test-drb October 2007

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

228 participants
467 discussions

Troubleshooting with a Frequency Counter

by marvin＠west.net

I was just thinking about troubleshooting, and am curious if anyone has used a frequency counter for troubleshooting? It seems like it would be another way to find out if there are clock or data signals besides using a scope. And reasonable frequency counters shouldn't cost more than $50.00 or so including shipping.

17 years, 2 months

That poor system/36

by ballsandy＠msn.com

Thanks for breaking the good news colin. :D I really hope it goes to a nice home it would be a shame to neglect that big of a system. Hmmm, asides from our two Canadian tire sores (they have something, there are Twinax terminals everywhere!) I really can't think of any place in town that would have an IBM mainframe of any kind. I can see modern servers and lots of them but the closest place I can think of that would hide an IBM would be the lower mainland....or the Okanagan valley. _________________________________________________________________ Have fun while connecting on Messenger! Click here to learn more. http://entertainment.sympatico.msn.ca/WindowsLiveMessenger

17 years, 2 months

Vector Graphic

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

Hi, I am trying to gauge whether there is sufficient interest in the Vector Graphic to support a mailing list. Please reply or email me if you'd be interested in joining. The mailing list would be a LISTSERV on a university domain (.EDU) *NOT* a Yahoo! Group. Thanks! Andrew Lynch

17 years, 2 months

Indigo 2 - "NESTED EXCEPTION" at boot.

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

> Edward writes > Manual says something about "dissonant piano chord" - how is it > supposed > to sound like? One thing I've verified that without graphics card > the chord sounds the same. It's an arpeggio of some sort, perhaps with a 7th. Haven't worked it out. Getting the boot-tune means that much of the computer is working properly. Try pulling the graphics and reseating the memory and processor module & memory and see what pops out on TTY0. It could be bad graphics (had that happen once in an Indigo), in which case there is a surfeit of XL/Express graphics boards around (I have an Extreme that I haven't used for years). Do you know what the hardware is? Another possibility is that someone tried to upgrade the processor module beyond what the boot PROM could support. Most of the time the machine will 'let it slide', but some cause issues (especially if it's a R10k on a R4k board). If you don't know for certain than describe: "module with a big aluminum heat sink and a small portion of board exposed that has several SMD memory chips on it" can localize it to one of 2 processor modules (R4400 in either 200MHz/2MB cache or R4400/250 with 2MB). Also give the IP number of the main board (it's near the riser for the GIO/EISA cards), and the model number on the back (CMNB007-something).

17 years, 2 months

Emailing: Universal Floppy reader, was Re Extracting CDOS and CP-M) files

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

> Really don't understand all the talks about catweasels secrets, etc. > Just make few boards for the classiccomp group, and be done with the > subject ;-) I suppose--every once in awhile, I run into a very odd format that's not compatible with any of the commodity controllers and am forced to use a Catweasel on it. But 99% of what I see is plain old soft- sectored media, readable on most WD17xx or NEC 765 controllers. Cheers, Chuck -----REPLY----- There has been lots of talk about these universal floppy controller devices and I for one would LOVE to see one done but so far nobody has made one work. The closest thing I have seen is either the external floppy drive and compaticard combination or the parallel port Backpack external floppy drive >from Microsolutions. If anyone actually makes the universal floppy reader, please put me down to buy one as well. However, IMO, the best solution for the universal floppy drive is an old PC with a Catweasel and a 3.5", 5.25", and/or 8" floppy drive. Then just write the software for it. Really, writing software for the Catweasel is really simple and it is 100% open source. The documentation is all available publicly, its supported in Linux, MS-DOS, and/or Windows, the owner/manufacturer is as accomodating as one could possibly hope for (Jens Schoenfeld). There is a developer list and lots of enthusiastic users. The hardware is cheap and readily available. Count me as diehard Catweasel fan! The Catweasel in an old PC is as close to the perfect universal floppy drive reader as far as I can see. What else is needed? More and better software and that is about all. There are Catweasel software available for practically every format imaginable. Most if not all of the soft sector formats are covered by the Tim Mann CW2DMK software. There are reader for many formats such as specialty disks as the Amiga, Atari, Macintosh, Commodore, Nintendo, Apple II, etc. There is software for many of the hard sector formats as well (NorthStar, PTDOS, Data General, and Heath, at least. Vector Graphic is in work). Thanks and best of luck with your project. Really, if anyone does complete a universal floppy reader which is even close to as good as the Catweasel, I will be in line to buy it. Andrew Lynch

