test-drb April 2016

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

203 participants
299 discussions

by tlindner＠macmess.org

I just complete a project to reproduce some old game boxes. I got tired of the ripped and broken boxes I have for my Color Computer Program Paks. I made a video about it: https://youtu.be/5L9adQlM7ro -- -- tim lindner "Proper User Policy apparently means Simon Says."

8 years, 2 months

Very sad message: the passing of Jon Johnston

by hp-fix＠xs4all.nl

This morning I got the sad message of the passing of Jon Johnston the curator of the HP Museum website www.hpmusem.net. More info at : <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/father-of-three-jon-johnston-died -in-tibet-during-a-trek-in-the-himalayas/news-story/501c804577a833b0964016ba e87fd318> http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/father-of-three-jon-johnston-died- in-tibet-during-a-trek-in-the-himalayas/news-story/501c804577a833b0964016bae 87fd318 Jon, was a fellow collector and HP enthusiast and will be missed. Jon himself and his site were a help and source of knowledge for everyone who was interested in HP computing history. -Rik

8 years, 2 months

Lyle scores a WIN for our hobby!

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

Several years ago, Lyle Bickley began negotiations with S&H Computer Systems to release TSX-Plus (a 3rd party Multiuser Operating System for PDP-11's) as free software for personal use. As is often the case, this process can take a lot longer than one would expect. Once Lyle obtained an initial agreement from the owner of TSX-Plus, he then had to await the approval from S&H's Board of Directors. Initially, S&H chose to only release the source code listings for TSX-Plus (which are now on Bitsavers.org). Unfortunately, the machine readable source code itself had been accidentally lost when S&H changed PDP-11 computer systems in-house. Eventually, Lyle was able to obtain the original SMD hard drive from S&H containing the latest versions of TSX-Plus, and the layered products COBOL-Plus and RTSORT (and other software that remains private to S&H Computer Systems). He transferred the TSX-Plus, COBOL-Plus, and RTSORT files to an RL02 disk - and using S&H's proprietary licensing software created a "personal use, serialized version" of TSX-Plus. This version has ALL the capabilities and features of the commercially licensed version of TSX-Plus. Subsequently, Lyle was authorized to release this "Personal Use" TSX-Plus distribution only to individuals that he could vouch for as being non-commercial users. After another year or so, he was able to obtain the current agreement and license to make this "Personal Use" TSX-Plus distribution generally available for non-commercial use. Please note that TSX-Plus is NOT public domain software; S&H retains all rights including ownership. They have provided a free personal use license available through Bickley Consulting West. There is still a paid commercial use license available directly from S&H. We all owe a big "Thanks!" to Harry Sanders at S&H Computer Systems and his Board of Directors for making this release a reality for all vintage computer folks! Also, the hobby owes huge thanks to Lyle Bickley for tirelessly pursuing this for us all! I've always been a huge fan of TSX-Plus and I'm thrilled there's now a personal (hobbyist) license thanks to Lyle. The distribution is at http://tsxplus.classiccmp.org Best, J

8 years, 2 months

basic switch lubricant

by chd＠chdickman.com

I have been cleaning a PDP-8/e front panel and some of the switches are not as free as others. The switches are simple slider basic switches. I have taken similar switches apart and noticed that there is a brown/red grease on the contacts. Any suggestions on the proper grease for a low voltage contact. Chuck

8 years, 2 months

Lyle scores a WIN for our hobby!

by wdonzelli＠gmail.com

Excellent news. Thank you for making this happen. -- Will On Apr 28, 2016 1:22 PM, "Jay West" <jwest at classiccmp.org> wrote: > > Several years ago, Lyle Bickley began negotiations with S&H Computer Systems > to release TSX-Plus (a 3rd party Multiuser Operating System for PDP-11's) as > free software for personal use. As is often the case, this process can take > a lot longer than one would expect. > > Once Lyle obtained an initial agreement from the owner of TSX-Plus, he then > had to await the approval from S&H's Board of Directors. Initially, S&H > chose to only release the source code listings for TSX-Plus (which are now > on Bitsavers.org). Unfortunately, the machine readable source code itself > had been accidentally lost when S&H changed PDP-11 computer systems > in-house. > > Eventually, Lyle was able to obtain the original SMD hard drive from S&H > containing the latest versions of TSX-Plus, and the layered products > COBOL-Plus and RTSORT (and other software that remains private to S&H > Computer Systems). He transferred the TSX-Plus, COBOL-Plus, and RTSORT files > to an RL02 disk - and using S&H's proprietary licensing software created a > "personal use, serialized version" of TSX-Plus. This version has ALL the > capabilities and features of the commercially licensed version of TSX-Plus. > > Subsequently, Lyle was authorized to release this "Personal Use" TSX-Plus > distribution only to individuals that he could vouch for as being > non-commercial users. > > After another year or so, he was able to obtain the current agreement and > license to make this "Personal Use" TSX-Plus distribution generally > available for non-commercial use. > > Please note that TSX-Plus is NOT public domain software; S&H retains all > rights including ownership. They have provided a free personal use license > available through Bickley Consulting West. There is still a paid commercial > use license available directly from S&H. > > We all owe a big "Thanks!" to Harry Sanders at S&H Computer Systems and his > Board of Directors for making this release a reality for all vintage > computer folks! Also, the hobby owes huge thanks to Lyle Bickley for > tirelessly pursuing this for us all! I've always been a huge fan of TSX-Plus > and I'm thrilled there's now a personal (hobbyist) license thanks to Lyle. > > The distribution is at http://tsxplus.classiccmp.org > > Best, > > J > >

