I just wanted to say this:
Already several people have offered to help out by getting the files off
the RLO2 disk packs.
Right now, Jim Willing seems to be the guy to do it (he also seems to be
closest to the disks, which I think are in central CA). I've put him in
touch with keith Robinson who is heading up the Intellivsion emulator
effort.
Let me just say that I am overwhelmed by the favorable response that
has come from the people on this list. The sense of community and
people that value computer history has left me with a lump in my throat.
Thanks to all,
-Matt Pritchard
> -----Original Message-----
> From: A.R. Duell [SMTP:ard12@eng.cam.ac.uk]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 1997 4:50 AM
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
> Subject: RE: Call for Help: Retrieve files from 14" DEC platters
>
> >
> >
> > This news just in:
> >
> > According to Ray Roux, who maintained the VAX systems, we were
> running
> > Unix, BSD 4.1. The platters are 14", with the label: Data Cartridge
> > RL02K-DC.
>
> In that case, they're RL02 packs, with a capacity of 10.4 Mbytes.
> There
> are plenty of working RL02's about - I have a couple myself on a
> PDP11,
> although it's non-trivial to ship the packs to me. I am sure you'll
> find
> somebody in the States who can help.
>
>
> --
> -tony
> ard12(a)eng.cam.ac.uk
> The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill
This news just in:
According to Ray Roux, who maintained the VAX systems, we were running
Unix, BSD 4.1. The platters are 14", with the label: Data Cartridge
RL02K-DC.
---------------------------
Any help in finding a system that can read it, and someone willing to
help out is massively appreciated!
-Matt Pritchard
> -----Original Message-----
> From: A.R. Duell [SMTP:ard12@eng.cam.ac.uk]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 1997 12:43 PM
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
> Subject: Re: Call for Help: Retrieve files from 14" DEC platters
>
> > In addition to all the games that people know about, the Blus Sky
> > Rangers have some 14" DEC platters taken from 2 VAX systems that
> were
> > used for development. These files on these platters include source
> > code, screen shots and data from *UNRELEASED* Intellivision games.
> Some
> > of these probably were announced titles that never shipped, others
> were
> > never even announced.
>
> 14" platters could be almost anything (off the top of my head, RK04,
> RK05,
> RL01, RL02, RK06, RK07, RM02, RM03, RP04, RP05, RP06, Several CDC
> drives,
> etc). And a drive that capable of reading one will not read any of the
> others (even if they will physically fit into it).
>
> If you can find out what they were written on, there's a good chance
> that
> somebody will still have at least one working drive...
>
>
> --
> -tony
> ard12(a)eng.cam.ac.uk
> The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill
I know there was mention on this group a few weeks back about disk
platters.
Here's the situation:
You can help preserve a bit of history.
There is a project underway in the classic gaming community to release
the entire *entire* Mattel Intellivsion library on an Emulator for the
PC and Macintosh. This project is being spearheaded by the Blue Sky
Rangers - a group of original Mattel Intellivision programmers.
In addition to all the games that people know about, the Blus Sky
Rangers have some 14" DEC platters taken from 2 VAX systems that were
used for development. These files on these platters include source
code, screen shots and data from *UNRELEASED* Intellivision games. Some
of these probably were announced titles that never shipped, others were
never even announced.
If anyone has working equipment that can read these platters, and
extract the files to some other medium, and is willing to get involved
to preserve these games before they are lost forever, please contect me
at mpritchard(a)ensemble.net or matthep(a)netcom.com
I thank everyone in advance,
-Matt Pritchard
hey, does anyone know the name of the computer/portable in the movie "Single
White Female". I know it looks like a "lunchbox" type machine, but that's
about it.
thanks,
Dave
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Vincent davidv(a)ganymede.cs.mun.ca
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope this isn't repeating a post as I accidently lost a few of the
threads to this subject... ANYWAYS...
I just re-watched "Electric Dreams."
In it, the computer (Edgar) cmoes to life blah blah blah...
Anyone know what kind of computer he/it was? The credits list
Kaypro as a contributor...
Les
> 14" platters could be almost anything (off the top of my head, RK04,
> RK05,
> RL01, RL02, RK06, RK07, RM02, RM03, RP04, RP05, RP06, Several CDC
> drives,
> etc). And a drive that capable of reading one will not read any of the
> others (even if they will physically fit into it).
