test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< In general, I hope everyone that prides themselves of running < Electric Pencil on their Altairs is doing it for practical purposes, < and not because they just want to show off that they won't use < a PC. While I do some of it on PC, more over time there are things I can do faster and easier on the s100 crate or even the Kaypro. < A server for what? You must have an Interlnk client if you are using < Intersrvr, unless you hacked the protocol... < > < >I do use an old 386sx/25 as a headless server using MSdos6.22 intersvr < >and interlnk software and a parallel port data cable(LapLink). I do, did you misread? < I would bet that _most_ hackers do it for commercial/industrial < reasons. FOr everyone who built their own z80, hundreds came off the < assembly line. And hundreds more were modified. Very few were built from the ground up but, many were built from an intermediate state. IE: buy a s100 z80 cpu >from company A, ram from B, floppy controller from n, floppy from S and a box from a supplier of nothing but boxes... that constitues a built z80 system circa 1980ish. < >documented at best. < That's an immense exaggeration. P-II boxes a) Have no jumpers, as a < rule b) can support a 5.25" fdd if you can plug one in. Why the "if you can plug one in"? Will plug and puke really work? What do you do if it doesn't? What slot does the 8" controller from the XT plug into on the PCI only board? < >size. There are many PDP-8s (1970s tech), PDP-11s (late 70s into the < >80s tech) and Data General Novas still in service as control systems < >where they do the same thing everyday as the have for the last 20+ < years. < < I agree with that. It's impressive how many people think Windows NT < is a safer option than UNIXoids though NT is only 1/3 as old... Keeping in mind I was referring to systems in place and working as they have for more years that M$ existed. Any bugs and the like have long since been worked out or are at least well known. For someone makeing steel parts or whatnot the OS, CPU and all that jazz really doesn't matter when his task is to punch holes in 500 pieces a day. Allison

28 years, 1 month

Rescued: Heath H89

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< From: Wayne Cox <wcox(a)mis.usaeroteam.com> ^^^^^^^^^^ Wayne, you fly? < > It's roughly the same thing as a Zenith Z90. I have the manual here (i < < If that's the one I'm thinking of, they started out as VT52 terminal < clones, sold by Heath/Zenith. The on-board personal computer was an < afterthought, I think. Former employer had a bunch. You may be able to < tap directly into the terminal portion if you have need for a plain old < VT52. yes it started as H19 terminal, the terminal board is separate from the H8x/Z9x computer board. It makes a good VT52/ansi terminal. I know I bought one back in the summer of '79 (H19 hit that is). Still have it and it still works. Allison

28 years, 1 month

Boards for grabs

by william＠ans.net

I have a bunch of boards that I would like to move to a good home, otherwise I will scrap them out. _ANY_ offers over shipping costs will be considered. Set of boards for an HP150 system! I am not sure what the processor is (lots of HP house numbers, but I do see an 8041A and 9914A, neither of which are the main processors). I have a motherboard with an jack for an RJ45 keyboard, HPIB connector, and two RS232 ports. I also have a board with lots of 4164 DRAMs, another with RAMs and ROMs, another mystery board, and a module that says 3278 interface (HP #45641A). William Donzelli william(a)ans.net

28 years, 1 month

ST506 & RD54

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< Where on the net, i could find the ST506 specification, or something lik < RD54 OEM-Manual ? RD54 is a MAXTOR 2190, so try them. RD53 is micropolus 1325 rd52 is Quantum D540 RD32 is seagate ST251 rd31 is seagate st225 rd51 is seagate st412 rd50 is sugart/seagate st506 Allison

28 years, 1 month

New apple additions.

