- cctalk - classiccmp.org

Re: VT100: Failing 2114 Chip Replaced With One With The Same Fault

by Rob Jarratt

> -----Original Message----- > From: wrcooke(a)wrcooke.net <wrcooke(a)wrcooke.net> > Sent: 08 October 2023 04:15 > To: rob(a)jarratt.me.uk; Rob Jarratt via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: [cctalk] VT100: Failing 2114 Chip Replaced With One With The > Same Fault > > > > > On 10/07/2023 5:35 PM CDT Rob Jarratt via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > wrote: > > > > > > I find this really hard to explain. It can't be the chip selection > > logic because then the addresses 0x2400-0x2407 would also fail and I > > checked the CS signal with the logic analyser just to be sure. I also > > checked the address lines directly on the RAM chip for any stuck bits > > and they seemed fine too. > > > > > > > > What are the chances of two 2114 chips failing at exactly the same address? > > Is there some failure mode I might not be considering? > > > > Rob > > Perhaps it isn't the 2114 or its associated circuit at all. Maybe some other > device is being incorrectly selected by that address and driving (half) the bus > low? Just a thought. Many thanks for the suggestion. This hadn't crossed my mind, so I checked. All the things that I could identify on the schematic that connect to the bus (UART, interrupt vector, flag buffer and modem signals) seem not to be enabled. I have looked at what is sinking the data bus, there is a buffer which seems to be OK and the 8251 PIC. The PIC is harder to check but I can see it is not selected and the input pins don’t appear to be shorted. Not really sure what else to consider. > > Will > > If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't > assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless > immensity of the sea. > > Antoine de Saint-Exupery

1 year, 9 months

3
4
0 0

List of DEC boards - Offers invited.

by Rod Smallwood

Hi I have had so many inquiries for the boards on my list its difficult to respond to them all. Please make an offer for what you want. Allow an additional minimum of $50 for UK to US shipping I'll keep the offer list open for a few days. Rod Smallwood

1 year, 9 months

1
0
0 0

VT100: Failing 2114 Chip Replaced With One With The Same Fault

by Rob Jarratt

I posted recently that I had identified a faulty RAM chip in my VT100 and having replaced it the terminal seemed to get further into the self test. After further analysis with the logic analyser I have realised that it is still failing the RAM test, despite an apparent change in behaviour. I think the change in behaviour could be simply due to the slightly suspect keyboard cable. But here is the puzzle. When I first identified the faulty RAM chip if found that address 0x2408 would read back as 0x0A instead of 0xAA. I reckon this equates to E50 in the schematic, as it is the upper nibble of the second bank of RAM. I replaced the chip with one I bought recently. It turns out the self-test is still failing at the SAME address. I find this really hard to explain. It can't be the chip selection logic because then the addresses 0x2400-0x2407 would also fail and I checked the CS signal with the logic analyser just to be sure. I also checked the address lines directly on the RAM chip for any stuck bits and they seemed fine too. What are the chances of two 2114 chips failing at exactly the same address? Is there some failure mode I might not be considering? Thanks Rob

1 year, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Re: How were 32-bit minis built in the 70s/80?

by Geert Rolf

Quote: > I could be remembering incorrectly but I think the Gould PN6080 mini we had exclusively for third year > comp sci at Macquarie Uni in the mid/late 80s was 32-bit made up of AMD2900 family logic (2901 ALU's). Find attached two pages of the CPU drawings of a Concept 32/67 and PowerNode 6000. Here the AMD 2901s show up. You remembered correctly! Geert Rolf owner of a PowerNode 6040 -- see https://geerol.home.xs4all.nl/DownLoad/UTX-paper.pdf

1 year, 10 months

2
1
0 0

What happened to the PDP-8 on ebay?

by Bill Degnan

There was a PDP-8 (rack straight 8 with asr33) that was on ebay that disappeared..anyone know if it was sold? I can't find it, maybe the seller pulled the auction to sell privately. Bill

1 year, 10 months

5
6
0 0

GEAC

by Bill Gunshannon

Here's a question for all our Computer Museum curators. Have any of the old GEAC Library systems ever been salvaged and put into a museum? They were curious boxes and I think would make a nice addition to a collection. bill

1 year, 10 months

4
4
0 0

Microcom S-64 8085 system

by Wouter de Waal

Hi all I re-discovered some eurocards I found in a box at a swapmeet long ago. It looks like a complete 8085 system. Lots of RAM, 2K EPROM, I/O, FDC. The strange thing is that the EPROM is mapped at F800, the code in there looks like 8085 code, and looks like it wants to live at F800. And there's RAM at 0000. The DIN41612 A/C 64 pin bus has provision for 16 bits data. Pics here http://retro.co.za/8085/Microcom/ Anyone maybe have more information on this? I'm curious. W

1 year, 10 months

3
2
0 0

Soviet tube/transistor/IC spec source

by Shoppa, Tim

For those working with ex-Soviet equipment from the 60’s and 70’s here’s a remarkable resource: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-C13-6925b02fb6dcaa88935be001eb55… I am astonished that I found it in this in the US National Bureau of Standards (today NIST) archives 😊 Tim N3QE

1 year, 10 months

3
2
0 0

The World Wide Web

by Murray McCullough

30 years ago the World Wide Web came into public existence. It has enabled cctalk to flourish. Murray 🙂

1 year, 10 months

30
72
0 0

Possible DC012 Control Chip Fault on a VT100

by Rob Jarratt

I have my faulty VT100 now passing the RAM test, but it is still not producing any output to the screen. Looking at the DC012 chip it seems to be permanently asserting the interrupt line and not generating any DMA HOLD REQUEST signals. It seems that all the clock inputs are running (DOT CLK, CHAR CLK, VERT RESET). Unless there are other clock inputs not shown on the schematic, I think this suggests that the DC012 is faulty. Does anyone know of any other reason why the DC012 might behave this way? Anyone have a spare DC012 chip? I have posted a bit more detail here: https://robs-old-computers.com/2023/10/01/vt100-ram-fault/ Thanks Rob

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Re: Microcom S-64 8085 system

by Wouter de Waal

Hi Tony and all >It might have run CP/M (which will run on an 8080, and therefore on an >8085). That needs RAM at location 0000 [1]. I know of CP/M, I even used CP/M (on my Apple) but I did not know it needs RAM at 0000. That's kind of strange, since everything that ran CP/M (OK, everything -80) has vectors at 0. I guess there was a reason behind it. I see the CPU board has a jumper "F000/F800" so I guess it does something to map that address to 0 after reset. W

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Documentary on the SKALA computer of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

by Sellam Abraham

This is a pretty interesting documentary describing the computer (SKALA) that ran the Chernobyl nuclear complex. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbaptQh2AM4 Sellam

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Shelves / Rails for DEC Racks Questions

by Jay Jaeger

I have some open slots in some of my racks. I do have some old DEC rails, but I have a fair amount of equipment, from both DEC and other manufacturers, for which those rails are not suitable. Does anyone have any specific recommendations for shelving? (where equipment could just be slid on top of, if the equipment isn't too wide - some pieces are very close to 19 inches all by themselves, and were designed for front cantilever style mounting.) Would also be interested in specific recommendations for the following: DEC VR14 (I have one on a PDP-12 with proper rails, but have another to mount and don't have proper rails for it) HP 88780 (Perhaps a shelf is the best bet for these?) JRJ

1 year, 10 months

3
3
0 0

VCF Swap Meet - Wall, NJ - Oct. 28, 2023

by Jeffrey Brace

Same place as last year in the big parking lot across from Brookdale and down the street from InfoAge Science and History Museums. We have Southern Monmouth County Firehouse museum selling food and drinks in the middle. This is a fundraiser for both museums (VCF and Firehouse museum) which are both part of InfoAge. All the info is here: https://vcfed.org/vcf-swap-meet/ Thanks! Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner VCF Mid-Atlantic Event Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Re: Free Fujitsu M2444 6250 BPI tape drive

by Len Shustek

The drive is saved from the landfill! It was picked up by a classic computing fan at noon this morning. (And yes, it is Pertec-compatible.)

