January 2014 - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

The last time I had a chance to tinker with my malfunctioning PDP-8/A with two RL02's was way back in Feb. 2013... here is the most relevant tail of the old thread: > The connections from the drive select outputs on the RL8A checked > perfectly to the line receiver inputs on the RL logic board. While I > appreciate Rick's taking the time to make me a selectable version of > the RL02 oscillating seek.... he included a bug at no charge too ;) > > Specifically, the constant at 0230 (0100) selects the appropriate > drive and resets it all right (0101 in AC). But - later on down the > program, the SEEK (03) command is issued with another RLCB... however, > the AC is forced to 0003 by the microprogrammed 7325. > > (As is probably apparent by now, the AC must have 0103 in it to select > Drive 1). > > I edited the program to use a TAD 0231 and put the constant at 0231. > So instead of the CLA CLL CML IAC RAL (load AC with 03 the hard way, > an old-time DEC programmer's way to save one word when memory was a > precious commodity) :) the AC now loads with 0103 and lo and behold, > Drive 1 seeks merrily away! Restore the two constants to Drive 0 and > THAT drive seeks. OK. > > However, all was not lost... during the couple of hours of chasing my > tail wondering where the LSB of the drive select was going, I found > that I had inserted the header into the RL logic board crookedly and > bent two pins, one in the wrong hole and one shoved aside! :( > > Not only that, the line driver chip which provides the drive select > signals had come from the factory with NO solder at all on its Vcc pin > 16! > =:^O > Fixed that too. > > I think the OS/8 packs have been wiped out by now... various FAULT > lights coming on, especially on the 2nd drive in the chain... going to > build another system pack with VTserver which takes a good half-hour > or more at 19200 baud. Hope the servo tracks are ok, otherwise I'll > need to buy a couple of good packs! OK. Last week I finally fired up the 8/A again. The problems had actually gotten worse during the prolonged rest... I couldn't get either drive to work this time (fault lights on both, as soon as the Ready lights come on, even before any accesses). After much hair- pulling and 'scope troubleshooting, I finally found (inside drive 1) that I had improperly crimped one of the IDC connectors to the ribbon cable, inside the bottom drive in the rack, where it was making a variable resistance short between the two sector pulse drive lines! So, having fixed that, I verified that Rick's oscillating seek program works on either drive without faulting. Enter the constants for drive 0, drive 0 seeks no matter whether the first or second drive in the chain as long as the unit 0 plug is inserted. Same for drive 1. Both are not being selected simultaneously. I also entered a short program to get the two status words, and that reads the status of either drive correctly (idle, spin up, locked on track 0, spin down, write protect button pushed). Now, the original problem is still there, that OS/8 won't boot and the RL02 faults (with either the original OS/8 pack that may have been wiped, AND the remade one). Doesn't matter which drive is used as Drive 0, or whether the new or the original OS/8 pack... Hit the BOOT switch and Drive 0 audibly moves its heads, the fault light flashes briefly, then it goes back to being ready (and of course OS/8 is not running). The interesting part is if both drives are loaded, then the fault light on *both* drives flashes, then they both go ready again! I haven't recently tried disconnecting the second drive cable and just running with one drive, but that wasn't working before, either. I am not going to be able to sort this out (unless I use my ancient Tek 7D01 logic analyzer triggered by the fault signal) without a diagnostic pack... Does anyone have the diagnostic program set for PDP-8 and can put them on an RL02 disc pack? I could either mail a disc to you, or I could pay for one if a spare is available. thanks for any help! -Charles

11 years, 4 months

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MicroVAX II in BA23

by BHuntsman＠mail2.cu-portland.edu

Hi there! Time to do some DEC collecting again... Just wondering, does anyone have a MicroVAX II in BA23 pedestal chassis they'd be willing to sell? Thanks in advance!! -Ben

11 years, 4 months

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Happy 30 Macintosh

by christian_liendo＠yahoo.com

CNN's page on Mac's 30 http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/22/tech/gallery/evolution-of-mac/index.html?hpt=…

11 years, 4 months

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SyQuest Drives

by bpettitx＠comcast.net

To Tom Gardner, I'm working this week with Jason Honigberg. Did you know him at SyQuest? Is there anything specific I can ask him that might help you? Billy Pettit bpettitx at comcast.net

11 years, 4 months

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TU58-DA on eBay

by nf6x＠nf6x.net

So, does anybody want to admit to winning the TU58-DA (desktop dual TU58 drive with controller) on eBay this afternoon? I sadly didn't win it, but I determined how much the winner had to pay for it. ;) P.S.: I'm on the lookout for a TU58-CA, the rack-mountable version. -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net> http://www.nf6x.net/

11 years, 4 months

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eBay PDP-12

by glen.slick＠gmail.com

Here's something you don't see on eBay: Vintage PDP-12 computer was completely operational MUST PICK UP http://www.ebay.com/itm/161199469414 Long Island, NY How many of these exist? How much will this one go for? -Glen

11 years, 4 months

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Looking for SMS OMTI 7400 controller

by andy.piercy＠gmail.com

Folks, I'm looking for a replacement SCSI to ESDI controller made by SMS for a Masscomp I,m trying to get running. Its an SMS OMTI 7400 controller which supports ESDI/ST506 hard drives, QIC 02 cart tape, and floppy drive. The current controller has failed in the floppy drive circuitry. However I'm in the process of trying to source and replace the possible faulty components but I was wondering if anyone had a spare they would be willing to part with - for cash of cause. Also looking for an ESDI hard drive, my Micropolis 1355 has failed but not the usual sticky bumper issue.. Many thanks Andy

11 years, 4 months

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DEC TK50 and controller available

by elson＠pico-systems.com

I have a TK50 and M7546 (Q-bus) controller available. The drive is pretty dirty, you will HAVE to open it up and clean it before use, but it looks like it should work after that. I don't have the cable, it was from one of the boxes that had an interconnect board in the middle between all the controllers and drives. I'm in the St. Louis, MO area, and really only want to get the packing and shipping covered. Jon

11 years, 4 months

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cctech Digest, Vol 125, Issue 41

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> From: Pontus Pihlgren <pontus at Update.UU.SE> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" < > cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Cc: > Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 09:42:11 +0100 > Subject: Re: eBay PDP-12 > On Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 02:51:54PM +0000, Adam Sampson wrote: > > Pontus Pihlgren <pontus at Update.UU.SE> writes: > > > > >> How many of these exist? > > > I can't know for sure, but here is a lower bound: 11 > > > > Robert Krten has a longer list of potentially-surviving PDP-12s: > > http://dustyoldcomputers.com/pdp12/location.html > > All the ones I listed are in Krten's list. > > /P > The RICM is negotiating with a private collector to get a PDP-12 that is not on Robert's list. Michael Thompson

11 years, 4 months

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VAXBrick value?

by BHuntsman＠mail2.cu-portland.edu

Anyone here have a VAXBrick, or know what a fair price on one might be? I've got a drop on one but the guy wants almost $2,000... I know they're rare and all, but that seems a bit on the ridiculous side to me... I could be totally wrong though. Any input is appreciated. -Ben

11 years, 4 months

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Any interest in DEC Storage Expansion Units?

by lproven＠gmail.com

I suddenly have 5 of the things! I think that 2 of them are empty, but 3 have hard disks in: 1 * RZ52 (5.25" FH) 2 * RZ25 (3.5" HH) - I think this is a rebadged Conner CP3100, a 105MB drive I don't yet know if they work. Of any interest to anyone, do you folk think? -- 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

11 years, 4 months

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cctech Digest, Vol 125, Issue 41

by ajp166＠verizon.net

On 01/21/2014 11:03 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: >> Hi guys, >> >> I've looked trough my Z80 Stuff some minutes before b'cause a friend wanted >> an Z80A CPU, ok found it. In a Bag 6 uPD780-1 which are also Z80A's, I found >> two uPD7201C. I've googeled some time before that the uPD7201A is some >> Z80-SIO - alike, has an other Pinout for example and should be compatible > Well, it's synchronous/asynchronous serial chip, but I don't think it's > very similar to the Z80-SIO Its a SIO like part (same register structure) with one difference the interface is 8085/8088/8086 compatable. Its awkward to use with Z80 and why would one as the SIO can be had. The biggest differnce is the interrupt is a Call(8085) or vector(8088) and can interact with the 8259A. FYI the part was created by NEC and the 8274 was the licensed copy though Intel often lagged by a mask rev. Try google.. If I had a scanner I have the NEC Microcomputers data catalog, alas no scanner. Allison

11 years, 4 months

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The mystery of the STRADDLEPRINT aka Axiom ParallAx CD printer interface

by drlegendre＠gmail.com

Now what the heck is going on here? I needed to hook up a printer to my Commodore 64, and as luck would have it, there was an interface among my stuff. It's a STRADDLEPRINT Interface with Graphics - but I had no manual for it, and didn't know how to configure it, etc. Google has nada for it. Digging through my manuals, I came across a bad photocopy of the manual for an Axiom ParallAx CD interface for Commodore. I thought maybe, just maybe, it might have some clues for me. So I start going over it.. and my luck, it seems to describe what I have rather well.. rather TOO well, in fact. As the similarities piled up, I finally opened the Straddle case and.. the board is marked "ParallAx CD ver. XX". So once again, what the heck is going on, here? Was Straddle actually Axiom / Parallax - or perhaps vice-versa?

11 years, 4 months

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What to preserve from the pre-IP era

by mark.kahrs＠gmail.com

What about virtual circuit (not over IP) stuff? For example from Bell Labs: Datakit, Xunet, etc?

11 years, 4 months

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Wolfgang Eichberger's PDP-11 OS History Blog

by captainkirk359＠gmail.com

I'm wondering if any one has archived the contents of Mr. Eichberger's blog pages that have a list the various PDP-11 operating systems? His old blogspot page says the content has moved to his new site. And the new site -- at least to me -- appears to be rather lacking in any form of content. It was a really good reference, and now that I finally have some time to actively get back into my classic computing hobby, I can't find the reference list of operating systems. (I mostly am trying to find the which version of RSX-11/M+ is most current, and which is the most current RSX-11/M+ is available for download.) Also, does anyone have a copy of the DSM-11 tape from the Computer Conservation Society webpage? Trying to download the image from their provided link 404's. Thank you, Christian -- Christian M. Gauger-Cosgrove STCKON08DS0 Contact information available upon request.

