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101090 discussions

by ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca

This'll seem insignificant to most Californians. :) I've hauled all this stuff home this week, even though I wasn't really looking for stuff (just lucky!): IBM PCjr (no power supply) Timex/Sinclair 1000 TS-1016 RAM cartridge TS-2040 Printer (no power supply) Dynalogic Hyperion VIC-1906 'Alien' game cartridge for VIC-20 'Tennis' cart for CoCo, with box and docs Carts for the Atari 2600 (yes, I know it's not a computer): Grand Prix, Gyruss, Jungle Hunt, Keystone Kapers, Mega Force, Skiing, Sky Jinks, Sorcerer, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Vanguard, Zaxxon. All from the same Salvation Army store I cursed a few weeks back for tossing out all their computer junk. Well, they keep doing it, but I'll take back my curses because I understand why they'd do such heinous things. With the way stuff has been pouring in in the past couple of months, they must get innundated with this stuff! I have a feeling that if I visited every day or two, instead of every week or two, I'd be hauling away a lot more stuff. I'm still pissed off about the potential Wang monitor tossing, but these folks are clueless about what's worth keeping. Anyway, some notes about the stuff mentioned above... The Dynalogic Hyperion isn't in nearly as good shape as the last one I hauled out of the very same store. This one is _very_ yellowed, like it's been sitting directly in the sun for a few years. Which is probably why someone installed a wire mesh in front of the display. I figure it must've been an anti-glare measure, though it's still quite shiny so maybe it was just to ease the fears of a radiation-scared employee. Anyway, whoever installed the mesh cracked chunks of the case off here and there. They also neglected to replace several screws. The internal screws they left out would've been hard to put back, though, with that mesh in front of the display. Anyway, the front panel is kind of loose. At least the ports are all labeled on this Hyperion, so I'll have to revise the poor guesses (ahem) on my web page. :) Also, there aren't any knock-out panels on this one. I did notice that there are two EPROMs in the machine. I'm definitely going to have to get an EPROMmer of some sort. One of the EPROMs in this Hyperion is soldered directly to the PCB, though, which makes things difficult. (I haven't checked the other Hyperion.) This 'new' Hyperion has some 'display issues'. :) The display on the monitor isn't square, and it jumps inward and back out frequently. Something I found interesting about the Hyperion is that the cover comes off identically to that of an old Macintosh. Undo the screws under the handle, pop the rest of the case from the front face, and pull the case off. I was scared to try popping the case on the other Hyperion, but this busted up one just begged to be looked into. On to the TS-1000. Or at least, what I assume to be a TS-1000. The label is missing, as are three of its four rubber feet, and some gummy tape had been affixed to its top. Anyway, it's got "Timex Computer Corporation" printed on its underside, and it has 2K of RAM (verified with a PRINT PEEK 16389). The motherboard says "ZX81" on it. The Sinclair ZX81 was the first computer I really wanted to buy. (Note that this is VERY different from wanting to OWN - I could actually almost afford a ZX81, I definitely could NOT afford the Northstar Advantage in one of the local shopping centres ;) ). So finally getting my hands on one is pretty special. And I was even introduced to its innards right away, because the damn thing had dead keys on the keyboard. :) It just turned out to be cracked plastic contact strip thingies. I just trimmed the contacts with scissors and shoved them back into the sockets. Hopefully I won't have to do that again or I'll run out of slack. :) It's kind of neat that I can actually SEE how the keyboard is wired, without opening the keyboard. :) The big metal ground thingy on the bottom of the board also broke off at one end. Bad solder job, I guess. :) I'm just using my Atari 2600 power supply at the moment, because the ZX81 supply wasn't there. Man is this thing slow! :) Up until now the (unexpanded) TI-99/4A was my slowest, crappiest system, but the Sinclair thing beats it for that title so easily it's not funny! But it's got nostalgic value the TI will never have for me. And besides, TIs are like earwigs around here. The Salvation Army has put at least 50 in the landfill that I know about. But this is the first Sinclair machine to turn up. The RAM cartridge has a broken, wobbly connector, and bent pins, and I can't get it to work reliably. The printer doesn't have a power supply (anyone know the specs?) or the roll of toiled paper, so I don't know if it works yet. I also don't know if the PCjr works. The external transformer was missing. I got the better keyboard with the thing, too, instead of the original button keyboard. I actually have the Tech Ref for the PCjr sitting around in a box somewhere, so it'll be cool to go poking around in it as soon as I know how. I haven't tested the VIC or CoCo carts yet, but the 2600 carts all work with the exception of Jungle Hunt, which I think just has dirty contacts. It's an Atari cartridge, though, so the contacts are 'protected' and I haven't bothered to find something to stick in those slots yet. Other recent acquisitions include an IBM-PC (5150) with 64-256K motherboard (damn!), an Atari 400 with several books, magazines, and cartridges, and some cool toys for my Amigas. The collecting has been pretty good this summer. Doug Spence ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/

28 years

more info on systems....

