Weird Stuff Warehouse still exists???
I ordered our SMD-SCSI adaptec board there (back in 90).... everyone was
laughing at me when I put the order through Supply and Services.
PDP-8 and other rare mini computers
http://www.pdp8.com
-----Original Message-----
From: rhudson(a)ix.netcom.com <rhudson(a)ix.netcom.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, November 27, 1999 9:35 AM
Subject: PDP11 spotted today in Sunnyvale CA for SALE
>Wierd Stuff has a PDP 11 in their "AS-IS" room, CPU with 3 disk drives on a
pallet, with the
>backdoor badly dented. They are asking 500 for it. The start switch and one
other have been
>broken.
>
>Wierd Stuff is in Sunnyvale, CA (650 area code)
>
>I am not connected with Wierd Stuff warehouse in any way, I just buy other
old "Weird stuff"
>there.
>
>ron.
>
>
Wierd Stuff has a PDP 11 in their "AS-IS" room, CPU with 3 disk drives on a pallet, with the
backdoor badly dented. They are asking 500 for it. The start switch and one other have been
broken.
Wierd Stuff is in Sunnyvale, CA (650 area code)
I am not connected with Wierd Stuff warehouse in any way, I just buy other old "Weird stuff"
there.
ron.
On 11/27/99 08:58:54 you wrote:
>
>Weird Stuff Warehouse still exists???
>
>I ordered our SMD-SCSI adaptec board there (back in 90).... everyone was
>laughing at me when I put the order through Supply and Services.
>
>
>
>PDP-8 and other rare mini computers
>
>http://www.pdp8.com
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: rhudson(a)ix.netcom.com <rhudson(a)ix.netcom.com>
>To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
><classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
>Date: Saturday, November 27, 1999 9:35 AM
>Subject: PDP11 spotted today in Sunnyvale CA for SALE
>
yup still there, but now they have moved to the other side of 101, back in Moffat Park.
>
>>Wierd Stuff has a PDP 11 in their "AS-IS" room, CPU with 3 disk drives on a
>pallet, with the
>>backdoor badly dented. They are asking 500 for it. The start switch and one
>other have been
>>broken.
>>
>>Wierd Stuff is in Sunnyvale, CA (650 area code)
>>
>>I am not connected with Wierd Stuff warehouse in any way, I just buy other
>old "Weird stuff"
>>there.
>>
>>ron.
>>
>>
>
>
On Fri, 26 Nov 1999 14:57:44 -0800 Al Kossow <aek(a)spies.com> writes:
>"The SASI ones I never expected to work: They don't support
>the 'IDENT' command (among other things)
>"
>
>or disconnect/reconnect
>
>sounds like the unix drivers are expecting to be talking to a
>SCSI Common Command Set board.
But that's what's screwy-- The adaptec docs claim theat the 4525
*is* CCS compliant. MS-DOS seems to agree. BUt not UNIX.
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On Fri, 26 Nov 1999 14:55:44 -0800 Al Kossow <aek(a)spies.com> writes:
>"DTC has denied that they ever made bridge boards (even though I
>have several)"
>
>I have docs on most of the SCSI OMTI/DTC/SMS boards. I would be
>interested in info on the larger DTC 14xx series boards, esp the
>ones that SMS used in the QBus boxes that weren't compatible with
>DEC disc drivers.
The ones I have are all 510's (I think), 5.25" formfactor.
Can't get any info on these (a couple aren't even marked with
the model number!). One has a row of blinkenlights (510B).
Would be good to get info on these.
Jeff
___________________________________________________________________
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-----Original Message-----
From: Ethan Dicks <ethan_dicks(a)yahoo.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, November 27, 1999 1:16 AM
Subject: Re: LET'S (old topic)/and PDP-8I code/update
>
>
>--- John B <dylanb(a)sympatico.ca> wrote:
>>
>> I got the 8I finally to lead a tape properly.. First a quick memory
tester:
>>
>> I am going to put up a bunch of little programs on my webpage so folks
can
>> test devices without trying to get a paper tape up (will do TTY, and
maybe
>> basic INST test, and some more core tests)
>>
>
>Thank you, John. That's just the sort of thing I can use right now. My
>PDP-8 assembler skills are _very_ rusty and its helpful to see working
stuff
>that fits on one page to get my mind back in the right frame. I think it's
>been 15 years since I wrote anything from scratch.
