test-drb May 2002

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

246 participants
947 discussions

List of interesting stuff was RE: Time to share a source - W.J.Ford Surplus

by vp＠mcs.drexel.edu

Joe <rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com> wrote: > The 88140xC tapes are used a number of HP tape drives and also in > some combination hard drive/tape drive units. They should be useable > in non-HP machines but they'd have to be reformatted (and > non-formatted tapes are plentiful so why boather). I think not, these tapes lack BOT and EOT markers as the drive can tell from the soft sector information where it is on the tape. If you repeatedly mount an HP tape on a normal QIC drive, it will eventually unspool it as it tries to find the BOT marker. **vp

23 years

Wanted: VT520/525

by jimw＠agora.rdrop.com

Subject says it all... Looking for from one to three VT520 or 525 terminals (w/keyboard) that need a new home. Drop me a note if you can help. -jim --- jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw

23 years

Terak 8510

by fmc＠reanimators.org

The first step is admitting that you have a problem. I have a problem. I went to Foothill this morning, saw two Terak 8510s, left them there, then the monkey in my backpack leaned forward and whispered "You'll never be able to get one again..." and I walked back and bought one. Later I heard that another collector had bought the other one. Is this the beginning of a long slide into collecting PDP-11s and VAXen? I hope not. So, I wonder what I have, how it relates to the "8510/a", and how much fun I can have with it. It's a box with two half-height 8" floppy drives poking through the front. The ID plate on the back claims that this is model "8510 B AH 484A", but the "B" looks like it was rubber-stamped on and is bigger than the surrounding text. Serial number is 1196. There is no monitor, keyboard, or diskettes containing software. There's a BNC connector labelled "composite video" so I guess that's not entirely hopeless, and following links from John Foust's web site to the ITDA site (and its archive of PDF'd Terak docs) I think I've worked out that the keyboard connector is an 8-bit TTL-level input port w/strobe, it wants to see scan codes, and I guess I could do something to fake a keyboard with a PC, a parallel port, some software and a cable. Stan and his co-worker Gavin were amused when we met at their office this afternoon. We had fun taking a screwdriver to it to look inside and see what was there. We put it back together too, and didn't have any parts left over. There may be some serial ports on the back, on an I/O panel with four 3x3 connectors. This I/O panel has a cable going back to a card (Terak p/n 92-0058-001 rev C) with two WD2123B ICs which would appear to be UARTs. One of the connectors has a sort of loopback plug installed. The floppy drives are Shugart SA860-1s. Other than that...well, we found the DEC processor card, the floppy controller card (w/NEC 765), and the double-board that does the memory and display. Looks like the latter board has 64KB of 4116s (NEC uPD416s, actually) and eight 2114s which I suppose are the display memory. Didn't find much dust. Gavin remarked on how clean it was inside, although I saw a couple small accumulations. -Frank McConnell

23 years

ACT Sirius help needed

by AandACannon＠cs.com

Does anyone want an ACT Sirius with original manuals (C/PM etc), floppies, daisywheel printer etc?

23 years

IPC Networking

by meltie＠myrealbox.com

Hello Again! I'm going to be getting the rest of the bits for my IPC this weekend, I was wondering how I could network it up without resorting to thicknet. I have a hub that Does AUI, 10-bT and thinnet, the IPC has AUI as well. The official way to link the two (female) AUI ports is two tranceivers and a thicknet cable which I can't be done with - I have been reading about an AUI crossover cable, with maybe a homebrew collision generator PCB... Any experience with this sort of thing, guys? Tips? Alex -- My computer's heavier than yours. --

23 years

IPC Networking

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On May 12, 21:49, Tony Duell wrote: > > > > > All you need is a AUI --> Thinnet (10Base2) or AUI --> 10Bt tranceiver. > > > > I get the impression that two-node 10Bt networking can be done with > > nothing but a crossover cable. (IE the chaining connection on hubs is > > just a crossover) Is this possibly true, using just the cable? > > I beleive that one is possible. In fact I've seen crossover cables on > sale for this purpose (this doesn't mean they _work_ of course :-)). Assuming they're wired correctly, they'll work fine. This is all a normal MDI-X port on a hub does. Internally, the hub has the same type of tranceiver that a PC NIC (or any other 10baseT device) has, the only difference is that the hub has the crossover built-in (hence the label MDI-X). The "uplink" port on a hub is an MDI port, ie one without a crossover. The point is that the connections (Rx and Tx) on ANY 10/100baseT link must be crossed over at one end with respect to the other (think DTE and DCE if you're used to serial line terminology). You can connect two hubs by using a straight cable from the MDU "uplink" port o one to any normal MDI-X port on the other, or by using two normal MDI-X ports with a crossover cable, or by using two MDI "uplink" ports with a crossover cable. Similarly you can connect two computers (or anything else) by using a crossover cable to connect their MDI ports. The only things that won't work on are 10baseT4, VGAnyLAN, or Gigabit ports -- all of which use all 4 pairs. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

