test-drb October 2000

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

184 participants
568 discussions

OT?: NeXTstation color with *all* accessories--what's it worth?

by MTPro＠aol.com

In a message dated 9/18/00 1:14:52 PM, swperk(a)earthlink.net writes: << I have no idea what something like this is now worth, so any and all advice is appreciated! >> Hi Stan, well, of course eBay is always a gauge of what classic computers are actually selling for (even if some "collectors" on this list are negative about it). Take a look at what they are selling for there. Here is a helpful link to take you right there - http://search-completed.ebay.com/cgi-bin/texis/ebaycomplete/results.html?de… &cobrandpartner=x&ht=&maxRecordsPerPage=50&query=%28next+cube%2Cnextstation%2C next+computer%2Cnextstep%2Copenstep%29&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&SortOrder=%5Bd %5D After you've reviewed what they've been selling for over the last thirty days, click on the "Search Active Items" link near "Sort by" area to see what they are selling for now. I have many links already setup for eBay to search for specific computer types. See - http://www.classiccomputing.com/auctions.html Best, David Greelish Publisher Classic Computing Press www.classiccomputing.com

23 years, 5 months

OpenVMS Hobbyist License Question

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

Does anyone happen to have a list of what the various layered product PAKs in the OpenVMS Hobbyist program go to? I'm specifically wanting to know what the SQL-DEV PAK is for, but am interested in the rest if anyone has such a list. Zane

23 years, 5 months

Convergent Technologies Workslate

by r.stek＠snet.net

I recently acquired a Workslate and matching printer in excellent condition - still a pretty cool looking unit. The guy I got them from thought it ran CP/M, but it uses a 6803 with its own proprietary 'OS.' The manuals make no mention of the specs for the (missing) wall warts. Does anyone have a Workslate with the power supplies? Since both units use 4 AA, alkaline or nicads, I guess it's not too critical. Also, knowing the polarity would be helpful. Thanks. Bob Stek Saver of Lost Sols

23 years, 5 months

Anderson Jacobsen ADC 300 modem

by jfoust＠threedee.com

On a recent surplus hunt, I picked up an Anderson Jacobson ADC 300 baud acoustic coupler modem for $1. What a beauty - it's in a wooden box with a flip-top lid and a brushed aluminum interior panel. It has two DB-25 connectors, but one is used to feed *in* the AC power (!). I haven't disassembled it yet. I did a quick web search and one turns up in Megan Gentry's collection. How old is this? It's serial number 759. - John

23 years, 5 months

NEC APC available

by jfoust＠threedee.com

Contact the person below, not me. - John : ::: : ::: Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 00:14:51 -0700 (PDT) From: pppmjs <pppmjs(a)yahoo.com> Subject: An Old Computer To: jfoust(a)threedee.com : : Hi there- I found your link thru a site on Computer museums. I have a functional NEC Advanced Personal Computer (APC) (1983) It runs with 2 - 8" floppies. Believe to have been built to run/assist by BridgePort CNC machines. Operating system is Dos 2.1 Have operating manuals & guides. (Got it to boot, but didn't get no further, as I'm not sure what some of the disks are.) I need to possibly get something out of this system...say $125-$150,or more if it's possibly a rare find(?), if in fact it's worth anything, I really don't know, but believe it would be. If your interested or know of someone that may be, please reply back. Thanks for your time Michael Salomaki pppmjs(a)yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/

23 years, 5 months

An article on the ZX-81 kits still being sold in the US

by Glenatacme＠aol.com

In a message dated 10/07/2000 3:06:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time, vcf(a)siconic.com writes: > http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/2/13785.html Talk about shoddy journalism! The Z80A included in these kits is certainly *not* a "1 MHz" processor, and the kits -- like all ZX81s -- have only 1 KB RAM onboard, not 2 KB as stated in the article. Also, this piece claims that the kits were obtained from Timex when in fact they were not. They were sold to Zebra by Sinclair Research USA when Sinclair discontinued sales in the USA. > These guys are a bunch of clowns. They used to be selling these for > $29.95 until the eBay phenomenon hit. Then they jacked up the price to > $99.95. I guess they must be selling these at that price because they > haven't backed it down. Zebra raised the price incrementally, from $29.95 to $39.95 to $49.95, then a big jump to $99.95. The *big* increase occurred when Zebra sold a substantial portion of their inventory to Chris Cowley, head of Grok Developments (mentioned in the above article). Cowley has to sell the kits for over $100 US in order to cover the cost of the kits plus freight and import duties, plus his profit. So, Zebra just jacked up the US price to match. Price fixing, anyone? BTW, back in March I was on the phone with Stewart Newfeld, head of Zebra, and he mentioned some unusual high-res graphics boards that he had. We settled on quantity and price, and I sent my payment. Everything arrived except the HRG boards, but a note in the box stated that they would forward them "as soon as possible." To date they haven't delivered, won't return my e-mails or phone calls, and still owe me $60 worth of merchandise. > Is an unassembled ZX-81 kit worth $99.95 to me? Hell no. Especially since the kits sold by Zebra do not include the original Sinclair BASIC manual or original assembly instructions (instructions are included -- they're just not the original issue). Additionally, Zebra themselves sell these kits on Ebay for $50 - $70 all the time. Clowns, indeed. Glen 0/0

