Picked up a iMMIX videocube today auction and have been trying to find out
more about it on the web? Most of the links are bad that have gotten back
doing a google search. In the same lot was a PowerPC 8100/100 tower and a
6116CD.
>> On another list I am on, we were discussing why DOS is still used today
>> (basic answer, because its working just fine, so why upgrade).
>> The following questions were posed that I don't know the answer to, but
>> someone here might.
>
>The questions are meaningless without clarification and/or parameters.
I was trying to leave it vague, specifically because I WANTED to elict
discussions like "Does Voyager count?". I wanted to see what the general
opinions of list members were regarding what they felt was the oldest
computer or computer system still in regular use. If I tried to clarify
it too much, then I risked people not answering because they felt it
didn't qualify (I'll be the judge of what I feel doesn't qualify for
myself, but I wanted all opinons regardless).
>> 1: What is the oldest computer or comptuer system still in normal
>> operational use
>
>You havn't even clarified whether you mean individual machine, or design.
>Individual machine: stonehenge
>design: abacus
Although both are valid, I was really after an electronic computer
(although I don't care if it is digital or analog).
Actually, answers like these are why I left it vague. I hadn't even
thought about either answer, and both are fully valid. They are old
"computing" systems, still operating today. Had I clarified my question
with specific parameters, then you might not have suggested them as
possible answers.
>> 2: What is the oldest that is connected to the internet
>
>Continuously connected? or just the oldest machine that is now connected?
>For example: if today somebody connects a Univac, would that count?
>Are you really after which machine is the oldest of those that are
>connected? or are you REALLY after whgich machine has been connected
>longest?
I'm just curious what the oldest someone has gotten connected to the
internet is. So someone finding a way to connect a Univac, even if it is
just for 10 minutes to see if it can be done would be acceptable to me.
This question had a 2nd part to it that asked what was the oldest that
was hosting a web site (although in rethinking my own question, I would
accept any kind of public accessable internet connected server be it web,
ftp, telnet, or whatever). So this part would imply a longer duration
connection.
BUT, you also bring up an interesting 4th question... what computer has
been connected to the internet the longest (and in addition, which one
has the longest single continious uptime of internet connection and how
long is/was that)
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
> Wonder if Storageworks ever offered
> an SDI/RA* series converter?
Now that would be nice! Unfortunatly to the best of my knowledge they
didn't. Something like that would be nice for my MicroVAX III.
Zane
A month or so ago someone on the lsit was fussing that they couldn't
find any ZIF type PLCC sockets. I picked up a small cirucit board that has
a Textool 64 pin PLCC ZIF socket on it. You can have it for the cost of
shipping if you need it. The ZIF socket is mounted in a soldered on socket
but isn't soldered itself. The socket is bolted to a metal plate that's
bolted to the circuit board. You'll have to take ti apart yourself.
Joe
Went to one of my favorite scrounging places today and found that they
had a forest of HP cabinents! They had all been dumped off of a truck and
were piled up and leaning on each other like a bunch of dominoes. I stood
up as many as I could and nearly lost three fingers in the process when a
HP tape drive swung open and scissored on my hand! Luckily someone else was
there to grab the drive and swing it closed. But it was worth it! I found a
lot of HP 7970E tape drives, a bunch of HP 7912 disk drives (and some of
them even say that their heads were locked down!), a HP Multiprogrammer, a
bunch of HP power supplies AND (drum roll!) ONE LOADED HP 1000! This beast
is a 2117F and has the floating point unit, an expansion chassis, a 13037D
(MAC?) disk drive interface, a 7906D disk drive and a 7970 Tape drive and
even the battery power backup. The computer is LOADED. It has 3x 256k
(words) high performance memory boards, 2x 512k HS error correcting memory
baords, an ECC memory controller, a I/O Buffer card, two sets of 7970 tape
drive controller cards, two Line Printer controller cards, a time base
card, a 13037 interface card, an HP-IB interface and three BACI
(communications) cards and the manadatory MEM, DC PC and Mem Protect cards.
The expansion chassis has three programmable direct connect serial
interfaces, a BUS I/O card, and two more BACI cards. I got EVERYTHING that
wasn't nailed down including the cables! The CPU has the followoing Loader
ROMs installed; 264x Terminal, "12992-50000", 79xx Disk and 7905/20 Disk.
