test-drb September 1998

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

154 participants
649 discussions

by jpl15＠netcom.com

This is an open letter to my Northern Brother-in-Scrap, Bruce Lane, 'cause I know he's done this... and I thought maybe others will have (or soon have) these questions too... Okay.. I realize now that all of my 20+ years of computer experience has been on disk-based systems... and I am having some fundamental-concept problems in understanding the basics of Tape, as it is implemented under VMS (and maybe RT-11 too, I'll burn that bridge when I get to it). On my now beautifully working uVAX II (thanks again Allison!) I have a Cipher 9trk and a TK50... I have the MIcro VMS User's Manuals VOL I & II. I understand the concept of mounting the devices and allocating them (sort of), and I have successfully loaded, mounted, allocated, and initialized a roll of tape on the Cipher. I have made a Test directory on the HD called [TEST] ;} on which I have created a couple of simple text files. I have tried to copy these files to the tape (MSA0:), and it does *something*, the tape advances and the HD led flickers, but when I try to copy these files back, all I get are sequentially numbered blank directory entries. I mounted/foreign an RT-ll sig tape, and tried to copy it to the HD; same thing. Show/Dev/MSA0: shows the right Volume Label.. but the directories are empty when I copy them back... I am lacking in the basic understanding of how the tape system works, so I thought to ask my Firends and Listmembers. Cheers John

25 years, 10 months

IBM System 34 and 36 questions

by rws＠ais.net

Hi everybody, I have just acquired several large pieces of equipment and I have some questions about them. I haven't moved them yet- some of these questions concern moving them. What I have are an IBM System 34 (model 5340), an IBM System 36 (model 5360), two tape drives (model 8809-1C), and two printers (model 3262-B1), plus some manuals and tapes. Everything is supposed to be in working order- they upgraded and pulled the plug. 1. How much do these things weigh? The computer person there estimated 2000 lb. for the 34, 1000 lb. for the 36, 700 lb. on the printers and 500 lb. on the tape drives. Does that sound about right? 2. How possible is partial dismantling for transport? I didn't get to tear into them to look. Loading access is fairly good in the building they are in, but unloading the 34 could be tricky. It would help if I could lighten them up. 3. What needs to be done before moving? Head locking, moving or removing anything, stuff like that. Other less important stuff that I'm curious about: 4. What kind of interface does it have to the terminals? 5. What kind of power does it need? I'd assume 3 phase 220v. 6. How much computing power is this? Compared to a VAX 11/750, say. 7. How will these things tolerate living in an unheated building over winter? I live in IL. Any other hints and tips would be greatly appreciated. I'd really like to be able to move these machines without damage (to the machines or me). I went there today mainly as a recon mission, but they convinced me to take home a Wang word processing system. The server is a model OIS-60X, and it has 4 terminals hooked up by RS336 (?) over coax (BNC connectors), plus a laser printer. I think the printer weighs more than the server. I got a bunch of cartridges for it, and some Canon copier cartridges too, "because they're almost the same". I think not. Thanks, Richard Schauer rws(a)ais.net

25 years, 10 months

WTB: Portable

by roblwill＠usaor.net

Hello everyone. I'm looking for an old IBM or Compaq Portable (or any other that the motherboard can be replaced with a standard one (especially the IBM). I'm looking for a fairly speedy portable, because of the program that I use (needs a 486).I have an old 486/66 board that I can use, but I don't feel like spending $700 for a portable case w/display. I'd be willing to trade a VGA or an EGA monitor for it, or be willing to pay a fair (ly low) price (since I won't be using much of the guts, anyway. as always, ThAnX in advance, -- -Jason (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#-1730318

25 years, 10 months

Single-card video/I/O solution

by djenner＠halcyon.com

I'm looking for a slight variation of a card I have in an old PC/XT, one card with: - video (monochrome text only is OK, VGA at best) - floppy disk controller (3.5in, 1.44MB is necessary) - serial/parallel I/O (optional, one serial port would be nice) - and (optionally) a hard drive controller (MFM is OK, IDE better) With such a card I can construct a minimal, full system on an old 386sx I have using only one expansion slot, which is a necessity. The card I have is an 8-bit ISA card, and that or a 16-bit ISA card would be OK. The card I have only does up to 5.25in, 720KB floppies, and that's why I can't steal it from my XT. Was such a card ever made? (It's not too much of a step beyond what I have.) Does anyone have one around? Does someone still make such a card? Thanks, Dave

25 years, 10 months

Sorcerer Serial Number Decode

by dlw＠trailingedge.com

While digging through my Exidy Sorcerer doc, I noticed a little paragraph in the technical manul which tells how to read the Sorcerer's serial number. I'm sending this in case other Exidy owners want to check their systems. ---QUOTE--- "The first five digits of the serial number give the date of manufacturer. The next several digits are specific to the individual unit, and then, if you have a Sorcerer 2, there are the letters II. Next comes the voltage designation. For example, serial number 10299 528 II 220V indicates a Sorcerer 2, manufactured on 10/29/79, unit number 528, of 220 volts." ---END QUOTE--- Mine is 03070 0085 110v so made on 03/07/80 I guess. Funny thing is mine doesn't have the II to indicate it is a Sorcerer 2 but all the doc and looking at the mobo inside seems to indicate it is a 2. Wonder if the original owner swapped it at some point? It does list a model number of DP1000-2. ----- David Williams - Computer Packrat dlw(a)trailingedge.com http://www.trailingedge.com

