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101090 discussions

Mac Classic near death... or at least an OOBE...

by zmerch-cctalk＠30below.com

So, there's a Mac Classic that was dropped off at my friends' store (otherwise headed for the skip/dumpster) and I "rescued" it. Yes, I used quotes, as there was this "weird" bright yellow and purple goo emanating >from the unit. Thinking something completely odd was spilled *into* the unit, I took it apart to find the damage. Turns out, the PRAM battery was in such bad shape that it was the source of both the purple (rust & other dissolved metals) and yellow (still not sure what that is) goo. I had to pry the motherboard out of the unit (slightly destructively) due to the corrosion on the rails on one side of the motherboard rails just to remove the motherboard. Whatever was bent can be unbent, but will need a *lot* of cleaning to refurbish. The contacts for the PRAM battery were completely gone on the (+) side, and gosh-darned near gone on the (-) side (enough so that it couldn't be repaired). I removed the PRAM battery & holder (with a pair of pliers as it was also damaged to an unrepairable state). That said, what do I actually do with the thing? My idea: Disassemble the unit and turn it into a 68K "microcontroller" trainer unit with a recent(ish) Flash ROM and Static RAM. Yes, I have the technology to build that. Or... back to the original destination (bad). Anyone want it for price of shipping? And yes, for those "keeping score" I have now built a "Mac Cracker." Do I get a prize for being the "Last Geek Ever" to build one? ;-) Laterz, "Merch"

15 years, 6 months

More SCSI Confusion

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

Right now I have two disks and one CD-ROM in my Alpha 433au (all attached to the internal ribbon cable, if you have seen my question about the storage shelf, that is not connected in this instance). The SRM recognises them correctly thus: dka0.0.0.1009.0 DKA0 COMPAQ ST32550W 6415 dka400.4.0.1009.0 DKA400 MATSHITA CD-ROM CR-508 XS03 dka600.6.0.1009.0 DKA600 IBM-PSG DDYS-T18350N M S96E However, when I start the Debian installer, during the boot sequence it does a SCSI reset and then only recognises the first disk, thus: scsi(0:0): Resetting SCSI BUS scsi0 : QLogic QLA1040 PCI to SCSI Host Adapter Firmware version: 7.65.06, Driver version 3.26 Vendor: COMPAQ Model: ST32550W Rev: 6415 Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02 So, for whatever reason, the CD-ROM and the other hard disk disappear. I have checked the termination and it *seems* to be correct in that the disks and the CD-ROM are not (or *should* not) terminating anything. There is a terminator at the end of the SCSI cable, and I believe the QLA1040 SCSI adapter does its own termination: >>>sh pk* pka0_host_id 7 pka0_mode ultra pka0_soft_term diff Does anyone have any suggestions why the SCSI reset during boot should make the CD-ROM and the other HDD disappear? Thanks Rob

15 years, 6 months

S-100 history (was Re: CompuPro CPU-Z with IMSAI and Front Panel issues)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On 10/18/10, David Gari <dgari at msn.com> wrote: > > I may be able to help. I've worked for Morrow Designs (Thinker Toys), > Wordstar (MicroPro) and Stoneware (DBMaster). Yes, I am older than Godbout. > I have pwned two Altairs and an IMSAI. I took a tour of the giant (empty) > Cromemco facility back in the day. Sooo much promise. So sad. Sounds like you have a few stories to tell. My only experience with Godbout gear was using a couple of the full-sized boxes loaded with SRAM cards, serial ports (over a dozen lines) and a MC68K processor board - it was a proof-of-concept prototype for an X.25 WAN router that was a logical descendant of the CompuServe PDP-11-based serial I/O nodes (same architect, different company). I don't remember a single problem with the hardware - rock solid. When the company closed, I gave a 4' stack of enclosures to a friend in town. I should ask him if he's ever done anything with them (I am positive he hasn't discarded them - he's not the type). I have a Morrow Designs OEM ADM-20 terminal that I took with me to VCFmw, but I was unable to get more than baud barf out of it. I should hang an HP 4951 off of it to see what it's really doing. Care to share any interesting stories from the S-100 trenches? -ethan

15 years, 6 months

Joining the list

by dm561＠torfree.net

I see there still are a few folks on Erik's VC forum trying unsuccessfully to sign up on cctalk; wasn't there some talk recently about taking some of the load off Jay's plate and giving approval authority to one or two other people? Or are new members intentionally being discouraged to keep down the volume, etc., as some folks are speculating? mike

15 years, 6 months

Babbage Analytical Engine - CBC interview

by hilpert＠cs.ubc.ca

For those that can listen to CBC Radio 1 / As-It-Happens show / tonight 6:30-8:00, there is to be an interview with the guy that wants to build the Analytical Engine.

