- test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org - classiccmp.org

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I am going to be moving on to testing some H745 regulators. If I understand the schematic correctly the +15V input is the reference voltage used to regulate the -15V output, is that correct? If so, then presumably it doesn't need a whole lot of current, is that right? Thanks Rob

4 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

Retro Chip Tester Pro, US shopping basket?

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

In response to my wife's "Buy yourself a Christmas present" direction, I've ordered a Retro Chip Tested Pro board. When you purchase the board, you get a BOM and links to stored shopping baskets for some European vendors. Has anyone built this in the US and stored their basket with a US vendor? Rev 1.2k by the way, but any basket would be helpful as the BOM differences between the versions are listed. Thanks, Bill S. -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

4 years, 4 months

5
9
0 0

Question about SIMH Sigma-7/9 emulation

by dfnr2＠yahoo.com

Hi all, I see that SIMH incorporates the 32-bit Xerox Sigma architectures.? The Sigma 8/9/5x0 architectures are commented out but compile fine? Does anyone know if those later architectures have known issues? Has anyone succeeded in running CP-V on those emulations?? It would be amazing to run CP-V and tha various languages on a Sigma 9 emulations, not to mention the 350-point and 550-point adventures.? However, I haven't found any type of software on line.? Does anyone know of a stash somewhere? I remember that the Living Computer Museum, when it was open, briefly had a Sigma 9 up and running with CP-V, but was restricting public accounts due to some issue with the account generation mechanism.? I wonder if someone associated with the Museum might potentially have access to some CP-V tapes or images, even if the museum is closed. Thanks in advance, Dave

4 years, 4 months

4
3
0 0

NEXT/LISP Mirror has viruses

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

http://mirror.informatimago.com/ This site has or had viruses at some point, the tigger files.html files are still present. be cautious, and let the person who runs it know if they're known. BIll

4 years, 4 months

5
8
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mirror of ftp://unix.hensa.ac.uk

by spectre＠floodgap.com

Looking for some tools (guide_reader, others) that were apparently only on unix.hensa.ac.uk's FTP. This hostname still exists, but directs to University of Kent's mirror service, and there is no trace of the old archive. Anybody happen to have saved any pieces of it? -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- In memory of Peter Graves --------------------------------------------------

4 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

IBM Model C typewriter

by van.snyder＠sbcglobal.net

I have an old IBM Model C typewriter. I can't bear to throw it away, even though it doesn't work well. The carriage doesn't advance, and the A key doesn't work. Do you know how to tune it up? If you want it, it's yours for the price of shipping. I'll probably take it to UPS and ask them to pack it. It will fit in a 24" x 18" x 12" box. Gross shipped weight about 40 lbs. Local pickup free. La Crescenta, CA

4 years, 4 months

5
7
0 0

PDP-11/34 FP11-A on eBait

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

Speaking of FP11-A's: https://www.ebay.com/itm/275096265379 I wouldn't mind having one, but not for that much! I wonder how much it will go for? Noel

4 years, 4 months

2
1
0 0

H7821 power supply in MicroVAX 3100, SCSI disk enclosures and others

by cctalk＠beyondthepale.ie

The recent discussion on BSC protocol prompted me to dig out my Microvax 3100 with DSH32 synchronous serial interface. It had been idle in storage for several years and it wouldn't power up, only giving a brief flash on the diagnostic LEDs and a quick twitch of the fans. There was a slight smell, like the stale air that comes out of a deflating tyre. I took out the H7821 power supply and found that five identical brown 1800uF 25V electrolytic capacitors on the output side had leaked. The SCSI disk enclosure where the machine's system disk lives required several power cycles to get it to run at all and it died as soon as the disk tried to spin up. It turned out to also contain a H7821 power supply which had a similar issue with the same five brown capacitors, although not as extensive as in the main unit. I found a second disk enclosure which had seen little use and grabbed the power supply out of that to put in the MicroVAX. It worked well enough to test with but there was a ring of goo around the bottom of one of the brown capacitors which was worst affected in the other units. Time to order a batch of replacement capacitors and figure out what else has been damaged. While it is not the worst I have seen, access to these power supplies for repairs is quite difficult and it is really difficult to debug them safely while they are running with the cover off :-( If anyone has anything with H7821 power supplies in them, I suggest checking on these capacitors. If anything with these power supplies is in storage, I suggest ensuring it is stored the normal way up as this should limit the ability of the goo to escape and spread around the power supply. And there I was thought I was being safe enough by removing the nicad battery packs some years ago... Regards, Peter Coghlan.

4 years, 4 months

15
22
0 0

The Portable C Compiler (pcc)

by ccth6600＠gmail.com

The original "Portable C Compiler" by S. C. Johnson (also known as "pcc") had functional support for the Data General Nova. Could somebody please point me to this original implementation? There is a modern C99 version of this compiler maintained by Anders Magnusson at: http://pcc.ludd.ltu.se/ Unfortunately in this version the Nova architecture is no longer supported and won't build correctly although associated files are still in the source hierarchy. I am looking for the original implementation - not any recent work. Thanks Tom

4 years, 4 months

2
4
0 0

8" Floppy Drives needed

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> On Wed, Jan 12, 2022 at 12:16 PM Mike Katz wrote: > I am looking to make a RX01 (and hopefully RX02) disk formatter Something that can format floppies for the RX01 can effectively format RX02 floppies, too. An RX02 drive can convert RX01-formatted floppies to RX02-formatted floppies. Given how arcane the RX02 format is (sector _headers_ are written in single density; sector _data_ is written in double) I'd be pretty surprised if anything except an RX02 can do it. Noel

4 years, 4 months

3
3
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PDF of FP11-A FMPS available

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

Just ran across this: http://wwcm.synology.me/pdf/MP00189%20FP11-A%20Field%20Maintenance%20Print%… which isn't available online in this form. (This appears to be a different scan >from the one on the Maine Coon site, split up into several TIFF's, as it has the cover which that one doesn't show.) As always, history shows that the best way not to lose things is to have multiple independent copies! So download often! Noel

4 years, 4 months

1
0
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OT: looking for help remembering name/info about security bug

by sieler＠allegro.com

I've received a couple of suggestions, thanks, but none seem right. BTW, I'm sorry (Liam) that I didn't make it clearer that it was absolutely a software bug, which excludes Spectre, Rowhammer, Meltdown. Aside: the Meltdown and/or Spectre patch to macOS hurt performance ... the elapsed time to compile 500 programs increased by about 12%. (At the time of the patch, I tested (properly) before and after the patch ... then forgot to publish, and since misplaced my notes.) Although I mentioned 'code', I should have been more specific: C (or, possibly, C++), but definitely no other language. I don't recall it being a buffer overflow. I *think* it was some kind of authentication failure (e.g., incorrectly reporting "ok"), but I'm not sure. I do know I wrote a several page article about it, and how certain coding practices led to it, but I can't *find* the article now :( (not published) My guess of 4-6 years ago is possibly narrower than it should be, but I'm not sure. My hope is that by being reminded of the vulnerability name, I can search my computer, and backups, for text files containing that name :) (Or the name of function associated with the problem.) thanks, Stan

4 years, 4 months

2
1
0 0

OT: looking for help remembering name/info about security bug

by sieler＠allegro.com

Hi, I'm trying to remember the name (and some information about) a past security bug, for an article. Somewhere between 4 and 6 years ago (I think), there was a fairly major security bug reported (probably in Linux, or in SSH code, but something widely used). IIRC, the bug was a single line that called a function (possibly along the lines of CredentialsCheck), and may have involved a bit-wise or (or and) instead of a logical one. It may have been that either the routine wasn't getting called when it should, or that the programmer misinterpreted what the return value meant. Ring any bells? thanks! Stan

4 years, 4 months

8
9
0 0

Plessy core memory

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> an adapter cable to go from a 9-pin male (shell; female pins) to a > 15-pin female (shell; male pins) Sigh, shouldn't try to type when I'm this tired. Female 9-pin (to plug into the BA11-D) to male 15-pin (for the DD11-C/D to plug into). Noel

4 years, 5 months

5
5
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Plessy core memory

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Chris Zach > I'm guessing that the DD11-F is significantly different from the DD11-B? I assume theat "DD11-F" is a typo; there is, AFAIK, no DD11-F, and a Web search revealeddidn't turn anything up. (There are DD11-CF and -CK backplanes, as well as -DF and -DK, but the -CF and -CK differ only in power harness length.) > the 11/24 used +12 on the +15 lines. No idea what was wrong with DEC The: https://gunkies.org/wiki/MS11-M_MOS_memory I'm guessing it used the parts that the IC vendors could provide. > Don't know what would happen if you plugged a RL11 or other hex height > card into one of those slots, probably blow everything up. Not sure. Per: https://gunkies.org/wiki/Modified_UNIBUS_Device#Pinout https://gunkies.org/wiki/Extended_UNIBUS#Pinout These are _some_ of the MUD/EUB pin clashes: Pin EUB MUD AN1 - A21 - Parity P1 AP1 - A20 - Parity P0 BE1 - A19 - Internal SSYN BE2 - A18 - Parity Detect I don't think those would harm anything. Not sure about power pins - and have no incentive to research it, as I have no need/interest in trying it. > I know I ran it with two of these Plessy cards and a RX01 controller but > now that I look at it that would be impossible as both were hex cards Maybe Plessey designed them to go in a DD11-B? I know I've seen other third-party cards that would go in oddball slots. > and both could never fit in a 4 slot backplane with enough space for a > quad spc Why not? The two hexes in slots 2&3, the quad in 1 or 4. > a DA11-F Unibus window Wow; never heard of those. I'll have to do a CHWiki page for them. Luckily, the maint manual is online. There's also a DA11-B. > what would happen if I enabled the KT24 Unibus memory map..... All that does is allow DMA devices on the -11/24's UNIBUS access to the entire main memory: https://gunkies.org/wiki/PDP-11/24#System_bus_structure So if you hooked up an -11/10 to an -11/24 with a DA11-F, then with the UNIBUS Map on, the -11/10's CPU and/or DMA devices would have access to the entire EUB memory via the 24's UNIBUS Map, is all. > This is so much fun! That _is_ why we collect old computers! ;-) Noel

4 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

Plessy core memory

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Chris Zach > the DD11-B is a MUD backplane No, it's SPC; other sources, e.g. http://www.chdickman.com/pdp11/Notes/DD11.shtml agree. So if you have a DD11-B, you must have a BA11-D, with the 9-pin power plugs. The best thing to do is get a DD11-C or -D, and build an adapter cable to go >from a 9-pin male (shell; female pins) to a 15-pin female (shell; male pins), so you don't have to mess with the harness. Part numbers here: https://gunkies.org/wiki/DEC_power_distribution_connectors Then you can plug in any memory you've got the right voltages for; the MS11-E takes + and -15V (in addition to +5V, of course). Noel

4 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

Plessy core memory

by cz＠alembic.crystel.com

I'm working on my pdp11/10 getting it back together. One problem I think I have is that the secondary memory (a Plessy 700101-100) may be shorting the -15 line for some reason. Working on it, but does anyone have a manual or anything like that for this kind of memory board? Alternately, what kind of Unibus 16k memory board exists to get a 11/10 >from 16kw to 32kw of memory? Apparently I can't use a MM11-B as it requires +20 and -5, both of which are not provided by the power supply or sourced on a DD11-B backplane module. The 11/10 has +15, -15, and +5. On a related note, where did +20 come from for Unibus and which systems even supported it? Was it an 11/45,11/70 thing? Thoughts? C (Yes, I could build a regulator to take the 30 volts between +15 and -15 and create an independent 20 volts. Maybe. Likewise I could generate -5 >from the -15 and a 7815 regulator. Maybe.)

4 years, 5 months

3
5
0 0

Plessy core memory

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Chris Zach > the secondary memory (a Plessy 700101-100) may be shorting the -15 line > for some reason. Working on it, but does anyone have a manual or > anything like that for this kind of memory board? I've got a Plessey core memory manual somewhere, but I can't find it, so I don't know if it's the one you are looking for. I got it from Paul Birkel; it was a duplicate, and he scanned his and sent the scan off, but I don't think it made it online. > Alternately, what kind of Unibus 16k memory board exists to get a 11/10 > from 16kw to 32kw of memory? It all depends on what kind of -11/10 you have. If yours is in a 5-1/4" box, you can't plug a DEC memory card into the SPC slots that some of the CPU-holding backplane versions have because DEC memories (other than the ones like the MM11-L and -U, which are multi-board core systems that require custom backplanes) all require MUD slots, not SPC. All of the CPU backplanes on that machine are for a _specific_ kind of core memory (MM11-L or MM11-U), see here: https://gunkies.org/wiki/PDP-11/05 There are I think some third-party memories which can be used (Dataram, maybe?) but I don't have time to go into them. If you have a 10-1/2" box, you can mount a MUD backplane - but you might still have an issue because the older BA11-D boxes use the old 9-pin power connectors, and the MUD backplanes (DD11-C, -D, etc) all use the newer 15-pin ones. (Again, there are some oddball ones, and again, I don't have time to go into them.) If you're lucky enough to have one of the ones that will take a MUD backplane, an MS11-E/F/H/J: https://gunkies.org/wiki/MS11_32KB_MOS_memory would be an option. > On a related note, where did +20 come from for Unibus and which systems > even supported it? Was it an 11/45,11/70 thing? The later /05's, /40's and /45's were the first ones to provide +20V, for the then-new MM11-U. On machines which took H744 'brick's, the _later_ harnesses could take a H754 +20V, -5V regulator 'brick'. Alternatively, _some_ BA11-L's (used for the /04 and /34) had the right version of H777: https://gunkies.org/wiki/H777_Power_Supply to provide +20V. Noel

4 years, 5 months

2
2
0 0

The Portable C Compiler (pcc)

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Tom Hunter > The original "Portable C Compiler" by S. C. Johnson (also known as > "pcc") had functional support for the Data General Nova. Could somebody > please point me to this original implementation? > ... > I am looking for the original implementation - not any recent work. Of PCC, or the Nova version? The _oriinal_ PCC, released to the world in V7, is there: https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V7/usr/src/cmd/mip https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V7/usr/src/cmd/pcc https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V7/usr/doc/porttour That one is dated 1979. I have a slightly later version, from 1982 or so, which is the 68K one done at MIT. Not sure if either of those is any use to you, though. Noel

4 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

Mate-n-lok connector for H744 Regulator

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

To make testing of the H744 a bit easier I would like to try to make up some connectors for the mate-n-lok connector to make it easier to connect power and load. I know the H744 uses a mate-n-lok connector, but there seem to be a lot of different types and I don't seem to be able to find a type that would work. Does anyone know what the correct one is? Thanks Rob

4 years, 5 months

4
3
0 0

Mate-n-lok connector for H744 Regulator

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Rob Jarratt > Does anyone know what the correct one is? This: http://gunkies.org/wiki/DEC_standard_modular_regulators has all the details. (If anyone knows of any PDP-11 hardware or UNIX information which is not on the CHWiki - I'm not interested in DEC PDP-11 software, but if someone would like to take that on, that would be great - please let me know.) Noel

4 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

Memory Tech you don't see very often

by pbirkel＠gmail.com

Selectron Vacuum Tube: https://www.ebay.com/itm/174977901251 Really nice photo-shoot! I wonder what the back-story to this particular tube might be. I don't think that $16.18 shipping would be, um, adequate protection by any measure. Cheap, but not so sure about "cost-effective" . -----

4 years, 5 months

8
10
0 0

What happened to Bill Whitson?

by s101885＠outlook.com

Bill Whitson, the original ClassicCmp ListOp, has a surprisingly little amount of information available about him online. Does anyone know what happened to him after the late 90s? (If anyone has any contact information, that would be nice!) Ryan Ottignon

4 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

Source for replacement caps in H744 regulators

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

It would be a lot easier to replace the large circular regulator if you're taking the shotgun approach, and much more likely that the regulator is a source of faults. and it's cheaper. For the h744, 45, 54. BUT measuring things is the best way if you can do it. Pull the values from the backplane, there are test points that you can measure from. Bill On Thu, Jan 6, 2022 at 2:30 PM Wayne S via cctech <cctech at classiccmp.org> wrote: > So you want to replace capacitors just because they ?whine? ? > I?ll say that because you are learning, that is not good troubleshooting > practice. > Make a checklist of troubleshooting power supplies. > There are a lot of good youtube videos and other internet information on > how power supplies work, how to check them and repair them. There is danger > when working with power supplies. > When working on electrical equipment do you know about the ?working with > one hand in your pocket rule?? Doing this stuff, videos and reading, is not > overly time consuming and may save your life! > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On Jan 6, 2022, at 07:50, Jon Elson via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > wrote: > > > > ?On 1/6/22 2:52 AM, Rob Jarratt via cctalk wrote: > >> I think I may need to replace the two output capacitors in some of my > H744 > >> regulators. These are screw terminal 6,000uF 10V parts. I have looked on > >> Mouser, Farnell and Digikey and there don't seem to be any available, > and > >> any that are listed are really rather costly. > >> > >> > >> Does anyone know where I might find some, preferably from a reputable > >> supplier. Note that I am in the UK. > >> > >> > > > > Mouser is a good place to find big caps (or at least used to be). You > might have to get "snap in" caps and solder wires to them, that style seems > to be more available. > > > > Jon > > >

4 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

Memory Tech you don't see very often

by cclist＠sydex.com

On 1/6/22 10:17, William Donzelli wrote: > If you include prototypes, then you need to include ALL the prototypes > - even things made in single quantities that never worked. > > That is a HUGE amount of stuff that makes EBAM look gigantic. To be fair, EBAM received a not-insignificant amount of press coverage. What doomed it was the falling cost and increasing density of semiconductor memory. Good idea, wrong time. It was pitched in a few forward-looking responses to government RFPs. But then, so was a lot of other stuff. --Chuck

4 years, 5 months

2
1
0 0

VAX 780 on eBay

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

This: https://www.ebay.com/itm/275084268137 The starting price is expensive, but probably not utterly unreasonable, given that: - the 780 was the first VAX, and thus historically important - 780's are incredibly rare; this is the first one I recall seeing for sale in the classic computer era (versus several -11/70's, /40s, etc) - this one appears to be reasonably complete; no idea if all the key CPU boards are included, but it's things like the backplane, etc (all of which seem to be there) which would be completely impossible to find now - if any boards _are_ missing, there's at least the _hope_ that they can be located (780 boards seem to come by every so often on eBait), since people seem to keep boards, not realizing that without the other bits they are useless Anyway I fully expect it to go (because of those, especially i and ii) for a _lot_ more than the opening price. I've sent the seller info on the complete 780 board set, and a suggestion that it's in their own best interest (maximize bidding) to check to see if it's complete. Noel

4 years, 5 months

33
97
0 0

DEC HDD heads?

by anders.k.nelson＠gmail.com

Dunno if this is useful for anyone but the price seems right: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Qty-8-Cdc-Dec-Disk-Head-Heads-75010109-75010101-/2…

4 years, 5 months

2
1
0 0

3-phase power

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Scott Quinn > I have seen some roads where the utility has 2 of the phases plus > neutral going down them, not true 2-phase power, but 2 phases 120/240 > degrees apart with the third phase just not present. My street has that. The subdivision as a whole has all 3 phases (down the main road through it), but individual streets off of it have only 1 or 2. (The whole subdivision is on poles, so it's easy to see.) On the ones with 2, some houses are connected to one, some to the other. > I guess they figure twice the loads for only one more wire. No, because most homes are only connected to one phase. I think the main reason to do it is that it allows the total load (of the entire subdivision) to be somewhat balanced across all 3 phases. > Can't remember what it was called but I do remember seeing in some book > somewhere about a "phantom 3rd leg" or something My house has something like that; the previous owner wanted '3-phase service' for machine tools (I think - could have been a compressor, or something) in his basement workshop, so they sold him a pseudo-3-phase service. I forget the exact details of how it works, but the 3rd phase is at 170V to neutral, or something like that. (So I can't power any 110V outlets off the third phase.) I think the way it works is that the two 'main' phases are 220V to each other, 110V to neutral (I think from the usual center-tapped transformer off one of the three main feed phases, i.e. 180 degrees to each other). The third 'pase' is generated by a second, smaller transformer connected to the other feed phase in some arcane way I forget the details of. So it's 120 degrees away from the other two. Noel

4 years, 5 months

8
7
0 0

cctalk Digest, Vol 88, Issue 2

by compoobah＠gmail.com

On Sun, 2022-01-02 at 12:00 -0600, Grant wrote: > Where are you getting two /different/ phases?? --? Remember, the > different legs on residential 120/240 wiring are really the same > single > phase. > > How do you get *two* /different/ phases without access to a *third* > phase?? There are only a few places in the U.S.A. (and I'm not aware > of > anywhere else in the world) that actually have 2? power (where the ? > are > 90? out of phase with each other). I have seen some roads where the utility has 2 of the phases plus neutral going down them, not true 2-phase power, but 2 phases 120/240 degrees apart with the third phase just not present. Every time I've seen that it seems like fools economy, but I guess they figure twice the loads for only one more wire. Can't remember what it was called but I do remember seeing in some book somewhere about a "phantom 3rd leg" or something where they used 2 wires with 120/240 degree phase separation into the transformer and then the third phase "corner" was just floating and current would "return" across the other two. As it was brought up in the context of "make sure some yahoo didn't try this on your install and if they did be very careful" and was delta-only I imagine it was not that common.

