I have finally gotten my GRiD 1530 laptop going!!! WHOO HOO!!! But, I
have several questions...
The processor problem...
It's a i386... I'd like to get one of those 386 to 486 upgrade processors
but, they seem to not be available. Can anyone tell me what I have to do
to rig a 486 in there?
The Hard drive oddity...
Part I
The laptop came with a Conner 3104 (100Mb) hard drive... I put this drive
into my pentium desk top and used the segate software to verify the disk,
then I formatted & did a scandisk, and loaded DOS. When it went to write
COMMAND.COM and a few final files, it gave me a bunch of write errors... I
took the same drive and put it in my old 486 desk top (with a NON-EIDE)
controller and everything loaded fine!!!! Why did this happen???
Part II
I have a 420Mb Conner drive that mates to the laptop's interface card. I
loaded DOS and what not on it and then used the GRiD setup program to set
the bios to the correct parameters and it still gives me a disc boot error!
Why won't this drive work?
----------------------------------------
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
Synertek, by the way, was the earliest of several companies to produce
really high-speed 650x family members. Their 4 MHz parts, which I routinely
used at nearly 5 MHz in order to support async serial comm's, were the cat's
pajamas back in 1980-81.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Sellam Ismail <dastar(a)ncal.verio.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, April 29, 1999 3:20 PM
Subject: SYM-1
>On Thu, 29 Apr 1999, Dwight Elvey wrote:
>
>> I can't understand why anyone would expect too high
>> a price for these, though. Although not common, many
>> were just tossed out.
>
>Such is the incomprehensible ebay market for vintage computer items these
>days. It indeed makes no sense.
>
>Anyway, Ray Holt, the same guy that designed the F14 CADC, also designed
>the SYM-1. Synertek was his company before it was bought out by
>Honeywell. He'll probably be at VCF 3.0 if you'd like to speak with him.
>
>Sellam Alternate e-mail:
dastar(a)siconic.com
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out.
>
> Coming this October 2-3: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0!
> See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
> [Last web site update: 04/03/99]
>
>Hi Tim,
>
>At 10:58 PM 4/29/99 -0400, you wrote:
>>.R PIP
>>*DY1:FILE.OUT=DY0:FILE.IN
>>
>>wildcarding works, too.
>
>would wildcarding be *.* ? or some other characters? and is it
>DX1:*.*=DX0:*.*
>
>My pip just responds ?OUT FIL?
>and DX1:=DX0:*.* responds with : ?ILL DEV?
Stretching my brain here, but I think you want:
DX1:*.*=DX0:*.*/X/Y
The "/X" means to copy the files individually, without concatenation
The "/Y" means to copy the *.SYS files (without this, you'd get
some ?NO SYS ACTION? messages).
>>You also have to put a bootblock on the resulting disk to make it
>>bootable, but I don't know how to do this (off the top of my head)
>>in HT-11 (or RT-11 V2B).
>
>I'm guessing that the version of FORMAT does this because if I FORMAT a
>disk and then DCOPY the HT-11B Distribution to it, it boots.
DCOPY almost certainly does a block-by-block copy ("image mode"), not
a file-by-file copy. So you'd naturally get the boot block.
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
> I went scrounging today and found some interesting cards. A picture of
>the first one is at "http://www.intellistar.net/~rigdonj/card1.jpg" and a
>picture of the second is at "http://www.intellistar.net/~rigdonj/card2.jpg".
> The first one is interesting because it has a list on the right side that
>appears to be a list of memory locations and op codes. It's hard to see in
>the photo but the first column is labeled CNT. (count?). Most of the ICs
>are dated 1972. The only other markings on the card is "TERADYNE A 794" and
>"Made in USA".
Looks like a ROM built out of a diode array. I'd make a WAG that it's
a bootstrap for some computer, but I don't know what. Judging by the
content list, I'd say it's a 18-bit computer of some sort, but I don't
recognize the board form factor or the opcodes.
> The second one is a core memory board that I *think* may be for a Data
>General computer. I picked up several of these and they're all made by
>Dataram Corporation and appear to date from 1972. Their part number is
>3010290. I took the cover off of one. Man, the cores in these are tiny!
They don't plug directly into a Nova's bus, at least. It's very likely
that these core cards plugged into a dedicated array backplane - note
the lack of bus interface circuitry near the edge connector, but obvious
core drivers. The array backplane would've contained other card(s) forming
the bus interface to the actual computer that used these core planes. If
you can give us the X by Y count of the cores, and tell us if the
cores are obviously divided into sections (12? 16? 18?), maybe we can
make more WAG's about where it plugs into :-).
