test-drb January 2017

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

198 participants
283 discussions

PDP-11: BC11-A cable dress between cabinets

by fritzm＠fritzm.org

Hey folks, I've gotten to the part of a PDP-11/45 restore I?ve been working on where I need to run a Unibus cable between the CPU box in one rack and an RK11-C controller at the top of the next rack over. I'm a bit puzzled about how best to run the bus cable to keep it out of harm's way, e.g. getting it accidentally pinched or crimped while sliding the CPU cabinet in and out for service. I can see there's a nice cable exit at the back of the sliding CPU cabinet, but from there...?? Anybody have a picture or remember how this was usually done around the slide rails etc. to avoid trouble? The RK05 manuals do have recommended dress for drive cables between drives and the controller, but I haven't seen any recommendations for the cabling Unibus between cabinets anywhere yet. cheers, --FritzM.

7 years, 7 months

Very Early (Stugart) Apple II Drive!

by r3trohub＠gmail.com

If you're part of the AppleFritters forum you may have seen that I put it up for sale, but if you're not and you're interested, please drive me an email! I'm planning to put it up on eBay later tonight if nobody here is interested :) SN 1718 http://imgur.com/a/Bt2UV -Andy

7 years, 7 months

tu58fs - PDP-11 file sharing with TU58 tape emulator

by j_hoppe＠t-online.de

Guys, I'm working on a special TU58 emulator called "tu58fs". It saves the "tape content" not only in a binary image file, but also as a file set in a shared directory on the host. The content of the "tape" (as seen by the PDP) changes automatically as files are moved in and out of the shared dir. This works in both direction: creating/changing/deleting a file on the "tape" modifies the files in the directory. Today tu58fs passed the tests for standard XXDP tapes, good time to tell the world about it. If you like to have a look (and play beta tester): Docs on http://retrocmp.com/tools/tu58fs C sources and makefile on https://github.com/j-hoppe/tu58fs tu58fs is intended to be a general tool for easy file sharing between a PDP and the modern world. For this as much DEC filesystems as possible should be implemented. We need more than XXDP, but I wasn't able to find documents about the structure of DOS-11, RT-11 or FILES-11/ODS-1. Any links? Joerg

7 years, 7 months

Compaq foam rot keyboard SOLVED

by rdawson16＠hotmail.com

I posted yesterday about my attempt to weld a IBM PC keyboard to my Compaq model 1 - the 'luggable'. Well, it did not work, even though I saw clock and data on both Compaq and IBM keyboards that looked the same. I did not dig into the decoding, but somehow they are different. OK so I already cut into the PC keyboard, a BTC 5100. I let my son play with it and a screwdriver, and as he gets it apart, I see capacitive foam pads inside. Well guess what, they are the same size and fit for the Compaq Keytronics keyboard! I popped out all the pads and transplanted them, you push them in and snap the plastic disk in the guides with an exacto, and they work perfectly. I think a lot of these early keyboards before the switch to elastomeric rubber have these foam pads, and they are a standard size. If you are stuck with a Tandy, Lisa, Sun with keyboard foam rot, take a look in you junk bin for a IBM PC compatible keyboard, it worked for me. Randy

7 years, 7 months

ISO Altos 586 firmware

by aek＠bitsavers.org

I've been working on documenting the hardware in the early Altos x86 machines and it would be nice to find a copy of the eproms from a 586. I tried asking Dave Dunfield about this, but never got a reply. Has anyone heard anything from him lately? I know Eric Smith was trying to contact him a few months ago about extending the known disk types in Imagedisk (specifically adding M2FM as one of the formats) but I don't think he ever heard anything back.

7 years, 7 months

Transformer part ID please

by witchy＠binarydinosaurs.co.uk

Hi folks, Does anyone know what this is? It's obviously a transformer coil(s) but image search and googling those markings produces nothing: http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/la4543.jpg It's taking and giving +5V but I'm sure it should also be producing another voltage... Cheers! -- Adrian/Witchy Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator Www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UK's biggest private home computer collection?