4 years, 5 months

6
18
0 0

3-phase power

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Jon Elson > It should be 208V Oh, right you are. It's been a long time, and I had a distinct memory that it was less than that, but I looked, and I think that's it. The term for my flavour of 3-phase is apparently "open wye/open delta"; each leg is 240V to the others, but only two are 110V to neutral - the "hi leg" (normally colour-coded orange; normal 3-phase uses black/red/blue) is 208V. The page Jonathan Chapman sent had a good diagram of how it is wired: https://www.engineeringradio.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/3-phase-ope… When they were doing some work on the pole decades back, I asked the foreman how it worked, and he drew a diagram to show me; I had forgotten it, but seeing that, that is it. The A and C are produced off one feed phase, but the B comes from the second feed phase. Noel

4 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

11/785 on ebay (2018) - was Re: VAX 780 on eBay

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> > > Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2022 11:39:01 -0500 > From: Chris Zach <cz at alembic.crystel.com> > > The thing that always made me wonder is where are all the 8600's. The > 8600 was apparently the best selling large Vax, outselling the 780 and > 750, so what happened to all of them? They weren't any bigger than a 780... > > C > There is an 8650 at the RICM. https://www.ricomputermuseum.org/collections-gallery/equipment/dec-vax-8650 -- Michael Thompson

4 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

RSTS V10.1 patch

by paulkoning＠comcast.net

I just added a patch to https://github.com/pkoning2/decstuff, in patches/shut.cmd, which cures a problem in RSTS V10.1 that seems to come and go with no clear pattern. The failure is a crash, sometimes a halt, during system shutdown. The cause was a write to the wrong location when removing the DCL runtime system, because of a register not being set before that action. The patch can be installed with ONLPAT; it takes effect immediately (because it patches a non-resident overlay). paul

4 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

StorageTek 9-trk Tape Drive 2925 Restauration

by info＠schroeder-edv.de

Hello, Has anybody a? STC 2925 9-trk Tape Drive. I need a BIN- or HEX-File from an EPROM on the CP--Card. It's the PROM #1 with the number 403936303. Best regards Lothar

4 years, 5 months

1
0
0 0

Applesauce FDC

by nospam212-cctalk＠yahoo.com

I've recently picked up a new Applesauce floppy disk controller and have been playing with attaching various different drive types and imaging different Apple II, Atari, TI and other floppy disks with it. So far I've mostly imaged unprotected disks and run them in various emulators just fine. I've since added a sync sensor to one of my older Disk II drives and started to make some flux images of protected disks. These too seem to run fine in the emulators I've tried. The documentation on the device is limited at the moment, particularly the software, and while it is slowly being updated I was wondering if anyone else here had any experience with the setup. Any hints, suggestions, best practices, "do this to get the best copy", etc, to pass along would be appreciated. For example I read you can try to recover borderline disks by having it do multiple passes of the bad sectors. I see how this is done on the Fast Image option and has helped a couple of times but don't see any way to do something similar via the Flux Image option. Does it not work/matter with those? Also I see sometimes it reports a file as bad if I do one image type but if I do the other it comes back as okay. So I tend to play with both when I can. There is a lot of options and functions in the Flux Image option that I just really don't know how it works or what to do with it so far that any info would be great. I know it can image non-Apple II disks as well and I've done a few. It works great on Apple II protected disks but wonder how to deal with protected disks from other systems? Or is that more an issue of other emulators and such not having something like the .woz format being used with the Apple II? I bought this for my Apple II collection and it was a nice surprise to learn it could work with other systems too, just looking for more info about them as well. So far I really love the device and it has been worth the long wait for new units to come back into production again. Especially as it is a new design that allows for attaching PC floppy drives now as well. I've noticed the doc on the site being updated, just hope that they can find time to update more, particularly in regards to the client software. Best, David Williams www.trailingedge.com (http://www.trailingedge.com)

4 years, 5 months

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The Prolok Saga (Was: Applesauce FDC

by marvin＠west.net

Another thing Prolok did was produce a small 3 disk set of sample disks with the Prolok protection. Somewhere around here I still have a set of those disks. As I recall, a program was included on each disk to copy the program to be copy protected to the special disk.

4 years, 5 months

2
1
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PDP-11/44 gas struts

by Flash688＠flying-disk.com

Earlier, I wrote: > 30-pound struts are not strong enough. They improved things a bit, > but it still takes a lot of effort to raise the box. I have ordered a > pair of 50-pound struts and will post an update when they arrive (next > week). The pair of 50-pound struts arrived today, and in my opinion they are just barely adequate. If I was trying for perfection, I would use the 60-pound ones, but they currently have a 6 to 7 week lead time. I can easily live with these. In summary, what I have learned about replacement gas struts for the DEC PDP-11/44 in a 40" high cabinet: 1. The specifications are: 15.24" extended, 9.77" compressed, stroke length 5.47", threaded ball studs, extension force 50 or 60 (preferred) pounds. 2. A good replacement is the McMaster-Carr 4138T55 gas strut in either the 50 or 60 pound force version. The price as of January 2022 is $20.29 each. <https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/127/1377> 3. The threaded ball ends on the 4138T55 are 5/16"-18 threads, while the original DEC ones are 5/16"-24. They are easy to swap without unscrewing them from the cabinet, and this is the method that DEC recommends and describes on pages 5-5 to 5-7 of the PDP-11/44 System User's Guide, EK-11044-UG. You simply unsnap a retaining clip (no tool needed), pop the strut off the ball end (a screwdriver might help), and reverse the process with the new strut. A piece of 4"x4" lumber does a good job of holding the box up while doing this (stick it under the rear of the cabinet when it is in the raised position). EK-11044-UG is available at: <www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/1144/1144_UsersGuide.pdf>. (In my earlier posting I gave the wrong DEC P/N for the manual.) 4. The 4138T55 struts that McMaster-Carr sells are manufactured by Suspa Parts <https://www.suspaparts.com/>. The 30-pounds struts are their part number C16-24186, and the 50-pound struts are C16-24188. I suspect that the P/N for the 60-pound struts would be C16-24189, but cannot confirm that. Their price is $32.00 each, so it is less expensive to buy them from McMaster. 5. Suspa's design guide recommends mounting the struts with the rod end down, the opposite of how DEC mounted them. I have verified that they can easily be mounted with the rod down as long as you connect the upper (body) end first. That is the way I have them now in my system. I hope that this helps someone who might need to replace the gas struts on their PDP-11/44 system or something similar. It has been an interesting learning experience. Alan Frisbie

4 years, 5 months

1
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11/785 on ebay (2018) - was Re: VAX 780 on eBay

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Grant Taylor > From that last picture, it looks like one of the plugs is five pronged, > and looks very similar to the 120/208V 30A 3? plug in one of the > pictures about the current 780 auction. Not too surprising; the /780 and /785 are basically the same machine. (In fact, one could convert a /780 to a /785 by pulling out the /780 CPU cards and replacing them with a set of /785 cards; basically the same cards, with the 74S chips replaced with 74AS.) Noel

4 years, 5 months

5
4
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Apple I auction

by shumaker＠att.net

Another Apple I on the auction block: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/114629733_the-chaffey-college-apple-1-… Steve

4 years, 5 months

6
6
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DEC RF30 Integrated Storage Element Service Guide

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I am looking for the service guide for the RF30 DSSI disk. It is not on Manx and not on BitSavers. Does anyone know of a copy? The part number is apparently EK-RF30D-SV. Thanks Rob

4 years, 5 months

3
10
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What is a BC01-R

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Chris Zach >> Anyone know what an M857 is? I guess it might be a DF11 async answer >> mode? > No, it's a single width full height M series board from the early > 1970's. Argh, digit swappping on my part. The _M587_ is in the DN87 FMPS: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp10/periph/MP00068_DN87_Universal_Comm_S… (pg. 98); it's a dual-width card, an "Async answer modem" (the DF11-BB). The BC01-R cable is in there (pg. 89), but I don't see the M857. (Web searches don't turn it up either.) Noel

4 years, 5 months

1
0
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What is a BC01-R

by cz＠alembic.crystel.com

Quick question: I'm going through my old cables looking for the paddle interface for the Current loop for my pdp8/L. I thought I saved one from my old pdp8/I, maybe not. Regardless, I found a M857 board with a RS232 cable on it and BC01R-25 on it. Was that for a pdp11/05 by chance? Oddly enough I also found the interface adapter that goes into my VT52 to support 20ma current loop devices. I currently use the VT52 as an RS232 console for my pdp11, but still, Wow.

4 years, 5 months

4
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VAX 780 on eBay

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Jonathan Chapman > Last one that went auction-style on eBay went for $1,178.00 When was that? Do you have any details of the machine's config? That's a pretty good deal for a 780 (IMO). Noel

4 years, 5 months

7
6
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What is a BC01-R

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Chris Zach > a M857 board with a RS232 cable on it and BC01R-25 on it. Anyone know what an M857 is? I guess it might be a DF11 async answer mode? I found this: https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102731577 but I think the number there is wrong; I'm not sure exactly which KL10 board is an 'MBOX Control 3' - it might be the M9537. > From:Ethan Dicks > Sounds like it was a generic cable that probably worked with several > devices. Yeah, the BC01-R was used with an M957/M970 header card (not sure what the difference between them is) in the DF11: https://gunkies.org/wiki/DF11_Communications_Line_Adapter Not sure where else. Noel

4 years, 5 months

2
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VAX 780 on eBay

by guykd＠optusnet.com.au

At 07:50 PM 1/01/2022 +0000, you wrote: >> >True. But if you're trying to get > $5000 for something, it doesn't seem unreasonable to suggest that investing a bit in getting an extension cord run to the location of the machine would be a good idea. The absence of that effort makes me wonder if the owner knows what the outcome of such a test would be and doesn't want to have to report it. >> > >But what would that accomplish? I think testing something like this requires a lot more effort than plugging it in and hitting the circuit breaker. To test this to see if some ODT comes up probably requires quite a lot of effort (locate a terminal/pc, wire it up, figure out where to plug it into the 780, etc. If this guy is a bulk dealer I would be surprised if he has the knowledge to do anything more than a power test which, again, would not be very useful and could even be detrimental. Exactly. The machine has a 3-phase 208/240V plug, they don't have such an outlet. Their efforts stop right there. But you're all focussed on that, and missing another important detail. The machine has a liquid cooling system. Some of the hoses look like they are Tygon, in the age-decayed brittle stage. Touch them and they crumble away. Running the machine without cooling would utterly wreck it. Even if they solved the mains power problem, they would be very unwise to actually power it up. The 'installation and configuration' manual for this machine would be huge. They don't have it. Plus, it's a mainframe. Not even any blinkenlights. Without setting it up as a complete system with everything interconnected properly, how would you even know it was running correctly? Plus you can safely assume at least some of the system unit interconnect cables are missing. Potentially weeks, even months of restoration work for a buyer, before even daring to apply power. Then if there's anything wrong in the electronics, good luck diagnosing and getting spare parts. Considering the uncertainties plus high transport, restoration, operating and manhour costs, who'd buy it? A museum perhaps? Or someone wanting a 'static display object' never intending to run it. Guy

4 years, 5 months

4
4
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PDP-11/44 gas struts

by Flash688＠flying-disk.com

Chris Zach <cz at alembic.crystel.com> wrote: > Jesus. How much does the 11/44 chassis weigh? > > On 12/30/2021 3:39 PM, Alan Frisbie via cctalk wrote: > >> 2. 30-pound struts are not strong enough.? They improved things a bit, >> but it still takes a lot of effort to raise the box.? I have ordered a >> pair of 50-pound struts and will post an update when they arrive (next >> week). The box itself weighs about 75 pounds, plus the weight of the cards. Remember, however, that the struts are not doing a simple lift of the box. The box is acting as a lever. The box is 24" long, and the struts are only about 5" from the pivot. Also, the struts are not doing a straight lift from directly below their attachment to the box, but at a point about 11" forward from where they are attached to the box. All of this greatly magnifies the force required to tilt the box up. Anyone care to do the math on this? Alan Frisbie

4 years, 5 months

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Testing a H744 Regulator on The Bench

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

Hello All, Following a discussion on resurrecting a PDP 11/45 I have started looking at the regulator bricks in the PSU. I have started with a H744. I reformed the three big capacitors, although they seemed to be fine as they charged up >from my DC bench PSU and then had zero leakage so I didn't reform them for very long. I then moved on to powering the whole unit from my DC bench PSU and it seemed to run fine. I am using a panel mount 1R resistor, so drawing 5A of the rated 25A. It drew just under 2A from the PSU which was set at 20V. I didn't run it for very long as I wasn't sure how hot to allow the load to get. Is there any sense in measuring ripple when powering this from DC? There does seem to be some ripple: https://rjarratt.files.wordpress.com/2021/12/h744-ripple.png hard to say if that is OK? Also, the indicator light does not work (as expected). I have seen the suggestion to replace it with a CM7381. It looks like these can be sourced <https://www.mouser.co.uk/ProductDetail/?qs=N8%2Bk0S5zvCZ7dMEMH2XU9Q%3D%3D> with relative ease, but I wondered if there might be a better LED-based longer term solution? I was also advised that OL-6003BP is good for the 15V regulators, but these seem to be hard to find, any suggestions there? Thanks Rob

4 years, 5 months

4
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PDP-11/44 gas struts

by Flash688＠flying-disk.com

Mark J. Blair <nf6x at nf6x.net> wrote: > When I need gas struts and cannot identify a source for exact original > replacements, I usually look at McMaster-Carr first: > https://www.mcmaster.com/gas-struts/ Thanks for the McMaster-Carr suggestion, I should have thought of that. I removed the gas struts from my PDP-11/44 and found the following markings: Gas Spring Corp. Colmar, PA 1216166-0-0 22/81/3 (the "1" might be an "I") I measured them, and found a compressed length of about 9.8" and an extended length of 15.25". The threaded studs are 5/16"-24. I can't find the company, and Google turns up nothing with either of the number strings. Nor do the numbers seem to indicate what the specifications might be. Perhaps someone with better Google skills than I have might find something. It is, however, an almost perfect match for McMaster-Carr P/N 4138T55. The big unknown is the extension force. After cleaning and oiling them, one of the bad ones measures about 12 pounds, and the other is about 23 pounds. The 4138T55 is available in 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, and 120 pounds. I made a wild random guess and ordered two of the 30 pound struts, which should be delivered Wednesday (12/29/2021). The 40 pound ones have a seven week lead time, and a pair of 50 pound ones seem way too high. When they arrive, I'll let you know how well they work. Worst case, I will have wasted $20.29 each, plus shipping, and have to wait seven weeks for the 40 pound units, or go whole hog and try the 50 pound ones. Thanks for the help and suggestions. Alan Frisbie

4 years, 5 months

2
2
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New mailadress

by pontus＠Update.UU.SE

Hi I've been using this adress for many years: "pontus at update.uu.se". But the club is now at risk of loosing the domain name. I'm therefore moving over to "pontus at dfupdate.se" Sorry if this is of topic but I have made many acquaintances on this list that might not find out otherwise. Regards, Pontus.

4 years, 5 months

2
1
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New mailadress

by pontus＠Update.UU.SE

Hi I've been using this adress for many years: "pontus at update.uu.se". But the club is now at risk of loosing the domain name. I'm therefore moving over to "pontus at dfupdate.se" Sorry if this is of topic but I have made many acquaintances on this list that might not find out otherwise. Regards, Pontus.

4 years, 5 months

3
2
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86-DOS and Seattle Computer Products

by s101885＠outlook.com

Hi ccTalk! My name is Ryan and I may have been in contact with a few of you already (Rich, most notably) about this topic. I am on a pretty wide search of any versions of 86-DOS, or any information regarding it. As of now, I have 7 copies of 86-DOS. They cover a disappointing range of versions ? from 1.00 to 1.14. There are a lot of duplicates. Versions prior to 1.00 were sold ? for example, I know of 2 collectors with versions in the 0.3x range, but both are unable to image it due to technical limitations. I?ve already contacted quite a few people. Most interestingly are 5 former Seattle Computer Products employees, as well as 2 family members of SCP owner Rod Brock. Tim Paterson, the creator of 86-DOS, didn?t have a copy, nor its source code. Pat Opalka, who contributed a bug fix, is in possession of a few copies, though none are prior to 1.00 (he may or may not be able to image them ? if he does, I?ll send another message here). 3 other employees didn?t have any documents from the time, nor any copies of the software. The 2 family members of Rod Brock don?t have any copies, but have relevant documents and recordings that they are in the process of sending over. So, if you have any copies of 86-DOS, even if you don?t want to share or its version is 1.00 or above, please send an e-mail back. I can send over imaging instructions. It was sold with the following computers: - Seattle Computer Products 8086 System - Seattle Computer Products Gazelle - Lomas Data Products LDP88 - Lomas Data Products LDP1 - Lomas Data Products LDP2 There are 8? copies for Tarbell and Cromemco floppy disk controllers, as well as 5.25? copies for NorthStar disk controllers. I will also take other relevant things such as people to contact, manuals, recollections of versions you may have had, etc. Thank you all for your time! - Ryan Ottignon

4 years, 5 months

2
1
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tamayatech let down

by jacob.ritorto＠gmail.com

I think I should pass on my experience as a warning to others. I googled around for a particular PDP-11 board I needed and tamayatech.com was a hit, with "buy now" option and condition: refurbished. Seemed convincing and the price was in the sane ballpark. So I bought it, paid through their ecommerce routine, etc. Sent a mail thanking them and asking if it would be despatched soon as I had work time off in the coming week.. No reply. Waited a week and telephoned their phone number from the purchase confirmation email. No answer. Left message. Several (well over ten) repeated email and phone contact attempts through the last months (this began early November) to no avail. There has been absolutely no response. So my conclusion: it looks as though they took my credit card and never shipped it, then just ignored me. I hope the fellow's okay but feel quite thoroughly ripped off. So 'buyer' beware. Interestingly their SEO is rather well maintained and punching DEC part numbers into Google, etc. often results in a hit to their site. So they're at least keeping that part of the business updated. Anybody else with similar experience? Any way to rectify the situation? thx jake

4 years, 5 months

13
15
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Chuck Shimada passed away

by sieler＠allegro.com

Long-time HP3000 programmer/user/evangelist, and friend, Chuck Shimada passed away yesterday, 12/26. Many list members will have seen Chuck at Interex and SCRUG conventions, running the tech side, or as part of the convention staff. He was a major force in the creation of the early "swap tapes" for contributed software. The science fiction fans on the list may have also seen him running tech at many science fiction conventions. >From a facebook post by Michael Donohue: I am very saddened to report that Chuck Shimada passed away this morning, Dec 26, 2021. He had been doing okay but was not feeling great Dec 24/25. I spoke to him Dec 24 and we had a nice conversation. He had some episode in his sleep, the nurse found him this morning alive but unresponsive with weak pulse and he passed away a few hours later. So he likely did pass without conscious discomfort. //

4 years, 5 months

1
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"Voltmitten": an amateur overdesigns a DC voltage monitor

by stepleton＠gmail.com

Hi cctalk, Ever since CuriousMarc put out his YouTube horror film last April about a killer HP 9825T power supply <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-eN93L6yX8&list=PL-_93BVApb58Hy846J52DT8Fe…>, I've been worrying about how my own comparably-aged systems might avoid a similar fate, at least until I have the wherewithal to do a Jerry Walker <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGkakWu37P6CuzIZbTlCmvg>-esque high-quality PSU refurbishment. In the end, borrowing a tactic from Commodore fans, I made a circuit that sits between a DC power supply and a load and cuts off the power if it senses an overvoltage or an undervoltage condition. I'm happy to share it with you now, with the usual anxiety amateurs feel when an audience includes some professionals. I hope at least some elements of the design can be useful! Here it is: https://github.com/stepleton/voltmitten/ (There are two reasons for the name "Voltmitten". One is that the gizmo is shaped a bit like a hand. The other is to remind you that it wasn't really designed by the most serious practitioner.) You can see my cute mock video advert for Voltmitten here: https://youtu.be/hSaAHBhTh_A I hope it's an adequate homage to Marc's inspiring videos. Most of the effort here went into a brief gag view of a carefully rotoscoped <https://twitter.com/tstepleton/status/1475093211983097860> Bob Stern aka "Mr. Fancy Pants", which may not have been the best use of time but is at least a result I can feel proud of :-) With best wishes for a bright 2022, --Tom

4 years, 5 months

1
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Stage 2 Macroprocessor

by peveep＠gmail.com

Guys, Has anyone out there in the big wide world there got a version of the Stage 2 Macroprocessor than is ready to run on a Windows PC? I don't mean the build-it-yourself version. Refer to https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234809181_The_mobile_programming_s… . Many thanks, peter vp

4 years, 5 months

2
1
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PDP-11/44 gas struts

by Flash688＠flying-disk.com

I have a PDP-11/44 system in the DEC 41" high cabinet. It is designed to be tilted up for service, aided and supported by two gas struts, one on each side. Unfortunately, after all these years, the struts have failed and do not provide any assistance. That box is heavy! Does anyone know where I can get replacement gas struts? Thanks, Alan Frisbie

4 years, 5 months

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HP / Agilent 3065 In-Circuit Test System -

by jesse＠cypress-tech.com

Does anyone on this list know of a company or individual that does work (maintenance or anything) on these older 3065 test systems. The internal brain and drives are all HP 1000 stuff. A900 control unit and HP-IB drives. I have a user that needs help installing a drive and software on one. If anyone knows of anyone that can assist, let me know and I'll forward the info Thanks Jesse / Cypress Technology Inc

4 years, 5 months

1
0
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DEC RF30 Integrated Storage Element Service Guide

by Flash688＠flying-disk.com

Rob Jarratt <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> wrote: > I am looking for the service guide for the RF30 DSSI disk. It is not on Manx > and not on BitSavers. Does anyone know of a copy? The part number is > apparently EK-RF30D-SV. If anyone finds one, I would greatly appreciate a copy also. Thanks, Alan Frisbie

4 years, 5 months

1
0
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WTB IBM Keyboard

by trash80＠internode.on.net

Hi folks - I'm looking for a keyboard for my IBM 3197 Model D Twinax terminal. (My location - Victoria Australia) Thank you!! Kevin Parker

4 years, 5 months

2
1
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Samsung Ubigate iBG-1000 router

by spectre＠floodgap.com

Well, DSL Extreme is getting out of the T1 business, leaving me high and dry (they've really gone to hell since GTT bought them out) since they don't offer a static IP option on any of their lines anymore. I'll be working around that problem for the next couple months while we move ... Anyway, I have a spare Ubigate iBG-1000 T1 router here set up by the tech, but no password to access it. It appears to be an embedded PowerPC system, around 603 level. I have some possible reset instructions and can access its serial console, but was wondering if anyone out there has the administration manual for it. It might be fun to repurpose it. -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- PowerPC inside! ------------------------------------------------------------

4 years, 5 months

1
0
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TU56 DECtape takeup reel needed

by Flash688＠flying-disk.com

I just unpacked the rack with my TU56 DECtape drive and discovered that the movers managed to break the takeup reels. This, despite many layers of foam padding, stretch film, and warning signs. On the other hand, this was the only item that suffered any damage at all. Not too bad for three moving van loads! Can anyone help me with an empty DECtape reel or two? Thanks, Alan Frisbie

4 years, 5 months

8
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Happy DEC-20 Day!

by cc＠alderson.users.panix.com

...and a joyful Winter Solstice Festivalof your choosing to you all! Rich

4 years, 5 months

1
0
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VAX/VMS 4.0 source listings scans

by compoobah＠gmail.com

On Wed, 2021-12-15 at 12:00 -0600, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Not sure who needs to know. > Perhaps they are useful for emulation crash analysis, or for > educational > purposes. > You also see the highly optimizing BLISS32 compiler at work. First thing that popped into my mind was "fix the huge DCL security hole finally for VAX." I don't think it has been done yet. Be a lot of reading after OCR though, too bad it wasn't text files. Also I have no clue how to program BLISS32 or even MACRO-32, so mostly a pipe dream.

