When I got my first system running, S100, I had an Imsai 8080 with a
Hayes 103 modem. I used it to log into multics and some BBS's at the
time and record sessions and files and the like. I only had the usual
8" floppies, with eventually 1mb x 2 for storage.
However, reason for mentioning was that there was a simple program which
would auto answer on the Hayes modem and allow you to run things.
One evening when my roommates and I had gone to dinner, a friend who was
going to call at a certain time did so. However we had forgotten he was
to call, and I had left the system up and connected to the phone.
He called a couple of times and realized that we weren't around to pull
the line, or call back, so he got his terminal up and running and left
us a message on the screen for later.
I sort of count it as the first sort of BBS type I ran. There was a
program you could leave running which would challenge for a password,
and then re-run when the modem lost signal, so you could have a low
grade login that way. (password only).
And one could take ones choice of files and xmodem them (which he did in
future sessions).
I logged into many BBS systems which weren't much more than this or a
restricted menu program after you logged in. Some were nice with some
presentation, and some were just (enter 1 to do ... 2 to do ... etc).
Not much else really required if you want to get to very basics.
With any BBS having more than just the floppies, login and messaging and
more download options were the next level up.
And after that there were various BBS software packages that had
networks of like users that one could obtain.
thanks
Jim
I have here a shipping box, a shrink-wrapped TK50 tape and various
docs for Wollongong Group's "EUNICE BSD," which I take to be a BSD
Unix-like environment for VMS. I can't find a copy of either the docs
nor the bits online.
I will take care of scanning the docs. I would like to send this tape
to someone - Al K getting first shot if he's interested - who can
image the TK50 cart and make it available to all. I have a spotty
TKZ50 drive that I'd rather not risk this potentially valuable data
to.
The tape is marked:
"EUNICE BSD Binary Distribution Relase # E-11575-IP. Users: UL"
Hooray, unlimited license!
Any takers?
-j
On 19 May 2017 at 13:36, Bill Gunshannon <bill.gunshannon at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Nope. Take a trip to Amazon and look at just how much power this stuff
> actually consumes. And, if you go back to the days when we started
> running this stuff in our homes, compare the draw of a QBUS PDP-11 to
> a TV with a picture tube, standard incandescent lights, a refridgerator,
> window air conditioners, etc. Our toys draw much less power than most
> people think. Heck, I have seen modern PC's (you know, the kind gamers
> use) that draw more power and are frequently run 24/7.
I wonder if this is one of those USA-vs-Rest-of-world differences.
I think I have seen a running PDP-11 twice in my life, and it was the
same one -- a machine I had to get exchanging files with Mac clients
acting as terminal emulators, in about 1989 in my first job. It was
already very old kit by then. I've no idea how much power they draw.
Window air conditioners are another thing I've never seen,
incandescent lights are now a rarity in Europe, hoarded by some
old-timers -- i.e. older than me, at a hair under 50. I've never
bought a new TV set with a CRT, either. In fact most of my CRT
monitors over my whole home computing time period -- nearly 40y --
were cast-offs, hand-me-downs, or bought 2nd hand.
I've bought a few 2nd hand LCD monitors now, because I like big ones.
(Oo er missus, etc.) I'm currently running a 23" + a 24" on a 2011 Mac
mini with a 1987 Apple Extended keyboard. All bought used. New kit is
for suckers.
So I don't look into power consumption -- used price is more important
to me, TBH. Probably bad of me, but wotthehell archie wotthehell.
--
Liam Proven ? Profile: https://about.me/liamproven
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? Google Mail/Talk/Plus: lproven at gmail.com
Twitter/Facebook/Flickr: lproven ? Skype/LinkedIn/AIM/Yahoo: liamproven
UK: +44 7939-087884 ? ?R/WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal: +420 702 829 053
> From: Christian Corti
> I have a similar setup with our 11/34. .. It's not the fastest system,
> and the kernel uses overlays like crazy ;-) ... I still have to add the
> cache and FPP boards and see how that improves the performance.
The cache should help some, but the FPP, probably not (unless you are running
some application which actually does a lot of floating point).
Noel
we ran ours first on a hp-2000 then migrated to a hp-3000
final version had 100 boards on it email , multi user chat, poll and
voting and much more.
yep it kicked ass!
The machines were used also as board test machines etc when needed
and also some were used as sale of computer time to people tthat
had developed an application and did not want to rewrite it for a pc.
... and I found they were better to just run rather than turn on and
off..
but they drew power! and they generated heat.
... nothing like having a 10 platter 500 lb drive as a leg warmer next t
o your desk.