11 years, 4 months

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cctalk Digest, Vol 125, Issue 42

by mtapley＠swri.edu

On Jan 20, 2014, at 4:23 PM, Al Kossow wrote: > Just throwing this out to see what other people think. > > I suspect we're at the tail end of the usage life of devices that don't speak IP. > I'm mostly thinking about networking devices 80's > 00's > > So, what needs to be preserved? How much of this does CHM need to do? Is any other > collecting institution already covering this? How much is within scope? Al, you are probably very far ahead of me, but I have two suggestions: 1) ?bridge? pieces - the Kindergarten example is probably a Dayna EtherPrint-T or Asante EN/SC type device that allowed a LocalTalk network to bridge to an Ethertalk network. In terms of long-term, serious restoration/preservation, having one of those available means having a device that could be (maybe) deconstructed to give information about both types of network. It also seems pretty helpful to anyone trying to restore hardware on the less-used (LocalTalk) side. 2) Interconnects used to parallelize processors in supercomputer families - Infiniband and the like. This may be a hard goal, but it could be that retiring supercomputer sites may have the stuff available, and recalling the Cray software discussion going on now, this might be a good time to ask. And, looking far ahead, some characteristics of these interconnects will be needed to supply the voracious data demands being put on the internet, so they may serve as prototypes for data center interconnects in widespread use years from now. My two cents, HTH. - Mark

11 years, 4 months

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"The search for the lost Cray supercomputer OS"

by lproven＠gmail.com

No doubt you will all pick many holes in this, but... Summary: Chris Fenton and Andras Tantos decided they wanted a model of the famed supercomputer for their desk. It turned out to be a more complicated project than expected. http://gigaom.com/2014/01/14/the-search-for-the-lost-cray-supercomputer-os/ -- 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

11 years, 4 months

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windows ce

by kspt.tor＠gmail.com

On 17 January 2014 20:20, John Foust <jfoust at threedee.com> wrote: > At 11:26 AM 1/17/2014, Chuck Guzis wrote: >>On 01/17/2014 04:54 AM, Liam Proven wrote: >>>You cannot install this onto a PC. It is not a PC OS and it was not >>>available to the public. It *only* came in the ROM of certain >>>battery-powered pocket devices. >> >>Not entirely true! WinCE was extensively deployed on x86 thin clients. > > Like point-of-purchase systems, right? > > - John Some years ago I watched the in-flight movie system on a Lufthansa flight trying to reboot (the type with one video screen embedded in the chair in front of you). IIRC it took something between five and ten minutes to boot. -Tor

11 years, 4 months

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What to preserve from the pre-IP era

by seefriek＠gmail.com

From: Richard <legalize at xmission.com> >In particular, I've been trying to figure out the synchronous >communications schemes that were used in the airline industry in order >to get some airline reservation terminals in my collection talking. Ug...you're looking for Airline Control Protocol (ALC) aka SITA P1024B. The terminals speak a multidrop bisync serial protocol with 6-bit characters and next to no error detection or correction. To do anything useful, you'll need a terminal controller (PAD) and something that pretends to be IBM TPF (airline industry specific mainframe OS) running an IPARS reservation system. X.25 was usually used to connect the terminal PADs to the hosts. The good news is that all of this is very well documented and there's a whole ecosystem of companies that still support this mess. Even Cisco supports ALC in their IBM feature set for IOS, so theoretically you could use that as a PAD (I've never tried). 20+ years ago I was involved with a project to build an ALC TPAD emulator on top of SVR4 that would let us replace those clunky terminals with PCs and translate IP messages to ALC for the back end, among other things.

11 years, 4 months

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windows ce

by rmx44＠aim.com

looking to find windows ce. mostly what i come up with are devices that have windows ce on them or i find the software that was installed along side windows ce. i would like to find windows ce 6.0 if possible. i would like to play around with it. maybe someone even has a windows ce 6.0 palmtop or something even

11 years, 4 months

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1960s Big Iron

by lproven＠gmail.com

An author friend has just put up one of his occasional retro-futuristic photoblogs. But this time, he has a selection of '60s mainframes which might amuse. They're the bottom section of tyhe post... -- 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

11 years, 4 months

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More DEC things available

by paulkoning＠comcast.net

Since others are running ?DEC things available? I?ll add a few of mine. Free; I?ll mail them inside the USA. Outside the USA, please ask. a. Three Unibus jumpers, M9202 ? the kind with 3 feet of Unibus cable folded between the two circuit boards. b. One DEFPA-DA dual attached FDDI NIC, PCI interface. No software for it, but it should be ok though I?ve never used it myself. c. Two DEC Pro hard drive controllers (device code 401). One is labelled ?bad? though it looks physically intact; the other is not so labelled and also appears ok. Not tested. paul

11 years, 4 months

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Bernoulli 10 MB packs free if you can read them

by akb+lists.cctalk＠mirror.to

I have a stack of maybe ten 10MB Bernoulli box packs. I'm not sure what's on them; I think they came from a clean-out of a business I did in the 90s. If there's anything interesting on them, I'd like it to get archived someplace. Would anyone with a working drive be interested in reading them in exchange for keeping the packs? I'll pay shipping in the U.S. --akb

11 years, 4 months

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More DEC stuff I'm getting rid of

by elson＠pico-systems.com

Hello, I have the following items to get rid of: 1 KA650 with two M7621 memory boards and cabinet kit (without battery). 1 KA630-AA, cabinet kit, but no memory. 1 KA630-AA, M7608 and M7609 memory boards, cabinet kit. 1 VCB-02 with keyboard, mouse and VR290DA monitor. The monitor would be really difficult to pack for safe shipping, however. 1 DHV11 serial multiplexer. 1 CQD-223/M SCSI disk controller (made by CMD). 1 Dilog DQ153 G. (Pertek tape controller??) 1 AVIV mag tape control, might have been for Storage Tech tape drives. 1 M3106 4-line serial mux with dirty cabinet kit 1 Dilog ESDI disk controller (I think) 1 M7607 memory 1 Andromeda MFM disk and floppy controller 1 MSC Q-bus memory board 1 MSC double-widw Q-bus memory board 1 M7264 LSI-11 1 M7950 parallel interface board 1 Dilog DQ132 2 M7941 parallel interface 1 M8027 LP interface I can send photos or do other research to try to confirm the identity of some of these boards, if interested. I have some Q-22 and maybe Q-18 backplanes, too. Jon

11 years, 4 months

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"The search for the lost Cray supercomputer OS"

by seefriek＠gmail.com

From: allison <ajp166 at verizon.net> > It was my understanding that a smaller machine managed it and fed it and accepted > fire hose rate data from it and there was likely no OS but a framework that the specific > application was supported by. It was from all I read not used as a general purpose > machine like a VAX or CDC 6000. So rather than OS you likely looking for something > like VAX ELN, PDP-11 IOX, or some other library of "stuff". The original Cray OS (COS) was basically a batch OS. More than just a framework, but less of an OS than, say, OS/370. They were indeed front-ended by a host machine (the one at Pittsburgh had 2 (I think) VAX/VMS hosts) where you'd write and compile your Fortran, stage your data, and write a script to get everything submitted to the Cray run queue and collect the results. Later (mid 80s) they came out with UniCOS, which was a SVR2-ish Unix port which let you eliminate the front ends. I recall some vi-v-emacs level internecine warfare between the "UniCOS is awesome" and "all that Unix overhead is a waste of a perfectly good Cray" camps. Internally, Cray was committed to UniCOS, so that's who "won".

11 years, 4 months

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"The search for the lost Cray supercomputer OS"

by seefriek＠gmail.com

From: Zane Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> > As for array processor software, it sounds like we may need to talk. I believe I still > have a FPS array processor tape. I've never really considered that it might be rare. > I suppose I should have also grabbed all the spares at the time I got tape. Yup. I know more than one FPS that ended up getting tossed because no one kept the software (and in one case, because the software was for a host that no one had any more). Unfortunate...they're really interesting devices.

11 years, 4 months

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Talking to Dave McGuire

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

It has been at least a year and a half that I sent my IOB6120 board to Dave McGuire for assembly. I haven't heard from him in a while. Does anyone know what's up with him? -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu

11 years, 4 months

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External 5-1/4" drive for Tandy 1000EX

by drlegendre＠gmail.com

Does anybody have a spare external drive for a Tandy 1000EX XT clone? If not, is there a way to make a 'generic' 5-1/4" drive work with it? IIRC the 1000EX connector is a basic card-edge deal, probably 34pin. When I found the machine, the ext. drive wasn't sitting that far away from it, but not realizing they were a pair, I just walked away from it. Been bugging me for years, what a PITA with one drive, lol. Gotta gotta get it working. Thanks for any & all assistance!

11 years, 4 months

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MARCH's UNIVAC

by evan＠snarc.net

For the past couple of years we in MARCH have been teasing people with the knowledge that we have a UNIVAC mainframe. :) It's a model 1219-B (1965 transistor system) used on Navy ships for things like radar and weapons system control. This weekend we finally got around to taking some good pictures of it in our storage warehouse. The computer was a gift to us from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Here are the five main racks: http://snarc.net/1219b/all_comp.jpg. Left to right: A/D converter (ignore the cable spools on its pallet), data recorder / IO hub, one of two identical tape drives, both CPUs. Here are three of the four IO consoles (paper tape below, TTY above): http://snarc.net/1219b/all_io.jpg. All are identical. The second tape drive and the fourth paper tape/TTY console are on on display in our museum. Now for some close-up pictures. 1. A/D control panel: http://snarc.net/1219b/close_control.jpg. 1a. Details: http://snarc.net/1219b/close_control_detail.jpg 2. CPU: http://snarc.net/1219b/close_cpu.jpg (unfortunately both CPUs are missing the top UNIVAC nameplates.) 3. Tape drive: http://snarc.net/1219b/close_tape.jpg 4. Data recorder and I/O hub: http://snarc.net/1219b/close_datarecorder_io.jpg 5. Paper tape / TTY console: http://snarc.net/1219b/close_io.jpg No, we haven't tried to power it up ... it might be another few years before we get there, plus, we're missing the core memory, software, various important cables, and most of the manuals. We also don't have the electronic terminal or the line printer. Still, it's one damn impressive-looking computer, and we're very proud to own it! For context: each CPU weighs about 1,500 pounds. Each tape drive cabinet weighs about 1,000 pounds (you can see it has two drives inside the cabinet; each is a 7MB, 7-track tape.) We hope to be able to take this out of storage and put it on static display at VCF East but that depends on a bunch of other factors, like whether our forklift is working, etc.....