4 years, 5 months

1
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SMC FD37C65B and revision C Errata sheets?

by holm＠freibergnet.de

Hi all, the german Engeneer Tillman Reh has build an Zilog Z280 SBC card with Eurocard Bus connector: http://oldcomputers.dyndns.org/public/pub/rechner/zilog/z280/index.html The Software is open and Tillman allows the PCB to be reproduced from his original Gerber files on request. Unfortunately some parts for those cards are almost unobtanium in the meantime, the Zigzag DRAMs, the COM8117 Uart, the LT1134 Driver chip and also the SMC FD37C65CLJP FDC are difficult to source. I have two such cards and I got all the necessary parts, but I have friends that are also interested in such a card to run CP/M 3 or UZI280 on that Z280 (The Z800!) 16 Bit CPU. There are many other FDCs that should be compatible, the WD37C65 for example. This was used in many PC related Floppy controllers..but they are in fact not compatible. The use of the SMC37C65CLJ P seems to be necesary for this board, for reasons that are unclear. While copying data to the disc there happens a timeout on the earlier FDC varaints, I have read somewhere that reading the status register gives unexpected results, they have tried to fix this already in the 90ies by inserting some delays, w/o success. Has someone here Errata Sheets for those SMC FD37C65B (not working) and FDC37C65C (working) variants of that FDC Chip, so that one can see what they may have changed between the releases? Here are some part of the BIOS: ; I/O-Page mu~ bereits auf BOARDP gesetzt sein. Ver{ndert ABHL. FdcCom:: if loader ld hl,CList else ld hl,(CmdAdr) ; Zeiger auf Befehlsliste endif FdcCo1::in a,(FdcSta) ; (Einsprung mit Zeiger in HL) rla jr nc,FdcCo1 ; warten bis FDC-RQM (Request for Master) rla jr c,FdcErr ; bei falscher Datenrichtung: DIO-Error nop nop nop ld a,(hl) out (FdcDat),a ; Befehls/Datenbyte an FDC ausgeben inc hl ; Zeiger auf naechstes Byte djnz FdcCo1 ; alle Befehlsbytes ausgeben ret ; DIO-Error (Datenrichtungsfehler im FDC) : Stoppen des Systems ;*** evtl. Fehler korrigieren und weiterarbeiten? ; (Ist Fehler ueberhaupt korrigierbar?) FdcErr: ld hl,DioMsg call PMsg ; "DIO-Error" ausgeben di halt ; sicherheitshalber nicht weiter arbeiten It seems that the FDC Status register requests a data transfer in the wrong direction on the B-Release Chips... It is this "DIO-Error" that happens after a few write operations, but formating the disk is possible. Kind Regards, Holm -- Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe, Goethestrasse 15, 09569 Oederan, USt-Id: DE253710583 info at tsht.de Fax +49 37292 709779 Tel +49 37292 709778 Mobil: 0172 8790 741

4 years, 5 months

1
0
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OT: Traveling to Zurich in February

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

I will be in Switzerland/Germany near Davos Feb 5-15 and I was curious what kinds of museums and sights were worth planning to see during this time of the year in that area? Is there an orchestra concert show season there? Any recommendations for resources for travelers that are not overly commercial, in English, would be appreciated. On the inside of an old painting of my great great great grandfather from around 1830 was a piece of paper with a note written by his granddaughter many years later about someone called "Count von Burlowe" (spelling?) about a partnership to found or make commercial a health resort called "Bad Krautzma", but I believe she was way off spelling-wise. It's written in 19th century US cursive, hard to read. So I am interested in learning a bit about my heritage too. Thanks BIll Degnan Landenberg, PA USA

4 years, 5 months

8
11
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HP 1000 A900 ("Magic") Questions

by jmdzied＠verizon.net

Are you still in need of any HP1000 RTE equipment? I have a lot of boards, chassis?, tape drives, etc. If not and if you know of someone who would be interested in this equipment please let me know?Kind Regards?Joe Sent from my iPhone

4 years, 5 months

3
2
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FS: HP 3000s (928LX) for sale in Texas

by sieler＠allegro.com

Since they're vintage... A friend is selling two HP 3000/928LX computers. I don't know what he wants for them. For people interested in the HP 3000, this would be a nice buy. Size-wise, they're between a PC and a 2-drawer file cabinet in size. They'll be network capable (may require a transceiver, but likely comes with, and they're generally about $10 otherwise). The following describes one, but there are two... ---- 1. HPe3000 928LX. 2. 128mb main memory. 3. (2) 4gb internal disk drives. 4. DDS-2 internal tape drive.(two in one system and one in the other) 5. MPE/iX 7.5 Operating System with 8 user license. 6. System Consoles with keyboards. 7. SE SCSI Interface Card 8. External Disk drive mini cabinet with SCSI drives Bonus: Backup and systems DDS tapes, Manuals, extra 4gb SCSI disks, and Misc. Documentation Lots of software. Both systems were operating when shut down recently. Buy as is with no guarantee.. Make an offer. Buyer to arrange packing and shipping. Location: At my home office in Carrollton, TX Contact Paul Edwards, pedwards at gte.net

4 years, 5 months

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Two power supplies

by van.snyder＠sbcglobal.net

I have two power supplies that I no longer need. 1. Power One model SPM5A2M6G1K: 115 VAC 30 A or 230 VAC 15 A 50-60 Hz input, outputs 48 V 5 A, 5 V 10 A, 2 x 12 V 10 A, 5 V 150 A. ? ? 13" x 5" x 8 ", 17 lb 2. Lambda LM 124 FM lab supply: 115 VAC 50-60 Hz input, outputs 0-40 V, 0-1.5 A ? ? 17" x 4" x 5", 13 lb Yours if you send me a PDF of a shipping label. I can send photos (but they're too big to fit in classiccmp.org mailings). Local pickup OK. Van Snyder La Crescenta, CA

4 years, 5 months

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OT, assembly houses in the US

by emu＠e-bbes.com

Hi all, where do you guys go for assembly of your boards, when you replace old stuff? Not too many places like THT anymore, and getting ridiculously expensive lately. Any recommendations?

4 years, 5 months

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VAX/VMS 4.0 source listings scans

by ioerg.hoppe＠gmail.com

Full micro fiche scans of VAX/VMS 4.0/4.1 source listings are now published at http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/vax/microfiche/vms-source-listings/AH-BT13… The update to V4.1 is at http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/vax/microfiche/vms-source-listings/AH-BT13… Not sure who needs to know. Perhaps they are useful for emulation crash analysis, or for educational purposes. You also see the highly optimizing BLISS32 compiler at work. regards, Joerg

4 years, 5 months

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Wanted: IBM PC compatible 8 or 16 bit Arcnet cards

by new_castle_j＠yahoo.com

I'll be following your progress with interest, I just installed Coax into the walls of my computer playhouse so I can ARCNet with my S-100 system. I have an ARCNet packet sniffer that can be loaned out if you would find it helpful. - Jonathan On Sunday, December 12, 2021, 11:00:03 AM MST, <cctalk-request at classiccmp.org> wrote: Send cctalk mailing list submissions to ??? cctalk at classiccmp.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit ??? http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to ??? cctalk-request at classiccmp.org You can reach the person managing the list at ??? cctalk-owner at classiccmp.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of cctalk digest..." Today's Topics: ? 1. Cheap PDP-8 boards on eBait (Noel Chiappa) ? 2. ISO: DEC PDP-8 Data Multiplexer (DM01, etc.) (Josh Dersch) ? 3. Re: Cheap PDP-8 boards on eBait (Ethan Dicks) ? 4. Wanted: IBM PC compatible 8 or 16 bit Arcnet cards ? ? ? (Michael Brutman) ? 5. Re: Wanted: IBM PC compatible 8 or 16 bit Arcnet cards (ED SHARPE) ? 6. Re: Wanted: IBM PC compatible 8 or 16 bit Arcnet cards ? ? ? (devin davison) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2021 13:21:25 -0500 (EST) From: jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu (Noel Chiappa) To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Cc: jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu Subject: Cheap PDP-8 boards on eBait Message-ID: <20211211182125.6B73B18C077 at mercury.lcs.mit.edu> This guy: ? https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=jariadkin-0&_sop=10 has a couple of PDP-8 boards for sale that at the moment are going _really_ cheap. ? ? Noel ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2021 10:30:43 -0800 From: Josh Dersch <derschjo at gmail.com> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" ??? <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: ISO: DEC PDP-8 Data Multiplexer (DM01, etc.) Message-ID: ??? <CADBZjLaOMYSonVTW+3_=_VFyMHsGwvPuJ_dbUW7rZ3XULBiEMQ at mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Hey all -- Got the TC01 working the other night, after a couple weeks of debugging (*).? I'd like to be able to have both it and the RF08 that I'm working on connected to the 8/I and running at the same time, so I'm looking for a DM01 Data Multiplexer.? If anyone has any leads, do let me know. Thanks as always, - Josh (*) Total TC01 fault count (so far): - Bad transistor in TU55 motor brake control (W040) - Bad jumper solder joints in TU55 (W990) - Timing of UTS and U+M one-shots (R303) way out of adjustment (U+M one-shot was at 2 seconds or so...) - Bad tape data relay (G851) - Bad IOT decoder transistor (W103) - Missing Diode (W113) and weak diode in Write enable selection logic - Timing of write clock way, way out of adjustment (90Khz vs. 125Khz expected.) - 24 dead maintenance panel bulbs - 2 dead TU55 bulbs (yet to be replaced) ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2021 16:31:45 -0500 From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> To: Noel Chiappa <jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu>,? "General Discussion: ??? On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Cheap PDP-8 boards on eBait Message-ID: ??? <CAALmimkQcWu67RQZknQuy11akoCPOihoDtAeOOPuQX9vzHjitw at mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" On Sat, Dec 11, 2021 at 1:21 PM Noel Chiappa via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > This guy: > >? https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=jariadkin-0&_sop=10 > > has a couple of PDP-8 boards for sale that at the moment are going _really_ cheap. Tap handles and DEC boards?? Odd mix. I took a risk and bid.? I have an -8/e and -8/m to fix. Thanks! -ethan ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2021 20:00:57 -0800 From: Michael Brutman <mbbrutman at brutman.com> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" ??? <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Wanted: IBM PC compatible 8 or 16 bit Arcnet cards Message-ID: ??? <CA+bZ4SBQWkvsqM79EUc8QNmEZFKjgEyvp5x69_y5=vs8rAt5Fg at mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" I'm using debug logs to try to debug flow control issues when using mTCP and a packet driver that presents itself as Ethernet but actually uses ARCNET.? I've gotten to the point where I just want to have an Arcnet in the house.? Especially since I might just modify mTCP to work with Arcnet packet drivers and cards directly. Before I get too serious with eBay, does anybody want to rehome some Arcnet hardware? -Mike ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2021 04:19:06 +0000 (UTC) From: ED SHARPE <couryhouse at aol.com> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org, cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: Re: Wanted: IBM PC compatible 8 or 16 bit Arcnet cards Message-ID: <1961633108.407863.1639282746182 at mail.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 I remember? you? could? get? arcnet? ?for? HP? 150? also? ?Ed#? In a message dated 12/11/2021 9:01:15 PM US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes:? I'm using debug logs to try to debug flow control issues when using mTCPand a packet driver that presents itself as Ethernet but actually usesARCNET.? I've gotten to the point where I just want to have an Arcnet inthe house.? Especially since I might just modify mTCP to work with Arcnetpacket drivers and cards directly.?Before I get too serious with eBay, does anybody want to rehome some Arcnethardware???-Mike ------------------------------ Message: 6 Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2021 05:05:28 -0500 From: devin davison <lyokoboy0 at gmail.com> To: Michael Brutman <mbbrutman at brutman.com>,? "General Discussion: ??? On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Wanted: IBM PC compatible 8 or 16 bit Arcnet cards Message-ID: ??? <CAOpB=UMtSmRP8udanC31qUArs8V=djHg5bF9yWF-ZuvAW=yC1Q at mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Greetings, I had quite a few arcnet cards laying around a while back, I had picked up a ton of them from the back storage of a datacenter that was clearing out surplus equipment. I am uncertain of how many I still have in storage. How many do you need? If you are able to wait a couple days, I can check how many I have remaining in storage, and I can ship them to you once found. --Devin D. On Sat, Dec 11, 2021 at 11:01 PM Michael Brutman via cctalk < cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > I'm using debug logs to try to debug flow control issues when using mTCP > and a packet driver that presents itself as Ethernet but actually uses > ARCNET.? I've gotten to the point where I just want to have an Arcnet in > the house.? Especially since I might just modify mTCP to work with Arcnet > packet drivers and cards directly. > > Before I get too serious with eBay, does anybody want to rehome some Arcnet > hardware? > > > -Mike > End of cctalk Digest, Vol 87, Issue 12 **************************************

4 years, 5 months

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Comparing IBM PC and IBM Displaywriter

by mooreericnyc＠gmail.com

https://youtu.be/zqsd2HU0ZuY Just uploaded this video, thought some of you guys might enjoy :) -Eric

4 years, 5 months

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Content of www.blacksheepnetworks.com

by rumi_ml＠rtfm.hu

Hello, This site used to have a lot of very useful and rare information on Tru64 troubleshooting and Google still has the links to the articles but the content itself is inaccessible: http://www.blacksheepnetworks.com/security/resources/tru64/ Has anyone by any chance archived the content of this site while it was still alive? archive.org did not, unfortunately. Thank you! Kind regards, Sab

4 years, 5 months

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Cheap PDP-8 boards on eBait

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

This guy: https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=jariadkin-0&_sop=10 has a couple of PDP-8 boards for sale that at the moment are going _really_ cheap. Noel

4 years, 5 months

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What is this massive binder of computer minutes1955 to 1964. I did cel phone or of text below we have

by couryhouse＠aol.com

May be some errors In ocr..The Second Meeting of the Committee to Study Developments in Electronic Computing Machines and Their Application, September 22, 1955 The second meeting of the Committee was held on Sept ember 22, 1955, at 2 P.M. in the Board room at the Dominion Bureau of Statistics.Messrs. J.T. Marshall (Chairman);B.G. Ballard; H. Freedman; C.J. Gardner; R.W. James ; N. Keyfitz; J.A. Kidd; E.0. Landry; C. Scott; and R. Ziola (Secretary ) Present were: The Chairman pointed out that minutesof the first meeting of this Committee had been distribut ed to all membersand called for comments and correctionsS. were adopted 8s presented The minut es The Chairman referred to the Treasury Board letter T.B.486770 which gave approval to the setting up of this Committee and expressed appreciation to Messrs. E.0. Landry and D.. atters for their assistance in connection with the Committee's submission e rea.suryboard. During the sumer months officials representing three manufacturers of electronic eqipment met with members of the Commit tee to discuss some aspects of the equipment afactured. These included: 2. orfieials from Burroughs who explained the operating princ iples of the B.101 at a meeting held at the Dominion Bureau of Statistics on June 22, 1955. 2. Officials of .C.A. who explained the operating principles of BIZMAC at a eeting beld at the Jackson Building on July 7, 1955. S.0fficials from IEM ho presented a short movie on "Direct line to decisions ", dealing with the type 650 and 700 series of machinesat a meeting held at the C.h.?. Hess on August 12, 1955. n referring to letters received since the first meeting,the Chairman pointed u that since they dealt with same of the topics includedon the agenda it might be CaairabLeto considerthen when the se topics were under discus sion.? Sent from the all new AOL app for Android

4 years, 5 months

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Wanted: IBM PC compatible 8 or 16 bit Arcnet cards

by mbbrutman＠brutman.com

I'm using debug logs to try to debug flow control issues when using mTCP and a packet driver that presents itself as Ethernet but actually uses ARCNET. I've gotten to the point where I just want to have an Arcnet in the house. Especially since I might just modify mTCP to work with Arcnet packet drivers and cards directly. Before I get too serious with eBay, does anybody want to rehome some Arcnet hardware? -Mike

4 years, 5 months

5
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ISO: DEC PDP-8 Data Multiplexer (DM01, etc.)

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hey all -- Got the TC01 working the other night, after a couple weeks of debugging (*). I'd like to be able to have both it and the RF08 that I'm working on connected to the 8/I and running at the same time, so I'm looking for a DM01 Data Multiplexer. If anyone has any leads, do let me know. Thanks as always, - Josh (*) Total TC01 fault count (so far): - Bad transistor in TU55 motor brake control (W040) - Bad jumper solder joints in TU55 (W990) - Timing of UTS and U+M one-shots (R303) way out of adjustment (U+M one-shot was at 2 seconds or so...) - Bad tape data relay (G851) - Bad IOT decoder transistor (W103) - Missing Diode (W113) and weak diode in Write enable selection logic - Timing of write clock way, way out of adjustment (90Khz vs. 125Khz expected.) - 24 dead maintenance panel bulbs - 2 dead TU55 bulbs (yet to be replaced)

4 years, 6 months

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NI PCI-GPIB+ Analyzer boards on ebay

by guykd＠optusnet.com.au

About the software: I bought a couple of that seller's cards; one each of 284088568161 & 284088570014. Asked him about the software. Here's his reply. ======== Regarding your question about the Analyzer software, if I recall correctly it comes bundled in the "NI-488.2" software package. I believe the version in my screenshot in the eBay listing was v17.6 for Win7 SP1 x86, but it should still be fully supported in the newest v21.0 package for x86 or x64 systems. https://www.ni.com/en-us/support/downloads/drivers/download.ni-488-2.html LabVIEW version compatibility matrix: https://www.ni.com/en-us/support/documentation/compatibility/17/ni-488-2-an… ======== All new to me. Now to hunt manuals for the cards. Guy At 12:33 PM 9/12/2021 -0800, you wrote: >On Wed, Dec 8, 2021 at 10:50 PM Rodney Brown via cctalk ><cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: >> >> NI National Instruments PCI-GPIB+ Analyzer PCI IEEE488.2 Interface Card >> >> While a photo shows the Windows NI Analyzer software in use, the item >> doesn't mention it. >> >> If NI will provide the analyzer software, these could be used to capture >> HP-IB traffic to characterize the attached devices, timings etc. >> > >Has anyone recently installed and used the NI GPIB Analyzer software? >Is that something that must be obtained and installed separately, or >is it included as an optional component of the standard NI-488.2 >download and installation? > >I suppose I could try downloading and installing the 1.19 GB current >21.0.0 version of the NI-488.2 software to take a look. The current >21.0.0 version of NI-VISA is another 1.11 GB download. >

4 years, 6 months

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RC11 controller (Was: Reproduction DEC 144-lamp indicator panels)

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Steven Malikoff > Was there ever an indicator panel for the RC11? .. I have a set of RC11 > modules .. No backplane though. I've not found any docs for these, I suppose > they're probably on bitsavers and have overlooked them. Looking at the manual and engineering drawings (at BitSavers, as you guessed), no lights. I've added links to those to the CHWiki RC11 page: https://gunkies.org/wiki/RC11_disk_controller The engineering drawings have the wirelist for the backplane, so it would be possible to wire a new one. (I'm in the process of doing that for my KE11-A.) Not sure it would be much use without an RS64 drive, though. Noel

4 years, 6 months

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Reproduction DEC 144-lamp indicator panels

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Tony Duell > I have _two_. But alas nothing to connect them to. Well, there are still a good flock of machines with IBM channels around, but _you_ don't have one (I can't blame you :-). I wonder if any of the people with IBM channel machines have any need to connect to an -11? Speaking of extant dinosaurs, I wonder if any RF11's still exist? Noel

4 years, 6 months

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Siemens T100 Terminal with Paper Tape - Available

by mmcgraw74＠gmail.com

I have this terminal in my garage - sitting on its custom stand. I purchased it years ago, but don't have a use for it. Here is my photo of it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SV4-Xx7XLHIoA898ZPRC74wZv2e8YsVK/view?usp=… I'm near Houston Texas. It is too big and heavy to ship. Monty McGraw

4 years, 6 months

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Overland T490 cartridge tape drive and autoloader

by cctalk＠beyondthepale.ie

Many years ago, a friend gave me an Overland T490 tape drive which has some kind of autoloader attached which takes ten tapes. I was told it came out of a Tandem system. The tapes are square cartridges similar but different to a DEC TK50. I can't find very much information about the drive on the web but there are some hints that it might be compatible with an IBM 3480. It powers up nicely and the fan works and after a short pause, a green LED illuminates. There are only two buttons on the front, "unload" and "format". There are two DD50 connectors on the back. One had a terminator plugged into it labelled "SCSI differential". The other had a ridiculously long cable with DD50 plugs on it connected, lending further credence that this is a differential (pre-LVD I expect) SCSI device. I would like to get this drive working with my Alpha or VAX VMS systems but I have never had any luck getting them to talk to it. Recently, I tried a using a DD50-HD68 cable I found somewhere to connect it to a differential SCSI card in my Alphaserver 800 but I could not get VMS to see the drive. Not knowing what SCSI id the drive is likely to be using makes it hard to know where to start looking for it. There are no switches on the outside of the drive which could be used to set the SCSI id so I opened it up to see if I could find any hints inside. I didn't see anything that looked like it could be used to set the SCSI id inside either. What I did find is that the interface board had a connector labelled "SCSI differential" which had two short lengths of ribbon cables plugged into it leading to the two DD50 connectors on the rear panel and another connector labelled "SCSI single ended" with nothing attached. There were also two ten way jumper packs which were labelled "DI" and "SE" on each side. So, not having any luck with differential so far, I tried moving the two jumper packs from "DI" to "SE" and moving the ribbon cable to the "SCSI single ended" socket. I used a short, known good DD50-DD50 SCSI cable to connect the drive to my VAX 4000-100A and replaced the differential terminator with a known good single-ended terminator. VMS didn't see the drive. VMS has a utility called scsi_info which can be used to send a SCSI inquiry command and read mode pages etc. Trying it against each unused SCSI id results in "device timeout" every time. The system disk is on the same SCSI bus before the tape drive and a SCSI scanner can be connected after it on the bus. Both devices work fine so the SCSI bus cabling and termination is in good shape on both sides of the tape drive. I've tried moving the system disk SCSI id from 0 to 1, changing the initiator SCSI id from 6 to 7 and replacing the scanner with a terminator in case there is any sort of SCSI id conflict but scsi_info still doesn't show up anything that could be the tape drive. Does anyone have any information about this drive, particularly whether it should behave like a standard SCSI tape drive and what SCSI id and/or lun it is expected to use or if there is some trick required to get it to start talking? Maybe it doesn't like SCSI inquiry commands? Extra bonus points awarded for details on how to control the autoloader. Maybe I did some damage to it when I was trying to get it to work when I first got it? Regards, Peter Coghlan.

