Well, I've got the Greaseweazle software to run, but I don't know why,
which is hardly encouraging.
Installing various Windows updates, downloading .dlls, and puting the
latter in various directories changed the error messages but it never
actually worked. But downloading the latest Greaseweazle software did,
it ran first time. So no idea what I was doing wrong (maybe 32 bit
.vs. 64 bit Windows applications?)
I can now get the list of commands when I run gw.exe. And can get help
on them using the -h option. I've not tried connecting a drive yet,
but the software can find and talk to the board (the green 'activity'
LED turns on). For example 'gw rpm' which is used to check the drive
speed by timing the index pulses times out and gives a 'no index'
error which seems entrely reasonable.
However I am not sure if I'll be able to use it. There is one very
important thing missing : DOCUMENTATION. The 'wikii' on github is
ridiculously incomplete. There is no user manual or man pages. The
software source in python (a language I've never used) has very few
comments and is not clear at all.
It's not clear to me exactly what all the options are for, and when to use them.
-tony
Hi all,
I just came across pictures on the LCM website about their SDS Sigma installation there.
On the pictures, one can see 10-platter disk packs in the corner and stored on the disk drives.
Did the LCM ever had these in operation, either for data retrieval or even demo purposes?
I know of the Jim Austin Computer museum where they fixed a CDC 9766 drive but it suffered
a head crash after a few hours according to their description which led to giving up the operation
of these drives.
Greetings,
Pierre
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.digitalheritage.de
Chris,
I would be interested in getting a copy of the SSPS/X software for POS. I have a manual for SPSS/11 and would love to try to get the software running under RSX11M+ if possible.
Thanks,
Mark
> On Jul 26, 2023, at 12:00 PM, cctalk-request(a)classiccmp.org wrote:
>
> From: Chris Zach <cz(a)alembic.crystel.com <mailto:cz@alembic.crystel.com>>
> Subject: [cctalk] Old Professional/350 software, any of this out there
> Date: July 26, 2023 at 9:30:10 AM CDT
> To: CCTalk mailing list <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org>>
> Reply-To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org>>
>
>
> Starting to go through my boxes of POS stuff. I know of course that 3.2 is out there (minus the Pro/Communications option which has a bad disk in the distro) however are these disks out there now?
>
> Pro/Venix 1.0 on floppies
> POS V2.0a on floppies
>
> POS version 1.5 (with test diskette, maintenance application, a thing called Pro/Pre labelled "Diskette system", system overview and instruction disks)
>
> POS V1.7 (I have that here somewhere)
>
> Pro/Basic Version 1.0 and 1.2
>
> SPSS/X For Professional (this is a really interesting one, anyone heard of this?)
>
> If so let me know and I won't copy them. If not I'll go over to the mighty Deskpro/XE and start sucking the data off for archives....
>
> Thanks!
> Chris
> (Hoping to find old drivers or scaffolding or something that will give me a hint into how DEC ported POS)
Starting to go through my boxes of POS stuff. I know of course that 3.2
is out there (minus the Pro/Communications option which has a bad disk
in the distro) however are these disks out there now?
Pro/Venix 1.0 on floppies
POS V2.0a on floppies
POS version 1.5 (with test diskette, maintenance application, a thing
called Pro/Pre labelled "Diskette system", system overview and
instruction disks)
POS V1.7 (I have that here somewhere)
Pro/Basic Version 1.0 and 1.2
SPSS/X For Professional (this is a really interesting one, anyone heard
of this?)
If so let me know and I won't copy them. If not I'll go over to the
mighty Deskpro/XE and start sucking the data off for archives....
Thanks!
Chris
(Hoping to find old drivers or scaffolding or something that will give
me a hint into how DEC ported POS)
I want to buy an old computer from a guy I don’t know in Houston (I’ll pay shipping to CA), but it’s a lot of money, and I don’t want to lose it - what are my options?
Thanks-
Steve.
