test-drb October 1999

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

216 participants
748 discussions

by DD950＠prodigy.net

I hate to admit it, but i use Outlook Express 4 and 5. I like it. It gives you a choice of sending to groups or individuals on both email lists and newsgroups. But if you are like me, you will always hit the wrong button anyway. OE 4-5 is free at the IE5 site on MicroSoft. If you have Win98, hit start-Windows Update and you are there. OE 5 can also check you Hotmail accounts for you. Reagards, "Only when no one responds to spam will it go away." If someone tries to sell you something via unsolicited email, don't buy it. Jim Rossbach, Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club Web Ring, www.TonkinYachts.cjb.net -----Original Message----- From: Jgzabol(a)aol.com <Jgzabol(a)aol.com> >Hi all, > >I really have to apologize for repeatedly sending private mail to the list. > >Does anyone know about a mail browser with two different reply functions: > - reply to originator > - reply to reply address ?? > -------------snip-------------------

25 years, 2 months

VCF II in the books

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

Sam wrote: > Just to tease everyone, I've been approached by someone with the necessary > connections to do a VCF East, and a VCF Europe is about 50% certain. I'm very interested in VCF Europe - could you put me in touch (privately) with those concerned, please. (I've a good idea who it might be!). I want to help make this happen! > Of course, as these things are, they could go nowhere, but I think the two > parties interested in doing each event respectively are serious, so stay > tuned for further developments :) It needs to be done. Philip. ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept for the presence of computer viruses. Power Technology Centre, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Nottingham, NG11 0EE, UK Tel: +44 (0)115 936 2000 http://www.powertech.co.uk **********************************************************************

25 years, 2 months

Don't look

by Jgzabol＠aol.com

Hi Henk, it is worse: I have been at that place already two times, once about two years ago, and then last Saturday --- these people are _VERY_ effective at obtaining things, quite a few people whom I asked about old hardware told me "Eugenoe got it all already", referring to Eugene Miya, one of the volunteers working for that organization. He is at NASA Ames, deeply involved with many of the Supercomputer (and previous CDC) sites here. I tried the two email addresses of Mr. Bartsch at Synstar, both return "user unknown". When I am back to Germany in two weeks I will use the ancient technology of the telephone. Thanks and regards John

25 years, 2 months

Heathkit H-11 restoration questions

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- allisonp(a)world.std.com wrote: > RXV11 is only compatable with the DEC RX01. The H11 Floppy used a Heath > interface. If you use the heath floppy with RXV11 nothing happens. OK. I'll go back to the card and get it working. Worst case, I'll pull all the sockets and solder in machine-pin ones. I'd rather not; it's lots of work. I observed substantial oxidation of the plating on the ICs I did remove and test (I can't test DEC bus chips with my IC tester, only CMOS, TTL and DRAM). > Get manuals for it! you'll save pain. Any pointers on where to lay hands on H-11 docs? > > Finally, eventually, I want to get original stuff back into this box. > The original was DLV11 compatable but it was HEATH design, not as durable. It looks dodgy, but then most of the Heath stuff looks less solid to me. > The H11: > > DEC M7294 11/03 (Quad width card with 4k ram on board) Got it. > This was the ONLY dec made card in it. > > Heath Memory, several version were available 4k early, 16k later. Don't got it. I have several 32Kw and 128Kw boards from 11/23s, etc., and a few 4kW and 16kW boards from my LSI-11s (knee-high formica-topped rolly DEC cabs w/RX01 and 11/03 inside). > Heath floppy controller/interface card. > > The last one is interesting as the heath disk <8"> used a z80 in the > floppy box to do the low-level disk interface and the ribbon went back > a simple interface that was mostly a parallel card. The card itself is about as simple as any Qbus card. It is, I take it, supposed to be nominally RXV11 compatible from a driver standpoint, yes? If not, then that's part of my problem. I do boot, the disks to appear to read in an OS, then the system hangs, but that could be as a result of my card only working if it is *not* at the end of an unbroken grant chain (with a gap in the bus, the disks read but the system does not boot; without a gap in the bus, the CPU does not even bring up the boot message). > It was RX01 compatable in one mode and had a HEATH specific mode. Software or hardware selected? > The drives were known for clamps that died with age and heat load pads that > fell off. So far, the only problem I appear to have is that the belt on DX1 has either broken or fallen off. The motor is turning, but not the hub. I haven't pulled the drive to check yet. On the bright side, the mechanisms appear to have a 50-pin edge connector, suggesting that they are standard from that standpoint. I expect that the hub motors are either 110V or 24V. > It could do one thing a RX01 could not, low level format a blank disk. I did spot the obvious format switch on the front of the disk unit, but no idea how to use it. I now wish that I'd picked up a couple more boxes of media from a friend's business about eight years ago. He had a pallet of 8" disks that he was selling for more money that I was willing to pay. Eventually, he gave me a case - my choice. I grabbed a 24" long box full of pre-formatted disks, the only one on the pile. When he disposed of the remainder, I didn't make a trip out there to grab any boxes. :-( > At some point I plan to assemble a H11 system. I have 11/03 cpu, RAM, > serial cards and backplane from one. One of the gems I have in the Heath pile is an unassembled backplane. I don't know if all the connectors are there or not and I don't have a second case for it, but I've got at least part of one to "attract" the rest of it. -ethan > Allison ===== Infinet has been sold. The domain is going away in February. Please send all replies to erd(a)iname.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com

