Sellam:
>On Fri, 15 Nov 2002, John Lawson wrote:
>> Thanks again... certainly an wonderful example of what this List is
>> for...
>All the more inspiring, considering Richard learned how to program C
>through this project.
>(Is that right, Rich?)
Yes, this is true. If you look in the ZIP file for "building.txt" I
give a little background on how I got involved. To sap some bandwidth,
here's the Readers Digest version:
By day, I'm a banker. By night, a closet programmer. I came across
the binaries for the original emulators about three years ago. Since I have
no expectations of owning a real Altair, I thought that it would be great to
use an emulator. Well, the original implementation didn't work. About two
years ago, I found the source for it on the Web. I contacted Claus Giloi and
he basically said that he didn't have time to improve it or actually verify
that it worked. For him, the project started in 1991...the last build was
done in late-1996.
Claus built the emulator from the magazine article and the data
books -- nothing else. He had no software or a physical Altair to work with.
The original emulator supported nothing...no disks, no console, no way to
get programs into or out of it. The CPU code was about 80% functional, but
it's the old "80/20" rule...the last 20% was the hardest to fix. Basically
blinkenlights and nothing else.
My total programming experience for years was limited to BASIC,
VisualBASIC and 6502 assembler (on the Commodores). For pleasure, I had
already read all of the Andrew Schulman "Undocumented..." and "...Internals"
books, so I was familiar with what was going on in a Windows program (from
the inside), and there were plenty of C code examples to read, but like any
language (programming or other), it's one thing to read it and another to
write it.
So, since Claus gave me the go-ahead to take over the project, I
jumped right in, and the first mods were done on June 8, 2000. So, not only
did I have to learn the syntactical nuiances of C, but I had to learn the
intricacies of Windows programming and emulator writing, in addition to
noodling around code written by a professional developer working for
Microsoft.
I'm still lousy at C, and I wish I could take an "Adult Education"
class on it.
Anyway, that's the story.
Rich Cini
Collector of classic computers
Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project
Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/
/************************************************************/
Is anyone here familar with Litton Systems Guidance and Control Systems Division in Northridge California? I have a CP-2088 Navigation Computer that was built there and I'm trying to figure out what it goes into.
Joe
>I have a MAC Performa 550 that was working fine before I put it away. I
>just took it out and hooked it up. When I turned it on there was a quick
>indication of power and then nothing. Is there any kind of fuse in these
>machines or is it probably dead.
Check the PRAM battery. Many of the Mac models with soft power won't boot
without a good PRAM battery. It need not read the full 3.6 volts, but
anything less than 1 volt is no good.
The battery, oddly enough is available as a regular stock item at Radio
Shack (yet similar PC CMOS batteries are not... go figure).
Also, the 550 models are soft power, but also have a hard power switch on
the back. Make sure the switch is on, and then hit the power key on the
keyboard to actually power it up. Just flipping the hard power switch on
the back won't let the mac boot (but will usually result in a quick
electrical pop noise as it charges up, if the mac has been idle long
enough).
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
I need a boot disk for a kaypro 2. A freind gave me
boot disk for the II, but that didn't work.
Also I need a commodore pet for a display at a school,
dead or alive any model.
Please email me
winnderfish_falls(a)yahoo.com
Thanks,
David G.
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Ok, so I did it... When trying to remove the SIMMS in my Mac IIci I
broke some of the little tiny plastic tabs, so now the new SIMMs won't
lock in.
Is there some "fix" to get the SIMMs to stay in, short of soldering new
sockets into the board (which I am not about to do)?
Also, I broke them on Bank A. I assume you can't use RAM in Bank B
without having Bank A full...
Should I just trash the motherboard? Or can I salvage it somehow?
Are these SIMM tabs particularly vulnerable, especially on this old
equipment? I broke them on 2 machines, and on the 2nd one I did, I was
trying to be very careful.
- Bob
(not a happy MACer today)
Hello Ross,
The 65C51 seems to have gone obsolete and I'm looking for stock of the
Rockwell 65C51, or equivalent. I saw your name mentioned in a reference on
the 'net about supply of 65xx series IC's and wondered if you've got any
contacts who might have 65C51's available. I've made other enquiries
through the trade, but they are all a bit hit-and-miss and I thought you
might know what the present situation is with these devices.
