test-drb January 2001

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

181 participants
415 discussions

Long-Planned Apollo Rescue Finally Goes Down

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

I can happily report that a rescue I'd been trying to coordinate since July finally took place. I'd been hanging out in the USENET newsgroup comp.sys.apollo for a while, hoping to find someone who would be willing to donate some Apollo hardware for my collection. Apollo was formed by people from Prime Computer, and the architecture of their operating system (Domain OS/Aegis) grew out of issues they found that they couldn't achieve with PRIMOS (notably, a virtual memory that can be shared across the network). So, it came to pass that a software engineer from Cummins Engine (maker of the diesel engines used in Dodge Ram trucks) contacted me. He was helping to decommission the Apollos that Cummins had been using. Way back in July, he set aside the following items, which I was to go and pick up. However, at the time, my car was facing imminent breakdown (which finally occurred in October), so we went back and forth looking for a way to make the transfer. Finally, he decided (after being reallocated after a reduction in force) to bail and head to Kalifornia. Befre leaving, he decided he'd just bring the systems from Columbus (Indiana) down hre to Clarksville to me! Not just a rescue, but I got them to bring the systems to me! Anyway, here's a thumbnail list of what I got: one DN2500 workstation two HP425 workstations one Apollo 19 inch monochrome monitor one HP 19 inch monochrome monitor three apollo keyboards with Logitech mice an external shoebox hard drive for the DN2500 that contains the latest version of DomainOS, 10.4 and a virgin registry an external shoebox containing an Exabyte 8mm drive (probably an 8200) two apollo token ring cards, four interface boxes, and four boxes that let you switch nodes in and out of the ringnet All in very clean shape! The HP 425s each contain two hard drives, and have Ethernet built-in (thinnet & AUI). The DN2500 has a single ISA slot which currently contains an Ethernet card. I'll be saving the token ring hardware and will play with it, but will likely use the Ethernet on a regular basis. The only glaring ommission: No paper documentation. The newsgroup has a very well-developed FAQ, and there are many resources on the web for Apollos. Th first thing I'll need to do is to back up the DN2500's shoebox drive, so that I can put it back in the virgin state if need be. Personally, I'm grateful that the engineer took the time to put a fresh OS on the system; I know that some of you like rescueing systems taken directly out of service, so that ther actual day-to- day use can be documented and preserved. However, while I think that's cool, I think I prefer hat I've got. The engineer had intended to help me set up the systems and get them running, but I really don't have room to do that right now, nor do I have the time. These systems almost don't qualify (the 425's were made in '93), but it's a dead architecture, so anything so consigned should probably be exempt from the 10-year rule. Well, that's all for now; I've had no prior experience with the Apollos, just considered them kindred to the Primes, so I was someday going to have to have them. Regards, -doug quebbeman

23 years, 12 months

DOS version of Bob Supnik's PDP-11 emulator?

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

I'm in need of a DOS version of Bob Supnik's PDP-11 emulator as I've a old 486/25 handheld I want to use to run RT-11 on an upcoming vacation. I know some people have got copies of this compiled for DOS. Does anyone on this list have a copy I could get? Zane -- | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator | | healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS 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, 12 months

No subject

by william.webb＠juno.com

I just recently acquired a whole bunch of stuff out of a company's basement, including a VAX-11/780, VAX-11/750, 4 RA81's, a TU80, a pdp-11/44, 4 RL02's, an RP06, a TS11, and spare parts and printsets galore. (Yes, John Foust, the little pdp-11/44 in Milwaukee led to all that.) All the equipment was brought up a flight of carpeted stairs by a refrigerator dolly and human power, except the RP06 and the 780 where we used a come-along and a lifting frame I made. Heavy! Anyway, the 780 needs a floppy to boot. The previous owner says he doesn't have it, and I can't find it (although I'm not done searching yet). Is this the sort of thing that is generically available, on the WWW for instance, or is it something that is built up specifically for the mix of options I have in the machine? Incidentally, does anyone here that has a 780 (I know there are several in the group) run theirs? It takes 3 phase power, but there are no loads connected phase-to-phase, only phase-to-neutral (although there is a small 3-phase transformer in the power controller, it could probably be wired to only use one phase or else bypassed completely) so it can run entirely on 110 volts, at about 60-70 amps continuous draw. I was thinking of using split-phase 220, putting 2 phases on one hot and 1 on the other, then putting the Unibus cabinet and disk and tape drives on the hot with only 1 phase on it. I figure this would about balance the draw at 40 amps, 220 volts, which isn't too unreasonable. Richard Schauer rws(a)enteract.com Richard, you *really* should post this on comp.os.vms. These guys are before my time, as I didn't start doing VMS until 1990. Also, see how far back the Encompass (formerly DECUS) hobbyist program goes. You might get free licenses. WWWebb ________________________________________________________________ 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, 12 months

DEC DB15 "terminators"

by optimus＠canit.se

I've recently encountered some odd DEC contraptions, looking like baby SCSI terminators. They are plastic shells with a DB15 connector and a green LED at the end. I found these plugged into the back of a DECserver 200, but what is their purpose? -- En ligne avec Thor 2.6. Life begins at '030. Fun begins at '040. Impotence begins at '86.

