Over the weekend I acquired some interesting PS/2 machines: a PS/2 P70 386
portable, and a PS/2 Model 95 XP 486 server. This was my first experience
with the PS/2 family, and I was pleasantly surprised. From what I remember
when PS/2s were new, the media savaged them, mainly due to high price and
the incompatibility with all existing ISA cards, RAM, etc.
I was impressed with the build quality and design of the machines (the
power supply in the M95 XP486 for example: undo one butterfly screw and the
whole thing swivels out, allowing easy access to the drive bays) and with
the ease of configuration of Microchannel cards - better Plug and Play than
with many peripherals on Win 9x machines.
Some questions:
1) Why did Microchannel fail so completely? From a user point of view it
seems quite nice.
2) Can MFM or IDE drives be used with an ESDI controller, or do the drives
have to be ESDI drives?
3) Anybody know if the 486DX33 on the processor board can be replaced with
an Overdrive chip to make it at least a 486/66; or, does IBM still run
their parts depot in Boulder for old machines?
3) I'm having some trouble with the P70. Originally, it wouldn't boot at
all. I ran the diagnostics from the Reference Disk, and all tests were
passed. I re-ran the Auto Configuration with no errors. I installed PC-DOS
6.3, and formatted the built-in HD at the same time. Everything seems fine,
but the system won't boot from the hard drive alone. If I boot with a
floppy in the drive, I can access the HD and run programs off of it. But
without a floppy, nothing works. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Mark.
Back in the old days, somebody or other, I'll look it up later (General
Instruments, I believe), made an LSI which was essentially compatible with
the PDP8-E. The idea was that it was much less of a maintenance headache to
have the CPU in microelectronic form as opposed to the ssi-msi
implementation commonly seen.
These didn't fare to well on the market because of the rapid evolution of
the commercial microcomputer industry.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Sudbrink <bill(a)chipware.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, March 26, 1999 12:43 PM
Subject: Ohio Scientific Model 560Z CPU (PDP-8!)
>I just got another box of OSI marketing lit.
>One of the items is a single sheet glossy
>with no date, but showing C1s C2s and C3s.
>Since there is no mention of anything else,
>I assume it's from 1977. Here's the kicker:
>It lists a Model 560Z CPU board with PDP-8
>code compatibility! Has anyone on the list
>ever seen or heard of one of these?
>
>Thanks,
>Bill Sudbrink
>
On Mar 26, 13:14, Richard Erlacher wrote:
> Subject: Re: Ohio Scientific Model 560Z CPU (PDP-8!)
> Back in the old days, somebody or other, I'll look it up later (General
> Instruments, I believe), made an LSI which was essentially compatible
with
> the PDP8-E.
You're probably thinking of the Intersil 6100, which DEC actually used
themselves in at least one product.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
I just got another box of OSI marketing lit.
One of the items is a single sheet glossy
with no date, but showing C1s C2s and C3s.
Since there is no mention of anything else,
I assume it's from 1977. Here's the kicker:
It lists a Model 560Z CPU board with PDP-8
code compatibility! Has anyone on the list
ever seen or heard of one of these?
Thanks,
Bill Sudbrink
On Friday, March 26, 1999 12:00 PM, Mark Gregory
[SMTP:gregorym@cadvision.com] wrote:
> Steve, one of the thrift stores that I haunt has had a Model 2 keyboard
> kicking around for months (since the system itself was nowhere to be
> found). If it's useful to you, I could pick it up and mail it to you.
Your
> cost: about $1 Canadian plus postage from Calgary, Alberta. Let me know
if
> you're interested.
>
> Mark.
>
Mark,
I appreciate the offer.
Before going to too much trouble, I need to make sure that they are
otherwise functional. First, I gotta get them cleaned up and reassembled
then try a power on test. If they look like they're work, I may take you up
on your offer.
I was hoping that a regular PC keyboard would work. That way I could do a
complete test with minimal effort.
