test-drb August 2006

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

216 participants
517 discussions

Statement & apology (was Re: 10 Year Rule)

by marvin＠rain.org

> From: "Jay West" <jwest at classiccmp.org> > > Hans wrote.... > > Now, hold the horses. Has there been something I missed? > > Like some putsch? So, who is the ruler that gave us the > > revocation of our basic rule, right today? > > That would be me, the owner of this list. And given my past indulgence of > many peoples behaviour on the list, I rather resent the "ruler" and "right > revoker" implication/characterization that you make. > > This has been a benevolent dictatorship for a long time - since I took over > the list many years ago. I usually am pretty quiet preferring not to add to the "noise" level. BUT, Jay has been doing a fabulous job maintaining the list and providing some order. While some may or may not like it, there HAS to be someone in charge ... and that is Jay. He has always been open to suggestions and mildly tolerant of a *bit* of list "noise", and I see nothing that indicates a change. Personally, I think this list is very lucky to have someone with his knowledge, resources, and dedication running this list ... it appears to be a mostly thankless job. Jay, thanks MUCH for all the work you put into this list!

18 years, 3 months

5.25" DSDD floppies

by rtellason＠verizon.net

I have just acquired several (8-9?) boxes of the above-mentioned floppies, all except one are shrink-wrapped still, and looking in the one that isn't I find ten in the box, plus labels and WP tabs. There's a barcode and part numbers and whatnot on the box. If anybody can use some of these, feel free to contact me offlist. -- Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and ablest -- form of life in this section of space, a critter that can be killed but can't be tamed. --Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters" - Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James M Dakin

18 years, 3 months

Age cutoff, was: Recommendations for operating system

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

At the risk of being overly buzzword compliant, how about something along the lines of "computing that differs materially from the current computing paradigm"? That would allow limited discussion of interesting O/S and other software on currentish computers or "heavily microcoded" implementations of classic machines, whilst excluding Windows 95 and modernish hardware discussions.

18 years, 3 months

Imaging DEC uVAX MFM drives

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Imaging DEC uVAX MFM drives > From: "Dan Williams" <williams.dan at gmail.com> > Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:36:48 +0100 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > ><snip> >> If the 3100 is running VMS it can netboot VMS to a target VAX system so >> long as there is a network between them. Though Netbsd may be easier for >> those more familiar with Linux/unix. >> >> >> >> Allison >> >> >> >I think VMS must be the fastest and easiest setup for netbooting out >of any OS I have used. Just one program type in a few details and it >works. I have spent far to long trying to figure out what went wrong >with netbooting to find I had an extra ";" or similar somewhere it >shouldn't be, or didn't have one where it should. I do too but if your not somewhat familiar with VMS it could be a minefield. I pointed out the unix path for those that know it and are most comfortable there. Myself I just cluster boot systems that have empty disks or I want to see what's on the disks. The best way to get at the VAX disks is a working VAX. Archiving them is a different propisition. Myself I have a boatload of RZ56s (5.25" full height 680mb SCSI disks) and a few BA42 boxes to put them in and a CMD SCSI controller for Qbus. This allows me to image from any Qbus VAX I can fit the controller into or use one of my pack of uVAX3100s SCSI interface. With eight RX56s on hand and a few 1gb Baracudas I have a solid image and backup archive. Allison

18 years, 3 months

Imaging DEC uVAX MFM drives

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Imaging DEC uVAX MFM drives > From: "Zane H. Healy" <healyzh at aracnet.com> > Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 16:55:48 -0700 (PDT) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > >> The RD53 is from uVAX II with a RQDX3. > >And this makes me think of something I don't think anyone has directly >warned you of. Sort out everything with another drive than this. *IF* it >will spin up, you want to get the data off of it without powering it back >down. RD53's were unreliable 10-20 years ago, they can't have gotten any >better :^( > >> The RD23 is from a uVAX I with a RQDX3. If the head stick problem hasn't happend it will be fine. >RD23? Assuming this isn't a typo, what on earth is an RD23? > >> (BTW, it also have a VAXstation 3100-m38 with RZ(something) SCSI drive >> which I successfully imaged on a PC with SCSI capabilities) > SCSI is a whole differnt matter. SCSI has better standardization as the media itself is more isolated. ><snip> > >> Yep, I think Pat's idea to do a diskless/network boot of NetBSD and then >> image off from there is the way to go. > >Actually you might have another solution here. Is the VAXstation 3100-m38 >running VMS? If it is, has TCP/IP, and the SCSI HD has enough free space, >simply net-boot VMS. Though if you're more comfortable with Pat's idea, >it's probably the better solution. For certain if it has VMS it has DECnet, however LINUX and even PCs can support DECNET directly. If the 3100 is running VMS it can netboot VMS to a target VAX system so long as there is a network between them. Though Netbsd may be easier for those more familiar with Linux/unix. Allison

