2008/10/16 Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com>:
> At 12:21 PM +0100 10/16/08, Dan Williams wrote:
>>
>> I have just bought a dual 900mhz Sparc machine with 2gb memory. for
>> ?130. I haven't got it yet. But I am quite sure it will be fast enough
>> to use as a desktop machine. Also should be fairly quick at compiling
>> bits and pieces.
>
> Is it a SunBlade 1000 by any chance? If so you'd better have a good A/C in
> the room. :-( I've only been able to run mine in the dead of winter when I
> could open the door and let cool air in.
>
> Zane
>
>
> --
No it's a 2000. It's a lot bigger, noiser and heavier then I was
expecting. I was thinking it was just a tower machine. I didn't
realise the depth of it.
Any idea how well these run with Solaris 10, do you know if it would
run any quicker with 8 or 9.
Dan
> | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
> | healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
> | MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet) | Classic Computer Collector |
> +----------------------------------+----------------------------+
> | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
> | PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. |
> | http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
>
>
Thanks to those who responded publicly and privately to my request for information.
It appears that OpenGenera, the port of Genera to the Alpha running Tru64, is the quickest way to gain exposure to the operating system. (Which is why you'll notice my previous messages concerning one of my misbehaving Alphas. The other is running OpenVMS 8.3 -- no touch!) Will try to get my hands on a copy.
The hardware -- i.e. a real Symbolics computer or alternatively an Alpha or a Mac with the necessary hard or software -- can be had from the source (David Schimdt) but it's not cheap and he's based in Virginia. Which is not to say that it's not an interesting offer -- I just need to try the OS first!
- Alex
I have a sparsely-populated S100 board carrying an INS2651 chip and a
50-pin header. There's little other clue as to the function of this
board. I'm guessing it's a floppy drive interface of some sort, but the
maker and model have me guessing. I've never heard of "Alloy Eng.
C.P.D.". What appears to be a model number is "DWG NO. 100055 REV. H".
Does anyone know anything helpful about this?
--
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?
A digital line printer LG05 Plus is available for pickup in Gaithersburg
MD. Comes with spare ribbons and a box of paper. This is a high speed dot
matrix line printer for the standard wide pinfeed paper. 500 LPM.
29"x27"x41". Its a little too new for my pdp-8 collection, deafening drum
or chain is more appropriate.
http://www.sinca.biz/compaq-line-printer-speed-500-lpm-lg05-plus-lg05plus-p…
.html
May have windows drivers for people without vaxes.
http://www.tallygenicom.com/support/line/LG-drv.htm
Reply to me, not list.
---------------Original Message:
Message: 11
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:15:03 -0400
From: "Granz" <granz_consult at hotmail.com>
Subject: Req: Help/Advice on Cromemco System
I have most of the stuff to put together a System 3. I have the card cage with the 21-slot motherboard and a bunch of cards. The manuals I got with the system include the Cromix manual, I have more than 1 64-K RAM card and at least one TPU, so I believe that mine was a multi-user system. I would like to put this back to near-original, but need a case and power supply.
Since I have been unable to find any power supplies which provide the +/- 8 and +/- 16 volts, I just thought of an idea the other day of using a PC power supply and shorting out the on-board voltage regulators to allow them to work at the +5V and +12V of the power supply. In order to do that though, I would need a small (3-5 slot) motherboard to test a couple of cards together.
If anyone has any of these available, I would be interested in obtaining them. I do not have much money, but do have some other old computer stuff that I can trade: a VAX Station 2000, an old Sun workstation, many, many old PC parts and systems, lots of electronic parts, lots of microcontroller stuff including several Dev Kits.
Also if anyone has done this before please let me know how it went.
Thanks,
Art
--------------Reply:
In my Cromemco pile I have a System3 that I will probably scrap, but I don't
suppose that's much help since shipping for the box & PS would be pretty
steep. Why not just use your backplane for your test?
