test-drb June 2005

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

221 participants
681 discussions

IMSAI Score update/Spare BYTEs/Got an Altair too

by dwight.elvey＠AMD.com

>From: "Dave Dunfield" <dave04a at dunfield.com> > ---snip--- > >The "IMSAI 8080" does not light up and should appear clearly visible in white. >Sounds like the logo was removed for some reason ... hopefully it was covered >with a bit of black paper and not "backed out with a marker". > > Hi My IMSAI came with as piece of black paper over the logo. I was told that it was used for early development work. This is consistent with the fact that it had one of the early Digital Systems floppy controllers that transferred by DMA. The only problem I have is that the serial number is missing :( Dwight

19 years, 2 months

Question about PDF manipulation

by Watzman＠neo.rr.com

Some of the attitudes here about PDF impress me as about the most ludditical (is there such a word?) as I've seen in a long time. Suppose you have a CompuPro memory card and no manual. The card is useless. I give you the PDF file of the manual. You can look at the manual on-screen, or you can print it and you HAVE the hard copy manual. In color, where the original was in color, and with quality that may be indistinguishable from (or in some cases actually better than) the original manual when it was new. Is that a benefit? Is it better than no manual at all? Is it, essentially, as good as being able to call CompuPro (which no longer exists) and order a new manual, FOR FREE, and have it delivered INSTANTLY? So what if it's not "searchable". Get a clue: THE ORIGINAL PAPER MANUAL WAS NOT "SEARCHABLE". But if you or anyone else wants it to be searchable they are certain welcome to OCR the document, a capability which Acrobat supports. (Note that if it was EITHER made from it's source document (e.g. Word or whatever) OR if it was "OCR'd" (which Acrobat itself can do), it WILL be searchable. The people who don't like PDFs either have not used Acrobat extensively or don't understand the real nature of the prouduct. Acrobat allows you to create an electronic document that can have as many features (or as few) as the creator wants: -Page images -Searchable, exportable, "copyable" text -Fonts and graphics -Printable -Fully "rearrangeable" (re-sequence, add, delete, replace pages) -Table of Contents (as hyperlink) -Index -Movies, photos, sound and other multimedia objects -Security control, passwords determining who can do what And it and the documents it creates are multi-platform: PC, Apple, Linux, Sun, IBM mainframe .... virtually every computer platform in existence. It's one of the best and most wonderful tools that the PC world has ever created. Sorry if it's proprietary, but sometimes quality tools are only created by people who want to be paid for their work.

19 years, 2 months

Question about PDF manipulation

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Jim Leonard" <trixter at oldskool.org> > >Dwight K. Elvey wrote: >> The biggest problem I think TIFF has is that it is really just >> a container and not truly a image format. From what I know, >> one can put just about any data stream into a TIFF. It >> need not be an image. > >EVERY "image format" is a container. Hi True but what I meant by that was that it might be a stream of single dimensional data from a spectrograph or 3 dimensional data form a seismograph. Not necessarily a picture in the normal sense of what a jpg is but still an image. Dwight > >What does it matter what the container is if it is well documented and supported? >-- >Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/ >Want to help an ambitious games project? http://www.mobygames.com/ >Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ >

19 years, 2 months

Question about PDF manipulation

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Jim Leonard <trixter at oldskool.org> wrote: > What is your proof that the PDF was created from PS? The Producer comment in the PDF. > Was the PS hand-edited by a person, or generated by a program? Doesn't matter. > If the latter, I doubt the original PS will have "more" than the PDF. It doesn't matter whether it has "more" or not. I just *want* the original PS. > Most PDFs I've created from PS source had that PS source generated by some > other program. PS was just the intermediate transport. Doesn't matter to me. Whether you wrote the PS by hand or generated it >from another source, you have the PS. I want it. But you don't give it to me and instead apply an irreversible transformation to it. Anyway, I'm done with this thread. MS