23 years, 5 months

OpenVMS Hobbyist License Question

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

At 10:52 PM 10/27/00 -0400, you wrote: >I just went through this. I've been through it many times. :-) >The Montagar site has all you need but the docs that come with the cd are >dense and not very explanatory. Hah! This is an understatement. I was really only successful/comfortable when I got one of the ConDist sets and used those docs. >Here is what you need to do. {edited for brevity] Another way to say this is to give the general algorithm. If you can boot the media you will probably come up in standalone backup. The magic then is to type: $ BACKUP/IMAGE/VERIFY [src]VMSxxx.B/save_set [dst] Since I'm precluded from using HTML to express this a bit more clearly, allow me to elucidate on the variable parts: [src] and [dst] are device specifiers. Before you booted your VAX you had to do a 'show device' to see what devices it knew about, the src device is the CD-ROM (usually DKAxxx or DKBxxx on a VaxStation/Microvax, but will usually be DUAx or DUBx if you are booting from a MSCP type SCSI controller) If you're using tape then the device will be something like MUA0 or MKA0 etc. The filename VMSxxx.B changes only based on the version of VMS, so VMS 7.2 is VMS072.B whereas VMS 5.5 is VMS055.B. You should use the switch /VERIFY so that you know the disk is good before booting it. You must use the switch /IMAGE because you are copying over the complete disk (no formatting, fdisking, or anything else usually needed) You must use the switch /SAVE_SET to tell backup that you're restoring from a saveset. Once this command finishes you can now halt and boot from the [dst] drive and the first part of VMS will come up. >Don't bother with the registration dialogs at this point, just answer that >you don't want to right now. The dialogs did not work for me but the >command-line reg did just fine. This was true for me until I figured out what fields went with what. Note that in the PAK shown below: >$! Usage of this licenses consistutes agreement with all terms of this >Hobbyist $! License Agreement >$! >$ LICENSE REGISTER VAX-VMS - > /ACTIVITY=A - > /AUTHORIZATION=DECUS-USA-freeman-154786 - > /DATE=27-OCT-2001 - > /HARDWARE_ID=cz409027NS - > /ISSUER=DECUS - > /OPTIONS=(NO_SHARE) - > /PRODUCER=DEC - > /TERMINATION=27-OCT-2001 - > /UNITS=0 - > /CHECKSUM=1-QAGH-DECE-FPED-KMHI The date and termination date are the same. (Actually this is probably a valid PAK :-) This threw me off for a while. Note that you can use the layered products on _all_ your VAXen with the same PAKs so you don't need to get them more than once (and if you ask for them again you will get the same ones you got the first time.) Typically what I do at this point (registering PAKs) is to register the VAX-VMS PAK and the UCX PAK. Note that TCP-IP is on the Montagar disk. Once you log in as system you can then install TCP/IP using: @SYS$UPDATE:VMSINSTALL TCPIP_VAX050 [src]:[TCPIP_VAX050.KIT] And then run TCPIP$CONFIG once TCPIP is loaded. Now with that running and FTP enabled, you can ftp over the rest of the layered software PAKS (they are sent as a DCL script) and type: $ @LAYERED.COM (use whatever name you put it in as) And it will install licenses for everything. [important note: make sure you delete the UCX license out of the full set since if you don't you will get a "duplicate" and the script will stop.] >Nothing will happen, you will get a prompt. This is good and means that >the product is now registered. If it complains then you missed a character >or something. After registering a PAK manually you should type: $ LICEN LOAD VAX-VMS to insure it is loaded. Anyway, I've done this about a dozen times now so its getting to be fairly familiar :-) --Chuck