25 years, 10 months

C64

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

> From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) > Subject: Re: C64 video > > > > > I tested the three C64s i got and none are getting video on a known working > > composite monitor. im also not getting a beep when i try ^G (assuming a > > speaker is inside the computer) do these systems need an rf modulator or > > require a tv? Control-G Does not produce any noise on the 64. There are no sound routines (except to clear the SID registers at start-up) in the 64 ROMs (I think they were rushed on putting the 64 to market; later they released Super Expander and Simon's BASIC which offered sound commands.) I usually use a game cartridge to check the 64's sound, video and joystick ports. Jumpman Junior seems to be my favored one (mainly because it does not rely on much of the KERNAL/BASIC ROMs in it's operation.) And yes, the Genesis A/V cable is compatible with the 64 (I've used the same cable on both units). -- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Larry Anderson - Sysop of Silicon Realms BBS (300-2400bd) (209) 754-1363 Visit my Commodore 8-Bit web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/commodore.html -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

25 years, 10 months

NeXT system available soon!

by kyrrin＠jps.net

While at RE-PC in Seattle yesterday, I saw that they're working on getting a complete color NeXT system ready to sell. As near as I can tell, this is the 'Pizza Box' configuration with 32 megs RAM. I don't know what size hard drive it has as it had been taken home by one of the guys who was going to load the NeXT OS on it. If interested, give a call to the Seattle store at (206) 623-9151. Ask for Maurice or Jeff and tell them I referred you. Best of luck! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies E-Mail: kyrrin (at) jps [d=o=t] net (munged to screw up spambots) Sent on 13-Sep-98 at 10:25:09, Pacific -- http://table.jps.net/~kyrrin "...No matter how much we may wish otherwise, our science can only describe an object, event, or living creature in our own human terms. It cannot possibly define any of them..." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

25 years, 10 months

RE-PC Finds

by kyrrin＠jps.net

For those in or near the Seattle area, RE-PC has turned up some pretty cool stuff. First, some intriguing VMEBus systems. From what I can tell, they were made by Charles River Data Systems and, although they may not be terribly useful as a system in their current state, the VME backplane is very much an industry standard and can be adapted to just about any VME cards you might want to plug into it. They also have a pile of Cipher 9-track tape drives. These are the front-loading 880 series, 1600/3200 density, Pertec interface. I've looked over several of them, and most look like they've had barely any use at all (I picked one up yesterday to repair another I already have). And, if you want a rack to put such goodies into, they've got a blortload of retired five-foot high Sun racks. Although wider on the outside than the norm, all appear to be standard 19" on the inside rails. Just about all of 'em are in clean shape, and going for around $50 per. I think, last time I looked, they wanted no more than $20/unit for the tape drives, and I don't think the VME systems would be horribly expensive either. If interested, give a call to the Tukwila store at (206) 575-8737. Ask for Eric Meiney, tell him I referred you, and you're off and running. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies E-Mail: kyrrin (at) jps [d=o=t] net (munged to screw up spambots) Sent on 13-Sep-98 at 08:16:56, Pacific -- http://table.jps.net/~kyrrin "...No matter how much we may wish otherwise, our science can only describe an object, event, or living creature in our own human terms. It cannot possibly define any of them..." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

25 years, 10 months

NeXT [was Re: Radio Shack Model ][ available (Portland Oregon)]

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

So, let's say this were ported to a C128 or an upgraded 64. Would this allow one to access the 'net? As for ARCnet cards, yes, they're quite common in corporate and government places, along with token ring (I believe IBM supported these two, but not ethernet). I may have a couple. >> someone has crammed UDP, IP and ARP into a tiny PIC microcontroller. >> Does anyone know anything about this? I would kind of like to set >> up my Trs-80 Mod 4 on the net for various reasons. > > I've heard rumors of IP (not TCP/IP, just IP) being written for the C-64 >(along with PPP or SLIP I assume). Apparently, the port only had IP and >ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol---at the same layer as IP) as >nothing else could fit in 64k. IP isn't that difficult (and uncompressed >SLIP is pretty easy as well). UDP is just a user accessable (under UNIX) >version (more or less) of IP (unreliable datagram protocol, but I think UDP >stands for User Datagram Protocol, as a datagram protocol is unreliable by >definition if I recall correctly). > > -spc (Quick question: how common are ARCNET cards for PCs and Tandy > 6000s? I know there are Linux drivers for ARCNET cards, and I > have two Tandy 6000s ... ) > > > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

25 years, 10 months

Osborne Vixen

by fmc＠reanimators.org

Doug Yowza <yowza(a)yowza.com> wrote: > Mine only says OSBORNE. I suspect mine has a smaller display than the > production model -- it looks like a 5" diag. If anybody else thinks they > have this same version, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll start > bragging about it on my web page as the only surviving specimen! That is a find. If you can find the Kilobaud that has the photos of Adam Osborne showing off the Vixen, you will note that the one he is showing is configured like that. -Frank McConnell

25 years, 10 months

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test-drb September 1998