Regards,
Peter Rudland, TDSi, Poole, Dorset, UK
>>From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk
>>
>>>
>>> Any Teletype ASR33 experts out there ? I have a couple
>>> of problems with a teletype that recently came my way.
>>
>>I believe the ASR33 manauls are available on a web site somewhere. If
>>you don't have them as printed books, then you want to get these files
>>and print them. They make life a lot easier. OK, I did a complete
>>strip-down, clean, oil, reassemble and adjust job on an ASR33 without the
>>manuals (and with never having seen the manuals), but then I tend to do
>>crazy things like that...
>>
>>>
>>> i) When I type a character from the keyboard in local
>>> mode, something else gets printed. What gets printed
>>> is not consistently the same character. I've watched
>>> the selector mechanism while I hit rubout (all marking
>>> codebars) and I can see that the codebars are not
>>> being consistently selected betwee key presses:
>>> sometimes I get 5 of them, sometimes 6 and
>>> occasionally all 8. The high order bits seem to be
>>> worst affected by this inconsistency. However if I
>>> hold down the repeat key and select a character, the
>>> right codebars are being selected. I punched a number
>>> of characters onto tape to verify this and they seem
>>> to be punching OK. This suggests to me that this isn't
>>
>>If the character _always_ punches correctly, then the right codebars are
>>being selected. So I assume this is not the case.
>Hi
>I think you need to make this point clearer. When a character
>is punched, the same character is miss printed on the platen?
>This is how I read his original post.
Even using the REPT key to workaround the codebar issue, I wasn't able to
connect the carriage problem conclusively to either a rotational or a
vertical problem. I think at this point I'm going to take the carriage off
again and try a more thorough dismantle/clean/oil. Once I resolve the
codebar issue it will be easier to diagnose the carriage problem with a
clean mechanism.
>This tells me it is something sticking in the linkage that goes
>between the code bars and the print head( or he has it installed
>wrong but that doesn't explain why it starts working with repeats ).
>I would remove the print assembly and put it in some solvent
>while moving the levers. Then clean it off/dry it and re-oil
>it. You most likely have some dry oil that is sluggish. Getting
>oil into the right place will take a bit.
>In the service( military ), we used to clean things in a bath
>of water and heavy detergent. This was done in an ultrasonic
>cleaner. We'd then rinse and bake it at about 150F for a few
>hours. Then Re-oil/grease, place on test bench and fine adjust.
>I suspect that a good dish washing liquid would work.
I remember using an arklone bath at a place I worked years ago for cleaning
circuit boards. Probably taken a few years off my live expectancy breathing
that stuff in.
>
>Basically, there are 3 possible problem areas :
>
>1) The keyboard contacts are not closing correctly, so the parallel data
>output of the keyboard is incorrect.
>
>2) The distributor disk (rear right of the typing unit) is not correctly
>serialising the data from the keyboard. Unlikely, but possible.
>
>3) The selector unit (rear left of the typing unit) is malfunctioning,
>and is not correclty responding the receiving magnet.
>
I can see the armature 'stutter' when I punch the rubout key - by stutter, I
mean that its movement looks slightly different between keypresses. So I'm
inclined to think that the magnet is just responding to what it is receiving
which is incorrect. I cleaned the distributor and reseated the brushes,
readjusted the brush holder to the alignment mark per the adjustment
procedure in the manual. So I'm back to option 1) - the keyboard - as the
source of the problem. One thing I noticed last night was that the keyboard
cover is broken. There are four round tabs, one at each corner, that fit
into corresponding holes on the end plates. These are broken, so the cover
can rock from side to side, pivoting on those center projections. I wonder
if that could cause some sort of alignment problem within the keyboard ?
Thanks for the suggestions - I will get to it again tonight and see what
else I can find out. I hate the idea of opening that keyboard up...
>I would check (3) first. It may need to be removed, dismantled, cleaned,
>and re-lubricated. It's not uncommon for parts to stick on old, gummy,
>lubricant.
>
>> an electrical problem since whatever code the keyboard
>> is sending is eventually being sensed correctly.
