test-drb December 2002

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

250 participants
519 discussions

Need Read-It! v1.02 and/or v1.1 OCR software/manual by Olduvai (for Mac)

by vcf＠siconic.com

I'm looking for a copy of Read-It! v1.02 and/or v1.1 by Olduvai (for the Macintosh). This is OCR software circa 1987-1988. The important thing is the manual. I don't really need the software at this point. There i$ a bounty for thi$. If you have this then please contact me directly at <sellam(a)vintage.org>. Thanks! -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org * Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *

21 years, 10 months

Wicat computer?

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

I saw the recent discussions about these on this list but didn't read them since I'd never seen a Wicat computer and didn't know what one was. Well, today that changed. Can someone give me the run down on a wicat S-150A? Joe

21 years, 11 months

Y2K/Y10K for V5.03 of RT-11

by mbg＠TheWorld.com

I'm interested in what you propose, but suspect that Y10K would be overkill at this point. I'd like to see design discussion opened up for that... but it may all be moot since it wouldn't be compatible with V5.4, V5.5, V5.6, V5.7... ... and it is the sort of change which would truly affect everything in the system, requiring sources to rebuild the fixes... since no-one but Mentec has rights to the sources, the product of any such change would be strictly illegal, so I am wondering how you are proposing to get around that. Megan

21 years, 11 months

BBC Acorn

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 12, 19:43, Joe wrote: > Nope, all the RAMS are soldered directly to the board and no solder flux. I'm sure it was built with 32K and that appears to agree with the US model number. Yes, I'm sure it is, I was just pointing out that in the general case, amount of memory is not a good way to tell. AFAIK, Acorn sold only Model Bs in the States. > It's not running at the moment but when it was it said soemthing like: > > "Acron version 2.1 > DFS OS > BASIC OS" > > There's also a EPROM that says "DFS OS" in it so I think it's supposed to say that. I've not seen a US model start up, but I expect Acorn removed the "BBC Microcomputer" part for trademark reasons (in many countries outside the UK, BBC is a trademark of Brown Boveri & Cie, and anyway it wouldn't mean the same in the States). Presumably they changed the other strings too. How many (EP)ROMs are in it? Do they have any numbers on them? > OK thanks for the pointers. I searched the net but found so many sites that I haven't had time to go throught them all. If you're looking for repair information, the ones I listed are good places to start. You might also consider joining the BBC mailing list. If you want to, send a message with "subscribe bbc-micro" in the body, to majordomo at cloud9.co.uk. > Nope, that's not what I got. It didn't say anything about BBC or Microcomputer or the amount of memory and it definitely said "OS" twice. I did get the beep then the speaker had a slight buzzing in it. (Possible due the the failing capacitor in the PSU). I was in the process of checking the PSU outputs for noise when the cap blew. It was quite noticeable! Maybe they changed the banners more than I thought. > Actually I didn't get a cursor. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to have one or not. Yes, you should. > Thanks for the description. That's about what I expected. Sounds like I need to find a VIA. I need one for my spares anyway. There are two mylar(?) ribbon cables that connect the keyboard to the main circuit board. Is the wide one the column inputs and the narrow one the row outputs? (Keeping my fingers crossed that it's that simple!) I doubt if it's that simple. UK models don't use mylar ribbons, they use a single 17-way notched IDT cable with a 0.1" pitch, and with a single-row Molex IDT header at each end. If the cable is damaged you can use ordinary 34-way cable with 34-way 2-row IDC headers; just ignore the second row. Download the service manual; it has the keyboard diagram, with pinouts. Fix the PSU first, obviously. The Beeb is a bit choosy about power regulation, and if the 5V and 0V connectors (of which there are three pairs) don't all make good connections to the board, you can get strange faults because the voltage may be too low at some points on the board. The red and black wires are +5V and 0V respectively. There's a purple wire for -5V, but this is only used for the serial port and audio amp. There's a +12V output but only on the AMP connector at the front, as it's only needed for peripherals. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

21 years, 11 months

Osborne OCC1

by CochraneS＠sgstool.com

I have come across an Osborne model OCC1 Serial # 134033. This unit has the 300 baud modem. It also has 5 1/4 disk with it. (SuperCalc, WordStar, Qbasic) The unit boots up and runs the software but after about 15 to 20 minutes it starts to overheat.(smoke) My question is - What is the selling price for a unit like this and where would be the best place to sell it? Thanks for your help, Steve Cochrane Director of Information Technology SGS Tool Company PO Box 187 Munroe Falls, OH 44262 (330)686.4194 ########################################### This message has been scanned by F-Secure Anti-Virus for Microsoft Exchange. For more information, connect to http://www.F-Secure.com/

