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

by karlm＠blitzen.canberra.edu.au

Hi, I have what could be called a classic machine, a Sun-1 (With a Sun-2 upgrade 68010 board) Now I have 1/2 and 1/4 inch tape drives 2 hard drives loads of tapes/manuals and a SunOS 3.2 boot tape set. This machine was only recently taken out of service after it spend some years converting old 1/2" tapes into a more permanent format. The HDD's are unfortunatly dying and I've only had it booted once, and it booted SunOS 3.2. The problem is the old machine refuses to boot of it's tape drive (an archive QIC-11 drive) typing: > b ar() simply gets ar: 96A0 Error Retensing... ar: 90C8 Error > Network booting is possible, but Sun never released the specs to the "nd" network protocol and I don't have access to another SunOS box to try and work out how ndbootd works. I'd love to get this machine working and up on the net. Any help would be appreciated Karl ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Karl Maftoum Computer Engineering student at the University of Canberra, Australia Email: k.maftoum(a)student.canberra.edu.au

27 years, 10 months

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Sirius sound

by ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk

A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text Size: 532 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/attachments/19980726/7d4e8344/at…

27 years, 10 months

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other things besides floppies...

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< I just got an Amstrad ppc 640, and am starting to realise how much I rea < wish this thing had a hard disk - even a little one. Is there ANY sort < hard disk solution that will plug into a 720k 3.5inch floppy controller < < Ideally it would come out the other end in IDE, and I could put one of t < little 1.8 inch 20 meg IDE drives in the thing. Speed is not a huge con < since this is a 4.77mhz XT class machine. If it has ISA bus either JADE, JAMCO or JDR I forget which, sells an ISA-8 bit to standard IDE adaptor. What makes it nice is it has bios support on it. Acculogic made one too at lone time. Allison

27 years, 10 months

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Apple ][ file conversion

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

All direct cable connection software is capable of using the parallel port to transfer files. >No. If however you tie the SERIAL port of your apple to the serial port of >your pc, that will work. Centronics is an 8 bit parallel interface normally >used for printers. Null modems and such are serial - 1 bit at a time. >The two are not compatible without significant electronics between them. >-- >Jim Strickland >jim(a)calico.litterbox.com >----------------------------------------------------------------------- >Vote Meadocrat! Bill and Opus in 2000 - Who ELSE is there? >----------------------------------------------------------------------- > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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Rescued: Heath H89

by jeff.kaneko＠ifrsys.com

At 01:47 AM 7/24/98 -0500, you wrote: >> >> I almost forgot to post about this. I recently acquired a complete >> Heathkit H89 system, with dual floppies and a small printer (OkiData >> Microline 82, serial), all in excellent condition. >> >> I got with it a bunch of manuals and floppies, among them CP/M boot >> diskettes. As I recall, this is a Z80-based system, yes? Is it possible to > >It's roughly the same thing as a Zenith Z90. I have the manual here (it >claims to be a user manual, but it contains schematics, PCB layouts, >theory of operation, etc). It's a Z80-based machine with 48K or 64K RAM, >3 serial ports as standard (+ the one for the built-in Z19 terminal), and >a variety of disk controllers. Keep in mind, these things were in vogue back in the days when the *users* actually *expected* to get the schematics! My how times have changed . . . >> use a hard drive on it? > >I believe there was a hard disk for it. I don't have one, and don't have >any info on it. > >I believe you could use the following disk units : > >Z17 (hard sector 5.25") >Z37 (soft sector 5.25") >Z47 (8") >Z67 (hard disk). The Z-67 is a rare item indeed. I missed one in 1988. That's the last time I ever saw one offered for sale (and it was *just the interface*). I don't know anybody running one of these . . . My Z-89 dosen't run anymore. Too many years of disuse, I guess. Jeff > > > >-tony >

27 years, 10 months

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Apple ][ file conversion

by kroma＠worldnet.att.net

>All direct cable connection software is capable of using the parallel >port to transfer files. On a PC maybe, but nothing is available for a Apple //. -- Kirk

27 years, 10 months

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Linux World Domination!

by dastar＠ncal.verio.com

Linux world domination continues! Oracle just announced it will be making versions of its products for Linux. Informix is already shipping Linux versions of their database products too! Yeeee ha! Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ever onward. September 26 & 27...Vintage Computer Festival 2 See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details! [Last web page update: 07/21/98]

27 years, 10 months

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PL/I References

by mallison＠konnections.com

Hi All: I'm hoping someone might have spare copies of DR PL/I-86 (CPM86) documents (Reference Manual & Programmer's Manual). I have some good IBM docs but I need platform specific. I don't think I need any 3rd part PL/I manuals yet, but if anyone has some and would like to email the list to me, I'll certainly browse with intent to buy. I'm willing to pay a reasonable proce plus shipping, of course, for any books. I'm also looking for original PL/I programs for microcomputer platforms if anyone has some collecting dust. Thanks, Mike Allison

27 years, 10 months

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a whatsits: Grid 1535 EXP

by russmiller＠jps.net

I picked up a Grid wall adapter model 39008, 17VDC 1.25A center +, available for shipping cost if anybody needs it.(Sacramento CA area) I don't know what it fits. Russ At 09:55 AM 7/25/98 -0400, you wrote: >At 11:16 PM 7/23/98 -0500, Doug Yowza wrote: > >>Wow, it sounds like somebody just lost their GRiD-virginity. John H. took >>my 1535EXP, so I have to go from memory. It's a 386DX-33 (in a PGA, so > >Yes, I actually flew across the country, broke into his house, grabbed the >mag-alloy 1535 out of his hands, repeatedly beat him over the head with it, >and took off. Doug, you're lucky to be alive after all that. :) Maybe >that's why I'm having problems with the sucker! > >>you can upgrade it via Cyrix/TI/etc) with up to 8MB RAM (low-profile >>SIPs). I think it wants 16-18V DC, center neg. The empty hole will >>accomidate eithe battery or a power supply with an AC plug. > >Yep, that sounds about right. It uses the same power brick my GRiDPad 1912 >uses. BTW, if anyone needs a keyboard adapter cable for their GRiDPad, let >me know. I have 5 extras. > >>The connector on the bottom of the machine plugs into a docking tray, >>which John H. also took and I think was trying to sell last time I >>checked. (John, are you there?) > >I'd rather trade it to someone who can really use it. Even if it works, I >don't really have a use for it, and the 1535 w/8mb is a very usable machine >even without the tray. > >GRiD 1535 BIOS Date: 1989, slightly under the 10 year mark, but these are >such extrordinary machines! > >- >- john higginbotham ____________________________ >- webmaster www.pntprinting.com - >- limbo limbo.netpath.net - > > >

27 years, 10 months

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Apple ][ file conversion

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

So, can I access the actual data with a non-CP/M comm program? >It will read Apple CP/M disks, which are in the same format as >regular Apple disks. Its just the layout of the data on the sectors > that is different. Because I was, and currently am, using Netscape which I have access to on Saturdays and Tuesdays. BTW, I will be going away for a while. I'm almost too embarassed to ask this, but what is the listserv adress to unsubscribe? >You seemed to have done a good job with this reply. Keep it up. > > >Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com >------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Ever onward. > > September 26 & 27...Vintage Computer Festival 2 > See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details! > [Last web page update: 07/21/98] > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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other things besides floppies...

by jim＠calico.litterbox.com

I just got an Amstrad ppc 640, and am starting to realise how much I really wish this thing had a hard disk - even a little one. Is there ANY sort of hard disk solution that will plug into a 720k 3.5inch floppy controller? Ideally it would come out the other end in IDE, and I could put one of those little 1.8 inch 20 meg IDE drives in the thing. Speed is not a huge concern, since this is a 4.77mhz XT class machine. Also, if anyone has a wrecked ppc 512 or 640 that has a good back case section- the bottom part of the main body that the handle is screwed to (and the handle) I'd be very interested in buying it. Mine appears to have gotten squooshed in shipping and had the handle torn off, and I'm lothe to trust epoxied plastic to hold a 14+ pound computer. -- Jim Strickland jim(a)calico.litterbox.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Vote Meadocrat! Bill and Opus in 2000 - Who ELSE is there? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

27 years, 10 months

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Boards for grabs, update

by william＠ans.net

Well, it is apparent that lots of people would like those HP150 boards I have. So... How about the interested people submitting bids for the things? Make the bids as silly and insulting as you want, just remember, buyer pays shipping (probably three bucks)! William Donzelli william(a)ans.net

27 years, 10 months

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Moog (on topic, too...)

by jpl15＠netcom.com

Weelll, I can't lurk on this one. Zane, is your record from Norlin Company? If so, it is the (quite rare) demo record that Norlin put out when they bought Moog music >from Bob (Moog). I have archived several of these demos, Moog and ARP and Oberhiem. Be careful if you play it, they weren't on the best vinyl. Zane and Bruce: The Moog Modular Synths were just that... a collection of modules of various kinds that one ordered to assemble a complete system... kinda like DEC stuff. There were standard configs available, but you could add-on, mix-match, whatever. The particular instrument I am priveleged to share my studio with is a Model 55 IIIC+ , and was owned by the late Paul Beaver, who used it to make most of the strange sound effects for a small, obscure movie in the late 70s called "Star Wars" or something like that. More detail on them can be found by doing a websearch on "musical instruments, electronic, Moog"... or one can got to www.synthfool.com for a good set of links. ObCLASSICCMP: One of my intentions for at least one of my PDP11 systems is to interface it to my Moog, and obtain an old copy of Csound or the like.. to recreate an exact environment from the 'childhood' of electronic music. My collection and studio: www.lightsound.org. The site needs updating, but you can see the specs for several classic synththesizers. Cheers John ps: Kennedy 9300 parts / svc manual wanted... Enquire Within.

27 years, 10 months

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Cleaning circuits

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

A few questions about clean(ing) circuits: a)Can dust cause any damage to a PCB? Can it short anything? b)What do you recommend for cleaning out PCBs if there's lot of it, or spiderwebs, mold whatever? c)Does distilled water cause rust? d)Can distilled water be used to clean circuits? e)As I understand, tap/spring/rain/etc. water is full of minerals and that's why it's conductive as well as rust-causing f)A while ago, I picked up a bunch of 5.25" diskettes, which I hardly allowed to dry before I put them into the plastic box. Now I looked inside, and mold is spreading from the Microsoft Assembler diskettes onto the Apple II ones. What is safe to use to clean the mold (it's reeely disgusting!)? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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S-100 bus termination

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< The first S-100 computers did not come with any termination but they < soon found that the long bus lines were causing ringing and false < triggering in the circuits. Ringing is caused when a signal reaches the < of an unterminated (open) line such as a data buss.* The signal reverse < polarity and travels back in the direction that it came from just like a < echo. When it reaches another end, it changes polarity and direction aga < Now you have two positive pulses and one negative pulse where there is o < supposed to be one pulse! Consider the number of times that each line < branched off to a card socket and you can understand that now there wher < dozen or more echos on every line and they were all at different times. < It's no wonder that the systems where so difficult to make work with al < the noise on the buss. This is true. All signals on the bus and off it obey Transmission line theory. IT's also the one of the reasons why the T-connector for thin eithernet must be on the back of the machine and not a 3ft jumper away. One of the design rules that ALtair bused the worst and IMSAI seemed to have a clue on was what are clalled stubs. What this translates to is anything going onto and off of the backplane(bus) MUST be buffered as close to the edge connector as possible. < board. I believe that the later S-100 systems like the N* Horizon came w < termination built into the MB. The ringing problem in the early Altair No it didn't and doesn't need it. They approached it a bit different by making one end of the bus a permanently resident IO section with seria, parallel and heartbeat interrupt. Their choice of drivers and recievers helped some too. Obeying stub theory was another step taken. It is good enough that even at 8mhz z80 it works. < was made worse by use of the long wires that ran from the MB to the fron < panel. Better designs eliminated a lot the sources of the ringing. FW that was the horror I saw when I built my altair back when. As an RF/analog engineer I could see that making my day pure hell. It proved to be true. The solution was a small board that plugged in and buffered all the signals to and from the front pannel. < this is EXACTLY the reason that you still have to terminate SCSI busses < disk drive cabling. There is still an ongoing debate in the SCSI communi < about the nessecity/benefits of active vs passive termination. SCSI is an open collector bus so you need both termination (any) and it must pull up unused lines or it don't work. This is also true for DEC Omnibus, Unibus and Qbusses. One of the long standing problems with bus terminations is that they absorb power. This required stiffer drivers at the source and since stiffer drivers matched the bus impedence even worse it tended to make problem grow rather than solve it. it also consumes power contributing heat to the box. S100 bus was one of those we made it that way but, no one ever would have engineered it that way. All of the engineered buses are terminated in some way or designed to perform without the need for it. Allison

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

>Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 00:23:07 +0100 (BST) So, can a standard XT controller be used for 8" drives? > >For reading 8" disks, of course. My PC/XT on the desk here has 2 each of >360K 5.25" drives, 720K 3.5" drives and 1.1Mbyte 8" drives (double sided, >double density, 77 track). Pity the controller I've got has problems with >single-density operation. I really must fix that sometime, but it's not >urgent, as my PERQ has a much nicer floppy system... For once, I used the correct terminology :) Compared to SCSI, all IDE controllers and most non-IDE/SCSI MFM drives require very little configuration. That's what I meant. >What? ST506 drives (I assume that's what you mean - MFM is an encoding >system, not a controller interface) have drive select jumpers at least. >And often other ones. > >And the original IBM XT hard disk controller (later version only?) has a >set of jumpers to select the drive type. I believe you can solder a DIP >switch in place of them if you want. > So does this mean 1.2MB floppies use a lower bps than 360K disks? Which controllers were these? I ought to watch out. >I've seen some controllers that can't correctly handle the 300kbps data >rate (produced by putting a 360K disk in a 1.2Mbyte drive turning at >360rpm). Of course the so-called manuals don't mention this anywhere, but >it was obvious from a logic analyser on the Write Data pin during >formatting that it was actually using 250kbps. > Where can the connectors be gotten cheaply? I've seen them for a couple of bucks each. I really ought to perform some maintenance. Is there anything I need to know, or can I just snap those connectors on and trim the cable? >That problem is trivial to solve if you can crimp IDC connectors. Why do >people persist in refusing to modify PC parts - even cables? > >-tony > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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Epson QX-10, CP/M

by cgregory＠lrbcg.com

-----Original Message----- From: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> To: Cgregory <Cgregory> Date: Friday, July 24, 1998 5:56 PM Subject: Re: Epson QX-10, CP/M <snip> I have a complete (I think) set of manuals for the QX-10, so I will offer to be a source for looking up material and/or copying parts/pages. >> I'm obviously a neophyte at CP/M and wrestling at this time with a Dec RB >> which is even more confusing cause it also runs MSDOS. > >The Rainbow is a unique case because of its dual processors. > In addition I have QX-10's big brother, the QX-16 which is also a dual processor machine. Kind of neat being able to boot into either MSDOS or C/PM. Cliff Gregory cgregory(a)lrbcg.com

27 years, 10 months

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Apple ][ file conversion

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

>Yes with any current printer just like a PC, though the connector may >be different. What I mean is, can I transfer files to a PC via the Centronics interface? Can I 'print' a file in wordstar with the other end of the cable plugged into a null modem? >Sure! Will an apple //c read CP/M disks? How? I can't use an editor because it would take me forever to cut and paste the lines between them. You don't realize how limiting the situation really is. The library never intended this to be used for e-mail. Right now I'm using Netscape 4 on a T1 connection at a place where I volunteer. >Max, get an editor. Either that or don't use LYNX for mail, try elm >or pine. > >Allison > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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IBM Power supplies FS (5140?)

by tomowad＠earthlink.net

>If >you look on the back of the power supply itself you will see IBM's >declaration that it should be only used with model 5140 (in several >languages!). Yes, there it is. "CAUTION! Indoor use only. To be used only with IBM MOdel 5140." It never occured to me there would actually be some valuable information in the disclaimer! Tom -- Sysop of Caesarville Online Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/>

27 years, 10 months

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<10 yr question here - 1.8" form factor HDD?

by peacock＠simconv.com

< 3/4 of an inch to small to even fit a 2.5" drive. I vaguely recall < seeing something about 1.8" drives? Am I hallucinating here or does suc < a creature exist? Even smaller...HP made a 1.3" disk drive, Hawkeye ???, I think it was either 20MB or 40MB capacity. The components were so small you needed watchmaker tools to take the drive apart. Jack Peacock

27 years, 10 months

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Apple Prototype Keyboard

by tomowad＠earthlink.net

I just acquired two Apple prototype keyboards. The keyboard is very small with no frame and only 58 keys. They hvae stereo-type connectors on them, as oppose to ADB, and I have an adapter box to hook them up to a Mac Plus (and they do work, btw). According to my "AppleDesign" book, they are "Cassie" keyboards, co-designed by Mannock and Esslinger for the SnowWhite Project. Does anyone have any further information on these keyboards? And how do things like this get outside of Apple? I'm under the impression Apple doesn't exactly give this kind of stuff away. On the back the keyboards read: [logo]apple apq Development Engineering PROTOTYPE S/n# Model# 1012 (the other says "1032") Does Apple start numbering at '1' or '1000'? The keyboard, btw, is obviously a prototype. The whole thing seems quite flimsy and the keys are all angled slightly differently. Tom -- Sysop of Caesarville Online Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/>

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

It's mostly a problem if there isn't documentation at the place where the machine is. I've never run into a machine that is really beyond my experience (my experience so far is PCs and BASIC-based home micros), but if I ever had to deal with a PDP, I'd have to spend a lot of time asking questions here and otherwise. Not that I foresee it. PDP will eventually vanish from industrial applications, just because they will all eventually be damaged by floods, fires, etc. And companies go bankrupt, too. I doubt that by the time I am 50 I will run a reasonable risk of seeing a PDP. Also, I don't know how to _program_ a PC. I know a bit of BASIC (who doesn't?), enough to write a simple text editor or something. I'm learning C but am stuck with pointers. I'm going to take C++ at school starting in the fall. I've tried assembly, and do notice that it's more straightforward than higher-level languages (I.E. there are no ambiguous concepts like in C, it's all called what it really is), but am not much good with things mathematical. Maybe I'll learn. >How is this a problem? You learned how to run a PC, programming a >PDP-8 is at least an order of magnitude simpler. How many instructions? I believe the Pentium has on the order of 80, not sure. >Seriously, the instruction set and archetecture is so simple it's >downright inviting. They weren't networked at all? I mean, there weren't instances of connecting two machines with cables? >The old machines didn't have to be huge, complex or networked. >Allison ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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FW: FREE VAX to good home

by kyrrin＠jps.net

Found on Usenet. If anyone wants an 11/750, this looks like a good grab. It's in Tulsa, OK. -=-=- <snip> -=-=- On 25 Jul 98 14:48:09 CDT, in comp.sys.dec you wrote: >>From: jps(a)lor.jrent.com (Jim Strother) >>Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec >>Subject: Free VAX to good home >>Message-ID: <1998Jul25.144809@lor> >>Date: 25 Jul 98 14:48:09 CDT >>Organization: Lors Gateway >>Lines: 11 >>NNTP-Posting-Host: 208.145.236.90 >>X-Trace: 25 Jul 1998 19:38:51 GMT, 208.145.236.90 >>Path: blushng.jps.net!news.eli.net!diablo.quiknet.com!csn!nntp-xfer-2.csn.net!news.psd.k12.co.us!newsfeed.frii.net!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.internetmci.com!206.154.138.15!news.busprod.com!lor!jps >> >>I have the following free to a good home. >> >>Vax 11/750 >>expansion cabinet >>2 ra81 disk drives >>1 tu78 9 track tape drive >> >>All you have to do is come get or send someone after it. I am located in >>Tulsa, OK. >> >>Jim Strother -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272) http://table.jps.net/~kyrrin -- also kyrrin [A-t] Jps {D=o=t} Net Spam is bad. Spam is theft of service. Spam wastes resources. Don't spam, period. I am a WASHINGTON STATE resident. Spam charged $500.00 per incident per Chapter 19 RCW.

27 years, 10 months

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FW: More stuff for sale

by kyrrin＠jps.net

At 14:09 25-07-98 -0400, you wrote: >He Bruce, > >What do you figure, does he have a real address? the venix manuals would >be nice if he exists. Ahhh, criminys... sorry, Allison (and the rest of the list). I didn't check to see if he had a real E-mail address. I would try posting a query to the comp.sys.dec.micro. Chances are the person will see it. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272) (Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)jps.net) "Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."

27 years, 10 months

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<10 yr question here - 1.8" form factor HDD?