11 years, 4 months

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paper tape punch outs

by tdk.knight＠gmail.com

anyone looking for a bunch to use in a display i got a pile from making h11 tapes copies and curious befor i tossed it if anyone wanted it that bluish white colour of dec tape adrian

11 years, 4 months

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Droids

by bpettitx＠comcast.net

On 01/17/2014 12:06 PM, allison wrote: <snip> > >Another Lucas company, Droids Inc,? had one on order.? Whatever happened to them anyway? Are you think "Droids works" makers of EditDroid and SoundDroid? > Nope. There was a Lucas company called Droids Inc. In San Rafael. I only visited them, but know they were still around a year later. Billy

11 years, 4 months

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1541 Alignment disk

by billdeg＠buzz1.com

>From: "Daniel V. Mackey" <n2dvm at arrl.net> Subject: 1541 Alignment disk. >Does anyone have a Dysan Alignment disk for the 1541 or know where a disk can be found/purchased? >Thanks. ----- Have you tried the 1541-1571 drive alignment program by Free Spirit Software? PM me if you need assistance. Bill Vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm

11 years, 4 months

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MAINDEC Diagnostic Tape Documentation for the PDP-8/A?

by bobvines00＠gmail.com

Does anyone have documentation (printed or PDF) for any of the following MAINDEC diagnostic tapes for the PDP-8/A?: MAINDEC-08-DJKKA-B-D, PDP-8/A CPU TEST, dated Feb. 15, 1975 MAINDEC-08-DJDKA-C-PB1, DKC8-AA OPTION, TEST #1, dated 04/04/77 MAINDEC-08-DJKMA-B-PB1, KM8-A OPTION TEST #2, dated 11/08/76 (Or any others?) If you've got printed copies, could you either scan them or copy them for me? I'm more than willing to cover your copying & mailing costs. Or email the PDF copies (or URLs)? I'll send copies of everything to Al and David Gesswein for posting online. Thanks, Bob

11 years, 4 months

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"The search for the lost Cray supercomputer OS"

by mta＠umich.edu

--On January 19, 2014 10:54:55 AM +0000 Dave <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com> wrote: > The folks where I worked at the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory > (POL) > > http://www.pol.ac.uk/ > > which was based at Bidston Observatory > > http://www.bidstonhill.org.uk/heritage/trail08/ > > had access to the Cray at Daresbury via an Remote Job Entry system. > > http://tardis.dl.ac.uk/computing_history/cray-1s.html > > They used it for Oceanographic modelling. I seem to remember we had > an allocation of one hour of CPU time per week and we struggled to > use it. > (Is this the same Cray we are talking about here?) No, I don't think so. The Cray I'm talking about was housed in a building on Guilford Street in London. My job at the time was to hook it up to an HP machine running Ultrix so people could submit work to it interactively. In the process I may have been the first person to put IP protocol packets onto the ULCC network. At that time people in the UK were suspicious of TCP/IP. I think they became less suspicious when the found that the work I was doing didn't cause problems. Mike

11 years, 4 months

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Search For Missing Cray OS

by bpettitx＠comcast.net

On 01/17/2014 12:06 PM, allison wrote: > One has to remember what the machines were used for. It was designed > to solve very large problems that create huge arrays. Oil mapping is > one thing that does that, the others explode. Two local machines that I remember was Apple, using Cray in their Esthetics Design Lab and another at Industrial Light and Magic to control the models in many of the scenes from Star Wars. Another Lucas company, Droids Inc, had one on order. Whatever happened to them anyway? The US Navy had at least one in Monterrey at the Fleet Weather Station. I can't find my notes, but I'm certain that GM had one or more in their design department in detroit. Billy

11 years, 4 months

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eBay PDP-12

by ball.of.john＠gmail.com

>I can't know for sure, but here is a lower bound: 11 > >Clubs: >1 - Update Computer Club, Uppsala >2 - Retro-Computing Society of Rhode Island. > >Museums: >1 - Living Computer Museum, Seattle >3 - Computer History Museum, Mountain view (the may have more, but at least 3) > >Private collections: >3 - Undisclosed :) > Pontus. The Corestore has two PDP-12's as well. -John

11 years, 4 months

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PDP-8/E MM8EJ G233 Troubles

by kylevowen＠gmail.com

Hi all, Recently, my PDP-8/E has been acting funny. I finally had some time tonight to run a memory test and found that all addresses matching the pattern XX5XX read back all zeros. Everything else tests fine. I swapped the XY driver board (G233) and found that the problem went away. I can't seem to locate a schematic online. My PDP-8/E preliminary maintenance manual only describes the G227, for the 4k core board. Can anyone help with a schematic, or judging from the symptom, point me to a particular area on the board? I've got a 'scope and should be able to diagnose it if I know where to start looking. Thanks, Kyle

11 years, 4 months

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Downloading to PDP-8/A (was: Need help with Advantech PCL-740 serial card)

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

Finally, I have a bidirectional 20 ma current loop between my old desktop PC and the 8/A :) There was another "gotcha"... although the power for both transmit and receive current loops comes from the M8316 in the 8/A, the line driver on the PCL-740 card is *not* isolated from ground even when set to passive mode! The 20 ma was there on mark all right, and no current on space, but the design of the M8316 card interface is such that isolation is required for both the + and - terminals. So I had to whip up a quick optoisolator-based board (although a small fast relay would work for 110 baud, I didn't have one handy and I may want to download large files at a faster rate). Anyway. Now I have a set of files (AJRL**.BN) and need to download them to the 8/A. First I have to toggle in the RIM loader, of course. But are these binary files in RIM or BIN mode? If the latter, can I use the PC to send the BIN loader over to the 8/A? thanks Charles

11 years, 4 months

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xt1140 on MicroVAX 2000

by emu＠e-bbes.com

Hi all, anybody out here has the parameters for the TEST70 on a microVAX to format a Maxtor xt1140 disk? Actually just trying to test a disk for a friend, and all i have is the VAX ... Cheers

11 years, 4 months

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Need help with Advantech PCL-740 serial card

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

On Sat, 18 Jan 2014 12:00:01 -0600, you wrote: >>From: Jonathan Katz <jon at jonworld.com> >> >>On Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 10:22 AM, Charles >><charlesmorris800 at centurytel.net> wrote: >>> I have an ancient (AMD K6, 300 MHz, Win XP) desktop PC that I am >>> trying to use to download RL02 diagnostics to my PDP-8/A via the TTY >>> console port (20 ma current loop). >> >>Not familiar with this at all, but two things. >> >>1) I remember being able to set IRQs on PCI slots in this era of >>systems. Maybe you need to play with that? >> >>2) Have you tried a protocol other than current loop on this ISA card >>(like RS-232) to another system to see if it works? > >I suspect you are right - that the card is somehow not signaling the PC that it is ready to accept data. But there are no IRQ conflicts (card is jumpered to 12 and Windows is unaware of anything else using 12, or address 0210-7). The existing serial ports are on 03F8, IRQ5 and so forth. Although the PCI slots do have a "plug & play/Auto" setting, I removed every card except this one and the problem is still there! > >Yes, I have tried RS-232. The problem is not the line drivers/receivers... no data is appearing at the UART's TxD pin regardless of which set of buffers it then goes to. And as I noted, I did hard-wire the RTS, CTS, DTR lines and they are being sensed, and do not appear to be telling the port to hold off. > >This card has a controller chip by Lattice and the UART (and a small amount of glue logic). No schematic information of course. > >Will keep trying. Thanks for the help. >>From: Jonathan Katz <jon at jonworld.com> >> >>On Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 10:22 AM, Charles >><charlesmorris800 at centurytel.net> wrote: >>> I have an ancient (AMD K6, 300 MHz, Win XP) desktop PC that I am >>> trying to use to download RL02 diagnostics to my PDP-8/A via the TTY >>> console port (20 ma current loop). >> >>Not familiar with this at all, but two things. >> >>1) I remember being able to set IRQs on PCI slots in this era of >>systems. Maybe you need to play with that? >> >>2) Have you tried a protocol other than current loop on this ISA card >>(like RS-232) to another system to see if it works? > >I suspect you are right - that the card is somehow not signaling the PC that it is ready to accept data. But there are no IRQ conflicts (card is jumpered to 12 and Windows is unaware of anything else using 12, or address 0210-7). The existing serial ports are on 03F8, IRQ5 and so forth. Although the PCI slots do have a "plug & play/Auto" setting, I removed every card except this one and the problem is still there! > >Yes, I have tried RS-232. The problem is not the line drivers/receivers... no data is appearing at the UART's TxD pin regardless of which set of buffers it then goes to. And as I noted, I did hard-wire the RTS, CTS, DTR lines and they are being sensed, and do not appear to be telling the port to hold off. > >This card has a controller chip by Lattice and the UART (and a small amount of glue logic). No schematic information of course. > >Will keep trying. Thanks for the help. I got it working at last! Changed the card (and COM3 port) settings to IRQ5 and it sends and receives through a loopback test of the current loop interface. Tx and Rx lights are flickering, and my trusty Tek scope shows a nice 110 baud data stream in the current loop :) Yet another multi-hour casualty of Microsoft legacy software. No idea why it wouldn't work on IRQ12 with all other cards removed and the onboard hardware not using that interrupt. Sigh. Now to figure out how to download the RL diagnostics, which are binary files! Hopefully it will be as simple as COPY AJRLxx.BN/B COM3: but we shall see. ... and of course I need the BIN loader running on the 8/A (unless those files are in RIM format?) Anyone know? -Charles

11 years, 4 months

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"The search for the lost Cray supercomputer OS"

by cruff＠ruffspot.net

On Jan 18, 2014, Jos Dreesen wrote: > The ETH also had a Cray, here it is sitting lonely in the groundfloor : http://www.flickr.com/photos/orrc/2434182074/ > Don't know the exact type though. It looks to be a Cray-1, though I can't tell if it is an A, S or M variant. It is displayed in a similar fashion to how the Cray-1A, serial 3 is displayed in the first basement at NCAR near the rear entrances to the Mesa Lab computer room. We even have a display adjacent to it comparing it to an iPhone 3 from a computing capacity point of view. I'm really kicking myself now that I didn't think to stash away the COS software and documentation years ago when our last COS Cray was decommissioned, but I wasn't in the group that was responsible for administering the Crays. I did spelunk through some storage areas and offices when people retired, but did not find anything that isn't already on bitsavers.

11 years, 4 months

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Need help with Advantech PCL-740 serial card

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

On Sat, 18 Jan 2014 12:00:01 -0600, you wrote: >From: Jonathan Katz <jon at jonworld.com> > >On Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 10:22 AM, Charles ><charlesmorris800 at centurytel.net> wrote: >> I have an ancient (AMD K6, 300 MHz, Win XP) desktop PC that I am >> trying to use to download RL02 diagnostics to my PDP-8/A via the TTY >> console port (20 ma current loop). > >Not familiar with this at all, but two things. > >1) I remember being able to set IRQs on PCI slots in this era of >systems. Maybe you need to play with that? > >2) Have you tried a protocol other than current loop on this ISA card >(like RS-232) to another system to see if it works? I suspect you are right - that the card is somehow not signaling the PC that it is ready to accept data. But there are no IRQ conflicts (card is jumpered to 12 and Windows is unaware of anything else using 12, or address 0210-7). The existing serial ports are on 03F8, IRQ5 and so forth. Although the PCI slots do have a "plug & play/Auto" setting, I removed every card except this one and the problem is still there! Yes, I have tried RS-232. The problem is not the line drivers/receivers... no data is appearing at the UART's TxD pin regardless of which set of buffers it then goes to. And as I noted, I did hard-wire the RTS, CTS, DTR lines and they are being sensed, and do not appear to be telling the port to hold off. This card has a controller chip by Lattice and the UART (and a small amount of glue logic). No schematic information of course. Will keep trying. Thanks for the help.

