February 2009 - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> test equipment seems to be a poorly covered area in the museum > and archive world. I was thinking about this some more last night, and there is little activity preserving the software for test equipment. Brokers keep the manuals and the hardware, but rarely keep the software to make it work. For example, the Biomation CLAS 9000 logic analyzer had no built in user interface; it was a SCSI periperial connected to a Macintosh. They didn't document the protocol to talk to it, so it is a rather large boat anchor without a Mac and the software to talk to it. Then, there are all the PC instruments that had custom cards and software to talk to their widget. The parts are separated, and no one saves the card inside the PC or the software to make it work.

16 years, 5 months

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Wanted: Processor Technology GPM card...

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

I can buy or trade but I would prefer to trade. I have a large collection of S-100 cards and some other goodies to work a trade with. If it has the CUTTER ROM, all the better. If not, I can burn a 2708 (and I'll probably post a "Wanted: CUTTER ROM dump" message). Thanks, Bill Sudbrink

16 years, 5 months

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Can anyone identify these "multipage" terminals?

by legalize＠xmission.com

Anyone recognize these? I've never seen or heard of them before. <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/vintage/multipage.jpg> -- "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/>

16 years, 5 months

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"Infoshare" or OEM Netware 1.0? was Re: Novell 68K file server

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

I have to assume then that the software that ran on the 3*'s was a later development then the stuff that ran on the Televideo Personal Mini series (80286 based). Dubbed Infoshare, which was an OEM release of early Netware (and I am looking for it). Other boxes that come to mind are the Northstar Dimension (80186), and an Altos box. Not sure what they ran though. There was a PM/286 too, which ran a later version of Infoshare IINM. ?Anyone familiar w/the Burroughs '286 boxes that also weren't MS-DOS based? ?Sorry didn't mean to *help* hijack the thread. That is a very interesting piece. The peculiar 68k stuff is far and away the rarer birds though, sadly snifful.

16 years, 5 months

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8088 vs. 80c88

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

regardless, and be sure I am no expert on semiconductor manufacturing, I'd be surprised to find out that all 8088's were CMOS after a certain date. The 80c88's were used mostly in small laptops, no? (small being anything smaller then that Zenith big honker, w/the shocking blue display. It used a *real* 8088 IINM). A CMOS version would be slower and more prone to damage from static electricity. And it would require less power. Off the top of my head I can't think of any desktops that used them, but I may have actually ran into 1 or 2 in my travels. ?But I am glad you managed to answer your own question Jimbo :) --- On Thu, 2/12/09, Jim Leonard <trixter at oldskool.org> wrote: From: Jim Leonard <trixter at oldskool.org> Subject: Re: 8088 vs. 80c88 To: General at mail.mobygames.com, "On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Date: Thursday, February 12, 2009, 2:49 PM Jim Leonard wrote: > So a simple routine to try to identify the 8088 vs. the 80c88 would look something like: > >???mov? ???cx,2? ? ? ? ? ? ; test if following instruction will be >? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ???; repeated twice. >???db? ? ? 0F3h,26h,0ACh???; rep es: lodsb >???jcxz? ? Yes? ? ? ? ? ???; intel non-CMOS chips do not care of rep >???jmp? ???Nope? ? ? ? ? ? ; before segment prefix override, NEC and >? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ???; CMOS-tech ones does. It turns out my information is bad.? The bug only asserts itself when an interrupt occurs during the REP.? Buggy CPUs don't continue; later ones do.? So to fix my detection code, I will increase the count in cx to something much longer, probably f000. -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org)? ? ? ? ? ? http://www.oldskool.org/ Help our electronic games project:? ? ? ? ???http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at? ???http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/

16 years, 5 months

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Dr. Dobbs to cease?

by shoppa＠trailing-edge.com

Dr. Dobbs was pretty cool... up until the IBM PC came out and dominated everything. By the mid 80's all the Dr. Dobbs articles were the-latest-TSR-to-do-something-in-MSDOS and it wasn't really worth the effort for me to even look for something interesting in it. That may have marked my turning point towards classic computing, in fact :-). Tim.

16 years, 5 months

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Novell 68K file server

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

-- "james" <james at jdfogg.com> wrote: >> Here are some pics of a Novell file server circa 1987. >> http://bitsavers.org/pdf/novell/68k_file_server >> >> Was wondering if anyone had documentation or software for >> this. I had some of the external dual drive scsi boxes for >> these at one point. > > >This reminds me of a similar oddity I used to support years >ago. 3Com made a server, and an OS called 3+ Open. As I >recall, it was an OS/2 - LAN Manager derivative. Ah yes, the era of the 3Server is forever seared into my brain; my first *real* job in the computer business involved the care and feeding of several generations of these beasties. The Original 3Server (about the same vintage as the Novell unit pictured earlier) used an 80188 and a heavily modified version of MS-DOS. It used an early SCSI implementation, which was closer to SASI, to attach MFM disks and QIC tapes via Adaptec bridge boards. Because there were neither video nor ISA bus, there was more room for contiguous DOS memory; something over 700k, which pertty cool at the time. They originally were equipped with 30MB drives, but then the 3Server70 had an 80Mb (unformatted) unit by Vertex. These early boxes had the (optional) QIC tape in an external box; the 3Server3 introduced in 1986 (IIRC) had disk and tape in one box; in addition the 3Server3 could be interfaced with appletalk, and also sported the then-new LIM memory used to speed up the operating system. These 80188 systems all used either 3+Share or EtherSeries NOS's for basic drive sharing. IN addition, 3+Mail, 3+Route (for routing e-mail between sites), 3+Backup and other network applications were supported under the 3+Share NOS (in <1Mb RAM). These were followed by the 3S400 & 3S500 machines, which are not interesing as they are little more than stock ISA 80386 machines running at 16MHz. These guys could run 3+Share, or 3+Open (a.k.a. OS/2 LanMan as pointed out above). ISTR that they added TCP/IP late in that products life. Then Novell took over the world and all of the above 'stuff' died in obscurity. It was at this point where I learned in my life that I had a knack for picking losers. I need a stiff drink now . . . . ____________________________________________________________ Wasting money? Stop, now. Click here for top online coupon websites. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/PnY6rw3g7mjTpd5rxcCErbhdwKhlKnl…

16 years, 5 months

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Alignment disks, and the creation thereof

by ian_primus＠yahoo.com

I've been reading the now increasingly mistitled thread on alignment disks, and it's gotten me thinking. What IS required to make alignment disks? I've always aligned malfunctioning floppy drives "the wrong way", using a known good disk - or an original software disk. On the Commodore 64 (and most systems, really), you can get the drives working well enough like this, but as others have pointed out, it's not the "right way". I just don't have any alignment disks. "Good enough" is much better than "not at all", and I don't mess with the drive alignment unless I have to. I'd love to be able to align drives properly though. And that requires an alignment disk. There are different kinds of alignment disks too - analog and digital, ones that are intended to be used with a special program on a particular computer, and those intended to be used with a scope. With today's modern machining technology, it should definitely be possible to create a system to write new alignment disks. Starting with a standard floppy drive, you could replace the stepper drive with something more precise and controllable. Then, you have to somehow accurately calibrate this whole thing. Is there a document out there that describes the track layout of a standard (say, 5 1/4" 48tpi, 40 track) diskette? There has to be a spec, one that describes exactly the distance between tracks, the width of a track, and the distance from the center hub to the beginning of the first track. If you had that information, and precision measurement tools, one could set up and calibrate the drive to spec. Then, of course, there needs to be a controller for the thing, a computer interface to control the precise positioning of the head, as well as being able to read/write to the disk. It's possible. It's beyond the equipment and tools at my disposal, but it's definitely doable for a hobbyist who has access to a machine shop and good tools. Anyone out there a machinist? :) -Ian

16 years, 5 months

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TEK 4107A and TEK 4209 color raster graphic terminals free for pickup in Seattle area (eastside)

by glen.slick＠gmail.com

As the title says, I have a Tektronix 4107A and a Tektronix 4209 color raster graphics terminal which are free for pickup in Seattle area (eastside). These are vintage 1987 and 1988 from the (c) dates on the terminal firmware. Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/glen.slick/Tektronix4107A http://picasaweb.google.com/glen.slick/Tektronix4209 Reply offlist if you are interested. -Glen

16 years, 5 months

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Free: Fujitsu HALStation 300

by silent700＠gmail.com

've got two of these systems. One is working, one may have a bad PSU. Very cool-looking clone of the Sparc in a large tower/deskside case. Yours to pick up in the Chicago area (60074.) Shipping would be tough; these are heavy. I've also got a bunch goodies including the special Solaris distro for Fujitsu and some manuals. Come 'n' get 'em! -- silent700.blogspot.com Retrocomputing and collecting in the Chicago area: http://chiclassiccomp.org

16 years, 5 months

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Need Fuji M2312 info

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

Hi folks. Does anyone have an electronic copy of the manual for the Fujitsu M2312 SMD drive? I need to configure two of them for use on an Emulex SC72 controller and I need to know how to set the DIP switches. Lacking an electronic copy, does anyone have a paper copy, and if so, would you be willing to scan or type in the relevant pages? -Dave -- Dave McGuire Port Charlotte, FL

16 years, 5 months

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test message

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

Hi, my posts to the CCTALK mailing list do not seem to be getting through. This is a test message. Please disregard. Thank you! Andrew Lynch

16 years, 5 months

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Two RK05J's + PDP11/34 Offered

by fsmith＠ladylinux.com

Hi, These are located Near Toronto Canada and will preferably be picked up. Any shipping will have to be arraigned by the buyer. I purchased these from a gentleman off E-Pay a few years back and never came around to getting shipping to the USA sorted. One RK05 is missing the face plate but powers up fine and the other is in great shape and comes ready when a DECpack is installed. The 11/34 powers up fine and seems to be in good shape. Really I would rather sell these to someone here rather than go the E-Pay route. I paid some decent cash for them and would just like to get as much of that back as possible. Trade offers for vintage audio equipment will be considered. Inquire off list please. Pictures http://ladylinux.com/decstuff/1134/1134-1.JPG http://ladylinux.com/decstuff/1134/1134-2.JPG http://ladylinux.com/decstuff/1134/1134-3.JPG http://ladylinux.com/decstuff/1134/1134-4.JPG http://ladylinux.com/decstuff/rk05/RK05-1.JPG http://ladylinux.com/decstuff/rk05/RK05-2.JPG http://ladylinux.com/decstuff/rk05/RK05-3.JPG http://ladylinux.com/decstuff/rk05/RK05-4.JPG http://ladylinux.com/decstuff/rk05/RK05-5.JPG -- Kindest Regards, "No Problems Only Solutions" L.B. Network Consultants LLC. Baltimore, Maryland

16 years, 5 months

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Great Find by the Wife

by john_keys＠att.net

Today my wife and daughter were at Goodwill and found a Atari Portfolio in the box with a working Portfolio in it, a 32MB memory card, smart parallel interface, and a file manager/tutorial card with all the manuals/papers for everything. Cost was only $1 plus tax. That got me a few other goodies too. Life is good. John K.

