test-drb May 2015

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

199 participants
259 discussions

by bob＠warriston.freeserve.co.uk

Second time of sending. A response, please. While turning out my attic I unearthed obsolete *discs for a 1980s Amstrad computer *which has long been disposed of. One disc is, as far as I know, in mint condition but a further twelve contain programmes. Another six discs contain long forgotten person data which I can't access. I am intrigued to know what they contain. Also in my searches I have found a *Microsoft Works manual* complete with system discs, and an *Amstrad user's manual*. Also about a*dozen 5" discs* containing stock records of warehouse long demolished. Again, I am curious to see what I recorded 30 years ago. I am reluctant to consign these items to the dustbin if a) the discs can be deciphered, and b) they are are of use to someone else. Your organisation has been suggested as a possible home for at least some of these items. Are they of interest? If not, do you know any organisation that might be? R.J. Rickard. Edinburgh.

9 years, 7 months

ACT and CMI Unibus boards

by shadoooo＠gmail.com

Pictures of the two boards here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/56w5p671dxnlb1q/10039%20DUAL%20IO.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/rxf4e56cgo40bt5/10046_INTERLINK_U.jpg?dl=0 Andrea

9 years, 7 months

HP TSB console lockout (was RE: HP (3rd party) id help?

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

Rick wrote... ---- The computer center (as it was called then) was very much off limits to just about anyone but the operator, ... ---- Maybe it is/was common knowledge, but I had forgotten about this tidbit until finding a 1 sentence note almost hidden in a manual... To keep people from entering commands at the console who were not authorized, TSB monitors bit 0 of the S register on the main cpu. If that bit is set, no console commands will run and it just echos back the characters that you type. On the older machines where the front panel key switch actually could lock the panel, for security if people had access to the machine room you could set Sreg bit 0 and turn the key to lock and take it with you. Console disabled. I was curious if this would work with the newer cpu's where the key switch was just a door latch and the "lock/operate" switch was behind the front panel. Alas, sr0 bit 0 works as expected to lock the console, but setting the lock/operate switch behind the front panel does not disable the switch register. So on those model cpus... I guess it's "security through obscurity" :) J

9 years, 7 months

HP (3rd party) id help?

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I don't think I ever asked this here, I apologize if this is a repost from long ago. I don't remember the answer in any case! In high school we had an HP 2000/Access system, and in one of the racks was a non-HP modem or leased line unit that supported multiple lines (maybe 16-ish ISTR). I remember there was a row of silver rocker switches (one for each channel). I think there was a rotary thumbdial on the right with numbers on it to select the line, and maybe an LED above each rocker switch to show which lines were in use. Maybe (not sure) there were some status LEDS on the right that showed status for whatever line was selected with the thumbwheel. I have a picture of the system racks at https://www.flickr.com/photos/131070638 at N02/17325691225/ In the dual bay HP on the right, it is the left rack, 2nd from the top. It's just under the 2748B paper tape reader and just above the 7900A disc drive. I was curious if anyone recognized definitively what brand/model that device was? Most unfortunately, that picture includes me holding a trophy for a programming contest and it shows I once was thin, once had hair, and always had acne LOL Kinda wish I had cropped it before uploading :\ I apologize for the fuzziness, it's a picture of a picture and the best I could get. The time period is roughly 1978-1982, and I think the system was a few years old already at the beginning of that period (was probably used and put together >from parts at other schools). Anyone know for sure on the comm device? J

9 years, 7 months

Apple iBook G4 running Linux for sale

by shawn-gordon＠cox.net

I have Debian/Gnome installed on it, 1.2gb RAM and 56gb HD. I never configured the drivers for the wifi but a network cable works, shouldn't be hard to get the wifi working, I had it working with a different distro but swapped it out. Anyway, have a soft case for it and selling for just $80 plus shipping.