23 years

Stuff I'm looking for (was Re: JunkFest! Sneak Peek)

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

> From: Joe <rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com> > We'll meet at Glen's shop (Acme Computers) at 9AM. (Hint, it's getting HOT here early so don't be late!) Contact me if you need directions. Joe, minor correction: that's ACME, not Acme ;>) For those who plan to bring stuff to trade or sell, I'm always looking for obscure Sinclair and Timex Sinclair stuff, including original program cassettes issued by Timex in the US. I could also use a couple of Apple ][ Super Serial cards, and Zenith Z-100 (not Z-100 PC) stuff, particularly a RAM expansion board, internal modem, and RTC board. See ya there! Glen 0/0

23 years

Aucton Find

by jrkeys＠concentric.net

Went to a small town surplus auction on Saturday and picked up a IBM 3570 Tape unit to go with the AS/400 I got a few weeks ago, it was only $10 plus 5% BP. Also got a 20" color monitor that they were using with the AS400 it's a Mitsubishi brand. And I got a big box full of mics parts including parts for the IBM ThinkPad new in boxes, various cables, and 11 storage boxes for 3.5 FD. Other items were mixed in also.

23 years

Epson HX20 ROM cartridge file format

by ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk

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23 years

Introducing myself - RSTS/E

by bob_lafleur＠technologist.com

My first experience with computers was with the Springfield, MA school department's PDP-11 system running RSTS/E. Each junior high and high school had an ASR-33 terminal and an acoustic coupler. My dad was a math teacher at one of the high schools and he just happened to have the school's terminal in his classroom. Sometimes he would go in to his room in the evening to correct papers and he'd bring me to use the computer. They had a program called PLAY which would allow you to play a number of games. Each school was assigned a certain number of PLAYs per day, and there were usually a few left over each day, so while my dad corrected papers, I'd use up the remaining PLAYs. Well, one day, there were none left, so my dad taught me how to write a simple BASIC program with line numbers and PRINT statements. That was it -- I was hooked. From then on, I wasn't interested in the PLAYSs, but I wanted to know more about how to write programs. This happened when I was about 12 or so. When I entered Junior High school my dad told me who was in charge of the terminal at my school, and made sure that I got time to work on it. Around this time, the ASR-33's were also replaced by DEC LA-34 or LA-36 printer terminals. While in Junior High I tried to get as much computer time as I could, but it was hard because it meant I had to get another teacher to excuse me from a class. Sometimes my art (I was terrible at that anyway!) or music teacher would excuse me, but they didn't like to do it too often. The procedure to use the computer was this: (a) Go to the guy in charge in the morning, and ask him for a computer pass for a particular period. If no one else had signed up for that period, then I could have one. (b) When it came time for that class, go to the class and show the teacher the computer pass, and ask to be excused. IF they agreed, then I could go. (c) If I made it this far, I would go to the counselor's office where the terminal was, and hope the room wasn?t locked. If it was, I could either try to find someone with a key, or be out of luck. (d) If I got into the room, I could then try to log on, and hope the system wasn?t down, or all lines in use. When I went to high school, it was a little easier to get access to the computer terminals. For starters, they had more than one (at one time, they had as many as six operating). We could go before the homeroom bell in the morning, so I?d usually get to school at least 30 minutes before that. There were also two periods a week which were designated to be used for student interests, or extra study periods, so we could use the computer terminals then. And we could use them during any class that we could convince a teacher to excuse us ? I could sometimes get out of studies, gym, or some music classes. During my 10th, 11th, and 12th grade years, I also managed to have my homeroom teacher be the person in charge of the terminals for my school, so that helped. The Springfield School System?s PDP-11 system was run by the math department, and the computer and peripherals were housed in the school department headquarters, which just happened to be right next door to my high school. There, they had VT-52?s (and later VT-100?s) which was a huge step up from the printer terminals in the schools. Certain students were chosen to be ?system managers? and were given privileged accounts. Anyone who did not have a privileged account and wanted to use the terminals in the computer room after school usually was assigned to make runs to McDonald?s or other places for food, and if there happened to be a free terminal when they got back, they might be allowed to use it. Unfortunately, I never happened to have the opportunity to be a system manager. On several occasions I found security holes in the system, and I was honest and told the others about them, so I believe that I was not trusted, and they thought I had other things I was still hiding. I probably would have been better off to just keep quiet about the security holes. The main version of RSTS/E that I recall from those days is 7.07. I do remember the earlier V6C, but I was still a ?beginner? then and didn?t pay much attention to things like operating system versions. They might have even been on a higher version by the time I graduated, but I honestly don?t remember. I?m also not sure which model CPU it was they had, but from the pictures I?ve seen on the net, I?d guess it was