test-drb December 2000

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

192 participants
490 discussions

by jforbes＠primenet.com

a Swiss Army pocketknife, with two knife blades, and two can opener blades (with slot screwdriver blades on the ends of the can openers). Never had a problem getting into the poor selection of computers at the local thrift store...and if I'm visiting someone and fixing their computer (not very often does this happen) they'll have a pair of pliers to get into the rest of them. Jim

23 years, 7 months

Apricot & G4IDE

by agraham＠ccat.co.uk

> Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2000 19:56:14 -0000 > From: "Adrian Graham" <witchy(a)i12.com> > Subject: Weekend's finds > > Hi Folks, > > I don't know if this'll work since I'm posting from home, but > I just thought Woo - it worked :) > My guess is that the DC output is the standard pinout (say for an > external drive), and is +5V and +12V. But I would think the It sure is. > ports. I > would guess (again) that the DC input is +12V, +5V, -12V and > maybe -12V. Pity the guy I got it from is purely a box shifter, ie he parks up at a boot sale and shifts loads of boxes of rubbish from his van! You then have to sift..... Odd that I can find no mention of this machine on the web at all (via google) apart from memory expansion sites and one particular site that told me it was a 386 clone. > Those chips are all standard 4000-series CMOS (the 4040 and 4060 are > counters, I forget what the 4087 is). Drawing out the > schematic should take < 1 hour... I can scan it and mail it to you :) > is some kind of amateur radio/weather (?) analogue-type fax image > decoder, and has nothing to do with modern fax sent over > telephone lines. You're right - I've had 2 replies so far both saying the same thing. > Are there any connectors on the PCB (other than the edge > connector to the ZX81)? No - there must've been another board that plugged into the '81 then this board finished it all off....he might be there again next week so I'll have a good rummage. > ------------------------------ Pete Turnbull: > Did you get a monitor with it? Apricot monitors of that > vintage came in > two types, colour and monchrome, and contained the power > supply for the > machine. What exactly are the connectors on the box? The > ones I remember > had a sort of plstic clip around the monitor video/power connector. It's got the apricot monitor, mono by the looks of things, and I thought the same thing since the back of the machine has a port labelled 'Apricot Monitor connector' as well as another monitor connector. If I'm right in thinking the monitor powers the box then the box is dead :( 'Tis an easy matter to check for voltages on the monitor lines though. > Given the callsign 'G4IDE', I'd expect this is something like > an interface > to a weather fax receiver used by a radio ham. 4th reply saying the same thing, so I've got to find the same bloke and see what else he's got.... cheers both! > ------------------------------

23 years, 7 months

World's Crappiest Drives (was Re: A&J Microdrive)

by dcoward＠pressstart.com

Tony Duell wrote: >Since the CBM serial bus protocol is documented somewhere (and there are >plenty of hackers who've dug into the C64 and C128 ROMs), I don't think >there's a good reason why the 1571 (and other CBM peripherals) can't be >linked up to _any_ computer and the serial bus simulated by bit-banging >on a TTL-level I/O port. > >In fact, isn't there a well-known program to at least read/write disks in >1541 drives from an MS-DOS box? I remember that shortly after I put my Hero I together, someone was advertizing plans for a 1541 interface for Hero. I kick myself since for not sending for those plans. What I do have is a Radofin interface board to connect a 1541 to my Aquarius. The board has an PROM that adds about 15 DOS commands to Aquarius Basic and includes a machine language monitor. It works like a charm, and of course I can also read the files on my C64. It seems to me that any computer with a cartridge port (meaning one with address,data, and I/O select lines) is a good candidate for interfacing to a 1541. --Doug =================================================== Doug Coward dcoward(a)pressstart.com (work) Sr Software Engineer mranalog(a)home.com (home) Press Start Inc. http://www.pressstart.com Sunnyvale,CA Visit the new Analog Computer Museum and History Center at http://www.best.com/~dcoward/analog ===================================================

23 years, 7 months

Flourescents (was: What tools do you carry, always

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

>Could somebody please explain to me how flourescent lamps work? >They put out a LOT of UV light. >So much so, that I thought that the name implied that they operated by a >coating that flouresced under UV. Gas in the tube is ionized, current then passes through it. The current excites the ions that emit high energy photons (typically toward the ultra violet end of the spectrum) which impinge on a phosphor that coats the inside of the tube which absorbs the energy of the photon and then re-radiates that energy as heat + light at a different wavelength. (generally lower in the spectrum toward blue) The more "downshifting" the phosphor does the more heat it emits. --Chuck

