test-drb May 2007

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

235 participants
483 discussions

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

Hi All I'm a bit confused about this Mentec issue. They bought up the rights to the pdp-11 line and even produced some new boards. Now they seem to have abandoned the whole thing. I can only find one web site that could be theirs but it is very up market corporate image stuff. No mention of pdp anything. As I am in the middle of restoring some pdp-11/94's the issue around how RT11 and RSX could be made available is of much interest. If they have not sold the rights and are not pursuing the business perhaps they could help us poor pdp preservers. Rod

17 years, 7 months

That horrible computer foam

by Billy.Pettit＠wdc.com

Mr Ian Primus wrote: On the CDC drives I just picked up, the entire inside of them is covered in this foam, some of it is starting to come off, or has stuck to cables and such inside. A couple smaller chunks of it literally fell off one part of the cover, the glue only holding the particular particles of the foam to which it was attached, and the rest of the foam falling away. What is the best thing to do about this, especially in something as sensitive as a disk drive? Should I remove it? What's the best method? Is there something I can use to replace it? Also, for instance, inside the cover of the PDP-11/84, there is a thin slab of foam that has turned to crud. I plan on removing this entirely - vacuuming away what I can and cleaning the rest off with something - what will dissolve this? I know that trying to get the gunk >from IBM foam off your hands is nearly impossible. Any ideas? Thanks! -Ian -------------------------------------- Billy responds: The foam was originally for acoustic dampening. It was a dense foam without much memory. Over time it does break down into a hideous mess. The original life of the foam was specified at 5 years! I've not had much luck taking in off with the modern solvents. This is one of the times I really miss Trichloroethylene. It would really clean this stuff up. I've used GooGone with some luck. Let it soak and it peels away. There is usually a thin clear plastic film between the glue and the foam. The more stubborn glues sometimes respond to acetone. Try a really diluted type first, say fingernail polish remover, to see that it doesn't remove the paint too. There are several options to clean up a panel. 1. The easiest is clean up as much as you can and glue a new sheet of foam over the mess. You should be able to buy panels of acoustic foam in hardware stores. 2. Remove it and leave it off. But it is lots of work to get it all off. 3. Do the best clean up you can and then spray paint with a thick rubberized paint. This seals the crumbling foam and holds it place. No matter what you do, you are in for a messy stinky time. When the foam breaks down, it goes everywhere. Be sure to vacuum every place you can. Where it won't come out with a vacuum, use air pressure to blow it out - done outside the house of course. Good luck. Billy

17 years, 7 months

Dayton, approaching fast

by marvin＠west.net

I just got the wireless cell service internet that I can use from my laptop, so this would probably work. How about some clues on how to join/use/etc. this service. Tim's "trailing edge technology" is my motto as well, and I've never heard of or used these services. > From: "Jason T" <silent700 at gmail.com> > I'd suggest a group SMS text messaging service. txtmob.com is the big > one I know of, but it's failure is that you still have to send the > messages from the web page - users can't text directly to the group > from their phones/PDAs. Despite this, I created a Dayton07 group on > there that we could try to use. I have basic web services on my PDA, > but many don't. > > If anyone knows of a better system, please suggest it.

17 years, 7 months

CDC 9775 (BZ7Ex) hard drive manual sought

by ian_primus＠yahoo.com

I've recently accquired a CDC 9775 hard drive. (675mb fixed media) It's going to need some cleaning to get it running, and I need to know some info on how to set it up. Most importantly, the heads are locked, and according to a warning note taped to the HDA, so is the spindle. I want to find out how to _properly_ do this. Unlocking the heads looks simple, but I don't see a spindle lock anywhere. Also, this drive doesn't use the typical little plugs to change the ID, so I am not sure how it is set. Bitsavers has the operator's manual, but I really need the service manual, or at least the installation manual. Thanks! -Ian

17 years, 7 months

need info on old eprom programmer

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

Spectrum Dynamics model 550 memory programmer. Any docs or anything else? Real old. I haven't even attacked it yet. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

17 years, 7 months

Moving heavy hardware - or why not to put big CDC drives into aChevyVenture

by dj.taylor＠starpower.net

At 03:51 PM 5/4/2007, you wrote: >> > From: Mr Ian Primus <ian_primus at yahoo.com> >> > Date: Fri, 04 May 2007 03:55:02 -0700 (PDT) >> > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org >> > >> >I'm sure others have stories about loading hardware in >> >and out of vehicles... I'll post pictures later... >> > >> >-Ian > >My largest move in the smallest vehicle was 16 Sparcstations (4,5,10 >variety) + a couple boxes of cables creatively crammed, tetris-style, >into the trunk of an '84 Mercedes 240D. It wasn't until I got home >that I realized the frame was rubbing the tires when I drove :) This topic is very important to 'hobbyist' machinists. Take a look at some of the moving experiences at http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/ Doug