17 years, 2 months

VAXen at home

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

>From a UK point of view 'motor' as in motor-generator would be taken to some form of internal combustion engine. I have heard lots of references to 'motor-generators' but never an 'engine-generator'. Devices used for AC to DC, DC to AC and voltage conversion using a electric motor coupled to a generator would be referred to as 'rotary convertors'. Rod Smallwood -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Tony Duell Sent: 18 October 2007 01:18 To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: Re: VAXen at home > It may be European vs US usage, but in the US "motor" almost always > means electric motor in this and other contexts. So what you That tends to be UK usage too. The thing under the bonnet (OK, hood) of a car is called an 'engine' over here. 'Motor' for that would be very uncommon. To me, a 'motor generator' is just that. An electric motor driving an electric generator, to be used to convert voltage/frequency, etc. A 'rotary converter' (or 'Dynamotor; if oyu go back far enough) is a simialr thing with common field windings/frame/etc rather than 2 separate electrical machines with the shafts coupled. > call a "motor-generator" would be here just plain called a "generator" A 'generator' over here is either just the mechanical-to-electircal energy converter or , as you said, a heat engine coupled to such a machine. Certainly if you hired a 'generator' (as somebody suggested we should do for a VCF-type event), you'd expect to get something with the engine included. I don't know how common these other term are across the Pond, but an 'alternator' is an AC-output geneterator, a 'Dynamo' (short for 'Dynamo-electric machine' is a generator, normally DC output, with a wound field, and a 'Magneto' (short for 'Magneto-electric machine' is a genatore with a permanent magnet field. Which means the common bicycle dynamo (as it's normally called over here' is in fact a magneto.... -tony

17 years, 2 months

That poor System/36

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

> I really want something bigger and something that just screams "I'm > dimming your lights!". A crimson running off a serial terminal does > not seem to cut it for me. IBM is a different mindset at the mini/mainframe levels than UNIX-type systems, and hobbyists suffer from the fact that IBM does not court the hobbyist market. Notice that I did not say it was a worse mindset, just different, nor did I imply that any company must bend over backwards for the hobbyist. IBM minis are optimized for database, accounting and semi-mainframe type tasks, too, and there are many pitfalls and booby traps in place to prevent horrible and unscrupulous people from buying them secondhand without giving IBM their cut, at least on the AS/400 level. You might want to look at one of the heftier VAXen or Alphas running VMS- different from UNIX and bulletproof, but still from within the same "interactive terminal" mindset. The OpenVMS Hobbyist program and the availability of free/low cost documentation and help is a big plus there, too. A VAX 7000 or AlphaServer 4k series will dim the lights on a branch circuit, definitely, and if that doesn't cut it you can plug in a couple of LaserJet IIISIs. Note that dim lights = low voltage = bad news for extended operation of SMPSUs, though :). Be patient: RealityEngines happen.

17 years, 2 months

That poor system/36

by ballsandy＠msn.com

>My 8809 came from a tire store. I is probably just spare parts now, >because it is covered with brake grinding debris. Oh that can't be healthy to the drive. hmm, I wonder if the will ever replace those systems soon? They have been in use for almost two decades now however inventory work does not mean graphics so they might stick with whatever they have until it finally gives the ghost. _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself with free Messenger emoticons. Get them today! http://www.freemessengeremoticons.ca/?icid=EMENCA122

17 years, 2 months

4004 and IC history / was Re: Vintage computer photogallery

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

I'm sure I saw a development system at DEC for the 4004 running on a PDP-8 circa 1975. Rod Smallwood -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Roy J. Tellason Sent: 13 October 2007 19:41 To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: Re: 4004 and IC history / was Re: Vintage computer photogallery On Saturday 13 October 2007 05:13, Brent Hilpert wrote: > Can't remember where I read it, but it seemed plausible for the time > the > 4004 was being developed (1970), also that it was compounded by > management's perceptions that the 4004 was a little business on the > side and not willing to invest much in it, memory chips still being the focus. > On the other hand, I wonder what packages the original Busicom designs > utilised - that Intel would otherwise have been obligated to produce - > one would expect, or typically, they would be larger. (The 4040 would > go to a larger package, of course.) Having heard of the 4004 of course, I know basically nothing about it. Except that it's the part that was supposed to have started all this... And the 4040? I've only seen mention of it now and then. (Snip) > Perhaps not speed as an issue but you were wired into the small family > of chips that understood the highly specific machine/bus cycle, at > least until the 4008/9 came along that broke out the address/data busses. 4008/9? First I've heard of these at all. Can you give any sort of a general overview of what those parts were all about? I remember very little about the 8008, it having appeared in that Radio-Electronics article way back when. I do remember, even after the 8080 article in Popular Electronics came out, not thinking very much of microprocessors for quite a while. They seemed limited, it appeared that you had to really go through a lot to fit your thinking and way of doing things to what they could handle, and it took me quite a while before I got to the point where I got a really good grip on the tradeoffs involved, like low package count, etc. :-) -- 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

17 years, 2 months

Web Rings

by marvin＠west.net

It seems that there are a number of websites and listservers for classic computers. Have any of you who run such sites looked at forming a WebRing? It would certainly be easier to have an up-to-date webring resource than having to wade through Google search results. I, for one, would enjoy being able to go to one site to find sites that contain information I'm looking for!

17 years, 2 months

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test-drb October 2007