test-drb June 2013

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

216 participants
271 discussions

NorthStar Advantage & DImension related items for sale

by LYNCHAJ＠YAHOO.COM

Hi I have a number of items for sale on vintage-computer.com forums. These are classic NorthStar CP/M and their early PC work-alike known as the Dimension. Due to size, weight, and fragility these are pick-up only items in the Dayton Ohio area. http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?28-Vintage-Computer -Items-For-Sale-or-Trade There is also some NorthStar original software, some terminals, and a Panasonic Pinwriter P2200 24 pin printer. Please contact me at LYNCHAJ at YAHOO.COM to discuss. Thanks! Andrew Lynch

11 years, 2 months

A challenging hunt!

by geneb＠deltasoft.com

I'm trying to locate a source code file called "dandd.pas". This was a game engine that spawned the room-oriented BBS software called Citadel. I've been unable to locate this at all. Google only returns information I already have. :( Help! g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind. http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home. Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies. ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes. http://www.scarletdme.org - Get it _today_!

11 years, 2 months

[cctalk] People suck++ (was:Play ID the DEC boards on ebay)

by dm561＠torfree.net

----- Original Message ----- Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:09:12 -0500 (CDT) From: Tothwolf <tothwolf at concentric.net> > ...At the same time, it really is the responsibility of the seller to > research something to see if it has value even in a distressed condition > before scrapping it, and if necessary, find someone knowledgeable in a > particular field who can help them properly evaluate it. Really? If I find a rusty old calculator I don't feel any _responsibility_ whatsoever. Although I'm sure there are people on here who would pass a law if they could, along with laws _forcing_ programmers to use obsolete hardware, users to pass an exam, and in general do and think 'the right way', I think I still have a choice about what to do with it, if anything; I will concede though that posting a video on Utube of my using it for target practice would be in bad taste. Like I said, I happen to have an almost identical board out of a calculator that was not repairable (IMO, which is the only opinion that counts IMO) and I've had no qualms about removing a few Nixies for use elsewhere; I was thinking of offering it to Rick or Brent for parts but since that just earns insults and condemnation instead of appreciation I think I'll just hang on to it and maybe make the core into a piece of 'art'...(hmm... add some tiny LEDs, maybe two or three of the Nixies... an image is starting to form...) > You wouldn't scrap an antique car and attempt to sell just the floor mats > and seats just because of some body rust and a non-functional engine. You > wouldn't sell the light bulbs and shelf pegs out of a lighted china > cabinet because of scratches or dings in the finish or a missing drawer > pull. Ridiculous comparison. > The outer chassis of my Commodore SuperPET is /very/ rusty, yet it can > still be cleaned up and repainted. It sat on the floor of the former > owner's garage for an unknown number of years before he put it out on the > curb (literally). And aren't you glad he did, instead of 'researching it', properly 'evaluating' it, and flogging it on eBay for an appropriate amount or more...

11 years, 2 months

Next completely OT topic:

by dm561＠torfree.net

----- Original Message ----- Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 21:24:32 -0700 From: Josh Dersch <derschjo at gmail.com> > Let's see... > We've had the discussion about the Raspberry Pi, and how it doesn't have > enough pins... ... ... > ...oh God make it stop make it stop make it stop. > - Josh ----- Reply: ----- You forgot the one about how "People suck++," especially housewives who, when they see a dirty rusty useless old calculator in the ditch, don't rush home with it and spend the next day or two cleaning it up, researching it, consulting with calculator experts, etc. before finally offering it on eBay for next to nothing (lest she be called a greedy thief and worse) or, better yet, offering it for free. m

11 years, 2 months

cctalk Digest, Vol 118, Issue 46

by jonas＠otter.se

On Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:17:21 -0400, David Riley <fraveydank at gmail.com> wrote: > I think a lot of the problems we experience with the USPS is the > "last mile", i.e. the actual delivery. For the most part, I'm > sure the USPS is fine at*processing* packages; then they hand > it off to your local postal service for delivery. Presumably, > Sweden's government sees fit to adequately fund your postal > service? Sweden's postal service is a government-owned corporation, owned partly by the Swedish and partly by the Danish government. It is as far as I know not publicly funded, but required to pay dividends to the governments. It has gone downhill, but is still better than the other alternatives. Schenker (owned by Deutsche Bahn) is cheaper for parcels but IMO rather less good. Usually the Post Office works reasonably well, but just this week they appear to have lost a parcel from Germany which was one of those signed-for things, which arrived while I was away and supposed to have been sent to the local pick-up place. However they do not know where it is. Very annoying. If it is lost they will pay for it, but that takes time and I will have to order my stuff all over again. /Jonas