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 12:47 PM 8/21/98 -0700, you wrote: >At 09:46 PM 8/20/98 -0500, you wrote: >>30 7100/66or80 PPC macs; most with 16-32 mb ram, additional vid cards, >>token ring. IIci's, about 15? with 20mb ram each. 6 Quadra 950 servers >>with typically 2 300mb scsi drives and between 25-50 mb ram. ummm... Screwed up the reply-to of course. Sorry folks! --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

28 years

hey

by XdizzycowX＠aol.com

can you send me one of the computers

28 years

EDT editor - ports available?

by mtapley＠swri.edu

>Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 11:45:52 -0400 (EDT) >From: Bill/Carolyn Pechter <pechter(a)shell.monmouth.com> >> >> < Was DEC's EDT text editor ever `ported to any non-DEC platforms, such a >> < PCs or unixes? It is still my favorite text and program editor, and I' >> < love to have on on some of my "everyday" machines. >> > >I've got some hardcopy of an EDT clone for the Rainbow called >Small-EDT which isn't too bad, however -- the sources have been >hacked by me in an aborted attempt to squeeze them on to a DEC VT180. > Also try in ftp://ftp.update.uu.se/pub/rainbow/msdos/latrobe/mn/medt03.zip description is MEDT03.ZIP 93 Mini EDT screen mode editor written in C (with sources) haven't used it, so I can't comment other than it's there. - Mark

28 years

Mac Portable problems (was Re: Mac Portable batt charger)

by Marion.Bates＠Dartmouth.EDU

--- Uncle Roger wrote: At 08:41 PM 8/20/98 EDT, you wrote: >--- Tony Duell wrote: >Do you have a working battery in the machine? IIRC, the PSU can't supply >enough current on it's own to get the machine and hard disk started up. >When the hard disk tries to spin up, the PSU shuts down, etc. Giving you >exactly what you're seeing That is true. Took me a while to figure that out. >Really? I'm charging a pair of batteries overnight. Tomorrow I'll see if >anything works with a charged battery. I thought that with the 9-volt >backup and the power adapter, that was enough juice -- Uncle Roger, is >that what you were saying earlier? Yes, that seems to work, provided you take the cover for the main battery off. Also, the 9v has to be pretty new. --- end of quote --- Yeah, I pulled the main battery cover and it was definitely drawing on the backup 9V, but maybe it's too low. That dual-battery thing scared the bejesus out of me the first time I tinkered with a Portable -- I'm staring at the power adapter, unplugged, with the main battery in my hand, and the bloody machine's still humming and chiming, seemingly getting power from _nowhere_. I thought there was a ghost. ;) Thanks to everyone for the advice. -- MB

28 years

more info on systems....

by roblwill＠usaor.net

How much for the monitors? -- -Jason (roblwill(a)usaor.net) ICQ#-1730318 ---------- > From: Poesie <poesie(a)geocities.com> > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > Subject: more info on systems.... > Date: Thursday, August 20, 1998 10:46 PM > > well, I found out none of the NEC versa laptops are for sale; > apparently some VP is holding onto them for some reason. We have maybe > 30 7100/66or80 PPC macs; most with 16-32 mb ram, additional vid cards, > token ring. IIci's, about 15? with 20mb ram each. 6 Quadra 950 servers > with typically 2 300mb scsi drives and between 25-50 mb ram. ummm... > maybe 50? or more DuoDocks, both the Duo 230 or 280, and the Dock. don't > know the possibility status of selling these. several sony video > monitors that are touch screens, accept various inputs, came with weird > computerized videodisc systems. >

28 years

looking for...SYQUEST 270

by allisonp＠world.std.com

Can anyone help me I was just given a parallel port syquest 270 external cartridge disk. I don't have the install disk... well I do but it's hopelessly munged. I need that so I can do transfer media to PC from... More importantly I want to try and hang it on one of the CP/M systems that happens (by my design) to have a EPP compatable port. So, I need the gory details of how to talk to such a critter so I can write a CP/M bios. And you thought it's all non classic! Graft new technology to old and keep it crankin. Allison

28 years

Mac Portable problems (was Re: Mac Portable batt charger)

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 08:41 PM 8/20/98 EDT, you wrote: >--- Tony Duell wrote: >Do you have a working battery in the machine? IIRC, the PSU can't supply >enough current on it's own to get the machine and hard disk started up. >When the hard disk tries to spin up, the PSU shuts down, etc. Giving you >exactly what you're seeing That is true. Took me a while to figure that out. >Really? I'm charging a pair of batteries overnight. Tomorrow I'll see if >anything works with a charged battery. I thought that with the 9-volt >backup and the power adapter, that was enough juice -- Uncle Roger, is >that what you were saying earlier? Yes, that seems to work, provided you take the cover for the main battery off. Also, the 9v has to be pretty new. --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

28 years

Minor Tektronix success story.

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

>>Could someone please enlighten me... What, pray, is FLEX? > > For years, it was *THE* disk operating system if you had a 6800/6802 > based system. Originally written in the late 70's, it powered the > majority of the SS-50 computers until the 6809 came out. Then came > FLEX/09, StarDOS, UniFLEX, OS/9. . . . Thanks. I wonder why I'd never heard of it. > It was a bit limited, but it was small enough to fit within the 6800's 64K > address space, with *plenty* of room to spare! The 4052 has a 128K address space - separate 64k spaces for code and data. That said, there are ways of running code in the data space and accessing data in the code space. > Well, yeah, but still faster then 1Mc (or 800kc if you didn't modify > the cpu board). Yes, much. >>I must do some more research into the relationship between 4052 and 6800 >>instruction sets. > > Yes. How the implemented the microcode would be of particular interest. The service manuals tell you a lot about how the microcode is executed, but little about what's in there. Similarly there is a list of instruction mnemonics and addressing modes against opcodes, and even an explanation of how the addressing modes work, but nothing to tell you what the instructions do, let alone anything in the way of ROM listings. One day I might get around to decompiling the microcode... Philip.

28 years

Emulators

by rax＠warbaby.com

All the emu stuff you'll ever need: http://www.classicgaming.com/emunews/computer.htm R. -- Warbaby The WebSite. The Domain. The Empire. http://www.warbaby.com The MonkeyPool WebSite Content Development http://www.monkeypool.com Dreadlocks on white boys give me the willies.

28 years

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