Antonio Carlini <arcarlini(a)iee.org> wrote:
> I doubt that non-hobbled firmware exists. I doubt you
> could just use the UV3100-96 firmware upgrade on a
> UV3100-85 and have it work. In fact, I guess the firmware
> is the same but it looks at the machine's hardware (e.g.
> size and config of backup cache or something like that)
> to determine what it is running on, and disables the VIC
> if it thinks the machine is a UV3100-85.
Umm, I don't think so. It looks like the firmware is the only difference
between M85 and the equivalent M9x model and the hardware is the same. In this
case flashing M9x firmware would obviously give you the M9x model. But even if
the M85 board was really different in B-cache or something from all M9x models,
I doubt that the firmware could detect this by "looking at the hardware". AFAIK
it's the firmware that has to tell the chips how the board is configured, not
the other way around.
If indeed the hobbled and non-hobbled firmware are the same code, what it looks
at to make the decision is most probably a flag in the second longword of the
ROM.
> The easiest thing to do would be to try reenabling the VIC.
> If that is not enough, you would have to find the bit of code
> that disables the VIC and NOP it out.
Well, if it munges the microcode I would go for option 2 in any case.
BTW, do you know for sure that it really munges the microcode and not just
disables the VIC in the same way normal caches from CVAX onward can be enabled
and disabled as you like?
MS
> Add to that Sellam's consistent slander of Texas and
> Texans, ever since George Dubbya took office.? I despise Bush, but I
> *am* a native Texan, and am proud of that.? Sellam's comments to me, in
> private email, are even more culturally oriented.
>
> ? It is not the first time on this list, and Texans have not been his
> only target for cultural slurs and epithets.? As this is a decidedly
> multi-national and multi-cultural forum, it's always surprised me that
> the list-members in general put up with it.
>
Hello everyone, I don't know Doc, at least I'm not sure. Many of us have
never met others in person. I have however met Sellam, and I've corresponded
with him many time over the years. Sellam, you've always been very nice and
professional to me online and also when we met at the First East Coast
Vintage Computer Festival. But, I feel a need to say that your language and
personal attacks to people on list has really gotten out of hand. Doc, you
did yourself no favors the moment you also used the "F" word in response.
There have of course, also been some others here exhibiting bad language,
etc., in the past.
For anyone who doesn't know, when someone attacks a person personally,
instead of attacking their viewpoint, this is called an Ad Hominem attack -
ad hom?i?nem adj. Appealing to personal considerations rather than to logic
or reason: Debaters should avoid ad hominem arguments that question their
opponents' motives. Whether you are attacking their race, place of birth,
religion, sex, or yes, even choice of ISP. If everyone will excuse me a
moment, my politics are simple on social behavior - I don't care what any
consenting adults do in private, but keep it private. You can engage in gay
or "normal" sex, do drugs, curse your head off, who cares. Keep it private
and between adults only. This forum is public, and there are probably some
minors who subscribe or peruse the archives later. You have a social
responsibility to keep any and all antisocial, uncivil behavior off-line. All
of this out-of-line behavior that has been allowed to carry on this list is
out of control regularly now.
I voted for and overall like President Bush. Sellam, Doc . . . oh, am I a big
jerk or stupid now?! But of course, this has nothing to do with our hobby and
needn't ever have been revealed here. It's immature and frankly unrealistic
to think that your little "swipe" or "joke" in regard to politics is amusing
to everyone. Or, even that it impresses anyone. None of us are here to listen
to anyone's political agenda. Or their viewpoint on business ethics and
copyright law, etc. Unless these concepts are discussed in regard to a
historical, classic computer system(s) or related.
Is anyone in charge here? Is there any policing of list etiquette? Even just
internal by other members? Are there more of you out there like me? Is
everyone happy with this stuff?! I'm very tired of it. I may not "discuss"
much on here, but I read every one and I'm just as much a "member" here.
Can we please have discussion on topic, and behavior that does not insult or
offend anyone?! It's really not that hard, it just takes some discipline.
Simply treat any other person the way you want to be treated - with respect I
imagine.
There, I finally did it, posted for all to see. This is ridiculous the
behavior that goes on here. Civil behavior is all that we have to keep the
foundation of our culture "civilized." All the other stuff becomes secondary.
Regards to everyone on list, David
David Greelish
Classic Computing
www.classiccomputing.com
"classiccomputing" on eBay
>
I have an IBM 5322. I can't find any useful information on the web. It
looks very much like a System/23 Datamaster. Is it one and the same?
Next question:
When I boot it up it comes up with a display as follows:
07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A
-- -- --
1B 1C 1D 1E 1F 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 2A 2B 2C 2D 2E
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
2F 30 31 32 33 34[35]36 37 38 39 FD
-- --
4A
The hyphens underneath numbers indicate that those numbers are underlined,
and the square brackets indicate that that number is inversed video.
