ASCii How to read

[MATT116]

I have a old machine with a Texas Microsystems 1448 industrial computer and its running MS-DOS6. When ever I try to run the attached program T2CONF I get a message "there is a error in the program". When I open the program in DOS Edit,Notepad++,Word...etc all I see are the ASCII symbols and it appears to be ASCII extended. How would I go about trying to get this into a human readable format so I can try to find the error.
O-ya the machine is a T-Drill T200 manufactured in Finland in 1992. I have tried talking to the OEM but there are no help they just claim the machine we have was a prototype and that they don't have much info on it.

Thanks
Matt

 

[bernie_carlton]

If it's an EXE why do you think it would be readable as ASCII?

 

[MATT116]

If it's an EXE why do you think it would be readable as ASCII?

I dont really know. I have never dealt with ASCII and when I open the program the characters looked like ASCII ones...

So basically your saying I need the original editor/program that created the EXE to be able to open and view the program?

Thanks

 

[HenkieD]

Yes, you cannot go the other way.
It is like trying to make vegetables from soup...

 

[RocketTester]

I know nothing of Texas Microsystems and just give general ideas.

Try opening the file in a "Hex editor" program. I use the free "FileAlyzer" program. It will show every byte in the file and its ASCII equivalent on the right. If a binary file, like an *.exe, most of the ASCII interpretations are gibberish, but there may be some purposeful ASCII characters that could give you a clue. Sometimes the start has identifiers that tell you something about the file or OS requirements. If something common like from QuickBASIC, I have heard of "de-compiler" programs that can re-generate source code (never used), though hard to read (cryptic variable names). In general, if all you have is the *.exe, you are stuck unless you apply hard-core hacking methods.

 

[MATT116]

Thanks for the reply's everyone. Unfortunately all I have is the .exe. I was able to decompile it with IDApro although it's not perfect it did do a pretty good job now I just have to look through it and see if I can find a error with the debugger.

Thanks

 

[RocketTester]

MATT116,
You are hard-core and don't give up. I hope your company appreciates you. I looked at IDApro and looks great, plus there is a free-ware version.

 

[jrwb4gbm]

You might want to zip and post the rest of the files in that directory for others to help analyze the problem.

PS:
I ran across this source code with a google search, probably no help at all, might be worth looking at.
Link:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...d=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com

 

[jrwb4gbm]

Here's another link that has all the files I found related to t2conf.c.
This is an update to the last post concerning the source code. Still, might not be related at all to your problem, just trying to help.
Link:
http://www.decuslib.com/decus/lt93a/nz/grant_a/psroff/

 

[MATT116]

Here's another link that has all the files I found related to t2conf.c.
This is an update to the last post concerning the source code. Still, might not be related at all to your problem, just trying to help.
Link:
http://www.decuslib.com/decus/lt93a/nz/grant_a/psroff/

Thanks for the help but unfortunately those files are not related to mine. After taking the machine apart to get at the I/O cards I was able to find that the machine has Opto 22 I/O cards and a Opto B2 brain as they call it that acts like a slave to the computer. I'm in the process now of trying to figure out how to use their Optomux software to gain access to the B2 brain.

Thanks
Matt

 

[jrwb4gbm]

I wish you good luck on the Opto22 stuff. Years ago I had a very small amount of third-hand experience helping a contract engineer. We were installing a Tufting (Carpet) machine for one of our customers. I do have the Opto22 software around somewhere but very little training on it.

 

[creativepaper]

Opto has great customer support (and lifetime warranty). Give their customer support a call and I'm sure that they would be very helpful.
There is one bloke that is on these forums that is associated with Opto, so if you do a search for Opto22, you should be able to find him and PM him.