> today I have powered up my Ampex DFR 996 removable/fixed combined disk
> drive. After tweaking a bit around the address plug (btw does anybody
> have an original one?) I got it to start. It said to be ready only
once.
> And made a horrible sound with the head of the removable disk. After
> that I tried it again but the drive just inserts the head for a short
> moment (with the same noise) and retracts immediately, shutting down.
sigh...
it is a REALLY REALLY REALLY bad idea to just power old removable disk
drives up to see if they will 'just work'
as you discovered, THEY DON'T, and destroy themselves in the process
look at the messages from Tom Jennings about all the trouble he had
getting his going over the past few months
the disturbing thing about this is 1) you now have a piece of junk
that is most likely unrepairable unless you are VERY lucky and can
clean the heads 2) you've destroyed the disc pack (which may be
difficult to repace) and 3) you've lost whatever software was ON
that pack (generally not a huge issue with pdp11s, but is a real
loss on some other minis like Interdata)
take a look at the logs from the restoration of Paul Allen's PDP-10
for a real horror story about getting drives to run again.
http://www.pdpplanet.com/TemplateRestoration.aspx?contentId=8
Just a quick note on why I've been silent on my DG Nova 4, LGP-21,
etc all summer...
Basically, summer is car season. I just got a project car on the
road, I'm tweaking it now. I also need to service my other vintage
object, my 1963 Rambler Classic, which I usually drive every day.
Needs transmission overhaul.
The LGP-21 is safe in my living room (only vintage gear allowed in
the house! it's pretty!), the Nova 4 is in the lab, safe dry and
cool, awaiting crappy weather to keep me inside, where I'll find
the error in the drive (again).
I want to start on the LGP-21 this year. My Nova 4 experience has
informed that project, so I have an inkling where to start now on
the hardware bring-up. (Though I still don't have one inch of
software for it.)
I currently have three Phillips machines, two of one type and one of
another (don't remember the model numbers), all with floppy disk drives.
They were used in a classified environment and were being scrapped out
when I got them. I don't remember if they came with any software, but I
suspect not, and unfortunately they came with no documentation. The two
machines are about 24" x 24" x 24" and the single one is kind of a
desktop unit with the floppy and monitor built in. If anyone is
interested, let me know and make a reasonable ... or unreasonable :) ...
offer but realize *I* will not package and ship them.
> > True. But other computer makers of even lower stature have shown up
> > on the CC list, and in bitsavers. Apart from the big ones, it seems
> > to be just a random process that determines which machines appear and
> > which ones do not. For example, I can't think of any other reason why
> > Varian would show up in Al's archive and Philips would not...
>
> I doubt there were ever more than 100 Phillips machines in the US at any
> given time. Perhaps in Europe they were more popular, but here they were
> effectively not even a tiny speck in the minicomputer industry.
>
> William Donzelli
> aw288 at osfn.org
Anyone got a dead Siemens FDD 100-8 ?
I need the door latch button. This is the little square buttom
which has the LED in it, and a catch to hold the drive door down
when it is closed. I'm resurrecting a system with this drive,
but the catch is broken off - it works fine if you hold the door
closed. Anyone got a dead drive that I can scarf a button from?
Regards,
Dave
--
dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield
dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com
com Collector of vintage computing equipment:
http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html
I just got my DSD-440 cleaned up, checked out, and attached to a
machine this weekend, and it seems to be working fine. (Thanks, Joe!)
What I don't have is the diagnostic disk that shipped with it.
According to the DSD-440 user guide, the disk came with FRD440 as both a
standalone utility and as an RT-11 program, FRD440.SAV.
I'd like to have the bootable disk, if anybody has one they can copy,
but I'd be very happy with just the RT-11 program.
Thanks!
Doc
On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 "Fred N. van Kempen" <waltje at pdp11.nl> wrote:
> On Mon, 20 Jun 2005, Johnny Billquist wrote:
>
> > Almost.
> > Non I/D: 11/03, 11/05, 11/10, 11/15, 11/20, 11/21, 11/23, 11/24, 11/34,
> > 11/35, 11/40, 11/60.
> /05 is /10, /21 doesnt exist (== Falcon SBC), /35 is /40.
> /15 I believe was a special-case /20 ?
The 11/05 - 11/10, 11/15 - 11/20 and 11/35 - 11/40 all have about the same
relationships. The first was the OEM version, while the other was for end
customers. Same CPUs, sometimes different standard options installed.
The Falcon actually is called the 11/21 in some documentation.
> > Split I/D: 11/44, 11/45, 11/50, 11/53, 11/55, 11/70, 11/73, 11/74, 11/83,
> > 11/84, 11/93, 11/94.
> >
> > Did I forget any? :-)
> M70, M100, M110 :P
Those don't count. :-)
Johnny
Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
|| on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at update.uu.se || Reading murder books
pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
> the DIP switches don't work reliably any more
This is a problem with lots of 20+ year old DIP switches. They were
barely reliable when they were new.
I generally replaced with newer, high-quality (not 49cents!) DIP switches.
Tim.
Hi,
Just wondering if you regard your classic computing skills as specialised or generalised?
Do you have lots of various old systems with different processors and architectures, or do you specialise in a particular processor, architecture or system?
I regard myself as a generalist, mainly due to the various different systems I have. I gues I just don't have the time to get extremely close and personal to one particular system. That doesn't mean I don't know my various systems, but I'm sure that someone who has devoted their time and energy to one type of system would know more about its finer details and nuances than I would.
rgds
river
> Can anyone provide more details?
M8350 is the interface from the Omnibus to the positive (TTL) I/O
interface first used in the PDP8/I. It is used to interface to the
rack of modules style interfaces.
There is a related Data Break (ie. DMA) interface card M8360
As I suggested before, you want to watch for the 8/A RL interface
card
The RX8E floppy card intf part number is M8357
http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/pdp8/hard8e/modules.html
for a list of modules.
Again, watch for cables. Omnibus cables are useful, as are the
over-the top board connector blocks.
Omnibus cables LOOK like Unibus cables (but they aren't...)
Easiest way to tell is Unibus cables have a section of the paddle
edge connector fingers connected together with a big PCB trace
On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 Paul Koning <pkoning at equallogic.com> wrote:
> >>>>> "Johnny" == Johnny Billquist <bqt at Update.UU.SE> writes:
>
> Johnny> Almost. Non I/D: 11/03, 11/05, 11/10, 11/15, 11/20, 11/21,
> Johnny> 11/23, 11/24, 11/34, 11/35, 11/40, 11/60.
>
> Johnny> Split I/D: 11/44, 11/45, 11/50, 11/53, 11/55, 11/70, 11/73,
> Johnny> 11/74, 11/83, 11/84, 11/93, 11/94.
>
> Johnny> Did I forget any? :-)
>
> T-11 :-)
Well, that's a specific CPU, and not a PDP-11 system.
If I were to do it by CPUs instead, it would be KA-11, KB-11A, KB-11B,
KB-11C, KB-11D, KB-11E, T-11, F-11, J-11, and probably a few more that my
brain fail to feed me right now.
> Most of the ones you listed have no MMU at all, so "not applicable"
> would be more accurate for those.
Most and most... The ones without MMU is the 11/03, 11/05, 11/10, 11/15,
11/20 and 11/21.
I realized I forgot the 11/04 by the way. Also without MMU and without
split I/D.
Johnny
Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
|| on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at update.uu.se || Reading murder books
pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
