test-drb November 2016

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

165 participants
224 discussions

by spacewar＠gmail.com

Now that I have an 8X300 (etc.) disassembler, which I've used to disassemble the Western Digital WD1000 and WD1001 firmware, and the Zendex ZX-203 firmware, I've become curious as to what other products used the SMS300/8X300/8X305. Does anyone know of any? In the early to mid-1980s, the 8X300 was a good choice for hard disk controllers, because all instructions took 250ns, and a single instruction could read an I/O port or RAM location, shift and mask, and write another I/O port or RAM location. At the time, no MOS microprocessor was even close to that.

8 years

for sale/trade: big list of both old and (relatively) new, deadline: end of November (ideally)

by mgariboldi＠gmail.com

The following is for sale, or trade possibly. Most of the listed items I've used together with SGI IRIX and HP/Compaq/DEC OpenVMS and Digital/Tru64 UNIX systems and served me very well. I need to sell this by the end of the month (Nov-2016), else I'll have to potentially scrap a considerable bunch of it. I probably forgot to mention a number of things and perhaps I made a few mistakes here and there. I'll try to update (and if needed, correct) this list with follow-up posts. For now, this is the list of items: - SGI systems, e.g. MIPS R5000 and R5200 processor equipped O2s notably, perhaps also a teal Indigo? with 250-MHz R4400, at least 256 Mbytes (also up to 1 Gbyte available) of RAM, various types of CPUs available, along with various other options in terms of disks, video I/O, etc. (ask me) --> suggestion: if you don't care for IRIX, an O2 would still make an excellent X terminal to any e.g. other system, too, as they don't consume a lot of power and they're wonderfully small; - SGI parts, like an SGI Tezro dual-processor 700-MHz R16000 system board and an SGI DMediaPro DM10 IEEE-1394a FireWire PCI card plus cable and manual; - DEC Multia/UDB VX40B, maximized, with 166-MHz LCA4/21066 processor, the maximum amount of RAM (256 Mbytes), large 73.4-Gbyte 2?" SCSI HDD (with Tru64 UNIX V5.1B[-5?] optionally pre-installed, OpenVMS V7.2 also works on it, the original vertical stand and documents are present, too), Ensoniq AudioPCI (16-bit 48-KHz) audio card, replacement NVRAM/TOY back-up battery, experimental SRM console, PCI audio card and custom-shoehorned, etc.; - various older/non-x86 or compatible computer (besides earlier mentioned SGI, e.g. DEC, Compaq and HP) bits & parts, think of FireWire (e.g. IEEE-1394a), audio, etc. cards, cables and such ... included are things like an AlphaServer DS15-compatible PCI audio card, HP IEEE-1394a FireWire PCI card (rare, should work in some HP Integrity systems) and more (ask me for details); - Exar/Neterion/S2io 10-Gbit fiber-optical (10GBASE-SR) PCI-X Ethernet NICs including transceivers, besides x86/-64 also OpenVMS and IRIX compatible (and tried/used in various systems, including HP rx2600s, rx2620s and a DS15 and also an SGI Tezro), LC FC cables optionally available, too; - Mellanox 40-Gbit InfiniBand PCI-E adapters (3 total), optional copper and fiber-optical cables, in various lengths, are also available; - various (e.g. HP) HBAs, notably SCSI (e.g. Ultra160 and Ultra320) and FC (e.g. 2-Gbit and 4-Gbit), for PCI/-X or PCI-E, many PCI/-X cards also compatible with IRIX and even OpenVMS, some include the HP-branded "combo" types, providing both dual-channel FC (HBA) and Ethernet (NIC); - various optical/tape drives and media (e.g. DVD-RAM, various data & cleaning tapes, of which many brand new), DDS/DAT of many types (e.g. DDS-2/DAT12, DDS-3/DAT24, DDS-4/DAT40 and DDS-5/DAT72) Ultrium (mostly LTO-1 and LTO-3), mostly of brands like HP (notably), Quantum and Sony... to summarize several: -- HP Ultrium LTO-3 SCSI half-height tape drives -- Quantum Ultrium LTO-1 SCSI full-height tape drive -- various Ultrium LTO-3, -2 and -1 cleaning and data cartridge tapes (mostly HP-branded) -- various (HP and Sony-branded) DDS-4/DAT40 tape drives, also one DDS-5/DAT72 drive, all with -- various DDS-5/DAT72, DDS-4/DAT40, DDS-3/DAT24, DDS-2/DAT12 and DDS-1/DAT8 tapes; - various DVD-RAM discs, both with and without the plastic caddies; - various HP, AXUS and Ciprico brand Ultra320 SCSI/S-ATA-bridged & 2-Gbit or 4-Gbit FC external enclosures, for HDDs (optionally including large capacity HDDs, also hardware RAID functionality depending per enclosure), 5?" devices and more (these can be tricky to ship, but not impossible), to summarize some of it: -- AXUS Demon SA-16U4P Ultra320 SCSI<=>S-ATA RAID storage enclosure, including 16 * 1-Tbyte S-ATA HDDs and spares --> advantages: relative low power consumption and triple-redundant power -- Ciprico/Huge Systems MediaVault 4-Gbit FC/FC-AL RAID disk array, including transceivers, 10 * 250-Gbyte P-ATA HDDs plus one or more spare HDDs --> advantages: low power consumption and rather silent -- HP StorageWorks M5313A FC/FC-AL 2-Gbit (JBOD) disk array, including transceivers and 14 * 146.8-Gbyte FC HDDs and one or two spare HDDs, too --> note: perhaps not useful for OpenVMS users as-is, as JBOD and FC-AL are a no-go, but it can be used in a larger SAN setup; - various types of printed documents/documentation (various manuals and reference guides, from e.g. SGI and Intel); - APC Smart-UPS 3000 XLM (heavy-duty, 3000VA capacity) UPS back-up battery aggregate power system, plus special APC RJ-45 USB cable (the whole unit is perhaps hard to ship, but not impossible I guess), this UPS can sustain e.g. several 2U and even some 4U HP Integrity servers for up to 30~40 minutes (depending on the loads, of course); - HP OpenVMS Alpha V8.4 SPL (Software Product Library) July 2010, including the original box and 'documents'; - lots of relatively recent 300-Gbyte and 146.8-Gbyte 80-pin (SCA/-2) and 68-pin 10K and some 15K RPM, hot-swap, SCSI HDDs (most are HP-branded); - older <=9-Gbyte SCSI disks, from various vendors, some with (e.g. DEC) firmware, with 50-, 68- and 80-pin (SCA/-2) connectors (many DEC and Compaq/HP-branded ones, relevant for OpenVMS and Digital/Tru64 UNIX, too); - HP StorageWorks 3U external 5?" SCSI expansion enclosure, room for 4 (68-pin) SCSI devices (including optical drives, tape drives and including full-height models); - PCMCIA and PC card items: SanDisk CompactFlash card reader, SIIG IEEE-1394a adapter, USB 2.0 adapter and an Adaptec Fast SCSI adapter plus cable; - Apple ADB and serial items: Griffin iMate adapters (2 total, 1 in original packaging) and Keyspan adapter; - Chieftec SNT-3141 S-ATA HDD backplane plus sleds and I can provide 3 * free 250-Gbyte S-ATA HDDs --> suggestion: perhaps useful for in a system like the HP zx2000 (if it fits, of course; I never tried it); - IBM System x central fan tray (P/N: 90P4618, FRU P/N: 26K4761) and also (e.g.) x346 rack rails (might fit on other devices/systems, too), SCSI HDD caddies, fans and more (ask me); - HP KVMIP console (PN 262589-821) 8-port extender hub, no power supply required for this; - Gefen 1080p HDMI scaler, professional grade (original box present), useful for some computers and monitors to correct aspect ratios; - non-computer items, or indirectly: professional SDI equipment, like JVC-branded CRT and LCD monitors, Miranda bridges (including for IEEE-1394a FireWire to SDI) and more, also many cables of various lengths available and also photo & video equipment (e.g. Nikon D70 plus Nikon Nikkor AF-S 18-70mm f/1:3.5-4.5G zoom lens, a barely used Sony HDR-FX1000/E plus accessories and various bits & parts and a Tamron TV Zoom Lens 12.5-75mm f/1.8 with C mount with constant aperture over the zoom range). All the items are located in the Netherlands. I'll provide more information and pictures on demand. As far as possible trades go. I'm mostly interested in lenses (mostly in Nikon F/G, Pentax K, Leica M, Leica M39, M42 and Sony E-Mount mounts), in particular fast longer telephoto lenses (135mm and above), also enlarger lenses. - MG