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< are there hard drives for laptops that are smaller than the 2.5" < drives? I have a laptop that takes an IDE hdd, but the space is about Yes, 1.8" < 3/4 of an inch to small to even fit a 2.5" drive. I vaguely recall < seeing something about 1.8" drives? Am I hallucinating here or does suc < a creature exist? there are hard drive PCMCIA cards the sixe of credit card and something like 1/4" thick. I vaguely remember storage in the 100-200 mb range. Allison

27 years, 10 months

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S-100 bus termination

by ddameron＠earthlink.net

At 07:26 PM 7/24/98 -0500, you wrote: >I was digging through some S-100 cards and came upon a Godbout active >terminator. Do all S-100 buses require external termination, or did more >have it built into the mobo? Specifically, do I need to stick this card >into my IMSAI? > I don't remember many ads besides Godbout about active terminators. What seemed more important was shielding - running ground traces between the signal lines, at least for all the ads for "shielded" motherboards. Maybe a few of the lines would be helped by terminations. It was these where 1k pullup resistors wouls be put on cards. 8 cards with 1k resistors would be 125 Ohms, distributed. Terminations of longer ribbon cables seemed more important. I remember early floppy drives with a dip resistor pack (220/330 Ohms?) that you put on the last or only drive. Whatever happened to this? A few years ago I bought a 1.44 floppy drive and asked about terminations (Did it require or have them? Controlled by a jumper?) The tech support people looked at me like I was >from Mars. Doesn't scsi use terminators? Try your S-100 both ways, and see if it helps or hurts. -Dave

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by mbg＠world.std.com

>It's mostly a problem if there isn't documentation at the place where >the machine is. I've never run into a machine that is really beyond my >experience (my experience so far is PCs and BASIC-based home micros), >but if I ever had to deal with a PDP, I'd have to spend a lot of time >asking questions here and otherwise. Not that I foresee it. PDP will >eventually vanish from industrial applications, just because they will >all eventually be damaged by floods, fires, etc. And companies go >bankrupt, too. I doubt that by the time I am 50 I will run a reasonable >risk of seeing a PDP. Also, I don't know how to _program_ a PC. I know a If people like Allison, Tim.Shoppa, John.Wilson, myself and others have our way, they won't disappear... I have some 16+ -11s of various types at home (check the home_systems page off my web page) >bit of BASIC (who doesn't?), enough to write a simple text editor or >something. I'm learning C but am stuck with pointers. I'm going to take >C++ at school starting in the fall. I've tried assembly, and do notice >that it's more straightforward than higher-level languages (I.E. there >are no ambiguous concepts like in C, it's all called what it really is), >but am not much good with things mathematical. Maybe I'll learn. With older assemblers, it was pretty straightforward. Nowever, with RISC machines which have pipelines and 'hints' and branch delays, etc. assembly is a little more difficult. Plus, where the -11 has an instruction set where you can MOV from memory to memory, memory to register, register to memory and register to register, the RISC machines generally forego memory to memory and, like the -8 before them, require you to move things through a register first... >How many instructions [on the -8]? I believe the Pentium has on the >order of 80, not sure. The -8 had 8 general purpose instructions, but it also had things called operate microinstructions, in groups, which did multiple things depending on which bits of the instruction were set. So, for example, you could clear the AC (CLA) and in a separate instruction OR the contents of the switch register with the AC (OSR), or you could combine the two operations into one instructions (since there were members of the same microinstruction group). There were also the instructions for the various devices, but they were pretty much similar in actions, but with different device numbers encoded in them. Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of ' ' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

27 years, 10 months

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IBM Power supplies FS (5140?)

by mbg＠world.std.com

I would also be interested in the 5140 power supply... maybe a couple of spares... Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of ' ' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< I meant, which controllers can't correctly read 360K floppies? None that I know of... it's the 1.2mb and 1.44 cases that can be problematic(and system dependent). Allison

27 years, 10 months

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S-100 bus termination

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< I was digging through some S-100 cards and came upon a Godbout active < terminator. Do all S-100 buses require external termination, or did mor No but some would ring so bad that was a solution. In most cases it was a help. < have it built into the mobo? MOBO, mobo, nogo. AH, motherboard! No they are called backplanes dear. <Specifically, do I need to stick this card into my IMSAI? If it works as is reliably, maybe not. Some z80 boards really needed it. Allison --KAA15878.901377905/europe.std.com--

27 years, 10 months

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ID cute HP terminal

by fmc＠reanimators.org

Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> wrote (after John Rollins): > >Picked up a nice little HP Series 100 Model 120 45600A and a few hundred > You were lucky! Most people got stuck with a chicklet keyboard on those. > You still see ads occasionally for people looking for standard keyboards. "Chicklet" keyboard? What I've seen are two sizes of keyboard: one not much wider than the terminal housing that has the QWERTY key cluster with some function keys at the top and some compressed and doubled-up keys, and one wide keyboard with the numeric keypad off to the right. The narrow keyboard is a bit of a pain to work with because of the compromises made w/r/t key placement (e.g. the return key is relatively small), but it's usable and has full-travel keys just like the wide one. -Frank McConnell

27 years, 10 months

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S-100 bus termination

by jimw＠agora.rdrop.com

At 07:26 PM 7/24/98 -0500, you wrote: >I was digging through some S-100 cards and came upon a Godbout active >terminator. Do all S-100 buses require external termination, or did more >have it built into the mobo? Originally, the Altair (S-100) bus did not define a need for termination of any kind. It was not until things on the bus started to speed up (using DMA and such) that anyone apparently thought about it. A number of companies started to put out terminator cards (active and passive) that just plugged in, and later some manufacturers (Gotbout being a notable example) began to incorporate (active) termination into their backplane boards. >Specifically, do I need to stick this card into my IMSAI? Can't hurt. I will say however, I do seem to recall seeing a board or two that would not run on a terminated bus, but that has been so long that I don't evem recall what it was. A note tho: if it is an active terminator, check the regulator voltages and filter caps on the board with no other boards in the machine. A bad terminator can introduce many more problems that it will solve. -jim --- jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174

27 years, 10 months

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Apple ][ file conversion

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jul 24, 15:50, Max Eskin wrote: > Subject: Re: Apple ][ file conversion > Can I make use of the Centronics interface? Not really. > What type of 'serial car' do you recommend? Can I use my Apple // > w/serial port but w/o CP/M? I was economising on letter 'd's :-) You can use any serial card in a ][ or the serial port on the //, with Kermit. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years, 10 months

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Back

by jim＠calico.litterbox.com

I'm back, having had a good sulk over whatever it was I left over - darned if I remember. :) I'm still doing apple2GSs, but I've expanded my collection of old machines to include an apple2e - enhanced (ordered the roms from Alltech), and just today an Amstrad ppc 640 portable, something I've wanted ever since they were on clearance at Underwear Computers (mostly a Commodore dealer at the time) for 200 bucks. The handle's broken off, but the computer functions, and runs all the dos software I've thrown at it so far. So hello again to the list. It's good to be back. -- Jim Strickland jim(a)calico.litterbox.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Vote Meadocrat! Bill and Opus in 2000 - Who ELSE is there? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

27 years, 10 months

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Apple ][ file conversion

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< What I mean is, can I transfer files to a PC via the Centronics < interface? Can I 'print' a file in wordstar with the other end of the < cable plugged into a null modem? No/yes. No you can't as there is no software for that and I believe the apple parallel was definatly outgoing only. Work great for printing and that was what I thought you referred to. the apple][ had the problem of all disks are foreign if they weren't created on an apple regardless of the OS used. Allison

27 years, 10 months

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Boards for grabs

by fmc＠reanimators.org

"Max Eskin" <maxeskin(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > What kind of boards? Was it single-board or backplane or what? > Also, what are the key differences between Hp and PC? Why not start with the key similarities, it's a shorter list. They both had 8088s and ran MS-DOS. OK, there you go. The original HP150 looks like a 9" CRT in a box, with a keyboard attached via coiled cord that goes to the back. Typically there would be an HP-IB disc drive of some sort (probably with a 91xx model number) around, most likely using 3.5" stiffies because HP was an early adopter of the Sony 90mm medium, but even without that the 150 can be used as a terminal (it mostly looks like an HP2623A monochrome graphics terminal). If you look at the back, you'll see two DB25S connectors that are serial ports, an HP-IB connector, a modular phone jack for the keyboard cable, a power switch, a battery holder, and a couple of covered slots for expansion. You might also see a thermal printer mounted in the top. OK, now let's go for some of the differences. The HP150 is not at all compatible with the IBM PC at the hardware or ROM BIOS level. The base system runs the 8088 at 8MHz, which was "faster" than the IBM's 4.77MHz, but on the other hand most applications don't access the display memory directly as on the PC -- instead they either call ROM services directly or behaved as though the console was the aforementioned 2623A terminal, which was being emulated by in-ROM code run by the 8088. So some of that extra speed was used up already. The HP150 is also called the HP Touchscreen, because it has a touch-sensitive screen, implemented as an array of IR emitters and receivers mounted across the screen from each other. You touch something on the screen, and the application gets (if it had asked for same) an escape sequence from the "terminal" indicating what region you touched. I'm thinking that the touchscreen resolution is something like 40x14 (about half the 80x27 character display resolution) but might be wrong on that. Touchscreen trivia: after a while the holes that the IR beams need to pass through get clogged up with dust, and the machine will fail its power-on self test with code F000 (I think, it's been a long time). HP came up with a fix: a little clear plastic shield that sits across the holes in the bottom bezel. Some sharp cookie at HP wrote a couple of TSRs for the 150 that emulated parts of the IBM PC ROM BIOS for video and INT 14H communications, and with these you could get a lot of PC applications to run -- for example, with those I was able to get WordPerfect 4.1 to run and even print to an attached LaserJet. Tony has a later version of the HP150, called either the 150C or the Touchscreen II. It has a 12" display, the touchscreen is optional (not too surprising, it turned out to be not real desirable because people didn't like reaching up to the screen all the time -- they'd rather rest their arms on the desk and use the keyboard and/or I guess a mouse), and better yet the touchscreen IR stuff is hidden behind smooth IR-transparent plastic that doesn't collect dust so well. All in all it arrived just before the users where I worked let it be known that they'd really rather have IBM compatibles so they could at least exchange floppies with people in remote offices. Good thing HP brought out the Vectra about that time, else we might have had to do another maintenance contract with Big Blue or something. -Frank McConnell PS- Hey Max! Trim quoted text!

27 years, 10 months

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FW: More stuff for sale

by kyrrin＠jps.net

This guy's still got a stack of QBus boards and other stuff. Get with him directly if you're interested. Attachment follows. -=-=- <snip> -=-=- On Thu, 23 Jul 1998 20:40:34 -0700, in comp.sys.dec.micro you wrote: >>From: "SpaceKommander" <plectron(a)waypast.mars> >>Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec.micro >>Subject: More stuff for sale >>Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 20:40:34 -0700 >>Organization: Cottage Software Inc. & Internet Connection >>Lines: 43 >>Message-ID: <901376896.563602(a)linux2.cottagesoft.com> >>NNTP-Posting-Host: 205.240.70.8 >>X-Trace: 901377147 KNIMWA/AC4608CDF0C usenet53.supernews.com >>X-Complaints-To: newsabuse(a)supernews.com >>X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.1 >>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 >>Cache-Post-Path: linux2.cottagesoft.com!unknown(a)31.ict-max.cottagesoft.com >>Path: blushng.jps.net!news.eli.net!news.burgoyne.com!news.eecs.umich.edu!nntprelay.mathworks.com!Supernews60!supernews.com!Supernews69!not-for-mail >> >>Stuff for sale - email me. >>Still have the TK50, cable & controller. >>Full set of VENIX manuals and boxes (5 volumes) >>DECmate word processing options (1 vol) and basics(1 vol) >> >>boards: >> >>2 X G114 >>2 X G235 >>1 X H207 >>2 X H217 >>1 X M225 >>1 X M3104 >>4 X M7168 >>2 X M7169 >>1 X M7231 >>1 X M7233 >>1 X M7234 >>1 X M7235 >>1 X M7236 >>1 X M7238 >>2 X M7555 >>2 X M7606 >>2 X M7607 >>2 X M7608 >>1 X M8012 >>1 X M8027 >>1 X M8186 >>2 X M8637 >>1 X M8639 >>4 X M9047 >>2 X clearpoint Q-RAM 11B with 76 256K chips per board packed in as tight as >>you could put them. >> >>Can't remember which of the above is RQDX3, but they are gone. >> >>Bye, >> >>Tom >> >> >> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272) http://table.jps.net/~kyrrin -- also kyrrin [A-t] Jps {D=o=t} Net Spam is bad. Spam is theft of service. Spam wastes resources. Don't spam, period. I am a WASHINGTON STATE resident. Spam charged $500.00 per incident per Chapter 19 RCW.

27 years, 10 months

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Boards for grabs

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

At 12:01 PM 7/24/98 -0400, you wrote: >I have a bunch of boards that I would like to move to a good home, >otherwise I will scrap them out. _ANY_ offers over shipping costs will be >considered. > >Set of boards for an HP150 system! I am not sure what the processor >is Are you kidding! It's an 8088! It runs at 5 MHz MOL just like a PC. Some 150 even had the optional 8087. The 150 was one of those ALMOST IBM PC compatibles. I have at least eight or nine of them and they're all working. Most of them are looking for homes. Hint, hint! (lots of HP house numbers, but I do see an 8041A and 9914A, neither of >which are the main processors). I have a motherboard with an jack for an >RJ45 keyboard, HPIB connector, and two RS232 ports. I also have a board >with lots of 4164 DRAMs, another with RAMs and ROMs, another mystery >board, and a module that says 3278 interface (HP #45641A). The 45641 is an optional 3278 Emulation board. It costs $1200 in the '88 HP catalog. If no one wants the boards, I'll take them for the cost of shipping. Joe > >William Donzelli >william(a)ans.net > > > >

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

>< So does this mean 1.2MB floppies use a lower bps than 360K disks? >< Which controllers were these? I ought to watch out. > >no. All of them. I meant, which controllers can't correctly read 360K floppies? > >Allison > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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Attn: Obsolete Computer Collectors

by Joshu2415＠aol.com

Attention Collectors: I have a NEC MultiSpeed HD laptop. If you are interested, just email. Thanks For Your Time, Matt -- Joshu2415(a)aol.com

27 years, 10 months

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S-100 bus termination

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< > terminator. Do all S-100 buses require external termination, or did m < Only the motherboards that didn't have active termination require a < terminator. In my experience, that's a fair number of mobo's out there My experience with 4 or 5 crates I have and many I've built up. If it runs well or the bus looks clean to the O'scope skip it. Some busses it's helps but still look terrible (altair with the original backplanes). My Northstar Horizon never needed one and it's currently running at 8mhz. The VectorMX box I have with Compupro backplane needed the terminators installed for 10mhz. The CCS I'm using with discus hard disk and 8" floppy doesn't require it at 4mhz or 6mhz. One thing that seems to be true, the longer the backplane the more likely it will ring and need termination. All Altairs seem to and IMSAIs seem to benefit if the cpu is z80 4mhz. The quietest unterminated or terminated backplane I own is an oddball 6 slot I have that is 4 layer technology with ground and power are on the middle two layers. I've found a few badly designed cpu cards and memory cards that were terrible in that they would introduce noise onto an otherwise quiet bus! Allison

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< So, can a standard XT controller be used for 8" drives? No/yes but, it is one that is documented and modifyable. So happens I was with NEC Microelectrnics when they introduced the 765 chip so I sorta have an advantage when it come to floppy interfacing. < For once, I used the correct terminology :) Compared to SCSI, all < IDE controllers and most non-IDE/SCSI MFM drives require very little < configuration. That's what I meant. False truism. They are about the same just differnt. IDE with the limitation of two drives really does limit the variable parameters. MFM with up to 4 drives and two schemes for addressing have to have more. SCSI you have a device address, powerup mode and a few others like termination to select from. < So does this mean 1.2MB floppies use a lower bps than 360K disks? < Which controllers were these? I ought to watch out. no. All of them. Allison

27 years, 10 months

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IBM Power supplies FS (5140?)

by cgregory＠lrbcg.com

I can confirm that is indeed the part number for a 5140 power supply. If you look on the back of the power supply itself you will see IBM's declaration that it should be only used with model 5140 (in several languages!). I wouldn't mind having a spare myself. I'll contact you directly. Cliff Gregory cgregory(a)lrbcg.com -----Original Message----- From: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> To: Cgregory <Cgregory> Date: Friday, July 24, 1998 10:41 PM Subject: IBM Power supplies FS (5140?) > >Hi guys, > I just picked up a bunch of IBM power supplies at auction. The >auctioneer says they're for the 5140, but I don't know how you could tell. > > They're all appear to be brand new and are in the original boxes. The >box is labeled "P/N 2684220", the Power supply "P/N 2684292". Output is >15v, 2.7A. > >Anybody know what they're for? And if anybody wants one, the price is $5 >shipped, each. > >Tom Owad > >-- >Sysop of Caesarville Online >Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/> > >

27 years, 10 months

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IBM Power supplies FS (5140?)

by mbg＠world.std.com

> I just picked up a bunch of IBM power supplies at auction. The >auctioneer says they're for the 5140, but I don't know how you could >tell. The 5140 is the IBM PC Convertible Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of ' ' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jul 25, 8:08, Pete Turnbull wrote: > Some of those HD drives can be switched between 300/360 > rpm by the signal on pin 1 of the interface, .... ...but he meant pin 2 :-) -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years, 10 months

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semi-off topic: how to put a 5-1/4" or 8" in those newfangled PII easy-bake oven boxes

by chris＠microgear.net

> < That's an immense exaggeration. P-II boxes a) Have no jumpers, as a > < rule b) can support a 5.25" fdd if you can plug one in. > > Why the "if you can plug one in"? Will plug and puke really work? What > do you do if it doesn't? What slot does the 8" controller from the XT > plug into on the PCI only board? > not to butt in here, but this is what i do for a "real job" so here goes... if the cable has the card-edge plug on it (or you have an adapter) the pII bioses still support 5.25" floppy, it's not plug & play, you have to tell the bios it has it AFAIK. Most drive cables still have the card-edge connector on the slot for the B: drive, too. And I have only seen one all-PCI board, most retain at least 3 isa slots because of modems and the like, so the 8" controller, if need be, would go there (I presume, never dealt with one on a PC) It's just that nothing of consequence to your average pentium II user is on anything with less capacity than a CD (with the advent of Windows 98, even the boot floppy for the first system install has become obsolete, and we can all thank Bill Gates and his fat programs for that) anymore, so you rarely see the old 5 1/4"s in those systems. But it *could* be done, and without much difficulty. Chris

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jul 24, 18:02, Max Eskin wrote: > So, can a standard XT controller be used for 8" drives? You need a little adapter to shuffle the signals from the 34-pin connector to a 50-pin connector, but usually that's all. The data rate for an 8" DD (MFM) disk is the same as for a 3.5" HD (also MFM) disk. If you want to use 8" SD (FM) disks, you may need to add a jumper to the controller, as not all XT controllers can handle single-density. > So does this mean 1.2MB floppies use a lower bps than 360K disks? > Which controllers were these? I ought to watch out. Other way round. The 360K disks (better called 40-track double-sided) normally run at 300 rpm and (for MFM/double density) use a data rate of 250 bps. Before HD disks, 80-track disks were made the same way. Most HD drives, though, switch to 360 rpm and use a data rate of 300 bps (or 600 bps in HD mode). Some of those HD drives can be switched between 300/360 rpm by the signal on pin 1 of the interface, which is used for DD/HD selection. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years, 10 months

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S-100 bus termination

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

Doug, Since I got my Altair, I've been boning up on the s-100 stuff. I got an active terminator board with my Altair so that's one thing that I paid particular attention too. Here's what I found out. The first S-100 computers did not come with any termination but they soon found that the long bus lines were causing ringing and false triggering in the circuits. Ringing is caused when a signal reaches the end of an unterminated (open) line such as a data buss.* The signal reverses polarity and travels back in the direction that it came from just like an echo. When it reaches another end, it changes polarity and direction again. Now you have two positive pulses and one negative pulse where there is only supposed to be one pulse! Consider the number of times that each line branched off to a card socket and you can understand that now there where a dozen or more echos on every line and they were all at different times. It's no wonder that the systems where so difficult to make work with all the noise on the buss. The first solution was to use passive termination to try and eliminate the noise but it had limited success. This method used resistor divider networks that connected to the 0 and 5 volt power with the junctions connected to the signal lines. They had to keep the resistances high to minimize power supply loading and to prevent clamping the line so well that no signal could get through. This method wasn't entirely effective due to the combination of high clamping impedence (resistance) and unterminated branchs (sockets). The next solution was to use active termination. This method uses what amounts to small individual power supplies on each line to hold the line voltage at a level between 0 and the maximum siganl level (5 volts). This method offered a lower clamping impedence AND less power supply loading and was better able to prevent the ringing. The active terminator baords were a very popular accessory and a lot of people where making and selling them. In fact, I have an article from one of the first Byte magazines about how to make your own active terminator board. I believe that the later S-100 systems like the N* Horizon came with termination built into the MB. The ringing problem in the early Altairs was made worse by use of the long wires that ran from the MB to the front panel. Better designs eliminated a lot the sources of the ringing. FWIW this is EXACTLY the reason that you still have to terminate SCSI busses and disk drive cabling. There is still an ongoing debate in the SCSI community about the nessecity/benefits of active vs passive termination. * OK OK! Just for you purists, ringing is caused ANYTIME a signal makes a transistion from one impedence to another. The bigger the change, the bigger the reflected signal. That's why when ****power**** or signal distortion counts, you have to try and match all the impedences in the signal path. That means that your signal source such as an antenna, the signal destination such as your TV set and the interconnecting cableing all have to have the same impedence or you have to use a matching transformer to match the impedences. Go look at the back of your televison, you'll usually see a matching transformer and 300 Ohm and 75 Ohm inputs. The two inputs are there so that you can use the one that matches the impedence of the lead that brings the signal into your home. Most TV antennas have a 300 Ohm Impedence. The round coaxial cable has an impedence of 75 Ohms. If you are using it then there should also be a small matching transformer on your antenna. Joe At 07:26 PM 7/24/98 -0500, you wrote: >I was digging through some S-100 cards and came upon a Godbout active >terminator. Do all S-100 buses require external termination, or did more >have it built into the mobo? Specifically, do I need to stick this card >into my IMSAI? > >-- Doug > >

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Getting rid of 11/84

by kyrrin＠jps.net

Heads up in Midland, Michigan! (or vicinity). This fellow is looking for a "recycler" to get rid of an 11/84. This sounds to me like (1), a prime opportunity for any of our rescue folk in the midwest, and (2), a prime opportunity to educate the fellow getting rid of it that a recycler is not the only answer. Please contact him directly if you can help. Thanks! Attachment follows. -=-=- <snip> -=-=- On Fri, 24 Jul 1998 20:04:52 GMT, in alt.sys.pdp11 you wrote: >>From: yellow_fiero(a)my-dejanews.com >>Newsgroups: alt.sys.pdp11 >>Subject: Getting rid of a PDP-11 follow-up >>Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 20:04:52 GMT >>Organization: Deja News - The Leader in Internet Discussion >>Lines: 26 >>Message-ID: <6papd5$kfh$1(a)nnrp1.dejanews.com> >>NNTP-Posting-Host: 208.154.221.12 >>X-Article-Creation-Date: Fri Jul 24 20:04:52 1998 GMT >>X-Http-User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows 95) >>X-Http-Proxy: 1.0 CORPNT45 >>Path: blushng.jps.net!news.eli.net!news-out.internetmci.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!204.238.120.130!news-feeds.jump.net!nntp2.dejanews.com!nnrp1.dejanews.com!not-for-mail >> >>Sorry about the confusion, the PDP-11/84 is located in Midland, MI USA. We >>have the CPU, two RL02 disk drives, a TK50R tape, and RA81, and roughly 72 of >>each kind of process interface I/O points (analog input, analog output, >>digital input, digital output) with boards made by a company called Computec >>(later called Interautomation - located in Canada). Our DEC runs seven 500 >>gallon mixers, and has done so since the 70s. >> >>I have also found a very old PDP-11 that runs our rs-232 interface. I don't >>have a model number on it, but interestingly enough, I took the top cover off >>and it has wire-wrapped boards!!! I was surprised that it was still running >>our process, but it is! The only stampings on it are the following: >> >>M11 >>BA11E >>S-1285 >> >>located on the back panel. What could this be? >> >>Anyway, I'm still looking for a recycler. I have a complete list of all >>components and model numbers if anyone finds it necessary. Thanks for your >>responses, and I will post this note also. >> >>Robert Most. >> >>-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==----- >>http://www.dejanews.com/rg_mkgrp.xp Create Your Own Free Member Forum -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272) http://table.jps.net/~kyrrin -- also kyrrin [A-t] Jps {D=o=t} Net Spam is bad. Spam is theft of service. Spam wastes resources. Don't spam, period. I am a WASHINGTON STATE resident. Spam charged $500.00 per incident per Chapter 19 RCW.

