test-drb June 2009

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

233 participants
404 discussions

by tim＠tim-mann.org

On Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:57:20 -0500, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Has anyone read Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the > Computer Age ? ... > Anyone have any back stories or have read the book? I've got it on > order, but I've read some scathing reviews about how the author got it > wrong. I know some of the scathing reviews might be by people who > weren't described in a favorable light in the book --- but I've seen > plenty of technical stories get screwed up. I remember reading and enjoying Dealers of Lightning several years ago when it came out. I worked with some of the PARC folks at their next gig (DEC Systems Research Center, run by Bob Taylor), and I don't remember people there having major complaints about the book getting things wrong. Of course a book like this never gets everything right -- certainly not to everyone's satisfaction, since different people who experienced the same events don't see them the same way. -- Tim Mann tim at tim-mann.org http://tim-mann.org/

14 years, 11 months

IBM AS400 inquiry

by ian_primus＠yahoo.com

--- On Thu, 6/4/09, rescue at hawkmountain.net <rescue at hawkmountain.net> wrote: > So, what specs are this ? What does it run (OS > ?, Apps ?), > and what can be done with it (he was originally going to > use > it as an end table !!! until he found it actually booted). I had an IBM AS/400 9404 for a while. It did not boot - the hard drives were missing. The specs of mine were: heavy. beige. I used it as an end table. -Ian

14 years, 11 months

cctalk Digest, Vol 70, Issue 3

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On Tue, June 2, 2009 4:45 am, Johnny Billquist wrote: >> USB only guarantees to supply 100 milliamps. Up to 500 mA can be >> negotiated with the controller, depending. Might your older device >> depend on more amps than the USB adapter can supply? > > Huh? The RS-232-port isn't supposed to deliver any power at all. Some > devices admittedly abused the RS-232 by using something like DTR to > actually supply the power needed to drive the thing, but that is abuse. > > But I'd be surprised if a circa-70s modem was ever designed to use the > power from the RS-232 port to drive the modem itself. I'd expect it to > have an external power supply. He's not talking about powering the device, he's talking about driving the signal lines. Their input impedance isn't infinite, you know! -Dave -- Dave McGuire Port Charlotte, FL

14 years, 11 months

TK50 tribulations

by ian_primus＠yahoo.com

--- On Tue, 6/2/09, Steve Maddison <steve at cosam.org> wrote: > I recently dug out a TK50 I was tinkering with before and > am having > some trouble diagnosing what's up with it. It arrived with > a tape > stuck in it, but I've since managed to persuade that out > and a good > clean up had it loading and ejecting properly. Now any read > or write > just results in a bit of shoeshining, whereafter it goes > into its > light-show routine. Yes, I should probably just admit > defeat and keep > it for parts, but it seems so close to working I thought > I'd take > another stab. Did you clean the heads AND the leader strip? I had one with so much fuzz on it that it would have surely gunked up the heads straight away. You can clean the leader with alcohol, just like the heads. Sometimes these things need multiple cleanings... I assume you've got this connected to a PDP-11 or Vax that you're using to write to it, and that this isn't the SCSI flavored TK50Z. I ran into a similar problem with a TK50Z on a linux box - constant shoeshining. Turns out that I had to set the buffer in mt. After that, it worked just fine. -Ian

14 years, 11 months

Emulex SCSI Controllers available...

by lbickley＠bickleywest.com

I was chatting with a DEC broker recently regarding SCSI controllers for DEC gear - when he mentioned that he had a quantity of Emulex UC07's available. UC07's are QBUS cards which have a single SCSI port and support either MSCP or TMSCP (in RT land, that would be either DU or MU devices). The manual states that the UC07 is compatible with RT, RSX, RSTS/E and Ultrix versions which support MSCP or TMSCP. The dealers initial price was high (as expected). However, he then added - "I'd be willing to do better for hobbyists - as long as they commit that the boards will only be used for hobby purposes - and not for commercial use". So here's the "deal": $235 per UC07 plus shipping from Mountain View, CA (FedEx Ground). I've paid MUCH more for SCSI interfaces for my DEC QBUS and UNIBUS systems - so IMHO, this is a great deal. The broker said he did not want to deal "individually with a bunch of hobbyists" - so he asked if I would be willing to consolodate a single order of UC07's to him. I reluctantly said "yes", as this is not my business and I'm not interested in making money on this deal - only covering costs. To get a sense of interest, please reply to me privately if you'd like one or more if these "critters". The manual for the UC07 is available on bitsavers. A link to a bitsavers mirror is below: http://bitsavers.vt100.net/pdf/emulex/UC0751001-F_UC07_Feb90.pdf Regards, Lyle -- Lyle Bickley Bickley Consulting West Inc. http://bickleywest.com "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

