test-drb October 2007

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

228 participants
467 discussions

by rtellason＠verizon.net

I ran across some data in the pile of what I've been collecting, and there's some stuff there apparently by Signetics (?) referring to what they're calling "Utilogic II" -- is this stuff RTL or what? It doesn't say. Dates are in the late 1960s, and it looks like it, but I figured I'd ask in here... -- 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

16 years, 7 months

Anyone collect Dec/Compaq Alphaservers or VAXen?

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

Hmmm Time for a quick 'We are not worthy' ^00^ What did you do? Raid the Mill with a fleet of trucks? Rod -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Allison Sent: 01 October 2007 15:47 To: cctech at classiccmp.org Subject: RE: Anyone collect Dec/Compaq Alphaservers or VAXen? > >Subject: RE: Anyone collect Dec/Compaq Alphaservers or VAXen? > From: "Rod Smallwood" <RodSmallwood at mail.ediconsulting.co.uk> > Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:00:44 +0100 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" ><cctech at classiccmp.org> > > >My list > pdp11/94 x 4 R > > DEC Rainbow 100+ * > > VAX 300 * > VAX 400 * > VAX 500 R > VAXStation 3100 * > > DEC 3000 * > > Multia * > >* = Working >R = Renovation (Mostly missing parts) > >Rod Smallwood A more detailed list of DEC systems here. :) Collection of operational hardware: PDP-8 based machines: ==================== PDP-8f, 20k core and 2 serial 8650 and 8652 2 Decmate-IIIs OS/278 Intersil sampler (6100 chipset) extended to 3k ram 6120 based board, homebrew 32kram 8k rom PDP-11 based machines: ===================== 1 LSI-11/03 rx02 2 PDP11/23 BA11S boxes, 1MB, RQDX2 and RD52 1MB, RQDX2 and RD31, RX50 1 pdp11/73 50" RACK SYSTEM (4MB, DLVJ11, DEQNA, RQDX3>> RX02, RD52, RX33, RL02). 1 BA11va with 11/23 +tu58 RT-11 1 BA11va with 11/23 +Viking RX02 equivilent RT-11 PDT11/130 11/03 with tu58 dectapeII OSs in use: RT-11, XXDP-11 and unix V6 VAX based machines: =================== Microvax-II (ba23 based) 12mb, RQDX3, RD53, RX33 This one lived as HIPSS:: during my days at DEC. Microvax-II/GPX (Ba123 based, TK50 and SCSI disks) This one was know as VIDSYS:: inside DEC. 3 Microvax2000 all with 2 RD53, 1 RD54 drive, one with ultrix 1 Microvax2000 as hard disk formatter and MOP bootable system. 2 Microvax3100/m76/gpx 32mb 2 each 1gb scsi internal 3 Microvax3100/server (not M10e) (filled with 400mb and 1gb disks) 4 BA42 SCSI disk farm for the 3100s populated with RZ56s OSs in use VMSv5.4-4,V5.54, V7.2, Ultrix 4.2 Terminal for the uVAX systems is usually VT1200 via thinnet and the PDP-11s the usual terminal is either VT340, VT320 or VT180 in terminal mode. DEC CP/M speaking machines: =========================== 1 Vt180 complete (dual RX180s) 2 Vt180 CP/M board built up as standalone one modded for 6mhz 1 Vt185 Thats a Vt125 + Vt180. In the non operational list: 11/23B uPDP-11 in a BA23 pedestal that while complete with 11/23B, M8057 memory, DHV11, RQDX2 and RD52, RX50 it requries cleaning and testing. H11 Backplane complete with LSI-11 CPU, 16k of ram, two serial cards and a parallel card of heath origin. Some day I'll find the case/power supply for it. All parts are tested as working. Small 11/23 system using a H9281-BC (12x2 slots) filled with: M8186 1/23 (Overclocked CPU mod) 4 M8059 MSV11 ram DLV11j, RQDX3 with M9058 distribution board. (for RX33 and RD31) MRV-11 Eprom card with MSCP boot. VK170 with matching LK02 keyboard and a monitor. The VK170 is a minimal VT52 on a dual width card for packaged systems that communicates via RS232 to system and the bus use is power only. This is waiting on being packed in a reasonable nonDEC box with a DEC PS and fans. The boards are known working and the backplane is already jumpered as Q22. Generally in my house operational means I can actually turn it on and play and it has a permanent spot that is easily accessable. One project that is in process is a H9800 desk/rack that will replace the existing standard steel office desk. the system to be installed there will be 11/23B in BA11s with a hand made Disk box for RX33 and RD52s. I have two boxes (Xerox Paper sized) of tested boards enough to build another few 11/23s and a few uVAXII as my spares. Failed boards get repaird when I feel like it so I have good boards around. Who was it that has the SIG of "DEC had then what you wish you could buy now." ? Allison

16 years, 7 months

Who was putting together the TSX+ archive?