1 year, 10 months

4
4
0 0

Theory of operation of DEC H7441 regulator?

by Tom Hunter

The DEC H7441 regulator is a relatively complex circuit using 2 x 555 timers, 2 x LM301 op-amps, 2 x transformers and 2 inductors I am struggling to understand how it is meant to work and was hoping to find a maintenance manual for it. Could anyone with such a manual please help? Alternatively is there another explanation of the operation of this or similar types of circuits? The circuit implements a switch mode supply. One of the two 555 timers operates as an oscillator, the second I think operates as a monoflop with the pulse length controlled via one of the LM301s. Overall the circuit seems very complex and while I understand parts of it, other parts are mysterious. In particular the top left section around Q1/Q2/Q3 and T1/T2 and E3 is most confusing. I did not find anything remotely similar in "The Art of Electronics" from Horowitz & Winfield. The H7441 schematics are available from here: https://deramp.com/downloads/mfe_archive/011-Digital%20Equipment%20Corporat… Thanks for any help or suggested reading material. Tom

1 year, 10 months

3
5
0 0

Free Fujitsu M2444 6250 BPI tape drive

by Len Shustek

I bought this giant GCR tape drive on eBay five years ago, http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/fujitsu/_brochures/M244X_Brochure_1984.pdf hoping to be able to use it to extract analog signals from 6250 BPI tapes to feed into my decoding program. https://github.com/LenShustek/readtape I failed to figure out how to get the right signals out, and eventually abandoned the project. I now need the space it takes, so I'm offering it for free before consigning it to the landfill. It's big (20" x 24" x 30" on the wheeled stand I built) and heavy (160 lbs) so I won't ship it. Pickup only, on the San Francisco peninsula.

1 year, 10 months

4
4
1 0

DEC VT36 Color Graphics Display Control System

by Hans-Ulrich Hölscher

Hi, who knows details about the DEC VT36 Color Graphics Display Control System ( https://classic.technology/vt36-color-graphics-display-control-system/)? I'm looking for manuals for the VT36 as well as for the associated VAX-11/PROVUE or RSX-11/PROVUE software. Anyone with personal experience with the VT36 and/or PROVUE? Ulli

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Re: Vintage Computer Systems for sale

by Stephen Pereira

Sorry Sellam, none of the websites I mentioned for information are mine. smp - - - Stephen Pereira Bedford, NH 03110 KB1SXE

1 year, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Vintage Computer Systems for sale

by Stephen Pereira

Good afternoon to all, I am starting the process of selling off some of my vintage computer systems, so as to not burden anyone I leave behind. The systems I list here are available for viewing in Bedford, NH, just west of Manchester, NH. Anyone interested can send me an e-mail message and we can set up an appointment for you to visit. Cash and Carry, of course, and reasonable offers will be considered. Altair 8800c — $2500 I constructed this system early in 2019. I built the front panel and front panel interface boards, and soldered up the backplane. The rest of the boards were purchased assembled and tested. You can see the Altair 8800c story here: https://deramp.com/altair.html The system is fully tested and working, currently using virtual Altair disk drives via the Deramp application. Plenty of documentation. Single 8 inch disk drive in a dual drive cabinet — $500 This physical disk drive has been paired with the Altair 8800c in the past. Works fine. I included will be an 8 inch disk drive that used to be in this cabinet until the power supply failed. I believe this drive can be repaired. Included will be another 8 inch drive that is the wrong form factor to fit into the cabinet. Purchased on eBay, untested. Altair 680 — $2000 I acquired this system on eBay back at the end of 2018. It was not working, but a bit of troubleshooting discovered bad ram which was replaced. The least significant LED of the address display does not light, but I’ve tested that the proper signals are there. I simply did not want to risk changing out the LED. This system comes with the 4-slot riser, but the connectors are not yet soldered in. No add-in boards. Plenty of documentation. Complete SWTPC 6800 clone system from Corsham Technologies — $400 I acquired this system from Bob at Corsham in the middle of 2018. It is the complete setup, with the full 64K ram and the virtual disk drives. Documentation available at Corsham Technologies: http://www.corshamtech.com <http://www.corshamtech.com/> Northstar Horizon — $800 I purchased this system on eBay as a running system. From time to time I had problems with the top 8K ram on the Horizon 64K ram board. The 64k ram board has been replaced with a Compupro Ram 17 (or clone), works great, no problems. I will include the glitchy Horizon 64K ram board. FYI, a Deramp Virtual Sector Generator works great with this system, eliminating the need for hard sector diskettes. https://deramp.com/vsg.html Thanks for listening! smp - - - Stephen Pereira Bedford, NH 03110 KB1SXE

1 year, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Vintage Computer Systems for sale

by Stephen Pereira

Good afternoon to all, I am starting the process of selling off some of my vintage computer systems, so as to not burden anyone I leave behind. The systems I list here are available for viewing in Bedford, NH, just west of Manchester, NH. Anyone interested can send me an e-mail message and we can set up an appointment for you to visit. Cash and Carry, of course, and reasonable offers will be considered. Altair 8800c — $2500 I constructed this system early in 2019. I built the front panel and front panel interface boards, and soldered up the backplane. The rest of the boards were purchased assembled and tested. You can see the Altair 8800c story here: https://deramp.com/altair.html The system is fully tested and working, currently using virtual Altair disk drives via the Deramp application. Plenty of documentation. Single 8 inch disk drive in a dual drive cabinet — $500 This physical disk drive has been paired with the Altair 8800c in the past. Works fine. I included will be an 8 inch disk drive that used to be in this cabinet until the power supply failed. I believe this drive can be repaired. Included will be another 8 inch drive that is the wrong form factor to fit into the cabinet. Purchased on eBay, untested. Altair 680 — $2000 I acquired this system on eBay back at the end of 2018. It was not working, but a bit of troubleshooting discovered bad ram which was replaced. The least significant LED of the address display does not light, but I’ve tested that the proper signals are there. I simply did not want to risk changing out the LED. This system comes with the 4-slot riser, but the connectors are not yet soldered in. No add-in boards. Plenty of documentation. Complete SWTPC 6800 clone system from Corsham Technologies — $400 I acquired this system from Bob at Corsham in the middle of 2018. It is the complete setup, with the full 64K ram and the virtual disk drives. Documentation available at Corsham Technologies: http://www.corshamtech.com <http://www.corshamtech.com/> Northstar Horizon — $800 I purchased this system on eBay as a running system. From time to time I had problems with the top 8K ram on the Horizon 64K ram board. The 64k ram board has been replaced with a Compupro Ram 17 (or clone), works great, no problems. I will include the glitchy Horizon 64K ram board. FYI, a Deramp Virtual Sector Generator works great with this system, eliminating the need for hard sector diskettes. https://deramp.com/vsg.html Thanks for listening! smp - - - Stephen Pereira Bedford, NH 03110 KB1SXE

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

IBM VM "CMS" tape format

by Chuck Guzis

Group, Ive got a tape here from what I believe to be a VM system. The structure is unknown to me, although I can possibly take a stab at it. Lots of data between tapemarks that seems to consist of a number of records that start out something like this (translated from EBCIDC): > 00000000 02 43 4d 53 46 30 30 30 31 31 32 30 35 31 31 32 |.CMSF00011205112| > 00000010 34 37 30 37 36 30 31 32 32 32 31 31 30 31 31 31 |4707601222110111| Another example: > 00000000 02 43 4d 53 46 44 41 54 41 20 5f 4e 55 4c 4c 5f |.CMSFDATA _NULL_| > 00000010 3b 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 |; | > 00000020 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 | | The data itself appears to be a bunch of 80 character card images. I found a mention on the old yahoo groups H390-VM discussions, but no clarity was ever shed on the subject. Does anyone know about this tape format? --Chuck

1 year, 10 months

15
45
0 0

Any leads on Fairlight sampler that needs repair?

by Ethan O'Toole

Anyone have any leads in USA on a Fairlight CMI or similar that needs repair? S-100 based sampler from the 80s. Would be fun to restore one. - Ethan

1 year, 10 months

3
3
0 0

Re: IBM VM "CMS" tape format

by Adam Thornton

Seems like rather than going through MUSIC/SP it'd be easier to just fire up VM/CE 1.2 (which is VM/370 r6) and use CMS TAPE (which is present) directly from the CMS UI. You can probably attach the file you've got as a tape device; not entirely sure Hercules will like the format, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Adam

1 year, 10 months

3
4
0 0

WTD: transputer multi-cpu isa card

by Tony Jones

I'd like to get an ISA based transputer card. Something with multiple cpus (so not the B004). A B008 or one of the clones that accepts multiple TRAM modules would be ideal (https://www.geekdot.com/inmos-b008) It doesn't have to be TRAM. I saw this multi-cpu board on ebay.ie but a) it's more than I was hoping to spend b) I can't find any info on it. Whatever I get I want there to be reasonable docs and archived software: https://www.ebay.ie/itm/234283597489 Suggestions on what to look for welcomed. I'm in no rush and good things come to those who wait. I'm in the USA but have family in the UK and go there often so I'm looking on ebay.co.uk Thanks!