Ed# _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org)
In a message dated 5/18/2017 1:23:13 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
cctalk at classiccmp.org writes:
On Thu, 18 May 2017, allison via cctalk wrote:
> Never forget, BBS were about storage and cheap which at that time were
mostly
> opposed (disks weren't cheap!). The amount of Ram and CPU were less
> important
> considering what had to be done. Often the modem and hard disk were as
> costly
> as the basic system and we didn't exceed 2400 baud till '85or later.
Most
> anything
> could keep up with IO at under 4800 baud.
>
Here's what amounts to a canonnical(sp?) list of BBS programs for a number
of different platforms:
http://software.bbsdocumentary.com/
g.
--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home.
Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies.
ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.
http://scarlet.deltasoft.com - Get it _today_!
> From: Chuck Guzis
> Well, okay--but then let's be period-correct. The PDP-11 dates from
> 1970, when, AFAIK, BBSes, if they existed, were far from what people
> think they were.
You're thinking of the -11/20, released in 1970. But that was only the first
PDP-11 model; the -11/23 dates from 1979, and the last -11 model, the
/93-/94, was released in 1990.
Noel
I know of several very different PDP-11 BBS's using very disparate architectures. Some were run on RT-11 or RSTS-11 entirely inside a BASIC program that managed every element of call answering, logging in, and disconnection. And others took advantage of TSX-11, RSX-11 and RSTS-11 login security and "captive accounts" that were either entirely menu-driven or had restricted command sets, with the menu options or command sets oriented strongly towards typical BBS functions.
I know Billy Youdelman's TSX-11 BBS in LA was operating in the 1980's and 1990's and may have gone on longer than that.
Tim N3QE
> From: Systems Glitch
> You need split I&D for 2.11BSD
ISTR reading that the network code runs in Supervisor mode, so you need that
to, technically (although all -11s CPUs with Supervisor also have I+D, and
vice versa).
Does the 2.9 include networking code? If so, it must use overlays like
crazy on a 'small' machine (/40-/34/-/23)...
Noel
Hi guys !
My name is Dominique, 43 , from Belgium (I apologize in advance for my
approximate English). I join this forum under the recommendations of
Curious Marc. It seems there are people here who can help me to get back
to life the venerable machine that I have just recovered.
Some pictures of the beast :
http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/overview01.jpg
<http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/overview01.jpg>
http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/terminal.jpg
<http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/terminal.jpg>
http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/comrack_closeup.jpg
<http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/comrack_closeup.jpg>
It is a "Nixdor 600 series" (Apparently a Nixdorf 620/35), upgraded
several times until 1980, the CPU board is dated from this year. So I do
not know exactly what machine it is today the equivalent.
Anyway, the Nixdorf 620 is actually built by "Digital Computer Controls"
and after some researches it seems that it is a "DCC-116 E", the 17 slot
version of the "DCC-116" which Is a clone of the "Data General Nova 2/10".
http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/DCC.jpg
<http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/DCC.jpg>
The machine has five Key-stations (ENTREX DATA/SCOPE), a Mag-tape Pertec
8840A - A Disk Cartridge Diablo Model 40 and a big line drum printer
(Data Products model 2230), strange machine, there is a tape reader
inside the printer.
Here is the list of the boards I have with the references written on
them and their position in the machine:
*17 HEX 0 ? 15 ENTREX INC 62 00 01842 002 REV A*
*16 HEX 16 30 31 ENTREX INC 62 00 01842 002 REV A**
15 OPTION 2 Empty**
14 OPTION 1 Empty**
13 PRINTER ENTREX INC SN598**
12 TAPE 556/800 BPI 2433 LFI 213**
11 TAPE 1600 BPI Empty**
10 DISK 2456 00 MP-Kontroller D44an620
6393500215 2456 7 0 1577**
09 COMMO Empty**
08 SCANNER Scanner BD 2431 NCAG 54147.1.15 2431 02394**
07 MEM 1609 0 7 02616**
06 MEM Empty**
05 MEM 1609 0 8 02367**
04 MEM 1615 01 9 5596**
03 TTY Empty**
02 DO NOT USE Empty**
01 C.P. 1509 05 4 04436*
Concerning this I also ask a few questions:
*
What are the boards in slots 16 and 17 for?
*
I do not have a COM card, does that mean that I could not attempt a
serial transmission (type rs232) with this actual setup ?
*
I have no idea how many kilobytes are present, apparently there are
two core memory cards (8kb each? 16Kb each?), And non-core RAM board.
