test-drb November 2000

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

197 participants
507 discussions

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Don Maslin <donm(a)cts.com> >> the BASIC interface rather than DCL. Yes, I mean the user enviornment is >> inside basic and the command line would be BASIC. I used LLL BASIC >> to do it as its available as source and all. So what if CCP {or ZCPR} >> is nominally 2k, I changed the load point in the BIOS and allowed 8k for >> that. >> >> Is the user interface different? Yes. Is it CP/M, still? Yes. > >Nifty, Allison! > - don Now you understand where I get the idea that CP/M can do anything or at a minimum will not get in the way! When you consider the bdos is 3.5k and the bios can be smaller than 512bytes it's a pretty powerful package in 4k. The rest is user programming. Allison

23 years, 8 months

PT SOL-20 question

by jhellige＠earthlink.net

I've been watching the Altair, IMSAI, and SOL-20 listings on eBay lately, more out of curiosity to see what they go for than anything else, but noticed something odd about a SOL-20 image. In the listing, the picture definately showed a SOL-20, but instead of the normal front panel showing 'SOL Terminal Computer' in both white and yellow lettering, this machine has a single 'Interactive Computer' in whie stylized 'computer font' across the front. Is this an OEM version of the SOL-20 sold under another name? The URL for the image in question is: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=463806006&ed=9719976… Thanks and take care Jeff -- Power Computing PowerCurve, 400mhz G3, Mac OS 9.0.4 Collector of Classic Microcomputers and Video Game Systems: http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757

23 years, 8 months

Monitor for iSBC 8024

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Richard Erlacher <richard(a)idcomm.com> >That's interesting! I was comparing the quoted sizes of a couple of HDL >versions available on the web. The smalles 650x I found was about 3200 >gates, while the smallest Z80 was listed at 9200. It's difficult to say This is true. It is a larger cpu. >Eric Smith reminded me some weeks back that the Z80 has two complete >register sets, which pretty quickly leads me to conclude it's justified in To be exact the z80 has A A' 8BIT BC BC' 16BIT DE DE' 16BIT HL HL' 16BIT IX 16BIT IY 16BIT SP 16BIT F F' ~8BIT FLAGS PC 16BIT I 8BIT (HIGH 8BITS OF INTERUPT VECTOR) R 8BITS (REFRESH ADDRESS) 6502 A 8BIT X 8BIT Y 8BIT PC 16BIT SP 9BIT (HIGH BIT =1) STATUS 8BIT Big difference in the number of bits for storage alone. It accounts for most of the die area (ram/registers that is). >consuming considerably more resources in an array than the 650x core. One >might conclude that the 8080 should lie between the two, since it has more >registers than the 650x, yet fewer than the Z80. The transistor count is >not quite reflective of the register resources, but it does appear that the >8080 has more transistors used than the 650x. 8080 is not near as efficient in logic usage as z80. The different is in memory vs register usage in programming. A reasonably complex 6502 program will always use more ram than similar in z80 if only due to need for multiple pointers, local storage and parameter passing. A while back I said I passed on an cmos ASIC project that was going to use 8088 (actually 80186 core) as a embedded app. the client insisted on it and planned to inegrate 32-64k of rom and at least 4-16k of ram with it. Application, remotely read peaking power meter. People do this! Compared to the 80186 core the z80 is tiny! Allison

23 years, 8 months

PT SOL-20 question (fwd)

by foo＠siconic.com

God speaks... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 04 Nov 2000 08:52:15 -0800 From: Lee Felsenstein <lee(a)nerditude.com> Subject: Re: PT SOL-20 question (fwd) Sellam, I have never seen such a label either. The labels were never fastened in, and it was understood that a VAR or equivalent could replace the factory label with anything. We considered this a feature. The Nepali character conversion is most interesting and puts the machine in a unique category. From the photo it looks hand-built, and one can imagine how few machines were sold into Nepali use. If it shows up on display at VCF, it's a good contender for the "obscurity" prize. --- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org

