I don't know where this "reporter" got his information, but MITS did not
build the IMSAI. It's sacrilege, that's what it is! It's like saying the
Silver Cloud was built by YUGO.
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, June 17, 1999 12:19 PM
Subject: Re: First Apple I up for auction
>On Thu, 17 Jun 1999, Zane H. Healy wrote:
>
>> Now's some lucky persons chance to own a piece of computing history.
>>
>> http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/20271.html
>>
>> Sam is in the article, and the place selling the computer is hoping to
get
>> $40,000 for it.
>
><BIG ANNOYED SIGH>
>
>I love being misquoted. I also love it when the journalist takes the
>information I give him and jumbles it all up into a miserable pile of
>gibberish.
>
>Oh well, the price I pay for free publicity.
>
>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: 05/25/99]
>
OpenVMS still comes with development tools. You can write
primitive interpretive code using DCL and more sophisticated stuff with TPU.
The file management system RMS also comes free with VMS.
Besides the above, there are many shareware or freeware
development tools that can be used with VMS. For the private user, VMS can
be free and comes with free C/C++, BASIC, Fortran, Perl and other compilers.
How does BeOS compare with that?
Blue
PowerHouse consultant
Rhode Island, USA
Disclaimer:
The opinions and ideas expressed in this message are my own
and have no relationship to my current employer, Initial Technical Staffing,
its client CCI, or any of CCI's clients.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Strickland
[mailto:jim@calico.litterbox.com]
Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 3:58 PM
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic
computers
Subject: OT -mostly -
After playing with BeOS a while something
occurred to me. Does anyone remember
at what point operating systems stopped
coming with development tools? I'm
remembering the commodore 64 that came with
Basic, and if you typed in the
assembler from the manual, you could (at
least in theory) write proffessional
quality assembly language programs worthy of
being sold to others.
Compare this to modern OSs - windows, macos,
etc where the development package
costs hundreds or thousands of dollars
extra.
(small plug - BeOS comes with
(theoretically) all the tools you need to do
development on it.)
--
Jim Strickland
jim(a)DIESPAMMERSCUMcalico.litterbox.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
BeOS Powered!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
True, but I found that nearly all the keys were usable except for Enter,
Space, Escape and Shift.
Kai
-----Original Message-----
From: Don Maslin [mailto:donm@cts.com]
Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 12:06 PM
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
Subject: RE: Sol-20 Keyboard
On Fri, 18 Jun 1999, Kai Kaltenbach wrote:
> Pull off one of the SOL keys. Note the spring and the key mounting
> mechanism. Go to your local surplus joint and go through their pile 'o'
old
> keyboards, pulling a key off of each until you find one that uses springs
--
> Keytronic made essentially the same foam-pad mechanism for years and
years,
> on PC keyboards.
>
> I found a suitable one quite easily, and replaced all of the foam in my
SOL.
The only problem with that, Kai, is that some of the PC keyboards are
getting old enough to be a bit edgy also. But at least you won't have
much invested except time!
- don
Pull off one of the SOL keys. Note the spring and the key mounting
mechanism. Go to your local surplus joint and go through their pile 'o' old
keyboards, pulling a key off of each until you find one that uses springs --
Keytronic made essentially the same foam-pad mechanism for years and years,
on PC keyboards.
I found a suitable one quite easily, and replaced all of the foam in my SOL.
Kai
-----Original Message-----
From: Marvin [mailto:marvin@rain.org]
Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 9:51 AM
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
Subject: Sol-20 Keyboard
Well, the saga continues. This unit does have the 85 key keyboard and the
Sol-20 power supply so I don't know what to say about the model 10 on the
nameplate.
I took the keyboard apart last night and found both the sponge
disintegrating and the metalized plastic that contacts the keyboard also has
the metalization disappearing. Since I believe this is a capacitive type of
keyboard, I can see why it didn't work. What have others on the list done to
replace the plastic/sponge sandwich on this type of keyboard?
Yesterday, I spent all day at a customer's site, arguing with Windows NT.
God, I hate NT.
Anyway, I return to the office to clock out, call home, my mother answers.
I says, "Is my supper still there?" She says, "Yes, and hurry home, me
and your (little) sister went dumpster diving."
"Uh, WHAT?"
So, I go home. They scored 2 dead monitors, some miscellaneous System/36
disks, and 2 leased-line modems. So, I head out with them, to visit the
dumpster again. Turns out it was a grade school not too far away. Anyway,
I took some goodies, here's the highlights:
An Apple 2/E, in (seemingly) working order, but no floppy controller.
But it has the drives...
A Laser 128. No power supply. What's this?
IBM System/36 SSP and Microcode disks. Ohhh, yes.
The 2 leased-line modems - a small Gandalf model, and something else.
Miscellaneous 2e manuals. I have DOS disks and such elsewhere...
