test-drb February 2010

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

175 participants
221 discussions

by brain＠jbrain.com

I've put two Northstar boards on eBay for those who care: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290404578135 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290404577525 And, I've got the following documents that simply need a good home for the cost of shipping: * Original PMMI MM-103 Modem Manual * Copy of Horizon Parallel to Centronics Parallel Cable diagram from Northstar Computers * Bunch of Information from Jay Sage on Z-System he sent me. * Copies of HRAM Original Schematics (Rev A and C) * Northstar 16K RAM Board original manual (RAM-16-DOC) Rev2 Preferably a home with someone who will ensure they are scanned if not already. I also have two COSMAC docs free for cost of shipping: * Copy of MB-604B RCA COSMAC Microboard Computer CDP18S604B * Copy of 1802 datasheet (it's a fax, so it's not a great example, but it's an RCA document, and I could not find a softcopy online) If you know some of these are available as softcopy, please let me know, so I don't feel bad if no one takes them and I end up trashing them. Jim -- Jim Brain, Brain Innovations (X) brain at jbrain.com Dabbling in WWW, Embedded Systems, Old CBM computers, and Good Times! Home: http://www.jbrain.com

14 years, 5 months

VAX graphics

by bqt＠softjar.se

Richard <legalize at xmission.com> wrote: > > In article <e1d20d631002151910m2cdf9866u4129242000590de6 at mail.gmail.com>, > William Donzelli <wdonzelli at gmail.com> writes: > >>> The VT102 User Guide on vt100.net shows that you could get a green >>> antiglare filter: <http://www.vt100.net/docs/vt102-ug/chapter10.html> >> It is also reasonable to think that DEC did a run of VT100oids with green tub > es. > > I think he's right though. In documentation I've read through, there > were green and amber models offered for the successive generations but > I don't recall having read that the VT100 or earlier models had > anything other than the white phosphor. I think that is correct. I've never seen, nor heard of anything but white phosphor VT100s. *However*, there were clones made by other companies (unfortunately I don't remember any names here), which looked pretty much exactly like the VT100, and which did come with green phosphor. Johnny

14 years, 5 months

COMBOARD (MC68000) hardware hacking (was Re: Solderless breadboarding)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On 2/18/10, Jim Brain <brain at jbrain.com> wrote: > On 2/18/2010 3:58 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote: >> P.S. - this project revives, yet again, my occasional interest in >> hacking a COMBOARD into something less "embedded" - I usually get >> stuck at the same stage - whether to hack in a 5380 SCSI chip or a >> TTL-based "IDE" interface. COMBOARDs have serial, but no "disk", so >> they'd need _something_ (they already have between 32K and 2MB of RAM, >> depending on the model - I have piles of working boards with 128K of >> DRAM and a COM5025 USART, smaller piles of other models). >> > Send me one and I'll hack in an SD interface complete with FAT support > :-) Heck, I could even put it on the serial port, if you didn't want to > hack it in. I'll go see what I can dig out of the bin - I can easily throw the Fluke 9010A on one and ensure the RAM and ROM test out OK. It's harder to test out the bus interface, but unless you plan to stick this on a Unibus, I don't think you care if the 8641s are all 100% known-good. ;-) The basic board is 8MHz 68000, 128K of parity DRAM (array of 4164 DIPs) on a 74S409 DRAM controller, 2x 28-pin JEDEC ROM sockets (2764s at least, if not 27128s), a socketed COM5025 which could be a good place to tap into the data bus and some select lines, an MC6821 with a 16-pin DIP exporting at least one of the 8-bit ports ("programmers' interface"), some sort of sub-100Hz timer, IIRC, for heartbeat interrupts, two 40-pin off-board BERG connectors (one for sync serial, one for LP05-type printer, driven by the rest of the MC6821), and 12 edge-visible power and status LEDs (mostly serial status indicators). I'd send you a link to a picture, but I don't seem to have posted one (and the salad days of Software Results pre-date the Web). It's a hex-height card that expects to pull +5V, +15V and -15V of of the Unibus, so you'd have to either plug it into a DEC module block or hack in power somewhere. Naturally, I have all the schematics and PAL equations, but they are in paper format, not electronic. Overall, my recollection is that the memory space is divided by A23 and A22 into four 4MB quadrants, RAM, ROM, I/O, and Unibus DMA engine. Retooling PALs could, of course, alter that. Unfortunately, the PALs are not always socketed (depends on the age of the board) and it's a six-layer PCB. I know of no reason PALs couldn't be replaced with 16V8 and 22V10 GALs, but it hasn't ever been tried. Still interested? -ethan P.S. - the other models are variations on the theme. The older model has 32K of 2114 SRAMs and two 6309 PROM sockets, newer models (of which I have only a handful) have 41256 or 44256 DRAMs and Z8530 DUARTs, but are otherwise quite similar architecturally, if you ignore the specifics of the host bus interface.