27 years, 10 months

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FW: WANTED: PDP-11 or PDP-8

by mbg＠world.std.com

>> Can anyone give Seth a good push in the right direction? If so, >> give him a buzz. >I posted this on Usenet specifically so everyone here on 'classiccmp' >could stop being sick of my "I want a PDP!" whining ;) > >Oh well, I'll take what publicity I can get, eh? Heck, you're not the only one who wants an -8... Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of ' ' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

27 years, 10 months

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S-100 bus termination

by peacock＠simconv.com

>I was digging through some S-100 cards and came upon a Godbout active >terminator. Do all S-100 buses require external termination, or did more >have it built into the mobo? Specifically, do I need to stick this card >into my IMSAI? > It depends on what kind of motherboard you have. Typically, the terminator was at the end opposite where the front panel or CPU card plugged in. Early S-100 motherboards ran at only 2 Mhz (8080 CPU) or 2.5 Mhz (early Z-80) so termination wasn't quite so important. Later, when speeds were pushed past 4Mhz the terminator became crucial to reliability. Look at the back end of your motherboard, if you don't see an array of resistors, about 90 or so, then put the Godbout board in the very last slot, and your CPU card as close as possible to the front slot, right behind the front panel. I used one when I went to 4Mhz on the original 22 slot IMSAI motherboard, it does help. After the IMSAI MB wore out I switched to Thinkertoys and Godbout (later called Compupro) motherboards, they had the terminator built in. Jack Peacock

27 years, 10 months

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ID cute HP terminal

by rexstout＠uswest.net

Picked up a nice little HP Series 100 Model 120 45600A and a few hundred other numbers on the bottom... Anyways, it's a very interesting model. Works fine, has two DB-25 ports(modem and printer, both serial?) and an HP-IB port, and uses two small batteries that look like N size or close to that. And a cute keyboard, lotso keys but very small. Anyways... Does anyone know anything about it? I couldn't find anything on HP's web site, and nothing showed up immediatley on web searches. What kind of terminal is it? Are the ports normal RS-232? What does the HP-IB port do, and how do I access it? So many questions... Too bad there was no manual. But then what do you expect for $5? At least I got a keyboard... -------------------------------------------------------------- | http://members.tripod.com/~jrollins/index.html - Computers | | http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/1681/ - Star Trek | | Orham(a)qth.net list admin KD7BCY | --------------------------------------------------------------

27 years, 10 months

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ST506 & RD54

by peacock＠simconv.com

An RD54 is an oem version of the Maxtor 2190 disk drive. You might have better luck looking for specs on that drive. AFAIK it is identical to the RD54 except for the label DEC puts on it. Jack Peacock -----Original Message----- From: emanuel stiebler [mailto:emu@ecubics.com] Sent: Friday, July 24, 1998 10:00 AM To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers Subject: ST506 & RD54 Hi all, Where on the net, i could find the ST506 specification, or something like a RD54 OEM-Manual ? thanks, emanuel

27 years, 10 months

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ID cute HP terminal

by fmc＠reanimators.org

John Rollins <rexstout(a)uswest.net> wrote: > Picked up a nice little HP Series 100 Model 120 45600A and a few hundred It's sort of a successor to the 125 and predecessor to the 150. It's an HP2382 "Shadow" terminal housing with a CP/M computer (I think a Z80 but I can't recall for sure) inside. The HP-IB port would be used to connect to an external disc drive, just like on a 150 and using pretty much the same 91xx disc drives. I think I remember using one with a 9121D? -- the one with two single-sided stiffies. I can't recall whether it will play terminal without CP/M. I do remember that in order to get it to play block-mode capable terminal (so it could be used with View aka V/3000 aka VPLUS/3000) it needed to boot CP/M and run a program, and vaguely recall that it could be a not-block-mode-capable terminal without that program (and maybe without loading CP/M). One other thing I recall about it is that it had a precursor to PAM (Personal Application Manager -- a primitive shell/application launcher that later turned up on the 150, 110, some HP9000s, and the Vectra) that was autostarted by CP/M immediately following boot. It used function keys to start the applications, so you could only have seven or eight defined for it to start. The RS232 ports are probably DB25S connectors and I think they look like DTE -- similar pinout to an IBM PC async card with a DB25P. -Frank McConnell

27 years, 10 months

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PETs to Rescue in Alberta!

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

Here is a message that I received today, I forward it to all you fellow Commodore enthusiasts, if you are interested in some nice PET stuff (keep me in mind for PET books and software, will ya?) > Subject: PET disposal > Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 11:05:38 -0600 > From: Sjoerd Schaafsma <rocklake(a)telusplanet.net> > Reply-To: rocklake(a)agt.net >Organization: University of Lethbridge > To: foxnhare(a)goldrush.com > > HI Larry, > > I'm in Lethbridge Alberta, and would like to dispose of a few PETs, > 4032, 8032, and disk drives, I just can't bring myself to junk 'em. > Know of any interested parties? > > -- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Larry Anderson - Sysop of Silicon Realms BBS (300-2400bd) (209) 754-1363 Visit my Commodore 8-Bit web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/commodore.html -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

27 years, 10 months

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CLASSICCMP digest 484

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

> From: "Sie Raybould" <sie(a)systemfile.demon.co.uk> > Subject: WTB: Jupiter Ace > > Anyone got a Jupiter Ace they'd be prepared to part with ? > > Sie I just was reading in a book about a sinclair ROM replacement for FORTH that sounds alot like the Jupiter Ace's features. Multi-task up to four programs, etc. It was referred to the "FORTH in ROM by David Husband". Hope that helps any. -- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Larry Anderson - Sysop of Silicon Realms BBS (300-2400bd) (209) 754-1363 Visit my Commodore 8-Bit web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/commodore.html -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

27 years, 10 months

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IBM Power supplies FS (5140?)

by tomowad＠earthlink.net

Hi guys, I just picked up a bunch of IBM power supplies at auction. The auctioneer says they're for the 5140, but I don't know how you could tell. They're all appear to be brand new and are in the original boxes. The box is labeled "P/N 2684220", the Power supply "P/N 2684292". Output is 15v, 2.7A. Anybody know what they're for? And if anybody wants one, the price is $5 shipped, each. Tom Owad -- Sysop of Caesarville Online Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/>

27 years, 10 months

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CBM Diagnostic cart.

by rcini＠email.msn.com

I just got a funny cartridge for the early Commodore PC-10 and PC-20 series computers. There 2 connectors, one plugs into the modem port and the other into the printer port. Then power up the machine and a 2 digit alpha/numeric HEX LED displays the problem. Commodore #380025-01. Anyone have any info on this? Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> - ClubWin/CW6 - MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking - Preserver of "classic" computers <<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< Of course, this is a bit of a problem for people like me, who are too < young for an IMSAI, never mind a PDP8 How is this a problem? You learned how to run a PC, programming a PDP-8 is at least an order of magnitude simpler. Seriously, the instruction set and archetecture is so simple it's downright inviting. The DG Novas are pretty straight forward too. The old machines didn't have to be huge, complex or networked. They only had to work. Allison

27 years, 10 months

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Apple ][ file conversion

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< Can I make use of the Centronics interface? Yes with any current printer just like a PC, though the connector may be different. <What type of 'serial car' do you recommend? Toyota, I've had good luck. Oh sorry, serial card, what ever you have or can get. Jamco still sells apple][ cards and stuff. < Can I use my Apple //c w/serial port but w/o CP/M? Sure! < >Apple ][ disks don't use standard FM or MFM encoding, so Macs and PCs < can't < >read them. If you can find a serial car for the Apple, the easiest wa < >would be to get a copy of Kermit-65 (for DOS 3.3 files) and/or Kermit8 < >(for CP/M) and transfer the files over a serial link -- that's what I or MDM, or one of a dozen others for each OS. < >Kermit-65 comes with instructions on how to get it into an Apple that < >doesn't already have any kind of file transfer software, and IIRC < Kermit80 < >has some similar instructions. You can get Kermit by anonymous ftp < from < >ftp.columbia.edu, or http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/, or from any of < >several mirror sites. Kermit is well known and supported by most PC transfer programs. Max, get an editor. Either that or don't use LYNX for mail, try elm or pine. Allison

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< I assume you mean the apps. CP/M and DOS are fairly similar Similar yes, processors are very different. Z80 code will not run on a PC (without an emulator) and PC software is useless to cp/m z80. < Why do you need an 8" controller? The same floppy controller can be < used for both 5.25" and 3.5". There never were any jumpers for any Why is the sky blue. If I need to read a 8" of course. < In fact, I am not familiar with any real difference between PCI and < ISA controllers. I have never had any floppy problems. The reason Huge differce. also the Floppy controller is on the MB for most current generation P-II PCs. < edge connectors, unlike 3.5" which use BERG strips (is that what < they're called?). This is the biggest problem one is likely to have. Trivial problem. the cables have both. The real problem is when the software goes to work or out to lunch. Allison

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 02:47 PM 7/24/98 GMT, you wrote: >>>From: Bill Kent <billakent(a)hotmail.com> >>>My name is Bill Kent and I am working on a story for a major online >>>publication. The focus is on users who use what others might consider >>>"obsolete" technology. I would like to speak to a few users who use >>>oder PCs (386 and below) for productivity apps. I'm talking about in >>>business, education, or home. If you use them as servers or something >>>else, that's super, I'd like to hear about it. I'm not interested in >>>hobbyists who just enjoying hacking the machines. If it requires a >>>soldering iron, it's too complex for this article. Well, let's see. I use a Radio Shack model 100 (like many people) for taking notes/writing away from home. Once I get my Starlet fixed, I'll be doing the same with that (CP/M laptop, with Wordstar in ROM). I also have an Outbound notebook (mac clone laptop ca. 1990) that I and my girlfriend use. She (Rachel Grilley, <auntierae(a)california.com>) also uses older macs in her classroom to teach her first graders reading, math, science, etc. They range from plusses to IIci's. My voicemail system is currently running on a 286/512K/40mb system, but is about to be upgraded Real Soon Now to a shoebox-sized 386sx system I picked up recently at a surplus place. (Same VM card/software, just different computer -- actually can run on an 8088 even.) I have an Atari Portfolio (8088, DOS, size of a video tape) that I carry around for taking notes. I also use my Atari ST's and Falcons for music sequencing/recording. (Well, not as much as I like, but once I win the lottery...) I can also put you in touch with a lot of people who are using their ST's a lot. And lastly, my main machine is a 486 laptop, but I have written a DOS-based application to manage the San Francisco Free List (see <http://www.sinasohn.com/freelist/> for more info) including maintaining the database of events, building daily and monthly web pages, and generating weekly event listings. Eventually, I'll probably move that onto a different DOS-based laptop so others can assist in maintaining the events database. Anyway, feel free to drop me a note about any of the above (or anyhthing else, for that matter). --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Of course, this is a bit of a problem for people like me, who are too young for an IMSAI, never mind a PDP8 >I've used - and repaired - a lot of embedded control systems using >machines like the PDP11, PDP8, Data General Nova, etc. These machines >work as well today as they did 25 years ago when they were made, they >still do the same job running the same software. There is simply no >reason to replace a reliable, documented solution with a modern >undocumented one. > It's not quite the same. All PC components are third-party and thus there is no guarantee it will work quite right. Are the well-documented IBM PC, XT, and AT machines better in this sense? Since you have the manuals, you could probably build your own MDA card! >Contrast that to the modern PC. If it fails, you swap boards until it >works again, never really knowing that you've found the fault. And you >don't know that the new video card (say) won't behave slightly >differently to the old one. Seen it happen far to often to want to depend >on such a machine. > >Problem is, I'm an electronic engineer. So I tend to use computers - >including old ones - to help with that work. And I'm not afraid of taking >a soldering iron to them. > >Case in point. 10 minutes ago I needed to examine the contents of a ROM >chip - an obscure old ROM chip - from a word processing system I'm >repairing. I've got a special card in an old IBM XT that'll do that. Not >hardware hacking per se, though - just a homemade tool to help with my work. > >> >>I'd like to hear stories about how this technology can be applied to a >> >>job and does it well. The general slant of the article is to be >> >>positive, but if anyone has any good stories about failures which >> >>occurred because you can't do EVERYTHING with older technology. > >That is _very_ uncommon. A lot of old machines are in embedded control >systems, which have been running the same program since they were made. >They don't stop running it properly just because a new machine has come >on the market... > >And anyway, CPU speed is often needed (for mainstream applications) only >to support the user interface. I personally have formatted and printed a >200 page manual using TeX/LaTeX on a 386 PC. A 286 would probably have >done it just as well. TeX may not be user friendly for the new user, but >it certainly is friendly to the experienced user who wants a text >formatter that doesn't get in the way. > > >> >> >> >>mailto:billakent@hotmail.com > >-tony > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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Boards for grabs

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

What kind of boards? Was it single-board or backplane or what? Also, what are the key differences between Hp and PC? >>I have a bunch of boards that I would like to move to a good home, >>otherwise I will scrap them out. _ANY_ offers over shipping costs will be >>considered. >> >>Set of boards for an HP150 system! I am not sure what the processor >>is > > Are you kidding! It's an 8088! It runs at 5 MHz MOL just like a PC. >Some 150 even had the optional 8087. The 150 was one of those ALMOST IBM >PC compatibles. I have at least eight or nine of them and they're all >working. Most of them are looking for homes. Hint, hint! > >(lots of HP house numbers, but I do see an 8041A and 9914A, neither of >>which are the main processors). I have a motherboard with an jack for an >>RJ45 keyboard, HPIB connector, and two RS232 ports. I also have a board >>with lots of 4164 DRAMs, another with RAMs and ROMs, another mystery >>board, and a module that says 3278 interface (HP #45641A). > > The 45641 is an optional 3278 Emulation board. It costs $1200 in the '88 >HP catalog. > > If no one wants the boards, I'll take them for the cost of shipping. > > Joe >> >>William Donzelli >>william(a)ans.net >> >> >> >> > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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ST506 & RD54

by mbg＠world.std.com

RD54 specs... Typical formatted capacity 159mb unformatted capacity 191mb drive height full average access time 38.3ms maximum transfer rate 625kb/s power consumption 24w amperes drawn @ 5vdc 1.29 amperes drawn @ 12vdc 1.34 number of rw heads 15 number of cylinders 1224 positioner type dedicated servo Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of ' ' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

I assume you mean the apps. CP/M and DOS are fairly similar >While I do some of it on PC, more over time there are things I can do >faster and easier on the s100 crate or even the Kaypro. > I don't know >I do, did you misread? > Why do you need an 8" controller? The same floppy controller can be used for both 5.25" and 3.5". There never were any jumpers for any MFM drives, nor have I seen much for IDE drives. This has nothing to do with PCI or PnP. Just set the correct type in the BIOS and that's it >Why the "if you can plug one in"? Will plug and puke really work? What >do you do if it doesn't? What slot does the 8" controller from the XT >plug into on the PCI only board? In fact, I am not familiar with any real difference between PCI and ISA controllers. I have never had any floppy problems. The reason why I said 'if you can plug one in' is because the 5.25" drives use edge connectors, unlike 3.5" which use BERG strips (is that what they're called?). This is the biggest problem one is likely to have. > >Keeping in mind I was referring to systems in place and working as they >have for more years that M$ existed. Any bugs and the like have long >since been worked out or are at least well known. For someone makeing >steel parts or whatnot the OS, CPU and all that jazz really doesn't >matter when his task is to punch holes in 500 pieces a day. > >Allison > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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Rescued: Heath H89

by kyrrin＠jps.net

I almost forgot to post about this. I recently acquired a complete Heathkit H89 system, with dual floppies and a small printer (OkiData Microline 82, serial), all in excellent condition. I got with it a bunch of manuals and floppies, among them CP/M boot diskettes. As I recall, this is a Z80-based system, yes? Is it possible to use a hard drive on it? Thanks in advance. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272) (Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)jps.net) "Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."

27 years, 10 months

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Apple ][ file conversion

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Can I make use of the Centronics interface? What type of 'serial car' do you recommend? Can I use my Apple //c w/serial port but w/o CP/M? >Apple ][ disks don't use standard FM or MFM encoding, so Macs and PCs can't >read them. If you can find a serial car for the Apple, the easiest way >would be to get a copy of Kermit-65 (for DOS 3.3 files) and/or Kermit80 >(for CP/M) and transfer the files over a serial link -- that's what I do. > >Kermit-65 comes with instructions on how to get it into an Apple that >doesn't already have any kind of file transfer software, and IIRC Kermit80 >has some similar instructions. You can get Kermit by anonymous ftp from >ftp.columbia.edu, or http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/, or from any of >several mirror sites. > > >-- > >Pete Peter Turnbull > Dept. of Computer Science > University of York > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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Apple ][ file conversion

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jul 24, 13:57, Max Eskin wrote: > Subject: Apple ][ file conversion > Several months ago, I was given an A][+, with a z80 card and a bunch > of program, as well as data, disks. It has a printer interface card. > What is the easiest way to transfer the data on these disks (CP/M 3.3 > various programs, mainly Wordstar 2.x) onto a PC or mac? Is there a > PC program that will read Apple CP/M disks? I couldn't easily do it > with a Mac since these are 5.25" disks. Apple ][ disks don't use standard FM or MFM encoding, so Macs and PCs can't read them. If you can find a serial car for the Apple, the easiest way would be to get a copy of Kermit-65 (for DOS 3.3 files) and/or Kermit80 (for CP/M) and transfer the files over a serial link -- that's what I do. Kermit-65 comes with instructions on how to get it into an Apple that doesn't already have any kind of file transfer software, and IIRC Kermit80 has some similar instructions. You can get Kermit by anonymous ftp from ftp.columbia.edu, or http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/, or from any of several mirror sites. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years, 10 months

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Apple ][ file conversion

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Several months ago, I was given an A][+, with a z80 card and a bunch of program, as well as data, disks. It has a printer interface card. What is the easiest way to transfer the data on these disks (CP/M 3.3 various programs, mainly Wordstar 2.x) onto a PC or mac? Is there a PC program that will read Apple CP/M disks? I couldn't easily do it with a Mac since these are 5.25" disks. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

2
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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< In general, I hope everyone that prides themselves of running < Electric Pencil on their Altairs is doing it for practical purposes, < and not because they just want to show off that they won't use < a PC. While I do some of it on PC, more over time there are things I can do faster and easier on the s100 crate or even the Kaypro. < A server for what? You must have an Interlnk client if you are using < Intersrvr, unless you hacked the protocol... < > < >I do use an old 386sx/25 as a headless server using MSdos6.22 intersvr < >and interlnk software and a parallel port data cable(LapLink). I do, did you misread? < I would bet that _most_ hackers do it for commercial/industrial < reasons. FOr everyone who built their own z80, hundreds came off the < assembly line. And hundreds more were modified. Very few were built from the ground up but, many were built from an intermediate state. IE: buy a s100 z80 cpu >from company A, ram from B, floppy controller from n, floppy from S and a box from a supplier of nothing but boxes... that constitues a built z80 system circa 1980ish. < >documented at best. < That's an immense exaggeration. P-II boxes a) Have no jumpers, as a < rule b) can support a 5.25" fdd if you can plug one in. Why the "if you can plug one in"? Will plug and puke really work? What do you do if it doesn't? What slot does the 8" controller from the XT plug into on the PCI only board? < >size. There are many PDP-8s (1970s tech), PDP-11s (late 70s into the < >80s tech) and Data General Novas still in service as control systems < >where they do the same thing everyday as the have for the last 20+ < years. < < I agree with that. It's impressive how many people think Windows NT < is a safer option than UNIXoids though NT is only 1/3 as old... Keeping in mind I was referring to systems in place and working as they have for more years that M$ existed. Any bugs and the like have long since been worked out or are at least well known. For someone makeing steel parts or whatnot the OS, CPU and all that jazz really doesn't matter when his task is to punch holes in 500 pieces a day. Allison

27 years, 10 months

1
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Rescued: Heath H89

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< From: Wayne Cox <wcox(a)mis.usaeroteam.com> ^^^^^^^^^^ Wayne, you fly? < > It's roughly the same thing as a Zenith Z90. I have the manual here (i < < If that's the one I'm thinking of, they started out as VT52 terminal < clones, sold by Heath/Zenith. The on-board personal computer was an < afterthought, I think. Former employer had a bunch. You may be able to < tap directly into the terminal portion if you have need for a plain old < VT52. yes it started as H19 terminal, the terminal board is separate from the H8x/Z9x computer board. It makes a good VT52/ansi terminal. I know I bought one back in the summer of '79 (H19 hit that is). Still have it and it still works. Allison

27 years, 10 months

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Boards for grabs

by william＠ans.net

I have a bunch of boards that I would like to move to a good home, otherwise I will scrap them out. _ANY_ offers over shipping costs will be considered. Set of boards for an HP150 system! I am not sure what the processor is (lots of HP house numbers, but I do see an 8041A and 9914A, neither of which are the main processors). I have a motherboard with an jack for an RJ45 keyboard, HPIB connector, and two RS232 ports. I also have a board with lots of 4164 DRAMs, another with RAMs and ROMs, another mystery board, and a module that says 3278 interface (HP #45641A). William Donzelli william(a)ans.net

27 years, 10 months

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ST506 & RD54

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< Where on the net, i could find the ST506 specification, or something lik < RD54 OEM-Manual ? RD54 is a MAXTOR 2190, so try them. RD53 is micropolus 1325 rd52 is Quantum D540 RD32 is seagate ST251 rd31 is seagate st225 rd51 is seagate st412 rd50 is sugart/seagate st506 Allison

27 years, 10 months

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New apple additions.

