test-drb October 1998

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

175 participants
1141 discussions

by netcafe＠pirie.mtx.net.au

-----Original Message----- From: Sam Ismail <dastar(a)ncal.verio.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Sunday, 1 November 1998 15:20 Subject: A record? > >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. So am I. I'd have to concede that as being an act of considerable fortitude. I thought I did well moving a Vax 8530/6310 cluster, complete with 2 HSC50's, TA78/TU78 and about 15 RA8x and some RA7x drives from a warehouse to my parents house, then getting it up a narrow gap into a vacant granny flat. Over gravel. But we did have a forklift load it on the vehicle for us. I think the PDP effort beats that one. The TA78/TU78 was the hardest, and the heaviest.. It took six of us to move it all. (Called in a few favours, and a mate with a ute, uh, pickup in us-speak) This doesn't include the several large station wagon loads of 1/2" r-r tape and the docs for VAX-VMS 5.5. For those not acquainted with VMS, the manuals are loose leaf A4 Binders, and there are close to 40 of them. It's normally shipped on a pallet, and referred to by users as the "great grey wall" after the colour of the ring binders. (Some earlier versions were other colours, orange I think, but they weren't quite as big either.) Cheers Geoff Computer Room Internet Cafe Port Pirie South Australia. netcafe(a)pirie.mtx.net.au

26 years, 1 month

teledisk (was: 8 inch floppies on PC's (was: TRS-80 Model II...

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

] Sydex (http://www.sydex.com/) has some very excellent software ] available for dealing with "foreign" floppy formats, and can deal ] with many (but not all) 8" floppy formats. Instead of going into ] ... >If you are referring to teledisk, it is worth noting that they no >longer offer a single-user non-commercial license; they stopped >offerring it as shareware in 1991, and is now solely a commercial >product with a licensing fee of $150. The shareware version that >can still be found out there is now "warez" - illegal, copyable >only by pimply-faced HaKkErZ with bad breath and no morals. :-/ >I exchanged e-mail with them recently about this, and though they >were polite, they refused to consider licensing it for less than >their stated price. As I use Teledisk for commerce, I don't have any problems with the $150 fee. I agree, it is a shame that the shareware version can no longer be registered for a small fee, especially because large quantities of freely distributable software is out there in Teledisk-image format (for example, all the POS-related RX50's for DEC Pro's are archived at Uppsula in teledisk format.) >Anybody know of any reasonable alternatives, for those of us that >are hampered by rules against theft? Sydex does have a product which fills many of the same needs that Teledisk does, and this is CopyQM. It supports 3.5", 5.25", and 8" floppies and even has some features that Teledisk didn't have. I don't have as much experience with it as I do with Teledisk, but CopyQM does have the advantage that single-user licenses are available for only US$25. -- Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com Trailing Edge Technology Voice: 301-767-5917 7328 Bradley Blvd Fax: 301-767-5927 Bethesda, MD, USA 20817

26 years, 1 month

ATMs

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Has anyone here had any experience with ATMs? What sort of specs might an ATM have? How does it connect to the bank computer? Thanks ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

26 years, 1 month

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

by netcafe＠pirie.mtx.net.au

-----Original Message----- From: John Ruschmeyer <jruschme(a)exit109.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Sunday, 1 November 1998 10:42 Subject: Re: Ancient machines turning on (was Re: eBay strikes again...) >That is to say, because any software which ran on them can still be >run on a Pentium, there is little reason for someone to pick one up >just to run some beloved old game, Don't be too sure about that. Try running Chuck Yeagers Air Combat on a Pentium or 686. Or Battle Of Britain. one don't work, one exhibits some very strange effects. Both work very well on 386 or 486 machines. Cheers Geoff Computer Room Internet Cafe Port Pirie South Australia. netcafe(a)pirie.mtx.net.au

26 years, 1 month

teledisk (was: 8 inch floppies on PC's (was: TRS-80 Model II...