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

since i requested today off, i hit the thrift stores since i havent been able to recently. i found a complete TI professional but left it as i presume it's just an xt clone. found a //c drive in the box, but at $10, i left it. i did get: copy 2+ version 9 complete quark catalyst with disks prodos inside and out w/ disk beagle graphics +disk something called talk is cheap ver 3.1 w/ disk beagle bros pronto dos/disk bb triple dump /disk a book called the dostalk scrapbook which explains apple dos 3.3 epson printer interface for apple //c apple //c tech ref. also got a nice pc tower case for $2 after i exclaimed it was blank and nothing inside. lol. there were a few more apple manuals and some beagle brothers software called timeout-something or other, but i left that. might go back again. david

28 years, 1 month

Epson QX-10, CP/M

by manney＠lrbcg.com

I have a customer (Yes, Virginia, I have two customers) who has an Epson QX-10 running CP/M. His (external) hard disk is reporting bad sectors; he wishes to switch to an ST-506/412 Vertex 185, which I think is 20 MB. I would like to test the Vertex 185 under Spinrite (MS-DOS) and expand the bad track table, if Spinrite discovers more problems. I have questions -- Will the bad track information carry over under CP/M, and will its format utility see the MS-DOS info? Otherwise, should we just make a list and enter it? Is there a low-level format utility in CP/M? Is it necessary, as under MS-DOS? What is the QX-10 controller card going to think of a different hard drive? Will it try to run the new drive as a 10 MB? Thanks, manney(a)lrbcg.com

28 years, 1 month

FW: Writer wants to quote users

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

What do you use now? >Like the Kaypro 4/84 (ca 1984) that I use to run my billings on. In general, I hope everyone that prides themselves of running Electric Pencil on their Altairs is doing it for practical purposes, and not because they just want to show off that they won't use a PC. > >I have a PDP-11/73 for development and continuation support use. Also >very handy for getting from Digital Equipment Corp designed and >propritary media to other more common use media. > A server for what? You must have an Interlnk client if you are using Intersrvr, unless you hacked the protocol... > >I do use an old 386sx/25 as a headless server using MSdos6.22 intersvr >and interlnk software and a parallel port data cable(LapLink). I would bet that _most_ hackers do it for commercial/industrial reasons. FOr everyone who built their own z80, hundreds came off the assembly line. > >All people that modify "hack" machines are not all hobbiests. As a >professional I need for various reasons to read disks created years >ago sometimes really old like the 8" media from the late 70s early 80s. >I have old machines to do this but a handy one is an XT clone using a >modified floppy controller with and old 8" drive. You cannot buy that >capability now but, companies have archives that are sometimes very old >that may need to be accessed. > >Even your common P-II box is hard pressed to read older 5.25" format >floppies! At a minimum you would have to find an apporiate drive and >then by trial and error figure the jumpers out as new machines a scantily >documented at best. That's an immense exaggeration. P-II boxes a) Have no jumpers, as a rule b) can support a 5.25" fdd if you can plug one in. What other difference can there be? >In computers old technology and new are often only different in speed or >size. There are many PDP-8s (1970s tech), PDP-11s (late 70s into the >80s tech) and Data General Novas still in service as control systems >where they do the same thing everyday as the have for the last 20+ years. I agree with that. It's impressive how many people think Windows NT is a safer option than UNIXoids though NT is only 1/3 as old... > Mature stable systems we know how to use. > > >Allison > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

28 years, 1 month

Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

What is the official meaning of the symbol #? >BTW, in the UK # is _never_ called "pound". "Hash" is the most usual >name, followed by "gate" and "hatch". "Pound" means a script L with a >couple of horizontal bars through it :-) > How is 'recall' done? Where is the number stored? As for the keypad configurations, I'm sure it all goes back to competing calculator models. >That's what I was afraid of. Although a neater hack still would be a >modified dial that did 11 pulses for * and 12 for #. Mechanically >possible, but I wouldn't want to try and modify the old dial. > >There is a blanked-off hole in most type 746 phones that can accommodate >1 or 2 buttons, and I was thinking of putting # and * there, but this is >more usually used for a "recall" button. > >Incidentally, does anyone know why "timed break" recall buttons are >replacing local earth ones? And how long is the break? > >> While a pulse-to-DTMF converter is a neat hack (and these sort of >> converters were installed in some step-by-step exchanges in the US, at >> least there were in my local exchange when we were step-by-step, but come >> to think of it I don't know why, unless they were converting my pulse >> dialed digits to DTMF so that some other adjunct piece of equipment such >> as a Dialed Number Recorder could know what digits I was dialing, for >> purposes of surveillance ;) it'd be easier to just buy a cheap DTMF phone. > >Sam, you should be ashamed of yourself. The object of the exercise was >not to get a DTMF phone, but to get one with a _rotary dial_. I already >have a DTMF phone, and I am interested in thes project _purely_ for hack >value. > >Slightly less far off topic, does anyone know the reason for the >divergence in layout between phone keypads and computer ones, i.e. > >123 789 >456 vs. 456 ? >789 123 > 0 0 > >Which came first? > >Philip. > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