1 year, 10 months

4
4
0 0

IBM 727 tape drive

by Christian Corti

Hello all, as it will be soon of importance to us, I am seeking for the systems engineering manual and drawings, well, everything about the IBM 727 tape drive (not the 729!). I especially need the module locations charts and the module schematics. I see that there is the CE manual on bitsavers. Eventually, the other manuals are available somewhere, too? Christian

1 year, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Tracking Down a RAM Issue in a VT100 (how does the 2114 chip work?)

by Rob Jarratt

I have a non-functioning VT100. I think it is failing in the POST during the RAM check. I don't know for sure because I can't get it to light up the LEDs on the keyboard, however I used my logic analyser (a HP1630G) to see what values were written to the UART to send to the keyboard and I see it sends the values FF then 1, 2, 3, 4 and finally 5. The last value corresponds to the RAM test so I am fairly confident the RAM test is what is failing. I have disassembled the VT100 ROM and if I have understood it correctly it zeroes out the RAM (high address to low) and then for each address (low address to high) it tries first to read back the zero and then writes 0xAA to the location and tries to read that back. I am also confident the 8080 is working OK because I was able to capture an address trace on the ROM that showed it executing the program as per the disassembled ROM. My problem is getting the logic analyser reliably to tell me how each RAM chip is being addressed and what data is being read or written. I am seeing strange values for the addresses (sometimes) and I am not sure I have setup the logic analyser correctly. I have read the datasheet for the 2114 chip and I am not entirely clear that I have understood it correctly. Here is how I have set it up: Trigger on the -ve edge of Chip Select (pin 8) Capture A9-A0 as the address Capture WE as an indication of Read or Write The timing diagrams show the write cycle where the WE signal and CE signal seem to transition at the same time and the data may be only valid a bit later then the CS -ve edge. But this may just be me not knowing how to read the datasheet. Using the +ve edge of CS seems no better. Is there something I am missing about how to analyse how the RAM chips are being used? Thanks Rob

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Concorde cabin display technology?

by Shoppa, Tim

Not quite computer tech but I figure this is the best place to ask: Does anyone recognize the display tech that was used on the Concorde's in-cabin display? Examples: https://samchui.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/CON15.jpg https://samchui.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/CON16.jpg The display had fully-formed digits and letters, and showed either Mach and Feet, or Temp and MPH. Some pictures show the display in green and others show it in orange - which of course were popular monochrome CRT colors, yet the display looks too "flat" to be a couple CRT's. Those colors were also popular for Electroluminiscent displays which matches the evident "flatness" but I'm not sure I've seen any EL's with fully formed digits like this with no visible segmentation? I want to guess it was individual digits back-projected - which was a popular control-theater display tech at the end of the 20th century - but I can't rule out, say, really well-done edge-lit character plates. In any event there doesn't seem to be any visible jitter up and down between digits that I might expect with either of those technologies. The "FEET" display in the above-referenced JPG's shows some artifacts at the left and right edges which might be a clue? Some pics of the BA Concorde interior had a simple 15-segment and 7-segment green LED display. Don't need help with that one 🙂. Tim N3QE

1 year, 10 months

10
15
0 0

OT: Anyone near Glasnevin (Dublin), Ireland (to pick-up an item)?

by Sellam Abraham

I'm looking for someone near Glasnevin near Dublin, Ireland who would be willing to pick up an item for me and ship it to me State-side. Seller will not ship. Thank you in advance. Sellam

1 year, 10 months

3
2
0 0

WTB: IBM 9221 ESCON card

by Kevin Bowling

Hi, I am looking for a CH3s QH50, P/N 63F3825 for a 9221 ES/9000. A CH1s would also do. Anyone have an ES/9000 that is a brick because no processor console that can help me out? Regards, Kevin

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Re: Looking for an original Sun PS2 ->Sun keyboard adapter 370-2068

by silcreval

I've not heard of the Wombat adapter - was that Sun related?

1 year, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Re: Looking for an original Sun PS2 ->Sun keyboard adapter 370-2068

by silcreval

Thanks - I did spot that - just hoping to get a slightly better price if I can :-)

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Comparing PDP-8 processor flipchip

by Bill Degnan

The recent Ebay auction for the original PDP-8 got my attention because one of the photos (the processor logic flipchip array) is a nice snapshot for comparison purposes with the system I am working on. https://vintagecomputer.net/digital/pdp-8/PDP-8_flip-chips_left.png (mine) https://vintagecomputer.net/temp/EBAYPDP-8ProcessorFlipchips.jpg Given my PDP-8 is close to working, I would assume that the Ebay PDP-8 would have a fighting chance, at least as far as the flip chip configuration goes. This is also a nice confirmation that I more or less have the flipchips in the right places. There are only a few slight differences. Bill

1 year, 10 months

3
4
0 0

Looking for an original Sun PS2 ->Sun keyboard adapter 370-2068

by Ian F

Hi all, Looking for an original Sun 370-2068, which is a PS2 to Sun keyboard adapter. If anyone has one please DM me, happy to pay a reasonable price & international shipping if needed. Thanks!

1 year, 10 months

3
2
0 0

For Fred, especially: "Everything I know about floppy disks"

by Liam Proven

« Everything I know about floppy disks 2023-08-28 Floppy disk drives are curious things. We know them as the slots that ingest those small almost-square plastic "floppy disks" and we only really see them now in Computer Museums. But there's a lot going on in that humble square of plastic and I wanted to write down what I've learned so far. » https://thejpster.org.uk/blog/blog-2023-08-28/ -- Liam Proven - Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lproven(a)cix.co.uk - Google Mail/Hangouts/Plus: lproven(a)gmail.com Twitter/Facebook/Flickr: lproven - Skype/LinkedIn: liamproven IoM: +44 7624 227612 ~ UK: +44 7939-087884 ČR (+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal): +420 702 829 053

1 year, 10 months

12
37
0 0

Anyone in Sheffield uk?

by Ethan O'Toole

Anyone in Sheffield UK? There is an Acorn Archemedies computer I am interested in buying but the guy is collection only. I am in the USA, but interested in buying and repairing the system. - Ethan

1 year, 10 months

2
1
0 0

PDP-8/L $15,000

by Bill Degnan

It can be yours for only $15,000 plus shipping https://www.ebay.com/itm/126067408991 sheesh. Bill

1 year, 10 months

33
72
0 0

Re: 8" DSDD to USB MSD?

by Wayne S

Sent from my iPhone > On Sep 8, 2023, at 13:16, Wayne S <wayne.sudol(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > >> but presents itself to an OS as a Mass Storage Device (block device). Anders, for what practical purpose would you do that? It’s not like there’s so many 8 inch floppies around to make it feasible. You would have to have a LOT of intelligence in the Usb interface due to the different physical formats let alone the software formats. It would be difficult.

1 year, 10 months

5
6
0 0

Re: For Fred, especially: "Everything I know about floppy disks"

by Fred Cisin

>> If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and >> don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the >> endless immensity of the sea. On Sun, 10 Sep 2023, Sellam Abraham via cctalk wrote: > We must teach Fred to long for the endless immensity of the written word > (in book form, focusing specifically on floppy disk drives). 45 years ago, I started writing about repairing Honda cars. Wasn't getting far until an acquaintance who fancied himself to be a writer got me to agree to do a book with him. He sold the idea to John Muir Publications (publisher of the Volkswagen Idiot book, different John Muir). I wrote it, my co-author edited, the publisher put their own editor on it, who butchered it. But, the publisher also brought in Peter Aschwanden, who is a GREAT automotive illustrator (see the VW idiot book). In 1979, I switched to TRS80, and did it with Electric Pencil, and then Scripsit. I had a DTC300 Hytype-I daisy wheel printer. I printed it 8.5" wide down the middle of 14 7/8 paper, giving lots of room for comments, etc. For the illustrator, I printed it on the left side of the wide paper, leaving a large area for doodles. The publisher's editor butchered it badly enough that my co-author switched to a pseudonym. With the publisher's accounting, never got enough in royalties to fuuly pay all of my expenses. https://www.amazon.com/How-Keep-Your-Honda-Alive/dp/0912528257 In the 1990s, I started writing about floppy disks, how FM/MFM worked, IBM/WD track and sector structure, directory structures, DOS Utilities, disk repair, etc. But, got bogged down with too much to do, such as closing my office, etc., . . . 20 years ago, I started writing an undergraduate textbook on Information Science. How searches and search engines work, and how to search better, how companies cheat the search engines (SEO), relevance ranking, trade-offs between recall and precision (cf. Buckland), the DIK[W[E]] (Data/Information/Knowledge/[Wisdom/[Enlightenment]]) pyramid, etc. I wanted to make a community college class out of it. But, certain administrators (who I failed to ever defenestrate) refused to consider understanding of information to be appropriate for community college (anything beyond their total lack of comprehension was "inappropriate") (Do YOU consider it "computer literate" to create a memo about a room change for a meeting in WordPerfect, print it with a color printer (for the logo and a ruling line), SCAN that printed memo, and send it out as an ATTACHMENT to an email with subject line of "FYI" and text body of "See the attachment"?) I haven't made progress on it lately. So, yes, I have always longed for the endless immensity of the written word, . . . -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com

