>The drives are Diablo 30 drives, and the disks (there are several), are
>marked PDP-11 system disk, and PDP-11 Backup disk. The previous owner
>told me when I picked them up, that they should boot. Last night, I tried
>playing around with it again, and tried to access the disk status
>register (round about 17400(8) from memory, but I'm at work just now and
>it was late last night, so my terrible memory can't be sure...). It
>seemed to contain 000000 (from typing @17400/). :( Which doesn't, as far
>as I can tell from the assorted docs, look to promising for the state
>drive.
17400 can't be a disk address... The physical address range for I/O
page addresses is 17760000-17777776. On some machines this can be
shortened to 760000-777776, and on some, even further to 160000-177776.
(Though if you are referencing the I/O page from within a program, you
must use a 16-bit value in the range 160000-177776, and the memory
management must either be off, or setup such that the mapping registers
for that range point to the actual I/O page).
Have you examined memory beginning at 0 to see if there has been any
code actually loaded from the disk? (Deposit something like zero or
177777 in a bunch of locations beginning at address 0, and after trying
to boot, check those addresses... if they are different from what you
entered, then that might indicate the disk has actually done something)
BTW - what sort of DEC disk do your disks emulate? That would help
in being able to tell you what address you could twiddle with, and
what toggle-in boot code to try...
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 |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
Tim,
The drives are Diablo 30 drives, and the disks (there are several), are
marked
PDP-11 system disk, and PDP-11 Backup disk. The previous owner told me when
I
picked them up, that they should boot. Last night, I tried playing around
with
it again, and tried to access the disk status register (round about
17400(8) from
memory, but I'm at work just now and it was late last night, so my terrible
memory
can't be sure...). It seemed to contain 000000 (from typing @17400/). :(
Which
doesn't, as far as I can tell from the assorted docs, look to promising for
the state drive.
An other potential problem is that I believe a clock pulse was generated by
a
CAMAC crate attatched to it. I've got the crate, but cannot attatch it at
present
because it needs a 110V supply, and I don't have my 110V transformer just
now.
My house is a 240V only zone at the moment, or at least as long as these
machines stop tripping the surge detector!. I need to install a more
forgiving
fuse box.
Thanks for your help.
Grant
>>at $ prompt type in drive name
>>
>> $ DK0
>
>What sort of media are you actually trying to boot? Why do you think
>it's got a valid boot-block?
>
>>It now takes me back to the @ prompt.
>>Type in 0g
>>
>> @0g
>>
>>and I get 000002 back.
>>I'm assuming that the '2' I get back is an error of some sort. Can anyone
>>shed any light
>>on this one for me.
>
>Nope, it's not an error - it's the address the CPU stopped at. It's
>certainly the case that at address 0, there's a "HALT" instruction
>(i.e. the contents are zero.) This is very possibly because the boot
>block you read into location 0 was all zeroes - i.e. not a boot block
>at all.
C'mon guys, be nice. It's probably someone doing a school report or
something. www.chac.org/chhistpg.htm has plenty of links to pictures.
Try the PDP ftp archives, they have some good pics.
>I have a nice 10MB file of a PDP-1...should I send it to her? ;)
>
>
>
>
>> Please send me a imagen of minicomputers
>
>
>........................................................................
>
> @
> /
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> (D)/
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===
>BNL |- - -Phase Shifter- - - -|--/ Get Wired!
>- ------------]=[]@----------------------@
415.276.4979
>Trans- ] ]](A) Toll Free 1.888.208.6655 (B) ? (C) Rear
Connection
>mission ]]]]]]]]]]]]Driveshaft]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
> ] ]]
>71 ------------] web superstation of the stars...
>van burnham http://www.futuraworld.com
>production manager
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van-page(a)wired.com
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>
>
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Well, my new (old) PT SOL machine showed up (after nearly being lost by UPS) last night.
Of all the classic machines I have gathered, this one was by far the best kept of the bunch.
Bob Stek, the docs showed up (thank you) the same time. How nice :)
Tony
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>So what is it? Any model number on the machine?
>Francois
The model is Compact Computer 40, abbreviated as CC40. It's a small
9 X 5.5 " unit, gray, with a full keyboard including numeric keypad,
and a one-line 30-character display. It has 8k RAM and 2k ROM (I
think) and BASIC and a monitor in ROM. A cartridge port, HEXBUS port
for plugging in cool stuff which I don't have (like a tape drive),
and AC adapter port. Runs on 4 AA batteries. Has lots of math
functions as well. Comes with a manual, mostly about BASIC, and anothe
r book called 'Learn BASIC: A guide to programming the TI CC40'
It's made in 1983. There is an ad for it that runs '20 pages of notes,
a thesis, algebraic formulas. Can you make a date at eight?
