test-drb October 2001

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

259 participants
770 discussions

by mhstein＠usa.net

> Was that "slot-8" compatibility creature a bug in the PC as well? Yes and no. :-) Since the PC had 5 slots, there was HARDLY EVER a problem with slot number 8! - -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com ------------------------------- ROFL! Been kinda missing the humour on here; thanks for the chuckle, Fred!

24 years, 1 month

SLOT 8 (was: ISA cards for free..

by kees.stravers＠iae.nl

At 09:29 26-10-01 -0700, you wrote: >I have no idea why IBM did that. Perhaps intending it for some >"special" card that would need it, such as a coprocessor? AFAIK slot 8 in the XT was meant for a bus extender card. There was available a box which looked just like a XT but only had a psu and a passive motherboard inside. You put a bus ext card in that box and in the XT, and you could add seven more cards to the system. Kees. -- kees.stravers(a)iae.nl - Geldrop, The Netherlands http://home.iae.nl/users/pb0aia/

24 years, 1 month

Reading non-PC format floppies (+ OT questions :-)

by wrm＠ccii.co.za

Iggy sez: >Sellam Ismail skrev: >>Tony, please cut the bullshit already. *snip* >rudeness. Why do you feel such an urge to insult everyone and everything on >this list? Oi, I thought it was funny. Hillarious, even. Sheesh, I would pay real money for a few "programmers" on Tony's level of competence... OBclassiccmp: I'm playing with various bits of hardware as time permits. If anyone has info, please forward, it will help me re-reverse-engineer the wheel... (1) Osborne 1. - Keyboard is shorted internally. Screen reads "insert disk and press Enter" or whatever, then refreshes / redraws all the time. This stops when I unplug the keyboard. I think I know which two pins connect to the Enter key, when I short those two pins same thing happens. I'm suspecting the 8877 FDC chip. Does anyone have: -- Memory (I/O) map -- Schematic (ja sure :-) -- BIOS disassembly -- tips on fixing the keyboard? (2) Apollo DN3000 and DN3500 -- Looks like the monitor/BIOS rom for the 3000 was written in C. Anybody know anything more than this? -- Memory map? -- Schematics? (I kill myself, I know :-) (3) WPC (checks, youch, well, the system is 10 years old, even though my Addams Family will only get there in 2002...) Bank switched 6809. Figured out the memory map and most of what I need to know of the ASIC from the MAME source. How *they* figured it out is anyone's guess, but there's a bunch of hackers worth admiring. -- Generic question... anyone else messing around with WPC? Or Sys80 for that matter? (Haunted House, for those who are still reading :-) Seeya all Wouter www.retro.co.za

24 years, 1 month

FS: Emulex P800, Gatorstar GXR, LanBridge

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On October 26, Chuck McManis wrote: > I've also got an Emulex P800 which looks like a MAU but it could be a > terminal server. Its pretty cool is says "Performance 8000", has dual > Ethernet connections on the back (AUI), dual power supplies, and what looks > like 12 DB25 ports (I can't imagine a fault tolerant terminal server, but > there you go. Free to a home somewhere. The Emulex "Performance 4000", at least, is indeed a terminal server. > Finally I've got a couple DEC LanBridges (100 and a 150), they look like > straight bridges but they just have two AUI connectors. Perhaps they do > filtering or something? The LANbridge 100 and 150 do MAC-level bridging. I'm told they support spanning tree. I've used many of them to segregate networks; they've always served me well. -Dave -- Dave McGuire Laurel, MD

24 years, 1 month

HH8899 eecchhoo

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

I was recently given a Heathkit H89 with all three distribution disks. The system boots CP/M 2.2, looks for a configuration file, doesn't find it on the write-protected boot disk, and initiates a setup program. The setup utility offers a "standard" configuration, or I can display settings for all of the physical and logical devices, and change those settings. Upon exiting the setup program, the result is always the same: all keyboard input produces double characters on the screen. I don't see anything in the setup utility pertaining to local echo. What am I missing here? Glen Goodwin 0/0

24 years, 1 month

MacOS DHCP Server?

