test-drb February 2019

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

136 participants
165 discussions

V6 cc needs hash before whitespace before first include?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Phil Budne > I'm betting it was a speedup to not fork/exec another process if it was > going to be a null transform! It's worse than that! In vanilla V6, the pre-processor is built into 'cc', not a separate command. Here's the relevant code (from expand()): if (getc(ibuf1) != '#') { close(ibuf1[0]); return(file); } The code to implement the directives is, ah, entertaining. Noel

4 years, 7 months

PDP-11/60 manuals needed

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

Hi, does anyone have any PDP-11/60 manuals? I went to do articles on the -11/60 and its CPU (KD11-K), but there isn't much online. Bitsavers has EK-KD11K-TD-PRE, but it only covers the maintenance features, not the whole CPU; there is a tech manual - KD11K-TM-001 (I have it in fiche, but my fiche reader has a burned out bulb which I have not yet been able to replace, so it doesn't do me much good). There is a user manual for the FP11-E, which has a certain amount of useful details, but it refers to the technical manual, which is not there. And there's EK-11060-SV-01, which covers the cabinet and power supply. So if anyone has the general -11/60 manual, or the KD11-K tech manual, those would be super useful. The FP11-E tech manual would be nice to have, but isn't as important as the others. Thanks (I hope!)! Noel

4 years, 7 months

HP 85 tapes

by Martin.Hepperle＠MH-AeroTools.de

Christian, there is the document "9915-TapeDuplicationAndEPROMProgrammingSoftware-09915-10011-46pages-Jul83.p df" on the HP-.Museum web site. I think the associated software is not available, but it also uses the TAPDUP binary (pg. 1-2) and the same IMAGE program. The binary itself was part of this and is not documented (it was considered part of the whole package). What is available via M. Craggs web site are the files from a "Hybrid ROM Creation Pak", which includes TAPDUP. The IMAGE program (pg 2-2) contained there is probably similar or the same. The Master/Slave programs and some more are not in this package. >From the "Hybrid ROM Creation Pak" AUXROM.ASM AUXROM.BAS AUXSHELL.BAS CREATEROM.BAS DATAIO-19.BAS DATAIO-29A.BAS EPROM2.BAS IMAGE.BAS --- 20 ! (program "IMAGE", 09915-90022, p.5-5...5-6) (these page numbers do not refer to the manual 09915-10011) MAINBASIC.BAS RBUILD85S.ASM RBUILD87S.ASM ROMSHELL.ASM TAPDUP.ASM Martin

4 years, 7 months

PDP-11/60 manuals needed

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Bill Degnan > The 11/60 handbook doesn't have that kind of designation. It's EB06498 Yeah, that's the processor handbook, which is the paperback-sized thing which is mostly a programmer's reference; I've got that, its the 8-1/2x11 sized things I'm after. > From: Ethan Dicks > Is it by any chance EK-KD11K-TM-001? > That part number is for a print-set Uhh, no. Looking at the fiche version, EP-KD11K-TM-001, it has lots and lots of text blocks (which I can't read without a fiche reader, of course). We do seem to have the print sets: MP00166 11/60 System (chassis, power contoller, etc) MP00409 KD11-K CPU MP00500 WCS (M7870) MP00429 FP11-E but I'm not desperate enough to learn the -11/60 by looking at them! > I'm following the discussion because I have the two BA11 cabinets for > an 11/60, the PSUs, and the front panel (I'm missing the rack). And by 'the rack', I'm guessing that includes the backplane? Looking through the prints, I think I didn't see details on it (alas). Noel

4 years, 7 months

PDP-11/60 manuals needed

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Josh Dersch > I recently picked up a copy of the PDP-11/60 Processor Handbook, not > sure if that's useful for your research Yes, it almost certainly is (without seeing it, I can't be 100%, but it sounds like it is). Is it by any chance EK-KD11K-TM-001? Thanks! Noel

4 years, 7 months

Another DEC UNIBUS signal adapter: UniProbe

by j_hoppe＠t-online.de

Hi, most people dealing seriously with older PDP-11s have found means to monitor the UNIBUS traffic. My latest approach is www.retrocmp.com/tools/uniprobe UniProbe is a M9302 terminator, a LED display, a probe for logic analyzer. It can be mounted in Standard or Modified UNIBUS sockets. I'm ordering a batch of PCBs in a few days and will show this and other stuff (UniBone, BlinkenBone) at VCFPNW in Seattle. https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-pacific-northwest/ best regards, Joerg

