test-drb June 2007

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

224 participants
486 discussions

by julesrichardsonuk＠yahoo.co.uk

Another magazine article unearthed on the subject of pulling the lid on a DRAM chip and using it as a camera sensor... This time it was in the May 1984 issue of "Your Robot" magazine, and looks to be intended for use with a Spectrum. Unfortunately the article was a two-parter; only the second part (containing the software) is in this issue and the hardware side was in the previous issue.

16 years, 12 months

HP-83/85 pocket booklets

by julesrichardsonuk＠yahoo.co.uk

Does anyone else on here have good copies of the following: HP-85 Mass Storage ROM Pocket Guide (00085-90139) HP-85 Plotter/Printer ROM Pocket Guide (00085-90141) HP-85 BASIC Reference Card (00085-90039) HP-85 Pocket Guide (00085-90040) Assembler ROM HP-83/85 Pocket Guide (00085-90445) Advanced Programming ROM Pocket Guide HP-83/85 (00085-90147) I/O ROM and Interface Pocket Guide Series 80 (00087-90122) ... the ones I unearthed today are decaying extremely badly, with chunks of the pages missing, lots of brown discolouration, and the surface of the main HP-85 pocket guide's cover is actually falling off. If I were *very* careful I might just get a scan out of them if I first snip the staples and separate the pages (with staples in place I don't think they'll open up and lay flat without crumbling into dust). If someone else has good copies though already I'll not waste my time... If someone already has high-res colour scans then even better :-) (I have no idea what happened to them to make them like this - whilst I've seen older 'rough' paper discolour and go a little brittle, I've never seen more recent 'glossy' paper like this just start to completely crumble into nothing) cheers Jules

16 years, 12 months

Most used toys, was Re: The late, great TRS-80

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Most used toys, was Re: The late, great TRS-80 > From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> > Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:22:36 -0400 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > My list is not very esoteric. My older NS* Horizon system with many mods running CP/M as a workhorse system for micros and 8085/z80 coding as it tend to behave better than PCs and also has the Prom Programmer. The system is Z80/10mhz, 256k ram, two 31mb disks, floppies, and a few other goodies. My PX-8 as a data logger and all round Field Day Logging system a database written in of all things BASIC. AmproLB+ small, fast, hard disk and CP/M. PDP-11/73 rack system for those times when I need a break. Nothing like programming in basic or micropower pascal under RT-11. PDP-8f, when I need a handle. I like hand toggleing programs and watching them run. PILOT: my MicroVAX3100/m76 running OpenVMS, for when it really has to be different or when once cpu is not enough (running as nine way LAVC). My portable EElf2000 (embedded elf with Video, PS2 keyboard and CF disk) that runs nicely on a 12V gell cell for a while (>10hours!). If it really has to be Wintel, my 486sx brick system (Modular Solutions). it's about the size of a red brick and runs on 12V nicely. What makes it useful is 800mb hard disk, network, SVGA, serial, parallel and runs whatever I care to. It seems to like DOS6.22 and Linux(slackware). Allison

16 years, 12 months

Best solvent to remove sticky tape residue.

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

--- Chris M <chrism3667 at yahoo.com> wrote: > Problem w/WD-40 and other stuff is that it will > dillute the true lubricant, and wherever metal is > coming in contact w/metal, rapid wear will ensue. > Best > to keep that stuff away from machinery or any other > critical moving parts. Paint thinner would work > better > at releasing junk, and at least it evaporates (much > more quickly). As an addendum, I do use Liquid Wrench (or WD-40, or the generic Walmart variety) and a Scotch-Brite (which comes in grades) for rush removal, then usually rinse off w/thinner. Keep in mind that a SB supposedly has imbedded metal particles, so it essentially DOES remove metal. I'm not joking, and in some instances this is critical (high tolerance machine parts, watchmaking equipment, etc.). You may ask how does such stuff get rusty to begin with, but take for instance a 100 year old lathe w/hand scraping marks (indicative of a VERY accurate finish) in areas. The application of a SB and light oil, and...bye bye. Sometimes it's better to start out with real fine steel wool or even a paper towel :) ____________________________________________________________________________________ Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games. http://get.games.yahoo.com/proddesc?gamekey=monopolyherenow