What's a TPU? Did you mean ZPU or DPU by any chance? The most
important card in a Cromemco is probably the FDC; hope you've got a
working one.
Pretty well every Cromemco manual has been scanned and is on the
Web in several places; good luck!
mike
<snip>
Love the old update letters. I was working for Intel in Oregon back then on
the 380 and 310 RMX development systems. We never saw anything that went
out to actual customers. The compiler cost $250? Wow.
I appreciate the scanning of the docs. If you email me the actual docs I
will get them up on the various archive sites as well. There could be other
dinosaurs out there looking for it.
I am able to compile and run PLM80 apps on my Imsai 8080 now, I am rewriting
all of my floppy drive control stuff from asm80 to plm80 as we speak. I
have forgotten how much easier PLM was from asm80!
Thanks again for the info.
Jeff Erwin
>
> >
>
> Sorry about using facts. ;) I was really trying to validate MY rusty
> brain cells. One thing I do claim is a pretty good knowledge of
> PL/M-80. In the old days I did many projects with PL/M-80 and some with
> PL/M-51, and I think I still remember it. A couple of years ago I was
> able to write a small program in PL/M-80 using one of my working MDS's
> and get it to compile and run without opening the manual.
>
>
> > The one thing that seems to have changed from V3 to V4 is the following
> > statement:
> >
> > In V3: DECLARE HELLO DATA ('Hello world.');
> > in V4: DECLARE HELLO (*) BYTE DATA ('Hello world.');
> >
> > There are other subtle changes I have found. I discovered these as I was
> > using older PLM source code for CPM as a programming example, and certain
> > constructs were being rejected by the V4 compiler.
> >
> > I could also just be screwing something up. I always reserve the right
> to
> > do that...
> >
>
> I *was* wrong when I said that DATA was used to initialize a variable at
> run time. The DATA construct puts the variable initialization into ROM
> and therefore that variable can't be changed at runtime. It is fixed.
> The "*" in the array length declaration is called "implicit array
> length" and just means that the array is defined to be the length needed
> to hold the contents that follow the word DATA in the declaration.
>
> That implicit (*) specifier was part of the syntax in the very first
> version of PL/M-80 that ran on the MDS. It was NOT part of the syntax
> for the original cross-compiler that was written in Fortran for mainframes.
>
> I have found all my PL/M-80 documentation and it is a treasure trove. I
> have a short document from Intel that tells a programmer what has to be
> changed in source code in order for a cross-compiler compliant program
> to compile on the resident compiler. In that document it talks about
> the implicit specifier. So that construct was in the very first
> resident compiler (V1.0).
>
> In your example above, if the line you label V3 would actually compile
> correctly in V3, then it was not documented to work that way. It may
> have passed the compiler syntax check, but the manual never specified it
> would. If the (*) was required for V4 to be happy, it was a case of the
> compiler now enforcing what was *always* documented as the correct syntax.
>
>
> >
> >
> >> I have the "ISIS-II PL/M-80 Compiler Operator's Manual", no. 9800300-04,
> >> dated 3/82. It is the manual that was issued specifically for V4.0 of
> >> the compiler. There are several "$" commands listed. All those "$"
> >> commands are also listed in the V3.0/V3.1 version of that manual
> >> (9800300C).
> >>
> >
> >
> > I have this for V3, I figured out the V4 compiler commands by going
> through
> > the PLM80 executable. V3 used the $P=1 construct, V4 used the
> $CODE/$NOCODE
> > constructs which were a lot clearer. The $P=1 model does not work with
> the
> > V4 compiler I have, the one with the overlays.
> >
>
> $CODE and $NOCODE worked with V3.0 of the compiler. I have that in the
> documentation and I remember it. It would force 8080 assembly language
> equivalent to be placed into the listing file generated by the
> compiler. The $P=1 directive is unfamiliar to me. It is not in the
> manuals that I have and I don't remember it. Do you have an example of
> that? What does it do? It must predate the V3 compiler.
