test-drb May 2015

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

199 participants
259 discussions

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

be aware there was a DEC terminal plant here in phx az late 70s early 80s Ed Sharpe archivist for SMECC _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org) In a message dated 5/19/2015 9:53:59 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, ddsnyder at zoominternet.net writes: The serial number can be broken into 3 areas... The first two digits indicate the country of Manufacture AY = Ayr, Scotland BK = Germany GA = Galway, Ireland IQ = Somewhere else NI = Salem, New Hampshire, USA PC = Irvine, Scotland KA = Kanata, Ontario, Canada CX = Colorado Springs, CO, USA WF = Westfield, MA, USA AB = Albuquerque, NM, USA The 3rd Digit indicates the year 7 = 1997 8 = 1998 9 = 1999 etc. The 4th & 5th digits indicate the week of manufacture from January. 01 = 1st week in January 12 = 12th week after January 1st (End of March) 20 = Mid April For a rough calculate take 4 weeks to the month The remaining digits indicate the run number. 00005 = The 5th one made at this plant 00100 = The 100th one made at this plant >From the fog in my head... Dan Snyder, Butler, PA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jack Rubin" <j at ckrubin.us> To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Sent: Friday, May 01, 2015 5:25 PM Subject: Place of manufacture for DEC equipment? Is there a way to identify which DEC plant manufactured a specific piece of equipment? I'm certainly aware of the Maynard, Massachusetts label on my equipment and I'm pretty sure I've seen DEC Kanata, Canada on flipchip handles. Maybe even PR serial numbers on computers built in Puerto Rico. Can anyone supply any more extensive and/or detailed information? Thanks, Jack

9 years, 7 months

PDP-11/74 MP

by john＠forecast.name

CASTOR:: was the M+ group?s 11/74 housed in it?s own machine room in ZK. Since the machine hardware could be relatively easily reconfigured, POLLUX:: was reserved for when the system was running as 2 independent nodes (3+1 or 2+2 CPUs). The DECnet group had a dual processor system with node name ELROND::. I used CASTOR:: standalone a couple of times while debugging the MP changes to the DECnet kernel code until ELROND:: became stable. Eventually, ELROND:: became the timesharing system for the DECnet-RSX group. The lack of cache-coherency and the limited work-arounds (cache-bypass or cache flushing) meant that all the DECnet kernel code, both drivers and protocol stack, ran with cache-bypass enabled on its data PDRs. So the networking code on an MP system had lower peak performance than on a normal 11/70 although you would never notice the difference in regular operation. John.

9 years, 7 months

Place of manufacture for DEC equipment?

by j＠ckrubin.us

Is there a way to identify which DEC plant manufactured a specific piece of equipment? I'm certainly aware of the Maynard, Massachusetts label on my equipment and I'm pretty sure I've seen DEC Kanata, Canada on flipchip handles. Maybe even PR serial numbers on computers built in Puerto Rico. Can anyone supply any more extensive and/or detailed information? Thanks, Jack

9 years, 7 months

Olivetti Programma 101 article (In Italian)

