test-drb June 2002

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

205 participants
502 discussions

by Antonio.Carlini＠riverstonenet.com

>At my last place of employment, we built really huge routers. Our >only competitor that had a product somewhat comparable to ours (and no, >it wasn't Cisco or Juniper) somehow managed to make their box so heavy >that it exceeded the NEBS standard for floor loading. They had to >reinforce the floor at their field test sites. Fortunately our product I guess that competitor must have been Avici then? I wonder how soon these high-end routers will start to fall into hobbyist hands .... Antonio

22 years, 1 month

I hate Radio Shack

by dwightk.elvey＠amd.com

>From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk > >> The guy there is accustomed to seeing me come in for DE9 connectors, >> hoods, & computer stuff, and always asks "What are you building this >> time?" He doesn't know anything, but at least he's curious... I found >> a push-button rated at 3A, 125VAC, and brought it up. Darrell says >> "Building one from scratch now, are ya?" I told him no, it's a starter >> switch for my pickup. He refused to sell it to me, because "Those >> starters pull 20 or 30 amps, and that's *DC*, too! That switch will > >Hmm... In every UK car I have worked on, the starter motor itself draws >about 600A on-load from the battery. This current is switched by the >starter solenoid contacts which acts (in part -- it also moves the >pinion into mesh with the flywheel) as a large relay. > >But the solenoid coil draws significant current as well. There are >typically 2 windings, one to pull the core in, one to hold it. The >former typically draws about 17A, the latter about 4A. > >Now, admittedly the former should only operate until the solenoid has >pulled in, But if there are problems (a typical one is a relatively high >high resistance connection in the circuit which limits the current to >(say) 10A -- the solenoid will then not pull in and disconnect the first >winding), then the current through the switch will be a lot higher than >you might expect. > >I certainly wouldn't use a 3A AC swtich for a starter solenoid operating >button. It's way underrated. > >-tony > > Hi I have never seen this on a solenoid type of starter relay. The switches on the solenoid were always for the ignition resistor bypass and the main switch for the starter motor. The only time I've seen this is on the Ford type starter where the pull in for the gear comes from a pole piece in the started motor. The pole piece would pull in and change the field to be series with the motor armature. There was a separate solenoid that powered this and it always had the full coil current and only switched the current to the starter and the ignition resistor bypass. Pinball machines do have what is called a EOS ( end of stroke ) switch that is used on flippers to reduce the current for holding. Dwight

22 years, 1 month

Bulk Tape Eraser / 486 Linux box problem SCSI

by john_boffemmyer_iv＠boff-net.dhs.org

Now you two have really given me an idea. Scary as that might be. Building a computer desk and office out of failed computer parts. Now, just to win the damned lottery so I can actually spend at least 5 minutes a day figuring out how to obtain enough parts and break them down into something workable. Grin. On another note: This is on topic since ALL equipment except the replacement hard drive are over 10 years old. I have a 486x33Mhz with pure 30pin SIMMS (no 72 mix here) maxed out at 16MB (16 of these x 1MB), with EISA bus. I have an Adaptec 1740A SCSI controller, a Trident ISA video card, a Creative Labs Sound Blaster ISA, a DCA ISA / MCA Token Ring Adapter (obviously using the ISA), a 10Mbit ISA NIC, Generic I/O card with floppy and IDE, 32x IDE CD-ROM and a Seagate Elite 9 ST410800N 10/9GB SCSI drive (set to ID 0 since the 1740A insists that you use ID 0 to boot the machine). I am trying to load Slackware 7.1 on it. Problem: how do I get the damned install from floppy to see the CD-ROM and see the hard drive properly? It goes to start the installer and it comes up loading the initial install kernal with this error: SCSI host found at (0) Unable to load SCSI host (0) Now, mind you, I can see and play with the damned drive in PC DOS 7, booted >from Floppy. Why not in Linux? I am removing hair at this point since it took me 2 weeks to restore the system to a working state as it is. Also, anyone know of a friggin GUI utility that allows you to still use the keyboard (tab, space bar, etc) for drive partitioning and editing to set up a Linux partition (possibly as a bootable util from a floppy?)? Guessing in a command prompt really blows. The plan is to get it up as an actual server on the broadband cable here so I can offer email and web space in the future (trying to help friend of mine over at dhs.org unload some of the users on his aging server and bring them up to date). Any input will be greatly appreciated. -John -John At 11:44 AM 6/19/02, you wrote: > > From: Chris > > > > > Or a drink coaster. The circuit boards is good as a backer for a > > >notepad. And use the cases for banks, letter holder, pen holder, etc... > > > > Humm... I have a few dead drives here... maybe I'll yank the boards, use > > some small hinges, and make myself a note pad case (I've seen them for > > sale before, but never with components on them) > > > > But I think if I start making all my office desk items from used computer > > parts, then the staff here will REALLY think I have gone insane... then > > again, maybe that will be a good thing, they'll stay out of my office > > (barricading the door and covering the floor with electronic junk hasn't > > stopped them... it just makes them trip when trying to come near my desk) > > > Well, the 3' x 5' Jolly Roger flag on my wall has slowed them down a >bit. :) Not to mention that my "office" is really in the back of the printer >room, I just used some 7' cabinets to form a wall, so my office is sort of >"hidden". > >-- >--- David A Woyciesjes >--- C & IS Support Specialist >--- Yale University Press >--- (203) 432-0953 >--- ICQ # - 905818 >Mac OS X 10.1 - Darwin Kernel Version 5 >Running since 01/22/2002 without a crash ---------------------------------------- Founder, Lead Writer, Tech Analyst and Web Designer Boff-Net Technologies http://boff-net.dhs.org/index.html ---------------------------------------

