Has anyone tried to compile the sources? succeeded?
I'm not even going to try, but I think the actual low-level formatter code
is missing. Was curious if anyone else noticed that too.
-chuck
My next project once I finish my IBM 1410 FPGA implementation (so, a
couple of years out, probably) would be to write an emulator for the
boat anchor known as the IBM 8100. I had exposure to these things back
in the 1980s. The project was not really a success: the DPPX operating
system was way overkill for the underpowered machine, and wasn't
reliable enough or capable enough to run them at remote locations with
central administration.
The machine had some fairly sophisticated features:
Two groups of 64 sets of registers with 8 32 bit registers each
Auto increment and auto decrement indexed addressing
Address translation - but not paging
A primitive form of I/O channel
I have a set of install floppies for the DPPX operating system and some
of the associated software (but, sadly, not COBOL or Assembler), imaged,
and verified to contain what the labels say (via dd conv=ascii), but am
short on information.
(Of course, if someone else has floppies, all the better. I can image
them - they are 8" DSDD, with the first track single density, kinda like
an RX02).
I do have the Principles of Operation GA23-0031 and
the DASD devices (including floppy) Description GA23-0053
But in order to manage an emulator and actually install DPPX I would
need just a bit more hardware info - or I would be flying blind to some
degree as far as the operator panel I/O interaction.)
Hardware Manuals:
8130 Processor Description GA27-3196 and/or
8140 Processor Description GA27-2880
(There was also an 8150, but I doubt the releases I have would run on it.)
8140 Processor Operators Guide GA27-3197 and GA27-2879 (Expanded front
panel)
8101/8102 Storage / I/O Unit GA27-2882
Communications: Loop, Display, Printer: GA27-2883
(The "Loop" was a LAN like thing - kind of akin to the Apollo Domain
ring, off of which one hung local terminals, such as the IBM 8775).
Distributed Processing Programming Executive (DPPX) Manuals
Installation Primer: G320-6048
Installation Guide: SC27-0401
IPO Planning Guide: GC20-1883
Assembler: SC27-0412
Assembler Messages: SC27-0416
(The machine also supported APL, PL/I, COBOL (which we used), FORTRAN...
But I don't have floppies for those - heck, if the assembler wasn't
standard (I doubt it was), I don't even have that, even though we had it
at our installation, along with COBOL)
DTMS (database, transaction mgmt.)
Messages: SC26-3918
Customization Guide (SC26-3937)
Application Development Guide (SC26-3938)
Administration Guide (SC26-3939)
Operation Guide (SC26-3940)
Reference (SC26-3941)
True story: The early releases of DPPX were just awful buggy. We ended
up dedicating 3 conference rooms (with the dividers open) for a "warm
room" for something like 3 months, housing our personnel and IBM
personnel up from Texas. At one point one of the IBM'ers was overheard
on a public phone in the hallway of our public building telling someone
he was there "to help the hicks from Wisconsin". That got reported to
our management and to IBM's management, and he was on the next flight
back to Texas. ;)
On the flip side, I was testing database recovery (it was my thing, back
in the day - though we did not end up using the database / transaction
manager). I found some bugs in the database log journal recovery
process. I mentioned it to one of the IBM'ers in passing, also pointing
out it wasn't urgent since we were not going to use DTMS anyway, at
least not soon. He pretty much begged me to report it - and anything
else I found wrong. Completely polar opposite attitude of the guy in
the previous paragraph.
JRJ
What's the recommended method for adjusting the track 0 switch and track 0
stop on a Tandon TM100-2, if you don't have an alignment disk? I do have a
scope.
Mike Loewen mloewen at cpumagic.scol.pa.us
Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/
I can archive your disk content if you end up needing some assistance.
I have a few Vector Graphic machines with 100tpi Micropolis and Tandon 100-4M drives as well as Mod-I drives at 48tpi. I also have utilities to archive and recreate disks on these drives by exchanging the disk image with a PC via XMODEM (FLOP2PC and PC2FLOP). Note that these disk images can also be mounted and run under SIMH.
Mike
I just printed some board handles for a 32k OMNIBUS board (thanks Vince
Slyngstad, et al.) I now notice that all the OMNIBUS boards have an extra
0.1in spacer between the board and the handle. UNIBUS and QBus boards and
logic flip chips don't have the spacer.
Anyone else notice this and understand why?
The only thing I can see is that it might adjust for the over the top
connectors used on a lot of OMNIBUS boards.
-chuck
Re:
"My next project once I finish my IBM 1410 FPGA implementation (so, a
couple of years out, probably) would be to write an emulator for the
boat anchor known as the IBM 8100. I had exposure to these things back
in the 1980s."
I encountered one, once. Probably 1979, in a small conference room in
building 47U of Hewlett-Packard's Cupertino site. Sitting all alone in the
room. I was looking at it, and an HP engineer came in and explained
that they were waiting for IBM service to fix the memory board ...
the board HP had removed to look at closely :)
Now that I am finally getting my vintage computer accumulation
in order, I need a punched card file cabinet. Does anyone know
of one that might be available for purchase or trade? I am willing
to pick up anywhere in the western US.
In an ideal world, I would love to find one of the ones with a slanted
front on each drawer that holds a single card for a label.
I have an old wooden library catalog file cabinet (60 drawers) that
I would be willing to trade, as well as some DEC Q-bus chassis.
Any leads would be appreciated.
Alan Frisbie
When I worked at Apparat around 1981, we used a lot of *male* IDC edge card
connectors. I've almost never seen any since, and I couldn't remember the
name of the vendor. I just found out that it was Kel-Am, but the internet
knows almost nothing about them.
Here's an example:
https://www.elliottelectronicsupply.com/connectors/card-edge/male-card-edge…
That photo doesn't show the Kel-Am logo, which is just a stylized "KEL-AM".
There are some eBay auctions of the corresponding female connector (which
other vendors did make), some of which show the logo.
I wonder what happened to Kel-Am. Maybe they were acquired, maybe they went
under. It would be nice to find a copy of their catalog.
Speaking of which, it would also be nice to see some Robinson Nugent
connector catalogs from the late 1970s and early 1980s. I am especially
interested in seeing specs for their bottom-entry square-pin receptacles,
which I think _might_ be the ones used on Apple /// memory boards.
A friend and I are trying to get a PDP-11/70 running, and we'd like to get
a DHU11 async mux board. Anyone have an extra?
There's an Ebay listing claimed to be a DHU11, but that one is actually a
Qbus M3104.
Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> wrote:
> On 8/25/21 4:51 PM, Alan Frisbie via cctalk wrote:
> > I recently acquired a Wilson Laboratories SX-530 disk exerciser
> > for SMD interface disk drives.? Unfortunately, it did not come
> > with a manual.? Does anyone out there have a copy they could
> > make available?? Yes, Bitsavers was the first place I checked.?
> it's up now under test equipment
Thank you very much! I've already downloaded it. I really appreciate
all the work you do to keep this information available.
> do you happen to have any service manuals for century data
> winchesters? i have a bunch of manuals for the removable drives
No, I do not. The only Century Data manuals I have are for the T-302,
which I believe you already have.
Alan Frisbie
