test-drb March 1999

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

191 participants
1003 discussions

by mbg＠world.std.com

>Thanks for the info on the "Toaster", I'll fit a fuse into it and see if >I can fire it up, it looks fairly clean so it should be ok. I might go >back and see if the rest of the VSV11 is still around, there was a lot of >DEC gear hanging around, mainly terminals. Please pardon me if this is incredibly obvious, but I just wanted to point out that to use the VSV11, you need a qbus-11 in a backplane with sufficient Q/CD slots to handle it. A BA23 is not sufficient, nor is a BA123. You'll need a BA200 series or H9642 to make it work (or a BA11-N with the proper backplane -- H9275?) 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 | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

25 years, 3 months

bringing up an 8f...

by mbg＠world.std.com

>Well I powered the PDP-8f tonight and guess what? The PS is toast. Sorry to hear it... >I'm not much surprized either. Anyhow this one has a hard short of the >kind when power is turned off the room light dim. Next step is to pull >it out of the case and inspect and meter it for where the short is. oo... room lights dim? ouch... >Anyone with a schematic? This one is the rear mounted style with the >cover that says, do not operate with cover removed for more than 15 >minutes. Don't need the whole prints but only some things verified. I have some print sets for the 8/e, 8/f, 8/m family... but they may be pdp-8/e specific. I'll check for you... 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 | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

25 years, 3 months

Decwriter II

by geoffrob＠stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au

-----Original Message----- From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, 31 March 1999 6:38 Subject: Re: Decwriter II >Do check which version board you have, they have totally different >layouts.... Print is very faint, but H7728D is what it looks like. >Actually, are you sure the output of that flip-flop is stuck (check it), >or could the problem be further on in the logic? I can look at where that >line goes if you need me to. I'll check that and get back to you. Thanks. Geoff Roberts Computer Systems Manager Saint Mark's College Port Pirie, South Australia. Email: geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au ICQ #: 1970476 Phone: 61-8-8633-8834 Mobile: 61-411-623-978 Fax: 61-8-8633-0104

25 years, 3 months

PDP-11/34A rebuild project Was: Re: Post-move diary

by mbg＠world.std.com

>I should have the prints for it (and for the VR14) somewhere. I fixed a >couple of VR14s a few years back - interesting things to work on. Watch >out for that EHT PSU can - it's a mains transformer + voltage doubler and >is quite capable of killing you. EHT PSU? You mean the VR14? Yep, I'll be avoiding that one until I absolutely have to touch it... >> 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 >Those aren't _essential_ unless you're like me. They enable the >'maintenance mode' of the frontpanel - single-step microcode, etc. Some >manuals recomend against leaving them in the machine (presumably to >prevent confusing lusers), but I've never had a problem. I guess I am like you... if the machine has some capability, I want it available to me... I'll have to look at it again to try to figure out what you're talking about as to where the cables go... >They're easy to make from 10 way IDC header sockets and ribbon cable, >though. That's good to know... >I believe you can put an MUD or SPC card in slot 5 if you don't have the >cache. I can't remember what happens if you don't have the FPU - either >slot 3 is also an SPC slot (I think that's the case) or you move >everything left one slot (Which I think is not the case). In the backplane I have, everything except for the first slot and the last slot is a MUD. (Confirmed by the decal on the inside of the chassis and by the printset). 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 | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

25 years, 3 months

PDP-11/34A rebuild project Was: Re: Post-move diary

by mbg＠world.std.com

>I forgot to mention this, and it's important if indeed you do not have >the 11/34A assembly printset: the 20-conductor flat ribbon cable polarity >is swapped around when plugged into the prog. console panel. The pin >one/blue stripe side of the ribbon cable is *not* connected to the board >connector pin one. It's correct when plugged into the M7859. I'm assuming >cables are not now connected between the panel board and the box. If they >are still conn. then you'll see what I mean. (Why did DEC do this? Was it >because of a mistake which was not considered important to fix or was it >because of board artwork considerations to make mfg simpler/cheaper?? >Doesn't seem like something DEC would let by.) I hadn't noticed the swap... I thought the connector was keyed, so you can't put it in wrong... I don't know why DEC might have done this... BTW - it turns out I do have the 11/34a printset... >I'm much less of a guru than anybody as I've never had my hands on *real* >PDP-11 hdwr until last summer/fall. I'm actually in the learning mode but >have done enough fiddling and have about half the resources I need to be >sort of maybe a little knowledgeable. (Is that vague enough?? :) That'll >be proved when I start working with the list for help on getting my own >11/34A system running. Maybe my experiences, and the documentation of same, will help... (I hope we're not putting everyone else to sleep with it) >Let me know what tech mans and printsets you need. Then I'll see what I >can do to copy missing ones for you if indeed I have them. However, I >lack several myself or have apparently too-early versions so may not >completly fill-in your needs. As I mentioned, I have the 11/34a printset. I have not yet found the VT11 printset, nor have I found an LPS printset... Do you have these? (Does someone else have these?) 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 | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

25 years, 3 months

Swapmeet Strategies

by jpl15＠netcom.com

I think this is suitably on-topic for The List: I have been a swapmeet/junk store/surplus rat all my life. There are three or four swapmeets I attend regurlarly. Here in SoCal, the TRW hamfest is probably the best-known, but there are three or four others just as 'good'. At TRW, there are two distinct periods of activitiy which I have deemed the "Shark" phase (at the opening of the meet to Buyers) and the "Vulture" phase (at the end of the meet when the Junk gets Cheap) with a relative lull in the middle hours. BUT: A secret to getting a few 'scores', is to be around when the sellers are gathering/unloading/standing around in the dark waiting for the coffee truck to set up. If you can finagle your way into that area, early before the hordes of buyers arrive... in my experience that is where some of the best deals are made. At TRW, the sellers are 'staged' into a lage parking lot first, then allowed into their spaces a line at a time from the staging area. People start getting there about 5:30 or so, and the sellers move to their spaces at 7:00, then the meet opens at 7:30. In that staging area one can have first pick of a lot of the goodies.. Your Milage May Vary. Cheers John

25 years, 3 months

Ohio Scientific (Yes again!)

