test-drb November 2003

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

289 participants
485 discussions

by ian_primus＠yahoo.com

A few minutes ago, I got my PDP-11/73 to boot. I installed the disk controller and connected the hard drive. I typed in the boot program, and booted from the BRU standalone tape. It worked! This time it didn't crash, since it could find the drive controller. It booted up and displayed this: http://24.194.65.231/images/screen1.jpg I haven't figured out how to get past this though. Typing /dev gives me this : http://24.194.65.231/images/screen2.jpg I tried typing in a device name, but it just gives me a syntax error. Hardware wise, I think that everything is working together properly. I don't know how to use the software though... To start off with, I'd like to run a flavor of UNIX on this, since I know UNIX very well. Any reccomendations as to what I should use? BSD 2.11 should work on this, but I don't know how well. In the future though, I'll probably install a PDP specific operating system, like RSX or RT11, and learn that, but at least as I get things going with the hardware, I think I should at least stick to software I know :). Also, once I do get something installed on the hard drive, how do I boot it? Currently, toggling the boot switch doesn't boot the machine. Should it? Will I have to type in a bootstrap code every time, or can I make a ROM do it for me? Here are some more pictures I took of my current setup. This is what the computer looks like at the moment. The side panels are off the rack, and the cables are just hanging around the front for the time being as I am just testing at this point. I'll neatly route them out the back later. I'm currently using a Lear Siegler ADM3A, since it was convenient when I was first hooking it up. Not only that, but I really like the ADM3. Mine's missing two keys, but it works. http://24.194.65.231/images/pdpworking.jpg This is one of the brackets I had to make to mount the Fujitsu Eagle into the rack. It's made out of a Home Depot bracket that originally was wider, and had two little wings coming off the top of it. I think it was intended to join two 2x4's together somehow. I cut it down with a Dremel tool, and drilled new holes in it. It worked out very well. http://24.194.65.231/images/homemadebracket.jpg Ian Primus ian_primus(a)yahoo.com

20 years, 5 months

Source for disk & head cleaning?

by aek＠spies.com

> HP recommends cleaning the heads on the 14" drives with a flat wand, and a cleaning sleeve that fits over it. -- Tex-wipe made them They're called Tex-Sleeves and are a blue plastic split wands that look like oversided tongue depressors (1" x 6") with a lint free cloth sleeve that slides over that like a sock. The ones I have are in storage, will retreive the part numbers for you. I have extras of the plastic parts, but am running out of sleeves. This is exactly the right thing for cleaning 2315/5440 style upper/lower heads.

20 years, 5 months

Free IBM System/36 (5362) and Kienzle 2000 in England

by vcf＠siconic.com

Here's another one. Why does this seem familiar? Didn't I already post this to the list? Or did someone else? At any rate, it just plunked into the hopper so I'm passing it along. An IBM 5362 in England. The address makes no sense to me: I think this is an estate sale company in four locations(?) North Leaze Farm, North Cadbury, Yeovil, Somerset. Take your pick. Sorry, my geography of the UK does not enable me to figure out where this is exactly. Or maybe it IS the address (quite odd by US standards at least). Or maybe it doesn't make sense anyway. Whatever. There's also a Kienzle 2000 "magnetic card accounting computer" which sounds rather cool. Please do contact Bill Longman directly. Reply-to: whclongman(a)hotmail.com ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2003 20:42:14 -0000 From: Bill Longman <whclongman(a)hotmail.com> To: donate(a)vintage.org Subject: Re: Vintage computer equipment immediately available (Free Donation - You Collect): Re: Vintage computer equipment immediately available (Free Donation - You Collect): IBM System/36 5362 A04 (1984) ; Kienzle "2000" (W.Germany 1975) magnetic card accounting computer both execellent/mint condition Sparkford Estates Ltd North Leaze Farm, North Cadbury, Yeovil, Somerset. ENGLAND. BA22 7BD. Tel/Fax +44(0)1963 440239 Ref: VC031117.doc November 17, 2003 Re: Vintage computer equipment immediately available: A). IBM System/36 mini computer Compact 5362 model A02. Initially purchased new in 1984 with 60MB disk and 384Kb memory. Upgraded in 1991 to model A04 with additional 60Mb disk, 256Kb memory and 6157 tape drive. Final specification: System Unit : IBM S/36 5362 A04 (120Mb disk; 640Kb memory; 8" Diskette drive) Tape Drive : IBM 6157/001 Streaming tape drive : IBM 2908 Tape attach System Printer : IBM 5256 Model 3 Displays : 3 x IBM 5291/2 (mono) 2 x IBM 3197 (dual session mono) IBM Software : (full suite) SSP;DFU;SEU;SDA;RPG11;PC Support/36; Tape support 6102. IBM Manuals : (full suite) in IBM binders User Software : Chorus accounts (full suite);Utilities All in excellent/mint condition. Last used year 2000. Kept in unused office since 2000. Due to redevelopment this equipment can no longer be stored and will have to be dumped unless a new owner is found within the next month. Free Donation - You Collect from above address. B). Kienzle "2000" magnetic card reading accounting machine computer initially purchased in 1977 (made W.Germany/75 plate on rear, assume manufactured 1975). Cassette tape program accounts software (full suite); magnetic stripe ledger cards; 20 character (approx) display strip; integral printer. Note accounts data not held on a hard disk, but on magnetic stripe on edge of special ledger cards and is a forerunner of modern day computers. User manuals (Sep 1977); magnetic stripe cards; cassette tape programs. All in excellent/mint condition. Last used year 1984. Kept in unused office since 1984. Due to redevelopment this equipment can no longer be stored and will have to be dumped unless a new owner is found within the next month. Free Donation - You Collect from above address. PLEASE FORWARD TO ANY INTERESTED PARTIES - THANK YOU WHC Longman [Director Sparkford Estates Ltd]. Sparkford Estates Ltd, North Leaze Farm, North Cadbury, Yeovil, Somerset. ENGLAND. BA22 7BD. Tel/Fax: +44(0)1963 440239 E-mail: whclongman(a)hotmail.com -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

