test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by tomjmoss＠googlemail.com

Hi all, I'm looking for a pertec controller suitable for a Qualstar 1052. ISA/SCSI/S-100 interfaces are fine. If anyone has one to sell, please let me know. Regards, -Tom

10 years, 9 months

Cheap board guy

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> I lucked out. One of the dead ones had a broken trace on the bottom, and > cracked corner of the socket for one of the big square chips. So does that one work now? > The second one started working after I simply re-seated the two square > chips around their sockets. Yeah, that happens a lot. I got an 11/23 from him, it didn't work at first, I re-seated the CPU and MM chips, and now it seems to be fine. Excellent news, though! > Well, now both my 11/23 and 11/73 CPUs work with the MSV11-DB cards. Right, those are Q18. > a Clearpoint(?) Q22 memory card Camminton makes 2MB dual cards (CMV-504, although you can upgrade partially populated ones, which have a different number - 254, 500, 250); alas, the last one on eBay just sold, although there may be some out there from dealers like Continental). National Semi makes 1MB dual cards (NS23C - well, the manual says they are only 256KB, but they can be upgraded to 1MB with 256Kx1 chips, and a couple of simple etch cuts). Noel

10 years, 9 months

Vintage Software Copyright

by pete＠pski.net

This discussion on the legality of sharing manuals, PDFs, etc. leads me to think about the vintage computing hobby as a whole. While we all encourage the hobby to grow, the downside is that as it does, the software copyright holders may start to take notice. As a developer of modern systems who expects to be paid for my work (except what I share with the community of course) I am in a conundrum because the hobby cannot succeed without the large collection of easily accessible vintage software available yet there is no way to ?buy? most of it today. But, we would also not expect or would we pay 1980s retail prices. I know some generous copyright owners have allowed unrestricted use of their old software, like Roy Soltoff from Misosys, but many others have not or have disappeared. I?m fairly new to the hobby so maybe this has already been hashed out years ago. Just wondering what the community thinks.

10 years, 9 months

Cheap board guy

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Mark G. Thomas > 4x M8192 - KDJ11 (AA or AB?) -- two work, two fail POST And alas, we don't seem to have any prints for that card (although we do have what amounts to a tech manual, so maybe we can create a set, with a certain amount of tracing with an ohmmeter), so at the moment, at least, fixing them isn't so easy. > I was hoping I could boot XXDP or RT11 from an RX33/RQDX3. The > RX33/RQDX3 works in my 11/53 Well, that's a very good sign... > Since none of this has a bootstrap, I run the bootstrap from ROM > provided by a Dilog SCSI card here, but typing "DU" or "DU0" at the > prompt spins the floppy ever-so-briefly, then kicks out an error about > no boot media found. Suggestions? Maybe I should try other bootstrap? Definitely; the code on the Dilog card might not support that controller properly (even though it seems to recognize "DU"). > I'm a little confused about what should work and what should not work, > with just the 18 bit qbus. If you have less than 256KB of memory (so Q22 processors won't wrap around, when trying to size memory, and think there's memory there above 256K - although Q18 memory probably will stop responding at 248KB, anyway), pretty much everything _should_ work, I would think. The high address lines being put out by the processor, DMA devices, etc should just have no effect. Although the details get tricky... E.g. if you don't have BDAL18-21 for a Q22 memory card, what will its bus interface do when faced with those lines, which aren't driven in any way - _especially_ not pulled up by terminators? Some DEC memory cards (e.g. MSV11-L, M8059) have jumpers to run in either Q18 or Q22 mode, to work around this. > Do I need to wire wrap the additional address lines to be able to do > anything with these KDJ11 CPUs? No, if you have less than 256KB of memory, the high bits should just be ignored (I think - I haven't actually tried this, to be absolutely sure). > Does anyone have good instructions for this modification -- I'll > probably want to do it. Do I just add the additional address lines, or > are there other considerations? I have modified an H9273 backplane (Q18) to H9276 (Q22), and it works fine; all I did was bus all the BDAL18-21 pins together: pretty easy, as it's a Q/CD backplane, not a Q/Q - just run a wire down, and solder it to each pin as it goes (those backplanes don't have the pins stick out far enough for wire wrap). Q/Q will be only slightly more complicated (since you have to bus down one side, then run the signals up and across to the top of the other side, and then bus them in turn - do it this way, to avoid creating a branch in the bus which will encourage reflections); I have done this mod on a Q18/Q18 backplane (a Sigma Q18/Q18), but have yet to actually try it. The only complication might come with termination/pull-ups. Not all backplanes have these built in (e.g. the DEC H9273/H9276 don't). But you might not need them - IIRC both the 11/23 and 11/73 have on-board termination which will pull the lines up. But if you _do_ need them... best bet, unless you want to start soldering resistors to the backplane, is a terminator board with Q22 pullups. That's a whole separate discussion which I will leave for the moment... :-) Noel