>
> If you can find out what they were written on, there's a good chance
> that
> somebody will still have at least one working drive...
>
> Thanks, Tony!
> I'm checking on what type of platters they are right now, and will
> post my findings to this list.
When I was at my parents' house, I also went to visit my old-timer
neighbor. My parents told me he wanted to talk to me about getting a new
computer. He has one of the first 1000 HeathKit H89 systems to come off
the assembly line. I remember going to his house back in 1988 a couple
times to trade programming tips with him and playing with it. He built it
himself. It's in cherry condition, with the original Heathkit covers for
both the computer and the heathkit printer. I gave him advice on buying a
new system and offered to buy his Heathkit from him, but I don't think
he's ready to sell it yet. Before I left I emphasized that when he's
ready to part with it to call me.
I'm looking through this old issue of Popular Computing (I also found a
good run of this magazine). This issue is September 1983. These things
are awesome. Let's take a look at this one...
The cover story is "Demystifying Computer Languages" and has a column
each for APL, BASIC, C, COBOL, FORTH, FORTRAN, LISP, Modula-2, Pascal,
PROLOG and Smalltalk. You see, that's another thing that was great
about the 80s...not only did you have diversity of systems, but you had a
viable diversity of languages. Sure you could argue that today, but
let's face it, this is a C dominated world.
Hmm, cool, there's a hacking article, "Profile of a Computer Abuser".
And some way cool Do-itYourself article on how to build a $4 printer stand.
Let's see, there's the standard Elephant Memory Systems disk ad (remember
those? Always with a yellow backdrop, a lot of times on the back of the
mag). Anyway, here's an ad for a Percom Data disk drive for the T-99/4a
for $499. So whoever found that TI-99/4a disk in the thrift shop, keep
looking for the Percom Data disk drive. Here's the basic IBM ad with the
lame Charlie Chaplan impersonator. Ok cool, a big price page for a
company called computer mail order (how generic). Timex Sinclair 1000,
$39.95; Commodore 64, $239; Pet 64, $569; Sanyo MBC-555, $795; Eagle
IIE-1, $1,369; and on the CMO top 100, we have Choplifter at #1 for the
Apple, WordPro64 for the C64 and Donkey Kong for the Atari.
Moving on, we have an add for Fontrix (a cool Apple ][ page designing
program), an ad for Commodore 64 that compares its under $600 price to
the $1395 Apple, the $999 TRS-80 III and the $1355 IBM PC. Wow. A
2-page ad spread for the Apple ///. Dum de dum, hey an ad for the HP-86
personal computer. I don't think I've ever seen one of these...its like
an Apple in design, with the keyboard and CPU all one unit. I never knew
HP made such a beast. I'll have to find me one of those.
(are we bored yet?)
Oh, here's a good one: an ad for a C64 that says "More power than Apple
][ at half the price" (what a joke) and for the VIC-20 that says "a real
computer at the price of a toy" (they got the toy part right). I betray
my thinly veiled Apple ][ bias.
Moving on, here's a funky user definable keyboard called the keywiz VIP
(and in parenthesis it says Very Intelligent Peripheral) made by a company
called Creative Computer Peripherals. I guess you can assign a keyword to
each key and it was compatible with the Apple and TRS-80. Then an ad for
the TI Compact Computer. It shows a typically preppy 80s type dude
sitting at a desk (presumably in a library) with a typically preppy 80s
type chick sitting on the other side and the ad copy says "20 pages of
notes, a thesis, algebraic forumlas. Can you make a date at eight?" The
guy in the ad has one finger on a key on the computer which has a disk
drive attached, and one holding a pen as he writes down notes on a yellow
legal pad. Brilliant. I'll take two.
Ok, here's an add from Wisconsin Discount Sales, showing a Panasonic 32K
for $249, an Atari 800XL with, instead of a price, the word "NEW" in a
blast bubble.
Here's something funny. In caption from the article on Prolog, it says
"Japanese researchers have chosen PROLOG as the standard language for
their fifth-generation computer project. If the project succeeds, it's
very likely that we'll all be programming in PROLOG by 1995!" I guess we
all know the outcome of that particular project.
Anyway, then there's a review of the Radio Shack PC-4 "programmable
calculator" and the Casio FX-700P pocket computer.
Hey, a ComputerLand ad. They are now back in business as Vanguard by the
way.