16 years, 12 months

Most used toys, was Re: The late, great TRS-80

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Most used toys, was Re: The late, great TRS-80 > From: Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> > Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 03:09:30 -0400 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > >On Jun 26, 2007, at 8:01 PM, Chris M wrote: >>> The SBC is currently sitting on the table behind >>> the 8/m, mostly >>> due to laziness on my part. The disk images reside >>> on the SBC's >>> system disk, which is a 1GB CF MicroDrive plugged >>> into the SBC via a >>> daughterboard. The SBC is headless; I access it >>> over the network. >> >> You ought to document this arrangement. > > I would be happy to. Perhaps I'll take some pictures of it tomorrow. If you do a simple block diagram and maybe descriptions of software on both the host (pdp-8) and SBC would be helpful or better yet sources. >> I get the jist of most of it, but yer SBC must have integral ethernet. > > It does. > >> When I see SBC I think Ampro or something LOL. > > It's very similar to an Ampro x86 SBC that I also have in my junk >box. (if I could only turn it into a LittleBoard..) The SBC is a >Teknor VIPer 830. > I suspect any SBC or PC that could run headless and has disk would work given the right code and interface. I've considered a small 8085 powered board with a IDE or CF drive to do that. I have a BCC180 (z180 with 256k ram) and lots of parallel IO that would be a good candidate for that. For PDP-8 ops, even 10mb is a "large" disk I'm sure so even a 1mb ram could work well as a "ramdisk". Allison >> And what sort of daughterboard (PC-104?). > > Not PC/104...The Teknor board has a mezzanine slot (which I think >is proprietary) which takes a small daughterboard that's not much >bigger than a CF card. You plug the CF card into the daughterboard, >then snap that assembly onto the SBC. It's quite a nice arrangement. > >> I have >> a few PMMX SBC's that I believe have ISA slot >> capability (maybe even PCI), and even my Ampro Little >> Board/PC has a header w/ISA signals. > > Yes, this one is similar. It can take PC/104 and PC/104+ boards, >and the SBC itself can plug into a passive 16-bit ISA backplane. I >always found it odd that a board that has PC/104+ (which is PCI on a >different connector) capability would have an ISA card-edge connector >on it instead of PCI. > >> Some earlyish >> SBC's have "flash" storgage capability, RE Robot/Vesta >> OEM-188, but that's something different I take it >> (like eeprom?). > > Is it DiskOnChip(tm)? Many SBCs can take those, both early and >modern. I have a small pile of them somewhere. > > -Dave > >-- >Dave McGuire >Port Charlotte, FL >

16 years, 12 months

nice but OT (HP/Apollo workstation)

by jba＠sdf.lonestar.org

Patrick Finnegan <pat at computer-refuge.org> wrote: > >On Tuesday 26 June 2007 23:50, Ensor wrote: > > I also question whether the thing will run Linux as he says in the > > auction description....Open/NetBSD certainly, but I've not seen a > > PA-RISC port of Linux. > > http://www.debian.org/ports/hppa/ > >I've installed it on C110 and possibly HP "Apollo 715" systems a few > years ago... The Debian GNU/Linux port to PA-RISC mature and fully supported. I've used it for the last 5 years or so on two boxes. I first installed it on a nice HP 715/100 system and used it as a desktop with KDE. It was slow, but not unusable. My webserver currently is a nearly OT HP Visualize B2000 workstation running at 400MHz (www.approximatrix.com). It runs Apache 2 and Zope/Plone content management system on top of Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 HPPA. The PA-RISC hardware is rock-solid, and Linux is well supported on it, thanks to HP. I've never had a system crash except when an external SCSI disk catastrophically failed (not the HP system's fault). I would suggest trying out Linux on the 700 series systems people have as I pesonally can't stand HP-UX. The NetBSD port to the PA-RISC is, by comparison, completely immature. IIRC, up until last year, they didn't even support booting from CD. Their install procedure was laughable at best (required another NetBSD machine to prep the disks or something...), and it made me wonder what their criteria was for "supporting" an architecture. jba at sdf.lonestar.org SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org

16 years, 12 months

Semi-OT: Interesting or unusual PC Compatibles?

