July 2012 - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

by kevin_anderson_dbq＠yahoo.com

Tony wrote: > > NOTE: the number to the right of the period is 30 (1Eh), NOT 3 (03h) > > Even pickier: It is a "period", NOT a "decimal point", nor "radix point"; > ^^^^^^ > So what is it called in the UK? We call the end-of-sentence marker a > 'full stop', not a 'period'. > > > it serves as punctuation separating an integer, and a 2 digit decimal > > integer. > > Does that mean that the correct way to pronounce the verisons are > 'three - thirty' and 'three - thirty one'? I personally would have pronounced these MS-DOS version numbers variously as "three point three," "three three," "three point three oh," "three three oh," "three point three one," or "three three one." As to the earlier part of this thread, on which systems had these various versions of MS-DOS: Yes, indeed Zenith provided/used 3.31. I used to own a copy that had upgraded to for my Z150 PC-compatible computer back in 1987/88 and after. That particular computer and all its software are now in Seattle, part of the collection of the Living Computer Museum. Kevin Anderson Dubuque, Iowa, USA

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Was someone in Iowa still looking for a VAX? Possible road trip this weekend.

by useddec＠gmail.com

I had talked to someone from Iowa on the list a while back about a small vax, but they were worried about the shipping. I might have someone going there this weekend. I might be in Iowa City again in about a month. Thanks, Paul

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

IBM 7090 mainframe!

by elson＠pico-systems.com

Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:43:31 -0700 From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: IBM 7090 mainframe! Message-ID: <50165743.1836.50913E at cclist.sydex.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII On 28 Jul 2012 at 14:51, Peter Van Peborgh wrote: > > Does anyone know (of) anyone running/restoring an IBM 7090, early 60s > > vintage? I am about to clear out a friend's collection of vintage > > computer bits and I may find relevant modules and documentation, h/w > > and s/w. > I think a real find would be a can of 7090 core oil. Wow, I think any of this gear would be very unlikely to have been saved. I know Washington University had some SAGE pieces in a warehouse, but I haven't seen any 7090-vintage stuff in ANY museum collection. It is kind of a big hole in their collections. The tube stuff all went in the dumpster as soon as transistor and core memory came in, and the early transistor machines had an even shorter life than most computer generations. Hmmmm, now that I think of it, I think WU also had a 7094 memory unit - all tubes, kind of in the transition between tube and transistor. I remember it because an address wire had burned up and somebody had threaded a wire through all the burned places to get it running again. A horrible kluge job, too. Hmm, that one was not oil-cooled, but maybe the damage I saw was WHY they went to oil cooling. Jon

12 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

H7202KA power supply

by iamcamiel＠gmail.com

On Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 1:43 AM, Michael Thompson <michael.99.thompson at gmail.com> wrote: >> From: Camiel Vanderhoeven <iamcamiel at gmail.com> >> Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2012 17:25:15 +0200 >> Subject: Re: H7202KA power supply >> >> Replacing the output caps on the 7213 power supply fixed the VBB >> output. However, the + and - 15 V outputs are now completely dead. I'm >> fairly certain those voltages were ok when I started. These are from >> the 7211 module. >> >> Not having any schematics, I traced a few wires. Looks like there's >> circa +160V and -160V and +14V and -14V coming from the main regulator >> (H7200). The 7211, like the 7213, uses a 3527A, which is driven by a >> 32.5 KHz clock signal from the main regulator. No picofuses anywhere >> as far as I can tell. >> >> Camiel. > > The VAX 730 uses almost the same power supply. > Docs for all of the power supplies that you have are here: > http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/vax/730/MP01270_11730_Engineering_Drawings_Apr… I didn't realise that. Thanks for pointing it out! Schematics! Camiel.

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

IBM 7090 mainframe!

by cube1＠charter.net

7090 and 7094 are discrete transistors, not tubes. 709 is tubes. All three exist in collections, I think, though maybe not in running condition Google will help out find them. Jon Elson <elson at pico-systems.com> wrote: >Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:43:31 -0700 >From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> >To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> >Subject: Re: IBM 7090 mainframe! >Message-ID: <50165743.1836.50913E at cclist.sydex.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII > >On 28 Jul 2012 at 14:51, Peter Van Peborgh wrote: > > >> > Does anyone know (of) anyone running/restoring an IBM 7090, early 60s >> > vintage? I am about to clear out a friend's collection of vintage >> > computer bits and I may find relevant modules and documentation, h/w >> > and s/w. >> > >I think a real find would be a can of 7090 core oil. > > >Wow, I think any of this gear would be very unlikely to have been saved. >I know Washington University had some SAGE pieces in a warehouse, but I >haven't >seen any 7090-vintage stuff in ANY museum collection. It is kind of a big >hole in their collections. The tube stuff all went in the dumpster as >soon as >transistor and core memory came in, and the early transistor machines had >an even shorter life than most computer generations. Hmmmm, now that I >think of it, I think WU also had a 7094 memory unit - all tubes, kind of >in the transition between tube and transistor. I remember it because an >address wire had burned up and somebody had threaded a wire through >all the burned places to get it running again. A horrible kluge job, too. > >Hmm, that one was not oil-cooled, but maybe the damage I saw was >WHY they went to oil cooling. > >Jon

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Hewlett Packard 10B calculator

by rampaginggreenhulk＠yahoo.com

Is there any way of opening these things w/o destroying them, or their appearance anyway?