21 years, 11 months

Amstrad PPC640

by noahfox＠mac.com

To whom it may concern, I am interested in buying or renting the Amstrad PPC640 for a movie called ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND Staring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. The movie tells the story of a couple who have elected to rid themselves of their memories of on another by a machine. Noah Fox

21 years, 11 months

OS/2 manuals

by cb＠mythtech.net

Is there any interest or value in OS/2 manuals? I have a few OS/2 boxes, and I am pretty sure the software is MIA (never had it, I pulled the stuff from a dumpster long ago). I have decided I don't want to continue to take up the shelf space, so I am trying to find out if there is any interest in these kinds of things or should I just send them back to the dumpster. I don't want to go thru the effort of pulling the stuff out and listing it if there is no interest (the last few items I've offered no one wanted, guess I really DO just have junk). I don't currently know what manuals, or to what versions of OS/2 they go (that is the step I am trying to avoid if there is no interest... I just don't feel like having yet another pile of crap under my desk until I get takers or get sick of waiting). And of course, I would LOVE to find out that OS/2 manuals are worth money... saving for a house when on an already strained budget is a bitch! -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

21 years, 11 months

DIY Equipment Racks

by rdd＠rddavis.org

While thinking about racks to use for mounting my PDP-11/44 components, as well as other equipment from test equipment to audio and synth equipment, something just occured to me: why bother with hunting down steel racks when some 2x4s and lag bolts may suffice just as well? I was thinking that one can just run 2x4s from the basement floor up to the heavy wooden rafters, attach them to the rafters, and then add horizontal supports at the bottom to space the vertical 2x4s apart properly. Any thoughts on this? I guess the museum-type equipment purists won't like the idea, but it would be a cheap and functional solution for many of us. :-) Has anyone else here tried this? Lastly, has anyone on this list tried retrofitting non-rack-mount equipment into racks? E.g., welding (or "JB Weld"ing) rack-mount tabs onto systems like PCs and Kaypros, as well as making rack-mountable shelves to hold the Macintoshes, etc.? Just trying to think of ways to save space. Stacking system on top of system, helter skelter, as systems are added, tends to result in rather annoying, space hogging, piles of systems after a while, making some systems difficult to get to at times. -- Copyright (C) 2002 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals: All Rights Reserved an unnatural belief that we're above Nature & rdd(a)rddavis.org 410-744-4900 her other creatures, using dogma to justify such http://www.rddavis.org beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.

21 years, 11 months

DEC 3000 300X/300

by runtime＠wzrd.com

Bradley: Pat's advice about using RJ11 with the tab cut off is workable, but it's probably better to use MMJ if you possibly can. MMJ connectors are easy to find, and DB25 - MMJ adaptors are also easy to find. Then, all that's needed is 6 conductor flat cable, also easy to find, and an MMJ crimper -- not very easy to find, and expensive. I can easily make up MMJ cable(s) for you if you need one or two. I can check my stock of DB25/MMJ adaptors, too. What gender DB25 is needed? (I don't have a 3000 to look at, to make sure.) email me off list -- we can get this one worked out. Don

21 years, 11 months

Anyone have any experience replacing a Dallas 1287 with a 12887?

by erd_6502＠yahoo.com

While attempting to revive a Compaq 286/SLT laptop for use as a front-end for my UP600a programmer, I have found that the battery on the DS1287 has died (no suprise there). What sucks is that even after I run the floppy-based setup utility, after a reboot (not a power-off cycle), the machine forgets what I just set, both the data and time, and the geometry of the A: drive. Seeing as how it thinks there's a 5.25" floppy and it's really a 3.5" high-density drive at the end of the cable, as you can imagine, it won't reliably read disks. So... I have ordered a replacement DS12887 since they no longer make/ship the DS1287. Couple of interesting app notes here: http://www.maxim-ic.com/appnotes.cfm/appnote_number/562 http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/2681 What I'm wondering is if anyone on the list has ever replaced a DS1287 with a DS12887. One of the sheets seems to suggest that I'll need an updated BIOS ROM (clearly not available for a 286 laptop) to drive the extra stuff associated with the enhanced century rollover. Alternatively, has anyone here successfully performed surgery on a Dallas module? I have disconnected the battery from a Mostek 48T02 from a SPARC and soldered on an external Lithium cell, but the packaging makes it easy to get access to the battery wires coming down from the top (I even put the battery on a 9V battery snap so it's easier to replace) I haven't heard of anyone doing this for the more sealed Dallas modules. So... anybody else suffer though this? -ethan __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com

21 years, 11 months

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test-drb December 2002