I have, in some big piles here, a couple sets of every VAX/VMS
CD-ROM Condist from 1991 or so to the present day. In many cases
there are three or four identical copies.
I also have a lot of Ultrix (VAX + MIPS) condists up through 1998
or whenever they stopped issuing them. There are some copies of the
Y2K kits too.
These are mostly "Software Product Library" and "Documentation" sets,
so they're largely layered products, but some of them have bootable
install kits too.
I want to get these kits to hobbyists (is there a Ultrix hobbyist
license? Of course there's a VMS one) in as widespread a manner as
possible. It'd be easy for me to dump the whole big pile on one guy,
but that's not the most efficient way to distribute them, as he'd
just be in the same situation that I'm currently in.
I'd prefer to not be distributing copies; I want to get the original
condists out to folks who want them and will actually use them.
Any suggestions as to how to do this in a way that's fair to both me
and the recipient? I don't want to E-bay them, but I also don't want
to foot the bill myself for shipping out hundreds of these kits.
Tim.
Hi,
Anyone out there have schematics or info for the DG Nova 3?
I'm restoring one, and am having PS troubles. I could
really use CPU and console schematics too.
Thanks!
Eric Rothfus
eric(a)rothfus.com
> From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk
>
> > But, yes, I agree. Those hubs are the only time _I've_ seen RJ-45
> > used for serial communication.
>
> Perhaps somebody can explain why 10baseT ethernet is not 'serial
> communication' ( :-) )
>
> -tony
>
Okay, Tony. You got me. I guess I should've said "...used for RS-232
communication."
Or would it be RS-432? :P
--
--- 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
>What you really need is a PC driver that accepts the fact it isn't
>the highest priority device, and leaves the bus reset line alone.
Don't forget that the MicroVAX 3100 console
also assumes that it is the only master on
the bus. I don't think anyone envisaged doing
this sort of thing at the time that was written.
Later on (sometime during Alpha development)
consoles became a little brighter and a shared
SCSI bus (mainly for OpenVMS clustering) became
possible.
Antonio
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
Contact the original sender directly if you are interested in these
magazines.
Reply-to: <john-patrick.stacey(a)wadham.oxford.ac.uk>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 2 May 2002 09:47:04 +0100 (BST)
From: J-P <john-patrick.stacey(a)wadham.oxford.ac.uk>
Subject: Amiga / Spectrum magazines
Hi,
I have a few years' worth of Amiga Format (1992-1994-ish) and some Crash,
Amiga Computing, Sinclair User etc. plus odds and ends. I'd love to donate
them, certainly to get them off my hands!
Do you have anyone in the UK that can take them off me?
J-P
--
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 *
> From: Alex White <meltie(a)myrealbox.com>
> If they are both plugged into the mains and it's a total
> crash/scrambling of the system, my first instinct is an earth loop,
> waddya think guys?
>
> Alex
Nah, this is a common symptom of a program which failed to LOAD properly --
the machine may lose its mind and display garbage, requiring a power-fail.
Check the tape and the cassette unit.
Glen
0/0
Again and again, whenever enough time passes for me to
forget how utterly incompetent these people are, and then
I place an order for something - or should I say try to
place an order for something - those neurons are refreshed
with a new memory of exactly how much they *always* screw it up,
and they try again to refresh the other neurons that
tell me to never, ever expect anything but idiocy from
that place, and that it's only useful if I can push them
aside, get what I want, and get out without giving them
the chance to screw it up. I needed to vent. Thank you.
- John
Hi Owen,
----- Original Message -----
From: Owen Robertson <univac2(a)earthlink.net>
> I had an experience where a RadioShack employee didn't know what a
> null-modem adapter was. And several experience where in the middle of
> describing what I'm looking for, I look at the salesman's face,
> and realize
> that he has no clue what I'm talking about. So I guess when you
> walk into a
> RadioShack store, and someone asks if they can help you, and you
> tell them
> no, you're being quite literal - They *can't* help you.
This must be a US thing, in general, in Oz, they seem to be a much more
knowledgable bunch. But, the drift has been away from electronic
components to consumer electronics, that's the market these days, so
you can't really expect them to know much about things other than that.
cheers,
Lance
----------------
Powered by telstra.com
> From: Jeff Hellige <jhellige(a)earthlink.net>
> I've often considered doing such a mod to my Spectrum so that
> I could use it. I've got the directions for adding composite-out to
> the Spectrum around here somewhere. That or feed it's output into
> the input of my Amiga 3000's TBC+ and have it do the signal
> conversion on the fly. The TBC+ is supposed to be capable of such a
> thing but I've never actually tried it to see how usable the
> resulting signal would be.
Tony should be better able to advise you on the UK machines than I am, but
a friend of mine has some of the Timex of Portugal (NOT Timex Computer
Corp.) machines and a PAL-to-NTSC converter did the trick for him. They
cost over $50, though.
Glen
0/0
