> From: Ben Franchuk
> Multics never really made it out of the lab.
This 'bogo-meme' (to use a word I coined) is, well, totally flat wrong.
Multics was a reasonably successful product for Honeywell from the end of
1972 (when the H6180 was introduced) to around 1987 (when they stopped
selling the DPS8/M, which had been introduced at the end of 1982). At its
peak, in 1985, there were almost 100 Multics sites.
MIT ceased to be involved in Multics development in 1977.
Multics died not because it was a failure (indeed, many systems kept running
for years, because the users liked it so much - the last one only shut down
in 2000), but because of Honeywell's incompetence at the computer business.
(That incompetence eventually resulted in a decision - probably correct from
the _business_ point of view, given said incompetence - to get out of the
computer business.)
More here:
http://multicians.org/myths.html
and
http://multicians.org/hill-mgt.html
(which discusses the high-level corporate politics behind the decision to
can Multics).
Noel
> On Nov 15, 2017, at 1:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote:
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2017 15:56:31 -0800
> From: "Mark J. Blair" <nf6x at nf6x.net>
> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
> <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Subject: WTB: HP-85 16k RAM Module and HPIB Floppy Drive
> Message-ID: <0CB24DF8-6D74-4A25-9263-73B24EB19487 at nf6x.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> I just got my HP-85 working for the first time over the weekend (except for its tape drive, which is still a work in progress). I'd like to acquire some accessories for it:
>
> 1) HP 82903A 16k RAM module
>
> 2) HP 9122C dual 1.44M 3.2" floppy diskette drive
>
> Do any of y'all have either of those items available for swap or sale? I'm located in southern California.
>
> Those two items are at the top of my HP-85 want list, but I might also be interested in other related bits such as the 82940A GPIO Interface, other compatible HPIB mass storage, etc.
>
> --
> Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
> http://www.nf6x.net/
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
Hi Mark,
I believe that I have both of those things available.
If you?re interested, please contact me at: stephen.m.pereira.sr AT gmail DOT com
smp
- - -
Stephen Pereira
Bedford, NH 03110
KB1SXE
Having picked up one of these little TI Compact Computer-40 (cc40) units
over the Summer, I thought I'd work on reverse engineering a RAM
cartridge for the unit.
As shown on this forum:
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/255728-the-compact-computer-40-cc40/?p=389…
The design *appears* to havea? "floating" ground when powered off
battery alone.? The cartrridge edge connector has 2 grounds.? I didn't
think anything about them at first, assuming they were connected to each
other.
Hwoever, someone with a RAM cart is helping me reverse engineer, and it
appears pin 1 ground is connected to the RAM GND pin, but is connected
via a 6K8 resistor to the 3V battery ground, which is connected to pin
27 ground line.
I *assume* this means that, once the cart is pulled, the battery voltage
sits somewhere in the middle of the 5V swing the RAM needs to see, but I
can;t figure out how one calculates the voltage divider value for the
inherent resistance of an SRAM, as the 3V is sent through a germanium
diode (bringing the effective Vcc of the SRAM to 2.7V), and then SRAM
ground is sent through the 6K8 to battery ground.
Obviously, reverse engineering being fraught with errors, we could be
wrong, but assuming not, what is going on in this circuit, and how does
one calculate the effective potential of the GND pin of the SRAM?
Pics:
http://www.go4retro.com/downloads/CC40RAM/
Jim
--
Jim Brain
brain at jbrain.comwww.jbrain.com
All,
I picked up a big lot of stuff this past weekend.? Amongst the pile of
quite desirable Apple items (Feb '84 Macintosh!!!) were versions of
"Canvas" graphics software for Windows.? Boxed versions of Canvas 3, 5
and 6.
Free if anyone wants it.? Comes with training material on VHS tapes!
I'm not inclined to waste the shelf space on these myself. Pickup in
Seattle or? I guess I'll ship it if you have a burning desire for it.
http://archives.smbfc.net/uploads/retrocomputing/tmp/re_20171114_193434.jpg
--Jason
> From: Brent Hilpert
> What about that little issue of writeable program storage?
Just to clarify my understanding of your position, is a system with a CPU
chip (say one of the 68K models) with only ROM not a 'stored program machine'?
Noel
PS: You really should look at the book ("ENIAC In Action"), and not rely on
the articles; it's later, more coherent (not being split across a handful of
papers), and much more detailed (e.g. it includes the instruction set for the
'programmed' version of the ENIAC).
Hi,
Available in the Netherlands a compleet IBM 2501 punch card reader with all
IBM documentation and spares from a scrapped unit.
Please contact me off-line if interrested.
h.j.stegeman at hccnet dot nl.
Regards
Ebay item 272914490265
This is a ModComp IIC I think. It's all broken up in parts and half
assembled.
I don't think new it was barely $18,000 though, but some day, maybe the
seller will give up and put up a realistic price. Who knows what's in it
exactly but generally it looks like a communications model with a 7 or 9
track tape unit. The point of ModComp was to build custom systems but if
the info on this system does not exist on BitSavers, let me know and I will
scan some docs. I have info on the part numbers from the photos.
The ModComp docs talk about IBM system emulation vs. DEC, so think along
those lines more so, this is *not* a DataGeneral / DEC me-too despite
looking a little like a PDP 8i
BIll
So, I was trying to find info about the early IBM 709/7090/7094 computers, but
when I went to what is supposedly the authoritative work on these computers
(among others):
Charles J. Bashe, Lyle R. Johnson, John H. Palmer, Emerson W. Pugh,
"IBM's Early Computers", MIT Press, Cambridge, 1986
I discovered there was very little technical detail about these machines
there.
Is there any other printed thing (yes, I know a few Web pages have some
content) that anyone knows of that covers them in more detail? (I have a
709/7090/7094 programming thing coming, but that won't cover the internal
engineering.)
Yes, I know, I could look at the engineering manuals, but I was hoping for
something in between them and Bashe et al.
Noel