19 years, 2 months

Simulated disk drive for RT-11?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Simulated disk drive for RT-11? > From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > Date: Fri, 03 Jun 2005 12:39:28 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 6/3/05, David Betz <dbetz at xlisper.mv.com> wrote: >> Does the TU-58 use a standard RS-232 serial interface? > >Yes. The TU58 drive is strappable, but 38Kbps is a standard speed. > >> Is the protocol defined somewhere? > >Yes... I know it's written up in several DEC manuals, some of which >are probably on bitsavers. The basic protocol is called "Radial >Serial Protocol" (RSP), but, I think, for newer implementations, like >in the firmware of a VAX-11/750, there are some variations that, while >documented, aren't as easy to find as the base documentation. RSP and MRSP are stock firmware. But as you said it's poorly documented even in the EK-OTU58-TM-002 tech manual I have. >It's ordinary to hook a real TU58 on a port of a DLJ11J... one can >even use a straight-through 10-pin Berg cable - it's the same pinout >(one of DEC's standards). It's also possible to emulate a TU58 on a >modern PC, or to hook up a real TU58 to a modern machine to read >tapes. > >I don't have my tools with me, but googling for TU58 and emulator will >probably cough up something interesting. > >Media size is a bit of a problem - a real TU58 is kinda small, even >compared to an 8" floppy. Speed isn't great - at least an emulated >drive doesn't have seek delays, but transfer speed becomes the >bottleneck. At 256k per drive it's essentally an RX01 only slower. For RT11 thats a usable configuration. One trick to speed things up is if the CPU has enough ram (256k is enough and 1mb really works) is to run the RT11 VM: driver that's the virtual disk driver (ramdisk). Load it with a copy of everything then boot it then the tape/tu58 becomes seconday storage and you have more space. Makes using a TU58 much friendlier. The boot time for that is rather long. >OTOH, there are drivers for RT-11, and it _is_ a simple device to >emulate. If only it were a few megs in size, it would be adequate for >quite a few applications. There is a PC/DOS version that emulates a TU58 using the PC as a disk rather than tape. I think Bob at sparetime gizmos has the code but I could be wrong. Allison

19 years, 2 months

Help collecting gear from west of Chicago

by drb＠msu.edu

> Wow you got a piece of a Teradyne test system! What a haul! > I programmed the L210 and the L300 models. This may be an older one. > Seems like you got the CPU and one of the peripherial cabinets. > You missed out one the bed-of-nails test bed wtih all the vacum hoses > and press down pull up etc mechanics. > The Peripherial cab had voltage supplys, current supplys, > digital multimeters, other test instruments, sig generators, etc. > All were programmed and read by the CPU via the cross matrix switch. > That bed-of-nails cabinet is larger than the old GSA iron desks from > the 40's. Probably weighed 2-3 k lbs by itself. Rich, Oh, nifty! I knew if I posted this, someone would recognize the non-PDP parts. I've never actually seen one of these systems in person, though I've known about them for years, and even met one or two guys who worked on them. I was wondering about the card in the Teradyne cage with all the driver transistors on it. The auction brochure (http://www.xlineassets.com/images/Xline%20Auction5_5_05.pdf) mentions a Teradyne Z1890VP ICT tester. I wonder if that's the part I didn't get? Thanks for speaking up. De