1 year, 10 months

2
2
0 0

Teletype Exhibit at VCFMW

by Eric Moore

https://youtu.be/W6mJB9ovES4 I had two model 14s set up, details in the video description :)

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

VCF MW 2023 recap (Fri/Sat only)

by Steve Lewis

I got the chance to attend another great VCF! This time in Chicago over this past weekend. Most images should be able to click and enlarge (if not, wiggle the page a bit and try again). https://voidstar.blog/vcf-mw-midwest-2023/

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

VCFMW

by Paul Anderson

I've started pulling parts for people who have requested them and keep finding things I had forgotten. A few things of possible interest include: PDP-8A parts including backplanes, most CPU boards, 128K, MM board MM8-AA/AB 8-E boxes and boards DECMATE Rainbow, and PRO systems and parts A few 11/05, 11/10 boxes a new 54-21149 KN15 cpu VS40X 4 plane color options SI-QS 1000 board labeled QED 993 CPU Tape drive heads LA36, LA120, and other printers and parts various VTs and monitors and parts MFM and floppy drives Qbus boxes and hundreds of boards 1000s of DEC boards and parts possible a few 3000 and 5000 boxes and parts If anyone wants to stop by and look for things, please contact me off list to set up a time. Most of the people who have stopped by would say I have quite a lot of DEC items. If you have any questions contact me off list.

1 year, 10 months

4
10
0 0

NS32k software on Ebay

by Mattis Lind

There have been a number of Ebay listings for various ns32k software, QIC tapes and 1/2 inch tapes. I thought I would buy them if there were no other bids to try to recover the contents. https://www.ebay.com/itm/225759541222 https://www.ebay.com/itm/225759543101 https://www.ebay.com/itm/225750706891 But there was a buyer and I didn't want to fight over something where I don't have the actual hardware. Maybe someone here is the buyer? I am just curious if this will end up on bitsavers in the future? /Mattis

1 year, 10 months

16
33
0 0

8" DSDD to USB MSD?

by Anders Nelson

Hi all, I just bought a very clean, DSDD 8" disk drive off eBay and it has a 50p connector which I guess is the common Shugart type? I also found a 50p-> 34p adaptor PCB design someone documented online. I haven't delved much into floppy formats (high level or low level) but I'm somewhat familiar with filesystems from FAT12. My ultimate goal is to create an open-source USB adaptor that reads/writes the contents of an 8" disk but presents itself to an OS as a Mass Storage Device (block device). Is such a thing possible? I once created a terrible custom format for storing data on a flash chip which required no low-level format, but I expect a magnetic disk needs headers/trailers to know when a track starts/stops so it can skip around. I checked out the KyroFlux website and it seems there are dozens of formats that were used for 8" disks - is there a favorite format among the community that allows full use of a 1.2MB 8" disk? Any pointers are appreciated! Anders www.andersknelson.com

1 year, 10 months

5
7
0 0

NewtonOS

by David Arnold

Some of you might recall that Apple released a series of machines based on the Newton OS in the early 1990s. There were eight models in total from Apple, and a few more from third parties who licensed both the hardware and software to make eg. ruggedized handhelds, or "smart" (landline) phones. The operating system was bespoke. It had a Lisp influence during development, but by the time it was released, it used a language called NewtonScript that had an Algol-ish syntax with Lisp/Self-like semantics. Although the OS core was written in C++, large parts of the system were written in NewtonScript as well, as were the built-in applications. Newtons ended up as a dead-end branch of computer evolution. The product line was cancelled by Jobs following his return to Apple, and despite a few little respectful nods, iOS has basically no commonality with NewtonOS. Ironically, the handwriting recognition engine (the focal point for most Newton criticism) outlived the devices and was ported to and shipped with Mac OS X. A Newton emulator, called Einstein, exists. It's able to run the OS, the built-in apps, and to install and run third-party applications with good fidelity to the original experience. It requires a ROM image to function. Apple made various ROM images available, and it's possible to extract the image from a physical Newton device, but the consensus is that it isn't legal to distribute these ROM images. This makes setting up the emulator more complex than is ideal. The NewtonTalk mailing list is a group of Newton fans that remain engaged with the platform to this day, and we're currently discussing the possibility of legally obtaining the Newton ROM images from Apple. We've been heartened by Apple's recent releases of MacPaint and the Lisa OS to the CHM, and are wondering if Apple might be persuaded to release at least the NewtonOS ROM, or (ideally) system's source code. If there's anyone who was either involved in those previous negotiations, or could introduce us to someone who was, and is willing to offer advice and/or assistance with our quest ... really, any helpful pointers would be useful, and much appreciated. Cheers, d https://github.com/pguyot/Einstein http://newtontalk.net/

1 year, 10 months

8
12
0 0

SCO on Virtualbox

by KenUnix

Hi. Has anyone got SCO Unix to successfully install and run on Virtualbox? My efforts have failed. My host is Ubuntu 22.04 with Virtualbox 7.0.10. Thanks, Ken -- WWL 📚

1 year, 10 months

10
13
0 0

Setup for VCFMW

by Mike Katz

What time is setup Tomorrow (Friday, 8-Sep-23) for VCFMW?

1 year, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Apollo motherboard 013034, 246402-01 available

by Paul Anderson

Dated 1988, refurb?

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Re: Walter Shawlee of Sphere, RIP

by John Ball

I had heard he was in poor health due to a bad diagnosis but it's tragic to hear he's gone now. It was because his annual Free Stuff Days I was able to build up most of my lab equipment. Those were the days when you could still pull up and fill your car with all sorts of goodies. I bought my first real EPROM programmer (a 29B) from him. -John

1 year, 10 months

1
0
0 0

TI 960

by Christian Corti

I guess not many have survived but I want to ask if someone/some place has software (papertapes, ...) for the Texas Instruments 960 minicomputers. We have a 960B but at the moment, it is pretty much useless. I could toggle in a small program, but would appreciate something like FORTRAN or an assembler. Christian

1 year, 11 months

10
18
0 0

Walter Shawlee of Sphere, RIP

by Lyle Bickley

I purchased several items from Walter at Sphere over the years. I suspect many others of you Tek and HP fans on this list have, too. He was always helpful and kind. Walter has been ill for some time and passed away yesterday. It's good that his wife, Susan, will continue to run the business (I got an email from Susan before Walter passed so stating). Here is a link to Walter's obituary: https://bit.ly/3qZ2lBX Regards, Lyle -- 73 NM6Y Bickley Consulting West https://bickleywest.com "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

1 year, 11 months

1
0
0 0

VCFMW

by Paul Anderson

I plan on arriving around noon, and leaving around 6ish. I have most Q-bus and MicroVAX CPU and memory boards along with options and non-DEC boards. In UNI-BUS, I have MOS and core sets plus most options. I can't take everything with me, and whatever doesn't sell at VCFMW can be shipped (small items) after I return. If you are looking for any DEC product, feel free to contact me. Thanks, Paul

1 year, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Key to Disk Terminal Video

by Eric Moore

https://youtu.be/jkOsvQpNmio I hope yall enjoy!