22 years, 1 month

new toy DG Nova 4X

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

> the first unit. I did leave behind the hard drives (that may have been a > mistake). Does anyone have info on these? I don't have any info, however, leaving the Hard Drives was almost definitely a mistake! Now, get in your vehicle and go back and get them! Zane

22 years, 1 month

Weird RAM

by jimw＠agora.rdrop.com

On Fri, 21 Jun 2002 23:39:50 -0400 (EDT) William Donzelli wrote: >The other weirdness to pass my eye (but managed to get) is a small >package of chips. These are "purple" DIPs, 16 or 18 pins (can't recall >offhand), with two LCCCs piggybacked. This method of construction is >common in very high end memory chips and military assemblies. The LCCCs >are Mosteks, and some are clearly labelled MK4116 with 1980-ish >datecodes. Memory, probably, the good 'ol 16K DRAM. >But the weirdness...two DRAMs on a package is pretty weird (I suppose >making a 32Kx 1 or 16K x 2), but these things have Apple logos. >Huh? IIRC: these were used for a 256k RAM upgrade on Apple III's. -jim --- jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw

22 years, 1 month

Foxboro PCP-88 (PDP-8)

by foo＠siconic.com

According to this FAQ: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dec-faq/pdp8-models/section-2.html ...the PDP-8 was OEM'd to a company called Foxboro Corporation that re-badged it as the PCP-88. Has anyone ever seen a PCP-88? I would assume it is functionally and physically equivalent to a DEC PDP-8? 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 *

22 years, 1 month

Foxboro PCP-88 (PDP-8)

by xds_sigma7＠hotmail.com

Hmm... core and and a single-chip 12-bit microprocessor sounds pretty unlikely.. Plus, I'm fairly sure Fabritek made its own computers at one point in time, and I doubt they were clones of anything.. Then again, I can't say I've ever found any actual info on them, either. Will J _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

22 years, 1 month

Bulk Tape Eraser / 486 Linux box problem SCSI

by mythtech＠mac.com

>how the hell do I clean off / smooth off >the boards to make them flat enough to mount to a wall, etc without the >nasty sharp solder hang-offs and chips, etc. hanging off and getting in the >way.... I would leave all the stuff on. Adds to the whole look. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

22 years, 1 month

What's the best way to slurp up DEC RX50s?

by geoffr＠zipcon.net

I know if they are RX-50's for the rainbow, RainDOS lets you read and write them on a IBM compatible with a 1.2MB 5 1/4" drive At 11:10 AM 6/21/02 +0100, you wrote: > >Primary goal is backup - TELEDISK should do that. Secondary goal is > >to produce image files suitable for use with simh and E-11. > >Backup implies an ability to restore, and, at least >for me, TELEDISK has problems doing that. On my system >(which at the time was a K6 233MHz machine) 3.5" >disks could be restored without issue but 5.25" >disks could not be reliably restored (this seemed >to apply to both 360KB and 1.2MB disks). I assume >that restoring RX50s will be no easier. > >It might just have been my system, it might just >have been my copy of TELEDISK (there seem to be >multiple copies floating around) but it did not >fill me with confidence. > >Is the TELEDISK format freely available? If not, >restoring your disks may be difficult once the >last PC has expired! > >BACKUP/PHYSICAL has the advantage that you can at >least work out where each block ends up (since the >BACKUP source listings are available). > >(If anyone has suggestions for "imaging" 360KB >floppies, 1.2MB floppies and RX50s using PC hardware >running Windows or Linux or NetBSD, I'm all ears. >Preference given to those with practical experience >of restoring the data afterwards ... I'm not keen >to run through several hundred floppies just on >the off-chance it will be worthwhile.) > >Antonio

22 years, 1 month

Bulk Tape Eraser / 486 Linux box problem SCSI

by mythtech＠mac.com

>Scary as that might be. Building >a computer desk and office out of failed computer parts. Now, just to win >the damned lottery so I can actually spend at least 5 minutes a day >figuring out how to obtain enough parts and break them down into something >workable. If a guy here in NJ can build an entire castle and property out of garbage and broken stuff, you should be able to handle some office furniture. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

22 years, 1 month

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test-drb June 2002