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

since i requested today off, i hit the thrift stores since i havent been able to recently. i found a complete TI professional but left it as i presume it's just an xt clone. found a //c drive in the box, but at $10, i left it. i did get: copy 2+ version 9 complete quark catalyst with disks prodos inside and out w/ disk beagle graphics +disk something called talk is cheap ver 3.1 w/ disk beagle bros pronto dos/disk bb triple dump /disk a book called the dostalk scrapbook which explains apple dos 3.3 epson printer interface for apple //c apple //c tech ref. also got a nice pc tower case for $2 after i exclaimed it was blank and nothing inside. lol. there were a few more apple manuals and some beagle brothers software called timeout-something or other, but i left that. might go back again. david

27 years, 10 months

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Epson QX-10, CP/M

by manney＠lrbcg.com

I have a customer (Yes, Virginia, I have two customers) who has an Epson QX-10 running CP/M. His (external) hard disk is reporting bad sectors; he wishes to switch to an ST-506/412 Vertex 185, which I think is 20 MB. I would like to test the Vertex 185 under Spinrite (MS-DOS) and expand the bad track table, if Spinrite discovers more problems. I have questions -- Will the bad track information carry over under CP/M, and will its format utility see the MS-DOS info? Otherwise, should we just make a list and enter it? Is there a low-level format utility in CP/M? Is it necessary, as under MS-DOS? What is the QX-10 controller card going to think of a different hard drive? Will it try to run the new drive as a 10 MB? Thanks, manney(a)lrbcg.com

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Writer wants to quote users

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

What do you use now? >Like the Kaypro 4/84 (ca 1984) that I use to run my billings on. In general, I hope everyone that prides themselves of running Electric Pencil on their Altairs is doing it for practical purposes, and not because they just want to show off that they won't use a PC. > >I have a PDP-11/73 for development and continuation support use. Also >very handy for getting from Digital Equipment Corp designed and >propritary media to other more common use media. > A server for what? You must have an Interlnk client if you are using Intersrvr, unless you hacked the protocol... > >I do use an old 386sx/25 as a headless server using MSdos6.22 intersvr >and interlnk software and a parallel port data cable(LapLink). I would bet that _most_ hackers do it for commercial/industrial reasons. FOr everyone who built their own z80, hundreds came off the assembly line. > >All people that modify "hack" machines are not all hobbiests. As a >professional I need for various reasons to read disks created years >ago sometimes really old like the 8" media from the late 70s early 80s. >I have old machines to do this but a handy one is an XT clone using a >modified floppy controller with and old 8" drive. You cannot buy that >capability now but, companies have archives that are sometimes very old >that may need to be accessed. > >Even your common P-II box is hard pressed to read older 5.25" format >floppies! At a minimum you would have to find an apporiate drive and >then by trial and error figure the jumpers out as new machines a scantily >documented at best. That's an immense exaggeration. P-II boxes a) Have no jumpers, as a rule b) can support a 5.25" fdd if you can plug one in. What other difference can there be? >In computers old technology and new are often only different in speed or >size. There are many PDP-8s (1970s tech), PDP-11s (late 70s into the >80s tech) and Data General Novas still in service as control systems >where they do the same thing everyday as the have for the last 20+ years. I agree with that. It's impressive how many people think Windows NT is a safer option than UNIXoids though NT is only 1/3 as old... > Mature stable systems we know how to use. > > >Allison > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

What is the official meaning of the symbol #? >BTW, in the UK # is _never_ called "pound". "Hash" is the most usual >name, followed by "gate" and "hatch". "Pound" means a script L with a >couple of horizontal bars through it :-) > How is 'recall' done? Where is the number stored? As for the keypad configurations, I'm sure it all goes back to competing calculator models. >That's what I was afraid of. Although a neater hack still would be a >modified dial that did 11 pulses for * and 12 for #. Mechanically >possible, but I wouldn't want to try and modify the old dial. > >There is a blanked-off hole in most type 746 phones that can accommodate >1 or 2 buttons, and I was thinking of putting # and * there, but this is >more usually used for a "recall" button. > >Incidentally, does anyone know why "timed break" recall buttons are >replacing local earth ones? And how long is the break? > >> While a pulse-to-DTMF converter is a neat hack (and these sort of >> converters were installed in some step-by-step exchanges in the US, at >> least there were in my local exchange when we were step-by-step, but come >> to think of it I don't know why, unless they were converting my pulse >> dialed digits to DTMF so that some other adjunct piece of equipment such >> as a Dialed Number Recorder could know what digits I was dialing, for >> purposes of surveillance ;) it'd be easier to just buy a cheap DTMF phone. > >Sam, you should be ashamed of yourself. The object of the exercise was >not to get a DTMF phone, but to get one with a _rotary dial_. I already >have a DTMF phone, and I am interested in thes project _purely_ for hack >value. > >Slightly less far off topic, does anyone know the reason for the >divergence in layout between phone keypads and computer ones, i.e. > >123 789 >456 vs. 456 ? >789 123 > 0 0 > >Which came first? > >Philip. > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

5
7
0 0

FW: Writer wants to quote users

by kyrrin＠jps.net

Well, folks, here's an opportunity to let it be known that doing a decent job doesn't always require the latest P-II! This fellow's looking for quotes from folks who use 'legacy' equipment in production environments. Unfortunately, he's not interested in hardware hack type stories. I kind of dislike his statement of 'if it takes a soldering iron, it's too complex for this article,' but hey, who knows? Enjoy. Attachment follows. -=-=- <snip> -=-=- On Fri, 24 Jul 1998 16:34:44 +0800, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc you wrote: >>From: Bill Kent <billakent(a)hotmail.com> >>Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc >>Subject: Writer wants to quote users >>Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 16:34:44 +0800 >>Organization: None to speak of >>Lines: 20 >>Message-ID: <35B84722.2B9BEDA0(a)hotmail.com> >>Reply-To: billakent(a)hotmail.com >>NNTP-Posting-Host: spoff76.pacific.net.sg >>Mime-Version: 1.0 >>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >>X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (Win95; I) >>Path: blushng.jps.net!news.eli.net!diablo.quiknet.com!csn!nntp-xfer-2.csn.net!pulsar.dimensional.com!dimensional.com!priori!netnews.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.he.net!newsserver.pacific.net.sg!not-for-mail >> >>Good Day, >> >>My name is Bill Kent and I am working on a story for a major online >>publication. The focus is on users who use what others might consider >>"obsolete" technology. I would like to speak to a few users who use >>oder PCs (386 and below) for productivity apps. I'm talking about in >>business, education, or home. If you use them as servers or something >>else, that's super, I'd like to hear about it. I'm not interested in >>hobbyists who just enjoying hacking the machines. If it requires a >>soldering iron, it's too complex for this article. >> >>I'd like to hear stories about how this technology can be applied to a >>job and does it well. The general slant of the article is to be >>positive, but if anyone has any good stories about failures which >>occurred because you can't do EVERYTHING with older technology. >> >>mailto:billakent@hotmail.com >> >>Thank you. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272) http://table.jps.net/~kyrrin -- also kyrrin [A-t] Jps {D=o=t} Net Spam is bad. Spam is theft of service. Spam wastes resources. Don't spam, period. I am a WASHINGTON STATE resident. Spam charged $500.00 per incident per Chapter 19 RCW.

27 years, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

>> BTW, in the UK # is _never_ called "pound". "Hash" is the most usual > BT tend to call it 'square'. Confused me the first time I heard it. I've not met that, although I have, come to think of it, met "Octothorpe" (I think it was in "Understanding Telephone Electronics"). Ironically, the New Scientist article about digital exchanges (1981?) that called it "hatch" printed it as a square... (FWIW, "-thorpe" is often found as a placename element in the Danelaw - parts of England officially occupied by Vikings before the Norman conquest - and it means village, equivalent to German "Dorf".) > Cutting the extra 2 slots in the cam would be quite easy with a dividing > head (no, I'm not offering to do it, right :-)). The problem is finding > an arrangement of 12 holes in the dial plate that (a) allows you to dial > all of them and (b) maintains the required pause between letting go of the > dial and sending the first pulse (this is part of the spec). You're in danger of making the same mistake as Sam. Remember the pulses only go to my counter chip, not to the exchange, so the pause after letting go of the dial is not essential. That said, it is useful if your finger is shaking as you dial... My idea was to have a moveable finger stop like on some smaller dials. This would normally sit quite close to the 1 position, leaving room for * and # after the zero, but when you dialled against it it would be pushed to its conventional rest position. Philip. PS I'm off on holiday for a week. I won't (intentionally) set the list to Postpone, but I probably won't read all the messages...

27 years, 10 months

2
1
0 0

ST506 & RD54

by emu＠ecubics.com

Hi all, Where on the net, i could find the ST506 specification, or something like a RD54 OEM-Manual ? thanks, emanuel

27 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

FW: WANTED: PDP-11 or PDP-8

by kyrrin＠jps.net

Can anyone give Seth a good push in the right direction? If so, give him a buzz. SPECIAL NOTE: John, if you're looking to clear out space in the form of your PDP-11/34, this could be a great opportunity. Attachment follows. -=-=- <snip> -=-=- On 24 Jul 1998 02:51:10 EDT, in comp.sys.dec you wrote: >>From: "Seth J. Morabito" <sethjm(a)ricochet.net> >>Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec,comp.sys.dec.micro >>Subject: WANTED: PDP-11 or PDP-8 >>Date: 24 Jul 1998 02:51:10 EDT >>Organization: Loom Communications >>Lines: 18 >>Message-ID: <35B82E1E.E7E6755C(a)ricochet.net> >>Reply-To: sethm(a)loomcom.com >>NNTP-Posting-Host: motherbrain.squeep.com >>Mime-Version: 1.0 >>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >>X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.05 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.0.35 i586) >>Path: blushng.jps.net!news.eli.net!news.inconnect.com!xmission!news.uoregon.edu!hammer.uoregon.edu!newshub.northeast.verio.net!newspeer.monmouth.com!newsfeed.concentric.net!global-news-master >>Xref: blushng.jps.net comp.sys.dec:2231 comp.sys.dec.micro:262 >> >>Hello folks, >> >>I would dearly love to find a pdp-11 (preferably with some sort of >>secondary storage, including RX01,RX02,RK05,RL02, or RD53) or, much more >>preferably, a pdp-8 (original 8, 8i, or 8e), somewhere convenient to >>the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Software and manuals are, >>of course, always welcome! >> >>Surely, someone must be getting ready to de-commission a system which >>has served its purpose and is no longer needed? I would love to take >>it off your hands! I preserve and restore old systems, both for the >>memories and for the enjoyment of it. DEC has always been my favorite, >>for sentimental reasons. And I can't bear the thought of any of that >>classic equipment going to scrap. >> >>Thank you, >> >>-Seth Morabito -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272) http://table.jps.net/~kyrrin -- also kyrrin [A-t] Jps {D=o=t} Net Spam is bad. Spam is theft of service. Spam wastes resources. Don't spam, period. I am a WASHINGTON STATE resident. Spam charged $500.00 per incident per Chapter 19 RCW.

27 years, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Systems coming up for sale!

by Anthony.Dellett＠Staples.com

Well, I figured since my glomming on to one of these systems is pretty much guaranteed, I'd let the rest of you know about them. My father is one of the managers of the FAA Data Center in Seattle, WA. He is excessing 12 Data General MV/15000 systems. As far as I can tell, the systems include: 3 Disk Units 1 RtR 9 Track Tape Unit 1 MPU Unit 1 Console Unit Mind you, this is a lot of steel to move (I'm prolly going to have a moving company bring me mine) not to mention store (I'm going to be moving my entire collection to some cheap office space here in Lawrence, MA). For those of you who dont know what the excess process is, this is the way I understand it. 1. Government agency decides they dont need something anymore (done) 2. Agency begins porting any applications on system (a month to go) 3. Agency offers system to all other government agencies 4. If all other agencies refuse system, system goes to public sale. According to my father, these systems will be going for a ridiculous price (like $200-$300, I'm getting mine fer free :) but the buyer needs to arrange shipping. Mind you, the data centers are all over the US, not just in Seattle so it is possible that one will be closer geographically to you. I'll post another message to the list when the systems are closer to public sale. Tony Dellett

27 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

FW: Writer wants to quote users

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< >>From: Bill Kent <billakent(a)hotmail.com> < >>My name is Bill Kent and I am working on a story for a major online < >>publication. The focus is on users who use what others might conside < >>"obsolete" technology. I would like to speak to a few users who use < >>oder PCs (386 and below) for productivity apps. I'm talking about i What about non-PC technology? There are whole families of machines that are not based on Intel cpus and Microsoft software. Like the Kaypro 4/84 (ca 1984) that I use to run my billings on. The NS* Horzion Z80 machine I built in 1978 to support z80 family development and continuation support. That system is my primary for documenting work done as well. I have a PDP-11/73 for development and continuation support use. Also very handy for getting from Digital Equipment Corp designed and propritary media to other more common use media. DEC VAX hardware is also widely sought as they despite age and relative speed are still workhorses for multiuser/multitasking applications. Most of the more popular VAX systems that are over 10 years old are PC sized but can support a lot of users. I do use an old 386sx/25 as a headless server using MSdos6.22 intersvr and interlnk software and a parallel port data cable(LapLink). < >>else, that's super, I'd like to hear about it. I'm not interested in < >>hobbyists who just enjoying hacking the machines. If it requires a < >>soldering iron, it's too complex for this article. All people that modify "hack" machines are not all hobbiests. As a professional I need for various reasons to read disks created years ago sometimes really old like the 8" media from the late 70s early 80s. I have old machines to do this but a handy one is an XT clone using a modified floppy controller with and old 8" drive. You cannot buy that capability now but, companies have archives that are sometimes very old that may need to be accessed. Even your common P-II box is hard pressed to read older 5.25" format floppies! At a minimum you would have to find an apporiate drive and then by trial and error figure the jumpers out as new machines a scantily documented at best. < >>I'd like to hear stories about how this technology can be applied to < >>job and does it well. The general slant of the article is to be In computers old technology and new are often only different in speed or size. There are many PDP-8s (1970s tech), PDP-11s (late 70s into the 80s tech) and Data General Novas still in service as control systems where they do the same thing everyday as the have for the last 20+ years. This doesn't include the tens of thousands of Z80, 6502, 6800 microprocessors in control boxes and other service since the parts were introduced in the late 70s! I'll introduce you to an idea new to some. I prefer to use older systems that are well documented and I can fully utilize. It's saves me time to not debug some new box or software. Simply said: Mature stable systems we know how to use. Allison

27 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Info wanted-- IBM 3274

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 98-07-24 07:59:41 EDT, you write: I guess the 3274 could be called a computer here. it will process information and if it can do something, it will take care of simple local tasks itself rather than bothering the mainframe with things the 3274 could do itself. << The 3274 is called a "terminal controller". It is not per se a computer, although I think it may have had microprocessors and things in it. The floppy drives were for saving and loading configuration data (along the lines of Port 1 a 3278, port 2 is a 3299 with 8 3278s hung off it, port 3 is a printer etc...) It multiplexes terminals and things to an IBM mainframe channel. While the 3278 and its relatives use the IBM SNA protocol over 93 ohm co-ax, the 3274 can AFAIK connect over an ordinary serial line. In which case all you need to do is write drivers for whatever machine you choose as the host... >>

27 years, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Mac Portable SW

by tomowad＠earthlink.net

> Those $#%&$*^% 800 k disks. There are ways, but I have yet to successfully >download and transfer anything to my Mac+ . The earlier Mac FAQ straight out >said it couldn't be done. Likely the easiest way is to find some one to do >it >on his Superdrive to a formatted 800 disk. Or you could just buy a Mac IIsi or similiar for around $50 and do it yourself. >The easiest way to do it would be to find someone with a Mac that's in your >area. BTW I'm not sure you can create the floppies on a PPC Mac, it might >take a 68k Mac. I had problems with this about a year ago, but I can't >remember if I was creating Mac, Apple IIgs, or Lisa floppies. The PPC >Mac's do not seem to handle the floppy drive as well as the 68k based ones, >I've noticed this with standard Macintosh and PC 1.44Mb floppies. I haven't had any trouble making 800k disks on my PM 6100. I did have trouble making a System 0.9 disk on 400k, though (not sure if that's the PM or the Mac Plus I was trying to run it on, though). Sincerely, Tom Owad -- Sysop of Caesarville Online Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/>

27 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Info wanted-- IBM 3274

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

Joe wrote: > I bought one with a pile of stuff. What is it? I can do little more than repeat the message I sent on the subject a few months ago: John R. Keys Jr. Wrote: > Well today made up for a slow week, got the following items: [...] > IBM 3274-31C with 8" diskettes sofeware I'm sure you'll have fun with all your finds, but this is the one that caught my eye. Last week (?) someone was asking questions along the lines of what the heck does one do with an IBM 3278? The answer is, plug it into this. Neither is much use without the other! I suggest the two of you get together over this... The 3274 is called a "terminal controller". It is not per se a computer, although I think it may have had microprocessors and things in it. The floppy drives were for saving and loading configuration data (along the lines of Port 1 a 3278, port 2 is a 3299 with 8 3278s hung off it, port 3 is a printer etc...) It multiplexes terminals and things to an IBM mainframe channel. While the 3278 and its relatives use the IBM SNA protocol over 93 ohm co-ax, the 3274 can AFAIK connect over an ordinary serial line. In which case all you need to do is write drivers for whatever machine you choose as the host... Happy hacking! Philip.

27 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Mac Portable SW

by rcini＠email.msn.com

More on my Mac Portable... Well, I've found out that the Mac Portable doesn't like the System 6 installer disks that I have, so I downloaded the System 6.0.8 files from Apple. They are in the ".sea.bin" format. What's the best way to get these images to 800k Mac disks from the PC? Also, I need a new 40mb drive, the Conner CP-3045 (aka, the HD40SC). Anyone have one and is willing to part with it? Thanks. Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> - ClubWin/CW6 - MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking - Preserver of "classic" computers <<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>

27 years, 10 months

4
3
0 0

MicroVAXen up for grabs!

by kyrrin＠jps.net

Well, dang it... I'd hoped to have the RA82 subsystem working before I offered this beastie up, but... I have other projects. Lots of them. Situation: MicroVAX II in a DEC four-foot rack cabinet, two BA23 boxes interconnected with the usual bus expansion cards/cables. Has 8 megs RAM, RQDX3, an RX50 floppy and a TK50 tape drive. Also has a KDA50 SDI controller hitched to an RA82, and an RD53 70 meg HD hitched to the RQDX3. And it has a DHV11 8-line serial MUX. The RA82 passes all its internal tests. The SDI controller passes all its internal tests. HOWEVER -- the RA82 drive cannot be seen by the SDI controller. Not in diags, not through the OS. Zilch. I've replaced cables, tried all three possible floating CSR addresses, changed both SDI boards, and futzed with the drive until I'm blue in the face. Nada. It is my belief that the RA82's interface circuitry is misbehaving, internal tests notwithstanding. I lack another SDI drive to verify things one way or another. So, here's the way its coming down. This beastie is up for grabs as of now. If nothing else, the rack cabinet and cards would probably be useful to someone. I will continue to work with the RA82, and it will go with the system, but I'm not going to put a whole ton of effort into it unless someone on the list comes up with a bright idea. I'm located in Kent, WA, southeast of Seattle. Please E-mail me if you're interested and we'll arrange for pickup. NOTE: Unless the recipient is willing to pay for crating and shipping -- and it will take a pallet and lift-gate truck to transport safely -- this is going to be local pickup only. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272) (Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)jps.net) "Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."

27 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

a whatsits: Grid 1535 EXP

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

I found a strange looking computer today. It's a Grid 1535 EXP computer and it has a extra pod that clamped on the computer. The pod contains a HP-IB port. There an empty slot to the left of the HP-IB port, what's it for? There's also an empty hole roughly 1 x 2 inches next to the power connector on the laptop. Is that where the battery is supposed to go? I also got a extra battery pack that also clamps to the outside fo the computer. Does any know the specs on this computer? It has a co-axial power connector. What voltage and polarity power does it require? What's the story with the HP-IB port and how do you access it? Joe

27 years, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Info wanted-- IBM 3274

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

I bought one with a pile of stuff. What is it? Joe

27 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Epson QX-10, CP/M

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< I would like to test the Vertex 185 under Spinrite (MS-DOS) and expand t < bad track table, if Spinrite discovers more problems. You could but,... < Will the bad track information carry over under CP/M, and will its forma < utility see the MS-DOS info? Otherwise, should we just make a list and e < it? Depending on the controller used likely no for the Bad block info and NO for the format. < Is there a low-level format utility in CP/M? Is it necessary, as under < MS-DOS? Maybe, it's generally machine/controller specific. Necessary yes. General purpose no. REason for that is like floppy controllers hard disk controler of the era varied from system to system. < What is the QX-10 controller card going to think of a different hard dri < Will it try to run the new drive as a 10 MB? it depends what the controller passes back to the bios and if the bios can even be reconfigured. FYI: CP/M2 disks over 8mb must be partitioned to multiple 8mb (or less) logical drives. The file system can only address 65536 128byte logical sectors and up to 16 logical drives. Allison

27 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Another find - Multitech FM-30 Accoustic Coupler.

by DSEAGRAV＠toad.xkl.com

I think it's dead. I plugged it in, turned it on, and the Power light comes on, about 1/2 second later. regardless of what it's plugged into or not, the Carrier light comes high. I have an old style phone, I dialed out rack (I think the modems will go down to 300 baud...) waited for the 1st ring and shoved it in the coupler. No dice. What is one supposed to do with these? -------

27 years, 10 months

6
9
0 0

Operation of old modems

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

I just picked up an old BellSouth 212A modem, and don't know how to make it go. It has a handful of pushbuttons on the front (AL ST RL DL HS TLK), and doesn't respond to the Hayes command set. Am I supposed to dial the phone myself, and then tell the modem to wake up when I hear the carrier, like with the old acoustic modems? Any ideas on what those abbreviations are? I'm guessing HS = "high speed", probably meaning 1200 baud. :-) And TLK must be "talk". The others have me stumped. Maybe AL is "analog loopback"?) Hints would be appreciated. Thanks, Bill.