11 years, 4 months

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Need help with Advantech PCL-740 serial card

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

I have an ancient (AMD K6, 300 MHz, Win XP) desktop PC that I am trying to use to download RL02 diagnostics to my PDP-8/A via the TTY console port (20 ma current loop). I bought an Advantech PCL-740 card (ISA slot) which has one port that can be configured for RS-232, 422, 485 or current loop. But I cannot get it to transmit any data no matter what, and I'm pulling my hair out! I downloaded the drivers on Advantech's website and they do show I can change the status of the RTS, CTS, etc. control lines. On transmit test, the status box keeps displaying "Tx Pending" once a second, but nothing comes out on the line. I scoped directly on the 16550 UART chip and I can see the various interrupt and chip select lines moving, and the baud rate clock, but the transmit data pin never changes state.The seller shipped me another card, and it behaves identically. The software requires the user to install the COM3: port under Win XP, then separately configure the board to that port with the Advantech program. At the command prompt or in Device Manager, MODE COM3: shows that the port is getting set up with the appropriate parameters. While in the DOS box, attempting to copy a file directly to COM3: results in a "The handle is invalid. No files were copied" message. Don't know the significance of that? Is there some BIOS-level problem wiith the motherboard I should be looking for? I have used this PC with vtserver to send data via the onboard COM1: port and it does work. There are no IRQ or port address conflicts. thanks Charles

11 years, 4 months

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PDP-8/E MM8EJ G233 Troubles

by bobvines00＠gmail.com

> Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 00:38:44 -0600 > From: Kyle Owen <kylevowen at gmail.com> > Subject: PDP-8/E MM8EJ G233 Troubles > > Hi all, > > Recently, my PDP-8/E has been acting funny. I finally had some time tonight > to run a memory test and found that all addresses matching the pattern > XX5XX read back all zeros. Everything else tests fine. I swapped the XY > driver board (G233) and found that the problem went away. > > I can't seem to locate a schematic online. My PDP-8/E preliminary > maintenance manual only describes the G227, for the 4k core board. Can > anyone help with a schematic, or judging from the symptom, point me to a > particular area on the board? I've got a 'scope and should be able to > diagnose it if I know where to start looking. > > Thanks, > > Kyle http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp8/pdp8e/ has the -8/E maintenance manual set (that is not the preliminary version). Schematics for your MM8EJ are also there, look at http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp8/pdp8e/MM8-EJ_Engineering_Dr… - it gives schematics along with some waveforms and some acceptance tests in the Engineering Specs. Bob

11 years, 4 months

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Old Books

by bpettitx＠comcast.net

Relative to the offer for old computer books, a source to look is the local library. I do volunteer work for the Friends of the Pleasanton Library. We get book donations every day, sometimes huge ones. We gather these up and have a sale every six months. Berkeley has a full time store to sell donations. Sunnyvale has a sale every month. And often there are computer books and the occassional computer magazines. But because it is impossible to sell anything older than a couple of years old, the rest are sent elsewhere. If the book is interesting, I save it for Al. But he gets so many from others like me, that he can't accept more than a tiny fraction of what is available. Sometimes the quantity is overwhelming. We had a pickup load about 3 months ago. A Programmer cleaned out his house. This week, I got a couple of 6502 assembly language books, some CP/M books, a nice RS-232 book that did go to Al. Point is work with your local library, and you might have access to hundreds of donated old computer books. And software and games. That they have no home for. Billy

11 years, 4 months

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Semi-OT: Anyone have an extra logic pulser they can let go?

by drlegendre＠gmail.com

Title says it. Anybody have a spare logic pulser I can buy or barter? Something like an RSR LP620 or any of the numerous re-badged versions such as B&K DP31A, etc. would be fine. Just need a basic unit to do some anticipated t-shooting as I reassemble the Altair. Contact me on or off-list if you like. Thanks!

11 years, 4 months

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LA120 PSU: 555 timer?

by b4＠gewt.net

Evening... This is stumping me. What exactly is the 555 being used for? If I can figure out what it's doing, I can debug it further and solve my problems. -- Cory Smelosky http://gewt.net Personal stuff http://gimme-sympathy.org Projects

11 years, 4 months

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DEC RD53 hard drive

by djg＠pdp8online.com

I pulled out my DEC RD53 for testing the archiver and surprise the heads were stuck. I opened it and freed them but wasn't able to find the bumper that is the cause of the problem. I put pictures here. http://www.pdp8online.com/rd53/rd53.shtml Does anyone on the list know where the bumper is and can say in relation to my pictures? The first drive hasn't restuck so far but I have another to do. Also does anyone know the data format for the stuff the RQDX3 puts on the first few tracks? I think its the sparing information and other disk organization information. If it wasn't too hard I was going to see if I can convert my extracted data to an image usable under SIMH. The low level format is strange. The first 3 sectors on track 0 are in one format then 3 track worth of sectors with a different CRC code which is where I suspect the controller is storing its stuff. Also some funny stuff at the end of the disk.

11 years, 4 months

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Modifying LA120-AA for H7150

by b4＠gewt.net

Afternoon, Until I can get a 'scope to fix up the H7110 I want to get the rest of the LA120 up so I can look for any other faults. However...I didn't realise the input to it was slightly different. ;) How can I adapt the input to the H7150 from the input designed for the H7110? (The power switch had broken anyway, I could use that replaced...I think there are cutouts for the voltage selector, too.) -- Cory Smelosky http://gewt.net Personal stuff http://gimme-sympathy.org Projects

11 years, 4 months

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manuals, booklets, instructions, leaflets, etc

by sales＠elecplus.com

My recycle buddy in Denver is currently shredding abt 140 pounds of this stuff per week. He is willing to give it to someone to archive, if they will pay the postage/freight. Owner's manuals, books, 3-ring binders, posters, memorabilia, leaflet of jumpers, they all come in. The only problem is, there is usually some paperwork left in it from the original owners, which will need to be removed and shredded. Age of the paperwork ranges from the 80s to current products. Anybody want to accept this task? 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: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3681/7010 - Release Date: 01/17/14

11 years, 4 months

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"The search for the lost Cray supercomputer OS"

by seefriek＠gmail.com

From: Geoffrey Oltmans <oltmansg at gmail.com> >I wonder if our local Alabama Supercomputer Authority office might have >archives of software for the Cray X-MP and on. They are down the street >from my work. Supposedly the X-MP24 was the first machine that they >installed and put in operation back in the 80's. Interesting idea. The last Cray I spent quality time on was an X/MP-48 at the Pittsburgh Supercomputer Center in the mid- to late-80s. They're still around. Wonder if anyone has checked in the closets there for old tapes. KJ

11 years, 4 months

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DEC 18-bit Operating Systems

by captainkirk359＠gmail.com

So, I've been plinking around a bit with some of the operating systems for DEC's 18-bit machines. Specifically with DECsys-7 for the PDP-7, and XVM/DOS for the PDP-15. I've heard that DECsys-7 can run on the PDP-4, and in fact it "kind-of/sort-of" does. I'm wondering if anyone here knows how to get DECsys-7 working on the '4 to the point of being usable. The problem is that the PDP-4's console teleprinter was the 5-bit (ITA-2/USTTY/"Baudot") Model 28 KSR Teletype, the '7 used an ASCII machine (33 KSR, or 35 KSR). So the one key which is used in DECsys to terminate input to the text editor the delete/RUBOUT key is not present on the 28. So, you can't create any programs in DECsys on the PDP-4. There has to be something I'm missing that'll get it to work (surprisingly, the other key vital for using the editor in DECsys -- the tab key -- will work by inputting the teletype's bell code). My next question has to do with XVM/DOS; I cannot seem to get FOCAL to run. The system was built to the simulator's configuration (no UC15 UNICHANNEL, FP15, floating point, RP15, RF15, LP15, no VT15 or VP15, support for API), using SGEN I then tailored the system properly (start up with XVM and API turned on, and memory size of 128KW). I assigned the DAT slots needed for FOCAL: (-1 and -4 are already assigned by the monitor to SYA <SYS>.) ASSIGN SYA <CMG> 3,5,7,10 Trying to execute FOCAL with "E FOCAL" I get an IOPS13 error ("FILE NOT FOUND - CAL ADDR **"), and trying it with LOAD and GLOAD I get a .LOAD 3 error ("SUBR NOT FOUND"). Anyone here know the magic of how to get FOCAL to run on XVM/DOS? Thanks to any who respond. Regards, Christian -- Christian M. Gauger-Cosgrove STCKON08DS0 Contact information available upon request.

11 years, 4 months

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"A DiskVaccuum For Obsolete Disk Formats"

by lproven＠gmail.com

http://hackaday.com/2014/01/10/a-diskvaccuum-for-obsolete-disk-formats/ "[Jim] has a box of disks for a very old Compucolor II computer, and with bit rot slowly setting in he figured it might be time to dump all those disks to a more permanent format. After reviewing the existing tools to read these disks, he decided to build his own floppy disk interface that he calls the DiskVaccuum. "The DiskVaccuum is based on a Papilio Pro FPGA board and a few chips worth of level conversion. The FPGA is able to read bits and move the head of the disk with ease, saving everything to the drive of a much more modern computer." -- 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

11 years, 4 months

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Close look at my C1P and C4P

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

I love the oldskool feel and appearance of my Challenger Machines. At: http://youtu.be/xQUhFoBDGT0 in HD this time if anyone wants to take a peek. Terry (Tez)

11 years, 4 months

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eBay PDP-12

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> > From: Rich Alderson <RichA at LivingComputerMuseum.org> > To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'" < > cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Cc: > Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 21:45:45 +0000 > Subject: RE: eBay PDP-12 > From: John Ball > Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2014 9:29 AM > > >> I can't know for sure, but here is a lower bound: 11 > > >> Clubs: > >> 1 - Update Computer Club, Uppsala > >> 2 - Retro-Computing Society of Rhode Island. > > >> Museums: > >> 1 - Living Computer Museum, Seattle > >> 3 - Computer History Museum, Mountain view (the may have more, but at > least > >> 3) > > >> Private collections: > >> 3 - Undisclosed :) > > > The Corestore has two PDP-12's as well. > > LCM has 2. > > That bumps the number up to 15, by my count (with the RI correction by > Will). > > Rich > > > Rich Alderson > Vintage Computing Sr. Systems Engineer > Vulcan, Inc. > 505 5th Avenue S, Suite 900 > Seattle, WA 98104 > > mailto:RichA at LivingComputerMuseum.org > > http://www.LivingComputerMuseum.org/<http://www.livingcomputermuseum.org/> > > The RICM is negotiating with a private collector for one, so you can add that to the list. > -- > Michael Thompson