1 year, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Language Creators Charity Fundraiser (Seattle Sept 19th)

by Gavin Scott

This sounds kinda fun (via the Adafruit weekly Python on microcontrollers newsletter): https://pydata.org/language-creator-fundraiser/ Panelists: Adele Goldberg - Smalltalk Guido Van Rossum - Python Anders Hejlsberg - Turbo Pascal, C#, TypeScript James Gosling - Java "PyData Seattle presents its inaugural charity event. The event will feature the creators of C#, Java, Perl, Python, TypeScript, and Smalltalk in a conversation about programming language design. The charity event brings together this unique group of computer science pioneers, unlike any event held before. These great minds come together for what will surely be a fantastic night of discussion as the panel delves into the past and future of programming language creation. The event will attract innovators and engineers from Seattle, the nation’s fastest-growing technology hub. The event is a benefit for Last Mile Education Fund and NUMFOCUS." General admission $229, Students $75. 12:00 - 4:00 PM September 19th, 2023 Cinemark Lincoln Square, Cinemas and IMAX 700 Bellevue Way NE, Suite 310 Bellevue WA 98004

1 year, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Silly question about S-100 and video monitors

by W2HX

Hi all, I recently acquired an S-100 computer, and it came with a video card and a keyboard (3rd party products, not originally equipped with these). I am trying to figure out the benefits of having a video card and keyboard vs just using a serial port and terminal. Certainly if the video card supported graphics, that would be a reason to go that route over a terminal. As for the keyboard, ok-maybe you need specific keys for a specific application. But I don't understand the video monitor. I could understand maybe if there was an RF modulator so that you could use a standard TV. That would save the builder some money. But this computer just provides composite. Other than graphics (and maybe some special function keys for an application on a keyboard), why would an S-100 builder in those days opt to buy a video card instead of a terminal? Thanks for the bandwidth. 73 Eugene W2HX Subscribe to my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@w2hx/videos

1 year, 11 months

28
68
0 0

Re: Friden (was Silly question about S-100 and video monitors)

by Rick Bensene

Just to add, interestingly, Singer also purchased General Precision from Librascope. Librascope/General Precision were the folks that had earlier acquired Royal-McBee. Royal-McBee developed the wonderful (some consider the first "personal" computer) LGP-30 vacuum-tube, magnetic drum computer that was designed by Manhattan Project theoretical physicist Stanley Frankel. Frankel had quite a legacy in the world of computing, having contributed to the design of the delay-line-based Packard Bell PB-250(with Max Palevsky), and development of a custom high-speed computer for Continental Oil Company called CONAC (used for data reduction of sounding operations search for oil deposits). Frankel also developed an early electronic calculator design that was purchased by Smith Corona/Marchant (SCM) and produced as the CRT-display SCM Cogito 240 calculator, augmented with Square Root as to Cogito 240SR. Frankel also collaborated with SCM on the development of the logic for the first set of LSI integrated circuits that were used in the later Nixie-tube display Cogito calculators. He also developed a very interesting calculator, based somewhat on the principles of the LGP-30 computer for Diehl in West Germany. The machine was fully transistorized and used only 142 transistors in its logic. It was based on magnetostrictive delay lines (two of them), and was a fully microcoded architecture, I believe the first electronic calculator to be completely microcoded. Since read-only memory (for the microcode) was either physically very large, or complex and expensive to build at the time (diode ROM, wire rope ROM), the microcode was loaded into the calculator at power-up time from a two channel punched metal tape. One channel provided the clocking, and the other channel provided the bits. It took just under a minute from when the calculator was powered on until the microcode was loaded into a delay line, and from there, all operations of the machine were controlled by the microcode in the delay line. The machine was able to be implemented with so few transistors because the microcode word was quite wide, and was designed so that it was sequentially interpreted as the bits streamed out of the delay line, so not all that many flip flops were needed. Working registers were stored in the other delay line, along with program steps (yes, the machine was programmable). The design was very elegant. The machine debuted as the Diehl Combitron, and the cool thing about its design was that it was really easy to augment by just changing the microcode tape (which was quite easily done...bugfixes could be easly installed even by end-users, though such was discouraged). Soon after the Combitron was introduced, an augmented version was introduced called the Combitron-S that added a small amount of I/O circuitry and additional microcode to implement operations to allow the addition of an external punched paper tape reader/punch. An interesting aspect of electronic calculator history is that there are a number of people whose names pop up at various points in time during the evolution of the technology. Frankel was one of those, along with a cast of a few others, all of whom had major impacts in the realm of electronic calculator (and the eventual evolution of the electronic calculator into what became the microcontroller/microprocessor that spurred the development of the personal computer).

1 year, 11 months

15
27
0 0

Re: VCFMW Anybody got an Emulex QD21?

by Mark Matlock

Jon, I have an Emulex QD21 that I could part with. I was hoping to attend VCF MW but it looks very doubtful at this point. I also have a spare DEQNA or DELQA. I have not tested these boards to verify that they work although I could test the ethernet boards on a PDP-11. Hans-Ulrich Hölscher mentioned work he did testing MicroVAX II transfers with Lee Gleason’s MicroVAX I project to transfer disk images on bare metal (no-OS) MicroVAX systems. I think that would be your best bet to recover your ESDI disk. If you don’t have any luck at the VCCF MW getting what you need, send me an email and we can work something out. Best, Mark

1 year, 11 months

1
0
0 0

SDF Interim Computer Festival

by Tarek Hoteit

FYI, SDF retro computing and home brew exhibition is scheduled for September 30 to October 1 in Seattle WA . Link to the exhibit is at https://sdf.org/icf/ and https://icm.museum/ - - - - Tarek Hoteit tarek(a)infocom.ai +1 360-838-3675 https://infocom.ai

1 year, 11 months

3
3
0 0

Little Databases

by Adam Thornton

Have you considered sqlite3? It's a SQL engine, but the backend is just a file. So it doesn't support concurrent access by multiple users, but if that's not a concern, it gives you the ability to do real SQL queries without the bother of setting up an RDBMS. Adam

1 year, 11 months

8
10
0 0

Plotter or Chart Recorder pens - in UK

by dave.g4ugm＠gmail.com

I have found some plotter pens. Ons pack says Calcomp 104x, 1023. The other I can't trace. They look like they clip into ring. Pics here. https://1drv.ms/f/s!Ag4BJfE5B3onnqhG_uReQsCndYafvg?e=WpT5nw I have a few more of the Calcomp, packets of the un-branded sort. Free for the cost of postage Dave

1 year, 11 months

1
0
0 0

IBM 1620 Model 2 software wanted

by Dave Babcock

To all, Some 20 years ago, I led the Computer History Museum's restoration of an IBM 1620 Model 1 computer. Our team was successful in both bringing the machine back to life and collecting a massive amount of manuals, books, and software for the machine. Most notable the John Maniotes collection. I can safely say that CHM has the largest collection of IBM 1620 material in the world. We are still looking for IBM 1620 Model 1 manuals to add to collection. Please let me know if you have anything that we might be missing. In the past 2 years, several people have been writing simulators for the IBM 1620 Model 2 that go well beyond SIMH's instruction-level simulator. These simulators are based on the logic diagrams of the machine and implement unusual corner cases as well as documented functionality. One of the simulators has a text-based front panel while another one has a full true-to-life graphical front panel. It's not my place to formally announce either program, that's for the creators to do once they complete their implementations. I've been consulting with the engineers and am reaching out to the broader community for help. What they need, and CHM would be very interested in adding to its IBM 1620 collection, is original software specifically for the IBM 1620 Model 2. Of particular interest are the IBM 1620 Monitor II and IBM 1620-2 diagnostics, but any Model 2 software would be helpful to their efforts. Please let me know if you have and IBM 1620 Model 2 software or manuals. Thanks, Dave Babcock

1 year, 11 months

3
4
0 0

Signetics N8220B ??

by Holm Tiffe

Hi guys, I have 8 "new" Chips from Signetics, they are labeled: S7536 N8220B and on the backside between the pins "8220". Does anyone know what they do? My search with google and in the 1976 Signetics Date Manual (from Bitsavers) wasn't helpful... Thanx in advance, Holm -- Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe, Goethestrasse 15, 09569 Oederan, USt-Id: DE253710583 info(a)tsht.de Tel +49 37292 709778 Mobil: 0172 8790 741

1 year, 11 months

5
5
0 0

vcfmw

by Paul Anderson

If anyone wants any DEC gear brought up to wcfmw, please contact me off list. If anyone is driving out from the NJ area, I have a few pieces of audio equipment I need to get transported to IL. I also collect US and foreign coins and currency, and am interested in buying or trading for DEC items. Thanks, Paul

1 year, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Gould Systems 32/77 Acquired (superminicomputer)

by Eric Moore

https://youtu.be/utAd_uZryDE

1 year, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Apple 1

by Murray McCullough

Classic computers have a value in our capitalist society. Take the Apple-1: Its value can be in the $100,000s. One is for sale now: ~ $200,000. Next seems to be the Kenbak-1 valued somewhere around $50,000. Now, I’m not suggesting money is the epitome for evaluating our hobby but it goes a long way to explaining its longevity. Happy computing. Murray 🙂 Add. I'm unable to get the output from your site but hope to contribute in some small way.

