I have the following PiDPs and Enigmas that didn't sell at the VCM
Midwest show. Please contact me directly (bitwiz(a)12bitbest.com) if
you are interested:
2 PiDP-1 Console Kits ($265 plus shipping) 2 PiDP-1 Rack Kits ($460 plus
shipping) 2 PiDP-8 Kits ($220 plus shipping) 2 PiDP-10 Kits ($415 plus
shipping) 1 PiDP-11 Kit ($315 plus shipping) 1 Enigma Touch Double Case
($565 plus shipping) 1 Enigma Touch Double Panel ($465 plus shipping)
I totally forgot the PDP11-C manuals I do have contain instructions for
multiple OSes, including RSTS/E.
So it seems the step I was missing was to create the AUTOIN$: directory.
Once I did that and ran autoin
I have been able to install it. So that problem is solved now.
- Peter
On Tue, Oct 13, 2026 at 11:55 PM Zane Healy <healyzh(a)avanthar.com> wrote:
> This sounds really familiar, but it has probably been close to 15 years
> for me and it was real hardware. My /73 has a DEC TLZ06 4mm and a TZ30
> (TK50). I installed the OS from 4mm, but had to install the at least one
> layered product from TK50.
>
> I would recommend that you switch your tape drive type to TMSCP, and give
> that a try.
>
> Zane
>
>
>
> On Oct 13, 2026, at 7:04 PM, Peter Ekstrom <epekstrom(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Zane,
>
> It is a simulated one, to be completely honest. :) I am using the TS05
> drive and I can restore the auto-installer,
> and I can get the directory of the tape, as well as the backup sets. It's
> just when I try to install CCC that it fails.
> It seems to look for something under [1,2] but I don't know what. And
> sometimes it just says something is corrupt.
>
> - Peter
>
> On Tue, Oct 13, 2026 at 9:57 PM Zane Healy <healyzh(a)avanthar.com> wrote:
>
>> What type of tape drive? I seem to recall the layered products being
>> pickier than the OS. Real HW or emulsion?
>>
>> Zane
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Oct 13, 2026, at 6:48 PM, Peter Ekstrom via cctalk <
>> cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
>> >
>> > Hi all,
>> >
>> > So I have started playing around with RSTS/E v10.1 on one of my PDP-11s
>> and
>> > I am trying
>> > to install PDP11-C v1.2. I have the auto-installer in [82,6] and the
>> tape
>> > mounted but it fails:
>> >
>> > $ @[82,6]autoin
>> > RSTS/E Auto-Install Procedure V1.1
>> >
>> > 18-Oct-26 01:47 AM
>> >
>> > Type "?" for help; CTRL/Z to end; or valid input.
>> >
>> > Which product(s) do you want to install? ccc
>> >
>> > Type "?" for help; CTRL/Z to exit Auto-Install; or valid input.
>> >
>> > Where are the update files located <PATCH$:>?
>> >
>> > Type "?" for help; CTRL/Z to skip this product; or valid input.
>> >
>> > Which device are the distribution files for CCC (CCC) located on
>> (include
>> > colon)
>> > ? ms0:
>> >
>> > Products being installed:
>> > Device Product Task name
>> > ------ ------- ---------
>> > MS0: CCC (CCC)
>> >
>> > Determining system configuration.
>> >
>> > FATAL -- Auto-Install internal data structure corrupted; procedure
>> > aborting.
>> >
>> > Auto-Install ended at 18-Oct-26 01:47 AM.
>> >
>> >
>> > I don't have the documentation for C for RSTS/E so, what am I missing?
>> > Following this exact same process in RSX-11M+ works fine with the media
>> for
>> > RSX.
>> >
>> > I have the RSTS/E manuals, just not the ones for the layered products.
>> >
>> > Thanks in advance for any help or pointers.
>> >
>> > - Peter
>>
>>
I have a Silent 700 terminal that only needs a new printhead and three
keyswitches to be fully functional.
Shipping costs for a terminal are ridiculous these days (and then I'd
want to fix the parts machine too!)
So - does anyone have those small pieces?
thanks
Charles
Hi all,
So I have started playing around with RSTS/E v10.1 on one of my PDP-11s and
I am trying
to install PDP11-C v1.2. I have the auto-installer in [82,6] and the tape
mounted but it fails:
$ @[82,6]autoin
RSTS/E Auto-Install Procedure V1.1
18-Oct-26 01:47 AM
Type "?" for help; CTRL/Z to end; or valid input.
