test-drb September 2009

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

163 participants
196 discussions

by tpeters＠mixcom.com

Off-topic I know, but I just nabbed a Rigid 9-gallon, 3.5 hp shop vac for $19.97+tax. 7 foot hose, 10 foot cord. At your local Home Depot. They have one that's the same or similar (Rigid, 9-gal, 3.5hp) in the tool aisle for $58. This was in the front of the store. Someone from Atlanta bought them too, I'm in WI. If anyone asks, I'll let you know the pros and cons of the unit. Sorry about the shill. ----- 83. I have a flawless philosophical and scientific model of reality. Unfortunately, it's actual size. We must never be dogmatic. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Will betray country for food. --.sig of mathew at mantis (moderator of alt.atheism.moderated) --... ...-- -.. . -. ----. --.- --.- -... tpeters at nospam.mixcom.com (remove "nospam") N9QQB (amateur radio) "HEY YOU" (loud shouting) WEB: http://www.mixweb.com/tpeters 43? 7' 17.2" N by 88? 6' 28.9" W, Elevation 815', Grid Square EN53wc WAN/LAN/Telcom Analyst, Tech Writer, MCP, CCNA, Registered Linux User 385531

15 years, 3 months

anyone own/seen/willing to sell an Atari PC-2?

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

the most boring, plainest most vanilla looking peecee you ever saw. They do pop up in Canada. I'm also looking to acquire a working Atari ST type unit. E-mail me.

15 years, 3 months

Wanted -- Amiga Devcon article, or Trace disc duplicator docs

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

> The reason I want this is because it contains an example "Freeform" > script (format description) for an Amiga floppy disc. I'm looking into > ways to describe a disc image in generic terms -- that is, you write a > script that describes the format, then the software drivers can use that > description to convert timing data (the time between flux transitions) > into data (and vice versa). To put it another way, this is the "DRY" > principle -- Don't Repeat Yourself. Why write two dozen programs to > decode various disc formats, when one program and a couple of scripts > will work just as well (and be easier to maintain)? > From what I can gather, the Freeform language was designed by a > company called Magnetic Design Corporation, for the "Trace" series of > disc duplicators. So if someone has the docs for a Trace machine kicking > about, I'd hazard a guess that a copy of the chapter on the Freeform > language would be just as useful... I had seen those machines, many many years ago. It was a world of escalating copy protection on one side and copy protection defeating tools on the other. And the media duplicator guys were a little stuck in the middle :-). All that said, in the DRY principle there is the problem of going into analysis paralysis. If you devote yourself too strongly to the principle of a single end-all-and-be-all application you can find yourself not doing anything useful at all. In fact, until you've repeated yourself several dozen times, you probably don't honestly have a good idea of the broad range of abstractions or at the very least parameters you'll need. Sure, I might have 20 years experience with one particular brand of disk format or communications protocol... that does not give me the breadth I need to think that I understand them all! School of hard knocks rules above all else. Tim.

15 years, 3 months

Old IDE to USB?

by jfoust＠threedee.com

Late 80s, early 90s IDE drives don't show up on the IDE-to-USB adapters I'm using for other applications these days. I assume the older drives don't self-identify their geometry or handle newer parts of the IDE spec that these contemporary devices depend on. Any advice for USB-based reading of old drives on new equipment? For that matter, I'd consider investing in the more professional levels of drive reading devices. These $30 USB devices aren't doing it for me. I want a better chance at read dying drives. - John

15 years, 3 months

Wanted -- Amiga Devcon article, or Trace disc duplicator docs

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

Hi guys, I'm currently mid-way through the floppy disc reader project -- or at least the hardware part of it. Current status is that the USB PIC is talking to the FPGA (i.e. I can write to the chip's registers, read the registers back and the LEDs on my Cyclone II Starter Board blink in neat patterns). Big thing is that I haven't soldered the Shugart interface together, so it won't talk to a disk drive yet. It does, however, seem to be writing to the SRAM, and the timing values seem somewhat sane (or at least close to what my TTL generator is spitting out). What I'm after now is an article from the proceedings of the 4th European Amiga Developer Conference, held in Milan between the 10th and 14th of September 1991: From Programming to Finished Product by Roberto Donelli (Soft Service Division Director, MEE S.p.A. - Milano) The reason I want this is because it contains an example "Freeform" script (format description) for an Amiga floppy disc. I'm looking into ways to describe a disc image in generic terms -- that is, you write a script that describes the format, then the software drivers can use that description to convert timing data (the time between flux transitions) into data (and vice versa). To put it another way, this is the "DRY" principle -- Don't Repeat Yourself. Why write two dozen programs to decode various disc formats, when one program and a couple of scripts will work just as well (and be easier to maintain)? From what I can gather, the Freeform language was designed by a company called Magnetic Design Corporation, for the "Trace" series of disc duplicators. So if someone has the docs for a Trace machine kicking about, I'd hazard a guess that a copy of the chapter on the Freeform language would be just as useful... Thanks, -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