an 11/20. There were some fine student programmers running the system in those days. They had done quite a bit of customization to the RSTS/E CUSPs that made it much easier for the students to use. One of the neat things they did was to come up with a translation scheme to translate from the [proj,prog] user notation to a 3 letter + 1 optional digit ?username? scheme. The student would never need to know about ppn?s, or even be aware that they existed. The way that this was done was by dividing the proj number by 10, and indexting that into the alphabet, and then taking the remainder and indexing it into a predetermined 10-character string, then taking the prog number, diving that by 10 and indexing into the alphabet, and if there was a remainder, adding that as a last digit. The string for the middle letter was determined so that most school names could be somehow abbreviated. For example, if ?H? was the 2nd letter of the string, the project number for any CH account would be 21. CH accounts were assigned to ?Classical High? (the school I attended). Other schools had two-letter abbreviations for their school. The computer administrator for each school always had the ?A? account, and could run a privileged program that would allow them to administer accounts (add, delete, change quota, etc) for their project. So the administrator for my school had CHA, and could assign accounts like CHB, CHC, CHD, CHD1, CHD2, etc. All the CUSPs were modified so that you could log in with an account name, do directories of account names, they?d show up in SYSTAT, etc. It was pretty neat, but I know also a headache when a system update cmae out. I know the transition between RSTS V6C and V7 was painful, as the system was down for quite a few days (maybe even weeks) and it was even longer before all CUSPs accepted the alphanumeric account names. I did happen to have some access to the Springfield School System?s RSTS systems a few years later when they were on a higher version, V9 I think, and they had dropped the alphanumeric account system ? probably because the CUSPs became too hard to modify, or too many of them were no longer written in BASIC or had source code available. Unfortunately, the way the computers were run in our school system was not as condusive to learning and exploration as it should have been. Those who had privileged accounts were treated, and acted superior. It took me quite a lot of question asking before I could get any of them to teach me about SYS calls; and of course, all the ones I wanted to experiment with were privileged, and it was about impossible to get any of the privileged users to compile my programs with privileges so I could run them. As I mentioned before, the ?peons? were delegated to food runs and other errands if they went to the central office to try and use a terminal. Also, I was interested in other computers (by this time, I had my own Commodore PET at home) and the other system managers looked at this as a toy. I befriended one system manager, Dave Martinez, who taught me a lot, and was open to letting me absorb as much information as I wanted. Unfortunately, he was not among the ?favorites? of the system managers. Dave somehow got involved with the installation of a RSTS/E system at American International College (AIC), and when it was first unpacked and installed, he called me up and said ?I?m going to sysgen a new system from scratch? do you want to come over and watch?? Of course, I was totally blown away, as I had no idea what was going on ? I had never seen a SYSGEN before, or even heard of it at that. Once their system was established, he allowed me to come to their terminal room (where they had VT-100?s) and although I didn?t have a privileged account, he?d allow me to write privileged code and he?d even leave his keyboard open at times so I could compile my privileged programs without someone looking over my shoulder. Unfortunately, I don?t know what happened to Dave, or where he went, but he was a major influence in my interest into system-level programming. I?ve recently obtained Bob Supnik?s SIMH, and SYSGEN?d a RSTS/E V7-07 system myself. But it feels foreign to me, as much of the customized system software I used in high school is not present, and the numeric proj,prog account scheme really feels foreign to me. I may have some paper listings of the customized CUSPs filed away somewhere, and it might be an interesting albeit time consuming exercise to try and reproduce the alphanumeric account environment we used in the school system. There is other customized software we had (such as a MAIL program, I don?t know if that was custom written but a student, or taken >from somewhere else such as DECUS or another school system), and a HEARTS game implemented in a Run-Time System. I wrote a multi-terminal UNO game (one logged-in user ran it, and added other players on logged-out terminals) which I know I still have paper listings of, and I might endeavor to retype it. It is remotely possible that I still have that program in electronic form somewhere. I am curious to know if anyone has been able to successfully run any later versions of RSTS/E past V7-07 on a simulator. If I read it correctly, the Mentec hobbyist agreement specifically states V7-07 only, and I have not seen any versions later than this available publicly on the net. I know that some later versions of RSTS/E, especially when the DCL RTS was added, became somewhat more sophisticated than earlier versions. I?d be very interested in being able to experiment with some of these later versions in a simulator. RSTS/E was my springboard into the world of computers, and the system that I compared every other computer I used against for quite a while (until I ?met? VMS) - Bob Lafleur Springfield, MA USA

23 years

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test-drb May 2002