14 years, 5 months

Device Side usb floppy interface finally shipping ($55)

by aek＠bitsavers.org

http://www.deviceside.com/ talked to this guy at VCF years ago.

14 years, 5 months

COMBOARD (MC68000) hardware hacking (was Re: Solderless breadboarding)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On 2/18/10, Henk Gooijen <henk.gooijen at hotmail.com> wrote: > I have no experience with SCSI chips... No harder to wire up than a UART or PIA/VIA, but the rest is all software to create/interpret the SCSI packets. > but the software to read and write a sector of an IDE disk is simple enough. I've written low-level driver code for IDE manipulation on a GG2 Bus+ equipped Amiga. > A TTL-based interface would > take not much time. 16 bit data (may need buffering) and a few address > decoding gates is probably all you need to hook up an IDE drive. Address decoding gates might not even be required - I have full schematics for this board (I used to make them commercially) and have the PAL equations for the memory map PALs. I think it could be as easy as buffers and a PAL swap (plus software). I just flip-flop between SCSI and IDE and never get started. -ethan

14 years, 5 months

Soldering (Was: Re: HP-IB, Amigo/cs80 ... )

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 15:26 -0600 2/17/10, Tony wrote: >What I don;t get is _why_ there's this aversion to soldering. I get it. Fumes requiring ventilation, molten metal, temperatures that can sear flesh or melt most plastics, the appearance if not fact of irreversability (and in fact, it's not hard to do damage to the circuit board that is hard to repair). Like bicycling, cooking, and a host of other activities, it's a very productive and useful skill to have, and seems to those who have the skill to be trivial to learn - but to those without the skill, it's intimidating (partly because there is some potential for damage if it's done wrong). I think this is a good case where mentoring or tutoring would *really* help people who have not done it to "get their feet wet", and have the confidence to do more on their own. -- - Mark 210-379-4635 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Large Asteroids headed toward planets inhabited by beings that don't have technology adequate to stop them: Think of it as Evolution in Fast-Forward.

14 years, 5 months

Printronix

by jws＠jwsss.com

There is a load of printronix printers, and parts coming off service in St. Louis Mo P300 P600 I suspect, if anyone is interested please email me, and I'll pass it along. There is at least one QMS board equipped system involved from what I have been told. Inventory can be made if interest is there. Jim

14 years, 5 months

hp 9153 floppy & disk

by hp-fix＠xs4all.nl

-----Original Message----- From: e.stiebler <emu at e-bbes.com> Sent: 10 februari 2010 ?. 02:27 To: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: hp 9153 floppy & disk Tony Duell wrote: > THe Nighthawk drive interface is strange. Very strange. it has the raw > data signals of an ST412 drive (but on single-ended TTL lines, not > differential pairs). It also hasa the strangest positioner interface > you're likely to see. The positioner is a 2-winding stepper motor. You > get (at the drive interface) to contrtoll the currents through the > windings (there's a dual DAC in the drive).You also get soem kind of > position feedback signal from the drive (there's an ADC in there too). > There is no intellegence in the drive to control te DACs based on the > output from the ADC, that is done in the controller (I assume in part by > the 6809 firmware). > > Given there's an undocumented ASIC in the drive too, which has a register > accessible over the interface, and for whaich I have no data, tryign to > recreate the drive is going to be a big job. So, what you're saying is, that I should get myself a microcontroller with an sd-flash and start programming Amigo/CS80 ? And simply forget about the box I have here ? ;-) Cheers You could use HPDIR with a sbc with hp-ib and a flash drive. I'm building one with a Kontron SBC. -Rik

14 years, 5 months

Tango Schematic capture, PCB layout and autorouting programs

by cj7285＠comcast.net

I read a message that you posted at some time or another and got your email from it I am in desperate need of some tango pcb info I have an old copy of tango pcb installed on my comp and some old layouts I desperately need to access/modify I have lost my dongle. Can you tell me where I might purchase one? Or even better: I understand they just shorted some pins on a parallel port connector, any idea what the pinout is? My name is Carl Hesse. I am in denver colorado I would pay reasonably well for pinout info What this means is that I just need to know which pins are shorted or "common" on the dongle any desire to help?

14 years, 5 months

Looking for Aztec C

by silvercreekvalley＠yahoo.com

Does anyone have a copy of Aztec C for the Apple // that they wouldnt mind selling. Looking for an original copy. Please reply off list. Thanks! Ian

14 years, 5 months

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test-drb February 2010