test-drb October 2011

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

199 participants
234 discussions

by jonas＠otter.se

>> >> >> the box, and even pay some extra $$ for it? That way all the >> people >> >> along its shipping path will just pay more attention to it, >> instead >> >> just throwing it in the back of the truck. >> >> >> > >> > You _are_ kidding, right? >> >> >> Not at all. >> Is it that far fetched that there would be service levels? > > Mybe not, but practical experience has taught me that no matter how > much > you pay, the package is likely to be dropped at some point. You still > need to pack it properly, to withstand this. > > However careful they claim to be, things can go wrong. Personally, > I'd > rather spend more time in packing a rare device properly than have it > wrecked. > > And to return to the ASR33, I'd not want to move one myself, say on > the > back seat of a car, without either tying down or reemoving the typing > unit. > >> When I pay for support at an enterprise level, do I not get better >> support, from more experienced techs? > > Well, I've never paied for support on anything, but however > experienced > the techs are, there will surely be soemthing they don't know. So > however > mcuh you pay, there wil lbe problems they can't solve quickly. Same > with > shipping old hardware. You may pay for a better service, but the > parcel > could still slip from soembody's hands. > Some years ago I was out of work and was temporarily employed in a warehouse, packing fragile items e.g. DVD boxes, jewel cases for CDs etc on pallets and in cartons, and driving a forklift. Sooner or later, **everybody** who drove the forklift would either drop a pallet from a few metres up, or cause a stack of pallets to fall over. It was also not very difficult to have a pallet fall off the back of the lorry when you were loading or unloading it. That doesn't mean we were careless, just that there are a lot of things that can make accidents like that happen: sloping loading docks, bumps in the floor, unstable loads, a slip of the foot or your hand on the levers or pedals, someone disturbing you at a sensitive moment, etc etc. On one occasion a lorry driver had I think it was 6 pallets fall off his lorry all at once. However well-meaning and careful the freighter or lorry driver or forklift operator, inevitably someone will have a bad day, or just be unlucky. In other words, any number of "Fragile" labels will make absolutely no difference at all, you will simply have to pack your item to stand falling off the back of a lorry if you want it to arrive undamaged. /Jonas

13 years, 1 month

Information on the PPS-4/1 4 bit microprocessor wanted

by benjamin.soelberg＠gmail.com

Hi all I am a retro fan doing both EE and CE. I started with ZX81/Lambda/New Brain/Commodore. I am also the proud owner of a Mattel Battelstar Galatica anno 1979 week 14. The chip used in this vintage handheld game is labeled B6001EA and I guess it's a Rockwell International PPS-4/1 micro controller (a PPS-4 cpu with clock, ram and rom) from sources I found on the net. I have found very good documentation on the PPS-4 CPU chip (note the missing "/1" postfix) here: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/rockwell/PPS-4_Data_Sheet_1974.pdf And I found the owners manual for the game here: http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Manuals/Mattel-BattlestarGalacticaManual.pdf But I haven't been able to find any documentation on the PPS-4/1 chip that I believe is used in the game. I found that later revisions of the PPS-4 CPU was labeled PPS-4/2 and the 'newest' one PPS-4/1 (one would guess that /1 was older than /2). I do believe (again from internet sources) that the PPS-4/2 means that a minimal system could be made of two chips, a PPS-4/2 and a combined RAM/ROM. So since there is only one chip in my handheld game, I guess it's a PPS-4/1 where I again take a wild guess that the above two chip minimal combination is in one chip just like most micro controllers today. I am also guessing that since the chip ends with EA it could have a "electrically alterable" rom instead of a maskable rom. So I would like to hear all you guys if anyone of you could provide me more information on the specific chip and if all my guesses are right or wrong. Also if there is some way to dump the rom (without decapping the chip). The end goal for me is to create an PPS-1 emulator (and possible running the game) Regards Benjamin

13 years, 1 month

Information on the PPS-4/1 4 bit microprocessor wanted

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

> Why are the LED drivers so difficult to make, is it because of the 'high' (a few mA) current ? Most of the handheld devices of the 70's used multiplexed displays (well, still true today) and while the average LED current might be a few mA per segment, the peak current in the drivers could be ten times higher. Some of the intended-to-be-driven-by-PMOS-driver-chips of the 70's are still around today and put to other good uses. e.g. ULN2002.