25 years, 2 months

DG Nova 3 & LSI-11

by karlm＠blitzen.ise.canberra.edu.au

Hi all, A most interesting find was unearthed this afternoon, a DG Nova 3 with it's CDC platter drive! Not knowing much about the Nova series of computers, exactly what would be required to make it work? Also found was a home-built Q-Bus PDP-11 with RX50 drives, a M8192 CPU Module (What -11 is it?) an RQDX3 controller, a DEC card labelled M7546 and a card labelle "CTBC Computer Plus 1986" with a connector that leads to a homemade switch a LED setup. Any Clues? Cheers Karl ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Karl Maftoum Computer Engineering student at the University of Canberra, Australia Email: k.maftoum(a)student.canberra.edu.au

25 years, 2 months

Heathkit H-11 restoration questions

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

><> The M8189 was available as two basic versions 11/23 and the plus. The ><> primary difference was what it could boot. >< ><I don't think Alison means 11/23 and 11/23plus; the 11/23 uses a ><dual-height M8186 (KDF11-A) board. But the M8189 was used in both ><11/23plus (BA11-N box, IIRC) and microPDP11/23 (BA23 box). The difference ><was just the boot ROMs, as she said. > >No I meant what I said. > > M8186 KDF-11A 11/23 No serial or boot/diag roms > Depending on rev either 18bit or 22bit (if no MMU then 16bit) > > M8189 KDF-11BA 11/23B serial + boot diag roms. No MSCP boot. > M8189 KDF-11BB 11/23+ Same board different boot roms. Boots MSCP > Both are Q22 though early versions were packaged as Q18 You might want to look at your original quote again, Allison. It sounds like you claim you said "The M8189 was available as two versions, the M8186 and the M8189". Isn't that like saying "The Mercedes is available as two versions, the Mercedes and the Chrysler"? Yeah, sure, they might share some things in common, but they *aren't* the same board by any stretch of the imagination! -- Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/ 7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917 Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927