12 years, 11 months

5
6
0 0

Looking for Data I/O "calibration extender" 910-1521

by chrise＠pobox.com

After removing the PROMs from my RX02 controller and attempting to extract their contents, I've discovered that the Unipak for my Data I/O System 19 has a failure. It's returning Error 70 whenever socket 6 is accessed. Of course socket 6 is the one the 7643 PROMs need to go in. Error 70 means something's wrong with the "bit supply". Data I/O built a "calibration extender", P/N 910-1521 that was used to enable probing of the Unipak while it was raised up and out of the main chassis. It would sure make it easier to work on this thing if I had access to said extender. Does anyone have one they would be open to loaning out for a short while while I attempt repair of this unit? Or, better yet, does anyone have one they want to sell/trade? Chris St. Paul, MN USA -- Chris Elmquist

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

cctech Digest, Vol 107, Issue 47

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> From: Camiel Vanderhoeven <iamcamiel at gmail.com> > Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2012 17:25:15 +0200 > Subject: Re: H7202KA power supply > > Replacing the output caps on the 7213 power supply fixed the VBB > output. However, the + and - 15 V outputs are now completely dead. I'm > fairly certain those voltages were ok when I started. These are from > the 7211 module. > > Not having any schematics, I traced a few wires. Looks like there's > circa +160V and -160V and +14V and -14V coming from the main regulator > (H7200). The 7211, like the 7213, uses a 3527A, which is driven by a > 32.5 KHz clock signal from the main regulator. No picofuses anywhere > as far as I can tell. > > Camiel. The VAX 730 uses almost the same power supply. Docs for all of the power supplies that you have are here: http://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/vax/730/MP01270_11730_Engineering_Drawings_Apr… -- Michael Thompson

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

PDP11/05 front panel switch

by cube1＠charter.net

They are actually pretty common C&K toggle switches, especially if it is not one of the momentary ones. DigiKey, Mouser, etc. Or eBay are places you can start your search. Camiel Vanderhoeven <iamcamiel at gmail.com> wrote: >Hi Again, > >While I'm still struggling with the powers supply in the /84, I >decided to also take a good look at the /05. Amazingly, the power >supplies on this one (1972) are 13 years older than those on the /84 >(1985), yet their outputs look absolutely perfect. Plugged in the >cards, and it seems to work, apart from one annoying little thing: one >of the front panel switches is bad. I noticed it when I was >depositing, then reading back some data, then took a multimeter to >determine that it's the switch itself that's broken. Cosmetically it >looks ok, but it doesn't work. It's just one of the address/data >switches, all other switches work fine. Are there any replacements for >these switches to be found? > >Camiel.

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Does anybody have the CD for this book

by microcode＠zoho.com

I just bought a copy of Computer Organization and Design, Third Edition: The Hardware/Software Interface, Third Edition (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Architecture and Design) Quality: Used - Very Good And it is in nice condition but missing the CD which is a bummer since the Appendices are not printed in the book itself but are all contained in the CD. Does anybody happen to have a copy of this I could ftp or download somehow? Thank you.

12 years, 11 months

4
4
0 0

Fw: Does anybody have the CD for this book

by microcode＠zoho.com

Responding to myself... The bookseller, Thriftbooks, just notified me another copy of the book including the CD will be mailed out shortly, at no cost. Good seller!

12 years, 11 months

3
2
0 0

cctalk Digest, Vol 107, Issue 68

by saquinn624＠aol.com

Rich end of AOLMsgPart_0_1ad99453-4a48-41fb-9c5f-7c3bef00fa23 ard noted: In article <CAA3rs2022A1OMd4PHTRc40Y1bW53Jc3ZJKc3h2AwTbf4JKw71Q at mail.gmail.com>, Adrian Stoness <tdk.knight at gmail.com> writes: > they would find a way to focre u to upgrade to a windows 8 machean Bullshit. I'm not saying they will, but based on their current logic the conversation could go along these lines: "OK, you have a machine that shipped with a valid OEM license for DOS 3.30. Did you get the original media with that? No? Well, for a valid license transfer to occur you need to get the original media. If they were destroyed, unreadable or not given to you then the license was not validly transferred, and you would need to reacquire a license. We no longer sell these licenses, but you may be able to find someone with validly licensed Retail MS-DOS software for sale." My guess is that they probably won't care unless you ask them (most companies wouldn't care in this circumstance), but then again sometimes they do - or somebody in legal decides they need to justify their job's existence. MS is getting very creative with limiting the newer-not-relevant copies of Windows, though my guess is that this is to give them an out if someone calls complaining that their copy won't activate.

12 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

cctalk Digest, Vol 107, Issue 66

by saquinn624＠aol.com

Dave end of AOLMsgPart_0_609026c9-93ed-4a79-957c-a4628556f71a said: They all came with MS-DOS so there shouldn't be any licence issues. Scott replies: Given the age I doubt that you'll run into problems, but do keep in mind that this is Microsoft. I'm pretty sure that they have a department tasked with inventing "license issues" whenever possible to increase revenue based on some of the things that have come out of there - they're pretty creative.

