test-drb July 1999

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

175 participants
662 discussions

by peter＠joules.enterprise-plc.com

I have just got back from a 680 mile round trip to collect a free Sun 3/110 along with various external drives and a monitor (which may be reepairable). I will post full details when I have got it all out of the car and found out exactly what it all is. I am also going to have to dive into my SunOS manuals to find out how to boot to single user mode and reset the root password as it has been forgotten by its prevoius owner. Regards Pete

24 years, 12 months

New Acquisitions! (HP2000) -> now facit 4070 punch...

by jlwest＠tseinc.com

Tony Duell wrote... >These pull out towards the back of the punch - on later models >there's a little metal rod that retains them. Loosen the screw that >clamps that and slide it up out of the way. I must have a later model, mine has the metal rod you mentioned... However, the rest seems different from what you described. When I remove the baseplate, the first board visible does have some stuff on it, but certainly not a uart. This first board is almost (within 1/2 inch) as long as the board underneath it. This first board is virtually empty, except there was one row of 13 small transistors top to bottom, then a row of approximately 3 resistors and 1 diode for each transistor. Then there's a fair amount of traces taking the signals to the edge connector. It would appear that the sole purpose of the back half of this board is to bring two test points to the rear of the unit (6v and gnd). The board underneath this appears to be the main logic board you referred to, as there are a number of power transistors on the board. As a point of reference, there are also a set of hardwired jumpers, labeled 1 through 8 on the board too. Next to this is a set of small transistors marked off as 1 through 9. Then there is a metal plate (3 screws remove the top half of it) revealing a final small PCA, obviously power related (theres a few 7 watt resistors, and what appears to be some yellow coils). The guy I got this punch from swears it hooked up to a standard rs232 serial port, but at this point I'm skeptical. Is any further info available? Thanks in advance! Jay West

24 years, 12 months

Sun 2/120 questions.

by fluke＠mcs.net

I have been looking for quite a while to try and find a framebuffer for my sun 2/120. I have everything I need for a working system, including monitor,kb,mouse,cpu,etc etc etc but I have _no_ framebuffer! I even have OS tapes. The card cage and system works, as I used it with a vt100 terminal for a while.. I couldn't get my tapes to install, though, and I am not sure why. Anybody have any advise? Also, is there a good place to go for pinouts and such? I was looking around for some pinouts, but found a hard time of finding only the pinouts for a VGA connector. Is there a place that just has pinouts for things that might be useful to classic people? ie- MCA bus, crazy kb connectors on old workstations, etc etc? Thanks, Greg Linder fluke(a)mcs.net

24 years, 12 months

looking for G111 & G233

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

Hah! How'd you avoid getting sniped? I'm 0 for 6 on e-bay myself. I could just spit. Jeff On Tue, 13 Jul 1999 02:03:16 GMT Lawrence LeMay <lemay(a)cs.umn.edu> writes: > Well, I went and purchased a 8K core memory board on ebay, mainly > because I recognized it as a G646C core memory plane from a > pdp8/e or /f. > > If someone has the G111 and G233 boards that should go with this, > but not the core memory, then perhaps i can trade you something > for them. > > -Lawrence (That core plane will work in a Muniac computer too???) > LeMay ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.

24 years, 12 months

Altair speech synthesizer card by AICS :: anyone have one?

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

>>> (Artificially Intelligent Cybernetic Systems), >> >>Wow. Impressive name. Betch'a they did not live up to it. > > I like the idea of artifical stupids. The natural ones are quite bad enough! But seriously, look at the way robots are portrayed in Clifford Simak's novels - good at getting jobs done, and even at making decisions, but not good on creativity. I suspect the first truly thinking AI will be a bit like that... > Anybody else ever read the sci fi book Tik Tok? Sladek, isn't it? I've read it, but I didn't enjoy it much. Too much gratuitous violence, and robots too human physically. Philip. ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept for the presence of computer viruses. Power Technology Centre, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Nottingham, NG11 0EE, UK Tel: +44 (0)115 936 2000 http://www.powertech.co.uk **********************************************************************

24 years, 12 months

Conway's "Game of Life" ... when invented?

