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)
> From: Chris
>
> >We'd best just agree to disagree about Apple Computer Co product quality.
>
> I'm sure not aiming to start another flame war :-)
>
Thank you both! ;)
> >One thing that I've wondered is how one gets an old MAC to talk on the
> >Ethernet when it's a mixed environment with Netware and Windows NT
> >servers..
> >
> >What do you know about that?
>
> Most Macs, since sometime in the early 90's have come with ethernet on
> board. The exceptions were the home targeted models (like the Performa
> series), where ethernet was an optional add on. Every mac since the G3
> comes with ethernet standard (basically, with the death of the performa
> line came the death of optional ethernet....
>
> That pretty much means, every mac from the Plus on can support ethernet.
>
> ....
> If you can't get AppleTalk supported, then you will have to add things to
> the Mac to access the servers. There are 3rd party apps out there to
> enable the Mac to speak to a number of different systems. If this is
> something you want to do, I will be happy to discuss it with you, but it
> is going to get off topic really fast, so we are better off taking it off
> list.
>
> -chris
>
Or, if you can find a Cayman GatorBox GX-R, which provides a
LocalTalk-Ethernet bridge, DECnet routing, UNIX-LocalTalk printing, and UNIX
based files services...
--
--- David A Woyciesjes
--- C & IS Support Specialist
--- Yale University Press
--- mailto:david.woyciesjes@yale.edu
--- (203) 432-0953
--- ICQ # - 905818
Mac OS X 10.1.2 - Darwin Kernel Version 5.2: Fri Dec 7 21:39:35 PST 2001
Running since 01/22/2002 without a crash
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
EET'S ALIVE! Well, I finally hobbled together a 'console cable' that
connects its monochrome output to my TV and to a LK201 keyboard. Now I
just could use a 'better' OS for the thing than P/OS. [Also, I could use
soemthing that told me how much memory it has in it...]
Has anyone ever hacked RSX-11M or RSX-11M+ to work on it? Are there any
guides for RSX-11M(+)? How should I cure my insanity? :)
Is VENIX worth trying on this thing?
-- Pat
> 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
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
I need some help. Jay West has kindly posted the file
"rt11freewarev2.iso.gz" at:
http://www.classiccmp.org/PDP-11/RT-11/freeware-CDS/images/
"rt11freewarev2.iso.gz" is about 171 Mbytes in size. It is my
understanding that
the full size file "rt11freewarev2.iso" is exactly 671,088,640 bytes in
size which
is the CD for the RT11 Freeware CD produced by Tim Shoppa. However,
when
the download of the "rt11freewarev2.iso.gz" file is complete, I end up
with a file
that is 687,282,673 bytes which is different in size and can NOT be
identical to
the full size (and correct - Tim Shoppa used to have the full size image
at his
site and I downloaded it before it was changed to a ".bz2" image) image
of the
actual CD.
I am using Windows 98 SE/Netscape 4.78 and the normal WinZip in case
that
is part of the problem. Jay has told me:
"I spent about 6 hours this morning redownloading (from Tim's site) all
3
freeware cd's, uncompressing them, recalculating MD5 hashes, and
rezipping
them. The files I just downloaded compare identically with the files on
Tim's site, AND those files compare identically to the files I have had
on
my server for the past few weeks that you already downloaded. I even
downloaded those files from my server to my windows pc across the net
like
everyone else would, and they uncompress and compare identially to the
ones
on Tim's site. The files on my server have been completely correct since
day
1. I don't know what happened on your end when you downloaded the files,
but
I can assure you what is (and has been) on my site is a correct
identical
copy of Tim's."
I am confident that Jay is correct and that there is something I don't
understand
with what takes place when I do my download. Can anyone suggest to me
what
I am doing wrong? PLEASE!!
Sincerely yours,
Jeremy Fine
--
If you attempted to send a reply and the original e-mail
address has been discontinued due a high volume of junk
e-mail, then the semi-permanent e-mail address can be
obtained by replacing the four characters preceding the
'at' with the four digits of the current year.
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"
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>Return-Path: <arlen.michaels(a)sympatico.ca>
Just want to thank you for making the old manuals and image files
available on http://oldcomputers.dyndns.org/public/
I found things here (like the IMS information) I have been hunting for
years. I am still looking for documents etc for some other IMS S-100
boards dating from around 1980-84:
- A862 Z80 CPU
- A930 Floppy Controller
- A821 Winchester Controller
- A1100 Winchester Controller
- A1021 64K RAM
You don't by any chance have files for these, do you? :)
Best wishes,
Arlen Michaels
arlen.michaels(a)sympatico.ca
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Greetings from
Fritz Chwolka - Duisburg
/ collecting old computers just for fun at www.alterechner.de \
Returned to my last gold mine in Topeka; Joe and I found some nice
stuff. With his sharp eyes he found more Amiga memory & SCSI cards for
me. He went home with some S100 memory cards, and a B&H (black) Apple
II. I came home with another C64, two 1541 drives, another Ozzie I with
modem, and miscellaneous Apple II cards and documentation.
Surplus Exchange(in the west Bottoms) had the goodies cordoned off; I
believe they are throwing out the vintage stuff and rearranging the
salable PC stuff.
Had a find time killing the day. My thanks to Joe and his sharp eyes;
what he found really made my day.
Gary Hildebrand
St. Joseph, MO