Does anyone know what this means?
Last question:
I press the RESET button and it clears the screen and goes into what looks
to be a prompt mode. It had "PROC START" on the bottom, so I entered this
as a command. Now a status line on the bottom has "OPTION 10" with the
"10" blinking and I can't figure out what to do.
Does anyone know what is going on? How do I boot from the floppy drive?
Anyone got an OS disk? A manual?
Thanks!
--
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 *
Michael,
> (Jumping on my horse again, making Ultrix run on VS3100 M76 would take a
> screenful of code. I have the source if anyone wants to take a stab.)
I have the Ultrix V4.50 source tree [no comment] and will be porting it to
the M76, *and* (which is my target) my beloved 4000-700A. And life will be
great if I can find a 705A CPU for that box.
--f
On Jan 18, 10:23, Jules Richardson wrote:
> > Do either of you think you have a Disc 1 for it?
>
> no discs at all I'm afraid :-( hence why I was asking about whther
there's a
> sensible ftp site to put them on so if a working set can be collected at
least
> they can be archived somewhere (the same goes for manuals really, but
scanning
> those would be a major pain I expect!)
Well, someone else has offered to copy Disc 1 for me. I've also found a
few other people who have ARM Evaluation Systems, so once I get a good Disc
1, I'll put the set of six on my website (and if anyone from any of the
Beeb sites wants to make a copy, that's fine by me). Any suggestions as to
format to use for the images?
I've also just been told that the production run of ARM (not ARM2) chips
was 2000. I know some were used in-house for other types of development
system (like the A500) and more were used for Springboard (an ISA card, the
PC equivalent of the ARM Development System), so 50 or 100 seem likely
numbers for the quantity of ARM Development Kits made to fit Beebs.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
On Jan 18, 12:49, Adrian Vickers wrote:
> At 06:41 18/01/2003, Ethan Dicks wrote:
>
> >I bring it up because I _think_ you are talking about the original
> >chicklet-keyboard SRAM PET, but you didn't come right out and say so.
>
> Apologies, I didn't; I keep forgetting that the 2001 went through more
> development than perhaps any of the other PETs. Yes, it is a chicklet
> keyboard version, with static RAM (2114's) and original 28-pin MOS ROMs.
> Well, there are no unpolulated sockets, so perhaps it's a fair bet that
> there's some extra stuff in there. Goodness knows what, though, all the
> ROMs are MOS 6540's.
Then there's no extras. The MOS Technology 6540 ROMs are half the capacity
of the 2332s in later boards, so there are seven of them in a standard PET
and no spare sockets.
> Figures :( I've had to do this once already to locate a broken 2114
(when
> I got the machine, it claimed only 1600 bytes of memory were free).
> Luckily, I have one more spare 2114 (I got two from someone on this list,
I
> forget who [for which I apologise] and thank them (again) profusely, as
if
> it is a broken 2114, there's a chance the second spare might be
essential).
I think it was me (and I think you already said thankyou :-))
> Also, I know this has been asked & answered before, but what's the best
way
> of cleaning the board? It has more dust on it than I am properly
> comfortable with, and besides it looks horrible.
>
> I'm guessing that *ideally* it should be washed in distilled water with a
> very soft brush, then left in a warm place to dry thoroughly. OTOH, maybe
> alcohol would be a better idea? I have some disc head cleaning alcohol
> which would suffice - recommendations please!
Start by vacuuming it with a powerful vacuum and a soft, small, paintbrush
(about 1/2" - 1") to help disldge the dirt. You might not need to wash it
after that. It's not too important for a board like this, but the air
rushing through a plastic vacuum nozzle can generate a surprising amount of
static, so ideally the nozzle should be conductive, and grounded.
If you do wash it, use some detergent, do not get it too hot, rinse with
distilled water and a *very small* amount of wetting agent (to help the
water drain). Blowing off the excess with low-pressure compressed air
and/or rinsing in IPA or meths (which mix with water and helps remove it)
may also be a good idea. Do make sure you get all the water out of places
like IC sockets, switches, and connectors, as residues may eventually lead
to corrosion.
In extreme cases, or where I've had a lot of boards to clean, I've used the
dishwasher -- but do not let the dishwasher do the normal drying cycle as
it's too hot for safety. Some dishwashers seem to use very hot water, too,
and some types of PCB and some types of plastic don't like that. Don't use
a dishwasher on boards that have non-sealed relays, transformers, paper
labels, etc.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Hi, Ade.
On Jan 18, 12:55, Adrian Vickers wrote:
> It's not *quite* as bad as all that, it uses 2114's. Although they're not
> made of unobtainum, they ARE made of "rareium" (or R@RE!ium on eBay -
> probably the *WOW* *L@@K* isotope, knowing my luck :).