by mythtech＠Mac.com

>Sounds like you actually have the software running, whats it like, what are >you doing with it? >From the PC side of things, it is just being used to access a networked printer over our old AppleTalk network. I have just been too lazy to upgrade that wing of the building to Ethernet to match the rest of the place. So they use the old TeleNet network, and that now terminates in my office, where it routes thru a Localtalk to Ethernet converter, and continues on to the Ethernet network, where they access our HP 4000 (or any other printer they want). It works great for this, but honestly, I would have to play a bit with it to tell you much about it. I am not the one that originally installed the software on the PCs, so I know little about it. I could tell you more about the Mac end of things, as we used to actually use the file sharing abilites of that (up until System 7 added easier to use personal file server). It has been a while since I had a mac with it installed (we stopped buying it for new macs when I explained one day, that if all we were doing was printing, we didn't need tops on the mac, appletalk printing was built in... so my boss stopped paying $400 a pop for it... it wasn't until later that I started using it for file sharing, figuring we had it, might as well use it) >Abandoneware is one thing, but this is "throw your customers off a >cliffware". Ultimately Sun owns the rights to the TOPS network protocol, at >least I think, but Symantec and Farallon pretend this era of product which >came with LIFETIME support etc. never existed. All the versions I have are marked as being from Sun, who is the only company I remember dealing with for TOPS (not saying others didn't own it, I just never dealt with them... my boxes are all marked "TOPS Division of Sun Microsystems... implying that they TOPS on a whole). The customer support manual does very specifically state that as a registered user, I get free support, no matter how long I own TOPS, as long as I own the current, or the previous release. They also say I get free notification of enhancements, updates, and new products... I have 2.1 for DOS, I wonder if that still qualifies... Why aren't they spamming me with new product announcements damnit! >Wants some fun, buy an EXPENSIVE sealed retail box new old stock product, >then without opening the envelope with the discs, send a letter to the >company informing them that you are NOT willing to comply with the terms of >their license agreement and want a refund of the retail price of the >package. I think I have an unopened copy of Windows For Workgroups.... That must have been pricey in its day... I wonder if MS will give me my money back... oh wait, no they won't, at least not if their refusal to the Linux community is any indication. Humm... does that then relieve me of the agreement, if I refused to accept it, and notified them, and they refuse to take it back and refund me... shouldn't I be legally allowed to do with it as I please, including use the disks as drink coasters? (You thought I would say duplicate it and give it away, but I can't in good concious subject others to Windows anything!) -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

24 years, 1 month

NCD collectors/users?

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

I've got a set of three NCD X-terminals, an HMX, an HMXpro, and an HMXpro24 that are available in the SF Bay area, I've got no idea if they work or not, no reason to believe that they don't. If someone can indicate how to test them I'll do that. Ideally to trade for some sort of DEC VAX stuff. --Chuck

24 years, 1 month

FS: Emulex P800, Gatorstar GXR, LanBridge

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

Anyone need a GatorStar GXR? From the web: GatorStar GXR -- an active device that combines an AppleTalk router attached to an Ethernet and a LocalTalk network with an AppleTalk to TCP/IP gateway (LocalTalk does not support direct transmission of IP packets) so that IP packets on the Ethernet are passed as special IP packets on the LocalTalk. A GatorStar GXR is a specific example, there are other products that do similar things Best/Any offer by 5:00PM monday PST takes it. Minimum off is "I'll cover the cost of mailing it to me." I've also got an Emulex P800 which looks like a MAU but it could be a terminal server. Its pretty cool is says "Performance 8000", has dual Ethernet connections on the back (AUI), dual power supplies, and what looks like 12 DB25 ports (I can't imagine a fault tolerant terminal server, but there you go. Free to a home somewhere. Finally I've got a couple DEC LanBridges (100 and a 150), they look like straight bridges but they just have two AUI connectors. Perhaps they do filtering or something? --Chuck

24 years, 1 month

The new VAX is alive!

by rdd＠smart.net

This afternoon, I ordered, and then picked up, a cable with MMJ connectors on it from Control Cable (they're in Woodlawn, MD) - a nice place to deal with; they specialize in cabling and related products, and what they sell appears to be of very good quality. The cost of the assembled cable was only a few cents different from their cost for a cable and two MMJ connectors, and was under US$5; of course, I had to pay US$5 extra since the order was under US$50, but that was no worse than shipping would have been if I'd ordered them from elsewhere. After connecting the VT320 to the VAX, I reset the system password. Fortunately, this VAX has the "real VMS" (TM) for VAXen on it: VAX/VMS, and it's a reasonably recent version: 5.5, which was close to the lastest version of VMS back when I last worked with a VAX for an employer, back around 1992. :-) This far, I haven't noticed anything truly remarkable with regards to software, although at first glance, it looks like nothing is missing. Fortunately, someone installed kermit, so that will make things, such as installing TCP/IP, easier. :-) There appears to be a fair amount of audio software, which I think may all be for use with that DECVoice system; text to voice software, for example. Since I don't have a T1 telephone connection, alas, it appears that I'm not going to be able to use this DECVoice hardware, and the audio software on this machine. Also, there's a mention of SQL in one of the text files that I looked through, although I didn't notice any database software installed; of course, I don't know the names of databases using SQL for VAXen. DECnet is installed and apparently configured, so I guess this means that I can use my DEC terminal server with this machine... do I need to do anything other than connect the terminal server to the VAX and then use it? I know nothing about DECnet. Of course, there's still the little matter of no tape drive being installed in this system, which is not a good thing. I have a TK70 and a TK50, along with a TKQ70 board. -- Copyright (C) 2001 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals: All Rights Reserved an unnatural belief that we're above Nature & rdd(a)rddavis.net 410-744-4900 her other creatures, using dogma to justify such http://www.rddavis.net beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.