by ss＠allegro.com

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows when John Conway invented "life". The best I've found on the web is "1960s". But...I just saw a movie, "Ocean's Eleven" (starring Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack) ... and I'd swear that the start of the credits looks a lot like a run of life (i.e., several generations of display in the cellular automata game) at the beginning, which then segues into pseudo-Vegas neon signs. The movie is credited as being in 1960. thanks, Stan Sieler sieler(a)allegro.com

24 years, 12 months

Large inventory of transputer parts for sale!!!

by allisonp＠world.std.com

First, never heard back from the guy posting for sale... <> with the T800. I basically call it a mutant T800 :-) It is a new "linea <> the transputer tree. Despite all this my knowledge of what a transputer is hasn't greatly improved. It would be interesting to have a discussion as to it's archetecture and all. Allison

24 years, 12 months

facit 4070 punch...

by mranalog＠home.com

"Jay West" <jlwest(a)tseinc.com> wrote: > When I remove the baseplate, the first board visible does have some stuff on > it, but certainly not a uart. This first board is almost (within 1/2 inch) > as long as the board underneath it. This first board is virtually empty, > except there was one row of 13 small transistors top to bottom, then a row > of approximately 3 resistors and 1 diode for each transistor. Then there's a > fair amount of traces taking the signals to the edge connector. It would > appear that the sole purpose of the back half of this board is to bring two > test points to the rear of the unit (6v and gnd). First I want to say that Western Numerical Control sells copies of the technical manual for the Facit 4070. The cost is $25 and if you order, ask for the free mylar sample and they will send you about 50 feet of 1" mylar tape. The Facit 4070 punches mylar just fine. OK now, the manual calls the first or bottom board the "matching board". And says "This board can be supplied without components, to be used by the customer for his own interface electronics". This board in my 4070 was originally blank but was then hand wired with one 74LS04 and one 74LS00 to invert the 8 data bits, and one 74LS123 to provide the right length pulse for the punch start signal. I also have a HP 9884A (which is the same thing) that has a HP PCB with transistors in this first slot. > The board underneath this appears to be the main logic board you referred > to, as there are a number of power transistors on the board. As a point of > reference, there are also a set of hardwired jumpers, labeled 1 through 8 on > the board too. Next to this is a set of small transistors marked off as 1 > through 9. > > Then there is a metal plate (3 screws remove the top half of it) revealing a > final small PCA, obviously power related (theres a few 7 watt resistors, and > what appears to be some yellow coils). These punches come standard with a parallel interface, but they make RS-232 interface and a "Multi Interface" board which is a parallel,RS-232,and current loop interface. This multi interface has a toggle switch to select the interface and a DB-25S on the board for RS-232 and current loop operation. (For parallel operation the DB-25 on the rear of the punch is used). This multi interface also has two 8 switch, one 5 switch, and one 4 switch dip-switches on the board. So without seeing your board I would bet that it is a parallel board. Here is the information that Tony sent me before I ordered my manual (hopefully it will save him from typing it all in again :) > Here's the jumper board info - it's very simple. > First find pin A1 on the option card connector. This is linked to pin 1 > on the DB25, so an ohmeter will find it. > The pins on that side of the connector are A1-A22, those on the other > side are B1-B22 > > The jumper board links : > A1-B1 > A2-B2 > A3-B3 > A4-B4 > A5-B5 > A6-B6 > A7-B7 > A8-B8 > A9-B9 > A10-B10 > A11-B11 > A12-B12 > A13-B13 (maybe, the manual is unclear here, but unless you need the > timing pulse output it doesn't matter) > > That's it. 12 or 13 through-board links. > > --------------------------- > > Cable Wirelist : IBM Printer Port -> Facit 4070 Punch > PC Punch > Strobe (1) o----------------o PI (11) [Punch Instruction] > D0 (2) o----------------o Ch1 (1) [Channel 1] > D1 (3) o----------------o Ch2 (2) [Channel 2] > D2 (4) o----------------o Ch3 (3) [Channel 3] > D3 (5) o----------------o Ch4 (4) [Channel 4] > D4 (6) o----------------o Ch5 (5) [Channel 5] > D5 (7) o----------------o Ch6 (6) [Channel 6] > D6 (8) o----------------o Ch7 (7) [Channel 7] > D7 (9) o----------------o Ch8 (8) [Channel 8] > Busy (11) o----------------o PR (12) [Punch Ready] > Gnd (25) o----------------o Gnd(25) [Ground] > +---o Ch9 (9) [Channel 9 - Sprocket] > +---o +6V(24) [+6V output] > > ----------------------- > > [This bit applies to a special application that I used it for - hence the > reference to punching card. Some of the rest of it might be useful, though] > > Facit 4070 Notes > ---------------- > [Circuit references apply to TTL logic board version 1] > Increase the 1K pull-down (R54) on the PI line to about 10K since the pull-up > on the IBM printer port is otherwise too high to turn on VT11. > > Increase the monotime of IC23 to give a bit more punch-pin drive for reliable > punching on card. Set R97 to 27K and remove R129 > > Make sure the punch solenoids are correctly set up as per the Service Manual. > (Procedure 5.1E) > ------------------------ > Here's the Pascal program fragments to talk to the punch. Call init_punch > at the start of the program (before turning on the 4070!) and then > punch_byte for each character to be punched > > const port_base=$278; {port were 4070 is connected} > > procedure init_punch; > begin; > port[port_base+2]:=1; {Set PI low} > end; > > procedure punch_byte(ch:byte); > begin; > repeat; until (port[port_base+1] and 128) = 0; > port[port_base]:=ch; > port[port_base+2]:=0; > repeat until(port[port_base+1] and 128) > 0; > port[port_base+2]:=1; > end; > --------------------------------- I started building a PC to 4070 interface cable, with a 'C' version of Tony's program, but I got to the point of senting a punch signal to the 4070 and the punch's power supply would shut down. I stepped away for a few days and I have not gotten back to it to determine what I was doing wrong. I hope that helps, --Doug P.S. WNC also sells a RS-232 interface for the Facit 4070. Price new $695.00, used $495.00 :) ==================================================== Doug Coward dcoward(a)pressstart.com (work) Sr. Software Eng. mranalog(a)home.com (home) Press Start Inc. http://www.pressstart.com Sunnyvale,CA Curator Analog Computer Museum and History Center http://www.best.com/~dcoward/analog ====================================================

