test-drb January 2005

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

254 participants
551 discussions

Creating an NTFS Boot disk (was Re: DOS feature on formatting disk)

by r_a_feldman＠hotmail.com

Microsoft does provide instructions on how to create a boot floppy for an NTFS system ("How to Create a Bootable Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition," http://support.microsoft.com/kb/119467), but it is an involved process. You're probably better off with one of the 3rd party utilities that has been mentioned by others. BTW, I located this KB article after someone I know thought he would be good and clean up his root folder by moving "unnecessary" files -- including ntldr -- to other folders. Next time he rebooted: surprise! no boot. Bob

19 years, 11 months

RTL Logic

by melamy＠earthlink.net

Michael, to get a version running, you could "build" an inverter on a 14 pin header with the inverter pinout you need. I realize it would take a couple of 6 resistor packages and six transistors. At least you could replace the "part" with the real one when you find it. It might actually be a conversation piece to show people what went into the RTL chips themselves. Just a thought anyway. best regards, Steve Thatcher -----Original Message----- From: Michael Holley <swtpc6800(a)comcast.net> Sent: Jan 7, 2005 1:04 PM To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org Subject: Re: RTL Logic My goal on the Tic Tac Toe machine was to build an exact replica of the Don Lancaster 1971 design. I have 2 of the MC789 inverters so I could build one unit.

19 years, 11 months

How the Mac was born... supposedly...

by aek＠spies.com

Anyone remember Coherent Unix? I worked at the company up until its demise, so I'd be happy to answer any questions about Coherent or MWC in general. -- A rundown of the history would be interesting. I recovered a very early version of the C compiler that DGC worked on, and he filled me in on some info on the really early days of the company.

19 years, 11 months

4 floppy disk drives on a PC?

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Fred Cisin" <cisin(a)xenosoft.com> > >On Mon, 17 Jan 2005, Jim Leonard wrote: >> Yep. DOS had only one quirk, though: If you wanted to format a 720K disk in a >> 1440K drive, you had to specifically tell DOS to format as 720K. Otherwise, it >> assumes you're going for 1.4, attempts it, and fails. You can choose /f:720 >> with later versions of DOS; use "/t:80 /n:9" for 3.x. > >/F:2 would also work for some versions. > >With XP, /T:80/N:9 seems to be the only way that still works! > Hi Fred Are you using a fresh disk or one that has already been formatted once before? I've seen it do this as well but never explored it much to see if a blank disk would still work. Dwight

19 years, 11 months

Troubleshooting an IBM 5155 - (portable personal computer)

by CCTalk＠catcorner.org

> From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk [mailto:ard@p850ug1.demon.co.uk] > To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org > > > I don't kwow what it means when I reply to my own replies, > but here goes. I > > I do it all the time, but then I am know to be insane... > > > have the same continuity measurements on head 0 and head 1. > > However, if I swap the controller board > > the problem > > stays with the drive. > > Ah, so it certainly looks like a head problem :-( > > > > > So, if I have the same continuity, and the problem doesn't > > seem to be on the > > controller, I can only guess either dirty or magnetized > > heads. > > Magnetized heads are not normally a problem with floppy > drives, at least > not as big a problem as dirty heads. > > It's a pity you don't have a 'scope. I'd ask you to connect it > (differential inputs) to TP1A and TP1B, ground to TP2. Those are the > outputs of the read preamplier part of U2 (3470). You could > then compare > the read signal from the 2 heads. I'll see if anyone in the local radio club has any I could borrow for a few evenings. I know how to use one, it's just been a few years. I have an old Heathkit scope behind me, but there's another thing waiting for my attention. The trace is about as wide as my pinky and as noisy as heck. Not real helpful I'm afraid. > > > > > Since I don't have access to a tape head demagnetizer (hey, > > all I use is > > DTRS for my recording), how else could I demagnetize these heads? > > Can you not still buy demagnetizers? There are plenty of magnetic > recording heads still in use... > > But I would try really cleaning it first. It could be a speck of oxide > stuck across the gap or something. I stopped by the local pharmacy (chemist on your side of the pond I think). I had to special order non-diluted alcohol. It should be hear tomorrow. Of course I have to work late tomorrow, so my wife will pick it up. I think Radio Shack still carries an inexpensive head demagnetizer. I'll check. It will probably be special order too. In the mean time, I put the original drive in there and one of the spare DS/DD drives I had laying around (doesn't everyone on this list?). It is now working with an A: and B: drive. Now I just need to do some cosmetic work and this little machine will be in great shape. What is the general opinion on adding an HD to this machine (if it will even work)? I've got plenty of ST-406/ST-512 interface drives and controllers for 8 bit machines. Of course I only want this for show and tell, so it is not a requirement. Kelly

