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

by cc＠informatik.uni-stuttgart.de

While looking at datasheets of 3.5" floppy drive motor control ICs, the LB1813 apparently supports four different speeds "out of the box". Pins 15 and 16 are used to select 300, 360, 600 or 720 RPM. So, I know 3.5" drives with one of the first three speeds, but has anyone ever seen a 720 RPM drive? A drive with that IC would be the very common Mitsumi D359. Christian

17 years, 6 months

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Steve Wozniak on DWTS

by halarewich＠gmail.com

hey I just found out that Steve Wozniak will be on the next season of ABC's Dancing With The Stars here is the link for eny one who is interested http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/abc-reveals-dancing-with-stars-eighth-se… Chris

17 years, 6 months

1
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looking for some Kennedy 9100 boards

by electrowen＠videotron.ca

Hi, I was looking for people who might have a Kennedy tapedrive for sale, either working or not, and I stumbled upon your ad. I know iT's been like year, but, are you still looking for those boards for your 9100 tapedrive? Or did you find them? Owen W. (I used to own a 9100 and my friend had tow others. Gov't auction)

17 years, 6 months

1
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Badly corroded battery...

by aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk

Hi, My brother has requested to borrow a CD. So whilst hunting around for it I came across his old walkman. However, I had not realised that it still contained a battery in it. The walkman is over 15 years old, and since my brother moved out around 2002 it makes the battery atleast 7 years old! Here is a link to a page I quickly set up with some pics: http://www.geocities.com/aliensrcooluk/public/BatteryInWalkman.html The reason I am emailing the group, is because a power adaptor (wall wart) was sat underneath the walkman and has some brown paint-like marks on it. I am assuming this is from the battery and am wondering what is the safest way to clean it off without ruining the adaptor. The adaptor is used to run some of our modified table-top games (which originally ran from batteries, but have been modified so that they run from the adaptor instead). Regards, Andrew B aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk

17 years, 6 months

2
1
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DEC floppies on ebay

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

Is anyone here planning on bidding on this, and who's willing to image these disks? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220356462708 I'd be willing to get them just to make images, and if someone else wants the physical disks I'd be happy to go in on bidding on them, and send that person the disks after I make images of them. Or, if someone else wants to get them to make images themselves, that'd be fine too. Pat -- Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

17 years, 6 months

2
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DSD880 Diskette claimed

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

Ah, now I have an excuse to pull all of my DEC stuff out of storage. ;^) -- Patrick Finnegan <pat at computer-refuge.org> wrote: On Sunday 08 February 2009, Bruce Lane wrote: > The DSD 880 diagnostics diskette has been claimed. Jeff Kaneko was > the lucky(?) winner. Good, now the rest of us know who to harass about getting an image. :) Pat -- Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org ____________________________________________________________ Compete with the big boys. Click here to find products to benefit your business. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/PnY6rw2USkyYum1s3vN5M8ubUB4x89I…

17 years, 6 months

1
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DSD880 Diskette claimed

by kyrrin＠bluefeathertech.com

The DSD 880 diagnostics diskette has been claimed. Jeff Kaneko was the lucky(?) winner. Thanks to all for your interest. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Owner & Head Hardware Heavy, Blue Feather Technologies -- http://www.bluefeathertech.com kyrrin (at) bluefeathertech do/t c=o=m "Quid Malmborg in Plano..."

17 years, 6 months

2
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xa 2.3.5 released

by spectre＠floodgap.com

The xa 6502 cross-assembler package has been updated to version 2.3.5. This version fixes a bug with the .bin pseudo-op and character sets, adds PETSCREEN and HIGH character sets, adds the .aasc pseudo-op, and has multiple small custodial and bug fixes. It will compile on most systems with an ANSI C compiler, can generate code for all NMOS and most CMOS variants of the 6502 and the 65816, and is known to work on Win32, most Un*ces and Mac OS X. It is licensed under GPL. http://www.floodgap.com/retrotech/xa/ -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- There are few problems that the liberal usage of high explosives can't cure.

17 years, 6 months

1
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Broken stuff for sale

by silent700＠gmail.com

Or possibly not broken? I have two items which I must part with as part of The Great Reduction of 2009: - Epson HX-20 Portable; no AC adapter; could not power it on with any AC adapter in my stable; fair cosmetic shape, some sticker residue; has micro-cassette drive module - STM Pied Piper CP/M Computer; I plugged it in and Magic Smoke was released; a competent technician (i.e. not me) can probably fix this easily; comes with a box of 5.25" floppies which may or or may not contain CP/M and other Pied Piper goodies, a Dealer Guide, some brochures for an STM 80186 machine and whatever else I can find Shipping on these items will be from 60074. I have scanned the scannable items from the Pied Piper and they are up at chiclassiccomp.org. Asking price is whatever you feel it's worth for me to box something up and send it out, plus actual shipping. In other words, please give these fine machines a home. -j -- silent700.blogspot.com Retrocomputing and collecting in the Chicago area: http://chiclassiccomp.org

17 years, 6 months

1
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S-100 backplane board spacing