14 years, 11 months

PDP 11/73 on the Internet

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

Josh writes: ? I'm thinking of seeing if I can squeeze an ? older version of Apache on it if I ever find the time... Pre-Apache, it was the "NCSA HTTPd", and I think a very stripped down version may fit. It may be vaguely possible to include the CGI stuff although I think that would be a lot of effort for very little reward. But... if you just want a web server, all you have to do is parse the HTTP request string and serve up the file. The DECUS C (K&R C, not ANSI C) web server at http://shop-pdp.kent.edu/ runs very nicely and would probably be way easier to port than starting with anything in ANSI C. But I think the simplest thing is just to start from scratch! Tim.

14 years, 11 months

Free Mitsubishi MP 286L

by dwbrown＠tva.gov

Mitsubishi MP 286L, needs power cord. Free to good home. Local Pick-Up Only or You pay shipping costs. Soon to be recycled. Thanks, Denny Brown, P.E. Environmental Engineer TVA-Power Control Systems 1101 Market Street, SP4H-C Chattanooga, TN 37402 office: 423-751-2807 mobile: 423-605-8614

14 years, 11 months

VT52 emulator

by bqt＠softjar.se

Richard <legalize at xmission.com> wrote: >In article <347d9b1b0906030131o2c2460d6qef0369629e5b40ef at mail.gmail.com>, Alexander Voropay <alec at sensi.org> writes: >> > P.S. I have the original TETRIS.SAV binary for the Elektronika-60 (a >> > Soviet LSI-11 clone) >> > for the RT-11. It works under SIMH. Unfortunately, I have NO good >> > opensource VT-52 emulator >> > to play. Original Tetris requires 0177 character to be BLOCK to draw. > > Interesting! Most stuff is OK with VT100 instead of VT52. Is it > because the VT100 emulation is lacking in its VT52 support, or is it > because the real VT100 is lacking in its VT52 compatability? That was a weird comment. I'd say no stuff is OK with a VT100 if they expect a VT52. As soon as we go outside the plain "output running text", they are different. That said, a real VT100 can be switched into VT52-emulation, which is pretty good, although not exactly identical. In this case, the poster even was nice enough to tell what the problem was. A VT52 will display a block character when you send a DEL to it. A VT100 will not, not even in VT52-mode. And I don't think any other VT52-emulation I've seen does it either. In fact, I don't even know if a real VT52 do that. It might be a "feature" of some russian VT52-clone for all I know. I haven't had a working VT52 near me in 15 years now, so I can't check. 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

14 years, 11 months

Inappropriate remarks (Was Fwd: Mystery object... )

by julianskidmore＠yahoo.com

Dear Cctech Members, > On Tue, 2 Jun 2009, Andrew Burton wrote: > > Technically it was lost over the Atlantic Ocean and reports > > of some sort > > of computer failure 30 minutes before they vanished. > Windows BSOD?? > > It's a shame they were using Amiga's, they'd have made it to France 1 > > hour earlier than expected! > "Guru meditation number"? These posts are the most insensitive & complete off-topic remarks I have ever seen on CCTech. The authors should be ashamed of themselves. For all you or I know, CCTech members could have had friends or loved ones on the aircraft, but in any case the passengers and staff who (as is almost certain) lost their lives in such a tragic and terrifying manner should be treated with far more respect than has been shown here.

14 years, 11 months

HP boards for sale in Sweden

by john_a_s2004＠hotmail.com

Hi, I saw a load of boards for sale here at 40 euro each: http://www.mjs-electronics.se/ then navigate to 'Test Instrument' on top menu, then 'Data & Telecom' on left menu. Some look like they belong in test equipment, but could some be for HP minis? I have no idea whether these are a good price for untested boards, but they certainly have a lot of different ones to browse. Regards, John _________________________________________________________________ Get the best of MSN on your mobile http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/147991039/direct/01/

14 years, 11 months

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test-drb June 2009