1 year, 11 months

13
19
0 0

Emacs on v7

by Adam Thornton

I finally got an Emacs running on v7--it's on misspiggy at LCML now as "ue". It's Microemacs 3.6; what I did was to clone https://github.com/troglobit/MicroEMACS and check out the first commit. Some experimentation later, it had the usual problem with v7 and DEC linkers that not all the function names (er, more generally exported symbols, but in this case, function names) were unique in the first 7 characters (which is 6 if you're working with DEC OSes). So a bit of sed later and I had something that built, linked, and appears to run with TERM=vt100 set. Arrow keys, naturally, don't work, but C-b, C-f, C-p, C-n do. I think I'm going to just make a GH repo of it, but I'm happy to send the tarball, or tar.uue, upon request. I find UUCP kinda fragile on my simh installation, and I don't know how to get to Miss Piggy's (although the uucp commands are there), so, well, uuencoding, a pasteboard buffer, iTerm2's "Paste Slowly", and cat will work as a file transfer mechanism. Now I'm going to run over to TUHS and announce the same. Adam

1 year, 11 months

3
3
0 0

Re: Apple 1

by Bill Gunshannon

On 8/3/2023 3:45 AM, Joshua Rice via cctalk wrote: > > I’d still prefer the IMSAI 8080 or SWTPC 6800 though. > While I have a couple Apple ]['s I really don't do much with them. Haven't even turned one on since I retired from the University in 2015 and they came home . Wouldn't take an Apple 1 as a gift but I, too, would love to have an IMSAI and a SWTPC 6800. bill

1 year, 11 months

16
28
0 0

fredmacs?

by Adam Thornton

I have heard rumors of one "fredmacs" which is a more-or-less emacs that will run on PDP-11 v7 Unix. Since I've gotten "s" onto v7 and behaving mostly happily, now I'd like an editor I actually _like_ rather than _tolerate_. Does anyone know where to find the fredmacs sources? Adam

1 year, 11 months

4
4
0 0

Disk-pack-based drives at LCM

by P Gebhardt

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

1 year, 11 months

7
8
0 0

NGPL TCS - 1969 Industrial Control

by Eric Moore

https://youtu.be/-CaUafVqnbw Super stoked to be able to share my latest video, I hope yall like it. -Eric

1 year, 11 months

5
6
0 0

SunPC

by silcreval

Hi there I recently had a mad hankering to add a SunPC card to my Sparcstation. A lot of you will be familiar with the SBUS cards with a 486 or '586' processor. Does anyone have one spare they would like to part with? Please PM me if you do. Anything really not at all fussed. This sort of re-creates a setup I had as a post graduate when I had a new 486DX2 alongside a Sparcstation 2, or at least had access to them. Both were pretty amazing machines at the time. I do remember benchmarking these two machines running similar C software I'd compiled up (a simple electromagnetic simulator), and it was noticeable that the sparcstation was at least twice as fast.

1 year, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Logic Analyzers - HP/Agilent 16700B or 1670G?

by John H. Reinhardt

Hello all. I looking around for a Logic Analyzer for doing (mostly) DEC QBus/UniBus stuff. Being the way I am I want something with enough lines to handle the most of the signals so I'm guessing something with roughly 80-ish channels. I think that lets out all/most of the USB based LA. I've looked around and it seems the the HP/Agilent 16700 series (16700B/16702B) are probably what I want. I've also seen the 1670G which also seems quite doable. I've seen a lot of posts at the EEVblog and it seems I missed possibly the golden age of 16700 LA by a few years price-wise. What I'm wondering is if there is something specific I should be looking for, or opinions on which LA is more suitable. Or even if there is a different make of LA to look for. Thanks in advance for your help John H. Reinhardt

1 year, 11 months

14
21
0 0

Dec Vax in Simh - VMS Operating system

by devin davison

Hello All, I am working to get my two microvax systems working, I have a couple of microvax 3800 systems. While I am waiting to get the real hardware going, I would like to set up simh with vms to use for testing. I don't really need the latest version of vms, any old version with tcp/ip would work. I do have about 16 dumb terminals i want to run as a lab and connect to the vax. Can anyone provide guidance on this matter for setting up and install of VMS in sinh? I realize that there was the openvms hobbyist program, but i may want to grab an older version of the os if it will run smoother on the older hardware. Open to suggestions, I hope to post back with some pictures once the real vax 3800 hardware is running. Thanks, Devin D.

1 year, 11 months

3
2
0 0

Divestiture and sqlite3

by Adam Thornton

To clarify a couple of things in response to queries: my time for divestment is "not yet"--but rest assured, when it arrives, I will certainly see who wants things from my assortment (don't get too excited; there's nothing super-rare or valuable in it, and I've always been more concerned with restoring functionality than maintaining period-correctness; I am one of those collectors who restores stuff to play with it, not to then put it in shrinkwrap and preserve it for some uncertain future). And should that time arrive suddenly, well, argh, I've been putting off making a will too long, but I know who I'm going to put in charge of "everything computery," and I trust her to make good decisions about the things she doesn't want. My understanding of sqlite (and it could be wrong) is that concurrent writes aren't supported, and reads should block if a write is in progress until the write completes. In practice it seems like most things are one-sqlite-file-per-process and if that process is threaded, one would hope the programmer understands what they're doing well enough to make it work. There are fairly few cases I've seen where a single sqlite file is shared between unrelated processes, which would take filesystem locking working correctly to ensure correctness. Which is generally OK for local filesystems, but NFS is still a bucket of worms when it comes to locking behavior, and the number of people running systems that genuinely understand NFS has been declining for decades. (I do not count myself among those people.)

1 year, 11 months

2
1
0 0

Connecting MFM emulator as both 1st and 2nd drive in Microvax 2000?

by Jonathan Stone

I have a Gesswein MFM emulator from decromancer.ca; who offer an adaptor that yields a 2nd MFM data connector. I'll use mine in a Microvax 2000. Does anyone know how to hook it up as two MFM drives in a Microvax 2000? The vendor sold a 1in high adaptor box, BA40A, with DD50 connectors to a second cabinet (same as CPU box) for a second drive. DEC configured both primary and secondary drives identically (drive 3, IIRC). The Microvax 2000 Technical Manual gives the pinout from the mother board to the MFM/floppy daughterboard, but I can't find the pinout from that daughterboard to the cables anywhere. I've been looking for a BA40A, for some years now, to trace the pin layout for a 2nd drive. Does anyone know it? Has anyone successfully configured a single MFM emulator as two MFM drives in a Microvax 2000? Or to an RQDX3?

1 year, 11 months

25
51
0 0

Disposition of stuff

by Adam Thornton

Been thinking about it a little recently, and, no, I definitely don't plan to send my stuff to a scrapper. I have some younger friends with an interest in retrocomputing. They want my stuff when I'm done with it, sure. And if they want _just a little_ of my stuff I'll probably strike a deal like, "you can have the SGI Indy if that box of IDE drives goes with it, and you aren't allowed to throw it away until you're somewhere I'm not going to see it by the side of the road." Adam

1 year, 11 months

4
3
0 0

Re: Disposition of stuff

by dave.g4ugm＠gmail.com

Mike, Well sadly I have no PDP-8 parts. I do have a few bits of Q-BUS PDP-11. Probably enough to build a complete 11. I am also in the UK …. Dave From: Mike Katz <bitwiz(a)12bitsbest.com> Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2023 3:53 PM Cc: 'KenUnix' <ken.unix.guy(a)gmail.com>; dave.g4ugm(a)gmail.com Subject: Re: [cctalk] Re: Disposition of stuff I will gladly give a nice warm loving home to any PDP-8 equipment and parts that you have. On Aug 19, 2023 6:16 AM, Dave Wade G4UGM via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org> > wrote: Gentles, The problem is I have stuff no one wants. Large plotter, dec writer in need of repair, Large Alpha server.... Suggestions? Dave > -----Original Message----- > From: KenUnix via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org> > > Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2023 10:14 AM > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org> > > Cc: KenUnix <ken.unix.guy(a)gmail.com <mailto:ken.unix.guy@gmail.com> > > Subject: [cctalk] Re: Disposition of stuff > > Adam, > > I agree. Give it a new home. Save computing history because when it's gone it's > gone. > > Ken > > On Fri, Aug 18, 2023 at 10:02 PM Adam Thornton via cctalk < > cctalk(a)classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org> > wrote: > > > Been thinking about it a little recently, and, no, I definitely don't > > plan to send my stuff to a scrapper. I have some younger friends with > > an interest in retrocomputing. They want my stuff when I'm done with > > it, sure. And if they want _just a little_ of my stuff I'll probably > > strike a deal like, "you can have the SGI Indy if that box of IDE > > drives goes with it, and you aren't allowed to throw it away until > > you're somewhere I'm not going to see it by the side of the road." > > > > Adam > > > > > -- > End of line > JOB TERMINATED

1 year, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Nixies..

by Holm Tiffe

...only for a look.. https://www.daliborfarny.com/project/h-nixie-tube/ I'm not related with that czech factory, this is no advertising. Regards, Holm -- Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe, Goethestrasse 15, 09569 Oederan, USt-Id: DE253710583 info(a)tsht.de Tel +49 37292 709778 Mobil: 0172 8790 741

1 year, 11 months

4
6
0 0

Good Inventory Program

by Evan Linwood

This is almost an impossible question to answer (!) but it might be worth mentioning Pimcore. This is an open source master data management tool, meaning that it supports both schema (data model) design and generation/design of UI elements via a reasonably decent management interface. It might even be overkill for this particular use case., but from memory the web UIs that it generates don’t depend on front end libraries / Angular / React etc & so may work with older browsers. Perhaps another option is LibreOffice Base?

