test-drb September 2000

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

156 participants
405 discussions

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

OK, I'm stumped here. I'm trying to get it so I once again have a VAX as part of my cluster, and I'm wanting to have him be a Tape server with both a 4mm and a TZ30 drive. I've got the following setup Drive SCSI ID ----------- ---------- 2 GB HD 0 TZ30 3 CD-ROM 4 4mm 6 Here is what I see for tape drives: $ sho dev mk Device Device Error Volume Free Trans Mnt Name Status Count Label Blocks Count Cnt $12$MKA300: (LNGTOM) Online 0 $ Where on earth is my 4mm. I can't see it from the ROM prompt either. Is there something about the VLC that only lets you have a tape at SCSI ID #3? IIRC, that's the standard DEC location for a tape drive. Zane | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator | | healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast | | healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |

23 years, 7 months

Our fine educational system (was: Login on VMS)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Chuck McManis <cmcmanis(a)mcmanis.com> >It is better to tell undergrads that cars do not fly, then to explain to >them that _most_ cars don't fly but some very creative types in Santa >Monica once converted a Pinto into an airplane by attaching wings and a >tail and adding a pusher prop. True, Palm was a weak choice but there are plenty of OSs that are romable. >I usually hear on of three reasons why people "drop out" of college: > > 1) They run out of money. > 3) They quit to pursue an opportunity of a lifetime. > > Well if they are interviewing with me then that opportunity > didn't work out, and if they didn't go back to school > then I have to wonder if maybe they just weren't cut > out for it. I add #4 1 occured, 3 kept me eating and 4 was major surgery with a long recovery. I may be the oddball, I didn't go back as my career was moving forward dispite that and I had no qualms of going back for non grad (and non credit) courses. >college, seeks out things to learn about, plows through the paper work and >general education requirements, and exits with a diploma is someone I will I larned to accept the paper as in engineering there are two rules. 1) if you didn't write it down it never happend (or isnt done) 2) for every hour of design there will be many hours of documentation about it. 30 years in the biz supports that. Rather than tolerate pablum in classes I chose to challenge the profs. I had time carrying a techs bag (how I paid for school) so there were things I knew and could be intelligent on and sometimes I had to eat a foot for being stupid. In the end I learned and I learned more because I wanted more. Education is worth what you put in it. >taught anything. I ask them, "Why did you tolerate not learning anything?" >And they are usually pretty dumbfounded like, "Gee aren't you just supposed >to put in your 2 to 4 years and get out?" Your right, that is lame. Oh, the biggest peice of foot I ever ate... small computers will never be as prolific as they are. However, despite that I was designing with 8008 in '73, it was interesting (and that golden opportunity). Allison

23 years, 7 months

[OT^2] Re: Our fine educational system (was: Login on VMS)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Kevin Stewart <stewart_kevin(a)hotmail.com> >not really. My friends and I went out mischiefing one evening.l didn't drive so my friend took us. We hit 130 mph on the local highway. Back when I was younger...and dumber I did the Boston to NY run at 4am in 3hours and 45 minutes, the milage was 228, you do the math... remember thats an average, the peak was 134. Seems there is traffic and tools at the NY end. Allison

23 years, 7 months

Speed Limits

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: John Allain <John.Allain(a)donnelley.infousa.com> >I believe I saw 75MPH in rural Kansas just two years ago. > >[The first place I saw 65MPH return was Route 128 > (Technology Highway) outside Boston. Fitting.] I'm old enough to remember crusing up the Northway (RT-87 NY) at 75 and have a cop pass me a give a dirty look cos the old ford was doing the best if could! Here in MA, I drive RT495 and RT going north in the AM (against traffic) and there are times when 75, aint near fast enough to avoid getting run over >from behind. Yet every day I see at least one Darwin award wanna be. Stupid people tricks. Allison

23 years, 7 months

[OT^2] Re: Our fine educational system (was: Login on VMS)

by stewart_kevin＠hotmail.com

Peter Joules wrote on 9/27/00 4:28 pm: >> I think I managed to hit >100+MPH on a few occasions. >> >> WHEEEEEEE!! > >I thought all Americans drove >at no more than the 50? >limit ;-) > >-- >Regards >Pete > not really. My friends and I went out mischiefing one evening.l didn't drive so my friend took us. We hit 130 mph on the local highway. kevin

23 years, 7 months

Video digitizing in ~1976?

by jfoust＠threedee.com

My "Ancient Alphabetic Art" web page (at http://www.threedee.com/jcm/aaa/) generated an inquiry >from a visitor. He wrote: >I recently found a photo of me & my mom taken arounf 1976. It was taken >at the Del Mar Fair in San Diego and it was a booth that took your photo >with a computer and then printed it out on an old dot matrix printer and >the photo was made up of letters - there was no variation in density so >the type of letter is what made the difference. You could get it >printed on a paper or a t-shirt. (thank god we got the paper because >there is no way we'd still have the t-shirt) I can't believe we still >had the paper. I am going to take the image to work tomorrow and scan it >and e-mail it to you. I am dying for any information about how this >picture was made and on what system with what program and if these even >still exsist. ... >Like i said in 1975 at a town fair me & my mom sat in >front of a computer and it printed out this photo on a >dot matrix printer. He sent along a scan of an old image he had. You can see it at http://www.threedee.com/jcm/aaa/erik.html if you like. I remember systems like this, too. Who made them? What were their specs (which printer, what sort of video digitizer, etc.)? I would suspect they were a franchise of some sort. - John