12 years, 11 months

6
7
0 0

VAX/VMS object file format?

by legalize＠xmission.com

I was reading this article on Microsoft PE file format, <http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/bb985992.aspx>, and it mentions that the PE file format is a derivative of COFF from VAX/VMS. Wikipedia's entry for COFF mentions a System V unix heritage along with Windows, but doesn't mention VAX/VMS anywhere: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COFF> Given that NT is heavily influenced by VMS via Dave Cutler, it doesn't surprise me that COFF also has a VMS heritage. Can anyone comment on this? A little quick googling for "VMS executable file format" didn't yield any enlightenment. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" free book <http://tinyurl.com/d3d-pipeline> The Computer Graphics Museum <http://computergraphicsmuseum.org> The Terminals Wiki <http://terminals.classiccmp.org> Legalize Adulthood! (my blog) <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>

12 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

In Mountainview, CA tuesday/wednesday

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

I'll be in Mountainview, CA Tueday and Wednesday (July 31, August 1) for an interview at NASA. Anyone want to meet up and talk about stuff? -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

S-100 8088 CPU board PCBs have arrived!

by LYNCHAJ＠yahoo.com

Hi! Good news! The S-100 8088 CPU board PCBs arrived! They are $20 each plus $3 shipping in the US and $6 elsewhere. Please send a PayPal to LYNCHAJ at YAHOO.COM and I will send your boards right away! Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch PS, There are some S-100 backplane PCBs and S-100 Serial IO board PCBs in case anyone needs them. Thanks!

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

NRI 832 Clock Not Working

by jonas＠otter.se

On Fri, 27 Jul 2012 20:33:39 +0100 (BST), ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) wrote: > > I think I've mentioend this before, but both torque and work have the > dimensions of force * distance (e.g. Newtons * metres). But while it is > correct to say that a newton metre of work is a joule, it is incorrect to > do the same for torque. What is the fundamental difference? > > -tony > The metre in torque is the length of the moment arm, and mere torque cannot be work since it is a static quantity and corresponds to the force in work. To get work from torque you have to multiply by radians, the angle of rotation over which the torque is applied. Similarly, power, being work per unit of time, from a motor-car engine is proportional to torque * rpm. Not very clearly expressed :-( but you get the idea I hope. /Jonas

12 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

H7202KA power supply

by iamcamiel＠gmail.com

Hi Guys, I managed to get the two DEC cabinets into the attic. Turned out I could just handle them by myself, without removing any rivets (emphasis on "just" as in "barely"). I've now got some of the Unibus PDP's in my hobby room (a /05, a /24 and a /84), so I figured I'd start with the latest model of the three.The 11/84 has a H7202KA power supply (H7200 + H7211 + H7213). All voltages look ok with a multimeter, but on my scope, the +5V VBB supply looks like a sick puppy. It looks like a sawtooth, with a period of 170 msec (ca. 6 Hz), and an amplitude of about 400 mV. Add to this a peak of 300 mV for 30 msec at the beginning, and a spike of -500 mV at the end, and there's a peak-to-peak difference of 1.2 volts. There's also some random spikes. In the end, the waveform looks like this: 5.5v -> |-_ |-_ | | | | | |__ | |__ | --__ | | --_| 5.0v -> | --|_ | --__ | | --__ | --__ | | --__ | | --__ | | || | || 4.5v -> / |/ |/ | | |----------------------| 170 msec The measurements were taken with the power distribution board and minimum load module plugged in; I don't want to plug any other modules in while the power looks like this. Is there any documentation available on this power supply? Or, does anyone have an idea as to what's going on here? The 6 Hz frequency strikes me as odd... Cheers, Camiel.

12 years, 11 months

3
3
0 0

Emulex QD21 firmware

by shadoooo＠gmail.com

Hello. I have a QD21 too, and it would be very nice to receive an image of the latest J ROM. Could it be possible? Thanks Andrea

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

free 30+ years collection of ham radio electronics components

by onqry-query＠yahoo.com

Hi All, I know this issue well. ?We are getting ready to sell the house and move so the collection is being readied for local sales. I've personally been collecting since 1982 when the IBM PC started replacing earlier computers in shops and homes. ?I found I could now pick up the systems that before I could not afford. ?I never tried to get them all, just the ones I really liked and some are even NOS. These are a lot heavier than I remembered! ? ? Regards, --Bill ________________________________ For Spammers:?Fight Spam! Click Here!