I first solved a problem with the power supply of the disk pack (bad HF
filter, short-circuited with the chassis, then it is also dead HF filter
in the "multi-plug" of the chassis that start to burn, once these
problems were solved, I cleaned the machine thoroughly, cleaning the
heads of readings with isopropyl alcohol, I Not yet cleaned the disc
himself which at first glance looks extremely clean, it has not left the
machine for 30 years.
http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/disckpack01.jpg
<http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/disckpack01.jpg>
I cleaned all the guides and the heads of the nine track tape Pertec
8840A. There was also a false contact in the ON-LINE button. I did a
first cleanup. I think there is always a problem with the HI-DEN button
used to set the magtape to 800BPI. It is currently ineffective, but I
have a doubt about the contacts of the lamp socket).
http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/ninetrack.jpg
<http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/ninetrack.jpg>
I then cleaned all the sockets and contacts at the boards of the
computer (logic and PSU)
http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/clean_contact.jpg
<http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/clean_contact.jpg>
Unfortunately, after a couple of hours, the "POWER FAIL" light has
started to light up. The problem here is that I have no schematics, it
is a modular power supply consisting of two elements:
http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/psus.jpg
<http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/psus.jpg>
One seems to be dedicated to the 15 VDC regulated, the second module is
in charge of the regulated 5VDC. Both elements have a "Power fail
module". When the machine is completely populated I now observe that the
+ 5VDC collapses at +1,9VDC.
Here what I measured out, you will also see what the boards of these
power supply look like.
http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/psu_module_1.jpg
<http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/psu_module_1.jpg>
http://www.actingmachines.com/classiccmp_forum/psu_module_2.jpg
<http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/psu_module_2.jpg>
Another thing I noted during my measurements, where I should (I think)
measure 15V, I have 18V, looking at the documentation on the NOVA 2 (4
slots), I observed according to the diagrams below That there is 18V but
before a zener diode and not at the level of connectors where there must
be 15VDC, should I warn me ? Would the diode be dead ?
I tried to join temporarily a secondary regulated power supply to
reinforce the + 5VDC so as to be sure that the problem did not come from
the logical part of the computer which checks these voltages and
triggers the Power Fail status. By coupling this external regulated
power supply, the computer restarts again, thus it is definitively the
power supply (or the comparator component(s) of the power fail module)
If I removes all the boards (printer, core memory, scanner, disk
controller, etc.), the Power Fail light eventually goes out, I get again
the 5VDC, so the power has become "too weak" to power the computer when
it is fully populated.
Despite the temporary (and dangerous) look of my assembly with secondary
power supply, I could not stop myself and attempt a boot procedure via
the Cold Start button of the machine from the Disk Pack, and it works! :-)
http://www.zeltrax.com/classiccmp_forum/first_boot.jpg
It seems that I still have problems with the magtape, I had errors
trying to read a backup, but it may be simply because I still cannot get
the machine in 800BPI because of the capricious buttons of the front
panel. I also wrote a tape mark via a "WRITE TAPE MARK AND REWIND"
function, the mark seems to be written but does not do the Rewind,
however if I launch a REWIND only function, it executes the action
appropriately. In short, still things to investigate on this side.
Notes that the Operating system I used to make these tests is a very
limited OS named DIDOS which was distributed by Nixdorf for his 620
Serie. As the machine is a clone of DG NOVA 2/10, I wonder if the
computer is compatible with programs for the NOVA series of Data
General? So I wonder if the DCC-116 was compatible with the software for
NOVAs?
The other questions I ask myself at this point are the ways to transfer
softwares or bootable OS on this machine? I have no other disk pack on
another system but I have a nine track tape TU81 + connected to a VAX
4000-605A under OpenVMS 6.2, and I can put this computer on my network.
Do you think there's a way to make a bootable tape for my NOVA 2 clone
with the Pertec 8840A from a VAX 4000 with a TU81+ ?
Well, to continue, I have to repair this PSU, all information is
welcome, schematics would be ideal of course.
Finally, note that I am not a professional electronics technician, I
fixed a lot of machines basic knowledge, intuition, researches,
comparisons and logic, it is effective but full of limitations too, so
forgive me in advance If I do not always understand the possible answers
of electronics in "high engineering" mode ;-)
As a bonus, the V1 of a small video mounted with a few clips captured
during a session of my nocturnal repairs, during the first boot of the
machine since 3 decades ! (on my music, yes, I'm also a composer ;-) )
https://youtu.be/5jWOUtLKRIU
Thanks a lot to all in advance ;-)
Dominique