-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin L. Anderson <kla(a)helios.augustana.edu>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Wednesday, December 01, 1999 2:19 PM
Subject: Data Media Conversion -- commercial interest?
>A quick pair of questions to the list out of curiosity:
>
>Do you think there is much data out there on older storage
>media (paper tape, punch cards, 7-track tape, 9-track tape)
>that is waiting to be converted to newer (cd-rom, 8mm) media?
>
>Are there commercial firms that specialize in such transfers/
>conversions of data from older media to newer media?
>
In Ontario, Canada there is. Inside the government there are *still* some
old boxes using 9 track. We have to ship them out and get them converted
every so often. I know there are quite a few places that still accept 9
track tape data(even some banks).
john
PDP-8 and other rare mini computers
http://www.pdp8.com
>Regards,
>Kevin Anderson
>
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>Kevin L. Anderson Ph.D., Geography Department, Augustana College
> Rock Island, Illinois 61201-2296, USA phone: (309) 794-7325
>e-mail: kla(a)helios.augustana.edu -or- gganderson(a)augustana.edu
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> Opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent
> the administration of Augustana College.
>
>
<I didn't mention it, but yes, there is the three-port MMJ adapter. I have
<one or two. The max ports on a MicroVAX 2000 is indeed 12. The DEC hot
???? no way. The base board does not have more than 4 usarts on it. Is
that an add in board?
<sheets specifically mention that if you want more ports, you must go to an
<Ethernet-based product. That's how I got my first uVAX-2000 - a local law
DECSERVER100/DS200 lat servers.
<lot and took home the VAX. I got an RD54, a 6Mb MicroVAX, a TK50Z-FA, the
<DHT32 serial adapter and an expansion box with RD53 for well under $100 (a
<the same time period, a refurbed RD54 was going for $500 from the resellers
My vax collection has:
3 VS3100/m10 (each has 24mb) plus two BA42 drive cases (each holds RZ56).
1 VS3100/m76SPX 32mb, RZ24, RZ25, RZ26 TLZ04 tape.
3 VS2000 (two with rd54 one with RD53 and one TK50Z)
1 BA123 based MicrovaxII (KA630) 16mb, 2 RD53, RZ56, RX50)
1 BA23 based MicrvaxII (ka630) 9mb, DHV11, TK50, RD54
All connected with 10b2 running DECnet.
<I put Ultrix on it and used it for Unix practice and as a faux-terminal
<server. I had this project to mount the guts in a monsterous AT case so th
<there was room for both RD drives in the same package (two power supplies)
<but I never finished it. I'll probably put all the stuff back in the
<original boxes when I work that far down the pile.
I have ultrix on RD53, not into running it, don't hate unix but it's not
my first choice.
<One problem I ran across with this particular box - the TK50 drive would
<munch tapes - the problem turned out to be the molex connectors on the
<drive motor cables. They would intermittently fail and the tape would
<spin freely in the drive or wouldn't energize to retract the tape. I lost
<more than one tape that way. I never did fix that drive - it's still
<awaiting new connectors.
My fix, skip the connectors, soldered connection.
Allison
<I did not see any directory commands to tell how much disk space is
<used/available. Are there any?
Yes.
$DIR dua0:[000000...]/size/total will give the size of each file and the
total used for the entire volume DUA0:. FYI: RD52 is 30mb (VMS formatted)
are you sure it's not an RD53 (71mb).
There si also DIR/free
<Nor did I see any FORMAT command. (Which at this point I want to AVOID,
INITialize dua0: Initializes a disk, sets up basic directories. Does
not however do a low level format (need diagnostics for that).
<because I don't understand the Backup process or target backup media
<capacity constraints. It sounds like backup clones the OS on the same driv
<in "renewed" and/or "rebuilt" files )
Thre are variations on that with command switches. For example backup/image
does an image backup meaning it's a block by block copy and the target needs
to be at least as large as the source (multiple volumes are possible).
Since your running an OLD copy of VMS you may not have what most people
expect for BACKUP functionality.
<According to Allison's prior post, should I assume this RD52 is a 30MB MFM
<non SCSI drive?
Correct.
