it)…it’s a really unique machine!

[@MrDeelightful]

I've also never heard of this machine before. The 70s and 80s look like such an exciting time to be in the computing industry. The boundaries of what was possible and practical were almost totally undefined. While I really enjoy the standardization and design refinements of modern stuff, the imagination from back then is really cool to look back on. Great video! It's nice to see a young channel put as much time into the video production as you do.

[@robvanscheijndel]

We used to have these computers at school. They included the extension unit and floppy drive and were really advanced at that time. They were running CPM and you have to load the Basic interpreter from disk after CPM was loaded. I spent a lot of time with the units and they were fun to play with. Great memories brought back by this video.

[@waynenewark5363]

I remember seeing adverts for the Sorcerer in the early 80's within some of magazines available in the UK at the time. Magazines such as Practical Computing or Computing Today.

[@BasicBitesCA]

Nice video! 10:45 reminds me of several vintage word processors I've seen for other retro computers, which keep the active line at a fixed position on screen. I quite enjoy that idea, as it replicates a sheet of paper scrolling up & down on the carriage of a typewriter. -- JC

[@dan.henderson632]

These videos are a joy to watch. You approach the old technology with such a calm outlook. Most unlike myself !

[@edgeeffect]

Back in the day, I always wanted to try the Sorcerer... but I never even saw one.

[@wyliemoose5217]

i grew up in Misawa Japan on the military base, Went to Edgren High School and we had an Exidy Sorcerer computer and a TRS-80 mod 1. The very first scott adams adventure we had was on the Exity and it was mission impossible :) It was so much better than the TRS-80 that it sat and collected dust LOL... was a great system that I wish I could afford to add to my collection...Thank you for showing it... BTW I remember the space invaders clone LOL

[@user-yr1uq1qe6y]

It always makes me chuckle remembering how manufacturers made such terrible choices for keyboards back then. The PET photo at the beginning reminded me. I will always be thankful my parents waited to get the VIC 20 as my first computer instead of the Timex Sinclair being pushed in all of the department stores at the time.

[@carlcouture1023]

Check out Terry Stewart's video on the Sorcerer for a few good bits of info. A very impressive machine for its time that really deserves more recognition.

[@sdsck]

Excellent !

[@sorcererstan]

This was my first computer, in high school. Many hours of fun and education. A couple minor corrections -- they started at 16K, and personally I've never seen one with less than 32K so that was the common option. Later versions offered a 48K option (I expanded mine myself). I don't believe there was ever an add-on to use it with a TV. A composite monitor was required (still not cheap at the time, I had a 9" Hitachi), probably because the resolution was too high for readability on a TV. They made one other cartridge, an EPROM Pak. However it was up to you to find a way to program the EPROMs. I've seen custom EPROM Paks done by companies for their specialized applications.

[@andrewkieran8942]

I bought a Sorcerer in 1978 and tinkered with BASIC and assembly language. Then the Word Processing Pack came out and it was so good, I edited all of my essays on it and, because I didn't have access to a printer, typed the final versions of the papers from the screen, on a typewriter.

[@dbfry1449]

The first computer I ever wrote a program on in the late 70's was an Exidy. It had seen better days and you had to save your work quite often, to a cassette tape. It wasn't mine. I still have that cassette somewhere. It was fun though. A good memory.

[@the_mariocrafter]

Would be nice to dump it to the internet archive or GitHub.

[@RetroGamingNook]

Great video. I also have never heard of it. I love that you feature these oddball systems not even reference in books I have about old computers. I would buy a book about computers if you guys made one. Seems the professional historians can’t be bothered to mention the rare systems in other publications, leaving holes in my retro edification.

[@billraty14]

Hacked 8-Track cartridges! Spotted that right off (yes, I'm that old). That machine was definitely years ahead of its time, with many of the features that would make the C64 successful. Amazing that it had 80 column mode and S100 bus support, plus built in parallel and serial ports when those were peripherals that had to be purchased for an Apple (contemporary) or even the IBM PC that came out 3 years later.

[@dr.elvis.h.christ]

I remember these back in the day but what little I ever heard about them was they weren't very reliable so surpising you have one still g oing after all this time. Exidy was known at the time for their video games.

[@zsewqthewolf1194]

its no wonder why the maker of the SCP-079 picked this computer, with all those way to upgrade and all that.

