test-drb June 2009

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

233 participants
404 discussions

OT: deliberate mis-spelling, was Re: chiclassiccomp.org was Re: Mysterious website

by lee＠geekdot.com

> There's a word for that, where you deliberately mis-spell something > for effect, like "kat kare" or "cheez". Years ago my mum (a retired > English teacher) told me what it was, but I can't remember and > neither can she. Cacography? Lee.

15 years, 5 months

Telnet access to classic mainframe/timesharing systems

by mjkerpan＠kerpan.com

I'd be interested to know what's out there vis a vis classic systems that are on the Internet offering public access. Currently, I know of twenex.org (emulated KL-10B DECSYSTEM-20 with Panda TOPS-20), pdpplanet.com (a TOAD-1 with TOPS-20, a DECSYSTEM-10 2065 and a VAX 780) and cray-cyber.org (an emulated CDC Cyber plus a rotating selection of historic super computers on weekends), but is there anything else? Is anybody running classic versions of UNIX (UCB-era BSD, AT&T-era System III/V, V6/V7, etc) Is anybody running a public IBM system? What about various lesser-known systems? Given that most people used these systems through remote terminals to begin with, a public access system would seem to be an ideal way to experience them, but how many of them are available in such a way?

15 years, 5 months

National Semiconductor Mass Storage Handbook

by ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk

Does anyone have a National Semiconductor Mass Storage Handbook (databook) from around 1989? I am looking for datasheets (or at least pinouts) for : DP8468 DP8465 DP8455 DP8462 DP8463 Datasheetarchive and Digchip don't have anything, and a google search is not helpful. In case you're curious, I am trying to identify a house-coded part with a National Logo that I suspect is one of these devies. 24 pin shrinkdip if it helps.. On another subject, has anyone heard of an AMD 8053? 40 pin DIL, I suspect it's a derivative of the 8051 microcontorller. No I don't mean 8035... -tony

15 years, 5 months

PDP-11 Controller needed to use a couple of RX33 drive

by bqt＠softjar.se

tiggerlasv at aim.com wrote: > I'm not certain of the mechanics involved, but, > you shouldn't be able to trash the format of either drive, > unless the Drive Select jumpers are set incorrectly. There are no drive select jumpers. That could, of course, be the problem. :-) > The only thing that might have an impact on this would be > if you try it in a BA23 with an un-modified 4-button front panel. This was definitely in a 4-butten front panel BA23. However, I'm not sure the front panel is the only place to blame. > *Maybe* the fact that the Ready/Write Protect lines > for the 2nd drive are left floating, is somehow confusing > the RQDXn controller, but that seems doubtful. The RQDX wasn't confused. It was the drives... When the RQDX started writing to #0, the write circuitry of #1 also went active. Or if it was writing to #1 which also activated the circuitry of #0. > Those lines merely report status of the 2nd drive. > The Drive Select and Head Select lines don't go > anywhere near the front panel, and there are > separate signal lines for drives 0, 1, 2, and 3. Exactly. Which is why I wonder if the front panel really is to blame for the problem. >>From a modification standpoint, there are NO CHANGES > required to the disk drive distribution panel; all of the > signal lines are there, and ready to use for 2 drives. > > DEC sold the "upgrade" kit for 2 hard drives; > it's called the BA23-UC. It consists only of a 6-button panel. > This is the same 6-button panel that was shipped with > later models of the MicroVax, which clearly supported > 2 internal RD-series disk drives. > > All the 6-button panels did was to add the extra > ready/write protect buttons. There is no extra logic involved. > > The Write Protect LIGHTS for the RX50's were deleted, > as the newer RQDX3 controller doesn't provide any outputs > for the floppy write protect lights. > > Most of this information is documented on-line, > in the document "third-party disks.txt". > > All that need be done to the 4-button panels is to > solder 2 resistors onto the boards, to pull the 2 signal lines > to their appropriate logic levels. The RQDX3 only uses these > signals to establish that the drive is on-line, and write-enabled. > It has nothing to do which drive is selected when it goes to write. > > Have I trashed the format of a drive in a 2-drive BA23 configuration? > Yes, I have. But only because I wasn't paying attention, > and didn't set the Drive Select jumpers to "3" on both drives. > > Remember: The distribution panel shifts the signal lines around, > and all hard drives need to be set to "3". > > This could easily trip you up if you weren't paying attention, > as some of the drives had DS markings of 0 - 3, and some > were marked 1 - 4 . . . > > Thus, depending on what DS settings you have, > you could in theory have 2 drives responding to the > same drive select signal, which could trash your format. Hmm. As far as I can remember, there are no DS jumpers on the drives. If you have an RQDXE, you have a bunch of jumpers on that in order to set up which drive is which, and all that. But the backplane of the BA23 don't have any jumpers, as far as I can remember. And in this case, both drives were RD53s. Properly formatted, DEC branded and everything. And no, it wasn't me who tried putting this together. I was called in after the fact, to rescue as much as I could from the trashed drive. Which is why I suspect it was writing to #1 which trashed #0, since I believe they were in the process of making a copy of #0, which was their only copy of the system, and which they booted from. 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

15 years, 5 months

OT Names was Re: chiclassiccomp.org was Re: Mysterious website

by christian_liendo＠yahoo.com

I am so sorry I started this thread. I never knew it would explode to this many OT posts.

