Fred, if you're getting messages at all, pls contact me, thanks.
If anyone else on the List has heard from Fred, or knows how to get a
Message through to him, please if possible ask him to write me privately.
Thanks!
Cheers
John
Sent this a few days ago & haven't seen it appear
on the list for some reason; apologies if I'm
duplicating.
m
------- Start of forwarded message -------
Subject: Cromemco Software - what to do with it?
From: mhstein at canada.com
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 00:46:26 -0800 (PST)
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
I've been cleaning up the hard disks in my Cromemco
systems in preparation for getting rid of them (no,
they're not available at this time), and I have a
question:
There are numerous systems out there, and Herb and
Howard et al are doing a great job of archiving the
documentation, but what about the software? Is
anybody archiving the various versions of CDOS,
Cromix & Unix, and the languages & applications?
For that matter, is there any point? I don't see
many people writing Cobol or Fortran programs to
run on a System 3...
So, any ideas what to do with it? (no obscene
suggestions, please!)
BTW, any news about what happened with Don Maslin's
collection?
mike
Well, since my C4P-MF has been rock solid stable since I
fitted the new power supply and cleaned the drive head,
I've been going through a bunch of 25 (and more) year old
diskettes to see just what I have.
Lo-and-behold!
On a diskette simply labeled OS65D 3.2 (not originally mine,
acquired I don't know where), I found really nice machine
code implementations of Space Invaders and Asteroids! You
don't usually see machine code programs on OSI diskettes, the
OS was too crude to have a simple binary loader. Diskettes
usually have BASIC programs, with maybe a couple of USR$
sub-routines in data statements. To load and execute the
programs, you have to EXIT from BASIC into the sub-monitor and
then load the diskette tracks into memory one at a time. Once
you have it loaded, then you GO to the starting address. I
think that these programs might have been originally intended
to be loaded from cassette tape. Fortunately, the diskette had
two BASIC programs, each of which PRINTs the instructions for
loading the machine code programs. I'm really happy about this!
People usually see OSI boxes running rather slow interpreted
BASIC programs. These two programs show just what an OSI box
can do. There is no attribution for the Asteroids program, but
the Space Invaders is copyright 1980 by Michael Kincaid.
Can't wait to show these at TCF!
Bill
> It could be interesting to know the age"spread" of thist list
> contributors, and how long we've had the computer virus
>under our skin.
37, been computing since 1981 when my dad brought a ZX80 into the house and
found meself to be amazed that I could tell it to do things in an english
like language and it would just work. No tape recorder though, so I sharp
learned the value of writing things down for later re-entry :) From there I
went to the ZX81, Spectrum, Amiga 500 and then (spit) pc.
However, I bought as many computing based magazines as I could afford, not
realising that 20 years later I'd be getting hold of quite a lot of the
machines featured in said magazines, though I still haven't tracked down a
DAI :)
Workwise I started in Operations on a dual-node ICL 2966 mainframe in 1984
then got the PDP bug when my old computing lecturer in college got me back
in because he'd seen (apparently) fledgling interest on my part. The rest is
all DEC based history.....
cheers
w
At a rummage sale last weekend I picked up a 1991 Leading Technology 7000DX,
an original 25 MHz 386 with a first gen NEC SCSI external CD-ROM, speakers,
mouse, Keyboard, VGA monitor. What made it was all the original books and
software including about a dozen games of the early 90s including DOOM II.
I couldn't resist the box of SW and books. It was $5 for all. It wasn't till
I got it home that I realized it is one of the first 386s (must remember to
check which chip is in it). I think it is based on the magictronic board set.
It had a proprietary memory card which you could load up with up to 8 megs of
RAM (this one has 6 Meg.).
I think it was really just used as a household games machine. Did have
windows 3.1 installed but it really was used as a DOS 5.0 computer. It is a
classic in its own right...and over 10 years old.
Paxton
Astoria, OR
Does anyone have any information about this part? I've been told that
it's a high performance microprocessor. I found it on what looks like a hex
size DEC card made by Spectra Logic Corp. I found a picture of one on the
net but it's not very good.
<http://www.cpushack.net/gallery/showimg.php?file=/chippics/AMD/29K/AMDAM291
16DC.jpg>
Joe
There was a mention of " real radios glow in the dark" which brought
back memories of the first logic equipment that I worked on back in the
60s. It didn't glow in the dark since the little pencil tubes didn't
put out a lot of light like the larger ones. The equipment was all
digital and all tube based. The later generations were solid state
(potted logic ice cube modules) and discrete components, no ICs then.
They weren't computers that you could program but specialized
processors....
I still have some of those "glow in the dark radios" and test equipment.
Yes, but,...
In FORTRAN, columns 73 - 80 are reserved for housekeeping, such as
resequencing dropped decks.
THerefore, the information content in FORTRAN could be said to be 72 bytes
per card, NOT 80.
I'm 49.
Started at age 15 by learning to program an Olivetti Programma 101 -
http://www.science.uva.nl/faculteit/museum/Programma101.html for those
who care.
Shortly there after I started learning about "Gotran" and got to run a
couple of programs on a IBM1620 at Occidental College in Pasadena.
Shortly there-I started learning Watfor, and got access to the IBM370 at
USC. You could walk in off the street with a deck and get 15 seconds of
execution time for nothing. There were a few other high-school students
doing the same thing I imagine. Anyway - I took a Fortran class trough
Glendale Community College after my Senior year in high-school and
learned Fortran, then Cobol on a Burroughs B2500 that Glendale Unified
had.
Next the Junior College got a Nova 2/10 (I think..) and I became one of
the two computer operators. Learned Basic and ws the lab assistant for
that. It ran a DOS by Ball if I recall correctly. It had a card reader
that kept blowing up ;-) and 4 ASR-28s that people ran Basic on when it
wasn't trying to run Fortran.
The other computer lab assistant got an Altair (had serial number 3 of
8K Basic..) and we both drove to New Mexico for the very first personal
computer convention in 75.
Went on to four year college and majored in EE. Saw a Bendix G15 there
(didn't use it), and PDP-11's running RSTS. Did my senior project on an
LSI-11 in Fortran.
Went to work for Burroughs as a computer designer on the B1000 series -
Did that for 3 years.
Later worked at Cydrome on the Cydra-5 (a mini-supercomputer ) around 85.
Worked at National semi in the 32K architecture group also for about 9
months before went into consulting.
I would love to help resurrect a B1965 or a Cydra.
Steve Wilson
