test-drb September 2015

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

198 participants
312 discussions

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Seems like a ssd would make an ideal fixed head replacement if it has to swap swap swap all the time? Ed# _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org) In a message dated 9/19/2015 9:44:07 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, wilson at dbit.com writes: On Sat, Sep 19, 2015 at 10:50:04AM -0500, Charles wrote: >Some years ago I recall reading about possibly modifying TSS/8 to run on more >recent disks instead of the ancient DF32 (a whopping 32Kword fixed head disk >with up to three more slaved platters). Or the RF08/RS08 -- luxurious compared to a DF32/DS32! >Did anyone actually implement the changes? I know it wouldn't work well on a >moving-head disk without significant changes, because the swapping is more or >less constant. A zillion years ago, the DECUS library had a TSS/8 hack to make it run on an RK05 (as the only disk I mean -- later TSS/8s already supported RKs as data disks, unless I've gone senile). No idea how they managed that -- the wordiness of the DF/RF controllers penetrates deep into TSS/8's soul. Maybe RFILE/WFILE weren't done compatibly with vanilla TSS/8? Dunno. John Wilson [0,3]@SID D Bit

9 years, 12 months

ENIAC programming Was: release dates of early microcomputer operating systems, incl. Intel ISIS

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Dave Wade > Crispin Rope concentrates on the power of ENIAC and its usefulness Which is why you should look at the longer, later article: http://eniacinaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/EngineeringTheMiracleof… in particular the part I pointed out (bottom right corner of pg. 51), which talks about all the things that can be found in that early ENIAC code, e.g. subroutine calls with storage of return point, etc. I am far less interested in the comparison with other machines (in that article) than I am with the enumeration of what the 'program ENIAC' _itself_ could do - which seems to have been quite a lot. > to me a "computer" without self-modifying code is a programmable > calculator even if it has index registers... So a modern Harvard-architecture machine (e.g. AMD29K) with only ROM on the instruction bus is a programmable calculator? It's precisely that hypothetical which leads me to conclude that the fact that the 'program ENIAC' only had ROM for its code (actually, technically, that's quite not true - it could execute programs stored on cards, too) is not that important; I think the thing to look at is what its programs could contain. Noel

10 years

DEC RX8-E, M8316, M8317, M8365, M8366

by useddec＠gmail.com

I have a limited of M8357, RX8-Es for sale, first come, first served, for $175. I think I found the M8316, M8317, LQP01 interface, and LA180 interface, and will try to post a price in the next few days. Shipping within US is $10 for up to 10. Shipping from 61853.

10 years

SIMH PDP-8 question

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

I have Lunar Lander (in Focal) working again on my PDP-8/A with two RL02 drives (about which you have been reading a lot lately). It's been so long I don't remember where I got the text file (LUNAR.TX) from, but it's on both my RL02 OS/8 image and the physical pack... The rather unusual way I got the Focal program saved onto the RL02 was to punch the text file to paper tape on the Teletype, start Focal, read the paper tape from the Teletype, then save the "typed"-in program to disk. Think that's how I did it quite a few years ago when I got the system, too. So far my best game is 0.20 mph "perfect landing - lucky!" :) Takes me back to junior high in the 70's... Anyway, I'd like to do the same thing in SIMH (get the text file into Focal and then save it as a Focal program). Is there any way to do this with SIMH? Can I assign the text file to a paper tape reader, for example? thanks Charles

10 years

Backups [was Re: Is tape dead?]

by r_a_feldman＠hotmail.com

>From: Mouse <mouse at Rodents-Montreal.ORG> > >> I think a more important issue in backing up is "How many GENERATIONS > >to you keep around?" > >For many purposes, that's an important consideration, yes. There's >something (small) I back up weekly for which I keep the most recent >seven backups, the oldest backup in each of the most recent twelve >months, and the oldest backup in any year. I'm considering something >of the sort for my house backups - live replication to a backup host, >with a once-a-week freeze of the replica, storing past replica drives >on a scheme somewhat like the above. There is a ramsomware variant that encrypts the files but silently decrypts them when they are accessed. It does this for six months before deactivating the on-demand decryption and displaying the ransom message, the theory being that by that time all of the backups will be of the encrypted files, and thus will be useless for restoring good versions. As to how one can become infected, see http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/27/malvertising_feature/?page=1. Major sites, such as The New York Times, Reuters, Yahoo!, and Bloomberg, have been serving malware -- including ransomeware -- through hijacked advertisements. No need to click on anything, the ad serves up the malware. BTW, where I work got hit with ransomeware in December. We were lucky that it first hosed the accounting/time tracking database, which generated errors when someone tried to enter her time. When I went to restore a backup of the database, I noticed the ransomware's html ransom note file and shut down the system before too many more files were encypted. We were able to restore everything (except the originally infected user's computer, which we wiped and reinstalled) from an unconnected backup drive. Bob

10 years

HP-41 User Library Programs and Documentation.