<I also have a Plessy 6600/6700 system which has a 84MB-90MB drive which I
<think hangs on a DEC compatible SCSI controller.
??? no idea.
<(I believe the Plessy is an LSI-11/34 clone.)The Plessy also has a Cipher
<F880 1600 bpi 9-track tape drive connected.
Interesting but it's not a vax.
<Is there a chance I could Load the Hobby openVMS on either one, or both of
<these systems in a cluster?
The Plessy is not a VAX so no help there. MicrovaxI is not supported under
VMS7.2. You need a much older version though the license supports any
version you can find. I think you want VMS 4.7. NOTE: RD52 is way to small
and a RD53(70mb Microplus 1325) is required or better yet a RD54(159mb
MAXTOR 2190) if you can find one.
<It seems to me the more capable system would be the Plessy with larger HD
<and Tape Unit already installed, (However I have never booted it, and I
<have no Idea what OS currently resides on it.)
No idea, thats likely not a VAX.
<I believe someone gave an earlier response that the MicroVAX I was too
<small to run openVMS alone.
Depends on version. The big problem with a MICROVAXI is you can only cram
4mb of ram in it and if the disk controller is older RQDX2 your limited to
a RD53. You can fit a RQDX3 and that is half the size and will run a RD54.
But MOST versions of VMS past V5.4 are TOO BIG for a RD53 without much
tailoring and I forget the version that dropped MicrovaxI support but I
think it was V5.6.
If you want to run more modern version fo VMS a MicrovaxII, VS2000 or 3100
would be a better choice.
Allison
Hello,
I have a lovely C-64 with 1541 disk drive and original Commodore 300 baud
modem.. but no software for the modem. Is anybody willing to make me a
copy of some disk with the Comms program on it? Basic utilities would also
be appreciated. I've considered making a cable to write with the drive on
my linux box but it's just not worth the effort.
Thanks,
Kevin
One other thing . . . you may find that the easiest way in which to do what
you've described is to use a single-chip micro. There are some which even
have special features to help you.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Arfon Gryffydd <arfonrg(a)texas.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Wednesday, December 01, 1999 9:07 AM
Subject: Re: Teleco Question... More on my devious plan....
>First, Thanks to all who have helped so far...
>
>
>I have some old modems (TRS-80, acoustic and etc.) which I would like to
>use (flashing LEDs are cool) so, I want to build a little telco emulator to
>interface with the modems in one of my Linux boxes.
>
>I figure an LM556 for the dial tone... A tone decoder for dialing... Not
>sure an easy way to decode pulse dialing.
>
>As for ring... I am thinking using two charged capacitors and switching
>them. That's the first method I came up with to limit the current cheaply.
>
>Any suggestions? I'd like to do this for less that $25.00.
>----------------------------------------
> Tired of Micro$oft???
>
> Move up to a REAL OS...
>######__ __ ____ __ __ _ __ #
>#####/ / / / / __ | / / / / | |/ /##
>####/ / / / / / / / / / / / | /###
>###/ /__ / / / / / / / /_/ / / |####
>##/____/ /_/ /_/ /_/ /_____/ /_/|_|####
># ######
> ("LINUX" for those of you
> without fixed-width fonts)
>----------------------------------------
>Be a Slacker! http://www.slackware.com
>
>Slackware Mailing List:
>http://www.digitalslackers.net/linux/list.html
>I recently got my MicroVAX I up and running it's MicroVMS 4.1
>Is there a chance I could Load the Hobby openVMS on either one, or both of
>these systems in a cluster?
I would be surprised. I pulled back a bloody stump the last time I
mentioned the MicroVAX I to the VMS guys.
My original design concept for the Firefox QBus Adapter Module involved
having a dual-ported memory between the MBus and the QBus. The device
drivers would copy data to and from this memory before or after performing
DMA, as appropriate. This would have worked nicely and provided acceptable
performance. However, I made the mistake of describing the arrangement
to VMS people as "just like the MicroVAX I"; since the MicroVAX I doesn't
have a scatter/gather map, the device driver has to do this to cover that
lack. I was rudely informed that VMS no longer supported the MicroVAX I,
and good riddance.
