The manual/documentation I have gives a procedure you can follow (manually
flipping the switches all the way) which is a self-test. Following the
procedure you can check if your 8800b is working correctly. Using this
procedure I tracked down several problems (loose wires to fron panel) but
still have the address light problem.
I'll track down the procedure and explain further, if there is any interest.
I appreciate the comments about the alignment problem, and can see how
basically I should be concentrating on the Altair first. So thats what I'll
do.
More soon.
Andrew
-----Original Message-----
From: Allison J Parent <allisonp(a)world.std.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, February 05, 1998 4:24 AM
Subject: Re: Altair 8800b + drive alignment
><From CLASSICCMP-owner(a)u.washington.edu Wed Feb 4 11:40:41 1998
>
><> This repair is one of the (I
><> suspect) many that will be required to bring the Altair back to life.
><> I've managed to get it (almost) firing up during the self-test stage
><
><"self-test stage"? Is this a turnkey model with a boot in ROM,
><or not?
>
>ALTAIR 8800b (with altair disk controller) used a boot program or a boot
>rom card and DID NOT have anything resembling PC self test(or any
>diagnostics).
>
>Allison
>
>
<From CLASSICCMP-owner(a)u.washington.edu Wed Feb 4 11:40:41 1998
<> This repair is one of the (I
<> suspect) many that will be required to bring the Altair back to life.
<> I've managed to get it (almost) firing up during the self-test stage
<
<"self-test stage"? Is this a turnkey model with a boot in ROM,
<or not?
ALTAIR 8800b (with altair disk controller) used a boot program or a boot
rom card and DID NOT have anything resembling PC self test(or any
diagnostics).
Allison
<I keep an 8" floppy disk in the front of my store to amaze people ("Jus
<fold it twice and stick it in your drive...it holds a lot!")
<
<Just how much do (did?) they hold? (I'm sure there were different data
<densities...just a range is all I want!)
standard single sided single density was 128bytes*26 sectors*77 tracks
or 256k.
The high end is double density two sided and around 1mb.
Allison
I used to support these machines but its been a while. i think the hard drive
is proprietary, but i do remember someone somewhere mentioning adding a really
big hard drive and getting it to work. send me another notice via private mail
reminding me, and i will check on it when i get back to work.
david
In a message dated 98-02-04 00:20:43 EST, you write:
<< Yes, its a 2011-c34. I have no problem booting from the rom. I hear
the hd spin up but then it slows down again and the light stays on. I
get a 1701 error and an indication to press f1. After pressing f1 the
computer boots from either the floppy or the rom.
I wish I could have made backups first but it was doa when I got it. Do
you know if the parts (hd floppy) are interchangeable with ps/2
hardware?
Thanks for the software source tip. >>
<>They may work muost just pull the 360k drives from an XT.
<
< Aren't SA 400's single density? XT drives are Double Density. Yes,
<they'll probably work but the media wouldn't be interchangable.
Sa400 would do FM (single density) and MFM (double density). the 360k
drive also do single density. It's the 1.2m 5.25" drives that are weird.
< Do you have the old NS* software that will run on the Alrair?
By default yes.. and no. The stuff will run on an altair but the IO
which is personalized for my NS* with it's two serial ports. there
is no way I can personalize it for the altair as I have no clue of the
IO (serial boards used and their addreses). The NS* motherboard
(backplane) has two serial ports and a parallel port plus a few
other useful things so their configurations were easier to be certain
of. You need to track down a set of NS* manuals or copies.
FYI: NSdos requires a minimum 16k of ram starting at 2000h it does not
use ram below 2000h (or care). Also it assumes the ports start at 00
and the port devices are 8251s with hard jumpered baud rates.
If you are going to configure an altair you need manuals, more manuals
and it doesn't hurt to be able do digital design to understand what they
did. You see the docs with early altairs were not amoung the best. Most
of what you may need to know often had to be extracted from the printsets
by understanding the logic. then you have the non-altair boards plugged
in that manuals are very handy for too. If the boards require extra or
specific software (some terminal interface or video display boards) the
hadware and software manuals may be needed.
Allison
<1) Can someone explain the process of aligning a disk drive, what is out
<whack, and how tricky it is for a rank electronics amateur like myself
It's tricky as you will need a good scope and the alignment disk and know
how to use both. also getting the alignment disk after so many years will
be a challenge.
