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Advice on Repairing a HP1630G Logic Analyser

by Rob Jarratt

I have a nice HP1630G logic analyser. It still works OK but has a number of issues that I would like to fix. First, I managed to break the power switch. It became stiff and wouldn't readily toggle the power. I think the shaft became bent. In pressing too hard, I broke off the button on the end of the shaft. Looking at it, I think the button may have been glued onto the end of the shaft, possibly in a previous repair. There are some sites that list the button as available so I am trying to source an original, but I think it could be just the button and not the shaft that goes with it. However, if that proves impractical or too expensive, I am wondering if it is possible to source a new switch, with a long shaft to reach the switch on the board, that would at least allow me to toggle power from the front panel? I am not sure what to search for though, any suggestions? I have several possible workarounds: 1) just leave the switch on permanently and "toggle" the power just by plugging into the mains 2) try to glue the button back on, possibly with a metal pin for strength, but I think there is a bend in the shaft that caused the action not to work well and so this may not work well 3) Raid a spare from a HP1630D that I also have. 4) try to make a new shaft and switch, possibly 3D printed, or just use a piece of wooden dowelling. Any comments on these approaches? The other problem I have is that I get terrible switch bounce from the front panel keyboard. I have removed the keyboard to see if I can get at the switches and see if cleaning them would help. However, the keys (made by Cherry) look like sealed units to me. Again, does anyone have any advice on how to improve the performance of these switches? I could again raid my HP1630D for a spare (which has a keyboard that isn't as bad), but would rather not have to do so. Finally, I get a bit of screen wobble on the display. I am going to check all the capacitors on the display board, but any other suggestions? Pictures of the broken switch and the keyboard are here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgETuZFainX8gZNMqek10fyE3n1rlw?e=xd7RWU Regards Rob

1 year, 10 months

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TU58 troubleshooting

by Chris Zach

So I'm working on repairing a TU58 Dectape II drive. So far I have cleaned it up, replaced the rollers, put new bands in some TU58 carts, and have fixed the power supply so +5 and +12 are up and running. Turning on the unit with nothing in it results in a quick flash of light from the LED on the main board. Hooking it up to an 11/23+ and trying to boot off it gives me ERR 12 NON-EXISTENT CONTROLLER Drat. It's connected to the 11/23+ with a normal 10 pin ribbon cable with keys at both ends. So questions: Baud rates are wired in at 9600/9600 on both the unit and the CPU. 1) Is the quick flash on the inside LED normal when powered up 2) Does it require something more than a simple ribbon cable to connect to the CPU? 3) Should the unit do something else with a tape in and powered on? Thanks! Chris

1 year, 10 months

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"Revival" of a dedicated Micropolis webpage on internet

by P Gebhardt

Hello list, by coincidence, I came across this website: https://www.micropolis.com/ It seems to have been set up by a former employee of Micropolis with information about Micropolis products done until the late 90s. Cheers, Pierre ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.digitalheritage.de

1 year, 10 months

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HP-86 system available

by Stephen Pereira

Good afternoon folks, I have an HP-86 system that I am not using, and I would like to sell to someone who will put it to good use. The system is made up of: - HP-86B - HP-9121 Dual 3.5” floppy disk drive - HP-82900A Auxiliary Processor (CP/M System) with the proper boot disk - the new HP85Disk for virtual disk drives if you don’t want to use real floppies, or to use along with real floppies - HP-82929 Programmable ROM Module - An 87-EMS ROM, never installed - HP-82936A ROM Drawer, with a few HP-85 ROMs in it Sorry, but I will be keeping my CRT monitor. To be sure, I invested a pile of $$ into this over the years, but as I said, I’m just not using it any more, and I hate to see this good stuff going unused. I’d like to get $400 for the whole kit-and-kaboodle. I’d also like to work with someone who can pick it up, or we can meet half way in between. I’d really prefer not to go through all the expense and hassle of shipping. Please let me know if you’re interested and whatever questions you may have. smp - - - Stephen Pereira Bedford, NH 03110 KB1SXE

1 year, 10 months

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UK members: Mushroom Components

by Wouter de Waal

Hi all I have before obtained obsolete 8-bit chips from Paul at mushroom.co.uk. But now my emails are not answered and their phone also doesn't seem to work. Does anyone know what happened and whether they're still around, or whether someone else took over their stock? Thanks W

1 year, 10 months

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Re: Wang bar napkin story [WAS:RE: Re: "Revival" of a dedicated Micropolis webpage on internet]

by Ali

>I seriously considered getting some custom >napkins printed up (bars >sometimes have personalized napkins; 5.25" is >available, although these >days, bars usually use smaller, just to keep from >making rings on the >tables), with just the outline of a 5.25" disk jacket >printed on them >(perimeter, write enable notch, index hole, and >oval access slot), and a >version of the story, IFF it could be confirmed on >the backFred,You should just do it and add a teeny tiny disclaimer at the bottom regarding the veracity of the story. It. Would make for a great gag gift! Or if you want to get real fancy have a qr code that can be scanned on each napkin for a site with more detailed discussion of the events.-Ali

1 year, 10 months

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Does anyone have MP/M II disks/images for the Altos ACS-8000?

by Chris Osborn

I just got my Altos ACS-8000 hard disk controller repaired yesterday and was able to connect the Gesswein MFM emulator and format it, run through the read/write tests, and copy some files onto it. Now I'd like to install MP/M II, but it seems there's no archive sites anywhere that have copies of MP/M II for the Altos with the 8500 board. I found a single zip file which has a smattering of some of the files that were on the two Altos MP/M II distribution disks, but doesn't have the OS tracks, and of course all the XIOS files are missing. I'm going to see if I can find another way to get MP/M II, such as working from the generic version and making my own XIOS (using the Altos listing in the MP/M II manual as reference), or seeing if the MP/M II for the Altos 5 series might be usable with minor modification. But it would be nice to get a copy of the original distribution disks. -- Follow me on twitter: @FozzTexx Check out my blog: http://insentricity.com RetroBattlestations.com

