- test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org - classiccmp.org

by rick＠rickmurphy.net

At 07:50 PM 11/30/2010, Ethan Dicks wrote: >In 7.3, I'm sure that's now true. I'm pretty sure I remember some >COBOL and BASIC back in the 4.x and 5.x days, but I can't promise that >my memory is 100% correct. I think that's highly unlikely, particularly with COBOL since emulated code wasn't something DEC wanted in the distribution. (and COBOL in the 4.x days used a number of instructions that weren't implemented in MicroVaxen.) DEC didn't want clearly poorly performing software to be in the kit. That's the argument that allowed TECO32 to become part of the VMS distribution. -Rick

15 years, 9 months

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Norm Winningstad passes

by cclist＠sydex.com

Norm Winningstad, founder of Floating Point Systems and Lattice Semiconductor, dies at age 85: http://bit.ly/f2tM0s --Chuck

15 years, 9 months

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Professor Sir Maurice Wilkes has died

by ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk

I canse anyone has not heard this... I have been informed that Professor Sir Maurice Wilkes (designer of EDSAC, etc) passed away yesterday (29th November 2010). :-( -tony

15 years, 9 months

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On-Topic: Another pioneer passes

by wmaddox＠pacbell.net

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11875821

15 years, 9 months

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Free SGI monitor (York, UK)

by pete＠dunnington.plus.com

Anyone want a 17" SGI monitor? It's a Sony GDM-17E21 in "granite", as used on an Indy or O2. Has HD15 and 5xBNC connectors. It's off the O2 on my desk, but I now have a set of flat screens and no room to keep this CRT monitor. Collection is free from York UK -- sorry, but it's impractical to ship. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

15 years, 9 months

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seeking particular branded SCSI hard drives

by nigel.d.williams＠gmail.com

I am looking for any of the following SCSI hard drives please: Micropolis 1578-15 50-pin SCSI 5-inch full-height 332MB Micropolis 1684-07M 50-pin SCSI 5-inch half-height 340MB or any Unisys branded SCSI drives. Some appear on eBay but the seller prices exceed my budget, especially once shipping costs to Australia are included, so looking for someone who might have some of these drives that they would like to part with for a modest price+postage costs. thanks.

15 years, 9 months

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Alpha Micro

by fire＠dls.net

I know I posted this a few days ago, but I find it hard to believe that there are no Alpha Micro collectors on the list. Here is an opportunity to make some money by parting with your working Alpha Micro for no more than 60 days. Then you can have it back with ours (whatever you can salvage for parts, I think the MB is bad, but the rest works). Still no takers. I am told that AM6000, AM7000, AM8000 or Eagle 450 or Eagle 500 will work fine. Email me at fire at dls dot net. Bradley Slavik

15 years, 9 months

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[TUHS] pdp11 question

by IanK＠vulcan.com

Oops, this was supposed to go to the whole list -- Ian > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: tuhs-bounces at minnie.tuhs.org [mailto:tuhs- > > bounces at minnie.tuhs.org] On Behalf Of Norman Wilson > > Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2010 10:58 AM > > To: tuhs at tuhs.org > > Subject: Re: [TUHS] pdp11 question > > > > Just to loop things around a bit: > > > > Some of the larger VAXes used small PDP-11s (and their > > bastard offspring) as console processors. > > > > This started with the very first VAX, the 11/780, which > > used an 11/23 as a console. The console ran a stripped-down > > system, possibly based on RT-11 or RSX-11, I forget (and > > am typing this on a train in the Outer Mongolia part of > > Texas where it's hard to look up references). > > > > It is an 11/03, according to the Console Interface Technical > Description manual and the part number of the processor board. The > system looks to me to be RT-11 based. I know that I could read/write > the floppies on an 11/03 running RT-11, which was how I recreated live > media from disk images. > > > I don't know the whole list of what was used as a console > > for different VAXes, but I do remember that the Nautilus > > series (8500-8550-8700-8800) used either a Pro/350 or a > > Pro/380, running P/OS, which was slightly more satisfactory > > than the rude English non-computer expansion of PoS might > > imply, but only slightly. Especially for those of us who > > wrote code to fit into UNIX on the VAX and talk to the > > console processor. > > > [snip] > > Another DEC machine to use an embedded computer as a console is the KL- > 10 processor. It uses an 11/40 running a modified version of RSX-11 > called RSX-20F. Given that the KL was introduced in 1975, it predates > the 11/780 in using this approach. -- Ian

15 years, 9 months

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SCSI to MFM/RLL schematic

by afra＠aurigae.demon.co.uk

Hi, Does anyone happen to have the schematic of one of the SCSI->MFM/RLL boards ? I have the Adaptec ACB-4000 and Xebec S1410A board documents >from bitsavers but thy only have the schematics for the computer end. All the talk of interfacing to SCSI has got me wanting to have a go :) I'm just want to look and see how it was done in the olden days....failing that I guess I'm gonna have to start tracing tracks..... Cheers. Phill. -- Phill Harvey-Smith, Programmer, Hardware hacker, and general eccentric ! "You can twist perceptions, but reality won't budge" -- Rush.

15 years, 9 months

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Drives which used an MC3470A head-amp

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

Hi guys, As you might have gathered from my other thread, I'm toying with the idea of building a replacement controller card for my two dead double-sided Amstrad disc drives. Ideally I'd like to use as many "standard" parts as possible to ease debugging and future repair. I'll probably use a GAL to handle head-stepping and the write protect lockout, and LSTTL for the bus interface. I'm also planning on adding an overvoltage crowbar (or maybe some form of a MOSFET OVP switch) on the 5V rail to protect against the common killer of these drives: plugging them into a PC PSU (the power plug is a Berg floppy power connector, but with a mirrored pinout). I've got my hands on a couple of Texas Instruments MC3470A floppy disc read amplifier ICs, and the Apple Disk II schematics suggest how this can be tied to a drive mechanism. What I'd like to do is look at a few other drives which use this chip to make sure I understand everything correctly (a double-sided drive with a single 3470A would be handy). If I'm being honest, the TI datasheet for the chip is utter crap... So does anyone know of any other FDDs -- besides the Disk II -- which used the MC3470A as the head amplifier, or maybe a few applicable application notes? Thanks, -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

15 years, 9 months

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First binary encoding of the alphabet?

by cclist＠sydex.com

I've been reading William Blair's 1807 article on cryptography, called "Ciper": http://www.jdege.us/crypto/blair-cipher.pdf Around PDF page 16, near the bottom of the first column, he proposes a code that represents letters of the alphabet, using the symbols a and b. What's interesting is that this is nothing more than a binary code, with A being aaaaa, H being aabbb and so on to Z being babbb. Is this the first mention of using a binary code to represent letters of the (Roman) alphabet? For the time, a remarkable document. --Chuck

15 years, 9 months

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VAX 11/750 and Pyramid Technologies machine available in Brisbane, Australia

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

Hello All! See below. Please respond to original sender. Reply-to: <zzpeter at inbox.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2010 05:20:22 -0800 From: peter ... <zzpeter at inbox.com> To: donate at vintage.org Subject: Re: old computers available Hi, I have a pyramid technologies computer, and also a Vax 11/750 (with many manuals, spare circuit boards, cables , monitors, tapes and misc parts)... which sadly I am unable to keep in storage any longer. Hence I am looking for a person or organisation to donate them to... The catch... I am in Brisbane (Australia), do you have a branch in Australia, or know of any group, or person in Australia that would be interested in taking care of these machines? Regards, Peter --- EOM -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

15 years, 9 months

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SCSI to IDE

by jlobocki＠gmail.com

Ok, so I have been doing research, and this affects everyone here who collects SGI, apple, and anything using scsi. in the near future, the supply of smaller SCSI drives will eventually dry up, due to failure from age and lack of supply, as I believe they are no longer manufactured, unless for the industrial/server market. I could be wrong on that part, but I take it as such because my searching for them brings up nothing new. what does that mean for collectors? it means that your neat little apple or SGI or etc will run, until the scsi disk dies, then we will be left cannibalizing machines for disks, paying ridiculous prices for leftover scsi disks, which will skyrocket because of the small supply. So what is our option? I have seen SCSI to IDE adapters around, but they go up into the $100's to $200's, say you have a minimum 10 machines, that leaves you somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000 total, before the disk or devices. If we could design a simple SCSI to IDE interface, we could be set for a good long while on storage for these devices for a decent amount of time. There are all sorts of adapters to IDE, there is CF to IDE, SD to IDE, SD to CF which could be placed in a CF to IDE adapter if need be, i'm sure one could also rig up a USB drive to SCSI if one tried, but I could be wrong. Having said that, I know nothing about programming microcontrollers or simple processors, but I have seen people on the board who do. I'm sure if we can find a chip capable, and lay out a schematic, source code, and possibly a board layout, members could source their own boards and components to build their own devices at home (given they have a chip programmer), so no one person has to take on the responsibility of supplying parts, kits, finished devices unless they so choose to. This is just an idea, if nothing becomes of it, no big deal, just putting it out there.... -Joe

15 years, 9 months

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Deleted partition recovery

by Hollandia＠ccountry.net

A primary partition on C drive of one of my computers is gone. FDISK says that there is no partition on that drive. Is there any way to undo this without losing the information on that drive? I will of course need to do this from DOS...