by hp-fix＠xs4all.nl

For the cost of shipment, the below is surging for a new owner. About nine books with program cards containing programs about: - Control - Electrical Engineering - Business - 81XX Processors assembly conversion - Math and calculus - Graphics and printing - Etc.. H-41 User Library Documents, some about filing new programs other copies of the actual User Library Books Program documentation belonging to some of the program cards. The weight of it is about 3kg so shipping will be in 2-5kg range. It is of cause as is, no warranty etc.. If interested contact me off-list

10 years

release dates of early microcomputer operating systems, incl. Intel ISIS

by spacewar＠gmail.com

I've been searching for introduction dates of early microcomputer operating systems, by which I mean only operating systems that run on computers using single-chip microprocessors such as 8008, 8080, and 6800, but not the LSI-11, IMP-16, HP 9830, etc. Intel's ISIS operating system for their MDS was first released in 1975, but I haven't been able to pin down a month. I'm looking for a more specific date for that, and for the releases of any prior microcomputer operating system. On Twitter, @hotelzululima suggested Motorola MIKBUG, introduced in 1974, but IMO it's a monitor, not an operating system. Hzl also suggested Forth, which I also don't really consider to be an operating system in the traditional sense, but if there's evidence of Forth or a Forth-like language available for a microcomputer prior to 1976, that would be interesting as well.

10 years

12" Floppy Disks

by barythrin＠gmail.com

Is he also in the UK? Details or dates would help. Did he say it was a floppy like disk or just disc like a platter? I have to look around but i actually have something that sounds like it but I've never looked up what it really was. Figured it'd be disappointing and newer than it looks lol. I dont have a web site to display pictures but i can look for it and email you or someone else a shot of it. ?My guess is its really a magnetic backup tape. ?I haven't measured it but venture i can take a picture of it in front of a trs-80 model 2 that has 8" drives for comparison. <div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Adrian Graham <binarydinosaurs at gmail.com> </div><div>Date:09/15/2015 3:39 AM (GMT-06:00) </div><div>To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> </div><div>Subject: 12" Floppy Disks </div><div> </div>Morning folks, I've been contacted by a teacher who's looking for any information about 12" floppies. Am I imagining that they really existed? I'm sure I've seen one or seen adverts for them, maybe at Bletchley Park. Others he's contacted think he's getting confused with 12" laser discs but I'm not so sure. Anyone? -- adrian/witchy Owner of Binary Dinosaurs, the UK's biggest home computer collection? www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk

10 years

Canon Cat for sale

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

I have a Canon Cat in terrific shape for sale. It works just fine. The screen is bright and clean. It also comes with the Canon Cat printer. See photos here: http://vintagetech.com/sales/Canon%20Cat/ More information available upon request. Asking $1,400 or best offer. Thanks. -- Sellam ibn Abraham VintageTech ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintagetech.com Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. The truth is always simple. * * * NOTICE * * * Due to the insecure nature of the medium over which this message has been transmitted, no statement made in this writing may be considered reliable for any purpose either express or implied. The contents of this message are appropriate for entertainment and/or informational purposes only. The right of the people to be secure in their papers against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.

10 years

ENIAC programming Was: release dates of early microcomputer operating systems, incl. Intel ISIS

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Al Kossow >> the machine had to be configured (via connecting up computing units >> with cables) > In 1947 ENIAC was modifed at BRL to be a stored program computer. Well, I did say "in the original ENIAC usage" it had to be configured by plugging! I was aware of the later conversion. > http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1339839 Crispin Rope, "ENIAC as a Stored-Program Computer: A New Look at the Old Records", IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Vol. 29 No. 4, October 2007 Thanks for that pointer. I couldn't get access to that paper (it's behind a paypal I don't have the ability to pierce - I would be grateful if someone could send me a copy), but in looking for it online, I did find the very similar: Thomas Haigh, Mark Priestley, Crispin Rope, "Engineering 'The Miracle of the ENIAC'", IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Vol. 36, No. 2, April-June 2014 which includes the same author, and is later, so hopefully more definitive. It's quite interesting: according to that, the conversion of ENIAC to a 'stored program' configuration, after a period of about a year of discussion and planning, took place starting around March, 1948, and the first problem was run using it in April, 1948 - and it cites a lot of contemporary documents to that effect. (As the article points out, this contradicts the long-and-widely-held impression, from a statement in Goldstine's book - and if anyone knew, it should have been him! - that gave the date of that as September, 1948.) Anyway, the new, earlier date is of course is very shortly before the Baby ran _its_ first program, in June, 1948. So there is a rather interesting question as to which 'computer' ran first. I'd always gathered it was the Baby, but this new data may overturn that. It is true that the 'program ENIAC' (to invent a term to differentiate that stage of the machine from the earliest configurations, which used the cabling method) did not store its program in the same read-write memory as data, as the Baby did, instead storing it in 'EPROM' (switches). However, I don't consider that very important; nobody says that a machine running out of PROM isn't a computer! The important thing is that it's a program, with things like subroutine calls >from different locations, address modification for data access, etc, and the 'program ENIAC' apparently had all that (see the list at the bottom of page 51 in the article). So it's likely indeed be the 'first computer'. Noel

10 years

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test-drb September 2015