11 years, 4 months

1
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Longshine LCS-6610F REV C FDC, Jumpersettings needed

by holm＠freibergnet.de

Hi all, the Suject already tells what Im looking for. I have an XT Floppy Controller for an 8 Bit Slot that his it's own Bios Chip. So far as I know should even 1.2 and 1.44MByte Disks possible with that beast..if I could figure out how the jumpers are to set. There is a description on TH99, but this is a different Version, the Jumpers are located totally different. The Label on the PCB of my Controller is "LCS-6610F REV:C". Has someone a Manual with the correct Jumper settings? 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

11 years, 4 months

3
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Motorola 68008 (was Re: Retrospective on the Sinclair QL, 30 years later)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On Sun, Jan 12, 2014 at 11:30 AM, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote: > Good, in-depth article from the Register. > > 2 very long pages. This is the single-page less-cluttered print view: > http://www.theregister.co.uk/Print/2014/01/12/archaeologic_sinclair_ql/ Very cool. One of my co-workers, who designed some of our 68000-based COMBOARDs had a QL, the only one I've seen in the States (I bought an Amiga the next year). The only other 68008 I've seen was in a "COMBOARD-mini" design I came up with that never launched - it was essentially a protocol emulator/async-sync converter to sit on a cable between a host and an IBM Front End speaking HASP or 3780. We were moving into the era where it was going to be easier to hook up to a serial port than stick a card in a box, so we kicked around a miniaturized version of our flagship product. Since the code was already in 68000 assembler, in a dialect of our own, changing CPUs wasn't feasible, but going from a 16-bit DMA host interface to an async serial host interface was. We made a run of boards, assembled a couple, but never had enough market response to dedicate the labor to port the host transport layer >from DMA buffers to async ports. We could build it, but they wouldn't come. The era of bisync comms was over. -ethan

11 years, 4 months

15
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Need DEC BC80J-20 cable

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

On Thu, 16 Jan 2014 23:13:34 -0600, you wrote: >From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> >On Thu, Jan 16, 2014 at 12:40 PM, Charles ><charlesmorris800 at centurytel.net> wrote: >> I attempted to order the BC80M from Pinnacle Micro... an email canceling >> the order without explanation... they didn't have the cable in stock (and >> they claim their inventory is only updated periodically) > >Or they tried calling around and couldn't find one to buy cheaply >enough to sell to you. Our suspicious minds seem to be working the same way :D >> Meanwhile, I explained to Continental Computers that my need for the >> BC80J-20 was hobby/"vintage" and that I couldn't afford $145. They >> offered to sell it to me for $75, still steep but more reasonable. > >I have had good luck with Continental Computers in the pasts. ISTR >buying a KT8A from them about 15 years ago. > >> Plugged it in, hooked up the RL02's... same failure is still there :( >> (Fault lamp flashes when BOOT is toggled and the heads start to move, >> then the drive goes back to Ready status). Time to start downloading >> diagnostics via the console port! > >I have never had to debug drive electronics, so I have no idea. Do >you happen to have a PDP-11 and an RL controller? If I were chasing a >problem in my own hardware, I'd see how a different system/controller >handled things (but I know not everyone has a matrix of DEC hardware >to mix and match from). > >-ethan Funny you should ask. In fact I do have an 11/23+ with two RL02's (that works fine even with the homemade ribbon cable, although it's shorter than the one in the 8/A). Now that I have a long enough cable, I am planning to do just that (plug it into the RLV11 or whatever the controller is called) and see what's what. I also have one of Philipp Hachtmann's USB-port console interface cards that I haven't got around to playing with yet, and may use that to download diagnostics too. -Charles

11 years, 4 months

2
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for free: several OS/2 related magazines

by bthomas＠brothom.nl

Hi, I have available for free: - 23 C/C++ users journal, early this century (okay, not OS/2 related) - 8 "Developer Connection for OS/2 News", I think mid 90s - all 1996 issues of OS/2 magazine - january 1997 issue of OS/2 magazine - 2 OS/2 developer magazines: may/june and nov/dec - february 1998 issue of "extended attributes" I'll throw them in the paper recycling bin a week after today if no one wants them. Regards, Bert

11 years, 4 months

2
2
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Restoration of a PDP-8a

by anders＠abc80.net

> Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 22:27:32 -0800 (PST) > From: William Maddox <wmaddox at pacbell.net> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: Restoration of a PDP-8a > Message-ID: > <1389853652.25217.YahooMailNeo at web181601.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 > > > >> I have a question about memory configuration. I have two core stacks? >> from different suppliers. One from DEC and one from Dataram corp. The? >> later one is impossible to find any information on. > > Is your Dataram board a DR118A?? I have the manual for that. > > --Bill > Yes it is. Can you scan it? Or at least check out how to configure it. /Anders

11 years, 4 months

1
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Need DEC BC80J-20 cable

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

>Ethan Dicks ethan.dicks at gmail.com >Fri Jan 3 18:03:10 CST 2014 >On Fri, Jan 3, 2014 at 5:57 PM, Charles <charlesmorris800 at centurytel.net> wrote: >> Anyway I was thinking of just bending over and paying the $57.50. Until I >> got to "standard 9-13 day shipping $15.00" and it goes up from there. > >Postage rates really went up a year ago. I was shipping things 12-13 >months ago, then *bam* double-digit increases. > >> Perhaps I can locate some surplus multiple twisted pair cable and carefully >> solder the ends to a header connector. There are 13(?) twisted pair >> differential signals and the rest are no-connects or grounds. As Henk >> pointed out, some of the trouble may be the 6' of unshielded ribbon cable >> (which is also smaller gauge than the twisted pairs)... > >6 feet?!? I must have read 6 inches (or I had a dust spec on my >screen ;-) That's a lot of unshielded cable to push those >differential signals side-by-side through. My RL8A had 4 to 6 >*inches* of flat cable going into the RL8A, then the BC80J to the >drive. > >Most folks who collect DEC equipment have a few of the 40-pin shielded >cables. They were used with so many devices. If you don't have one >spare, those shouldn't be expensive to find and try out. > >-ethan I attempted to order the BC80M from Pinnacle Micro. After several days of "your order has been received" I got an email canceling the order without explanation. The online chat was never answered. Finally after several emails I found out they didn't have the cable in stock (and they claim their inventory is only updated periodically). So much for Pinnacle, I don't plan to order from them again any time soon. Meanwhile, I explained to Continental Computers that my need for the BC80J-20 was hobby/"vintage" and that I couldn't afford $145. They offered to sell it to me for $75, still steep but more reasonable. So I bought it. Put the shipping on my Fedex account. Plugged it in, hooked up the RL02's... same failure is still there :( (Fault lamp flashes when BOOT is toggled and the heads start to move, then the drive goes back to Ready status). Time to start downloading diagnostics via the console port!

11 years, 4 months

3
2
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HP 9000/300 hp/ux root password

by aswood＠t-online.de

Hello all, I'd like to reset the root password of hp/ux running a HP 9000/300 system. I know the procedure for a pa-risc based system running 10.20 or 11, but not for a 68xxx based system. Are there any hints? Andreas Gru? Andreas Holz

11 years, 4 months

2
1
0 0

Intel stuff for sale

by wdonzelli＠gmail.com

I have a couple of Intel 8080A based MDS systems available. You can see them at: http://fsironworks.com/images/MDS.jpg http://fsironworks.com/images/MDS.1.jpg http://fsironworks.com/images/MDS.2.jpg One MDS (the open one) has an 8080A processor card, four memory cards, a front panel controller, a floppy channel card and a floppy interface card. The other MDS has no cards, and no panel either. There are two dual 8 inch floppy units. The front panel is pretty decent, but the paint on the cabinets shows typical wear and such. I have not tested these, and I have no floppies or docs for it. Interested? Please send me an email - maybe make an offer. -- Will, in 10512

11 years, 4 months

5
8
0 0

eBay PDP-12

by ball.of.john＠gmail.com

>There's recent and current thread over on VCF from a guy who wants a PDP-12 (and unfortunately isn't >in a spot where it's practical to buy this one on eBay) >Hey, here's the thread in case anybody here has another PDP-12 to sell/trade to him: > >http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?40932-DEC-PDP-12-Min icomputer Yeah, that's me. Pardon the rant. I come from the world of generosity so I'm a touch rough when people tell me this hobby revolves around mass wealth and you can't do anything without it. -John

11 years, 4 months

3
2
0 0

[Fwd: Restoration of a PDP-8a]

by bobvines00＠gmail.com

> Message: 9 > Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2013 12:46:27 +0100 > From: anders at abc80.net > To: cctech at classiccmp.org > Subject: [Fwd: Restoration of a PDP-8a] > > Hi, > > I have started restoration of a PDP-8a model 8A420-CN. I doesn't have any > schematics for this machine and I have searched internet for sources > without any luck. The sets on > http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp8/pdp8a does not include my > version. > > My machine came with 16K*12bits core memory, 20 slot backplane and only > the "Limited function board" frontpanel (don't now if this machine ever > had the "Programmer's console"). > > This is how my "Power distribution board" looks like: > http://www.abc80.net/docs/pdp8/pdp8a/DSC_2118.JPG > > Some questions: > 1. Is there anybody that could help me with schematics on this machine? > Scans are preferred, but I can pay for paper prints. I'm especially > looking for a diagram that matches the "power distribution board" that I > got. > > 2. If I plug in the machine with only the regulator boards (2xG8018) and > the limited function board in it, should the lights and fans come to life? > > 3. I suspect that my model shouldn't have "Power distribution board > control", G8019 since my "Power distribution board" misses the connector > for this board. Can that be correct? > > Any help is appreciated. PPD-8a is new to me, but I have some knowledge in > the PDP-8 architecture since I restored a PDP-8/L that was in really bad > shape. > > /Anders > What chassis is your -8A in -- is it the BA8-C as listed in EK-0PDP8-SP-001 - PDP-8 Family Configuration Guide, April 1978 at http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp8/omnibus/EK-0PDP8-SP-001_PDP… The exploded view of the BA8-C is on page 41 of 217 of the MP00415 - 8A Family (Semi) Field Maintenance Print Set, April 1981 found at the same source. Pages 50-56 show the "Power Distribution Board." The Limited Function Board is page 57. The "Power Distribution Board Control" is shown on pages 58-61. The 20-slot Omnibus is there too. Can you list your modules/boards/etc. for us? You may have to pick through the different drawing/schematic sets to find your individual components. The PDP-8 Family Configuration Guide will give much information about your system and proper placement of modules. Page 2-10 (Worksheet, 8A420, 8A425) discusses your machine's layout. It says: "The BA8-C power supply consists of two G8018 regulators; one provides 25 A at + 5 Vdc, 2 A at + 1 5 Vdc, and 2 A at -15 Vdc for the top 10 slots, while the other provides the same current for the bottom 10 slots." Figure 2-1 "PDP-8/A Computer Designations" breaks down the 8A420 as: 4 = CPU is the KK8-A 2 = CHASSIS is the 20 slot BA8-C 0 = CORE memory The PDP-8 Family Configuration Guide doesn't explain the "CN" suffix, but that looks similar to the suffixes listed in some of the Engineering Drawings/Field Maintenance Print Sets for "Unit Variations." There is a "CN" Variation of the 8A425 listed in the 8A Family (Semi) Field Maintenance Print Set, but I haven't found a description of it. ... I just found some of it. The 8A425 Parts List on pages 24-25 lists the parts used in that version of the semiconductor-memory 8A42x system. The parts that aren't obviously semiconductor-memory-related may apply to your system too. The pictures of your system show only the Limited Function Board, but I _think_ that all -8As used the same Front Panels/Consoles, whether they were the Limited or Programmer's versions. Perhaps you could pick one up somewhere. I've got two or three Programmer's Consoles, but all have one or more problems. The one on my 8A400 has a bad gate on one of its quad-[I forget]-gate ICs, but I haven't replaced it yet. Bob