23 years, 8 months

VAX 4000/60

by azog＠azog.org

I've been lurking here for about a month now. A friend of mine told me there were a lot of DECheads here, so I signed up. I've been puttering around with big iron for about a few years, but I don't have anything left (had two VAX 730's and several PDP-11's - an 11/34, 11/73 and what I think was either an 11/04 or an 11/03... I'm sorta regretting getting rid of any of them... I'd like to get back into hacking Unibuss stuff someday) Anyways, I recently got a VAXstation 4000/60 from e-bay, for what I considered to be a nice price. Works fine. Had VMS 5.5-2 on it, but I got the hobbyist license and VAX/VMS 7.2 CD from montagar (good deal!). It only has 24mb of RAM - 8mb built in, and four 4mb chips, leaving two slots open. Unfortunately, the best I can do on that setup would be 32mb RAM. I know the machine can do 104mb (96mb in chips, I guess that would be six 16mb chips), but I'm not sure of the type of memory used. It also has two RZ25's, which are a bit tight. What limitations do I have on drives that can be installed? I'm not using the frame buffer. My intention even before I received it was to run a serial console. But I think it might be fun to run a graphical display. Have no idea what type of frame buffer is installed, except that it has an odd sub-D connector with three mini-BNCs inside. What's the specs on the monitor that can be connected? Can I get an an adapter cable to connect it to my PC monitor?

23 years, 8 months

Monitor for iSBC 8024

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Richard Erlacher <richard(a)idcomm.com> >The Z80 core is about three times the size of the 650x core and really can't >do anything the 650x core can't do quite a bit faster. If you clock the two That may be true, I don't care. It's a "but, who cares" thing. If a manufacturer used z80 in a product and wanted an improved product do you think they will drop z80 or find a way to to package it tighter. >Gate arrays are not relevant to the typical microcontroller application. >The gate arrays are handy when an MCU is not fast enough, but for short >runs, where the MCU's shine, the FPGA's and CPLD's are much slower to >develop. You only have worked with low volume stuff then. In the high volume world it's common for vendors to suff parts into ASICs as a cost reduction or product design protection. >The single-chip examples I think about when I'm considering what to use are >frequently the Scenix SX family. They're as fast as a core in an FPGA, and, Who cares. I didnt' exclusivly say speed was the issue. You did. Allison

23 years, 8 months

Z80 Starter kit docs?

by ncherry＠home.net

I have a lovely Z80 starter kit (in my office at work) and would like to know if any has the DOC's to this computer. This one is nice because I got it for $10. The power supply/case was hand built with a punch and press. And the board was modified with wire wrap. The person who built it did a beautiful job. Which is why I'll never sell that computer! I use it to show how we used to do things, it's kind of art work (that you can program! :-). Man my hands hurt just looking at it. -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)home.net http://members.home.net/ncherry (Text only) http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/lightsey/52 (Graphics) http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/ (SourceForge)

23 years, 8 months

CP/M 1.3 memory requirement

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Don Maslin <donm(a)cts.com> >Now Allison, he just proved the point that ZCPR does not increase the >bulk of CP/M, whereas Win3.1 does. Therefore, ZCPM is better! Stull no arguement, just not the question at hand. DOS like CP/M can have any number of user interfaces, size for the moment is unimportant as it GUI vs Command line. You'd like the version I did for laughs that looked a lot like RSTS running the BASIC interface rather than DCL. Yes, I mean the user enviornment is inside basic and the command line would be BASIC. I used LLL BASIC to do it as its available as source and all. So what if CCP {or ZCPR} is nominally 2k, I changed the load point in the BIOS and allowed 8k for that. Is the user interface different? Yes. Is it CP/M, still? Yes. Allison

23 years, 8 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, 8 months

PDP-10 Emulator (was: Re: MULTICS Installation, Halifax)

by mbg＠world.std.com

>> Megan Gentry's early emulator work seems to have disappeared, maybe >> it's just no longer accessable online. > >Megan has the real thing, tho, doesn't she? Yes, I do... And I removed mine a few months ago for various reasons, some legal. I hope to make it available again at some point... heck, I hope to get a chance to work on it again at some point... but I think Tim Stark's effort is the best chance at the moment... Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg KB1FCA | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

23 years, 8 months

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test-drb November 2000