15 years, 9 months

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Sac State 8008 dumps online...comments welcome!

by bdamer＠digitalspace.com

CC-folks, What may be the earliest substantial surviving intel 8008 code (circa 1972) has been rescued from eight 1702 PROMs (thanks Dwight Elvey) and disassembled (thanks James Markevitch) and is now online for comment at: http://www.digibarn.com/stories/bill-pentz-story/8008-listing.html The team working on this is making their best guess that this was the particular code that controlled the Tektronix 4023 color raster display which in turn had boards in a card cage that controlled the other peripherals. Original SacState project initiator and leader Bill Pentz donated the surviving version of this system (consisting of boards and some documentation) a couple of years ago. One board contained the 1702s and we had no idea if there was anything still left in them. Surprise surprise there was! The full system and its story is described at: http://www.digibarn.com/stories/bill-pentz-story/index.html with a 3D graphical reconstruction of what it might have looked like (it drove a Diablo hard disk pack, ASR-33, serial interface, keyboard, Tek 4023). The history, the claims... So far with many folks weighing in, this might indeed be the "first" complete microcomputer system, with peripherals, a primitive OS, language and etc. It was built by Cal State Sacramento working with Tektronix and Intel, starting in the spring of '72 and getting stuff operational over the summer and fall of that year. As best as project leader Bill Pentz can recollect this system was processing 50,000 patient medical records and plotting color charts on the Tek by spring of '73. It also ran IBM BAL (370 mainframe assembly language programs) in emulation. We are still looking for someone who can peruse their backs issues of Popular Electronics from '73 and '74 to look for a brief mention of this project (anyone got a set?). So feel free to comment on the code. Note that for one eROMs there was either a bent pin or bad line -> bit 5 missing so its guesswork there. bruce

15 years, 9 months

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IBM transistors and SMS cards

by wdonzelli＠gmail.com

I was cleaning up the estate of an MIT prof, and came across some Philco transistors with odd markings that I suspect were made for IBM. Generally, TI made the transistors for IBM, but I have seen a few SMS cards with Philcos on them. Philco transistors look a bit like bullets - about 1/2 inch long, and maybe 3/16 inch diameter, metal with a rounded top. Often the leads are insulated, as the spacing is very tight. I do not have any SMS cards with Philco transistors. Does anyone (CHM 1401 crowd?) have any they could inspect for me? I would like to know the numbers printed on the case. -- Will

15 years, 9 months

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SCSI to IDE.htm

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

SCSI to IDE joe lobocki jlobocki <mailto:cctalk%40classiccmp.org?Subject=Re%3A%20SCSI%20to%20IDE&In-Reply-To= %3CAANLkTinO5OZGqmp_tiokWNnqYD_e7AAwKDE7ALoG2_8%2B%40mail.gmail.com%3E> at gmail.com Fri Nov 26 10:48:01 CST 2010 * Previous message: AT <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/294377.html> &T 3B1 Unix PC Boot ROMs * Next message: SCSI to IDE <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/294385.html> * Messages sorted by: [ date ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/date.html#294382> [ thread ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/thread.html#294382> [ <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/subject.html#294382> subject ] [ author ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/author.html#294382> _____ Ok, so I have been doing research, and this affects everyone here who collects SGI, apple, and anything using scsi. in the near future, the supply of smaller SCSI drives will eventually dry up, due to failure from age and lack of supply, as I believe they are no longer manufactured, unless for the industrial/server market. I could be wrong on that part, but I take it as such because my searching for them brings up nothing new. what does that mean for collectors? it means that your neat little apple or SGI or etc will run, until the scsi disk dies, then we will be left cannibalizing machines for disks, paying ridiculous prices for leftover scsi disks, which will skyrocket because of the small supply. So what is our option? I have seen SCSI to IDE adapters around, but they go up into the $100's to $200's, say you have a minimum 10 machines, that leaves you somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000 total, before the disk or devices. If we could design a simple SCSI to IDE interface, we could be set for a good long while on storage for these devices for a decent amount of time. There are all sorts of adapters to IDE, there is CF to IDE, SD to IDE, SD to CF which could be placed in a CF to IDE adapter if need be, i'm sure one could also rig up a USB drive to SCSI if one tried, but I could be wrong. Having said that, I know nothing about programming microcontrollers or simple processors, but I have seen people on the board who do. I'm sure if we can find a chip capable, and lay out a schematic, source code, and possibly a board layout, members could source their own boards and components to build their own devices at home (given they have a chip programmer), so no one person has to take on the responsibility of supplying parts, kits, finished devices unless they so choose to. This is just an idea, if nothing becomes of it, no big deal, just putting it out there.... -Joe _____ * Previous message: AT <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/294377.html> &T 3B1 Unix PC Boot ROMs * Next message: SCSI to IDE <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/294385.html> * Messages sorted by: [ date ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/date.html#294382> [ thread ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/thread.html#294382> [ <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/subject.html#294382> subject ] [ author ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/author.html#294382> _____ More information <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk> about the cctalk mailing list _____ -----REPLY----- Hi! I am willing to make a PCB and offer it as part of the N8VEM home brew computer project. If someone would send me a design I will be glad to make a schematic, PCB layout, and get a small number of prototype boards. This could be a simple circuit comprised of a Z80 with three 8255 PPIs, RAM and ROM (one 8255 for IDE, two 8255s for SCSI-2) or a more complex microcontroller scheme. Please contact me if interested. Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch

15 years, 9 months

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cctalk Digest, Vol 87, Issue 54

by shawn.t.rutledge＠gmail.com

> So what is the Z80 card for? Apparently for running CP/M on a PC. http://books.google.com/books?id=gD4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1 http://books.google.com/books?id=NjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1 http://pctimeline.info/ibmpc/index.htm 1982 March Xedex introduces the Baby Blue card (a Z80B processor on a plug-in card), allowing the IBM PC to run standard CP/M programs. Price: US$600. [346.92] [396.10] (April [9]) (Vendex company[346.93])

15 years, 9 months

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Update on Epoxy Potting Removal

by scanning.cc＠gmail.com

Now that I have access to the main unit the plot thickens. All of the outputs of the potted brick go to full-wave bridge rectifiers in the main unit such that you get a plus and minus voltage reference to the CT ( center tap ). That big potted POS is nothing more than a big friggin transformer ! The main output leads ( 1 2 and 3 ) have 28 VAC coming out of them. I put a Variac on the " transformer " and turned it up very slowly. At not much voltage it gets very HOT ( I suspect shorted windings or a whole shorted primary on the input side. The 28 VAC output figure came from estimating proportionally what the output voltage would be with a full 115 VAC on the input primary. I own this puppy now !! Best regards, Steven

15 years, 9 months

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MEK6800D2 restoration

by wim＠hackbox.be

> As somebody elase said, I think you have to read the data regiater too. Ok, I improved my test program to read the data reg and also give some visual feedback: LDAA #$10 ; like in JBUG STAA $8008 ; ACIA control STAA $8022 ; enable 1 digit leds LOOP LDAA #$7F STAA $8020 ; clear display READ LDAA $8008 ; ACIA status ASRA BCC READ ; data ready? LDAB $8009 ; ACIA data STAA $8020 ; display status LDX #$0100 ; delay DELAY DEX BNE DELAY CMPB #'G ; EOT? BNE LOOP SWI The idea is to light a digit for a brief period when a byte is read and have the segments show the status register. Also it should exit if it received the "G". Ok, the G may be *in* a data block but I hardly ever found a G anyway. At least it allows me to tune the volume until I receive something. But it looks random and looking at the leds, like half of the bytes read are framing errors. Obviously, I varied what I could think of (delay, "G", ...) used several recorders (2PCs with audacity, a real cassette deck and two audio cables) > I assume you have the manual for this evaluation kit. It's on bitsavers > if you don't. It explains how the cassette interface circuitry works in > some detail, and is well worth reading. Yes, I have the manual and read it through. > I asusme you intiialising the 6850 correctly, and that you're settign > that 4053 analoge switch properly,. If not, it can never work. I'm initialising it by writing $10 in the control reg, which I copied from the JBUG listing. I don't find any reference of a "4053" or similar in the docs of the kit. > Do you have a (real [1]) tape recorder? If so, try saving something. > Listen to the recording, does it sound like the typical 'burble'? And try > loading it. Point being if there's something wrong with how you're playing > the audio files you could have problems. Yes, dug up my Realistic cassette recorder that came with my TRS-80 but it didn't help. The samples I'm trying to load are recorded with the kit itself. They sound typical and I was able to decode them to binary. As a test, I decoded the jbug rom and compared it to the file from bitsavers. It matched! (except for 4 bytes near the end which are zero on bitsavers an are actually different on my rom). That made me conclude that the 'punch' function is working and the samples I'm using are good. I would like to test with a known-good audio file but I can't find any... I must point out that the kit is expanded and I haven't figured out what it is exactly. The wirewrap area on the processor board has two extra ACIAs and a crystal. I understand the original was a 614.4, this seemed to be replaced by 1MHz and the 614.4 used for the other ACIAs. Anyway, I already swapped them (which did make me type less double characters since I guess the keyboard scan delay is chosen for the original clock speed). The kit came with a Philips Mini-DCR and the cables seem to be made to connect that on the J1 I/O connector. I could go the route of restoring that, but it seems more challenging and it wouldn't allow me to transfer data with the outside world. But I'd like to get at least to the point that I can load and run a program without having to type it in... I also read that the kit allows to connect RS-232, that would be ideal but I don't see how that's possible without adding components and wiring. Wim.

