test-drb February 2016

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

203 participants
239 discussions

Free TK50 Tapes for Postage and Handling

by leec2124＠gmail.com

Five untested TK50 tapes available for postage and from 94025. Two have no labels, the remainder have the following: VMS 5.1-1 Maintenance Update OD/OT Drivers for VMS 4.x 20-MAR-89 CZTK1D0 MICRO-11 CUST TK50 Please reply off-list if you'd like. -- Lee Courtney

8 years, 10 months

Solid state recommendations

by bryan＠bceassociates.com

Hi all I have the following gear in my stable: - Sun Blade 100 - SGI O2 - VAXstation 3100 - AlphaStation 500 - HP C3700 I would like to start eliminating spinning SCSI drives from these boxes for noise, heat and capacity reasons. Could you kind folks recommend a solution? I've seen SCSI to CF converters advertised but I didn't know if there was one kind over another that people have been successful with or if there is a totally different approach I should be considering. Thanks, Bryan

8 years, 10 months

MEM11 update

by ggs＠shiresoft.com

Just wanted to let folks know where I am with respect to the MEM11 project. I had decided to take a break from writing J1 code and updating the simulator to actually work on the hardware. To make things easy for myself, I decided to use my FPGA eval board and build a daughter board with CPLDs and other parts (FRAMs, etc) so that I could have another vehicle for validating the J1 code. This should also be a fairly simple board to build and I could focus on functionality (and test points) rather than trying to make it fit into an SPC form factor. I wrote a lot of the Verilog code for the CPLDs and quickly found out that my partitioning wouldn?t fit in any reasonably sized CPLDs. Even with some additional re-partitioning, it was touchy as to if it would fit (changing a couple of lines of Verilog code caused the design to no longer fit). I went back and thought about the problem and decided that the easiest thing to do would be to create a non-SPC formfactor board that was SW & HW functionally correct. So, I?ve been working on writing all of the code to fit in an FPGA. One advantage is that I could re-use a lot of the code that I wrote for the CPLDs. Last night I managed to get a reasonably clean synthesis of the design. The only thing missing is the UNIBUS code (which I hadn?t written yet). It fits easily into the FPGA that I?ve chosen (a Xilinx Spartan 3-E 500). By going this route, I?ve discovered some incorrect assumptions that I?ve made in terms of how the HW will appear to the J1 code. So I have to update the simulator to match this and the relevant J1 code. So, things are moving forward. I also wanted to get folk's opinion on the need to actually produce an SBC form factor board. In other words (and sort of in line with how peripherals were done on the original 11/20) is it OK to have the MEM11 be outside of the 11/20 chassis and connect via BC11A (my replica) cables? I wanted to put that out, because it may require a fair amount of work to make everything fit into an SPC form factor. That?s assuming of course that the power requirements for the MEM11 can be fulfilled by a single SPC slot. One of the things that I can do with the ?prototype? is actually measure the incoming power. I?m hoping that it will but in the worst case, it may require splitting the MEM11 functionality across multiple boards. TTFN - Guy

8 years, 10 months

MEM11 update

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Guy Sotomayor > I also wanted to get folk's opinion on the need to actually produce an > S[P]C form factor board. ... is it OK to have the MEM11 be outside of > the 11/20 chassis and connect via BC11A (my replica) cables? Well, that's going to up the cost; for some people, that might be an issue. Also, I dunno if there are people out there with table-top 11/15's-20's (they did exist BITD, I worked with a table-top one), but for them, an additional box might be a hassle too. > That's assuming of course that the power requirements for the MEM11 > can be fulfilled by a single SPC slot. ... in the worst case, it may > require splitting the MEM11 functionality across multiple boards. I guess I don't see the harm in making it two SPC (quad) boards? A flat cable or two to connect across (I dunno how extensive the interconnect requirements between the halves would be, and I have forgotten what the inter-slot interconnect capabilities of an SPC backplane are - ISTR that it has some bussing on the F section pins) would be easy and cheap. Noel

8 years, 10 months

Programming

by c.murray.mccullough＠gmail.com

There is the software side to classic computing: Back in the early days we wrote/coded in BASIC-TinyBASIC running in 2K(talk about writing efficient code!); EASY and SmallFORTRAN. What apps/programs are written in today I don?t know. They certainly can?t run in 2 or 4 K but is the outcome the same ? make a computer or computer-like machine do what we want it to. On the lighter side: ?Computers can never completely replace humans. They may become capable of artificial intelligence(much in the news today), but they will never master real stupidity.? Happy computing all. Murray :)

8 years, 10 months

386 upgrade board

by starbase89＠gmail.com

Greetings! I have a Televideo luggable that I have been playing with. Its a 10MHz 286 with a meg of RAM, 2 360k drives and four expansion slots. I've been trying to figure out how capable I can make this machine for the hell of it. Did anyone make an upgrade kit to go from a 286 to a 386? It would be interesting to get this thing going with that, a Hard Card and an ethernet card, somewhat capable of doing some modern tasks. Thanks! Joe <https://www.avast.com/sig-email> This email has been sent from a virus-free computer protected by Avast. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email> <#DDB4FAA8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

8 years, 10 months

NiCd battery replacement in vintage computers

by nf6x＠nf6x.net

Today I discovered that I hadn't replaced the NiCd battery in time in my Amiga 3000. Pictures: https://twitter.com/nf6x/status/696042894939979776 https://twitter.com/nf6x/status/696050264306921472 https://twitter.com/nf6x/status/696065578977472512 It's a fairly typical 3.6V 60mAH 3-cell NiCd pack, 16mm diameter x 18mm long, polarized with 2 pins on the positive end and 1 pin on the negative end. In the past I have usually replaced these sorts of batteries with new ones of the same type. This time, I'm thinking of at least installing a remote holder. Not only to prevent further PCB damage in the future, but also to make the battery easier to replace. Lots of screws need to come out to extract an A3000 motherboard: https://twitter.com/nf6x/status/696047816938946560 While I begin to figure out how I'd like to perform this repair, I'm curious about what others have decided to do in similar circumstances. Many options come to mind: * Solder in the same kind of NiCd pack to keep things original. * Solder in a supercap instead. * Reconfigure the circuit to use a non-rechargeable lithium coin cell in a holder instead. I don't think I've seen one of those leak before. * Yet some other remote battery option. -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net> http://www.nf6x.net/

8 years, 10 months

6502 CPUs

by witchy＠binarydinosaurs.co.uk

Hi folks, Having had another bit of CBM kit with a failed CPU I'm wondering where you lovely US folk get your spares from since ebay seems a bit ridiculous for replacements at ukp8 a pop being the lowest price. They're surely not THAT valuable? I know Mouser have got the 're-released' WDC 65C02 which I may end up going for since for 10 they're as low as ukp4.37, but don't us collectors have bundles of spares? Funny when I think of the number of BBC Micros that have been tossed over the years.... -- Adrian/Witchy Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator Www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UK's biggest private home computer collection?

8 years, 10 months

Master index of ICL / 3R PERQ software?

by nw＠retrocomputingtasmania.com

Has anyone made a list of all the known software for the PERQ? I'm on the hunt for a rumoured port of VAX ML (written in Pascal) to the PERQ at Edinburgh. thanks.

8 years, 10 months

Tired of EVERYTHING with a gear being called STEAMPUNK? Yikes I am...

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Tired of EVERYTHING with a gear being called STEAMPUNK? Yikes I am... This fun and creative video pretty much sums things up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA Enjoy - Ed#

8 years, 10 months

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test-drb February 2016