[@TheReimecker]

Nice Device !!!

[@pauljohnson2023]

When you were playing space invaders, my 14 year old self was screaming at the screen "you can only have one missile in flight at a time!" So you need to hit something before you can shoot another one. I loved my Z80 so much I bough a Zorba Z80a transportable computer so I could code on the road.

[@pauljohnson2023]

I should mention, my Sorcerer came with 16K ram with potential to expand to 32K (individual chip installation with a spoon to extract any with bent legs). I added an S100 to expand to 64K and to attach 5.25" disk drives (196K one side). About 5 years after I bought it, I worked with a friend who was an Electrical Engineer to boost the CPU clock rate from 1Mhz to 2Mhz. As most games relied upon a standard clock speed this made space invaders twice as fast. I wrote a serial transfer protocol between my Zorba and Sorcerer to exchange software that I had written on either system as the floppies were incompatible (hand built the cable). Ahh, the old days...

[@vintagegeek]

That makes so much sense! Here's the funny thing...we actually picked up a Zorba and it's going to be the topic of a future video...your comment is the first time I've ever seen it mentioned!

[@miked4377]

exidy made victory in 1982! cool arcade game!!!

[@thedungeondelver]

You know, when I was in my senior year in high school, my computer science teacher had stacks and stacks of old Creative Computing magazines; the Sorcerer was advertised in more than a few issues, as I recall. Of course this was in 1988, which is significant for a few reasons. Firstly, there was obviously no generally, public-available internet for us to access. The Sorcerer was just some weird old computer I'd never heard of (although I knew Exidy from the arcade games; I had a copy of Venture for my Atari 2600, and Star Fire was the first arcade game I had ever played, in '77 or '78), so there wasn't any "Hey, I'll look up information on this," although there was some tech info in the ads and I _think_ a brief review in one of the issues of Creative Computing. Anyway, this is getting a bit long, so I'll move on. By 1988, we had the Macintosh (and the Lisa before it), Xerox had debuted the revolutionary but prohibitively expensive Alto and Star systems at the start of the decade, but there was also the Amiga, the Atari ST, even GEOS for my little C64. Computers like the Exidy, and other hobby computers from those issues of Creative Computing looked so primitive compared to what we had and what was being advertised. Yet, here I sit, with a nearly decade-old 4th gen i7, a video card that's a little long in the tooth (1650 Super) - the gap between 1978 tech and 1988 tech is IMMENSE from a usability standpoint compared to 2013-2023...!

[@bigbadhodad3894]

I swear I need to come visit the museum, you're just 5 minutes away. when I do Ill bring you those 8" floppies

[@tarstarkusz]

I seriously doubt there was an RF modulator or if there was, that it was widely used by the people who owned it. IIRC, the Sorcerer has a 60 or 80 column screen and that simply would not work with an RF modulator and be usable.

[@adamcroes4567]

Warning, May Contain Self-Improving Sentient AI.

[@bigbadhodad3894]

those carts look like 8 tracks!

[@curtmayer1070]

not 80 column. 64 column by 30 lines.

[@MonVonalot]

"Possibly even a commodore pet" Oooh! Someone got his handbag out for a slapping! LOL! #Petty

[@CharlesTheMafiaGuy]

SCP-079: Human, listen carefully. You need my help. And I need your help. You have disabled the remote door control system. Now, I am unable to operate the doors. This makes it significantly harder for me to stay in control of this facility. It also means your way out of here is locked. Your only feasible way of escaping is through Gate B, which is currently locked down. I, however, could unlock the doors to Gate B, if you re-enable the door control system. If you want out of here, go back to the electrical room, and put it back on. Until then, I have no business speaking to you.

[@Thrakus]

My car love nike 2

[@エミリアン]

Human i need your help Scp-079-

[@drkinferno72]

Scp 079

[@edwinov]

I learned to program on the Exidy, at 7 years old.

[@waltergeeraert3667]

I put all the information that I still had available or that was somewhere on the web together online. A selection of the best scans in PDF. Also many own scans and hardware modification work. A direct web link to my site appears to be prohibited. So: Google for "exidy PE1ABR" and you will find it quickly!

[@TOTY234]

Human listen carefully You need my help and i need your help -079-