>
Your welcome. I think they will help a lot of people out as *most./all* of
the 8 has to be running to get MAINDECs fed in.I will have the programs up
on the page by Monday morning. I am having to restore PDP-8s *really* fast
so I have to be able to find problems quickly.
The most important useful <1 page programs I have had to write (over the
past day) are:
memory test
memory test with parity option
memory - inhibit driver test (very small) - scope needed
memory -X/Y test (very small) - used to find X/Y driver problems with scope.
tty software loopback
tty continuous output generator (character selected on SR)
tty device selection test (scope needed.. checks flags and W103s)
high speed paper tape continuous reader
high speed paper tape 1/0 test
high speed punch test (select character to be punched on SR)
high speed paper tape copier (less than 20 bytes or it's free! ;-) )
If you can think of any others that would be needed please tell me as I want
to get them all done and tested.
>-ethan
>
>
>=====
>Infinet has been sold. The domain is going away in February.
>Please send all replies to
>
> erd(a)iname.com
>__________________________________________________
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one place.
>Yahoo! Shopping: http://shopping.yahoo.com
>
> Heres a question for anyone reguarding bridge adaptors. is there
>a Scsi 2 to Floppy bridge board around? I would like to find one that can
>be used with an XT or 486 system I have here with a scsi host adaptor.
Sure, lots of workstations shipped from the late 80's onwards used
SCSI floppy drives, generally a generic 3.5" floppy disk with 34-pin
interface through a bridge board.
Specifically, look for DEC RX23 (1.4MB) and RX24 (2.8MB) floppy drives
with attached SCSI bridge board. They're all over the surplus market.
--
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
> Slashdot has a link to an MSNBC story about the Russians restarting reactor
> #3 at the Chernobyl plant in the Ukraine. They need the power but can't
> afford a new reactor.
>
> Sounds like a fun place to work, eh? ^_^
Yobanoye sovetskoe naslesdtvo.
The Ukranian, Byelorussian and Russian governments continue to be engaged
in their Soviet legacy -- Absolute lack of concern for the environment,
the people, and their neighbours. You can follow this legacy on the
RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) web page and mailing list
at http://www.rferl.org.
regards,
-skots
--
Scott G. Akmentins-Taylor InterNet: staylor(a)mrynet.com
MRY Systems staylor(a)mrynet.lv
(Skots Gregorijs Akmentins-Teilors -- just call me "Skots")
----- Labak miris neka sarkans -----
Well, first of all the 4070's not an MFM bridge adapter at all, but rather
an RLL type.
Before we proceed, though, I'd like to ask how the floppy fits in. The
ACB4070 doesn't support floppy disks.
LINUX doesn't care about the parity, IIRC. It's just the SCSI channel
controller that has to be set up. It can either check or ignore parity,
your choice, generally. In the case of the 2825, you need to type control-A
at the appropriate moment during boot, and it will send you to the
controller's BIOS for controller-specific functions.
Where the trouble begins is in that modern SCSI drives know their
characteristics, but the 4070 doesn't know what kind of drive it's got until
it reads it. If it can't read it, it can't ask it for that data. The drive
doesn't know either, until the 4070's formatted it. The controller's
firmware formatter doesn't know how to TELL the drive/controller what's out
there either, so you have to write your own formatter. That's not terribly
difficult once you know the bridge controller and host adapter are talking.
Unfortunately, I doubt the 4070 is smart enough to help you much.
I've never used a bridge controller of any sort with the PC though I can't
see any reason it shouldn't work. Now, the ACB40xx series isn't entirely
true SCSI, and I have no idea how to make the typical modern host adapter
"see" it. If you have specific questions, perhaps I can help you, but it's
a big manual and I don't see myself scanning or copying it anytime soon.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: B'ichela <mdalene(a)home.ctol.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, November 26, 1999 11:57 PM
Subject: Re: Whats the screwiest thing you collect?
>On Fri, 26 Nov 1999, Richard Erlacher wrote:
>
>> My own interest in bridge controllers has been as tools. As you may have
>> noticed, I have a number of hard/floppy controller bridges, but only a
few
>> different types. My goal is to be able to get hardware running in a
hurry
>> and bridge controllers are only helpful if you don't have to write new
>> driver software for each application.
