test-drb June 2020

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

158 participants
124 discussions

by rlloken＠telus.net

So gentlemen, my Alphaserver 4100 shut itself down with a sad announcement about a dead CPU fan. I have a parts mule which has donated a CPU fan a couple years ago and I can take the second and last CPU fan from there but then I have no more fans. Can the CPU fan be obtained? Can they be rebuilt? The 4100 has a series of fans between the 3 power supply slots and the main backplane which I found could not be easily obtained so I tore them all apart and replaced the bearings with good results but I suspect that the lttle CPU fans will not respond so well to attempts at repair. -- Richard Loken VE6BSV : "...underneath those tuques we wear, Athabasca, Alberta Canada : our heads are naked!" ** rlloken at telus.net ** : - Arthur Black

4 years, 6 months

Ever seen a Cromemco Cyclops in the wild?

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

I think a Stanford AI lab has one in a display case. Any others out there? It was supposedly "commercial" but I don't even remember ever seeing an ad for the Cyclops from Cromemco and I had a really good stash of Cromemco literature and hardware. I do remember the BYTE article where you pop the top off of a DRAM chip to make a Camera but that was 1983-ish, nearly a decade after the Cromemco Cyclops was supposedly "commercial". In the discussions I had in the 80's none of us seemed to know about the Cromemco Cyclops having preceded it. Tim N3QE

4 years, 6 months

Kennett Classic Open / Looking for a Linux/scripting programmer $$

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

The Kennett Classic Gallery of Computing history and shop has re-opened per State of PA and County of Chester guidelines. I am looking for volunteers to help with moving some large DEC racks into the basement area, we decided to expand exhibits to one more room to make space for the bigger iron, printers, VAX systems, etc. We are installing new exhibits this month and any help would be appreciated. I am also looking for a Linux scripting poss. Python programmer for a paid project through my web programming business (degnanco.com) if anyone here is interested in a project. Contact me privately. Kennett Classic 126 S Union St. Kennett Square, PA 19348 484 732 7041 kennettclassic.com -Bill Degnan-

4 years, 6 months

Old communications software

by sales＠elecplus.com

If any of you are looking for new in box Lantastic or Hayes Smartcom software, I have some for sale. https://elecshopper.com/Communications-Software-c47411005 Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 830-370-3239 cell sales at elecplus.com -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

4 years, 6 months

WTB: 64K S-100 board, Hard Sectored 5.25" floppies

by ethan＠757.org

Looking for a CompuPro RAM 16 or something similar that will work in an IMSAI 8080. Also looking for a few hard sectored (10 sector) 5.25" floppies Reply off list! Thanks! - Ethan O'Toole

4 years, 6 months

VAXstation 3100 power supply

by peter.hicks＠poggs.co.uk

Hello I have a couple of VAXstation 3100s - a M38 which boots but has no output on the console port, and another model which has corrosion on the motherboard and a PSU which doesn't power up correctly. The voltage on all of the M38 PSU's pins is OK except for pin 7 (brown) which is +3.5v to +5.25v DC and is floating at about 0.6v with reference to ground. I suspect this is why the console port doesn't work (and the LEDs on the read suggest a RAM problem so I can't tell which chip is faulty), so I've set about troubleshooting. Does anyone have any suggestions above and beyond replacing capacitors? Peter -- OpenTrainTimes Ltd. registered in?England and Wales, company no.? 09504022. Registered office: 13a?Davenant Road, Upper Holloway,?London N19 3NW

4 years, 6 months

Malfunctioning VT240 - help please

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

Until a few minutes ago, my VT240 was operating normally, but now it's unresponsive (fails during power-on self test). Normal behavior was: display a checkerboard, then two different intensity all-white bands growing slowly up from the bottom of the screen, then a beep and the expected "VT240 Monitor Error 9" (because I'm using an old B&W composite monitor instead of the DEC VR201 with special cable). Thereafter, normal operation. Now, it briefly displays the checkerboard (and all four keyboard lights turn on, then off); then the Lock and Wait lights come on and nothing else happens. Blank screen. Power-OK light on the back is illuminated and 5.19 volts measured on the board. Haven't checked +12 (or the internally derived keyboard +5) yet. Another possibly useful observation: I can press the Setup (or any other) key about four times and hear a keyclick sound each time. But then it stops playing the click sound if I keep pressing keys. This suggests that the interrupt on the CPU (a T11) is not being responded to. The technical manual is very detailed but does not describe the specifics of the POST, which could be useful in locating the failed circuit (or firmware). Can anyone with experience in debugging these terminals lend a hand? Should I even be looking at the main board, or the keyboard which also has an 8051 CPU?? thanks.

4 years, 6 months

Alfaskop terminals and SPL programming language.

by kurtwig11＠gmail.com

S?g ovanst?ende - har du n?gra fr?gor kontakta mig - jag gjorde kompilatorn f?r SPL. Mvh Kurt Svensson

4 years, 6 months

Seiko Epson Robotics Controller Boards

by jon＠jonworld.com

Hi everyone! My wife found some interesting VME-looking boards for sale on a surplus auction website. This is what we scored. Is there any interest for these here? 1x Main CPU SKP-220-3 4x Sub CPU SKP-221-3 (2 look good, one has a battery that exploded all over it, one labelled bad CMOS but had a bent pin.) 3x Servo SKP-222-3 1x IO Board SKP-184-2 I have no card cage, no documentation, and no way to test these. Some are labelled that they tested good in 2008. I'll happily supply pictures for those interested, but they're essentially 2U VME boards with MC68000 chips and the main CPU has an MC68HC000 CPU. They seem to fetch a fair sum on eBay, but just because they're listed at these prices doesn't mean that they actually sell at that price: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Epson-Accu-Sembler-Robot-Control-Sub-CPU-B… -- -Jon +44 7792 149029

4 years, 6 months

BYTE Magazines

by trash80＠internode.on.net

I know the response to this might be quite subjective and depends on your particular interests. Do BYTE magazines have any collectability (maybe even from a historical perspective or something else)? I have to make some decisions about space (the perennial problem for a collector of course) and I have quite a few of these taking up a few shelves. Thank you. Kevin Parker

4 years, 6 months

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test-drb June 2020