19 years, 11 months

Troubleshooting an IBM 5155 - (portable personal computer)

by CCTalk＠catcorner.org

> -----Original Message----- > From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk [mailto:ard@p850ug1.demon.co.uk] > Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2005 9:53 PM > > Qume drive working, but don't know where to go next. I > guess I could swap > > the boards between the two units, but that'll only tell me if it is > > electronic or electro-mechanical. > > > > Other than that, any suggestions for figuring out if it is > alignment, broken > > sensor, or something electrical? > > The alignment adjustments, in general, are what are known as > 'interchangeability adjustments'. In other words, if they're > a bit off, > the drive will be able to format, read, and write its own disks, but > those disks will not be useable on other drives, and vice versa. > > So what you do first is to hook the drive up as B: and try > formatting a > blank disk in it. Note that if, for some reason, the machine > thinks it > only has one drive, it'll map A: _and_ B: to that drive. > You'll get some > obvious messages if this has happened, in which case the problem is > certainly not just alignment. Well, I did this and learned something VERY important. The disk only formatted as 180K. So, it doesn't see that it is a double sided drive. The same diskette put back in the working drive formatted to 360K. So, how do these drives tell if they're dealing with SS vs. DS meadia? Does it just look for a signal from the second head? Is there another sensor that indicates "yep - double sided". This is how it works with 8" drives. The index hole is in a physically different spot. Thank you for all of your help so far!! > This sounds like track0 sensor problems. I assume you've > blown the dust > out of the sensor? If you have a multimeter and logic probe, > I'll dig out > the schematic and tell you what to look for. Yes, I have blown the dust out of the sensors. See above. How do these drives signal that they are DS? That seems to be where the error is coming in. Any tips based on the schematic would be of help. Since all I have at the moment is a DMM and a homemade logic probe, my tools are lacking to fully solve this problem. Thanks again, Kelly Kelly

19 years, 11 months

Windows crashing, was Re: Bill Gates: Teen Heart-throb!

by cb＠mythtech.net

>I'm only speaking for the desktop client. :-) The same issue exists with Win2k Client and all flavors of XP. It isn't so much a "bug" as MS totally changed the way the feature works, and has made it very difficult to get running again. What used to be a great ability in Win98 has been ripped out and really made as hard to use as MS possibly could have (they act like no one does mail merge faxes!). But this is WAY off topic now, so I'll stop. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

19 years, 11 months

Windows crashing, was Re: Bill Gates: Teen Heart-throb!

by cb＠mythtech.net

>I'm no Microsoft fan by any means. But most of the "Windows sucks" claims >are >just obsolete and irrational. Nah, they just moved the suckyness elsewhere ;-p (sorry, I just wasted the day trying to get Win2k Server and MS Office to do a freaking Mail Merge to Fax... something that Win98 does with ease, albeit with Win98's level of stability... and I still don't have it working exactly right... it will now fax merge, alas it displays a security warning for each and every fax that I have to click "YES" to allow the fax... and I can't just sit hammering the return key, as there is a 5 second delay between when it displays the warning, and when it enables the Yes button... real helpful when I'm trying to automate hundreds of faxes!!!). -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

19 years, 11 months

DEC pdp-11/53 and uVAX II on eBay (Illinois, USA)

by classiccmp＠crash.com

Just noticed an eBay auction for a DEC pdp-11/53 and uVAX II, neatly packaged inside a CNC measuring machine that includes A/C units. It's big, it's heavy, and it needs to be picked up at their premises and taken away. That's in Rockford, Illinois in the USA. I have no connection to this, other than regretting that I can't nab that pdp-11/53 for myself... eBay Auction #5157158461 http://tinyurl.com/6vye5 Good luck, --Steve.

19 years, 11 months

DOS feature on formatting disk

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: gordonjcp(a)gjcp.net > >> Hi Gordon >> There are a number of possibles but the track 0 sensor >> doesn't effect the incremental stepping mechanism used >> in these drives. There is no way that it can be off without >> being completely off and head over the wrong track. > >If the head isn't sliding all the way back to the home position it can be >far enough back to close the track 0 sensor *but* still be about half a >track too far in. This is how I have repaired about a dozen 720k drives >in old samplers. > >Gordon. Hi Gordon and Bj??rn I understand what you are saying but this is not the issue here. The bad drive is occasionally messing up ALL tracks, not just track0. When I take the disk to another drive to reformat, because the track0 is partially readable, it refuses to format. It will not format at all until the track0 is erased. If it were just track0 that was the issue, I'd have looked at problems of getting the track0 stop and sensing switch adjusted. Dwight

19 years, 11 months

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test-drb January 2005