16 years, 5 months

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mail blocked

by geneb＠deltasoft.com

To Bill Maddox: Your ISP is using an outdated DNSBL that is blocking all ip addresses (see http://dnsbl.invaluement.com/tqmcube/) Please send me your mailing address and I'll get the guide out to you asap. Just paypal me the amount shown on the postage meter sticker when it arrives. tnx. g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

16 years, 5 months

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Update...

by geneb＠deltasoft.com

The VT102 manual and Sanyo magazine have been spoken for. g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

16 years, 5 months

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and yet another...

by geneb＠deltasoft.com

(slowly working through some boxes...) DEC VT102 Video Terminal Users Guide. Pub #EK-VT102-UG-003 219 pages. g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

16 years, 5 months

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another one for the cost of postage...

by geneb＠deltasoft.com

Soft Sector magazine, Sept 1986. This mag is dedicated to the Sanyo Personal Computer. g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

16 years, 5 months

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freebies...

by geneb＠deltasoft.com

For the cost of postage: TK50 Subsystem User's Guide. Pub #EK-OTK50-UG-004 LN03 Programmer's Reference Manual. Pub #EK-OLN03-RM-001 g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.

16 years, 5 months

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Problems installing Solaris 10 10/08 on Sun Ultra 30

by alexandre.laguejacques＠gmail.com

Hello all, Please, no flames if you don't consider an Ultra 30 a "classic computer". :-) At 300 MHz, it's not terribly recent either. My system is a Sun Ultra 30, 300 MHz, 1.7 GB RAM and a 16 GB hard disk. Trying to install Solaris 10 10/08. The initial installation reboots after having copied Solaris to the hard disk and the machine freezes at the line "creating new dsa pair"... I've given it a few hours on several occasions with no success. Note that NetBSD works just fine on this system and that I encountered the same DSA key problem with Solaris 10 4/08. Also, I had had significant trouble installing NetBSD initially because of defective memory (the system would freeze at "boot cdrom" until I removed the offending items). Once the problem with the memory was resolved, the NetBSD installation worked perfectly and I presume that the remaining sticks are fine. Finally "boot -k" (after the Solaris installation has copied Solaris to the hard disk) yields no further details. - Alex

16 years, 5 months

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archiving (was Re: Nicolet 660)

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> I'd like to try and get as much of that as possible on Bitsavers; > what is the usual process for doing that? I don't have a scanner handy > and I really don't have the time to manually scan 1000+ pages of docs. Either loans in chunks to be scanned at CHM, or I have loaner scanner systems that can be sent there.

16 years, 5 months

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archiving (was Re: Nicolet 660)

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> I get the impression > that there is NO effort by any official archive to collect manuals and > such Stanford Library special collections have the Ampex and Apple archives, which contain manuals. The Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota as well as the institution I work for (The Computer History Museum) have extensive manual collections. Test equipment is out of the scope of CBI or CHM's collecting scope, though. > test equipment seems to be a poorly covered area in the museum > and archive world. But seems to be getting coverage from private collectors and some companies (like Agilent). If there were significant numbers of people from universities at this conference, you should have noticed that they have problems enough trying to fund the archiving of the contents that their own institutions, without actively collecting on the outside. This reminds me of a friend from years ago that was a fan of steam traction engines. No "official" institution collected documentation on them, but there were preservation organizations that kept their own archives. The problem, of course, is if the society is disbanded without a long-term recipient for the material collected.

16 years, 5 months

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reversing case yellowing

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

Over at Atariage.com is a discussion about reversing the yellowing of plastic. The procedure was designed by chemical and plastics engineers. It works and doesn't weaken the plastic. See http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=138244&hl= and http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=37808 for the original source. -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu

16 years, 5 months

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Ideas for disposing of entire collection

by robert.stek＠gmail.com

I am happy to report that my large S-100 collection is going to a single person, both to expand his own collection and for eventual sale to other collectors. [sigh!] If only I had another 400 sq ft and another 40 hours/week. Thanks to everyone who responded with some good ideas (and requests!). The important thing to me is that it is all going to someone who will not be cutting off connectors to melt down for gold! I'm sure that he will let list members know what he has available in the next few months. Bob Stek Former Saver of Lost Sols

16 years, 5 months

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Nicolet 660

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

> Hmm. Yeah, I've never heard of Nicolet either. Interesting find! In the early 80's the company I worked for had a very neat little portable audio-range FFT spectrum analyzer called the "Mini-Ubiquitous". Always wanted one. In '92 the USAF transferred me to Dayton OH (home of Mendelson's Surplus) and they had one sitting in the pile of instruments for quite some time... but they wanted $400 for it. So they are hardly "ubiquitous" since I've only spotted two :) -Charles ps anyway I acquired an HP 3580A for $100 at the Hamvention which was an easy fix... anyone know where I can get some decent knobs for it?

16 years, 5 months

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My reply - Boot Disk Needed for Kaypro 2X

by FJGJR1＠aol.com

Larry, >From the info you gave and the info I have, I offer the following. You need a "CP / M boot disk", not an MS-DOS boot disk for the Kaypro 2X - either 2.2H or 2.2G. CP / M. Your mainboard shoud be an 81-294 [underneath board usually under serial port] and the ROM version should be 81-292-A - white label on the about 1" size chip at U47. But since you have a Turbo upgrade, the chip may have just a Turbo designation. Any manufacturer designation and revision / year, etc. could also be important. Also check what the U43 chip label is - usually again a white label on a 1" size chip. There is also a Kaypro 2X / MTC version. How do you really know it is a 2X - cover designation, back plate designation, etc.? These are all common questions many ask and many of us answer as best we can >from the info you give and the info we have All the best and keep us informed of your progress. We like to keep "vintage" computers running and in "good homes!" ========================================================================== In a message dated 2/11/2009 9:42:16 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, laptoplarry at gmail.com writes: Frank, Thank you for the information! My original plan is/was to retrieve my Compaq Portable (my wife buried it in a closet) to create a boot disk...only to find that I could not locate the MS-DOS boot disk for the Compaq?!?! While in the closet, I also retrieved a MacPlus that booted A-OK from a removable hard drive...except I could not find the mouse! Mac no mouse = no go... So, I have no 5.25 360K drive available to create a boot disk for either the Compaq or the Kaypro :-( I'm now wondering if I can find a SCSI 5.25 low density drive to attach to the portable hard drive of the MAC to create a boot disk for the Compaq. >From the Compaq's DOS I'd be able to create the boot disk for the Kaypro using the usual tools. Of course, I'd have to locate a mouse appropriate for the MAC... I guess the ideal thing would be to find a drive and controller for my "modern" machine. I'll check out the leads you gave me. Hopefully some kind soul will send me a bootable Kaypro disk and/or a MS-DOS disk on 5.25 360K media. Hey! Ain't this fun! -Larry ... -- This is not an automated signature. I type this in to the bottom of every message. Larry, Go to _www.vintage-computer.com_ (http://www.vintage-computer.com) and do a search on that topic. Also, contact "Sharkonwheels" there - again do a search - he posts a lot. He is into the Kaypros "after" 1983 versions - i.e. the "2X's", I am into the 1983 versions. Looks like it may have been upgraded with the Turbo. I believe such upgrades are still available for the post 1983 versions - Advent might be a search word to use. Shark will know. He even sells modified Kaypros of that era. Getting the right boot disk for the specific Kaypro you have is critical - many do not understand this - today you need Windows - there are not very many main options. Kaypro had about 15 - 20 different versions before they went bankrupt. Also, in those hectic times, many "unofficial' modifications were made that may not have been documented, by Kaypro and previous owners of such computers. Modifications and upgrades were very common in order to try to keep them running efficiently, until the inevitable change to windows, after we all invested so much in those systems, especially our time! Sometimes you just have to take the top off and look around, especially at chips at U43 and U47. Please post your results on that site so others can benefit. You can check my site out - _www.kayprosts.org_ (http://www.kayprosts.org) - under the folder "special" for a draft of my book on computers of that era and a 2008 Kaypro calendar I did - lots of pictures of my 6 1983 Kaypros modified to Kaypro " 8 ' 's. All the best. Frank **************The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards. AOL Music takes you there. (http://music.aol.com/grammys?ncid=emlcntusmusi00000002)

16 years, 5 months

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Reply - Re: Boot Disk Needed for Kaypro 2X

by laptoplarry＠gmail.com

Frank, Thank you for the information! My original plan is/was to retrieve my Compaq Portable (my wife buried it in a closet) to create a boot disk...only to find that I could not locate the MS-DOS boot disk for the Compaq?!?! While in the closet, I also retrieved a MacPlus that booted A-OK from a removable hard drive...except I could not find the mouse! Mac no mouse = no go... So, I have no 5.25 360K drive available to create a boot disk for either the Compaq or the Kaypro :-( I'm now wondering if I can find a SCSI 5.25 low density drive to attach to the portable hard drive of the MAC to create a boot disk for the Compaq. >From the Compaq's DOS I'd be able to create the boot disk for the Kaypro using the usual tools. Of course, I'd have to locate a mouse appropriate for the MAC... I guess the ideal thing would be to find a drive and controller for my "modern" machine. I'll check out the leads you gave me. Hopefully some kind soul will send me a bootable Kaypro disk and/or a MS-DOS disk on 5.25 360K media. Hey! Ain't this fun! -Larry ... -- This is not an automated signature. I type this in to the bottom of every message. Larry, Go to _www.vintage-computer.com_ (http://www.vintage-computer.com) and do a search on that topic. Also, contact "Sharkonwheels" there - again do a search - he posts a lot. He is into the Kaypros "after" 1983 versions - i.e. the "2X's", I am into the 1983 versions. Looks like it may have been upgraded with the Turbo. I believe such upgrades are still available for the post 1983 versions - Advent might be a search word to use. Shark will know. He even sells modified Kaypros of that era. Getting the right boot disk for the specific Kaypro you have is critical - many do not understand this - today you need Windows - there are not very many main options. Kaypro had about 15 - 20 different versions before they went bankrupt. Also, in those hectic times, many "unofficial' modifications were made that may not have been documented, by Kaypro and previous owners of such computers. Modifications and upgrades were very common in order to try to keep them running efficiently, until the inevitable change to windows, after we all invested so much in those systems, especially our time! Sometimes you just have to take the top off and look around, especially at chips at U43 and U47. Please post your results on that site so others can benefit. You can check my site out - _www.kayprosts.org_ (http://www.kayprosts.org) - under the folder "special" for a draft of my book on computers of that era and a 2008 Kaypro calendar I did - lots of pictures of my 6 1983 Kaypros modified to Kaypro " 8 ' 's. All the best. Frank