by jws＠jwsss.com

http://blog.startupitalia.eu/p101-make-in-italy-de-sandre-olivetti-intervis… There is a museum in Ivrea with the Programma 101 on display. I think some of the photos from modern times were from there. This article is related to a maker fair in Trieste. Please visit the page for pictures and to give them page clicks, since I am archiving the info here for the list. Thanks Jim Google translated from article: The engineer of the legendary P101: "Here are the secrets of the first Pc of history" The Mini Maker Faire Trieste meeting with the engineer De Sandre, one of the creators of the program 101 Olivetti: the first personal computer will be among the stars of the show to Make In italy Expo (from May 18). Last October, in the Maker Faire Rome , was presented the exhibition "50 years of Italian innovations: from P101 to the first espresso machine space". An exhibition, organized by the Foundation Make in Italy , which now arrives in Milan Expo 2015. From today, in fact, can be seen, in an expanded version of the original, in two locations in which it was divided: Telecom Italian pavilion within the exhibition center in Rho and the National Museum of Science and Technology of the Lombard capital. The prototype of the P101 ( Program 101 ), recognized as the first desktop computers in history, made ??his international debut at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1965. The team, led by Pier Giorgio Perotto, devised an instrument that had some features that still they form the basis of any personal computer: CPU with discrete components, RAM (magnetostrictive delay line), mass storage (magnetic card) and serial printer to impact. Within the team of Perotto was a young engineer, Giovanni De Sandre. Matthew Tro?a met him at the second edition of the Mini Maker Faire Trieste to talk with him about the success of the P101 (and many other things). The interview How did your story with Olivetti? I entered into Olivetti April 1, 1960, after the previous talks that had established my eligibility in that company. I even received the head of the laboratory at the time, the engineer Mario Tchu , who was the son of a Chinese ambassador to Vatican. Tchu had specialized in the United States, and this greatly pleased to Adriano Olivetti , who cast him in his team. That time I had just graduated, fresh from Politecnico di Milano, and you think, now my degree is equivalent to a degree in electrical engineering, but at the time did not exist in this formulation, so I got a degree in electrical engineering with a "certificate studies of electronics. " So she was received by engineer Tchu, who then assumed? The engineer Tchu was a very friendly, helpful and friendly. He explained all the activities of the laboratories, mostrandomeli one by one and explaining with great patience and care that what took place in those places. In the end I remember that I said, "then engineer, she is interested in what more? One thing in production or in the project? "And I said a little 'afraid' to me honestly like to work on projects ...". Tchu then he asked again, "but she would like to work on the evolution and improvement of our existing products or instead of entirely new products?" And then I said that without wishing to presumptuous, I would have loved work on projects entirely new. The engineer Tchu picked up the phone, called the engineer Perotto and said "dear engineer, I have here a person that suits her." That phrase always decided for my professional future. I went well in the working group of engineer Perotto, who was my direct responsibility even though he was only a few years older than me. Perotto was a nice person, of great culture and technical ability. He had a spontaneous orientation toward the concrete. I was very lucky because I was thrust into an almost idyllic. In the Olivetti corporate hierarchy was not seen as an imposition, not weighed. The leaders were, but they respected because it was natural respect. People were so influential that respect for them was spontaneous. I found an atmosphere of great freedom, but also of great involvement. If I had a problem it was enough to ask for help and I was listening. My problems and my gaps I filled asking. I learned a lot while I worked. What he is initially occupied? The first thing I worked were checks magnetic, which still bear the bottom two spaces wider than three a little 'closer. The location of these areas determines the reading code. The machine that read these codes had designed Perotto and I was in charge of setting up, checking its operation, and connecting it to an existing machine Olivetti. Within six months I had accomplished something. And then the P101 ... Work began on the P101 with a deep study of the feasibility of the product, initially purely theoretical. We wanted to create a car that was not limited only to make four simple steps that already did with the mechanical machines. Then produce mechanical machines cost 39,000 lire, but then were sold to 390 thousand pounds. For Olivetti invest in this product would not bring the expected revenue. We had to do something to level a little 'higher. So we started working on the prototype of the P101. We did not know that the machine had to create, in the sense that there was still nothing like it on the market. However for me the bonds were crystal clear: it had to be easy to use, accessible to a non-professional user. Accessibility was to be the characteristic trait. In the second place it had to be reduced in size. Finally it would cost as little as possible. Led by engineer Perotto, then, we started working on this electronic project. So the first thing to do was to decide the type of memory to be installed in the machine. Of course we had the opportunity to go to the store and choose from dozens of memories at our disposal. In those years there were very few memories. In particular there was the core memory , but was not good for the small size of our future machine. The engineer Perotto I knew immediately, I'm a bit 'after. (Laughs) After a study of the type of memory to choose from we focused on a type of memory of the past generation, which had been abandoned by now (working memory was a magnetostrictive delay line ). The technology of the time gave us memories that were not going to respect the constraints that we had set, so we used the components of the past, to make the "car of the future". The revolutionary products as was the P101, they appreciate when they are ready. Behind their implementation but there is always a big job. How much have you been working on this project? We got to work with his head down, day and night, often without realizing that had arrived the weekend. In some periods there was no agreement on Sunday as a day of rest. There were no arrears with whom to spend the afternoon. All this does not remember it as a burden, but as the most exciting period of my life. We had to finish first. I think that needs to come first in some things, that does not mean overdoing it, but engage and expend maximum to achieve their goals. Running behind is far worse than through the air. He never felt the weight of fatigue in what he did? There was no concept of fatigue for us. It was completely overcome by the interest that was for what we were doing. We felt a bit 'pioneers in a world where we often designed parts of electronic circuits, but never a car full. We proceeded by trial and error, but they hand it proceeded increased experience. Chapter Innovation What about her? Innovation has to have some unmet need. To return to my story, I believe that the fact of working at P101, was not immediately something innovative. For me initially was mainly a strong need. If I think back to when the University did the calculations with the ruler with which often was wrong, the idea that you could create a machine that would help me with extreme speed and precision to make those calculations, for me was the solution to my real need . Need to be put together with some technical expertise required to carry out in practice his idea. Innovation means want to go into the unexplored wilderness, hoping to find an oasis, a solution but we were not ready, but we have done us. Italy is a country still able to accept the technology? When there is something really innovative, I do not know if Italy is the best country in which to tell this innovation. From this point of view, perhaps the United States is a country more ready mentally, more pragmatic and more accustomed to understand the news. But this happens only in the initial phase. Olivetti also initially was little more than an island than the rest of the country. A lot of people did not even know that there was this company. But I believe that the issue on which we must reason is as follows. Today the world has certainly changed and we are used to accept anything new very easily. The challenge is to understand what, in this chaos of new, really creates innovation, understood as making something useful for our lives. What really affects our lives? That is, if what we invent or we make an impact in a way that is not obvious, trivial, obvious, then maybe other countries are more receptive, but Italy certainly not least, because of quality products makes many as he wants. The important thing, as I said, you know what, among the many new features, it's really helpful to improve their lives. He would redo everything you did? Yes absolutely. Though I speak with hindsight. One can not always project her life and does not know what may happen in the future. Certainly more than the experience in Olivetti itself, I would like to relive the spirit of those years, that basically was a spirit extremely positive, optimistic, enthusiastic. From my experience I have learned that critical is the commitment and self-criticism, that a little 'lacking nowadays. Innovation also means being confident, determined and feed their inner spring. It helps a lot to be introduced in the technology world, especially now that has become pervasive. Everything comes from a right balance between a strong driving force and a large capacity that criticism must regulate itself within us. What did you learn from your experience? That we must never stand still. But think of Steve Jobs! What has to do what he did? It's not that he invented something. What made the difference, however, was its continuity, his desire to fight, his steely character, which allowed him to transform a company that was going to fail in company we know today. What did Jobs? In fact did what many others did, but of course with an attention to detail and some aspects that have allowed him to make a difference. Today, companies ride the wave for a couple of years and when they feel it is necessary to reinvent itself give up and sit down. Steve Jobs? More than sitting! That one had the pins under the seat which put him constantly on the move. He never lies and never gave up, and certainly helped him a lot of his character. Today we have to stay on the move, never sit down, because innovation is moving. 16/05/2015 Matthew Tro?a & Alessandro Frau