28 years, 1 month

FW: Writer wants to quote users

by kyrrin＠jps.net

Well, folks, here's an opportunity to let it be known that doing a decent job doesn't always require the latest P-II! This fellow's looking for quotes from folks who use 'legacy' equipment in production environments. Unfortunately, he's not interested in hardware hack type stories. I kind of dislike his statement of 'if it takes a soldering iron, it's too complex for this article,' but hey, who knows? Enjoy. Attachment follows. -=-=- <snip> -=-=- On Fri, 24 Jul 1998 16:34:44 +0800, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc you wrote: >>From: Bill Kent <billakent(a)hotmail.com> >>Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc >>Subject: Writer wants to quote users >>Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 16:34:44 +0800 >>Organization: None to speak of >>Lines: 20 >>Message-ID: <35B84722.2B9BEDA0(a)hotmail.com> >>Reply-To: billakent(a)hotmail.com >>NNTP-Posting-Host: spoff76.pacific.net.sg >>Mime-Version: 1.0 >>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >>X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (Win95; I) >>Path: blushng.jps.net!news.eli.net!diablo.quiknet.com!csn!nntp-xfer-2.csn.net!pulsar.dimensional.com!dimensional.com!priori!netnews.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.he.net!newsserver.pacific.net.sg!not-for-mail >> >>Good Day, >> >>My name is Bill Kent and I am working on a story for a major online >>publication. The focus is on users who use what others might consider >>"obsolete" technology. I would like to speak to a few users who use >>oder PCs (386 and below) for productivity apps. I'm talking about in >>business, education, or home. If you use them as servers or something >>else, that's super, I'd like to hear about it. I'm not interested in >>hobbyists who just enjoying hacking the machines. If it requires a >>soldering iron, it's too complex for this article. >> >>I'd like to hear stories about how this technology can be applied to a >>job and does it well. The general slant of the article is to be >>positive, but if anyone has any good stories about failures which >>occurred because you can't do EVERYTHING with older technology. >> >>mailto:billakent@hotmail.com >> >>Thank you. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272) http://table.jps.net/~kyrrin -- also kyrrin [A-t] Jps {D=o=t} Net Spam is bad. Spam is theft of service. Spam wastes resources. Don't spam, period. I am a WASHINGTON STATE resident. Spam charged $500.00 per incident per Chapter 19 RCW.

28 years, 1 month

Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

>> BTW, in the UK # is _never_ called "pound". "Hash" is the most usual > BT tend to call it 'square'. Confused me the first time I heard it. I've not met that, although I have, come to think of it, met "Octothorpe" (I think it was in "Understanding Telephone Electronics"). Ironically, the New Scientist article about digital exchanges (1981?) that called it "hatch" printed it as a square... (FWIW, "-thorpe" is often found as a placename element in the Danelaw - parts of England officially occupied by Vikings before the Norman conquest - and it means village, equivalent to German "Dorf".) > Cutting the extra 2 slots in the cam would be quite easy with a dividing > head (no, I'm not offering to do it, right :-)). The problem is finding > an arrangement of 12 holes in the dial plate that (a) allows you to dial > all of them and (b) maintains the required pause between letting go of the > dial and sending the first pulse (this is part of the spec). You're in danger of making the same mistake as Sam. Remember the pulses only go to my counter chip, not to the exchange, so the pause after letting go of the dial is not essential. That said, it is useful if your finger is shaking as you dial... My idea was to have a moveable finger stop like on some smaller dials. This would normally sit quite close to the 1 position, leaving room for * and # after the zero, but when you dialled against it it would be pushed to its conventional rest position. Philip. PS I'm off on holiday for a week. I won't (intentionally) set the list to Postpone, but I probably won't read all the messages...

28 years, 1 month

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