test-drb October 2005

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

264 participants
655 discussions

The indefeatable 8" floppy Was : 8" floppy system neededtorecoverold game data

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: The indefeatable 8" floppy Was : 8" floppy system neededtorecoverold game data > From: "John Allain" <allain at panix.com> > Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2005 14:14:13 -0400 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >> The other case was media that was stored next to a large (50hp) >> AC motor. The media was good but usedless until formatted. >> The previously held data was largely gone due to partial erasure. > >How close and for how long? >I mean, everything we deal with emits EM radiation. >It would be interesting to know the details. Close in this case was on top of and laying against and the motor itself was an much older partially open frame type used for a large screw compressor. The field was strong enough to make a screwdriver buzz if held against it. I suspect the heat given off (maybe 45-55C) didn't help either. The disks in question were stored above it untill a shelf collapse resulting in their close association in such a haphazard way. Though the heat in the room (110F) is not good for the media either. Very unusual case most likely. I didn't include those disks that went through the motor fan or got caught in the drive. My biggest problem has been media stored in basements and garages where temerature and moisture did their worst. Mold and mildew are also a problem but can be managed. Allison

18 years, 9 months

The indefeatable 8" floppy Was : 8" floppy system needed to recoverold game data

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

Hi, I have around here maybe 400-1000 8" disks. Most are not less than 15 years old and some easily approaching 25-30. I've seen a perfectly good head and pad get gummed when the binder failed on the media. The other case was media that was stored next to a large (50hp) AC motor. The media was good but usedless until formatted. The previously held data was largely gone due to partial erasure. >[worse if mishandled] By that I meant stored in enviromental conditions that may result in binder failure. You may have interpreted that as mechanical bend, fold and spindle. Binder failure is treatable if anticipated but be prepared for read once. I've had a number of my oldest 8" media die that way. Backups and copies prevented loss. Allison > >Subject: The indefeatable 8" floppy Was : 8" floppy system needed to recoverold game data > From: "Nico de Jong" <nico at FARUMDATA.DK> > Date: Thu, 06 Oct 2005 16:09:19 +0200 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Fra: "Allison" <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> >> >> Again most 8" media is real old and there were a few brands of media that >> aged poorly [worse if mishandled] with media shedding being a really big >> problem. >> >I'm not quite sure that I agree with you. I remember a case where a customer >called me, panic stricken, and said that his Mountain 8" loader (I still have >the power supply...) had eaten a disc with financial transactions. >When I arrived at the site, I saw that the 8" was now a 4" on one side. It was >totally mangled by the loaderpart shoving the disk into the drive. Head broken >of, etc. >New drive, but that was expected. Now we had to look at the mangled disk. There >were some dents and scratches, but we decided to try. >I sacrificed another 8" disc, in that I opened the sleve and discarded the >floppy. In with the "mangled" floppy. It read perfectly, although with a few >retries. >The epilogue was that my customer sent a civilized letter to his customer, >asking him not to put staples through the disc for the future. > >Nico >

18 years, 9 months

8" floppy system needed to recover old game data

by Kieron.Wilkinson＠paretopartners.com

Hi, I am hoping to help an ex-games developer access some very old game data and source code stored on 8" floppy disks from a CPM system, data that simply does not exist anywhere else and will otherwise be lost. (It is the kind of stuff destined for MAME :)). I personally can possibly get access to such a system, however we do not want to risk transporting the media any more than necessary, and I am far FAR removed from where the disks are located in San Francisco (I live in the UK). Does anybody near here (or willing to travel there!) have such a system and could help us out? As I said this is a one-of-a-kind opportunity which should unearth games that were previously thought not to exist (though most were not completed AFAIK). There is always the chance that they are already lost (corrupted media), but we just won't know until we try. I would be over the moon if somebody could help us out with this! If you can help, or know somebody else who can help, please contact me! Thanks, Kieron Wilkinson ============================ Pareto Investment Management Limited is a Mellon Financial Company. Pareto Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (Firm Ref. No. 416024), and registered in England and Wales with Number 03169281. Registered Office: Mellon Financial Centre, 160 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4LA, United Kingdom. Pareto is the registered trademark of Pareto Investment Management Limited. This message may contain confidential and privileged information and is intended solely for the use of the named addressee. Access, copying or re-use of the e-mail or any information contained therein by any other person is not authorised. If you are not the intended recipient please notify us immediately by returning the e-mail to the originator and then immediately delete this message.