15 years, 9 months

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Another Crazy Idea: disc drive controller swapping

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

Here's another idea that'll get me a place in the Loony Bin. A little while ago I picked up a couple of Amstrad EME232 double-sided 3-inch floppy drives. Out of the three I have, two have had their read-write ASIC zapped by someone (in one case myself, in another an ebay seller) plugging them into a PC power supply to "test". Net result: the ASIC goes completely deaf. Let's assume for a minute that the heads in the EME232 drives are undamaged. That means all the issues are related to defective circuitry on the PCB. So, how about this for an idea: move the controller chip and surrounding circuitry (or even the whole board) to the EME232, then wire it into the existing drive mechanics. This would -- in theory -- allow the two dead 232s (and possibly the EME156 single-head drive) to be resurrected. Anyone care to comment on this idea and its possibility or absurdity? The other option would be to get a new read-write ASIC for the Amstrad drives, but those seem to be like hen's teeth. Part number is M51017AP (made by Panasonic but if memory serves they're not marked with a logo or manufacturer designation) if anyone wants to check.. :) Thanks, -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

15 years, 9 months

5
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NCR stuff on ebay

by wmaddox＠pacbell.net

Mixed in these lots, there appear to be boards and test fixtures for a 16 bit mini of some kind. Anybody recognize this stuff? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280592757605 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280592443576 --Bill

15 years, 9 months

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Xedex Z80 ISA card and other stuff on ebay

by shawn.t.rutledge＠gmail.com

The Xedex board is part of this auction: 260696713390 and there is other old PC stuff in my other auctions, digiboards and HUB6 serial boards.

15 years, 9 months

2
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HP computer rescue?

by charlesmorris800＠centurytel.net

There is an HP9845B computer with a large hard drive available for pickup in northern Maine. ***Contact the owner (Terry Helms) directly at: mainehiker at gmail.com; *** Please don't email me, I just told you everything I know about it :) Here is the picture he sent me. http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x426/DrCharlesMorris/IMG_4102HP9845Bcom… Hope someone in New England can rescue this interesting looking system. thanks Charles

15 years, 9 months

2
1
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AViiON and Microdata 1600

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

Well, I've unpacked the AViiON and the Microdata 1600 inside, but it looks like I won't be able to look at them for at least a week or two. My lady and I are leaving in moments for YET ANOTHER trip up north (we've been home for less than a week!) due to someone's passing. I love driving, but enough is enough. My cats will never forgive me. Maybe some new goodies will come my way on this trip like last time. I'll be going up 95, then into West ("By God!") Virginia and staying there for several days, perhaps a week. I'll be driving a mostly-empty car. ;) -Dave -- Dave McGuire Port Charlotte, FL

15 years, 9 months

1
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AT&T 3B1 Unix PC Boot ROMs

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

Hi guys, Here's a treat for the 3B1 owners in the audience: images of the two Boot PROMs... <http://www.philpem.me.uk/code/3b1emu/3b1_roms.zip> Thanks are due to Michael Lee for providing the ROMs, and to Steven Hirsch for scanning the 3B1 TechRef, which started me out on this nutty little "write a 3B1 emulator" project... Enjoy! -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

15 years, 9 months

1
1
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TRS-80 4P rescue?

by jfoust＠threedee.com

Anyone out there who wants a portable TRS-80? I was given an option on a pristine one, probably literally only used by clean nuns. No software, but it appears to try to boot. SE Wisconsin, USA. - John

15 years, 9 months

3
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Beast from the East

by silent700＠gmail.com

The latest arrival in the Great Midwestern Micro Hoard comes from deep within the Balkans, liberated through the heroic act of paying a local collector to ship it to me: Here's a short blog entry with links to the obligatory big load o'pics: http://silent700.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-acquisition-pravetz-82.html I haven't fired it up yet. The seller also sent me a collection disk images of native software (though much of it looks like translated US titles) that, as time allows, I hope to write to disk and try out on the proper hardware. -- jht

15 years, 9 months

1
0
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Possible Failed H7868 PSU

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

My MicroVAX 3400 will not power up. I think it is because the right hand H7868 PSU has failed, the green LED on it does not light up, while on the left hand H7868 it the green LED does come on. I have no real electronics expertise, very limited diagnostic equipment (just a multimeter really) and I know that fiddling with PSUs is one of the more dangerous things you can do with a computer. That said, I am willing to have a go at repairing it, but have no idea what might be wrong. All I can say is that it worked a few weeks ago when I last powered it on, but when I came to power it on tonight it was just dead, no pops, bangs or smoke, just silence. Can anyone give me some idea where to begin? Thanks Rob

15 years, 9 months

3
5
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road trip score: AViiON, Microdata 1600

by john_finigan＠yahoo.com

> The first was a Data General Aviion AV300 workstation. This is one > of the few machines built around the Motorola 88K CPU. It came with its > original keyboard, mouse, monitor, and a full set of DG-UX manuals. I > don't yet know if it's functional, but according to my friend it was > running a few years ago. Ack, I'm really jealous over this one :) It'll be interesting to hear if the presumably dead nvram battery matters -- I think some people are looking for dumps from working units. John Finigan

15 years, 9 months

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TECO commands in Alice's PDP-10

by legalize＠xmission.com

I've been trying to execute the TECO commands in Alice's PDP-10 <http://www.hactrn.net/sra/alice/alices.pdp10> and I keep getting an error saying "?IFC Illegal character "^" after F". The two command sequences given have the same form: [1:i*^Yu14<q1&377.f"nir'q1/400.u1>^[[8 .-z(1702117120m81869946983m8w660873337m8w1466458484m8 )+z,.f^@fx*[0:ft^]0^[w^\ and [1:i*^Yu16<q1&77.+32iq1f"l#-1/100.#-1&7777777777.'"#/100.'u1r>6c^[[6 .(675041640067.m6w416300715765.m6w004445675045.m6 455445440046.m6w576200535144.m6w370000000000.m6),.fx*[0:ft^]0^[w^\ I'm using tecoc.exe from <http://almy.us/files/tecow32.zip>. >From my reading of the documentation for TECO, the f command is for flow control and should be one of: F' Flow to end of conditional F< Flow to strt of conditional F> Flow to end of conditional F| Flow to else part of conditional I'm guessing that the commands come from some sort of PDP-10 dialect of TECO and these commands do something else in that dialect. : is listed as modifying the next command, so is :i*....* an old way of modifying the insert command to use *'s as the delimiter for the text? Would I be better off pasting these commands into the TECO on pdpplanet? -- "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, 9 months

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Northstar Horizion

by les＠frii.com

Rod, I am not sure where you are located, but I have a complete NS Horizon you can have. Les

15 years, 9 months

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UQ Museum of IT and PDP-15 manual

by pontus＠Update.UU.SE

Hi I wonder if anyone knows what happened to Wilber Williams computer museum in Queensland: http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/07/can-you-help-save-the-uq-museum-of-it/ I ask for a rather selfish reason, I would like a copy of the file: http://www.computer.museum.uq.edu.au/pdf/DEC-15-H2BB-D PDP-15 Systems Maintenance Manual Volume 1.pdf Bitsaver has it, but only as a black and white version. I was hoping that the UQ museum would have at least a gray scale version. Hopefully there might be a mirror around? Kind Regards, Pontus.

15 years, 9 months

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OT: Texas (Was RE: possible ic source)

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 20:20 -0600 11/23/10, Bob wrote: >There is a story I have heard that there was a WWII POW camp in >Texas?for captured German pilots. The captured pilots were trucked >from the ship in port to the camp. ?They thought that they were >being driven around in circles to break them, because they could not >believe that someone could drive so long and still be in the same >country, let alone state. There was a POW camp; my wife's grandfather worked there. I can't confirm the story about the truck ride, but it would be about a 4-5 hour drive (today) from Houston to where the camp was; longer in 1943-5. -- - Mark 210-379-4635 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Large Asteroids headed toward planets inhabited by beings that don't have technology adequate to stop them: Think of it as Evolution in Fast-Forward.

15 years, 9 months

1
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Alpha Micro

by fire＠dls.net

A client needs an alpha micro, preferably AM-7000 until the end of the year. Anyone have one working that they want to rent and have returned in January? Please email me at fire at dls.net Bradley Slavik

15 years, 9 months

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DRAM HISTORY

by thomas.gardner＠sbcglobal.net

I'm trying to identify and find some early if not first specific production DRAM chips for a project at the Computer History Museum. I've poked quite a bit about on the web and found lots of good generic information but not much about specific pioneering devices after the Mostek 16 KiB circa 1976. In particular I'm interested in the first and/or early vendors of the following parts 1) 256 Kib DRAM circa 1983 probably from Japanese vendors 2) 16 Mib DRAM circ 1989 IC Master unknown vendors 3) 1 GiB DRAM circa 2000, probably Micron. I'm looking for a shipment date, photo, chip size and price information. However, just a vendor name and part number would be a great starting place. If any of u have or know of some one who has old IC Master's of the appropriate era that would be a great place to get vendor, part number and other information. Any help would be appreciated. Tom

15 years, 9 months

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MEK6800D2 restoration

by wim＠livens.net

/ /> I ought to have pointed out that most times doing what i do wastes a > little time, and in fact it owuld heen fine just to plug the board in and > power up. But this is amply compensted for by the time saved when thigns > go very wrong. Yeah and when you've gone through all the steps, learned what all the chips are for, plugged them in one by one and finally the whole thing does actually work, the satisfaction is much bigger. > Do I conclude from this that the first byte read --- in fact all bytes > read -- are always 0? Exactly. And I just figured that they all are framing errors. Here's my test program that should exit when it reads a byte that has no framing error: LDAA #%00010000 ; like in jbug (8bit, np, 2stop, no divide) STAA $8008 ; acia control reg READ LDAA $8008 ; acia status reg ASRA BCC READ ; branch unless data ready BITA #%00001000 ; check framing error BNE READ ; branch if framing error SWI It never exists no matter what audio file. The only thing that does work is that the data ready bit stays cleared as long as there is no audio at all. So it at least reacts to the fact that there is audio or not. > I assume this ACIA is a 6850. What does the data input do when you play > the audio file? Where does the Rx Clock signal come from, and is it correct? Yes, it's a 6850. I measured with a volt meter, I don't have a scope (yet). RxD and RxC are high when no audio and they both drop to around 2V when audio is supplied, so I guess there's at least some signal. Also RTS is low as it should. Something weird that I don't understand is that simply adjusting the audio volume, the apparent voltage measured on the RxD changes more or less proportionally... this is supposed to be digital and FM ? Wim.