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

TU58 emulator

by cube1＠charter.net

I agree, but only because RL's and an 11/23 are pretty light. Change that to an 11/34 in a 10.5 inch box and a couple of rk05's and, over the years, things might sag over time - the posited fat people would not be sitting there day after day all day long. The analogy I usually think of is a water bed in an older house. The extra plywood helps, and is may also be helpful to have heavy systems along a side, rather than in the middle of the floor. Since I am not a structural engineer or anything like that, I guess it might depend on the spacing of the joists and the subfloor construction, and, on the sides, what kind of loads the walls are designed to bear. (In my case, my collection is on my basement concrete floor, and most of it is along the sides.) mcguire at neurotica.com wrote: > > You are not even remotely in dangerous territory here. > > For some perspective, think of a sofa with "feet", with two or three fat people on it. > > -Dave > >-- >Dave McGuire, AK4HZ >New Kensington, PA > > >On Jul 28, 2012, at 4:51 PM, Earl Evans <earl at retrobits.com> wrote: > >>> This conversation has started to worry me about the PDP-11/23 system in my >> daylight basement/family room. It's the largest single room in our home, >> and on the bottom of three floors. It is a wooden floor, with (large) >> crawl space underneath. >> >> The configuration is a PDP-11/23 in a BA23 chassis, 2 RL02 drives, and the >> standard DEC rackmount cabinet (which is pretty heavy itself). The entire >> cabinet has been placed on a 2 foot by 4 foot piece of half-inch plywood to >> evenly distribute the load. It is located near one of the load-bearing >> external walls of the home. >> >> RL02 drives weigh 75 lbs by themselves. Does anyone have a rough guess on >> what the total weight is for the system I described, and whether or not >> this would be safe for residential basement wood flooring? I realize there >> are a lot of factors - I'm just trying to get a wild guess before I start >> getting panicked. >> >> Thanks, >> >> - Earl >

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

TU58 emulator

by cube1＠charter.net

One thing you should also consider is the weight loading you are going to put on your attic, and how it is distributed, less your ceiling sag over time. Camiel Vanderhoeven <iamcamiel at gmail.com> wrote: >Hi Everyone, > >I'm thinking of a way to move as many of the PDP11 systems I have into >my attic office to a) get them going, and then b) run them >occasionally. > >I've stripped the two low corporate racks to the chassis, and if I can >find a helping hand, I'm sure I can get them into the attic, then put >the tabletop of my electronics workbench on top of it (I'm a little >short on space). I'm thinking of bolting two pieces of rack profile to >one side of each rack, which would turn them into a single unit >comprising three racks. That way, I should be able to mount 6 10.5" >PDP's and 6 5.25" PDP's, and have them conveniently close to my >oscilloscope and logic analyzer to work on them. > >Now for storage... > >I have some RL02 drives, but I'm a bit reluctant to drag those >upstairs. I have Emulex scsi controllers for three of the PDP's (2 x >UC18, 1 x UC08), but the rest is without mass storage. > >I read about the TU58 emulator that runs on Linux, and I'm thinking of >putting a DECserver into the rack with the PDP11's, and use virtual >TTY's on a Linux box that connect to the PDP11's over the DECserver, >then run multiple instances of the emulator so each PDP has one or >more emulated TU58's. > >I know the "real" TU58 tapes can hold something like 256K of data. Are >the operating systems aware of this limit, or could you get by with >emulating a larger tape? > >Thanks for any insight you may have to offer. Warnings like "That's a >really bad idea, because..." are also very welcome. > >Cheers, > >Camiel

12 years, 11 months

11
15
0 0

free 30+ years collection of ham radio electronics components

by rdawson16＠hotmail.com

Im sure he wont mind if you email direct so I present Duane: Location is Minneapolis, and it all needs to go this weekend, he is retiring and selling the house: duane at icsi-us.com Randy

12 years, 11 months

4
3
0 0

Commodore C286-LT

by reiche＠ls-al.eu

Hi guys, Wanting to run the older Unices, I hunted around for a working 286. I sort of succeeded, except for the part that the sealant from the original Connor harddisk probably didn't get enough air where the laptop was situated for the past ten years and had gone fluid. Messy. Got me another harddisk, also an old Connor, not sure if it works but can't seem to find anything like a working DOS floppy with a FDISK.EXE which allows the removal of non-DOS partitions. A guy at work had a working copy of Partition Magic on floppy, but it seems to have a heavy case of floppy rot so it won't boot. So I was wondering, anyone have a floppy .img which I can rawrite or dd to a floppy to see if I can partition the old Conner or another 2,5" disk proper, so I can at least install MS-DOS onto it and maybe some old Unices later on? Thanks in advance and re, Sander

12 years, 11 months

4
4
0 0

cctalk Digest, Vol 107, Issue 64

by elson＠pico-systems.com

Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2012 03:50:18 -0400 From: Paul Anderson <wackyvorlon at me.com> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: RSX-11/M and FORTRAN Message-ID: <28A40D7C-F30F-48CF-A06E-F3A1EBFCBF3C at me.com> Content-Type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII I've developed the itch to play with RSX-11/M, so I've setup simh using these instructions: http://home.earthlink.net/~n1be/pdp11/PDP11.html So far, so good. I've got it up and running. The problem is in trying to run fortran. There's a FOR.OLB in db0:[11,41]. When I try to run for, I get TASK NOT FOUND. When I run ins $for to load it, it reports not being to find the file. Being a total newbie at this, I'm not sure how to get it to run. Any ideas? As Jay says, .olb is the object library, which gets linked in with your compiled code to supply the fortran-specific library functions. There should be a FOR.EXE, I think, for the compiler. It's been a while since I ran RSX11/M. A LONG while, like 30 years! Jon