4 years, 7 months

DECserver 700 PSU fix, H7881-AA

by w9gb＠icloud.com

Adrian - ASTEC is now owned by Emerson Power (UK address below). Emerson Power Catalog (find the 57 watt models): https://www.mouser.com/catalog/supplier/library/pdf/Emersonpower_catalog.pdf PowerClinic in Dallas/Fort Worth area services a large number of Switch-Mode power supplies. http://portal.powerclinicinc.com/web/services Power Clinic Inc. 3732 Arapaho Rd Addison, TX 75001 USA == H7881-AA (Refurbished), $177.00 USD https://www.tamayatech.com/parts.php?g=H7881AA H7881-AA Power Supply, 57 watt , $450.00 USD https://www.ipsystemsinc.com/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=630 ASTEC - Europe (UK) Waterfront Business Park Merry Hill, Dudley West Midlands, DY5 1LX United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0) 1384 842 211 Facsimile: +44 (0) 1384 843 355 == From: Adrian Graham To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" Subject: DECserver 700 PSU fix, H7881-AA Hi folks, My trusty DECserver has bitten the dust in a silent and non-violent way with the fuse still intact so has anyone got tips on troubleshooting? I know it's the PSU because I 'borrowed' another PSU from work and the unit is running again. It's an ASTEC unit under the hood, and in my experience of fixing the older types like the AC8151 (Memotech, TRS80 II/III, Osborne etc) the chief culprits on an utterly dead PSU are the input caps and/or the small 220uF or 330uF startup cap in the feedback circuit. I haven't checked bitsavers etc for a schematic yet, does such a thing exist? Hopefully the ASTEC board has a model number on it. Cheers -- adrian/witchy Owner of Binary Dinosaurs, the UK's biggest private home computer collection? t: @binarydinosaurs f: facebook.com/binarydinosaurs w: www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk

4 years, 7 months

Mystery old computer & terminals on eBay UK

by lproven＠gmail.com

I don't recognise this, but I'm no expert. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/113665872765 -- Liam Proven - Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lproven at cix.co.uk - Google Mail/Hangouts/Plus: lproven at gmail.com Twitter/Facebook/Flickr: lproven - Skype/LinkedIn: liamproven UK: +44 7939-087884 - ?R (+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal): +420 702 829 053