4 years, 6 months

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Reproduction DEC 144-lamp indicator panels

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Jay Jaeger > Also, if someone (else, presumably) does up a replica of the indicator > panel board (perhaps with the option to use LEDs, with some resistor > packs that could be bypassed for lamps Two points. First,there's the question 'are you trying to produce something that just _looks_ alike, or do you want something that's electrically compatible (i.e. can be swapped in in place of an original'? If the latter, it might be going to take a little work; it might not be just 'wire up some LEDs and go'. If you look at the indicator panel prints (pg. 190 of the RF11 prints), the incoming lines are tied to the base of a transistor; its emitter is tied to ground, and the light bulb is wired between the collector and +6.5V. This means, I think (I'm basicaly a software guy :-), that one turns the bulb on by putting a voltage on the input, which turns the transistor on, and current flows through the bulb to ground. (If I have that wrong, will someone please orrect me?) Given that the way TTL works is that 'logic' outputs actually sink currect when their output is '0' (i.e. current goes _in_ the 'output' pin), it might take a little work to make the right thing happen. Although maybe not; looking at the RK11-C prints, it seem to drive the indicator panel straight >from the output of normal gates. I _think_ what happens is that when a gate's output is '1', the output's voltage floats high, and that's enough to turn on the transistor (above) driving the bulb. (Ditto the request for correction!) But the real issue with 'electrically compatible indicator panels' is the wiring. In the originals, the flat cables that drive them are soldered directly to the indicator panel board, and also to the paddle boards. So the _only_ standard interface location is the paddle boards. I suppose one could put Berg headers on both the indicator panel board and the paddle boards, and use a standard IDC cable betweenthe two... Mention of the paddle board interface brings me to the second point: even if one did produce electrically-compatible indicator panels - where are you going to use them in a PDP-11 system? Not in the CPUs - those all had their own front panels. The only PDP-11 devices which used indicator panels which I know of were: - the DX11 (I don't think anyone's got one of those) - the RF11 (ditto - although Guy was discussing emulating one at one point) - the RP11 (but the indicator panel is built into the controller rack there, so if one has an RP11, one already has the indicator panel) - the RK11-C (and several people who have those already have indicator panels) I agree, the indicator panels look cool - but where are you going to use one in a historical PDP-11 system? Sure, one could use either a electrically-compatible or non-electrically-compatible indicator panel anywhere you want, plugging into some non-historical hardware, but.. (The non-electrically-compatible indicator panel Dave did for the QSIC is initially being used in something which emulates an RK11 and/or RP11, so there's some rationale for it.) Noel

4 years, 6 months

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NI PCI-GPIB+ Analyzer boards on ebay

by rdbrown0au＠gmail.com

https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/m.html?_ssn=techparts2020&_nkw=%22PCI-GPIB%2B%22 NI National Instruments PCI-GPIB+ Analyzer PCI IEEE488.2 Interface Card (~USD140) Ebay item # 284088568161 Copyright 1998???? 183619B-01 284088565868 Copyright 2001???? 183619C-01 284088570014 Copyright 2005 ASSY192125D-01 While a photo shows the Windows NI Analyzer software in use, the item doesn't mention it. If NI will provide the analyzer software, these could be used to capture HP-IB traffic to characterize the attached devices, timings etc. The HPDrive project mentions the analyzer cards as being supported https://www.hp9845.net/9845/projects/hpdrive/#hpdrive

4 years, 6 months

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PDP-11/70 Boards

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From the blog of someone who got a KB11-A working It's Fritz Mueller's blog; at about the top of this page: https://fritzm.github.io/category/pdp-116.html he's just turned the machine on for the first time, and you can follow as he chases, finds and fixes CPU problems. The KB11-C/D of the -11/70 is _very_ similar to the KB11-A he was dealing with (they are _basically_ the same CPU, with a cache, and other stuff added on the other side from the CPU, on the KB11-C/D), so there are probably some good lessons to be learned. > dunno if Guy Steele Ooops; sorry, Guy - the brain is starting to drop bits. > if the particular machine the system is being built for has an FP11). > Perhaps the later BSD versions look for the FP11 on startup, and adjust > their behaviour appropriately, but I'm not familiar with them. The way user code deals with the existence/non-existence of the FP11 is pretty simple. In C (other languages probably do something similar, but I only know about C),one gives the '-f' flag to 'cc', and when 'cc' invokes the linker, on machines which don't have floating point support, it uses fcrt0: https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V6/usr/source/s4/fcrt0.s as the machine language startup (the thing that calls main()) instead of crt0. The difference is that fcrt0 sets the UNIX 'illegal instruction' signal, in that process, to go to a handler which emulates the FP11 instructions. In V6, as distributed, the binary of all applications which use floating point are linked this way, so they will all run OK 'as is' on a machine with no floating point (including those which don't suppport any kind of FP11, such as the -11/40). When run on a machine with an FP11, there are no illegal instruction traps, and that emulator code is just never used. I'm not sure what the deal with BSD is, for machines without an FP11; fcrt0.s is still included in BSD2.9, so maybe it's still using this approach. I have this vague recollection that at some point, floating point instruction emulation was added to the kernel, removing all the signal overhead, but that might be a bogus recollection. Noel

4 years, 6 months

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DEC AF01, open for offers

by cz＠alembic.crystel.com

Would anyone like to make an offer on this AF01? It's a multi-channel A/D converter for old pdp8 and pdp12's. I really don't think I need it, I just pulled it out of my closet, and I don't want to put it back in. Copy me off list. Complete, multiple MUX channels (16 A121's) the A704 and the op amp (A200)

4 years, 6 months

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TU58 / DECtape II: Capstan goo

by jbglaw＠lug-owl.de

Hi! Some time ago, I got my hands on a DECtape II, though no tapes. That'll change after a long time and in a few days, even multiple tapes will come in. With that drive, I started some first tests. It's PSU seems to be all fine, providing stable 5 and 12 V. It's board's wire wrapping is in factory settings, so baud rate etc. is all known. However, when I checked the two drives capstans, they're old. One has a crack, and as things go, they feel partially either hard or gooey. Are there recommendations to exchange these for new ones? I also noticed that one of the two motors rotates quite freely (both unconnected from the board, so I'm sure they're not magnetically braked) while the other ... can be turned without any unreasonable torque, but it won't continue to spin at all. Also, when the tapes arrive, are there recommendations in case their drive belts are gone? And a final question: There are three firmware versions archived for the TU58 control board. It's a known version: jbglaw at charon:~/customers/Glaw/VAX/DECtape II$ md5sum *.bin | sort 0e5f30a960e72c9d64174a4da8f48f50 23-294E2-00.bin 5e059396f779aef9cd80bc75a36c90b2 23-089E2-00.bin 5e059396f779aef9cd80bc75a36c90b2 jbglaw-DECtapeII-ROM.bin a407fbb5aaa4823a92dd2bc374d1d3ae 23-389E2-00.bin I guess I got the oldest version? Were there board changes, or could I put in a compatible 2Kx8 ROM with any of these versions? I guess any firmware will probably work "good enough", but if I'd avoid known problems (are the differences known?), I'd rather avoid them. But after all, I'm quite happy that all the bits'n'pieces will come together in a few days. Yay! MfG, JBG --

4 years, 6 months

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RK11-C indicator panel inlays?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Rod Smallwood > Let me see what artwork I have I'm curious as to what you'd be able to find. Like I said, I'm pretty sure DEC never did an RK11-C inlay; the engineering drawings for the 19" indicator panel (included in the RF11 engineering drawings: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/unibus/RF11_EngrDrws_Oct70.pdf on pp. 187-188) list many inlays, but not an RK11 one. Also, I've looked through the RK11-C manual: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/unibus/RK11-C_manual1971.pdf but it contains no mention of an indicator panel, which it surely would if there was one. > From: Henk Gooijen > I have *two* DX11 front panels with the 144 lamps & 4 'paddle' > connections boards. ... Given you have 144 lamps panel with the RK11-C > front, what would you do to light up the lamps? Uhhh... plug the paddle boards on the end of the flat cables from the indicator panel into the pre-wired slots in the RK11-C backplane (see the RK11-C engineering drawings: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/unibus/RK11-C_schemFeb1971.pdf pg. 36)? :-) Hence my comment that to make use of the _inlay_ I proposed to produce, one had to have an RK11-C _and_ a spare DEC indicator panel... Noel

4 years, 6 months

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370 control panel

by shumaker＠att.net

up for auction (and NOT on EPAY!): what appears to be an intact? System 370 control panel in PA https://hibid.com/lot/107052050/ibm-370-145-mainframe-computer/?q=&status=o… steve

4 years, 6 months

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Fwd: Siemens T100 Terminal with Paper Tape - Available

by mmcgraw74＠gmail.com

Eric, I would qualify that statement and say - I'm the Tek computer Monty :) I have a Tektronix 4052 and 4054A, plus two Tektronix 4041 (68000 based GPIB controller) computers :) Both the 4052 and 4054A also have Tektronix 401x terminal emulation at up to 9600 baud, so I don't have a use for the Siemens terminal. Monty On Wed, Dec 8, 2021 at 12:58 PM Eric Moore <mooreericnyc at gmail.com> wrote: > Holy shit Monty, you are the tek terminal Monty. > > I just posted on facebook in the tek 4051 basic group, do you know anyone > with a tek 41XX or 42XX terminal? > > -Eric > > > On Wed, Dec 8, 2021, 12:51 PM Monty McGraw via cctalk < > cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > >> I have this terminal in my garage - sitting on its custom stand. >> >> I purchased it years ago, but don't have a use for it. >> >> Here is my photo of it: >> >> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SV4-Xx7XLHIoA898ZPRC74wZv2e8YsVK/view?usp=… >> >> I'm near Houston Texas. >> >> It is too big and heavy to ship. >> >> Monty McGraw >> >

4 years, 6 months

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Need picture of power supply mounted in 11/40 cabinet

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Marc Howard > I've got an 11/40 I'm going to start working on. Problem is that there > are two power supplies (H742 and H7420) that came with it but neither > was mounted in the rack. -11/40's in general only have one of those large H742x suppplies in a rack. The documentation and prints all show only a single one - in fact, the 11/40 power harness (which is specific to the KD11-A backplane, at the CPU end) can only attach to one. The KB11 machines (-11/45 and /70) use two, but their harness has provision for two. I don't know of a DEC document that lists the difference between the H742 and H7420, but my CHWiki page for them: https://gunkies.org/wiki/H742_Power_Supply gives what I think is a pretty good list; any errors or missing details would be appreciated. > Also how is the power cabling routed (I think I'm missing this part)? That's going to be a hassle, replacing the main harness! Especially since production of the 8-pin MATE-N-LOK connector shells used to interface to the H744/etc 'bricks' - part numbers here: https://gunkies.org/wiki/DEC_standard_modular_regulators are out of production, although some vendors have residual stocks. Hoard them while they last! The "PDP-11/40, -11/35 (21 inch chassis) system manual" (EK-11040-TM-002): http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/1140/1140_SystemManual.pdf has pretty good coverage of the harness; the back end of Chapter 6 covers it in detail. That's a lot easier to understand than the FMPS: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/1140/PDP-1140_System_Engr_Drawings_R… so read that before you tackle the prints. Note that there are two different kinds of harness, depending on whether the machine has MM11-L (-15V) or MM11-U (+20V) core memory. Unless you're planning on using one of those, you can probably ignore that, though. Any questions, ask here right off; we have a lot of expertise! :-) ('My' first -11 - as in, one I was in charge of - was a -11/40. Fond mempries!) Noel

4 years, 6 months

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Need picture of power supply mounted in 11/40 cabinet

by pbirkel＠gmail.com

Marc: Do you have the 11/40-specific wiring harness? Assuming that you do it's a bit tricky -- not so much mounting a given supply (aside from the fact that they are heavy and awkward to work with even when minimally populated), but because there is a very tight tolerance between them to thread the wiring harness. I've determined the hard way that you really need to install the lower one first, then the harness, then the upper one. At least for me it wasn't practical/possible to install the harness after-the-fact. There's also a bit of work involved in threading both of the AC power cables plus the pair of power-control cables (assuming that you're using a DEC power controller) via the right-side vertical rack channel -- which also interact with the power harness placement. Once everything is cabled-in-place the result is maximally compact, but getting there is not simple. Yes, the power cable wiring isn't well-described anywhere IMO. You have to stare at the puzzle-pieces for a while and "dry fit". Harness shape/stiffness helps eyeball how to fit the pieces together, but the importance of the rack vertical side-channel in making everything fit is not, IMO, made at all clear anywhere in the various documentation -- although it can be inferred from careful examination of a few graphics in various documents. The 11/40, the 11/45-50-55, and the 11/70 share the same design in this respect so documentation for one will serve you well in any of these cases. If you can tackle the task *before* installing the BA11 chassis you'll find it easier. If you're not using a standard DEC rack or don't have an equivalent vertical side-channel to work with then IMO you'll need to get very creative ... and the 11/40-specifics wiring harness may not work at all and you'll need to build your own. Fortunately I didn't need to explore that path ... Good luck! -----Original Message----- From: cctech <cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org> On Behalf Of Marc Howard via cctech Sent: Saturday, December 4, 2021 10:28 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only <cctech at classiccmp.org> Subject: Need picture of power supply mounted in 11/40 cabinet Hi, I've got an 11/40 I'm going to start working on. Problem is that there are two power supplies (H742 and H7420) that came with it but neither was mounted in the rack. Could someone post/send/etc. photos of how the power supply mounts in the rack? Also how is the power cabling routed (I think I'm missing this part)? Thanks, Marc Howard

4 years, 6 months

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Need picture of power supply mounted in 11/40 cabinet

by w9gb＠icloud.com

Power Supplies, due to their Weight, are placed at the bottom of Racks (prevent tip overs / weight distribution). https://avitech.com.au/?page_id=366 The PDP-11/70 Maintenance and Installation Manual (EK-11070-MM-002) explains that the basic PDP-11/70 system components are located in a double cabinet as shown in Figure 1-1 of that manual. https://i0.wp.com/avitech.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/major-assemblie… greg > Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2021 19:28:01 -0800 > From: Marc Howard <cramcram at gmail.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Need picture of power supply mounted in 11/40 cabinet

4 years, 6 months

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RK11-C indicator panel inlays?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

Let me get this out before the list gets shut down _again_... There is discussion of doing a run of indicator panel inlays: http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/DECIndicatorPanels.html for the RK11-C (which is wired for an indicator panel, although as far as I know, DEC never did the inlay). If you're interested... you will need a standard DEC indicator panel light panel (with flat cables with plug-in-cards on the ends). (I don't have any insight on how to get one of those. It shouldn't be _too_ hard to make replicas, but I'll leave that topic for the moment.) All I am proposing to do is create the silk-screened inlay that turns a DEC indicator panel into an RK11-C indicator panel (starting with a functional indicator penel without the inlay). All DEC indicator panels use the same actual light panel and flat cables/plug-in-cards (which have one conductor per light in the light panel); which light comes on is set by the way the backplane slots the cables/plug-in-cards plug into are wired. So from the prints, which give the wiring to the indicator panel slots, I managed to work out what an RK11-C panel would look like, roughly (captions are made up, but the light locations are accurate): http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/RK11-C_inlay.txt Starting with that, Dave Bridgham managed to whip up a rough approcimation of what the inlay would look like: http://pdp10.froghouse.org/qsic/inlay-rk11-c.pdf We had put a certain amount of work into identifying a font which looks like the one DEC used, back when; I worked with a member the UK to produce a bunch of blank inlays (right size/shape, with the black paint on the back with the holes for the lights). Dave then found someone who could print the white lettering on the front, and this is what the result looked like, on an 'RK11-F' (the QSIC with RK emulation microcode) panel: http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/QSIC/jpg/RK11F-F.jpg You can compare with an original DEC inlay (TC08, IIRC) here: http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/QSIC/jpg/DasBlinken2F.jpg That's on the same light panel, just the inlay is changed. (The lights in the lower one are from the light panel Dave produced for use with the QSIC; it's totally incompatible, electrically, with the DEC originals; 4 wires, IIRC, run the whole thing (data, clock, latch and a ground), as opposed to the 'wire per light' of the DEC originals. Looks _just_ like the originals (which Tech Sq used to have a lot of, BITD), though. Anyway, if anyone is interested, the next step would be to find out who all wants an RK11-C inlay, and work out _exactly_ what would be printed on it. Noel

4 years, 6 months

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Source for DEC TC01 (and similar) bulbs?

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> > > From: Josh Dersch <derschjo at gmail.com> > Subject: Source for DEC TC01 (and similar) bulbs? > > The Search Scope loop diagnostic shows block numbers going by in both > directions so a lot of the drive and controller are working, but there's > some glitchiness in bits 2, 5, 8, and 11 of the data so I need to trace > that down; I hope it's not the tape head. > > - Josh > So what do bits 2, 5, 8, & 11 have in common? All bits come from the same track on the tape head, and share some of the path to the Data Buffer. If you wrote this tape on this system, I would try reading a tape that was written on another machine to make sure that the problem didn't originate with writing. Check for a bad connection where the tape head cable connects to the G851 module in the TU55, where the G851 plugs into the TU55 backplane, and where the data cable plugs into the TU55 backplane, and possibly the K2 relay on the G851. In the TC01 you could swap the G888 module in slot C22, the S205 module in slot D05, the S205 module in slot E06, the S603 module in slot C02, or the R123 module in slot E08, with another one to see if the glitch moves to another bit. -- Michael Thompson

4 years, 6 months

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FTGH: PDP-11 Software Source Book, 3rd Ed

by toby＠telegraphics.com.au

Hi, 2 volumes, Applications and System. See: https://imgur.com/a/ISXGK5N FTGH for postage from Toronto, Canada --Toby

4 years, 6 months

1
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Hand tool to remove a difficult (stuck) circuit board

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

I remember seeing this somewhere. I have done a fair amount of googling with no luck. I'm looking for a hand tool with a plyer like grip at the top of a shaft. At the bottom of the shaft there is a "foot" that, when you squeeze the grip, scissors open. The idea being that you slide the foot down between a daughter card and the motherboard it is stuck in and when you squeeze the grip, it lifts the card out of the slot. Anybody know what this tool is called and/or where to get one? Thanks, Bill S. -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

4 years, 6 months

1
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External SCSI Drives on DEC2000 AXP

by cruff＠ruffspot.net

Have you verified that the SCSI bus is terminated properly? A missing or improperly configured terminator can sometimes cause those sort of symptoms.