15 years, 9 months

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What Sir Clive is up to...

by jfoust＠threedee.com

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1328742/Sir-Clive-Sinclairs-wi… - John

15 years, 9 months

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AMSYS29 floppies

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

Dave writes: > On 11/22/10 4:12 PM, Tony Duell wrote: >>> I have a S100 board that is said to be a math processor board >>> that has a single 2901 on it. I have the manual as well. >> >> I find that strange. A single 4 bit slice is not that useful. I asusme >> there arten;t 2903s as well :-) > Well, 2901s were fairly expensive chips in those days, and it's > certainly possible to do wider-than-four-bit math in a four-bit CPU. :) >> Althoguh AFAIK DEC never used them in a PDP11 CPU. There were, of >> course, used i nteh floating point processors for some PDP11s, and in the >> VAX11/730 > And the KS10 as well. I wonder if there are any others; I don't > think so offhand. > One of my favorite uses of Am2901s is in the FPF11 floating-point > processor. For the non-PDP11-savvy, the FPF11 is a strange board that > can be used in both Qbus and Unibus systems by changing jumpers near the > card-edge connectors. It uses a 40-pin ribbon cable to plug into a > microm DIP socket in an F11-based PDP-11 (11/23 or 11/24). Off the top of my head... DEC also has 2901's in the CI780, and the UDA50, and probably A bunch of other peripherals/interconnects/host adapters I cannot recall at the moment. Tim.

15 years, 9 months

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AMSYS29 floppies

by aek＠bitsavers.org

A while back, part of an AMD 2900 development system showed up on eBay. My copies of the software surfaced today, so the .imd images are up under http://bitsavers.org/bits/AMD They are CP/M 1.4, as I recall.

15 years, 9 months

6
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boosting CRT heater voltage

by jules.richardson99＠gmail.com

Hi all, I suspect some folk here have done this before.... :-) My desktop CRT (over 10 years, but not what I'd consider vintage!) has been ailing for some time, with the picture getting darker and darker despite having the brightness at 100%. It's still good for high-contrast stuff such as black text on white background, but forget trying to pull details out of most photos, for instance. Heater voltage seems good at 6.4VDC / 350mA (it's derived from the PSU in this monitor rather than the flyback section), but I'm considering boosting it a little and see if it improves things, obviously shortening the life of the tube in the process. Question is, what's a sensible amount to over-run things by? Say I aimed for around 10%, is that too much and going to kill the heaters in next to no time, or so little that unlikely to really make any useful difference? cheers Jules

15 years, 9 months

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OT: Texas (Was RE: possible ic source)

by feldman.r＠comcast.net

>Message: 14 >Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:41:05 -0800 (PST) >From: Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> >Subject: RE: possible ic source > >On Mon, 22 Nov 2010, John Foust wrote: >> Even today, Google Maps says the difference in Chicago's favor is >> 13 hours 9 minutes versus 13 hours 32 minutes, but I bet you can drive >> at a higher speed from El Paso than you can from Chicago. > >In the mid 20th century, Texans would brag, "You can ride a train all day >and still be in Texas" >Pennsylvania: We used to have a slow train, also. >Alaska (1958): ?Quit bragging, or we'll cut Alaska in half, and then Texas >will be the THIRD largest state. > There is a story I have heard that there was a WWII POW camp in Texas?for captured German pilots. The captured pilots were trucked from the ship in port to the camp. ?They thought that they were being driven around in circles to break them, because they could not believe that someone could drive so long and still be in the same country, let alone state. Bob

15 years, 9 months

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HP64000 Hardware, Software, Manuals Available

by scal＠medatec.at

Hallo Do you have HP64000 5 1/4 diskettes with Assembler / Lindker 6809 and also Emulator software 6809 ? Do you send such dikettes ? I there any other way to get HP64000 compatible disks ? thanks in advance schoch alfred medatec austria

15 years, 9 months

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MEK6800D2 restoration

by wim＠hackbox.be

/ /> I ought to have pointed out that most times doing what i do wastes a > little time, and in fact it owuld heen fine just to plug the board in and > power up. But this is amply compensted for by the time saved when thigns > go very wrong. Yeah and when you've gone through all the steps, learned what all the chips are for, plugged them in one by one and finally the whole thing does actually work, the satisfaction is much bigger. > Do I conclude from this that the first byte read --- in fact all bytes > read -- are always 0? Exactly. And I just figured that they all are framing errors. Here's my test program that should exit when it reads a byte that has no framing error: LDAA #%00010000 ; like in jbug (8bit, np, 2stop, no divide) STAA $8008 ; acia control reg READ LDAA $8008 ; acia status reg ASRA BCC READ ; branch unless data ready BITA #%00001000 ; check framing error BNE READ ; branch if framing error SWI It never exists no matter what audio file. The only thing that does work is that the data ready bit stays cleared as long as there is no audio at all. So it at least reacts to the fact that there is audio or not. > I assume this ACIA is a 6850. What does the data input do when you play > the audio file? Where does the Rx Clock signal come from, and is it correct? Yes, it's a 6850. I measured with a volt meter, I don't have a scope (yet). RxD and RxC are high when no audio and they both drop to around 2V when audio is supplied, so I guess there's at least some signal. Also RTS is low as it should. Something weird that I don't understand is that simply adjusting the audio volume, the apparent voltage measured on the RxD changes more or less proportionally... this is supposed to be digital and FM ? Wim.

15 years, 9 months

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HP64000 M6809 assembler

by scal＠medatec.at

Do you have these software - assembler 6809 and emulator - for HP64000 machine ? best regards schoch alfred medatec austria

15 years, 9 months

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nbz80 book

by paolopari＠virgilio.it

http://www.jbsoft.it/blog/?cat=10

15 years, 9 months

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possible ic source

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 10:41 AM 11/22/2010, Rich Alderson wrote: > He received a telegram from the >home office asking him to visit a customer in Texarkana who was having trouble >with one of their products. He telegraphed back that they should send someone >from Chicago, since they were much closer to the customer. Even today, Google Maps says the difference in Chicago's favor is 13 hours 9 minutes versus 13 hours 32 minutes, but I bet you can drive at a higher speed from El Paso than you can from Chicago. - John

15 years, 9 months

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possible ic source

by drb＠msu.edu

A friend just called to tell me he was wandering through Tanner Electronics' store in Texas, and had spotted some bins of ics sorted by type, including a variety of floppy controller chips. I've added them to my mental list of possible sources of older ics, and figured others might be interested as well. De

15 years, 9 months

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AMSYS29 floppies

by roger.holmes＠microspot.co.uk

> From: Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> > > A while back, part of an AMD 2900 development > system showed up on eBay. My copies of the software > surfaced today, so the .imd images are up under > http://bitsavers.org/bits/AMD > > They are CP/M 1.4, as I recall. Thank you. Might be extremely useful some time if I get around to using my similar system. On the other hand I might sell it, in which case having the image available on BitSavers has got to make the system more viable for someone. Just too busy with my 1301 in the summer and with my 1301 gate level simulator in the winter at the moment. Perhaps I should do a 2900 based computer with the 1301 architecture. Maybe an ICL 1900 and/or an Elliott 920.. The 920 ATC actually was 2900 based but I doubt the microcode has survived, though the early 920s would be simple as they only had 16 instructions - before they ballooned for CISC and then were reduced again for RISC. I suppose with a writable control store I could do anything from a Babbage Analytical engine or a Turing machine to the latest systems, though maybe not at full speed. Some of the more interesting machines (to me) like the ICT 1302 would be impossible because alas no full documentation of the instruction set survives. I have marketing information on it which amazingly actually lists some of the extra instructions but its far from complete and omits most of the actual function codes. Maybe I should ask the designer of the 1301 if he knows what his successors did. Enough rambling, at least it was on topic. Roger Holmes. Technical Director, Microspot Ltd Developers of CAD and Graphic software for the Apple Macintosh

15 years, 9 months

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HUGE old computer lot, maybe some gems

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

Paxton writes: > I really tried to search out used computer places in Vancouver BC with > vintage equipment when I visit. If you build a wayback machine that will take you to the 1990's, the UBC SERF sales were way above excellent. Everything from mass spectrometers to near-complete working -11 and -8 systems. I'm told they don't happen anymore :-(. Tim.