--
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/
7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917
Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927
Hello -
This is free for the shipping. RS232 I/O adapter p/n 42086G4 for a
Data Printer Corp. band printer. This is a complete kit and has
never been used.
john
--
***********************************************************************
* John Ott * Email: jott(a)saturn.ee.nd.edu *
* Dept. Electrical Engineering * *
* 275 Fitzpatrick Hall * *
* University of Notre Dame * Phone: (219) 631-7752 *
* Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA * *
***********************************************************************
Hi Tim,
[Note that I went to the directory off the PDP-11 home page that alleges to
have notes on RT-11 but except for the DECUS disks there aren't that many
notes, and on the DECUS disks there is mostly just source code. (which
would be ok if I can figure out how to assemble something into a SAV file)]
Ok, so when I boot the disk labelled RT-11V02C on my H-11 it seems to work
except if I try to use PIP to copy a file to a disk I formatted with HT-11
it doesn't work (gives me DIR-RD-ERR).
I realize DEC was "famous" for not providing formatting software but is
there a FORMAT program for this version? Interestingly PIP on the HT-11
DISK can read the disks just not the "official" RT11
--Chuck
Contents of Disk 1: Contents of Disk 2:
MONITR.SYS 46 5-JAN-78 RKMNSJ.SYS 46 5-JAN-78
DXMNFB.SYS 58 5-JAN-78 RKMNFB.SYS 58 5-JAN-78
DP .SYS 2 5-JAN-78 RFMNSJ.SYS 46 5-JAN-78
RK .SYS 2 5-JAN-78 RFMNFB.SYS 58 5-JAN-78
RF .SYS 2 5-JAN-78 DPMNSJ.SYS 46 5-JAN-78
TT .SYS 2 5-JAN-78 DPMNFB.SYS 58 5-JAN-78
LP .SYS 2 5-JAN-78 DT .SYS 2 5-JAN-78
BA .SYS 7 5-JAN-78 DX .SYS 2 5-JAN-78
SYSMAC.SML 18 5-JAN-78 CR .SYS 3 5-JAN-78
SYSMAC.8K 25 5-JAN-78 MT .SYS 6 5-JAN-78
BATCH .SAV 25 5-JAN-78 MM .SYS 6 5-JAN-78
EDIT .SAV 19 5-JAN-78 PR .SYS 2 5-JAN-78
MACRO .SAV 31 5-JAN-78 PP .SYS 2 5-JAN-78
ASEMBL.SAV 21 5-JAN-78 CT .SYS 5 5-JAN-78
EXPAND.SAV 12 5-JAN-78 DS .SYS 2 5-JAN-78
CREF .SAV 5 5-JAN-78 FILEX .SAV 11 5-JAN-78
LINK .SAV 25 5-JAN-78 SRCCOM.SAV 11 5-JAN-78
PIP .SAV 14 5-JAN-78 DUMP .SAV 5 5-JAN-78
PATCH .SAV 5 5-JAN-78 PATCHO.SAV 33 5-JAN-78
ODT .OBJ 9 5-JAN-78 VTMAC .MAC 7 5-JAN-78
VTHDLR.OBJ 8 5-JAN-78 SYSF4 .OBJ 33 5-JAN-78
DEMOFG.MAC 5 5-JAN-78 KB .MAC 33 5-JAN-78
DEMOBG.MAC 4 5-JAN-78 22 FILES, 475 BLOCKS
LIBR .SAV 15 5-JAN-78 5 FREE BLOCKS
TT 1 5-JAN-78
LOAD .SAV 7 5-JAN-78
26 FILES, 370 BLOCKS
110 FREE BLOCKS
>Ok, I have managed to assemble and link a program!
>
>.R MACRO
>*DEMOFG.OBJ,DEMOFG.LST=DEMOFG.MAC
BTW - the file types (formerly called extensions) are defaulted
based on position in the command line. So:
.R MACRO
*DEMOFG,DEMOFG=DEMOFG
is equivalent to the above...
The RT Utilities use something called CSI (command string
interpreter) which has a standard form... up to 3 output files
(the ones to the left of the '=') and up to 6 input files
(the ones to the right of the '=').
For MACRO, the output files are objects, lists and symbol
table (in later versions). And the 6 input files are all
expected to be .MAC
>results in the expected listing and object file (I'm glad Gary Kildall
>modelled CP/M after RT-11!)
