Hi,
today was a good day at Amvets on Brighton Ave. in Allston/Brighton, MA. I
picked up 6 books on old computers, all of which are available is someone
wants them:
Minicomputer Systems: Organization, Programming, and Applications (PDP-11)
This book is a russian translation of the above title, includes
very in-depth explanation of PDP-11 (now I need one)
CODASYL: Data Description Language Committee
Ditto. Could someone tell me what CODASYL is, though? This book is
far too boring for me to figure it out myself...
Minicomputers in Data Processing and Simulation
In English for a change, has in-depth explanation of computers
and their components (including PDP-8, -11, HP and Varian
machines)
Fortran 77
In Russian
Advanced Programming Techniques: A second course in programming using
Fortran
In Russian
Assembly Language Programming
In Russian, for a Russian mini or mainframe (EC-EVM)
Here is what is still at the store:
Osborne-1 with modem in perfect physical condition
DEC Letterwriter 100 in perfect physical condition
Advanced-looking book: Digital Signal Processing
Lots of modern Borland and Microsoft programmer's manuals
--Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com)
Please see comments imbedded below.
regards,
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Monday, March 29, 1999 5:36 PM
Subject: Re: Rebirth of IMSAI
>>
>> Thanks for posting this information. It might be useful, in addition, at
>> least to me, to have to correspondence with the S-100 bus pins so they
can
>> be cross-referenced to the '696 standard signal names. I do hve the 8080
>> data in house, but nothing tying it to the S-100 bus pinout or timing.
>
>Isn't this already on-line somewhere? If not, I could type in the pin
>descriptions for the Altair 8800b bus that I happen to have here. I have
>a very useful book called 'The S100 Handbook' that contains things like
>the S100 pinout, schematics for a dozen common cards (including Altair
>and Imsai CPU/frontpanel/memory), etc. But I'd rather not duplicate the
>work if I don't have to.
>
>>
>> Actually, it might be as correct to say that 8088 signal names are more
or
>> less like "all the other" microcomputers in the non-Motorola camp. with
the
>> 8085 and z-80, it became obvious that the large number of strange signals
>> generated by the 8080 didn't even help the Intel folks with the task of
>> interfacing the processor to memory and peripheral devices. The simple
>
>One of the problems with the S100 bus is that it is _very_ dependant on
>the 8080 signals. Even using a Z80 is a bit of work - things like PINTE
>(which indicates if interrupts are enabled) and SSTACK (address lines
>contain the value of the stack pointer) don't exist as external signals
>on the Z80.
What's more, those signals are really of little use. They could be, but it
was too much trouble to use them when they were available, so the fact they
aren't is of no concern.
>> a transfer of data to or from the processor. Additionally, it's nice to
>> know whether the read or write is between the processor and memory or
I/O.
>> With the MOT class of processor, you have an address strobe to tell you a
>> cycle's begun, and you have to decode the address to determine whether
it's
>
>Actually, I prefer the Motorola / PDP11 idea of having memory and I/O in
>the same address space. It means you can use the same instructions and
>addressing modes to access either.
>
>If the total address space is large enough, you don't need all of it for
>memory, so you can assign (say) 1/256th of the entire address space for
>I/O. So you use something like an 8-input NAND to decode the top 8
>address lines. One TTL chip. Not a lot of work IMHO.
Yes, this was a common approach, and one which we used with bus-based memory
mapped I/O on the 6502 and 6809, etc. With a small address space, though,
is was common to have the PROM live above the I/O page because the reset
vector lived there anyway. With the I/O mapped processors, where the ROM
was expected to live at the bottom of addressable memory, tricks had to be
used to make the rom at the bottom go away and be replaced with I/O handlers
at the top. Intel finally figured that out with the 8086 family, but with
IBM's implementation, it became a pain. There it might have been more
practical to put all the ROM at the bottom, with each adapter having a
pointer at its beginning to indicate where it ended.
>[Incidentally, can people please trim the messages they are replying to.
>It's not necessary IMHO to include a complete copy at the end of your
reply]
>
>-tony
Hello, I'm cleaning out the basement making room for some new stuff... I
have an IBM PC/36 (aka Baby 36) Model 5364 with floppy drive and one hard
drive (I can get the other drive but it needs to be wiped first). Removed
>from operation, still works, needs controller card for console machine.
