AFAIK, the IBM museum in Sindelfingen, Germany, has one, and it
is up and running (together with their 650, 1401, etc.). If you need contacts
there, I could give them; no Internet, though !!
John G. Zabolitzky
If anyone does find it, please post it. (or email me).
I did not find it via Yahoo or Dogpile.
I started computing on a HP2000F back in '78. Man, that was fun.
Thanks,
Kelly
KFergason(a)aol.com
In a message dated 2/25/99 9:24:42 PM Central Standard Time, jlwest(a)tseinc.com
writes:
> in case you missed my post on classiccmp, Jeff Moffat wrote an emulator for
> the 2100. Don't recall the URL, but search yahoo & such for 2100 and you
> should find it.
>
> Jay West
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Arfon Gryffydd <arfonrg(a)texas.net>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
> <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Date: Thursday, February 25, 1999 8:11 AM
> Subject: HP3000/2000/1000 emulators?
>
>
> >Anyone know of any HP1000/2000/3000 emulators (for a PC running Linux?)
> >
-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Willgruber <roblwill(a)usaor.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, 26 February 1999 15:06
Subject: Another NEC APCIII question.
>I got the NEC to seek the floppy. Sort of....
>
>Does the APC III Use a special version of DOS?
Yeah, I think it does.
>If so, what version? I
3.3 IIRC.
I've got one here somewhere, I'll dig it out over the weekend and have a
look.
I might be able to do you a disk image of the boot disk.
>tried 5.0, and it won't work.
I think only the NEC 'version' of the OS will work.
Cheers
Geoff Roberts
Computer Room Internet Cafe
Port Pirie
South Australia.
netcafe(a)pirie.mtx.net.au
in case you missed my post on classiccmp, Jeff Moffat wrote an emulator for
the 2100. Don't recall the URL, but search yahoo & such for 2100 and you
should find it.
Jay West
-----Original Message-----
From: Arfon Gryffydd <arfonrg(a)texas.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, February 25, 1999 8:11 AM
Subject: HP3000/2000/1000 emulators?
>Anyone know of any HP1000/2000/3000 emulators (for a PC running Linux?)
>
Jim wrote...
>Ah, yes... I remember it well. As to its fate, I can offer a few more
>tidbits...
>
>The METCOM system, known as "Darlene" to its friends, met its final
>(publically anyway) end at a sealed bid county auction in the early 1980s.
Our high school HP2000 started out as the 2000E variety, then was upgraded
to 2000C', and finally to 2000 Access. It's lovable name was HUEY.
Right next to it was our other high school machine, a PDP-11/03 running
RT-11 with TSX+ extensions. It's name was DUEY. (I have already gotten
several machines of mine up and running RT-11 with TSX+).
Gee - I wonder what they would have named a third system if we had it ;)
Jay
Rick;
Great to hear some stories about my personal obsession - TSB.
I know of only one TSB system still up and running - a friend of mine in CA.
I still don't have mine up but I'm getting awfully close - all I need is a
2748 paper tape reader and a 12920 mux set. I found the paper tape reader
but they want $650 for it. Pound Sand I said ;)
Yes, there is an emulator for the 2100 series cpu. Check out Jeff Moffat's
website. Don't remember the URL, but search yahoo & such for "2100" and
you'll find it. He has an emulator that runs on dos. It is supposed to run
on Unix, but - it has some real problems with FreeBSD. Another user on the
list here was kind enough to fix it up for freebsd and send me a diff file.
I've got it here if you want it. The emulator supports most of the 2100
instruction set (or subset of the 21MX M series - however you look at it). I
haven't yet dug into the emulator - eventually I will for sure - but for now
I'm obsessed with getting the "real thing" up and running. As I recall from
a quick first blush look - the emulator didn't have any real support for
emulation of the select code addressed devices - ie - no 13210 disk
controller, no 12920 muxes, etc.. but jeff has done a lot of great hard work
on it so it's a fantastic starting point.
On a side note - I'm still waiting but recently reconfirmed that I'm
receiving a complete SOURCE code listing for TSB (2000F varietry) both the
I/O and system processor portions. Then we can not only run it but change it
(and perhaps fix that NAM-, issue <grin>). Another person recently offered
me a copy of the "cupertino gold tapes". This is source for every version of
TSB, RTE, DOS, etc.... That isn't a firm deal yet but you can imagine my
anticipation if it works out :)
You also queried about if HP still made TSB available in any form. I've got
some pretty close ties to HP - the answer is a resounding NO. I even went so
far as to plead my case to their Historical Archives administrator. There's
not a shred left. But eventually I DID find some load tapes (both punched
and magnetic).
