test-drb October 1997

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

117 participants
323 discussions

FWD: Manchester Baby Programming Competition

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

> > Program the world's first computer! > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >The world's first computer program was run on June 21st 1948 on the > >"baby" Mark1 at Manchester. As part of the celebrations to mark the 50th > >.... > > Could some of the list members with more historical knowledge comment > on this? I thought the first "electronic digital computer" was the ABC - > Atanasoff Berry Computer from 1939. This was verified in some high > powered patent cases in '73 and '74, that concluded Sperry-Univac could > not claim patents for the ideas from thier Univac machine ("43 or '44?). > Honneywell, CDC, IBM, and others did not want to pay royalties to Sperry. > The Sperry machine is the first "commercial" machine that was offered for > sale. Are you _sure_ the ABC was electronic? I was under the impression that the 1930s machines were all (almost all?) relay computers. Konrad Zuse is the pioneer whose name is oft mentioned here... As I see it, the sequence of events is as follows: The 1940s saw the valve (vacuum tube) computers begin to emerge - in some order (still in debate) ENIAC, Univac and the hush-hush British project, Colossus (hush-hush because it was part of the war effort), all appeared in 1943 I think. Colossus currently claims to have been first, but it is hard to verify with all the wartime secrecy that surrounded it. The Manchester machine claims to be the first _stored program_ machine. It was the first electronic computer, and I think also the first computer, to hold its software in main memory. It was far too small for this to be sensible - the purpose was to demonstrate the principal of it with a view to using similar hardware and software designs on larger machines in the future. All previous machines had a main store for data, and a programming panel for patch leads etc. to hold instructions. Soon after the Manchester machine ran, the EDSAC project in Cambridge pulled ahead with a large scale stored program (Von Neumann) machine. Professor Wilkes, who ran this project, said in one talk he gave that they had wanted to include floating point in EDASC, since it was already available on many relay computers, but this had to wait until a later design... Philip.

27 years, 2 months

Manchester Computer

by hans1＠filan00.grenoble.hp.com

Philip.Belben(a)powertech.co.uk wrote : > Are you _sure_ the ABC was electronic? I was under the impression that > the 1930s machines were all (almost all?) relay computers. Konrad Zuse > is the pioneer whose name is oft mentioned here... > > As I see it, the sequence of events is as follows: > > The 1940s saw the valve (vacuum tube) computers begin to emerge - in > some order (still in debate) ENIAC, Univac and the hush-hush British > project, Colossus (hush-hush because it was part of the war effort), all > appeared in 1943 I think. Colossus currently claims to have been first, > but it is hard to verify with all the wartime secrecy that surrounded > it. All the "computers" prior to the Manchester machines did not store their programs in memory, they are more accurately termed sequence controlled calculators. The Univac came later, it was actually first delivered in 1951, just a month or so after Ferranti delivered the first commercial computer, the Mark I to Manchester University in February 1951 - and no I don't remember that particular event personally ;-). > The Manchester machine claims to be the first _stored program_ machine. > It was the first electronic computer, and I think also the first > computer, to hold its software in main memory. It was far too small for > this to be sensible - the purpose was to demonstrate the principal of it > with a view to using similar hardware and software designs on larger > machines in the future. All previous machines had a main store for > data, and a programming panel for patch leads etc. to hold instructions. Again yes, the Manchester machine had a main memory of 32 words each of 32 bits, it had one accumulator and an instruction set of only 6 instructions. It was built in 1948 to prove the reliability of the Williams tube storage system. The very same hardware was then extensively developed into a fully fledged computer over the next two years. Ferranti, under a government contract, built 6 or 7 production versions, the first of which went to Manchester as stated above. > Soon after the Manchester machine ran, the EDSAC project in Cambridge > pulled ahead with a large scale stored program (Von Neumann) machine. > Professor Wilkes, who ran this project, said in one talk he gave that > they had wanted to include floating point in EDASC, since it was already > available on many relay computers, but this had to wait until a later > design... Indeed, the interests of the Manchester team were in the hardware design, the Cambridge team were more interested in the programming and uses of computers. So while Manchester developed hardware technologies, Cambridge developed software. Manchester has a long and illustrious history of firsts in the computing area. As well as the first working stored program electronic computer, they were the first to incorporate index registers, the first working transistor computer, and the first virtual memory. That is not to say that others were not working on the same or similar lines, its just that Manchester managed to get there first, sometimes by just a month or two. More info about the Manchester machines and the rebuild project at <http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/CCS/ssem/ssemhome.htm> -- Hans B. Pufal : <mailto:hansp@digiweb.com> Comprehensive Computer Catalogue : <http://www.digiweb.com/~hansp/ccc/> _-_-__-___--_-____-_--_-_-____--_---_-_---_--__--_--_--____---_--_--__--_

27 years, 2 months

FWD: Manchester Baby Programming Competition

by kevan＠heydon.org

Just thought people here might be interested... ------- Forwarded Message Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 00:19:31 GMT From: chris(a)envex.demon.co.uk (Chris.P.Burton) Reply-To: chris(a)envex.demon.co.uk To: history-of-computing-uk(a)mailbase.ac.uk Subject: Manchester Baby Programming Competition Program the world's first computer! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The world's first computer program was run on June 21st 1948 on the "baby" Mark1 at Manchester. As part of the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of this event next year, we are holding a competition to program the machine. The winner will have the opportunity to run their program on the replica of the original machine. For details of your chance to program the World's First Stored Program Computer, see http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/prog98/ Information on the 1998 celebration in general is at http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/mark1/ Please forward this information to anybody you know who might be interested - i.e. anybody you know with an interest in computing! - -- Chris P Burton - A member of the Computer Conservation Society ------- End of Forwarded Message