27 years, 10 months

3
2
0 0

Another find - Multitech FM-30 Accoustic Coupler.

by fmc＠reanimators.org

"Daniel A. Seagraves" <DSEAGRAV(a)toad.xkl.com> wrote: > What is one supposed to do with these? Way back when, the drill went like this: (a) dial remote modem's number on phone (as though placing a voice call) (b) listen for remote modem to answer and whistle answer carrier at you (c) put phone's handpiece in acoustic coupler (d) acoustic coupler should notice answer carrier and begin whistling its originate carrier (e) start typing I'm thinking that (d) might take longer these days; I don't know how long it takes these newfangled modems to get around to sending a tone that is recognizable as a Bell 103 answer carrier. It used to be immediate because that's what the modems on the other end tended to try first. -Frank McConnell

27 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Compaq//safety issues

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

You will LART me for sure because of this question. Is it possible to use the neutral side of a socket for ground? What, in fact, is the difference? (dopeslaps start flying in) >The best way is probably to use a proper isolating transformer. In other >words have neither side of the 110V going to the PC connected to earth. > >A cheater adapter is also fine, provided you connect the 'pigtail' to a good >local earth point. Note that the fixing screw of the outlet (and hence >the mounting box/conduit) may not be earthed. Should be, but I'd not put >my life on it. > >> So, why have I never felt anything touching a PC case? I've done it >> many times, I've touched insides many times, and I've never felt so >> much as a tingle. Would I be able to use a VOM to find this voltage? > >Depends on a lot of things - how well earthed _you_ are (if there's no >way a current can flow through you, then you'll not feel anything). The >values of the capacitors used - low enough, and the current will also be >too low to feel. In practice, this should be the case, but having seen some >cheap PC power supplies I'd not trust them. Oh, and how sensitive you are >to the current. > >In theory, if you connect one side of a high-impedance AC voltmeter to a >local earth point (or, indeed, the neutral side of the socket), and the >other side to the PC chassis without an earth connection, you should be >able to measure 55V. > > >-tony > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Mac 512 video mods

by ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk

A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text Size: 1832 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/attachments/19980723/9e31dca7/at…

27 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Another find - Multitech FM-30 Accoustic Coupler.

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

I have what seems to be a similar problem on my Practical Periph. 2400 direct-connect modem. It can dial, but refuses to pick up the carrier. Maybe a bad transistor somewhere... it this the only switch it has? >[Voice/data switch?] >Nope. >But it has a full/half duplex switch... >------- > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Andrew Davie in Newsweek

by dastar＠ncal.verio.com

Check out what I just found in the July 27 edition of Newsweek, Cyberscope, page 11: Russian Additions The Museum of Soviet Calculators on the Web (MOSCOW for short, at www.comcen.com.au/~adavie) will thrill collectors and amuse the rest of us. "The weird stuff about Soviet machines is what I love," says its curator, Andrew Davie, 33, a programmer from Australia who owns 15 of the 60 devices pictured at his site. Example: unlike American caluclators that form all numbers from 0 to 9 using just seven little parts, some Russian ones use nine. Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ever onward. September 26 & 27...Vintage Computer Festival 2 See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details! [Last web page update: 07/21/98]

27 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

VLB Ethernet card

by peacock＠simconv.com

>I'm not sure if this would qualify as classic or not, but I have a little VLB 486 machine that needs a 32-bit Ethernet BNC NIC. Hmm, IIRC VLB hasn't been around for 10 years, but I am curious to know if anyone made a VLB network card, I don't recall ever seeing one. I have some 486's running miscellaneous NT chores that could use a boost on network I/O. Along those lines, and closer to that 10 year limit, has anyone ever tried to overclock the Cyrix 486DLC or Dr2 replacement CPUs for 386DX's? Or for that matter, the Cyrix 586 CPUs that fit in 486 sockets? As in running a 586-120 at a base 40Mhz, upping it to 160Mhz? Jack Peacock

27 years, 10 months

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HCM: Notification of URL change !!!

by walgen＠do.isst.fhg.de

Hi "collectors of classic computers" I'd like to inform you that the URL of the HomeComputer-Museum (HCM) will change. So if you have a URL pointing to the HomeComputer-Museum (HCM) at http://192.102.161.122/~walgen or http://jupiter.do.isst.fhg.de/~walgen please update your URL/Bookmark to: http://www.HomeComputer.de/ this URL will be permanent - THANKS

27 years, 10 months

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Compaq//safety issues

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

LARTed with a tesla coil, right? So how do you propose using a pc in a building without three-prong sockets? >I do, and if I catch anyone removing safety earth connections in my >workshop, they will be LARTed. I am serious. I've worked enough with the >mains to know how dangerous it can be. > I doubt 240 vs. 110 is much difference as far as heart muscle is concerned >(a) If I want to commit suicide I will do :-). But I don't want to set >booby traps in my workshop. Perhaps I'm more careful becausewe've got 240V >mains here. > So, why have I never felt anything touching a PC case? I've done it many times, I've touched insides many times, and I've never felt so much as a tingle. Would I be able to use a VOM to find this voltage? > >Right, an explanation. The 'Earth' wire goes to the metal PC case, and >also to the thrid pin of the plug. 'Neutral' is connected to earth at the >main distribution board (US), last distribution transformer (UK), and is >effectively earth. And live is 110V (or 240V) above that. > >Now, the 2 capacitors on the left form a capacitive potential divider. So >if the earth wire is not bonded to ground, then the midpoint of that is >going to be at half mains voltage - 55V (or 120V) wrt neutral, which is >efectively local earth. That means the case of the PC - the external metal >case - is at that voltage wrt local earth. Now the capacitor values >_should_ limit the available current, but I'd not bet on it. Also, the >capacitors should be a special safety type which are unable to fail >shorted (I forget the type - it's either class X or class Y), but I've >seen plenty of cheap-n-nasty PSUs with just 600V capacitors in this >position. If I spot them like that, they get replaced, BTW. > >And that's what I'm going on about. Not that the keyboard was live, but >that the metal case of the PC had a significant voltage wrt local earth. >Normally you'd not notice it - the front panel is probably plastic, so >are the floppy drives, etc. But reach round the back to plug in the >keyboard cable, touch the back of the case, and zap! > > >> like mine, it's very difficult to maintain wiring and even talk about > >> sometime...I'm very lax with safety precautions. There is no way the > >I am not fanatical about safety - I do plenty of things that can be >considered dangerous. I use machine tools, I change CRTs, I work on >30kV supplies, I work on mains, I repair SMPSUs, I even work on live >equipment if necessary. And yes I defeat safety interlocks if there's a >good reason for so doing, and I know what the consequences are. But there's >no way you'll catch me removing an earth connection without a _very_ good >reason. > > >> boy could have electrocuted himself with any modern keyboard I know >> of, since it's mostly impossible to get to the components inside them >> w/o taking the thing apart. An XT keyboard, OTOH, is metal which > >The backplate of an XT keyboard is connected to the body of the DIN plug. >If that's live for any reason, then there's something seriously wrong - >see above. > >> could kill someone if the keyboard is damaged or plugged into the > >There is no voltage on a keyboard connector that can kill - at least not >if the rest of the PC is correctly wired. I'd touch any component in a >working XT keyboard and I'd live to tell the tale. > >> wrong place. More likely is that he touched a bad power cable with >> hand. If the PC got moved and the keyboard got unplugged, it could >> undo any cables spliced together w/scotch tape (another of my bad > >Argh!!! I prefer to use proper cable joined with proper connectors - with >insulation and strain reliefs. > >-tony > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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VC404 The Standard

by amichael＠nortel.ca

In message "VC404 The Standard", lwalker(a)mail.interlog.com writes: > One of my recent curbside finds is a machine put out by a Canadian company >based in Waterloo Ont called Volker-Craig model vg-400. On the front it has a >title VC404 The Standard. I also have a 404, discarded from a university lab many years ago. These terminals seem to have been popular in university student terminal rooms because they were relatively cheap. I seem to recall that the company founders were ex-University of Waterloo people. I've seen 404s not just in Canada but also in Britain, where they were the standard terminals on a university Vax system I once used. So I'm not too surprised Tony has a tech manual. (Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if Tony had a tech manual for Noah's Ark :) >It has a k-b attached with ribbon cable Unfortunately the keyboards were not that robust and after a few generations of students pounding away on them, the keyboard or the ribbon cable often became unreliable. >In the back it >has a 25 pin RS232 connector, a BNC labelled "composite video" ,2 switches : >one 3-pos.to configure parity the other "Transparent on off" That video connector on the back was useful for hooking into a big classroom overhead monitor so a whole class could learn from observing a terminal session. These terminals are very helpful for debugging RS-232 communications. The "transparent" switch on the back lets you choose to display all the ASCII control codes (eg, instead of performing a "line feed" it displays a little LF symbol). Larry, I don't have any tech docs but I do have a thin user manual. About all it tells you is what the special control codes are to clear the screen, move the cursor, etc. Still, it's the information you need to run Wordstar with it! E-mail me with your snail-mail address and I'll run off a copy for you. Regards, Arlen -- Arlen Michaels Nortel Ottawa, Canada (613) 763-2568 amichael(a)nortel.ca

27 years, 10 months

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New rescue list

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

I have never gotten real spam to my address, non-real spam being unwanted jokes and chain letters from people who have my address. It's amazing, every few weeks the "Bill Gates goes to heaven" joke is rediscovered... >I don't know, fact is that my SPAM statistc shows an increase >of around 5% since I'm on this list - this might be just the >usual SPAM inflation, but taking your guesses, it might also >be list related. (My SPAM statistics are don by my self made >SPAM killer bot - a vcollection of key word filters - the most >usefull filter just triggering '$$$' :) > >Gruss >H. > >-- >Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut >HRK > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

1
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Mac Portable Progress

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Weird. Maybe there is damage to some ROM somewhere? If you have another floppy drive, try plugging that in. I've never had any problems with my Superdrive >On Tue, 21 Jul 1998 19:45:51 -0700 (PDT), Tom Owad <tomowad(a)earthlink.net> >wrote: > >> 3. It will not accept an 800k disk formatted by an SE/30 which >>contains System 6.0.1. >> 4. It *will* accept an 800k installer disk, but it complains that >the >>disk contains a "minimal" script file, and that I need a "full" install >>script. Arrrgh... > >>>So you actually get a happy Mac when you insert that disk? Have you >>>tried a genuine System Tools disk? > > Yes, this is an *original* 6.0.1 installer disk from the aforementioned >SE/30. It boots, but complains about the script type. This is the *only* >disk that I've gotten to work so far. > > >Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> > - ClubWin/CW6 > - MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking > - Preserver of "classic" computers ><<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>> > > > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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#%&@! more compaq...

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

I am sorry, but I really have to ask this before I do anything else. THe keyboard ribbon cable on the thing had some chipped contacts at the location of a bend near the socket. This prevented use of many keys. So, I trimmed the cable. This lets the kb work fine, but is barely long enough to get to the edge connector, and once there it won't stay properly. And now the damn thing is becoming chipped again. What should I do? I can't replace the ribbon because the whole keyboard circuit board is one piece of plastic film (two layers). ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

3
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New rescue list

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 02:41 PM 7/22/98 -0700, you wrote: >>I'm also planning obfuscation of e-mail addresses, to foil spammers. My [...] >That hardly seems worth it. Do that robots really browse web pages for >email addresses (particularly pages like this)? And what if my email Yep, they do. I've got a page stored on my pager that came from a spammer trolling for e-mail addresses on web pages. (My pager can be reached at <4152010273(a)alphapage.airtouch.com> and there is are links to said address on my site.) I've gotten several such pages (but only keep the one to show people.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

27 years, 10 months

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FW: Web page of possible interest

by kyrrin＠jps.net

I was corresponding with this fellow a while back. He indicated that some or all of the gear listed -might- get shipped to a staging point in the US of A. I've had no further word on that, and I'm in no position to buy anything right at the moment. However, that may not hold true for other CLASSICCMP'ers. With that in mind, check out the site and, if interested, contact Mr. Tey directly. Attachment follows. -=-=- <snip> -=-=- >X-Sender: wmtey(a)post1.com >X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.5 (32) >Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 17:41:11 +0800 >To: "Anuar Omar" <omara(a)tm.net.my>, joe(a)ar.co.th, sakchai(a)ar.co.th, > Bruce Lane <kyrrin(a)jps.net>, chaiyut(a)irc.co.th, <big snip of CC's> >From: william tey <wmtey(a)post1.com> >Subject: bargain hunting! > >pls visit our web page at: > >http://www.berkeley.com.sg/surplus.htm > >for best bargain in town! > > >william tey >berkeley electronics pte ltd >135 joo seng road #05-03 >pm industrial building >singapore 368363 >joo chiat p.o. box 0859 >singapore 914202 >tel: (65)382-5998, fax: (65)382-5982 >email: wmtey(a)post1.com > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272) (Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)jps.net) "Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."

27 years, 10 months

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New rescue list

by franke＠sbs.de

> Unfortunatly anyone that posts to this list is suceptable to SPAM since > these message are archived on the web. > Then again, maybe I'm just starting to get overly paranoid, but I doubt it. I don't know, fact is that my SPAM statistc shows an increase of around 5% since I'm on this list - this might be just the usual SPAM inflation, but taking your guesses, it might also be list related. (My SPAM statistics are don by my self made SPAM killer bot - a vcollection of key word filters - the most usefull filter just triggering '$$$' :) Gruss H. -- Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut HRK

27 years, 10 months

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Wanted: Another magazine article series

by ddameron＠earthlink.net

At 10:19 PM 7/22/98 -0400, you wrote: >On Tue, 21 Jul 1998 20:56:30, Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> wrote: > > >> Does anyone have a copy of the Tim Patterson (Seattle Computer >Products) >>article series from Byte? I belive that it talked about DOS (...or QDOS or >>86/DOS...). Thanks. >> >>>I may have the original article. What issue was it in? > Does anyone know if there was an index published for BYTE? Don't remember even annual ones in the Dec. issues. I always missed them. I do have a short one which goes to the end of 1976. Some of my issues are in boxes where I cannot get to very easily. -Dave

27 years, 10 months

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Wanted: Another magazine article series

by rcini＠email.msn.com

On Tue, 21 Jul 1998 20:56:30, Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> wrote: > Does anyone have a copy of the Tim Patterson (Seattle Computer Products) >article series from Byte? I belive that it talked about DOS (...or QDOS or >86/DOS...). Thanks. > >>I may have the original article. What issue was it in? I don't know. Tim Shoppa mentioned the article series last week, and since I'm on a DOS 1.1 reverse engineering kick lately, I thought that the article would be appropriate. I would guess if Tim Patterson is talking about the predecessor of DOS, it would be in the late-79 to mid-80 range (hedging by bets a little). I guess that it could be as late as mid-1981 (based on the introduction of the 5150). Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> - ClubWin/CW6 - MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking - Preserver of "classic" computers <<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>

27 years, 10 months

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New rescue list

by tomowad＠earthlink.net

>Okay, I am now irked enough at that dead "Rescue List", that I've put up my >own version of it, copied from the old one. I hereby bring the ancient curse >upon myself. Great! >I'm also planning obfuscation of e-mail addresses, to foil spammers. My >favorite scheme is to insert extra letters, and leave an English description >of how to correct it (such as abcxde(a)foox.baxr "remove x's"). Let me know >if you object to this treatment of your address. That hardly seems worth it. Do that robots really browse web pages for email addresses (particularly pages like this)? And what if my email address has an 'x' in it? Anyway, please add me to the list. Pennsylvania Tom Owad York, PA tomowad(a)earthlink.net Location: Southcentral PA., Willing to pick up. How far I'll go depends on how interesting the computer is. Area of Interest: Anything other than IBM PC's and compatibles, especially Apples and DECs Thanks, Tom -- Sysop of Caesarville Online Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/>

27 years, 10 months

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Mac Portable Progress

by rcini＠email.msn.com

On Tue, 21 Jul 1998 19:45:51 -0700 (PDT), Tom Owad <tomowad(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > 3. It will not accept an 800k disk formatted by an SE/30 which >contains System 6.0.1. > 4. It *will* accept an 800k installer disk, but it complains that the >disk contains a "minimal" script file, and that I need a "full" install >script. Arrrgh... >>So you actually get a happy Mac when you insert that disk? Have you >>tried a genuine System Tools disk? Yes, this is an *original* 6.0.1 installer disk from the aforementioned SE/30. It boots, but complains about the script type. This is the *only* disk that I've gotten to work so far. Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> - ClubWin/CW6 - MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking - Preserver of "classic" computers <<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>

27 years, 10 months

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Compaq

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Do you have those weird two-prong things? My building is full of them They're screws with a rounded head, and nothing on it but two little pits. >> > Ever done an IBM 5151 monitor? It's painful, and the details are not in >> > any IBM manual (for all there's a schematic given). >> >> The thing I don't like about a lot of IBM stuff is the torx screws with a >> pin in the middle to stop as ordinary torx bit fitting. (I have been known > >Yes, PC power supplies tend to be full of them. The proper tool - a >tamperproof Torx bit - is pretty easy to obtain, actually. As are >tamperproof hex (like allen keys with a hole in the middle), tri-wing, >Torq, etc. I have the lot... > >-tony > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 09:04 AM 7/21/98 PDT, you wrote: >knowing that the thing must be turned. What's a CLI? CLI: Command Line Interface (As in, DOS, CP/M, RSTS/E, (sometimes) Unix, TRSDOS, MPE, etc.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

27 years, 10 months

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Manual available

by kyrrin＠jps.net

This one actually cost me some bucks, so I'll want to get at least something for it. However, I promise not to be outrageous. ;-) I have an operating/service manual, brand new, for the Hewlett-Packard 3456A DVM (yes, the meter's over ten years old -- produced in 1982, to be exact). I'd like to see it go to someone who has one of the meters but no manual. HP gets $44.00 plus tax for the thing. I'm asking $25.00, plus postage. Anyone? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272) (Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)jps.net) "Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."

27 years, 10 months

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Subscribe?

by sie＠systemfile.demon.co.uk

How do I subscribe to this list? I've tried -request, -admin e.t.c. Cheers, Sie

27 years, 10 months

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Compaq

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Sorry about the blanks, folks, Lynx doesn't let me delete them. This one I must agree with. Thank god I had some metric phillips drivers to turn those Torx screws!!! >You forgot one category: Most difficult to open. The last LTE I tried to >open required the skill of a surgeon to dissassemble. > >Jeff > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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Compaq//safety issues

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

For one thing, I don't think there's anything wrong with cheaters, I have three or four connected to power strips and a microwave. If a problem should happen, touching the case could cause instant death, but a) so what b) what are the odds c)in an old apartment building like mine, it's very difficult to maintain wiring and even talk about it to the landlord. They won't even replace the valves on the radiators! I might decide to actually attach those things to ground sometime...I'm very lax with safety precautions. There is no way the boy could have electrocuted himself with any modern keyboard I know of, since it's mostly impossible to get to the components inside them w/o taking the thing apart. An XT keyboard, OTOH, is metal which could kill someone if the keyboard is damaged or plugged into the wrong place. More likely is that he touched a bad power cable with hand. If the PC got moved and the keyboard got unplugged, it could undo any cables spliced together w/scotch tape (another of my bad habits). In general, it's not too hard to believe. There's nothing that could be done to prevent this from happening every so often. > >I would offer the following possible explanations : > >The PC was earthed (as it should be), and the boy was carrying a static >charge. Zap!, but not fatal, or even a cause of serious injury. Touching >any piece of earthed metal would have had the same effect > >The PC case was connected to mains earth, which for some reason due to >dangerous wiring wasn't the same as the local earth. If that's the case, >time to check out all the wiring before more accidents happen. > >The PC case wasn't earthed, and was floating at about half mains voltage >due to the filtering components. This is acutally a nasty problem, and is >caused by idiots who use those 2 pin cheater adapters. The mains filter >capacitors shouldn't be able to pass enough current to be fatal, but I'd >not bet on it. > >The boy tried to plug the keyboard into something other than the PC's >keyboard port :-). > >> are trying to conn a computer out of their parents. >> If I hear any more I will pass it along. >> >> Charlie Fox >> >> > >-tony > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

2
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New rescue list

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

Okay, I am now irked enough at that dead "Rescue List", that I've put up my own version of it, copied from the old one. I hereby bring the ancient curse upon myself. The URL is http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/classiccmp/ccrs_list.html . I have added a "Current as of" date for each person, to help root out obsolete info. Right now, those are all set to the list creation date (11-Jun-97). If you find any of your info is wrong, let me know. I'm also planning obfuscation of e-mail addresses, to foil spammers. My favorite scheme is to insert extra letters, and leave an English description of how to correct it (such as abcxde(a)foox.baxr "remove x's"). Let me know if you object to this treatment of your address. Bill.

