test-drb October 1998

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

175 participants
1141 discussions

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 10/6/98 5:25:47 PM US Eastern Standard Time, oajones(a)bright.net writes: > Hi David, > I would be interested in one cassette recorder. myself included. perhaps two if the price is low.

25 years, 9 months

Definitions

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

I think it's helpful to say that a computer is any implement, mechanical or otherwise, to aid in calculation. But this means rocks, fingers, and calculators are all computers. I guess we can say, any machine which is capable of performing something besides addition, mulitplication, subtraction, division without further input from the user. Thus, I guess a computer must either have stuff like that hard-coded (like a slide-rule) or be programmable. So, from this 1-min. train of thought, I say: A computer is any implement capable of processing super-arithmetic functions. BTW, my New Bantam English Dictionary says: A machine capable of performing highly complex mathematical calculations at very high speed. >calculator, reckoner. spec. a person employed to make calculations in an >observatory, in surveying, etc. >1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi vi 289 The Clenders of these computers. >1704 .... > >I've heard that some newer editions of the OED have added some of the >more modern usages. > > >> an industry that in my lifetime went from the early commercial vacuum >> tube machines to the 64bit CPU chip running some thousands of times >> faster. > >And with software that has grown to compensate for the speed of the >hardware and keep the usefulness of the system where it was. > > >Nevertheless, it WOULD help if we agreed on basic definitions of our >fundamental terminology. > > >-- >Fred Cisin cisin(a)xenosoft.com >XenoSoft http://www.xenosoft.com >2210 Sixth St. (510) 644-9366 >Berkeley, CA 94710-2219 > > > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

25 years, 9 months

North Star Horizon Help

by dlw＠trailingedge.com

Ok, I have a few minutes now to play around with the N* Horizon I've been fixing up. I've tried to power it up and it seems to hit the disk drive and then nothing. I've plugged some spare terminals into the port marked "Video Terminal Port" and played with baud rates and other comm settings but get nothing on any of my terminals. Also tried straight through and flipped comm cables. Can someone give me some info on these and maybe walk me through getting it set up and running so I can check and see if I've missed something? Oh, I'm trying both N*DOS 5.2 and N* CP/M 2.2. Thanks. ----- David Williams - Computer Packrat dlw(a)trailingedge.com http://www.trailingedge.com

25 years, 9 months

Top 10 Holy Grails of Classic Microcomputer Collecting

by MPritchard＠EnsembleStudios.com

My personal list is much smaller and more mundane.. and more personal, these are machines I actually worked on when I was very young. 1) Compucolor 2 (The Model with floppy disk in the monitor housing) - I let one of these, working w/ software slip through my hands about 4-5 years ago 2) an Exidy Sorcerer - I have a story about loosing a huge folder full of software and papers because I left them at a computer store where I was working on one; when I came back next week, they had folded and were gone. every time one comes up on the net, I'm too late, alas. 3) Ohio Scientific Challenger 4p (?) -Matt Pritchard > -----Original Message----- > From: Kai Kaltenbach [SMTP:kaikal@MICROSOFT.com] > Sent: Monday, October 05, 1998 5:45 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Top 10 Holy Grails of Classic Microcomputer Collecting > > Just for the hell of it, I thought I'd make a list of the Top 10 Holy > Grails > of classic microcomputer computer collecting. This is the "Rembrandt in > the > Attic" sort of stuff. These are roughly in my opinionated order, but > somewhat randomly ordered: > > 1. The Altair prototype that was to be the cover photo for Popular > Electronics but was lost in shipment > 2. Xerox Alto > 3. Mark 8 > 4. Scelbi 8H > 5. Kenbak-1 > 6. Micral 8008 > 7. Apple I > 8. An unassembled Altair 8800 Kit > 9. Busicom Japan Intel 4004-based Calculator > 10. IBM 5100 > > Kai > >

25 years, 9 months

a collectors grail

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< >> Don't you mean 1801R and 1801S? My early 18xx book doesn't list any < > Both. Mine do, I have an unusual collection of RCA data books with al < < Well, don't leave us in suspense. What's an 18101? Did it come before < or after the 1801R/1801S pair? During... it was the SBC with both chips. Allison

