9 May
2023
9 May
'23
9:36 a.m.
Hello,
I'm an employee with the National radio astronomy observatory here in Socorro New
Mexico.
As part of our NGVLA upgrades, we are seeking to get rid of old data tapes from the tape
reel days of Computing. These contain things such as the boot loaders, OS, specific
collection programs and antenna movement programs.
I personally would hate to see these just wind up in the literal dumpster and would like
to see them sent out to a museum or an archiving body that can preserve them and keep them
safe as a dynamic part of history.
If anyone is interested or knows someone who would be interested in the VLAs data tape
library please let me know.
V/R
Danielle Werts
Front end engineer
VLA Socorro New Mexico
9 May
9 May
9:59 a.m.
------- Original Message -------
On Tuesday, May 9th, 2023 at 09:36, Dani Werts via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
wrote:
As part of our NGVLA upgrades, we are seeking to get
rid of old data tapes from the tape
reel days of Computing. These contain things such as the boot loaders, OS, specific
collection programs and antenna movement programs.
Reach out to the Computer History Museum (https://computerhistory.org/), they might be
interested. The Internet Archive might also be interested in copies.
The Doctor [412/724/301/703/415/510]
WWW: https://drwho.virtadpt.net/
Don't be mean. You don't have to be mean.
10:09 a.m.
It would be useful to know what systems these tapes were used on.
All the best,
--Chuck
On 5/9/23 09:36, Dani Werts via cctalk wrote:
Hello,
I'm an employee with the National radio astronomy observatory here in Socorro New
Mexico.
As part of our NGVLA upgrades, we are seeking to get rid of old data tapes from the tape
reel days of Computing. These contain things such as the boot loaders, OS, specific
collection programs and antenna movement programs.
I personally would hate to see these just wind up in the literal dumpster and would like
to see them sent out to a museum or an archiving body that can preserve them and keep them
safe as a dynamic part of history.
If anyone is interested or knows someone who would be interested in the VLAs data tape
library please let me know.
V/R
Danielle Werts
Front end engineer
VLA Socorro New Mexico
17 May
17 May
1:58 a.m.
For some handy clarification - some of the tapes I saw seemed to be operating system tapes
for the MAX 32 computer.
Labeled things like "MAX 32 O/S & SUPPORT PART 2 OF 2" and "MAX 32 GLS
-C COMPILER"
1600 BPI, 9 track.
Also has MODCOMP copyrights, leading to this line of machines:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modcomp
So likely the Modcomp Classic. Copyright dates on the labeling indicated 1981. So it would
have been the latest and greatest OS for this system at the time.
So this would have been the OS, according to that wiki article, controlling space shuttle
launch complex. Also tangentially related (Modcomp IV, their first 32 bit computer) to the
OS running PAVE PAWS initially.
9 Feb
9 Feb
10:16 a.m.
Do we have anyone who can read these tapes? Maybe Al at CHM?
On Wed, May 17, 2023 at 4:58 AM mokuba--- via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
wrote:
For some handy clarification - some of the tapes I saw
seemed to be
operating system tapes for the MAX 32 computer.
Labeled things like "MAX 32 O/S & SUPPORT PART 2 OF 2" and "MAX 32 GLS
-C
COMPILER"
1600 BPI, 9 track.
Also has MODCOMP copyrights, leading to this line of machines:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modcomp
So likely the Modcomp Classic. Copyright dates on the labeling indicated
1981. So it would have been the latest and greatest OS for this system at
the time.
So this would have been the OS, according to that wiki article,
controlling space shuttle launch complex. Also tangentially related
(Modcomp IV, their first 32 bit computer) to the OS running PAVE PAWS
initially.
--
Gary G. Sparkes Jr.
AC3IG
10:57 a.m.
On 2/9/24 10:16 AM, Gary Sparkes via cctalk wrote:
Do we have anyone who can read these tapes? Maybe Al
at CHM?
He may have an interest in them for their historical value.
I could read them. I'm not as busy as Al, and I'm only a couple miles
from his lab in Fremont. If the tapes are problematic or difficult,
there are others who can take actions to condition tapes for higher
probability of success, but of all the tapes that I have read, maybe 10%
had some trouble requiring re-reading several times but eventually
getting all of the data, and maybe 1 or 2% had failures while assisting
the tape drive. (I managed to reconstruct the data because I had made
previous incomplete attempts but it was all there in aggregate. The
tape drive declared several tapes to be blank, even though their senders
claimed they were not. I also had some 7-track tapes that I gave to Al
to read (not exactly trivial). Many people did not need their tapes
back, but I'm reluctant to discard them (how?). About a dozen of the
tapes are originally mine.
On Wed, May 17, 2023 at 4:58 AM mokuba--- via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
wrote:
--
Jeff Woolsey {{woolsey,jlw}@jlw,first.last@{gmail,jlw}}.com
Nature abhors straight antennas, clean lenses, and empty storage.
"Delete! Delete! OK!" -Dr. Bronner on disk space management
Card-sorting, Joel. -Crow on solitaire
For some handy clarification - some of the tapes
I saw seemed to be
operating system tapes for the MAX 32 computer.
Labeled things like "MAX 32 O/S & SUPPORT PART 2 OF 2" and "MAX 32 GLS
-C
COMPILER"
1600 BPI, 9 track.
Also has MODCOMP copyrights, leading to this line of machines:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modcomp
So likely the Modcomp Classic. Copyright dates on the labeling indicated
1981. So it would have been the latest and greatest OS for this system at
the time.
