test-drb November 2021

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

118 participants
73 discussions

The precarious state of classic software and hardware preservation

by mjkerpan＠kerpan.com

The recent discussion of the sudden disappearance of DtCyber and the various classic CDC software to run on it from the Internet has got me thinking about just how precarious so much of computer history is in. So much of what's out there online (and in person) today is at risk just vanishing if whoever maintains the archive either loses interest (lots of projects over the years succumb to this) , or rage quits (see the expungement of DtCyber and Controlfreaks from the internet), or ends up dying without having made proper arrangements (See the sad fate of the Living Computer Museum, which was killed by its new owners as soon as COVID gave them an excuse to do so) What are we, as a community, to do to fix this and make sure that our history stays peserved and isn't one bad day away from vanishing. Mike

3 years, 1 month

Extra books

by cctalk＠gtaylor.tnetconsulting.net

Hi, I find myself with some extra books (acquired as part of an auction) that I don't have any interest in keeping. As such, they are available to move to a home that will appreciate them more than mine will. - CBASIC Simplified - Jeffrey R. Weber - 0-938862-10-3 - Mastering CP/M - Alan R. Miller - 0-89588-068-7 - Osborne CP/M User Guide Second Edition - Thom Hogan - 0-931988-82-9 - The Programmer's CP/M Handbook - Andy Johnson-Laird - 0-88134-103-7 - Understanding Pascal - George Ledin Jr. - 0-88248-149-1 - Turbo Pascal Reference Manual from Borland - Pascal With Style - Henry F. Ledgard / John F. Hueras / Paul A. Nagin - 0-8104-5124-7 - Pascal User Manual and Report Second Edition - Kathleen Jensen / Miklaus Wirth - 0-387-90144-2 / 3-540-90144-2 - Invitation to Pascal - Hary Katzan Jr. - 089433-103-5 - Oh! Pascal! - Doug Cooper / Michael Clancy - 0-393-95205-3 - Pascal Programs for Scientists and Engineers - Alan R. Miller - 0-89588-058-X - Mastering Turbo Pascal 5.5 Third Edition - Tom Swan - 0-672-48450-1 I'm mostly asking for postage and handling for book(s). If you want to tip your waiter, that's appreciated too. -- Grant. . . . unix || die

3 years, 1 month

For Sale, Seattle area: Data General MV/7800 + drives, docs

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all -- I'm doing a bit of cleanup to free up some space and I'd like to try to find a new home for my MV/7800. It's a really cool system that I just haven't had time to spend a lot of time with, and unfortunately it seems unlikely I will anytime soon. The power supply in the CPU has been repaired. There are two large 5236 drives (I believe they have 14" platters, and they weigh about 150lbs apiece) as well, unfortunately I do not have the cabling for them but I don't think it'll be too hard to recreate it. The system appears to be complete with CPU, memory, and disk/tape controllers but apart from getting the power supply going I haven't done anything else to restore it. If anyone's interested, drop me a line. I'd much prefer local pickup but I could be convinced to put this stuff on a pallet if you want to arrange freighting. Thanks, Josh

3 years, 1 month

The precarious state of classic software and hardware preservation

by commodorejohn＠gmail.com

> On 2021-11-21 9:45 a.m., Adam Thornton via cctalk wrote: >> On 11/19/21 9:33 PM, Steve Malikoff via cctalk wrote: >> >> And what happens when you wake up one morning to find archive.org is >> gone, too? >> >> > Fundamentally, eventually we're all going to be indistinguishable > mass-components inside the supermassive black hole that used to be the > Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies anyway. > > Smoke 'em while you got 'em. Yeah, I had a long, hard think about this while the Caldor Fire was looking like it was about to come knocking on my doorstep this fall and I was trying to prep myself for a short-notice evacuation and decide what I could and couldn't take (read: leave stowed in the trunk of the car for the next couple weeks.) Ultimately, while I'd *like* what I have and enjoy to pass on to someone else once I get busy decomposing, in the long run it's all dust, so I'm not gonna worry myself too much over it.

3 years, 1 month

Anyone want … Creo Brisque badges

by aperry＠snowmoose.com

Hey, A few years ago I did a rescue of a couple Creo Brisque RS/6000s. They didn?t seem to have any Creo software on them, so I removed the Creo badges from them, reinstalled AIX on them, and passed them on. Anyone here want the badges? If so, send an address and I will drop them in the mail and send them your way. alan

3 years, 1 month

PDT11/150 supported in RT11 5.7?

by cz＠alembic.crystel.com

I spent the other day adjusting and getting my RX02's and the PDT11/150 working in tip top shape. They run fine, but I was wondering: I didn't see the PD.SYS driver on my RT11 5.5 and 5.7 releases. Does anyone know if Dec dropped support sometime after 5.1? C Next project: Put the pdp8/L back together. Or maybe the 11/05. Current working systems: 11/83 with RL02,RX02,TK70, 380mb CDC Esdi,DELQA 11/24 with RL02,RX02 controllers PDT11/150 with both drives running VT52 with repaired power supplies Stuff to work on: Decsystem20/20 LS120 (not an LA/120) pdp11/05 Pair of Pdp8/L's 11/23 system in a BA11-S Plessey/Diablo drives 2 Perq 1's 2 Perq2's Big assed Microvax

3 years, 1 month

Pictures: Early IC Package with Rolled Legs

by lists＠glitchwrks.com

I figured this would probably be of interest to some people here, too: https://imgur.com/a/TCrIxEH I've had this NS DM8200D 4-bit comparator for a while, after posting some pictures of it to Twitter, Evil Mad Scientist Labs offered to take super macro photos of it for me. It's just a comparator, but the DIP package is a very early "gold sandwich" style carrier. What really makes the packaging unique is that the legs are rolled into a tubular shape, rather than being the usual stamped/coined construction modern ICs use! Thanks, Jonathan

3 years, 1 month

Passing of Jay Last

by c.murray.mccullough＠gmail.com

I read with sadness an obituary in the New York Times of the passing of *Jay Last*, he being one of the ?traitorous eight? infamy, if you wish to look at it that way. We in CCTalk owe him and others a great deal as they helped create the Silicon Valley from which early small computers evolved. Happy computing, well sort of! Murray ?

3 years, 1 month

Siemens RM200 little endian firmware

by plamenspam＠afterpeople.com

Hello, Does anyone have a copy of Siemens RM200 ARC firmware? It has been used to switch from SINIX(big endian) to Linux or Windows (little endian). Best regards, Plamen

3 years, 1 month

The precarious state of classic software and hardware preservation

by athornton＠gmail.com

> On 11/19/21 9:33 PM, Steve Malikoff via cctalk wrote: > > And what happens when you wake up one morning to find archive.org is > gone, too? > > Fundamentally, eventually we're all going to be indistinguishable mass-components inside the supermassive black hole that used to be the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies anyway. Smoke 'em while you got 'em. Adam

3 years, 1 month

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test-drb November 2021