11 years, 2 months

TU58 tape issues

by blstuart＠bellsouth.net

So I decided to write a TU58 emulator for my 6809 SBC to serve "tapes" >from an SD card. So far, I've only implemented a first version of the read side. It seems to work on an XXDP image I found online. However, when I try to boot an RT-11 tape image, I get: @1000G?BOOT-W-Error reading handler ?BOOT-W-Error reading handler ... ?BOOT-W-Error reading handler RT-11SJ V04.00A ?BOOT-W-Invalid or missing TT.SYS ?KMON-U-Overlay read error . .SHOW ?KMON-U-Overlay read error Any ideas on what might be causing this? I've dug up the old rtpip code and gotten it partially working in a more current environment, and it seems to be happy with the tape images I have. I've had this happen on two tape images. Also the original tapes from which these images were made are ones that I've booted from (after I made the tape images), albeit over 20 years ago. So it looks like either something strange in my tape images or something in my emulator that works to load the secondary boot, but fails for loading some other parts of the tape. BLS

11 years, 2 months

Raised flooring

by useddec＠gmail.com

I came across about 50 pieces of raised flooring today without (yet) any of the other parts. The owner said to make an offer. It's been sitting outside, four stacks on a pallet. I told him I didn't want it myself but would try to find a home for it. I couldn't bend to look at it and no way was I going to try to pick one up. I'm sure there are several people here who know the weight. I'm not sure of his zip, but mine is 61853 and he is within 25 miles or so. Feel free to contact me off list if you are interested. Thanks, Paul

11 years, 2 months

Review of Philipp Hachtmann's "Omnibus to USB!" board - Update

by lbickley＠bickleywest.com

I received my "Omnibus to USB" board for my PDP-8/E a while back, but a heavy work load prevented me from trying it out until the last couple of days. Review of the "Omnibus to USB" board by Philipp Hachtmann: ---------------------------------------------------------- What it is: A KL8E compatible board which runs at a "blinding" transfer speed. Currently, it's primary use is to dump and restore RK05 packs on a PDP-8/E/F/M to/from a PC. Speed: Transferring an entire RK05 pack to a PC takes less than 51 seconds. With verify it takes 1 minute and 40 seconds. Restoring a pack >from a PC image with or without verify to the RK05 takes the same amount of time as dumping. Will it work O.K. on a "loaded" system?: In short, the answer is "yes". Here's the configuration of my test PDP-8/E: (1) KK8-E CPU (1) KE8-E Extended arithmetic element (1) KM8-E Memory extension and timeshare (4) 8KW DEC Memory - total 32KW (1) RK05 Disk Drive (1) VC8/E X/Y -> VT01 (1) RX8-E Interface -> RX02 (1) MI8-EP Hardware bootstrap loader for RX01/RX02 (1) KL8E Async (1) DK8-EC Crystal Real Time Clock (1) Omnibus to USB This system is at the max in terms of current draw for the H724 power supply. How difficult is it to use? It's very easy to use. It comes pre-configured to use I/O addresses 40 and 41. (Switch changeable). All the software below is downloadable >from Philipp's website. To dump an RK05 pack here's the procedure: Load the SPEED8.RIM program into the PDP-8/E using the standard RIM loader. (Or use SPEED8.BIN via the standard OS/8 loader). Halt the system and set the switch register to 200. Clear/Load/Run On a PC running Linux, run "rktool" as follows: To dump an RK05 disk with verify: rktool -r -V filename To restore and RK05 disk with verify: rktool -w -V filename You can dump/restore as many packs as you like as long as you leave SPEED8 running in your 8/E/F/M. Is there anything to watch out for? 1) It's important to set your Linux USB port properly with the following: "stty -F /dev/ttyUSBx raw -echo" 2) [Change from previous email] There was a minor glitch in the original version of rktools. If you don't ask for a verify, you will get a large weird number of verify errors indicated at the completion of the read or write job. This is a false indication - the image is perfect. I found that a single variable was not initialized - so I updated "rktool" and now it works as expected. (I just sent the updated rktool to Philipp). Regards, Lyle -- Bickley Consulting West Inc. http://bickleywest.com "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

11 years, 2 months

Review of Philipp Hachtmann's "Omnibus to USB!"

by lbickley＠bickleywest.com

I received my "Omnibus to USB" board for my PDP-8/E a while back, but a heavy work load prevented me from trying it out until the last couple of days. Review of the "Omnibus to USB" board by Philipp Hachtmann: ---------------------------------------------------------- What it is: A KL8E compatible board which runs at a "blinding" transfer speed. Currently, it's primary use is to dump and restore RK05 packs on a PDP-8/E/F/M to/from a PC. Speed: Transferring an entire RK05 pack to a PC takes less than 51 seconds. With verify it takes 1 minute and 40 seconds. Restoring a pack >from a PC image with or without verify to the RK05 takes the same amount of time as dumping. Will it work O.K. on a "loaded" system?: In short, the answer is "yes". Here's the configuration of my test PDP-8/E: (1) KK8-E CPU (1) KE8-E Extended arithmetic element (1) KM8-E Memory extension and timeshare (4) 8KW DEC Memory - total 32KW (1) RK05 Disk Drive (1) VC8/E X/Y -> VT01 (1) RX8-E Interface -> RX02 (1) MI8-EP Hardware bootstrap loader for RX01/RX02 (1) KL8E Async (1) DK8-EC Crystal Real Time Clock (1) Omnibus to USB This system is at the max in terms of current draw for the H724 power supply. How difficult is it to use? It's very easy to use. It comes pre-configured to use I/O addresses 40 and 41. (Switch changeable). All the software below is downloadable >from Philipp's website. To dump an RK05 pack here's the procedure: Load the SPEED8.RIM program into the PDP-8/E using the standard RIM loader. (Or use SPEED8.BIN via the standard OS/8 loader). Halt the system and set the switch register to 200. Clear/Load/Run On a PC running Linux, run "rktool" as follows: To dump an RK05 disk with verify: rktool -r -V filename To restore and RK05 disk with verify: rktool -w -V filename You can dump/restore as many packs as you like as long as you leave SPEED8 running in your 8/E/F/M. Is there anything to watch out for? 1) It's important to set your Linux USB port properly with the following: "stty -F /dev/ttyUSBx raw -echo" 2) There's a minor glitch in the current version of rktools. If you don't ask for a verify, you will get a large negative number of verify errors indicated at the completion of the job. This is a false indication - the image is perfect. My solution is to always verify (-V). The board is so fast that there's no reason not to verify. Regards, Lyle -- Bickley Consulting West Inc. http://bickleywest.com "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

11 years, 2 months

stuffs and shipments, was Re: SCSI preprocessor for, HP16500

by jonas＠otter.se

On Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:13:18 -0400, David Riley <fraveydank at gmail.com> wrote: >>> Brazil isn't Italy! The postal service works (sort of) and it is not usual >>> >>for mail and packages "vanish" from nothing >> > >> > You should see the postal service here. I had what is possibly the last >> >remaining copy of some Forth documentation sent to me a few days ago. It >> >arrived mangled, about 1/3 of the pages missing, with a note from the postal >> >service telling me how much they care about the package, and that they're >> >"sorry". Fucking assholes. I wish they'd just go out of business and be >> >done with it. They've been limping along for years on gov't subsidies. > Ugh. Was that the stuff mentioned recently on the list? If so, at least > it got scanned first, but still. Ugh. > > It's a shame, really. The USPS used to be my preferred shipper, because > they did the best job for the lowest price. Things have gotten REALLY > bad in the past few years, especially where I live in Philadelphia; most > of the carriers genuinely do not care. There are a few of them who don't > even bother knocking when they come with a package and leave it on our > doorstep on a BUSY CITY STREET. We've even had one rubber-band a package > to the door handle. Someone tried to stuff a padded envelope full of > 6502s into the slot in our mailbox and gave up halfway because it got > stuck (I had to cut the package in half; fortunately, I could cut BETWEEN > two of the chips). > > Most of the time I swear they don't even knock (I work from home, so I > should be able to hear them knocking). One time a few weeks ago, we > got a slip in our mailbox when we never heard a knock, and when my wife > went to the post office the next day to pick it up, there was a line out > the door (in a post office that's not usually even busy) full of people > with the same story, all of whom had the same carrier who apparently > hadn't even brought the packages back to the post office. We eventually > got it the next day, but it was pretty much the last straw; I avoid USPS > shipping altogether now if I can help it. > > We have one older carrier who always knocks loudly and waits more than 3 > seconds for an answer at the door and never leaves the package on the > step. He's the ONLY ONE out of about 7 different carriers, and he's > about to retire. What a shame. > > I wonder if people didn't grouse so much whenever postage went up with > rising transit and administrative costs (and a drop in junk mail, which > also subsidized the service) the system might be better. A few months > ago, they were going to stop Saturday deliveries because no one would > accept a hike in postage rates, but our Congress decided that that just > wouldn't do and MANDATED that they continue Saturday delivery (without > actually offering any more money to sustain it). It's such a broken > system. > > > - Dave And yet everything (admittedly not an awful lot) I have had sent here to Sweden by USPS has arrived quickly, at least as quickly as stuff from Germany for instance, and in perfect condition... /Jonas

11 years, 2 months

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test-drb June 2013