test-drb August 2005

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

227 participants
528 discussions

by dave04a＠dunfield.com

Hi Guys, I have posted the update to ImageDisk which allows it to work with Head/Cylinder values on a per-sector basis if needed. I have also posted a number of additional ImageDisk format system disk archives. I have also added a new page which describes how I constructed the adapter for the 8" drive, and the cabling system I use to allow the external drive to be easily removable and to co-exist with an A: internal drive. I have provided photos of the various constructions as well as descriptive text. There is link to my "Connecting 8" and external drives" page near the bottom of my "disks/software images" page, which is accessable via a link near the bottom of my main page. Regards, Dave -- dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Vintage computing equipment collector. http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html

18 years, 10 months

ImageDisk/Site update posted.

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: ImageDisk/Site update posted. > From: Dave Dunfield <dave04a at dunfield.com> > Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2005 12:01:10 -0400 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >At 10:38 AM 8/4/05 -0500, you wrote: >>Dave Dunfield wrote: >> >>> Hi Guys, >>> >>> I have posted the update to ImageDisk which allows it to work >>> with Head/Cylinder values on a per-sector basis if needed. >>> I have also posted a number of additional ImageDisk format >>> system disk archives. >> >>Dave, from my quick read of your description of the IMD format, there is meta >>information that I think would be valuable to store. When a disk is imaged, the >>captured file should indicate which tracks/sectors had problems being read. >>That would allow automated merging of two different attempts to capture a given >>disk (I haven't used your merge program, but my understanding was that one had >>to manually specify which tracks to take from each image. Futher, when >>archiving one often is processing a large batch of disks. Keeping track of the >>problematic sectors manually and making sure that information is associated with >>the disk is challenging. Some months later when going back to a pile of disk >>images, it would be nice to know which sectors are suspect. > >Jim, > >I *DO* keep track of which sectors could not be read. If you look at the SECTOR >DATA RECORD, you will see that it consists basically of a flag byte followed by >the sector data. The flag bytes are: > > 00 = Sector unavailable (no data follows) > This means that the sector could not be read from the original master. > > 01 = Normal sector data (sector-size data bytes follow) > Self explainatory. > > 02 = Compressed sector data (1 byte follows) > This means that the entire sector was read and found to have all bytes > containing the same data value - IMD will automatically expand this sector-size > occuranges of the data value - it's primary purpose is to reduce the storage > required by unused areas of the disk. > >My analyze/merge utility will automatically extract 01 or 02 sectors from one image to >fill in 00 "holes" in another. It will also warn you if 01 or 02 sectors occuring on >both disks don't logically match (in which case you probably shouldn't be merging them). > >At this time I DO NOT keep track of the occurance of soft/recoverable read errors. In >my experience these have more to do with the particular PC/FDC/DRIVE combinarion and/or >individual disk condition, and I do not believe the added complexity/size of collecting >and recording such details will be worth it... > >ImageDisk will display sector read errors, and unavailable sectors as it records the >disk, and analyze/merge will display a summary of the Unavilable, NormalData and Compressed >sectors occuring within an image, as well as a detailed track by track summary if requested. >For me this gives me pretty much everything I can actually make use of. Dave, Read diagnostic command will read sectors with bad CRC or other problems. That may help with unreadable sectors. Keep cranking, you have a very useful tool there. Allison