23 years, 5 months

forklift rental in San Jose, CA?

by eric＠brouhaha.com

[more about the computer rescue mentioned in my last message] Unloading in Milpitas, CA will be even more fun since we don't have a loading dock at this end, the ramp isn't wide enough, and the truck companies won't rent trucks with lift gates for one-way moves. Apparently they don't think that people move large heavy awkward items one-way. It's a shame since I know from personal experience that a VAX-11/780 (or 785) will just fit on the lift gate of Budget's 15-foot trucks. (For safety, I recommend having at least three people to stabilize a VAX while a fourth operates the lift. However, in an amazing display of sheer stupidity, a friend and I unloaded a 785 by ourselves.) Has anyone had experience with forklift rental? I did a web search and turned up *zero* hits. From a different rescue operation, it is known that a forklift is a excellent way to move a PDP-11/60, which is almost as big as the 11/780. However, that time there was a lumber yard across the street that was willing to send the forklift and operator over to help; this time there's no lumber yard nearby. :-( Eric

23 years, 5 months

Details of old HP Stuff Available (act now!)

by bill_r＠inetnebr.com

Here's a detailed list of what's available. HP9888A HP7946 (HDD&tape drive) HP7957 (HDD) HP7945(HDD) HP 332 (Workstation) HP50960A (qty 4) SRM (server) HP2397A (graphics adapter?) HP9121 (qty 2) dual 3.5" drives HP9135A HP9895A (qty 2) dual 8" floppy HP9127A (qty 3) 5.25" floppy HP340 (qty 6) workstation HP340 expander box (qty 3) Series 100/150 touch screen workstation (this is a pretty neat looking little box - like a short, fat Mac, with an LED/phototransistor array along the edges of the display to tell where your finger is) HP 45500A (this is a _really_ funky looking terminal or workstation of some sort - it looks like the top half of the original "space wars" game - or like it came from the set of Space 1999...) Misc: HP98550 card HP340 Human Interface Card (qty 4) HP HIL tablets (A-size digitizer) HP35741A monitor (qty 2) HPIB cables (about 50) Aydin 1986 vintage color monitor (RGB&composite sync) Televideo TS1608 IBM original XT with hard drive (believed to be working) lots of HP backup tapes (the ones half the size of a cigar box) miscellaneous HP books Your cost on any of these would be shipping plus packing at Mailboxes, Etc., plus $5 per item "earnest money" for us to haul them from the basement, put them in our trailer, tote them to Mailboxes, and fill out the paperwork. If you're interested, let me know ASAP, as they go to the scrapper on Monday, 10/30/00 when the company's lease runs out. Just trying to save some good, old hardware from the shredder. It's located in Lincoln, Nebraska, so if you're within driving distance this weekend, we can probably arrange something to save you shipping and handling. If you'll haul it out of the basement for us, it's free. (Which is, incidentally, the same deal the scrapper offered them... :-( -Bill Richman (bill_r(a)inetnebr.com) Web Page: http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r Home of the COSMAC Elf Microcomputer Simulator, Fun with Molten Metal, Orphaned Robots, and Technological Oddities.

23 years, 5 months

MULTICS Installation, Halifax

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> Douglas Quebbeman wrote: > > > > Hello, > > > > I've gotten mail from the guy who is supervising the > > decommisioning of the Canadian DND Multics System at > > Halifax. Not much new, but it's a little clearer in > > that all someone needs to do is attend the auction > > and buy it and bring it home on a truck. At least I > > doubt any "schools" will bid on this, if they do, > > they'd have their hands full. > > I would sell my MSFT stock for this system 8-) however it is no clear, > at least not to me, if you will get also the tapes and some bootable > disks in order to run the whole system or you will end up with just > a bunch of GE hardware. You would not be ending up with GE hardware. While the Level 68 (6180) system Honeywell built carried over some features from the GE635/645, it had quite a bit of new stuff that wasn't in the 645. For example, rings were implemented in software in the GE645 version of Multics. The Honeywell 6180 put them in hardware. Additionally, this is not a Honeywell 6180 being offered, but a DPS-8/M. If you contact Mr. Renshaw, he may be able to answer the question about a set of coldstart tapes for the machine. If not, Perigon Systems (the "last" Multics) would be able to supply them. The trick is, for how much? regards, -dq

23 years, 5 months

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test-drb October 2000