23 years, 7 months

Slowly blowing a CRT?

by geoff＠pkworks.com

Good thing you didn't take the cap off the side of the tube, as you're looking at something like 18KV there. DON'T EVER GO INSIDE A RUNNING OR RECENTLY POWERED OFF MONITOR OR TV WITH A CRT UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. You could easily be electrocuted, and that would be, as they say, "bad." It sounds to me that when you pulled the socket off the end of the tube or put it back on you broke the vacuum stem. Most of the connections to the innards of a CRT go through the pins at that end, and in the middle is usually a sealed thin glass tube (which may be buried under a cylindrical plastic key), which is where the manufacturer attached the pump to evacuate the whole thing during manufacturing. Alternately, you may have cracked the glass frit seals around one or more of the pins when you pulled off or put on the socket. If you've cracked the stem or a seal and lost the vacuum the CRT is gonzo and will have to be replaced. -----Original Message----- From: Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman(a)theestopinalgroup.com> To: 'classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org' <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Date: Thursday, September 28, 2000 3:15 PM Subject: RE: Slowly blowing a CRT? >Paul- > >I can't help you with parts or theory-of-operation, but if >you need a working amber VT320, I've got one for sale. > >regards, >-doug q > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Paul Williams [mailto:celigne@tinyworld.co.uk] >> Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2000 3:46 PM >> To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org >> Subject: Slowly blowing a CRT? >> >> >> I spent an half an hour today operating beyond my level of competence, >> but I seemed to get away with it. >> >> I took apart an old VT320 terminal because I wanted to measure the >> display refresh rate. From disassembling the ROM I know that a frame >> interrupt is passed to the microcontroller, so I thought I'd open the >> case, prise apart the tube and the main PCB, connect an oscilloscope >> probe to the appropriate pin on the microcontroller, power up the >> terminal and get my timings. >> >> I was reassembling the terminal when an odd rattling and >> whistling sound >> made me dive for cover. This noise went on for about 15 >> seconds and then >> all went quiet. I very nervously approached the terminal and finished >> snapping the case together. I've not attempted to power it up since. >> >> I had noticed that the tube bore a label claiming that it had an >> implosion protection system, so several questions occur to me. >> >> 1. Is it possible that I've somehow blown the tube by shorting one of >> its connections soon after disconnecting the power? I noticed >> that there >> are a number of large capacitors on the circuit board, but I >> don't know >> how long they take to discharge. >> >> 2. There are two sets of wires going to the CRT. One set of >> five (six?) >> goes to a cap on the end of the tube, and another wire (HT?) >> goes to the >> side of the tube. I took the cap off the back of the tube, but didn't >> touch the wire at the side. Can that be safely disconnected? >> >> 3. Why would a mere software engineer be doing something this >> foolhardy? >> Don't even attempt to answer that. >>

23 years, 7 months

Video digitizing in ~1976?

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> My "Ancient Alphabetic Art" web page > (at http://www.threedee.com/jcm/aaa/) generated an inquiry > from a visitor. He wrote: [..snip..] > >Like i said in 1975 at a town fair me & my mom sat in > >front of a computer and it printed out this photo on a > >dot matrix printer. > > He sent along a scan of an old image he had. You can see it at > http://www.threedee.com/jcm/aaa/erik.html if you like. > > I remember systems like this, too. Who made them? What were > their specs (which printer, what sort of video digitizer, etc.)? > I would suspect they were a franchise of some sort. God, wasn't that yet another end-of-life application for the IBM 1130? I remember them being used for automated horoscopes and other stuff, set up at the damned mall. Two booths down was the splatter-art booth (non-computerized, what *did* they call that???). -dq

23 years, 7 months

Computer Market Phases

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 05:14 PM 9/28/00 -0400, Douglas Quebbeman wrote: >But money that requires a working network link in order to be >used will never be acceptable to me. It's one thing to have to >wait a few minutes until they can make a connection (i.e. to get >a dial tone as I mentioned above); it's another to have to come >back the next day to make a purchase that's needed right _now_. Here in southern Wisconsin, we recently had an outage where (I think) a backhoe operator *stretched* a fiber cable, resulting in an unusually difficult-to-patch series of breaks. Everything was down in several counties for a long while: net, long-distance between counties, city-to-city, ATMs, cellular. The local bank would've given me cash if I'd known my account number when I walked in, but my ATM card wasn't sufficient - an example of how one number is better than another, I guess. :-) - John

23 years, 7 months

VT320 connector

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> >> > The connector is the 6-pin MMP (Moulded Modular Plug ISTR) > >> which normally > >> > >> I've always called them MMJs (Modified Modular Jack IIRC). > >> Does anyone know which of us (if either) is nearer the truth? > > > >On mine, the connector lacks any designation; however, the > >cable says "DECconnect Office Cable". > > Yuck I have some of these, either miniDin9 or close on one end, looks like > RJ11 on the other (hoped they were serial cables for Seiko label printers), > but clearly marked DECconnect Office Cable. Rats. Mine have the offset RJ-11-looking connector on both ends; one of which plugs into the adapter that has a femail DB25 on the other end. -dq

23 years, 7 months

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test-drb September 2000