test-drb August 2007

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

221 participants
459 discussions

newbie building a scratch-built computer

by classiccmp＠memory-alpha.org.uk

Hi, >> Good point, and the exact reason I picked up a "Softy S3" >>about 10 years back (which is in SERIOUS need of TLC >>unfortunately). > > I rememebr seeing the adverts for that -- and drooling :-). It is a *SERIOUSLY* useful device....it'll even emulate RAM, which is surprisingly useful when debugging code. :-) >....Alas I was an undergraduate at the time, and no way could >I afford one, so I built my own programmer/emulator.... I first came across the S3 in '89, it was standard equipment at the company I was working for at the time. It's one of the few times that I have been genuinely blown away by a piece of technology. A sort of "Eureka" moment. Even then I couldn't afford (well, justify) the cost of getting one to use at home. In the end I picked this one up in '97, from the small ads of the local paper, for ?35! It had been dropped, so the case is pretty badly damaged, but other than needing an new Ni-Cad battery pack it's fully functional. Or at least it was, I seriously need to overhaul it. The irony is, I'm pretty sure this unit is one of the very ones I used between '89 and '91. The guy I got it from bought it at a "clearout" sale at Aston Science Park in '91....which was when the aforementioned company I'd been working for, on said science park, closed down.... :-) >....3 large boards of TTL chips (I couldn't use a processor, >what could I have programmed the firmware with :-)). LOL, good point. I actually built my first EPROM burner from scratch too (though I never built an EPROM emulator). I had little choice, as an Atari user my options for off the shelf programmers were very limited - most connected via RS232, no use to me as I didn't have the 850 serial/printer interface module. And the only other one I remember would only work in an Atari 800 as it plugged into the right hand cartridge port (I, of course, had a 400). So I threw together a very simple design which connected to the machine via it's joystick ports. The joystick ports were connected to a 6520 PIA inside the machine which gave me two 8 bit I/O ports to play with. Used one port to pass the data to be burned, and used the other to provide assorted control signals - like the programming pulse, clocking/resetting a pair of 4040 counters which provided the address to the EPROM (I said it was simple), etc. Worked surprisingly reliably. > I do have the original Softy somwhere. SC/MP based, TV output, >programs 2708s. I can't rememebr if it emulatrs as well. I've never actually seen one of those for real, just pictures. Is it just me, or did they use a very similar case to that of the ZX-80? Certainly, the bottom part of the case looks identical in the pictures I've seen. TTFN - Pete.

17 years, 4 months

newbie building a scratch-built computer

by dkelvey＠hotmail.com

>From: woodelf <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> >Gordon JC Pearce wrote: > >>There's also Megasquirt, where you can buy the hardware platform as a >>kit, and download the circuit diagrams and firmware source code. > >Umm time to change the subject line ... Fuel injection has very little >with a scratch built computer. >PS. Looking at a PROM burner the lowest cost one I could find is $750. >Where they that expensive (the programmers) back in the 70's when people >used them? > Hi Professional ones were. There were a number of them that were simple data latches and voltage supplies. These were usually less than $100 but you had to supply the computer to actually run them. Dwight _________________________________________________________________ Learn.Laugh.Share. Reallivemoms is right place! http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us

17 years, 4 months

PCI questions

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

Probably pretty basic PCI questions, but it seems to be difficult to find detailed information about PCI online (for less than big $$). I have a 98% useless 53C875-based SCSI card (Diamond Fireport 40), useless because the Diamond PCI ID is different from the Symbios PCI ID. I have several machines that support 53C875 chips natively (Alpha, Sun, perhaps HP 9k), so I'm trying to figure out how to turn this thing >from a piece of junk that I trip over into an asset. Looking at the card, there is a small Atmel EEPROM (not the firmware). (a) does anyone know if there's a way to bittwiddle without pulling the EEPROM? (2) since the machines I will be using it in have onboard firmware support, what would happen if I just pulled the chip (or is the setup of onboard peripherals integrated into the system firmware and the card initialization will fail without the EEPROM)?