24 years, 1 month

Still seeking Televideo TS-803

by deckergear＠hotmail.com

I HAVE WHAT U ARE LOOKING FOR. I NEED TO GET DATA FROM 5 1/4 TO WINDOWS MACHINE. ANY SUGGESTIONS? AFTER THAT I WANT TO GET RID OF THE 803. RESPOND ASAP TO SAVE MY BUTT!! THANKS

24 years, 1 month

TO: Rca systemlink 5 remote codes and how to program this on e?

by bjones＠azvets.com

http://download.rca.com/english/RCA/ACCESSORIES/IB/CRCU100.pdf <http://download.rca.com/english/RCA/ACCESSORIES/IB/CRCU100.pdf>

24 years, 1 month

Reading data from a CDC Hawk Drive

by kevin＠xpuppy.freeserve.co.uk

As part of an emulator project I need to read data from many CDC Hawk packs. I have a drive and I believe it is an SMD interface. The drive also seems to be known as a DD1600. Does anyone have any details on this drive? Two possible options occured to me:- 1. Obtain (?) an SMD controller card for a PC and try to access the drive using this - and an appropriate amount of C. 2. Use a QBUS SMD controller in my PDP11 and get at the data that way. Any thoughts gratefully received. (BTW The machine I am emulating is an old British minicomputer called the Molecular.) Kevin Murrell ------------- www.ps8computing.co.uk

24 years, 1 month

Sources for punched cards

by hansp＠aconit.org

OK, I remember readding here some time ago that there were still sources of new punched cards in the states. My searches have come up empty. Can anyone point me at a company that still supplies punched cards. I would prefer one in europe but that would probably be asking too much Regards, -- HBP

24 years, 1 month

Osborne 1 Keyboard (was RE: Reading non-PC format floppies (+ OT questions :-))

by Robert_Feldman＠jdedwards.com

I have an Osborne 1 Technical manual which has info on the keyboard and some schematics, as well as a printout of the BIOS source. I'm out of town now, so I'll try to get it (at least keyboard info, as the BIOS source is many pages) to you on Monday. Bob Feldman -----Original Message----- From: wrm(a)ccii.co.za To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org Sent: 10/26/01 2:36 AM Subject: Re: Reading non-PC format floppies (+ OT questions :-) <snip> (1) Osborne 1. - Keyboard is shorted internally. Screen reads "insert disk and press Enter" or whatever, then refreshes / redraws all the time. This stops when I unplug the keyboard. I think I know which two pins connect to the Enter key, when I short those two pins same thing happens. I'm suspecting the 8877 FDC chip. Does anyone have: -- Memory (I/O) map -- Schematic (ja sure :-) -- BIOS disassembly -- tips on fixing the keyboard? <Snip> Wouter www.retro.co.za

24 years, 1 month

IBM 8 Inch Drive

by Innfogra＠aol.com

In a message dated 10/26/01 2:03:09 AM Pacific Daylight Time, wmsmith(a)earthlink.net writes: > > Perhaps you mean System 23, in which case the relevant dual > 8 incher would be a model 5246. > You are right I was thinking of the System 23. Hmm, if that drive number is 5246 then this one must be for the Displaywriter. Paxton

24 years, 1 month

blinkenlights for everybody (?)

by pechter＠ureach.com

---- On Fri, 26 Oct 2001, Gooijen H (GOOI(a)oce.nl) wrote: > Hi all. > > Some weeks ago there was a thread about blinkenlights and consoles. > It was mentioned that a simple piece of hardware (just a few > resistors two transistors and 16 LEDs) connected to the printer port > of a PC can be brought to life when you run Ersatz-11. > Well, it took some time for me to decide whether I should go 'public' > with a project I intend to embark on. > In short: a *_full_* console on a PC that runs Ersatz-11. > The reason to announce the project is to get feedback. Am I on the > right track. Have a look, on this page (part of my website) you can > find a small ZIP file that contains the draft document that descibes > it. > > http://home.hetnet.nl/~tshaj/pdpsite/homebrew/startframe.html > > Any comment is appreciated. > > - Henk. > > > > > Great piece of work... I'm going to have to see if I can build one as well. Bill -- Bill Pechter Systems Administrator uReach Technologies 732-335-5432 (Work) 877-661-2126 (Fax)