11 years, 4 months

3
2
0 0

DEC RD53 hard

by bqt＠update.uu.se

On 2014-01-15 21:13, Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> wrote: > On 1/15/14 7:37 PM, Glen Slick wrote: >> >Does this apply to the RQDX3 disk format? >> > >> >Disk format for secondary storage system >> >US 4434487 A >> >https://www.google.com/patents/US4434487 It sortof do. This is a description of how the disk logically appears in an MSCP subsystem. RQDX controllers are MSCP. I can't see that it holds enough low level detail to actually be used as a source to figure out how each block on an RD53 will look like. (But I have only read through it cursory.) > Did the RQDX3 come out of Colorado Springs? I don't think so. > From the dates, it looks more like something for > the RA8x/RA6x This actually applies to MSCP, so it is used on both RQDX controllers, as well as SDI and others. > The stuff at the end would be BAD144 data, or did > they stop using that when they switched to MSCP? BAD144 predates MSCP, and MSCP do not use BAD144. With BAD144, the bad blocks of a media are visible to the system, and needs to be dealt with by the OS itself. With MSCP bad blocks do not exist. They are hidden (replaced) by the disk controller in combination with the disk itself, so that the OS never sees any bad blocks. (But the actually operation of mapping out a bad block might require handling by the OS, depending on the controller.) Johnny

11 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

CompuServe PDP-10 programming?

by jfoust＠threedee.com

Compuserve's forums are still alive, and there's a Vintage Computing forum? <http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=ChatPage&webtag=ws-vin…>http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=ChatPage&webtag=ws-vin… - John

11 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

Restoration of a PDP-8a

by bobvines00＠gmail.com

------------------------------ > > Message: 12 > Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2014 10:24:57 +0000 > From: anders at abc80.net > To: "General Discussion\: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: Restoration of a PDP-8a > Message-ID: > <20140114102457.Horde.jcUVy0nXMOJSjET97Z2yBA7 at blue.abc80.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed; DelSp=Yes > > Hi, > > Slowly my restoration project continues. I have repaired the power > supply and I actually found and bought a programmers console. I also > got a DKC8-A in etch revision D. I have now all the boards needed for > getting this machine running. > > Is the two cables between KC8 and DKC8 just two strait 40 pin cables? > > I have a question about memory configuration. I have two core stacks > from different suppliers. One from DEC and one from Dataram corp. The > later one is impossible to find any information on. The DEC stack is a > MM8-AB 16k module but the address field configuration looks strange. > If I interpreted the manual correct it's configured as a 8k module > using field 4-5. > > Picture of the jumpers on the actual board: > http://www.abc80.net/docs/pdp8/pdp8a/DSC_2258.JPG > > Pictures on the complete board on both sides. > http://www.abc80.net/docs/pdp8/pdp8a/DSC_2252.JPG > http://www.abc80.net/docs/pdp8/pdp8a/DSC_2253.JPG > > The board is known good and does not origin from this particular machine. > > Does anybody know why this looks like this? > > /Anders > The PDP-8/A Operator's handbook at http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/dec/pdp8/pdp8a/EK-8A001-OP…, page 3-30 states that two BC08R cables are used. The Digital Cables Handbook at http://www.pdp8online.com/bklatt/cables.html describe the BC08R on pages 30 & 31. Page 31 shows the pinout. About the Dataram module: Does any of the info at http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/dataram/ help? Also, there is a Dataram company (http://www.dataram.com/) still in business providing computer memory products (since 1967). Have you tried to contact them? You might get lucky, especially if they like the idea of one of their "early" products still in operation after 30+ years. The MM8-AA & MM8-AB Engineering Specification at http://www.pdp8online.com/pdp8cgi/query_docs/tifftopdf.pl/pdp8prints/mm8aa.… shows that your jumpers are in locations 1-3 & 3-4. It then states that those two jumpers, in combination, will configure the module for memory locations 32K-48K, which it then states are "presently not available." But it was written in 1975. However, the 1978 KT8-A Memory Management Control (EK-KT08A-UG-001 at http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/dec/pdp8/pdp8a/EK-KT08A-UG…) allows an -8/A to use up to 128K of any -8/A memory type. Perhaps the previous user of the MM8-AB module had the KT8-A module to allow the use of more than 32K? Bob

11 years, 4 months

2
1
0 0

Undelivered Mail Returned to Sender

by holm＠freibergnet.de

Content-Description: Notification This is the mail system at host bmail.freibergnet.de. I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not be delivered to one or more recipients. It's attached below. For further assistance, please send mail to postmaster. If you do so, please include this problem report. You can delete your own text from the attached returned message. The mail system <cctlak at classiccmp.org>: host mx1.ezwind.net[199.188.211.138] said: 550 5.7.1 <cctlak at classiccmp.org>... server [172.20.1.51] for <cctlak at classiccmp.org> rejected address saying "<cctlak at classiccmp.org>... User unknown" (in reply to RCPT TO command) Content-Description: Delivery report Reporting-MTA: dns; bmail.freibergnet.de X-Postfix-Queue-ID: 8BFB4929B02C X-Postfix-Sender: rfc822; holm at freibergnet.de Arrival-Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 20:24:06 +0100 (CET) Final-Recipient: rfc822; cctlak at classiccmp.org Original-Recipient: rfc822;cctlak at classiccmp.org Action: failed Status: 5.7.1 Remote-MTA: dns; mx1.ezwind.net Diagnostic-Code: smtp; 550 5.7.1 <cctlak at classiccmp.org>... server [172.20.1.51] for <cctlak at classiccmp.org> rejected address saying "<cctlak at classiccmp.org>... User unknown" Content-Description: Undelivered Message X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at freibergnet.de Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 20:24:00 +0100 From: Holm Tiffe <holm at freibergnet.de> To: cctlak at classiccmp.org Subject: Longshine LCS-6610F REV C FDC, Jumpersettings needed Reply-To: holm at freibergnet.de User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.2.3i Organization: FreibergNet Internet Services, TSHT Priority: normal X-Phone: +49-3731-74222 X-Mobile: +49-172-8790741 X-Fax: +49-3731-74200 Hi all, the Suject already tells what Im looking for. I have an XT Floppy Controller for an 8 Bit Slot that his it's own Bios Chip. There is a description on TH99, but this is a different Version, the Jumpers are located totally different. The Label on the PCB of my Controller is "LCS-6610F REV:C". Has someone a Manual with the correct Jumper settings? 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

11 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

Restoration of a PDP-8a

by anders＠abc80.net

> Message: 21 > Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 06:37:59 -0500 > From: Bob Vines <bobvines00 at gmail.com> > To: cctech at classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: Restoration of a PDP-8a > Message-ID: > <CAPDUT-=Vd2iYTC=u97rjnr5O=Hk1wv+Ltpf9uKphABWNzdOi7g at mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > ------------------------------ >> >> Message: 12 >> Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2014 10:24:57 +0000 >> From: anders at abc80.net >> To: "General Discussion\: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org> >> Subject: Re: Restoration of a PDP-8a >> Message-ID: >> <20140114102457.Horde.jcUVy0nXMOJSjET97Z2yBA7 at blue.abc80.net> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed; DelSp=Yes >> >> Hi, >> >> Slowly my restoration project continues. I have repaired the power >> supply and I actually found and bought a programmers console. I also >> got a DKC8-A in etch revision D. I have now all the boards needed for >> getting this machine running. >> >> Is the two cables between KC8 and DKC8 just two strait 40 pin cables? >> >> I have a question about memory configuration. I have two core stacks >> from different suppliers. One from DEC and one from Dataram corp. The >> later one is impossible to find any information on. The DEC stack is a >> MM8-AB 16k module but the address field configuration looks strange. >> If I interpreted the manual correct it's configured as a 8k module >> using field 4-5. >> >> Picture of the jumpers on the actual board: >> http://www.abc80.net/docs/pdp8/pdp8a/DSC_2258.JPG >> >> Pictures on the complete board on both sides. >> http://www.abc80.net/docs/pdp8/pdp8a/DSC_2252.JPG >> http://www.abc80.net/docs/pdp8/pdp8a/DSC_2253.JPG >> >> The board is known good and does not origin from this particular machine. >> >> Does anybody know why this looks like this? >> >> /Anders >> > > The PDP-8/A Operator's handbook at > http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/dec/pdp8/pdp8a/EK-8A001-OP…, > page 3-30 states that two BC08R cables are used. The Digital Cables > Handbook at http://www.pdp8online.com/bklatt/cables.html describe the > BC08R on pages 30 & 31. Page 31 shows the pinout. Great, I have missed that one. > > About the Dataram module: Does any of the info at > http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/dataram/ help? Also, > there is a Dataram company (http://www.dataram.com/) still in business > providing computer memory products (since 1967). Have you tried to > contact them? You might get lucky, especially if they like the idea > of one of their "early" products still in operation after 30+ years. > I'll try to contact them. I have already tried bitsavers.org > The MM8-AA & MM8-AB Engineering Specification at > http://www.pdp8online.com/pdp8cgi/query_docs/tifftopdf.pl/pdp8prints/mm8aa.… > shows that your jumpers are in locations 1-3 & 3-4. It then states > that those two jumpers, in combination, will configure the module for > memory locations 32K-48K, which it then states are "presently not > available." But it was written in 1975. However, the 1978 KT8-A > Memory Management Control (EK-KT08A-UG-001 at > http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/dec/pdp8/pdp8a/EK-KT08A-UG…) > allows an -8/A to use up to 128K of any -8/A memory type. Perhaps the > previous user of the MM8-AB module had the KT8-A module to allow the > use of more than 32K? Ok. Thanks. That explains it I think. /Anders

11 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

old memory price list

by sales＠elecplus.com

This is a walk down memory lane! http://www.jcmit.com/memoryprice.htm 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: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3658/7002 - Release Date: 01/14/14

11 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

LA120 Decwriter lube

by roe＠liveblockauctions.com

The LA120 Decwriter III manual calls for Nye type 622-00 oil for the print head support rails. I know nothing about lubricants -- I'm a programmer, after all. Can anyone recommend a modern replacement?