1 year, 11 months

4
3
0 0

Re: Old Professional/350 software, any of this out there

by Mark Matlock

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)

1 year, 11 months

13
27
0 0

50 pins in three rows

by Cameron Kaiser

In a shipment today I got several AMP-labeled dongles that look like SCSI terminators ... except the 50 pins are arranged in three rows (17-16-17), not the Centronics-style 50-pin connector nor the usual 2-pin configuration. Anyone seen those before, and is it actually SCSI, or is it something else? -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser(a)floodgap.com -- Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong. -- Oscar Wilde

1 year, 11 months

12
19
0 0

Polymorphic Systems Poly88

by Marvin Johnston

FWIW and as some of you might know, Polymorphic was manufactured here in Santa Barbara (also Lobo Drives/Systems, and Street Electronics.) After Poly had gone out of business, a friend of mine ended up getting all (or most) of the remaining Poly documentation and most of the remaining hardware from the person who owned the Polymorphic remains. After he had sold off some of that "stash", he gave the remaining stuff to me. I spent a week or so taking the remaining original masters documentation and putting it in a filing cabinet. That stuff included approximately 200 S-100 boards in various states of being built and maybe up to ten thousand (WAG) 1/4" and 8" disks of stuff that was being worked on at Poly when they shut down. On my to-do list is to scan the remaining documentation (about a four drawer filing cabinet) as well putting together the remaining Poly88s (four- six) and other boards. I had planned on bringing some of that "stuff" to VCFMW, but found out last night the exhibit area was filled. So at this point, I don't know if I will be attending or not. I am more concerned with getting the documentation scanned and archived and will most likely end up buying a high speed double sided scanner. So this is just a heads up that a lot (most?) of the original Polymorphic documentation does still exist. Years ago, some highly uninformed individual said this could not be original since there were no graphics in the Circa early 1970 docs. He was wrong about this not being original documentation!!! I also tried to keep any marked diskettes with the docs. Those disks were primarily system disks. And those disks NEED to be backed up before they degrade to the point they would be difficult to read. FWIW, I would have liked to get this stuff scanned, etc but at that time, I didn't have enough money to pay attention let alone buy a scanner to scan this stuff :). Marvin

1 year, 11 months

5
4
0 0

Re: VCF this weekend, any one up for a trade?

by Steve Lewis

( I'm not sure how to change topic subjects! ) Regarding the Poly-88, I'm not seeing much about it on YouTube. If you've got a working one, it would be good to "get one on record." If you're willing to part with it or loan it - let me know (can also run it by ActionRetro, although he's concentrating on some Russian imports at the moment). But back to the original topic, hope VCF West went well ! Looks like I've been talked into going to the September 9th VCF near Chicago. -Steve On Mon, Aug 7, 2023 at 10:07 AM dwight <dkelvey(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > Hi Steve > I see. You were asking if anyone had a working Poly-88. > Yes, I believe mine is likely still working. I also have a 8813 that was > working when I put it away. > At the VCF, I was talking to another fellow about the video board used on > the Poly-88. It was said by the other person that the board was basically > copied by others and some even had the same error, causing distortion of > the first line by incorrect timing of the H retrace time, on many monitors. > Dwight > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Steve Lewis <lewissa78(a)gmail.com> > *Sent:* Sunday, August 6, 2023 4:52 PM > *To:* General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts < > cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > *Cc:* dwight <dkelvey(a)hotmail.com> > *Subject:* Re: [cctalk] Re: VCF this weekend, any one up for a trade? > > Oh it wasn't my Poly88 - but the person who had it, they just didn't have > a CRT or screen to test it out with. So it may be working fine. Original > owner, said he put it together himself (and 16K). > > > > On Sun, Aug 6, 2023 at 3:11 PM dwight via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > wrote: > > My Poly-88 should be working but I've not played with it for a few years. > The last time I had it up and doing something was at the last MakerFaire . > What Is your issue? > Dwight > > ________________________________ > From: Steve Lewis via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > Sent: Thursday, August 3, 2023 10:19 PM > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts < > cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > Cc: Steve Lewis <lewissa78(a)gmail.com> > Subject: [cctalk] Re: VCF this weekend, any one up for a trade? > > I can't make it to VCF this weekend - though I'm hoping to make it to the > one in September. > > I actually am looking for something: any working IEC device for a C64 (1541 > drive, printer, plotter?). More for an experiment than collection, but do > prefer clean and presentable. > > > Earlier this year, I reached someone with a working Poly-88. But then in > March they reported health issues and hospital stays, so I haven't heard > since. Would be interested if anyone else is aware of a still-working one. > > We're still working on recovery of an IBM 5100 "launch title" tape > (analytic functions) - practicing with other tapes first. Its 2-channel > deal so far isn't quite that straightforward. But if the Tektronics folks > can do it with their QIC tapes, I'm somewhat hopeful we can too (although > late 70s/early 80s Tektronic is apparently a more proper IEEE-488). > > Only thing I could offer right now is a fairly not-working 5110 (display > don't work, PSU don't work, cards don't work - but the case is pristine). > > -Steve > > > > > > On Thu, Aug 3, 2023 at 8:49 PM Fred Cisin via cctalk < > cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > wrote: > > > >> I did not get any of whatever mailings there were. > > >> > > >> I don't exhibit, but I do have an excessive amount of stuff to sort > and > > >> pack for sale and giveaway. > > >> -- > > >> Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com > > > > > > On Thu, 3 Aug 2023, Sellam Abraham via cctalk wrote: > > > We'll just have to organize a VCF Fred at some point. That way, they > > come > > > to you. > > > > > > I mean, after all, that's why I started the VCF ;) > > > > Yes, but you handed it over to a swell bunch of people before I finished > > parting with my stuff! > > > > -- > > Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com > > > >

1 year, 11 months

1
0
0 0

VCF this weekend, any one up for a trade?

by Sellam Abraham

I'm sure there are at least a couple of you who will be attending the VCF this weekend in Mountain View at the Computer History Museum. Is there anything that anyone might want/need? Please send me a private message if you're looking for something and if I have what you want I can bring it with me. I'll only be there Saturday. Sellam

1 year, 12 months

6
10
0 0

ROM data for Lear Siegler ADM31?

by John Robertson

I sold my Lear Siegler ADM31 recently and the new owner (Ian) has found that one of the ROMs failed before he could archive it - or it was defective to start with. So my question to the list is - does anyone have the ROM codes (there are three of them) archived? I don't think Ian is a member of this list, otherwise I'm sure I would have spotted a post with a subject line like mine... Thanks! John :-#)# -- John's Jukes Ltd. 7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3 Call (604)872-5757 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games) flippers.com "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out"

1 year, 12 months

2
3
0 0

Re: Apple 1

by Sellam Abraham

On Sat, Aug 5, 2023, 9:48 AM Joshua Rice via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: > > The Apple 1 is collectible purely because it was the first product Apple > made. Not really, though that's part of it. The value of the Apple 1 has more to do with the Cult of Steve than anything else. Steve Jobs became the most celebrated CEO of his time. He was practically a rockstar. Personally, I think the admiration for Jobs turned into cringey idol worship, but the fact is millions of people around the world were impacted by the products Apple produced under his leadership, and he received the adoration. As I said previously, the Apple 1 is now an icon, a status symbol for the wealthy. The "Veblen Good" concept absolutely applies here. They have transcended our motley little community of vintage computer enthusiasts. They will continue to be held in high end collections for generations to come. Sellam