23 years, 7 months

RML380Z bits was summat boring about 'sploding psus

by kebabthesheep＠yahoo.com

--- Paul Williams <flo(a)rdel.co.uk> wrote: > kebabthesheep wrote: > > > > OH - the RML380Z now works fine with it's replacement low-density > > controller :) Both drives light up, make noise and try to do things, > > so I'm a happy bunny :) I'd still like to get the high density > > controller going sometime - but a least now i'm one step closer to > > booting cp/m. > > Have you got a CP/M disk yet, Dave, or is that the remaining step? Yes, I thought that would be confusing just after I pressed 'send' Anyway - I have several teledisk boot images for various versions of cp/m, and a i'm currently looking for an older floppy controller, and some HD disks, so I can write them to floppy. > I ask because I acquired a 380Z over the weekend, and I don't have disks > or manuals either. In fact, I don't have any means of making a 5.25 > disk. Bummer. You'll be wanting a pc with an old 51/4" drive, and old controller you will :) > For the record, my 380Z contains: > > 1. VDU 80/02. 80-column text card. > 2. CPU board, 32K RAM > 3. RAM board, 32K Yep. Got all these. > 4. Graphics board, feeds four BNC sockets (RGB+sync) Ooo! COLOUR graphics? Very posh :) I've only got the composite video one. Don't know if it's colour, cos i've got an old panasonic composite monitor, but i'm sure it'll be monochrome. > 5. I/O board for serial and floppy. PCB number 207-252. > 6. Another graphics board? Contains PAL modulator, and also feeds > another monitor socket. AND! The modulator! Tsk. Nice find sir! > There seems to be a lack of PCB drawing numbers on these boards, so I'm > not sure how to tie up this information with other descriptions posted > previously. > > This machine seems to date from February 1983. Two 5.25 floppies, and > COS 4.0B/M. Yes, I have a spare cpu with that exact version of COS. I'm going to build a website for it - just a few pics, all the data I have, and all the software, I just need to get around to doing it. If/when you get yourself a 51/4" drive and old controller, just drop me a mail, and i'll send you the disk images. Dave. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. http://shopping.yahoo.com/

23 years, 7 months

CDC Sabre information

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> > http://members.iglou.com/dougq/p2455/thmb_ICS&Cipher.jpg > > > > The item at the lwer left inside the large chassis is what > > I'm referring to. > > I magnified the image 4x but alas no, there is nothing in that > chassis resembling the front panel. > > > - - - - - - > P.S. I noticed that if you remove the 'thmb_' from the URL > the picture scales up nicely. Not surprising that a > 30?lb drive may depart in looks from an 85 lb one. Grrr... Thanks, John, I forgot how I had that page set up, and the link I got from the properties was for the thumbnail, not for the image for which it was a link. The full-sized picture is indeed at: http://members.iglou.com/dougq/p2455/ICS&Cipher.jpg This is an FSD 500 (?), and predates Seagate's purchase of CDC's drive division. -dq

23 years, 7 months

RML380Z and exploding sun psus [long and boring]

by kebabthesheep＠yahoo.com

--- Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote: > > The size of the PSU is not what matters here. Most likely you ended up > with an almost dead short across the mains. In which case the fault > current will get to at least several hundred amps... Possibly. It _is_ a beefy psu tho, so it could just have been a cap going. Trouble is, the final screw holding the lid on was made of purest cheesium alloy, and just rounded off. I'll drill the head off at the weekend, and show it to a mate of mine - he spent years repairing/designing/testing switchers for UPS use, so is more of an expert than I. > > I assume you're going to repair it, in which case I'd advise using a > 'series lightbulb' (see, for example, the sci.electronics.repair FAQL) to > limit the current when you power up again. Of course :) > > OH - the RML380Z now works fine with it's replacement low-density > > controller :) Both drives light > > up, make noise and try to do things, so I'm a happy bunny :) I'd > > still like to get the high > > density controller going sometime - but a least now i'm one step > > closer to booting cp/m. > > Excellent. Let me know if you need more information on the hardware side > of this machine -- I have the manual to hand.. > Certainly will :) Dave. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. http://shopping.yahoo.com/

