test-drb November 1998

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

185 participants
940 discussions

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

>Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 05:59:00 -0600 Well, I don't know. My school just trashed another 286 system that they could have given to somebody (we do loan 486s to students in need). A pretty interesting machine, to boot. It's still in the bin, but I didn't grab it because of lack of room. I did grab the 5 keyboards they threw away, though. Speaking of my school, it has some sort of 'modem' made by IBM. It has a brown front, and a 5.25" floppy drive. Several membrane type buttons on the front, too. Anyone know what it is? It connects the school attendance system to a server downtown, and I have yet to find out what that is. Maybe they'll let me play with it for a while if I ask :) Noone has any idea what model it is, but everyone says it's really old. >and does run Windows 3.11 very well. I have 2 machines here in the 286 class that >run Netscape (older version) under Windows 3.11 and have 4 mb of ram on a fair >sized hard disk (120mb). They're also PS/2's to boot. > >I believe Allison has a model 50Z (a 286 also) running Windows for her scanner. >The PC/XT class may be junkers for them though. > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

25 years, 8 months

Minimum hardware requirements (Was: Old, but not "Classic"

by netcafe＠pirie.mtx.net.au

-----Original Message----- From: Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) <cisin(a)xenosoft.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Saturday, 14 November 1998 10:11 Subject: Minimum hardware requirements (Was: Old, but not "Classic" >On Fri, 13 Nov 1998, Charles Oblender wrote: >> I've seen a 286 that ran Windows 3.0 pretty well. > >An 8088 XT will run Windows 3.00 in real mode, yes, have a friend who still has one with it installed. >An 80286 AT can also do 3.10 and 3.11 as well. In Standard mode. Again, a friend has an NEC compatible with 6mb of ram and Win 3.11 installed. Works pretty well actually. >An 80386SX can do Windoze95 I have done this. It does work. But it is VERY slow. Microsoft don't recommend it, since 95 is optimised for 32 bit all the way. But it's possible, if you are a masochist. >3.0 can run with CGA. 3.x (.0 .1 &.11) can use EGA, CGA and even Hercules, I've done the EGA & CGA, not tried Hercules, but the drivers are on Microsofts Windows 3.x Driver library site. >3.10 SUPPOSEDLY can use the 3.0 CGA drivers, but they don't always work; Seems to be card dependent. But it does work on many. >3.1 therefore needs EGA >I've never tried below VGA for Windoze95 EGA is allegedly possible, but I've never tried it. I believe it involves using 3.x drivers or some other ugliness. But it is supposed to be possible. >I don't know what the mimimum RAM requirements are, but my 486 NEC laptop >can only handle "safe mode". (It has a hardware problem that prevents >upgrading the memory) >NB: MINIMUM requirements are NOT to be confused with RECOMMENDED >configuration. Particularly when it gets to issues of "acceptable >performance". This is the major impediment. Like the 386SX running 95. It worked, but it was such a slug that we put 3.11 back on it after 2 days of tinkering. That improved it's performance significantly. I have seen a 386DX40 running Win95. It was a little slow, but still useable. Cheers Geoff Computer Room Internet Cafe Port Pirie South Australia. netcafe(a)pirie.mtx.net.au

25 years, 8 months

Old, but not "Classic"

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< Yes, but in a desktop machine, power is not exactly short. In other word < whether it takes 0.1W or 10W to move the heads is not a major < consideration. So a jewelled bearing is probably not appropriate here. That is a consideration! Less power is less heating, less magnetic fields and higher reliability. Despite desktop power availablity reducing power in the servo circuit aids minaturization and reliability. < a meter movement. And secondly they are accurate - the spindle runs true < but a good metal bush bearing can do that as well. Neither are major < problems in a desktop servo-tracked disk drive. The bushed bearing also wears. Jewelled bearings done seem to have the same wear properties, they are far better. Allison

25 years, 8 months

modern removable media drives

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< No, no one with a grasp of how the technology works has ever claimed tha < little dust or smoke will damage a floppy disk or drive. Floppy disks u < much different head/media interface than winchester rigid-media drives. < or smoke particles can and will cause head crashes on winchester drives Floppies with added dust will destroy the media and I've seen a few heads that were unserviceable. It's not healthy for the positioner either. The media does not tolerate dust. < of the drives in product literature, and it is also consistent with the < high failure rate I've observed (approaching 100% after four weeks on th < Syquest drives). Winchester drive technology was developed for permanen < sealed HDAs, not cartridge drives. And even the sealed drives were desi < with air filtration. The 270mb Syquest I have is used, the media is used and the current platter has been in the drive for a month without accumulating bad blocks. It former owner used it in a firld construction site to log sample data. It does have a recirculation filter and the spin up suggests that the heads are not loaded until the airflow (and platter speed) is established. There is not majik, spin a platter at 3600rpm and dust can be counted on to migrate to the walls. The cart has ribs to direct the airflow. Just because it has a shutter I don't use that an excuse to subject it to dust and other risks. Allison