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Is this already in the archive, or would it be useful? Lyle Bickley was putting together the software archive unfortunately, he's no longer subscribed here. The TSX docs are under pdf/dec/pdp11/tsxPlus and I have some manuals scanned from Feb 84.

16 years, 7 months

MSCP controllers

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

> Jochen Wrote: > Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote: > >> Absolutely. Every time I hear someone blathering on about "new >> SAN technology" I show them stuff about VAXclusters and CI. I always >> get a kick out of the reactions. :) > Yes, thats it. Just like that 64 bit hype. DEC Alpha systems where the > first real 64 bit machines, 15, 16 (?) years ago... > > Where do HyperTransport and HyperThreading originate? > Alpha... I remember being somewhat dumbfounded yet amused when Apple made the big deal about having the first "World First 64-bit desktop with native 32-bit application compatibility" as I looked over at my DEC 3000, Indigo2 R10k, HP 9000 C180, and Sun Ultra 1. Ah - here's the marketing drivel: "On other platforms, switching to a 64-bit computer requires migrating to a 64-bit operating system (and purchasing 64-bit applications) or running a 32-bit operating system in a slow emulation mode.With the PowerPC G5, the transition to a 64-bit system is seamless:Current 32-bit code?such as existing Mac OS X and Classic applications?runs natively at processor speed, with no interruptions to your workflow and no additional investment in software." Gee that's funny- IRIX did that in '96, Solaris in '99, and HP-UX in '99 or '00 - and DEC's VEST wasn't too shabby in '92 even if it wasn't transparent.

16 years, 7 months

Core duo SC/MP?

by dogas＠bellsouth.net

Hi there folks. I just got a sweet NS LCDS (low cost dev system) with a SC/MP II processor card and nice set of docs on the chip itself, the lcds,appnotes,and assembly programming It looks pretty easy to add more than one scamp to the same bus and I was wondering if there are known multiproc scamp systems or archetectures out there. So, in looking for a few additional sc/mp II chips (national semi ISP8060 or ISP 8-A/600N) , the only place I could find was the CPU Shack.com He said he could get them, but 8 would have to be purchased at $14/chip. I only want two more for my rig, any interest in filling out the rest of an order for the other 6? Or does anyone have them cheaper? Thanks - Mike

16 years, 7 months

[SPAM(date)] Re: Burroughs B80 rescued

by stevew＠ka6s.com

Some possible suggestions: Serial line- likely this is a Burroughs Multidrop line - RS485 using a polled protocol. Should be compatible with TD830/TD850/MT983 Burroughs terminals etc. Disk drive control was done by the CPUs - most of the drives were not terribly smart. Best bet is bitsavers as you've already suggested. I've never used a B80 myself, - but am an expert on B1900 stuff. Steve Wilson

16 years, 7 months

VSII/GPX joy (and minor annoyance)