18 years, 9 months

8" floppy system needed to recover old game data

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

Hi First thing is to try to determine format. Many 8 inch disk were labeled as being SSSD, DSDD, or similar. This will help as a starting point. Also, looking to see if it has a single index hole or multiple in the media needs to be determined. If it is soft sectored SSSD, 128 bytes per sector and FM format, I can read them relatively easily. I live in Santa Cruz, Ca. That is about 50 miles south of SF. If the disk have text files, figuring the file formating will not be a big issue. As you note, getting the sector images is the important part. Sorting the sectors is relatively minor. Dwight

18 years, 9 months

Anyone have a 3U (single slot) VME chassis hanging around?

by RMeenaks＠OLF.COM

I need a chassis that can take 3U (not 6U) VME-style cards. The cards are not VME, so I don't care if it does not have the backplane as I have my own. It needs to have a powersupply though.... Thanks, Ram

18 years, 9 months

8" floppy system needed to recover old game data

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

At 12:57 PM 10/6/05 +0100, you wrote: > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Nico de Jong >> >> Sorry, Denmark.... > >Ah, oops. And there is me always using the UK acronym... :) > >> He could use DHL, they are very reliable. >> I dont think anyone is going to log a conversion system to > >I'm afraid I am not very familiar with CPM systems. Could you please >tell me why a conversion system is needed? It all depends on what system they were written on. There are hundreds if not thousands of different CPM formats. Some of them are litterally one of a kind and were only used on one type computer and can not be read on anything else. A good example is the M2FM format that Intel used on their MDS machines. Some also used hard sectored disks and there's no way that a modern disk controller can deal with that. OTOH if you're lucky, they used a computer that used the "standard" CPM format (actually it was an early IBM format). If your disks were written in that format then it should be easy to read them. Even a PC with an 8" drive adapted to it can read that format. If you have no idea what kind of machine wrote the disks then I'd suggest at least looking and see how many sector holes are in the disks. If only one then they're soft-sectored and there's a good chance they can be read. If they have more than one then they're hard sectored and are likely to be a problem since many of the machines that used that are long gone. That will at least give you an idea of what you're dealing with. Joe Didn't they use similar FDC >chips? I (perhaps naively) assumed it would be some sort of a >NEC765-derived one and we could get a simple track-by-track dump... > >> the US. It would be cheaper for him to take a plane to >> Denmark, and have a nice weekend in Copenhagen, while I >> hopefully do the job. > >While this is true, the problem we have is that although we have >convinced the ex-developer to let us help them preserve this data, it >will be very much harder to get them to go out of their way to get it >done. This is the reason I was trying to get somebody local to them to >help us do it, even though they do treasure it. > >It's a difficult situation for sure. > >I'll try again on the mailing of the media, but it will probably have to >be a last resort. > >> The only "local" one I can think of from the top of my head, >> is Sellam Ismail > >Ah great. Well if he does not reply to this thread, I will send them a >mail. Thanks! > >Kieron > >============================ >Pareto Investment Management Limited is a Mellon Financial Company. Pareto Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (Firm Ref. No. 416024), and registered in England and Wales with Number 03169281. Registered Office: Mellon Financial Centre, 160 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4LA, United Kingdom. Pareto is the registered trademark of Pareto Investment Management Limited. This message may contain confidential and privileged information and is intended solely for the use of the named addressee. Access, copying or re-use of the e-mail or any information contained therein by any other person is not authorised. If you are not the intended recipient please notify us immediately by returning the e-mail to the originator and then immediately delete this message. > > >

18 years, 9 months

Big-assed Nerd belt buckle

by James＠jdfogg.com

> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8224062317 > Perfect for the Redneck nerd. Would that be a Rednerd? Nerdneck?

18 years, 9 months

Yellowing plastic?

by starmaster＠gmail.com

Anyone know the best way to handle the restoration of plastic that has yellowed due to being in someones basement or something? Has that dingy brownish/yellowish tint to it. I thought I saw a posting about it earlier, but cannot locate it now... Thanks

18 years, 9 months

CRT implosions

by technobug＠comcast.net

On or about Wed, 5 Oct 2005 13:34:32 -0700 (PDT), Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote: > On Tue, 4 Oct 2005, CRC wrote: > >> In the mid 50s they used to show on TV a tape of a ball on a string >> launched into the face of an unprotected CRT. The neck proceeded >> through the faceplate and embedded in a 1/2" piece of plywood. >> Definitely made one careful when playing with the old sets. >> > > Yes, but being TV, had they filled the tube with propane and > ignited it? The tape was made from high speed photography played back at normal speed. I remember the faceplate imploding followed by the neck being propelled through the faceplate. If propane had been used, the faceplate would have exploded and the neck gone in the opposite direction. CRC

18 years, 9 months

Johnny Billquist's List of PDP-11 drives

by madcrow.maxwell＠gmail.com

Thanks for that huge list... That was exactly what I was looking for... As for the "what bus" question, it doesn't really matter to me as I can emulate either depending on what hardware I need to emulate and what software I want to play around with (simh is nice that way) I mainly needed to know what was available as I plan on creating several actual useful simh configurations and RL-series disks are so small as to be rather useless to me... It would be nice if simh would provide this sort of info in the "emulated hardware" list.

18 years, 9 months

← Newer
1
...
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
...
66
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 October 2005