27 years, 2 months

"VX/PC"

by marcw＠lightside.com

I saw this in the Linux-8086/ELKS mailing list. Anyone know about this card? Thanks, Marc ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Anyone ever heard of a a "VX/PC" card? I got one today >from a junk bin, there are two full length 8 bit ISA cards connected together; one is marked "VX/PC processor card" and has an 80188 and some ROM and other chips, and the other is "VX/PC memory card" and has a whole bunch of DRAMs. There is another board attached to one of them marked "16.8 million color board" even. Any suggestions? I have not tried installing one and seeing what comes out the video output yet. thanks, Hamish -- Hamish Moffatt, StudIEAust hamish(a)debian.org, hmoffatt(a)mail.com Student, computer science & computer systems engineering. 3rd year, RMIT. http://hamish.home.ml.org/ (PGP key here) CPOM: [***** ] 56% Your train has been cancelled due to defective government at Spring Street..

27 years, 2 months

Osborne Executive Boot Disk

by CHOLSTROM＠HNTB.com

Does anyone have and Osborne Executive that will make a boot disk for my machine? Please.. I have a complete set of Kaypro 10 original distribution software reload disks if anyone would like these..

27 years, 2 months

Wanted:387 SX

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<Whatever the coprocessor for the 386 SX was, does anyone have one? < <I heard that (at one time) there was a software emulator for a <coprocessor...anyone ever heard of it? the numeric coprocessor is the 387. Software emulator? What that would be is code in the application to perform those operations. there was a package I believe that was loaded to enable programs that expect the 387 to run but emulation is very slow compared to the real thing. A faster alternative is to run the version of the program that didn't require the 387. 387s are still available and common enough. Allison

27 years, 2 months

Hard Drive Bible, 8th edition

by MPritchard＠EnsembleStudios.com

Due to network problems, anyone who send me e-mail this weekend saying "I want one", please resend as I did not get it (or any other mail). -Matt Pritchard Graphics Engine and Optimization Specialist > -----Original Message----- > From: Matt Pritchard [SMTP:MPritchard@EnsembleStudios.com] > Sent: Friday, October 17, 1997 2:47 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: RE: Hard Drive Bible, 8th edition > > To help with questions I've asked, here's some info the Hard Drive > Bible > book. > ----- > It says July, 1996. It seems to cover older drives, up to the first > one > and two gig drives. in the "hard drive peramters" chapters for > example: > > Alps America: 8 entries from 10 to 212 MB, > Ampex: 4 entries, 5, 10, 15 , and 20 mb, > Areal tech: 6 entries, 62 to 136mb (all IDE 2.5" notebook drives) > .. > BASF: 5 entires, 23, 15, 8, 10, 21mb (all MFM) > > etc... > > It's a bit PC centric. > > Major chapters: > History of Disk Drives > Interface Standards > PRML tehcnology > Enhanced IDE > SCSI command reference > What is SCSI-3? > SCA Hot plugs > PCI interface > Choosing a Hard Drive and Controller > Controller Setup and Jumpering > Drive Setup and Jumpering > Drive Cabling > Low level Formatting > DOS partitioning > Macintosh Drive Installation > Windows Drive Format > Win95 Disk Format > Novell Compsurf > Hardware Compatibility Problems > Common Installation Problems > Troubleshooting > Universal IDE parameters > Hard Drive List > Fine Tuning > Hard Drive Parameters (by manufacturer) > Controller Information (by manufacturer) > Connector Pinouts > Drive Jumpers > CD-ROM > Floppy Drives > Optical Disk Drive Technology > Optical Jukeboxes > Optical Drive Specifications > Tape Drives > CSC benchmark tests > Software > System Notes > Industry Phone List > BBS Numbers > Directory > Glossary > Index > > > > -Matt Pritchard > Graphics Engine and Optimization Specialist

27 years, 2 months

Wanted:387 SX

by manney＠nwohio.com

Whatever the coprocessor for the 386 SX was, does anyone have one? I heard that (at one time) there was a software emulator for a coprocessor...anyone ever heard of it? Thanks manney(a)nwohio.com

27 years, 2 months

Tandata td2500

by v.murray＠unsw.edu.au

I recently picked up a Tandata td2500 at a London, UK car boot sale. Does anybody know what it is? It is basically a keyboard with outputs on the back for TV video, composite video, RGB (SCART), serial data, and a lead to plug into a telephone outlet. The power supply is missing and plugs into a 4 pin DIN plug - any info on voltages to use to power it up. The unit was made by Tandata UK Ltd. Also I like to hear what's available to buy - so here is a non-US version of what I picked up at a large South London car boot sale on Saturday. Epson PX-4 + cartridges (works) - 5 pounds (L) (1 pound = 1.6 $US) 2 x BBC model B (both work) - 1 L each Casio pocket computer PB-410F (no battery) - 5 L EG 2000 Colour Genie (works) - 3 L NCR PC4i - nice all-in-one unit but turned out to be IBM XT clone - 5 L old Sharp calculator - 1 L Vincent Murray Email v.murray(a)unsw.edu.au

27 years, 2 months

5250 Emulator

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

> Seriously, it's a card that will allow you to connect to TwinAx devices / > systems, like an IBM AS/400. > > With the right software and that card, you can use any IBM/Clone as a > terminal to an AS/400, and some software will even allow you to use a local > parallel printer as an AS/400 printer. Hey, Guys, this is a classic computers list! Twinax terminals connect to system/34, s/36, s/38 machines (dunno about S/32 or earlier). I imagine they're only supported on AS/400 for compatibility... Philip.

27 years, 2 months

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test-drb October 1997