test-drb October 2004

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Polymorphic Systems

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

Oops! Bob Bybee was the editor of the PolyLetter, not PolyNews. Dwight

20 years, 2 months

Polymorphic Systems

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Marvin Johnston" <marvin(a)rain.org> > > ---snip--- Maybe this >will be the kick in the ... seat :) to get me going and backing up all >the Polymorphic disks (8" and 5 1/4" totaling probably a couple of >hundred disks) including source code and documentation for their >products. Hi Marvin If you get a machine running, I'll write some software, similar to what I have on the H89 to transfer entire disk images. That will make archiving easier. I sent a message to Bob Bybee to see if he knew anything about the other front panels. He was the editor for the Poly News. Also, while digging through stuff, did you happen to come on an extra serial interface card. I have a Poly88 that is sadly without one. Later Dwight

20 years, 2 months

Onyx C8002: pictures of the boards available now

by cheri-post＠web.de

Hello all, thanks to der Mouse, the pictures are available under: ftp.rodents.montreal.qc.ca/pub/cheri/ If anybody could check out the DIP Switch settings ?? I could verify the status of the LEDs either, if this helps. Just drop in an email. There are two identical memory boards. The one scanned is the first, that's why the two terminators are missing . The other memory board at the end of the bus has these terminators. Switch settings are different, apparently to set an ID. Remember, I have no documentain, but it would be worth to compare the settings of the switches and LEDs with a working unit ! Thanks in advance for any help ! Pierre __________________________________________________________ Mit WEB.DE FreePhone mit hoechster Qualitaet ab 0 Ct./Min. weltweit telefonieren! http://freephone.web.de/?mc=021201

20 years, 2 months

HP 2621-P terminal

by vcf＠siconic.com

Does anyone want an HP 2621-P terminal? Lawrence has one for you. Please contact him if interested at <lmzeidler(a)MSN.com>. Photo: http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/carman.html -- 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, 2 months

Setup disk for HP Vectra ES?

by jmartinson＠martinsound.com

Hey, I have a copy of the setup program for the Vectra ES 12 computers. Do you still need it? Do you still have the HP 82321 Basic Language Processor cards and would you like to sell them? Joe Martinson President Martinsound Inc. 1151 W. Valley Blvd. Alhambra, Ca. 91803-2493 www.martinsound.com <http://www.martinsound.com/> email: jmartinson(a)martinsound.com Phone: (626) 281-3555 Ext. 101 Fax: (626) 284-3092

20 years, 2 months

Looking for Astounding Arcade Games For Your Spectrum+ & Spectrum

by vcf＠siconic.com

I'm looking for the book ASTOUNDING ARCADE GAMES FOR YOUR SPECTRUM+ & SPECTRUM by David Perry (published by Interface). This would've been published in the UK (13,000 copies). Does anyone know where to locate one? I have a friend who's trying to find it for some research he's doing. -- 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, 2 months

Polymorphic Systems

by marvin＠rain.org

It is amazing what can be found by looking around :). I had a box of "stuff" from Polymorphic Systems that I finally got around to checking out. I didn't realize that Polymorphic made a keyboard, but I have a metal chassic with "Polymorphic" on it and about 6 keyboard assemblies that fit inside. I also found a front panel to a System HD/18, a number of "new" System 88/DS front panels, a System 8810 front panel, various back panels, and enough wooden sides for another 5 computers or so. All of the front panels have cutouts for full size 5 1/4" drives. Maybe this will be the kick in the ... seat :) to get me going and backing up all the Polymorphic disks (8" and 5 1/4" totaling probably a couple of hundred disks) including source code and documentation for their products. Does anyone know what the HD/18 and 88/DS systems were all about? I've got another box someplace that holds a pair of 8" drives with Polymorphic logo on it, but I haven't had time to look through all the engineering documentation to find out what it is.

20 years, 2 months

Any info on "Kid Newton"

by vcf＠siconic.com

I'm seeking out information on the Kid Newton, which was some special version of Apple's Newton. Here's a photo: http://www.msu.edu/~luckie/kidnewt.gif This is for a client of mine but I'm not sure what if anything this information will be worth. If you have a write-up or more photos of this device (or you happen to have one) please contact me and we'll discuss further. Thanks! -- 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, 2 months

TRS-80 (IV) help?