Turn to your TI Compact Computer. By 7:14 your TI CC40(tm) has your
notes filed, the changes made in your thesis, and all those formulas
worked. The CC-40 goes where you go -- the classroom, library,
anywhere. It's cordless, compact, sophisticated. It gives you much of
the problem solving power of Apple or IBM personal computers. But
it's a fraction of the size and price..." the ad goes on to say
6K RAM, 34K ROM, which doesn't agree with my manual. This thing
runs at 2.5 Mhz,BTW. So, if anyone has any cartridges or accessories
(that tape drive sure looks nice!) that they would be willing to
sell/trade/give to me...
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Hi Scott,
Just checking whether you're still trying to sort things out or what not?
Regards,
Jon
>Jon Healey wrote:
>>
>> Hi Scott,
>>
>> I think I'd be interested in the xerox and the Amstrad.
>> Are they spoken for yet?
>>
>> Where are you located? I'm in NH.
>>
>
>Neither are claimed at the moment. In the case of the Xerox, it has a
>lot of documentation and will be quite heavy to ship I think. Give a
>couple of days to sort out the stuff and I will be back in touch with
>you.
>
>I am located in Rocky Mount, NC.
>
>
>
>
>Thanks,
>
>Kirk Scott
>scottk5(a)ibm.net
>
All is OK! Even the power supply is quiet now. I think it may have been
squealing only when the full load wasn't being drawn (I had both drives
disconnected) and only for a few seconds after power-up.
Anyway, the problem with the LCD panel was really nothing. The new
connector simply needed to mate with longer pins to make proper contact.
The pins at the back of the LCD panel were long enough, but the ones
inside the machine were not. I ground down the connector a little bit and
it works now.
I also fully disassembled the casing to get at the variable resistor that
controls the "contrast", because it was so dirty that I couldn't get a
stable picture at all. I used an aerosol contact cleaner on it.
I did find a loose paperclip during the disassembly. Hopefully it didn't
do any damage while it was in there.
The picture is now stable and clear. I used to get corrupted characters
and strange lines on the display at seemingly random times, but I used the
machine for at least six hours straight tonight and it never came back.
The screen also used to be sensitive to movement and its position, and now
it doesn't care if I grab it and flip it up while I'm using it. I'm
guessing that several other wires were in the process of working loose.
The screen is just naturally hard to read, but not nearly as hard as it
was. The contrast has to be adjusted according to the user's viewpoint,
and it's not always possible to clearly see the whole screen at once
(especially up close).
At some contrast settings, dark patches appear on the screen. Also, areas
of the screen react to what is being displayed on other areas with a kind
of ghosting, which can be a little distracting when the contents of the
screen are busy. I'm guessing that this is normal for this technology.
One really cool thing is that the characters appear to "float" on the
screen.
I think I can confirm a 1988 date for both construction and purchase.
Most of the parts with identifiable date stamps that I looked at had date
stamps of late '87 or the first few weeks of '88. Also, the contents of
the hard drive which I never inspected very thoroughly (because of the
screen) included personal and business (including many local businesses
that I know) tax records from 1987 through to 1991.
And yes, I did delete files of that nature as I found them. There were
approximately 16MB worth of accounting files, and only software that would
be useful in accounting, so clearly this was an accountant's machine.
I'm a bit disturbed by the implications of finding such information at a
garage sale.
There is something strange about the display, BTW. It has
externally-accessible dip switches. Four of them. And there's a note
taped inside the panel that certain pieces of software require a certain
switch setting.
I attempted to install GeoWorks 1.00 and found that its installation
program is one of the programs that needs that switch setting. :/
And no, I didn't get GeoWorks running, because I don't have a
PC-compatible mouse. :/ (I picked up GeoWorks at the Goodwill this week.)
Anyway, I'm still up because I've been watching the news all night.
<shudder> Had it not been for that, I probably would have reported back
with my success a lot sooner.
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/
>> In terms of copyright there is no thing like
>> 'lost ownership' Copyright (and other intelectual
>> property) is always originated by natural persons,
>> And if any kind of licencee (company, temopral owner)
>> is closed and no legal successor is available the rights
>> return to the original Author/Inventor.
> What happens if the author/inventor dies?
It comes to inheritance.
In fact, even copyright vanishes, but not before at least
50 Years.
Gruss
H.
--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK
