test-drb May 2013

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

213 participants
253 discussions

by sales＠elecplus.com

The master box says 350C on the outside, but when I went to pack some, they are actually 250C. So I have new and used 250C, and used 350C Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3343 / Virus Database: 3184/6348 - Release Date: 05/22/13

12 years, 1 month

Why is the Apple M0131 external 3.5" floppy "HFS only"?

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

Hi, All, I'm cleaning up some older stuff and I have a couple of external Mac drives back from when I used to use them on a regular basis. I have a 400K M0130 shell (the drive died long ago and the external cable disappeared after loaning it out nearly as long ago) and I have a few of "beige" and "platinum" drives. Right here and now, I have an M0131 in front of me. Google tells me that it's 800K drive for Mac only (not Apple II), and that if I want to use it with an old Mac, it has to be one with either the newer ROMs (i.e., not a 128K or 512K) _or_ I have to run the ancient HD20 HFS background task (which only works with the 512K, presumably due to memory usage). I get why I'd need a ROM extension to use it to read/write an HFS disk, but why would this drive not work with an unexpanded 128K or 512K Mac as a single-sided 400K MFS drive? I know Amigas have an "IDENT" feature so that the machine can wiggle some of the control lines and get back if the drive is 3.5" or 5.25". Did Apple do something like that? Ultimately, I just want to have an external drive on the 128K Mac I have sitting right here. I'd _love_ to have an original working M0130 but I don't need to buy one if I can use something already have here. Does anyone know technical reasons why the M0131 is different from the M0130 besides the different mech (slim-line 2 heads vs full-height 1 head)? I have a memory that the external cable is different by one pin (head select? head data?) but it's a fuzzy memory. Might it be possible to "cut" the pin (via an adapter, not with clippers!) to make an 800K drive appear and act like a 400K drive to a Original-ROM Mac? Thanks for any input and pointers. All I've turned up is that they are different and that the M0131 works with a 512K (with software) or 512Ke (new ROMs) natively. If anyone happens to have cheap guts for an M0130, I have a shell I wouldn't mine repopulating. The aluminum RF shield is also long gone, but that can be approximated. Thanks, -ethan

12 years, 1 month

Eprom upgrade for KIP 2900 scanner/printer

by jrr＠flippers.com

OK, long shot here, but I figured someone here might actually have the old (1999) KIP 2900 series scanner/printer and as such may be able to help me get a copy of the Eprom upgrade so I can scan and save files to an XP based machine. The scanner is model 2012, and it currently has version 49102 (U225) Eprom code on the CPU module - I'm looking for something if at all available. You see, (there is a computer here) it is an obsolete machine, and perhaps not a classic - still someone may be using one of these wide format scanners (up to 36" wide by 56 feet!) and can help. Thanks, John :-#)#

12 years, 1 month

HD floppies on a ZX Spectrum

by lproven＠gmail.com

This might be a silly question... Since the specs of the MGT +D disk interface are now out there in the public domain... http://www.worldofspectrum.org/NotThePlusD/ ... but 720kB 3?" floppy drives are getting rather scarce, I was wondering... would it be viable to build a version that supported 1.4MB "HD" drives? I realise this would mean a different FDC chip, but are there other implications apart from tweaking the DOS? I know few 8-bits supported HD disks, but I don't really understand why. My electronics knowledge is poor. (Cue Tony Duell.) I am guessing that an 8-bit would struggled to read/write data fast enough to keep an HD diskette controller supplied with data, but I was wondering if that could be overcome with interlacing or adding some cache RAM? This is probably a completely pointless exercise - people seem more interested in using CF or SD media these days, but I enjoy the nostalgic element of actual floppy diskettes. -- 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

12 years, 1 month

My first "Computer"

by sales＠elecplus.com

My first "computer" was not really a computer per se, but was a learning machine made by Welch Allen Scientific. It consisted of a video display that you would wind a filmstrip through, with 5 buttons labeled A-E below the screen. The filmstrip presented a subject (mine was Algebra), giving basic background info and instructions for 3-5 screens. After the intro, you were given a problem to work out, with 5 multiple-choice answers at the bottom. If you pressed the correct button, it took you to the next section. If you pressed the wrong button, it knew which thought process you had gotten wrong, and took you back to that set of instructions again. The second set of questions was different than the first set, if you missed the first one. It was a great learning tool, and one I have never seen repeated in ANY Algebra program I have tried since! None of them now seem to know WHY you missed the problem, which this early system did understand. Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3343 / Virus Database: 3162/6347 - Release Date: 05/22/13

12 years, 1 month

Switches for Netcom DLV-11J/2?

by fraveydank＠gmail.com

Hi all, I have a two-port SLU for QBUS which appears to be a third-party, two-port version of the normal DLV11J. I'm having trouble coming up with documents describing the CSR and vector switch settings; there is a 12-switch block and a 10-switch one. It doesn't seem to correlate with the Sigma DLV11J clone I have (for which I have docs) which has DIP switches instead of jumpers for the settings. If anyone has docs for this board, I'm interested. Otherwise, I can reverse engineer it (it's only 2 layers and uses nothing but bog-standard parts). - Dave

12 years, 1 month

More Shameless Classic Computer trafficking.

by ittybittybytes＠gmail.com

More Stuff going up tonite at about 8pm. All with Buy-t-now for instant gratification. VAX VLC IS68K Qbus CPU Volker Craig VC404 I'll also be putting up some more stuff later this week: old Unibus expansion chassis, backplane and Power supplie(s) (former "project" I'll never get around to) DEC PDP 11/23+ w esdi controller and disks so keep watching http://www.ebay.com/sch/tcp1022/m.html?item=251277989792&ssPageName=STRK%3A… As always, mention you are a list member and I usually throw in some good stuff as a bonus. And thanks to all on this board who been buying my stuff, much appreciated.

12 years, 1 month

USB to Omnibus interface news

by hachti＠hachti.de

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

12 years, 1 month

Anyone have a spare DEC M7261?

by ian_primus＠yahoo.com

My PDP11/05 has a faulty control board - M7261. The deposit function doesn't work. I've traced it back, and I'm pretty sure it's a fault in one of the microcode PROMs. While I'm sure this is fixable, I would like to see this machine do something else, so I figure I'd check if anyone happens to have a spare board before I spend many more hours trying to fix this. -Ian

12 years, 1 month

It makes me cry!

by sales＠elecplus.com

I just talked to one of my recyclers in WI; they destroyed all their "monster machines" last month, including 6' DEC cabinets, Cray servers, Big Blue IBM cabinets, etc. He promises he will save them in the future, IF I can promise that someone will take them for more than scrap value. So, if you can take LARGE old servers from WI, please let me know. They will palletize properly for shipping. R2 certified recycler, so these must stay in US, and there will be paperwork to be filled out, since these will be sold untested. Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 (830)792-3400 phone (830)792-3404 fax AOL IM elcpls _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3343 / Virus Database: 3162/6341 - Release Date: 05/20/13

12 years, 1 month

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test-drb May 2013