Josh writes:
>
>I also have a MicroVAX I (Currently housing a KA650, but I still have the
>original boardset). It would be fun to get it running VMS -- the MicroVAX
>I tops out at VMS 5.1, though. Where can one find media (and licenses) for
>older versions of VMS?
>
>- Josh
The license comes from the VMS Hobbyist Program. It's good for any version of VMS, from 0.whateveryoucanfind to 8.4.
Even though early versions of VMS do not enforce licensing through the LMF, it's still required.
Media can be borrowed. HP doesn't care where you get it, but asks that it not be posted for public download.
Does anyone have the O/S, Applications, and Diagnostice disks for this
ancient IEEE 488 bus controller (Fluke 1720A)? It used a TI 9900
processor if I remember correctly. The operating system was called FDOS-
a custom effort too I think, distributed on three 5 1/4" floppies. This
is no longer available from anywhere or anyone, including Fluke.
Thanks for any help and/or leads.
Geoff
Hello everybody,
a few days ago I introduced my USB to Omnibus adapter module. I'd like give you
an update.
As you might have seen on pdp8.hachti.de?gallery/omnibus_usb the board I made
first was only half height and used three CoolRunner II CPLDs.
I made a slight redesign of the board:
- Full size Omnibus board. One could even mount DEC handles if he wanted to.
- CPLD is now one big XC9572XL-TQ100.
- Added working DIP switches, TX and RX device code are freely selectable.
The board still uses the 7438 as bus drivers. And YES - I still use the "wrong"
drivers. As Plessey did on their RK05 controller... And that controller is said
to be more reliable than the original RK8E. So 7438 cannot be the worst choice.
So please no more discussion about that.
I'm very sorry that I just don't have a really loaded PDP8/e at hand to test the
board. But I tried my best and loaded the test system with some hardware which
was just at hand:
- Front panel
- Two backplanes in system
- CPU + EAE
- M837 memory extension and time share
- KL8J terminal at 03/04 and 9600 baud
- 24K core memory (3x8)
- RK8E
- TD8E
- MI8-EA bootstrap diode board
- Bus loads
- OMNI-USB :-)
That makes 24 boards in the system. Without the core memory boards which don't
use anything than ground it's still 21. There are 13 slots left.
The sytem is running OS/8 while I'm writing this. It just works.
Booting works, transferring data over USB works, TD8E worked (until the TU56's
PSU broke down a few minutes ago :-), RK8E works, terminal works. Looks good.
Oh, kermit runs so fast...!
I have decided to make a 25 piece batch of the new board. A prototype without
gold fingers (it will have gold fingers in the end) can also be seen in my new
webshop: http://shop.hachti.de
Price is EUR 105 without any tax and any shipping. Shop initially displays EUR
125 incl. German VAT.
Shipping of the boards will be in the beginning of April. April 2nd seems to be
a bit too optimistic due to PCB manufacturing time. But I'm quite condident that
it will be in the first week of April.
You can already order/pay now. I very much appreciate that because it helps me
to pay the boards and parts. The other effect is that I'd get a real resonance.
Currently a handful of people told me that they want 15 boards. Some of them
already ordered (big THANK YOU!), some are very quiet.
Kind regards
Philipp
--
Dipl.-Inf. (FH) Philipp Hachtmann
Buchdruck, Bleisatz, Spezialit?ten
Alemannstr. 21, D-30165 Hannover
Tel. 0511/3522222, Mobil 0171/2632239
Fax. 0511/3500439
hachti at hachti.de
www.tiegeldruck.de
UStdID DE 202668329
During the ongoing clearout, I've found some full-length EISA
controller cards. By the look of it, there are some SCSI 2 host
adaptors - they have high-density 50-pin connectors on their
backplates - and what might be ESDI controllers.
I don't own any EISA machines any more and am not expecting to, so if
nobody wants these, I will send them to recycling.
Free for the cost of postage. Surface post to the USA/Canada/south
America would not be /too/ prohibitive. They're currently in London.
I've never had any interest in anything on the Vintage Computer boards
& I don't think these are worth eBaying, but if anyone wants to
disseminate this offer, please feel free - including my email and
other contact details in the .sig.
--
Liam Proven ? Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven
MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven
Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884
I've been working on an IBM Selectric typewriter which I bought earlier
in the year. It is the I/O Selectric type 735 which differs from a
normal Selectric in having the solenoids and switches on it to allow it
to be used as a printer and keyboard.