Be aware that clicking on a malicious url can result on malware or spyware being installed on your machine without any further action on your part. All browsers have vulnerabilities. The most famous of these was the older version of Pegasus by NSO back in the 2014-2016 timeframe. These so called 1-click exploits are well known to bad actors. It’s a continuous cat and mouse game between exploit writers and infosec. For the interested, look at this report regarding Apple and the “Trident” series of exploits from 2016.
https://info.lookout.com/rs/051-ESQ-475/images/pegasus-exploits-technical-d…
—-Todd
P.S. Exploits have evolved considerably since Trident and now include 0-click exploits. See Google’s Project Zero for instance.
Copied all the files onto my Gotek, it's SO EASY to just turn a dial to
select a disk!
Anyway, loaded all the files, but when I try to run them it says it's
missing PROF77 Common. My guess is that's the same block as F77OTS, but
how does one load a common block with a different name? I forgot....
Directory DU0:[SPSS]
28-JUL-2023 18:06
ANVTSK.TSK;1 173. C 28-JUL-2023 18:01
NPTTSK.TSK;1 189. C 28-JUL-2023 18:02
SRVTSK.TSK;1 167. C 28-JUL-2023 18:02
SPSTSK.TSK;2 576. C 28-JUL-2023 17:59
TTSTSK.TSK;2 116. C 28-JUL-2023 18:00
SPSS.INS;2 3. C 28-JUL-2023 18:00
RPTTSK.TSK;1 190. C 28-JUL-2023 18:02
SPSS.TSK;1 136. C 28-JUL-2023 18:03
SCATSK.TSK;1 117. C 28-JUL-2023 18:03
SPSS.MNU;1 7. C 28-JUL-2023 18:03
SPSS.HLP;1 124. C 28-JUL-2023 18:03
PARTSK.TSK;1 130. C 28-JUL-2023 18:03
SPSS.MSG;1 18. C 28-JUL-2023 18:04
SPRTSK.TSK;1 98. C 28-JUL-2023 18:04
SPSS.ERR;1 69. C 28-JUL-2023 18:04
TEST1.LST;1 21. 28-JUL-2023 18:05
GSS77.SAV;1 123. 28-JUL-2023 18:05
TEST2.LST;1 27. 28-JUL-2023 18:05
TEST3.LST;1 21. 28-JUL-2023 18:05
TEST1.CMD;1 1. 28-JUL-2023 18:05
TEST2.CMD;1 2. 28-JUL-2023 18:05
TEST3.CMD;1 6. 28-JUL-2023 18:05
Total of 2314./2325. blocks in 22. files
$ run spss
INS -- Common block not loaded PROF77
Over the weekend I picked up a Pro/350 from the System Source swap. The
good news is I traded something of similar size for it, and more
importantly I didn't bring anything else home :-)
Anyway, it's a pretty basic system with 10mb ST412 drive, 128k memory on
board, 256kb memory expansion, disk controller, floppy controller and
RX50 (with the usual loose pad, glued back in), and a video card WITHOUT
the extended bitmap option.
Brought it home, pulled everything, checked the power supply (good), got
the drive spinning, and since drives like this tend to be precious I
sucked the data off it using a Gesswin emulator (best money I have
spent). Sucked the data off with no errors, thus everything is preserved
for eternity. I'll take a look at the drive and see about using a bit of
watch oil on the shaft to lubricate the bearings and put this disk back
into a "usable" category.
Even better: Fired up and compiled xhomer on my Raspberry Pi CM3+,
loaded the image, and sure enough: There is a POS 2.0 install on the
disk, with a really neat app called "Prostar/300"
Seems to be an office tool for real estate office, specifically farm
management, investment, and amortization. Even better it looks like all
the data was stored on Floppies (now long gone) so no PII issues. And
there is a word processor built into the app along with the normal PROSE
editor.
I'll tool around with it for a bit, then put the disk image up on
crystel.com. An interesting application, can be easily transferred to a
real disk using a gesswin emulator or put it on xhomer. :-)
Pretty nice application from 1986 vintage, I can see this being used in
offices around the midwest.
Chris