12 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

NRI 832 Clock Not Working

by wackyvorlon＠me.com

I'm currently working on restoring a NRI 832 computer trainer. I finally got my oscilloscope on it. It looks like the clock isn't running. You can see the waveform in this video. I tried both the fast(250kHz) and slow(2Hz) clock. I'm just seeing noise from the power supply. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBV4QgQHq98 Sent from my iPhone

12 years, 11 months

14
40
0 0

Emulex QD21 firmware

by brad＠heeltoe.com

I have two QD21's - one says rev F and the other says rev G, but both have E65G markings on the eeprom. I will plug them both in and verify shortly, but I would guess that means they are both G. Can I just use the rev J firmware instead? I assume J is 'better' than G... -brad -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: Emulex QD21 firmware From: Glen Slick <glen.slick at gmail.com> Date: Mon, June 25, 2012 9:25 pm To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> I have the following versions of firmware EPROMs for the Emulex QD21: E65C - 16KB E65G - 32KB E65J - 32KB There no text strings in the Rev C firmware and no on board Firmware-Resident Diagnostic. The Rev G firmware has the following on board main menu: Emulex Corporation Copyright All rights reserved QD21 controller, firmware revision level IP address = Option menu 1 - Format 2 - Format and verify 3 - Verify 4 - Read only test 5 - Data reliability test 6 - List known units 7 - Replace block 8 - Display Novram 9 - Edit / Load Novram Enter option number: The Rev J firmware has the following on board main menu: Firmware-Resident Diagnostic Copyright (c) 1988 Emulex Corporation all rights reserved QD21 controller, firmware revision level IP address = Option menu 1 - Self Test Loop 2 - Format 3 - Verify 4 - Format and Verify 5 - Data Reliability Test 6 - Format, Verify, and Data Reliability Test 7 - Read Only Test 8 - List Known Units 9 - Replace Block 10 - Print RCT 11 - Display Novram 12 - Edit / Load Novram Enter option number:

12 years, 11 months

3
2
0 0

B&C microsystems UP200 software

by clabond1＠tin.it

I am in need of software for the UP200 programmer. LMK if you have it and could send me a copy via email. Just picked up a unit and want to get programming. Grazie

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

RSX-11/M and FORTRAN

by cube1＠charter.net

An OLB isn't an executable - it is the Fortran library. Time to go find some rsx doc and read up a little, maybe. Paul Anderson <wackyvorlon at me.com> wrote: >I've developed the itch to play with RSX-11/M, so I've setup simh using these instructions: > >http://home.earthlink.net/~n1be/pdp11/PDP11.html > >So far, so good. I've got it up and running. The problem is in trying to run fortran. There's a FOR.OLB in db0:[11,41]. When I try to run for, I get TASK NOT FOUND. When I run ins $for to load it, it reports not being to find the file. Being a total newbie at this, I'm not sure how to get it to run. Any ideas?

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

RSX-11/M and FORTRAN

by wackyvorlon＠me.com

I've developed the itch to play with RSX-11/M, so I've setup simh using these instructions: http://home.earthlink.net/~n1be/pdp11/PDP11.html So far, so good. I've got it up and running. The problem is in trying to run fortran. There's a FOR.OLB in db0:[11,41]. When I try to run for, I get TASK NOT FOUND. When I run ins $for to load it, it reports not being to find the file. Being a total newbie at this, I'm not sure how to get it to run. Any ideas?

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

CMOS vs TTL Crystal Oscillator for Cosmac?

by nick.allen＠comcast.net

Is there any reason to use either a CMOS or TTL Crystal Oscillator for a Cosmac computer? I assume it should accept either, any preference if you had a choice? Thanks, and can't wait to showcase some of the DIY computers I am working on at this years VCFMW!

12 years, 11 months

3
2
0 0

anyone boot rsts v10.1 with emulex uc07?

by brad＠heeltoe.com

I'm curious if anyone here has tried to boot rsts v10.1 with an emulex UC07 qbus scsi controller. I'll go ask on the google forums, but I thought I'd ask here also. I made an ra81 disk image with simh and it boots fine, but when I transfer the image to a scsi disk and and boot it on an 11/83 with a UC07 scsi controller it fails (claims something about the cluster size being wrong). I'm just trying to get a rsts v10.1 image which will boot on a qbus 11/23 with an UC07. I'm wondering if the UC07's MSCP emulation is at odds with rsts's MSCP driver. -brad

12 years, 11 months

3
3
0 0

Apple 1 insanity continues

by aek＠bitsavers.org

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251115805166 down to cloning the Christies box gee.. I wonder where he got the scan of the manual from

12 years, 11 months

24
85
0 0

qbus msv11 memory board debug?

by brad＠heeltoe.com

I'm curious if anyone has ever debugged an QBUS MSV11 board. I have one which appears to have a bad memory location - a single bit error. I assume this means there is one bad dram chip. But I've never debugged a memory board like this before. Is it possible to figure out which chip is bad? (it seems obvious the answer is yes, but how?) I know the location - is there some reasonable way to map that back to the chip? I guess I could hunt and peck by grounding or pulling high the outputs of different chips and running the memory diag. any thoughts? -brad