25 years, 9 months

Somebody has a C65 on eBay

by mark_k＠iname.com

On Mon, 5 Oct 1998 Sam Ismail wrote: >> ::Somebody's posted a Commodore C65 prototype on eBay. 4 days left and the >> ::bidding is at $1025. >> >> That's nothing. The last one sold went for $1400. (!) > >Well, how many of these "prototypes" exist? Has anyone authenticated >these things? I'd say quite a few. A couple of years ago a company which sells Amiga & Commodore spares listed C65s in their ad in Amiga Computing magazine. Christmas 96 issue, Paxtron corporation ad: Motherboards (factory new) C65 inc. all chips, latest ROM (PAL only) $70 C65 service manual $20 There is/was also a C65 mailing list. -- Mark

25 years, 9 months

Definitions

by jsalzman＠hersheys.com

>So would it be possible to come up with a group sanctioned list of >definitions for: > computer (generic) Someone who calculates numbers > digital computer Someone who uses an electronic calculator to calculate numbers > analog computer Someone who uses an abacus to calculate numbers > minicomputer The assistant to the Computer > microcomputer The assistant to the Computer's assistant > processor Someone who collects and delivers the finished calculations > microprocessor ...his assistant > mainframe The big connecting series of tables where all these people work from Sorry guys, but after the day I had at work, I needed to interject a shot of humor Jeff Salzman Tongue-in-cheek

25 years, 9 months

Rookie PDP help needed again...

by aaron＠wfi-inc.com

Thanks for the other responses about the cards, I think I have all the Plessey clone cards identified with the DEC models. However, I am a little confused on my CPU board identification. The board is an M8186, which I have searched on and found to be a KDF11-AA. Or KDF11-AB. Or KDF11-AC. The problem is that I can't find any revision code on the board. To add to the confusion, the original configuration sheet in the case lists the CPU board as a KDF11-HF, of which I haven't been able to find any info at all. Does anyone have any info on this CPU, or can you tell me how to identify which board it actually is? Also, I have looked everywhere for a CPU/OS matrix and haven't found it. Could someone provide me with a URL or just a quick hand-rolled list of what versions of which OS run on which processor? The multifunction board is Plessey #MFV11A; same as DEC MXV11A? I tried to make a console cable using the pinouts on the sunsite PDP-11 page with no success, setting the terminal at 4800baud. Is there something I'm missing here, or can someone suggest how to wire the cable? I just arranged a loner scope (my Tek is basically dead), so I'll start going pin-by-pin until I figure it out, but a "here's how to wire the cable" would sure help a lot. Finally, is there anyone who remembers these clones? Does anyone have _any_ documentation on them at all? Anything really different from a standard DEC PDP-11? The front panel calls it a "Plessey Periperal Systems - Micro II." It has 6 switches on the panel: write protect switches for the two internal 8" floppies, the cpu halt/enable switch, a boot switch, an LTY on/off switch, and the power switch. Any info at all would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I've just stepped into the pages of a wild adventure book... Aaron

25 years, 9 months

Corrections to trivia

by cmcmanis＠freegate.com

At 01:30 PM 10/6/98 -0500, Doug wrote: >I'm not denying that Holt produced a CPU, and it may be important in the >history of military computers. It is irrelevant in the history of the >personal computer unless there was a personal computer designed that >included it or a direct descendant. So do you judge Xerox's impact on the "personal computer" as their Xerox 820 II or 8/16 machines or by the impact PARC had on user interface metaphors? One of the more subtle things that this sort of blanket statement misses is that places like the Silicon valley are filled with folks going from job to job and bringing their knowledge (some of it classified) with them. Xerox had a tremendous impact on Sun because a lot of ex-Xeroids went to work there (look at a Dandelion box and a Sun 3/160 sometime :-) The impact of Ray's design could be indirectly felt by people who worked with him and went elsewhere. --Chuck

25 years, 9 months

RSX-11M and CSR's

by mbg＠world.std.com

I think RSX has something called autoconfig which will tell you how your system is configured (apparently by actually touching the hardware).... RT-11 can only tell you a part of the information, and only if it matches the configuration of the handers... SHOW CONFIG will tell you about the machine itself (processor, memory, fpu, etc) while SHOW DEVICES will list all the devices for which at least the CSR the handler knows about responds... even if the CSR is the wrong one for that handler... 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 | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

25 years, 9 months

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test-drb October 1998