Uses twin-axe terminals. I cleaned it out when I got it (took 5 minutes
for the dust to clear from the air in my workroom!)
Anybody interested in it? If not, I'd be interested in finding an OS for
it and the controller card to put it back in service.
Kevin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After sifting through the overwritten remaining blocks of Luke's
home directory, Luke and PDP-1 sped away from /u/lars, across the surface
of the Winchester riding Luke's flying read/write head. PDP-1 had Luke stop
at the edge of the cylinder overlooking /usr/spool/uucp.
"Unix-to-Unix Copy Program;" said PDP-1. "You will never find a
more wretched hive of bugs and flamers. We must be cautious."
-- DECWARS
____________________________________________________________________
| Kevin Stewart | "I am a secret |
| KC8BLL ----------| Wrapped in a mystery -Milford High School |
| a2k(a)one.net | Wrapped in an enigma Drama Tech Dept. |
|jlennon(a)nether.net| And drizzled in some tasty chocolate stuff.|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I have 4 Tandy printer cables to sell, individually or as a lot.
1) 12 ft heavy guage Tandy card edge female to Centronics 36 male $10
plus ship
2) 6 ft heavy guage Tandy card edge female to Centronics 36 male $7.50
plus ship
3) 6 ft flat ribbon Tandy card edge female to Centronics 36 male $5.00
plus ship
4) 6 ft ribbon Tandy header to Centronics 36 male, Tandy number 2x-1409
for PORTABLES, in package $7.50 plus ship
ALL ABOVE for $30.00 but will ship FREE.
Shipping will most likely fall into the $3.20 priority category for
USPS. USA and APO/FPO only. Contact me by direct email
> Lawrence Walker <lwalker(a)mail.interlog.com> wrote:
>
> Sounds like Doug has a head-startt in collecting Canadian-made computers
> what with the Hyperion and the AES. Now to get an ICON and a MCM 70. I
> have a couple of clone types. A Tryllium 286 and another, a MAX , a 386
> with
> dreadfull physical attributes, looks like an oversized XT, but nice
> internal
> architecture, OEMed by a Quebec company whose name escapes me at the
> moment.
>
Would that Quebec company be Ogivar?
Arlen
> --
> Arlen Michaels amichael(a)nortelnetworks.com
>
On Mar 30, 8:34, Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) wrote:
> Subject: Re: IBM 557 Alphabetic Interpreter??
> #026 and #029 keypunches, nor the punch outputs of most computers, did
> NOT print anything on the card.
We had lots of 026 and 029 punches at Edinburgh University when I was
there, and they all *did* print on the top edge. I wish I still had some
of those cards; alas I only have a few empty steel boxes. Come to that, I
wish I had one of the punches :-)
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
>Great choice to start with! (Uhh, actually, I'm trying to get my own
>11/34A running and this will open up our list colleagues' assistance for
>benefit of both of us ;-)
Thanks... I'm sure it will...
>The 11/34A CPU backplane (slots 1-9) has to be a DD11-PK.
The backplane does appear to be the correct one...
>Does the ID label on the outside, right side panel of the system box say
>1134A xx or is it BA11 xx?
I'll have to check...
>Can't help with the VT11. Sorry. Sounds quite cool though.
It is... when I was in college (the first time around), I used to
write programs for it under RT-11... I wrote a program for an ME
grad student which displayed a four-bar linkage problem, allowing
the student to examine the results of various lengths of the legs
by actually moving them in real-time with the light pen...
Another program I did graphed trajectories of objects given initial
angle and velocity... it properly did clipping at the top of the
screen if the graph went that far, and did automatic scaling...
Finally, I developed a program which allowed design of logic
circuits using the light pen to first drag parts from a library
along the edge of the screen out to the breadboard field, then
wired them, then could supply a clock and test what the circuit
did...
>Should have three cables connecting to the console panel: a two-wire
>shielded cable going to the M9312 (P/N: 70-11413-3F), a four-wire twisted
>cable going to the H765 PSU (P/N: 70-11992-0-0) and a 20 cond. flat cable
>(P/N: 70-12214-2D) which goes to the M7859 Programmer's Console module.
It looks like it has the right cables, but I'll have to check when I
get home... Thanks for the info...
>The FPU is M8267. (The FP11-A option)
Turns out I have one in the box of parts... (see my list at the bottom
of this post).
>Cache board # M8268 (the KK11-A option)
Found it too in the same box...