19 years, 2 months

IMSAI Score update/Spare BYTEs/Got an Altair too

by Richard.Cini＠wachovia.com

I plan on trying to remove the marker from the back of the film with isoporpyl alcohol. My backup is that I can replace the film and I will store the old one in the packaging that the new one is sent in. The new film, although computer-generated, was derived from original photomask by Todd himself or by one of his team working with a local print shop. I'm pretty certain that it will be indistinguisnable from the original as it's being sold as a "new replacement part for the original IMSAI". For $20, it's worth it. I also plan on ordering the replacement 3/16" Plexiglas front for $8. The existing one is in great shape, but it can't hurt having a spare. The red filter looks to be in good shape. -----Original Message----- From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Dave Dunfield Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 2:20 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: RE: IMSAI Score update/Spare BYTEs/Got an Altair too >> >OK, I pulled the front panel appart tonight and I found out that whoever >> >owned this model colored the silkscreen with magic marker. Bogus! >> > >> >Anyway, I can get a new photomask from Todd Fischer for $20. Well worth >> >it. >> >> I was afraid of that ... Although it's good that you can get a replacement, >> keeping it all original has merit as well - depending on the marker used, >> you might be able to carefully remove it. Try a Q-tip with some whiteboard >> cleaner and move up to stronger solutions as required. > >Oh for ****'s sake. > >How is cleaning off the ink any different from replacing the strip? You >just said, "keeping it all original has merit as well". I guess attacking >it with whiteboard cleaner is not considered a modification to the >original? I don't recall using the verb "attack" ... if he's lucky, the marker used was a soluable one, and it will clean up nicely with no damage to the original strip - if you can do that, then why not clean it up and keep it all original. As Rich noted in a later message, the replacement he can get is not identical to the original... Have you never cleaned up a computer that you really wanted to restore to original condition? >Like sane people do, note down the modification and keep the note with the >system (use a tagged string so you can tie the tag internally to keep Dave >happy). Put the original in a safe place (which is I'm sure what Rich >planned to do). Obviously any cleanup should be attempted with great care, and if it's not going to work, then by all means get the replacement, and keep the original in a safe place.... but that doesn't mean you shouldn't at least investigate restoring the original first. >Sheesh. Here we agree (although from different viewpoints :-) -- 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

19 years, 2 months

Heathkit floppy drive (H17) available

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I just acquired (another) Heathkit H-17 floppy drive, and lord knows I don't need any more of them. This appears to be a hard sector model with the older style drives in it. Pictures are available at: http://www.ezwind.net/jwest/hk17 It is untested, just as I got it. It is dusty, but in good condition and will clean up very nicely. Reasonable offers accepted, if there's no real interest I'll take it off to ebay. Jay

19 years, 2 months

IMSAI Score update/Spare BYTEs/Got an Altair too

by Richard.Cini＠wachovia.com

Actually, the back of the acetate was colored. The white paper is intact. Looks like isopropyl alcohol is the way to go at first. Rich -----Original Message----- From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Randy McLaughlin Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 1:58 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: IMSAI Score update/Spare BYTEs/Got an Altair too From: "Dwight K. Elvey" <dwight.elvey at amd.com> Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 12:26 PM > Hi Rich > Try things like "goof off" as well. I've used rubbing > alcohol to remove marker from plastic in the past with > reasonable results. If it has soaked into the surface, > there is not much that will remove it. > Dwight <snip> As I understand it the marker was on the white paper not the plastic. If so it is unlikely to remove the writing without damaging the paper. If it can not easily be removed and you want to store it where is doesn't get lost I would check to see how well it lines up with a new one from Todd and try to place the new one in front of the original keeping everything togather, maybe with a little note explaining why there are two sheets for future reference. Randy www.s100-manuals.com

19 years, 2 months

Simulated disk drive for RT-11?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Simulated disk drive for RT-11? > >>>>>> "David" == David Betz <dbetz at xlisper.mv.com> writes: > > David> I have a device that plugs into a serial port on a PC and > David> looks like a disk drive to an Atari 800. Is there such a thing > David> for RT-11? It seems like it should be possible to write a disk > David> driver that uses a serial port and some sort of serial > David> protocol to communicate with a PC and make RT-11 think it is > David> accessing a local disk drive. > >You could make it look like a TU-58, which is a block structured >device. So RT11 should treat that like a disk. > Thats what the doctor ordered. I have one here, 11/23, 256k, 2serial in a BA11BV 4 slot box and a TU58 (the boxed version). Two drives 256k per drive and slower than slow (tape seeks take forever). A very compact PDP-11. I also have one, ba11 with 11/23, 32kW ram 2 serial and a RQDX3 that allows a hard disk and floppy. Thats fairly compact too. Allison

19 years, 2 months

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test-drb June 2005