test-drb February 2007

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

208 participants
390 discussions

by drb＠msu.edu

Hi, I'm in need of a PET-style IEEE cable to connect an 8032 to its peripherals. Anyone have one they're willing to part with? This is the kind with the card edge connector on one end, and the more traditional centronics-style IEEE connector on the other. Thanks, De

17 years, 10 months

8-inch dual floppy drives need homes

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

I have around ten 8-inch dual floppy drive units which need a new home. An advert is on http://www.vintagecomputermarketplace.com/ under the name "frotz661", the same name I use on Ebay. Pictures will be added over the weekend. -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

17 years, 10 months

by legalize＠xmission.com

This is a good price on these dvds: <http://digitaleyes.resultspage.com/search?p=Q&ts=custom&w=modern+marvels+co…> -- "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/>

17 years, 10 months

CDC disks (was Re: FW: Re: old rare diskdrives?)

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> If this jogs someone's mind, please speak up. If not, I may have a drive in > unknown state (_I_ have never powered it up) available sometime this year. ok. just got several Prime disc packs that I need to try reading. > I used to repair CDC 9762s and 9766s about 20 years ago, but don't > really miss them all that much. never liked working on washing machine drives much either. too many scary high speed rotating/moving parts

17 years, 10 months

Google on hard drive failures

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

Hextar wrote: > Indeed...and I was criticized for posting a OT > thread on this list before and here comes a OT > thread that is openly discussed...what gives??? Why was > I flamed while this guy is not? I just don't get it...:( If you post a thread that is immediately perceived by everybody as another chapter of Mac.vs PC flame-bait, and you get flamed, are you surprised? I'm not innocent myself, but most who post flame-bait have enough experience to know that they're posting flame-bait. Speaking as "this guy", I feel that data preservation (cross-platform) for long periods of time is an interest shared by many/most on this list, as is storage (especially storage media and hardware) longevity. I mean, keeping 40-year-old or older peripherals up and going is a fine goal. But when it's done to move the data to more modern media, especially when it's of interest to classiccmp members, that's even better. In fact I strongly believe that storage and peripherals are far more interesting than CPU's. I am strongly influenced by the fact that my day job is working with a $10billion peripheral. There are a few co-believers with me but we're not all that vocal or large in numbers. It is true that most of the industry papers are very little concerned with history back more than 5 years, and I found it useful to read what others on this list wrote on the subject. Tim.

17 years, 10 months

CDC disks (was Re: FW: Re: old rare diskdrives?)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On 2/23/07, Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> wrote: > --al (who is trying to find a working CDC 9766 right now) Hmm... I think I have a 9766 stored with my PDP-11/70s. I picked it up for a list member (whose name I've lost track of) to swap for some PDP-8/i memory, but the pickup never took place. If this jogs someone's mind, please speak up. If not, I may have a drive in unknown state (_I_ have never powered it up) available sometime this year. I used to repair CDC 9762s and 9766s about 20 years ago, but don't really miss them all that much. ;-) -ethan

17 years, 10 months

DEC VR01-A Display Unit (AKA Tek RM503 oscilloscope)

by chd_1＠nktelco.net

I just got ahold of a Tek RM503 oscilloscope. According to some documents I have found DEC sold this as the VR01-A. This one is probably not from DEC. First, does anyone know if there were any modifications made to use it as a point plot scope? It looks like there was just a cable that connected to the Z-axis/crt grid input on the back. Second, this scope has differential amplifiers for both horizontal and vertical inputs. I can't get the amplifiers to balance and so for any setting more sensitive than .1v/cm I can't get the trace on the screen. This shouldn't be a problem for how I want to use the scope, but I would like to have it fully functional and calibrated. Digging around inside, I see that the bias voltages for the cathode followers are not the same and this throws the whole differential amp out of balance. It can be compensated for at low gains by using the POSITION knob. If there are any valve or Tek scope experts out there, they can contact me offline so I can ask some naive questions about tubes. -chuck

17 years, 10 months

Ethical dilemma, anyone want a copy of Spring MSDOS 5

by innfoclassics＠gmail.com

This is, I hope, on topic as the subject is over 10 years old. I stopped by one of my favorite surplus thrift stores that sells old software and exclaimed in delight at seeing several new copies of the Spring edition of MSDOS 5. Now this edition is a counterfeit produced by a corporate executive of Everex I believe. The first person to go to jail for software piracy. I remember seeing this boxed set up and down the west coast in 1992 or so. It is MSDOS 5 on 5 1/2 inch disks with a manual and NO holofoil. it was easy to identify. However once I mentioned "counterfeit" I was "persona non grata." The manager grabbed the copies off the shelf and started to investigate using Google. He didn't get anywhere and so called Microsoft. They didn't have anyone there that remembered MSDOS 5, much less anything about counterfeit copys. He got referred to a website with no info and sat there looking at them. I suggested that no one is ever going to use MSDOS 5 again and just pretend He never heard me say anything. I apologised for upsetting his day and wasting at least an hour of this time. Given the lack of interest by Microsoft he put them back on the shelf. So I wondered if anyone on this list collects SW like this and would like a copy. There are several sealed editions (I think he opened one) that they are asking $5 for (too much in my opinion but it will go down if they do not sell - and who is going to buy MSDOS 5). Anyway that is the ethical dilemma... should they be sold as collectibles for any reason? I know I wouldn't dare to put it on Ebay I did buy a copy of IBM DOS 6.3, new unopened for $2. I think there is a collectible copy of the Microsoft MSDOS 6.0 upgrade, sealed. If anyone is looking for IBM or Apple SW of the vintage 1990 -1999 (I know OT) I can check. I got an original unopened box of Asymetrix Toolbox V3 for $1, also a Scelbi 6800 Software Gourmet Guide and Cook Book for $1. They also had a boxful of HP factory boxed HPUX 10 CDS that looks like it might be a complete set (maybe some doubles). They wanted $15 and I again upset them by offering $5. "This is a thrift sore and I set the prices" the manager said. I didn't buy it as I just got the free HPUX 11 set and haven't even had a chance to look at it. I do have an old 735 workstation that I was wondering if HPUX 10 would be better for. Should I get these? Another thing they have I am thinking about it a Apple Newton eMate 300 with case. They are asking $45. Is this reasonable? If it doesn't sell they have sales and I have learned to wait for them. Paxton Hoag Astoria, OR USA

17 years, 10 months

Wanted: CBM-to-IEEE cable

by dm561＠torfree.net

Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 11:15:57 -0500 From: Dennis Boone <drb at msu.edu> Subject: Wanted: CBM-to-IEEE cable Hi, I'm in need of a PET-style IEEE cable to connect an 8032 to its peripherals. Anyone have one they're willing to part with? This is the kind with the card edge connector on one end, and the more traditional centronics-style IEEE connector on the other. Thanks, De --------------------- Not mine, and not cheap, but if you're desperate enough: www.jppbm.com mike

17 years, 10 months

Google on hard drive failures

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

Google has a very vast herd of machines with a large number of hard drives. Very fruitful that they analyze failures and publish the results to the web! While the drives they are studying are definitely not classic (all dating from 2001 or later), those of us who host large quantities of classic material may find the results of interest: http://labs.google.com/papers/disk_failures.pdf Side note: at one point I found it unbelievable that Google was using consumer-grade hardware to host their stuff. Since then, I've developed a lot of respect for this approach! Tim.

17 years, 10 months

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test-drb February 2007