test-drb March 1998

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

167 participants
859 discussions

by rcini＠email.msn.com

On the list, Don was talking about the MicroSolutions MatchPoint card, which, with its associated software, permitted reading and writing Apple disks on a standard PC drive, and another hardware item I can 't remember at this time. Here's my idea. Why can't we contact those vendors that are still in {corporate} existence and who at one time produced interesting and useful hardware or software (examples would be MicroSolutions, or CentralPoint), and try to purchase, for nominal $$$, the rights to produce and distribute these goods in small quantities. Although it would take some of the sport out of trying to locate a MatchPoint card, for example, it would enable us to produce these tools for ourselves, thus becoming self-sufficient in a way. Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> (remove nospam_ to use) ClubWin! Charter Member (6) MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking ============================================

26 years, 5 months

Apology, Info, Etc...

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 02:55 PM 3/18/98 -0800, you wrote: >> I encourage you to organize as you desire, by whatever >> means you can agree on if you haven't already done so. [...] >Ok fine. Until I'm able to take over ClassicCmp completely, we can put a >few issues to a vote. I thought we already decided a couple months back [...] >It's a mailing list for the discussion of classic computers. Topics center >on collection, restoration, and operation. It is also an appropriate place >for stories and reminiscences of classic computers. Lofty discussions I actually stopped to notice how many e-mails I got yesterday. Over 300. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to ignore all the off-topic BS (including the off-topic stuff about being off-topic and and the off-topic cat-fighting) and all the suggested changes and alternates and so on. I will continue reading whatever comes in from <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> and will (occassionally) post messages (maybe even including the occasional off-topic one) to <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> as if none of this had ever happened. Those that are unhappy are welcome to go off and start something new. Who knows, somewhere down the road, I might subscribe to your list/chatroom/website/whatever as well. Those that want to keep on whining, are welcome to do so. I'll delete your messages and somehow manage to go about my business without committing suicide. Those that want to talk about classic computers, great. I'll read your messages (even the bloody cax ones! 8^) and might even have something to contribute. So, if you liked it the way it was (and don't let Bill fool you, he's been doing a great job) just sit back, ignore it, and the nonsense will eventually blow over. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/

26 years, 5 months

Hasbro buys ATARI

by jmg＠iac.net

This is old news. The ATARI newsgroups have been full of this for the last couple of weeks, so I'm sure most folks here know about it. However, Hasbro recently came out with an announcement stating that they are going to re-release old games such as Centipede just like they rereleased an updated 'Frogger.' A core ATARI constituancy still exists who would like Hasbro to update the ST hardware line. With clone European makers _still_ manufacturing ST compatible machines, and Gateway 2000's purchase of the Amiga line, one might think this could be a profitable move for Hasbro. Looks like they don't see it that way howver. What a shame. Both *BSD and Linux run on this hardware line and I _really_ want a decent alternative to PC hardware available which is also designed with <*cough*> games in mind (hey, I may be an adult but I still like videogames!) Maybe a letter writing campaign to Hasbro could help change their mind? Anyone else here fond of the old ATARI computer line and share my enthusiasm? J. Maynard Gelinas

26 years, 5 months

Old manuals free in Canada

by pjoules＠enterprise.net

Found on usenet - I assume that 40 years old makes them on topic ;-) (Sorry about the delay, message bounced twice because I couldn't type the address properly) On Tue, 17 Mar 1998 15:38:39 -0500, in comp.misc "John H. Lindsay" <lindsay-j(a)rmc.ca> wrote: >I'm in the process of trying to retire, and I have a collection >of computer manuals that go back to the I.B.M. 650 and 1620 >in the mid-late 1950's and run to, say, 10 years ago. This >stuff is History, and it shouldn't be thrown out. It needs a >good home - a computer archive, library, or museum, >Canadian preferred, but if one doesn't materialize, I'll consider >other possibilities. > >Ideas, suggestions or recommendations, anyone ? > >-- >John H. Lindsay lindsay-j(a)rmc.ca >Department of Mathematics and Computer Science >ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE OF CANADA >P O BOX 17000 STN FORCES >KINGSTON ON K7K 7B4 CANADA > >Phone: (613) 541-6000--1--6419 >Fax: (613) 541-6584

26 years, 5 months

Pesky atari modem

by CharlesII＠nwonline.net

I have a problem with an Atari 1030 modem. While I can receive everything correct on the Atari modem I am not able to receive anything transmitted from it to another computer correctly. All I get from the Atari modem is binary garbage. Can anyone help me? BTW dose anyone have any spare Atari cables remember they have 13 pins. On another note I've noticed that flea markets are a pretty good place to find classic computers.

26 years, 5 months

Cleaning up classic books

by dastar＠wco.com

Many of the old computer books I get from thrift stores have the price of the book written in grease pencil on the inside cover of the book. I'd like to remove this safely. Can someone point me to the right place to find this sort of information? Thanks. Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass Coming Soon...Vintage Computer Festival 2.0 See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details!