17 years, 7 months

That horrible computer foam

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

Hi I have noticed something similar but related to the stick on feet found on the underside of many computers and periperials. They turn to the most awful semi-liquid goo. Its difficult to remove from their original position. Any that gets on hands or clothing is the devils own job to remove. Rod -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Mr Ian Primus Sent: 04 May 2007 21:51 To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: That horrible computer foam As I have been collecting computers, I have noticed that some pieces of equipment like printers and the like, contain a lot of this awful foam stuff, most likely for noise deadening. Time has caused this foam to break down and turn to gunk, or at least a soft, squshy material that does not spring back. It also crumbles. IBM foam seems to be the worst, along with the foam used on Zenith PC's, turning into a tarry goo. On the CDC drives I just picked up, the entire inside of them is covered in this foam, some of it is starting to come off, or has stuck to cables and such inside. A couple smaller chunks of it literally fell off one part of the cover, the glue only holding the particular particles of the foam to which it was attached, and the rest of the foam falling away. What is the best thing to do about this, especially in something as sensitive as a disk drive? Should I remove it? What's the best method? Is there something I can use to replace it? Also, for instance, inside the cover of the PDP-11/84, there is a thin slab of foam that has turned to crud. I plan on removing this entirely - vacuuming away what I can and cleaning the rest off with something - what will dissolve this? I know that trying to get the gunk from IBM foam off your hands is nearly impossible. Any ideas? Thanks! -Ian

17 years, 7 months

Emulex P4000 Terminal servers - End of lifed - Free software!

by Moriamez.jc＠wanadoo.fr

Hello, I live in France and I am very happy seeing your message on P4000 servers end of lifed I have 2*emulex p2516 and the software is end of lifed, do you know what can i do ? thanks for all Dr Moriamez Lille France Geoff Roberts geoffrob at stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au Sun Jul 23 19:45:46 CDT 2000 a.. Previous message: Scope use... b.. Next message: Vax 6000 Ram and/or CPU Cards wanted in Texas. c.. Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just a note to all. I have an Emulex Peformance 4000 Terminal Server I got at auction. It came without software, and initial inquiries some time back indicated that the software needed to be purchased from Emulex. Recently I inquired again of Emulex regarding this, and was informed that all Terminal/communications servers had been end of lifed, and was given details on where to download the Performance 4000 software. Thought this might be of interest to others out there who might have one of these stuck on a shelf somewhere. I have the boot file if you don't want to have to get it from Emulex. (The P4K works good too!) Cheers Geoff Roberts Computer Systems Manager Saint Mark's College Port Pirie, South Australia geoffrob at stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au netcafe at tell.net.au ICQ: 1970476

17 years, 7 months

Moving heavy hardware - or why not to put big CDC drives into aChevyVenture

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Moving heavy hardware - or why not to put big CDC drives into aChevyVenture > From: Mr Ian Primus <ian_primus at yahoo.com> > Date: Fri, 04 May 2007 03:55:02 -0700 (PDT) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > >I'm sure others have stories about loading hardware in >and out of vehicles... I'll post pictures later... > >-Ian My favorite was moving 18 microVAX3100s, 10 storage boxes(BA42), 5 TLZ04s, 3 uVAX2000, 14 terminals (vt320), three printers(LA100ro) and three boxes of cables. In one trip using my '72 Toyota pickup. For laughs I had it weighed and it was 1204 pounds of hardware in a half ton pickup. It was full and it took hours to load it and more hours to unload it plus the 420 mile round trip. Did it twice as that was only part of the haul. However the best move I was part of was a bunch of DEC System20s fortunately the people organizing that move had a 16ft truck and access to all the loading platforms and dollys needed. Very heavy stuff and requires a bit of foreknowledge to move. Those little details like seperating cabinets and raising the feet so the casters roll and the like. The last really big move I was involved with was helping Megan move a bunch of larger PDP11 and PDP8 systems from a home to her storage. A liftgate truck made that possible. Allison

17 years, 7 months

Recent Trenton show

by evan＠snarc.net

>>> the best knock down drag out brawl between me and E.K. That is NOT true. In reality, Chris Keegan (aka "chris m") approached our user group booth, opened his mouth, and thereby illustrated why we long ago banned him from the group. I won't get into specifics. But if I were dumb enough to fight anyone, it wouldn't be this dude: he might attack with his "puters" and "stuph". - Evan

17 years, 7 months

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test-drb May 2007