15 years, 6 months

Total Loss of Memory Re: Dyspeptic archaeologists [was RE: Xerox Alto on ebay (not mine!)]

by chd＠chdickman.com

On Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 5:52 PM, Rich Alderson <RichA at vulcan.com> wrote: > > Doesn't matter that it's crap if it contains an interesting verb form > not seen before, or mentions an historical fact only known previously > from a single source. > I keep thinking that Today will be lost forever because nobody thinks it is important NOW. Example: My daughter does not save her digital pictures on a computer because it is too much trouble and, besides, there is more room on the memory card. When the room gets too low, she deletes pictures from her camera because they are from last year and who cares about last year.

15 years, 6 months

Xerox Alto on ebay (not mine!)

by roger.holmes＠microspot.co.uk

> Emulators are great for a lot > of things (offtopically, especially running WinXP in a sandbox) but > aren't nearly so helpful when trying to get original hardware working > again... I have to disagree. Only last Wednesday I was single shotting my simulator and the real hardware to find where they diverged. It showed up the fault after a few hundred instructions instead of running for a half a second before crashing (by which I mean the hardware stopping because it detected the loading of an instruction where one of the digits was not binary coded decimal). I am also working on a deeper simulator which models the actual gates of the computer and their interconnections. The source code of this describes the computer in great detail and I would say would be better than real hardware from some purposes. It will also allow monitoring of signals with a virtual oscilloscope and maybe one day, the introduction of simulated faults to test the brains of anyone mad enough to want to see how the original engineers would tackle faults. One day it might even have a 3D graphical interface where you can walk around the machine, open covers and connect your virtual 'scope and the original sounds recorded from the real hardware, like the drum running up. Roger Holmes ICT 1301 + many Apples - ][, ///, Lisa, and Mac up to the latest MacBook Pro.

15 years, 6 months

Babbage Analytical Engine - CBC interview

by ragooman＠gmail.com

-----Original Message----- Date: Monday, October 18, 2010 5:31:40 pm From: "William Donzelli" Even the Romans had something like mass production for their armies. Romans invented the Hamburger :) =Dan

15 years, 6 months

Applicon VAX 11/751 available

by legalize＠xmission.com

I didn't buy it, but I spotted a VAX 11/751 with Applicon branding on it at a surplus dealer. I will upload some photos I took to a picasa web album tonight. If there is any interest in purchasing it, contact me and I'll put you in touch with the dealer. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com/the-direct3d-graphics-pipeline/> Legalize Adulthood! <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>

15 years, 6 months

Tony and museums (was Xerox Alto..)

by dm561＠torfree.net

Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2010 12:35:47 +0100 From: Andrew Back <andy at flirble.org> Subject: Re: Xerox Alto on ebay (not mine!) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org> On (21:02 15/10/10), Tony Duell wrote: > > > > Teo Zenios wrote: > > > There are many old machines that are worth preserving but are better > > > off > > > in a museum then in somebody's cluttered basement left to rot. > > > > There are cases where that's true - but I know how museums can't > > possibly > > I feel even more strongly about this, having dealt with some particularly > clueless people at musuems and related organisations [1]. To the extent > that no part of my collection is ever going near a museum. Tony, does a week ever pass where you don't feel the inescapable urge to flame those who work at museums, regardless of their knowledge, ability and track record? You are rude and insulting. Yes, damned rude even. How dare you make such sweeping generalisations? If the subject of your disapproval were a particular race or subscribers of a certain religion this would not be tolerated. Yet somehow it is and you get to flap your jaw, spewing out utter nonsense asserting that everyone who works at a museum is an idiot, and we have to put up with it. And *you know full well* that there are plenty of people who work and volunteer at museums on this list. Oh, I'm not one, in case you wondered. ... So, how about this. Have you ever considered that if you slightly adjusted your attitude and learnt to work with people rather than lambasting them, you might actually contribute to the preservation of computer history for future generations. But, no, it's much easier to take the moral high ground and boast about how clever you are and how much of an idiot most everyone else is. Andrew --------------- REPLY: Whoa! Talk about "rude and insulting," and making "sweeping generalizations"... He said he's dealt with "some particularly clueless people at museums;" how did you get "everyone who works at a museum is an idiot" out of that? And if he and Curt decide that based on their bad experiences they won't lend their systems again to a museum, I think that's their choice to make. Finally, to suggest that he hasn't in fact "contributed to the preservation of computer history" is preposterous and highly insulting; I don't see many reverse-engineered HP schematics or extremely helpful posts "working with people" on here with your name on them... Not many of his contributions are relevant to my interests but I for one certainly appreciate the time he spends helping the folks on here, in the HP community and elsewhere (even if his rants are a little repetitive at times) ;-) Sheesh! mike

15 years, 6 months

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