25 years, 2 months

Floppy disks again

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

>> QD is a misnomer, it really means DSDD 80-track, and the figure of 720K >> relates to 9 sectors per track, 512 bytes per sector. > > QD was 96tpi TWO SIDED. There were two formats, 720k and 780k. Come on, Allison, read the message before hitting the shift key. He said two sided (embedded in the word "DSDD"). Some (Wabash?) QD disks I saw were labelled "96/100 tpi 77/80 track" or words to that effect. As for the two sided bit, try telling that to a Commodore 8050! This drive got 500k onto one side of a QD disk and ignored the other completely. I forget the format, but the number of sectors increased towards the outside edge of the disk... > There were three basic soft sector medias, 35track (small window for > head), 40 track (larger window) and the 600o 1.2mb. Obviously there were > flavors of single and two side good media. Most large window was two > sides good and worked in everything save for the odd 1.2mb drives. Eh? What about QD? Which was that? It wasn't 35 or 40 track, but 77 or 80. Given the Wabash label quoted above, can you confirm absolutely that the number of tracks was a variation in head window? Philip. ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept for the presence of computer viruses. Power Technology Centre, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Nottingham, NG11 0EE, UK Tel: +44 (0)115 936 2000 http://www.powertech.co.uk **********************************************************************

25 years, 2 months

Heathkit H-11 restoration questions

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Oct 4, 23:31, Allison J Parent wrote: M8189 KDF-11BA 11/23B serial + boot diag roms. No MSCP boot. Ah yes, I'd foprgotten about that one... I must have five different sets of boot ROMs for KDJ-11Bs -- including a set transferred to a modified BDV11 to use with an -11A. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

25 years, 2 months

Heathkit H-11 restoration questions

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<> The M8189 was available as two basic versions 11/23 and the plus. The <> primary difference was what it could boot. < <I don't think Alison means 11/23 and 11/23plus; the 11/23 uses a <dual-height M8186 (KDF11-A) board. But the M8189 was used in both <11/23plus (BA11-N box, IIRC) and microPDP11/23 (BA23 box). The difference <was just the boot ROMs, as she said. No I meant what I said. M8186 KDF-11A 11/23 No serial or boot/diag roms Depending on rev either 18bit or 22bit (if no MMU then 16bit) M8189 KDF-11BA 11/23B serial + boot diag roms. No MSCP boot. M8189 KDF-11BB 11/23+ Same board different boot roms. Boots MSCP Both are Q22 though early versions were packaged as Q18 I have multiple copies of all three plus 11/2 (KD-11-H M7270) and 11/03 (KD-11, M7264). My 11/73 is the M8190. Allison

25 years, 2 months

Different diskette formats (was: Wanted: MicroBee computer

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Oct 4, 16:30, allisonp(a)world.std.com wrote: > Subject: Re: Different diskette formats (was: Wanted: MicroBee computer > > BTW, Allison recently referred to "hundreds" of different formats. Our > > estimate is abour 2500! XenoCopy-PC currently supports 400. > > No arguement here. I was talking media, drive and physical format. Add > OS and things like sectornumbering and skewing... gee, only 2500? ;) > > As a direct result of that there are very few 5.25 formats implmented in > my room and I try to keep it to the bare minimum. I've gone as far as to > modify systems for 3.5" drives and lock in on the more limited numbers of > formats used there. The 5.25" market was both standard and nonportable > at the same time and was a constant source of annoyance. > > Now if it's 5.25 it will be VT180, Visual1050, Kaypro 1/II, RX50, RX33 or > I use only of many tools to copy down to native for that machine. Or at > least the common ones in that pack. I have the same sort of problem. Even when considering just one manufacturer, there can be a fair range of formats. Commodore formats come to mind, but in my case I have a lot of Acorn equipment, and I have 5.25" disks that are 100K (SSSD 40 track 10 sectors/track 256 bytes/sector), 160K (SSDD 40 track 16 sectors/track 256 bytes/sector), 200K (DSSD 40 track 10 sectors/track 256 bytes/sector), 320K (both DSDD 40 track, and SSDD 80 track), 640K (DSDD 80 track). Then there are 3.5" disks 640K (same format as the 5.25"), 800K (DSDD 80 track 5 sectors/track 1024 bytes/sector), and 1.6M (DSHD 80 track 5 sectors/track 1024 bytes/sector). Several of these have different possible directory structures, too. The later machines can also read/write most of the "standard" MS-DOS formats. To keep it halfway manageable, I tend to copy anything Acorn I get to one of the two most common formats. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

25 years, 2 months

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test-drb October 1999