test-drb February 2011

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

155 participants
210 discussions

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

Hi Rod, I do not think an MFM/RLL (ST506/ST412) to IDE bridge board is feasible. The SCSI-1 and IDE interfaces are purely digital and the drives are intelligent enough to abstract much of the realtime complexities of communicating with the hard drive itself. As a result the bridge board between the SCSI-1 and IDE is relatively simple and a basic Z80 embedded controller is able to accomplish the data transfer relatively easily. It is well suited for a community hobbyist project like the SCSI to IDE/SD bridge board we are working on at Vintage-Computer.com forums. MFM/RLL (ST506/ST412) interfaces are a high speed extension of the Shugart floppy drive interface with some additional signals. It is a hard realtime interface and low level way to communicate with the hard drive. As a result it would require an extremely sophisticated high speed controller to interpret the signals to and from the MFM/RLL (ST506/ST412). A simple Z80 or microcontroller based controller would not be able to accomplish the task in my opinion. It may be possible but I believe it would be an expensive commercial device and probably quite rare. The SCSI-1 to/from IDE/SD project is a hobbyist community project and I think would be quite helpful to the wide array of legacy/vintage/classic devices which use SCSI-1 drives. So far, I have heard from owners of the obvious microcomputers like Atari, Amiga, Apple Mac, Sun workstations, DEC, etc. However many other devices used SCSI-1 devices such as synthesizers, a variety of test and lab equipment (?), sewing machines (?), photocopiers (?), and other devices I would have never suspected used SCSI-1 drives. At the moment, there are 6 builders with the prototype PCBs but none have reported a working build yet. The parts are very common and the design uses only "hobbyist friendly" construction for easy assembly. However, the software still needs to be written which should be largely reuse of existing Z80 code from existing N8VEM projects. If you or anyone else is interested in working on the project please contact me. I still have 4 remaining prototype PCBs. My goal is to get this project up and running before the SCSI-1 drives become difficult to obtain such as 100 TPI floppy drives, MFM/RLL (ST506/ST412) hard drives, and other uncommon storage medias. All of the technical information on the project is available at the N8VEM wiki. It will be free/open and publicly posted for community benefit like the rest of the N8VEM boards. Please read the existing technical documentation before critiquing the design. http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder <http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/w/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=MINI%20SCSI%20 to%20IDE%20prototypes> &param=MINI%20SCSI%20to%20IDE%20prototypes Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch SCSI -1 to IDE and SD project Rod Smallwood rodsmallwood at btconnect.com <mailto:cctalk%40classiccmp.org?Subject=Re%3A%20SCSI%20-1%20to%20IDE%20and%2 0SD%20project&In-Reply-To=%3C5177DAA49B624EFD819C07F9E41EFFA8%40RODSDEVSYSTE M%3E> Tue Feb 22 02:36:34 CST 2011 * Previous message: GSX <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2011-February/297266.html> porting project * Next message: SCSI -1 to <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2011-February/297278.html> IDE and SD project * Messages sorted by: [ date ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2011-February/date.html#297263> [ <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2011-February/thread.html#297263> thread ] [ subject ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2011-February/subject.html#297263> [ author ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2011-February/author.html#297263> _____ Hi This looks interesting. As collector of DEC systems my need is slightly different insofar as due to the rapid disappearance of ST506 (MFM) drives I need to make say an IDE drive look like a an ST506 drive to a DEC MFM controller. Whilst your SCSI to IDE is nice I'm not short of SCSI drives. However with your experience you might like to comment on if you think a DEC MFM controller to IDE drive converter box is feasible. Regards Rod Smallwood -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk> [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk> ] On Behalf Of Andrew Lynch Sent: 21 February 2011 14:39 To: cctalk at classiccmp.org <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk> Subject: SCSI -1 to IDE and SD project Hi! Several weeks ago there was a discussion on CCTALK about a free/open SCSI to IDE and SD project. I designed a PCB using the Z53C80 and a Z80 with RAM/ROM/UART/IDE and SD. There is a prototype available waiting for some interested builders to take on the project. As far as I know none of the builders have a completed unit although I think if we had at least one working unit the project would make some real progress. I have four remaining SCSI to IDE/SD prototype boards so if anyone would like to join the project as a software developer please let me know. I believe much of the software can be reused from previous N8VEM and/or other free/open software projects. http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/w/page/35044530/PCB-Inventory Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch _____ size=2 width="100%" align=center> * Previous message: GSX <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2011-February/297266.html> porting project * Next message: SCSI -1 to <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2011-February/297278.html> IDE and SD project * Messages sorted by: [ date ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2011-February/date.html#297263> [ thread ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2011-February/thread.html#297263> [ <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2011-February/subject.html#297263> subject ] [ author ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2011-February/author.html#297263> _____ More <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk> information about the cctalk mailing list _____