When I got it the motor wouldn't run, and the mechanism was jammed. The
motor problem was its thermal trip, which is meant to be the resettable
type, so I replaced that. I gave the whole thing a clean with
degreaser, which freed up the mechanicals, then oiled and greased it.
It then worked happily as a typewriter.
I have made a small interface, based on an Arduino Mega 2560, which
provides a serial port. Currently this only supports printing, but will
be extended to include the keyboard. It uses almost all the digital I/O
on the Mega (15 solenoids, 27 contacts.)
There are still some adjustments to be done, and I am awaiting a set of
Bristol Wrenches (Keys) so I can safely do these. I have tried using
Torx and Allen keys, and while they can be made to 'fit', it doesn't
seem like a good idea.
There are some pictures and videos of the typewriter here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljw/sets/72157632841492802/
You can get the Arduino interface code here:
https://github.com/ibm2030/IOSelectric
I haven't yet documented the hardware I used for the solenoid drivers,
but if anyone is interested I can put some notes together (basically:
Arduino output to 2N7000 FET buffer to ITS4140N +48V high-side driver on
the output side, and a simple 250R pullup to +5V on the input side.)
Manuals here:
http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/ibm/typewriter/selectric/
(or other Bitsavers mirrors)
Info on the Mega2560 here: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardMega2560
--
Lawrence Wilkinsonlawrence at ljw.me.uk
The IBM 360/30 pagehttp://www.ljw.me.uk/ibm360
I have been fortunate to acquire a Kaypro system that appears to be in
great condition and looks to work.
It looks exactly like this:
http://www.computermuseum.li/Testpage/Kaypro-I-Micro.htm
Thus, it says Kaypro 1 on the artwork
Still, the sticker on the rear says Kaypro 2, so I'm confused.
In any event, I have no system disks for it (There is a slight
possibility they are part of the stash with which the Kaypro was
bundled, but it's 100 sq ft of stuff). Thus, I'm wondering if there is
a kind soul who might be able to ship me a set of disks. (I'll pay
shipping, of course).
I also am the proud owner of 2 Obsorne machines (one works, the other
seems to have drive issues. They are the redesigned units, but (as I
suspected) the systems disks won't work on the Kaypro.
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
A while back, I mentioned that I'd found and potentially fixed the "bricking" problem with the CQD-220.
To recap, for those that werent following, the problem lies in the code for the on-board 8086 when you set the number of both disks and tapes to zero. The 8086, during its routine to load the values from the EEPROM, loads the total number of disks and tapes and executes a loop with a counter predecrement; if the counter is loaded as 0, it effectively runs through the loop 256 times instead of 7 (the max), which spins out of control and blows away some RAM somewhere before crashing.
Fortunately, through a compiler bug or some such, there are 5 bytes available from a totally redundant instruction (loading a value into a register where the same value is already loaded) in just the right place to test the total number of devices and jump to the "uninitialized device table in EEPROM" section of the routine if it is zero. With one byte to spare! (good thing NOP is only a byte in 8086)
This applies to the A7A revision of the ROM, anyway; I haven't gotten to the A8 version yet, though I know it exhibits the same bug. Hopefully it also has the same redundant instruction. In any case, I should be able to find and fix it quickly once I have the time, because I know where to look.
So, here's the thing; I've finally gotten the time to test the fixed ROM image (was temporarily short of 27256 chips, but that's been resolved) and I'd like to get the fixed images somewhere they'll be easy to find if anyone else runs into the same problem (this took me over a year of sporadic attention to fix). Does anyone know where I should post this? There's my own website, which is really not a thing anymore, but there are probably lots of places Google is more likely to find.
Also, are there copyright implications to consider? I know CMD is long gone, but I still worry about these things.
Last thing: does anyone know the difference between the A7A ROM and the A8? I've not found anything different; I assume it's probably an obscure bugfix.
The images are only 64K total, so I shouldn't imagine they'll be bandwidth intensive.
- Dave
Tom's Hardware - a popular site for PC hardware tweakers and
overclockers - has done an ambitious article on the development of the
mainframe:
http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/508-mainframe-computer-history.html
It's a little American-centric but it's not at all bad.
--
Liam Proven ? Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: lproven at gmail.com
Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884 ? Fax: + 44 870-9151419
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MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? ICQ: 73187508
