test-drb

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101090 discussions

Another Crazy Idea: disc drive controller swapping

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

Here's another idea that'll get me a place in the Loony Bin. A little while ago I picked up a couple of Amstrad EME232 double-sided 3-inch floppy drives. Out of the three I have, two have had their read-write ASIC zapped by someone (in one case myself, in another an ebay seller) plugging them into a PC power supply to "test". Net result: the ASIC goes completely deaf. Let's assume for a minute that the heads in the EME232 drives are undamaged. That means all the issues are related to defective circuitry on the PCB. So, how about this for an idea: move the controller chip and surrounding circuitry (or even the whole board) to the EME232, then wire it into the existing drive mechanics. This would -- in theory -- allow the two dead 232s (and possibly the EME156 single-head drive) to be resurrected. Anyone care to comment on this idea and its possibility or absurdity? The other option would be to get a new read-write ASIC for the Amstrad drives, but those seem to be like hen's teeth. Part number is M51017AP (made by Panasonic but if memory serves they're not marked with a logo or manufacturer designation) if anyone wants to check.. :) Thanks, -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

15 years, 5 months

NCR stuff on ebay

by wmaddox＠pacbell.net

Mixed in these lots, there appear to be boards and test fixtures for a 16 bit mini of some kind. Anybody recognize this stuff? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280592757605 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280592443576 --Bill

15 years, 5 months

Xedex Z80 ISA card and other stuff on ebay

by shawn.t.rutledge＠gmail.com

The Xedex board is part of this auction: 260696713390 and there is other old PC stuff in my other auctions, digiboards and HUB6 serial boards.

15 years, 5 months

HP computer rescue?

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

There is an HP9845B computer with a large hard drive available for pickup in northern Maine. ***Contact the owner (Terry Helms) directly at: mainehiker at gmail.com; *** Please don't email me, I just told you everything I know about it :) Here is the picture he sent me. http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x426/DrCharlesMorris/IMG_4102HP9845Bcom… Hope someone in New England can rescue this interesting looking system. thanks Charles

15 years, 5 months

AViiON and Microdata 1600

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

Well, I've unpacked the AViiON and the Microdata 1600 inside, but it looks like I won't be able to look at them for at least a week or two. My lady and I are leaving in moments for YET ANOTHER trip up north (we've been home for less than a week!) due to someone's passing. I love driving, but enough is enough. My cats will never forgive me. Maybe some new goodies will come my way on this trip like last time. I'll be going up 95, then into West ("By God!") Virginia and staying there for several days, perhaps a week. I'll be driving a mostly-empty car. ;) -Dave -- Dave McGuire Port Charlotte, FL

15 years, 5 months

AT&T 3B1 Unix PC Boot ROMs

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

Hi guys, Here's a treat for the 3B1 owners in the audience: images of the two Boot PROMs... <http://www.philpem.me.uk/code/3b1emu/3b1_roms.zip> Thanks are due to Michael Lee for providing the ROMs, and to Steven Hirsch for scanning the 3B1 TechRef, which started me out on this nutty little "write a 3B1 emulator" project... Enjoy! -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

15 years, 5 months

TRS-80 4P rescue?

by jfoust＠threedee.com

Anyone out there who wants a portable TRS-80? I was given an option on a pristine one, probably literally only used by clean nuns. No software, but it appears to try to boot. SE Wisconsin, USA. - John

15 years, 5 months

Beast from the East

by silent700＠gmail.com

The latest arrival in the Great Midwestern Micro Hoard comes from deep within the Balkans, liberated through the heroic act of paying a local collector to ship it to me: Here's a short blog entry with links to the obligatory big load o'pics: http://silent700.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-acquisition-pravetz-82.html I haven't fired it up yet. The seller also sent me a collection disk images of native software (though much of it looks like translated US titles) that, as time allows, I hope to write to disk and try out on the proper hardware. -- jht

15 years, 5 months

Possible Failed H7868 PSU

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

My MicroVAX 3400 will not power up. I think it is because the right hand H7868 PSU has failed, the green LED on it does not light up, while on the left hand H7868 it the green LED does come on. I have no real electronics expertise, very limited diagnostic equipment (just a multimeter really) and I know that fiddling with PSUs is one of the more dangerous things you can do with a computer. That said, I am willing to have a go at repairing it, but have no idea what might be wrong. All I can say is that it worked a few weeks ago when I last powered it on, but when I came to power it on tonight it was just dead, no pops, bangs or smoke, just silence. Can anyone give me some idea where to begin? Thanks Rob

15 years, 5 months

road trip score: AViiON, Microdata 1600

by john_finigan＠yahoo.com

> The first was a Data General Aviion AV300 workstation. This is one > of the few machines built around the Motorola 88K CPU. It came with its > original keyboard, mouse, monitor, and a full set of DG-UX manuals. I > don't yet know if it's functional, but according to my friend it was > running a few years ago. Ack, I'm really jealous over this one :) It'll be interesting to hear if the presumably dead nvram battery matters -- I think some people are looking for dumps from working units. John Finigan

15 years, 5 months

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