13 years, 2 months

Ted Nelson interview

by david＠classiccomputing.com

> Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:34:59 +0000 (GMT) > From: ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) > Subject: Re: Ted Nelson interview > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Message-ID: <m1PtkWP-000J48C at p850ug1> > Content-Type: text/plain > >> I don't understand, Tony. I mean, you spent the past several years >> trying to convince us all that you * everything *. :) > > I beg your pardon... > > I have repeatedly said that I am not an expert on _anything_. And that > there are many, many, things that I do not know, and cannot do. And I > sill stick to that > > BTW, thanks to everyone who enlightened me as to what Ted Nelson did. Tony and everyone, You can also see Ted Nelson here - http://www.viddler.com/explore/waxpancake/videos/6/1.964/ Starting at 6:17. If anyone has never watched this documentary before, I highly recommend it! It's my favorite. Best, David Greelish, Computer Historian Classic Computing The Home of Computer History Nostalgia http://www.classiccomputing.com Classic Computing Blog Classic Computing Show video podcast "Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer" audiobook podcast Retro Computing Roundtable podcast Historical Computer Society Classic Computing Expo 1.0 - planning for sometime late 2011!

13 years, 2 months

Using tu58em to boot standalone backup on 11/750 ?

by david_comley＠yahoo.com

Has anyone ever tried using the tu58em program to boot a VMS 5.2 install standalone backup on an 11/750 ? I ask because I am attempting to do so, and I keep encountering mount verify errors when I get to the fourth tape in the set. I see a lot of web references to using tu58em in the PDP-11 world, but not so much on the VAX. I suspect some sort of protocol error caused by an invalid response from the emulator. Same problem with the VMS 5.3 install, by the way. Before I pursue this approach to installing the OS any further I thought I'd see whether there's a known issue trying to do this. -Dave

13 years, 2 months

Giant Mac collection available...

by bdamer＠digitalspace.com

Folks there is a fellow offering a giant Mac collection which he hopes to find a buyer for: http://web.me.com/macabbott/macabb.com/Mac_Museum_Photos.html anyone have any recommendations here? Bruce

13 years, 2 months

Altos terminal on ebay and an odd japanese computer

by innfoclassics＠gmail.com

Looked at the Microsoft package mentioned and then looked at the rest of their items for sale. Noticed a couple of interesting pieces. 140486117150 Vintage Oasys 30 AFII Japanese luggable computer Cheap Altos V terminal if you can pick it up. shipping expensive 140517031868 Altos V-H Serial ASCII terminal 130491138458 Altos x086 Multibus Adapter Board with Tapemaster card They have a bunch of PS2 computers also at the moment. No connection with The Hackery in Vancouver BC, Canada other than as a customer. Paxton -- Paxton Hoag Astoria, OR USA

13 years, 2 months

Ted Nelson interview

by evan＠snarc.net

Starts at 41:35 here: http://www.awakemedia.com/DrFuture/DrF37_Feb222011_TedNel.mp3

13 years, 2 months

Zenith Z-100 sought

by bdamer＠digitalspace.com

CC team, Martin Howard is putting together a display for the Pentagon and seeks (to purchase) a Zenith Z-100, like the following: http://www.digibarn.com/collections/systems/zenith-100-original/index.html If anyone has a source for this please contact him directly at: martinhoward at sympatico.ca 416-690-7432 Bruce

13 years, 2 months

Fujitsu Etherstar 86950B Doc

by ken＠seefried.com

Does anyone have a manual/datasheet/doc the for the Fujitsu Etherstar 86950B Ethernet controller? My Google-Fu has failed. I'm writing a driver for an old VMEBus card and there are a few things that I'd like to understand better. KJ

13 years, 2 months

DEC Current Loop Connectors

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

Who is the manufacturer and what are the part numbers for the male & female 20mA current loop connectors and contacts that are commonly used on DEC equipment? -- Michael Thompson

13 years, 2 months

FW: eHam.net ad [homebrew S-100 68K CPU board]

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

> > The following is a ad from eHam.net: > > Title: Motorola 68000 System > > Description: Unique 68000 S-100 CPU board and assorted other boards and > engineering notes for sale. The board is the design feature of my 68000 > book published in 1987. Photos and details at > http://wilcoxengineering.com/68000-microprocessor - I can provide more > specifics for serious inquiries only. > > The MR-8 concept and the communication-stack C code could form the basis > of a modern co-processor product for data collection, radio control > control, etc. All the code and papers are part of the collection. A > possible business opportunity growing out of an older processor - or an > engaging hobbyist project! > > Will not split; this special historical collection stays together. Contact > me through the site. > > ----- end of message ----- > > > You can see this ad in full at: > > http://eham.net/classifieds/detail/338428 > > > This email was sent to you from Alan D. Wilcox (W3DVX) through a > notification > system on eHam.net. > [AJL>] FYI anyone interested in a famous S-100 68K CPU board prototype. This is the board Prof Wilcox used in his book on 68000 system design and troubleshooting. A real historical piece! Thanks! Andrew Lynch

13 years, 2 months

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test-drb February 2011