by steerex＠mindspring.com

They are pretty machines, most definitely. In the "odd PCs" department, I have to mention the Seequa Chameleon. It has an 8088 and a Z80, so it can run DOS, CP/M-80, or CP/M-86. A friend and mentor had one when I was in my teens (mid-1980s) and I got to use it a fair bit. I really liked it. The display (green) was bright and sharp, and the keyboard had a nice feel. As a "luggable", the mechanical design was similar to that of the Kaypro systems, but if memory serves, it was slightly smaller. A good machine overall. I hope to have one here someday; that will certainly bring back some memories. -Dave -- Dave McGuire Port Charlotte, FL I have one in excellent condition. Wanna make an offer? SteveRob begin 600 WINMAIL.DAT M>)\^(BT*`0:0" `$```````!``$``0>0!@`(````Y 0```````#H``$(@ <` M& ```$E032Y-:6-R;W-O9G0 at 36%I;"Y.;W1E`#$(`0V ! `"`````@`"``$$ MD 8`4 $```$````-`````P``, (````+``\.``````(!_P\!````6P`````` M``"!*Q^DOJ,0&9UN`-T!#U0"`````$=E;F5R86P at 1&ES8W5S<VEO;CH at 3VXM M5&]P:6, at 4&]S=', at 3VYL>0!33510`&-C=&5C:$!C;&%S<VEC8VUP+F]R9P`` M'@`", $````%````4TU44 `````>``,P`0```!8```!C8W1E8VA 8VQA<W-I M8V-M<"YO<F<````#`!4,`0````,`_@\&````'@`!, $````J````)T=E;F5R M86P at 1&ES8W5S<VEO;CH at 3VXM5&]P:6, at 4&]S=', at 3VYL>2<````"`0LP`0`` M`!L```!33510.D-#5$5#2$!#3$%34TE#0TU0+D]21P```P``.0`````+`$ Z M`0````,`<3H``````@'V#P$````$`````````J5#`02 `0`T````4D4Z(%-E M;6DM3U0Z($EN=&5R97-T:6YG(&]R('5N=7-U86P at 4$, at 0V]M<&%T:6)L97,_ M`. at 1`06 `P`.````UP<&`!L`!@`!`"@``P`Q`0$@@ ,`#@```-<'!@`;``8` M```B``,`*@$!"8 !`"$```!&.#4X131%.3DT,C1$0S$Q.3 V-C P-3!"041% M,38T-0`4!P$#D 8`_ 0``!0````+`",```````,`)@``````"P`I```````# M`"X```````,`-@``````0 `Y`" VA2BBN,<!'@!P``$````T````4D4Z(%-E M;6DM3U0Z($EN=&5R97-T:6YG(&]R('5N=7-U86P at 4$, at 0V]M<&%T:6)L97,_ M``(!<0`!````%@````''N*(HA>GD6/XDE!'<D&8`4+K>%D4``!X`'@P!```` M!0```%--5% `````'@`?# $````7````<W1E97)E>$!M:6YD<W!R:6YG+F-O M;0```P`&$%X- at H@#``<0-0(``!X`"! !````90```%1(15E!4D504D545%E- M04-(24Y%4RQ-3U-41$5&24Y)5$5,64E.5$A%(D]$1%!#4R)$15!!4E1-14Y4 M+$E(059%5$]-14Y424].5$A%4T5%455!0TA!345,14].251(05-!3C@````` M`@$)$ $```!2`P``3@,``!$%``!,6D9U<7;VNP,`"@!R8W!G,3(U_C(`_P(& M`J0#Y 7K`H,`4!,#5 (`8V@*P'-E='XR!@`&PP*##E #U (`<(1R<1+B<W1E M;0*#9C,$1A0S,2 (50*#-'<#Q@<3`H!]"H (SPG9.WL8[PXP-0* "H$.<0M@ M;BD.$# S%5!H!;!Z9-1O8P``*A)5( *1'/!>;!TE"OL540OR8P! (.$*BVQI M,S8.L M5%Q+K# $44&\4T&,%0 J%(L$@5&AE>2 *P&4 at VQ10$L!T(S `P6 at + M@ >0:BPC\&\4P" .<0N :;$4T&QY+ at J%(FA)`Z 2=",0("($<&0 at 4-A#<R(D MX0JQ= > `C I)(!)(!* =B-P=&\[(_ H,6D"(";3!F!E<6QU82+ "H5#$H ' M@&SZ90(@+B:1!4 2@ 0(a)`Y%P.# X."OQ)U J,%J;+# D@',I`"5 (&,#D41R M=0. at 1$]3)(!#\% O32TL\@6Q*E<N<_(V*V%!( -0") LDBR1OR at B!;$2@"=0 M`B C<'<C$/L#H"B =RO1"X C\",P%- '"? $(!_&*&UI9"UD,3DL,',I+',H M@&>[(@`HXG42L"U2*C!F"W#=!<!B)4 K8BW 90= )7#Z(""@:PF +5$K82,! M*D?N9 0`"U$C,"@)PS20,G*R8 at 409V@UT2R1<Q*!WG D@"R")N(W<'D&X L1 M5S%S*C #`&,X*&8)X&S/,!(KX2<0"D!G9P&@*R#^(B2 )N('@!)Q/)$'0"3A M_0"09P.@,G(`D#0`"V %P,LH\2;@805 ;V8J1R;B/DLY$"'A+2 4LR1Q8G5O M!4 &D"D1!&!R(S 2L')_*, D<2UA0$, at H#HQ-R%S_P# -Q $D# 3'\8U$ 1P M(_:[+N HP'(W`3:3'&!P*-._**,QPB,0(V$M, > 9#D0_CM!) /P-Q J1SRP M`" +<=\W(3H!&_ V4 #0:TGS0]3-")!S)9].NBU$*+%-[!PM+1_&3[(%T&-' M==LV,$_F4!B1*L)R&( "0/)E)(!&3$WL"H\>^R'7YRB%,<(RL65X/+!&`0(P M7RV `B XP"E2*V!7`'!N/RHP`, W<"OR08 ]8'(__4WL4Q30*, (``PP57PA M[048$0!>`````P`0$ `````#`!$0`````$ `!S!PPA8!HKC'`4 `"#!PPA8! BHKC'`1X`/0`!````!0```%)%.B ``````P`--/TW``#(:KC' ` end