>Important to find the over-the-top jumper boards which go between the
>various modules and possibly dependent upon whether you have the FPU in
>or out. I'm assuming you got a box with a rat's nest of cables and misc
>parts. If so, dig for small PC boards with dual-row, 0.1" center
>connectors. Part numbers on white paper labels are H8821 with dual 40-pin
>connectors and (hopefully for addition of your planed FP option) the
>H8822 with three 40-pin conns.
I did find some familiar connectors for such things... I'll have to
check them out when I get home and see if they are what I need...
>If you do not have the 11/34A printsets and KK11-A Cache tech manual
>please get back to me and I'll give you more P/N's and some details on
>what goes where based on my system and 11/34A printsets. This can get
>confusing with just simple, brief statements.
Not for someone who has seen the stuff before... I'm not a guru with
it, but I recognize what you're talking about...
>I have not found an FP11-A tech manual and printset and Cache printset as
>of yet (hint-hint anybody! :)
I still have a box of printsets to go through as well... it may just
have that in there... we may both luck out...
>Two other important cables to root around for in the box, which go
>between the M8266 and M7859, are two 10-conductor flat cables P/N
>70-11411-1D. When the M8367 FPU board is plugged-in, they run between the
>M8267 and the M7859 (this is where the docs are *real* handy) and a
>over-the-top board connects the M8266 and M8267.
More to checkout when I get home...
>The board lineup in my machine is as follows (going from slot #1 to the
>left) and the first five must be adhered to:
>
>#1 M8266, 11/34A Control Module (KD11-EA)
>#2 M8265, 11/34A Data Path Module (KD11-EA)
These two are in the machine...
>#3 M8267, 11/34A Floating Point Processor
Not yet, but soon...
>#4 M9312 (slot A-B), Bootstrap/Terminator;
M9301, but I have an M9312...
>#4 M7859 (slot C-D-E-F), Programmer's Console I/F (KY11-LB)
It's in there...
>#5 M8268, 11/34A Cache (1kbyte) (KK11-A)
Not yet...
>The following can now be any MUD module . . .
>#6 M7891-BC, 64KW MOS memory
>#7 M7762, RL01/2 controller (RL11)
>#8 G727A, buss grant jumper
>#9 M9202, backplane jumper to next backplane . . .
Haven't found the RL11 controller yet... I do have the bus grant
jumpers, and a terminator in the main backplane. The VT11
backplane wasn't even connected... but then again, it doesn't
have a power harness...
>For you Megan, the first three slots shall be M8266, M8265 and M8267 with
>the H8821 over-the-top jumper between the 8265 and 8267. So, the H8821 is
>the hot item to find to get your FPU lit up.
I don't think I saw the over-the-top connector in the machine, but I
think I saw one in the random parts box...
>Incidentally, my system box has several of the module numbers printed on
>the slot number label strip going across the top of the backside of the
>slot cage. Yours may if it is indeed an 11/34A box instead of a generic
>BA11-K.
Yep, it has that strip...
>Oh, I am salivating at the RUX50 controller! :) Can you clone that
>module?
Sorry... :-)
Okay... here is the list of what I have found (so far) in my collection
of UNIBUS related parts...
DD11-CK 4 slot hex backplane
DD11-DK 9 slot hex backplane
DD11-B 4 slot hex backplane (comm backplane?)
G109C part of memory option... don't know which yet
G114 (with H217C and G235)
G231 part of memory option... don't know which yet
G235 (with H217C and G114)
G651 (with H221A)
H114 (with G114 and G235)
2 H214 8 Kw 16-bit stack used in MM11-L
H215 8 Kw 18-bit stack (parity) used in MM11-LP
H221A 8 Kw 18-bit stack (plugs into G651)
4 M3105 DHU11 - 16-line async mux
3 M5904 RH11 Massbus controll transceiver
2 M5922 RM03 transceiver port A
2 M5923 RM03 transceiver port B
M7013 ???
M7014 ???
M7093 FP11-F 11/44 Floating point module
M7097 KK11-B 11/44 4 KWord cache module
2 M7228 KW11-P Programmable real-time clock
2 M7260 KD11-B 11/05,10 Data paths
2 M7261 KD11-B 11/05,10 Control logic
M7341 ???
M7521 DELUA
M7522 RUX50
3 M7547 TUK50
M7684 RK05 control sequencer
M7685 RK05?
