test-drb October 1998

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

175 participants
1141 discussions

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

At 09:08 AM 10/29/98 -0800, Sam said: >The PCjr had BASIC in ROM and didn't require a floppy to boot. Was the BASIC in a plug in cartridge and optional? Joe

25 years, 5 months

Mac emulators?

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

there's one i have on cd called executor2 that runs most but not all pre system7 apps pretty good. not good with sound though. In a message dated 10/30/98 8:19:28 PM US Eastern Standard Time, roblwill(a)usaor.net writes: > Hello everyone! > > Is there such a thing as a Mac emulator for a PC? I'd like to download > some Mac stuff from the internet, but the only computer that has internet > access is a PC. > > Any suggestions (besides buying one of those Mac/PC programs)? > > ThAnX,

25 years, 5 months

PDP-11/44 boot prompt

by hhacker＠gte.net

One expects that the operating system executing on the 11/44 will be RSTS or RX/11 or some other operating system. Hence, the commands (and isn't this obvious) acceptable at the keyboard are relative to the operating system. So, which OS is it that is running on your machine? This information is important to me, since I 1) have an 11/44 being shipped to me in the next month, 2) have no idea of the OS's that such a computer can support (though my 11/34a and 11/45 have RSTS/E and BSD 2.9), and 3) expect, as you, to operate the thing upon arrival. BTW - mine was used for timesharing applications at a university, so I expect yours is a fairly large machine. Please, tell me more about your 11/44, such as features of the CPU, the memory size, and peripheral devices available, and the overall dimensions of the computer. Mine is said to be some 30 feet long, so if yours is similar, how do you find the space to put all the parts together. I plan to put mine in the living room of my home, and my wife, as you might imagine, has some reservations on the matter! William R. Buckley -----Original Message----- From: Mitch Wright <mew_jac(a)swbell.net> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Saturday, October 31, 1998 6:11 PM Subject: PDP-11/44 boot prompt >Ok, So ">>>BOOT DM" booted the 11/44 from the RK07. Thank you Toni. But >I'd like to know what the rest of the commands do? This is the dump from >HELP: > > (Console V3.40C) > >(Program) > >(Console) > Halted at 165714 > >>>>he > > Commands : > ADDRESS > BOOT > BREAK > CONTINUE > DEPOSIT > EXAMINE > FILL > HALT > HELP > INITIALIZE > MICROSTEP > NEXT > START > TEST > > Arguments : > 0-7 > - > * > + > @ > SWR > PC > PSW > KSP > SSP > USP > > Qualifiers : > REPEAT > /IR > /NODIAGNOSTIC > /SCOPE > /EXTENSIVE > /N: > /CB > /TB > > Addressing : > /P > /G > /M > /VI > /VD > /UI > /UD > /KI > /KD > /SI > /SD > >>>> > > > Thanks, Mitch Wright

25 years, 5 months

Ancient machines turning on (was Re: eBay strikes again...)

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< the modern uSoft OSs - win95/98 and NT4. I still get GPFs but nowhere n < the frequency I got them with the dos-based windows. No microsoft OS ha Last reboot of this dos6.22/win3.1 system was three weeks ago when I shut it down to shuffle the drives and replace a dead fan. It's quite stable. Then again I tend to trash apps that don't behave! I've also tamed a few unruly ones with carefull edits or the creation of a proper PIF file. Considering the number of DOS apps I run under windows Setting things up right is a necessity. To me GPFs are applications that under VMS would likely cause an exception exit dump. GPFs are a poor error handling mech for programs trying to do what should or are illegal things. It's easy to blame a weak OS for crappy applications. Dos has few to no protections and ragging on it is unfair. < compared to the stability (weeks and months without rebooting) of Linux, < in turn doesn't approach the bulletproof reliability you expect from VMS The Slakware 3.0 Linux I have on a 386dx/33 that is a good machine but with only 8meg of ram Linux is not that stable. Forget getting xwindows to behave well in 8meg. < I freely admit I learned most of my computer science under Vax-VMS so I < strong bias towards it, but I've also run moderately large scale vaxclus I'm biased as well, I run 7 vaxen here, two of which are LAVC members. I also run RT-11, RSTS-11 and a lot of CP/M systems. < and at least the versions we used... 5.5a, if memory serves, were remark < reliable. To the point where we once had a cluster server loose its dis Solid! I run both 5.4-4 and 5.5 and uptimes are limited by power on times, though in the past I've seen months to years. < I'm not a programmer. I'm a sysadmin/netadmin type. Ease of programmin < secondary to me compared to reliability. A system that crashes frequent < the bane of my profession's existance, because it means instead of spend < time on the entire environment and routine maintenance you spend more ti < firefighting mode. That is why VMS, unix and their kin are used on the enterprize scale. Dos/win was used that way but it was never conceived as a multiuser OS nor as a networking server platform. Using it that way maybe a hackers dream but a sysadmin nightmare. < We were discussing why people don't get attached to PCs as much, and any < machine that bombs frequently or in general causes headaches seems to me < it's not going to be high on people's lists. A machine that is poorly understood and marketed by processor speed hype that shows zippy games. I still don't understand why a kid needs a 300MHz PII to run simcity other than hype. To me it's simpler, one 486dx or PII is the same as another, ther eis nothing to distinguish them. Even the PS2 series was at least different on the bus level. It's a matter of maturity of the system and all of the software. Allison

25 years, 5 months

Microvaxen bits etc.