9 years, 7 months

Weird stuff has a TI 810 (also if anyone has token ring wiring)

by dave＠mitton.com

RE: Token Ring As said below, you can probably not worry too much about the wiring impedance (etc.) for a small ring. But you will still need a MAU or something like it. The token ring adapters have a physical layer protocol for ring insertion and token monitoring. The power-up state for a station wire is a physical loopback and it will try to successfully loop itself before inserting. A copy of the newsgroup comp.dcom.lans.token-ring FAQ still lives at http://www.networkuptime.com/faqs/token-ring/index.shtml Connector pinouts and other info is in there. Stuff on Wikipedia too. I had to dust off a few neurons to remember this stuff. Dave. I'm not reading this list consistently anymore... any direct questions should be CCed to me. On 5/18/2015 01:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: >Date: Sun, 17 May 2015 12:58:20 -0400 >From: Sean Caron <scaron at umich.edu> >To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> >Cc: Sean Caron <scaron at umich.edu> >Subject: Re: Weird stuff has a TI 810 (also if anyone has token ring > wiring) >Message-ID: > <CAA43vkUJ7US+72OiYhEtrvOgM76u0tUv55wqAP65R21otLkbEg at mail.gmail.com> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > >I can tell you from firsthand experience that if you're just doing short >little runs within a vintage computer room in your home or something like >that, you can directly pin the 9-pin D-sub over to 8P8C and make short runs >with common unshielded Cat V cable and it should work fine. I did this all >the time when I was in high school to connect old MCA PS/2 machines with >the IBM token ring adapters (9 pin D-sub) to various old 8P8C MAUs that I >had acquired. I can't speak to dealing with those funky IBM connectors; >never worked with those. > >Best, > >Sean > > >On Sun, May 17, 2015 at 12:50 PM, Dave G4UGM <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of > > jwsmobile > > > Sent: 17 May 2015 16:30 > > > To: General at classiccmp.org; Discussion at classiccmp.org:On-Topic and Off- > > > Topic Posts > > > Subject: Weird stuff has a TI 810 (also if anyone has token ring wiring) > > > > > > There is a white cased TI 810 at Weird Stuff in the AS IS room. Probably > > > cheap. Of course unknown condition. > > > > > > Got some very nice Token ring equipment from an IBM facility of some > > sort. > > > will be using for Hercules setups. > > > > > > I'll need some balun's for the RJ45 (ibm version) to the DB9 if anyone > > has an > > > idea of the hookup. I'd like to figure out if I can wire this w/o using > > the token > > > ring cables, since I have what appears to be a bridge unit. I'll have to > > research > > > that though. > > > > > > Thanks > > > Jim > > > > Jim, > > Is there a part number on the "bridge" unit? Typically the IBM units just > > switch the stations it and out of the ring. > > Dave > > > > --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com