7 years, 7 months

Books available

by nospam212-cctalk＠yahoo.com

Clearing out a bunch of stuff I have decided I no longer need around. There may not be any interest here but thought I'd check first. I have several books available for the cost of shipping if anyone is interested, otherwise they'll go to my local book reseller this coming weekend.? All are in pretty much like new condition. Inside Visual C++ Version 4 - David KruglinskiVisual C++ 4 Unleashed - Viktor TothEssential Visual C++ 4 - Mickey WilliamsWeb Client Programming with Perl - Clinton WongGIMP for Linux Bible - Stephanie Bryant & Tillman HodgsonMangaging the WIndows NT Registry - Paul RobichauxDeveloping CGI Applications with Perl - John Deep & Peter HolfelderSendmail 2nd Edition - Bryan CostalesCore PHP Programming - Leon Atkinson Also have a Partition Magic 7.0 User guide and Adobe Photoshop 5.5 for Photographers in this stack if anyone is interested. David Williamshttp://www.trailingedge.com/

7 years, 7 months

Attempt at Compaq keybord swap with a PC keyboard (failed)

by rdawson16＠hotmail.com

I have luggable with the famous Keytronics foam kepad rot. I am searching for the foam (have not found it yet), and on a lark, I tried using a PC keyboard. In the PC keyboard, I soldered in a 7805 to take the Compaq 12V to 5V for the PC keyboard. Traced the clock and data lines, hooked it all up and it does not work. The Keytronics (compaq) keyboard either has a different protocol or signals inverted, I have not got that far with the scope yet to see the difference. Has anybody found a source for the Keytronics mylar foam pads? Randy

7 years, 7 months

Altair

by sellam.ismail＠gmail.com

Hi Brad. I saw your message on the ClassicCmp mailing list about desiring an Altair. Are you still interested in one? Sellam

7 years, 7 months

heavy stuff -- was: Anyone want an RK11-C manual?

by henk.gooijen＠hotmail.com

Van: Tony Duell<mailto:ard.p850ug1 at gmail.com> Verzonden: vrijdag 16 december 2016 17:54 Aan: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts<mailto:cctalk at classiccmp.org> Onderwerp: Re: Anyone want an RK11-C manual? On Fri, Dec 16, 2016 at 4:31 PM, Henk Gooijen <henk.gooijen at hotmail.com> wrote: > > But I am not giving up hope ? I recently acquired something I did not think > to be possible to happen ? I ?picked up? an H960 rack with RP11 controller > and *three* RP03 disk drives aand 6 packs. The rack is already moved, the > drives are a separate story. Each drive weighs 415 lbs. ?So what? you might > ask. Well, they are in a cellar and three flights of stairs (10 steps, 6 steps, > and 4 steps) is too much for 3 strong guys to push one drive up the stairs. > We are now looking into another option to get the drives (and a DEC > _line_printer, also very very heavy!) up to the first floor ? Can these units be dismantled without totally losing alignment,etc. At least remove PSUs, spindle motors, etc. I once moved an RA60 (much lighter, but still too heavy for one person to carry easily) downstairs by taking it almost completely apart. Incidentally, it is surprising how much the PCBs in a full cardcage weight, it is often worth pulling them all out. I suspect an RP03 dismantled like that would still be too heavy for one person to move, but with 3 people it might be possible. I hope your upstairs floor is strong enough for them... You do not want them coming back downstairs at 9.81m/s^2 -tony Grin ? I don?t plan to check whether Mother Earth?s acceleration is still working fine. Indeed, the RA60 is heavy. Just like RA81?s, the RA60 is not good for your back, but the RA60 is worse than the RA81. The RA60 is also ?longer? compared to the RA81, and that does not help either when you hav to move an RA60 around. I really do not want to mess with the mechanical construction of the entire RP03 drive. They are too rare. I want to move them ?as is?. The only thing that can be done easily is removing the side panels. However, the ceiling in the cellar has an opening although that is currently welded by a closing lid. The system was installed in the 80ties, and it is not remembered how the system got into the cellar back then. The system has operated in that cellar for almost 20 years (PDP-11/40, RP11, Kennedy 9100 ? 3 H960 rack system). I used wooden planks (shelves) laid on the stairs, and then pushed the racks up. It was heavy, even for 3 strong guys --- OK, 2.5 ? I removed the Kennedy tape drive to make the rack less heavy. The rack with the RP11 controller was also heavy, but I really did not want to pull or dismantle anything of it. We got it out of the cellar. The 11/40 (the 21? version in BA11-F, IIRC) rack had, to my surprise an extra BA11-F with its H742 PSU ? One H742 PSU is already heavy, so two of these beast made the rack way too heavy. I ended up with disconnecting the power harness and move the 11/40 separately. That made it possible to move the rack upstairs (with sweat and some swearing ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H calling in the help of some gods ? We did try moving one RP03 by pushing it upstairs using the ?planks? trick. Three guys asking ?are we pushing?? Yes, but the drive did not move at all. The RP03 is by far the most heavy item I encountered in 20 years! We are now looking into the option to hoist the drives via the hatch in the Ceiling. Needless to say we take all possible precautions ? for people and for RP03?s. To be continued, * Henk, PA8PDP

7 years, 7 months

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test-drb January 2017