1 year, 12 months

2
1
0 0

Re: Apple 1

by Chuck Guzis

On 8/3/23 00:45, Joshua Rice via cctalk wrote: > Value is a very much reliant on both desirability and historical significance. I guarantee most people who own an Apple 1 never use it, and it sits in a cabinet/shelf somewhere. Transversely, I’m sure there’s very few Amiga 1200’s purely on display, with the vast majority in collectors hands either tucked in a cupboard or actively used. > > The Apple 1 is collectible purely because it was the first product Apple made. There’s dozens of similar machines from the same time period, vcreated by startups looking to be the next big thing, that just didn’t make it. Look at SWTPC, look at IMSAI, the COSMAC ELF. Apple made it to the big time, and they didn’t, so many more people with too much money would consider the Apple 1 to be a wise investment. > > I’d still prefer the IMSAI 8080 or SWTPC 6800 though. Collection values are so subjective that to me, that they make little sense. For example, is a Mac that belonged to Steve Jobs more valuable than the same model Mac that belonged to Harvey Schmidlap? Same machine--I doubt that any scientific test could affirm that Jobs was still alive in the former. But the difference to collectors may be a couple orders of magnitude. But then, I see little difference in value between an original painting and an expert copy. Yes, I know, I have no soul! --Chuck

1 year, 12 months

2
1
0 0

IBM 1410 FPGA Status - 1401 Mode

by Jay Jaeger

My IBM 1410 FPGA project now features a working 1401 mode as well, with the flip of a switch, exactly like the original IBM 1410. There are still a few real problems (e.g., Console I/O Input under program control doesn't seem to be working), a few minor issues involving console problems when doing control operations, and lots of changes I want to make to the PC console support program, which really should be done before tackling I/O devices. There are posts relating to the debugging of the 1401 side of things towards the end of the list that appears on page: https://www.computercollection.net/index.php/ibm-1410-fpga-implementation/ JRJ

1 year, 12 months

1
0
0 0

Houston Instruments HiPlot Plotters - Pens?

by Gordon Henderson

I have a HiPlot plotter - it's DMP-29, but I'm fairly sure it takes the same pens as the DMP-2 which I also have but in a million pieces - but right now without pens. I have been promised some but it may be many weeks... I'm wondering if anyone has any old (or NOS?) pens for them? What I'm after is the dimensions with a view to 3D printing new pens - or at least pen holders so I can fit modern pens into. (There is no height restriction on the pen bodys) Can anyone help? (I'm in the UK if anyone has any physical pens available - please let me know) Thanks, Gordon

1 year, 12 months

3
5
0 0

Looking for the MAD-1 drive unit

by brad＠techtimetraveller.com

I have 3 of the 4 pieces of Modular Advanced Design's MAD-1 and every now and again I like to reach out and see if anyone might have the last missing piece I need. The MAD-1 is sort of like the evil twin of the Mindset.. although nowhere near the graphics prowess. Unfortunately like the Mindset the disk drives are a separate unit and unlike the Mindset the MAD-1 can't operate without them because the enclosure also contains the PSU for the whole computer. The floppy drives are nothing special.. just SA-455 360k. Anyway, Sellam's msg about trades prompted me to reach out again. If you aren't familiar here is a link to a pic of one CHM has. https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/X1620.99A Many thanks!! Brad Brad - The Tech Time Traveller brad(a)techtimetraveller.com

1 year, 12 months

1
0
0 0

Printers, etc available for sale

by Marvin Johnston

Does anyone still use the older dot matrix printers? The husband of a friend of mine passed away and I am helping her dispose of his classic computer stuff. If there is interest in them, I can put together a list of what she has (and I can see) in the six storage lockers :). The printers I saw today used the wide perforated paper. My memory is non existent after about 1 hour :). My current plan is to attend VCFMW in September, and I can probably bring stuff with me. The ones I remember are the Diablo 630 (?), Juki, and a number of others of similar vintage. Yes, he had half a dozen or so Kaypro and Osbourne computers in the first 18" or so of the storage unit plus one IBM compatible that I could see along with maybe six B&W monitors. There are also a number of bankers boxes filled with 5 1/4" and 3.5" floppy disks and period books. Marvin

1 year, 12 months

1
0
0 0

Re: Intel Developers' Insight CD-ROM collection archived anywhere?

by Kevin Bowling

Can someone upload the ISOs of what we do have to archive.org? I found http://intel-vintage-developer.eu5.org/ but I'd like to grab it without the free web host ads. On Wed, Feb 17, 2021 at 4:47 PM Maciej W. Rozycki via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: > > On Thu, 1 Oct 2020, Glen Slick via cctalk wrote: > > > > Sadly neither seems to be among the files I have copied. I could yet > > > check Intel Dec 1995 Data on Demand discs I happen to have, and do have > > > here, but they are cumbersome to handle as they use a proprietary format > > > requiring a DOS app to access, and yet more hassle to get anything > > > exported (assuming I can recall how I did that many years ago), so it'll > > > take a little. > > > > If you have some Intel "Data on Demand" CD-ROMs it would be nice if > > .ISO images of those could be captured and uploaded somewhere. Then > > leave it up to anyone interested to deal with extracting documents > > from them. > > Hmm, I'm not sure of the copyright status, even that those were available > free of charge. It would be good to have the stuff preserved though, so > I'll see if I can get some ack from Intel. I have good experience overall > with such enquiries. Ditto about the Insight CDs. > > > I found this document while looking online. It's not clear to me if > > that is a list of documents that are contained on the December 1995 > > "Data on Demand" CD-ROMs or if some of those are only available > > elsewhere. > > > > http://alt.ife.tugraz.at/datashts/intel/litguide.pdf > > This looks to me like a list of orderable hardcopy documents. I still > have a long line of those on a bookshelf. But indeed most if not all were > available on said CDs, and some were only there. > > Anyway, sorry to take so long, but such is life. I finally got to my set > of Insight CDs and guess what? First that I looked at was October 1996, > my oldest, and it does have what you look for: > > $ ls -la fbldr16*.zip > -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 4619852 Jul 8 1996 fbldr16.zip > -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 1359076 Jul 8 1996 fbldr16a.zip > -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 1253664 Jul 8 1996 fbldr16b.zip > -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 1076370 Jul 8 1996 fbldr16c.zip > -r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 930808 Jul 8 1996 fbldr16d.zip > $ > > Do you still need it? I have lost the FTP site I used to host things on > and I can't afford the time to set up a new one right away. But I can > e-mail you this stuff offlist if your mailbox can swallow it. The choice > is either one big file, first in the listing above, or the other four, > which are the same contents, split, that I would send in a separate e-mail > each. I could split it further too, I know how it worked in the old days. > > By the look of it all the documentation included with FLASHBuilder is in > the form of MS Windows help files rather than PDF. > > Either way please let me know. > > Maciej

2 years

1
0
0 0

Re: SCAMP at 61 (IBM Scientific Computer And Modular Processor) was Re: SCAMP at 50 (IBM 5100)

by Tom Stepleton

I have to assume that the SCAMP used in the IBM 5100 Portable Computer and relatives must have been a great deal smaller than the earlier machine. As such, a logical and unambiguous way to refer to it is "SCAMP Shrimpy." I hope this is helpful, --Tom

2 years

2
1
0 0

SCAMP at 50 (IBM 5100)

by Steve Lewis

For anyone interested, I'm placing my SCAMP notes here! Had an incredibly great opportunity to learn more about it. https://voidstar.blog/scamp-a-review-50-years-later/

2 years

8
14
0 0

Old Professional/350 software, any of this out there

by Chris Zach

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)

2 years

11
20
0 0

May need help buying computer in Houston - I’m in CA

by Steven Stengel

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.

2 years

5
4
0 0

1-click exploits was Re: BEWARE: Phishing

by Todd Pisek

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.

2 years

7
6
0 0

Well, SPSS for RSX is sorta up.

by Chris Zach

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

2 years

1
0
0 0

Cool program found for Pro/350

by Chris Zach

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

2 years

1
0
0 0

F/S: Lego robot kits for IBM PC

by Evan Koblentz

Around the middle of the 1980s, Lego made a robotics system for 8-bit computers, including the Apple II, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, and IBM PC. The system includes a hardware interface (set #9750, "Interface A"), a card or cable (differs for each computer; the PC-ISA card is set #9771), and various electronic Lego bits (sensors, lights, motors, etc., the main set of which is #9700.) I recently acquired several of the PC-ISA version. I am selling these as a bundle: 1x-9750, 1x-9771, 2x-9700. The price is $400 + s/h from New Jersey. Full details about the sets are on my website, www.brickhacks.com. The site isn't finished and some links will not work, but the meat of it is all there. I'll also be posting how-to videos on YouTube (@TechnicallyEvan) but I can't promise when that will happen -- I'm very busy in real life. All of the manuals are on the Internet Archive, under the "vintage Lego robotics" collection. Interested buyers should send me a private message to evan(a)snarc.net.

2 years

1
0
0 0

2025

2024

2023

2022

cctalk