by Arno_1983＠gmx.de

Jochen Kunz <jkunz at unixag-kl.fh-kl.de> wrote: > > To my understanding, this means the grant chain was broken in slot 5 > > (after the RQDX3) because there's no board in its CD half. > Yes. But I asume it doesn't matter, as the QDSS isn't a DMA device (?) > and maybe can't generate interrupts at all? Hmm. One half of the base board does however have circuitry connected to those pads that are just linked by grant continuity traces on the second half (and the 4-plane memory boards), so I figured it might actually be doing something useful with it. Haven't studied the technical description yet... > Most likely you will have to solder the BC18Z yourself. But I think I > can provide a LK201 keyboard and a VSxxx rodent. I can throw in some > QBus stuff like a 8 port serial mux or a TQK50, maybe a TK50 drive too. > But TK50 tape drives are as reliable as RD53 disks... I recommend to get > a TK70. Much better. I found the pinouts of the BC18Z somewhere (and I'm aware that there is a buggy version), so I should be able to construct a replacement. Your offer for the other stuff is gratefully taken, let me know what I should be on the lookout for you in private mail. The MVII at University has a TK70 installed, but as it will probably never see much use even if we manage to fix the supply, I might be able to get it traded for a TK50 (which was what the machine originally had). -- Arno Kletzander Stud. Hilfskraft Informatik Sammlung Erlangen www.iser.uni-erlangen.de Der GMX SmartSurfer hilft bis zu 70% Ihrer Onlinekosten zu sparen! Ideal f?r Modem und ISDN: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/smartsurfer

16 years, 7 months

"destructive read of a ROM"?

by legalize＠xmission.com

Over on comp.terminals someone wrote this about the VT100: "The power-on operation does a "destructive" read of the ROM-based firmware. After so many power-ups, the ROM becomes unreadable. This was a design issue at the time - the technology to fix it did not evolve until the VT200 series." Is this true? I've never heard of a ROM being damaged by reading it a lot. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html> Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>

16 years, 7 months

TI-99/4A Floppies

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: TI-99/4A Floppies > From: "Roy J. Tellason" <rtellason at verizon.net> > Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:11:42 -0400 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On Monday 01 October 2007 15:19, Mark Meiss wrote: >> Preservation for TI-99/4A software on floppies seems to be pretty poor >> right now, because of (as Jim mentioned) the rarity of the expansion box >> and third-party software that used it. > >I remember back when we were talking about getting a computer for the first >time... > >She called my attention to the fact that there was this local place >advertising that machine "for only $149"... So we went up there and talked >to them about it. > >My thoughts at that time were that to have something useful you'd need at >least two floppy drives. I also thought that more memory than what came in >the basic unit wasn't a bad idea, either. The sales dude did some figuring, >and when the expansion box, the memory, and the drives were all added in >the total came to something over $1,000 -- not as good a deal as it looked >like, at the time. :-) > >I also didn't consider that it had only a 40-column screen, either. Having >done a bunch of work on C64s, and having gotten (eventually) an Osborne >Executive which came with a built-in monitor showing an 80-column screen, I >think I probably would've found that hard to live with as well. The Ti though color was a step down from the smallest screen I'd had at the time and that was the PT VDM1 at 64charx16 lines which was at least useful. >I suspect that that machine was an attempt to make a "computer appliance" >which would provide a platform for commercial software or similar, and it >wasn't even that good at that. <shrug> > >I never got one, never played around with one, but I don't think I'm missing >much. > I have one I bought back in the big sell off so I got it all for under $150 floppies and what not as well. Still have that. Since then I've aquired two more. However the screen size 40x anything is painfully short for me. At the other end the software was decent and the time (1981-2ish) it wasn't a bad machine to use off the serial port with a real terminal (you could do that with some software). I still enjoy bugertime and some fo the games on it. Allison

16 years, 7 months

"Chuck" question

by cclist＠sydex.com

A friend forwarded this message to me and I agreed to post it. Please note that she's an archivist and not a collector: "I tried posting this elsewhere but other than one reply that some schools have old computers around, nobody's come up with a good explanation. So I thought I'd try Archives List in the hopes that somebody who either attended Stanford University or works there might be able to say if the reference is some sort of in-joke. The show is Chuck on which premiered on NBC this week and the question is: Why would a character who's 27 years old say he'd developed a video game on a TRS80 when he attended Stanford? Assuming a normal progress through school, Chuck attended college between 1997 and 2002 or perhaps a few years earlier if he was a child prodigy (of which there is no evidence in the pilot.) Would he have been able to to find a Trash-80 there and use it to design a video game? TRS-80's were first manufactured before he was born and production ended by the time he entered kindergarten. Although the Model 100 laptop enjoyed some popularity - especially with reporters - until the 1990's, surviving TRS-80's were antiques by the time the character was in high school. I've checked various message boards, etc. but haven't found a mention of this - just lots of comparisons to Jake 2.0 and a fairly even mix of pans and praise for the show. Judy Turner Whitefish Bay, WI"

16 years, 7 months

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test-drb October 2007