8 years, 2 months

Lyle scores a WIN for our hobby!

by lbickley＠bickleywest.com

Hi All, Hopefully you all read in the "Notes" (and Jay's and my comments) that TSX-Plus requires RT-11 as a prerequisite. RT-11 is readily available all over the Internet. It is also available at on the classiccmp server at http://www.classiccmp.org/PDP-11/ Cheers, Lyle -- 73 AF6WS Bickley Consulting West Inc. http://bickleywest.com "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

8 years, 3 months

strangest systems I've sent email from

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Liam Proven > There's the not-remotely-safe kinda-sorta C in a web browser, > Javascript. Love the rant, which I mostly agree with (_especially_ that one). A couple of comments: > So they still have C like holes and there are frequent patches and > updates to try to make them able to retain some water for a short time, > while the "cyber criminals" make hundreds of millions. It's not clear to me that a 'better language' is going to get rid of that, because there will always be bugs (and the bigger the application, and the more it gets changed, the more there will be). The vibe I get from my knowledge of security is that it takes a secure OS, running on hardware that enforces security, to really fix the problem. (Google "Roger Schell".) > The Lisp Machines and Smalltalk boxes lost the workstation war. Unix > won, and as history is written by the victors Custom hardware for running LISP lost (not sure about Smalltalk, don't know much about it), I am quite sure, mostly because 'mainstream' CPUs got so much faster/cheaper, because of the volume. I saw this happening in the AI Lab at MIT: when you could run LISP on a workstation with a vanilla CPU much faster than a specialized LISP processor, that's all she wrote. (That effect killed all sorts of things, not just LISP machines, of course.) Noel

8 years, 3 months

Seeking immediate rescue of full-rack SGI ONYX near Northbrook, IL

by ian.finder＠gmail.com

Does not require three phase. Complete system, includes sirius video and other fun stuff. RealityEngine2 Needs to be gone in a week or two- had made other arrangements but they have fallen through. Call Ian - two two four 659 four two zero 4 -- Ian Finder ian.finder at gmail.com

8 years, 3 months

Unknown transistor repairing a TI990/5 power supply

by alberto＠retrocomputing.eu

I'm working at the power supply of a 990/5 minicomputer. The chassis is a 6 slot version, with 20A power supply. After a few minutes of working, the fuse blow and I found a transistor on the main power supply board with collector in short circuit with emitter. The transistor has TRW logo and is market with Texas part number 996070-003, in addiction with the date code. Pictures of the transistor here : http://www.museodelcomputer.org/parts/texas/990_5/IMG_6442_transistor.JPG http://www.museodelcomputer.org/parts/texas/990_5/IMG_6445_sotto.JPG Google give me only a link, were it seem to be an Optek SVT6747 ... another unknown transistor :( Someone has experience with this power supply ? http://www.museodelcomputer.org/parts/texas/990_5/IMG_6423.JPG Texas part number is 944970-0001 Thanks for any help ! Alberto ------------------------------------------------------ Alberto Rubinelli A2 SISTEMI ELETTRONICA, INFORMATICA, NETWORKING Via per Occhieppo, 29 Tel 015 8853203 13891 CAMBURZANO (BI) - ITALY Fax 015 8853202 Mobile +39 335 6026632 Mail : alberto at a2sistemi.it Web : www.a2sistemi.it FONDAZIONE MUSEO DEL COMPUTER ONLUS http://www.museodelcomputer.org Mail:info.museodelcomputer.org Tel 015 8853201 Fax 015 8853202 ------------------------------------------------------ Le telefonate con numero nascosto sono filtrate Calls with no caller identifier are filtered ------------------------------------------------------

8 years, 3 months

Calling all typographers

by blstuart＠bellsouth.net

On Thu, 4/28/16, Rod Smallwood <rodsmallwood52 at btinternet.com> wrote: > Every fancy curve there is but not a straight > forward line and circle method of? creating lower case > characters I'm not sure if you count it as straightforward, but I'd suggest METAFONT. Straight lines are certainly straightforward. Circles are a little more fun, but once you get the hang of the math, most any curve is pretty easy to create. BLS

8 years, 3 months

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test-drb April 2016