23 years, 7 months

Items I need to get rid of

by russ＠rbcs.8m.com

I have (at the moment) two items that need to go for what I have invested in them... Book: Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer 2 - Going Ahead With Extended Color BASIC 216 ppgs, paperback, very good condition $3.00 plus postage Software & Book: Corel Photo-Paint 5 for Windows 3.1, 95, 98, etc. Sealed package contains user manual and 3.5" floppies. Never opened. $3.00 plus postage Hardware: Special 64 pin SIMM modules for NCR MCA machine - set of 6. Can't remember if they came from a 386 or 486 machine but anyone with NCR background knows if they need them or not. Each card is marked with p/n 1500010888 (also listed as 150-0010888)and I belive they may be 8 mb each. There is a picture of one of them at http://members.nbci.com/pooterfixer/ncr64pin.bmp All 6 are light. $2.00 plus postage Hardware: Suncom 2 port game card - 8 bit ISA slot card with a simple 2 dip switches to turn each port on or off. Picture at http://members.nbci.com/pooterfixer/suncom2.bmp $2.00 plus postage Mailing would be from central KY, zip 42726 and I'm sure that any of these would be very inexpensive to mail as they are all under 2 lbs. Drop me a direct email if interested - first come, first served.

23 years, 7 months

RML380Z and exploding sun psus [long and boring]

by kebabthesheep＠yahoo.com

Well, it cetainly has been an interesting weekend. Massie and I bimbled on over to chez Honniball, and cleaned him of house and home :) The sun 3/470 and 4/370 *just* went in the car, and the boot filled with sparcs. Muchos gracious! Build up the 3/470, dropped in my spare scsi controller, and off we went. Booted sunos4.1.1.sun3x just fine, but I got bored and didn't install it. For some reason or other I put a card in the slot next to the psu, so in order to get it out again - to diagnose the vme interrupt errors - I had to pull the psu. So all cards except cpu, memory and scsi out, psu back in. All checked for seating, and screwed down. Power up. **BANG** Psu blows its guts out :( Now I've never experienced a big psu blowing, and I don't want to again - 1300W of psu makes a big mess :( It looks as if a capacitor failed, and took out some semiconductors. Much ceramic shrapnel now being distributed throughout :-/ I took the whole machine apart, and checked all electronics over with a magnifying glass. I couldn't find a burnt connector, overheated track or any visible form of damage. SO I just reassembled with the psu out of the 4/370. Works now :) Capacitors are starting to become my least favourite electronic component (what after realising i've over 7 sun slc/elcs to repair due to cap failure) Ah well. The backplane on the 3/470 is a bit wierd tho - neither scsi controller works today - which is odd. Yet both function in my 3/140, even the one John said was broken! Anybody got any docs on the 3/4xx backplane configuration? Anybody got a spare? Anybody seen one with some solder on it - with components attatched by more than a press fit into the plated-holes? I'm confused :-? OH - the RML380Z now works fine with it's replacement low-density controller :) Both drives light up, make noise and try to do things, so I'm a happy bunny :) I'd still like to get the high density controller going sometime - but a least now i'm one step closer to booting cp/m. Dave. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. http://shopping.yahoo.com/

23 years, 7 months

World's Crappiest Drives (was Re: A&J Microdrive)

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

On Thu, 07 Dec 2000 13:16:09 -0500 Brian Harrington <brian(a)sigh.mse.jhu.edu> writes: > --On Thursday, December 7, 2000 8:47 AM -0800 Sellam Ismail > <foo(a)siconic.com> wrote: > > > Speaking of a witch, what's that method I heard about a long time > > ago whereby you can sand out the scratches on a music CD to make it > > not skip anymore? Something about using a real fine abrasive element? > > > > Is this possible? One of my favourite CDs skips terribly on one > > track and it really pisses me off, especially when I'm supposed to be > > mellowing out. > > Toothpaste, believe it or not, works wonders. I've used regular > Crest on a couple of occasions to salvage CDs that got caught when the > tray closed. I've used furniture wax way back when-- I was able to read unreadable CD-ROM's after spraying and polishing. Don't know how well this works on audio CD's. Jeff ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

23 years, 7 months

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test-drb December 2000