15 years, 9 months

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MEK6800D2 restoration

by wim＠hackbox.be

I've followed Tony's advice and went step by step, one board no chips, chips loaded, second board no chips, measuring at each step. Finally all seemed fine, I fired it up and now I've got RAM from 0000 all the way to 7FFF :) Next essential thing is the Load routine (from audio) that doesn't seem to work. I wrote a routine to read bytes from the ACIA just like the JBUG load routine does and simply quits when the first byte is read. It loops until I start to play the audio file, so it actually detects that. However when I make it loop until it finds a non zero data byte, it never stops. So I thought all the analog stuff is working up to the ACIA and the latter must be broken. Tried replacing it with no success so far. Anyway, the kit is so well documented that I should have no excuse of not being able to pinpoint the problem, learning a lot along the way... Also, what are the best tools to encode/decode KCS audio ? From the ones mentioned on the wikipedia KCS page I had success only with the perl script, but that's only one direction. Wim.

15 years, 9 months

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Making Magnetic tape

by pontus＠Update.UU.SE

Hi Speakin of making punch cards and paper tape. What would it take to make DECtape? A roll of adhesive tape and rust? /P

15 years, 9 months

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HUGE old computer lot, maybe some gems

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

> Same guy posted to the VCF Forum about this. He wont ebay, craigslist is > full of "scummy people" and "advertising costs money" so in other words he > will pay to junk it. Could be wrong but somewhere in there he stated it was > purchased for $4500 or something? Why do people blow that kind of money > without a plan to profit? Sure there are some units in there worth selling, > but that is if they are complete, cleaned up, and working otherwise they > will go for nothing to somebody looking for parts or a project. "Plan to profit"? More typically it's a passion that simply has gone sour or has just faded away. After it fades away the time, money, storage costs seem different than when the passion was strong and the acquisition was the main thing - but then real life intervened and he wants something back. That something might be identified as money and I will agree that something's missing, but it is not actually money. Tim.

15 years, 9 months

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1103/A trivia question

by mark.kahrs＠gmail.com

Sorry Tony, I "misspoke" --- the Alto memory Refresh task must run otherwise the memory will wilt. The precharge is generated via chip select and a carefully chosen inverter delay line.

15 years, 9 months

1
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trying to save a GPS

by oldcpu3＠rogerwilco.org

Curtis H. Wilbar Jr. said: > I know this isn't old... but I'm trying to rescue an Omnitech 16878-US > GPS from the recycling bin..... > > [snip] > > Anybody have one of these ? I have one. As is my usual habit when I get a gadget with accessible storage, I imaged the SD card immediately right out of the box. Restoring that image (about 978MB) should get things back to factory condition, software-wise. Contact me off-line. -- Jared

15 years, 9 months

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Terak page updates

by jfoust＠threedee.com

It's been a decade, and with a recent request for scans from Al, and hearing of others who've found Teraks, I thought I'd refresh my page. Notable additions include: - Pictures from inside the Terak building circa 1980 - Terak user group newsletters - Terak user group software lists I think I have a few items up there that Bitsavers doesn't have, so feel free to grab a copy. - John

15 years, 9 months

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looking for dump of Tektronix 4023 chargen ROMs

by jonnosan＠gmail.com

Howdy, I'm currently putting together a simulation of the "SacState 8008 machine" (the machine described at http://www.digibarn.com/stories/bill-pentz-story/ ) This computer was a series of custom cards that plugged into a Tektronix 4023 terminal, and used the 4023 for I/O. Therefore in order to simulate the SacState 8008, I need to start by emulating the 4023 terminal. Having a copy of the character generator ROMs would help a lot with making that emulation authentic. According to the 4023 service manual, the chargen ROMs are: Upper Case ROM A - part number 156-0147-00 Lower Case ROM A - part number 156-0401-00 Optional Ruling ROM B - part number 156-0401-00 Would anyone have a dump of any/all of these chargens? Regards Jonno

15 years, 9 months

1
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Installing Ultrix 4.4 on a DECstation 5000 Model 240

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I am trying to install Ultrix on to this machine and it is failing very early in the process. It is failing at the stage of detecting the disks with an "invalid block size" error. I am using a CR-506 CD-ROM drive and the disks I have are RZ56 and RZ57. The disks already have NetBSD installed and I intend to replace NetBSD on one of the disks. I am not sure if the error is referring to the CD-ROM (despite the fact that it has already booted off the CD-ROM) or if perhaps it does not like something about the way the hard disks are formatted. Or is it some other problem? The system runs NetBSD just fine, so I don't think the disks are faulty. Any suggestions? Thanks Rob

15 years, 9 months

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1103/A trivia question

by mark.kahrs＠gmail.com

To Tony: The non-A needed precharge. That's what the Alto memory refresh task does. What do I win?

15 years, 9 months

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1103s

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

> Sometimes the data sheets for an SARM (or whatever) indicate the > row/column structure. Not that it matters, I've not come across an SRAM > that has, say, faster access time from a change in row address than a > change in column address When I once asked why there were so many different PDP-11 memory diagnostics, (beyond just unmapped vs mapped vs whatever processor diffs) I was told that it was because each was structured to hit the row/column drivers and induce known pattern-sensitive failure modes particular to the core stack or chips in use. Tim.

15 years, 9 months

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(DiscFerret): First prototype built, photos available!

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

Hi guys, The parts for my soldering iron finally arrived this morning, thus I spent the day playing with solder paste and SMD stencils. I've got one working DiscFerret built on a 0J28 board, using the same 2C8 FPGA and Cypress RAM chip I used on the previous two prototypes. The key difference here is that this unit is RoHS-compliant, built entirely with lead-free parts, and was assembled using a modified Argos mini-oven. The extent of the modifications? I installed an eCAL E6C PID controller and a Crydom EZ480F18 solid state relay. After a few hours spent reading the "concise operator's manual" for the PID controller, I finally got the Kester Pb-free and SnPb profiles loaded, and the thing is as happy as a pig in muck! (Oh, it turns out Multicore RA15 and 318LF work fine with the Kester profiles... for anyone who cares). Here's the Hardware Overview I've just written: http://www.discferret.com/hardware/ And, for the impatient, here's the 1280x712 photo of the very first DiscFerret: http://www.discferret.com/hardware/discferret_pcb.jpg This board has been allocated the serial number "GB0K1801", which decodes as: GB: "Great Britain", i.e. "Made in England," of course :) 0: 0 years after 2010 K: 11th month, i.e. November 18: 18th day of the month 01: First unit built on that day The plan is to clear out my stocks of 2C8 FPGAs, which should (in theory!) leave me with six saleable units in total, based on the stock of parts I have available. Tomorrow should be fun. It took me four hours to make this one board. If I can scrape together enough table space, I should be able to paste-and-place three or four boards at the same time, then oven-bake them in turn (which takes 5-10 minutes a piece). The fun part is, as always, clearing up all the solder bridges :( -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

15 years, 9 months

1
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MEK6800D2 restoration

by wim＠hackbox.be

I'm in the process of restoring a Motorola MEK-6800-D2 evaluation kit. The kit was adapted and has its RAM on a separate board through an EXORciser backplane. After putting everything together and verifying that all looks good, I've applied +5V from an ATX power supply. The '-' prompt appeared, the JBUG monitor program is working and I even dumped the ROM and some EPROMs over the cassette port and decoded them on a PC :) So far so good, but to do anything cool I need the RAM board going. The problem is that this (custom wire-wrapped board) is using 16 MCM4116 chips. They need also -5V and +12V. Ok, these are available on the ATX power supply but I'm affraid of doing anything stupid that might blow up something. What would you check before applying these additional power levels ? I've been verifying a bit with an ohm meter that the -5V and +12V leads are not by accident connected to anything they shouldn't but not sure if that's a good way. I also read in the datasheet that you need to apply -5V before the others and removing it after the others. How would you do that ? I was thinking on having the -5V and GND permanently connected. So after switching on the power supply it will have -5V right away. Then manually connect a additional cable having GND, +5V and +12V. On power off do the reverse. Is that a good idea ? Not very handy but if it works I'll live with it. Thanks for any advice, Wim. -- hackbox dot be slash museum

15 years, 9 months

3
3
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1103s

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

> They had non-multiplexed addresses I think. Later DRAMs had multiplexed > address inputs. of course. Was there a good reason for this other than to > save package pins? I wouldn't call it a necessity but the RAS/CAS/refresh coordination works out very nicely when address inputs are multiplexed in this way. So much so that I can't think of a DRAM since the 4116 that hasn't used this scheme. SRAM's almost always have the concepts of "row" and "column" select internally but rarely is it obvious from the outside. Tim.

15 years, 9 months

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OT: Bluetooth

by evan＠snarc.net

Totally off-topic .... it's 3:20am EST here and I need to test something on my new headset .... anyone awake so I have someone to call for the test? (Please reply off-list. evan at snarc.net) Thanks.

