test-drb June 2001

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

273 participants
682 discussions

cw2dmk/dmk2cw 2.0: read/write floppy disks with a Catweasel ISA

by tim.mann＠compaq.com

Background: The Catweasel ISA floppy disk controller is an add-in card for the PC ISA bus. It uses specialized hardware, not a standard floppy disk controller chip, and it can be programmed to read and write just about any disk format. I've written a pair of programs for the Catweasel called cw2dmk and dmk2cw. dmk2cw is new in release 2.0 of the package. cw2dmk can use a Catweasel ISA to read several kinds of floppy disk, some of which ordinary PC controllers have trouble with, and save them in the DMK disk image format. DMK is a format used by the Unix TRS-80 emulator xtrs and by David Keil's TRS-80 emulator for MS-DOS. cw2dmk does not just read TRS-80 disks. It can make an exact image of any disk written using a Western Digital 177x/179x floppy disk controller, a PC-style NEC765-compatible controller, or a Digital Equipment Corporation RX02 controller. dmk2cw uses a Catweasel ISA to write any DMK image back to a real floppy disk. It can handle the same kinds of disks as cw2dmk. Currently no tools other than TRS-80 emulators and dmk2cw can use disk images in DMK format, but perhaps more tools will be written in the future. The ability to read disks with cw2dmk and write out copies with dmk2cw already provides a useful way of archiving disks from old machines and making physical copies when needed. A likely future direction for cw2dmk/dmk2cw is to be able to write/read JV1 and JV3 disk images (these are other common TRS-80 emulator formats) or raw arrays of sectors, in cases where the disk can be represented in one of those formats. The programs are free software, released under the GPL. You can download the source code and executables for both Linux and MS-DOS from my TRS-80 resources page, http://www.tim-mann.org/trs80resources.html. The MS-DOS version also runs on Windows 95. Even those who prefer to build their own sampling hardware instead of buying a Catweasel may find the source code of some use. Tim Mann tim.mann(a)compaq.com http://www.tim-mann.org Compaq Computer Corporation, Systems Research Center, Palo Alto, CA

23 years, 1 month

TI 8002A...

by Innfogra＠aol.com

Nice Find. I had one about 10 years ago. It is an early development system for 8 bit systems. Supported more than 8080s IIRC. Continue looking for the Docs and 8" Floppies. Paxton Astoria, OR

23 years, 1 month

Anyone hear of PMC MicroMate?

by rcini＠optonline.net

Has anyone used a PMC MicroMate? It looks like the old Ciarcia SBC180 project with a Z80 processor and a 5-1/4" floppy drive in a single case the size of an external floppy drive for the TRS80. The processor is claimed to be a Z8400A with Z8430 and Z8470 support chips. All unfamiliar identifications to me. Any thoughts on this beastie? Rich Rich Cini Collector of classic computers Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ /************************************************************/

23 years, 1 month

OT: replacment tray for HP DJ1200C printer

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> >The 1200c and 1600c are durable and expensive printers and well worth the > >cost of even buying the tray kit from HP at list, unlike some of the junker > >inkjets made by Canon, Epson, Lexmark, etc. The 1200c and 1600c are more in > >the professional series as well. > > Now is the time to buy cartridges too, as MANY big dealers are dumping > them, and when its gone its gone (at decent prices anyway). Not a very successful strategy; the ink cartridges for the HP1200C, HP650c Plotter, HP750c/755CM+, and the black cartridges for the HP DeskJet 870 & 895 have a limited shelf life. However, I think you're wrong about these particular cartridges disappearing from the market any time soon. YMMV, etc. -dq

23 years, 1 month

Boom cars (ot for sure...)

by brian.roth＠firstniagarabank.com

I know its off topic but I know there are a lot of electronics guru's on the list. I'm looking for a noise generator to mount in my car to defeat the "Boom cars" in my neighborhood. The local thieves(politicians) won't do a thing about it so its time for war. These thumping car stereo's are not there for musical enjoyment. They are there to disturb and upset people period. Please contact me off list if you have any creative idea's on this. Brian. Brian Roth Network Services First Niagara Bank (716) 625-7500 X2186 Brian.Roth(a)FirstNiagaraBank.com

23 years, 1 month

Wave of the Future (Spam)

by steven_j_robertson＠hotmail.com

> >I agree with Tony here, in that there has to be a valid application for the >features of email that so many SPAMmers have exploited. However, if you >want to do away with bulk email, something's got to be done. This means >somebody, somewhere, will lose. Perhaps, if unsolicited bulk mailings were >just easier to recognize ... Since I can't keep SPAM out of my (snail) mailbox and I can't keep SPAM off of my phone (unsolicited calls), I really don't have any expectations about keeping it out of my email. With the costs being so low, I'm surprised we (Internet users) don't get a whole lot more SPAM. SteveRob _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

23 years, 1 month

MS-DOS backup program - HARDSAVE

by blacklord＠telstra.com

> > Does anyone, by any chance, happen to have a copy of the > 'HARDSAVE' backup > program, circa 1987? > I'm hoping that someone here might, from their BBS days, happen to > stillhave a copy... > Can't help sorry, but that reminded me, I'd kill to get my hands on a copy of BBS-PC! for MS-DOs (not Amiga). cheers, BL ---------------- Powered by telstra.com

23 years, 1 month

Helett Packard 2647A Graphics Terminal

by blacklord＠telstra.com

Just found this new toy, looks impressive! I know it has it's own version of Basic & this one is intact with it's serial cable & a collection of cards inside (if I can figure out how to open it, I'll post what they are). A couple of questions: What can I do with it? Is the serial cable straight through or null modem? Can I connect it to one of my modern PC's ? Where can I find info on this beast ? (alright, *4* questions then....) BL ---------------- Powered by telstra.com

23 years, 1 month

preserving / ressurecting old docs?

by brian＠quarterbyte.com

Pardon me if I missed someone raising this issue yesterday, but if you're scanning grey level images, it might be worth seeing what happens if you raise the resolution and switch from grey level to black & white (line art) scans -- one bit per pixel. Then you can raise the resolution from 100x100 to 300x300 (9 times the pixels) , and end up with only a 12% increase in filesize. Photos & halftoned images don't suffer this well, but the text and line art will be much better off. This requires you to take some care setting the contrast and black level when preparing to scan, though. Alternately you could scan at 300x300 greyscale (8 bits per pixel ) and run the pages through a filter to reduce the bit depth >from 8 to say 2 or 3. This would only be feasible if you could automate that process, though. Before embarking on this huge project, it might be worth trying a few different techniques to obtain sharper images while keeping the file sizes reasonable. Brian

23 years, 1 month

Boom cars (ot for sure...)

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

On Thu, 21 Jun 2001 23:31:21 -0400 (EDT) "R. D. Davis" <rdd(a)smart.net> writes: > On Thu, 21 Jun 2001, Lanny Cox wrote: > > As a fan of fairly loud music, i think the idea of setting off car > alarms is > > much more interesting. :-) > > Funny that you should mention that. Interestingly, it's a > relatively > common occurance that when I start my engine when parked next to an > alarmed car, the alarm goes off. :-) Yeh, those 3/4-race cams and headers have this tendancy to do that . . . ________________________________________________________________ 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, 1 month

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test-drb June 2001