by nbreeden2＠comcast.net

Dave, You are correct that BREAK at power up will bypass the attempt to boot >from floppy, the Cass? / Memory? Prompts here are normal. You are correct that without the floppy controller it will boot directly to BASIC in ROM. Again Cass? And Memory are normal. Cass? is asking for the cassette baud rate (L=500Baud or H=1500Baud). Memory? Reserves high memory for use by drivers etc. When the system at startup says 'Diskette?' it thinks it's sensing a disk in the drive, for me this typically happens when the drive door is open with a disk in the drive. The best web site for info, docs and software is http://www.trs-80.com/, you should find the service and disk owners manuals for download. Ira can send you bootable floppies for the system; he's great to work with and knows a lot about these old systems. When I power up my Model III I hear the heads step back to track 0 thus you are correct that this should happen. I'm more familiar with the MODEL III however I believe the following applies to the MODEL 4 as well: When you removed the floppy drive for cleaning did you reconnect it to the same position on the floppy cable? (Cable position defines the drive number!) Assuming this is a standard RS floppy controller and cable then the following is true: Radio Shack removed pins from the floppy drive connector on the cable to control selecting the drive (typically either DS0/DS2 or DS1/DS3 will be missing on the floppy controller side of the cable), they jumper DS0-DS3 as all active on the disk drives (if you reset this then turn them all back on). The internal floppy connector brings only DS0 and DS1 out. The external connector brings DS2 out as DS0 and DS3 out as DS1. Again this is ONLY 100% true for RS controllers, some 3rd party controllers used normal pinouts on the connectors so your mileage may vary. The LAST drive on the floppy cable MUST be terminated (150 ohm typically) otherwise the drives won't work. Finally - if the drive is ALWAYS selected with the power on them you have one of the cables on upside down, most likely the end to the controller PCB as it's typically not keyed. Hope something here helps. :) -Neil ------------------------------ Message: 24 Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 21:45:57 -0400 From: Dave Dunfield <dave04a(a)dunfield.com> Subject: TRS-80 (IV) help? To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org Message-ID: <20041012014553.YBKR14765.berlinr.sprint.ca(a)smtp.sprint.ca> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi Guys, Picked up another big load this weekend, and am just starting to go through it - Item#1 is a TRS-80 Model IV. When I first powered it up, it sucked on the Empty bottom drive for a couple of seconds, then prompted with "Cass?" and entered ROM basic. Tried a Model IV boot disk and go the same result - so I removed the drive and cleaned it (machine has been sitting a long time). Now, it powers up, selects the drive and "hangs" - does not move on to the "Cass?" prompt - I've checked all connections and socketed chips, and everything is clean and looks OK. Have reseated everthing several times. A few of observations: - If I hold RESET while I power up the machine, the drive motors still come on, but I do not get a select - the select appears to be happening under software control. - If I disconnect the disk controller board ribbon cable, the machine powers up at the "Cass?" prompt - in this case, I believe the ROM startup sees that there is no disk system and enters ROM basic, thinking that it is a diskless unit. - If I power-up/reset while holding BREAK, it also gives the "Cass?" prompt - after briefly selecting the drive - looks like BREAK very soon after power-up can interrupt the boot process, and ROM BASIC comes up normally. - I never see the drive seek - it selects, but does not seek. If I manually move the drive head out during power-off, it DOES NOT seek back to track-0 after selecting the drive when I power it on. - Twice so far in a couple of hours of working on it, I have seen the prompt "Diskette?" (no cursor) after powering on the machine (with disk controller connected and not holding BREAK). I cannot make this prompt come up reliably. It looks to me as if something in it's interaction with the disk controller is hanging the machine. Anyone here knowlegable in TRS-80's? Can anyone tell me what the Model IV is *SUPPOSED* to do on power-up, both with and without a boot disk in the drive (I have no documentation at all). Any pointers to service documentation? ROM listings? Other information on servicing a model IV - any idea how I can further diagnose this problem? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated! Regards, Dave -- dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Vintage computing equipment collector. http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html ***************

20 years, 2 months

TRS-80 (IV) help?

by dave04a＠dunfield.com

Hi Guys, Picked up another big load this weekend, and am just starting to go through it - Item#1 is a TRS-80 Model IV. When I first powered it up, it sucked on the Empty bottom drive for a couple of seconds, then prompted with "Cass?" and entered ROM basic. Tried a Model IV boot disk and go the same result - so I removed the drive and cleaned it (machine has been sitting a long time). Now, it powers up, selects the drive and "hangs" - does not move on to the "Cass?" prompt - I've checked all connections and socketed chips, and everything is clean and looks OK. Have reseated everthing several times. A few of observations: - If I hold RESET while I power up the machine, the drive motors still come on, but I do not get a select - the select appears to be happening under software control. - If I disconnect the disk controller board ribbon cable, the machine powers up at the "Cass?" prompt - in this case, I believe the ROM startup sees that there is no disk system and enters ROM basic, thinking that it is a diskless unit. - If I power-up/reset while holding BREAK, it also gives the "Cass?" prompt - after briefly selecting the drive - looks like BREAK very soon after power-up can interrupt the boot process, and ROM BASIC comes up normally. - I never see the drive seek - it selects, but does not seek. If I manually move the drive head out during power-off, it DOES NOT seek back to track-0 after selecting the drive when I power it on. - Twice so far in a couple of hours of working on it, I have seen the prompt "Diskette?" (no cursor) after powering on the machine (with disk controller connected and not holding BREAK). I cannot make this prompt come up reliably. It looks to me as if something in it's interaction with the disk controller is hanging the machine. Anyone here knowlegable in TRS-80's? Can anyone tell me what the Model IV is *SUPPOSED* to do on power-up, both with and without a boot disk in the drive (I have no documentation at all). Any pointers to service documentation? ROM listings? Other information on servicing a model IV - any idea how I can further diagnose this problem? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated! Regards, Dave -- dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Vintage computing equipment collector. http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html

20 years, 2 months

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test-drb October 2004