24 years, 12 months

IMSAI Progress

by bill＠chipware.com

Well, I gave up on the MIO for a while. Tony's explanation, while good, was making my head spin! Also, I don't have any 26 pin card edge connectors. So I started looking at the Cromemco 4FDC documentation and, lo-and-behold, it has a serial port. The documentation on the serial port is clear and simple, and I now have toggled in a short program to initialize it and echo characters (also, put them on the front panel lights). According to the docs, the EPROM on this board contains a monitor which operates through the serial port, but, and it is quite emphatic about this, it is Z80 code. Is anybody out there using one of these? With an 8080A? Maybe could send me an alternate monitor to burn on an EPROM? Thanks, Bill Sudbrink

24 years, 12 months

Corvus Concept, Varian 620/L

by fmc＠reanimators.org

Al Kossow has scanned a couple of manuals that I've had sitting around for a while and put 'em up on the net. He's not on the list but says it's OK to tell y'all. He'd also like to know about Varian 620/L software and documentation. If you have some or know something about it, send him e-mail at aek(a)spies.com. Feel free to cc: me, I'm interested too but not real knowledgeable. OK, on to the Corvus manuals. Note each file is a 9MB PDF and these may not be the ideal manuals for you to learn about the Corvus Concept. Read the following descriptions before downloading. The Service Manual is just what it says it is; if you have a broken Concept or want to know what to do about one this manual will probably be of interest. The Hardware Reference includes the theory of operation document for the Concept hardware, a section on how write code to talk to the Omninet interface, and a section on the Corvus hard disk interface which addresses both the electrical signals on the interface and the communication between the computer and hard disk. Reading the latter made me think that it should be possible to talk to a Corvus hard disk (at least at a disk-block level) with a sufficiently bi-directional IBM PC flavor parallel port or similar interface, a (passive) cable, and some software that I haven't got around to writing yet. http://www.spies.com/aek/Corvus/ConceptHWRef.pdf - Corvus Concept Hardware Reference manual http://www.spies.com/aek/Corvus/ConceptServiceMan.pdf - Corvus Concept Service Manual Thanks for doing the work of scanning may be directed to aek(a)spies.com. Flames about PDF format can be sent to me. I won't really care either but sufficiently good flames might move me to ask Al whether he has raw files that I can do something with in my copious free time (ha ha). -Frank McConnell

24 years, 12 months

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test-drb July 1999