4 years, 7 months

HP 85 tapes

by Martin.Hepperle＠MH-AeroTools.de

Christian, the TAPDUP binary and associated utility programs in BASIC was used to create EPROMs with programs and data for the 9915 Series-80 box. It can be used to read the directory record and then to read tokenized PROGrams as data on a file-record base - not at low record level. The package also contains programs to massage the PROG data into BASIC DATA statements for creating EPROM burner files. You could use it to read the tape directory and individual PROG files but right now I am not aware of a program which would write this data back to a tape. You would open the directory, look up a file and then OPEN IMAGE it. Next you would READ RECORD IMAGE$ the program record by record. In the end you have not gained much compared to the simple COPY statement. Except for the copy of the directory with attributes and security flags. Alternative: There are also READSECTOR binary programs for reading raw 256 byte records/sectors from disks. They also work on the tape ":T" but seem to start their record count after the directory records. On disks, record 0 is the first real sector. So, to get the complete binary content one could use C$=CATALOG$ from TAPDUP to read the directory record READSECTOR N,R$,D from to read the subsequent raw "data" records. Here are my notes on some of the functions in this binary program: The TAPDUP Binary (Notes by M. Hepperle) This binary contains functions to read tapes (HP-85, 9915) at low level. It does not handle disks. The program was part of the "Tape Duplication and EPROM Programming Pack" (09915-10010). As the original software was not available the binary was re-assembled from an assembler source file. This source file was obviously created by disassembling the original binary. It was found at M. Craggs web site: http://www.biblewitness.org/technical/HP_Series-80/HP-85/ASSM . Martin Craggs home-made disassembler produced many unnecessary DRP and ARP statements, which could be cleaned up to improve readbility. Functions in the TAPDUP binary: C$=CATALOG$ Return the directory record of the tape in form of a 512 byte buffer (2 records). C$ must be DIMed to at least 512. OPEN IMAGE F$ Find the file F$ and open it for reading. ERRN=67: file not found T=READTYPE Return the file type of the currently opened image (the file image must be opened by a preceding call to OPEN IMAGE) 34 = PROG N$=READNAME$ Return the file name of the currently opened image (the file image must be opened by a preceding call to OPEN IMAGE) R$=READ RECORD IMAGE$ Read the next record of the currently opened file. The record has a length of 256 bytes. Reading can be continued by another READ RECORD IMAGE$ until ERRN=71 indicates a read behind the end of the file. See lines 440 ff in IMAGE program for a typical reading loop. (the file image must be opened by a preceding call to OPEN IMAGE) ERRN=71: end of file reached. CREATE IMAGE S$,I,J,K 3 numeric parameters WRITE IMAGE R$ Write record to (where?) "Error 244: No file open" WRITE CATALOG C$ Writes the catalogue back to disk. C$ must contain a valid catalog structure, otherwise your tape will be unreadable afterwards. READLOGLEN Read the logical record length, which is 256. Another useful function in the Program Development ROM C$=CHECKSUM$(S$) Return the IBM SDLC CRC checksum of the given string (the length of the checksum is two bytes). Example: dumping the tape catalog Each catalog entry is 12 bytes 10 DIM C$[512] 20 C$=CATALOG$ 30 K=1 40 FOR I=1 TO 504 STEP 12 50 FOR J=1 TO 12 60 PRINT C$[K,K]; 70 K=K+1 80 NEXT J 90 PRINT 100 NEXT I 110 PRINT 120 END Tape documentation lifted from Everett Kaser's Series-80 Emulator (I hope Everett won't sue me for this blatant copyright infringement): TAPE LAYOUT ------------------------------------------------------- The HP-85 tape cartridges contained at most 43 files. File 0 was always the TAPE DIRECTORY, and was always 4 records long. Files 1-42 were the user-created files. The tape itself had 2 TRACKS, 0 and 1. There were TWO COPIES of the TAPE DIRECTORY, one in records 0 and 1 of file 0, and a second in records 2 and 3 of file 0. Record 2 was an exact duplicate of record 0, and record 3 was an exact duplicate of record 1. Only one record of the directory could be read into memory at a time, so the system had to keep track of whether the first 1/2 or the second 1/2 of the directory was in memory (or neither). Each DIRECTORY RECORD consisted of 21 12-byte directory entries, which equals 252 bytes. The final 4 bytes of each record as follows: 252 directory segment flag (0 or 1). 253 FILE# of file that wraps from the end of TRACK 0 to the beginning of TRACK 1. 254 (2 bytes) RECORD# of first record of the split file 255 that's on TRACK 1. Each DIRECTORY ENTRY consists of 12 bytes, allocated thusly: BYTES DESCRIPTION ----- --------------------------------------------- 0-5 ASCII FILE NAME, blank filled 6 EXTENDED File Type 7 FILE TYPE 8-9 # RECORDS in the file 10-11 # BYTES in each record The FILE TYPE is thus: BIT DESCRIPTION --- ----------------------------------------------- 0 No directory name listed 1 Soft write protect 2 Extended file type (****) 3 Binary Program (BPGM) 4 Data file (DATA) 5 BASIC Program (PRGM) 6 Empty file (NULL) 7 Next available file The most significant bit of the EXTENDED FILE TYPE byte will signify extended file type as well as BIT 2 of FILE TYPE, but it shouldn't be used, as a bug in the system doesn't clear that bit if you purge the file. The lower seven bits allow the differentiation between various extended file types (****).

4 years, 7 months

HP 85 tapes

by cc＠informatik.uni-stuttgart.de

Hi, what is the recommended way to image HP 85 tape cartridges? The best would be including headers and whatsoever, and to be able to recreate tapes from the images and have a 1:1 duplicate from the original cartridge. I'm almost done with rebelting and imaging our 264x cartridges and would like to continue with the other tapes (85 and 9845). Christian

4 years, 7 months

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test-drb February 2019