test-drb July 1999

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

175 participants
662 discussions

by peter.pachla＠vectrex.freeserve.co.uk

Hi Tony, >Right. Again, it should be easy enough to do that. Hack an 8272 or >something in place of the GCR path, keep the motor control hardware >that you've already got. Yes, shouldn't be too tricky. IIRC the Sirius User Group were talking about trying to get permission to duplicate the new floppy controller but I don't think they pursued the project. After all they'd probably only sell a few boards to club members, and how many people would want them if it meant not being able to access their existing discs? Hmmm, I think it may be time for me to dig up the 'phone number for the group and renew old acquaintances; it's been about 5 years since I had any real contact with them now. TTFN - Pete. -- Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer. Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC) peter.pachla(a)virgin.net | peter.pachla(a)vectrex.freeserve.co.uk | peter.pachla(a)wintermute.free-online.co.uk | www.wintermute.free-online.co.uk --

25 years, 5 months

Article about collecting in Antique Trader.

by peter.pachla＠vectrex.freeserve.co.uk

Hi Glen, I'll keep this short as we're heading MAJORLY off topic here.... >Sorry to hear it. 95 OSR2.x is actually a bit more stable than the >earlier versions, so if you're running something prior to 2.0 you >may want to upgrade again (can't believe I'm saying this . . .) On my home system I've found little difference in terms of stability between OSR1 and 2 (I mainly run Office, IE4 and Frontpage, as well as some emulators), but having supported WIn95 systems in two different jobs I'd not disagree with that statement.... >> I'd be using Linux right now if I could get versions of the software >>I need to use for it. > >They'll be here soon, we hope . . . Quite, I've got some (little) experience with various flavours of Unix and it would definitely be my OS of choice if I could get the software I need for it....it's very frustrating. TTFN - Pete. -- Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer. Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC) peter.pachla(a)virgin.net | peter.pachla(a)vectrex.freeserve.co.uk | peter.pachla(a)wintermute.free-online.co.uk | www.wintermute.free-online.co.uk --

25 years, 5 months

OT: A call to arms (sort of)

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

>>And as I invented the term in this thread I get to confirm that Tony is >>using the correct definition :-) "Open Hardware" is hardware that is >>documented well enough such that anyone can recreate it from the >>documentation. This includes VHDL specs, PAL equations, etc. > > Are you guys familiar with the "Open Hardware Certification Program" (I > haven't heard it mentioned)? > > They've got a list of their own requirements at > <http://www.openhardware.org/conditions.html> Thanks, Tom, very interesting URL. I wasn't familiar with it, but it is quite close to my view of "open hardware". I would tend to extend this so that not only are devices supplied with enough info to write drivers, but they are also supplied with enough info to connect them to computers using other buses. In many cases this is the same, but it would help to have a definitive list of (say) what features of the bus they need / don't like / can take advantage of. To return to Chuck and Tony's definition, yes, very laudable. But I don't think you should _impose_ the requirement that everyone who builds hardware for the open system should make everything public. And I like Dick's idea of taking an existing standard, in the same way that Linux (for example) took the UNIX system, so that there is already a wide range of stuff available for your system. And users can build as open or closed a system as they like. Dick, I'm not sure what you meant by buying stuff "that does what you want but doesn't conform to some standard" - that seems to be the opposite way round to our discussion, which was about defining an open bus, and whether kit you buy (which _does_ conform to the standard) will work with the bus we've defined, or whether the differences between our open definition and the standard will prevent it. ISA is a standard - of sorts. You can adopt it, and reap the benefit of the standard, because a lot of kit will work with your system. Or you can reject it, and said kit won't work with your system. You seemed to be suggesting the adoption of a partial ISA standard. And some ISA kit will work with it, and some won't. Fine for true open hardware, since you can tell what will and won't before you buy it. But difficult to use the existing ISA kit with your open bus, since it is the existing ISA kit that is not open, so you can't easily tell whether the ISA card you had in mind will work on the modified bus. So why bother with ISA at all? On this point I agree with Tony. Edge connectors in slots, while fine for the volume market, doesn't help the homebrew hobbyist. So if we choose an existing bus on which to base our new open bus, choose one with indirect connectors, like VME. True, few hobbyists will homebrew _everything_, but by the Chuck/Tony definition of open, they should be able to, if they wish. A system aimed at homebrew also makes it easier for designers to publish designs which other people then build. Kits can be made of standard parts and not require custom PCBs. And when the bugs have been ironed out, then the PCB design can go off to the mass production plant... Philip.