15 years, 5 months

Thinning the collection a little

by alanp＠snowmoose.com

I am thinning the collection a little. The following items are for sale and I wanted to see if there was any interest here before putting them on eBay. Prices are "make offer". All items "As Is", but I am willing to test as requested (and as I have facilities here to do so). Located in the Seattle, WA area. 1. DEC 881A (REV.D01) power supply. Was sitting loose in a DEC SA482 cabinet (that was full of RA82s when I bought my VAX). 2. NeXT 030 slab with monitor and NeXT printer. Mono. 25MHz. Was working when I put it in storage and will test confirm that it still works before the sale. 3. Canon BJ-10e bubblejet printer with user manual and programmers manual. alan

15 years, 5 months

UNIX V7

by doc＠vaxen.net

Not sure whether this is on-topic or not, but it promises to be fun: http://www.nordier.com/v7x86/ UNIX v7 for PeeCee! Doc

15 years, 5 months

chiclassiccomp.org was Re: Mysterious website

by quapla＠xs4all.nl

With the danger that this is going to be non topic.... Warren, Could you explain what this did mean? I'm not of English/American origin. ====snip==== > Also, a friend of mine started a company that was a holding company, > owning retail outlets with various names. But the name of the holding > company is "New Directions". I told him he had better be very careful > with his 'diction' when he said the name. He looked puzzled for a > moment, and then turned white as a sheet. Apparently, he'd never made > the connection before. Most amusing. ===snip==== -- Certified : VCP 3.x, SCSI 3.x SCSA S10, SCNA S10

15 years, 5 months

hiclassiccomp.org was Re: Mysterious website

by roger.holmes＠microspot.co.uk

> > From: Warren Wolfe <lists at databasics.us> > > I worked, for a year or two, for a company called "Application > Development Systems." The owner originally wanted to call it "Applied > Industrial Development Systems," but some of the original employees > convinced him it was a bad idea. WAY back, my company was going to (or maybe we did) sell some software for testing CNC machine 'programs' on an Apple ][ and a pen plotter, it was called CNC Aids. > Also, I am currently involved in starting up a non-profit organization > to care for feral and abandoned cats in Kona. It's called "Kona Cat > Care." Originally, the other founders were considering making the > name > 'cuter' by spelling it "Kona Kat Kare," but I pointed out that the > initials were already taken. Seriously, being only one letter away > from > KFC is bad enough. KCC = Kent County Council here. The big problem with mnemonics is their meaning differs with context, either geographical, temporal or industrial sector. If I search for the company who made my computer (International Computers and Tabulators) on the internet, I either get nothing if I search by name, but if I search for ICT I have to go through every reference and discard the 99.99% connected with "Information and Communication Technologies" to find the few references which are relevant. Of course if I search for 'ICT (1200,1201,1202,1300,1301,1302,1900,1901,1902,1903,1904,1905,1906 .......) I get much better results but throw up load of addresses of US streets with those big numbers in them, and possibly miss out any odd references to peripherals with numbers like 660, 1930 and several hundred more. Of course there is also the problem of people describing a 1980s item as vintage/antique/veteran/ancient when I am looking for something manufactured in the 1960s. eBay in particular is very bad at this, it should record approximate manufacture dates for items and let people search by date range. End of grumpy old man gripe. > Also, a friend of mine started a company that was a holding company, > owning retail outlets with various names. But the name of the holding > company is "New Directions". I told him he had better be very careful > with his 'diction' when he said the name. He looked puzzled for a > moment, and then turned white as a sheet. Apparently, he'd never made > the connection before. Most amusing. > > But, one case was so good it is STILL used as a joke. There was a > Cleveland, Ohio furniture store in the late fifties that was called > "Sofa King." They advertised heavily, but only on rock-and-roll > radio. > There are still some tapes from back then floating around... "Other > stores might offer low prices, but only WE can offer you prices that > are > Sofa King low!" This made the audiences (all kids, for the most part) > shriek. And, it was the fifties, when there was no naughtiness > allowed > on the airwaves. Choice. Great! An old story here was that Siemens were going to move their UK base a few miles down the road to the town of Staines until they realised what their address was going to be.

15 years, 5 months

HP 1630 logic analysers

by dtulbert＠acanac.net

Hi, Jay, I just stumbled upon your email in an old post about manuals for the HP 1630. We just picked up a 1630G from eBay and I'd be most appreciative for any documentation you could make available. Is there also a software module for the device? Thanks, Dave Tulbert

15 years, 5 months

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test-drb June 2009