4 years, 6 months

2
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Reproduction DEC 144-lamp indicator panels (was Re: RK11-C indicator panel inlays?)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On Mon, Dec 6, 2021 at 9:42 AM David Bridgham via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > The inlays are mostly not done with any tools I have. I do the graphics > with Inkscape. Rod made up the blanks with silk screening. Then I have > the white printing done at a printshop I found who has a large, flatbed > printer that can print white ink. I do have some ideas about how I > might try to make up blanks with a laser etcher I have access to but at > the moment we have an ample supply. Cool. > Also, I've experimented with making my own bezels out of PVC board from > Home Depot using a CNC router. In the pictures below, the yellowed > bezels are old DEC bezels while the white ones are ones I made. I > figured that if we ever get the QSIC shipping and people want indicator > panels (I hope they'll want indicator panels), I'd rather not depend on > them ripping apart old DEC bezels to make this work. Yes. I'd rather not demolish my only indicator panel. I was planning on demolishing a blank (I have a few short blanks, but most people do not) > Anyway, I'd be most happy to have another person with more tools to help > build bits and pieces of this stuff. I've noticed that as I gained > access to different tools, I came up with different ideas about how to > make things. I didn't think the laser etcher was all that useful until > I started using it. I have a small 40W laser etcher that I essentially haven't used since I have had access to large-format 80-120W laser cutters. As for tools, I can rent a 4'x8' Shopbot router at our local Makerspace that can turn out the light blocking bar or, from your file, the frame. We also have a local company (IC3D) that makes cubic-meter 3D Printers and makes their own filament from pellets, keeping costs down. The founders are friends of mine and I've helped repair sensors on their manufacturing line. If I had an STL, I could get a bid on what it would take to 3D print one. It wouldn't be as smooth as a machined PVC foam milled one, but it would be strong. With a little post processing, a 3D Printed frame may give an adequate look. Just a possibility. I haven't worked with PVC foam much but I understand the principle. > Now I want to use it for everything. Turns out it > can't quite handle 3/8" Delrin; it just melts it and makes a mess. That sounds like a power problem. Normally, Delrin lasers quite nicely, at least at 80W. Thick stuff is hard in any printer because of lenses, beam diffusion, etc. We sometimes have problems with 1/2" material of any kind in ours. I've done some stuff in 2 passes, one high, one low (refocusing/repositioning Z axis between job runs). We also have multiple lenses for different focal points. One is only good for etching/surface work, and one is good for cutting 3/8" and thicker materials. We usually use the middle one since 99% of what goes into our laser is 3-6mm stock. > Speaking of help, if anyone wants to review the QSIC design, I'd welcome > that. This is by far the most complex circuit board I've ever designed. I could take a look at it, I have some background in making Qbus and Unibus interfaces, but how useful I'd be depends on what kind of feedback you are looking for. > Back to indicator panels, here's a picture showing a bit of the > evolution of my indicator panels... > > http://pdp10.froghouse.org/qsic/indicator-panel-stack.jpg > > ... The only real thing I'd like to > change is the gloss. Somehow, DEC's inlay is as flat as flat can be. I did notice that. I have no idea what to recommend. AFAIK, DEC just used an acrylic with a specific surface texture. The only stuff I can get is like what you have - smooth as window glass. Cheers, -ethan

4 years, 6 months

1
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Women of computing

by compoobah＠gmail.com

On Sun, 2021-12-05 at 12:00 -0600, Brie wrote: > > He may as well have just come out and said, ?It triggers me and I > don?t like having to acknowledge that women exist in the field of > computer history.? > > ? Brie Sorry to go off topic, but I have friends and family who are veterans or otherwise have had horrible experiences. They get triggered. What this sentence is describing is someone getting mildly annoyed.

4 years, 6 months

1
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Unrecognized DEC Power Supply in PDP-11/44 Configuration

by pbirkel＠gmail.com

Does anyone recognize the (presumably) DEC power supply on the front half of the rack-bottom in the 11/44 listing at: https://www.ebay.com/itm/363640137050 Blurry photo, but it looks like there are a 4x3, a 3x3, and a 3x5 Molex connector, and two brown mini-modules protruding from the right side. If so, then what purpose did it likely serve? It appears that the 6U immediately below the 11/44 was likely occupied by an RX02 given the presence of an M8256 in the 11/44 backplane (and skinny mounting rails, although I thought those were usually at the bottom of the RX02), and that included its own power supply (which wasn't very beefy either, nor did it need to be). What went into the 6U immediately above the power supply is unclear; there is a HEX Wespercorp TC130 Tape Controller as well as three unknown QUAD modules in the 11/44 backplane. Perhaps there was a horizontal autoload tape drive mounted there that required a separate power supply? Curious! paul

4 years, 6 months

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Women of Computing

by healyzh＠avanthar.com

I really want to see this set produced, especially for the ?Ada Lovelace? and ?Admiral Hopper? portions of the set. https://ideas.lego.com/blogs/a4ae09b6-0d4c-4307-9da8-3ee9f3d368d6/post/f39b… https://ideas.lego.com/projects/3bf5b46c-6c87-4a2d-a2e1-d31ed0e2739e Zane

4 years, 6 months

20
30
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External SCSI Drives on DEC2000 AXP

by g4ajq1＠gmail.com

I am trying to format a couple of SCSI drives on the Alpha.? They are connected using the external cable and are mounted in an Open Storage Systems (OSS) box. The drives were working when removed from a PC. SRM shows only one of them coming up as DKA200.? I have set the two drive ID switches to 2 and 3. Lack of info is hampering me, I have gleaned form various sources that the following command should work: >>>t scsi format a 2 0 which just returns >>>OK immediately, without doing anything. VMS allows me to ini the disk, but then when I try to mount it, I get an operator services message saying it is offline, please mount volume in _$3$dka200: Anybody with experience here? cheers, Nigel -- Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept! Skype: TILBURY2591 nw.johnson at ieee.org

4 years, 6 months

3
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cctech Digest, Vol 87, Issue 3

by w9gb＠icloud.com

Power Supplies, due to their Weight, are placed at the bottom of Racks (prevent tip overs ? weight distribution). https://avitech.com.au/?page_id=366 The PDP-11/70 Maintenance and Installation Manual (EK-11070-MM-002) explains that the basic PDP-11/70 system components are located in a double cabinet as shown in Figure 1-1 of that manual. https://i0.wp.com/avitech.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/major-assemblie… greg > Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2021 19:28:01 -0800 > From: Marc Howard <cramcram at gmail.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Need picture of power supply mounted in 11/40 cabinet > > Hi, > > I've got an 11/40 I'm going to start working on. Problem is that there are > two power supplies (H742 and H7420) that came with it but neither was > mounted in the rack. > > Could someone post/send/etc. photos of how the power supply mounts in the > rack? Also how is the power cabling routed (I think I'm missing this part)? > > Thanks, > > Marc Howard

4 years, 6 months

1
0
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Disk cartridge storage racks

by Flash688＠flying-disk.com

I am in need of some disk cartridge storage racks. The kinds I am looking for are the ones used for front-loading cartridges (IBM 2315, DEC RK05, etc.) as well as the ones for top-loading cartridges (IBM 5440, DEC RL02, etc.). They were typically made of welded wire, and stored the cartridges on edge. I could use either the free-standing ones that sit on a shelf, or the ones that were designed to go in a Wrightline cabinet. I am in northwest Oregon and am willing to drive anywhere in the neighboring states to pick them up, or pay for packing and shipping. Thanks, Alan Frisbie

4 years, 6 months

1
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Testers with Alpha or DECstation hardware with framebuffers?

by abs＠absd.org

I've been trying to fixup NetBSD to build usable X servers from up to date Xorg for Alpha and MIPS based DECstations, and wondered if anyone on list had any machines to hand on which they might be willing to test? There is a full distribution (individual set files and bootable ISO image) in http://sync.absd.org/xwsfb/ - the README from that directory is included below. If anything is non obvious, or it would help to have test images in a different format, just let me know Thanks David xwsfb - v1.2 This contains wsfb Xorg builds for NetBSD/pmax and NetBSD/alpha from 2021-12-03 sources Changes from stock NetBSD tree: - Add WSDISPLAYIO_GET_FBINFO to dev/tc TURBOchannel display adaptors - Enable building Xwsfb X server for pmax - Switch alpha from Xorg 1.10 to 1.20 (plus tweaked bsd_ev56 from 1.10) - (diffs in xwsfb.diff) Things to test: - Any and all framebuffers, TURBOchannel (and also PCI on alpha) - Confirm if keyboard mapping is correct (and does console match x11) - Does uxterm work on alpha pmax issues: - uxterm and LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 in general do not work - Escape does not work on gxemul console (not a regression from stock) To install and test pmax in gxemul - Install gxemul :) - eg pkgsrc/emulators/gxemul - Create a 2GB disk image: dd if=/dev/zero of=pmax.img bs=1m count=2048 - Run: gxemul -X -M 256 -e 3max -d pmax.img -d b:NetBSD-9.99.92-pmax.iso - Follow prompts to install - At the end - select 'Add a user' and make sure it is added to wheel - Exit and halt - Run: gxemul -X -M 256 -e 3max -d pmax.img (wait ~forever for fontcache) - Login as root, edit /etc/X11/ctwm/system.ctwmrc and change "uxterm" to "xterm" - Run: startx - Optionally: (if user is in wheel group), enable xdm=YES in /etc/rc.conf To upgrade an existing NetBSD-9.99.92 install - Ensure you have the following from this location (where arch is alpha or pmax) - ${arch}/binary/kernel/netbsd-GENERIC.gz - ${arch}/binary/sets/xbase.tgz - ${arch}/binary/sets/xcomp.tgz - ${arch}/binary/sets/xetc.tgz - ${arch}/binary/sets/xfont.tgz - ${arch}/binary/sets/xserver.tgz - Copy /netbsd to /onetbsd, then extract netbsd-GENERIC.gz as /netbsd - Wipe /usr/X11R7 then extract x*tgz from / - For pmax only: edit /etc/X11/ctwm/system.ctwmrc & change "uxterm" to "xterm" - Run: startx - Optionally: (if user is in wheel group), enable xdm=YES in /etc/rc.conf

4 years, 6 months

1
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Women of Computing

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

Can we please return to discussions of actual classic computers, before our long-suffering list host shuts the list down _again_ for this sort of argument, this time perhaps forever? Thank you. Noel

4 years, 6 months

1
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Source for DEC TC01 (and similar) bulbs?

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Anyone sitting on a pile of these or know where to find some? These were originally Dialco 507-3917 or Drake 11-507 based on what was installed in mine. 24V, 40mA, white. A total of 23 bulbs were dead on my TC01's panel. I've installed a pile of electrically/physically compatible bulbs that I happened to have, but they're yellow/orange and have a different visual design (the yellow lens sticks out 1/8" or so, whereas the orginals were flush). I'm honestly fine with using them but it'd be nice to have something that looks original. And a small progress update: Found that the IOT decode for READ STATUS B wasn't working, which is done on the W103 decoder at E/F19. With that resolved the diagnostics are behaving much more rationally. This took me much too long to trace down, but I learned a lot about how the controller works and found a fun (but ultimately harmless) bug in the Basic Exerciser diagnostic that threw me off for a couple of days... The Search Scope loop diagnostic shows block numbers going by in both directions so a lot of the drive and controller are working, but there's some glitchiness in bits 2, 5, 8, and 11 of the data so I need to trace that down; I hope it's not the tape head. - Josh

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

alt.folklore.computers... Altair Bob

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

A very, very long time ago, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth (or at least the computer rooms) there was a guy on usenet who called himself "Altair Bob" and offered to buy Altair computers. This was back when they weren't worth all that much (mid to late 1980s). He must have bought a dozen or so (as I remember). Does anybody know who he really was and what became of his (what I'm assuming was a) collection? Just idle curiosity brought on by a recent discussion of collections being destroyed by widows. Bill S. -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

4 years, 6 months

1
0
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pdp8/L restoration time, part 1: switches

by cz＠alembic.crystel.com

I've decided it's time to fix my second pdp8/L. First one is missing (I think it's at the bottom of the closet) so I'll work on this one for awhile. First problem: Testing the lamps and switches. If the switches don't work or the lamps are out it's not going to be easy to troubleshoot. Currently I'm missing 5 of the plastic switches, and I have 2-3 switches with a broken pivot. Since I was going to need new plastic switch covers I fired up the 3d printer, downloaded the STL file for making them (thank you for putting that up!) and ran off a few for testing. It helps a lot to set the bridge angle value to 60% or so, that allows a nice solid bridge for the two "teeth" that engage the rocker switch. Also don't bother with PLA: The plastic pivots are too weak and break pretty quickly. Use PETG, which requires higher heat (240 instead of 200 at the head and 70 instead of 60 at the base) but it is more than strong enough for the pivots to go in without issues. Testing the switches I found that one of the data/address switches was reading high ohmage (20) when closed in the down direction and two of the data entry (spring loaded) switches were intermittent. Sprayed in a bit of Deoxit, and they now switch cleanly and without bounce. That would probably have driven me crazy if I tried to test with that. Next step: Check out the power supply..... C

4 years, 6 months

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Datapoint 2200 on ebay

by osi.superboard＠gmail.com

In my opinion, the Datapoint 2200 on ebay seems to be a 1100 Cassette Terminal. There are two theories - It is a true 1108, as the silver machine label indicates. This 1100 versions showed up in 1974 as described by the LCFGROUP and have been a variant to the 2200 with less memory , using most of the 2200 parts, except the power supply at the back. This has been re-designed. The Datapoint 2200 on ebay is most likely a 1100. But it has the 2200 logo at the front, how can this be ? Ken Whitehead may have the answer for that: StaTuesday 17th July 2012 Ken Whitehead (USA) Other comments re: confusing the 1100/2200/5500/6600 may have arisen >from the fact that all of the enclosures for these models started life with 2200 molded into the plastic bezel. The 1100, 5500 and 6600 models had a separate logo that was applied over the existing 2200 logo. Since double-stick foam tapes were used, over time the tape let loose and the ?new? logo fell off. We had a few customer complaints re: the instant downgrading of their computers when this happened! Alas, we know that for all of those that complained, many more didn?t, giving possible rise to the confusion of what the machine actually was. - My second theory is, it is one of the 1100 terminals, that have been upgraded to a 2200, yes that was possible. The Dataform_1100_Brochure_1974 says: System Expandability. The 1100 user need not fear an application outgrowing an 1100's capabi lit ies. If additional data input locations are required, the 1100 can be upgraded to a Datapoint 2200 DATASHARE System. Seems this was offered along the introduction of the 1100, about 3 years after market introduction of the 2200.With this upgrade came extra 8kb more memory (2 more RAM boards) and a new front cover or removal of the 1100 logo plate ? In any case it is not a Datapoint 2200 as advertised. A real 2200 looks like this: http://datapoint.vintagecomputers.square7.ch/index.html Anyone with another good explanation ? Thomas Sun Nov 28 13:27:20 CST 2021 Previous message: Micro Technology Board Info Next message: Datapoint 2200 on ebay Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] Noticed a Datapoint 2200 on ebay.... https://www.ebay.com/itm/275043446827 They're asking $48,000 I want one...but not for that price! :) Previous message: Micro Technology Board Info Next message: Datapoint 2200 on ebay Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] More information about the cctalk mailing list

4 years, 6 months

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What happened to control-data.info and controlfreaks.org?

by jim＠deitygraveyard.com

Is anybody able to access these sites? I just get redirected to Google. Jim

4 years, 6 months

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Looking for someone in London (UK) to read 2 9 track tapes

by cclist＠sydex.com

Hey list, I received a note today from a fellow in London who has 2 9-track tapes that he'd like read. Brands are CDC and BASF, so media shedding should not be a problem. Dates are '92 and '93, so likely 1600 or 6259. The tape seal on one (the other has no seal) is IBM-style, which may be the system that produced the tapes. Any takers? Let me know if so, I'll put you in contact and you can take things from there. All the best, --Chuck

4 years, 6 months

4
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PDP-11/70 Boards

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Guy Sotomayor > I don't unfortunately have any light masks Dave Bridgham and I were manoeuvreing to be able to produce clones of the one you loaned me (he has access to a computer-controlled milling machine at his maker-space or whatever the name is for them now, and we bought a good-sized sheet of the required plastic to be able to crank them out) when I came down with COVID early in the pendemic, and in the aftermath (I came down with long-haul post-COVID Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) itgot put on hold. The loaner, and a micrometer to measure it, are still siting on the table in my family room, next to my desktop. If anybody needs some, I can probably try finishing the drawing, and get it to Dave, so we can resume that project. Noel

4 years, 6 months

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PDP-11/70 Boards

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Ed Cross > I'm currently restoring a PDP-11/70 system and need the following > boards to complete the CPU: FP11-C >From your mention of the FP11-C, I gather your -11/70 has a KB11-C (later) CPU, not the KB11-B CPU of the earlier PDP-11/70's (prior to 1976 - the difference between the two was whether they took the optional FP11-B or FP11-C FPP). Not that it makes a big difference in your case; the 4 cache cards are the same in both. There used to be a seller on eBait (on the mid-East Coast - Baltimore, IIRC) who was selling -11/70 CPU cards (I bought a whole spare set from him) but alas he seems to have gone away (or sold them all; a quick search, both on eBait, and in my email, didn't turm him up; I can institute a deeper search if need be). >From the blog of someone who got a KB11-A working, you'll really need KM11 cards; dunno if Guy Steele still has those clones he was selling. There are definitely some versions of Unix which will run fine on -11/70's without the FP11 (e.g. V6). The system binary is different for the with/without versions, though: in the assembler code which saves the state of one process before switching to another, there is code like: stfps (r1)+ which will probably get an illegal instruction trap in kernel mode on a machine with no FP11, and is therefore conditionally assembled (depending on if the particular machine the system is being built for has an FP11). Perhaps the later BSD versions look for the FP11 on startup, and adjust their behaviour appropriately, but I'm not familiar with them. V6 as distributed contains system binary for an -11/40, which will run on _any_ -11 UNIX will run on, and can be used to build appropriate system binary. (Diversion: I've never found out whether the KB11-B and KB11-C of the -11/70 used/could use the same backplane or not. By examining the prints for the boards of the FP11-B and FP11-C, and seeing on which pins they exchanged signals, and what signals they exchanged with the rest of the CPU, and on which pins, it should be possible to work it out. Ditto for the M8133 ROM and ROM Control of the KB11-B, replaced with the M8123 in the KB11-C.) (Interesting factoid: the M8123 is the only card shared between any variant of the -11/45 and -11/70: both the KB11-C and KB11-D use it. Of course, I think we're still missing a wirelist for the -11/70 backplane, of any variant; and the ECO history. There appears to have been at least one poorly documented upgrade; see here: http://gunkies.org/wiki/MK11_memory_system#CSR_Access for more.) Noel

4 years, 6 months

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Looking for tips debugging DEC TC01 controller

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hey all -- I picked up a TC01 in trade (for a TC08) a couple of weeks back and this past weekend I got it hooked up and powered up with my PDP-8/I + TU55 transport. I've been debugging it and have solved a couple of issues but the current one has me stumped and I'm looking for advice, hoping I overlooked something obvious. At this point the PDP-8/I can talk to the TC01 and use it to control the TU55 without issue. I've mostly been using MAINDEC-08-D3BB to exercise the hardware (see: http://svn.so-much-stuff.com/svn/trunk/pdp8/src/dec/maindec-08-d3b/maindec-…) and issuing FWD/BACK commands via the "Basic Motion" routine the tape runs >from one end of the tape to the other, stopping at the endzones correctly. The tape comes up to speed properly, the COUNTER register increments, and in general the various status lights on the panel do what I expect them to do. The root symptom I'm seeing now is that DECtape operations (like SEARCH) don't complete, and I've traced this back to the MK BLK MK signal not getting asserted. This signal is generated by a large AND gate (see p. 112 of http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/dectape/tc01/DEC-08-I2AB-D_TC01_…). This gate ANDs together a pile of signals from the WINDOW register and the counter, looking for a specific bit pattern on the mark tracks; this AND gate is never satisfied because the WINDOW register's MSB (W1) is stuck low. On the scope it's a completely flat line, no glitches or anything noticeable. Despite my best efforts I cannot figure out why this is. Here's what I've looked at and what I've discovered thus far: 1) The inputs to the W1 flip-flop (pins U (clock) and V (data) look to be correct -- U is identical to the TP1 signal being passed to all the other flip-flops in the chain, and V is identical to the data coming out of W2 -- levels all look fine. 2) The outputs of W1 (pins T and S) are not being pulled up or down by anything external. I've gone so far as to completely disconnect T and S >from the backplane (with some tape over the card fingers) and the outputs are still a flat line. 3) The output of pin T goes to -3V when 0->WINDOW is de-asserted (when tape is in motion), returns to 0V when 0->WINDOW is asserted after the tape stops. (S is the inverse of this, as expected.) (As an aside, the schematic drawing suggests that 0->WINDOW ought to be a pulse given the arrow symbol; this does not appear to be the case. Other flip flops in the chain seem to behave properly, regardless...) 4) The backplane connection to the R203 flip-chip that the W1 flip-flop is on is fine. I've beeped this out and there's no significant resistance between the backplane pins and the connection to the card in the slot. 5) W1 is not affected by the state of the two other flip flops on the R203 (also tested by disconnecting all pins other than power/gnd and pins R/S/T/U/V with tape). 6) Swapping in a different, working R203 shows no change in behavior. 6) Sometimes, randomly, W1 starts working. Last night I noticed that the solder side of R203 was rubbing against the top of the "flip chip" packages on the R107 next to it and even though those shouldn't be conductive, I stuck a piece of cardstock between the two. W1 started working! I tested things for about a half hour in this state (interrupts were still not occurring, much to my annoyance) and this morning I powered it up and it was still working. Pulled the cardstock out and W1 stopped working; this would seem to causation. Put the cardstock back in... still won't work. Backplane connections all test out fine (see (4) above). Put the R203 on an extender (to completely avoid interference with neighboring cards) and still no go. Possibly the insertion of the cardstock flexed the board or the connection with the backplane slot ever so slightly to make things work but if so I've been unable to replicate it. All of this still sounds like a bad connection somewhere (backplane, cold solder joint, broken trace) but the evidence seems to be against it (checked, double-checked, triple-checked backplane, swapped R203s around, etc...) Anyone have suggestions? I'm going to start looking at things on the board itself (which is going to be a pain given how things are currently arranged in the chassis) but curious if I've missed anything here... - Josh

4 years, 6 months

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Datapoint 2200 on ebay

by sieler＠allegro.com

Noticed a Datapoint 2200 on ebay.... https://www.ebay.com/itm/275043446827 They're asking $48,000 I want one...but not for that price! :)

4 years, 6 months

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PDP-11/70 Boards

by edcross＠gmail.com

Dear list, I'm currently restoring a PDP-11/70 system and need the following boards to complete the CPU: FP11-C slots: M8127 M8128 M8129 Cache slots: M8142 M8143 M8144 M8145 Any help finding these is appreciated. Thanks.