11 years, 4 months

3
2
0 0

Motorola 68008 (was Re: Retrospective on the Sinclair QL, 30 years later)

by seefriek＠gmail.com

From: Jules Richardson <jules.richardson99 at gmail.com> > I've got a couple of 68008 systems. One is on a STE-bus board I have a STD-bus 68008 card somewhere around here, which makes a certain amount of sense. I believe it was also an OS-9 target. KJ

11 years, 4 months

2
1
0 0

Wanted: CoCo3

by james＠slor.net

Anyone have a CoCo3 for sale/trade in really good condition? Thanks

11 years, 4 months

3
3
0 0

Free in Noord-Holland, Netherlands: 2x Tandem Himalaya K200, peripherals

by theodric＠gmail.com

Just following up one last time to say that these systems are in fact still available, if anyone wants them. I've had a couple of inquiries on them but neither panned out, so they're still sitting in my garage. I need the space for a classic car that can't sit in the rain, so they won't be there forever. I've pushed a few pictures here: http://500px.com/theodric > Free to a good home: > > 2 Tandem Himalaya K200 mainframes (circa 1993, according to the date > stamps inside), a disk array, some spare disks, two terminals, assorted > system cabling, spare internal cards and spare internal disks. > > The fellow I got them from worked for NYSE Euronext, and said that they > were used there before he acquired them through official channels after > they were decommissioned. I have a printout of an e-mail to that effect, > which also includes instructions for bringing them up-- something I've > never tried to do. They take a couple C19 power cords (provided) on an 8A > circuit [edit: standard 230V single-phase residential power], and are > reportedly working. > They are large (76x102x53cm) and heavy (two strong people can lift one, > just) [edit: 205kg each; much less with all modules removed]. Location is > Noord-Holland, Netherlands. If you're interested in collecting them or you > are willing to arrange your own pallet collection by courier, please > contact me off list. > Jeremy

11 years, 4 months

2
1
0 0

DEC 18-bit Operating Systems

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> > From: Christian Gauger-Cosgrove <captainkirk359 at gmail.com> > Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2014 09:15:54 -0500 > Subject: DEC 18-bit Operating Systems > So, I've been plinking around a bit with some of the operating systems > for DEC's 18-bit machines. Specifically with DECsys-7 for the PDP-7, > and XVM/DOS for the PDP-15. > > I've heard that DECsys-7 can run on the PDP-4, and in fact it > "kind-of/sort-of" does. I'm wondering if anyone here knows how to get > DECsys-7 working on the '4 to the point of being usable. The problem > is that the PDP-4's console teleprinter was the 5-bit > (ITA-2/USTTY/"Baudot") Model 28 KSR Teletype, the '7 used an ASCII > machine (33 KSR, or 35 KSR). So the one key which is used in DECsys to > terminate input to the text editor the delete/RUBOUT key is not > present on the 28. So, you can't create any programs in DECsys on the > PDP-4. There has to be something I'm missing that'll get it to work > (surprisingly, the other key vital for using the editor in DECsys -- > the tab key -- will work by inputting the teletype's bell code). > > > My next question has to do with XVM/DOS; I cannot seem to get FOCAL to > run. The system was built to the simulator's configuration (no UC15 > UNICHANNEL, FP15, floating point, RP15, RF15, LP15, no VT15 or VP15, > support for API), using SGEN I then tailored the system properly > (start up with XVM and API turned on, and memory size of 128KW). I > assigned the DAT slots needed for FOCAL: > (-1 and -4 are already assigned by the monitor to SYA <SYS>.) > ASSIGN SYA <CMG> 3,5,7,10 > Trying to execute FOCAL with "E FOCAL" I get an IOPS13 error ("FILE > NOT FOUND - CAL ADDR **"), and trying it with LOAD and GLOAD I get a > .LOAD 3 error ("SUBR NOT FOUND"). Anyone here know the magic of how to > get FOCAL to run on XVM/DOS? > > > Thanks to any who respond. > > Regards, > Christian > > I won't be any help in the PDP-15, but I an very interested in any software that you have that would run on a real, not simulated, mag-tape only PDP-9. -- Michael Thompson

11 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

1541 Alignment disk.

by n2dvm＠arrl.net

Does anyone have a Dysan Alignment disk for the 1541 or know where a disk can be found/purchased? Thanks.

11 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

things in medicine bottles

by jonas＠otter.se

On Mon, 13 Jan 2014 15:04:54 -0800, Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> wrote: > "Apotekets fl?ckborttagningsmedel = cloth cleaning petrol, made for > and sold by Apoteksbolaget, the swedish governments drug dealing > entity of old" > All petroleum fractions of varying weight. Ultra-pure (triple filtered) > lamp oil should do as well. > > --Chuck A closer equivalent/essentially the same stuff would be lighter fluid, e.g. the Zippo stuff. Lamp oil is more like kerosene I think, longer HC chains. /Jonas

11 years, 4 months

2
1
0 0

TI vs. HP ( Zombie thread revival)

by joachim.thiemann＠gmail.com

On 7 January 2014 21:14, Tony Duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote: >> [ Mark Tapley ] > > 2) I quibble with Tony?s recommendation to reject a machine that says > > Sin(Pi) = 0. I?m pretty sure the TI says that; the quicker but > > essentially equivalent test I always used to taunt my HP-41-equipped > > friend was (Sqrt(2))^2. The TI said 2, the HP said 1.99999? I claim > > Actualyl, that is soemthing rather different. > > If you take a decimaly approxiamtion of SCRT(2), rount it after, say, 13 > digits, then square it and roudn the reult to 10 digits (or whatever), > you will get 2. But if you take any finite numbero dgiits of pi, > calculate the sin, the answer is not zeor. It's of the order of > 10^-(numbero of digits). So even if you take 13 digits of pi, the SIN > should not display asn zero. I suppose you could argue that if you took > over 100 digits, the result would be zero (since a number of the order of > 10^-100 will underflow to 0), but I doubt that the TI uses 100 digits > anywhere. I was thinking numerical precision the other day and recalled this conversation; while I'm firmly in the "pry my HP(s) from my cold, dead fingers" kind of person, I have come to the conclusion that I have to side with Mark here. Let me pretend I have a calculator with 2 significant digits after the comma, so pressing \pi gives 3.14. I hit "sin". What should I get? 1.59e-3? Or 0 (0.00)? I believe both are correct. In this case 3.14 is a quite valid representation of \pi, since to the calculator, 3.14 is its representation for the entire range (say) 3.135=<x<3.145. Hence, it is _allowed_ to return anything from 6.59e-3 to -3.41e-3; 0 is therefore a perfectly acceptable result (*). What it will return is then simply a matter of the algorithm used internally. This argument scales to any finite precision. It's been a while that I have carefully read David Goldberg's "What Every Computer Scientist Should Know About Floating-Point Arithmetic", nor can I claim to have fully understood it even then. So if you can point out the flaw in my argument, I'm happy to be shown the error of my thinking. Cheers, Joachim (*) One can argue though that one result is more educational than the other. But I'm looking at calculators being a working tool, not an educational tool. ...for brevity, all values computed using my Hp48 :-) ... -- Joachim Thiemann :: http://jthiem.bitbucket.org :: http://signalsprocessed.blogspot.com

11 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

ID Mac System Software

by doc＠vaxen.net

I just dug up a shrinkwrapped set of Mac System Software, but it has no version number. There's a wire-bound manual and I can see by the outlines under the cover that the software is on 3.5" floppies. The lower back cover says "914-0520-A", which I assume is an Apple part number. The Internet says it's System 6.0.5 for an SE/30. Can anybody verify that, or correct it? Pics: http://www.docsbox.net/Mac_SW/ Thanks! Doc

11 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

Stumped on LA120 Fault

by b4＠gewt.net

Afternoon, I have the PSU operational again. 2 +12, 1 -12, and -5V are all present. These voltages could be wrong: (pin-wise) on J2. Pin 6: 4.97VDC Pin 5: GND Pin 4: GND Pin 3: -12.28VDC Pin 2: about 12VDC Pin 1: about 12VDC +/-24VDC are both present on J4 where they should be. The motors do not run and there is no voltage present at fuse F2 (the fuse OTHER than the line feed one. There is +24VDC present at the line feed one.) There is continuity between the -24V pin and the non-line-feed motor fuse. No fuses blow. With J2 disconnected, power draw drops from ~65W to ~42W. Several random resistors checked (in-circuit) that should measure 540Ohms measure about 588Ohms. No LEDs light up and there is no bell. No components are particularly warm to the touch with power removed. Anything with this taste wrong to you? I'm completely stumped. -- Cory Smelosky http://gewt.net Personal stuff http://gimme-sympathy.org Projects

11 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

Teaching the binary system ...

by jdr_use＠bluewin.ch

... doesn't come much neater than this : http://www.ricardo.ch/kaufen/antiquitaeten-und-kunst/antike-technik-und-ger… Jos ( not my auction, just tought it neat.)