23 years, 12 months

VAX-11/780 boot disk

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- "Clint Wolff (VAX collector)" <vaxman(a)qwest.net> wrote: >... I need a quick way to hook an 8" floppy up to a running computer to read > it... > > Anyone know if I can plug an RX01 drive & QBus controller into a uVAX II? I think you need an RXV21 and an RX02. -ethan ===== Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com The original webpage address is still going away. The permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/ See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - Buy the things you want at great prices. http://auctions.yahoo.com/

23 years, 12 months

VAX-11/780 boot disk

by rws＠enteract.com

Hi everybody- I just recently acquired a whole bunch of stuff out of a company's basement, including a VAX-11/780, VAX-11/750, 4 RA81's, a TU80, a pdp-11/44, 4 RL02's, an RP06, a TS11, and spare parts and printsets galore. (Yes, John Foust, the little pdp-11/44 in Milwaukee led to all that.) All the equipment was brought up a flight of carpeted stairs by a refrigerator dolly and human power, except the RP06 and the 780 where we used a come-along and a lifting frame I made. Heavy! Anyway, the 780 needs a floppy to boot. The previous owner says he doesn't have it, and I can't find it (although I'm not done searching yet). Is this the sort of thing that is generically available, on the WWW for instance, or is it something that is built up specifically for the mix of options I have in the machine? Incidentally, does anyone here that has a 780 (I know there are several in the group) run theirs? It takes 3 phase power, but there are no loads connected phase-to-phase, only phase-to-neutral (although there is a small 3-phase transformer in the power controller, it could probably be wired to only use one phase or else bypassed completely) so it can run entirely on 110 volts, at about 60-70 amps continuous draw. I was thinking of using split-phase 220, putting 2 phases on one hot and 1 on the other, then putting the Unibus cabinet and disk and tape drives on the hot with only 1 phase on it. I figure this would about balance the draw at 40 amps, 220 volts, which isn't too unreasonable. Richard Schauer rws(a)enteract.com

23 years, 12 months

Windes ME

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

There is another set of packages I know are real that work even 8086s that are very small but this one claims more and is far smaller. I'm not a believer. FYI: it's only 2mb! Even the dos 6.22kit is larger and www.newdealinc.com stuff wants something like 5mb zipped. Also MSwindows ME is on Win98 base which does run (slowly) on 386s. It runs better if you apply 98lite to it and get rid of the IE5x and some of the other sillyness. Allison -----Original Message----- From: Jeff Hellige <jhellige(a)earthlink.net> To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Date: Sunday, January 21, 2001 11:30 AM Subject: Re: Windes ME >>Has anyone here heard of this? >> >>I just had an email saying that this had the functionality >>of Win ME but ran on older machines. They have a web site >>which adds suspision. >> >> http://216.183.9.122/windesme > > From thier website, I'd say it's functionality is as a >'work-alike' that they've made to have the same 'look' as Windows >2000 and which they've written a few applications for. it says >nothing about actually being compatible. Maybe a shell running on >top of something like a FreeDOS base? > > Jeff >-- > Collector of Classic Microcomputers and Video Game Systems: > Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File > http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757

23 years, 12 months

VAX-11/780 boot disk

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Ethan Dicks <ethan_dicks(a)yahoo.com> > >--- "Clint Wolff (VAX collector)" <vaxman(a)qwest.net> wrote: >>... I need a quick way to hook an 8" floppy up to a running computer to read >> it... >> >> Anyone know if I can plug an RX01 drive & QBus controller into a uVAX II? > >I think you need an RXV21 and an RX02. > >-ethan You can install either RX01 or RX01 with their respective controllers. I forget if there is device support beyond V4.7 but usually there are drivers (if they are there they may be officially unsupported). Allison > >===== >Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to >vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com > >The original webpage address is still going away. The >permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/ > >See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details. > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Yahoo! Auctions - Buy the things you want at great prices. >http://auctions.yahoo.com/

23 years, 12 months

Rare Tandy 1400???

by knezjr＠mediaone.net

Hey Joe, I have one of those tandy 1400 Lt. just lying around my pad. If you want to talk about it e-mail me. Matt

23 years, 12 months

Intel ???? rescued, weekend finds

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

I went out to a scrap place yesterday and found a large white Intel box sitting out in the dirt. It looks like some kind of emulator. It's *about* 12" tall, 24 deep and 16 wide. There's no marking on the front except "Intel" on the top RH corner. It looks like there may have been another tag on the front at one time but it's gone now. The back has a tag that gives the voltage, etc and says model no. "PIII515". There's a large ribbon cable connected to it that ends in a cigar sixed box. A thin flex cable comes out of the other end of the box and has plug on it. It's marked "286" so I assume it replaces a 286 CPU. There are no displays, switches or other controls on the box. However it does have some more sockets on the back but I didn't note the labels on them. Does anyone know exactly what this is? Of course, we brought back with us but it's now here now so I can't give better details. Other finds included an I/O expander for the HP 1000 (pn 12979), a HP MultiProgrammer and lots of extra cards, a complete monitor for a HP 9835 (With a good CRT! Yippee!), a pile of VME cards, a CPU card to replace the bad one in Bob's Sun 670(?), two more Exor-bus cards (Hey Mike!), a big pile of chip clips and EZ-hooks, several HP-IB cards for PCs, also three circuit boards and a gyro from a Hellfire missile! Joe

23 years, 12 months

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test-drb January 2001