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 31/03/99 11:46:35 Eastern Standard Time, george(a)racsys.rt.rain.com writes: > Where did they all go? > > Does anybody have any idea where all the Ohio Scientific machines all > ended up? > > We have a few collectors on this list with a few machines but it sure > seems like more were made than our collections account for. > > I'm especially curious as to where all the C2-8p systems ended up. > > My inventory: > 1 C2-4p shell > 1 C2-4p Working > 1 C4p Bad RAM > > None of my systems had floppys with them... > > Anybody have any idea about Production numbers? I'd never even heard of an OSI machine until I picked up a C1P complete with marketing materials/schematics and bare circuit boards 3 years ago. Were they really that popular? I know someone at work that heard of them, but that's it.

25 years, 3 months

Floor tiles

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

> On Mon, Mar 29, 1999 at 01:43:40PM -0500, William Donzelli wrote: > >> Are European floor tiles for computer rooms 2 feet square, like those >> found in the U.S., or are they smaller? > > They are 60x60 cm. Yes, I think that's a common size. But the tiles in the office where I am sitting right now are 50x50cm. I also think that the structural tiles (don't know what they are really called) used for raised floors in computer rooms are also often 50cm square. (Not 50cm^2, though!) Philip.

25 years, 3 months

Moving sale - many old books, computer hardware & software, magazines, etc.

by tiger＠silcom.com

Hello everyone. I have a lot of old computer hardware, software, books, and magazines which I'd like to sell before I move long distance in about a month. Over the last few months I've posted on Usenet and tried eBay with only moderate success. With moving day approaching and too few sales lately to justify the time, I'm about to give up and donate the majority of these items to the local charities who are fortunately willing to take most of my stuff. This means that any sales need to be resolved within a couple weeks. As this is the classical computer list I hope some people here might have interest in this type of old computer stuff. The majority of it is from the 1980s. The computers I have the most stuff to the least stuff for sale are: - IBM compatible - Commodore 64/128 - Apple II series/IIGS - Amiga - Atari 8-bit - Macintosh - TI-99/4A Very briefly I have: - BOOKS - a couple hundred computer books, programming books, electronic data books, and technical books (a lot of reference books are for Apple and Amiga, such as the Addision-Wesley series). Also a few math and physics textbooks. - SOFTWARE MANUALS - a couple hundred manuals without the disks for things like Borland Turbo products, Microsoft C/C++, Visual Basic, DBase, Autocad, etc. - HARDWARE - Commodore 128 computers, disk drives, many printers for Commodore specific and IBM compatibles, old monitors, cassette units, etc. - SOFTWARE - a LOT of software for the first 4 computers in my list above. For IBM I have mostly old applications, for Commodore mostly games, and for Apple & Amiga mostly applications and development software (APW, Merlin, Manx C, etc). There's a misc handful for the other 3. - MAGAZINES - a variety of magazines, mostly for IBM and Apple. PC Tech Journal, Nibble, Video magazine, etc. I could be convinced to dump some ancient PC Magazines and Compute's for the right price, but I was planning to keep those (unless I'm floored by the movers' estimates this week). - LASERDISCS - a handful of older titles, mostly at $9 each. - GAME MANUALS - I have almost 50 computer game manuals without disks. I was asking $9 for all of them, but I'd just throw them in for someone who's buying a lot. Please look at my lists and feel free to ignore the prices and make reasonable offers. My main criteria are I have to get enough money to make the transaction worth the effort and the amount needs to be reasonably close to what I think my charitable deduction will be worth. If you can come by Santa Barbara, California, and pick up a lot of stuff in person we'll work out a really good deal. Please send email to tiger(a)silcom.com if you're interested in anything. All of my lists can be found at: http://www.silcom.com/~tiger Thank you for your time.

25 years, 3 months

Western Digital PASCAL microengine / p-system.

by drbilling＠ucdavis.edu

Concerning p-machines: >At 08:19 AM 3/19/99 -0500, John Ott wrote: >> >>I am interested in learning more about p-machines. Does anyone have >>some references, faqs or web sites that would help? > >I have an aging UCSD Pascal history page at my online computer museum: ><http://www.threedee.com/jcm/>. I'd love to get a Microengine someday. > >- John I vaguely remember that the Western Digital p-machine microengine was based on the chipset that Western Digital made for DEC to build the LSI-11/2, just different microcode. Does anyone actually have some documentation for this board or board set? I have also been scanning all of the WEB sights that have information about UCSD PASCAL and obsolete and disappeared computers and I find no reference to Sage Computer Technology of Reno, NV. They made the Sage II/IV systems that came with UCSD PASCAL installed. They were M-68000 based systems and probably ran other operating systems too. Anybody remember them? -- Dean =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Dean Billing Phone: 530-752-5956 UC Davis FAX: 530-752-6363 IT-CR EMAIL: drbilling(a)ucdavis.edu One Shields Way Davis, CA 95616

25 years, 3 months

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test-drb March 1999