4 years, 6 months

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3483 + LCD

by ben＠huntsmans.net

Hi guys- Anyone on here have any experience using an IBM 3483 terminal with an LCD? I have an IBM 15" LCD I am hooking up to it, but parts of the image are below and above the viewable area of the display, and the characters look all garbled or like they're missing some lines. Auto-adjust makes it all visible for a short second, and then it pops back to the way it was. I'd seen at least one other mention of this on the internet, but was wondering if anyone knew of any specific LCD's that are known to work with the 3483. Thanks in advance! -Ben

4 years, 6 months

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Interesting emulex manuals. Keep, scan, or junk?

by cz＠alembic.crystel.com

Have some original Emulex manuals. Need space do people want them or trash? tc0551001 TC05 controller manual. I have Rev C, bitsavers has F pd9951002 I have Rev A Bitsavers site has rev D px9951902 Diagnostic distribution kit I have Rev E and H sc0351001 SC03/B1 technical manual. Bitsavers doesn't have sc0251001 SC02/A RP02/03 manual Rev H Bitsavers doesn't have I'll scan the SC03/B1 and SC02/A manuals, but does anyone want the rest? C

4 years, 6 months

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What happened to control-data.info and controlfreaks.org?

by petermallan＠gmail.com

On 11/81/21,. Andrew Warkentin via cctalk <cctalk at classiccomp.org> wrote: >> What happened? Looking back at my emails, the list was operating normally >> until September 3. Then it just stopped. There were normal discussions >> going on. There was no flood of spam. As far as I can tell, nothing occured >> that would trigger a rage quit. >> >> Is the software and documentation that was on the site at least archived >> elsewhere? Has anybody downloaded it and can maybe upload to archive.org? >> >> Mike >> > I downloaded some of the software and documentation from there a long > time ago and still have it, although I didn't actually scrape the > entire site. I can upload what I've got to archive.org. > > The disk image kit of NOS 2.8.7 with CYBIS has been mirrored at > <https://codex.sjzoppi.com/doku.php?id=utilities:start> and most of > the documentation for it is available from the Wayback Machine at > < http://web.archive.org/web/20210421202420/http://www.control-data.info/Cybi… > I have a working version of NOS 2.8.1, but I would like to be able to add software that is not included as part of the system that I downloaded from controlfreaks.org about 18 months ago. An example might be the ALGOL68 compiler. (I stress 'might be', as I haven't checked if that is on my system already. I just know there is 'some good stuff' that I want and which I don't have.) I have had a look on archive.org, but I can't find anything that looks like CDC NOS software tapes. A big part of my difficulty is likely to be that I don't have a list of what was available on controlfreaks.org in order to be able to do a detailed search. I did search archive.org for controlfreaks.org, but all I get is Controlfreaks.orgAuthorized Users Only This site is for the research into historic systems and software made by Control Data Corporation. If you think you can contribute, email to ControlfreaksAdmin <https://web.archive.org/web/20210421192919/mailto:thunter0512 at gmail.com> to request a username/password for access to this site. All the content is over in the TWiki <https://web.archive.org/web/20210421192919/http://www.controlfreaks.org/twi…> . When I click on the TWiki link, I get {ScriptUrlPath}/view/TWiki/TWikiRegistration which is not much use. Does anyone have a list of the CDC software that was available from controlfreaks.org? Cheers Peter Allan

4 years, 6 months

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Re: IBM transistor replacements

by alsilisk＠icloud.com

Thank you all for your responses and the leads you have given,??Responses to some of your questions and some more questions:?"Have you checked/measured whether they're actually faulty?"?Yes I have, in the picture I have provided on the bottom there are the ends of 3 transistor leads. This was one that fell off as I removed the card and by far the worst corroded, so despite the fact that the rest still work. I need to replace this one.?"?I would suspect that these transistors are pre-drivers for the power transistors and may not be super critical to get an exact replacement."?Would an NPN or PNP with the same HFE suffice, or do I need to know more? Forgive me but I am a complete idiot when it comes to this kind of circuit design and their tolerances.?"Did you get manuals with the printer?? If so it should have ALDs (schematics)."Unfortunately not, and nor can I find any online.?"The 3286 printers and 3277 terminals where infamous for intermittent problems"Excellent, glad I bought something that will provide the true IBM experience.?Thank you,?Al?

4 years, 6 months

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IBM transistor replacements

by w9gb＠icloud.com

Al - The Texas Instruments (TI) 139 is likely a 2N139 PNP (BJT) transistor, capable of high speed switching (in that era). The 2N139 was originally an RCA transistor (tall cylinder) found in RCA and GE transistor radios (455 kHz IF section). The TI versions were low profile metal case, TO-33 case (8.5 to 9.5mm diameter) greg == From: Al <alsilisk at icloud.com> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: IBM transistor replacements Dear all, A while ago I received an IBM 3286 printer, annoyingly some of the transistors in the printer section have been corroded. What I am having trouble with is reading the part codes and finding a modern equivalent of them. One has a Ti logo and two sets of numbers (attached). Does anybody know which numbers are the part numbers and if they are IBM house numbered? Photos of the Ti transistors and card assembly: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JTnsWS4A8NrYJNFsqK2ejOeqqJNjoF1w?us… Thanks in advance, Al

4 years, 6 months

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Micro Technology Board Info

by g-wright＠att.net

Have this board here, but can't find any Info on it. Says Neptune board on the silkscreen, tag say model MSD138 T devDates are about 1990 to 1992. https://www.dropbox.com/s/uu8x7bc5a08jw90/IMG_2200.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/e8z542sdnusjpqa/IMG_2201.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/xql6w5zhiismbel/IMG_2199.jpg?dl=0 - Jerry

4 years, 6 months

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IBM transistor replacements

by alsilisk＠icloud.com

Dear all, A while ago I received an IBM 3286 printer, annoyingly some of the transistors in the printer section have been corroded. What I am having trouble with is reading the part codes and finding a modern equivalent of them. There are two types. One has a Ti logo and two sets of numbers (attached). Does anybody know which numbers are the part numbers and if they are IBM house numbered? Photos of the Ti transistors and card assembly: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JTnsWS4A8NrYJNFsqK2ejOeqqJNjoF1w?us… The other is an IBM transistor with what appears to be a 3 digit part code; for which I have been pointed to a list of house numbering and equivalents on the 1401 website. I was told the list is much older and I fear it might be out of date. However there is an entry for the part codes on my IBM transistors. Should I trust the list for replacements? http://ibm-1401.info/BobEricksonIBM-Transistor-Substitution.html Thanks in advance, Al

4 years, 6 months

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K12MIT on PDP-12

by cc＠informatik.uni-stuttgart.de

So, with the help of you here, I was able to create OS/8 LINCtapes and to run SerialDisk. Everything runs very fine. Now comes the next thing: I want to have K12MIT, and it is no problem to compile or load the program. *But*: When I start K12MIT I don't get the prompt. I see the welcome message, and it correctly identifies the machine as a PDP-12, but that's it. As I've found out it apparently overwrites its code, the processor is looping around address 3600-3620. Examining the memory reveals that the code at 3600 has been overwritten with junk. So it's clear that it won't run anymore. What happens? Was anyone else able to run K12MIT on a PDP-12? BTW the same binary runs fine on a PDP-8, be it a real machine or SIMH. Christian

4 years, 6 months

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Jim Warren has passed away

by cliendo＠gmail.com

https://web.stanford.edu/~allison/JimWarren.html For those who do not know about Jim Warren Jim Warren's wiki page https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Warren_(computer_specialist)

4 years, 6 months

5
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The precarious state of classic software and hardware preservation

by mjkerpan＠kerpan.com

The recent discussion of the sudden disappearance of DtCyber and the various classic CDC software to run on it from the Internet has got me thinking about just how precarious so much of computer history is in. So much of what's out there online (and in person) today is at risk just vanishing if whoever maintains the archive either loses interest (lots of projects over the years succumb to this) , or rage quits (see the expungement of DtCyber and Controlfreaks from the internet), or ends up dying without having made proper arrangements (See the sad fate of the Living Computer Museum, which was killed by its new owners as soon as COVID gave them an excuse to do so) What are we, as a community, to do to fix this and make sure that our history stays peserved and isn't one bad day away from vanishing. Mike

4 years, 6 months

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Extra books

by cctalk＠gtaylor.tnetconsulting.net

Hi, I find myself with some extra books (acquired as part of an auction) that I don't have any interest in keeping. As such, they are available to move to a home that will appreciate them more than mine will. - CBASIC Simplified - Jeffrey R. Weber - 0-938862-10-3 - Mastering CP/M - Alan R. Miller - 0-89588-068-7 - Osborne CP/M User Guide Second Edition - Thom Hogan - 0-931988-82-9 - The Programmer's CP/M Handbook - Andy Johnson-Laird - 0-88134-103-7 - Understanding Pascal - George Ledin Jr. - 0-88248-149-1 - Turbo Pascal Reference Manual from Borland - Pascal With Style - Henry F. Ledgard / John F. Hueras / Paul A. Nagin - 0-8104-5124-7 - Pascal User Manual and Report Second Edition - Kathleen Jensen / Miklaus Wirth - 0-387-90144-2 / 3-540-90144-2 - Invitation to Pascal - Hary Katzan Jr. - 089433-103-5 - Oh! Pascal! - Doug Cooper / Michael Clancy - 0-393-95205-3 - Pascal Programs for Scientists and Engineers - Alan R. Miller - 0-89588-058-X - Mastering Turbo Pascal 5.5 Third Edition - Tom Swan - 0-672-48450-1 I'm mostly asking for postage and handling for book(s). If you want to tip your waiter, that's appreciated too. -- Grant. . . . unix || die

4 years, 6 months

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For Sale, Seattle area: Data General MV/7800 + drives, docs

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all -- I'm doing a bit of cleanup to free up some space and I'd like to try to find a new home for my MV/7800. It's a really cool system that I just haven't had time to spend a lot of time with, and unfortunately it seems unlikely I will anytime soon. The power supply in the CPU has been repaired. There are two large 5236 drives (I believe they have 14" platters, and they weigh about 150lbs apiece) as well, unfortunately I do not have the cabling for them but I don't think it'll be too hard to recreate it. The system appears to be complete with CPU, memory, and disk/tape controllers but apart from getting the power supply going I haven't done anything else to restore it. If anyone's interested, drop me a line. I'd much prefer local pickup but I could be convinced to put this stuff on a pallet if you want to arrange freighting. Thanks, Josh

4 years, 6 months

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The precarious state of classic software and hardware preservation

by commodorejohn＠gmail.com

> On 2021-11-21 9:45 a.m., Adam Thornton via cctalk wrote: >> On 11/19/21 9:33 PM, Steve Malikoff via cctalk wrote: >> >> And what happens when you wake up one morning to find archive.org is >> gone, too? >> >> > Fundamentally, eventually we're all going to be indistinguishable > mass-components inside the supermassive black hole that used to be the > Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies anyway. > > Smoke 'em while you got 'em. Yeah, I had a long, hard think about this while the Caldor Fire was looking like it was about to come knocking on my doorstep this fall and I was trying to prep myself for a short-notice evacuation and decide what I could and couldn't take (read: leave stowed in the trunk of the car for the next couple weeks.) Ultimately, while I'd *like* what I have and enjoy to pass on to someone else once I get busy decomposing, in the long run it's all dust, so I'm not gonna worry myself too much over it.

4 years, 6 months

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Anyone want … Creo Brisque badges

by aperry＠snowmoose.com

Hey, A few years ago I did a rescue of a couple Creo Brisque RS/6000s. They didn?t seem to have any Creo software on them, so I removed the Creo badges from them, reinstalled AIX on them, and passed them on. Anyone here want the badges? If so, send an address and I will drop them in the mail and send them your way. alan

4 years, 6 months

3
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PDT11/150 supported in RT11 5.7?

by cz＠alembic.crystel.com

I spent the other day adjusting and getting my RX02's and the PDT11/150 working in tip top shape. They run fine, but I was wondering: I didn't see the PD.SYS driver on my RT11 5.5 and 5.7 releases. Does anyone know if Dec dropped support sometime after 5.1? C Next project: Put the pdp8/L back together. Or maybe the 11/05. Current working systems: 11/83 with RL02,RX02,TK70, 380mb CDC Esdi,DELQA 11/24 with RL02,RX02 controllers PDT11/150 with both drives running VT52 with repaired power supplies Stuff to work on: Decsystem20/20 LS120 (not an LA/120) pdp11/05 Pair of Pdp8/L's 11/23 system in a BA11-S Plessey/Diablo drives 2 Perq 1's 2 Perq2's Big assed Microvax

4 years, 6 months

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Pictures: Early IC Package with Rolled Legs

by lists＠glitchwrks.com

I figured this would probably be of interest to some people here, too: https://imgur.com/a/TCrIxEH I've had this NS DM8200D 4-bit comparator for a while, after posting some pictures of it to Twitter, Evil Mad Scientist Labs offered to take super macro photos of it for me. It's just a comparator, but the DIP package is a very early "gold sandwich" style carrier. What really makes the packaging unique is that the legs are rolled into a tubular shape, rather than being the usual stamped/coined construction modern ICs use! Thanks, Jonathan

4 years, 6 months

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Passing of Jay Last

by c.murray.mccullough＠gmail.com

I read with sadness an obituary in the New York Times of the passing of *Jay Last*, he being one of the ?traitorous eight? infamy, if you wish to look at it that way. We in CCTalk owe him and others a great deal as they helped create the Silicon Valley from which early small computers evolved. Happy computing, well sort of! Murray ?

4 years, 6 months

1
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Siemens RM200 little endian firmware

by plamenspam＠afterpeople.com

Hello, Does anyone have a copy of Siemens RM200 ARC firmware? It has been used to switch from SINIX(big endian) to Linux or Windows (little endian). Best regards, Plamen

4 years, 6 months

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The precarious state of classic software and hardware preservation

by athornton＠gmail.com

> On 11/19/21 9:33 PM, Steve Malikoff via cctalk wrote: > > And what happens when you wake up one morning to find archive.org is > gone, too? > > Fundamentally, eventually we're all going to be indistinguishable mass-components inside the supermassive black hole that used to be the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies anyway. Smoke 'em while you got 'em. Adam

4 years, 6 months

5
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HP 2000 TSB and FORTRAN

by dlwfanservice＠sbcglobal.net

Like many, I used an HP 2000 TSB system in high school to first learn about programming. Wanting to learn more than just BASIC, I soon discovered there was a program on the system that let you write and run FORTRAN programs. All these years later I can't remember anything more than that and haven't seen anything more on it since then until recently. While clearing out my storage space I came across an old binder with a photocopy of a manual. Looking though it I soon realized it was from my high school computer class and described the system for running FORTRAN. So now I have a name at least and a copy of a manual, but haven't yet found anything more and hope that someone here might be able to shine some light and supply more about it. The manual says it was known as OSMI 2000 FORTRAN and was a "series of programs written in the BASIC language which run short FORTRAN programs" on an HP 2000 BASIC system. Anyone heard of this before? Thanks. David Williams www.trailingedge.com

4 years, 6 months

5
15
0 0

PDP-11 Diagnostic Program Listings Micro Fiche Scans

by ioerg.hoppe＠gmail.com

Hi Friends, Micro fiche scans of the PDP-11 XXDP listings are online now: http://files.retrocmp.com/fichescanner/bitsavers/pdf/dec/pdp11/microfiche/D… You can insert this into your bitsaver mirror tree with $ cd <your-bitsavers-mirror-root> $ wget --recursive --level 0 --no-host-directories --cut-dirs 2 --no-parent -R index.htm?* http://files.retrocmp.com/fichescanner/bitsavers/ You need about 130 GB space for 1600+ listings. A Win10 version of wget is at http://files.retrocmp.com/wget-1.21.2-win32.zip In 2016 I posted a batch of listings, which was archived at http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp11/microfiche/ftp.j-hoppe.de/... These were repacked and included in the above distribution. So despite I'm very pleased to see my name on bitsavers: Please discard the "ftp.j-hoppe.de" directory now ! For each listing there are 3 files: - a "gray" pdf in archive quality. - a highly compressed "bw" pdf, about 10x smaller. - an ASCII *.dat with context and title strip data, prepared for database import. The pdfs contain pictures of their fiches as title pages. The quality of the fiches is everything between "brilliant" and "awful" DEC made every possible error while preparating them, the list is endless. My favorite bug: Title strips glued to the wrong fiche (corrected here). I even tried OCR but the results where poor. "ocrmypdf" (= "tesseract + pdf") seems a good tool, but the fiches are too problematic for a fully automatic run. You have to dive into tesseracts training procedures. See https://hub.docker.com/r/jbarlow83/ocrmypdf/ Some project links: http://www.retrocmp.com/projects/scanning-micro-fiches https://youtu.be/X22gr5THBRA https://hackaday.com/2021/09/17/automatic-microfiche-scanner-digitizes-docs/ By the way: This project ate up lots of (physical and personal) resources. I'll will scan other document sets in the future, maybe begging for a donation then. Enjoy! Joerg

4 years, 6 months

4
3
0 0

The precarious state of classic software and hardware preservation

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Adrian Stoness > [M?]iror everything guys make copies and stash > From: Paul Koning > The web can make things perpetual if they are stored redundantly ... > But anything centralized is just as vulnerable as any centralized copy > ever was, whether from risk of fire or flood, or abandonment. I've been thinking about this issue for a while (although I tend to have a long scope, e.g. looking forward to a time when everyone currently on this list is dead; so I think things like 'failed states' need to be a concern too), and I think history has a key lesson for us. I've been reading up on the history of the Greek cities after the Pelponnesian War, down through the War of the Successors (the Diadochi) after Alexander the Great died. One book I read said that the only surviving source for many major periods in this stretch was Diodorus (a Greek historian from Syracuse in the first century BC); he wrote a history of the world in 40 volumes, only 15 of which survive today complete. The sad thing is that there _was_ a complete set in the library at Constantinope, as late as 1453 (and we know what happened then). So it survived the best part of 2K years, and was then lost; the parts that _did_ survive, did so because there were copies in other libraries. So the lesson is clear: we need to _replicate_ stuff, in a geographically and nationally distributed way. The mirroring of Bitsavers is _very_ good news. However, even in the class of stuff that it focuses on, e.g. old manufacturer documentation, some things don't make it in there, but do exist in other online repositories (e.g. Manx's collections). So one thing we need to do is come up with something like Bitsavers, but with more curatorial work-sharing. Al has done an _incredible_ job, for which we are all deeply in his debt - but it would be good to come up with some way to help him. (E.g. I've been adding links to online versions of manuals, in articles on older DEC stuff I'm doing the CHWiki, and I often find things which aren't in Bitsavers. But sending Al an email saying 'hey, xxx is {here}, you might want to upload it' is just putting all the load on him.) Getting all this stuff into the replicated, mirrored system is a key priority. > And in the case of digital data the added complication is the loss of > the necessary technology. Multiple independent copies will of course help with this (very real) problem. The mirrors will likely be using different hardware, and will turn it over at different times. We could definitely use more mirrors, though - and geographically distributed: it looks like there are current (non-US) ones in the UK, and in Germany - more would be good. New Zealand? Australia? Maybe Japan and India? Individual volunteers aren't really what we need ('when everyone currently on this list is dead'); it needs to be institutions. > The Long Now Foundation has done some good thinking about this; some > others have as well. Jerry Saltzer thought about this, especially the 'generations of hardware', and 'software formats' (e.g old Word docuents) issues. See: "Technology, Networks, and the Library of the Year 2000" http://web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/inria/inria.pdf (particularly Section 4.3 "Persistence"), and also: "Fault-Tolerance in Very Large Archival Systems" http://web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/fault-tol/fault-tolerance.pdf > I'd say more of us need to be more paranoid about mirroring stuff. Yes. Don't just use a link, copy stuff down to a place _you_ control. (I.e. not Google Drive. Nothing against Google, but their business might go somewhere different, like Geocities, etc.) I have a large collection of down-loaded stuff. Already I've run into cases where stuff has gone offline, and without my local copy... Noel

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

FTGH: FH disk drives (and one HH) - Toronto

by toby＠telegraphics.com.au

Hi, Located in Toronto Canada, for shipping cost only: - 3 x Hitachi DK516-15 - 2 x Computer Memories Inc (CMI) 6426-S - Microscience HH-1060 (half height; marked bad) - Tandon TM-502 Unknown working condition, but have been stored well. First come, first served, etc. --Toby

4 years, 6 months

2
6
0 0

SCSI2SD for HVD?

by jon＠jonworld.com

Hey everyone! Has anyone been able to use a SCSI2SD setup where HVD is required? I know by default that isn't supported, but given we can get custom kits to solder, we could just change out one of the controller chips (optimistically?) Cheers! -- -Jon +44 7792 149029

4 years, 6 months

3
2
0 0

Anyone out there with a working Victor 9000 (US only)?

by david4602＠gmail.com

On 10/1/21 1:00 PM, Chuck Guzis<cclist at sydex.com> wrote: > Got a small batch (8) of Victor 9000 floppies, MSDOS ca. 1985. I > really don't want to write a decoder for such a small batch--I've got > other things on the burner right now. Anyone want to take a crack at > transferring the data? (Funds available). > > --Chuck I don't have a Victor (looked for one for a while, and man, are they heavy) because I have a couple of large-ish batch of disks here as well. I read them and have "triangular," Chuck Peddle-esque images, but not sure how to get something like mtools to understand a triangular image. So I understand the motivation to just Kermit the files over to something more sane. :-) - David

4 years, 6 months

4
4
0 0

Getting files from HP 3000 tapes (was: Re: HP 2000 TSB and FORTRAN)

by sieler＠allegro.com

Ed writes: ?If? we? ever? ?get? a? way? to? read? tapes? ? for? the? 2000 and? 3000? Well, we can "read" tapes for the HP 3000, and restore the files from HP 3000 backup tapes ... via Allegro Consultant's "ROSETTA STORE" product (of which I'm the primary author). I'm happy to restore some files for fellow collectors/enthusiasts (as time/energy permits) for free. The problem breaks down into two parts: 1. reading the tape Although Rosetta can read from a physical tape drive, that capability hasn't been tested for a decade (because of loss of hardware). Every user we know of uses Rosetta to restore files from tape images. There are a number of formats of tape images ... quite a number. Rosetta understands many tape image formats, including: AWS / HET STORE-to-disk SIMH Stromasys tape image Tapecopy format (Data Conversion Resources) (Oddly, I think it doesn't understand Allegro's own proprietary tape image format, which records a lot more information than others (e.g., read-retry information).) If you need an HP 3000 'STORE' tape recovered, and it's in a different format, let me know. 2. extracting files from the tape image Rosetta can read Classic HP 3000 STORE tapes (aka "CM STORE") of various versions, and MPE/iX STORE tapes (aka "NM STORE") of various versions (although 'interleave' has been tested only very lightly). By "read" I mean that it extracts the desired files, converts some (with some controls), and creates either a hierarchical directory structure matching the original, or a flattened one. What about IMAGE databases? On some platforms (Linux, HP-UX, Windows (?)), IMAGE databases can be converted to Eloquence databases (Eloquence is a product of Marxmeier software). On all platforms, IMAGE databases can be converted to .csv or .xml files. It can also handle SLT tapes, and provide some information on a few other kinds of tapes one might see from an HP 3000 (e.g., dump tapes, Serial Disc images), SPOOK tapes. Rosetta runs on Mac, Linux, HP-UX, and Windows. The HP-UX version can read older versions of ORBiT's Online Backup tapes (before they changed the tape record header format) TL;DR Ed: for the 3000, it's essentially a solved problem, and has been for over 20 years! Note: I also have a utility to restore files from (older?) Burroughs mainframe (e.g., B6700) backup tapes.