<Oh, I forgot to mention, the drive is an 8", the Altair model that has th
<same basic case and look of the Altair itself. This repair is one of the
<suspect) many that will be required to bring the Altair back to life.
Before you align anything check to see if the head is clean and the head
load pad(felt) is there and intact.
<I've managed to get it (almost) firing up during the self-test stage, bu
<one of the address lines doesn't behave (the light doesn't come on on A2
<when I flick the switch that should light all of them, yet the light is
<operational at other stages). I'll get to that one later.
I'd check the switch (may be dirty contacts from age). then follow the
logic as it may be a poor contection or a bad chip.
<Looks like a long, slow process. But worth it, no?
Shouldn't be that bad. the altair 8800B was a later machine and far
better/different than the 8800 or 8800A. Of the Altairs it was the
industrial strength version. What will help your task is having
documentation (a must for any old machine!). It wouldn't hurt if you
have a techie near you that is familiar with old s100 hardware as a
PC kid genius would not have a clue.
Allison
At 03:34 PM 03/02/98 -0800, you wrote:
>"CP/M" machine is pretty vague. 8" floppy? 5.25" floppy? 3.5" floppy?
>
Sorry, it's for a Kaypro 4, which is 5.25" (i think)
>
>*Which* long filenames? CP/M is 8.3, too!
>
Sorry again, I am not familiar with CP/M. I was told however that when he
(the one with the Kaypro 4) tried to convert files before, the CP/M <-->
DOS <--> Mac conversion truncated his files, I must have misinterpreted
this to mean filenames :(
Thanks however for the link to the CP/M <--> DOS conversion utility, it
is much appreciated :)
ah yes, the first ps1 series to come out. i presume its a 2011-c34 or m01. you
might want to try this trick:
with the machine off, press and hold down both mouse buttons, then power on.
when it posts, let the buttons go. that will force an autoconfig, and make it
boot from rom again. that trick works on all ps1 models. you shoulda made your
disk backups when it was running, but too late now. you can still order the
core software from ibm. i think it's ~$45. ring the helpcentre at 800.772.2227
david
In a message dated 98-02-03 16:55:21 EST, you write:
<< I recently came into possession of a PS/1 model 2011. (I believe that
this was one of the initial PS/1 models). It has a '286 processor and
30 meg harddrive. Unfortunately, the harddrive seems to be DOA (1701
error on boot up). The system will boot up to a 4 quadrant screen from
the rom. I have downloaded the programs from IBM to switch the boot
sequence to the floppy, but I cannot access any of the software that
came with the system (MS Works et al.). The docs seem to imply that I
can create a diskette version to run the software, which would be great
if I had the original diskettes.
So I'm wondering if there is anyone out there that I could get a copy of
the diskettes that came with this system?
Thanks, >>
>If that works, you're lucky; if not, it's time for the needlenose pliers,
>at which point the game becomes "straighten one pin without bending
others."
Actually, that's why I choose a screw driver. It's small enough that I
don't worry about getting two pins, just the one that I want fixed. It's
worked 10 or so times, no problems, 10 min. MAX for each, usually no more
than 2 or 3.
>Now that you've said that -- how about a Centronics-type connector, with
>the female end on the end of the monitor cable, and the male end recessed
>into the card bracket, where it would just be another feature connector of
>sorts? This exact combination, when used for parallel printers or external
>SCSI, is almost indestructible.
That would work. Also, current monitors would be able to use it. You could
even have a little plug-in thing for current monitors/video cards, with no
re-design needed. I don't think that I've got the power to pull this off,
but I do know a guy at Diamond MM, reviewing products for my web site.
Ciao,
Tim D. Hotze
I recently came into possession of a PS/1 model 2011. (I believe that
this was one of the initial PS/1 models). It has a '286 processor and
30 meg harddrive. Unfortunately, the harddrive seems to be DOA (1701
error on boot up). The system will boot up to a 4 quadrant screen from
the rom. I have downloaded the programs from IBM to switch the boot
sequence to the floppy, but I cannot access any of the software that
came with the system (MS Works et al.). The docs seem to imply that I
can create a diskette version to run the software, which would be great
if I had the original diskettes.
So I'm wondering if there is anyone out there that I could get a copy of
the diskettes that came with this system?
Thanks,
--
Dan Rector
email: rector(a)usa.net