20 years, 5 months

Flat Earth?!

by tothwolf＠concentric.net

For those of you who may have wondered where I'd gone, I really didn't fall off the face of the Earth (and contrary to what some folks might believe, the Earth still isn't flat). I'm currently recovering from a multi-drive failure in my RAID-5 array. I was very, very lucky in that only one of the drives died a horrible death, with the 2nd having a semi-recoverable error. The second drive failed before the array could reconstruct itself, and my spare drive was already in use. Had I been running an OS where I didn't have the source, I probably would have lost all of my data (roughly 25-30GB currently), but since I had the source to the RAID software, I think I've managed to recover most everything. Let this be a warning to anyone else with a nice RAID setup who also doesn't keep current backups... My DAT drive died about 6 months ago, and Sony can't seem to cough up a service manual. [If anyone has any surplus DLTtape IIIXT tapes sitting around collecting dust, feel free to contact me off-list. I managed to collect a DLT2000 drive right before my DAT drive died that still hasn't attracted the proper tapes. I'd also like to find an inexpensive source for new or low mileage 4/9/18GB UW SCSI drives, as I think it may be best for me to replace the entire lot of old 9GB drives that made up my RAID-5 array.] I also have a number of things that still need to get sent out to folks. If anyone is expecting anything from me and doesn't hear from me soon, contact me off-list and remind me. -Toth

20 years, 5 months

Article in todays Age about an Australian minicomputer.

by cvisors＠carnagevisors.net

I just read this article, I don't know how accurate it is, but it was a good little read. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/27/1069825880951.html Benjamin

20 years, 5 months

One That Got Away (was: Woohoo! Another DEC score!)

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Nov 27, 22:24, Witchy wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > > From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org > > [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of O. Sharp [...] > > I'm _still_ irked about this... not least of all at myself, for having > > waited too damn long for a "right moment" to ask about this machine. > > Damn it, damn it, damn it. :( > > > > ...There. That's my True Confession(tm). > > Several years ago before I was collecting the company I worked for had > expanded so much there wasn't room to house the old DEC kit we'd acquired > over the years. I didn't have room at home and couldn't find anyone who was > interested to take it so many things got tossed; VT52s, VT100s, VT102s, a > VT180 (I kept the disks), RL02s, TS11 or two, TU81, MicroVAXen, MicroPDPs, > terminal servers........etc etc etc....gah! OK, mine concerns a PDP-11/40. When I got it, it wasn't in a rack, just lying on the floor, minus the power supply, a few wires cut, a bit of rust here and there, and no docs. At the time I didn't have a Unibus machine with a full lights-and-switches front panel, so I took it anyway. After 2 or 3 years of lying on *my* floor, I gave up trying to get a power supply sorted out, and gave it away to someone whom I suspect broke it up. The sad thing is that it had a full complement of boards in the CPU (my present 11/40 has no FPU, no MMU, etc) and a few extra goodies. Moreover, it turns out to have been been one used for the developmenmt of MUMPS, so it was actually a more historic machine than many. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 5 months

eclipse s-20 arrives in phoenix!

by esharpe＠uswest.net

eclipse s-20 arrives in phoenix! Thanks Bill from Tucson and VCF for bringing it to our attention.. next item... need a pretty blue dasher terminal to have next to it and some manuals and diagrams.... also interested in any first hand stories and history about this line of systems to add to the museum web site. Thanks! Ed Sharpe Archivist for SMECC See the Southwest Museum of Engineering, Communications and Computation online at: http://www.smecc.org

20 years, 5 months

Computer terminology and political correctness

by danjr＠voyager.net

Right, what's next they will go after male and female connectors? This is absurd, and the person who complained is a moron. > Wait until they figure out that two male connectors need an adaptor to > connect. > > > > _____________________________________________________ > This message scanned for viruses by CoreComm >

20 years, 5 months

Source for disk & head cleaning?

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I think I posted a query about this before, but don't recall any answers.... HP recommends cleaning the heads on the 14" drives with a flat wand, and a cleaning sleeve that fits over it. They also recommend the same device for cleaning the fixed platter, through an access port next to the heads. I seem to recall that old Microdata Reflex drives I used to work on wanted the same thing. You put the sleeve on the flat wand (the wand is much like a tongue depressor in shape, but a bit longer, and plastic), dampen with ISO 91, rest it on the platter through the access port, and slowly turn the hub by hand. I have searched the net, and can't seem to find a source for these wands and cleaning sleeves anywhere. I would have thought they'd still be around. Does anyone have a source for these? Thanks! Jay West --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]

20 years, 5 months

Some cool finds and info needed

by jrkeys＠concentric.net

Yesterday I go a Apple G3 (White) iBook with a cracked screen for $22.50 but it still looks cool. Today I was given a card from Future Domain Corp. called a Apple Signal SCSI Port, TMC-850MER? Anyone have some info on this? At a thrift I got a very heavy black case with a Motorola Reader/Programmer in the top half and a Digital Analyzer/Controller in the bottom half. Mounted on the top cover is a Motorola RTL-5820A PROM socket and there is a spare one store in the cover RTL-5821, There are also several cables in this storage area. I got no manuals with it and would like more information if someone has worked with one of these before?

20 years, 5 months

← Newer
1
...
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
...
49
Older →

Jump to page:

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

test-drb November 2003