1 year, 10 months

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Re: Wang bar napkin story [WAS:RE: Re: "Revival" of a dedicated Micropolis webpage on internet]

by Tom Gardner

The only person who ever promulgated the "Dr. Wang bar napkin" story was Jim Porter who was not in any way involved with the decision as to the size of the 5½ drive or media size and only began telling his tale many years after the decision. Both Massaro and Adkisson deny there was ever such a meeting in a bar with Dr. Wang. Some doubt Dr. Wang was ever in a bar with a vendor :-) My research suggests customers of Adkisson, e.g. Lanier, and not Wang Labs, asked for a smaller and less expensive drive, with media about the size of a cocktail napkin. Adkisson took this request to SA management. Wang was then their big customer for 8-inch drives. Massaro and Adkisson then did discuss this with Dr. Wang who did express a need for such a drive as a replacement; faster, more reliable and less expensive than the 8-track tape drive used by Wang Labs. It was also presented to Mohawk Data who was also interested. Shugart engineering then sized the drive based upon a survey of the size of 8 track tape drives and then sized the media as what is the largest that could reasonably fit within the drive envelope. The fact that the media size is about the size of some cocktail napkins is a coincidence. BTW as far as I can tell there is no standard size for cocktail napkins circa 1976 and the one sample I found from that era is smaller than the 5¼-inch medium envelope. The corruption of history is indeed tragic both here and at the Smithsonian - BTW, I did send their webmaster a request for correction Tom -----Original Message----- From: Fred Cisin [mailto:cisin@xenosoft.com] Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2022 3:37 PM To: dwight via cctalk Subject: [cctalk] Re: "Revival" of a dedicated Micropolis webpage on internet Adkisson and Masaro now deny the whole "bar napkin disk" story; In agreement that 8" was larger than desired, they asked Dr. Au Wang "What size should it be?" Wang picked up the bar napkin (the meeting was not in a conference room), and said, "This size". They took the napkin back to the lab and measured it. and the Smithsonian says that SA400 was 3.25". Yes, the loss of our history is just tragic. On Sat, 20 Aug 2022, dwight via cctalk wrote: > Maybe it is on a size reduction. > Dwight > > ________________________________ > From: geneb via cctalk < <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org> cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2022 7:47 AM > To: Liam Proven via cctalk < <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org> cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > Cc: geneb < <mailto:geneb@deltasoft.com> geneb(a)deltasoft.com> > Subject: [cctalk] Re: "Revival" of a dedicated Micropolis webpage on > internet > > On Wed, 17 Aug 2022, Liam Proven via cctalk wrote: > >> On Tue, 16 Aug 2022 at 23:51, Fred Cisin via cctalk >> < <mailto:cctalk@classiccmp.org> cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: >>> >>> 1) because they need to keep reinforcing until the very last SA400 >>> is buried. >>> > > Fred, Don't forget the SA390 in every Disk II. ;) > >> I had to look up SA400. I'm too young. >> >> The Smithsonian has one. They say it's a 3¼ inch drive. >> >> <https://www.si.edu/object/microcomputer-peripheral-shugart-sa400-disk> https://www.si.edu/object/microcomputer-peripheral-shugart-sa400-disk >> -drive:nmah_334325 >> > > Now THAT is just tragic. > > g. > > -- > Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 > <http://www.f15sim.com> http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind. > <http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll> http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home. > Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies. > > ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment A Multi-Value > database for the masses, not the classes. > <http://scarlet.deltasoft.com> http://scarlet.deltasoft.com - Get it _today_!

1 year, 10 months

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PiDP-8/I Spacewar on Pi HDMI Display

by Mike Katz

Updated information: I have the Pi Console up and running a getty shell on the VT-220 (as 9600 baud). I start the Oscars OpenVG client with *./sw2 localhost 2222 *I have this same issue whether I am using an ssh shell or the VT-220 shell. ** The spacewars game comes up on the HDMI display and keys 1, 2, 3 & 4 work. None of the other keys work. Original Message: /I am trying to run spacewar (IF-4) on my PiDP-8/I with the video running on the PI HDMI monitor and the keyboard being my VT-220 attached via USB to RS-232 adapter.// // //I am able run OS/8 on the VT-220.// // //I am able to run spacewar running with the remote VC8E program on my Windows box (port 2222)// // //I installed openvg from github// // //I followed Oscar's directions in the read me file from here: https://groups.google.com/g/pidp-8/c/J6rXWg8btYY// // //I did not recompile the spacewars program to use the front panel. I want to use the keys on the VT-220 instead.// // //How do I get SW2 to run and use the keys from the VT-220?// // //I get OS/8 to boot with the console command in simh.// // //Thank you,// // // Mike// // // /

1 year, 10 months

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PiDP-8/I Spacewar on Pi HDMI Display

by Mike Katz

I am trying to run spacewar (IF-4) on my PiDP-8/I with the video running on the PI HDMI monitor and the keyboard being my VT-220 attached via USB to RS-232 adapter. I am able run OS/8 on the VT-220. I am able to run spacewar running with the remote VC8E program on my Windows box (port 2222) I installed openvg from github I followed Oscar's directions in the read me file from here: https://groups.google.com/g/pidp-8/c/J6rXWg8btYY I did not recompile the spacewars program to use the front panel. I want to use the keys on the VT-220 instead. How do I get SW2 to run and use the keys from the VT-220? I get OS/8 to boot with the console command in simh. Thank you, Mike

1 year, 10 months

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