18 years, 3 months

"File types"

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: "File types" > From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 11:52:56 +1200 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 8/29/06, Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> wrote: >> Unix was the first system that I'd ever seen where the file name implied a >> type. For me it was OS8 and later tops 10. By RT11 and CP/M the idea that COM, .TXT, .DOC and .ASM were fully embedded. And even CP/M apps were somewhat sensitized... Ever type A:ASM FOO.ASM and wonder why you got a disk specification error? Allison

18 years, 3 months

"File types"

by aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk

--- Don <THX1138 at dakotacom.net> wrote: > I.e. type needs to be finer grained than silly N > *character* > file "extensions"... *everyone* wants to be "DOC", > or some > other pronounceable extension. So, the file types > lose their > value (e.g., on my W2K box, Matlab and Mathematica > both want > to use .m -- so, .m files are meaningless to me > since I can't > recall FROM THE NAME OF THE FILE which application > needs to > be opened to process the file). MacOS *seems* to > have had the > right idea (though I have never used it "seriously " > to know > for sure). > *raises hand* Why not use a combination of an extension name and internal references within the files data, like the IFF format on the Amiga. eg. Filename: mypic.IFF and then within the first 16 bytes are contained the ASCII "ILBM" and something else (I forget... that's what not having a properly working Amiga does to me!). Not sure why they are spread apart and not the first few bytes. As far as I am concerned it is down to the software to *detect* whether or not the file is the right type, regardless of whether the extension name is correct (eg. IFF stands for Interchange File Format, or something similar, and can have sounds stored in an .IFF file instead of image data). Personally I developed a (lame) .ABI image format for the Amiga last year, and apart >from the .ABI extension it has a couple of other ways to detect it is the correct file type - eg. my initials ("ADB") are at the end of the file aswell as something else hidden in the data (that was also included just so I could verify it's *my* file type - I don't want to invent something and have it stolen >from me like so many great idea's (not referring to mine now) in the past. Regards, Andrew B aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk

18 years, 3 months

Philips PM3214 O-scope manual needed

by dm561＠torfree.net

Any chance someone out there has a manual for this 'scope? (Philips PM3214) Any info greatly appreciated. mike

18 years, 3 months

"File types"

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: "File types" > From: ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) > Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:10:01 +0100 (BST) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > >> And even CP/M apps were somewhat sensitized... Ever type A:ASM FOO.ASM and >> wonder why you got a disk specification error? > >Doesn't it try to write the object to S:, and the listing to M: ? Neither >of which probably exist. CP/M only has 16 disks posible (A..P). >I remember the first time I used ZASM (a CP/M Z80 assembler) on an >RML380Z. I typed 'ZASM FOO,ZSM and got a 'BDOS ERROR ON Z: SELECT' for my >efforts.... Exactly! >>To return to the original question, how far back do you have to go for >unix's cc(1) to require .c on C source files, .o on object files (to be >linked it), and so on? Day two. On day one they wrote the compiler. Allison

18 years, 3 months

Comptometer / adding machine oil?

by julesrichardsonuk＠yahoo.co.uk

Do mechanical adding machines / calculators favour any particular kind of oil (or grease) - or is it just a case of going for the lightest stuff possible? I've got one here (adding machine - Bell Punch 509) that's in remarkably good condition, but some of the mechanism needs a little 'help' for it to work. I don't think it's binding due to any mechanical distortion (although it could well be simple wear) - chances are that whatever lubricant was used has long since given up though and sorting that out may well get it going again. (for the curious, it's one of these: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~wolff/calculators/comptometers/Plus/Plus-1.htm ) cheers Jules -- A. Because it destroys the natural flow of conversation. Q. What's wrong with top posting ?

18 years, 3 months

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test-drb August 2006