When the teledisk order comes in, I'll have to beg a copy of the OS from
someone (hint, hint). ;-)
Thanks,
Steve Robertson - <steverob(a)hotoffice.com>
>> So... does anyone have a couple of PDP-8 bezels that they might part
>> with, or perhaps a decent hi-res scan of one that I could use try to make
>> a new decal to stick on a blank one?
>I think there is a VERY weathered one in the yard at Apex Electronics in
>the LA area.
There's a very weathered one of everything at Apex! (Often buried
under tons of other stuff, of course...)
Tim.
My ever-thoughtful brother-in-law found a couple of TRS-80s in the
dumpster and thinking of me, hauled them home (what a guy). So now I
have inherited a MODEL 2 and a MODEL 16... These things have obviously
been sitting in a dirty shed/garage/chicken-coop so, I'll have to spend
a few evenings just cleaning them up.
Unfortunately, the keyboards were nowhere to be found. QUESTION: Will a
regular PC type keyboard work with these systems?
Steve Robertson <steverob(a)hotoffice.com>
Ok... you know what I'm talking about here (or if not, well...)
I'm trying to get (one of) my PDP-8 systems looking nice, (this months
project) but the rack(s) are missing the ID bezels from the top of the
rack.
I've got enough of the PDP-11 bezels, but the two-tone purple color scheme
just clashes too badly with the two-tone orange of the 8's.
So... does anyone have a couple of PDP-8 bezels that they might part
with, or perhaps a decent hi-res scan of one that I could use try to make
a new decal to stick on a blank one?
Thanks;
-jim
---
jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com
The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw
Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174
Steve, one of the thrift stores that I haunt has had a Model 2 keyboard
kicking around for months (since the system itself was nowhere to be
found). If it's useful to you, I could pick it up and mail it to you. Your
cost: about $1 Canadian plus postage from Calgary, Alberta. Let me know if
you're interested.
Mark.
At 07:04 AM 3/26/99 -0500, you wrote:
>My ever-thoughtful brother-in-law found a couple of TRS-80s in the
>dumpster and thinking of me, hauled them home (what a guy). So now I
>have inherited a MODEL 2 and a MODEL 16... These things have obviously
>been sitting in a dirty shed/garage/chicken-coop so, I'll have to spend
>a few evenings just cleaning them up.
>
>Unfortunately, the keyboards were nowhere to be found. QUESTION: Will a
>regular PC type keyboard work with these systems?
>
>Steve Robertson <steverob(a)hotoffice.com>
>
>
>If I sell to you for $50 when someone else offers $500, the blame is on me
>for taking less than the highest offer,
Keep in mind that money is not the only method of payment. That situation
could easily be $500 cash or $50 and a promise to care for it the way you
would want it to be cared for.
>You've undoubtedly read my comments about the low (70%) completion rate
[...]
>walk away, having ruined the auction by bidding out the more serious
>bidders, when there was no serious commitment to buy.
A couple of comments: sellers can (and often do) contact the second highest
bidder if the first "walks away". Also, I think there may be other reasons
for backing out than the malicious attacks on sellers suggested earlier.
Shipping might be one reason (I recently "walked away" from a couple of DEC
computers I bought on eBay because of the shipping. (I'm sending the guy
the full bid amount plus shipping on the items I *do* want; he was nice
enough to throw in a couple other computers to replace the ones I didn't
want!)) In any case, a 70% completion rate is not necessarily a sign of
people artificially raising bid prices with no intention of following through.
>EBay does charge the would-be seller a fee based on the final bid price and
>not on the actual selling price. It benefits them to have the prices as
>high as they will go.
Okay, so yes, the eBay people sit there, rubbing their hands and cackling
gleefully as they watch the selling prices for altairs soar through the
roof. But what is it that they do (other than provide the service) to
encourage the higher selling prices?
>My belief on this matter is that the very thing which drives the prices up
>is also the thing that causes the high transaction failure rate.
but eBay doesn't get paid if the trx falls through, so it would make sense
for eBay to prefer a lower commission on a smaller sale than no commission
on a sale that doesn't go through.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/