M7686 RK05?
2 M7792 DEUNA port module (1/2)
2 M7793 DEUNA link module (2/2)
3 M7800 DL11
M7819 DZ11-A 8-line async mux
3 M7856 DL11-W SLU and real-time clock
M7859 KY11-LB 11/34a programmers console interface
M7860 DR11-C parallel I/O
3 M7891 MS11 (I don't know which variants yet)
M7892 TU60 Cassette interface
M7893 DRS11
M7895 DSS11
M8203 (with M8207) DMP11
M8206 (with M8207) DMC11
M8207 (one with M8203, one with M8206)
DMC11/DMP11/DMR11?
M8256 RX211 RX02 floppy disk interface
M8265 KD11-EA 11/34a data paths module
M8266 KD11-EA 11/34a control module
M8267 FP11-A 11/34a floating point processor
M8268 KK11-A 11/34 cache module
M8293 16K UNIBUS timing
2 M8398 DMZ32 24-line async interface
M873 BM873 bootstrap/loader
4 M9202 UNIBUS backplane jumper
M9312 Boot/terminator
M9970
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 |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
At 09:41 PM 3/29/99 -0800, you wrote:
>On Mon, 29 Mar 1999, John Lawson wrote:
>
>> Do you actually *own* this, or just know where one is? Tres Cool!
>
>I might very soon. Its a huge beast! Too adorable to ignore.
Verily, it is a huge *beast*, and though adorable it should be ignored, IMHO.
Unless it is in perfect working condition, you probably will not be able to
restore it to working condition, especially if their is any appreciable wear
and tear on the print unit or the giant cams that are inside. The 557 was a
very unusual machine in the IBM tabulating line. I worked summers at
college for IBM field engineering during the 60's and the 557 was notorius
for needing constant maintenance. IBM kept incredibly detailed records of
every maintenance action on a piece of punched card equipment, since
practically all of them were rented at the time. The 557 was the hanger
queen of all tab equipment, consistantly the most maintenance intensive of
tab card machines. Open the covers and you will see why. There are two
giant cams, about 3' across driving the internals. It takes so much
mechanical energy to drive the print wheels, that the wheel cage is actually
skewed inside the frame, so that if all the print wheels are printing the
same character, they don't all fire at once. I have heard of field
engineers taking off the covers of a 557 for the first time, thinking that
the whole machine was trashed because the print wheel cage was torqued in
relation to the machine frame. When the machine runs it feels like a
washing machine out of balance and hops around the floor.
-- Dean
Okay, since it has been a long time since I last did anything with a real
pdp-8, and since I did pdp-11s for some 20+ years, I decided to start with
what I knew... so I started examining the pdp-11/34a I got in the recent
move.
Turns out that the system box has the cpu backplane, one DD11-DK (9 slot
backplane for taking 'small peripheral controller' (SPC) boards), and
one VT11 backplane.
Unfortunately, there is no power harness on the backplane, no boards in
the backplane, and no cable to attach the boards to the VR14 that I did
get.
I think I may have a VT11 backplane with power harness and boards
somewhere in my 'warehouse' (a couple of closets).
The machine has the programmers console, but no memory.
In one of the boxes I got in the move, I got a couple of MS11-LB memory
boards, so I'll use one of them. I think I also got an FPU, but I'll need
to see if I got prints for the 11/34a to see where it goes and how it gets
connected (if it does). I don't have a cache board, so I'll be looking
for one of those.
I think I have an RL11 somewhere... but I'll need an RL drive. I may,
for the time-being, take one of the RL01s from the -8 system racks. I
also have an RUX50 controller and some RX50 disks, so I may try to get
that working... I might be able to boot the XXDP+ RX50 kit that I have
and do some system diagnostics.
That's it for now...
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 |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
Hi All,
Today I salvaged a very odd looking DEC box, and I have no idea what it
is. It is in a black metal case, with vents at the top, the external ports
look like those of a VT-100, it has Video in, Video Out, Comm, 20ma
Current Loop, and keyboard. The model number is stamped 70-17562-01, but
the Serial number is stamped N/A.
Does anyone know what this is? I suspect it is some kind of terminal, but
I'm not sure.
Cheers
Karl
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karl Maftoum
Computer Engineering student at the University of Canberra, Australia
Email: k.maftoum(a)student.canberra.edu.au
