test-drb April 2002

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

280 participants
1162 discussions

by ms＠silke.rt.schwaben.de

Hello to all VAXenfolks, i do have a problem with a VAX-11/730 that i have reconstructed (cleaned, resoldered, replaced cable, everything. Pictures on www.vaxcluster.de. Yes, i am a bit proud of it... But sorry for the bad web-page design!) over the last few months. It is now willing to boot and tries to load it's microcode tape from the TU-58 drives. I even have a microcode tape which looks like it could be still readable. But the TU-58's are so battered that i have not been able to read the tape. I have repaced the rubber rollers, but the read/write-heads look, ummm, bad! I have found somewhere some TU-58 simulator software for DOS which looks like a promising alternative; i would place a mini-DOS-computer inside a VT-102 and route some additional cables to the VAX and bee fine. BUT: How do i get the contents of the microcode tape of the tape, into a DOS file without access to a working TU-58? Is someone on this list able to read the tape? Has someone already made a tape image i could just use? I mean, i have a original DEC tape, with serial number and all. I might even come up with a license document, if i search long enough... Any help would be greatly welcomed. This old lady is just to beautifull to use it as an electric heater only... Thank you ms -- Michael Schneider email: ms(a)silke.rt.schwaben.de Germany http://www.vaxcluster.de People disagree with me. I just ignore them. (Linus Torvalds)

22 years, 4 months

RT11 & RSX cd images - additional site

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I noticed that downloads of the ISO images for RT11 & RSX freeware from Tim Shoppa's website are slowwwwwwwww. I'm not sure if he has a really slow internet connection, or if he (or his ISP) is throttling bandwidth (I suspect the latter). To provide for faster downloads to anyone who wants it, I am copying the RT11 & RSX freeware ISO cd images to www.classiccmp.org/PDP11 They should be up there sometime tomorrow morning, don't download them from me before then or you're likely to get a partial image. And you can bet you'll get more than 14kbps from my servers :) Also, if you only want portions of the freeware CD's rather than the entire ISO image, the entire contents are already at that URL in natural (non-ISO) form to download individually. Jay West

22 years, 6 months

"Windows V1.0"

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

> Zenith changed their software packaging a few times over the years. > > This is the same packaging as what I have on OS/2 1.0, and MS-DOS > 3.3+. > > Consequently, looking back at the calendar, I think that > it's far more likely that this is Windows 2.0 or 2.1. It's not much help, but the first Z248 that we recieved had MS-DOS 3.x and Windows 1.0x floppies included with it. I've never seen a copy of Windows 2.x, however, oddly enough I recently found a shrinkwrapped copy of Windows 1.0 in the trash! On a vaguely interesting Windows 1.x note, the PC version of the game "Balance of Power" included just enough of Windows 1.x to run the game! It was the only use I ever had for Windows 1.x :^) Zane

22 years, 6 months

HP IPC (update)