>>
>> I guess you might say I tend to collect things that are "nearly" ready to
>> use, though they seldom see any use.
> Heres a question for anyone reguarding bridge adaptors. is there
>a Scsi 2 to Floppy bridge board around? I would like to find one that can
>be used with an XT or 486 system I have here with a scsi host adaptor. I
>have an Adaptec ACB-4070 or so, but it does not support parity. thus I
>cannot for the life of me get it to work with my 486 under Linux, Nor do I
>have any disks with any software for accessing an MFM HD that was attached
>to it. its a Scsi to MFM hard drive bridge board, I also have a Scsi to
>MFM bridge board made by Adaptive Data and Energy Systems, it
>came out of a verisys multiuser 286
>system. I have had NO luck even finding documentations at ALL on this one.
>the ACB-4070 (I might have the wrong numbers but the 70 part is right.)
>sorta wants to talk to my Adaptec 2825VL host adaptor, but aparently it
>lacks the Scsi device Identification string. thus when the host adaptor
>boots, it cannot figure out what the ACB=4070 IS for! Can this be used on
>a IBM compatible system? of so how?
>
> A pearl of wisdom from the y2K newsgroups:
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Y2K appears to be the Baby Boomers mid-life crisis, and it has the
>potential to be a dandy.
> -- Anonymnous --
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> B'ichela
>
>
So you've had trouble getting 8" drives, eh . . . I've had trouble getting
RID of most of mine, though I'm about there now. I still have a few DSDD
types which I may use myself in the course of reconstructing my old S-100
boxes.
A goodly share of my life's work has been designing bridge controllers of
various sorts. SCSI<=>MIL STD 1553 is one you won't see often. I had to
cook that one up when it turned out that a fellow contractor had claimed the
had a 1553-interfaced WORM drive, when they really didn't. They did the
full pitch and everything, and to our customer (NASA). They produced
documents, part numbers, etc, yet when I started pressing for details, they
buckled. It turned out that all they had was an objective spec. Our
customer had based a whole chain of requirements on that pitch and the
associated claims and passed them to us as requirements.
My own interest in bridge controllers has been as tools. As you may have
noticed, I have a number of hard/floppy controller bridges, but only a few
different types. My goal is to be able to get hardware running in a hurry
and bridge controllers are only helpful if you don't have to write new
driver software for each application.
The WD100x series was really handy for this, since once I had built a
processor<=>WD100x interface cable adapter, the only thing that changed was
drive parameters and controller address block. One of these days I'll up a
SASI adapter as well, probably based on the code and instruction set for the
XEBEC controller, since their code is published. There's code for an S-100
adapter example published in the ADAPTEC ACB4000 bridge controller series
manual, but I've never tried that one out because I've heard it's compatible
with the ADAPTEC boards but neither SCSI nor SASI.
I guess you might say I tend to collect things that are "nearly" ready to
use, though they seldom see any use.
Is that screwy?
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: jeff.kaneko(a)juno.com <jeff.kaneko(a)juno.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, November 26, 1999 11:05 AM
Subject: Re: Whats the screwiest thing you collect?
>I collect bridge boards.
>I can't help it-- I have a fetish for bridge boards. All makes:
>Emulex, DTC, Xebec, WD, Adaptec, etc. All kinds of configurations:
>Cpu<->MFM (ala wd-1000), SASI<->MFM, SCSI<->ESDI, SASI<->QIC30,
>all kinds.
>
>The SCSI<->SMD configuration still eludes me, however. I know
>they exist (Adaptec ACB-55xx), though I've never seen one. Docs
>are *really* hard to get. Still looking for the docs for the
>Emulex MD-23, possibly the best darned SCSI<->ESDI bridge
>ever made: Handles four drives at up to 24MHz data rate. Smokin'.
>
>8" drives are interesting to me too, but I haven't seen too
>many in this neck of the woods.
>
>On Thu, 25 Nov 1999 23:48:11 -0800 Mike Ford <mikeford(a)socal.rr.com>
>writes:
>>I am just wondering what some of us collect that we consider the
>>screwiest
>>ourselves. For example, for reasons I can't fathom I have started
>>collecting Apple logo AC power cords, and have a couple dozen of
>>various
>>styles now.
>>
>>
>
>___________________________________________________________________
>Get the Internet just the way you want it.
>Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month!
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