So this would have been the OS, according to that wiki article,
controlling space shuttle launch complex. Also tangentially related
(Modcomp IV, their first 32 bit computer) to the OS running PAVE PAWS
initially.
10 Feb
10 Feb
7:42 a.m.
In my experience, the Qualstar drives aren't the best tool for the job.
They're basically a cost-minimized apparatus for handling tapes under
the most optimistic of conditions. In particular, they don't really
move the tape quickly enough at 6250 fci to get a decent read signal.
SCSI drives for data recovery are terrible because they take much of the
fine control of the drive away from the user, basically sacrificing
control to buffer up as much data as possible. This can entail needless
shoe-shining and not returning marginal data (i.e. data with hard
errors) to the user.
A good Pertec-interface drive and accompanying host controller is the
next best thing to interpreting the signal from the drive read heads
directly. Many drives have vendor-specific commands that are not
exposed with a SCSI interface.
My .02 only--your mileage may be different.
--Chuck
9 May
9 May
11:21 a.m.
On 5/9/23 09:36, Dani Werts via cctalk wrote:
Hello,
I'm an employee with the National radio astronomy observatory here in Socorro New
Mexico.
As part of our NGVLA upgrades, we are seeking to get rid of old data tapes from the tape
reel days of Computing. These contain things such as the boot loaders, OS, specific
collection programs and antenna movement programs.
I personally would hate to see these just wind up in the literal dumpster and would like
to see them sent out to a museum or an archiving body that can preserve them and keep them
safe as a dynamic part of history.
Funny coincidence--I just processed a 1981 9 track tape from Mauna Kea
dealing with some Neptune observations. It's all binary, which makes me
wonder if the client has the program to digest it--I wonder if said
program might be in your collection of tapes.
--Chuck
2:07 p.m.
I have an SEL 810A operating, which some of these tapes were likely written
with. If any of the tapes are labelled I can quickly identify if it is an
SEL product.
-Eric
On Tue, May 9, 2023, 1:21 PM Chuck Guzis via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
wrote:
On 5/9/23 09:36, Dani Werts via cctalk wrote:
Hello,
I'm an employee with the National radio astronomy observatory here in
Socorro New Mexico.
As part of our NGVLA upgrades, we are seeking to
get rid of old data
tapes from the tape reel days of Computing. These contain things such as
the boot loaders, OS, specific collection programs and antenna movement
programs.
I personally would hate to see these just wind up
in the literal
dumpster and would like to see them sent out to a museum or an archiving
body that can preserve them and keep them safe as a dynamic part of history.
Funny coincidence--I just processed a 1981 9 track tape from Mauna Kea
dealing with some Neptune observations. It's all binary, which makes me
wonder if the client has the program to digest it--I wonder if said
program might be in your collection of tapes.
--Chuck
2:09 p.m.
New subject: NRAO Data tapes {External}
Eric,
More than happy to send a reel or two your way.
Just give me some information and I can make it happen.
Danielle
-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Moore via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 9, 2023 3:08 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Cc: Eric Moore <mooreericnyc(a)gmail.com>
Subject: [cctalk] Re: NRAO Data tapes {External}
I have an SEL 810A operating, which some of these tapes were likely written with. If any
of the tapes are labelled I can quickly identify if it is an SEL product.
-Eric
On Tue, May 9, 2023, 1:21 PM Chuck Guzis via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
wrote:
On 5/9/23 09:36, Dani Werts via cctalk wrote:
Hello,
I'm an employee with the National radio astronomy observatory here
in
Socorro New Mexico.
As part of our NGVLA upgrades, we are seeking to
get rid of old data
tapes from the tape reel days of Computing. These contain things such
as the boot loaders, OS, specific collection programs and antenna
movement programs.
I personally would hate to see these just wind up
in the literal
dumpster and would like to see them sent out to a museum or an
archiving body that can preserve them and keep them safe as a dynamic part of history.
Funny coincidence--I just processed a 1981 9 track tape from Mauna Kea
dealing with some Neptune observations. It's all binary, which makes
me wonder if the client has the program to digest it--I wonder if said
program might be in your collection of tapes.
--Chuck
8:47 p.m.
I wonder if those date to the first time I visited, where the PDP-11s
were still installed :-)
Are there still T-shirts available? Mine from that trip is trash :-)
mcl
9:48 p.m.
On Tue, May 9, 2023, 9:47 PM Mark Linimon via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
wrote:
I wonder if those date to the first time I visited,
where the PDP-11s
were still installed :-)
Are there still T-shirts available? Mine from that trip is trash :-)
The pdp-11s were Gove by the time I got to tech in 85 I think
mcl
16 Mar
16 Mar
12:49 p.m.
On 2023-05-09 12:36, Dani Werts via cctalk wrote:
Hello,
I'm an employee with the National radio astronomy observatory here in Socorro New
Mexico.
As part of our NGVLA upgrades, we are seeking to get rid of old data tapes from the tape
reel days of Computing. These contain things such as the boot loaders, OS, specific
collection programs and antenna movement programs.
I personally would hate to see these just wind up in the literal dumpster and would like
to see them sent out to a museum or an archiving body that can preserve them and keep them
safe as a dynamic part of history.
If anyone is interested or knows someone who would be interested in the VLAs data tape
library please let me know.
How did this work out?
Did anybody read the tapes?
48
days inactive
360
days old
13 comments
10 participants
participants (10)
-
Chuck Guzis -
Dani Werts -
emanuel stiebler -
Eric Moore -
Gary Sparkes -
Jeff Woolsey -
Mark Linimon -
mokuba＠gmail.com
-
The Doctor -
Warner Losh