18 years, 10 months

HP 9825 computer/calculator manuals & Re: HPL manual request

by Steven_R_Hutchins＠raytheon.com

I did finally get it figured out. keyboard codes changed from the 9825 to the 9826. The keycode table has a small footnote at the bottom that states "Lower 8 bits of 9826 keycode only". They gave an example on page 4-10 of the HPL Operating Manual 09826-90040. Keycode for "5" on 9825 is 83. On the 9836, the same key has keycode 2885. On both computers, the ASCII code is 53. The Keycode table lists 45 Hex for the 9826. 2885 = b45 Hex. Strip off MSD b to convert then look up in the table. The code snip below calls a lookup table to do the keycode conversion of 9826 keycodes for the 9825 HPL code running on my 9826. S.R. "Hutch" Hutchins |---------+-----------------------------> | | "Joe R." | | | <rigdonj at cfl.rr.co| | | m> | | | Sent by: | | | cctech-bounces at cla| | | ssiccmp.org | | | | | | | | | 08/02/2005 05:36 | | | AM | | | Please respond to | | | "General | | | Discussion: | | | On-Topic Posts | | | Only" | | | | |---------+-----------------------------> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> | | cc: | | Subject: Re: HP 9825 computer/calculator manuals & Re: HPL manual request | >---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| At 08:37 AM 8/1/05 -0400, you wrote: > > > > >when he gets them scanned, where will they end up? Bitsavers of course! > > Question on HPL, for anyone willing to help, >The following line of code gets a value from the keyboard buffer. I looked >in HPL Operating Manual 98614-90010 manual for keycode conversion table ( >page B-3) and it only goes to 255. Where do I find out what these >2874,2873...ect values are , with respect to the keyboard buffer? I have no idea. I've never used those functions. Just as a guess I check and see if it performs a MOD function to any out of range values. Joe > >65: "kbd":pbeep 2460,.05;key}K;if K=2874 or K=2873;1}Z;kret >66: if K=2867;1}Z}W;kret >67: if K>=2896 and K<=2906;gto "char" >68: if K>=2916 and K<=2941;gto "char" >69: if K>=2788 and K<=2813;gto "char" >70: if K=2782;gto "char" >71: if K=2862;if T>0;" "}V$[T,T];T-1}T;gto "kret" >72: if K=2845;aclr ;gclr;tabxy 61,17;prt "(RAM) HPL 2.1 Ready";stp ;end >73: gto "kret" >74: >75: "kret":V$[1,16]}T$[1];kret >76: >77: "char":if D=0;1}S;if T<16;T+1}T;char(asc K)}V$[T,T];gto "kret" >78: if D>0 and D<5;if T<6;T+1}T;char(asc K)}V$[T,T];gto "kret" >79: gto "kret" > > > > > >|---------+-----------------------------> >| | "Joe R." | >| | <rigdonj at cfl.rr.co| >| | m> | >| | Sent by: | >| | cctech-bounces at cla| >| | ssiccmp.org | >| | | >| | | >| | 07/30/2005 10:19 | >| | AM | >| | Please respond to | >| | "General | >| | Discussion: | >| | On-Topic Posts | >| | Only" | >| | | >|---------+-----------------------------> > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------| > | | > | To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> | > | cc: | > | Subject: HP 9825 computer/calculator manuals & Re: HPL manual request | > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------| > > > > > Oops! I forgot to add that HP refers the HPL users to the HP 9825 >Calculator manual for more details on HPL. There's an auction of E-bay >right now for a set of HP 9825 manuals. That's what reminded me about the >referral. > ><ttp://cgi.ebay.com/HP-9825-computer-calculator-manuals_W0QQitemZ6788289667Q > >QcategoryZ16210QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem> > > > Joe > > > >At 09:58 AM 7/27/05 -0400, you wrote: >> >> >> >> >>I was able to find HPL Operating Manual and Programming Update >>(09826-90040) on bitsavers website. I have HPL Operating Manual >>(98614-90010). Does anyone know if HPL Condensed Reference (98614-90020) >>is archived anywhere? Is there any other references available for HPL 2.1? >> >>Hutch > > I just finished packing a BUNCH of HP manuals and shipping them to Al to >be scanned and archived. In the pile are several HPL manuals, a manual for >BTL (Board Test Language, a variation of HPL that was used on the 3060 >circuit card test station) and a photocopy of the HPL Condensed Reference >Manual. > > Joe > > > > >

18 years, 10 months

New arrivals - NEC APC & Xerox 16/8

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

it might be a misnomer to designate the NEC APC as the only DOS computer to have built in 8" disk drives - although probably true - since others had external disks as standard options. I've just obtained one, along with external 5 1/4" drives to boot (no pun intended). As a matter of fact, I want to figure out just how to get it to boot off the 5.25's. Were there cards for an IBM PC or 100% compatible that interfaced to an external 8" floppy drive? The Xerox had 8" drives as options I've learned, but mine only has a built in 5 1/4. Actually, the expansion unit, which looks like the "cpu" has the drive, and a seemingly flakey hard drive. The O/S and development disks imaged fine, but other junk, Wordstar etc., didn't :(. I have a job on my hands figuring out how I'm going to hopefully archive the APC disks - 10 boxes of them - which is why I'd like to boot the thing off the 5 1/4's. Any suggestions? Anyone with software for these 2 beasts? __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour: http://tour.mail.yahoo.com/mailtour.html

18 years, 10 months

S100 serial card problems redux

by Richard.Cini＠wachovia.com

All: As posted previously, I've been having problems getting a Solid State Music card to work with my Altair. The background is that I want to get Microsoft BASIC running on it but the working serial card (a VG Bit Streamer card) cannot be configured to work with BASIC without patching BASIC. So, I've spent the last two weeks performing various tests. Here are the results: Working: 8800b with Vector Graphics Bit Streamer single serial I/O card. 8251 based. Using modified Turnkey Monitor program with actual I/O routines >from the sample c5ode from VG manual. Non-working: same system but using a Solid State Music serial card which is based on the AY-3-1015 (or equivalent) UAR/T. No working sample code provided in the manual but configuration instructions for status bit location and polarity is easily followed (a few jumpers and swapping an LS368 for an LS367). So I created three test cases, two that are considered "Altair Revision 1" compatible by the manual and one that makes the AY3-1015 look like an 8251. I also wrote a serial loopback program to echo characters back. None of these cases work. Now here's what I noticed last night. When running the Bit Streamer card (the working configuration), the INP light is illuminated on the front panel. OK, makes sense. In the non-working configurations, the INP light is dark. So, I single-stepped the code and the right 8080 opcode is being executed. Based on this one would have to say that something's wrong with the SSM card on the input side, except for the fact that I thought that the INP status was generated by the CPU. To further complicate things, sending random characters to the serial port from the computer works -- I get characters on the screen. Any thoughts? Rich