15 years, 9 months

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RF31s available

by binarydinosaurs＠gmail.com

Folks, Before I send a DEC R400X expansion box to the recyclers does anyone want the RF31s contained within? There's 5 plus a single DSSI variant of the RZ26. All are in the later pluggable backplane type enclosure and I need to know by next tues (23rd). Shipping isn't a problem as long as you pay for it :) Cheers -- adrian/witchy Owner of Binary Dinosaurs, the UK's biggest home computer collection? www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk

15 years, 9 months

3
3
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Ebay Sperry Unisys Boards (leaknoil)

by jonas＠otter.se

Some kind of US Military Standard Electronic Module, see http://www.tpub.com/content/MIL-SPEC/MIL-M/ (the marking M28787 is the MIL-M number) Referred to here: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.129.4343&rep=rep1&… No idea what they are/were used in. If you Google for M28787 there are dozens of surplus supply outfits selling these. /Jonas

15 years, 9 months

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1103s

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

Tony writes: > Tim writes: >> Having worked with 1103's I would argue that by modern standards >> Even the "cream of the crop" were little above floor sweepings. > Was it that a lot of new 1103s were DOA, oe what there a problem with > them fialing in use, or what? > The reason I ask is that I have several old HP calculators full of 1103s, > and AFAIK all are original (and gettign on for 40 years old). So far, > otuch wood, I've not had any problems with the RAM in these machines. How many hundreds of 1103's are in each HP calculator? :-) In the early minicomputer 1103-based memories (say 16Kbytes, so 128 1103 chips) it was, um, optimistic to expect a lot of stability. In the bigger "supermini" systems (say 128 Kbytes, so over a thousand 1103 chips) ECC was a necessity and continual scrubbing helped a lot with stability - but that was a lot of work and power consumption just to brag that you had semiconductor memory, and the advantages over core were not all that obvious. I'd expect that smaller systems probably didn't have ECC or scrubbing but also didn't have high expected uptime. Were 1103's in the HP 9830? I had a couple but they usually worked fine enough that I never had to go rummaging through the insides. My feeling is that in the 1103 era (which preceded my direct involvement but I inherited several 1103-based systems), DRAM chips were not quite ready for prime time. By the time the 4116 came along things had settled down and a lot had been learned from the 1103 and DRAM really was ready for prime time. Tim.

15 years, 9 months

5
5
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Legacy Binary File Editor

by Hollandia＠ccountry.net

Will someone direct me to a good binary file editor that will function on legacy machines? Thanks, Kurt

15 years, 9 months

7
9
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Looking for a Depraz mouse.

by h.marien＠telenet.be

Hi, I don't know if this tread is still valid, but I have such a mouse with a blue cover and white buttons. The mouse was especially made in this color combination for our long gone firm. It's a quadrature mouse but I have a special developed serial interface card for it too. It served to couple the mouse to a Digital PRO350/380 (personal PDP11) computer. Regards, Hugo

15 years, 9 months

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Legacy Binary File Editor

by Hollandia＠ccountry.net

My request was apparently a little hazy. The machine I refer to is a Packard-Bell 486SX running DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1 By "legacy machine" I meant a machine that was "slightly behind the times". 8D Thanks, Kurt

15 years, 9 months

16
23
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printer ribbons and print wheels - free for shipping

by jack.rubin＠ameritech.net

DEC - DECwriter L180 Reorder Spool #152 LQP01-KA LA75R (qty 2) Diablo - 8R2986 (black multistrike) - qty 8 printwheel 9R87019 pica 10 Teletex - qty 2 printwheel 9R87097 elite 12 Scientific - qty 2 Please let me know if you're interested ASAP. In the trash on 11/30 if unclaimed. Jack

15 years, 9 months

2
1
0 0

trying to save a GPS

by rescue＠hawkmountain.net

I know this isn't old... but I'm trying to rescue an Omnitech 16878-US GPS from the recycling bin..... It boots, gives the Go!, Maps, and Setting icons, you can touch any of them, get a click sound, and then... locked up solid. I applied a 'quick fix' from them, but that didn't fix anything. I believe that it is more likely the software on the SD card has gotten damaged somehow. Anybody have one of these ? Would like to get it working. It is a WinCE 5.0 based PDA basically (restricted to run the software provided of course). -- Curt

15 years, 9 months

3
2
0 0

Punched cards - which paper/cardboard?

by roger.holmes＠microspot.co.uk

> From: Philipp Hachtmann <hachti at hachti.de> > > I'm thinking about making punched cards. I could need some information about the material used for > them. Precise information about tolerances, specifications, references to more information, and so > on would be quite helpful. I have read the follow up e-mails too and wonder why you want to do this. If you want cards for storing data why do you need to print on the cards first? I have a loads (110,000) of cards of the right shape which I use for my mainframe. They are already printed up with every two columns marked out as one column of mark sense boxes but of course the mainframe doesn't see the markings. I have probably more than I will ever need in my lifetime. I even use them for keeping hand written notes and my ex-ICT engineer friend folds them in two, pushes the pins of a PCB through them and marks the bay number, carrier level and card position the card came from on them. If you want, I can sell you some at less than the commercial suppliers rate and I think less than they would cost to tool up to make them. Carriage is of course another question. I have been buying up local supplies of 11" by 14.5" fan fold paper for less than the carriage costs from say 50 miles away. I see your suffix is .de, I guess that's Denmark or is it Germany? At least there'd be no customs issues but I would think carriage would still be quite expensive. I'm not sure my card equipment would be happy without rounded corners. I know there were hardware modifications listed for dealing with cards with and without diagonally cut corners at leading/trailing edges. There's also the possibility of paper cuts for the operators. I think my IBM 029 keypunch uses the rounded corner to push the card guide down when it registers the card at the punching station. I think a square cut card would jam up.

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Ugh, I think I am going to be sick...

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-November/294055.html [Alexandre Souza] > Andrew, Am I wrong, or the 68000 IC is a **very common** microprocessor? >:oO I wouldn't call them common but certainly not rare either. It is the thought of really nice and still useful ceramic 68Ks being reduced to toxic sludge for a tiny bit of gold that bothers me. They could easily be sold for much more than the value of the metal recovery. eBay has them going for $8 to $50 or more each. Also amateur gold scrappers have a nasty habit of making a mess with their chemical waste. Andrew Lynch

15 years, 9 months

15
28
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Ebay Sperry Unisys Boards

by leaknoil＠gmail.com

Anyone know what these are from ? The only card I find labeled microprocessor is facing the wrong way of course. Something military I'm guessing. http://shop.ebay.com/cieinternational/m.html?_nkw=vintage+computer&_sacat=0…

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Tektronix 4023 documentation?

by jonnosan＠gmail.com

I am continuing my exploration of the SacState 8008 boot PROM code (using James Markevitch's listing), and have a little more understanding of the escape codes I was asking about previously (in the thread 'identifying terminal by escape codes') It looks like the SacState machine was built as a card that plugged into a 4023 terminal motherboard. My current assumption is the data going out of the 8008 card (i.e. where the code on the PROM is running) is interacting with the other cards on the 4023 bus directly. My further assumption is that there must have been some kind of block device (tape or disk?) that was also on that same bus, and that some of the escape codes must be doing some sort of device selection (i.e. signalling that the next chunk of data is intended to be read from, or written to, a specific device, not read from keyboard or displayed on screen). I am not clear as to whether the other devices are interfacing via - a commercial 'dedicated' I/O card, e.g. a drive controller (if any existed?) - a commercial 'generic' I/O card, e.g. a serial I/O and an 'intelligent' device is being controlled - a custom made I/O card that plugged directly into the 4023 bus The only 4023 documentation I can find online is the User Manual, which has: - a list of bus signals, which confirm there are enough signals available to construct complex device I/O - a list of accessory cards, including a serial 'Data Communications Interface', a 'hard copy unit', and 'audio recorder card' (tape controller ). - a reference to a 4023 service manual, which has a 'theory of operation' which may describe enough of the bus protocol to work out how the 8008 PROM could be interacting with other devices on that BUS. So my questions are - - were any commercial accessory cards available for the 4023 other than the ones listed in the back of the user manual? If so, does any documentation for them exist? - is the 4023 "service manual" available through any means? Cheers Jonno

15 years, 9 months

1
1
0 0

Ugh, I think I am going to be sick...

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

>>> Check out ebay auction 190467284114 and you can clearly see there are >>> DIP64 >>> MC68000 CPUs going to the scrapper bin. >>> This is painful to see especially knowing the S-100 68K CPU board is >>> entering build and test. I know builders will be looking for these parts >>> soon. >>> The DIP64 68000 CPUs are still available though this seems like such a >>> waste >>> to scrap classic ICs. I think it is tragic. >> Andrew, Am I wrong, or the 68000 IC is a **very common** microprocessor? >> :oO > They could easily be sold for much more than the value of the metal > recovery. eBay has them going for $8 to $50 or more each. Also amateur > gold scrappers have a nasty habit of making a mess with their chemical > waste. E-bay pricing can be bizarre and I would argue is not always representative of the "real world". Jameco lists Ceramic DIP64 68000 (pulls almost certainly) for $9.95 and I would expect them to work. Jameco used to have early dynamic DRAM's and shift registers By the metric buttload (e.g. 1103's, 2504's) presumably pulls but In other cases maybe a little closer to "floor sweepings for hobbyists". Having worked with 1103's I would argue that by modern standards Even the "cream of the crop" were little above floor sweepings. Tim.

15 years, 9 months

5
4
0 0

Looking for a Franklin high speed digital printer.

by wlsilva＠sbcglobal.net

Hello. Looking for a Franklin high speed digital printer, these were made in the 1960's and early 1970's. The printer is a rack mount unit, and prints on adding machine width paper. If you know of one, or even any information or manuals I would be extremely grateful for the help! I have more information on the unit if anyone can help. Best regards :) Walter

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Epoxy potting removal ?

by scanning.cc＠gmail.com

I have a critical ( late 80's microprocessor controlled ) piece of test gear no longer supported. The power supply is dead and after sawing through it's exoskeleton I was meet with a large epoxy block the size of the original box. I don't intend to fix said power supply but rather to figure out what voltages it provided and use a modern switcher. I know I need +12 and +5 as there is a generic floppy drive and the logic / processor uses +5. Any ideas how to strip the epoxy other than digging through it with implements of mass destruction ? Any and all help is appreciated. Best regards, Steven

15 years, 9 months

6
13
0 0

Ugh, I think I am going to be sick...

