test-drb November 2000

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

197 participants
507 discussions

by whdawson＠mlynk.com

I bought this CP/M laptop on eBay a couple of weeks ago for $9.99, with another $13.70 for shipping and handling. The laptop is in great condition, as described, well packed, and arrived intact. The batteries are even OK and hold a decent charge. I've done this eBay thing long enough to be able to read between the lines and was fairly certain that it would not boot from the disk drive. If it was able to, it would have said so in the listing. Sometimes what is not said is as important as what is said. It is now running great. I found two problems, the first caused the second. The power connector for the floppy drive was on backwards. What this means is that the +12 volt and +5 volt power lines were swapped. The +5 applied to the +12 circuitry won't usually cause any damage, but the +12 on the +5 will and did. The floppy was unable to seek because there was no power to the head stepper motor because there was no power to the stepper motor controller IC. Q1 ( I think it is a small SCR, since its three legs are marked S, G and D) which switches/regulates power to the stepper IC seems inop. When I short the S and G leads, the controller IC gets +5V, the stepper motor works and the floppy drive functions. The Bondwell now will boot, format and copy disks. The only markings on Q1, TO-92'ish, are A854 (date code or 2SA854?) and S G D. I think this device is in the circuit to save power; perhaps when the floppy is not selected, the head stepper is left to float free. Correct me if I'm wrong about this. The floppy is an early 720K DSDD (even though the Bondwell is only SSDD) Epson SMD-180B. Question #1. Does anyone have schematics for this drive? Also, I tried to build a custom disk definition for the Bondwell 2 for 22disk v1.44. I used Anadisk to evaluate the Bondwell floppy format, and it says the floppies are single-sided, 18 sector, 256 byte sector size, and the interleave is 2 to 1, i.e. 0,9,1,10,2,11,etc. I made one freshly formatted floppy on the Bondwell and only put dump.asm and dump.com on it (I also sysgenned it and made it bootable). Using Anadisk, I can see the directory, and the 2-1 skew that Anadisk reports allows me to read dump.asm in its correct order. However, the disk definition that I built for 22disk doesn't work. I can read the directory and I can copy the files to DOS, but they appear as if the interleave is incorrect, since dump.asm is jumbled on 256 byte boundaries. The entire file _is_ present. I didn't have any more time last night to check and see just _how_ it is jumbled. Question #2. Does anyone have the disk definition for 22disk for the Bondwell 2? Bill

23 years, 10 months

Lisa 2 Keyboard/Mouse substitute?

by CordaAJ＠nswc.navy.mil

I happened across a Lisa 2 (Model A6SB100) this past weekend...Seems to be in fair (restorable) shape. The nicads on the I/O board are corroded, but that's easy to fix. Unfortunately, the Keyboard and mouse are missing. Does anyone know if I can substitute a keyboard and mouse from an early Mac? (the ones with the non-adb keyboards and db9-connector mice). I don't mind hacking the connectors, if someone can give me the pinout info. As far as I can tell, the lisa uses some sort of mini-db9 for the mouse, and a 1/4" headphone-jack for the keyboard (weird!) If this isn't possible, I'd appreciate any hints as to where I might find a lisa keyboard/mouse (be nice now! :-) This critter also came with an Apple Profile (model A9M0005) external hard disk that seems to attach via a db-25 cable (to the lisa's parallel port?) I noticed that one of the pins on the lisa's parallel port connector(db-25 female)is blocked with epoxy (probably to prevent people from connecting a serial cable to it). Can I simply use a straight-through db25 cable (with the blocked pin removed) to connect the profile to the lisa, or did apple use some sort of proprietary wiring scheme? -Thanks! -al -acorda(a)1bigred.com

23 years, 10 months

H-89....