18 years, 10 months

ImageDisk/Site update posted.

by dave04a＠dunfield.com

At 10:38 AM 8/4/05 -0500, you wrote: >Dave Dunfield wrote: > >> Hi Guys, >> >> I have posted the update to ImageDisk which allows it to work >> with Head/Cylinder values on a per-sector basis if needed. >> I have also posted a number of additional ImageDisk format >> system disk archives. > >Dave, from my quick read of your description of the IMD format, there is meta >information that I think would be valuable to store. When a disk is imaged, the >captured file should indicate which tracks/sectors had problems being read. >That would allow automated merging of two different attempts to capture a given >disk (I haven't used your merge program, but my understanding was that one had >to manually specify which tracks to take from each image. Futher, when >archiving one often is processing a large batch of disks. Keeping track of the >problematic sectors manually and making sure that information is associated with >the disk is challenging. Some months later when going back to a pile of disk >images, it would be nice to know which sectors are suspect. Jim, I *DO* keep track of which sectors could not be read. If you look at the SECTOR DATA RECORD, you will see that it consists basically of a flag byte followed by the sector data. The flag bytes are: 00 = Sector unavailable (no data follows) This means that the sector could not be read from the original master. 01 = Normal sector data (sector-size data bytes follow) Self explainatory. 02 = Compressed sector data (1 byte follows) This means that the entire sector was read and found to have all bytes containing the same data value - IMD will automatically expand this sector-size occuranges of the data value - it's primary purpose is to reduce the storage required by unused areas of the disk. My analyze/merge utility will automatically extract 01 or 02 sectors from one image to fill in 00 "holes" in another. It will also warn you if 01 or 02 sectors occuring on both disks don't logically match (in which case you probably shouldn't be merging them). At this time I DO NOT keep track of the occurance of soft/recoverable read errors. In my experience these have more to do with the particular PC/FDC/DRIVE combinarion and/or individual disk condition, and I do not believe the added complexity/size of collecting and recording such details will be worth it... ImageDisk will display sector read errors, and unavailable sectors as it records the disk, and analyze/merge will display a summary of the Unavilable, NormalData and Compressed sectors occuring within an image, as well as a detailed track by track summary if requested. For me this gives me pretty much everything I can actually make use of. Regards, Dave -- dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Vintage computing equipment collector. http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html

18 years, 10 months

ImageDisk/Site update posted.

by dave04a＠dunfield.com

>>I have also added a new page which describes how I constructed >>the adapter for the 8" drive, and the cabling system I use to >>allow the external drive to be easily removable and to co-exist >>with an A: internal drive. I have provided photos of the various >>constructions as well as descriptive text. > >-- > >Will you be releasing a description of the "IMD" container file >format? This is "already released" - ImageDisks online help contains a description of the Image File Format. At some point in the process I will produce formal documentation for the program and related material (including the image file format), however everything you need is in the help. Dave PS: I just updated the "connecting 8" and external drives" page to include some notes on Termination which I had omitted from the original posting. -- dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Vintage computing equipment collector. http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html

18 years, 10 months

ImageDisk/Site update posted.

by aek＠bitsavers.org

I have also added a new page which describes how I constructed the adapter for the 8" drive, and the cabling system I use to allow the external drive to be easily removable and to co-exist with an A: internal drive. I have provided photos of the various constructions as well as descriptive text. -- Will you be releasing a description of the "IMD" container file format?

18 years, 10 months

Free HP tapes

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

I found these the other day and rescued them. I haven't checked the part numbers but I think they're for a Protocall Analyzer. Both appear to be in great shape. (1) HP 4955A Data Code Cartridge 04955-16003 (2) HP 18143A Training Tape 18143-16001. Anybody want them? Prefereable someone that can duplicate them and make them available to others. Joe PS these are the later style DC-100 tapes with the metal backplate and drive wheel. The drive band appears to be ok.

18 years, 10 months

Development Systems (Was: Kenbak-1 on Ebay)

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Al Kossow" <aek at bitsavers.org> ---snip--- > >As companies stop using uP's, they toss the development equipment. >The iron shows up, but not the sw or manuals. > Hi As is the case with my Z80 ICE and the stand alone 6502 ICE machine. At least I do have the software for the Z80 ICE if I ever get around to getting my ISIS machine running( projects.....projects ). Dwight

18 years, 10 months

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test-drb August 2005