4 years, 6 months

4
7
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Smecc hp 2000 enclosed in glass being used as a backdrop for phx business journal cio of the year award. [PDF]Back to the Futuremedia.bizj.us/view/archive/phoenix/pdf/CIOs 2012 Final.pdf

by couryhouse＠aol.com

http://media.bizj.us/view/archive/phoenix/pdf/CIOs%202012%20Final.pdf Sent from the all new AOL app for Android

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

Ken Gielow passed away

by w9gb＠icloud.com

Ken Gielow sold his Z80DIS (Z80 disassembler) for CP/M 80 as shareware ($20) thru his Butler, PA firm (SLR Systems), until the end of the 1980s. I left Slippery Rock (just north of Butler) in the summer 1983 (about time of release). ? Info World, October 24, 1983 Software Review by Steve Mann https://books.google.com/books?id=rS8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA40&lpg=PA41&dq=Z80DIS&s… greg == Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2021 17:23:06 -0800 From: Stan Sieler <sieler at allegro.com> To: "General Discussion: On/Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Ken Gielow passed away Last week, Ken Gielow passed away. He was the author of the Z80DIS disassembler, which was both interactive and used a form of "artificial intelligence" to cleverly disassemble Z80 code.

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

IEEE-488 on the PDP-11

by dj.taylor4＠comcast.net

In my pile of DEC computer stuff I have a DEC qbus IBV11 IEEE-488 controller board (M7954) with cable (BN11-A) that connects to the GPIB bus. It would be interesting to try this out, but I don't have the DEC 'Instrument Bus Subroutines' that work under RT-11.? Does anyone have this package?? Or know where it can be found? Doug

4 years, 6 months

11
17
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Tektronix 4051/4052/4054 GPIB IEEE-488 Flash Drive

by mmcgraw74＠gmail.com

I saw the recent posts on IEEE-488 on the PDP-11, and Christian's post on his Commodore GPIB floppy drive connection to the Tektronix 4051. I have been working for a couple of years on a GPIB/IEEE-488 Flash Drive for the Tektronix 4051, 4052 and 4054 computers, and am getting close to completion. My Tektronix 4050 GPIB Flash Drive emulates the Tektronix 4924 Tape Drive, which is supported by all the 4050 computers using secondary GPIB addresses for commands. This allows the flash drive to be used without needing an option ROM Pack. In particular, 4051 ROM Packs are not compatible with the 4052/4054 ROM Packs as the 4051 used a Motorola 6800 CPU and the 4052/4054 used a Tektronix custom 16-bit bit-slice CPU in order to improve performance 10x and double the memory capacity from 32KB to 64KB. The 4050 GPIB Flash Drive design uses an Arduino directly connected to my custom interface PCB with the GPIB connector, and a micro SD Flash board. I picked the 644-Narrow Arduino board by Pandauino as it has the Atmega644 processor which has twice the flash and RAM as the Arduino Nano and also has 5V I/O which can interface without buffers to the Tektronix 4050 GPIB port. The current code takes 40912 bytes of flash and 2798 bytes of RAM (more than the Nano) and supports PRINT, INPUT, READ, WRITE, OLD, SAVE, BOLD, and BSAVE. These commands have been tested on my 4052 and 4054A and my software development partner's 4051 computer. The flash drive also adds two secondary address commands not supported by the 4924: HEADER and CD. We are using the Arduino FAT32 library which supports long filenames, and create the filename to match the Tektronix tape file header format which includes a file number, file type (ASCII, BINARY, NEW or LAST), data type (PROGRAM or DATA) and the file size. We also take advantage of the extra spaces in that format to insert the file name as a comment - like the Tektronix 4050 BASIC program to add comments to the file header. The CD command is for changing the directory in the microSD card, and allows multiple different Tektronix 4050 DC300 tapes that I have recovered and posted on my github repository: https://github.com/mmcgraw74/Tektronix-4051-4052-4054-Program-Files to be stored in separate directories - while maintaining the original tape file numbers. More info and photos in my project thread on vcfed.org: https://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum/genres/other/64990-tektronix-405x-gpib-fl… Monty McGraw

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

Manual, Amiga, Broadcast Titler 2

by ethan＠757.org

Anyone have the manual for the Amiga software Broadcast Titler 2? If so, can I scan it and return it to you? Thanks - Ethan -- : Ethan O'Toole

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

HP 3056DL - looking for system tape image

by ce.murillosanchez＠gmail.com

Hello everyone; The HP 3056DL was a datalogger consisting of an HP3421 and an HP85B; I bought one many years ago and that's how I got my HP85B and one of my HP3421's. I never restored the tape drive since I had an HP9121 floppy drive available early on (I still have it but it is in need of repair). The 3056DL? came with the manual, but without the tape containing the datalogging software.? Now that I am a happy owner of an EBTKS board, I am looking for an image of the original system tape for the 3056DL.? Does anybody have it by chance? Regards, Carlos.

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

Apple cube cleaning

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> rom: Paul Koning > WD-40 is a good solvent to use for adhesives stuck to plastic. It's > unlikely to hurt the plastic but it will soften the glue. My go-to solvent for non-ionized glue residues (use water for ionized) on all sorts of materials has been, for many years, mineral spirits (US name; 'white spirit', in the UK): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spirit It scores highly on both i) 'doesn't harm underlying material' and ii) 'softens residues' axes. (I've mostly used it on books, to remove stickers, but my experience should transfer to use on computers.) > As always, check on a hidden part of the case to make sure the > particular plastic doesn't object to the stuff you're using. Sage, and important, advice for _any_ removal method. Noel

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

Apple cube cleaning

by jacob＠dahl-pind.dk

I got a Apple cube here as part of a larger haul, at some point someone placed a bit of tape on the clear polycarbonate case, the tape is long gone but the yellow glue remains. Am unsure about the hardness of it, if I could use sugar cubes to rub it off, anyone knows a scratch free way to get it off ? Regards -- Jacob Dahl Pind | telefisk.org | fidonet 2:230/38.8

4 years, 6 months

5
8
0 0

HP 2000 TSB and FORTRAN

by nospam212-cctalk＠yahoo.com

Like many, I used an HP 2000 TSB system in high school to first learn about programming. Wanting to learn more than just BASIC, I soon discovered there was a program on the system that let you write and run FORTRAN programs. All these years later I can't remember anything more than that and haven't seen anything more on it since then until recently. While clearing out my storage space I came across an old binder with a photocopy of a manual. Looking though it I soon realized it was from my high school computer class and described the system for running FORTRAN. So now I have a name at least and a copy of a manual, but haven't yet found anything more and hope that someone here might be able to shine some light and supply more about it. The manual says it was known as OSMI 2000 FORTRAN and was a "series of programs written in the BASIC language which run short FORTRAN programs" on an HP 2000 BASIC system. Anyone heard of this before? Thanks. David Williams www.trailingedge.com

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

Intel 4004 turns 50

by healyzh＠avanthar.com

It looks like the Intel 4004 turned 50 yesterday. Zane

4 years, 6 months

7
7
0 0

Ken Gielow passed away

by sieler＠allegro.com

Last week, Ken Gielow passed away. He was the author of the Z80DIS disassembler, which was both interactive and used a form of "artificial intelligence" to cleverly disassemble Z80 code.

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

Free DEC stuff clarifications

by danieldsnyder＠gmail.com

I have numerous requests for pickup. What is the most fair way dealing with this? First come first serve? I need to have removed by Christmas. >From memory, I can state what is in the photos. 1 - Alphaserver DS20E 1 - Alphaserver DS20 1 - Alphaserver 1000 1 - Alphaserver 1000A 2 - Compaq XP1000 1 - Alphaserver 1200 1 - Alphaserver 400 4 - non functional Decserver 700's ( bad ps) 2 - Decstation 500 2 - Alpha PC workstation TZ series tape inits BA 350 series drive racks I also have VMS CD media and maybe True64 Call me at 7-2-4-9-9-1-6-9-8-3

4 years, 6 months

3
3
0 0

I-4004

by c.murray.mccullough＠gmail.com

Did the 4004 chip start our interest in microcomputing? It is 50 today. Classic computing begins earlier but for the masses, if they could be called that in the early seventies, this was it. I hesitate in calling it the first microprocessor as pc'ers will object. Happy computing all. Murray ?

4 years, 6 months

10
12
0 0

COGNOS box

by toby＠telegraphics.com.au

Hi all Trying to get rid of some boxes of ephemera, including this one: https://imgur.com/a/dm1vR Note that the software media is not included. Location: Toronto Canada --Toby

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

Does anybody have documentation or know about the OKI IF800/300 a.k.a. Sumicom System 830

by pleasefixmybrick＠gmail.com

? It certainly didn't have market penetration in USA! I did once have, and implemented in XenoCopy, a sample disk from an Okidata if800 model 20, which seemed to be the same as a BMC if800 model 20 (if one more alternate name might help you find information). I hadn't heard the Sumicom badging. ? I also had a disk for Oki (don't know if same model) with the Microsoft Stand-Alone BASIC, instead of CP/M. ? Unfortunately, the model 20 was a different architecture all together. I have begun looking into Japanese museums. Maybe there is more documentation and data in its country of origin.

4 years, 6 months

2
1
0 0

Old Xerox stuff? 820, 860

by Anders.Gustafsson＠pedago.fi

We were cleaning the basement yesterday and I came across some Xerox stuff from the 1980's. For the 860 there are program listings and disk format documentation. For the 820 I have BIOS listings and service manuals for the monitor they used. Ny company happened to work with RX here in Finland and I wrote routines to convert from X860 to WordPerfect. Also from the typewriters. -- Med v?nlig h?lsning Anders Gustafsson, ingenj?r anders.gustafsson at pedago.fi | Support +358 18 12060 | Direkt +358 9 315 45 121 | Mobil +358 40506 7099 Pedago interaktiv ab, Nygatan 7 B , AX-22100 MARIEHAMN, ?LAND, FINLAND

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

Fw: Re: Does anybody have documentation or know about the OKI IF800/300 a.k.a. Sumicom System 830

by wpointon＠earthlink.net

? -----Forwarded Message----- From: xcvb Sent: Nov 12, 2021 9:18 PM To: Fred Cisin , General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Does anybody have documentation or know about the OKI IF800/300 a.k.a. Sumicom System 830 ? very quiet today on here -----Original Message----- From: Fred Cisin , General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Sent: Nov 11, 2021 1:25 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Does anybody have documentation or know about the OKI IF800/300 a.k.a. Sumicom System 830 ? On Thu, 11 Nov 2021, pleasefixthisbrick via cctech wrote: > I seem to have the only one in America, and I am trying to find documentation > on it.? I have already backed up ROM's and it's custom CP/M build.?? I am > looking for in depth documentation that I can reference to get this machine > functioning and accessible online.? Hoping to set up a BBS on it. ? It certainly didn't have market penetration in USA! I did once have, and implemented in XenoCopy, a sample disk from an Okidata if800 model 20, which seemed to be the same as a BMC if800 model 20 (if one more alternate name might help you find information). I hadn't heard the Sumicom badging. ? I also had a disk for Oki (don't know if same model) with the Microsoft Stand-Alone BASIC, instead of CP/M. ? -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com ? ? ?

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

Does anybody have documentation or know about the OKI IF800/300 a.k.a. Sumicom System 830

by wpointon＠earthlink.net

very quiet today on here -----Original Message----- From: Fred Cisin , General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Sent: Nov 11, 2021 1:25 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Does anybody have documentation or know about the OKI IF800/300 a.k.a. Sumicom System 830 ? On Thu, 11 Nov 2021, pleasefixthisbrick via cctech wrote: > I seem to have the only one in America, and I am trying to find documentation > on it.? I have already backed up ROM's and it's custom CP/M build.?? I am > looking for in depth documentation that I can reference to get this machine > functioning and accessible online.? Hoping to set up a BBS on it. ? It certainly didn't have market penetration in USA! I did once have, and implemented in XenoCopy, a sample disk from an Okidata if800 model 20, which seemed to be the same as a BMC if800 model 20 (if one more alternate name might help you find information). I hadn't heard the Sumicom badging. ? I also had a disk for Oki (don't know if same model) with the Microsoft Stand-Alone BASIC, instead of CP/M. ? -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com ?

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

Free DEC stuff, local pickup only

by danieldsnyder＠gmail.com

The remains of my DEC computer lab. Need to have removed by christmas https://photos.app.goo.gl/b7QL7fNY14WJ7TPDA Contact me at danieldsnyder-----at----gmail-----.----com Located in western PA near Pittsburgh

4 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

Does anybody have documentation or know about the OKI IF800/300 a.k.a. Sumicom System 830

by cisin＠xenosoft.com

On Thu, 11 Nov 2021, pleasefixthisbrick via cctech wrote: > I seem to have the only one in America, and I am trying to find documentation > on it.? I have already backed up ROM's and it's custom CP/M build.?? I am > looking for in depth documentation that I can reference to get this machine > functioning and accessible online.? Hoping to set up a BBS on it. It certainly didn't have market penetration in USA! I did once have, and implemented in XenoCopy, a sample disk from an Okidata if800 model 20, which seemed to be the same as a BMC if800 model 20 (if one more alternate name might help you find information). I hadn't heard the Sumicom badging. I also had a disk for Oki (don't know if same model) with the Microsoft Stand-Alone BASIC, instead of CP/M. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com

4 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

Electronika MC 0511

by technoid6502＠gmail.com

I just received my UKNC from what was Czechoslovakia. Made in 1990 it was dirty but otherwise in good shape. I need to install an alternate power supply as the Soviet one requires 220volts and has a wierd plug. Anyone know where one can find a disk interface for this machine? I have such for several other vintage systems, which use CF cards, as with my Atari 8-bits and Atari ST. I gather there was a floppyface for the thing but that it is pretty rare. Any help would be appreciated. RSX11 awaits this micro-PDP compatible. Best, Jeff

4 years, 7 months

4
3
0 0

Overclocked TI Silent 703 at 1200 bauds?

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

Please excuse the hijack: I have two Silent 700's, I think the 745 models with acoustic coupler and 110/300 baud rocker switch. One I have fixed and it works great (well, at least as far as that silvery thermal printout goes). Unfortunately one has three bad keys and at least one missing column on the printhead (yes, the head itself is bad). Does anyone have a junker >from which I can buy three keyswitches and a printhead? :) thanks Charles

4 years, 7 months

8
8
0 0

Overclocked TI Silent 703 at 1200 bauds?

by curiousmarc3＠gmail.com

I recently acquired a TI Silent 703 on ePay and just fired up. It worked right away. But I expected it to work at 300 bauds as advertised, and to my surprise, it clocked at a the head turning speed of 1200 bauds! Did they hot-rod it later in its product life? It says MODEL 703 at the back, part no. 2310503-0010. I did not open it up yet. Is this a hardware mod? Is there an internal switch that can toggle it between 300 and 1200? Marc

4 years, 7 months

6
10
0 0

LINCtape images

by cc＠informatik.uni-stuttgart.de

Short question: How do I transfer LINCtape images back to tape on a PDP-12? Ideally there is some binary program to load via papertape to format a tape and recreate it with data transfer over the console serial line. Christian

4 years, 7 months

5
24
0 0

TI-99/4a Monitor power cord

by nospam212-cctalk＠yahoo.com

I have a TI monitor that has a power cord that is becoming sticky and gummy and I'm looking at what to do with it. I figure the best solution is to probably see about replacing it with a new one. Has anyone ever looked at this monitor and the cord connection? Have any info on it? How difficult it might be to replace it? I haven't been able to find any doc or anything searching online but may just not be using the right keywords. Any other suggestions on dealing with the cord besides replacing it? Wrap it in something I suppose... Thanks in advance. David Williams www.trailingedge.com (http://www.trailingedge.com)

4 years, 7 months

4
5
0 0

memory assignment jumpers MM8EJ

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

I am unable to confirm for sure the memory assignment process for I know without a doubt how to set their page assignments. I can guess but that's dangerous and inefficient. I want to test an unknown core stack, so I need to know which RAM space I am testing. I have a PDP 8e core stack with the following: H121 8x12 core G233E G111C Anyone know the process of assigning the RAM space on the boards? Bill

4 years, 7 months

2
1
0 0

Zorba owners/Help diagnosing display issues

by ben＠listenfaster.com

Hello from Seattle everyone, I'm new to the list. I recently bought a Zorba on Ebay, which was my first machine as a kid back in 1985, dialing into BBSs and learning assembly and basic. I put a lot of hours in on this machine and was very excited to acquire one, even though the sale was 'as is'. I have some issues to address, beginning with perhaps a faulty component on the video board driving the crt. While I'm an experienced programmer and have some rudimentary skills with electronics, I'm going to be in bootcamp troubleshooting this board. I have some help in my network of friends, but wanted to throw this out to the list. Are there any Zorba owners who would be willing to trade notes/advice with me on their experiences troubleshooting hardware issues (or anyone else out there, for that matter :) )? Have you used the composite video out to feed another monitor? Detail on my first issue: the display appears to need the kind of stabilization I _thought_ the horizontal and vertical hold adjustments would provide, but it's not entirely stable. I have tried the composite out, feeding it to a cheap composite->HDMI adapter, but that signal looks like a blank screen in need of vert/horiz hold adjusting. Before I go much further, I was hoping someone out there might be able to verify their use of the composite out to an external display. I haven't found any detail on what that signal should look like, other than it's 'composite' - maybe someone with more expertise can tell me what assumptions I can make about a composite signal. Thanks for reading that long message - and glad to be a new member of the list. Ben

4 years, 7 months

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8" disk drive questions...

by deramp5113＠yahoo.com

Here?s a demo video of a Pertec 5.25? drive that has dual index sensors so you can simply flip a standard disk over and use both sides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UCcONLTsuQ&t=32s Mike

4 years, 7 months

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DEQNA cab kit wiring

by g4ajq1＠gmail.com

Does anybody have a wiring diagram?? I have one with two broken wires! Or a photo of the BERG connector as long as the colour code is consistent :-) Thanks in advance, Nigel -- Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept! Skype: TILBURY2591 nw.johnson at ieee.org

4 years, 7 months

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SQ703/6 conversion and a little fun

by g4ajq1＠gmail.com

A few months ago, thanks to help from several people here, I converted an SQ703 TMSCP controller to SQ706 MSCP. I had problems trying to use it on the vax due to the complexity of mapping Q-Bus registers under ODT, so put off trying until I got the LSI-11/73 going. Now I have a problem: It seems to run and recognise the controller as SQ706 according to the on-board diagnostics, however it insists saying it is at 777450, the TMSCP address.? Trying to change it gives me an out-of-bounds message. OK, I thought, I will just use it there. Put it in to a running RT11 system and it shows up at 772150 and clashes with an existing controller! It seems that one of the PALs is maybe setting up the address! Anybody else tried this? cheers, Nigel Here's the fun:? https://www(dot)bbc(dot)com/news/entertainment-arts-59089596 Maybe our vax computers will become popular once again! -- Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept! Skype: TILBURY2591 nw.johnson at ieee.org

4 years, 7 months

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8" disk drive questions...

by cclist＠sydex.com

Just as a follow up, I grabbed one of the Memorex "flippies" out of my files: https://i.imgur.com/3VnrazS.jpg --Chuck

4 years, 7 months

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Terminal Emulator for Android

by dj.taylor4＠comcast.net

I would like to use my tablet, Samsung Tab E model SM-T560NU, to connect to my VAX and Linux computers.? There seem to be a large number of 'Apps' out there.? What is a good one to use? The VAX doesn't have SSH only insecure TELNET.? Another can of worms, SSH on the Vax? Doug

4 years, 7 months

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Mystery 1702A(?) EPROM Programmer

by deramp5113＠yahoo.com

It might be the Mikra-D MD-2040 1702 programmer. Similar to the MD-2044 on my website but a parallel data interface (e.g., manual switches and lights) instead of a serial RS-232 interface. The 2040 is briefly mentioned in the .pdf file here: https://deramp.com/downloads/eprom_p...kra-d/md-2044/ Mike

4 years, 7 months

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Old Apple II game manuals and the Internet Archive

by nospam212-cctalk＠yahoo.com

While clear out storage spaces I have come across binders of photocopies of lots of old Apple II game manuals. I've checked online for those that have been scanned already and will toss those. Before I toss the rest which I haven't found online, I'd like to scan them and upload to the Internet Archive to save them. Most of these are one page with a few 2-4 pages. What I'm wondering about is the best way to upload them after scanning. Do each individually, which adds a lot of entries to my small upload page (which I suppose isn't a big deal) or zip them up and upload the one file and make sure the metadata is properly set to identify each manual in the zip. Or some other method? Suggestions? Thanks, David Williams www.trailingedge.com (http://www.trailingedge.com)

4 years, 7 months

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SQ703/6 conversion and a little fun

by g4ajq1＠gmail.com

A few months ago, thanks to help from several people here, I converted an SQ703 TMSCP controller to SQ706 MSCP. I had problems trying to use it on the vax due to the complexity of mapping Q-Bus registers under ODT, so put off trying until I got the LSI-11/73 going. Now I have a problem: It seems to run and recognise the controller as SQ706 according to the on-board diagnostics, however it insists saying it is at 777450, the TMSCP address.? Trying to change it gives me an out-of-bounds message. OK, I thought, I will just use it there. Put it in to a running RT11 system and it shows up at 772150 and clashes with an existing controller! It seems that one of the PALs is maybe setting up the address! Anybody else tried this? cheers, Nigel Here's the fun:? https://www(dot)bbc(dot)com/news/entertainment-arts-59089596 Maybe our vax computers will become popular once again! -- Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept! Skype: TILBURY2591 nw.johnson at ieee.org

4 years, 7 months

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8" disk drive questions...

by geneb＠deltasoft.com

I'm working with the developer of the Applesauce disk imaging tool in order to iron out some issues with 8" disk support. I'm using a Qumetrak 842 disk drive that's got support for both double and single-sided media. This means that it's equipped with two index hole sensors, slightly offset from one another. It's my understanding that single-sided media has the index hole in one spot on the jacket, and double-sided media has one in a slightly different location. The issue at hand is some NIB Dysan double-sided 8" media I have - the disks have index holes in the jacket in both locations. Is this typical, or do I have some weird "special" disks on my hands? The Applesauce author posits that the combination of the dual-sensor drive and the dual-hole media wouldn't typically find themselves together. Is this accurate? If it's not, how would a system contemporary with the media have handled the two index holes? Thanks! g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind. 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 - Get it _today_!