Which product(s) do you want to install? ccc
Type "?" for help; CTRL/Z to exit Auto-Install; or valid input.
Where are the update files located <PATCH$:>?
Type "?" for help; CTRL/Z to skip this product; or valid input.
Which device are the distribution files for CCC (CCC) located on (include
colon)
? ms0:
Products being installed:
Device Product Task name
------ ------- ---------
MS0: CCC (CCC)
Determining system configuration.
FATAL -- Auto-Install internal data structure corrupted; procedure
aborting.
Auto-Install ended at 18-Oct-26 01:47 AM.
I don't have the documentation for C for RSTS/E so, what am I missing?
Following this exact same process in RSX-11M+ works fine with the media for
RSX.
I have the RSTS/E manuals, just not the ones for the layered products.
Thanks in advance for any help or pointers.
- Peter
Can someone help me find a setting in TSX-Plus that turns off the banner
(full-page file name header) when a file is printed?
(For the few occasions I need to print something, the banner takes a
long time on the Teletype 43 KSR I'm using on LP: and I don't need it).
thanks!
My ADM-3A Dumb Terminal has an aggravating tendency to key bounce. It's
not the highest quality keyboard I've ever encountered, and the
circuitry appears to have (at best) 2-key rollover.
Currently I'm using it to talk to my PiDP-8/I at either 110 baud (to
simulate the Teletype experience) or 1200 baud.
Has someone already made improvements to the key scanning circuitry, or
do we just live with it ("that's what they all do")?
I haven't used one regularly since 1981 (senior year in college) 😉 but
don't remember it being quite this annoying.
thanks.
A week old news, but still. Seems like it appeared on wikipedia only
yesterday.
From [1]:
QUOTE START
Margaret Hamilton (née Heafield; August 17, 1936 – September 30, 2026)
was an American computer scientist. She directed the Software
Engineering Division at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, where she
led the development of the on-board flight software for NASA's Apollo
Guidance Computer for the Apollo program. She later founded two
software companies, Higher Order Software in 1976 and Hamilton
Technologies in 1986, both in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Hamilton published more than 130 papers, proceedings, and reports,
about sixty projects, and six major programs. She coined the term
software engineering, stating, "I began to use the term 'software
engineering' to distinguish it from hardware and other kinds of
engineering, yet treat each type of engineering as part of the overall
systems engineering process."[2][3][4]
On November 22, 2016, Hamilton received the Presidential Medal of
Freedom from President Barack Obama for her work leading to the
development of on-board flight software for NASA's Apollo moon
missions.[5]
QUOTE END
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hamilton_(software_engineer)
[2] RIP Margaret Hamilton, whose code saved the Apollo 11 Moon landing
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/10/r-i-p-margaret-hamilton-whose-code-…
--
Regards,
Tomasz Rola
--
** A C programmer asked whether computer had Buddha's nature. **
** As the answer, master did "rm -rif" on the programmer's home **
** directory. And then the C programmer became enlightened... **
** **
** Tomasz Rola mailto:tomasz_rola@bigfoot.com **
The next meeting in Glen Ellyn of the CCC Hardware Repair and Discussion
will be held on October 17, 2026.
Meeting Starts at 2:00PM and we will order pizza around 6pm or so.
I hope to see you there,
Mike Katz
385 Saint Charles Rd
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
+1 (773) 414-1044 (Cell)
It's been a while since my initial posting about this project but it is time
for an update.
This has been mostly a spare time project, and you know how life tends gets in
the way sometimes...
The work itself has been a bit of a "maze of twisty little passages, all
alike" with many potholes and obstacles, but progress has been made.
The video below tells the tale:
https://youtu.be/KwaNschJg6w
Synopsis:
A real PDP-11/70 boots RSTS/E V10.1 through it's unmodified RH70 controller
with the data coming from the Massbus emulator.
Operation is rock solid and so far have not been able to break it. It also
passes the ERHAE1 XXDP diagnostic without errors.
We now have a viable option for modern storage for Massbus systems.
Still to do is performance optimizations, hardening against some edge cases,
and a large amount of code cleanup.
I only have a PDP-11/70 to test with, but it *should* work with any Massbus
system. Adherence to the DEC Massbus Specification was strict and every
attempt made to make it behave as a proper Massbus device rather than just
coding things to make the RH70 happy.
I am kicking around the idea of putting together a blog chronicling the
various trials, tribulations and milestones encountered along the way if
anyone is interested in reading the gory details....
Cheers!
Jim