by vp＠mcs.drexel.edu

This is the information I have managed to gather on the HP IPC: First have a look at the definitive guide to the IPC (http://www.coho.org/~pete/IPC/integral.html) Apart from that, I have managed to find the following info by playing with my IPC: There is a ROM at the back behind a little door. This contains basically the Unix OS (HP UX) and at least in my case Tech Basic. Tech Basic looks surprisingly like Series 80 Basic (e.g the Basic on the HP-86 and 87) including many ROM additions (e.g. IO ROM). The funny connector on the back (like a small centronics connector) is HP-IB (the HP name for IEEE-488) which is used to connect peripherals like floppies and hard disks. The IPC talks CS/80 over HP-IB so it supports "modern" HP-IB peripherals like the 9122 floppy drive. The IPC also has in internal HP-IL bus (a two wire, low power version of HP-IB) which is used to talk to the built in printer. At this stage I haven't managed to investigate whether I can externalize this bus and connect additional peripherals. The built-in printer takes hp92261a print cartridges which (amazingly) are still available from major mail order firms (e.g. www.staples.com in the US, but I suppose you can get them in the UK as well). Since the print cartridge contains the print head as well, it is very probable that you can get the printer to work with little effort. The IPC site (see URL earlier on) has a number of diskette images. These are for double sided double density (720K) disks. I have been unable to get any modern PC to write compatible floppies using the standard double sided quad density drive (1.44Mb). I did find a 720K drive on eBay and bought a pack of 720K diskettes. Using OpenBSD on a PC I then proceeded to successfully transfer the images to the floppies and access the data from the IPC. BTW the IPC utilities in the IPC site (programs that can be used to read IPC floppies on a Unix host) work only on big-endian machines. You cannot use them on a i386. Before trying to use the built-in floppy drive, note the following: a) its totally non-standard. The connector is wrong and the RPM is wrong. I believe there is no way that you can use a PC compatible drive on that machine. So take good care of it! b) the heads need cleaning and the loading mechanism needs lubricating. If you haven't done this already, do NOT skip this step, you may damage the disk heads if you try to use a drive with a sticky loading mechanism. See later on for cleaning instructions. c) The built-in disk notifies the OS when a new diskette is inserted so that it is automatically mounted. This makes the built in floppy more convenient than external devices. Using the system: Just power it up and you should see the unix boot messages. Finally you see the desktop manager (PAM). You can type paths on the command line on top or use the cursor keys to navigate the file system. If you have an HP-HIL mouse so much the better you just point and click. You should find the BASIC interpreter in /rom/basic. Until you get the floppies from Peter's site, BASIC is the only way to use the machine. Use MASS STORAGE IS path to change your working directory and CAT path to list directories. If you need documentation on Tech BASIC, I suggest you buy an HP-86/87 Owner's manual on eBay. They are close to the real thing and far more common than IPC manuals. For a hint on how to use external peripherals check the file /documents/hp71_xfer on the IPC_BASIC_Bonus diskette. As an example, here is a program that collects readings from an HP multimeter (HP-IB device 13). 100 ! load HP-IB driver 110 MASS STORAGE IS "/dev" 120 ! on Series 80 the HP-IB card is always number 7 130 ASSIGN 7 TO "hpib" 140 ! The 13th HP-IB device is therefore 713 150 m=713 160 ! switch multimeter to remote control 170 REMOTE m 180 ! program multimeter for resistance, auto zero and trigger mode 190 OUTPUT m; "F3R1Z1T2" 200 ! initialize "previous" reading 210 v0=-1 215 DISP "Ready: press STOP to terminate program" 220 ! do while true 230 TRIGGER m 240 ENTER m; S$ 250 ! display value only if different from earlier reading 260 IF v0<>v THEN DISP v 270 v0=v 280 GOTO 220 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Drive removal: Get a torx #10 screwdriver, almost all the screws on the IPC are of this type so there is no point in trying to do any maintenance without one. The plastic diskette eject button seen from the front of the machine, is not attached to the drive and is likely to fall off when you remove the drive. It is best to secure it in place by covering it with a small piece of adhesive tape. This will keep it in place during the removal and subsequent installation of the diskette drive. First remove the back panel. You do NOT need to remove the system ROM to do this, so leave it alone. The panel is held by just two screws (probably the only screws that need a flat blade screwdriver) and hinges on the bottom of the machine. Once the panel is removed you can see the inside of the machine. A big PCB to the left and the floppy to the right. Open the printer door (on the top of the machine) and look at the bottom of the storage compartment next to the printer. You should see two black screws. Remove them. Now the only screw holding the diskette assembly is on screw on the bottom of the assembly (right on top of the PSU). remove the connectors and the last screw. The floppy should slide out towards you. Looking at the the floppy assembly you see a mounting bracket and a full height floppy. Before removing the drive from the mounting bracket mark the orientation of the floppy drive against the bracket with a pencil this will make reassembly easier. Remove the mounting bracket and the metal cover of the floppy. Do not forget to remove a black screw on the back of the floppy, otherwise you will not be able to slide the metal cover out. You should see the loading mechanism on the sides of the floppy. Try inserting a diskette to see how it causes the loading tray to slide along paths on the fixed sides of the drive. These are the only parts that need cleaning and oiling. Use machine lubricating oil (under no circumstances should you use stuff like WD-40). Apply one or two drops on each side and insert/remove the floppy until it slides in and out effortlessly. I use a cleaning floppy to clean the heads, so there is nothing more to do at this stage other than closely inspect the READ/WRITE heads. Hopefully they should have the obvious orientation that allows them to come into contact with the magnetic surface of the floppy. If this is so, then you are in luck, otherwise you lose. Replace the cover and secure the floppy on the mounting bracket. Orient the drive and bracket so that the two screw holes are on top and slide the entire assembly inside the IPC. Attach the top two screws and the bottom screw. You may need to slightly adjust the drive mounting assembly to align the bottom screw. Replace the power and data cables and reattack the back panel. Remove the piece of adhesive tape securing the eject button and you are ready. --------------- Corrections or additions are always welcome. **vp

22 years, 6 months

Free stuff in Mid Wales

by Lists＠joules.org

Due to a move to a smaller house, I am having to consider letting go of some of my toys :( The following is available, free to a good home: 2 Sun 386i (boxes only, no HDD dead or dying NVRAM) 2 x PDP11 rackmount CPUs 2 BBC Bs Other stuff may be available as I move and find out how little space I have in my computer room. -- Regards Pete "Time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana"