16 years, 5 months

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House cleaning!

by derschjo＠mail.msu.edu

So I've amassed way too much stuff lately and I have a lot of cool stuff that I never touch anymore, so I'm thinning out my collection a bit to free up some space. Smallish stuff I'll ship, but the large stuff is local pick-up only. (Seattle, WA area). Happy to drive out a ways to meet you if it helps. Make an offer -- no reasonable offer refused. Stuff that doesn't get claimed 'll probably end up on eBay eventually. Thanks! Josh Monitors: --------- - Amdek Color II - Works. - Gateway 2000, 15" Vivitron (does 1280x1024, actually a nice SVGA...) - Ball 9" CRT Terminals: ---------- - Intertec InterTube II - Does not work. Makes horrible hissing/screeching on power-up. Dirty, but will clean up. - Beehive SuperBee - No keyboard. Needs work. Ugly looking on the outside, but very clean inside, given how old it is. - Wang terminal - Cannot find model on case, believe it to be part of an old Wang word-processing system. Built like a tank. Computers: ---------- - Compaq Portable III - Worked the last time I powered it up. Hard drive, 5.25" floppy drive. - Compaq Portable 386 - Also works. 2MB ram, hard drive. Carrying case (travel in style!) - Dell Optiplex, Dual PPro/w P2-Overdrive. No HD, I have RAM somewhere. - HP 9000/236 - W/Monitor. Works, but floppy controller reports errors on startup. - HP 9826 - Was working, but monitor no longer powers up. - Mac Plus - Not working. - Pet 2001 (32k) - Works - CBM 8032 - Works, PCB is a bit hacked up, but works. - ComputerVision CADDStation 32 - Neat old Sun3-based machine I inherited awhile back. Really heavy, no I will not ship. Just the machine, none of the various CAD-related input devices. Mostly working -- CPU board needs repair (but it's just a rebadged Sun3 VME processor board so it's not impossible to find parts...) SGI Personal Iris 4D/35 + Iris File. No RAM, alas. Chassis has a bit of rust, but is otherwise solid. TRS-80 Model II + external 8" drive box (w/2 drives installed). Works, a bit worn. (Have not tested all the drives.) Laptops: -------- A goodish stack of older laptops. 386, 486, and Pentium. Ask for details. Take one, take all... take as many as you want! Misc: ----- CBM 2031 5.25" floppy drive - works CBM 4040 dual 5.25" drive - does not work. DECServer 200/MC. Appears to work. Never took the time to set up a machine with LAT, etc... to try it out. HP 1200B Oscilloscope. Rack mountable, Dual trace. Needs some repair (trace does not scan across the screen correctly.)

16 years, 5 months

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Simulation vs breadboarding (was Replacing failed powersupplies on qbus PDP-11s)

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> I wonder what happed to apple's cray? Traded in for a smaller model in the early 90's. It had little practical use after the Aquarius project was killed. Last use for the Cray-ette was as a backup system with the large tape robot that was attached. In its prime, they had people begging to buy time on the thing, which sat idle most of the time.

16 years, 5 months

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KEEP annoucement

by aek＠bitsavers.org

From another mailing list: > I am glad to announce, that a major European research project, which is related to the preservation of complex digital artefacts, has just started. KEEP (Keeping Emulation Environments Portable) is funded by the European Community with 3,15 Mio. Euro will go on from now for three years. Aim of the project is to utilize the preservation tools, which are mainly created in the gamer community, for a broader range of users and purposes. The impact of the project lies also in the structure of the consortium itself: for the first time traditional memory institutions like the national libraries of France, Germany and Netherlands and researchers with a background in humanitities (University of Portsmouth) come together with organisations specialized in games resp. their preservation (Computer Game Museum, European Games Developer Federation ) within a common research effort in such a scale. I am pretty sure, that we will be able to boost the awareness of the need to preserve the gaming culture on that basis and of course provide concrete preservation tools and interfaces to do the job. > > More details about the project can be found here: > http://www.computerspielemuseum.de/index.php?lg=en&main=News&site=02:00:00&…

16 years, 5 months

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8048 Intel programming languages

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: 8048 Intel programming languages > From: Robert Borsuk <rborsuk at colourfull.com> > Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:51:42 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Steven and Allison, > I've spent some time today with SDCC and I'm sorry to say I couldn't >find any reference to 8048 in it. The 8051 yes. Unfortunately the >memory structure (specifically the banking and jumping) is different >between the 8048 and the 8051. How about this: Did they ever >release any sort of languages for the IMSAI 8048 board? You have an Imp48???? First if you have a manual I'd appreciate a copy, I've been looking for 28 years for one! Yes, I have one too, I know the general circuit for mine by reverse engineering it and I do use it for playing. As to languages for 8048, IMSAI never did. The concept of a higher level language for a board with 1K of program space is only a thing you hear lately. One reason is the limited stack and ram/romspace of the 8048 really does require the efficientcy of assembler. It's possile to create some varient of a tiny micro basic but then it has to fit in 1K and also any program in the same 1k. If you working with 8048/9 off that board more space is possible but remember the ability to address ram without some banking scheme is limited to 256 bytes. I'd say keep looking though as I've likely missed a few. I'm sure it's possible to tweak the code generator in SDCC to do 8048 and it's rare anyone uses more than 4k. But the compiler logic to do the bank switch is likely insane since interrupts are only handled in the low memory page. There are all sorts of cross assemblers out there. Allison > >Rob > > >On Feb 10, 2009, at 2:50 AM, Scanning wrote: > >> Rob, >> >> I think a good place for you to start is with the Small Device C >> Compiler >> ( http://sdcc.sourceforge.net/ ) and see if that will fit your >> needs. It >> supports 8048, 8051, etc.. family. Good luck. >> >> Best regards, Steven > > >>> Subject: 8048 Intel programming languages >>> From: Robert Borsuk <rborsuk at colourfull.com> >>> Date: Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:19:04 -0500 >>> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org >>> > >>>> Does anyone know of any programming languages (compilers)released >>>> for >>> the intel 8048 microcontroller? >>> >> >> Lookup SDCC, Small Device C Compiler. Theres plenty of stuff for >> 8048/9 family >> and it's cousin the 8051. >> >> Allison >>

16 years, 5 months

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Need Fuji M2312 info (updated)

by tiggerlasv＠aim.com

Alrighty -- This info, gleaned from the Emulex SC02 manual: Fujitsu 2311 and 2312 - Switch settings for * 35 SECTORS * SW2-1 ON SW2-2 ON SW2-3 ON SW2-4 OFF SW2-5 OFF SW2-6 OFF SW2-7 ON SW3-1 OFF SW3-2 OFF SW3-3 ON SW3-4 OFF SW3-5 OFF SW3-6 OFF SW3-7 OFF At least this will be something to go on, if you can't locate a manual. .. .

16 years, 5 months

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Need Fuji M2312 info (retraction)

by tiggerlasv＠aim.com

Sorry about that -- I no sooner hit "send", when I realized that I transposed numbers on the Fujitsu model number. I don't know how close the model numbers are; perhaps you can extrapolate the sector settings based on the 2321 info. . .

16 years, 5 months

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Need Fuji M2312 info

by tiggerlasv＠aim.com

Howdy ! I believe the details you are looking for can be found here: http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/hard-drives-hdd/fujitsu/M2321K-MB-8-0-FH-SMD.ht… Scroll down; everything is there. That site has many different models. . . Would be nice if that were posted on bitsavers or manx. . .

16 years, 5 months

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Alignment disks, and the creation thereof

by tsw-cc＠johana.com

Message: 17 Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 07:08:20 +0100 Jos Dreesen / Marian Capel <jos.mar at bluewin.ch> Wrote: > Mr Ian Primus wrote: > > I've heard this doom and gloom talk about "when all the drives are dead" and "when nothing is left to read $MEDIA" - and while I admit that these things are likely to happen eventually, I also don't believe it's a problem for any of us. > > > Your are wrong. It might be true for the common formats, but there are drives out there were the number of functioning units is approaching zero. > > Try finding an Honeywell-Bull D100 "Cynthia" series cartridge drive or media for instance... > > > Jos Arrg... Yes, I know all about those drives, and I have one that it is "semi-operational". I worked on these in 1979 and had them connected to a 6800 system. While they worked most of the time, they were a bit picky. They needed 36 volt power supplies as well as others. The controller provided actually did work. The early drives had a secondary board that eventually was replaced with an LSI chip. Their main problem was that they were a bit (well actually more than that) temperamental. The drives themselves were only 10Mbyte goodies, and used embedded servos with on-track sparing. The disks themselves were "cut-down" from 14 inch media (like 2315's). Thankfully I eventually replaced these with SMD drives, then 5 1/4 drives with the Xebec 1410 controller (SASI). All on a 6800! Fun in the early 80's

16 years, 5 months

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Decmate III

by rborsuk＠colourfull.com

Hi all, Just put my Decmate III on ebay if anyones interested. #300293036980 Rob Rob Borsuk email: rborsuk at colourfull.com Colourfull Creations Web: http://www.colourfull.com

16 years, 5 months

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8048 Intel programming languages

by rborsuk＠colourfull.com

Does anyone know of any programming languages (compilers)released for the intel 8048 microcontroller? Rob Rob Borsuk email: rborsuk at colourfull.com Colourfull Creations Web: http://www.colourfull.com

16 years, 5 months

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Reply - Re: Boot Disk Needed for Kaypro 2X

by FJGJR1＠aol.com

Larry, Go to _www.vintage-computer.com_ (http://www.vintage-computer.com) and do a search on that topic. Also, contact "Sharkonwheels" there - again do a search - he posts a lot. He is into the Kaypros "after" 1983 versions - i.e. the "2X's", I am into the 1983 versions. Looks like it may have been upgraded with the Turbo. I believe such upgrades are still available for the post 1983 versions - Advent might be a search word to use. Shark will know. He even sells modified Kaypros of that era. Getting the right boot disk for the specific Kaypro you have is critical - many do not understand this - today you need Windows - there are not very many main options. Kaypro had about 15 - 20 different versions before they went bankrupt. Also, in those hectic times, many "unofficial' modifications were made that may not have been documented, by Kaypro and previous owners of such computers. Modifications and upgrades were very common in order to try to keep them running efficiently, until the inevitable change to windows, after we all invested so much in those systems, especially our time! Sometimes you just have to take the top off and look around, especially at chips at U43 and U47. Please post your results on that site so others can benefit. You can check my site out - _www.kayprosts.org_ (http://www.kayprosts.org) - under the folder "special" for a draft of my book on computers of that era and a 2008 Kaypro calendar I did - lots of pictures of my 6 1983 Kaypros modified to Kaypro " 8 ' 's. All the best. Frank In a message dated 2/10/2009 11:34:45 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, laptoplarry at gmail.com writes: The boot disk I have is looking for Turbo ROM. I guess I need one for the 2X (without Trubo ROM). Please help or point me in the right direction. Thanks! -Larry -- This is not an automated signature. I type this in to the bottom of every message. **************The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards. AOL Music takes you there. (http://music.aol.com/grammys?ncid=emlcntusmusi00000002)