Good! If it *is* a RAM fault, and you can't find one at a reasonable
price, let me know. I think I still have a small number spare.
> AFAICT, these are version 1 ROMs. Every socket is filled, and they're all
> MOS6540s.
Drat. Let's hope it's not a ROM fault. Sadly, my copy of "The PET
Revealed" with its mostly-legible (!) circuit diagrams, shows the later
board with 2332s. But I do have a copy of the MPS6540 pinout somewhere.
> Harrumph. Guess which one it has...
>
> Still, I've no fear of making carriers, etc. - albeit time constraints &
> lack of equipment will make it tough right now - at least until I can get
> my MicroMAT going.
>
> >The good news, though, is that I have a
> >chicklet-keyboard 2001-N as well, and if necessary, I could probably do
a
> >ROM dump for you (though IIRC it used to be on the 'net somewhere). I
> >wouldn't need to move more than a few hundreweight of stuff to get at it
> >;-)
>
> That might be cool (and *snap* about the tons of stuff, although having
> seen your little collection I think you do have rather more to shift
about
> than me!). However, let me try out the RAM swapping & chip re-seating
> first, and if that doesn't fix it, then we'll look into EPROMs &
suchlike.
OK. Give me shout if you want me to start burrowing. Or come and pay a
visit...
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
On Jan 18, 13:28, Adrian Vickers wrote:
> Turned out to be dead simple; yet another blown 2114.
>
> I figured the chip @ $0400 (i.e. the start of BASIC) was faulty, seeing
as
> how the machine wouldn't take a single line of BASIC. So, I swapped the
> appropriate bank out to another bank - and presto! BASIC worked again.
Good!
> Having done this, I then swapped *one* of the two chips (according to the
> schematic, there are two chips for each $0400 block of memory - why is
> this?)
A 2114 is 1K x 4 bits wide, so they're used in pairs to make bytes.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
>From: "Dennis Eldridge" <bones(a)northrock.bm>
>
>It's always fascinated me how people have such strong opinions of one
particular drive manufacturer over another. Commonly one will say that they
have a certain make of drive and it's never failed them and they've tried this
other one and they're dying left and right, etc. ad nauseum.
>
>I come at this issue from the perspective of a field service engineer and
subsequently independant consultant. The fact is that, particularly with IDE
drives, no matter the manufacturer, it's purely the luck of the draw whether one
is blessed with a good production run. I get the feeling that, to cut costs,
Hi
I would say it is true in general that the luck of the draw is
the case but having worked for a computer manufacture, I can
tell you that at least one manufacture produced a line of drives
that were pure junk. Most of the drives would not last a 36 hour
running period ( well, not most but about 30% ). This is way
beyond luck of the draw.
Being a system manufacture, we worked with the drive manufacture
on resolving the problem. It was never resolved to any useful
level. We finally switched manufactures but it cost us a lot.
The fact is that there are lemons out there, by design. The
Segate 225's had a stiction problem that wasn't solved until
the end of that products line. The drive we were having problems
with were 2 and 4 gig drives. These had a servo information
corruption problem ( that by design would always fail over time ).
Dwight
most manufacturers have the QC people working a couple of days a week, and even
then they're not exactly the best paid position in the sweatshop. The same goes
for cars - you just find the one you're psychologically comfortable with. No
bearing on statistical reality, but to the buyer that manufacturer's product
will always be superior, and faults will be more tolerable than those of the
manufacturer who's product is "in the doghouse" for whatever reason.
>
>As for Dell going the way of PacBell, etc., well I can only say we've got what
we asked for. We wanted cheap computing, we got cheap computing. If they
raised their standards and correspondingly their prices, we'd run like heck to
the next guy who offered their system for a couple of quid less. If you want a
rock-solid system with total manufacturer's support and guaranteed uptime and
all that jazz, you'd have to shell out over $50,000 plus support contracts, etc.
Just like in the old days of some of the larger systems we discuss on this
forum. Just my $12.34 (Like everything else here in Bermuda, my opinion has to
be shipped here and customs duty paid <grin>).
>
>With apologies for the rant,
>
>Dennis (not Miller :-)
Antonio Carlini <arcarlini(a)iee.org> wrote:
> The VIC can
> be disabled by "patching" the NVAX in some dynamic way (presumably
> non-reversibly or at least only reversible in an obscure way).
I assume the NVAX microcode was patched via its PCS facility by the boot
firmware, not by making a different NVAX die with different microcode I hope,
right? If so the abomination is to be reversed by reflashing the boot ROM with
non-hobbled firmware (stolen from a friend with a non-hobbled machine). They
had flash ROMs like all other NVAXen, right?
MS
