Nostalgia keeps pressing ahead: It was 60 yrs. ago that BASIC came into
existence. I remember very well writing in Apple Basic and GW Basic later
on. As a non-compiled OS, an interpreted OS, it was just the right tool for
a microcomputer with limited memory. I recall fondly taking code from
popular magazines and getting them to run. It was thrilling indeed!
Happy computing,
Murray 🙂
I had not realized the IBM 360 was 60 yrs. old this month. I worked on such
a computer in the late 60s in Toronto. What one could do with 8 Kbytes of
ram was remarkable!
Happy computing
Murray 🙂
Hello everyone
I need your help to identify an issue on my Diablo Model 40 Series. I
don't know where to look, it's so vast !
Here's the problem:
When RUN is activated, the drive begins its spin up and simultaneously
deploys the heads (normal) but instead of stabilizing them, the Head
Positioner receives a burst of reverse/forward micro signals. The heads
"vibrate", this creates an audible frequency "BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR", and
it is infinite, the heads are never loaded and the drive never reaches
READY.
At first I thought that perhaps the track zero sensor was defective or
something of the same order but when I disengage RUN mode, the drive
unloads the heads and they should be in a fixed position, here they
continue to reverse/forward but more slowly than in RUN mode.
Because the heads continues to mess around even in unload mode, this a
priori excludes alignment problems.
Here is a video of that issue:
https://youtu.be/HzzxLnSdEOg
Other information, if I cut the power while the drive is in RUN mode, it
does not do an emergency retraction of the heads, related problem?
I was hoping for a power supply problem but all the voltages and even on
the main board cage seem ok (with a multimeter).
If one of you had already encountered this problem of lack of head
stabilization and continuous reverse/forward on this type of drive?
Thanks !
Dominique
Just reaching out to anyone who has exhibited at a vintage computing
festival before. After years of only being able to watch others attend the
ones that happen in the US, we are finally getting one in BC here. Super
excited. I was invited both to speak and to exhibit, and they even got me
two tables which is awesome.
Like, how do you prepare for these things? What things that you didn't
think of going into your first show do you wish you had?
I have a pretty eclectic collection, and some really rare stuff (like my
Mark-8s) that I'd love to bring but am hesitant about due to the risks of
transportation damage and theft (from the car mostly, not the convention
itself). Just trying to decide what to bring and how focused to be in terms
of theme.
Brad
Some may find this interesting. Microsoft has released the source for MS-DOS versions 1.25, 2, and 4.
https://github.com/microsoft/MS-DOS
Will
Grownups never understand anything by themselves and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them,
Antoine de Saint-Exupery in The Little Prince
Based on what I have read, along with a few discussions I have had with
people involved in the early S-100 "scene" around now is the 50th birthday
(or conception day) of the Altair 8800. Certainly, next year could properly
be called its 50th birthday. Anyway, I'm thinking about "painting the show
blue" with Altairs and IMSAIs for the next few vintage computer festivals.
Anyone else interested?
Bill S.
--
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Hi Don !
Good suggestion, these microswitches are used to indicate that the heads
are completely retracted.
Unfortunately, that would have been too simple, both microswitches work
perfectly :-/
On 30/04/2024 19:43, D. Resor wrote:
> What is the purpose of the two microswitches seen in the upper right
> of the video view?
>
> Could one or both of those be intermittent? Have they been tested for
> continuity/intermittence with an analog VOM?
>
> Don Resor
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dominique Carlier via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2024 8:47 AM
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
> Cc: Dominique Carlier <dce(a)skynet.be>
> Subject: [cctalk] Diablo Model 40 Series - Disturbed head positioning
>
> Hello everyone
>
> I need your help to identify an issue on my Diablo Model 40 Series. I
> don't know where to look, it's so vast !
>
> Here's the problem:
> When RUN is activated, the drive begins its spin up and simultaneously
> deploys the heads (normal) but instead of stabilizing them, the Head
> Positioner receives a burst of reverse/forward micro signals. The
> heads "vibrate", this creates an audible frequency
> "BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR", and it is infinite, the heads are never loaded
> and the drive never reaches READY.
>
> At first I thought that perhaps the track zero sensor was defective or
> something of the same order but when I disengage RUN mode, the drive
> unloads the heads and they should be in a fixed position, here they
> continue to reverse/forward but more slowly than in RUN mode.
> Because the heads continues to mess around even in unload mode, this a
> priori excludes alignment problems.
>
> Here is a video of that issue:
>
> https://youtu.be/HzzxLnSdEOg
>
> Other information, if I cut the power while the drive is in RUN mode,
> it does not do an emergency retraction of the heads, related problem?
> I was hoping for a power supply problem but all the voltages and even
> on the main board cage seem ok (with a multimeter).
>
> If one of you had already encountered this problem of lack of head
> stabilization and continuous reverse/forward on this type of drive?
>
> Thanks !
>
> Dominique
>
I looked up the Jan. 1975 issue of Popular Electronics in the Copyright Office's Periodicals Digest. It was published on Nov. 19, 1974 if you are looking for an actual anniversary date.
-W
> On Saturday, April 27th, 2024 at 07:14, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk <
> cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
> > > Magazine cover january, and into 1975 the revolution. So I'd say
> > > all
> >
> > I had that magazine. Wish I hadn't thrown it away oh so many years
> > ago.
>
> This one?
>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://archive.org/details/197511PopularE
> lectronics__;!!AQdq3sQhfUj4q8uUguY!jsVD6bkUUnjpF4d8AeRUKyiCW6qk8LAqFsj
> dYW5cjAK-kOsMp32O4FfrPI5l1lqnTNp6sXQsHpX35FsPAzYDMIHhl-uy-NSC5w$
>
> The Doctor [412/724/301/703/415/510]
> WWW:
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://drwho.virtadpt.net/__;!!AQdq3sQhfU
> j4q8uUguY!jsVD6bkUUnjpF4d8AeRUKyiCW6qk8LAqFsjdYW5cjAK-kOsMp32O4FfrPI5l
> 1lqnTNp6sXQsHpX35FsPAzYDMIHhl-u9z1M8kw$
> Don't be mean. You don't have to be mean
>
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://vintagecomputer.net/altair-poptronics.c…
(Jan and Feb)
I came across this paragraph from the July 1981 Popular Science magazine edition in the article titled “Compute power - pro models at almost home-unit prices.”
“ ‘Personal-computer buffs may buy a machine, bring it home, and then spend the rest of their time looking for things it can do’, said …. ‘In business, it’s the other way around. Here you know the job, you have to find a machine that will do it. More precisely, you have to find software that will do the job. Finding a computer to use the software you’ve selected becomes secondary.”.
Do you guys* think that software drove hardware sales rather than the other way around for businesses in the early days? I recall that computer hardware salespeople would be knocking on businesses office doors rather than software salesmen. Just seeking your opinion now that we are far ahead from 1981.
(*I do wish we have female gender engaged in the classic computing discussions threads as well. Maybe there is.)
Regards,
Tarek Hoteit
AI Consultant, PhD
+1 360-838-3675
All —
I mostly lurk on the list now, but I am looking for a manual for the Lomas LightningOne 8086 CPU board. There doesn’t seem to be a good archive of manuals for the Lomas boards (and what’s out there is only partial). I have a project I’m working on with Lomas boards so looking to collect info, etc.
Thanks!
Rich
--
Rich Cini
http://cini.classiccmp.org