8 years

Flex Disc options for the HP 9825

by curiousmarc3＠gmail.com

Probably a question for Tony's encyclopedic knowledge. I just scored two HP 9825, one a later "T" option and one "B" version with all the fixings (i.e ROM packs). They both seem to work save the usual tape drive which I have not gotten to yet. Both have the flexible disc ROM. What kind of discs can I hook up? I think the HP 9895 8" floppy would work. What about the HP 82901 5.25" floppy drive? How do I read/write program files from the disc interface? Marc Sent from my iPad

8 years

UNIBUS/QBUS interface chips Was: Re: MEM11 update

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Pete Lancashire > Do you or someone have a list of all the Unibus bus chips ? I have seen the following bus interface chips used on DEC UNIBUS boards: Drivers: 8881 - Sprague, Signetics - Quad NAND Receivers: 380 - Signetics - Quad NOR 314 - Signetics - 7-input NOR 8815 - Signetics - 4-input NOR 8837 - National Semi - Hex receiver (aka Signetics N8T37) 8640 - National Semi - Quad NOR Transceivers: 8641 - National Semi - Quad transceiver The actal complete part number can vary depending on the manufacturer; e.g. the 8641's are usually DS8641N, from NatSemi, and the 380's are usually SP380A's or SP380N's. Where the basic number is not included (as with the 8T37 for the 8837) I have given it. The following chips have been used by DEC to interface to the QBUS, and I have seen many of the above chips (e.g. 8641's) used there too, so I think chips seen on one bus could be used on the other: Drivers: 7439 - Various - Quad NAND Transceivers: 2908 - AMD - Quad latching transceiver with tri-state output I _believe_ the following chips are also usable as UNIBUS/QBUS interface chips, but I'm not sure if I've seen one used there: Transceivers: 8836 - National Semi - Quad NOR 8838 - National Semi - Quad transceiver (aka Signetics N8T38) Quite a zoo! Noel

8 years

ISO Tekelec Chameleon 32 mfm disk

by aek＠bitsavers.org

Slim chance, but does anyone have a working Chameleon that I could clone the software off of? They are 40mb MFM drives, I just bought two, and both units are missing the drives, making them boat anchors. Or, slimmer yet, if someone has the software on floppy

8 years

Thinking about acquiring PDP stuff

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Brad H > So I wondered what PDP guys did to keep interested and how much they > actually used the machine over the course of, say, a year. Well, I have to get all mine running first... ;-) Seriously, though, I'm looking at several years of work to get them all running. (And there are also various peripherals to do, like tape drives, etc.) And then there's the project Dave B and I have to creat new blinkenlitz panels (not to mention SD-card based mass storage to replace those cranky old disk drives for every-day running, the original purpose before the blinkenkraze hit us :-) for the PDP-11's... Seriously, though, like all hobbies, it's primarily to amuse me, not to create anything useful. And it's _very_ successful at that. Noel

8 years

ISO Xebec S1410A fw #104792 or 104793

by aek＠bitsavers.org

I just started cataloging and dumping firmware my SASI/SCSI disk and tape boards starting with Xebec. It would be nice to find images for the two alternate fw proms for the S1410A, particularly the 8k 104793 version so I can compare it to the one used on the S1420

8 years

Looking for Philips P2000C P-Systems discs

by hp-fix＠xs4all.nl

Hi, I just acquired a Philips P2000C and I'm looking for a copy of the p-systems disc(s) to run UCSD Pascal on it. If someone has a copy of those I would be very happy ;) -Rik

8 years

HP Draftmaster RX pen plotter needs love

by michael.newton＠gmail.com

I acquired a working HP Draftmaster RX (HP part # 7596B). An awesome machine, 36" roll feed and 8 pens, complete with several pen carousels, user manual, and hundreds of working pens. I was very excited to make a splash in the art world with this thing. I did get it to perfectly draw a 3 color demo page from the front panel. Thereafter it started displaying errors on the display such as "200" which means it needs "mechanical calibration". Thanks to hpmuseum.net I acquired the service manual <http://www.hpmuseum.net/document.php?hwfile=1292>, which catalogs many calibrations and self-tests to run from the front panel, including the aforementioned "mechanical calibration". So I power up with the appropriate front panel keys depressed to run this calibration. The paper drive motor starts making noise, but the paper rollers aren't turning, and the LCD display is blank. Since that moment, the LCD display is always blank so it is currently a boat anchor. It's a terribly sad state of affairs. I have basic electronics and mechanical skills and an oscilloscope so following the troubleshooting procedures in the manual I might be able to identify a part to replace. But of course, parts for sale online are are rare, expensive, used and probably untested. Probably better would be lower-level repair of whatever parts are faulty but that's probably more than I can manage at my skill level. I'm in Seattle, WA. Is there anyone alive in the pacific NW who will pay a visit and help me fix this thing? (The only company I found that admits to working on pen plotters is 360tech in Austin, TX.) Or someone elsewhere I could ship electronics parts to for test and repair? Or provide guidance, or help in any form at all? thanks M.

8 years

Thinking about acquiring PDP stuff

by barythrin＠gmail.com

Argument goes both ways. Does anyone really do practical things with any home computer?? On the vcf forums I enjoyed two folks who eventually got their two PDP models running chess and had them play eachother. ?I'd like to see a rematch or maybe some new vintage competitors approach :-) If they can run holiday lights they could also probably use it for x10? home automation if one considers that practical. -------- Original message --------From: Brad H <vintagecomputer at bettercomputing.net>So I wondered what PDP guys did to keep interestedand how much they actually used the machine over the course of, say, a year.

8 years

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test-drb November 2016