9 years, 7 months

General Electric Terminet HP 2762A

by jws＠jwsss.com

I recently acquired a GE Terminet 300 in the guise of an HP 2762A terminal, KSR. I am attaching what I have so far in my blog. I've found little on the technical side for this terminal. If anyone has a manual I'd appreciate a copy. It is referenced in one listing of HP manuals, 02762-90001 the service manual. I'm not sure what to make of the one hit I get on that P/N that isn't bitsavers mirrors. I figured I'd ask here first. I'll also ask on the hp equipment group, I am on there too. hpmuseum.net is welcome to my photos, or contact me offline, and I'll make some better quality shots for your web site. I plan to get this going to use for the Multics Simulator at some point. The TN300 was a common console, and was an early symptom of the featureless, non-blink'n lites type shop that came to be. I know the Honeywell 6180 that ran Multics had an 8 panel service panel with wonderful sets of lights, but it was hidden in a cabinet, and typically not accessed by the operator. thanks Jim http://jimsoldtoys.blogspot.com/2015/04/2762a-terminal-printer-ge-terminet-…

9 years, 7 months

ACT and CMI Unibus boards

by shadoooo＠gmail.com

Hello, thanks for the Info. I will post images of all the boards in next days. The ACT boards are indeed from Able Computer. From brochure pictures I identified these models: - DUAL I/O compatible dual DR11-C - BUSLINK for machine-machine bus link applications. Unfortunately there are no info about any of these board. Anybody has some documentations around on the shelf? Thanks Andrea

9 years, 7 months

Ridge 32/330 up and running!

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hey all -- Last summer I picked up a Ridge 32/330 that became available locally. This is a fairly obscure early RISC machine intended to be a competitor to the VAX, it uses a 32-bit CPU at 12.5Mhz built from discrete components (spanning three large PCBs). Mine's outfitted with 8mb of ECC memory, Pertec, SMD and SCSI QIC controllers, and Ethernet. You can see some pictures of this beast at: https://plus.google.com/117997069161125071032/posts/JtsR3BokUxp?pid=6063976… I got it running late last year after rebuilding the QIC tape drive and dealing with some intermittent failures due to a couple of low-quality DIP sockets. I now have a set of dedicated 20A circuits installed in my basement so I can run it for longer periods of time without worrying about burning my house down, so I'll be running it for the next couple of weeks just for fun to keep the basement warm and run up my electrical bill :). It's currently running RX/V 1.1 (Ridge's UNIX variant) and it's on the Internet (indirectly, since exposing a 25-year old UNIX directly to the 'net seems like a bad idea). I thought maybe some people here might be interested in checking it out since it's pretty obscure, if you want an account to play around, drop me a line and I can hook you up. I don't know of any other Ridge machines out there (running or not) -- if you have one let me know, there's very little information out there on these things. I'll add that I'm looking for an external SMD cabinet and cabling so that I can image the original SMD disk that was in the Ridge when I got it; it looks like it contains a valid partition table, but it will not boot. I didn't want to wipe it so the Ridge is currently running off of a spare drive -- I'd like to hook it up externally to dump an image from the running RX/V system. If anyone has one to loan (preferably within driving distance of Seattle) let me know. Once that's done, it's time to figure out how to get the Eagle that came with it running again... And a huge thanks to Al Kossow for archiving the OS media that's on Bitsavers, without which this machine would be a very large boat anchor taking up many cubic feet in my basement. (If anyone has any media or docs for this that aren't on Bitsavers, let me know -- I'm in particular looking for an ROS distribution on QIC media...) - Josh

9 years, 7 months

Qualstar 1260 9 Track Tape Service Manual with Schematics

by marc.verdiell＠gmail.com

Question for all in general and Al Kossow in particular... There is a scanned version of the Qualstar 1260 Service Manual on bitsavers, but it cuts off right where it gets interesting, just before the schematics in Appendix C... Does anybody have the full version somewhere with the schematics at the end? (BTW, the 1052 manual version has the schematics). The Qualstar tape drive in question hooked up to my Mac SE/30 (of all things!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqIrMXxPGUA But it misbehaves now (squeaks while motor reverses and fails reads test, hopefully mechanical?). And my second unit caught another virus and now refuses to load tape or get the motors going. Both used to work fine. Time to open them up I guess. - Marc

9 years, 7 months

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test-drb May 2015