test-drb November 2006

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

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452 discussions

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Geek/Tech/Classic computers in Omaha

by kelly＠catcorner.org

So I'll be in Omaha for a week. Any good tech attractions/stores/things to see? Kelly

18 years, 1 month

Anyone near Dallas, Texas?

by evan＠snarc.net

I need some shipping assistance. Please ping me off-list at evan at snarc.net .... thanks!

18 years, 1 month

Anyone have a manual for the IBM 5140?

by evan＠snarc.net

I'm looking for the "Guide to Operations" -- the spiral-bound user manual.

18 years, 1 month

FS eBay: MMJ adapter kit & TRS-80 model 100 printer cable

by tothwolf＠concentric.net

I just posted two new items on eBay and thought I'd give anyone who might be interested a heads up. The first is a TRS-80 model 100/102/200/600 printer cable. I tried to duplicate the original 26-1409 cable as best I could. Its listed as item # 120053986869 The second is a MMJ adapter kit that I mentioned not long ago on classiccmp. I finally had time to make a few more and listed one to see how it would do. Its listed as item # 120053989909 I still can't believe what vendors are getting for genuine H8571-J (and compatible/generic!) adapters... I still have TRS-80 cassette and serial din cables listed, as well as my usual assortment of telecommunications tools, for those who might also be interested in those. -Toth

18 years, 1 month

Formatting non-DEC disks using zrqch0...

by derschjo＠msu.edu

The RD53 drive in my 11/73 has finally gone to silicon heaven, after a brief resurrection. Given the reputation these drives seem to have, I'm not too surprised. So a few nights ago I dug through my stacks of ancient hard drives and found three possible candidates for replacement: - A Microscribe 6085, which seems to have the same drive geometry as an RD53 - Two Seagate ST-251s, which seem to be identical to an RD32 All of these are in "unknown" condition (I haven't used them in years), but spin up without making any evil noises and are recognized by the RQDX3 controller. To the best of my recollection, all three were formerly used in PCs. I've used zrqch0 (booted via vtserver) to format all three of these disks. In all three cases the formatting appears to be successful -- the drives format for a few minutes, then go through three verification stages for another 20-30 minutes. During this time I can hear the heads being stepped, and the drive access light blinks. At the end of the format no errors are reported. I'll note that in order to do the format on these drives, I had to go through the process manually (as opposed to the "AUTOFORMAT" mode of zrqch0) -- for the Microscribe this was because zrqch0 didn't recognize the drive (showed up as "unknown"), for the ST-251s this was because the fault tables could not be read off the drives. I suspect this may have something to do with the issue I'm seeing, but of course this is pure speculation. I've tried various permutations of the formatting options, but I've had no joy there. After formatting the drives, no other utilities seem to be able to make use any of the drives -- running the disk exerciser (zrqah0) fails after the first test step (and after a very small amount of disk activity) with an error similar to the below (this varies slightly based on the test being run): FATAL I/O ERROR * DISK 0 WENT OFFLINE * SUB_CODE: NO VOLUME MOUNTED OR DRIVE DISABLED BY SWITCH * COMMAND: READ_COMPARE Interestingly, 2.11BSD's 'disklabel' is able to partition and write the label to the disk. Mkfs, however, fails with: ra(0,0,0) error op=A2 sts=23 write error 3 Exit called I've tried this with two different RQDX3 controllers with the same results (and these controllers worked fine with my RD53 until it failed). Is there a magic step I'm missing? Is what I'm attempting to do (use non-DEC drives) not possible? Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks for any help here... Josh

18 years, 1 month

VCF 9 (Jay West) & (Jules Richardson)

by c.murray.mccullough＠gmail.com

My 'excuse' was that I just got back from VCF 9, via western-Canada. I was a speaker at VCF 9, thoroughly enjoyed myself. Of particular note was meeting The Woz on the 30th anniverary of Apple, Lee Felsentein of SOL 20 fame, and a visit to the Digibarn in Snata Cruz, a brilliant creation of Bruce Damer, CEO of DigitalSpace. One amazing artifact was the Digi-comp 1 a creation out of the 60s. I have one and it made my heart go a flutter...All-in-all a great faire Sellam and others put on. Looking forward to VCF 10 and seeing Evan in May for VCF east. Happy computing! Murray-- ------------------

18 years, 1 month

Altos III terminal problems

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

Well- my terminal (Altos III) was a bit too unobtrusive, and wound up being left on for a couple of weeks straight. Now, it has a somewhat anemic beep and the screen comes up with garbage. Looks like possibly a RAM issue. Anyone have experience or ideas?

18 years, 1 month

Free SGI R8k POWER Challenge L (Deskside) (CO)

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

Don't know who got it, but I've been informed that this has been given away to someone.

18 years, 1 month

Practical question on valuation of old systems

by wdg3rd＠comcast.net

This message has been processed by Symantec's AntiVirus Technology. Unknown00000000.data was not scanned for viruses because too many nested levels of files were found. For more information on antivirus tips and technology, visit http://ses.symantec.com/

18 years, 1 month

Practical question on valuation of old systems

by Billy.Pettit＠wdc.com

Dave McGuire wrote: Myself, I will pay top dollar (if I'm able) in order to get my hands on a machine that I lusted after during my childhood. For example, in my teens, I desperately wanted a Ferguson BigBoard but couldn't afford one. I saw those ads every month in BYTE and just drooled and drooled. Now, I'd just about kill to get one, even though they're really not all THAT rare...I just haven't managed to find one that's available yet. ------------------------ There has long been a theory in book collecting that the best prices and most demand for collectibles is for exactly this reason. Young people grow up, raise a family and mature. Late in life they long for the toys of their youth. They now have the time and money to enjoy those toys. The magic age seems to be 30-45 years from when the item was desired first. In other words, people aged 50-70. Then the market prices slip back to normally, as that generation passes on. The best example I know of this street rods. Go to any custom car show and you will find most of the owners are grey haired and usually affluent. Reliving the joys of their teen years. You can apply the theory to Star Wars figures, books, cars or computers. I invested heavily in certain types of magazines, especally pulps, based on this idea. So far it has paid off handsomely. But in the last ten years the prices have completely tanked. Most of the readers of that era are gone now. And please, I'm not disparaging this yen for the toys of one's youth - I'm probably more guilty than most what with buying Erector and Meccanno sets, science fiction fanzines, and old CDC computers. Billy

18 years, 1 month

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test-drb November 2006