See ya!
Jay West
-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Bensene <rickb(a)pail.enginet.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, February 25, 1999 10:57 AM
Subject: HP 2000 Time Shared BASIC Memories
>Jay West (in a wonderfully informative message about HP systems) wrote:
>
>> Generally the HP2000 designation meant the system was running TSB
>> (Timeshare
>> BASIC) which is my particular target of collecting since it was the first
>> computer system I ever learned. If the same hardware was running DOS/RTE,
>> etc. is was called an HP 1000.
>>
>So, does anyone out there know of, or have, any of the HP 2000 Timeshared
>BASIC systems *running*? This is what I learned on also.
>The county educational services district purchased an original HP 2000B
>TSB system. Over the years, it was upgraded to a C, then C', then E, F,
and
>finally ACCESS. The last I know of the system being in service was in the
>early
>1980's. I've tried to track down what happened to it, but every lead has
>resulted
>in a dead end.
>
>I was able to visit the 'computer center' where the machine was kept (more
>on this in the story below). It was
>a little hole-in-the-wall building about 5 miles from my house. I think
>that
>it was running in the 2000C configuration when I saw it. It used dual
>CPU's (don't remember which ones). According to the operator, one CPU
>handled
>the I/O stuff (the system had, as I recall, 32 ports, most connected to
>Bell 103 modems), and the other 'ran' the BASIC environment. The system
had
>a washing-machine sized disk drive with removable multi-platter disk packs.
>There was also a rack/cabinet about the same size as the rack that the
>two CPU's were in that contained a fast drum memory that was used for
>swapping store.
>
>Does anyone know if HP still can make available the TSB code? It would be
>TOTALLY amazing to get ahold of it, write and emulator for the CPU and
>associated hardware on something like a PII 450 running Linux, and *run*
TSB
>again.
>It would be a big project, but chances of finding the real mccoy
>seem pretty unlikely nowadays.
>
>Here's a recollection for y'all on the 2000C Timeshared BASIC system.
>
>One day I was reading the TSB manual (wish I still had it, but I think it
>ended up coming un-bound because I used it so much, and I think it got
>tossed away years ago when I was moving) in an effort to learn any new
>tidbits of information.
>
>On the page for the "NAM" command, which was used to attach a name to the
>current program in working storage, I noted that it said to NEVER name a
>program
>with a single comma; i.e. NAM-,
>
>I wondered why this would be. So, I wandered into the terminal room at
>our high school, and dialed up the machine (I still remember the phone
>number!)
>and logged in. I typed in a little program, and typed NAM-, and pressed
>RETURN. A linefeed popped back at me. I thought..."well, that was
>exciting".
>
>So, I typed LIS and there was my little program as expected. I then
>did a CATLIST to dump out my user directory. The CATLIST came back empty.
>This was startling, as I *thought* I had a whole bunch of stuff in my
>directory.
>I then typed the command that would tell you how much (I think it was TIME)
>connect time you'd used this session, and how much of your monthly time
>quota
>you had left. The command came back with really weird answers...and, it
>came back with different numbers each time I ran the command. This was
VERY
>strange. So, I logged off, and re-logged back in, and didn't type NAM-,
>and did a CATLIST. There was all my stuff. I typed in NAM-, then did a
>CATLIST...
>and all my stuff was gone.
>
>I then thought...I wonder if the NAM-, magically transports you to a
>different
>file area. So, I typed up a little program, gave it a name with the NAM-
>command (which seemed to take, and not affect 'where' I was), and SAVed it.
>I did a CATLIST. There it was. The interesting thing was that the CATLIST
>(which I hadn't really noticed before) said that I had some tremendous
>amount
>of storage blocks remaining.
>
>Upon noticing this, I thought I'd try CREating a big file, just to see how
>much
>space I really had available to me. I issued a command to create a 1000
>block
>file..which was a pretty good-sized file, as I remember. I typed in the
>command, and pressed RETURN. There were three other TTY's in our computer
>lab, and all were occupied by other students at the time. When I pushed
>RETURN,
>all the other TTY's quit printing for a second or two...just like the
>machine
>had crashed (which happened from time to time), but as soon as my terminal
>printed it's acknowledging linefeed, they started right back up where they
>left off.
>Hmmmm...
>
>So, how about a 10000 block file? Well, that took the system a while to
>create...and everyone else was 'dead' during that time...no character echo,
>output 'froze' at the point where I pressed RETURN on my terminal.
>
>I did a CATLIST...and sure enough, there was my little program, my 1000
>block
>file, and my 10000 block file. I did a KILL on my 10000 block file, and
>that took a bit, and everyone else again froze during the KILL operation.