16 years, 5 months

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Alignment disks, and the creation thereof

by julianskidmore＠yahoo.com

Hi folks, > I suppose someone might magic up a way of creating DIY floppies from > scratch in a home lab, but I'm not holding my breath. http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Floppy-Disk.html http://www.mylarstoreonline.com/25ft.html I think you want the 3mil type (assuming 3mil means 0.003", my knowledge of non-metric units is getting rusty ;-) ) With this and some iron oxide (from China?) you have the makings of a floppy disk - you just need a jacket and liner; something to polish it all with and a pair of scissors (kidding). -cheers from Julz @p

16 years, 5 months

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Anyone have a line on batteries for the NLS

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Anyone have a line on batteries for the NLS > From: ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) > Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2009 19:32:31 +0000 (GMT) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > >> >> On Thu, 5 Feb 2009, Allison wrote: >> > The only reason batteries are needed to run the NLS is the charger is way >> > too small run run it directly. >> >> I found THAT out the hard way. >> When I sold my NLS215 at VCF, I had to sell it "AS-IS" because the >> batteries wouldn't take a charge. > >That's quite common with devics powered with rechargeable batteries -- >the charger on its own can't supply enough current to run the device. For the NLS 'scopes the battery is between the charge source and the scope power supply so if it's open (badly sulfated as the battery is lead acid gell type) the PS has to carry the load. It's only a charger. if you substitute a larger charger then you find the charge circuit does not have the capacity to start the unit (initial surge current). >Assuming the battery pack is just a battery (that is, no 'battery >management' circuitry), you can often run the unit from a bench power >supply connected to the battery wires _with the battery disconnected_. Of >course this assuems you have a suitable PSU... The pack in this case is just 3 2v cells and the "management" is the charge circuit on the rear board. In this case (nls miniscopes) a 6V PS can substitute for the battery at less tha 1A (must be connected to the ground and +6V termianls of the battery connection point internally). Only if the battery is removed first. Note that is the battery has failed (usually sulfated from not being kept charged) they tend to build corrosion around the terminal, they are best removed and recycled as any gelled lead acid battery should be. Since I use my miniscopes intermittently I've long since removed the battery and disconnected the internal charge circuit (pull the fuse). The battery area has a small board inserted to allow it to accept any voltage from 9 to 30V and run from that. Since I have a number of small 12V gell cells that fit nicely in the probe pocket of the carry case this proves more useful and maintainable. The change is completely reverseable and the ability to use a larger and longer lasting 12V battery as source is very handy. The NLS is somewhat unique as it uses a lead acid type rather than NiCd, Nimh, lithium or even common dry cells. In an emergency I have run it off 4 'D" sized alkaline cells in an external holder for many hours. Allison

16 years, 5 months

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More PDP-11 questions

by bqt＠softjar.se

Tobias Russell <toby at coreware.co.uk> wrote: > Hi, > > Apologies for the constant stream of questions at the moment, I hope I'm > not consuming too much list bandwidth at the moment. I've brought my > whole collection out of storage and I'm bringing them all back to > working condition and going through a steep old learning curve with my > Unibus machines! Fun things to play with... :-) > So here are the latest round of questions: > > 1. I have started work on a second 11/05 I have. At the moment it has a > processor, an 8K core set, NPR cards and a pair of unibus terminators. > At present when powered up the machine has its run light constantly on, > shows what looks like a random set of lights on its address/data LEDs > and doesn't respond on its console. What do you mean by "NPR cards"? Technically there is no such thing. There is the bus grant cards, and the extended bus grant cards which also carry the NPR signal. The normal bus grant cards only carry BG signals, and thus you normally need to connect/disconnect the NPR wire on the backplane. The symptoms you describe sounds pretty much like an NPR signal problem, but of course, it could be a number of different things. > 2. I have a Plessy PM1116/B core card. This is a single slot solution > consisting of driver/sense logic on a card and a core plane on a > daughter board. Does anyone have any details/documentation on this card > or any idea of what slot would be suitable to plug it into (on a 5 1/4" > 11/05-8KW backplane). Normally I seem to remember that memory cards can go anywhere. You should of course check documentation, as the card can require specific voltages only available at certain slots. I don't have any documentation for that card. Bitsavers perhaps? > 3. I have an 11/34A (in 5 1/4" box) which is experiencing a similar > constant run light problem to the 11/05. The machine has CPU cards, > terminators, console card and a MOS memory board in it. With both > terminators in, run light stays on. If I halt it, the bus error light is > illuminated. > > If I remove the end terminator and power on, the console is responsive > and I can deposit values into memory and read them back. > > As with the 11/05 I have connected a scope and checked the power lines > are supplying the correct voltages without any oscillation. > > Any ideas? Once more: check the NPR signal. Johnny -- Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus || on a psychedelic trip email: bqt at softjar.se || Reading murder books pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol

16 years, 5 months

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Source for 20Mhz. DIP Z80

by snhirsch＠gmail.com

They exist, and are listed by DigiKey and Mouser as the dreaded "non-stock" items. From past experience, this means they will not lift a finger without an order for 1000s in hand. Zilog has, in theory, a sample portal. But they've outsourced their web site to Elbonia and it does not function to the extent of being able to complete my registration. Anyone know a source for onsie-twosies on these? Steve --

16 years, 5 months

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Here is a Key Board 98155A

by larico＠mchsi.com

Here is a Key Board HP 8451A Diode Array UV-VIS Spectrophotometer 98155A

16 years, 5 months

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DSD Diags disk found

by kyrrin＠bluefeathertech.com

Fellow techies, While cleaning up today, I came across an 8" floppy in good condition, labeled as follows: P/N 060025 REV B DSD 880 DIAGNOSTIC DISKETTE SINGLE DENSITY, BOOTABLE (DSDMON) Considering that I've not done any 'classics' collecting for years, I have no use for it. However, I suspect it should be archived and made available for others. First person to offer me postage/handling costs (say, $5) can have it. Thanks much. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Owner & Head Hardware Heavy, Blue Feather Technologies -- http://www.bluefeathertech.com kyrrin (at) bluefeathertech do/t c=o=m "Quid Malmborg in Plano..."

16 years, 5 months

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Anyone have a line on batteries for the NLS portableoscilloscope?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Anyone have a line on batteries for the NLS portableoscilloscope? > From: "Roy J. Tellason" <rtellason at verizon.net> > Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:00:14 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On Wednesday 04 February 2009 01:51:59 pm Ethan Dicks wrote: >> Hi, All, >> >> The topic of replacement batteries came up in the Yahoo Group >> for the RB5X, and someone posted a link for 2 volt 2.5 Amp-hour >> cells (which are apparently used in an older version of the robot >> than mine)... >> >> <http://www.batteryweb.com/hawkersla-detail.cfm?Model=0810-0004&label=singl >>ecell> >> >> I saw the image and immediately thought of my NLS portable oscilloscope. >> I'd love to refurb mine, but $45 in batteries is a little on the high >> side for me. >> Has anyone on the list replaced a set of this sort of battery, and does >> anyone know of a place that stocks them for a bit less? >> >> -ethan > >Are we talking about more or less standard gel cells? The 2V terminal voltage >would seem to indicate so. > >Those are *very* standardized, in terms of similar sizes being offered by a >great many different manufacturers. When I was doing the retail battery >thing some years back (roughly 1993-5), we carried PowerSonic and one other >brand I'm not remembering at the moment, and the sizes for similar >capacities was a pretty good match for the Panasonic units listed in the >Digi-Key catalog. Folks would come in with all sorts of other units and I >was usually able to match them up with something that would fit. > >I've never seen single cells, but we did have some 4V units which were only >two cells. Gates was a major provider of the single 2V cell in the "D" size with tabs on one end. NLS used three of them but a 6V monolythic battery with the same outer dimensions will also work fine as the tabs soldered to the rear board for mounting and to create a series connection. The only reason batteries are needed to run the NLS is the charger is way too small run run it directly. Allison >Capacity in any given size of box seems to gradually increase over time. I've >seen 6, 6.5, and 7AH in exactly the same size container, for example. > >Shipping is going to be the worst of it. I'd find some national chain >convenient to you (Batteries Plus being an example) and then see if you can >get them to order what you need, and it won't cost you for shipping at all. > >Feel free to direct any other battery-related questions my way, if you have >any. :-) > >-- >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, 5 months

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Good docu on Mac

by halarewich＠gmail.com

Hey Just saw a good documentary Called Welcome To Macintosh on the history of the Mac and Apple here is a site for info http://www.welcometomacintosh.com/Welcome.html Chris

16 years, 5 months

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1
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Sony CP/M machine?

by james.elbon＠earthlink.net

Mr. Fox, I just discovered your message on the Internet. What do you want to know about it. I still have an SMC 70 and SMC 70G, manuals, and accessories in the garage. I purchased my first one about 1984. They were so far ahead of their times. They were even Y2K compatible. The only one that was when the Y2K panic hit. Cheers, James

16 years, 5 months

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1
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720RPM 3.5" FDDs?

by cc＠informatik.uni-stuttgart.de

While looking at datasheets of 3.5" floppy drive motor control ICs, the LB1813 apparently supports four different speeds "out of the box". Pins 15 and 16 are used to select 300, 360, 600 or 720 RPM. So, I know 3.5" drives with one of the first three speeds, but has anyone ever seen a 720 RPM drive? A drive with that IC would be the very common Mitsumi D359. Christian

16 years, 5 months

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Steve Wozniak on DWTS

by halarewich＠gmail.com

hey I just found out that Steve Wozniak will be on the next season of ABC's Dancing With The Stars here is the link for eny one who is interested http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/abc-reveals-dancing-with-stars-eighth-se… Chris

16 years, 5 months

1
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looking for some Kennedy 9100 boards

by electrowen＠videotron.ca

Hi, I was looking for people who might have a Kennedy tapedrive for sale, either working or not, and I stumbled upon your ad. I know iT's been like year, but, are you still looking for those boards for your 9100 tapedrive? Or did you find them? Owen W. (I used to own a 9100 and my friend had tow others. Gov't auction)

16 years, 5 months

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Badly corroded battery...

by aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk

Hi, My brother has requested to borrow a CD. So whilst hunting around for it I came across his old walkman. However, I had not realised that it still contained a battery in it. The walkman is over 15 years old, and since my brother moved out around 2002 it makes the battery atleast 7 years old! Here is a link to a page I quickly set up with some pics: http://www.geocities.com/aliensrcooluk/public/BatteryInWalkman.html The reason I am emailing the group, is because a power adaptor (wall wart) was sat underneath the walkman and has some brown paint-like marks on it. I am assuming this is from the battery and am wondering what is the safest way to clean it off without ruining the adaptor. The adaptor is used to run some of our modified table-top games (which originally ran from batteries, but have been modified so that they run from the adaptor instead). Regards, Andrew B aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk

16 years, 5 months

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DEC floppies on ebay

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

Is anyone here planning on bidding on this, and who's willing to image these disks? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220356462708 I'd be willing to get them just to make images, and if someone else wants the physical disks I'd be happy to go in on bidding on them, and send that person the disks after I make images of them. Or, if someone else wants to get them to make images themselves, that'd be fine too. Pat -- Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

16 years, 5 months

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DSD880 Diskette claimed

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

Ah, now I have an excuse to pull all of my DEC stuff out of storage. ;^) -- Patrick Finnegan <pat at computer-refuge.org> wrote: On Sunday 08 February 2009, Bruce Lane wrote: > The DSD 880 diagnostics diskette has been claimed. Jeff Kaneko was > the lucky(?) winner. Good, now the rest of us know who to harass about getting an image. :) Pat -- Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org ____________________________________________________________ Compete with the big boys. Click here to find products to benefit your business. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/PnY6rw2USkyYum1s3vN5M8ubUB4x89I…

16 years, 5 months

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DSD880 Diskette claimed

by kyrrin＠bluefeathertech.com

The DSD 880 diagnostics diskette has been claimed. Jeff Kaneko was the lucky(?) winner. Thanks to all for your interest. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Owner & Head Hardware Heavy, Blue Feather Technologies -- http://www.bluefeathertech.com kyrrin (at) bluefeathertech do/t c=o=m "Quid Malmborg in Plano..."

16 years, 5 months

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xa 2.3.5 released

by spectre＠floodgap.com

The xa 6502 cross-assembler package has been updated to version 2.3.5. This version fixes a bug with the .bin pseudo-op and character sets, adds PETSCREEN and HIGH character sets, adds the .aasc pseudo-op, and has multiple small custodial and bug fixes. It will compile on most systems with an ANSI C compiler, can generate code for all NMOS and most CMOS variants of the 6502 and the 65816, and is known to work on Win32, most Un*ces and Mac OS X. It is licensed under GPL. http://www.floodgap.com/retrotech/xa/ -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- There are few problems that the liberal usage of high explosives can't cure.

16 years, 5 months

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Broken stuff for sale

by silent700＠gmail.com

Or possibly not broken? I have two items which I must part with as part of The Great Reduction of 2009: - Epson HX-20 Portable; no AC adapter; could not power it on with any AC adapter in my stable; fair cosmetic shape, some sticker residue; has micro-cassette drive module - STM Pied Piper CP/M Computer; I plugged it in and Magic Smoke was released; a competent technician (i.e. not me) can probably fix this easily; comes with a box of 5.25" floppies which may or or may not contain CP/M and other Pied Piper goodies, a Dealer Guide, some brochures for an STM 80186 machine and whatever else I can find Shipping on these items will be from 60074. I have scanned the scannable items from the Pied Piper and they are up at chiclassiccomp.org. Asking price is whatever you feel it's worth for me to box something up and send it out, plus actual shipping. In other words, please give these fine machines a home. -j -- silent700.blogspot.com Retrocomputing and collecting in the Chicago area: http://chiclassiccomp.org

16 years, 5 months

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S-100 backplane board spacing

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

Hi! Is there any sort of a standard for S-100 backplane spacing? I measured a couple of backplanes I have (a VG and another one) and they both measured .375" (3/8") gap between the connectors. That seems rather closely spaced to me if the boards are 3/4" apart if the connectors are 3/8" wide themselves. What would be the minimum useful gap between S-100 connectors for a small hobbyist S-100 backplane? I presume 3/8" gap is not enough if you want to accept prototype boards with wire wrap sockets and maintain some clearance. Any constructive thoughts on the subject much appreciated. Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch

16 years, 5 months

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S-100 backplane board spacing

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

S-100 backplane board spacing Al Kossow aek <mailto:cctalk%40classiccmp.org?Subject=S-100%20backplane%20board%20spacing& In-Reply-To=> at bitsavers.org Fri Feb 6 09:13:35 CST 2009 * Previous message: S-100 backplane board spacing <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/268634.html> * Next message: Some Microtek MICE documentation <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/268620.html> * Messages sorted by: [ date ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/date.html#268616> [ thread ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/thread.html#268616> [ <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/subject.html#268616> subject ] [ author ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/author.html#268616> _____ > does anybody have a handle on where I > could obtain 5 S100 edge connector sockets? You also need to specify the spacing of the circuit and component side pins on the connector for your backplane. There are at least two different spacings that were used. Most were the wider style, early MITS backplanes had closer spacing. _____ * Previous message: S-100 backplane board spacing <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/268634.html> * Next message: Some Microtek MICE documentation <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/268620.html> * Messages sorted by: [ date ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/date.html#268616> [ thread ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/thread.html#268616> [ <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/subject.html#268616> subject ] [ author ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/author.html#268616> _____ More information <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk> about the cctalk mailing list _____ -----REPLY----- Hi! Thanks Al! My question is really what are the commonly accepted standards for appearance, casing, etc. I agree there seem to be an early "narrow" width and a later "wide" width between S-100 connectors. Is there a standard or commonly accepted practice for center to center "wide" board spacing or is it arbitrary? My intent is for a small (4 slot) motherboard used for hobbyist prototyping not a full blown system. The primary application would be the development of new peripherals using prototype boards. I expect that the use of wire-wrap sockets would be common requiring some clearance on the copper side and that the ICs and passives would be socketed. My estimates are that wire-wrap sockets need just bit over 1/2" clearance on the copper side and that most socketed ICs/passives require 1/2" clearance on the component side. Allison's estimate of 1" centers for the boards seems like a reasonable compromise. It won't get every possible combination but enough to be useful. The purpose is to allow low cost prototyping not for a full blown long term system installation. Cost is of primary importance which translates to little PCB surface area as possible while still being useful. BTW, Digikey carries a couple of types of S-100 compatible connectors but they are not cheap. Sullins and EDAC 0.125" spaced, 50 position, 2 row, 100 pin, PCB through hole solder tails card edge connectors run from about $8 to $12 a piece. I can get them surplus occasionally. eBay sells them too but are the wire-wrap variety which would work but is a gross abuse of a wire-wrap connector to solder it into a PCB. It can be done but I wouldn't tell anyone about it. :-) Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch

16 years, 5 months

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Atari ST floppy drive?

by dbetz＠xlisper.com

I'm trying to recover some files off of a couple of Atari SH204 hard drives but I only have a 520ST and need to find an external floppy drive to bootstrap my system. Does anyone have a spare Atari SF314 floppy drive around that they'd be willing to part with? I don't have much classic stuff left so I guess this will have to be a sale rather than a trade. Thanks, David

16 years, 5 months

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Microdata 6000 and Printronix P-600 printer in Edison, NJ

by wmaddox＠pacbell.net

There is a Microdata 6000 and a Printronix P-600 printer in Edison listed on eBay. He's also listed a Cipher tape drive, which is installed in the Microdata. The seller seems to want to get rid of these in very short order, and wants the stuff picked up tomorrow for an auction closing today. There are no bids, and I doubt he's going to get any. Anyone near Edison want to pick this stuff up for a steal? I have fond memories of the Printronix at CMU in the 80's, and hate to think he'll scrap it. --Bill Ebay Item #s 300291062623 300291065881 300291064691 http://cgi.ebay.com/Used-Microdata-6000-System-with-Cipher-Hi-Density-tape_… http://cgi.ebay.com/Used-9900-Cipher-Hi-Density-tape-DRIVE-REEL-TO-REEL_W0Q… http://cgi.ebay.com/Used-Printronix-P-600-600-LPM-Printer-Genicom-Tally_W0Q…

16 years, 5 months

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speaking of 3.5

by melamy＠earthlink.net

I been "listening" to most of this thread so, forgive me if I already mention an idea that someone has already brought up... I seem to recollect that when I was working on hard sector floppy drives back in the Northstar Horizon system days, that the controller only wrote a block of data for each sector with basically nothing in between. It saw an index hole, wrote the block and then waited for the next index hole to write the next sector. If you want to recreate index holes for reading a hard sectored floppy, it seems you could detect the end of data from the previous sector and then generate a accurate index hole for the upcoming sector. Use the single index to reset the sector count if you are keeping track of that. Obviously, this is only a solution for reading the disk best regards, Steve Thatcher > >Hi Chris > I was recently looking at my Teac drive's index pulse to see how it >worked relative to the drive going ready ( the problem of trying to >find a way to recreate the /Ready signal ). > One thing I noticed was that the leading edge of the index pulse >was as accurate as my scope could show but the trailing edge was >all over the place. > My thinking is that the drive is controlled by a servo loop. >The leading edge is when a crystal clock says the pulse is suppose >to start and the trailing edge is when the actual edge is detected. >If one timed the length of time between the two edges, one would >then know the corrective response of the loop. > As an example, if the pulse was long, you'd keep a similar software >wheel rotating that you apply a correction to by the amount the >pulse was long. > It would be this internal software generated wheel that you'd use >to create the index pulses from. > You need the code to watch the drive to determine the parameters >of the control system, gain, dampening and intertia. > If done this way, I suspect that one could get very close to >the right index pulse spacing. >Dwight > > >_________________________________________________________________ >Windows Live?: Keep your life in sync. >http://windowslive.com/howitworks?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t1_allup_howitworks_022…

16 years, 5 months

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FFS: CP/M Plus Guide

by silent700＠gmail.com

I've got a big pile of paper here (the binding is missing:) Digital Research CP/M Plus Version 3 OS User's Guide, Programmer's Guide and System Guide (all one book.) I'll send it out for the cost of shipping. It probably weighs a couple pounds. Preference given to someone who can scan it nicely and get it into one of the document archives out there. My sheet feeder has given up on feeding the 6"x9" paper. Or, if it already has been scanned and is out there somewhere, someone let me know. Then I won't feel bad recycling it. j -- silent700.blogspot.com Retrocomputing and collecting in the Chicago area: http://chiclassiccomp.org

16 years, 5 months

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DECwriter correspondent LA12 operators manual

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

For anyone interested, I scanned a copy of the LA12's operators manual, which Tom Ponsford graciously loaned me, and have placed a copy here: http://computer-refuge.org/classiccmp/dec/la12/ Al, if you want to grab that or my TIFF copy for bitsavers, let me know and I can send it to you. It's 400dpi/1bpp and G4 compressed. Pat -- Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

16 years, 5 months

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PDP-11 power requirements

by slawmaster＠gmail.com

I may soon be acquiring a PDP-11; I do not know the exact model. My question is, what kind of power supply might this require? It sounds like some can use 110V and others require 220? Are there models that I can just plug into my apartment's wall socket, or do I need to get an extension cord from the washer/dryer socket (which is not in use right now)? If anyone can summarize what models need what sort of power, I'd appreciate it. Thanks John -- "I've tried programming Ruby on Rails, following TechCrunch in my RSS reader, and drinking absinthe. It doesn't work. I'm going back to C, Hunter S. Thompson, and cheap whiskey." -- Ted Dziuba

16 years, 5 months

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Anyone have a line on batteries for the NLS portable oscilloscope?