24 years, 1 month

blinkenlights for everybody (?)

by uban＠ubanproductions.com

Nice job Henk! It looks like you have a fine idea... --tom At 01:34 PM 10/26/01 +0200, you wrote: > Hi all. > >Some weeks ago there was a thread about blinkenlights and consoles. >It was mentioned that a simple piece of hardware (just a few >resistors two transistors and 16 LEDs) connected to the printer port >of a PC can be brought to life when you run Ersatz-11. >Well, it took some time for me to decide whether I should go 'public' >with a project I intend to embark on. >In short: a *_full_* console on a PC that runs Ersatz-11. >The reason to announce the project is to get feedback. Am I on the >right track. Have a look, on this page (part of my website) you can >find a small ZIP file that contains the draft document that descibes >it. > >http://home.hetnet.nl/~tshaj/pdpsite/homebrew/startframe.html > >Any comment is appreciated. > >- Henk. > > > >

24 years, 1 month

IBM 8 Inch Drive

by univac2＠earthlink.net

A dual IBM 8" diskette drive is for sale on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1287758038 It looks like the Display Writer drives to me. Will it work with a System/36 5362? The connector on the drive looks like it matches the connector on my 5362.

24 years, 1 month

Um, SOL50 fell in my lap

by john_boffemmyer_iv＠boff-net.dhs.org

some old guy handed me a SOL50 with teletype, working and a huge box of documentation, boards, etc. also, 2 thinkertoys 750mb external drives for it. no monitor though. nice toy =) -John ---------------------------------------- Founder, Lead Writer, Tech Analyst and Web Designer Boff-Net Technologies http://boff-net.dhs.org/index.html ---------------------------------------

24 years, 1 month

IBM 8 Inch Drive

by Innfogra＠aol.com

In a message dated 10/26/01 12:00:34 AM Pacific Daylight Time, CAA007216(a)mail.ono.es writes: > > I asked about it sometime ago. It appears to have > one 37 pin standard interface, but it's not clear what > is (or do) the other connector. > I think this is for the System 32 Datamaster. I don't know what the extra plug is for other than you need both to plug into the system. Paxton Astoria, OR

24 years, 1 month

macintosh analogue board reconditioning

by red＠bears.org

Howdy to the list (and especially to Tony)... I have a Macintosh 512K I would like to use to demonstrate certain UI principles (okay, and also to play Dark Castle). The display hasn't worked properly since I got it though. In an attempt to stabilize the image, I pulled off the insulating fibreboard covering the sweep board, and looked for bad solder joints to fix. The problem is I don't know what a bad solder joint looks like aside >from 'dull', and none of the joints look particularly 'dull' to me. I reflowed a few joints randomly, with no clear sense of what I was doing or where particularly to focus my attentions. Predictably it did not change the behaviour of the image on the display noticeably. I just in the last few minutes switched the machine on to photograph the display for your expert appraisals, and found that its behaviour has changed since it has sat. Now when I switch it on the internal speaker makes a repeated popping. I'm guessing the power supply is resetting itself continuously for whatever unknown reason. I could use some guidance repairing this fault. What's my first step? Tony, I'm a module swapper because that's what I know, and usually the problems I have are in software anyway. I'm handy with a soldering iron, though, and I'm showing a willingness to learn something new. Help! ok r.

24 years, 1 month

IBM 8 Inch Drive

by CAA007216＠mail.ono.es

We had one of these in our installation connected to one Displaywrite system, if I remember well, and another in the S/390 room. I asked about it sometime ago. It appears to have one 37 pin standard interface, but it's not clear what is (or do) the other connector. Regards Sergio ----- Mensaje Original ----- Remitente: Chad Fernandez <fernande(a)internet1.net> Fecha: Jueves, Octubre 25, 2001 7:28 am Asunto: Re: IBM 8 Inch Drive > It looks like a toaster, without the bread slots!! :-) > > What type of controller board does this use? Anybody know? > > Chad Fernandez > Michigan, USA > > Owen Robertson wrote: > > > > A dual IBM 8" diskette drive is for sale on eBay: > > > > http://cgi.ebay.co > > > > It looks like the Display Writer drives to me. Will it work with > a System/36 > > 5362? The connector on the drive looks like it matches the > connector on my > > 5362. >