26 years, 5 months

More: Irreverence to irrelevance

by dcoward＠pressstart.com

I have to admit that I'm flame virgin, but it looks like fun so I'll give it a shot. I can't believe so many on the ClassicCmp List don't subscribe to the digest! That was the first thing I did.(Change over to the digest) I can't be sorting through 40-50 messages to find the work related one that need to be answered right away. And frankly, collecting computers is a hobby for me, one of many, and this is not the only digest I subscribe to.(Even though it's the one that takes most of my mail reading time.) Yesterday's digest came in SIX parts. In the last year thats nearly the record. Page after page of the same e-mail quoted again and agin. BUT I'm not complaining, instead I suggest that MAYBE the ClassicCmp List should default to digest when subscribing. I think that a digest allows people the time to think out their responses. Many of you are the CP/M-List, this is a good example. You may have to wait 24 hours for a response, but usually it a very thoughtful one. And I think its because (as I remember) CP/M-L defaulted to digest and it just become a slower paced discussion. Also with a digest there is no reason to quote someone in entirety (You just read the other message). You do have to cut and paste, so you're more selective. It true than I'm sometimes 24 hours late on a computer for sale. But then again everybody want to auction off their computers anymore. Well that my humble opinion. ========================================= Doug Coward dcoward(a)pressstart.com Senior Software Engineer Press Start Inc. Sunnyvale,CA Curator Museum of Personal Computing Machinery http://www.best.com/~dcoward/museum =========================================

26 years, 5 months

IBM mainframe equipment (repost from another source)

by rhblake＠bbtel.com

There's a person on the Obsolete Computer Helpline at http://ncsc.dni.us/fun/user/tcc/cmuseum/helpline/helpline.htm that writes the following: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Anybody looking for some IBM mainframe equipment? Let me know what item you're looking for. --------------------------------------------------------------------- mailto:mkoch@mw.mediaone.net is his email contact address. No name other than "Mike" was posted. I thought that maybe someone in the list might be interested.... -------------------------------------------------------------------- Russ Blakeman RB Custom Services / Rt. 1 Box 62E / Harned, KY USA 40144 Phone: (502) 756-1749 / Data/Fax:(502) 756-6991 Email: rhblake(a)bbtel.com or rhblake(a)bigfoot.com Website: http://members.tripod.com/~RHBLAKE/ * Parts/Service/Upgrades and more for MOST Computers* --------------------------------------------------------------------

26 years, 5 months

Hitachi 2.8" (was Preserving old floppies, fixed disks...)

by lisard＠zetnet.co.uk

On 1998-03-18 classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu said to lisard(a)zetnet.co.uk :> Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 23:56:43 GMT :> yep, they're quick disks. and they probably belong in the same :>bucket as sinclair's microdrive and phi mag's floopy tape (anyone :>else remember this one?) - nice tries that just couldn't keep up, :>either in cost, capacity or genericity. :Re: phi mag's floppy tape: Didn't this resemble that old :TRS-80 hack the 'stringy floppy'? I used to have one of those when :I was a kid (the TRS-80 Stringy Floppy before I could afford a real :5 1/4" drive), and still remember it fondly. It was a pretty cool :little unit. ditto the sinclair microdrives, which were about the size of an old 50p piece (oh, erm... about one and a half times a quarter?) and stored 100k in a ql. they were 2 track, 1/16" tapes - does anyone know the magnetic format in which they stored data? was one track datat and one track clock, or...? they were *sooo* cute :> it's just a shame they were also rather unreliable. most qls have disk drives and ours is soon to acquire one. -- Communa (together) we remember... we'll see you falling you know soft spoken changes nothing to sing within her...

26 years, 5 months

On Flames and Mailing lists, and a bit about

by peacock＠simconv.com

Marty wrote: > very interested in learning about the history of the company itself. I > read everything I can find on early microcomputer companies and find > it fascinating reading. Northstar got its start, I think in late 1976, with one of the first affordable and reliable floppy disk systems for S-100s. It used the then brand new 5.25" floppy disk Shugart had just started making, matched to an S-100 controller board. Up to that time all the floppy systems were based on 8" floppies, which went for, oh, around $1000-$1500 for a drive (and weren't very reliable either). The NS drive was very cheap in comparison, I think around $500, but bets of all you just put it in the box and it worked, very rare for S-100 machines in that timeframe. The drive was single density, single sided, hard sectored with 10 sectors of 256 bytes each, total around 90KB. Paltry compared to the 243KB on an 8" drive, but infinitely better than a Tarbell cassette interface. The drive came with a crude operating system (CP/M didn't work right away because of hardware problems with the boot ROM on the NS controller) and Basic. Eventually Lifeboat got a version of CP/M working with the drive. After the floppy subsystem, NS came out with a unique S-100 floating point coprocessor board. This was actually a sort of bit slice state machine that did BCD arithmetic. A very clever design but somewhat difficult to use. It was fast for it's time. The only software that used it (to my knowledge) was the NS basic and I think one of the CBASIC or PASCAL compilers (Sorcim?). NS made enough from their floppy systems that they started making whole machines, the Horizon and later the Advantage. As with all the S-100 companies, PC's killed them off. Jack Peacock

26 years, 5 months

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test-drb March 1998