16 years, 12 months

MFM hard drive data recovery questions/ideas (help needed)

by daviderhart＠oldzonian.com

Hello cctalkers, I'm trying to help someone recover data from an MFM drive in an old Pinnacle 1a system that had MirageOS installed. The system hasn't been booted in years and no longer boots to the hard disk. The drive spins up and sounds okay. We've tried to track down a copy of the MirageOS boot diskettes for the Pinnacle 1a system but haven't found any after looking for months. It's time to come up with a "Plan B". Does anyone have a suggestion about how to read the "raw" data from the MFM hard disk? I was thinking about putting in into an older PC based system with an MFM controller and using some utilities to dump sectors to files that I could convert into something readable/usable. I haven't done this before so I'm hoping someone smarter has a 'cunning plan' of how to do this. I'm a programmer and don't mind write some utilities to pick apart the data after it's off the hard drive. Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks, david. daviderhart at oldzonian.com daviderhart at sageandstride.org http://www.sageandstride.org

16 years, 12 months

nice but OT (HP/Apollo workstation)

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180133655171&fromMakeTra… Of course by p/u only. Anyone got anything similar that's surplus to their needs? ____________________________________________________________________________________ Building a website is a piece of cake. Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/webhosting

16 years, 12 months

Heh...

by rtellason＠verizon.net

Sounds a little familiar... ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- > How many group members does it take to change a light bulb? > > One to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been > changed. > > Fourteen to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the > light bulb could have been changed differently. > > Seven to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs. > > Seven more to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing > light bulbs. > > Three to correct spelling/grammar errors. > > Six to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb". > > Another six to condemn those six as stupid. > > Fifteen to claim experience in the lighting industry and give the correct > spelling. > > Nineteen to post that this group is not about light bulbs and to please take > this discussion to a light bulb (or light bulb) forum. > > Eleven to defend the posting to the group saying that we all use light bulbs > and therefore the posts are relevant to this group. > > Thirty-six to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where > to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this > technique, and what brands are faulty. > > Seven to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs. > > Four to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly and then post the > corrected URL. > > Three to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant to this > group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group. > > Thirteen to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety > including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too". > > Five to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot > handle the light bulb controversy. > > Four to say "Didn't we go through this already a short time ago?" > > Thirteen to say "Do a Google search on light bulbs before posting > questions about light bulbs." > > Three to tell a funny story about their cat and a light bulb. > > - - - AND - - - > > One group lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now > with something unrelated and start it all over again -- 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, 12 months

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test-drb June 2007