17 years, 4 months

Can someone tell me what this means?

by technobug＠comcast.net

On Aat, 11 Aug 2007 09:13:06 -0700, Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> wrote: > > What does Apple and Steve Jobs have to do with Unix? > > Cheers, > Chuck See: <http://weblog.infoworld.com/enterprisemac/archives/2007/07/ leopard_gets_un.html> <http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/certificates/1190p.pdf> CRC

17 years, 4 months

non-subscribers, slackers, and scoundrels in general was Re: UK VCF?

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Loads of people even on this list are sitting on > stacks of old floppies, and don't even take the time > to ensure the data therein won't be consigned to > oblivion. Lurkers far outnumber active participants on mailing lists. The CHM Software Preservation Group mailing list has over 100 subscribers. I doubt if there have been posts from more than a dozen people there. I think there are four people who have created content for the group web site http://www.softwarepreservation.org/

17 years, 4 months

Commodore 64 power jack?

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

Can someone recommend a source for the 7-pin PCB-mount DIN jacks used for the power jack on a Commodore 64? -- 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, 4 months

Vintage Cisco Router code

by aek＠bitsavers.org

>> I've got myself a Cisco AGS+ router (1986-1995) and I'm looking for OLD >> code versions for it. I got it running Cisco GS/IOS 9.x, but want to >> see some early revisions. I believe this particular model can go up to >> IOS11.x, but that isn't my goal. I'd like to have examples of "what was." > >The oldest I have are EPROMS with 8.2. They are also IGS, but I think >they can work with the AGS. It has been so long I just do not remember >- the GSs were going out of service when I was getting involved. I >know people that were involved - maybe I can ask. > >I ought to just send all the chips (I have quite a few) to Al, if he >is interested. Al? we're interested. another curator here at CHM supported AGS

17 years, 4 months

AT&T 3B2

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

Picked up a 3B2-1000 from Josh about a month ago, and I'm still poking around prior to trying to mess with it (hardware looks fine, PSU good, tape roller is jelly but that's fixed by now, hard drive died, but that's being handled). Does anyone here know much about these beasts? I have the service manual from Manx, but it doesn't say much about the architecture. Here's my big question now: I have a 3B2-1000/80 backplane (CM519B) with a 3B2-1000/70 system board (CM518B) (in a 3B2-1000/60 box, to round things out...) 3B2-1000/60 has a single ?Bus slot and several buffered ?Bus slots. 3B2-1000/80 has Pbus slots and fewer buffered ?Bus slots (Pbus takes "Processor Element" multiprocessing cards). 1000/70 might or might not have a ?Bus slot (in the 1000/60 the ?Bus takes a cache card, the cache is integrated in the /70 and /80 system boards). The service manual explains the ?Bus and the Pbus both with the blanket term of "unbuffered access to the CPU bus on the system board". Does anyone know what the difference is? At this point, I'm trying to find out what the lower slot configuration is.

17 years, 4 months

UK VCF?

by doug＠stillhq.com

Just a thought.. Here in Australia, we have formal protection that is available to Trade Marks, through applying at the Trade Mark Office, and paying an associated fee. I have no idea whether the American equivalent exists, but I am dead certain that unless you have a formal Trade Mark number, you have *no* protection from somebody using your brand name. Does the same thing exist in the UK? I am also certain that there is no concept of a globally protected Trade Mark system. You have to apply for protection in every country. It was very interesting to see "Burger King" here operate as "Hungry Jacks", because somebody already had the name... Doug

17 years, 4 months

IBM PC Portable

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

Got the following email today (not my area of interest). I could possibly pick up and store for a VERY SHORT time. ======================================================================== Would you - or anyone else you can recommend - be interested in an IBM PC Portable I wish to donate? If someone will pay the shipping costs, I'd gladly donate it. It's from 1984. I used it when I was in college and as far as I know it still works. Thanks! Justine Nichols Silver Spring, MD fergiestorm at comcast.net ======================================================================== No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.11.11/944 - Release Date: 8/9/2007 2:44 PM

17 years, 4 months

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test-drb August 2007