>
> >
> >> The Programming Manual did not change from V3.0 to V4.0. The language
> >> was really the same. I programmed a lot in those days and I never had
> >> to change anything moving from V3 to V4.
> >>
> >
> >
> > It would be interesting to look up the DATA syntax above in V3 and V4 and
> > see what is confusing me.
> >
> There is no mention of DATA in the operators manual. And, as I said,
> the syntax manual is the same. It didn't change from V3 to V4.
> >
> >> I think the main changes from 3 to 4 had to do with newer operating
> >> system environments. Newer versions of ISIS-II could have more than the
> >> four or six or seven disk drives by allowing networked drive assignments
> >> up through :F9:. File names could be longer, as well. I think those
> >> were some of the differences from V3.x to V4.0. But the language syntax
> >> was the same.
> >>
> >>
> >>>>> Specifically, I am in need of:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> 98-00268B plm 80 programming manual, V4
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Thanks.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Jeff Erwin
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>
> > Can I offer to pay you for a copy of the two manuals you refer to above?
> >
> > Jeff Erwin
> >
> >
> I will work on scanning these manuals. You don't have to pay me. It
> won't happen right away, but I will do it. Watch for further updates!
>
> For now, here are a few interesting documents.
>
> http://home.comcast.net/%7Ehp41cx/PLM/V4_letter.jpg
>
> http://home.comcast.net/%7Ehp41cx/PLM/V4_dear_PLM_owner.jpg
>
> http://home.comcast.net/%7Ehp41cx/PLM/V4_dear_PLM_owner (2).jpg
>
> http://home.comcast.net/%7Ehp41cx/PLM/V4_update.jpg
>
>
> Dave
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 10
> Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:05:23 -0500
> From: Jules Richardson <jules.richardson99 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: Great day at Tek
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Message-ID: <48F89BA3.10803 at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-15; format=flowed
>
> Randy Dawson wrote:
> > I want a Ardent or Stellar or Stardent if any body finds one being
> dumped.
>
> Someone contacted me early in the year about an Ardent going surplus in
> Colorado, then the conversation went quiet on me :( I should do some more
> digging on that one and see what happened to it.
>
> I still want a Tex XD88/30, should you see one at your surplus sales :-)
> I'll
> get my XD88/10 shipped here at some point, but I'd still like to mess
> around
> with the 24-bit version!
>
> cheers
>
> Jules
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 11
> Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:15:03 -0400
> From: "Granz" <granz_consult at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Req: Help/Advice on Cromemco System
> To: <cctech at classiccmp.org>
> Message-ID: <BAY141-DAV10D69972705E072E06CC7A8C320 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I have most of the stuff to put together a System 3. I have the card cage
> with the 21-slot motherboard and a bunch of cards. The manuals I got with
> the system include the Cromix manual, I have more than 1 64-K RAM card and
> at least one TPU, so I believe that mine was a multi-user system. I would
> like to put this back to near-original, but need a case and power supply.
>
> Since I have been unable to find any power supplies which provide the +/- 8
> and +/- 16 volts, I just thought of an idea the other day of using a PC
> power supply and shorting out the on-board voltage regulators to allow them
> to work at the +5V and +12V of the power supply. In order to do that
> though, I would need a small (3-5 slot) motherboard to test a couple of
> cards together.
>
> If anyone has any of these available, I would be interested in obtaining
> them. I do not have much money, but do have some other old computer stuff
> that I can trade: a VAX Station 2000, an old Sun workstation, many, many old
> PC parts and systems, lots of electronic parts, lots of microcontroller
> stuff including several Dev Kits.