12 years, 11 months

5
4
0 0

Tektronix 618 storage tube

by legalize＠xmission.com

When was the 618 storage tube introduced by Tektronix? I can find 611 and 613 in the catalogs, but not the 618. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" free book <http://tinyurl.com/d3d-pipeline> The Computer Graphics Museum <http://computergraphicsmuseum.org> The Terminals Wiki <http://terminals.classiccmp.org> Legalize Adulthood! (my blog) <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>

12 years, 11 months

2
3
0 0

Anyone around Elgin, IL?

by brain＠jbrain.com

I just bought a SX64 and it has local pickup. Anyone nearby who might offer my SX a home for a couple of months until I drive to Lombard in late September for the ECCC/VCF show? Jim -- Jim Brain brain at jbrain.com www.jbrain.com

12 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

Commodore C286-LT <Remove partition table>

by steve.hunt＠iname.com

Got me another harddisk, also an old Connor, not sure if it works but can't seem to find anything like a working DOS floppy with a FDISK.EXE which allows the removal of non-DOS partitions. A quick search for "remove non dos partition debug" should find an easy way to wipe the partition table using the MSDOS Debug command. Here's one such link: http://forums.techguy.org/dos-other/36829-removing-dos-partition-debug.html

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

IBM ThinkPad 760XD

by BHuntsman＠mail2.cu-portland.edu

Hi there! I know it's not as interesting as non-Intel-based stuff, but I just picked up an ex-NASA ThinkPad 760XD and thought I'd poke at it a while given it's connection to the Shuttle Program. Does anyone know anything about these older IBM ThinkPads? This one came to me missing it's battery and hard drive/caddy assembly. The battery's not so big a deal, but finding the right hard drive and caddy has been pain. I'm a big fan of "stock", so I did some research and looks like the "high-end" drive for this thing back in the day was the 3.0GB IBM DLGA-23080. I'd also picked up an after-market drive caddy, but as it turns out the DLGA-23080 is too tall for the caddy... Anyone know if the DLGA-23080 had a special caddy, and where I might find the right one that's genuine IBM? Or, am I completely mistaken and the "stock" 3.0GB drive for the ThinkPad 760XD is a different model? I can't find a good FRU list anywhere... Anyway, many, many thanks in advance for the help!! -Ben

12 years, 11 months

4
5
0 0

"Sent from my iPad", was Re: NRI 832 Clock Not Working

by saquinn624＠aol.com

>How about ... "One ringie dingie"Ben. Adding to the noise pollution, but why not merge this with those silly disclaimers and a surfeit of caps to be the following: "If this e-mail message has reached anyone other than the person who is reading it, then be advised that it is privileged information and reading, divulging, or even thinking about doing that will attract the unmitigated ire of ... HOW DARE YOU! YOU READ IT ANYWAY!! NOW THINGS ARE GOING TO GET UNPLEASANT!!! LIKE YOUR SLEEP?? WELL, DON"T COUNT ON GETTING MUCH MORE OF IT! RINGY-DINGIES ALL NIGHT COMING RIGHT UP! We're the phone company. We don't care. We don't have to.

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

prototype floppy media

by jws＠jwsss.com

Wonder if anyone is interested in this? 4 1/2 inch floppy prototype supposedly from IBM htttp://www.ebay.com/itm/251110295055 really pricy, but if you are into weird media this might not be something to miss. Jim

12 years, 11 months

8
18
0 0

Passing of Robert Ragen

by rickb＠bensene.com

Hello, all, While not exactly on-topic for classic computers, it is indirectly related due to electronic calculators being an enabling technology for the first microprocessors. On Friday, 20-July, Robert "Bob" Ragen, the father of the Friden EC-130 calculator (arguably the first all-solid-state electronic calculator) passed away with his family around him. He was 83 years old, just three days short of his 84th birthday. Ragen was responsible for bringing Friden into the electronic age with the design of the EC-130, and a number of follow on calculators, including the EC-132, and the 1150 and 1160-series calculators. He was a prolific inventor, with over 80 patents to his name. The EC-130 exhibit in the Old Calculator Museum has been permanently dedicated to this calculator pioneer. Rick Bensene The Old Calculator Museum http://oldcalculatormuseum.com

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

TU58 emulator

by iamcamiel＠gmail.com

Hi Everyone, I'm thinking of a way to move as many of the PDP11 systems I have into my attic office to a) get them going, and then b) run them occasionally. I've stripped the two low corporate racks to the chassis, and if I can find a helping hand, I'm sure I can get them into the attic, then put the tabletop of my electronics workbench on top of it (I'm a little short on space). I'm thinking of bolting two pieces of rack profile to one side of each rack, which would turn them into a single unit comprising three racks. That way, I should be able to mount 6 10.5" PDP's and 6 5.25" PDP's, and have them conveniently close to my oscilloscope and logic analyzer to work on them. Now for storage... I have some RL02 drives, but I'm a bit reluctant to drag those upstairs. I have Emulex scsi controllers for three of the PDP's (2 x UC18, 1 x UC08), but the rest is without mass storage. I read about the TU58 emulator that runs on Linux, and I'm thinking of putting a DECserver into the rack with the PDP11's, and use virtual TTY's on a Linux box that connect to the PDP11's over the DECserver, then run multiple instances of the emulator so each PDP has one or more emulated TU58's. I know the "real" TU58 tapes can hold something like 256K of data. Are the operating systems aware of this limit, or could you get by with emulating a larger tape? Thanks for any insight you may have to offer. Warnings like "That's a really bad idea, because..." are also very welcome. Cheers, Camiel