It sure does look that way, doesn't it... :-)
>Then I linked it with
>.R LINK
>*DEMOFG.SAV=DEMOFG.OBJ,ODT.OBJ
Same as above comments here, only the defaults are: .SAV image,
.MAP file for outputs, and up to 6 .OBJs for input.
>Then I ran it with
>.R DEMOFG
>and it ran, popped into ODT which I continued out of and exited 'cuz the
>background program wasn't running.
To run a foreground program, you issue the command FRUN <program_name>
>OK. So we're almost cooking, but it raises some interesting questions:
> 1) I can compile on the other disk by preceding the names
> with DX1: in the assmbler line.
Or you could ASSIGN DX1 DK, and then R MACRO and specify the
command line without device specifications.
Typically, one would boot from one device, then ASSIGN the other
device as DK (default disk) on which all new files would be
created if not otherwise specified, and from which all input
files would be taken, again unless otherwise specified.
> 2) How can I run a program on DX1: ? If I type .R DX1:PROG
> it says ?ILL-CMD?
The 'R' command is used for running programs/utilities specifically
>from the system device 'SY' (the boot device). To run a program
>from another disk, you can either do 'RUN' with no device specified
to have it run from DK:, or 'RUN dev:program' to run 'program' from
'dev:'
> 3) Which side of the disk is the directory on? (inner or outer
> tracks?)
The directory for all RT-11 volumes is a contiguous set of blocks
starting with block 6. It consists of two blocks per segment for
as many segments as have been specified in the PIP dev:/Z[:n]
command (up to 31). Each segment can specify up to 72 files. So
for one segment, the directory is in blocks 6 and 7. The first
file data block is block 010.
>The last question relates to the disk problem I'm seeing. My guess is
>that write precompensation is screwed up on that disk which would explain
>why it works until it writes the directory.
Sorry, can't answer that one...
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 |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
>Ok, so another clue discovered:
> 1) Typing DX1:/Z "zeros" the directory on a
> floppy.
> 2) Trying this on drive 1 leaves the floppy
> scrambled, doing it on drive 0 seems to
> work.
There may be a problem with your drive 1.
>Trying DX0:A=DX1:MONITR.SYS/O does not write the boot block
If my example showed two separate devices, that was incorrect.
I believe both input device and output device have to be the
same for this. And MONITR.SYS and DX.SYS have to exist on the
volume which you are trying to make bootable.
>A disk formatted and zeroed is not mbootable.
right...
>Since the source to FORMAT was included I thought I'd take a peek. It
>tells the controller that is embedded in the drive "format that disk."
>and it does.
Aha... and you're using the Heathkit floppies, which can format
the drives...
>What the heck is used for "delete" on RT-11? backspace doesn't work nor
>does DEL apparently.
It should be DEL (0177). What happens when you type it?
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 |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
Ok, I have managed to assemble and link a program!
.R MACRO
*DEMOFG.OBJ,DEMOFG.LST=DEMOFG.MAC
results in the expected listing and object file (I'm glad Gary Kildall
modelled CP/M after RT-11!)
Then I linked it with
.R LINK
*DEMOFG.SAV=DEMOFG.OBJ,ODT.OBJ
Then I ran it with
.R DEMOFG
and it ran, popped into ODT which I continued out of and exited 'cuz the
background program wasn't running.
OK. So we're almost cooking, but it raises some interesting questions:
1) I can compile on the other disk by preceding the names
with DX1: in the assmbler line.
2) How can I run a program on DX1: ? If I type .R DX1:PROG
it says ?ILL-CMD?
3) Which side of the disk is the directory on? (inner or outer
tracks?)
The last question relates to the disk problem I'm seeing. My guess is that
write precompensation is screwed up on that disk which would explain why it
works until it writes the directory.
--Chuck
On an unrelated front, the NetBSD folks have released 1.4Beta and it
actually mostly works on my uVax II (at least while I'm diskless). I've
managed to recompile an entire kernel (takes most of the day :-) and
install and run my new kernel. This means that I can actually debug the bus
hang problem if I can get some documentation on the processor (KA630). I
reiterate my call for a KA630 CPU manual, I only need it long enough to
make a copy of it and return it. Alternately, if one turns up I'll pay up
to $30 for it (that's what I figure it will cost to have it copied). And
no, DEC no longer sells it as far as I can tell.
--Chuck