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

Hi, All, The topic of replacement batteries came up in the Yahoo Group for the RB5X, and someone posted a link for 2 volt 2.5 Amp-hour cells (which are apparently used in an older version of the robot than mine)... <http://www.batteryweb.com/hawkersla-detail.cfm?Model=0810-0004&label=single…> I saw the image and immediately thought of my NLS portable oscilloscope. I'd love to refurb mine, but $45 in batteries is a little on the high side for me. Has anyone on the list replaced a set of this sort of battery, and does anyone know of a place that stocks them for a bit less? -ethan

16 years, 5 months

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Collection up date

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

Hi all I had a super Xmas break and as a result The following have been restored to factory spec and are running. On TCP/IP network VAX 4000 M500 VAX 4000 M200 MicroVAX 3100 VAX Station 3100 Alpha 3000 Alpha Station 200 Stand alone Rainbow 100+ Needs a DECnet adapter 11C23 Running Micro RSX needs the DECNet board (which I do have) and the Cable which I don't. Decmate III Working Periperals VT200's VT320's VT240 Awaiting Parts/Attention PDP 8e - Has a difficult to trace hardware problem It was running but now I can't toggle in a test proigram. Set address -> DEP -> Set Data - > DEP (Increments the address ok) Go back and examine memory = nothing. System has four x 4K core memory. Removing any one or three out of four makes no difference. I'm rusty on PDP8's ( I last worked on one in 1972) Help!!!!!!!!!!!!! VAX 4000 M300 (Needs the upper outer door and the door for the front of the CPU compartment PRO 350 Needs a RD-5X MF ST506 Drive PRO 380 Needs a RD-5X MF ST506 Drive VT 103 (Needs a monitor board) PDP-11/94 (Needs KDJ11-EB = M8981-BA) Wish List DEC logo colour monitors of any type. VAX VLC's 11/05 11/10 11/34 11/70 RL01's VT100's VT102 VT4XX LA36 LA180 BA123 (Enclosure) BA23 (Enclosure) 11X94-E (Enclosure) Rod Smallwood

16 years, 5 months

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Some Microtek MICE documentation

by aek＠bitsavers.org

Almost nothing was out there for the low cost ICE's that Microtek built, so I scanned and took some pictures of the bits that I have. Additional personality docs (esp for the MICE-II 6502 and 6809) would be nice to find. Still need to take some pics of the original 6502 MICE that I have. http://bitsavers.org/pdf/microtek/mice

16 years, 5 months

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PDP-11 power requirements

by tiggerlasv＠aim.com

I can't speak towards the older, larger Unibus models, such as the 11/45, 11/55, 11/60, and 11/70. However, these models generally had a standard 115volt line cord: 11/02 11/03 11/23 11/23+ 11/24 11/34 11/34a 11/44 11/53 11/73 11/83 11/84 11/93 11/94 (Sorry in advance, if I left anyone's model off the list.) ;-) If it's in a rack, it MAY have a power distribution module at the base, with a 20-amp or 30-amp power cord, but in most (if not all) cases, the individual chassis inside the rack will have standard 115volt line cords that plug into it. T

16 years, 5 months

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S-100 backplane board spacing

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> does anybody have a handle on where I > could obtain 5 S100 edge connector sockets? You also need to specify the spacing of the circuit and component side pins on the connector for your backplane. There are at least two different spacings that were used. Most were the wider style, early MITS backplanes had closer spacing.

16 years, 5 months

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S-100 backplane board spacing

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: S-100 backplane board spacing > From: "Andrew Lynch" <lynchaj at yahoo.com> > Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:32:10 -0500 > To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Hi! Is there any sort of a standard for S-100 backplane spacing? > >I measured a couple of backplanes I have (a VG and another one) and they >both measured .375" (3/8") gap between the connectors. That seems rather >closely spaced to me if the boards are 3/4" apart if the connectors are 3/8" >wide themselves. > >What would be the minimum useful gap between S-100 connectors for a small >hobbyist S-100 backplane? I presume 3/8" gap is not enough if you want to >accept prototype boards with wire wrap sockets and maintain some clearance. There are two considerations, airflow and bus length. Wider gap helps airflow to a point then wider doesnt help as much. Wider spacing makes the bus longer for a give number of connectors and longer has more problems with reflections(ringing) and other transmission line behavours. Longer may also impact power distribution as well. Last items is the height of boards limits how close or forces skipping slots. Some fo the taller boards in my collection suggest greater than 0.75" center to center would barely be adaquate because of tall heatsinks contacking the next board. Look at the better backplanes, Compupro would be one. Also the later boards (more modern) were dense enough that only a few slots are required. I have at least two machines that are: Zpu-B z80 cpu 64K ram (ram 16, 17 or 22) Interfacer (multi serial plus parallel) DISK1A FDC DISK3 HDC Systemm Support Thats only 6 boards and the smallest backplane I have is 8 slots. It's as loaded a system as most or more so. The limiting factor for the box is fans, power supply and mountings for the disks. Older antiques like an altair filled with then current board may have: CPU 8080or later Z80 Ram boards anhywhere from 4k per to 16K per (as many as 8 for 64K) Some form of rom boot card possible a dual board FDC (altair disk was a two card set) multiple IO baord for serial possible multiple boards for one or more printers or other parallel devices. And cooling issues. Hope that helps with some history. I'd say 6-8 slots spaced 1" and also on the board terminator. Allison > >Any constructive thoughts on the subject much appreciated. > >Thanks and have a nice day! > >Andrew Lynch

16 years, 5 months

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Simulation vs breadboarding (was Replacing failed powersupplies on qbus PDP-11s)

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Aquarius project? A mostly accurate description can be found in http://lowendmac.com/orchard/06/john-sculley-years-apple.html

16 years, 5 months

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Need a copy of an IRE article

by evan＠snarc.net

Can anyone assist me in getting a copy (pdf preferred) of this article: Proceedings of the IRE, Oct. 1953 (Vol. 41, Issue 10), pages 1388-1392. The article is called. "The Design of Logical OR-AND-OR Pyramids for Digital Computers" ... thanks! - Evan

16 years, 5 months

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Ideas for disposing of entire collection

by robert.stek＠gmail.com

Thanks to those here and on comp.os.cpm who have responded publically and privately with some ideas I had not considered before. I know there is at least one ebay selling service in Tucson, a solution I hadn't thought of. I wouldn't mind spending the time describing items correctly if that's how I go. I would be hoping that they have the space to take it so I could get it organized for them. I will also get in touch with Sellam. I have been to a few users group meetings here in Tucson but have never met anyone suffering >from the classiccmp disease - perhaps a few weeks worth of notices on Craig's List might scare one or two out of the woodwork. To those who have responded with wish-lists: the biggest problem in my current situation is that too many boxes are labeled "Old computer stuff" or even those that are labeled '8" disks' are in X different boxes in Y different places, usually with boxes in front and on top of them! If I could easily retrieve specific items I would rather they go to people on the lists who appreciate them. Alas, when I packed them away I fantasized that I would have sufficient room to organize everything properly - the reality is that I don't. If I go through an ebay service I might be able to pull some stuff that people have mentioned. I was surprised (thrilled?) to hear that at least one person thought $15-$25k was a reasonable ebay estimate. Frankly that about twice what I would estimate (at least in today's economy!). Maybe I should just sit on it all for the next 2-3 years and wait until one of the next Web 3.0 millionaires wants a legacy collection! Jim Battle, you and Barry Watzman are the only 2 people I know with working Helios systems. If I find those Helios disks I lent you a few years ago, you two guys can split them if you want them. Bob Stek (former) Saver of Lost Sols

16 years, 5 months

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ISO older PROMICE manuals

by aek＠bitsavers.org

Does anyone have copies of the various revisions of the Grammar Engine PROMICE? I have a manual for a really early version of the device, and have a few of them of various vintages made in the 90's which neither match my manual, or the current versions.

16 years, 5 months

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Replacing failed powersupplies on qbus PDP-11s

by toby＠coreware.co.uk

Hi, I have a couple of uPDP-11 boxes (BA23) with failed power supplies. Being no expert on repairing switch mode power supplies (and to be frank slighly scared of trying), is there any reason why I shouldn't adapt a ATX power supply from a PC to provide the required voltages? Most ATX power supplies offer pretty meaty 5V and 12V feeds plus a fairly small -12V (~0.3A) feed. Will I need to generate a LTC/BEVENT L signal if I go down this route? Finally, does anyone know of any good guides on repairing switch modes? Whilst not keen, I guess I should bite the bullet (hopefully not literally) and learn how to repair them. Thanks, Toby -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

16 years, 5 months

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Simulation vs breadboarding (was Replacing failed powersupplies on qbus PDP-11s)

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Until the boss sees that you screwed around in the lab for an hour or > two getting all the parts and building the test circuit I doubt any company newer than 10 years old even has lab stock any more to breadboard something with. I'd end up going to Haltek or Halted for parts, because Apple killed off their parts stock room when the hardware group was moving from Valley Green to Infinite Loop. One day I went over to it and it was empty. They had dumped the whole thing into recycling because none of the hardware engineers used any of it anymore.