Does anyone know what the "12992-50000" is? 12992 is the right pre-fix for
the loader rom PNs but I've heard of a -50000 ROM and it's not listed in
any of the docs that I can find.
Joe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for your replies! From today's digest, they are:
?. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Fred Cisin,
from an earlier digest)
2. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Ethan Dicks)
4. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Jochen Kunz)
7. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Peter Turnbull)
11. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Tony Duell)
12. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Tony Duell)
Including all of these messages in my reply would be a
misuse of bandwidth. Please see the original text of the
replies.
? Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Fred Cisin)
from yesterday's digest?
Fred asks if we have considered substituting 1.2M 5.25"
drives. Hmmmm. I didn't know there were such drives.
I know of DSDD 360K 5.25 drives and 1.44M 3.5 drives,
even 720K 5.25 drives, but not 1.2M 5.25 drives.
On the general subject of using a substitute drive. I
have actually been considering if this could be done. I
have not suggested doing that because I need to find out
the feasibility. I would hope we could at least get into
the 1990s with a 1.44M 3.5 in floppy drive.
2. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Ethan Dicks)
4. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Jochen Kunz)
7. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Peter Turnbull)
12. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Tony Duell)
These replies will probably be helpful to someone with a
hardware background (which I'm not). They point out the
complexities of substituting one type of drive
for another. This level of complexity is about what I
expected.
11. Re: Working 8" Floppy drives??? (Tony Duell)
Your answer is not silly at all. I didn't know whether
such drives would be very rare or plentiful in the
"vintage" market. I see now that there are "plenty" of
them. The obvious questions, once I know what drives are
compatible, are: Are they actually for aale? How much
will each cost? What condition are they in? I don't
think my client is prepared to pay for "priceless
antiques". He considers these to simply be old hardware
that he needs to buy.
The client has been repairing the drives for years. They
are in heavy constant use. I get the impression that
they are simply getting too fragile to repair.
The client seems to have the impression that 8" floppy
drives are very hard to find. While I think that
upgrading the system to be based on, say, 1990 technology
rather than 1980 technology is a good idea, I am sure
they can make the existing system work for quite a while
with an adequate supply of replacement drives.
Regards,
Nick Garnett
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a message dated 5/13/2003 4:04:19 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
hofmanwb(a)worldonline.nl writes:
<< A charity I do some work for has an IBM PS/1 they would wamt to sell.
80386/16. 40 Mb HD, color monitor, dutch handbook. Location Arnhem, The
Netherlands. >>
That sounds like the 2121 model which uses the display to power the CPU.
Worth maybe $20USD
>Plutonium is an extremely toxic metal. 1 microgram will kill you damn
>quick.
>Plus it's readily absorbed by tissue, which means everywhere you have a Pu
>speck, you're irradiating tissue with ionizing radiation in a few centimeter
>radius. Not good for a long term outlook.
Ok, that answered the other question I just posed, that is, how dangerous
is it.
Sounds like its some pretty nasty stuff so an explosion WOULD be of
actual concern.
> Incidently, the tree huggers worries on this matter are not completely
>unfounded. Because of launch weight issues, the shielding material is not
>really designed to survive reentry.
And add to it like Dwight said, NASA's track record for screwing things
up... and yeah, I guess there was a good cause for concern. I could see
it being less of an issue in the past when NASA spent tons and tons of
money on a single probe, but these days, when they seem hell bent on
getting the cost under that of a VW Bug, I would expect more accidents to
occur.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
Hello to you all with a PCjr still lying around dormant in the dust! I have recently aquired a Racore HDD expansion chassis (Model 1500/1501) . There was no doubleheight sidecar with it, but I have normal and DMA extras to install. A gentlemen from "Computer Reset" believed the system used the DMA sidecar, but for the life of me, I can not get power to the unit. The expansion chassis does not have the standard power supply found on the floppy units. It has, instead, a powerboard, but where the power input would be on the floppy units, there is instead a serial port.If anyone has the setup instructions for this model or knows off hand how to set it up, Id appreciate the help in getting this neat "extra" setup and working. Thanks Brian
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