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

On Tue, 27 Oct 1998, CLASSICCMP(a)trailing-edge.com wrote: ] To: classiccmp(a)u.WASHINGTON.EDU ] Subject: 8 inch floppies on PC's (was: TRS-80 Model II stuff!) ] Message-ID: <981027110530.222003f4(a)trailing-edge.com> ] ] >... ] > I can serial port the machines togethet but, I have no idea how ] > to read off all the sectors of the 8 inches. ] ] This is a question that has been dealt with very thoroughly in the ] past. ] ] Sydex (http://www.sydex.com/) has some very excellent software ] available for dealing with "foreign" floppy formats, and can deal ] with many (but not all) 8" floppy formats. Instead of going into ] ... If you are referring to teledisk, it is worth noting that they no longer offer a single-user non-commercial license; they stopped offerring it as shareware in 1991, and is now solely a commercial product with a licensing fee of $150. The shareware version that can still be found out there is now "warez" - illegal, copyable only by pimply-faced HaKkErZ with bad breath and no morals. :-/ I exchanged e-mail with them recently about this, and though they were polite, they refused to consider licensing it for less than their stated price. Anybody know of any reasonable alternatives, for those of us that are hampered by rules against theft? I suppose I'll eventually write my own, but my schedule looks pretty well jammed clear into the next millenium. ] Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com ] Trailing Edge Technology Voice: 301-767-5917 ] 7328 Bradley Blvd Fax: 301-767-5927 ] Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Cheers, Bill.

26 years, 1 month

ATMs.

by netcafe＠pirie.mtx.net.au

-----Original Message----- From: Jim Strickland <jim(a)calico.litterbox.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Sunday, 1 November 1998 12:46 Subject: ATMs. >Okay, curiosity time. What happens to obselete ATMs? Anyone here collect them? I've seen several, minus the electronics, at a hitech scrap dealer. (Same place I find a lot of computers)He sells them to opal dealers in Coober Pedy and Andamooka, plus an increasing number to owners of pistols. (er, handguns in us-speak, I suppose). Weapon ownership is extremely repressed here these days, and there are all sorts of draconian requirements about storage of firearms in general, and you can square that for pistols. (Almost impossible to license for Joe Average) Sometimes he has to pay a locksmith to open them, but he gets $500-600 ea for them. Cheers Geoff Computer Room Internet Cafe Port Pirie South Australia. netcafe(a)pirie.mtx.net.au

26 years, 1 month

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

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

win3.1 has been pretty stable for me. win95 still seems too fragile in my opinion. everytime i have to reboot without shutting down, i pray it comes back up ok. i also cannot understand how a dos session can totally hang win95... i run OS/2 at work and i've never had a crash. sometimes the machine will hang due to network problems. so far, i've had the machine continously on for two weeks and still going. nothing from microsoft could do that! I've migrated to version 4 now which is better at getting around a hung application. david In a message dated 10/31/98 10:04:45 PM US Eastern Standard Time, maxeskin(a)hotmail.com writes: > I guess experiences vary wildly in terms of stability. I've never > had a problem with DOS or Windows 3.x in terms of stability. Some > crashes, but usually when running junky programs. Win95 I might trust > in terms of not crashing, but the filesystem is so unreliable, I stay > away from it. Linux, I'm running on this Compaq 386sx/20 with 6MB RAM, > and it's never crashed. Slackware. I dunno. I seem to be lucky with > not having things fail. I've plugged in connectors backwards many a > time, and have never fried anything. The SMPSU cut out. But then, how > many people would say DOS is unstable?

26 years, 1 month

ATMs.

by jim＠calico.litterbox.com

Okay, curiosity time. What happens to obselete ATMs? Anyone here collect them? -- Jim Strickland jim(a)DIESPAMMERSCUMcalico.litterbox.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Vote Meadocrat! Bill and Opus in 2000 - Who ELSE is there? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

26 years, 1 month

eBay strikes again...

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Most things under ten years old can't be repaired because they have weird custom chips. I guess the corporations did an excellent job convincing people that a machine should die, and be replaced, impossible to repair. 90V batteries? How big are they? How big is the radio? >Yes, _you'd_ fix it. I'd fix it, and I guess other people here would do >the same. But the general public seem to think that anything over 3 years >old can't be repaired.. > >One of the radios I use here from time to time is a 1950's Vidor portable >radio with the FM band. It's valved. I got it second hand and it needed >very little work to get it going again - mostly cleaning contacts and >valveholders. I think all the valves are original as well. I've made a >little mains PSU for it as 90V batteries are difficult to find nowadays. > >And I don't consider a set of that age that still works to be unusual at all. > >-tony > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

26 years, 1 month

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

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

I guess experiences vary wildly in terms of stability. I've never had a problem with DOS or Windows 3.x in terms of stability. Some crashes, but usually when running junky programs. Win95 I might trust in terms of not crashing, but the filesystem is so unreliable, I stay away from it. Linux, I'm running on this Compaq 386sx/20 with 6MB RAM, and it's never crashed. Slackware. I dunno. I seem to be lucky with not having things fail. I've plugged in connectors backwards many a time, and have never fried anything. The SMPSU cut out. But then, how many people would say DOS is unstable? > >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 > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

26 years, 1 month

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test-drb October 1998