At 04:19 PM 1/18/99 -0800, Sam Ismail wrote:
>
>I guess I'm just an optimist, thinking that 100 years from now we'll be
>living in a society like in Star Trek: The Next Generation, where you just
>ask the computer a question and it (usually) has all the answers.
You mean, like a mailing list?
- John
Marvin <marvin(a)rain.org> said:
>Last night I was given (what I think is) another computer labeled Nicolet
>Model XF44. It has two 5 1/4" floppies on the front along with a few other
>controls/indicators labeled STORE, RECORD, RECALL, UNPROTECT, RECORD SEGMENT
>UP/DOWN, and AUTOCYCLE. The size is about 4" high, 17" wide, and probably
>20" deep. Anyone know what this is? Thanks.
Marvin,
This sounds a lot like one that I have, need two?
Any way, it seem to be diskette storage for a Nicolet
Model 4094 Digital Storage Oscilloscope.
It's listed here: http://www.naptech.com/catLAOS1.htm
=========================================
Doug Coward dcoward(a)pressstart.com
Senior Software Engineer http://www.best.com/~dcoward
Press Start Inc. http://www.pressstart.com
Sunnyvale,CA
Curator
Museum of Personal Computing Machinery
at http://www.best.com/~dcoward/museum
=========================================
Many people have experienced problems when replying to messages sent in HTML
as Outlook replies using the format of the original. I'm not sure if this is
the same for Outlook Express 5, but in version 4.72 go to the Tools menu and
select Options. The options menu should appear. Click on Send and, second
>from the bottom will be a tick box saying "Reply to message using format in
which they were sent." Deselect this and click APPLY. Now as long as you
have set all outgoing mails to be sent in text you will avoid flame wars
>from angry CC subscribers. :)
--
Gareth Knight
Amiga Interactive Guide | ICQ No. 24185856
http://welcome.to/aig | "Shine on your star"
I have recently aquired the above notepad computer I wonder if anyone has any details on the machine and where I might obtain software which will run off floppy etc.
Regards
Rob Gillibrand
>I've been going through some of my manuals, and in looking at the
>Macro-11 manuals it looks as if they're pretty much written with the
>intention of being used with any of the DEC OS's. Is Macro-11 pretty
>much the same across the various platforms or what?
>If so, what makes a program written in Macro-11 a RT-11 program instead
>of a RSX-11M program other, than the way that it is linked?
Let me answer the second question first, since it will be part of the
answer for the first question.
Each of the PDP-11 OSes have programmed requests/system calls/whatever,
which perform the operations for the user which are specific to that
OS.
A pure MACRO-11 program might have nothing in it which ties it to
a given OS.
But generally, programs are written for a specific OS, since you'll
probably want to do I/O or get certain info from the OS itself.
For example, RT-11 has programmed requests. These are EMTs which,
when executed, cause entry to the OS, which expects the arguments
for the function to be structured in a certain way and located in
certain places (for example the stack).
The various calls like .DATE, .READC, .MRKT, etc... are actually
macros which are defined in some sort of system macro definition
file, which is automatically included during the assembly process.
For RT-11, this is the file SYSMAC.SML, located on the system
volume, SY: In later releases of RT, there was also a much more
complete structure definition file, SYSTEM.MLB, which could be used
to reliably define structures used by RT-11.
RSX and RSTS have their own set of macros defined which expand into
code which ultimately execute and EMT, which is processed in a certain
way by those OSes.
Now, given that answer -- MACRO-11 is conditionalized in such a way that
it can be built to issue those calls appropriate for the system you are
building it for. MACRO-11 on RT-11 issues RT-11 programmed requests
to read from the source file and write to the object file. MACRO-11 on
RSX-11 issues RSX-11 system calls, etc...
The heart of MACRO is the same regardless of which system, but the
peripheral routines do what is appropriate for the given OS, and they
are governed by conditionals.
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
*Former MACRO-11 maintainer*
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com |
| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com |
| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' |
| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
Now that Nathan Mates is no longer maintaining the Apple II FAQ, who is?
I just wanted to update the local copies of some of my FAQs.
Actually, doesn't MIT act as a master archive? Anyone have that URL?
Thanks!
[ Rich Cini/WUGNET
[ ClubWin!/CW7
[ MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking
[ Collector of "classic" computers
[ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/
[ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/pdp11/
<================ reply separator =================>
I've been going through some of my manuals, and in looking at the Macro-11
manuals it looks as if they're pretty much written with the intention of
being used with any of the DEC OS's. Is Macro-11 pretty much the same
across the various platforms or what?
If so, what makes a program written in Macro-11 a RT-11 program instead of
a RSX-11M program other, than the way that it is linked?
Zane
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
| healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast |
| healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ |
"Kirk Davis" <kbd(a)ndx.net> wrote:
>Hi all - I'm new to the mailing list and have just started
>collecting various pieces of retro computer paraphernalia. Had
>some fun today at the local salvage yard prying open a VAX 8800
>looking for interesting bits.
Hi... and "ouch"... prying one open?
>Did manage to get the console. Various people have told me that
>this is most likely a PRO350 or PRO380 (PDP!!!!). Looking inside it's
>got a RD52 and a set of floppies along with the associated controller
>cards and the main board. It appears to be in good shape - when I
>turn on the power, it goes though it's self test and appears to boot
>from the hard disk.
Do you see the 'DIGITAL' logo during the boot process? (Did you get
the monitor and keyboard?)
>1. What are my options are far as os'? I'm told that it most likely
>has a subset of RT11 on the drive. Is this my only option or is it
>possible to install other PDP11 based os' on this system?
If it is off a Vax system, it will probably have a special board in
it for use in controlling that system. You won't need it. It will
also probably be running P/OS, not RT11, although you can get an
RT-11 to run on it.
There is also Venix, a unix-look-similar... You can also run a
version of TSX+ on it (TSX is layered on RT-11, so you would need
RT-11 first).
>2. The back panel has a serial port and a monitor port (along with
>what appears to be a printer and AUI network port). There is no
>direct keyboard input that I can see. I connected a serial terminal
>to the system and tried various baud rates and parity selections
>(300-19200, 8-n-1 & 7-e,1) and have been unable to get the system to
>respond. I'd assume some sort of signon banner at boot but since this
>was a dedicated console for a vax it's limited to the output only on
>the other monitor port? Maybe someone can enlighten me....
You'll need a monitor and keyboard, attached to the appropriate
connectors. The AUI port is only usable if you have a DECNA
ethernet adapter card in the machine. The communications port has
modem control. The printer port can be used as a debug console (if
the cable has pins 9 and 20 connected) and then runs at (I think)
4800 baud. This port is at the standard console address for a pdp-11,
but it doesn't have the same interrupt structure.
But the monitor and keyboard are required, since that is the boot
console. Without them, you won't be able to run anything.
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com |
| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com |
| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' |
| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+