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

> I was once buying some 2114s from Jameco and got a bad > batch. I contacted them and they told me how they work. > First, if it is known to be pulls, they state that up front. > Most of the older chips are from stock rooms of companies > that are clearing older stock or have gone out of business. > As such, the parts are untested. They could have been bad > parts from a production line that someone was collecting > or just some NOS. They have no way to test them. Just my two cents: I would generally rather have pulls, than new or old stock of unknown origin. The pull was likely taken from a working system. The old stock of unknown origin..., well, who knows? After the electrolyte debacle of a few years back I am much more picky about electrolytics (known brand, known lot and manufacture date, and especially traceable lineage back to manufacturer as a result of counterfeiting) than with semiconductors! I generally expect a "usual distributor" (e.g. not Jameco) to be selling me new good stuff with paperwork and packaging traceable back to the manufacturer. Jameco... well they're many steps up from Poly Paks in quality and customer service but still I order a couple of spares :-). Tim.

15 years, 9 months

4
3
0 0

scsi? port question

by brianlanning＠gmail.com

I picked up one of these cases not too long ago: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Magna-External-Drive-Case-and-Power-Supply-/150… Could someone give me the scoop on the ports on the back? One looks like a typical db-25 scsi. What's the other one, the one with three rows of pins? Is this another type of scsi port? brian

15 years, 9 months

21
76
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ANN: DiscFerret: Final pricelist, orders OPEN!

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

Hi guys, (If you previously emailed me about the DiscFerret, you'll already have received a copy of this message... in which case, apologies for the duplication...) I now have a final price list for the DiscFerret, after having spent the week arguing with suppliers over leadtimes, MOQs and prices. I've given up on this process, and have instead adopted the highly scientific method of "order the blasted things from DigiKey." This leaves me with the following price list: Bare board: ?22.50 With TPS75003 mounted: ?27.50 PCB + tested PSU + PIC soldered/programmed: ?49 Fully assembled and tested PCB: ?129 Power supply (*) ?27.50 Postage to the USA for a single unit will be ?7.50 for normal airmail, or ?12.50 for an insured and tracked service. (*) The power supply is a PowerPax 12V 3.8A "soap on a rope" type switch-mode PSU. It can power the DiscFerret, and a disc drive with a power requirement of 5V 1.5A and 12V 1.5A. The fairly high price is due to its weight: a 36W PSU is not a light beast, even in switch-mode form! You will need to supply a suitable mains input lead (figure-eight tape-player power lead; available from most electrical retailers). Cables ====== By default, the DiscFerret includes a 40-to-34-pin IDC cable for a 3.5in disc drive, and a power cable terminated in a Berg connector (the type used for 3.5in disc drives). If you need a different cable (e.g. for a 5.25in drive or both 3.5 and 5.25), ask me for a quote. I'm quite happy about getting the price down to ?129. It's taken days of futzing through the Farnell catalogue to find suitable parts at decent price points (curiously some of the name-brand parts are cheaper than Farnell's Multicomp own-brand parts), but I finally got there in the end. So what now? ============ Well, you guys let me know what your final orders are. I have four Revision 0I06 (September 2010) boards and the six 0J28 (October 2010) boards from Gold Phoenix. There are a few rules as to allocation: - If you're ordering a bare board or a board with some (but not all) parts pre-mounted, you'll get a Rev 0J28 because these are easier to solder (immersion silver plated finish). - If you order a ready-built unit, you'll get a random choice between 0I06 and 0J28. There is no software-detectable difference between 0I06 and 0J28. The main difference is that 0J28 adds pads for a USB current limiting resistor, which is added via an ECO modification ("greenwire fix") on 0I06. 0J28 needs a greenwire due to a mistake in power routing, but does not require any track cuts (unlike 0I06). If you order a built-and-tested unit, rest assured that you will receive a board which has been updated to the latest ECO level at the time of manufacture. How to order ============ 1) Send me an email with a list of what you want to order, including quantities. 2) I'll send you a PayPal invoice for the total. If you're in the UK or Europe and would prefer to pay by BACS or SWIFT transfer, please let me know and I'll send you the relevant details. The payment must be in British Pounds Sterling, *NOT* Euros (my bank doesn't allow incoming transfers in anything other than GBP). Other payment methods may be a possibility -- ask me, I don't bite :) 3) When you pay the invoice, select "Include shipping address", and enter your desired address. This will need to be a Confirmed address. If you're paying by BACS or SWIFT, email me your name and address. I'm going to be assembling a couple of boards tomorrow as a time-trial. Assuming all goes to plan, the first units should be shipping towards the end of next week. I'd like to thank everyone on Classiccmp, VCForums, and so on for their assistance, comments, criticisms, sharing of expertise, support and so on. Seriously, you guys rock. Thanks, -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

15 years, 9 months

3
5
0 0

Punched cards - which paper/cardboard?

by hachti＠hachti.de

Hi everyone, I'm thinking about making punched cards. I could need some information about the material used for them. Precise information about tolerances, specifications, references to more information, and so on would be quite helpful. Best wishes, Philipp -- http://www.hachti.de

15 years, 9 months

9
20
0 0

Tangential to Topic: Old Chip Programmers Work w/ || Port in Docking Station?

by trag＠io.com

I have a Needham EMP-30 chip programmer. I've been keeping an old Pentium (mumble) computer around to drive it (vaguely on-topic since it's definitely more than 10 years old). It has a parallel port interface. I would like to replace the ancient behemoth computer with a notebook to save space. I would also like to buy a modernish laptop to run things like FPGA and Microcontroller development/interface systems. I'd like them to be the same laptop, so right there I'm looking at USB and parallel port on the same notebook. Looking around, that does not appear to be available in new products. Ordinarily, I don't shy away from used equipment (who does, on this list?), but for notebooks, with their breakage issues and such, I would prefer to buy new. Further shopping revealed that Dell sells a Legacy Port Expander which works with some of their current notebooks and provides serial and parallel ports. And I think I've read somewhere while searching that the Needham software will work with Windows XP (could be mistaken, need to search again). Do any of you know if chip programmers (the EMP-30 specifically) work okay with the parallel ports in port expanders? How about the Cardbus (or whatever is replacing it) parallel port cards? Alternatively, anyone go through this exercise already and pick out what seemed like the ideal notebook model with USB and parallel ports. I might consider a used model if someone has a strong recommendation. Thank you for any discussion, Jeff Walther

15 years, 9 months

4
4
0 0

DiscFerret PCBs for sale

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

Hi guys, I've got a batch of DiscFerret PCBs for sale. These are the first-cut boards, and work fine but for one requirement: you need to cut a track and install a 160k to 220k resistor over the break. C6 is missing the "+" polarity marker, though this is on the printed component layout (somehow it got missed off the silkscreen print). I'm happy that the design works, and any parts you need should be available from Farnell or DigiKey (or Mouser, but you'll need to get the FPGA from DigiKey). Soldering can be done with nothing more complex than a decent soldering iron, solder, desolder wick and a good magnifier. A PCB holder or Panavise and some paste flux would be very useful, but not essential. These boards are RoHS-compliant, two copper layers on a 1.6mm FR4 substrate. All vias and holes are fully plated-through, with a green solder mask and a white component layout print on the top side. They were manufactured by EuroCircuits BVBA (www.eurocircuits.com), and have been checked visually for damage or manufacturing issues. Cost is ?45 per board, plus shipping (which is likely to be very little). This does not include any parts, just the bare board, a printed component layout, a copy of the Bill of Materials and a copy of the Service Note which covers the track cut and . There are some extra options available: - TPS75003 chip pre-mounted. Add ?5 to the total. This includes a full electrical test (shorts and opens). - PIC microcontroller soldered down and pre-programmed. Add ?5. This includes programming the bootloader into the PIC, and means you won't need a PIC programmer to bootstrap the DiscFerret. - Both of the above -- add ?9. - Fully assembled and tested power supply section -- add ?25 - Fully assembled and tested PSU, with PIC pre-soldered and programmed: add ?29. Any parts I install will be soldered down with Multicore RP15 solder paste. This is a 96SC-alloy (95.5% tin, 3.8% silver, 0.7% copper) RoHS-compliant lead-free solder paste with a No-Clean flux. If you decide to remove a component and replace it with 60:40 SnPb solder, then desolder the existing part, remove all solder with desolder wick (Chemtronics Soder-Wick works nicely for this), then re-tin the pads with 60:40 solder, remove that solder, then install the part. If you'd like any other components supplying or pre-mounting, please email and ask for a quote. I'm not going to start doing fully-assembled boards until I get the next batch of boards in stock (hopefully this Friday). Basically, the production boards will be from the "0J28" batch, which has a number of part placement differences. These differences render the solder paste stencil for the 0J28 useless for the 0I06... No paste mask, no mass production. Making a DiscFerret using hand soldering techniques takes nearly a day -- with solder paste and a reflow oven, a couple of hours at most. There is no firmware difference between 0I06 and 0J28 boards: you can use the same FPGA microcode and PIC firmware; the only differences are in component placement (0J28 was redesigned to meet the Gold Phoenix 7mil design rules) and that 0J28 includes pads for the 160k resistor. To order, send me an email (this address is fine, or change the user-part from 'classiccmp' to 'philpem' to get my main mailbox) with: - Your name and address (I'll assume the From and Reply-To are set correctly in your mail client!) - What exactly you want to order I'll send a PayPal invoice for the total amount, and will send the boards out when the invoice has been paid. I usually assemble boards during the week, and post them out on Saturdays. For UK customers I'd advise going with Special Delivery due to the cost, and "Airsure" for international orders. If, however, you'd prefer I send them First Class or Airmail, I'll do that as long as you agree not to come after me for a refund if they get lost in the post...! (First Class and Airmail are uninsured) Thanks, -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

15 years, 9 months

3
9
0 0

Ugh, I think I am going to be sick...