13 years, 1 month

VAX/PDP docs. received

by jwillis＠arielusa.com

Received from a former DEC service rep.: If anyone wants scans of a specific piece, I will probably arrange it. This accounts for only the miniscule portion I've managed to sort and catalog in the past 3 hours (about 1/8 of the total number of documentation pieces I received): Communications Options Minireference Manual, vols. 1-7 LSI-11 Systems Service Manual, Vols. 1-3 VAX 8600/8650 System Diagnostics User's Guide Communications Options Minireference Manual VAX/VMS Internals and Data Structures Cartridge Tape Service Documentation TK50 Tape Drive Subsystem Owner's Manual TK50 Tape Drive Subsystem User's Guide TK70 Streaming Tape Drive Owner's Manual TK70 Streaming Tape Drive Subsystem Service Manual (MicroVAX II sys.) ThinWire Ethernet COAXIAL CABLE CONNECTOR INSTALLATION CARD H4000 DIGITAL Ethernet Transceiver Installation Manual Fiber Optic Attenuator Installation/Configuration Reference Card LA120 Series Pocket Service Guide LA10X-EJ/EL Tractor Option Installation Guide DECWRITER III LA120 Operator Reference Card LCG01 Color Printer System Pocket Service Guide MicroVAX 3600/VAXserver 3600/3602 Operation KA650 CPU System Maintenance MicroVAX 3600/VAXserver 3600/3602 Technical Information ULTRIX-32 Guide to the Error Logger System LJ250/LJ252 Companion Color Printer Pocket Service Guide LN03 Pocket Service Guide RF-LN03 Pocket Service Guide VAX 6200 Options and Maintenance VAX 6200/6300, VAXserver 6200/6230 Owner's Manual VAXstation 2000 Workstations and MicroVAX 2000 Network Guide ULTRIX-32 Basic Installation Guide for the VAXserver 2000 DECstation 2100/3100 Maintenance Guide MicroVAX 2000 Installation MicroVAX 2000 Operation Addendum: VAXserver 2000 MicroVAX 2000 Operation MicroVAX 2000 Troubleshooting MicroVAX 2000 Technical Information MicroVAX 2000 Customer Services VAXstation 2000 and MicroVAX 2000 Maintenance Guide VAXstation 3100 Maintenance Information VAXstation 3100 Illustrated Parts Breakdown VAXstation 2000 Hardware Information VAXstation 2000 System Guide VAXstation 2000 Network Guide VAX 6000-400 Options and Maintenance VT100 Series Pocket Service Guide VT180 Series Pocket Service Guide VT320 Pocket Service Guide VT330 Pocket Service Guide VT340 Pocket Service Guide VAXcluster Service Reference Manual VAXcluster Service Reference Set VAX 8530/8550/8700/8800/8820/8830/8840 System Maint. Guide 8800 8700 8550 8500 Console User's Guide B213F Expander Installation R215F Expander Maintenance KA655 CPU System Maintenance VAX Architecture Reference Manual CI750 User's Guide BA11-A Mounting Box and Power System Tech. Manual VAX-11/750 Diag. System Overview Manual VAX-11/750 Level 1 Student Workbook (Digital Internal Use Only) VAX-11/750 UNIBUS Interface Technical Description VAX-11/751 User's Guide DELUA User's Guide MicroVAX 2000 Hardware Information MicroVAX VAX 8200/50, 8500/50 The Digital Dictionary, Second Edition VAX Maintenance Handbook (VAX Systems) VAX Maintenance Handbook (VAX-11/780) VAX Maintenance Handbook (VAX-11/750) VAX-11/750 Mini Diag. Ref. Guide RM05 Disk Subsystem Service Manual RM05 Disk Subsystem Student Guide (Digital Internal Use Only) RM03 Disk Drive Maint. Print Set RP04/05/06 Field Maint. Print Set Symptom Directed Diagnosis Tool Kit Installation Guide VAXsimPLUS Field Service Manual Getting Started with VAXsimPLUS VAXsimPLUS User Guide Model 733 DEC Disk Storage Drive Parts Catalog, Jan. 1976 RP04-TC Part II RP04, RP05, RP06 Field Svc. Handbook HSC50 Service Manual HSC Installation Manual VAX 86XX System Maint. Guide RP05/RP06 Field Handbook -Company Confidential- RP05/06 677-01/51 Disc Drive Illustrated Parts Catalog Model 677-01/51 RP05/06 DEC DISC MAINTENANCE Guide (Educ. Svcs.) Digital Education and Training: UNIX Utils & Cmds. Student Guide