16 years, 5 months

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Ideas for disposing of entire collection

by robert.stek＠gmail.com

I have been mostly a lurker on the classiccmp lists for the last 10 years or so, though I have had individual correspondence with Jim Battle, Dave Dunfield, Rich Cini, Allison, and a few others ? I think they would vouch for me. I?ve been mostly an S-100 and CP/M guy, and I have probably used more impulse than sense in collecting micro stuff. My worst sin has been in putting off any systematic cataloging of my collection, and unfortunately I am not in a position to do it now. What I describe later on is from memory ? there are all sorts of miscellaneous things as well. The time has come for me to liquidate 90% of my collection. I won?t give it away ? my kids can deal with it after I?m dead! I started to sell it piece by piece last year and sold about $3,000-$4,000 worth on ebay (I know, boo-hiss! But that?s where I got most of it from.) I would rather not go this route again, except perhaps for my Altair or one of my IMSAI?s. I am willing to take a loss if I can dispose of this stuff in bulk, but want this to be as painless (for me) as possible. All of this stuff has been packed away in moving boxes for at least 4-5 years and I no longer want to have to take it out, photograph it, test, troubleshoot, write accurate descriptions, re-package for safe shipping, take it down to UPS or the P.O., deal with eBay, etc. So, questions for the group: 1) Does anyone here have an interest in acquiring my collection and is willing to come to Tucson (7 hour drive from San Diego) and pick it all up? 2) Does anyone here know of anyone ? a computer museum, a collector not on this list, anyone else of unsound mind ? who might be interested? 3) Any other ideas on eliminating hassles from individual sales and shipping? 4) Anyone want to take a guess at a value of the collection as a whole? a) if individually priced on ebay or b) Entire lot value It?s all packed well enough for storage or shipment in a van, but most would need to be re-packed for individual shipment. Part of the problem is that while individual boxes are generically labeled (i.e., 8? disks, BYTE mags, Votrax, monitor, etc.) I have no simple or easy way to put the appropriate docs and disks together with the hardware (nor the room to even attempt it). I think I did a fairly good job of rounding up original docs and boot disks (or good copies thereof) for most of the equipment. It would be a shame to let that effort go to waste if I eventually decide to go the ebay route after all; I would have to sell it all ala carte as I come across it. To give you an idea of some of the items (almost all with complete documentation, extra S-100 boards and boot software if appropriate, and most were known working when put in storage) here is a good part of the collection that I still have: 2 or 3 Processor Tech Sols (have extra foam pads for 1 keyboard restore) ? original docs Ithaca InterSystem S-100 ? original docs 2 IMSAI?s ? original docs 1 Altair 8800 ? some docs 2 NorthStar Horizons, 1 with HD ? original docs 1 CompuPro 8/16 ? original docs 1 Morrow Decision 1 with HD ? original docs (the big iron, not the MicroDecision) Many, many S-100 cards ? 8 and 16 bit CPUs, 4k thru 256k memory boards, Matrox video, disk controllers, almost all w/ original docs 1 Lobo System with HD ? original docs 3-4-5? Circuit Cellar SB-180 systems, 1 with HD ? original docs 2 NOS Xerox Z-80 64k systems w/ 5 ?? dual drives ? original docs 2-3 KayPro?s ? original docs Televideo 925 terminal Older memory chip tester Pro-Log M882 8080 analyzer Z-80 MicroProfessor Digital Group programs on cassette Many original ProcTech programs on cassette w/ original docs Multiple SS/DD and DS/DD 5.25? disk drives, some in cabinets w/ PS, most not Several monochrome composite monitors Collection of text-to-speech units, 3-4 Votrax and a large DEC-Talk plus a few others ? original docs BYTE magazine from, v1#1 through mid to late 80?s Many issues of Creative Comp, complete Kilobaud, S-100 Microsystems, early Dr. Dobb?s, Interface Age, Computer Shopper, Lifeboat Lifelines, etc. 2 dual 8? drive systems 2-3 Apple II Plus 2-3 Apple Z-80 cards Ohio Scientific Challenger (C4P? ? can?t remember, plus I may have sold this last year, not sure but I think it?s still here) w/ docs Franklin Ace 100 (the original one with the Apple II ROMs that led to landmark court decision allowing copyrighting of software) 1-2 early Macs Mac LC w/ MS-DOS card Cables ? lots and lots, from RS-232, Centronics parallel, to power cables to ribbon cables to . . . . Lots of original software and docs: boxed sets of Digital Research CP/M, CP/M-86, CP/M-Plus, CBASIC, Concurrent CP/M ? all from DR in slip cases, WordStar, Magic Wand, Palantir, dBASE II, Microsoft BASIC-80, baZic, Lifeboat Associates CP/MUG disks, lots of NorthStar format software, NOS Dysan 10-hole hard-sector disks, complete International NorthStar User?s Association newsletters and disks, complete original SOL Users Society newsletters, etc.) IBM XT TrackStar 6502 card for IBM Baby Blue Z-80 card for IBM IBM AT Central Point Match Point card, several Option boards . . . and this is just the stuff I remember. Bob Stek Saver of Lost Sols P.S. If I can?t sell it all in one swell foop, I MAY consider offers for individual pieces from list members, but I would REALLY like to sell everything at once. Please don?t ask for any particular item right now ? I?ll let everyone know if I do decide to do that later.

16 years, 5 months

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Video pinouts for Sony SMC-70G

by adamg＠pobox.com

Josh Dersch wrote: > Just acquired one of these bad boys and I've found very little info on > it -- it appears to have two video out connectors -- a 25-pin D-sub > labeled "RGB Multi Out" and an 8-pin DIN labeled "B/W Multi Out." > Anyone know the pinouts of these? If you're still looking for pinouts, here they are: http://www.eskimo.com/~adam/smc70vidpin.pdf Sorry about the huge PDF file. Since you have the G (genlock) model there should also be RGB video on BNC connectors. > Any ideas what kind of monitor I can expect to use with this machine? For authenticity, a KX-1211HG, CPD-120 or PVM-1270Q. Otherwise, a Commodore 1080 or 1084 or whatever. > Anyone have manuals/software archived? I have a little bit of stuff... I'll drop you a line if/when I archive it... probably some time in 2015? :) Amazingly enough Sony still lists a SMC-70G manual as available to order. The part number is 3-773-522-22. If you feel like taking a $20 gamble you can order it online at servicesales.sel.sony.com or servicesplus.us.sony.biz or by phone at (800)488-7669. You might end up with a hefty bound manual or you might end up with 2 xeroxed pages. I have no idea what it is other than it's an instruction manual for SMC-70G serial number 20211 and later and it's not one of the ones I have. -- Adam

16 years, 5 months

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speaking of 3.5" floppies, is 720K R.I.P.?

by chrise＠pobox.com

I don't have an answer for the other gentleman's query on 720RPM floppies but I recently discovered that new 3.5" drives appear to no longer support 720K media. I purchased a number of Samsung drives for a project where I am converting a system with 5.25" drives to use 3.5" and I found that these drives have left out the media density sense switch all together! They no longer have any way to detect the lower density, 250kbps media and run at 500Kbps no matter what is installed. I needed the 300 rpm, 250Kbps capability to be compatible with the old 5.25" stuff. What's particularly nasty is that I chose these drives, Samsung SFD-321B, because I had a recent datasheet that clearly showed they supported this mode-- until of course they arrived and the switch/sensor is not even installed! Is this true of all 3.5" drives now? This might explain why 720K 3.5" drives are selling for $285 on eBay :-( I'd sure like to find a way to force the drive into 250Kbps mode-- I can't believe the chips don't still support it-- I just need a way to figure out where the sensor is supposed to connect and hard wire it to 720K mode. Any ideas on how to do that? Chris

16 years, 5 months

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PDP-7's

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> I seem to recall that there was one in Australia oops, forgot that one. Max Burnett's

16 years, 5 months

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Microdata Reality in Sandy, Utah

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

There is a Microdata Reality in Sandy, Utah that needs a new home. This is a large and heavy early- to mid-1970s mini in a 6 foot cabinet. Please contact me directly if you're interested and I'll pass along the contact info. -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

16 years, 5 months

1
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Printronix P-600 and Qume printers available

by jws＠jwsss.com

Printronix P-600's availability "soon" in St. Louis. I'm posting for a friend who has as many as three which may be retired and scrapped. These are well maintained, but obviously elderly printers. The Qume is a wheel printer I posted about some time ago w/o any response. Reply off list unless there is a useful comment, obviously. Qume printer is in Evansville, In. Jim

16 years, 5 months

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Anyone have a line on batteries for the NLS portable oscilloscope?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Anyone have a line on batteries for the NLS portable oscilloscope? > From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:51:59 -0500 > To: classiccmp at classiccmp.org > >Hi, All, > >The topic of replacement batteries came up in the Yahoo Group >for the RB5X, and someone posted a link for 2 volt 2.5 Amp-hour >cells (which are apparently used in an older version of the robot >than mine)... > ><http://www.batteryweb.com/hawkersla-detail.cfm?Model=0810-0004&label=single…> > >I saw the image and immediately thought of my NLS portable oscilloscope. >I'd love to refurb mine, but $45 in batteries is a little on the high >side for me. >Has anyone on the list replaced a set of this sort of battery, and does anyone >know of a place that stocks them for a bit less? I've replaced the min my NLS MS-15 and MS215 portable scopes, I usually pay around 8-9$ each (it uses 3) for them new. Google "2V 2.5AH Gell cell" you get mroe than afew hits. Note any 6V gellcell that fits in the form factor (NLS has an area) will also work. I've found 6V/2.2AH Yusa and others that fit in mind and they can be cheaper usually under 15$. If your really game 4 nicads of the 1800-2200mah size fit there but require the charger side to be modded for constant current rather constant voltage. Allison > >-ethan

16 years, 5 months

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Old Software rights (was content rights)

by vern4wright＠yahoo.com

Dan, My first comment is - watch your back! --- On Thu, 1/15/09, Dan Gahlinger <dgahling at hotmail.com> wrote: > From: Dan Gahlinger <dgahling at hotmail.com> > Subject: Old Software rights (was content rights) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Date: Thursday, January 15, 2009, 8:48 AM > In an unrelated topic, > > I have a bunch of old programs from my University days, > back in the late 70's, early 80's > all Vax/VMS code, in various languages, etc. > > In those days we never put "(C)" or copyright > notices on code. > I'm just wondering if it's generally "ok" > to release this code to the public? > > It's been 30 some years (longer than copyright would > apply anyhow). > I have searched for 20 years for some of the authors and > never found anyone. > > 14 years ago I posted pieces of it, and said "if > anyone objects to this, please contact me" > and never got any response from anyone. Just an experience I recall observing. A guy was posting old games on USENET (don't recall which group), from the CP/M to early IBM PC era - games for which no owner could he could find, games that seemed to be abandoned. And then one day he announced that he would no longer be doing this, having been warned by his ISP and having received a cease and desist notice from a law firm. > The system and associated parts used for the development > are long gone. Copyright is a can of worms, particularly with the obscenely long period that has been recently legislated. And there will always be someone willing to threaten action. Your examples seem safe, but I would be quick to be responsive to any request to "desist". > But another age old question, who has rights to code > developed on the universities equipment? > I know it's a common question these days, but > "back in the day" such considerations never > occurred, > it was a different era. I well recall those days when software was free, included in the rental of the mainframe. Until unbundling and the "Program Product" which would rent or sell independently from the machine. IIRC, IBM's H Assembler for OS/360, first NEW product issued under the unbundling agreement, rented for $250/mo. in 1970 - which would be something more significant these days. Those days really ended around 1970. It's particularly annoying in the area of OS's for our classic computers, which remain under copyright to companies which may have gone belly-up, been absorbed and forgotten by their buyers, etc. Getting an old CP/M machine without the OS, and not having a legal source for it, makes 'criminals' of us all. And it's damned unfair! > Everyone from that era has also vanished with the wind, I > know, I've looked. > > So is it fairly safely abandoned? > Another way to look at it - If it was your code, some small > silly thing you wrote, would you care? Now that is a very GOOD question. There are a lot of things I've written that I would NEVER want seen - by ANYONE; guess they're in the class of 'silly'. Most of my serious software belongs to entities (alive or dead), under 'work for hire'. If it were distributed with their blessings, it wouldn't bother me; I've been paid - though never enough :) OTOH, I have several proprietary systems I have written for the use of my own business AND I WOULD EXPRESS SERIOUS ANNOYANCE if they were somehow obtained and distributed. But they have never been shared, and the likelihood of it happening seems small. That said, good fortune. Vern Wright > Dan. > > _________________________________________________________________

16 years, 5 months

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Straight 8 was PDP-7s

by evan＠snarc.net

How about the straight 8 ... There were 1500 made; how many of these still survive? 1. We've got one here in MARCH / NJ.