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

Check out ebay auction 190467284114 and you can clearly see there are DIP64 MC68000 CPUs going to the scrapper bin. This is painful to see especially knowing the S-100 68K CPU board is entering build and test. I know builders will be looking for these parts soon. The DIP64 68000 CPUs are still available though this seems like such a waste to scrap classic ICs. I think it is tragic. Andrew Lynch

15 years, 9 months

2
1
0 0

Christies of london to auction apple 1 for £150 ,000

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 04:54 PM 11/12/2010, William Donzelli wrote: >You have no clue about the people you are dealing with. I'm sure they're regular folks who have their pants put on two legs at a time, just like the rest of us. - John

15 years, 9 months

3
2
0 0

Offering Digital paper tape punch and reader - PC04

by hachti＠hachti.de

Hi, see the following pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/iraeus/DECPC04 There you see a modestly rare and completely working DEC PC04 paper tape reader and punch. The unit is complete with cables. Needs 110V power supply. The frame that goes into the rack *might* be there ass well. I checked and used the machine for a while. Did not find any problems. Could be cleaner - that job is left for the next owner. It's not my unit. But I can let it go for reasonable money. Shipping anywhere. If you're interested, email me your offer. If I don't get reasonable offers the machine will end up on eBay. Kind regards, Philipp -- http://www.hachti.de

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Computer Machinery Corporation?

by jm191270＠yahoo.fr

What would you like to know ? JaM jm191270 at yahoo.fr

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Reaching Sharon on OSI system...

by bdamer＠digitalspace.com

Oh and to reach Sharon her email address is: SharonMaul at aol.com bruce

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Collection transport costs (was Re: Would You Pay $200,000 for an Original Apple Computer?)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 4:47 PM, Teo Zenios <teoz at neo.rr.com> wrote: >> Over a period of 10 years, its not hard to sink $20K into shipping >> fees alone when you collect stuff that needs to be shipped freight. > > Sure if you collect large machines and have them shipped cross country. Most > of the heavy items I have are local pickups... Nearly all of my heavy DEC stuff came from The Ohio State University or businesses around Columbus. I did drive to Dayton once for an 11/750, but I've gotten no item larger than an RL01 or PDP-8/a or VT-52 from out of state. There was the time I ordered an LA-180, but I used a "free shipping on your next order" from Newman Computer Exchange to order that - it came strapped down to a pallet via van freight from MI, right to my front door. I did use it for consulting work later (on a locally-sourced 11/23), but at the time, I picked the heaviest thing for my PDP-8/a that I thought I'd be likely to want. So I've spent a few hundred on renting lift-gate trucks and such over the past thirty years, but even a double-H960 PDP-11/34 setup w/drives and software and docs fit in the back of my 1976 Microbus with room up front for a passenger/loadie. I'm sure someone who collects IBM iron has an entirely different story to tell. -ethan

15 years, 9 months

5
5
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Paper tape fan-folder Was: Re: Punched cards - which paper/cardboard?

by chd＠chdickman.com

On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 5:35 PM, Philipp Hachtmann <hachti at hachti.de> wrote: >> what about fan-fold paper tape? > > I made a "machine" that is able to fanfold paper tape. Yes, but.... > currently only something like a > proof of concept. It worked too unprecisely by far. It needs to be > reconstructed using precision components instead of a mixture of pneumatics, > a stepper motor, and handcrafted wooden parts :-) I was thinking about trying to make one myself. I have a case of rolled paper tape. Any chance you could share a picture or two? The other thought I had was to shear fan-fold printer paper into narrow strips, but the paper shear I have access to is not sufficiently precise to get a consistent tape width. -chuck

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

need teco suggestions

by bqt＠softjar.se

On 11/11/10 15:22, Richard<legalize at xmission.com> wrote: > I need a TECO command suggestion that will fit in 3 lines of 18 chars > each. > > It would be nice if I could have 5 chars leftover to have "TECO:" or > "TECO " in there:-) What should it do? One thing that I occasionally do is having a list of files in a buffer, I want to add some cruft before and after each file name, to create something useful to run as a command file. Something like this then (without testing, off the top of my head): <xaiPIP $l-2ci/re=LB:[KAKA]$ga-2dl.-z;> I can probably come up with more complex versions of that as needed, as well... :-) Johnny

15 years, 9 months

3
6
0 0

Meant OSI!

by bdamer＠digitalspace.com

Sorry folks I meant an Ohio Scientific!

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Old cromemco C3 in a rack...

by bdamer＠digitalspace.com

If anyone is interested in this, feel free to contact Sharon directly.... HI Bruce, Thanks for the quick reply. I'm attaching a couple of photos. One of the pictures shows the Hazeltine monitor (also available) that was used with the computer. I believe the unit is an Ohio Scientific C3. Here is a link to an eBay item for an Ohio Scientific ad for a similar machine. Ours came with a hard disk, but we no longer have it. http://cgi.ebay.com/1979-Ohio-Scientific-C3-C-Computer-29MB-Hardrive-Ad-/19… What you see in the pics is all we have for the machine. I'd like your opinion and the opionion of any of your contacts whether I should continue to try to find this a home, or just pitch it. I don't want any money for it, but don't really want to pay shipping, either. Also, FYI, I have some sales literature from the period for OSI (including some of the Bill Cosby brochures) and a few others, if anyone is interested. Thanks again, Sharon Maule (309) 231-9237

15 years, 9 months

1
0
0 0

Christies Auction is more than just the Apple I

by christian_liendo＠yahoo.com

They are selling more than just the Apple 1 A collection of Alan Turing?s Writings Alan Turing?s Off Prints Lot 60 Sale 7882 The First Published ENIAC Patents ENIAC Patents Lot 63 Sale 7882 An ENIGMA Cypher Machine: ENIAC Patents Lot 59 Sale 7882 A book by Charles Babbage ENIAC Patents Lot 57 Sale 7882 http://8bitaficionado.com/2010/11/12/christies-of-london-is-auctioning-off-…

15 years, 9 months

2
1
0 0

Would You Pay $200,000 for an Original Apple Computer?

by marvin＠west.net

I saw this article about a Christie's auction and found it "funny" in a way. It will be interesting to find out what it actually brings. http://mashable.com/2010/11/12/apple-1-auction/

15 years, 9 months

10
21
0 0

Virtual memory

by roger.holmes＠microspot.co.uk

> From: Johnny Billquist <bqt at softjar.se> > > Gah. I have no idea what PPU mean, nor PP. You're probably just not old enough. In the 50s the main processor was called the CPU (Central Processing Unit) to differentiate it from the various PPUs, (Peripheral Processing Units). The first machine I programmed, the IBM 7094 had a CPU and two PPUs, one to read cards and write the images to tape transports, which would then be switched over to the CPU to read, compile and execute the job and write the results back to another tape transport which then got switched to the other PPU which then transferred the tape image to a line printer. Somehow now (when most peripherals have embedded processors which could be called PPUs) we seem to have stopped using the term.

15 years, 9 months

11
24
0 0

surplus source for MRA connectors?

by shoppa＠trailing-edge.com

> In particular, the MRA42P solder cup 42 pin "winchester" plug for > Diablo 31 disk drives. Manufacturer's webpage lists Powell and CDM as stocking distributors. http://dilp.netcomponents.com/winchesterelectronics.html Does the CHM or someone local to you have a RK03? Some mid-late-70's early DEC and DG 3rd-party sellers (AED? DSD? General Robotics?) sold Diablo drives with their own homegrown Unibus and Omnibus interfaces but that stuff was kinda crufty when it brand new, never mind 30+ years later. Wasn't the Diablo 30 the same as the RK03? Tim.

15 years, 9 months

4
6
0 0

CDC 6000/7000 operation, was: Virtual memory

by dm561＠torfree.net

Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:58:23 -0800 From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> Subject: Re: CDC 6000/7000 operation, was: Virtual memory On 9 Nov 2010 at 23:53, Richard wrote: > What you're calling the display controller I was lumping into the PPU. > > The project ends up being the same scope -- you need to drive the > display and there's not much in the display itself. Yup, the 6612 display controller occupied an entire chassis (chassis 12) in the 6600. It basically provided character generation and positioning control for the DD60. At first blush, the DD60 interface looks to be the same as that of your unit. I couldn't find a logic diagram for the 6612 (or 6602) on bitsavers, but I did find the programming reference manual, which might provide some hints: */pdf/cdc/cyber/peripheralCtlr/60333900B_6602_6612_Console_Display_Sep 74.pdf * = insert your favorite bitsavers mirror. --Chuck ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I scrapped a CDC display controller many years ago and probably still have some cards out of it (made a nice solid desk as well); doesn't quite look like the picture although the keyboard sure looks familiar. Had a large diode matrix 'PROM' PCB IIRC. I'll check the model number when I'm back home again in case there's anything useful. mike

15 years, 9 months

4
4
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