>
> Also if anyone has done this before please let me know how it went.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Art
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 12
> Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:53:20 +0100
> From: "Dan Williams" <williams.dan at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: Sparc desktop vs x86 desktop
> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
> <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Message-ID:
> <26c11a640810170753r69d1112fnc875f85e88d5644e at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> 2008/10/16 Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com>:
> > At 12:21 PM +0100 10/16/08, Dan Williams wrote:
> >>
> >> I have just bought a dual 900mhz Sparc machine with 2gb memory. for
> >> ?130. I haven't got it yet. But I am quite sure it will be fast enough
> >> to use as a desktop machine. Also should be fairly quick at compiling
> >> bits and pieces.
> >
> > Is it a SunBlade 1000 by any chance? If so you'd better have a good A/C
> in
> > the room. :-( I've only been able to run mine in the dead of winter when
> I
> > could open the door and let cool air in.
> >
> > Zane
> >
> >
> > --
> No it's a 2000. It's a lot bigger, noiser and heavier then I was
> expecting. I was thinking it was just a tower machine. I didn't
> realise the depth of it.
> Any idea how well these run with Solaris 10, do you know if it would
> run any quicker with 8 or 9.
>
> Dan
> > | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
> > | healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
> > | MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet) | Classic Computer Collector |
> > +----------------------------------+----------------------------+
> > | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
> > | PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. |
> > | http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/<http://www.aracnet.com/%7Ehealyzh/> |
> >
> >
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 13
> Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:21:08 -0400
> From: "Curtis H. Wilbar Jr." <rescue at hawkmountain.net>
> Subject: 2 items for $5
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Message-ID: <48F8AD64.4060204 at hawkmountain.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
>
> pick any two items and they are just $5 + actual shipping costs.
> let me know ASAP if you want anything here, as this stuff will be
> going to the trash by Sunday.
>
> If you are local to me, you can pick up anything on this list for
> free.... but let me know ASAP so I can put it aside for you.
>
>
> PCI RAID card, SCSI HVD (differential), for Alpha (so I'm told)
> Sun 501-1720 SLC mainboard w/o NVRAM
> Sun 501-1720 SLC mainboard (w (dead?) NVRAM)
> 501-1840 Sbus expansion sbus card
> Coleco ADAM setup manual
> Artecon SmartBox adapter board (Artecon's version of sbus expansion)
> Global Villiage teleport Platinum Fax Modem model A812 (for Mac)
> Maxtor RXT-800S Magneto Optical drive (not tested (no media))
> Syquest SparQ 1.0GB internal drive (not tested (no media))
> Corporate Systems Center PCI DIFF SCSI card (HVD), for sparc ?
> Compaq drive 'sled' for Pentium II (and III ?) generation
> -- has the two purple tabs/levers on the left/right ediges
> LaCie FM radio tuner for Macs (ADB)
> Performance Technology PT-PCI450 SCSI 3 Ultra Wide Fast Diff (HVD) (Sun?)
> 2 PCI FDDI cards
> Olicom OC-3161 16 serial port ISA card (just ISA card)
> 2 x 5G + 1 x 4G laptop hard drives (password locked?)
