DOS OrCAD gray market (was: ORCAD vs EAGLE)

For simulations I like LTSpice a lot better

>and for schematics Eagle or the older OrCad versions. >In the case of OrCad preferably the old DOS version >which I still have. >It was (and is) better than anything I have seen after that.

Was there any DRM / copy protection / dongle associated with DOS OrCAD?

Considering the use of its name in some circles as a generic term for "ECAD" (Velcro, Styrofoam, Kleenex), I assume there is an underground market for DOS OrCAD.

Since it is abandonware, is there a host of folks who have never used it before and who are still seeking it out? Is there an established gray market to meet such a need?

Reply to
JeffM
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Hello Jeff,

In some countries they sold the with dongles, in others without. But these were the days when CAD costs were much more reasonable than today. I paid $500 for my license about 15 years ago.

I doubt it. The main reason why I stopped using DOS OrCad was the increasing difficulty to adapt to new printers. It was still IMHO the best schematic capture program ever.

No idea whether there is. Yahoo has a DOS-OrCad forum but it's rather quiet there.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Funny, the EDA guys that sell Orcad jokingly said something disparaging about my "illegal" copy of Orcad SDT 386+. Joke is on them, it's a legal copy.

The OldDosOrcad Yahoo group has 137 members, some who are very knowledgable about SDT and PCB.

The European versions had a dongle. The American version was unprotected. The 'merican version can still be found floating about if you are resourceful enough. Some scanned manuals can be found.

DOS Orcad schematic program is still actively being used by a handful of us. New high-resolution (up to 1600x1200) VESA video drivers have been released by a very talented DE hacker so you can use your spiffy LCD monitor at its native resolution. Modified utilities are also available which allow you to stack power pins on top of another (saves space on the symbol), HP PCL printer drivers going up to 600 dpi for B-size paper, and a utility to convert PCL to PCX. You can also find parts libraries from various users. There are folks out there that still use the old DOS Orcad PCB program. Stable as a rock!

SDT is still a very usable program. Very stable, no bugs, and fast. Although, I do miss some of the features Capture has. I use SDT for

100% of my projects which range from analog stuff with lots of parts (+1500 per board) to digital stuff using 950+ pin FPGAs. If customers want a Capture compatible schematic, the modern Capture can convert an old SDT schematic without problem.

Recommended that you run DOS Orcad products under Virtual PC which is now free from Microsoft.

--
Mark
Reply to
qrk

Actually, the whole '386 suite runs perfectly under dosemu, and freedos, using linux. Traceback's vesa drivers are needed for this to work at more than 800x600 resolution.

-Chuck Harris

Reply to
Chuck Harris
[snip]

If you have a version of OrCAD that supports a "generic" PostScript printer, it works even today.

-f

Reply to
Frank Miles

Hello Frank,

Yeah, it does, kind of. But I had printers lock up on it. On the little HP 5L this means reaching in back to pull the power cord since they failed to provide a reset button. Not even a power switch :-(

Here it has to be said that my Eagle version has a glitch as well. Often nothing will happen after print. Then I have to de-select and re-select the printer and it'll work. Doesn't happen with any other program. But at least it won't lock up the printer.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Hello Mark,

Sweet. Thanks for the hint, didn't know that. So I could use the old SDT again.

Agree. SDT has never crashed on me. Not once.

Yes, but I found it a problem that I could not read anything back from clients after they ever so slightly touched the schematic with a new version. I guess that's part of the "upgrade strategies" these days.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Just to put my two cents in, but didn't SDT not have a zoom in feature beyond it native resolution? (you think I should know for sure, but I haven't used it for 15 years...) I remember finding it pretty unusable for any resolution beyond 800x600...

Charlie

Reply to
Charlie Edmondson

The VESA drivers and other utilities are in the files section of

formatting link
.

Modern Capture can save to a version 7.2 format. Any of the newer versions can read 7.2. Have your clients do a "save as" to 7.2.

--
Mark
Reply to
qrk

Hello Charlie,

Mine sure could. It allowed factors of 2, 5, 10 and 20 which I found plenty sufficient.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Hello Mark,

But my SDT is the great-great-grandfather of 7.2 :-(

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Yes, but all of those sizes made the text and sheet -smaller. What if it is already too small for your tired eyes to read, and it it 1:1 ?

This wasn't much of a problem in days of yore but as the screen resolution took great leaps, it becomes a problem.

-Chuck

Reply to
Chuck Harris

Exactly. You could zoom out, but not in. I couldn't see my part numbers or other attributes they were so small.

Charlie

Reply to
Charlie Edmondson

Ah... so THAT'S (probably) why even the current version of ORCAD doesn't let you zoom in particularly far!

It can be annoying on a 1600x1200 or higher resolution monitor to see all the fine detail; I've always felt that ORCAD's "zoom in" feature stopped at an artificially low point.

Reply to
Joel Kolstad

I use SDT at 1024x768 resolution under Virtual PC. Easy to read all the text. SDT at 1280x1024 is perfectly usable on a 19" LCD monitor. SDT has a super zoom feature only in the library editor that I know of. 1600x1200 on a 20" monitor is to small for my eyes, plus, redraw time starts getting poky.

--
Mark
Reply to
qrk

There are ways of upgrading you to cutting-edge mid-90s DOS software (SDT 386+)! I believe that would update you to großpapa.

--
Mark
Reply to
qrk

Hello Mark,

:-)

My old SDT is version 3.22 but I guess any update to the last DOS version would have to be from the gray market. If there is a legal path that would be ok. So far I have kept all SW legit, biz as well as personal, and I want to keep it that way until I keel over.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Hello Chuck,

Well, I can't really tell because I was never a fan of pushing the screen resolution to the limits. Even today I prefer 800*600. It's enough of a challenge that parts become smaller. On my last designs they were 90% 0402 sizes. The eyes don't exactly become better with age ;-)

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

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