9 years, 7 months

DOS Frotz testing request

by dave＠661.org

I've finished up things for a new release of Frotz, an extremely portable Z-machine emulator (plays Infocom games). The Unix port is tested and ready to go, but I don't have real DOS hardware in working order. Could I get some people to try it out and let me know how it fares? It's compiled with Turbo C++ 3.0 for 16-bit DOS. The zipfile is at http://661.org/if/frotz244.zip. Source is at https://github.com/DavidGriffith/frotz. Games are available at http://ifarchive.org/ or https://661.org/if/ (some of my games). -- David Griffith dave at 661.org A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

9 years, 7 months

EPROM dumps for HP Draftmaster II 7596A

by martin＠shackspace.de

Hello! The EPROMs are labeled 07595-18045 and 07595-18046. We suspect some bits have toggled. Can anyone do a dump for me? It's for the 7596A of our local hackerspace. Greets, Martin -- Martin Peters martin.peters at news.uni-stuttgart.de

9 years, 7 months

Question about HP3000 weight

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Johannes Thelen - and others... HP-3000 Series II? series II?? We would pay handsomely for one. We found our backup archive set of HP-3000 software - heh heh all kinds of software including FORUM/3000 which was a multi user 100 seperate boards bulletin board, electronic mail, electronic poll and voting system, multi user chat rooms... ( this was all pre Internet so it was way cool back then! just gotta read the tapes.... amazed... this grouping of tapes was an off site storage I had forgotten about and re found in the back closet at the house... had not seen it in over 23 years.. I am really hot on getting e series II or II back to have one at the SMECC museum here in Arizona as it was one of my favorite machines but also we have the giant plug in front panel for it that shows all registers that the customer engineer would bring out in a suit case to really get down and dirty.... We have the series II and III interface board as well as the HP-3000 CX series interface board which is a separate item.. see http://www.smecc.org/hp/hewlet16_series_3_with_maint_panel.gif to see it hooked to HP 3000 WACC-B from U Wisconsin Used by Marlys Nelson - HP-3000 Programmer Extraordinaire! this photo was shot after we even had retired the system was using a series 48 with 303 meg drives I kept in next to my desk and would test boards in it.... When the panel was active on the III with users on it it was fun to throw it into single step BEWRAHHAHHAHH!!!AA!!! Ed Sharpe Archvisit for SMECC In a message dated 5/18/2015 2:30:24 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, aek at bitsavers.org writes: On 5/18/15 1:13 PM, Johannes Thelen wrote: > the big one of this donate is HP3000 Series III! :D > Finding software for the Series II and III has been extremely difficult so please try to find any that was associated with the machine.

9 years, 7 months

Checkerboard pattern on a Mac Plus

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

Posting this for those that might be interested... No it wasn't capacitors. This time it was something else. http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2015-05-14-mac-plus-checkerboard.h… Terry (Tez)

9 years, 7 months

Question about HP3000 weight

by johannesthelen＠hotmail.com

Hello friends! I just got another donate to my collection... It contains several items, but the big one of this donate is HP3000 Series III! :D Do anyone know what it weights? This one have CPU with Option 200 rack (my best guess, like some expanded IO?). And is there wheels below racks? Ps. IBM 1800 project is going further bit by bit, all gate doors and flat cabling is assembled back where they were. More coming about this later! - Johannes ThelenFinland Before microcomputers blog (Finnish) http://ennenmikrotietokoneita.blogspot.fi/

9 years, 7 months

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test-drb May 2015