27 years, 10 months

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VLB Ethernet card

by boss＠ibmhelp.com

I'm not sure if this would qualify as classic or not, but I have a little VLB 486 machine that needs a 32-bit Ethernet BNC NIC. If you have one you'd like to unload, please email. I've got a bunch of old books and manuals (mostly IBM stuff) for trade, or I have some money laying around if you prefer it. <g> thanks David -- David Wollmann DST / DST Data Conversion ICQ: 10742063 http://www.ibmhelp.com/

27 years, 10 months

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off topic: ridiculous law suits was Re: Compaq

by peacock＠simconv.com

On Wed, 22 Jul 1998 Philip.Belben(a)powertech.co.uk wrote: > If our American friends will forgive my patriotic prejudice, the main > reason I have less than no wish to go and work/live in the US is the > legal system and culture that generates occurrences like these. I guess you have to grow up with the right mindset. True, the system is bizarre, but sometimes it can work in your favor too, if you can get a better shyster^h^h^h^h^h lawyer. And in the end, if you can't get justice any other way, there are always alternative options, such as a firebomb through the window at midnight, or for those especially egregious offenses, a business deal with your local mafia representative to "eliminate" the problem once and for all time (a time honored tradition here in Las Vegas). Jack Peacock

27 years, 10 months

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off topic: ridiculous law suits was Re: Compaq

by Marty＠itgonline.com

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............ ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: RE: off topic: ridiculous law suits was Re: Compaq Author: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu at internet Date: 7/22/98 5:15 PM Jack Peacock wrote: >And in the end, if you can't get justice any other way, there are always >alternative options, such as a firebomb through the window at midnight, >or for those especially egregious offenses, a business deal with your >local mafia representative to "eliminate" the problem once and for all >time (a time honored tradition here in Las Vegas). > Jack Peacock As my friend, Vinnie, once told me many years ago, "Legbreakers are cheaper than lawyers, and often more effective". The other piece of advice he gave me was, "Never antagonize guys whose middle name is 'The'. R. -- Warbaby The WebSite. The Domain. The Empire. http://www.warbaby.com The MonkeyPool WebSite Content Development http://www.monkeypool.com Dreadlocks on white boys give me the willies. ------ Message Header Follows ------ Received: from lists5.u.washington.edu by smtp.itgonline.com (PostalUnion/SMTP(tm) v2.1.9i(b5) for Windows NT(tm)) id AA-1998Jul22.171540.1767.52764; Wed, 22 Jul 1998 17:15:41 -0400 Received: from host (lists.u.washington.edu [140.142.56.13]) by lists5.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.05) with SMTP id NAA26318; Wed, 22 Jul 1998 13:29:47 -0700 Received: from mxu4.u.washington.edu (mxu4.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.05) with ESMTP id NAA39878 for <classiccmp(a)lists.u.washington.edu>; Wed, 22 Jul 1998 13:29:44 -0700 Received: from mail3.sirius.com (mail3.sirius.com [205.134.253.133]) by mxu4.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW98.06) with ESMTP id NAA25548 for <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>; Wed, 22 Jul 1998 13:29:43 -0700 Received: from [205.134.227.91] (ppp-asfm04--192.sirius.net [205.134.240.192]) by mail3.sirius.com (8.8.7/Sirius-8.8.7-97.08.12) with ESMTP id NAA11730 for <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>; Wed, 22 Jul 1998 13:29:41 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <v03007802b1dc0c503522(a)[205.134.227.91]> Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 13:40:48 -0800 Reply-To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu Sender: CLASSICCMP-owner(a)u.washington.edu Precedence: bulk From: Rax <rax(a)warbaby.com> To: "Discussion re-collecting of classic computers" <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Subject: RE: off topic: ridiculous law suits was Re: Compaq In-Reply-To: <41F0302DCC1BD011AF6100AA00B845A816C4E2(a)mail.simconv.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Sender: rax(a)pop.sirius.com X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 beta -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN

27 years, 10 months

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off topic: rediculous law suits was Re: Compaq

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

>>> Pilot and passenger die in 1947 Piper Cub afer crashing on take off. >>> Two fatal, payment over $25,000,000. Reason, no shoulder harnesses. [rest of story snipped - you've all seen it several times!] > I have to throw in my 2 cents worth. You read about this stuff but you > wonder if it really happens. IT DOES! A member of my family was one of > the defendents in a trial very similar to this. The thing about that trial > that amazed me was the facts that were keep FROM the jury. The behind the > scenes rangling to suppress evidence was incredible. It's no wonder > lawyers get such huge settlements considering how the jurys are > manipulated and spoon feed only what the lawyers want them to hear. What price the oath to tell "the whole truth"? (In danger of getting seriously off topic here!) If our American friends will forgive my patriotic prejudice, the main reason I have less than no wish to go and work/live in the US is the legal system and culture that generates occurrences like these. It is marginally (but only marginally) better over here - European harmonisation is making it worse, as did the Margaret Thatcher premiership... Philip.

27 years, 10 months

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classic computer list??

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

On Tue, 21 Jul 1998, Lawrence Walker wrote: > > On Sun, 19 Jul 1998, Wayne Cox wrote: > > > Hi, I was given this email address as being the "Classic Computer > > > Collectors List." Not sure if it is a "subscribe to" mailing list or an > > > individual. > > > > This is THE place 8-) Hope you got subscribed ok - if not - try again. > > ... > > Name: Classic Computer Rescue List > > URL: http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/1055/classic.html > > (Collectors by areas) > > Name: The Classic Computer Encyclopedia Page > > URL: http://www.xnet.com/~danjo/classic/ > > (Darn near dead - no input for about 6 months...) > > Name: Classic Computer ListOp > > URL: http://haliotis.bothell.washington.edu/classiccmp/ > > (Hmmmm... Bill - ya want to move this to a working system?) > > > > And don't forget Bill Yakowenko's classiccmp distributed Web-page archives at > > http://www .cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/classiccmp Uh, I took that down due to zero participation. A distributed anything with only one node is a truly pitiful sight. There is still a web page there, but now it's just my own little corner of the web - no more grand schemes. Bill.

27 years, 10 months

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QIC-36/QIC-02

by fmc＠reanimators.org

Christian Fandt <cfandt(a)servtech.com> wrote: > DC600 carts are the _physical_ media on which data is stored. I wasn't > saying DC600 is a format nor was QICxx a format HP uses (never knew what > protocol HP used 'til you mentioned HCD a bit later in yr msg.) Yes, the physical carts seem to be the same -- it's easy enough to scribble over the HCD formatting with a QIC format, at which point the tape is no longer usable in an HCD drive. So far as I know the HCD formatting must be written at the factory, and the tapes I've seen have had either HP or 3M labels on them. HP also seems to put down its own higher-level format on the tapes that it sells. Here's a story: Once upon a time the purchasing agent found she could save a few bucks ordering the 3M flavor of the tapes, and so we got one for testing. Well...on the 3000, the software for manipulating these things treats them as serial discs (which is exactly as wacky as it sounds, the tape drive is a CS/80 device and so the tapes are addressed by block), and so you're supposed to use the VINIT tool to format the "disc" and "serialize" it (i.e. write a volume label that says "this is a serial disc" for auto-volume recognition to read later). So what I noticed in my tests was that the 3M tape, when new, took 15 minutes for the FORMAT step, vs. the HP tapes which took seconds. I suspect that the time was taken by the tape drive formatting the tape and writing out the canonical CS/80 stuff like bad-block sparing tables and so forth, and that HP does this at their factory. -Frank McConnell

27 years, 10 months

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Idiots

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Fine, fine, if you insist...in ' The Soul of a New Machine', it is mentioned that IBM in the late '70s was in court almost continuously. What was the bulk of this about? > >How about classic computers? > >Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com >------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Ever onward. > > September 26 & 27...Vintage Computer Festival 2 > See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details! > [Last web page update: 07/21/98] > > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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Idiots

by franke＠sbs.de

> Thread getting old now...how about talking about abortion, politics, or > environmental issues? Or maybe ice fishing. Cripes... Cripes ????? H. -- Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut HRK

27 years, 10 months

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Idiots

by franke＠sbs.de

> While we're on this subject, are stupid lawsuits as common in UK > and other countries as the US? No, at least in Germany most of these laughable cases are rejectet from court. But we like to laugh about the US system. Gruss H. -- Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut HRK

27 years, 10 months

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Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by franke＠sbs.de

> Hans Franke wrote: >> b) I had, until I switched to ISDN, still a 1927 Telephone >> in every day use. Worked fine, even with the latest (analogue) >> exchange :) - Noy I connect it via an a/b adaptor. > Well done. But, pardon my ignorance, what is an a/b adaptor? Sorry German tech talk - a/b are the 'names' of the two wires for two wire (analogue) telephone connections - and an a/b-adaptor is just a ISDN <-> analogue converter - so you van connect old phones (dtmf and pulse) to ISDN lines. > I've often wondered about adding a BCD-DTMF chip and a pulse counter to > make dial phones do tones for all the robots you ring up and have to > type numbers to communicate with. But where do I put # and *? > Suggestions? SHIFT-ALT-CTRL-1 ? Grin(s) H. -- Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut HRK

27 years, 10 months

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Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

Hans Franke wrote: > b) I had, until I switched to ISDN, still a 1927 Telephone > in every day use. Worked fine, even with the latest (analogue) > exchange :) - Noy I connect it via an a/b adaptor. Well done. But, pardon my ignorance, what is an a/b adaptor? I've often wondered about adding a BCD-DTMF chip and a pulse counter to make dial phones do tones for all the robots you ring up and have to type numbers to communicate with. But where do I put # and *? Suggestions? Philip.

27 years, 10 months

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Iomega ALPHA-10

by cfandt＠servtech.com

I need a manual or a decent copy of one and any other available info on the Iomega ALPHA-10 SCSI removable disk drive. Nothing at the Iomega website, just the newer stuff. Thanks, Chris -- -- Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian Jamestown, NY USA Member of Antique Wireless Association URL: http://www.ggw.org/freenet/a/awa/

27 years, 10 months

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Idiots

by sie＠systemfile.demon.co.uk

-----Original Message----- From: Don Maslin <donm(a)cts.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: 22 July 1998 19:00 Subject: Re: Idiots >On Wed, 22 Jul 1998, Max Eskin wrote: > >> While we're on this subject, are stupid lawsuits as common in UK >> and other countries as the US? >> >> ______________________________________________________ >> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com > >It is my understanding that in UK the loser pays all legal costs which >tends to discourage filing frivolous suits. No, this is no the case. I know personaly of a case where the victim lost more in expenses bringing the case to court than the offender was eventually fined for the offence. It's all a bit backward in the UK I'm afraid. Compensation for serious injury is a complete joke. We have murderers released from prison after serving only half of their sentance. So, while I laugh at the "My neighbour pulled a nasty face at my cat" type lawsuits in the US. I do feel that the system in the UK is grossly unfair in the opposite way, with the victims of crime rarely receiving justice. Sie

27 years, 10 months

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RT-11 Help

by jpl15＠netcom.com

Hello List-ites.... I have a question for the non-RT11-impaired among us: I am attempting (sporadically) to get an 11/34a back in it's original shape, when it ran a Hollywood audio company's accounting and sales functions. It had two RK05s and several software packages running under MACRO, Unix, and USCD pSystem Pascal. Right now only one of the drives is hooked up, set to drive '0'. It will boot and run the UCSD stuff and it will boot RT-11(V2.0).... except that, in 7 out of the 7 packs with RT-11.... it is as if KMON was missing or damaged; it boots up to the dot prompt and then returns the ?ILL? message no matter which command I give it. I have RT-11(V5.0) on my 11/73 and it is fully functional, so I have had some cursory (N.P.I.) experience with the OS. I am at another one of those self-teaching impasses.. I can't do much more with the system the way it is... sigh. Has anyone any ideas? Magic words? Mystery switches? Or should I just chuck this wretched humiliating heavy loud time-consuming suppossed-to-be-a-fun-toy..... sorry. Time for my meds again. I'm fine now... quite calm actually. help. Cheers..... John PS: Anyone found a junk Kennedy 9300 tape machine whose vacuum column door is in good shape... I *need* one real bad.... J

27 years, 10 months

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WTB: Jupiter Ace

by sie＠systemfile.demon.co.uk

Anyone got a Jupiter Ace they'd be prepared to part with ? Sie

27 years, 10 months

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Compaq (off topic)

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

>> That's dead, I'll replace it. Should I also change the black bar- >> shaped 7.5 v cell? It's dead too, and I don't know what it's for. > > I'm not sure if the 7.5V bettery is required for the machine to power > up, on the other hand, it wasn't _designed_ to be dead, so it can do no > harm to replace it. It isn't required. Replacing mine did no good (ie powered up but didn't retain all settings, with old or new battery). New ones, being NiCd, are supplied fully discharged anyway. Philip.

27 years, 10 months

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Compaq

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

>> This one I must agree with. Thank god I had some metric phillips >> drivers to turn those Torx screws!!! >> >You forgot one category: Most difficult to open. The last LTE I tried >> to >> >open required the skill of a surgeon to dissassemble. Phillips driver to turn a Torx screw? Shame on you! Flat bladed much more effective provided you select the correct width ;-) > Since when does the use of Torx screws make something difficult to > dismantle? They're a lot better than the crosspoint (Phillips, Pozidriv, > etc) screws, which almost seem to be designed to cause the driver to > 'cam out' when you try to shift them. > > Dismantling is easy, anyway. It's getting it back together that's > interesting... Dismantling the LTE-lite 20 is not easy. For those who wish to have a go: 1. Find the four obvious screws at the back of the case. Make sure they are properly done up :-) Don't undo them! If you do you will cause permanent damage. 2. Remove battery. Screwdriver inside battery compartment will pop some of the clips that hold the top cover off. 3. Work around the edges, using additional force at the front corners, until top cover fully popped. Then fold screen right back and lift off cover. 4. Next undo the screw that holds the display cable in place (for cable read flexible pcb) and unplug said cable. 5. Then and only then can you undo the four screws at the back, and detach the screen. Thereafter, fairly obvious. All the screws are Torx 9, except for a few very small phillips in the display... If you start by undoing the obvious screws, you will tear the display cable, and it costs around 30 pounds to replace. Compaq don't sell to the general public. but will tell you the names of dealers who do. (Guess how I found that out!) Philip.

27 years, 10 months

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Idiots

by Marty＠itgonline.com

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: Re: Idiots Author: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu at internet Date: 7/22/98 2:09 PM -----Original Message----- From: Don Maslin <donm(a)cts.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: 22 July 1998 19:00 Subject: Re: Idiots >On Wed, 22 Jul 1998, Max Eskin wrote: > >> While we're on this subject, are stupid lawsuits as common in UK >> and other countries as the US? >> >> ______________________________________________________ >> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com > >It is my understanding that in UK the loser pays all legal costs which >tends to discourage filing frivolous suits. No, this is no the case. I know personaly of a case where the victim lost more in expenses bringing the case to court than the offender was eventually fined for the offence. It's all a bit backward in the UK I'm afraid. Compensation for serious injury is a complete joke. We have murderers released from prison after serving only half of their sentance. So, while I laugh at the "My neighbour pulled a nasty face at my cat" type lawsuits in the US. I do feel that the system in the UK is grossly unfair in the opposite way, with the victims of crime rarely receiving justice. Sie ------ Message Header Follows ------ Received: from lists3.u.washington.edu by smtp.itgonline.com (PostalUnion/SMTP(tm) v2.1.9i(b5) for Windows NT(tm)) id AA-1998Jul22.140944.1767.52719; Wed, 22 Jul 1998 14:09:45 -0400 Received: from host (lists.u.washington.edu [140.142.56.13]) by lists3.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.05) with SMTP id LAA17437; Wed, 22 Jul 1998 11:07:29 -0700 Received: from mxu3.u.washington.edu (mxu3.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.7]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.05) with ESMTP id LAA71130 for <classiccmp(a)lists.u.washington.edu>; Wed, 22 Jul 1998 11:07:25 -0700 Received: from rubicon.hasler.ascom.ch (rubicon.hasler.ascom.ch [139.79.129.1]) by mxu3.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW98.06) with ESMTP id LAA11798 for <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>; Wed, 22 Jul 1998 11:07:23 -0700 Received: from ens.ascom.ch (chieftain.ens.ascom.ch [139.79.60.1]) by rubicon.hasler.ascom.ch (8.8.7/8.8.7) with SMTP id UAA29648 for <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>; Wed, 22 Jul 1998 20:07:16 +0200 (MET DS T) Received: from htva03 (htva03.ens.ascom.ch) by ens.ascom.ch (4.1/SMI-4.1-DNI-7.0.1) id AA09613; Wed, 22 Jul 98 20:08:47 +0200 Message-Id: <006f01bdb5a3$fb1fbda0$96a14f8b(a)htva03.ens.ascom.ch> Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 20:07:32 +0100 Reply-To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu Sender: CLASSICCMP-owner(a)u.washington.edu Precedence: bulk From: "Sie Raybould" <sie(a)systemfile.demon.co.uk> To: "Discussion re-collecting of classic computers" <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Subject: Re: Idiots Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-To: <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> X-Priority: 3 X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 beta -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN

27 years, 10 months

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Compaq

by allisonp＠world.std.com

> Generally I'd agree, but in the case of the DEC VR201 I was challenged < > It took me some 2 hrs. and I was ready to rip the case off before I fina < > figured out that "that interesting little button on the rear" concealed < > screw that held it all together. I think some fine art students on peyot < > must have designed that case. It is unique I will admit. < > < > ciao larry < > lwalker(a)interlog.com While the VT100 case was easy to open the legal climate changed and easy to open meant users (meaning idiots) should open it and hurt themselves so they could sue. Screws like that oen in the VR200 and also others were meant as a legal dodge as if you went through all the trouble to open that you were delberate and if anything bad happnes it's on your head not DECs. As some oen involved in the design process we always had to banance easy to open with should it be openable at all. I know I was around DEC from 83->93 and worked with the corperate safety folks. You would not believe the stories we would share... Allison

27 years, 10 months

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Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

Tony ended his long discourse on telephones with: > In practice, you're not going to damage the exchange no matter what you do > to the line at the subscriber end. The incoming lines are protected by an > array of spark gaps (probably gas filled), fuses and 'heat coils'. The old > electromechanical exchanges were certainly protected against lightening, > contact between telephone lines and (600V-ish) power lines, etc. Mains, at > the far end of the line, is trivial in comparison. ISTR that at our sites (electricity supply industry) we have to install special isolators on phone lines if the rise in local earth potential due to an earth fault exceeds 650V. Such sites are known as "hot sites". The implication is, anything less than 650V to ground the exchange can cope with. Besides, I think the limiting factor is safety of engineers working at exchanges... Philip.

27 years, 10 months

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Idiots

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

While we're on this subject, are stupid lawsuits as common in UK and other countries as the US? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by peacock＠simconv.com

> I've often wondered about adding a BCD-DTMF chip and a pulse counter to make dial phones do tones for all the robots you ring up and have to type numbers to communicate with. But where do I put # and *? Suggestions? Do what I do, refuse to use robot phone systems, always wait till an operator comes on line. If a company is too cheap to pay someone to answer the phone I certainly don't want to do business with them, it's a clear indication of the level of service I can expect. Jack Peacock

27 years, 10 months

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Idiots

by peacock＠simconv.com

> While we're on this subject, are stupid lawsuits as common in UK and other countries as the US? There was the slander lawsuit in the UK brought by McDonalds against some food activist pressure group. On the surface it sounded stupid, took forever, but in the end it proved to be a wise business choice for McDonalds. IIRC McDonalds won some small victory from it but it was a brilliant first strike to stop any future pressure groups. On the other hand even McDonalds loses a few. I think it was the McDonalds in downtown Shanghai, the Chinese Govt decided they wanted the property and booted McD out even thought McD had a lease on it. McD tried to sue in Chinese court, which surely qualifies as a stupid lawsuit in China. Jack peacock

27 years, 10 months

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Compaq (off topic)

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Well, I bought a replacement coin battery...it's starting up off the SMPSU from my Packard Bell. Hmm...the screen on my Mac Portable is a million times better...how do I get into the CMOS setup in this thing? Since the settings are reset, I can't get to the hard drive for any potential setup programs. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 10 months

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For your amusement only....

by cfandt＠servtech.com

FWIW: just to give some of you a bit of fun; no futher discussion needed here as it's kinda off topic. Found this in comp.sys.ibm.sys3x.misc. Don't know for sure if Mr. Welch really gave the press rls. Posted on Thu, 16 Jul 1998: At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry and stated: "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving twenty-five dollar cars that got 1000 miles to the gallon. In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating (by Mr. Welch himself): If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics: 1. For no reason whatsoever your car would crash twice a day. 2. Every time they repainted the lines on the road you would have to buy a new car. 3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason, and you would just accept this, restart and drive on. 4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn, would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine. 5. Only one person at a time could use the car, unless you bought "Car95" or "CarNT". But then you would have to buy more seats. 6. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, reliable, five times as fast, and twice as easy to drive, but would only run on five per cent of the roads. 7. The oil, water temperature and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single "general car default" warning light. 8. New seats would force everyone to have the same size butt. 9. The air bag system would say "Are you sure?" before going off. 10. Occasionally for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key, and grab hold of the radio antenna. 11. GM would require all car buyers to also purchase a deluxe set of Rand McNally road maps (now a GM subsidiary), even though they neither need or want them. Attempting to delete this option would immediately cause the car's performance to diminish by 50% or more. Moreover, GM would become a target for investigation by the Justice Department. 12. Every time GM introduced a new model car, buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car. 13. You'd press the "start" button to shut off the engine. -- -- Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian Jamestown, NY USA Member of Antique Wireless Association URL: http://www.ggw.org/freenet/a/awa/

27 years, 10 months

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Compaq//safety issues

by bill.sheehan＠stoneweb.com

While I suppose it's technically possible to be electrocuted by anything plugged into a wall outlet, I really have a hard time buying this story. There's got to be more to it than that. Can you tell me in what newspaper it appeared? "Charles E. Fox" <foxvideo(a)wincom.net> on 07/22/98 09:47:50 AM Please respond to classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu To: "Discussion re-collecting of classic computers" <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> cc: (bcc: Bill Sheehan/Corporate/SWEC) Subject: Re: Compaq//safety issues Todays paper has an article about a fourteen year old Southern Ontario boy who electrocuted himself while using his computer "when the keyboard became disconnected and he tried to plug it in"!! This sounds nearly impossible and very hard on all the young people who are trying to conn a computer out of their parents. If I hear any more I will pass it along. Charlie Fox

27 years, 10 months

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Overpriced ZX80

by franke＠sbs.de

>> $460!!!! That CAN'T right! I going to throw away my Altair and start >> looking for Sinclairs to sell on E-pay! > But to us british the ZX80 has the same nostalgic value as an Altair. The > highest price I have seen a ZX80 go for here in the UK was 180 UKP but > this example was fully boxed, the correct manuals, mint condition and > known to work. 460 USD ? 180 UKP ? Wooha! And I just gave away a ZX80 for free last week (to a fellow collector - Stefan, did you check it ? Working ?). Althrugh it is an early ZX80 (see the glossing 'Keyboard' ? Later modells had a darkened keymat to give a chance for guessing the keys) I wouldn't pay anything more than DM 80-100 (~ USD 60, UKP 30) - no way. ZX80 is sill somewhat common. There are a lot of newer devices that are realy rare. Shure, the ZX81 is for most people more nostalgic than any KIM, AIM or Altair, since it was (together with the ZX81) the first computer for a real lot of people. Gruss H. -- Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut HRK

27 years, 11 months

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Overpriced ZX80

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< On Tue, 21 Jul 1998, Doug Yowza wrote: < < > For your amusement: < > http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=21496167 < < I am so utterly appalled at this. Sounds like the old practice of having a shill drive up the price. Allison

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

LOL, i love that disclaimer. time to reedit my .sig file... perhaps everyone should use it nowadays? In a message dated 98-07-21 23:57:06 EDT, Don Maslin put forth: << Disclaimer: As a resident of the '90's, I take no responsibility for anything I say or do. If any of my actions hurt or offend anyone, it was probably not my fault, and the result of some childhood trauma which I've probably repressed. >>

27 years, 11 months

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Overpriced ZX80

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

At 10:20 PM 7/21/98 -0500, you wrote: >For your amusement: > http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=21496167 > >-- Doug $460!!!! That CAN'T right! I going to throw away my Altair and start looking for Sinclairs to sell on E-pay! (Just kidding!!!!!!!!) Go look at his other ads. He has a 1 cent paper bill that some fool has bid $5 for!