Anyway, what's the Laser, and can I do much with the Apple, even though it has
no floppy card? I suppose I have to RTFM...
-------
That was my point, Hans. I can't comment on the Morris Minor, but the Yugo
did work, just as the Altair did. It's just that you always had to nurse
the Altair along. Now the IMSAI was a different thing. It was laid out by
a professional who designed the PCB assemblies like a "real" product, even
back when people thought of microcomputers as fancy "toys" for the
intellectual elite. The Altairs of the mid '70's were laid out the way 2nd
year engineering students did it. If they had hired a professional, it
would have cost more. Likewise, the Yugo was designed and built with many
economies in the form of omissions.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Hans Franke <Hans.Franke(a)mch20.sbs.de>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, June 18, 1999 12:20 PM
Subject: Re: it's just typical (was: First Apple I up for auction)
>> > I don't know where this "reporter" got his information, but MITS did
not
>> > build the IMSAI. It's sacrilege, that's what it is! It's like saying
the
>> > Silver Cloud was built by YUGO.
>
>> More like saying a Moris Minor was built by Yugo.
>
>Just help me:
>Why you're always jumpin' on the Yugo ?
>They had fine cars (when considering the price).
>And in fact, I'd prefer a Yugo over a Moris Minor
>(guess I won't be allowed to set a foot on the
>isle in the future :).
>
>Gruss
>H.
>
>--
>Der Kopf ist auch nur ein Auswuchs wie der kleine Zeh.
>H.Achternbusch
Hi!
I need the following stuff to fix my old TRS-80. I had it working again
after I dropped paper clips into it, but the person who was junking the
parts that I used to repair it were obviously throwing them out for a
reason...
I think all that I need are a model 3 or 4 motherboard, and a matching
RS-232 interface. I could also probably use a model 4 keyboard, if I get
the model 4 motherboard, but the model 3 one will still work, won't it?
I also need a disk copy of VideoText software, Scripsit, and TRS-DOS (I have
L-DOS, but it's for the Model 4).
ThAnX,
///--->>>
-Jason Willgruber
(roblwill(a)usaor.net)
ICQ#: 1730318
<http://members.tripod.com/general_1>
PS>> I think there was someone on this list that was parting out an old
Model 4. I think I emailed you about it, but I lost your address. Do you
still have it??
Ugggg....
In my rush to spin up the drive, I had neglected to inspect the bottom heads
for the fixed platter. They are, after all, almost hidden in the bottom. :[
This time I removed the bottom of the drive and looked underneath. There are
the obvious telltale streaks on the bottom surface of the bottom (fixed)
platter; it doesn't look gouged, but streaked nontheless. The bottom heads
(which can only really be inspected from the bottom of the drive with the
bottom cover off) don't look to be very happy. Definite oxide residue, but
the heads at least LOOK structurally sound.
Since the bottom fixed platter doesn't have servo data on it, I'm hoping a
new bottom platter won't cost much more than a removable platter. Then I'm
hoping that since the noise was never that pronounced that perhaps the heads
will be OK after thorough cleaning. Don't know much about this - is that
possible? I know, I'm probably hoping unrealistically.
This pretty well trashes my hopes for TSB, at least until I can fix it or
find another 7900A. On the bright side, it's pretty obvious that this damage
was done before I got the drive. Small consolation ;)
Jay West
An article on Slashdot
<http://slashdot.org/askslashdot/99/06/17/1731248.shtml>
asked about methods for making headless Linux boxes, and one of the
reader answers was sufficiently retro and weird that I thought it
might interest this list.
<http://www.realweasel.com/> describes the PC Weasel 2000, an ISA card
that emulates a mono video card, but that transmits the characters on
the virtual screen out the serial port, and converts serial input to
PC keyboard keystrokes. Thus no video monitor is needed, and no BIOS
changes needed, in order to "see" even the lowest-level cold-boot
options on a PC.
- John
Hi!
I just found an old Motorola Universal Data Systems model 201B/C modem in my
basement while I was cleaning. I have the original box and manual, but
can't figure out how to get it to work.
It's odd- looking (in the fact that it's blue).
It runs on 120 volts, has a 1/2 amp fuse, a toggle (power) switch, 25-pin
DTE data connector, and the telephone input/output connectors on the back.
The front is black and has 9 LED's on it, along with a rotary switch. The
LED's are (left to right) MR/RI, TR,RS,CS,CD,RD,TD,TM,and POWER. The rotary
switch (which is between the "TM" and "POWER" LED's has 9 positions for
RDLST, RDL, LDL, AL, DATA, TALK, TTP, RTP, and ST. According to the manual,
these are different test settings.
Anyone ever worked with one of these?
ThAnX,
///--->>>
-Jason Willgruber
(roblwill(a)usaor.net)
ICQ#: 1730318
<http://members.tripod.com/general_1>