22 years, 6 months

The Future End of Classic Computing

by mythtech＠mac.com

>To go back to the hammer for a moment, if I go out and buy a hammer and >bash somebody's head in with it, then I am guilty of murder. The company >that made the hammer, and the shop that sold it to me, are not. And >that's how it should be. Scary thing is... here in the US, it doesn't seem to work that logically. People have been sueing gun manufacturers off and on because they made the gun that was used to kill someone. I don't know if anyone has WON a suit, but I do know the suits have been filed (and win or loose, you are costing the gun maker needless legal troubles). Sueing people has become so much the norm here... that the government has had to step in and offer insurance backing for the companies cleaning up the world trade center... because the companies know ALREADY that there will be lawsuits when they are done, and without insurance, they know they will be sued into bankruptcy. AND, since it is such a known fact that they will be sued... no insurance company was willing to insure them, which meant they weren't willing to do the work... so the government had to step in and offer backing. F-ing scary! Remember, this is the country that awarded 3 million dollars to a lady because she put her hot coffee in her lap, and then spilled it... and was able to sue McDonalds because the coffee was too hot and it burned her (yes, there is more to that story, but the fact that she was even able to get to trial is just f-ed up... where is the personal responsibility in this country?!?) -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

22 years, 6 months

Anything special about converting VAX 11/780 to single phase?

by gunther＠aurora.regenstrief.org

Hi, just to be sure, I would simply put all three phases on the same single phase. Are there any problems with that? The VAX 6000 is much pickier, but the VAX 11 and everything having the simple power distribution box should be fine, right? thanks, -Gunther -- Gunther Schadow, M.D., Ph.D. gschadow(a)regenstrief.org Medical Information Scientist Regenstrief Institute for Health Care Adjunct Assistant Professor Indiana University School of Medicine tel:1(317)630-7960 http://aurora.regenstrief.org

22 years, 7 months

Open source -- non computer topics

by nemesis-lists＠icequake.net

Christopher Smith said: > Debian's nice, but it has its share of "political" garbage too, like > the "GNU/Linux" plastered all over the place, or the fact that they > insist on keeping "non-free" software separate. It's not just "garbage". There is a reason for it, that the majority of the Debian community agrees with, or it wouldn't be done. Plain and simple. I'm sure you are already aware of the reasons, but reject them. What you label "garbage" are the very attributes that many Debian members hold dear. If you don't like Debian, you are free to either attempt to improve it, or join the ranks of others who use a different system. It's a personal choice. Debian is different for a reason. -- Ryan Underwood, <nemesis at icequake.net>, icq=10317253

22 years, 7 months

So-Called Real Programmers and FORTRAN

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote: > > > My Data Structures prof lamented the fact (by his observation) > > that most people write Pascal in its FORTRAN subset... > > 10 C WHAT SUBSET IS THAT? (* The subset wherein everything is type in UPPER CASE and no variable names were longer than six characters. *) > 20 C MY GRIPE WITH PASCAL WAS THAT IT WAS ALL ONE PROGRAM > 30 C EVERY FORTRAN AFTER II COULD HAVE MODULES DEFINED (* Pascal had adherents early, but it remained a teaching language until the early 1980s. Although Turbo Pascal didn't permit modules, it did provide $INCLUDE files, and depending on the application area, you could often accomplish the same thing using includes. *) > 40 C .NOR. COULD YOU EVER FIGURE OUT > 50 C WHEN TO PUT A SEMI-COLEN .OR. .NOT. AT THE END OF A > 60 C STATEMENT (* Oh, IIRC, the semicolon is a STATEMENT TERMINATOR in Algol; in Pascal, it's statement seperator. That should make it clear. *) > 100 STOP END. -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

22 years, 7 months

Micro$oft Biz'droid Lusers (was: OT email response format)

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Richard Erlacher [mailto:edick@idcomm.com] Knowing this it probably more rhetorical: > I haven't looked at the insides of the COCO2 I've got sitting > here, but I > don't see any place for a FDD or a HDD. Are there serial Yep, that's a problem. Mine had a Floppy controller that plugged into the cartridge slot. The tape setup wasn't bad either, for the time. > ports anywhere that Yeah, I'm certain there was a serial port, but I can't tell you about it. It's been a while. > I can use? How much R/W memory does it have? How do you R/W memory? It has up to 64k of RAM if that's what you mean. If it were a CoCo 3, it would have up to 512. > expand it to do > something useful? It's not bad with _only_ the computer, and a disk setup. > ... see what I mean? You have to do so much to the thing > that RS sells you > that it takes up a whole tabletop just to get to what's in > the PC's box, and You didn't mention that the PSUs were external on many peripherals too ;) > if you compare the price of a typical PC Clone available the > same year the > COCO2 was offered, how do they compare in price, avaialble > software base, etc? There's lots of software for CoCo, but I don't have numbers. > With the COCO, you're better off starting from a wirewrap > panel and a bucket I think that may be an exaggeration. :) > of parts, since the video on the COCO is not "up to snuff," > i.e. 80x24 > characters-capable. It uses that ridiculous 6847, IIRC, and Actually, there are applications that do 80x24 in some high-res video mode, for word processing and the like. I ran at least one on my CoCo1 with 64k of RAM. Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

22 years, 7 months

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test-drb April 2002