27 years, 11 months

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test

by blndpete＠raex.com

Hi every one this a test, I am just checking addresses. Pete Net-Tamer V 1.11 - Registered

27 years, 11 months

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Mac Portable Progress

by tomowad＠earthlink.net

> 1. The portable won't accept a 1.44mb disk created with a PowerMac >but that contains System 6.0.1 (I get the disk with the "X" in it). I >thought that the drive was a 1.44mb disk. The Mac Portables did ship with 1.44mb drives, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's what yours has. I came across one once that had been replaced with an 800k. > 3. It will not accept an 800k disk formatted by an SE/30 which >contains System 6.0.1. > 4. It *will* accept an 800k installer disk, but it complains that the >disk contains a "minimal" script file, and that I need a "full" install >script. Arrrgh... So you actually get a happy Mac when you insert that disk? Have you tried a genuine System Tools disk? Tom Owad -- Sysop of Caesarville Online Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/>

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq

by mbg＠world.std.com

>Person tries to commit suicide using electric drill. Not fatal, >significant brain damage. Heirs sue and the award is in the millions. >Reason, does not say the drill should not be used for surgery. >Pilot and passenger die in 1947 Piper Cub afer crashing on take off. >Two fatal, payment over $25,000,000. Reason, no shoulder harnesses. This may be simply anecdotal, but keeping in mind the other two: Man (accidently) walks into spinning tail rotor of helicopter... his family sues because it wasn't placarded that it might be dangerous to walk into rotating blades... ("Think of it as evolution in action.") :-) Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of ' ' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

27 years, 11 months

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Overpriced ZX80

by higginbo＠netpath.net

Ya know, I sold one of these for about $15 one time, not too long ago, wait, mine was the ZX81. C'mon guys, let's all sell our computers on ebay! After we become billionaires, we can buy out microsoft and make Slick Billy lick our boots! :) At 10:20 PM 7/21/98 -0500, Doug Yowza wrote: >For your amusement: > http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=21496167 > >-- Doug > > - - john higginbotham ____________________________ - webmaster www.pntprinting.com - - limbo limbo.netpath.net -

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq

by allisonp＠world.std.com

classic Safety things... LP25 gas springs that would die and drop the lid on the unwary head under it. Service engineer installing an RL02 in top of a mostly empty 50" cab has it topple forward and suffers injury. Reason, failed to extend and tighten anti-tip foot in the front of cab, disk installed against recommendations. Injuries include fracture and lacerations to leg. In the greater realm there are some that are near urban legend save for companies really paid for the frivilous though profitable(for someone) litigation of the 80s. Person tries to commit suicide using electric drill. Not fatal, significant brain damage. Heirs sue and the award is in the millions. Reason, does not say the drill should not be used for surgery. Two guys get drunk, decide they need to trim the hedges using gas powered lawn mower. Non fatal, loss of fingers. Suit paid out of court for 7 digits, reason; didn't say you can't use it for other than mowing lawn anywhere on the machine. Following years all sorts of blade brakes, kill switches and labels appear. Pilot and passenger die in 1947 Piper Cub afer crashing on take off. Two fatal, payment over $25,000,000. Reason, no shoulder harnesses. Special note: Private pilot didn't have required valid flight review for that two year period needed to exercise the privilge of pilot in command. The pilot did not have the required flight time in the previous 90 days to exercise the privledge of carrying passengers. The purpose of flight was commercial photography (private pilot cannot hire out). The plane was modified illegally and improperly to mount a camara for the purpose of the flight was the cause of the loss of visibility for the pilot. The FAA issued in 1978 a directive that all aircraft will have shoulder harnesses installed. Despite an illegal operation, non complying pilot and aircraft an excuse was found to force libility on the manufacturer of the plane of some 40+ years age. < 1. Discourage third party maintenance. Least of the worries. Not a competative issue in reality. Cost to repair was near cost ot manufacuture so they had better be cheap. < 2. Avoid having the problems caused by the #$%^&* plastic clips on the < VT100 breaking. Is there a cheap source of 'em for my pile of VT100's < I've been using bolts and crazy glue and nuts when needed. That was also a consideration. as time progresed better fasteners, cost driven elements and producability items would all instigate various solutions. Allison

27 years, 11 months

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Vic 20 & Commodore 64 peripherals wanted (fwd)

by siconic＠jasmine.psyber.com

Does anybody have any C64 or VIC-20 peripherals to sell? Please see message below tag line. Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)verio.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 26 & 27...Vintage Computer Festival 2! See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details [Last web page update: 07/21/98] ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 17:47:50 EDT From: Ferock(a)aol.com To: siconic(a)jasmine.psyber.com Subject: Vic 20 & Commodore 64 I am looking to buy old peripheral equipment for the Commodore 64 and Vic 20. If you know anyone that is interested in selling these please e-mail me or give me a call. Thanks Glenn Ferock(a)aol.com 212-596-9184

27 years, 11 months

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Wanted: Another magazine article series

by rcini＠email.msn.com

Hello, all: Does anyone have a copy of the Tim Patterson (Seattle Computer Products) article series from Byte? I belive that it talked about DOS (...or QDOS or 86/DOS...). Thanks. Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> - ClubWin/CW6 - MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking - Preserver of "classic" computers <<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>

27 years, 11 months

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Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

The whole movie makes ya wonder about the future of society. Can't a guy be nice any more without being gay? Annyway, for those who haven't seen it, a supermodel is frantically stabbing at the numbers on the dial, not knowing that the thing must be turned. What's a CLI? >(There's a great scene in In & Out involving a rotary phone... makes ya >think about the future of CLI's...) > > >--------------------------------------------------------------------- O- > >Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad >roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." >Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates >San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/ > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

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Mac Portable Progress

by rcini＠email.msn.com

Well, I made some progess with the Mac Portable today. Although I still don't know what the Sad Mac code $0F means (all the FAQs that I've read skip >from $0E to $10). Here's what I've found: 1. The portable won't accept a 1.44mb disk created with a PowerMac but that contains System 6.0.1 (I get the disk with the "X" in it). I thought that the drive was a 1.44mb disk. 2. It will not accept a 400k disk. 3. It will not accept an 800k disk formatted by an SE/30 which contains System 6.0.1. 4. It *will* accept an 800k installer disk, but it complains that the disk contains a "minimal" script file, and that I need a "full" install script. Arrrgh... Time to hit ftp.apple.com Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> - ClubWin/CW6 - MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking - Preserver of "classic" computers <<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>

27 years, 11 months

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Severely offtopic, but...

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

I still don't get it. Anyway, while we're on topic, has everyone heard that the U.S.S. Yorktown's NT system crashed, causing it's engines to fail and forcing a towboat to pull it back to shore? The Navy is considering installing more NT systems; they won't install UNIX due to some protocol, not sure. Check www.osnews.com/news for the link to the story. >Do you know what Hello Kitty is? >If so, amuse yourself with the following... > >http://www.sanrio.co.jp/products/notepc/notepc.html >Ignore the Japanese, what you're intersted in is down a little ways. > >When they make one like Ami-chan's got, I'll be interested. >------- > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

This is slightly different. It is difficult to see spinning blades, and people in third world countries who aren't used to helicopters are known to injure themselves, not noticing them. Especially if this was the same guy who drilled his brains out :) I assume you've all heard of the Darwin awards... >>Person tries to commit suicide using electric drill. Not fatal, >>significant brain damage. Heirs sue and the award is in the millions. >>Reason, does not say the drill should not be used for surgery. >This may be simply anecdotal, but keeping in mind the other two: > >Man (accidently) walks into spinning tail rotor of helicopter... his >family sues because it wasn't placarded that it might be dangerous to >walk into rotating blades... > >("Think of it as evolution in action.") :-) > > Megan Gentry > Former RT-11 Developer > >+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ >| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry zk3.dec.com | >| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg world.std.com | >| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of ' ' | >| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | >| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | >| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | >+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq (off topic)

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

That's dead, I'll replace it. Should I also change the black bar- shaped 7.5 v cell? It's dead too, and I don't know what it's for. >> The thing powers up off the keyboard, like a mac. I tried powering it >> off a PC SMPSU, otherwise loaded by the PC from which it came. The >> PSU was working fine, and I got correct voltages, even the right >> voltages on the external power connector on the laptop (I connected >> the wires to the battery terminals). And now matter how many times I >> pressed the on button, the #*%^)!$ thing wouldn't start. Ideas? > >I've seen this one several times. > >Check/change the 3V 'coin cell' - the disk-like lithium cell that's >hidden inside the machine. It's needed for the power-on switch to work. > >-tony > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

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TI99: TIcK OS (a little to one side of topic)

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< >Another is more complex but offers a few more possibilities. Use on the < >the interrupt levels and put ram at the rom addresses. The load vector < >can then be used to copy the ROMS from somewhere else to low memory. By < >doing this rom patching can be done or complete overlay of that 8k space < < Of course, but it also would require a *lot* of hacking to get done < and has some potential dangers. Mind you, P0 and P1 are free on the < 9901 and could be used as "page bits" for multiple segments of < ROM/RAM. Personally I like to keep things simple. Writing ROM < overlays is not fun and I'd rather avoid it. B'sides, if I can get < away with just using 2 *Very cheap* TTL components, so be it. I'll < still put POLLs in my software, but I'll include an IFD in my macro < and compile 2 versions, one with, one without. Not really. the trick used in 9900s is to use load to start a rom based program that copies itself to where ever needed and then turns itself off. The way I'd do it is to put a small rom at F000h and ram where the old roms were. The old rom can then be located at D000h with only a few bits (one) needed to turn off the old roms and the boot room. I do this all the time with Z80s to get the system totaly ram based but with the advantages of rom start up/restart. The trivial trick is to make it seem invisible. the big advantage is if you want to use the memory for something else you can but makesure to do a relod if you want things back to normal. I recently got an extra console that will be modified so that a pair of 32kx8s will map in to where rom, and 32kb expansion ram would be. IE: 0000->3fffh and A000->FFFFh. using 2 32kx8s keeps the chip count low even though 50% is wasted, besides they are cheap. The effect is the system could be much faster as it does not need the PEB access for base ram. I may want to yuse the full 64kb of the pars so I need to know how one of the larger cards like the corcomp 512k map. Do they do it as if it were multiples of 32k or are the two segments (2000->3FFFh and A000->FFFFh) mapped seperately or is it done in 8k segments? < Just a little FIFO would work well, but then, if the CPU bottlenecks < on data because it is physically too slow to even PROCESS the data, < such high data rates become useless and potentially dangerous. Not really it's a matter of buffering the data and post processing it when the tide slows or issueing an Xoff/suspend to stop the flow before the buffer overfills. This situation is nothing new, though in the world of CPU with clocks in the UHF region people may forget that. However the problems of data arriving faster than it can be processed is old hat. Besides with a ramdisk buffering a few kb of data is nothing. Allison

27 years, 11 months

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How many computers?

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

Okay, for me it's easy: <http://www.sinasohn.com/clascomp/> 8^) Not listed is a "101 California" terminal, a Zenith keyboard terminal, Fujitsu Stylistic 500, Everex 386 Laptop, and the 128K mac, Altos 8000, HP 3000, HP 9000/310, and hp9000/345. Hmmm. And the odd 8-bit atari, and the MSX machine, and a few others that don't really fit into my collection. So, it's a little over 100, of which 80+ are portables. --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

27 years, 11 months

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Severely offtopic, but...

by DSEAGRAV＠toad.xkl.com

Do you know what Hello Kitty is? If so, amuse yourself with the following... http://www.sanrio.co.jp/products/notepc/notepc.html Ignore the Japanese, what you're intersted in is down a little ways. When they make one like Ami-chan's got, I'll be interested. -------

27 years, 11 months

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Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< knowing that the thing must be turned. What's a CLI? < >(There's a great scene in In & Out involving a rotary phone... makes < ya < >think about the future of CLI's...) Command line interface... what you say to dos if ther isn't winders in the way. Allison

27 years, 11 months

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How many computers?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jul 18, 22:53, Tony Duell wrote: > Subject: Re: How many computers? > > My friend reports that the Graduate doesn't have a BBC ROM, and indeed > > doesn't use the Tube. It uses the 1MHz bus to access BBC I/O, apparently. > > You know, I thought I remembered it having a 34 pin ribbon cable. (1MHz > bus, not Tube).... Time to dig it out and experiment. > > How on earth does the Beeb know it's there, though, without a ROM. > Acorn's MOS (the Beeb ROM OS) doesn't look for peripherals on the 1MHz > bus, surely?. I can't believe it needed a BBC disk as well... Yes, I find that very odd too. The address lines, page selects, and R/W signals on the 1MHz bus are unidirectional (direction: out of Beeb) so about the only things the Graduate could control would be the NMI, IRQ, and analogue input lines. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years, 11 months

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classic computer list??

by lwalker＠mail.interlog.com

> > On Sun, 19 Jul 1998, Wayne Cox wrote: > > Hi, I was given this email address as being the "Classic Computer > > Collectors List." Not sure if it is a "subscribe to" mailing list or an > > individual. > > This is THE place 8-) Hope you got subscribed ok - if not - try again. > And stand back for about 50+ messages a day ranging from Z1 to the - well > latest thing (frowned on but never ignored 8-) > > > I have some antiquated DEC equipment I'd like to see find a > > good home and was refered here. > > Interesting thought - I mean IS there such a thing as an - > 'antiquated DEC equipment' > I thought not 8-) Your ISP is out of Ohio... Is that where the equipment > is? A list of what is available and where would help out a lot. > > > -Wayne Cox > > wcox(a)infinet.com, wcox(a)usaeroteam.com > > Once again - Welcome! > > BC > ========================================================================= > Name: Classic Computer Rescue List > URL: http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/1055/classic.html > (Collectors by areas) > Name: The Classic Computer Encyclopedia Page > URL: http://www.xnet.com/~danjo/classic/ > (Darn near dead - no input for about 6 months...) > Name: Classic Computer ListOp > URL: http://haliotis.bothell.washington.edu/classiccmp/ > (Hmmmm... Bill - ya want to move this to a working system?) > And don't forget Bill Yakowenko's classiccmp distributed Web-page archives at http://www .cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/classiccmp and Doug Yowza's classiccmp FAQ backup at http://www.yowza.com/classiccmp Does anyone know if haliotis is still archiving ? My machine always hangs when I try and access it. ciao larry lwalker(a)interlog.com lwalker(a)interlog.com

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq (off topic)

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

The thing powers up off the keyboard, like a mac. I tried powering it off a PC SMPSU, otherwise loaded by the PC from which it came. The PSU was working fine, and I got correct voltages, even the right voltages on the external power connector on the laptop (I connected the wires to the battery terminals). And now matter how many times I pressed the on button, the #*%^)!$ thing wouldn't start. Ideas? >Surely you mean 170mA here. It's normal to charge at the C/10 rate, at >least when trickle charging. And I'd give it about 14 hours to make up >for losses in the battery (you never get the energy out that you put in). > >> If the 'float voltage of the battery goes over the 12v figure, that will >> cut down the charging current. The _best_ thing would be a milliammeter >> on the PS output, and a variac controlling input of the _big_ PS. > >Wait a second. I thought he was using a PC power supply. Those have >internal regulation. Hanging one off a Variac won't do a darn thing apart >from test the line regulation of the PSU. > >> >> Now, as to whether or not you can get away with the 'big PS' on the >> laptop instead of the battery? If at all possible, don't try. The >> battery is providing an imense ammount of conditioning to the incoming >> power flow. (There are amazing ammounts of garbage floating on top of >> the normal PS output. [everything from 'lightning induced spikes, on > >Every regulated power supply that I have ever seen has a fair amount of >internal filtering. Now while it's not a good idea to only load one of >the subsiduary outputs of an SMPS (and remember that in a PC PSU, the 5V >output is the main one, from which the regualtor sense lines are taken), >I think that noise on the output would be the least of your worries. > >> down to spikes from the local refrigerator turning on].) If you _must_ >> try, it won't hurt to throw a few thousand mfd of capacitor across >> things. Voltage wise, you are probably O.K. > >There's probably 2200-4700uF inside the PSU across the 12V rail. > >> >> Chuck > >-tony > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

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Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by ThisTime＠aol.com

Puh-leeze! With humour that consistently bad, let me make a suggestion. 86 the pathetic attempts at humour. Keep on topic without trying to be cute all the time. Ghia In a message dated 98-07-20 21:14:48 EDT, you write: << One thing that can be said for those ancient Western Electric clunkers is that they can't be killed, they can only be landfilled at a crossroad with a stake through the bell. Rumour has it that that after World War III the cockroaches will be able to use them to call Elvis. -- Ward Griffiths <mailto:gram@cnct.com> <http://www.cnct.com/home/gram/> They say that politics makes strange bedfellows. Of course, the main reason they cuddle up is to screw somebody else. Michael Flynn, _Rogue Star_ >>

27 years, 11 months

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Old Phones (was: Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal)

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

While we're on the subject of old phones and phone systems, if you're ever in Edmonton, (Alberta, Canada) there is a pretty cool telephone museum there. Edmonton had something like the first phone system in Alberta or maybe even Canada. Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool. --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

27 years, 11 months

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Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 02:31 PM 7/16/98 -0700, you wrote: >> Believe it or not there are still many people out there with old >(ancient) rotary dial telephones. > >Hey, I still have one, in my computer room (ex-spare bedroom) at home. Got one next to my bed for my main #. Also got a wall mount around somewhere, just waiting for a good place to mount it. (There's a great scene in In & Out involving a rotary phone... makes ya think about the future of CLI's...) --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

27 years, 11 months

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Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 10:12 AM 7/15/98 PDT, you wrote: >A short refresher on human psychology. Most of the time, a clearly >thinking person does not do anything they consider wrong. Your spammer >thinks he is doing someone a favor, and your songs are disrespectful Nah, Spammers just want to get rich, without consideration of the cost to others. No different than if I went to Safeway, shoved a bunch of sodas down my pants, and left to set up a store of my own. --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

27 years, 11 months

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(Fwd) Re: Tandy TRS80-Model II

by gram＠cnct.com

Lawrence Walker wrote: > To clearify, a Model II requires an additional CPU card. This is a MC68000 CPU > with a daughter card or two that may contain from 128K to 1 Meg of RAM. It > depends. There were several memory card configurations. I have some from > the 128K to the 1 Meg varity. The really rare ones are the 4 Meg memory cards. There was never a Tandy 4 Meg card. Bob Snapp had boards to take a 16 or 6000 up to 8 Meg, but the memory management permitted only a max of 1 Meg "user" RAM -- the rest could be used as RAM disk, permitting a /dev/swap far larger and faster than Tandy hardware. It was damned impressive to see his stuff at the Tangent conference in Fort Worth in 1986, 15 terminals (plus console) filePro databases faster than a stock system could with three users. > In addtion, You should have a HD controller. This card will have the WD1010 > or WD1020 chipset. It will allow you to attach up to 2 MFM drives. The > standard MFM cabling has one "Control" cable that is dasiy-chained to all > drives. Then the smaller "Data" cable is connected directly from the HD to > the drive controler card. I have not see a controler card that was able > to use more than two HDs at a time. All the Tandy manufactured card would > use the WD1010 chipset which allows up to 70Mb HDs. Some after-market > people upgraded to the WD1020 chipset which increased the HD capacity to > the 130 ro 150Mb range. I dont remember the exact upper limit although > they did not make MFM drives much larger that 150 Mb as I recall. All the > HDs should be free standing. Only a possiable drive select jummper should > differ the HDs in the external cases. Actually, except for the 6000HD which would only accept one external drive after the internal, all hard disk subsystems for the Model II/12/16/6000 line would permit four external drives, either all 8.4 Meg (the 8" Shugart "original" system) or any combination of 5, 12, 15, 35 or 70 MB (the later 5.25" system). At least that was the case with official Tandy hard drives.Those latter would also attach in quantities up to four to any of the Model One/3/4 product line or the Color Computer. That's what always surprised me when PCs and compatibles were limited to two drives, at least until SCSI and EIDE. -- Ward Griffiths <mailto:gram@cnct.com> <http://www.cnct.com/home/gram/> They say that politics makes strange bedfellows. Of course, the main reason they cuddle up is to screw somebody else. Michael Flynn, _Rogue Star_

27 years, 11 months

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classic computer list??

by wcox＠infinet.com

Hi, I was given this email address as being the "Classic Computer Collectors List." Not sure if it is a "subscribe to" mailing list or an individual. I have some antiquated DEC equipment I'd like to see find a good home and was refered here. -Wayne Cox wcox(a)infinet.com, wcox(a)usaeroteam.com

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq (off topic)

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Sorry to continue, but I don't currently have newsgroup access and I have serached on the newsgroups for my problem via Dejanews. I decided to attempt to recharge my battery using a PC power supply. Will this work? The battery is labelled to be 12V, 1.7 Ahr. It's a NiCd. The power supply is 12V 6Ah. I'm doing it now, but I'm wondering how long I should leave it, or should I not have done it at all. Also, can I power the laptop with 6ah directly from the PSU though the battery is rated at 1.7 without frying it? No more questions about this from me. Thanks. P.S. does anyone know why this laptop has three batteries? THe main one that I was talking about above, a little black 2.7v NiCd like on a PC, and a round flat one like in a watch, only bigger. What's this last one for? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

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Need info on classic iron.

by jeff.kaneko＠ifrsys.com

At 03:04 PM 7/20/98 -0500, you wrote: >2. Fortune 32:16, formerly running ForPro. Unfortunately, the boot drive crashed. He has tapes, >floppies, but no HD (I think) - is this worthy to be kept? The fortune 32:16 was one cool machine; it was way ahead for its time, so naturally, scarcely anyone bought them :-(

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq (off topic)

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Ok, one more question. This may seem dumb to you electronics experts, but when charging, should I attach the positive terminal of the AC adapter to the positive or to the negative terminal of the battery? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

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Transputer documentation required

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

Okay, I just dug through my bookshelf, and found a 1986 inmos databook. Chapter 5 is "Transputer Products", and includes the following: Selection Guide (1 page) IMS T414 Transputer (16 pages) IMS T212 Transputer (12 pages) IMS C001 Link Adaptor (4 pages) IMS C002 Link Adaptor (4 pages) IMS B001 Evaluation Board (4 pages) IMS B002 Evaluation Board (4 pages) IMS B004 Evaluation Board (4 pages) IMS D100 Development Station (4 pages) IMS D600 Development System VAX/VMS (4 pages) IMS D700 Development System IBM PC (4 pages) OCCAM (2 pages) Let me know if you need info from this, and if it is urgent. Cheers, Bill.