15 years, 3 months

OT Cheep shop-vac

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 08:48 AM 9/5/2009, Brian Lanning wrote: >I still go to furniture stores on occasion, but it's not to buy >furniture. I've been ruined. I look at them and the mistakes and >shortcuts just jump out at me. I'd rather have 2x4 furniture than the >"nice" things that many stores try to unload on customers. What is this, the classic lumber list? (Eyes pile of dimensional 2x6 130-year-old virgin Wisconsin pine on the back porch, slabs of wide white oak out front...) - John

15 years, 3 months

N8VEM "twofer" special

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-September/277024.html Jim asked for some photos of the mini-N8VEM v8. Here is James web page that details the information on the mini-N8VEM SBC. http://smarthome.viviti.com/build I hope this helps. Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch

15 years, 3 months

Paging Jay West

by jhfinedp3k＠compsys.to

I have sent a number of e-mails to Jay without a response. Has anyone been in touch with Jay as recently as the last week or two? Jerome Fine

15 years, 3 months

N8VEM "twofer" special

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

Hi! Thanks to my good friend James the N8VEM home brew computing project is offering its first ever "twofer" special. If you purchase an N8VEM SBC PCB for $20 plus shipping for an additional $5 you will receive a special edition mini-N8VEM version 8 SBC PCB. Why two SBC PCBs? At the N8VEM home brew computing project we have found that the best tool for building your own N8VEM SBC is to have its brother the mini-N8VEM SBC running along side! I have both the SBCs and use both frequently for a variety of tasks as do several of the N8VEM builders. Believe me, you'll get used to having both! There are 22 mini-N8VEM SBC PCBs available and this special will only last as until the mini-N8VEM PCBs run out. The N8VEM home brew computing project is completely amateur and non-commercial. All software and hardware design information is free and publicly available. Please join us on the N8VEM home brew computing wiki and mailing list for more information! http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/ http://groups.google.com/group/n8vem Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch, 73 de N8VEM PS, this is a video from an advanced N8VEM builder demonstrating his N8VEM SBC with optional ECB backplane, DiskIO board connected to an IDE hard drive and floppy drive, DSKY front panel, and ECB bus monitor all working simultaneously. You can see him running CP/M 2.2 and copying files from the IDE hard drive to the floppy drive. Notice the data streaming past the ECB bus monitor. The DSKY is displaying floppy drive Track, Sector, Status 0, and Status 1 from the DiskIO floppy drive controller. http://n8vem.googlegroups.com/web/copy.avi

15 years, 3 months

OT Cheep shop-vac

by tpeters＠mixcom.com

At 08:48 AM 9/5/2009 -0500, you wrote: >On Sat, Sep 5, 2009 at 1:01 AM, Chuck Guzis<cclist at sydex.com> wrote: > > In a true vintage thread, that's why a fair number of people buy > > antique furniture--or, like Brian, build their own (I enjoy doing > > that too). There's no shortage of good wood; the furniture makers > > would rather deal with a standardized stable manufactured product > > than have to deal with the issues that accompany real wood. > > > > So you wind up with a hunk of sawdust and glue with no strength, but > > that can be popped out like cookies from a bakery. > > > > I can understand Tony's appreciation for old gear from my own > > experience with currently manufactured furniture. > >I stopped buying furniture altogether. I needed to make a table to go >under the flat screen to hold the game consoles. I threw it together >in an afternoon from 2x4s. It looks like 2x4 furniture, but works >great. My grandkids will probably be using it 40 years from now. >I'll make something nice later. > >If you guys want a quick and easy way to throw furniture together, >like shelves for classic machines or a desk or stand, you should look >into pocket screws. 2x4s (or wider) a miter saw, a drill, and a kreg >pocket hole screw kit is all you need. The screws are really strong, >more than it looks. And it takes practically no skill to make >something durable and functional. I have a pocket jig. It's a neat idea and have used it on occasion, but I don't make a lot of furniture at this time of my life, so I haven't used it extensively. I can see where you could turn out stuff that doesn't look shlocky, with exposed screw heads and looking like it was knocked together by someone with no background in woodworking for stuff that is to be used inside the house. >Particle board and MDF (medium density fiberboard) are used in >furniture for one reason. It's cheap. Over the last 50 years, the Reason number two: It's dimensionally stable and doesn't warp when the humidity changes. I like it for stuff that I build for the basement- benches and etc. But it's not what I'd choose for cabinetry in the living quarters. >brian ----- 966. For years there has been a theory that millions of monkeys typing at random on millions of typewriters would reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. The Internet has proven this theory to be untrue. -- Anonymous --... ...-- -.. . -. ----. --.- --.- -... tpeters at nospam.mixcom.com (remove "nospam") N9QQB (amateur radio) "HEY YOU" (loud shouting) WEB: http://www.mixweb.com/tpeters 43? 7' 17.2" N by 88? 6' 28.9" W, Elevation 815', Grid Square EN53wc WAN/LAN/Telcom Analyst, Tech Writer, MCP, CCNA, Registered Linux User 385531

15 years, 3 months

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test-drb September 2009