12 years, 11 months

4
4
0 0

DR11-W and DRV11-WA ... related?

by holm＠freibergnet.de

As you already know I got this Tek 611 Thing working lately and now I think about connecting that Beast to one of the PDP11 systems I have. They all are QBUS 11's, (12,53,83). Joachim gave me the hint to use a DRV11 or an DRV11-WA to connect the needed D/A Converters to supply the Tek611. I do have both DRV11 Variants. Now I'm looked in the 2.11BSDs sources and found a driver for DR11 boards, which looks like a similar parallel interface for the UNIbus. (I'm a Unix guy, and using BSD may be the fastest way for me to get this to work). How similar are the 3 interaces to each other? Is is worth to begin with the DR11 driver..? I've don't looked deep in the DR11 Manual and I dont even have one for the DRV11 Boards (...has someone a Hardware/Programming Manual?) so I'm primarely asking here for some experiences from other people.. Kind Regards, Holm -- Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe, Freiberger Stra?e 42, 09600 Obersch?na, USt-Id: DE253710583 www.tsht.de, info at tsht.de, Fax +49 3731 74200, Mobil: 0172 8790 741

12 years, 11 months

2
2
0 0

Defcon XX

by ian.finder＠gmail.com

I'll be there... Landing Thursday. Might bring a sparcbook... Sent from my MicroVAX II

12 years, 11 months

3
2
0 0

need to replace some NEC APC circuit boards

by rampaginggreenhulk＠yahoo.com

?In a mad fit I think I tossed a few. The cpu card for one, probably the disk controller also. Somehow the video cards and something else, and my Butler Flats Associates 5 1/4" disk controller board were spared. I have the chassis/card cage. I would like to replace what's missing. In the event you have an APC laying about, don't know what to do w/it, maybe you can help me out. ?I am _not_ looking to have an entire APC shipped to me though.

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

AT&T/Western Electric Transmission Module available

by fraveydank＠gmail.com

(apologies for long lines; posting from phone) Is anyone interested in the above mentioned machine, chock full of DS0 modules and a few other things? My employer is moving office and is looking to offload it. It's in the Germantown, MD area (near Washington, DC). I have pictures which I can post publicly once I'm back at an actual computer. If you're interested, you'll probably need to get it by the end of the month, since that's when the old lease is done. Feel free to contact me off-list. - Dave