> SyQuest EZ Drive 135M EZ135EXT,P/PORT parallel port drive untested
> SyQuest SQ555 40M drive
> Sun 501-1861 ELC board untested
> Apple QuickTake Battery Charger KB-39PA (4xAA charger)
> Sparcstation 20 hard drive 'carrier'
> 1G SCA scsi drives
> HP Deskjet 600Cse (needs new ink cartridge)
> Compaq PS4000 Power supply compaq part number 270371-001
> HP C2490A 2G differential SCSI drives 3.5" HH (6 available)
> Compaq LCD front panel for Proliant 6000 and others
> Sealed Copy of PC Anywhere 9.0
> Sealed copy of McAfee VirusScan Security Suite (from the 90s)
>
> -- Curt
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 14
> Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:34:13 -0400
> From: "Curtis H. Wilbar Jr." <rescue at hawkmountain.net>
> Subject: FS: $5 + $10 items
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Message-ID: <48F8B075.7030702 at hawkmountain.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
>
> $5 Items (plus actual ship, or you pick up in Sharon or Cambridge, MA)
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> APEX Outlook EL-84DT (with the DT crossed out and SP handwritten)
> - 8 port serial concentrator
>
> Indigo 2 audio module
> - 2 available
>
> 4 x 8M 72 pin SIMMS for SGI with gold fingers
> - 2 sets available
>
> DEC Turbo Channel PMAG A card
>
> HP Printer PAL (turns LJ III, III/D/P, 4, 4P/L/PLUS, 5P) into laser fax
> machine
> - new sealed in box
>
> 2G SCA SCSI drive
> - multiple available
>
> 4G SCA SCSI drive
> - multiple available
>
> Maxtor MXT1240S 50 pin 1.2 G SCSI drive (3.5" HH)
> - these drives somtimes don't spin up on first power on
>
> SGI PM3 Indigo 2 CPU (200MHz 1M cache)
>
>
> $10 Items (plus actual ship, or you pick up in Sharon or Cambridge, MA)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 9G SCA SCSI drive
> - multiple available
>
> SPARCClassic, no HD, 6 x 501-1991 SIMMs
>
> Ultra 10 with 333MHz 2M cache CPU, no ram, no HD
>
> Mouse Systems PC Jr Mouse (optical, no pad (could use pad from Sun))
>
> 3Com 3C597TX Fast Ethernet EISA (use on Indigo 2 for 100baseTX !)
>
>
>
>
> Let me know if there is anything here you want.... before I scrap
> some of it, ebay other bits, etc...
>
> -- Curt
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 15
> Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:23:42 -0700 (PDT)
> From: "Zane H. Healy" <healyzh at aracnet.com>
> Subject: Re: Sparc desktop vs x86 desktop
> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
> Message-ID: <200810171623.m9HGNgAU030912 at onyx.spiritone.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> > > Is it a SunBlade 1000 by any chance? If so you'd better have a good
> A/C in
> > > the room. :-( I've only been able to run mine in the dead of winter
> when I
> > > could open the door and let cool air in.
> > >
> > > Zane
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > No it's a 2000. It's a lot bigger, noiser and heavier then I was
> > expecting. I was thinking it was just a tower machine. I didn't
> > realise the depth of it.
> > Any idea how well these run with Solaris 10, do you know if it would
> > run any quicker with 8 or 9.
>
> OK, I'm not sure but I think the 2000 is probably about as hot as the 1000,
> as it is basically the same system, and I believe the 900Mhz CPU's are the
> same part (I have dual 750Mhz CPU's in my 1000). I don't consider my 1000
> to be noisy, but it is BIG and HEAVY! In some ways I regret retiring my
> dual 450Mhz Ultra 60, but the dual 750's with 4GB RAM make for a nicer
> machine. I run mine with Solaris 10, but I tend to run CDE rather than the
> Gnome based desktop as the Gnome desktop seems sluggish.
>
> The sad thing is, since it runs so hot, the main thing I've used my system
> for is to low-level format SCA SCSI HD's (in an external JBOD) prior to
> installing the drives in my OpenVMS system. I'd really like to upgrade to
> a
> nice Sun Ultra 24 system, but can't justify the expense (a Mac Pro would
> make more sense for me).
>
> Zane
>
>
>
> End of cctech Digest, Vol 62, Issue 38
> **************************************
>
I took delivery tonight of this most interesting apparatus:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Silent700/LearSiegler7105Terminal#
I can find zero info out on the Internets about it. Has anyone
seen/used/captured one? It seems to be ANSI and VT52 compatible, as
well as a custom graphics language. I've yet to hook it up to a host,
but that's coming soon. The setup screens are quite dazzling as they
are, but I'd like to see what else it can do. I do know that my setup
parameters are "questionable."
I'd like to get the manual scanned for preservation as well, but I'd
rather not destroy it to do so. So I guess it's one page at a time on
the ol' flatbed...
j