Blah, blah, blah. More ads. Blah. And that's pretty much it. I hope
you enjoyed this tour of the September 1983 issue of Popular Computing.
Sam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
Wow.
I didn't intend to buy any computer equipment this weekend but
ended up passing a church swap meet with a big sign that list
"compters" <sic> on it. Later in the day I spotted a pawn shop
that had a sign up that said "Collectable PCs - get them while
you still can!" Just how much temptation can one resist?
Anyway I'll divide this into two groups - stuff I know things
about already and stuff I don't have a clue about.
Stuff I know about
TI/99 Expansion box with disk/memory/rs232
Atari 520ST
Commodore 128 (spare)
Commodore Cassette (original)
Macintosh (M0001)
DEC Rainbow 100 Documentation in box
DEC Rainbow OS disks
Samda Word Processor for DEC Rainbow
25 RX50 disks labelled MICRO/RSTS - I don't knwo what they are
but I'm guessing they're not for the Rainbow. I really needed
some RX50 disks though.
34 C64/128 disks with programs
18 Apple II disks with programs
FORTRAN on disk for the TI99/4A (the first disks I've ever seen for
the TI)
EagleWriter II for the Eagle Computer
12 Assorted CP/M disks
17 8" TRS-80 Model II disks
Set of OS disks for Heath/Zenith Z-100
VisiCalc and a couple other Atari 800 disks
Various old PC disks
Some power supplies and RF modulators
Hardware Maint manual for Novell Netware/68
(includes info and schematics for almost all early novell hardware!)
Stuff I don't know about
IBM 6360 dual 8" floppy system (for what?)
TRS-80 TRP-100 printer
TRS-80 Color Graphics Printer
Commodore DPS-1101 Printer
Alphacom VP-42 Printer (for VIC-20 only it says)
NEC PC8801A (no keybd, disk drives)
Excelerator Plus Disk Drive (looks like for commodore serial bus)
MicroSci Disk Drive (Disk II clone, right?)
Timex-Sinclair 1000 with plug-in box on the back (RAM module?)
(I never realized from pictures how small these were!)
TRS-80 RAM module (looks like the T-S RAM module)
It was a fun weekend (glad I drive a van!)
Bill
----------------------------------------------------
Bill Whitson - Classic Computers ListOp
bill(a)booster.u.washinton.edu or bcw(a)u.washington.edu
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bcw
Well, I was too busy with other stuff and unfortunately couldn't attend a
real good swap meet this weekend, but I did re-discover a cache of
magazines in my parents' barn. I found out I had an entire run of
Creative Computing, I have almost the complete run of A+ (including the
first issue...this is an Apple ][ mag), a (I think) complete run of
Incider (another Apple ][ rag), a few issues of byte from 1981 (the
SmallTalk issue) and 1984, a couple issues of Family Computing from 1984,
an issue of SoftTalk, and some other miscellany. This stuff is as good
as gold! Creative Computing is a total blast going through all the ads.
The main thing that struck me is the diversity of computer systems that
were available in the early 80s. Contrast that with what you got today
(Wintel crap/Macincrap). That diveristy is what we are discovering
today. I think in 10 years there probably will be no memorable classic
computers worth collecting from the 90s. MAYBE the Mac portable, and I
can't think of anything else right off hand. There is just going to be
this hideous montage of various IBM PC clones by different manufacturers
or just run-of-the-mill computer shop PCs. Bleah! Long live the
thriving micro-computer revolution of the 70s and 80s!
Sam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
On 12-May-97, classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu wrote:
Bill,
That's quite a haul you made this weekend. I've never been lucky enough to
come across so much at once. Normally it's a couple of items at the most.
>Macintosh (M0001)
Lucky you!
>FORTRAN on disk for the TI99/4A (the first disks I've ever seen for
> the TI)
I've got a bunch of disks for the TI that I was sent, though they tend to
be GROMs saved to disk.
>Timex-Sinclair 1000 with plug-in box on the back (RAM module?)
> (I never realized from pictures how small these were!)
Normally, the 16k RAM pack says what it is on it, though I guess a RAM
module from a third party might not. The T/S-1000 RAM pack was about 3" wide
x 3" high x 1-1/2" deep. I've seen third party RAM packs up to 64k, but they
tended to be the full width of the computer.
Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Collector of classic home computers:
Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore
C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive
Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000,
TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and
2600VCS game consoles.