So, the FQAM wound up being a really ugly and slow QBus adapter that worked
much more like the traditional QBus adapter.
Roger Ivie
ivie(a)cc.usu.edu
--- Allison J Parent <allisonp(a)world.std.com> wrote:
I wrote:
> > ...a MicroVAX 2000 would have many users, possibly on
> > the rare and optional 8-port serial expansion
> you forgot the 3 port adaptor, maybe you meant that. they are uncommon but
> rare is not quite true. With that adaptor you have 3 MMJ serial ports and
> the already present 25pin comm serial. I have one and it's handy.
I didn't mention it, but yes, there is the three-port MMJ adapter. I have
one or two. The max ports on a MicroVAX 2000 is indeed 12. The DEC hot
sheets specifically mention that if you want more ports, you must go to an
Ethernet-based product. That's how I got my first uVAX-2000 - a local law
firm was looking at expanding their arrangement past ten users and a printer.
I was brought in to spec an upgrade. When they saw the price, they switched
to a Novell network (which is why my friend brought me in; he sold them the
network). I was offered the system and I gave them a salvage price on it and
ten VT-320's. They were horrified at the size of my offer and said that they
could get a better deal somewhere else. A year later they called me back and
asked if I still wanted it. I dropped the offer to lower than half of what it
was previously and they accepted. Upon picking up the system, I drove across
town, sold the terminals to a friend's company for 90% of the price of the
lot and took home the VAX. I got an RD54, a 6Mb MicroVAX, a TK50Z-FA, the
DHT32 serial adapter and an expansion box with RD53 for well under $100 (at
the same time period, a refurbed RD54 was going for $500 from the resellers).
I put Ultrix on it and used it for Unix practice and as a faux-terminal
server. I had this project to mount the guts in a monsterous AT case so that
there was room for both RD drives in the same package (two power supplies),
but I never finished it. I'll probably put all the stuff back in the
original boxes when I work that far down the pile.
One problem I ran across with this particular box - the TK50 drive would
munch tapes - the problem turned out to be the molex connectors on the
drive motor cables. They would intermittently fail and the tape would
spin freely in the drive or wouldn't energize to retract the tape. I lost
more than one tape that way. I never did fix that drive - it's still
awaiting new connectors.
-ethan
=====
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--- Allison J Parent <allisonp(a)world.std.com> wrote:
>
> <I just got mail from a friend in Virginia who is saving a MicroVAX 3100-90
> <for me that they are pitching out where he works (and he'll *deliver*, too!
>
> Thats a nice VAX!. I forget the URL of where to find vax performance
> numbers.
I was told 24 VUPs. Wahoo!
> <an external tape that, from his descriptions, I'm assuming is a TLZ30 or
> <similar. One minor catch - they filled the disk and it won't boot. I tak
>
> Never hard of that problem. I suspect soemthing else has happend.
Someone in my office brought in a clip from "Antique Trader" dated Nov 10,
1999. Featured in this rag was "An Introduction to Collecting Computers" by
our fellow collector Kevin Stumpf.
The only inacurracy was in the "Lists and Newsgroups" section where it said
"Send an email to *Error! Bookmark not Defined*". This was supposed to be a
plug for the CC list but, got mangled before going to press :-(
All in all, a very nice article... Way to go Kevin!
Steve Robertson - <steverob(a)hotoffice.com>
> And speaking of TK50, for the record, the external SCSI version is a
>TK50Z-FA (approved for the VAXstation/MicroVAX 2000) or a TK50Z-GA
>(newer firmware, external SCSI ID switch). I tried a -FA on a VAX 4200
>with a KZQSA SCSI board long ago, and I use one on my VAXsta 3138 now,
>and have never had a problem. Has anyone actually had a problem using a
>-FA in a modern environment? (That's "modern" compared to a 2000, of
>course.)
I had difficulty with the MicroVAX 2000 version of the TK50 when I used
it on a Firefox. When using the tape, the disks would all go into mount
verify. I assumed that the problem was the tape drive didn't know about
disconnect, but I never verified this.
Roger Ivie
ivie(a)cc.usu.edu