25 years, 8 months

modern removable media drives

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< And doesn't the RL02 have an air filtration system? Don't they do a pur < cycle when the catridge is loaded? They do but that means little if the cart has been in a dirty environment. The other I mentioned however are of the stack of patter realm. < Also, the RL02 does not use winchester technology per se. It is more < closely related to the RK, RM, and RP style drives. Subtle difference in positioners. the flying height was still very close to the platter. Allison

25 years, 8 months

modern removable media drives

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< >>> On the other hand, I've had nothing but good luck with ZIP drives (w < >> I won't use zip drives either. I refuse to use an undocumented device < >> store my data. When somebody produces a service manual and a bit-leve < >> description of the disk (as I have for all my minicomputer drives) th < >> I'll consider it. I have a Syquest 270mb removable(parallel port) I was given and it works just fine and I use it for shuffling things between systems and all. It seems durable but, I take care with it as I only have a dozen disks for it. I've always considered removable media a bit more risky be it RL02, RM0x, RP0x or RA60 and while all have a good track record they take a bit of care to insure that. I also have a RL02 and in the over 10 years I've only had one bad pack (damaged) and never a head crash. I'd think 15 year old (age of that drive!) 14" removable harddisk technology would be more suspect than modern carts. Oh, that Syquest was used as a field backup for a laptop for nearly a year before I got it. It was retired as the guy finally got a laptop that had more than a 200mb drive. Allison

25 years, 8 months

modern removable media drives

by franke＠sbs.de

> [Continuing a discussion about modern removable-media disk drives, which > would be off-topic except that we want to use modern drives on old > computers.] I'm using ZIPs on all Macs and some early PCs -> on topic .) >>> On the other hand, I've had nothing but good luck with ZIP drives (which >> I won't use zip drives either. I refuse to use an undocumented device to >> store my data. When somebody produces a service manual and a bit-level >> description of the disk (as I have for all my minicomputer drives) then >> I'll consider it. > You may as well forget about using any modern magnetic disk drives, then. > Service manuals don't exist (or are useless). Descriptions of the low-level > format are only available if the format has been blessed by a standards > committee such as ECMA. I'd love to see an ECMA standard for ZIP disks, but I > doubt that it will happen. > On the other hand, ECMA has published standards for various optical > media, including CD-ROM, PD, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, and +RW. But these are prety tough compared to traditional magnetig medias (and after All, a Zip is just a high class diskette). >>> I think the problems with removable rigid media stem >>> from the lack of any effective measure to keep contamination out of the >>> drive and disk cartridge; they've tried to use Winchester drive technology >>> without understanding its inherent limitations. >> You mean they _don't_ haev the proper air filters? Ouch. High density >> media needs a cleaner environment than the old RK05 units, and those have >> pretty serious filters in them. > Air filters? Ha! They have nothing but a shutter on the cartridge and a door > flap on the drive. Absolute rubbish. It's miraculous that they work even for > a few weeks. Dame has been said on 8" FD: These will be damaged within hours when the head engraves any particle ... But they worked well and all FD technologies thereafter. And on the other hand - in what way poor iomega could gain this amount of money, other than selling cheap tech at monopol prices. Gruss Hans -- Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut HRK

25 years, 8 months

FREE DG Nova Stuff

by bruce.a.lane＠boeing.com

I was scanning the web during lunch, and I came across a most interesting entry. Check this out... http://www.hopco.com/surplus/s_free.htm I would assume contact info is on their root site. Enjoy! -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed and statements made in this message reflect my views alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Boeing Company, its management, or its employees. You have now been officially disclaimed. Bruce Lane The Boeing Company, Aircraft & Missile Systems Computing Support KSC West, 18-04.2, Col. G1 ba.lane(a)pss.boeing.com

25 years, 8 months

OT: Flat panel display

by dastar＠ncal.verio.com

Who was looking for flat panel displays a few weeks ago? I found a company called Earth Computer Technologies in Nuts & Volts. Their web page is www.flat-panel.com of all things. 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: 11/02/98]

25 years, 8 months

Daybreak hard drives (was Re: Collectibles for the future)

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 09:10 PM 11/11/98 -0800, you wrote: > Neither Syquest nor Iomega has any clue how to make high-density removable > rigid media work. Assuming that it is even possible, and I'm not convinced I've been using Syquest drives for nearly 10 years now. Started with a 44MB, then a 105MB, Now a SyJet. I've never had a problem with any of them. I only use the SyJet for Backups, but it works flawlessly for that (Carts are too expensive, though). The others I use all the time -- switching them on and off with the carts in and so on. Main problem is that Winoze doesn't handle removable media very well. (Same problem with my external Fixed Drive -- Windows gets ferschimmled when I take the laptop elsewhere.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/

25 years, 8 months

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test-drb November 1998