11 years, 4 months

2
1
0 0

Any interest in 2 old 680x0 Macs? Won't power on.

by lproven＠gmail.com

It's time they went, I'm afraid. Vintage 68020-powered Apple Macintosh LC - for spares or repair http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271372079309 Vintage 68030 Apple Macintosh IIsi - for spares or repair http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271372063205 Opening price 1p. In other words, as close to free as eBay will let me. -- 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

11 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

Clear out of various computer detritus (Surrey,UK)

by colineby＠isallthat.com

Toby, I'm away for the holidays, but I'd love an original XT for a console to run my 5364. I might also be able to contribute a few systems your sale if it's for a good cause. I have a couple RS/6000s I could stand to offload. --Colin Tobias Russell <toby at pdp11.co.uk> wrote: >Hi, > >I've decided to have a clear out to raise some funds for the school club I >run teaching 7-11 year olds computer programming, electrics and engineering. > >So here is what I have looking for a new home: > >- Lots of micro-vaxes (pizza box style) >- Lots of microVax chassis (mostly unpopulated with cards) >- Various Apple IIs and Apple II peripherals >- Various terminals >- SMD drives >- BBC micros, Spectrums and ZX81s >- Atari 2600's (woodies, darth vaders and jr's) >- IBM PC/XTs >- Misc PDP-11 parts (a few QBUS chassis, RX50s, TU58s, TK50s, QBUS cards, >UNIBUS cards, PDP-11/44, RD,RF,RZ series hard drives) >- Lots of other assorted items > >If anyone is interested in anything or would like to visit and dig through >the stash get in contact. > >All the best, >Toby >

11 years, 4 months

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CompuServe PDP-10 programming?

by RichA＠LivingComputerMuseum.org

I'm currently pulling the CIS-local code out of DECWAR in aid of installing it on the DECsystem-1070 (KI-10 #587) running at the museum. It would be very helpful to (1) talk to someone who programmed in Macro-10 on the CIS systems, or (2) at least find someone with UUO and programming environment manuals. (I don't see either CIS or CompuServe on Bitsavers, but I may be missing something.) Does anyone reading CCtech/CCtalk want to confess to having experience in these matters? Privately or publicly? Thanks, Rich Rich Alderson Vintage Computing Sr. Systems Engineer Living Computer Museum 2245 1st Avenue S Seattle, WA 98134 mailto:RichA at LivingComputerMuseum.org http://www.LivingComputerMuseum.org/

11 years, 4 months

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Motorola 68008 (was Re: Retrospective on the Sinclair QL, 30 years later)

by cctech＠beyondthepale.ie

> >The ST's floppy controller is the COTS WD-1772, and that series of controllers >was extremely popular in a lot of 8 bit machines. The 1770 is a familiar number >to me as being the one they had to bodge into the BBC Micro because supplies of >the controller it was designed to use had dried up. > Indeed. The BBC Micro originally used the 8271 which was replaced by the 1770. > >Its sound was basically the Yamaha AY-3, a chip that as pretty impressive for >its time and again appeard on many eight bit machines such as the BBC Micro >(again) and newer ZX Spectrums. > The BBC Micro used the 76489 for sound. Regards, Peter Coghlan.

11 years, 4 months

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Older IDE hard drive to USB

by kylevowen＠gmail.com

I bought a cheap USB to ATA/ATAPI bridge a while back and have had a good bit of luck connecting various IDE drives to my laptop for imaging purposes. However, I have a few drives that simply won't mount under Windows or OS X, despite being detected by the Device Manager in the case of Windows. It seems to be narrowed down to the smaller drives, like under 2 GB or so. For instance, I have a Maxtor 7213AT 210 MB drive that won't mount, although an 80 GB Seagate has no trouble at all. The Maxtor is a known-good, bootable MS-DOS 6.22 drive. Has anyone encountered this? Besides connecting it to a motherboard with built-in IDE, are there workarounds? Thanks, Kyle

11 years, 4 months

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Atari Portfolio with tons of accessories for sale

by shawn＠thekompany.com

$100 plus shipping. Has extra cards, serial, parallel ports, manuals and soft shell case. -- Regards, Shawn Gordon President theKompany.com www.thekompany.com www.mindawn.com 949-288-3771

11 years, 4 months

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things in medicine bottles

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

I'm sure many of you reuse medicine bottles for keeping small things like fasteners, passive electronic components, etc. I'm sure you also will throw away lots of bottles rather than peeling off the labels because the process can be slow and leave messy partially-delaminated paper, and stickum all over. Here's something I learned recently from my pharmacist: A prescription label will come off cleanly if you try to take it off within a couple days after being stuck on the bottle. So when you get your meds home, take the label off, stick it on your forehead, then put it back on the bottle. When the bottle is empty, the label will peel off cleanly and easily. Skin oils do the magic. This is also helpful for more secure destruction of the label. -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu

11 years, 4 months

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TI vs HP

by mtapley＠swri.edu

On Jan 10, 2014, at 7:32 AM, ARD wrote: > But you could not add a card reader to > a TI58 to make it into a TI59 (and I always thought it was a pity there > was no TI59-C). Agreed on the TI59-C! A friend of mine who owned a TI-58 ordered a TI-59, decided it was not suitable, and returned it. Somehow his TI-58 was subsequently able to read magnetic strips. I assume somewhere down the line, someone came to be in the possession of a TI-59-shaped mag card piggy bank? Right, there was no official way to add a card reader? :-). > Of coure the HP41 could _later_ be expanded with the extended memory > modules, but those were not avaialble when the machine first came out. So > you would probably not have considered those. Had I paid much attention to the four ports on top of the machine, I might have. But you are right. > Incidentalyl, never try to > print non-normalised numbers on an HP97. The print routine gets confused > ans leaves the pritnhead turend on for too long. The result is a > burnt-out head. !! Good to know. Thank you! Pretty sure my Dad had use of an HP-97 at one point, but I think it has long since gone back to the university. > Every non-HP machine I've tried (TI, Sharp, Casio,...) gives 0. I?ll find out when I can, but I have at least one (years-old) project I need to finish first. > The TI59 uses a BP1A battery pack which is 3 AA NiCd's in a plastic > housing. No other internal electronics. The pack I have, so I can probably get the plastic housing open. Are they plain AA ni-cads, or do I need to order cells with solder tabs? Never mind, I?ll find out when I get there. > If you have a PC100 printer cradle, it will run from that without a good > NiCd pack anywhere. Sigh. I did, two moves ago. I have not seen it for decades, though. I fear it?s gone. > Or you can runn it from a 3.75V bench supply. There > is a TI59 service manual on the web (Google foudn it for me this morning) > which gives the polarity, etc. Thank you! That?s on my hard drive now. I did not find it the last time I looked! - Mark

11 years, 4 months

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Kennedy 9000 tape drive parts

by aek＠bitsavers.org

Someone pointed this out to me http://www.ebay.com/itm/281238835798 a nice collection of 9000 parts, incl an extender card and NOS 9 track head Don't have any 9000's myself, though.

11 years, 4 months

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Challenger 4P

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

I've been having fun getting a Challenger 4P up and running, For those interested, I've written an account at http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2014-01-10-challenger-4P-checkout.… Terry (Tez)

11 years, 4 months

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No subject

by p.gebhardt＠ymail.com

Hello everybody, a friend of mine asked me to drop a note to the list, if anybody is interested in a so-called Data-Recorder from Mohawk Data Sciences Corp (MDS) available for pick-up in the region of Dortmund, Germany. He needs the space and wants it to find a new good home. System condition is unkown but complete according to my knowledge. Model type should be MDS-6401. Information can be found on bitsavers: http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/mohawk/M-319-66_MDS-6401_Brochure.jpg Please contact me off-list and I will get you in touch with him for those interested. Kind regards, Pierre ? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pierre's collection of classic computers : http://classic-computing.dyndns.org/

11 years, 4 months

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Retrospective on the Sinclair QL, 30 years later

by lproven＠gmail.com

Good, in-depth article from the Register. 2 very long pages. This is the single-page less-cluttered print view: http://www.theregister.co.uk/Print/2014/01/12/archaeologic_sinclair_ql/ -- 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

11 years, 4 months

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SCSI to Pertec Formatted controller, anybody want it?

by elson＠pico-systems.com

I have a SCSI to Pertec Formatted interface that came off the back of a Cipher 990 drive. The drive was a horrible piece of junk, and we chucked it, but I kept the SCSI adapter. I tried it last year on a CDC Keystone (92185) drive, and was surprised it seemed to work. I was just trying to get some tape mapping software running when it died. The adapter was powered from the reel motor supply of the drive, so it needs something like 60 V DC, and has a switching supply built into the board. Anyway, it now gets a power on self test error and won't go any further. I do have full schematics for the adapter. If anyone wants it, it is yours for the shipping. Jon

11 years, 4 months

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Request for purchase of ASR-33

by bdamer＠digitalspace.com

From the Digibarn site, feel free to answer... >Your Name: Dave Tumey >Your Email address: davetumey at yahoo.com > >1. Include comment in Site >2. Include name with comment >3. Include email address > >Comment was: >----------- >I am rebuilding the RTTY station I had as a teenager and I am trying >to get my hands on an ASR-33 Teletype. Even though they built some >600,000+ machines, I am finding it quite difficult to track one >down. I am looking for a machine with EXCELLENT cosmetics - it does >not need to work - that can be fixed. For a machine in excellent >condition, I would be willing to pay a king's ransom. So...if you >know anyone who might have a machine that is in need of being >utilized, please let me know, it would be greatly appreicated. --dave

11 years, 4 months

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3rd Party 11/730 memory boards

by aperry＠snowmoose.com

I have third party memory cards in my 11/750. The installation guide indicates that they also work in an 11/730. They are from National Semiconductor, NS753. alan On 1/5/14, 8:28 AM, Ken Seefried wrote: > > > I've seen a couple of vague references to 3rd party memory cards for the > VAX 11/730, equivalent to the M8750, that used denser DRAM chips in order > to use less power. Unfortunately, my google-fu has turned up nothing. > Does anyone know who made these cards and what part number they would be > (assuming they exist at all)?

11 years, 4 months

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In defense of Lisp [was Re: cctalk Digest, Vol 125, Issue 13]

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

> > They'd written an AI program in LISP to help with the querying and > > matching engines with designs. > > After it was up and running, it was translated into Forth in order to > > fit into a computer that could be rolled around on a cart. > > Of course now days it would just need a cloud. > > Dwight > "Translated into Forth"? Now that's interesting! -- Ian A good programmer can write FORTRAN in any language!!! Tim.

11 years, 4 months

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PDP-8/L module location chart.

by anders＠abc80.net

A few years back a restored a PDP-8/L that was in very bad shape. To make my life easier I putted a module location chart together. Somebody here might find it useful. http://www.abc80.net/docs/pdp8/modules/index.html /Anders

11 years, 4 months

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Huge UNIVAC/Unisys system-80 /DCP/tape documentation lot (110 kg/242 lb) still available

by p.gebhardt＠ymail.com

Hello list, more than a year ago, I offered a large lot of documentation originating from an Unisys system-80 computer which is a descendant of UNIVAC computer systems. Some binders are from UNIVAC, newer docs are from Unisys. http://classic-computing.dyndns.org/unisys/p1130068.jpg http://classic-computing.dyndns.org/unisys/p1130069.jpg http://classic-computing.dyndns.org/unisys/p1130070.jpg The Houston Computer Museum was/is interested but financing the shipping seems problematic due to missing donations. Unfortunately, I need to clear out a room this year and the four large packages with these docs have been standing in my way for very long now. Therefore, I'd like to offer again this documents to anybody who is interested has long as he pays shipping or grabs them at my place. Location is Germany near Cologne. If you are intersted, I can send you a list (not entirely complete, though) of the documents. I'd love see them go in good hands. I don't have the machine and thus have no use for the 110 kilograms of paper. A subset of the docs can also be sent to whoever is intersted. Please contact me off-list. Kind regards, Pierre ? PS: Picture of a system-80: http://museo.freaknet.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/800px-Cea1.jpg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pierre's collection of classic computers : http://classic-computing.dyndns.org/

11 years, 4 months

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test-drb January 2014