12 years, 11 months

2
2
0 0

Looking for DEC VK100 'GIGI' Maintenance print sheets

by jgevaryahu＠gmail.com

> On 7/23/12 1:12 PM, Richard wrote: >> In article<500BAEE9.2090102 at gmail.com>, >> Jonathan Gevaryahu<jgevaryahu at gmail.com> writes: >> >>> The Tech manual on bitsavers ( >>> http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/terminal/gigi/EK-VK100-TM-001_VK100_Techni… >> l_Manual_Apr82.pdf >>> ) is missing a lot of information I need, and is also rife with errors! >> It would be good to have an errata to the technical manual. Can you >> email up a list of the errors you've spotted so far? > that would be a good thing > > GIGI documentation is very hard to find. Ok here's a quick rundown of the errata so far (there's probably a lot more I haven't noticed), some stuff might need to be done as images/drawings due to errors in some figures: page 4-19 subheading 4.4.4.1: Omission: PEEK(address) is perfectly valid code and isn't in the list of valid basic operators. (Tested on emulation and 10 print peek(0256) then run does print 194 (0xC2 appears at offset 0x100 in address space).) page 5-3 figure 5-2: Error/Omission: the "DIP SELECTION" box next to "SYSTAT A" should have a second arrow pointing to it from the address bus (since DIP selection is based on the low 3 bits of the address (offsets 0x40-0x47)) page 5-10: Error: the rom 3 extends from 6000-67ff, not 6000-63ff as listed. The chip contains 6000-6fff but the area between 6800 and 6fff is blank, 0x00s. page 5-14: Table 5-3 I/O Register Addresses: Error: the write register decode for address 0x47 does not have the read bit set to 1 (this is an obvious typo) Error: The KYBDW write register is listed as if it is at offset 0x78; it is actually at offset 0x68. Error/Omission: the read register for SYSTAT A is listed as 0x40; it is actually mirrored to 0x40-0x47 but the dipswitch bit read to d2 for each of those addresses is different. (the switches read for each of the addresses from 0x40 to 0x47 in d2 is, base-0, so switch 1 is 0, 2 is 1, etc: 1,3,5,7,6,4,2,0 ) page 5-15: Table 5-4 Program RAM addresses: Omission: the c000-ffff ram area is not populated on the vk100 board, though ram is refreshed as if it was there. (it may have been intended as an expansion kit by DEC but was never sold as far as I'm aware) Error: Table 5-5 I/O ROM Microcode Address: the address for the row read/column drive mapping of the keyboard ranges >from 7000-700F, not 700. (actually it mirrors to the whole 7000-7fff area every 16 bytes, and the firmware reads it at 7ff0-7fff) page 5-27: Figure 5-17: the "translator input" left side of this figure has some major row/column offset/duplication issues. The correct contents should be: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 (000) TA200 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (001) TA200 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 (002) TA200 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 (003) TA200 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 --------------------------- (004) TA201 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 (005) TA201 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 (006) TA201 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 (007) TA201 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 --------------------------- (010) TA202 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 (011) TA202 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 (012) TA202 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 (013) TA202 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 --------------------------- (014) TA203 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 (015) TA203 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 (016) TA203 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 (017) TA203 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 --------------------------- The right table in the figure is correct. Page 5-29, Table 5-7: Error: The equation for "Overlay" should be M=AT(P+N) instead of M=A+(P+N) Page 5-30, Figure 5-19: Error: The labels on the two lines coming from the "SOPS" block are transposed; The top one should be "WHAT COLOR IS THE SCREEN" and the bottom one regarding the bit 0 reverse video bit. Omission: the line which SHOULD be "what color is the screen" (the one going to input B on the MUX) should have a note on the line noting that it is 4 bits wide, not one bit as is implied by the figure. The "What color is the data" line should have such a marking as well. Page 5-32 Figure 5-21: Error: the clock source for the down counter is NOT the "CHAR CLK" as listed, but the "DOT CLK". (This had me confused for a good 15 minutes before I spotted the error) Page 5-35: Omission/Ambiguity: The description of the "Screen Options (SOPS)" register is missing the bit numbers for each part of the described functions, and there are FOUR functions, not three. This could be better written as: 1. Blink Control/Mask (bit 3) 2. Background Color + Blink (bits 7,6,5,4) 3. I/O port control (EIA, 20 mA, hardcopy and self-test) (bits 2,1) 4. Normal/Reverse Video (bit 0) Page 5-38, Figure 5-23 Arbitrary Waveform Timing: Error: The Vector rom addresses listed at the top have address 23 missing and 33 duplicated twice; the correct pattern from left to right should be: 34 23 22 21 20 25 24 33 32 31 30 35 34 23 22 21 20 25 24 33 32 31 30 35 Page 5-42, Figure 5-26: Error/Ambiguity: the lines from "SOPS" to "I/O PORT SELECTOR" are labeled SL1 and SL0; the actual bits in the SOPS register these represent are bits d2 and d1. Page 5-53, Figure 5-33 and Table 5-10: the same ambiguity with SOPS bit labels SL1 and SL0 appears here. Nowhere in the tech reference does it mention they are bits d2 and d1. Page 5-57 Figure 5-37: Omission: the line from "ADDRESS LATCH" to "DECODER" (which is labeled A6-A0) is missing its (70<subscript>16</subscript>) marking; on figure 5-36 on the previous page (page 5-56) the marking is present. Page 5-62: Omission/Ambiguity: the description of SYSTAT A does not note anywhere in the tech reference that the bits read appear in SYSTAT A bits 6,5,4,3 for bits 3,2,1,0 of the nybble the current X and Y registers point to in VRAM. One possible error (I need to test this more), which appears on two successive pages: Page 5-66 Figure 5-42: *POSSIBLE* (Needs verify with keyboard and meter) the pins for SHIFT and CAPS LOCK are reversed; capslock should be pin 35 and shift pin 33 Page 5-67 Figure 5-43: *POSSIBLE* the KBD-R latch implies that capslock is D6 and shift is D7, when in reality they are the other way round. Hope that helps, If I run into more I'll send to the list as well. -- Jonathan Gevaryahu jgevaryahu at gmail.com jgevaryahu at hotmail.com

12 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

Transitional Technolgies Tape Drive Info

by craig.henry＠yale.edu

I have a couple of those drives with some functionality. Did you ever find any doco on them? -Craig Henry Yale Astronomy Systems Admin

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

prototype floppy media

by tom94022＠comcast.net

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251110295055 looks to me like a prototype cartridge for the IBM 0341 Four-Inch Diskette Drive (aka 3.9-inch) which was announced by IBM in 1983 but shortly thereafter withdrawn in favor of the MIC (Microfloppy Industry Consortium) adaptation of the Sony 3.5-inch design. I don't think any production units ever shipped but evaluation units may have shipped. FWIW, it was a single sided 358 kilobyte FM zone recorded device. The media spec is at bitsavers and promotional material is at the CHM. I have a drive photo in my files Tom

12 years, 11 months

3
2
0 0

Zenith Minisports revelations

by rampaginggreenhulk＠yahoo.com

someone kindly sent me a picture of the power supplies diagram/sticker. the connector has 9vdc output, 6vdc charge, a grounded shield, and a 5 v signal. what is the "5 v signal"? It's not labeled as an output, nor ac or dc. Is it a pin by which the p/s reads the voltage of the battery, so as to know when to stop charging? The specs state "Output 9V, 2 A max at supply, 6V, 1 A max at charging". ?Anyone have a spare that's surplus to their needs?

12 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

test-drb July 2012