10 years, 9 months

New post take longer to appear then replies?

by cctalk＠fahimi.net

Just wondering if new posts are moderated vs. replies? I posted a new message to the list a few hours ago and it still has not shown up. However, a reply to a preexisting message I sent out a few minutes ago has already appeared. Thanks.

10 years, 9 months

Where to get a Vax or microvax

by lyokoboy0＠gmail.com

I have had an interest in the DEC VAX line of computers for some time now and am trying to find a good place to get a system to start out with. The main pourpose being to have a machine to use VMS on. I have been running VMS on emulated hardware via SIMH, however i would like to move to running on real hardware. What would be the best machine for a beginner to VAX Hardware to start out with? My main place for looking for hardware has been ebay, although most of what im seeing is untested and expensive. Is there a better place to find older machines like this?

10 years, 9 months

maybe OT: Powerbook 5300 OS upgrade

by starbase89＠gmail.com

Greetings! I know that many of my posts to this list tend to be on the fringes of what is normally discussed here. I apologize in advance if this is too new for the group. I am trying to get my Powerbook 5300 up and running as a usable word processor (with portable printer) for school and for email. It is currently running System 7.5.2. The machine is capable of supporting MacOS 9.1, but my goal is 8.6. I see them talking on lowendmac that upgrading the OS makes the machine more solid, but it doesn't explain how to do it. The machine only has a floppy drive and no networking. Were there any system 8.6 install floppies? I can't think of another way to get it on there. TIA Joe

10 years, 9 months

Cheap board guy

by jwsmail＠jwsss.com

I have the following from the gold scrapper guy so far... Great tip. Wonder if anyone else partook of the tipoff. Thanks Jim http://jimsoldtoys.blogspot.com/2015/08/dec-boards-kdj11-2-kdf11-and-motoro…

10 years, 9 months

R: DECdatasystem 534 (11/34) and VT52 for sale at VCF Midwest 10

by supervinx＠libero.it

Location? -------- Messaggio originale -------- Da: Julian Wolfe <julian at twinax.org> Data:20/08/2015 15:44 (GMT+01:00) A: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Oggetto: DECdatasystem 534 (11/34) and VT52 for sale at VCF Midwest 10 I will be selling my DECdatasystem 534 and VT52 at the show. Cabinet rack, 72x24x26".11/34a, 32kW of core and A/D+D/A cards. System runs fine and drops to a console prompt, and passes all the diags I've been able to throw at it. I've restored all the foam filters and the cabinet was pressure washed a couple of years ago so no funny smells or mold. I have no peripherals for it. The VT52 does not power on. I'm entertaining pre-show offers, so let me know privately if you are interested in either of these items. Julian

10 years, 9 months

8-inch alignment floppy wanted

by spacewar＠gmail.com

Does anyone have a spare 8-inch alignment floppy they'd be willing to sell? I'd prefer a double-sided one, but even a single-sided would be better than nothing.

10 years, 9 months

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