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< I have to agree here. F connectors may be electrically nice (they offer < much cleaner connection Z-wise), but for human factors, the things plai < suck. They are way too easy to crossthread. BNCs are just about the < easiest coax connector to install (except for the old WECo types, but th < do not secure), and they work just fine at 10 Mbps. BNC is a UHF constant impedence connector. They work very well at several GHz! They just don't like high RF power (voltage). < Also, I have never seen an F connector "T". BNC "T"s are quite common. < Using existing parts is always better than inventing new ones. When BNC started to be used for Eithernet, Ts were expensive and got cheap due to volume. F connectors are common to cable industry and if they needed Ts they would be cheap too. Cat5 wire is cheaper though but I wouldn't use them around receivers or transmitters! Allison

25 years, 5 months

PDP-10 arch question

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< What machines have had bit pointers? 8051. There may be others. Allison

25 years, 5 months

A record?

by dastar＠ncal.verio.com

I'd like to put forward a documented record of hauling a PDP 11/45 and TU-10 tape drive and separate racks up two flights of stairs into a third floor apartment between three people. I'm sure someone will challenge this record and put it to shame, but I was impressed with the feat. Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Always being hassled by the man. Coming in 1999: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0 See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details! [Last web site update: 09/21/98]

25 years, 5 months

Ancient machines turning on (was Re: eBay strikes again...)

by dogas＠leading.net

Hi. It must be the (near) full moon... the day... or.... *howlllll* *grrr* ;) -----Original Message----- From: Jim Strickland <jim(a)calico.litterbox.com> >The biggest problem these older machines had was microsoft operating systems. >(okay, I'm a Unix/VMS bigot at heart, but DOS and win3.0/3.1 really WERE that >bad.) I guess that before telling you how full of shit ( in a friendly way, of course ) you are I should ask what your refering to here... >>...but I've never met anyone who really LIKED these operating systems the way the apple-heads liked prodos and gsos. *statement now invalid* Alas, (new) Apple-heads are turned-on by marketing ala translucent/green repackaging. Dont get me wrong. the Woz is a god and Newton OS rocks, IIx was cool... The only thing that makes me seek non-ms oses is the programming ease facilitated by microsoft in app development. Need some challenges somewhere.... but I guess this is true for any programmer and their preferred platform... Mike: dogas(a)leading.net .

25 years, 5 months

Microvaxen bits etc.

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< Allison... I am supprised - very. The BNC connector is a nice, easy to < fit, reliable, waterproof, connector. The F-connector is a horrible < little thing that (at least in the common version used in the UK) uses < the central wire of the cable as the plug pin. I don't want to trust tha < thing with my data. They are actually very reliable and the cable industry uses them by the ton. What often happens though is like any fine treaded item they can be cross threaded and if the recepticle does not have a good spring connector for the center wire then things fail. Considering I have a house wide master antenna and also a house wide cable distribution there must be at least 50 more F connectors in use and none have ever given me grief. Also I'm used to the older fully soldered BNCs (I still have the better part of a pound coffee can of them) as I use them for all the O'scopes, RF generators, radios (scanners, aircraft) and anything else that demands a good shielded connection. But they are a PITA to assemble. The one I consider the worst is the RCA, no lock, and tends to be loose and noisy over time. Very popular with audio and video. I actually have a bin full of locking rings that go around them to clamp them on. Any test equipment with them installed gets opened and a BNC replacement unless there is good reason not to. < What, no Belling-Lee coaxial plugs (used for TV aerials in the UK, and < thus very common over here) ? Or Pye coax plugs (screw-lock connectors, < not common at all, but I have a reasonable stock of them)? And of course < the SMA/SMB/SMC connectors. I didn't want to go into some of the odd and esoteric like the TNCs. Working with RF over the years I've hit most of them including pipe (waveguides). Some types of cable like various sized hardlines from the rg174 sized to the 2" stuff can use some odd connectors as well. Heck I've been known to fix a sliced 10B5 cable using a pen knife and vinyl electical tape until the Mill coms people could get to it. They were horrified when the found it but, I finshed my printing and the segment was working fine. Cables are part smoke and part majik. The majik is putting the smoke back in when it leaks. Allison

25 years, 5 months

Mac emulators?

by roblwill＠usaor.net

Hello everyone! Is there such a thing as a Mac emulator for a PC? I'd like to download some Mac stuff from the internet, but the only computer that has internet access is a PC. Any suggestions (besides buying one of those Mac/PC programs)? ThAnX, -Jason *********************************************** * Jason Willgruber * * (roblwill(a)usaor.net) * * * * http://members.tripod.com/general_1 * * ICQ#-1730318 * * /0\/0\ * * > Long Live the 5170! * * \___/ * ************************************************

25 years, 5 months

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test-drb October 1998