>Too weird. I left it alone for then, and called a friend that night that
>went to another school that used the same system, and told him to make sure
>that he was logged on at 11AM the next morning, and observe.
>
>At 11AM the next morning, I was logged in, and had done the magic NAM-,.
>I asked the system to create a 100000 block file, pressing the RETURN
>on the command at 11AM sharp...which *appeared* to make
>the system crash, at least from my end. All the other terminals were
>'dead'.
>About 2 minutes into my create, my terminal (a good old TTY ASR33), along
>with
>everyone else's chattered a few garbage characters, like these beasts did
>when
>the carrier dropped. Either the system totally crashed, or the operator
>had killed it to reboot. I was a little scared at that point, as I figured
>it
>was all caused by me. I didn't do any more tinkering after the system came
>back
>up that day.
>
>My friend called me that evening, and said "Did you do that?". So, I knew
>that whatever I was doing, it was system-wide! He wanted to know how I
>did
>it, but I didn't tell.
>
>I did a few more experiments with this strangeness, but never 'crashed' it
>again,
>just playing around to see how much resource this 'warped' place that NAM-,
>too me to could consume. In this space, I had a larger working storage
set,
>had virtually unlimited file storage space (I wrote a little program that
>would CREate lots and lots of small files), and unlimited connect time.
>It seemed that NAM-, sent you off to the 'system overhead' area...where all
>resources that weren't in use were available to whomever had executed the
>NAM-, command.
>
>After tinkering with it for a while, I decided I should tell my instructor
>about
>it. The instructor and I were very close, and I figured this was something
>that
>could cause problems if the word got out about it. He was amazed..and
>immediately
>called the operator of the system, and arranged a meeting so we could tell
>them
>what was going on. We arranged a meeting in an evening after 'prime time'
>so I could demonstrate this. The operator was stunned...it would be
>terrible
>if the word about this got out...people could 'wedge' the machine pretty
>much at will. Apparently, a call was made to HP the next morning, and
there
>were
>HP folks there the next day, and within a couple of days, the NAM-, command
>would result in something like "ILLEGAL FORMAT".
>
>According to our system operator, from what was told to her by the
>HP engineers, was that the the NAM-, command was a purposely written-in
>'back door' that was put into the TSB code. It had to have been known
>about
>by HP, because of the mention of not using a name of ',' in the manual.
>In any case, the back door was closed, at least on our system.
>
>I made a point of checking, when we upgraded to the C', E, F, and ACCESS
>systems
>to check the NAM-, to see if it worked. It never did again.
>
>Sorry for the long message, but I thought it'd be of some interest to those
>who used these wonderful old systems.
>
>Best wishes,
>Rick Bensene
>
>
>I have absolutely no RT-11 documentation, although I have two systems
>running it (both 11/23s). Does anyone have any online documentation on
>the command language, configuration, device drivers, sysgen, etc? I'm
>fumbling around without it.
There is no on-line documentation... if there is, I'm sure Mentec
would be a little bothered by it. There might be HELP available on
the system, depending on the version and whether all the required
files are still there...
Try 'SHOW CONFIG' or 'SHOW ALL' to see if you get anything (this
actually runs the program RESORC.SAV from SY:)
The command language is DCP (Digital Command Language), and is
pretty consistent from one system to another, modulo those things
which aren't supported...
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 |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
Can anyone help this chap out on his quest for a system disk for the
Spectravideo.738? And, perhaps, he will send me a copy also. Please info
me on your reply. Thanks!
- don
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 09:44:01 +0100
From: Arnfinn M. Manders <arnfinnm(a)c2i.net>
Reply-To: <@c2i.net>
To: donm(a)crash.cts.com
Subject: 3 1/2" boot disk for Spectraviedeo.738 computer
Hi Don
Trevor Gowen Suggested that I might contact you regarding a 3 1/2" boot
disk for my Spectravideo-738 portable computer.
The disk has the following specifications:
Single side
Soft sector
IBM MFM format
80 tracks double density
9 sectors/track
360 Kbytes formatted capacity
Since this is a UK made machine, and the company is still in bussiness as
Logic 3 International Ltd., I figured that there may be a chance that there
are a few collectors in the the UK that may have this machine in their
collection. Can you give me a lead to someone that may be able to supply me
with a disk?
The address of the company is
Logic 3 International
Unit 27, Norhfield Industrial Estate
Beresford Ave., Wembley
Middelsex
HAQ 1NW
Phone:0181 9022211
Best regards from the cold and dark Norway
Arnfinn