24 years, 1 month

[OT] New toy...

by GOOI＠oce.nl

Congrats, Daniel. I am a HAM amateur since 1974, my call is PE1CKF. Just like you I never passed the morse code tests. It is difficult to find the time *each* evening for, let's say 20-30 minutes, listening to morse. But with the latest developments like morse code exam at 5 words per minute or even less (!) perhaps I will one day be able to talk to you on 40 or 20 meters without the morse code study. During the study at the Technical Highschool, in the 3rd year, you work for some companies as part of the education. One semester I had to stay as a guest with some people. In the evening I was alone in my room so I took my rig, an ICOM-211 144-146 MHz all mode, with an HB9CV antenna with me the next week. Could enjoy the local HAMs, but after some 10 minutes participation, the woman came up the stairs. I had to stop immediately whatever I was doing because her electrical organ made very strange sounds as if an old drunk sailor had hidden inside the organ and was mumbling something .... I am pretty sure that many people on this list are HAM. - Henk. > -----Original Message----- > From: Daniel A. Seagraves [mailto:DSEAGRAV@toad.xkl.com] > Sent: vrijdag 26 oktober 2001 5:20 > To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > Subject: [OT] New toy... > > > I got a new toy today... The FCC granted me the callsign KC9ALV. > Now not only can I annoy my mom by leaving large computer parts around > the house, I can annoy her by coming over the phone lines and > TV and such. ^_^ > (I'm just kidding... All I have that I can use is an HT, I > didn't pass the Morse > so the HF rig is a paperweight until December, which is the > next time the test > runs around here. But once I get HF access, I may have to > worry! ^_^ And I do > know enough about RFI to know how to stop it, I'm just making > a joke about it.) > > ------- > >

24 years, 1 month

CP/M Heaven (was HH8899 eecchhoo)

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

Tony and Sellam, thanks to both of you for the suggestions. I'm going to give Sellam's idea a try first since it's easier to poke a few keys than to open the box ;>) I'll let you know what I find out. The H89 was just one of several computers I've been given recently. Among them were several TS1000s, a ZX80, a TS1500, an Apple ][e with monitor, dual drives, and printer, and more. The CP/M boxes alone include the H89, two Z100s (one with hard drive!), and a Xerox 820 with hard drive and dual 8" drives. As I bring these boxes into action I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions for the CP/M folks out there, and some for the Z80 and S-100 hardware people too ;>) For starters: The Z100 with the hard drive looks good, but I can't format the ZDOS partition. PREP initializes the drive, tests the media (this takes 1.5 hours on a 20 MB drive), and creates the partitions. I can then monkey around with the size of the partitions and their names, etc. However, FORMAT E: /S produces "Invalid media type reading drive E: Abort, retry or fail?" I've swapped three different hard drives into the system, and replaced the hd controller (I don't think I have a spare data separator board). I can successfully initialize and copy files to the CP/M-85 partition (can't make it bootable yet as I don't have complete CP/M-85 system disks for it). And, what are the four adjacent jumpers on the hd controller (not the Format Enable)? Is there any documentation available for this board? I have docs for all the Z100 hardware except the hd controller . . . Any ideas are welcome! Glen 0/0

24 years, 1 month

What people "should" know

by alan.pearson＠cramer.com

> YEsterday, somebody here (sorry, I can't remember who -- Alan Pearson?) yup, that was me :-) > admit that I don't have a clue about whatever bit of Java he claims people > should understand. Hang on, I'm only moaning about CS graddies who have been taught Java for a year at college :-) java.lang.Object is the base class of everything in Java, if they don't know that after being taught it for a whole year then they know nothing much about Java, IMHO. Probably don't know a great deal about inheritance either. It only annoys me when I end up interviewing them and their CV says "studied Java programming for 1 year, in-depth understanding of language & APIs", when they plainly know jack (in a box). Doesn't mean anyone else should know it, only people who claim to "know Java". > Nor could I make any obvious comments about #include<foo.cpp> . > It doesn't look particularly bad to me. As you say, you're not a programmer. I wouldn't expect you to make any comments. But people who have been taught C++ would recognise that this is not the "done thing". To quote Gordon The Big Engine (sorry, too many kids videos!), "it isn't wrong, but we just don't do it" :-) > Does the above make me clueless. Not at all, if I had 1/10th your hardware knowledge I'd be a very happy chappy :) -al

24 years, 1 month

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test-drb October 2001