25 years, 5 months

Junk boxes

by allisonp＠world.std.com

> I'd like to know how people here store their junk parts, as I'm lookin > for an efficient method myself. For the past several years, I've been > keeping them in ziplock bags in a plastic box, which is falling apart, > also is useless for storing anything small. My setup due to volume and diverity of components is more involved. I only have a 10x14 room that I use as my office and the wall space of the garage on one side that I'm willing to fill. In that limited space there are some 30-40 systems, their spares and 30+ years of electronics from my radio and analog days. For some components metal coffee cans where the quantity of one type or class warrents it. Then there are the 30/40/50 drawer cabinates for small parts. I also have the ~10x6x1.5" divided project bins, maybe another 12 of those for small volume parts. There are tubes of ICs enough to fill a 14x14x20" box. Then there are the copy paper boxes with larger peices, boards, cables, disks, old radios, books and whatnot maybe another 12 or so of them. Things like cables I used often and small parts I keep at a hand are in one of three 15x15x16 wood cubes with three drawers and prints are in a larger three drawer that can hold C sized sheets. I also have a lot of book shelf space for books! Any my major systems I used every day are in a wall unit I built (to get 17" depth!) for the PC and four 3100 series vaxen. Oh, and more books. Zip lock bags are good for keeping items that must stay together or that may have many little loose parts. For keeping memories and CPUs that want anti-static a coffee can with lid works fine. A decent shelf unit can really help storage too. Allison

25 years, 5 months

Junk boxes

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Max Eskin <max82(a)surfree.com> wrote: > Hi, > I'd like to know how people here store their junk parts, I have several parts boxes (3 columns, 20+ rows, each box 1"x3"x5") that hold ICs, IDC connectors, resistors, fasteners, relays, etc., for the larger components. For teeny stuff, I use plastic film canisters. For loose SMT parts, I have a box of sample capsules I got from a resistor company - 1" tall, 1/4" I.D., with a plastic window on the end. Cables are sorted by type and stored in xerox paper boxes. I also have this way of cutting and folding former 6"-reel magtape boxes into display storage - cut the short-side top flaps in half, top-to-bottom. Fold a long flap and the adjacent short half-flaps against the inside of the box and glue them in place. Take the two remaining half-flaps and glue the remaining long flap against them. It looks something like this... +-------------------------+ |+-----------------------+| || || || Open hole to inside || |+-----------------------+| +-------------------------+ | | | | | Label area | | | +-------------------------+ I can stack them two or three high on a regular modular shelf, depending. I find them good for high-profile stuff like SCSI supplies, monitor cables and other odd stuff that needs to stay at the top of the heap. Big stuff goes on modular shelving, but we've been over that ground in recent months. For in the computer room, I use the stanchion/standard style of shelving where you screw the vertical strips to the walls and fit in brackets as needed. I have three walls out of four covered with this stuff in my current room, floor to ceiling. It's a lot of space, but I always find a way to fill it. ;-) -ethan -ethan _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

25 years, 5 months

Junk boxes

by roblwill＠usaor.net

What I use for storing my larger stuff (motherboards, drives, etc.) are Egg boxes (not the ones that the actual eggs are in). Just go to your local Giant Eagle (or whatever's local in your area). Ask them if they have any empty egg boxes that you can use for storing stuff. They _should_ know what you're talking about. They're pretty sturdy, and they usually have handles in them. They'll usually give them to you for free, but I've found that it helps to buy something from the store, then ask the cashier :) Another thing that works _very_ well in damp areas are the wax-covered cardboard 'crates' that they sell fruit and some vegetables from (If you have a bulk store in your area). Those things are almost totally waterproof, but they'll still get 'soggy when wet', but they won't rip through as easily. ///--->>> -Jason Willgruber (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#: 1730318 <http://members.tripod.com/general_1>

25 years, 5 months

PC to Mac file transfers

by musicman38＠mindspring.com

>>Does anyone here know how I can transfer downloaded files from my PC to my >>newly acquired Mac by floppy disk.. ? >>Any help greatly appreciated.. >>Phil... > Hmmmm, something else >to be aware of, I think you need the 1.44Mb floppy to be able to read FAT >floppies, don't think that works with 800k floppies. The Mac I just got is a "Macintosh Classic II" , and I think it has a 1.44 floppy drive.. It has System 7.1 OS also.. So I will ask again if someone knows how I can teach the Mac to read floppys >from my PC, and also the reverse.. I will be downloading software and files from the internet to my PC, and then I need to put them on the Mac Via Floppy disk.. Can anyone help? Phil..

25 years, 5 months

Kalok Drives

by aw288＠osfn.org

I have a pair of Kalok drives, a KL320 and a KL330 (20 and 30 Mbyte, perhaps?), each on a sort of "hard card" thing for a PeeCee. The interfaces are apparently made by Seagate. I do not know what is on them, or even if they work. Any interest out there? If not, I am going to scrap them out. William Donzelli aw288(a)osfn.org

25 years, 5 months

Article about collecting in Antique Trader.

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

Tony: > There is a very big difference between being ignorant (and wanting to > learn) and being clueless... I have never flamed anyone for the latter... Did you really mean that? In my experience you flame a lot of people for being clueless. I hope you don't flame ignorant people if they want to learn, though. OT: There is a quotation about that, but I can't remember the exact words or all four verses. Something like: He who knows, and knows that he knows, is wise: follow him He who knows, and knows not that he knows, ?[can't remember this one]? He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is teachable: teach him He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool: shun him. The fourth category seems to be the sort of cluelessness that Tony finds annoying - and who can blame him? 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 **********************************************************************

25 years, 5 months

Sun hard drive question

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

Hi, I have a Sun EXP-2 external hard drive that I picked up. I'm trying to find the specs on this but none of the SUN hardware FAQs seem to be working. Can someone tell me what system it's for and the disk capacity and other particulars? Joe

25 years, 5 months

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test-drb July 1999