27 years, 11 months

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Thanks to the list...

by Anthony.Dellett＠Staples.com

> Dellett, Anthony wrote: > > > Well... I finally found one, I ordered a used Imsai 8080 from an > > undisclosed place in CA (they had one on consignment) and they're > > shipping it to me here in Boston. > > Not even gonna guess what shipping is cross country for that > heavy of a > machine. Does it work did they say? > Shipping was only $71, the guy is even foam packing it. I guess I can confess and say it's coming from Weird Stuff Warehouse in Sunnyvale. This is an as-is sale but I'm sure if it doesn't work, I can fix it :) Tony

27 years, 11 months

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Need info on classic iron.

by buck_c＠polygon.com

A friend of mine has two systems that he needs to find info on. 1. Symbolics 3650 - this system boots into a wierd LISP command prompt, but complains durring boot about not being able to find the rest of the "world." Any info to help admin the thing would be groovy. 2. Fortune 32:16, formerly running ForPro. Unfortunately, the boot drive crashed. He has tapes, floppies, but no HD (I think) - is this worthy to be kept? Any help will be appreciated. I might end up adding these systems to my collection, right next to my 7 VAX systems. -- J. Buck Caldwell Engineer - Technical Support - Webmaster Polygon, Inc. email:buck_c@polygon.com phone: (314) 432-4142 PO Box 8470 http://www.polygon.com/ fax: (314) 997-9696 St. Louis, MO 63132 ftp://ftp.polygon.com/ bbs: (314) 997-9682

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

These hinges are metal, and there's no pointing device of any sort. Do you know the pinout of the power connector or not? > >I have seen more broken hinges on Compaqs than any other machine. In >fact, I challenge anybody to find a used Compaq Concerto that doesn't have >broken hinges. There's a thriving third-party industry in Compaq Portable >repair. As a result of this, it's fairly easy to find replacement parts >for them (but often at high prices). > >As far as ergonomics go, I give you 10 minutes of trying to use that >screen-mounted track ball before you throw the machine across the room. > >> have to agree with. Unfortunatley, the docking station was being sold >> for more than the portable. But, hey! You use one too! Hipocrite ;) > >I use Compaqs to practice my repair technique. I got a couple of them >recently in which the hinges had become degreased and stiff, so the owners >broke the displays off trying to use their laptops. I haven't found a >good replacement for the hinges yet, but re-greasing and reinforcing the >hinges with metal plates gives me working 486 laptops at around $10 each. >I put them to work as dedicated controllers and linux servers since their >power consumption is lower than an old desktop. > >-- Doug > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq (off topic)

by ddameron＠earthlink.net

At 11:08 AM 7/20/98 PDT, you wrote: > >Sorry to continue, but I don't currently have newsgroup access and >I have serached on the newsgroups for my problem via Dejanews. >I decided to attempt to recharge my battery using a PC power supply. >Will this work? The battery is labelled to be 12V, 1.7 Ahr. It's a >NiCd. The power supply is 12V 6Ah. The power supply is probably rated at 6A, not 6Ah. 6 amps charging would be too much for an 1.7Amp hour battery and would greatly shorten its life. 200 or 300 mA would be much better. However, charging a 12 Volt battery off a 12 Volt regulated power supply most likely will not completely charge it, as the float charging voltage is closer to 13.5 volts. You need something designed as a charger to get the full capacity from the battery. -Dave

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq

by icyblackhand＠hotmail.com

Just want to brag, like the rest of you about this weeks' find. A Compaq SLT 286!! Anyone know anything about it, how much it's worth?? Mike Sheflin ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Remember that Compaq is the first PC clone maker and the first portable PC maker ever. I think that's not bad. >Bragging about Compaqs -- that's an interesting concept. Kind of like >being proud of pimples. > I doubt any of that is true. I mean, sure, they're not GRiDs, and I don't think this one is unergonomic. The power connector bit, I'll have to agree with. Unfortunatley, the docking station was being sold for more than the portable. But, hey! You use one too! Hipocrite ;) >Compaq is the leader in three areas of portable design: the world's most >fragile portables, the world's least ergonomic portables, and the world's >weirdest and largest variety of proprietary power connectors. > >The power adapter is pretty hard to find, compared to finding a >thrown-away LTE Lite. I've never seen the connector available as a >standard part. You can also power the thing from the proprietary bus >connector, so you might have an easier time finding a cheap docking >station to power/charge than finding/making an A/C adatper. > >Another alternative is a cool briefcase made for insurance adjusters that >was custom designed for the LTE Lite, and has an A/C plug in the >briefcase. You can get them for around $30 from Halted: > http://www.halted.com/ > >BTW, I need the flex cable that connects to the display of an LTE Lite. >I'll trade a battery for one. > >-- Doug > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq

by jeff.kaneko＠ifrsys.com

At 04:06 PM 7/19/98 -0500, you wrote: >On Sun, 19 Jul 1998, Max Eskin wrote: > >> I also want to brag that I got a Compaq Lite-25 486. > >Bragging about Compaqs -- that's an interesting concept. Kind of like >being proud of pimples. > >> question: does anyone know what their power connector pinout is? It's >> a weird little three-pin thing like the compaq monitor power >> interface. Does anyone have plugs or know where to get them? > >Compaq is the leader in three areas of portable design: the world's most >fragile portables, the world's least ergonomic portables, and the world's >weirdest and largest variety of proprietary power connectors. > You forgot one category: Most difficult to open. The last LTE I tried to open required the skill of a surgeon to dissassemble. Jeff

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How many computers?

by franke＠sbs.de

>>OK, possibly the last entry in this thread. (Hey, I've been too busy to >>keep up with this list!) > Nope, I'm even slower at getting around to doing things... :) Not slower, courious before sending myself, but now: Meeeeeeeeeeeee toooooooooooooooooo: Computer: KIM PC 100 (OEM AIM 65 from SIEMENS) PET (small and big Keyboard) CBM 2001 CBM 3016 (and several 40xx and 80xx) CBM SK 8296 CBM SK 8296D CBM 610 CBM 720 Commodore B500 (and some printers and floppies) VC-20 C64 (more than 10 - never counted) C64-II (C64C) C64G (and some 1541, 1570,1571 floppies) C128 C16 C116 Plus 4 Amiga 500 Amiga 1000 Amiga 2000 ITT MP-Experimerter SC/MP II EUROCOM I APPLE ][euro+ APPLE //c APPLE /// Lisa 2 Macintosh 128K Macintosh IIsi Macintosh LC II Macintosh Performa 630 DOS Basis 108 Ohio Superboard II TRS 80 Mod I Lv2 & Expansion TRS 80 Mod III & Hard Disk TRS 80 Model 4 Video-Genie EG2002 Colour Genie Olivetti M10 IBM-PC IBM-PC/XT Clone (And about 5 or 6 modern clones) SIRIUS 1 OSBORNE 1DQD Philips P2000C Pascal Microengine ATARI 400 (German and US) ATARI 800 (German and US) ATARI 600XL ATARI 800XL ATARI ST 520+ ATARI 1040 ST E ORIC 1 ORIC ATMOS Sinclair ZX80 Sinclair ZX81 Sinclair ZX Spectrum+ Sinclair Z88 Sinclair QL Your Computer (8300) Laser 50 Laser 2000 Dragon 32 Dragon 64 BBC Computer Yashica YC-64 (MSX I) Sony HiBit (MSX I) Philips VG8010/00 (MSX) S100-Bus Systems (several CPUs and so on) Eltec 80 SANYO MB 1000 Sharp MZ80A Sharp MZ80B Sharp MZ80K Sharp MZ811 Sharp MZ821 SWTP 6800 Motorola MEK6802D5 EXORterm (...), sowie ca. 15 weitere 6800, 6802 & 6809 Boards, ENTERPRISE 128 TA Alphatronic TA Alphatronic PC TA Walkstation 286 Superbrain HP 9121 Tatung TCS-4000 SIEMENS Mikroset 8080 SIEMENS 5521 SIEMENS PC 16-10 SIEMENS PC-D SIEMENS PC-MX (9780) SIEMENS PC-MX2 SIEMENS WS30-435(Apollo) SIEMENS PCD-3T SIEMENS PCD-4T SIEMENS PCD-4G 486er Clone Pentium. Terminals: TI Silent 700 TI Silent 709 Whisper Reader Mod 1951 SIEMENS 97801 (gruen && weis) EECO D400 Heazeltine 1000 (and several other) Taschenrechner: Newton OMP (OS 1.3 upgraded) Newton 120 (OS 1.3) Newton MP2000 Ti 74S SHARP PC 1211 SHARP PC 1241 SHARP PC 1250 SHARP PC 1251 SHARP PC 1261 SHARP PC 1430 SHARP PC 1500A sowie 14 nicht-Basic Taschenrechner. Videogames: ATARI XE ATARI Jaguar ATARI Lynx ATARI VCS ATARI VCS 2600 Philips G7000 MEMO TEST (and several early '80s junk :) Maybe sone are missing ... I never did a listing :( Gruss H. -- Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut HRK

27 years, 11 months

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QIC-36/QIC-02

by fmc＠reanimators.org

Christian Fandt <cfandt(a)servtech.com> wrote: > Aha! Now I can connect QIC36/QIC02.... My HP 250 uses DC600 type tape carts. Don't be too sure of that. If it's a 9144 drive or one integrated in a 79xx disc drive, it uses tapes that are mechanically the same but with a completely different format called HCD that predates the QIC formats and cannot be completely recorded in the field. THe format involves full-width block markers that can't be recorded by the heads in the drives. Bob Niland used to post something about this over in comp.sys.hp.* when someone popped the question. Go do a search in DejaNews for author rjn(a)csn.net in comp.sys.hp.hardware looking for the keywords QIC and HCD and you will probably turn it up. -Frank McConnell

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq

by JRichardson＠softwright.co.uk

>> Just want to brag, like the rest of you about this weeks' find. A >> Compaq SLT 286!! Anyone know anything about it, how much it's worth?? hmm, was there sarcasm buried in there or not? :) I've got one of those things somewhere... weighs about five tons and the battery lasts for about five minutes. Still, they were pretty well built machines, had mono VGA screens, the one I've got has a 42MB hard drive in it (which I suppose was pretty damn good for a laptop of that time). not really worth anything now (seem to remember they were over 4000 UK pounds when new - isn't depreciation great? ;) but you may find a use for it... (I suppose it has some nostalgia value for me - it was my first exposure to the world of PCs... I remember the hard drive on mine had been partitioned into two, and I spent months marvelling at a whole 12MB of space before I found the other 30MB ;*) cheers Jules >

27 years, 11 months

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subscription info, dec equipment

by wcox＠infinet.com

Wow... those were some really quick responses, thanks! The gear I'm looking to unload is a PDP 11/35 and a VAX 750, both in the Dayton, Ohio area. Fairly big stuff to move if you're familiar with. I hate to barge in on a mailing list and ask newbie questions; But if anyone could point me to, or provide info on subscribing, FAQs, etc I'd appreciate it ! Me?? - - A 30ish hack, teeth cut on PDPs and Apples in the late 70's. Why is my 45000000MHz windoze machine so @!#$ slow ?!?!? -Wayne

27 years, 11 months

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SoCal TRW Swapmeet

by jpl15＠netcom.com

A heads-up for any Southern CA GearHeads.. the TRW Swapmeet is this Saturday, the 25th, at the TRW El Segundo facility, from 7:30 am til 11:30 am. (Every month, always the *last* saturday) I have made many happy recoveries there over the years, including the $50 IMSAI 8080 / 4 8" drives/ tons o' software that I scored a few months back... and Marvin's Rockwell AIM with FORTH in PROM... as well as loads of electronic and radio-related Stuff. Anyone wishing more info, e-mail me direct... also it might be an Amusing Idea to have a bit of a get-together afterward... maybe? Just a (not original) thought... I have two permanent Selling Spaces... Items are cheerfully accepted for sale by you (unless they're bigger than my truck...) as long as I get Rights of First Refusal on yer jun^H^H^H merchandise. Cheers John

27 years, 11 months

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How many computers?

by lwalker＠mail.interlog.com

This thread is becoming awesome!! OK I've been holding off. Since I'm the great procrastinator, I've been avoiding catalogueing what I've got. Synapsis is I've got 40 to 50 computers, heavy into Atari and PS2 Many monitors that I'm weeding out to keep the unique ones like the Radius Portrait for Apples or historic like the IBM 5151and 5153. Vic-20, C-64 ,C-64c, C128 Mac Plus, Apple II, IIPlus , IIe CoCo 1 and CoCo 2 TI 4/99 TRS80 model II with 3 physically huge 8 meg HDDs Phillips Micom 2000 dedicated WP with an 8" Shugart and a Qume daisy wheel printer that has a power supply big enough to power a small villiage. Epson QX-10 which I'm only missing a monitor to activate. Phillips XT Luggable with pop-up floppies. The nicest design I've seen yet for a luggable. Kaypro 2X that I haven't got running yet, but soon. DEC Rainbow, one of my first garbage finds that after 4 years I finally have the all hardware for. Last week a local store anti'd up a BC002 cable. Wang PC002 no means of I/O , but I'm sure it will turn up. NEC Prospeed 286 laptop Numerous other MSDOS boxes I think what especially interests me are the external hacks. Like the Intel Inboard 386 board.in a 5150, or the hardcard drives. I have a good proportion of the Atari and C64 add-ons. I have an X1541 cable for a C64. The adapter on my CoCo 2 that I still haven't explored its use. A Videomate to use my old boxes as TV's long before the new TV cards for Windoze. Of course you could do the same with a VCR and a composite video. Quickshot remote control Joysticks Some graphics tablets. These were all attempts to respond to a burgeoning home-computer market that were developed in response to consaumer wants. Many of these small but highly innovative companies quickly disappeared. The boards switches were not easily evident unless you had the documentataion So if the board cloned the IBM docunentation you're home-free but if it was a board that had anomilies, you're on your own. That to me is one of the values of this m-l . Having access to true hardware hackers like Tony Duell and Allison and others. ciao larry lwalker(a)interlog.com

27 years, 11 months

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Sirius sound chips

by ddameron＠earthlink.net

Hi Tony and all, At 01:07 PM 7/19/98 +0100, you wrote: >Greetings... > >I'm got a partially faultly Sirius (aka Victor 9000?) on the bench at the >moment, and it appears to have (at least) a sound fault. > >Alas there are 2 chips in the sound circuitry that I can't find any data >on : > >Harris CI55516-9 (16 pin DIL, maybe a codec or similar) >Spague (?) ULN3701Z (5 pin TO220, audio amplifier). > Pin 1. audio input.(+) Pin 2. Feedback.(-) Pin 3. ground Pin 4. out Pin 5. Vcc Uses the same circuit as National LM 383. -Dave

27 years, 11 months

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Looking for 2 magazine articles

by ddameron＠earthlink.net

Hi Richard and all At 08:41 AM 7/19/98 -0400, you wrote: >Hello, all: > > While going through the old Popular Electronics magazines that I >recently got, I found two article series that I would like to have complete, >but I'm missing two issues...bummer. > > Does anyone have the following and would be willing to mail me a copy: > > 1. Popular Electronics, March 1977, Part 3 of the "Build the >Cosmac Elf" construction article. > I have this one, it is 5 pages. The memory used is 8 2102 ram's. Don't have the first 2, August, 1976 or September 1976, however. -Dave

27 years, 11 months

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Compaq

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

I also want to brag that I got a Compaq Lite-25 486. This is not a classic, and I am about to go to Compaq's site to research it. A question: does anyone know what their power connector pinout is? It's a weird little three-pin thing like the compaq monitor power interface. Does anyone have plugs or know where to get them? >That's not terribly amazing. > >Its basically a Compaq 286 portable. Probably from around the 1986 or >1987 timeframe. > >What did you pay for it? That's what its worth (to you). > >Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com >------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Ever onward. > > September 26 & 27...Vintage Computer Festival 2 > See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details! > [Last web page update: 07/05/98] > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

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mitsubishi <?> laptop

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

i did some bartering a while back and got a mitsubishi 286 laptop circa 1987 i think. it boots up to some post errors which i can get past by hitting F1. it's a phoenix bios, and i've tried every key combination thats's known to access the cmos setup, all to no avail. it appears to have a hard drive, but am unable to access it. i've web searched everywhere, but cannot find any support contact for this machine. i ended up round filing a mitsubishi 386dx machine last year because i couldnt find any info on it. i didnt even get any replies in comp.sys.laptops about this laptop. help anyone? david

27 years, 11 months

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Transputer documentation required

by PeksaDO＠cardiff.ac.uk

I've a number of Transputer boards dating from the late eighties which fit into PCs. Whilst I can use any one single board, I've been unable to install more than one board as I've no information on the jumper and dip switch settings. Of course, some boards may not be capable of being anything other than the root transputer. Anyone have, or know where I can find such information on the following boards: Transtech TMB04 Sundance ST101 Gemini GM8101 Microway Monoputer2 Thanks, Doug.

27 years, 11 months

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OS-2 FS

by mallison＠konnections.com

I can't find who was originally asking to locate some copies of OS/2. I just pulled down a copy of Warp (requires Windows already installed). The software comprises 2 floppies to install and 1 CD with the OS/2 v3 system and a "bonus" CD with IBM Works, Online access and 'more'. The CDs are still shrink wrapped. I can't verify that it's original but I know that where I picked them up would have no reason to re-wrap them. I have no burning desire to let these go but if the people who originally asked, or anyone else, REALLY needs it, I'll send them for 6.00 (six bucks) plus shipping. Unfortunately for everyone, I ran OS/2 v3 for a while when it came out. It turned a marginal machine into a hummer on the internet. It was probably an excellent OS, just not too popular. Please contact me direct at: mallison(a)konnections.com Thanks, Mike

27 years, 11 months

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RT-11 Thanks

by jpl15＠netcom.com

Muchas Gracias to Allison and Megan and Tony (O My!) for your help with RT-11... the machine is running as I type this, and displaying a directory... all entries no later than 1979... just about the time I was spending long nights trying to figure out the Cromemco Z2H that I had pieced together... all I had was the monitor and 16K of RAM.. so I never shut it off for weeks... and a GE Terminet for a console, so at the end of a session the room was swimming in roll paper covered with hex.... Now to get the 2nd RK05 running.... THEN to figure out how to make the RL02s peacefully co-exist in the system... THEN to install one of my old classic modems, and write to my list friends from the DEC system.... THEN.... But first things first. Thanks again!! Cheers John

27 years, 11 months

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Pertec tape interface for PC

by djenner＠halcyon.com

I picked up a nice, small, 9-track tape drive made by Qualstar for use with IBM PCs. The fellow I got it from said he had the ISA adapter and software and manuals "somewhere in a box". Of course, he can't find them, and it's the adapter and software that I'm really after, since Pertec-interface 9-track drives are fairly common. (I'd like to think this isn't the old "promise the important stuff to have someone haul away the big stuff" ploy, but it's happened to me several times now!) Pehaps someone out there has one, or knows the whereabouts of an ISA Pertec adapter, probably made by Qualstar, Chi Corporation, or Overland Data. Software and docs to go with it are almost mandatory, and anything that runs under DOS/Windows or any flavor of PC Unix is OK. Thanks, Dave

27 years, 11 months

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