16 years, 5 months

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searching a metal box for 11/04 5.25in high

by henk.gooijen＠hotmail.com

Hi all, I noticed an 11/34 on eBay (# 200302612244) which reminded me of the 11/04 that I have in similar size / housing. Just as the machine up for auction, I am missing the black metal box into which the unit is placed and mounted in a 19" rack. So ... if anybody has an empty box, I am very interested! thanks, - Henk, PA8PDP

16 years, 5 months

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bitsavers down?

by legalize＠xmission.com

My RSS feed generator has been erroring out for a while now. Apparently I can't fetch www.bitsavers.org/pdf/Whatsnew.txt Can anyone else get there? Is this a known problem? I haven't seen it mentioned on the list. -- "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/>

16 years, 5 months

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PDP-7's

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Where is there a register of PDP-7 systems? I know of only two, personally. Three, the U Oregon system, CHM's, and the one in Oslo.

16 years, 5 months

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bitsavers down?

by aek＠bitsavers.org

It was down for a few days. I had hoped Jay was upgrading the server. The ccmp web server is on the same machine.

16 years, 5 months

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IBM 1401 "Edith" program?

by jfoust＠threedee.com

A fan of my ASCII art page sent this question. I hadn't heard of it before. - John >Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 15:15:23 -0500 >Subject: Re: Beautiful old alpha/character art >From: bayard <catron at gmail.com> >To: John Foust <jfoust at threedee.com> > > >Do you have a copy of the output of the legendary EDITH program? I googled around and all i found was a picture of the punch cards! > ><http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110304561718>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110304561718

16 years, 5 months

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Digital Lives Conference at the British Library

by Jeremy.John＠bl.uk

I wonder if any classic computer specialists would be interested in attending this conference. Please do let me know if so. Best wishes, Jeremy. CONFERENCE FOR DIVERSE SPECIALISTS: ARCHIVISTS, CLASSIC COMPUTER EXPERTS, DIGITAL PRESERVATION, HISTORIANS, CURATORS, AND SOCIAL SCIENTISTS ___________________________________________ DIGITAL LIVES RESEARCH CONFERENCE 2009 Monday 9 February to Wednesday 11 February 2009 at the British Library, London Scientists, historians, writers and IT specialists will come together to address the challenge of organising and preserving personal digital archives at the first ever Digital Lives Research Conference, which will be inaugurated by British Library Chief Executive Dame Lynne Brindley. The conference will address (i) how libraries and archives can help all people whose lives are becoming increasingly digital - particularly academics - to secure, preserve and organise their personal archives of digital photographs, documents, correspondence and multimedia, for themselves and their families; and (ii) the possibility of establishing relationships with providers of online services and social systems technologies. Topics will range from digital curation and digital preservation to the creation of personal digital archives and their use by historians, biographers and scientists. Highlights include: (i) Keynote Lectures by biographers Georgina Ferry and Andrew Lycett, psychologist Charles Fernyhough, historian Orlando Figes, and archivist Dorothy Sheridan of the Mass Observation Archive (ii) Invited Presentations by George Oates, member of founding team at Flickr, Simone Brunozzi of Amazon Web Services and Ian Hughes of IBM (iii) Keynote Presentations by computer scientists Mark Baker of University of Reading, Peter Bentley of University College London, Annamaria Carusi of University of Oxford, Jon Crowcroft of University of Cambridge, Kieron O'Hara of University of Southampton and Dave Taylor of Imperial College London. (iv) A Writers in Conversation session on the creation of digital archives, featuring Tony Benn, Dame Antonia Byatt and Wendy Cope, and chaired by pioneering computer scientist Dame Wendy Hall (v) Day 3 of the conference will involve the participation of visitors and inhabitants of virtual world Second Life, with the conference broadcast onto the Elucian Islands , the Second Life home of Nature Publishing Group and Macmillan Publishers. There will be a keynote lecture by Timo Hannay, Publishing Director at Nature.com (vi) A presentation on 'Digital Life at the Extremes' by polar explorer Ben Saunders See: www.bl.uk/digital-lives/conference.html for further details. The first day of the conference will focus on the latest approaches to curating digital objects and archives. The second day will look at the development of such archives from the point of view of the creators and researchers - writers, scientists and historians. The third day will offer an overview of life online and digital archives as they are developing at present. The conference is FREE to attend on the 9 and 11 of February, registration is required as space is limited. There is a registration fee of ?35 for 10 February, but WAIVERS ARE AVAILABLE. Please register at the Digital Lives Research Conference 2009 website: www.bl.uk/digital-lives/confreg.html ***APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTING*** About The Digital Lives Research Project The Digital Lives Research Project is led by the British Library and is designed to provide a major pathfinding study of personal digital archives, and is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The project team is drawn from University College London and University of Bristol as well as the British Library itself. ************************************************************************** Experience the British Library online at www.bl.uk The British Library's new interactive Annual Report and Accounts 2007/08 : www.bl.uk/knowledge Help the British Library conserve the world's knowledge. Adopt a Book. www.bl.uk/adoptabook The Library's St Pancras site is WiFi - enabled ************************************************************************* The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this e-mail and notify the postmaster at bl.uk : The contents of this e-mail must not be disclosed or copied without the sender's consent. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the British Library. The British Library does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. *************************************************************************

16 years, 5 months

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DECwriter correspondent manuals?

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

Does anyone have manuals or any information about the DECwriter correspondent? I managed to grab one today, and would like to at least look at the docs before I plug it in, and turn it on, if anyone can find a copy.. Thanks, Pat -- Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

16 years, 5 months

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Looking for Xerox 914 docs.

by rollerton＠gmail.com

Not quite a computer but maybe a distant relative. I am looking for anything on the Xerox 914; anything operation, maintenance, or marketing material that I can get a copy of. Its for a uh, performance that I am involved in and I would like to be more technically accurate in describing the machine and its operation. Thanks!

16 years, 5 months

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Any spare Corvus Concept hardware out there?

by derschjo＠mail.msu.edu

I assume the answer to the subject line is "no," but I figured I'd ask just in case one of you has a stack of this stuff lying around somewhere :). Picked up a Corvus Concept -- just the main CPU unit, no monitor, no keyboard, no drives. It appears to work (it beeps when I turn it on!) but of course lacking any other hardware it's a rather bulky doorstop. I'd like to get it running, it's a cool 68k-based machine with a bit-mapped display and Apple II (!!) compatible expansion slots. (Are there any other machines out there that used the Apple II bus for expansion? Aside from Apple II-family machines and clones, of course...) I suppose given enough time I could build a compatible monitor, hack together a keyboard interface, and get it booting over OmniNet but somehow having the original hardware would be nice too... Thanks, Josh

16 years, 5 months

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Stack Depth requirements for CP/M 2.2 CBIOS

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Stack Depth requirements for CP/M 2.2 CBIOS > From: "ROBO5.8" <robo58 at optonline.net> > Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:08:49 -0500 > To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only'" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > >Hello, > >I have rewritten my old systems CP/M 2.2 CBIOS to add an IDE Drive. > >I've run into a problem that has me stumped. Everything works as long as I >don't try and copy or assemble a large Assembly file (>80KB). > >I will be going along fine and then out of nowhere I will see CP/M request >access to Drive "T". My debug info says SELDSK is requesting Drive 0FF00h. > Ok this is easy. CP/M 2.x (2.2 nominal) can only address 16 logical drives so that's limitation one. Each drive is limited to 8Mb (65525sectors*128bytes). If you use one of the CP/M like imperoved work a likes this is less an issue and logical drives can be much larger (up to 1gb). >I have added debug code to all the CBIOS routines so that they report what >they are doing to the console (slow but nice). > >I've gone through my code many times and tested each routine via an embedded >debug monitor. I believe I have added every CP/M 2.2 patch (1-6 and 9)that >is specific to the CBIOS including those dealing with Blocking/Deblocking. Good but likely not the problem itself. > >In the back of my mind I kept wondering if I was exceeding CP/M's Stack >Depth. I can find no information on the web or in my doc's that specifies >what the maximum Stack usage is for a CBIOS. This does not could like a stack size issue. That tends to be very static for any disk size. >Do any of you have any thoughts on my Stack Question? Are there other >issues with Blocking/Deblocking that become visible with large Disk Drives, >and that are not covered in any of the published DRI patches? Wrong plase to look. Likely areas of breakage: More than 16 drives Alloc storage areas inadaquately sized or overlapping BIOS local variables being trashed. Bios logic in error (deblock, sector addressing other??) Allison >Thanks for your assistance. >Robo

16 years, 5 months

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Seeking reverse-engineers - Apple II VisiCalc

by mc＠media.mit.edu

I am looking for volunteers to help reverse-engineer and document Apple II VisiCalc. Besides documenting this for future historians --I plan to give all this work to the Smithsonian-- I'd like to get Apple II VisiCalc running in emulation. Right now this isn't possible because of the copy protection. (BTW the PC DOS version is available on the web, and doesn't have copy protection). I have three versions of the Apple II software. I know one of them still boots (1983?) and have some confidence that the other two versions (1979 and 1981) work too. I have been in contact with both Bob Frankston and Dan Bricklin. Of course you ask, well then why do you need volunteers? The answer is because no one can find the sources. Bob and I plan to dig around his garage when the weather gets warmer, but there are no guarantees, and the 30th anniversary is in October 2009. --Tim McNerney http://www.4004.com

16 years, 5 months

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test-drb February 2009