>>
>> ii) In addition to i) above, even if I do get all the
>> codebars moving as required, the wrong characters are
>> being printed. I removed the carriage, cleaned and
>> oiled it and replaced it but this hasn't helped.
>
>How did you clean it? I have found that soaking compete assemblies in
>solvent doesn't help much. You really have to take all the parts apart,
>clean them, and then re-assemble them. If yoy've done this, then there
>are a lot of sdjustment you'd have to set up.
>
>A character decoding problem must be in the carriage. There are 4 parts
>to the decoder mechanism :
>
>2 bits -> one of 4 levels of lift of the type cylinder
>1 bit -) rotate cylinder left or right
>2 bits -> one of 4 angles (pairs of characters) of rotation of the cylinder
>1 bit -> an extra 1 character angle rotate (it moves the selector bars
>for the previous rotation selection slightly...).
>
>Figure out which mechanism is malfunctioning by comparing the position of
>the character you get with the position of the character you should be
>getting. Then work out what's not operating properly.
>
>-tony
>
>
I have rescued the following Commodore Amiga items on
their way to the dumpster. The whole lot is available
for free to a good home if you pay for the shipping
(or pick them up in Albuquerque). If you are
interested, please contact me at
cfnelson_87111(a)yahoo.com. Note that I have never used
an Amiga and thus do not have any information beyond
what is printed on the disks and manuals. I also do
not know if the disks any good; they have no visible
signs of damage.
- disks and manuals
Amiga operating system
ARexx
AmigaDOS
Workbench 2.1
AmigaVision
ProWrite (New Horizons Software) word processor,
version 3.0
ProScript (New Horizons Software) PostScript utility,
version 1.0
Professional Calc (Gold Disk), 1.00 and 1.02 update
Deluxe Paint III (Electronic Arts)
Deluxe Paint IV (Electronic Arts)
Amiga TCP/IP, AS225 2 copies
X Window System (GfxBase), 4.x
GDA-1 (GfxBase), Graphics Display Adapter 1, 1.0
VideoScape 3D (Aegis) solid 3-D animation and
rendering, 2.0
includes bonus Pro/Motion (Aegis), 1.0b
Draw 2000 (Aegis) desktop CADD
UltraDesign! (Progressive Peripherals & Software) CADD
software, 1.0 and 1.1
AmigaTeX and METAFONT (Radical Eye Software)
lots of disks for different versions
Quarterback (Central Coast Software) hard disk backup,
503
- disks only (no manuals)
ARexx (William S.Hawes), 1.10
AC/FORTRAN (absoft)
TxEd Plus V2.01 (Microsmiths)
Amiga Workbench 1.3
UEDIT (Rick Stiles)
Professional Page (Gold Disk), 1.1
A-Max IV (ReadySoft) Mac emulator
- manuals only (no disks)
flickerFixer, Owner's Manual (MicroWay), advanced
graphics adapter for A2000
Presentation Master (Oxxi)
Superbase 4 (Precision Software)
- database and text editor
- form designer and programming language
- applications guide
- hardware manuals and software (no hardware)
Amiga 2088 Bridgeboard, for A2000/IBM-PC XT
compatibility
GVP Series II 68030 Accelerator Board for Amiga 2000
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Curt,
>Discovery Computers??? x86 multiprocessors??? Please elaborate, any links
>or picks???
Discovery was produced by Ace Computer Action Enterprises,
Pasadena, CA., c. 1983. It came in at least two models, as
documented by one Bill Whitson in The List in '97.
ACE Discovery 500 83
Discovery 1600 83
I have one Discovery 500, sans disk drives (one floppy,
one MFM 20 gig [whoops, I mean meg :)]. I also have one
Discovery ????, which is likely a slave unit - having no
provision for disk drives (but does have a SemiDisk for
some healthy memory).
This is about as much as I know ('cept one of these ran
a BBS back in the olden days, if memory serves). Don't
find much documentation.
But also, I haven't checked the Computer Museum of
America, here in San Diego, except to ask if they would
like to have them. They already have one, hope they will
take one or both for parts or....
However, I'd be just as happy to see them in use by someone
who has time and energy to make them go.
Vern Wright
vernon_wright(a)hotmail.com
Posted & Mailed
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