13 years, 1 month

In defense of Steve Jobs (The Xerox issue)

by christian_liendo＠yahoo.com

So I got this article from someone and the part about Xerox PARC caught my eye.. Personally I think he is missing some pieces to his story, but I figured I would post here and get a discussion going. http://www.cultofmac.com/126863/in-defense-of-steve-jobs/

13 years, 1 month

Seeking advice on shipping an ASR33 Teletype

by dkelvey＠hotmail.com

> From: wh.sudbrink at verizon.net > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Subject: RE: Seeking advice on shipping an ASR33 Teletype > Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:17:09 -0400 > > Nick Jarmany wrote: > > > > All recommendations gratefully received! > > > > The typing unit _MUST_BE_ screwed to the base via > the shipping screws. Otherwise, it will bounce > around and break the plastic cover and possibly > itself as well. You will really need someone on > site that knows a little about the unit. > Hi I also recommend removing the motor as well. It unbalances the unit and makes it shift in any loose packing. Dwight

13 years, 1 month

Floppy Disk Drive manuals.

by geoffr＠zipcon.net

I have some drives I?m trying to find the manuals for, I have 2 Chinon, a FZ-502 and a FZ-506 and a toshiba 360K drive that I?d like to find manuals for. Chinon has long since stopped making drives and I was unable to find any information on their site for disk drives and no luck on the toshiba site. These were tested good about 10 years ago, but I no longer remember what they were tested in and do not know the jumper settings I need on them for sure (and some of the jumpers are not labelled :(

13 years, 1 month

DEC LN03 Laser Printer Revival - advice sought please

by mark＠wickensonline.co.uk

Hi folks, I've recently acquired a DEC LN03 laser printer with spare toner and font cartridges. I'm informed it was working a few years ago when last used. Something about it makes me think I better find out more before I turn it on again for the first time. There is a little information on the internet about toner replacement - I was wondering if I could call on collective wisdom to find out what the best course of action is to ensure success when I first hit the power switch. For example, the words toner collection bottle and ozone filter make me think I should know a little more first! Thanks for the help, Mark.

13 years, 1 month

Proper packing

by wmaddox＠pacbell.net

--- On Fri, 10/28/11, Eric Smith <eric at brouhaha.com> wrote: > From: Eric Smith <eric at brouhaha.com> > Nope, they do it themselves.? The ground service was > created when they acquired RPS. I believe this is true of their commercial ground delivery service, but was told at one time that the FedEx Home Delivery drivers are actually independent contractors. I've mostly had good luck with FedEx Ground shipments, and would even say that I've usually seen less externally-visible indication of rough handling compared to UPS.? There was one egregious incident, however, when a FedEx delivery driver dropped off a TU-56 on my doorstep while I was out of town.? I had specifically asked the shipper to require a direct signature release to preclude such a delivery.? When I checked the tracking paperwork online, my name was signed on the paperwork, undoubtedly forged by the driver. --Bill

13 years, 1 month

A cautionary Freecycle tale

by mhs.stein＠gmail.com

Most of us on this list are computer professionals, and our most important asset is probably our good name and a reputation for integrity and confidentiality; as such we also often have access to or even first dibs on equipment that's being upgraded or scrapped but is often still quite serviceable and useful once it's been cleaned up, confidential data erased, disks reformatted, etc. Being 'in the business' and having somehow collected 20 or 30 still quite serviceable P4+ systems but having run out of relatives, friends and friends of friends to give them to, I decided to explore and join the local Freecycle group a few weeks ago. After finding a happy new home for some items and also picking up a few items to repair and pass on or keep for myself, the list traffic suddenly stopped; when I inquired I was rudely told that I had been (unjustly) accused off-list of 'stealing' from someone's porch a broken laptop that I had inquired about but that had been promised to someone else, and without any notice or opportunity to respond I had been summarily banned and was even threatened with police involvement. I think as trusted industry professionals we should all ask ourselves whether the risk to our reputation that this sort of thing can have is worth it or if we should just let these items go to Asia or into landfill, and if we do in fact deal with people outside our community we should probably make sure that we maintain a separate identity from our professional one. Has anybody else had any experiences like this, and regretted trying to find new homes for slightly outdated equipment? Comments? mike

13 years, 1 month

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test-drb October 2011