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

Gene, I was scanning some other stuff and found an ad for the H-89 in the Dec 1980 issue of Byte magazine. I scanned it and posted it at "www.intellistar.net/~rigdonj/misc/h89.jpg" in case you want to see it. I have haven't edited it or changed the image size or anything so it's big. I also have a scan of the full page that it was on if you want it. It's at "www.intellistar.net/~rigdonj/1980byte/page 258.jpg". I'll scan the Heathkit catalog when I get a chance. Joe At 07:13 PM 10/27/00 -0700, you wrote: >> >putting all the manuals online as PDF files. Is there any interest in >> >this? All the searching I've done on the net for H-8/11/88/89 info has >> >turned up a pitiful lack of info. If you've got anything you'd like to >> >see on a dedicated Heathkit computer page, please let me know. >> >> >> Cool Gene. I have an old Heathkit catalog that lists the H-89. If you >> like, I'll scan it and you can add it to your website. >> >That would be great Joe! It would give me an idea of what was available >for the machine, and what parts & docs I have to chase down. :) > >g. > > >

23 years, 10 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, 11 months

SBC80/10

by jjackson＠salsa-digital.com

Hey folks, Rummagng through my pile of stuff - came across this... SBC80/10 Single Board Computer (Intel) I have both the Hardware Reference Manual and the PCB that goes with it. (I believe that it's a Multi-Bus I card form factor.) It looks like it is complete... some missing chips on the parallel I/O (I think that these are just MC1488's or MC1489's), and some PROMs. It has a monitor PROM plugged in, so should come up as-is. I also have another board that I stored with this one... looks like a memory board... the part number on it is... 16Kx8/450 RAM Module. ------ Is there any interest in this? Regards, James Jackson

23 years, 11 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, 11 months

MULTICS Installation, Halifax

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> [Mythical PDP-10 emulator?] > > Mine's not mythical - It just doesn't work yet. Sorry, Daniel- the stress level's been up this week. Once it's working to your (initial?) satisfaction, how do you plan deployment and/or availability? -dq

23 years, 11 months

KA650 in MicroVAX BA123?

by PeksaDO＠Cardiff.ac.uk

I have a MicroVAX II which has been upgraded to a MicroVAX 3. I say MicroVAX 3 because that is what is on the upgrade decal and the DEC instruction booklet refers to the upgrade as a Microvax 3. Are there MicroVAX III decals out there, is the MicroVAX 3 decal unusual, or are both common? Doug.

23 years, 11 months

RS6000 memory boards

by mtapley＠swri.edu

Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2000 13:32:29 -0800 (PST) From: Cameron Kaiser <spectre(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu> Subject: Re: RS6000 memory boards Enrico Badella <enrico.badella(a)softstar.it> wrote: >> Yesterday I saved two IBM RS6000 server; one 7013/59H and one 7013/530H. ... >> should I just junk the whole things and just save the four SCSI disks? > Then Cameron Kaiser <spectre(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu> said: >That's what I would do. The old RS6K servers are quite tough to find support >for ... Keep the disks for something that can really use 'em. > >However, if you still want to take a whack at it, sometimes people are >selling equipment on comp.unix.aix. The prices can be quite confiscatory, >though. Whoa, there. Sitting in my office, still looking dark and forlorn, is a PowerStation 320 (Type 7012). A large part of its forlornness is due to its having had its mouse and keyboard "liberated" at some point in its life. The ugly part is it doesn't need just any PS/2 KB and 3-button mouse, but a special IBM one. (Thanks to Philip Belben <Philip.Belben(a)powertech.co.uk> for this clue. Philip, I still have not had time to seriously attack this machine.) Enrico, I don't know that I can pay to ship them from Italy to San Antonio, Texas but if your machines include those and you can't find a European stockpile to add those to, please contact me. Please *don't* junk those parts! If the machines you are talking about contain MCA Ethernet cards, the same applies to them, and again I might be interested in trying to get them shipped to Texas. Cameron, thanks for the newsgroup pointer, it's in my read list now. Anyone else with spare RS6K keyboards and mice taking up some of their valuable storage space, I think I can help you. :-) - Mark PS my last messagee appeared twice. My apologies; I can't figure out how I did that. If it happens again, somebody please send a clue?

23 years, 11 months

TK50 tapes for "free"

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

I've got about 20 TK50 tapes that are available for no cost. The catch is that they are in Sunnyvale CA and if you can't come pick them up then you'll need to pay postage to your address. These tapes have been bulk erased and can be used in either the TK50 (95MB) or the TK70 (295MB) tape drive, the caveat is that if you initialize one on a TK50 drive, then the TK70 will read it but not write it, if you initialize it on the TK70 drive then the TK50 won't be able to read it. I refer you back to the archives to refresh your memory that magnetically the specs for CompacTape I and CompacTape II are identical. --Chuck

23 years, 11 months

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test-drb November 2000