4 years, 7 months

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ISO: GE Terminet 300 knowledge

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hey all -- I picked up a GE Terminet 300 which appears to be mostly functional, but is in need of alignment -- it's printing fairly smudged garbage with a few recognizable characters intermixed. Character positioning (horizontal) seems to be fairly irregular, for the characters that print clearly. The unit has suffered some knocks in its life and it's clear the photocell board has come slightly loose, which I'm sure is not unrelated, so I'm studying the service docs to get a better idea what's going on. There's an alignment gauge which I could reproduce if I had any idea what it's specs are. The service docs are a bit vague and the photocell assembly is a bit difficult to see, buried beneath the print band on the left hand side. Anyone out there have any experience with these? Any wisdom to impart here? Also, anyone have any spare print fingers? My print band's missing one (a "9") and I suppose it wouldn't be a terrible idea to have a few extras just in case... Thanks, - Josh

4 years, 7 months

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Mystery 1702A(?) EPROM Programmer

by lists＠glitchwrks.com

Does anyone recognize this EPROM programmer: https://imgur.com/a/GcmefTl It appears to be for 1702A EPROMs. Working on cleaning it up and figuring it out! Thanks, Jonathan

4 years, 7 months

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Tape Belts, was: FTGH: FH disk drives (and one HH) - Toronto + Scotch DC 300XL tapes

by lists＠glitchwrks.com

The belts are more or less all failing at this point, even on the newer multi-gigabyte QICs. I finally had to stop extracting the good ones from newer tapes, boiling, and reusing because that was not reliable anymore. Seems everyone is using these nowadays: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08536J6Y5 Thanks, Jonathan ??????? Original Message ??????? On Saturday, October 30th, 2021 at 22:30, Nigel Johnson Ham via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > Toby, will those 300XL tapes move the tape if you turn the capstan?? I > > got my drive working but when I tried to see if the tapes would read, > > the rubber band that moves the tape just shattered due to age. > > Try turning the wheel with your finger and see if it moves the tape, if > > it does i would like them. > > Cheers, > > Nigel > > On 2021-10-30 10:28 p.m., Toby Thain via cctalk wrote: > > > On 2021-10-30 1:14 p.m., Toby Thain via cctalk wrote: > > > > > Hi, > > > > > > Located in Toronto Canada, for shipping cost only: > > > > > > - 3 x Hitachi DK516-15 > > > - 2 x Computer Memories Inc (CMI) 6426-S > > > - Microscience HH-1060 (half height; marked bad) > > > - Tandon TM-502 > > > > > > Unknown working condition, but have been stored well. > > > > > > First come, first served, etc. > > > > > > --Toby > > > > Also: 2 x Scotch DC 300XL tape cartridges, good condition. > > > > --Toby

4 years, 7 months

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PDT-150 miniminc floppies wanted.

by scott451＠gmail.com

I have a PDT-150 with a box of blank 8? floppies. Is there someone in this group who can image miniminc BASIC and a system disk onto floppies? Preferably in the Bay Area ?

4 years, 7 months

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Sun-2 and Sun-3 mice (eBay)

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> > AFAIK, the posts are there so you don't plug your mouse into a phone > jack or a modem port. There are cutouts on the back of the Sun3 > keyboard to admit that connector. > My Sun 2/120 server has an RJ mouse connector next to the RJ keyboard connector on the back of the chassis. My Sun 2/50 desktop client has a DA-15 keyboard connector on the back and has the mouse plugged into the keyboard. I have a black Mouse Systems mouse with a Sun sticker on the front. P/N 900783-002/01. Maybe for a Sun-1? -- Michael Thompson

4 years, 7 months

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Sun-2 and Sun-3 mice (eBay)

by bear＠typewritten.org

https://www.ebay.com/sch/xi_jinping/m.html?item=334195034340&hash=item4dcf9… Hadn't realized before that there were Sun-2 mice which weren't black (were white/beige). I know some folks are looking. No connection with the seller, apart from having bought one of them already. ok bear.

4 years, 7 months

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Vt131 4 sale in St.Louis

by dillera＠dillernet.com

https://www.estatesales.net/marketplace/items/579642 <https://www.estatesales.net/marketplace/items/579642> ADM-3a. Some interesting stuff to be sure. too bad it too far from me. -andy > On Oct 26, 2021, at 2:59 PM, Wayne S via cctech <cctech at classiccmp.org> wrote: > > VT 131 for sale at auction in St. Louis. It?s local pick up only which means they won?t ship. > Some other interesting stuff too. > I have no affiliation to the seller. > > > https://www.estatesales.net/marketplace/items/579633 > > Sent from my iPhone >

4 years, 7 months

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Programming Bipolar PROMs (Tom Hunter)

by mark＠markesystems.com

From: Tom Hunter <ccth6600 at gmail.com> Subject: Programming Bipolar PROMs > The part is an Intersil IM5600CP, but these were also made by others, for > example Signetics and Philips made the 82S23 and TI and NTE made the > faster > SN74S188N. Some vendors still sell these parts and there are even a few on > Ebay. > > How do I program these PROMs? I found one somewhat obscure description of > the algorithm in the NTE datasheet, but I suspect that each manufacturer > had (somewhat) different algorithms. I built a project using Russian clones of the 74188, and ended up building a programmer for them. The programming process is slow (over a minute to program 32 bytes), draws quite a bit of power (the chip is uncomfortably warm afterwards), and it took a while to work out the programming algorithm. Also, as Tom Hunter mentioned, the programming process isn't perfect - about 5% don't program correctly; I don't know if this is my algorithm or the fact that the clones aren't so good. However, once programmed, they seem to work just fine. I bought the Russian devices off eBay for cheap - I think they were about $0.20 apiece, so I got a hundred of them, which I've been slowly nibbling away at as my little product sells. I still have several dozen left; if you'd like you could send me the hex file (or listing - it's only 32 bytes, which I could type in), and I could program a couple for you. I'm not sure I could recommend building your own programmer. It's obviously possible, and there are hand-operated versions floating around on the internet (really hand-operated: set a rotary switch for the bit and five address switches, turn on the power, and push a button for 1-1/2 seconds; repeat for every "1" bit in the PROM), but you'd need more than just the Arduino. You need eight high-side drivers that will handle an amp apiece, plus another driver to switch the power supply voltage between 5 and 13.5 volts, as well as writing a program to implement the algorithm. (actually, it's slow enough that you could get by using relays for all the higher voltage switching.) I don't believe that any modern programmer handles these - if the Data I/O does, then that's probably your only option. ~~ Mark Moulding

4 years, 7 months

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Maybe - re- DMX11

by bobsmithofd＠gmail.com

I left in 79, I designed the AUtodin II mode 1A//Mode VI line usints. Those were synchronous comms interfaces for Bisync.ADCCP/ etc connections while CSS did the Mode 1 I think it was Asynch interface line unit. I suspect DMX is the commercial version of that Autodin II Asynch design, using the KMX/COMMIOP cpu and a dedicated unibus system unit set to support the lineunits BUT I could be wrong maybe DMX was something completely different but it seems to tickle my memory. bb

4 years, 7 months

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Linux and the 'clssic' computing world

by c.murray.mccullough＠gmail.com

To my knowledge the Linux kernel was released to the public 30 years ago around this time. My dear friend swears by it and will never go back to Windows even though WIN 11 is much more secure than previous Windows versions. Prior to Linux there were other much-earlier operating systems for 8-bit and 16-bit machines we classic computer users could use. For emulators now we have a choice but do they work better in Linux or Windows? Happy computing. Murray ?

4 years, 7 months

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Looking for manual for MDB MLSI-LP11

by g4ajq1＠gmail.com

Does anybody have any sources other than bitsavers and vcf? cheers, Nigel

4 years, 7 months

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Dec DMX11--What was it?

by cz＠alembic.crystel.com

Anyone know about the Dec DMX11? It was apparently a 64 serial line Mux that plugged into pdp11 Unibus systems and had a fair amount of both intelligence and insanity on board. Reason is I'm looking into some old documentation about late 1970's Tote systems for Asian race tracks and the system they were building was beyond astronomical in terms of insanity. (As in an 8 way pdp11/70 system cluster, with 11/04's running these DMX11's to hundreds of terminals)

4 years, 7 months

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: FTGH Various DLT and 4mm DAT Drives - Midlands UK

by james＠attfield.co.uk

============================================================================ ===================== Message: 1 From: Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> Subject: Re: FTGH Various DLT and 4mm DAT Drives - Midlands UK On Fri, 22 Oct 2021 at 06:38, James Attfield via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > > I?m having a general clear out and the following are free for the collection rather than they go in the skip/dumpster. You haven't said where you are. Message: 2 From: Grant Taylor <cctalk at gtaylor.tnetconsulting.net> Subject: Re: FTGH Various DLT and 4mm DAT Drives - Midlands UK On 10/22/21 3:41 PM, Liam Proven via cctalk wrote: > You haven't said where you are. Per the subject, Midlands UK. I don't know how big of an area that is, but I do know that it's way out of the way for me to go pick up. ============================================================================ ===================== Apologies if I did not make it clear, I am located about 12 miles SSW of Birmingham, United Kingdom. My 3W location is tilt.custom.glitz I have also checked and tested the following: Apple Powermac G4/768Mb/74Gb OSX 10.4 Apple Powermac G4 Mirror Door Dual 867MHz CPU/1.75Gb/74Gb OSX 10.5 Both in very good condition and running very nicely with OSX installed, working DVD and Ethernet. Both are lovely machines, not keen to do FTGH but would entertain reasonable offers to get them a good and loving home. Also available but as yet untested (working when racked) a Dell Prolinea 575e and an HP Vectra VE. The Dell has what you might term a proper FDC. Those who are into FDD transfers will know what I mean. Both of these are FTGH. Sorry for those who are outside of the UK, I know how it feels. Having said that, I would trade all of this (including the Powermacs) for a working Cromemco Z2D or CS3 chassis. I would even consider a Cromemco System-1 chassis. James

4 years, 7 months

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Looking for info on memory

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Nigel Johnson Ham > an 11/23 will not work without bank zero memory It depends on what you mean by 'work'. If you mean 'ODT does not operate correctly', or 'the CPU won't run', I can assure you that neither of those is correct. Here is a recorded log from a session earlier today on a system here next to my desktop: it contains a KDF11-A (in slot 1Left of a Q-Q backplane) and a console DLV11-J (in slot 1Right), and no other cards: ^@^@ 000000 @777560/000000 @777564/000000 777566/000000 777570/? @777640/177777 777 @/000777 @777640G Cmd: 177640 @^@^@ As you can see, ODT is working,and the console registers are all responding OK. The thing at the bottom is that hack of putting a small program in the PARs (UIPAR0, in this case). The "Cmd:" prompt is where I told my console program to send a 'break' down the serial line to the -11, stopping the CPU. (The 'run' light had been on, after the "777640G".) (Note: The PAR hack doesn't work in J-11 CPUs; they won't do instruction fetches from PARs.) To confirm that I'm not BSing you, can someone else on the list please do this on their KDF11-A, and confirm that it produces the results I show about? Thanks. > All I get is output of 173000 and the no ability to input. If that's with just a non-LSI11 CPU card and the console serial line, the machine has a problem. As you can see above (the "777560/", etc were my type-in), you should be able to talk to ODT on a KDF11 (and I tried a KDJ11 yesterday, it worked too). (I don't recall if the LSI-11 types _anything_ when started with no working memory at 0; if anyone wants to know, I can fairly easily try it, I have a bunch of working LDI-11's, both quad and dual cards). Noel

4 years, 7 months

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Looking for info on memory

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Nigel Johnson > I will wait with bated breath! First things first; did you get either/both CPU's running ODT OK in a system containing just i) the CPU card and ii) the console serial interface? Noel

4 years, 7 months

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Atari ST documents

by van.snyder＠sbcglobal.net

I sold my Atari ST some time ago. Today, I found some old documents relating to it. Not from Atari. 1. Zubair Z-Ram 3-D/4MEG add-on memory board (plugs into the glue socket). 2. Atari CHKDISK3 Documentation (April 22, 1990) 3. Atari GEMDOS Reference Manual (April 4, 1986) 4. Weirdly, the circuit diagrams for the IBM AT 5.25" double-sided diskette drive in the same folder. 5. Quick reference sheet for microEmacs. They're yours for the price of a PDF shipping label for a 14oz 10"x12" envelope. Van Snyder van.snyder at sbcglobal.net 1.

4 years, 7 months

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FTGH Various DLT and 4mm DAT Drives - Midlands UK

by james.attfield＠icloud.com

I?m having a general clear out and the following are free for the collection rather than they go in the skip/dumpster. Most if not all were working when put away but I can?t offer any guarantees. Preference will be given to anyone who will take all of them. Photos are available if required, if I get time to ge a drive on line and can erase tapes quite a few will be available as well. - Compaq 20/40GB in chassis - HP Surestore DLT40 in chassis (20/40GB?) - Digital DLT in chassis (35/70GB) - Compaq 35/70GB in chassis - DLT 35/70GB in chassis (same drive as in the Digital chassis) - DLT 35/70GB bare drive (same drive as in Digital chassis) - 4mm DAT in chassis (probably 4/8GB) - 4mm DAT, 5.25? spacers, no chassis, (probably 4/8GB) - 4mm DAT, 5.25? spacers, no chassis, (probably 4/8GB) - 4mm DAT, no spacers, no chassis, (probably 4/8GB) They won?t be around long so with apologies, if you have any interest, please don?t delay. Let me kow here then we can take comms off line. Sorry, can?t ship. ? James --- Credentials Loves Cromemco, loves Unix, loves DeSmet C. Hand built an original IMSAI 8080, Nascom I and II, resurrected a TU-ART from the dead, owned one of the first EXIDY Sorcerers in the UK, ran Byte Shop/Computerland (Birmingham).

4 years, 7 months

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Power supply power-up and power-down sequencing: how did it work?

by stepleton＠gmail.com

Hi cctalk, I asked this question over on vcfed, but in the spirit of knowing more (and avoiding silly, costly mistakes) I thought I'd ask again here. I hope this is okay --- I think there must be a lot of community expertise to draw from, and not everyone is in the same forums. After seeing CuriousMarc's horror film about the killer transistor that zapped the guts of his HP9825T, I've been working for some time on a solid-state DC power supply monitor device that will chop all power to logic if there's ever any excursion above or below critical voltage thresholds on any power supply channel. I've been pretty successful in the development so far and have a gizmo that accomplishes the basic goal, even if it's not going to win any industrial design awards. It's not a crowbar circuit: each voltage channel passes through a substantial driver IC that can switch the power right off. My device can detect and react to anomalies very quickly. But then you browse through old DRAM datasheets and see warnings like these: "Vbb must be applied prior to Vcc and Vdd. Vbb must also be the last power supply switched off." "Forward biasing this supply [that is, Vbb] with respect to Vss will destroy the memory device." And so even though my device is fast, it's possible that when it's slamming the doors shut, there's a split second where -5V is off and +12V is still on, or even the chance of a Vbb-Vss forward-bias "blip", who knows? Of course you can measure whether this is happening, but it's difficult to know how meaningful that will be: maybe a computer that loads the voltage rails differently will have different behaviour, and remember, the case you really care about is when a power supply behaves abnormally! System characterisation is hard... Anyway, my question is: what did hardware designers in the '70s do to satisfy specified power supply requirements for the chips they were using? The conversation so far on vcfed has two remarks: one observing that a lot of folks just didn't worry about it, and one pointing out an anti Vbb>Vss gimmick in the PSU for the Nascom kit computer involving a ladder of protective diodes between each of the rails: (-12V) ---->|---- (-5V) ---->|---- (0V) ---->|---- (+5V) ---->|---- (+12V) I noticed a similar pattern in a few other PSU schematics, but usually only for the negative channels. Were there any other common tricks? How serious was the danger of getting it wrong? How fast could you fry your DRAM if you did? Thanks for any insight, --Tom

4 years, 7 months

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Looking for info on memory

by g4ajq1＠gmail.com

I am trying to bring up an 11/23 system in a BA23 box, and the only memory i have is an obscure Plessey one. The only identification is the p/n 705920 with dash-100 in white ink. By counting the chips I make it 4MB, but it does not respond. Since it takes the full 22-bit memory space I can't see how any jumpers would change its accessibility. Does anybody have a manual? any help appreciated, Nigel Johnson

4 years, 7 months

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Looking for info on memory

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

A couple of comments on a number of things touched on in this thread: > From: Nigel Johnson Ham > Ah, well there you see the end of my technical knowledge. My observation is that since varying QBUS PDP-11 CPU's can be swapped in and out (unlike UNIBUS PDP-11's, where the CPU's backplane and front panel are not interchangeable between models), and QBUS machines were therefore often upgraded over their lifetime by switching in a CPU, when starting out with a new machine, one should _always_ start by working out what kind of QBUS backplane one has, and going from there. The BA23 is the one that's part Q/CD and part Q/Q. > No, I don't know if the CPU is good (it is a dual-width KDF11-A btw), > ... > I do have an 11/73 dual width board arriving tomorrow > ... > it is crashing into ODT and not accepting input from the console, which > I remember was a symptom of no bank 0 memory. That's true of all LSI-11's (and it threw me for a while when we first ran across it), but KDF11-A's and KDJ11-A's work fine with _no_ working memory in the machine: i.e. just a CPU board and a console will work fine (as in, ODT works, and one can examine what few registers are on the bus). (I had previously fried the KDF11-A; just tried the KDJ11-A. Probably the KDF11-B and KDJ11-B work too, but I'm toolazy to try them at the moment.) So if a machine with _just_ a CPU and console doesn't work, you've got a problem; but it shouldn't be too hard to find it, with only two boards. > From: Joshua Rice >> "many boards designed for Q/CD slots (such as PMI cards) do not avoid >> the QBUS pins on the CD connectors which contain 'hazardous' (to TTL >> circuitry) voltages." I should note that that text is somewhat questionable; I recently checked the list of PMI pins, and I didn't see any that conflicted with 12V pins on Q/Q slots. But definitely plugging a PMI card into a Q/Q slot will damage it: MicroNote 28 says "MSV11-J MODULES CAN[NOT] BE PLACED IN A Q/Q BACKPLANE SLOT. IF THIS IS ATTEMPTED PERMANENT DAMAGE WILL BE DONE TO THE BOARDS". > From: Jerry Weiss > I don't believe ODT is dependent on working memory. On LSI-11's, it us. Location 0 must respond to a read cycle, or the CPU will spin trying to read it, _before_ ODT will start. Noel

4 years, 7 months

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FTGH (-Shipping): Assorted 9 track tape media

by toby＠telegraphics.com.au

Hi, I'd like to find homes for: 22 x 11" reels 5 x 9" 2 x 7" Most rated up to 6250bpi, a handful to 3200bpi. Some CONTROL DATA branded, rest mixed brands. All in decent condition. Located: Toronto Canada, will post for cost of shipping by Canada Post (reimbursed PayPal). First come, first served, etc. --Toby

4 years, 7 months

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