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

Hi! Is there any sort of a standard for S-100 backplane spacing? I measured a couple of backplanes I have (a VG and another one) and they both measured .375" (3/8") gap between the connectors. That seems rather closely spaced to me if the boards are 3/4" apart if the connectors are 3/8" wide themselves. What would be the minimum useful gap between S-100 connectors for a small hobbyist S-100 backplane? I presume 3/8" gap is not enough if you want to accept prototype boards with wire wrap sockets and maintain some clearance. Any constructive thoughts on the subject much appreciated. Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch

17 years, 6 months

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S-100 backplane board spacing

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

S-100 backplane board spacing Al Kossow aek <mailto:cctalk%40classiccmp.org?Subject=S-100%20backplane%20board%20spacing& In-Reply-To=> at bitsavers.org Fri Feb 6 09:13:35 CST 2009 * Previous message: S-100 backplane board spacing <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/268634.html> * Next message: Some Microtek MICE documentation <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/268620.html> * Messages sorted by: [ date ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/date.html#268616> [ thread ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/thread.html#268616> [ <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/subject.html#268616> subject ] [ author ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/author.html#268616> _____ > does anybody have a handle on where I > could obtain 5 S100 edge connector sockets? You also need to specify the spacing of the circuit and component side pins on the connector for your backplane. There are at least two different spacings that were used. Most were the wider style, early MITS backplanes had closer spacing. _____ * Previous message: S-100 backplane board spacing <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/268634.html> * Next message: Some Microtek MICE documentation <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/268620.html> * Messages sorted by: [ date ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/date.html#268616> [ thread ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/thread.html#268616> [ <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/subject.html#268616> subject ] [ author ] <http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2009-February/author.html#268616> _____ More information <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk> about the cctalk mailing list _____ -----REPLY----- Hi! Thanks Al! My question is really what are the commonly accepted standards for appearance, casing, etc. I agree there seem to be an early "narrow" width and a later "wide" width between S-100 connectors. Is there a standard or commonly accepted practice for center to center "wide" board spacing or is it arbitrary? My intent is for a small (4 slot) motherboard used for hobbyist prototyping not a full blown system. The primary application would be the development of new peripherals using prototype boards. I expect that the use of wire-wrap sockets would be common requiring some clearance on the copper side and that the ICs and passives would be socketed. My estimates are that wire-wrap sockets need just bit over 1/2" clearance on the copper side and that most socketed ICs/passives require 1/2" clearance on the component side. Allison's estimate of 1" centers for the boards seems like a reasonable compromise. It won't get every possible combination but enough to be useful. The purpose is to allow low cost prototyping not for a full blown long term system installation. Cost is of primary importance which translates to little PCB surface area as possible while still being useful. BTW, Digikey carries a couple of types of S-100 compatible connectors but they are not cheap. Sullins and EDAC 0.125" spaced, 50 position, 2 row, 100 pin, PCB through hole solder tails card edge connectors run from about $8 to $12 a piece. I can get them surplus occasionally. eBay sells them too but are the wire-wrap variety which would work but is a gross abuse of a wire-wrap connector to solder it into a PCB. It can be done but I wouldn't tell anyone about it. :-) Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch

17 years, 6 months

1
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Atari ST floppy drive?

by dbetz＠xlisper.com

I'm trying to recover some files off of a couple of Atari SH204 hard drives but I only have a 520ST and need to find an external floppy drive to bootstrap my system. Does anyone have a spare Atari SF314 floppy drive around that they'd be willing to part with? I don't have much classic stuff left so I guess this will have to be a sale rather than a trade. Thanks, David

17 years, 6 months

4
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Microdata 6000 and Printronix P-600 printer in Edison, NJ

by wmaddox＠pacbell.net

There is a Microdata 6000 and a Printronix P-600 printer in Edison listed on eBay. He's also listed a Cipher tape drive, which is installed in the Microdata. The seller seems to want to get rid of these in very short order, and wants the stuff picked up tomorrow for an auction closing today. There are no bids, and I doubt he's going to get any. Anyone near Edison want to pick this stuff up for a steal? I have fond memories of the Printronix at CMU in the 80's, and hate to think he'll scrap it. --Bill Ebay Item #s 300291062623 300291065881 300291064691 http://cgi.ebay.com/Used-Microdata-6000-System-with-Cipher-Hi-Density-tape_… http://cgi.ebay.com/Used-9900-Cipher-Hi-Density-tape-DRIVE-REEL-TO-REEL_W0Q… http://cgi.ebay.com/Used-Printronix-P-600-600-LPM-Printer-Genicom-Tally_W0Q…

17 years, 6 months

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speaking of 3.5

by melamy＠earthlink.net

I been "listening" to most of this thread so, forgive me if I already mention an idea that someone has already brought up... I seem to recollect that when I was working on hard sector floppy drives back in the Northstar Horizon system days, that the controller only wrote a block of data for each sector with basically nothing in between. It saw an index hole, wrote the block and then waited for the next index hole to write the next sector. If you want to recreate index holes for reading a hard sectored floppy, it seems you could detect the end of data from the previous sector and then generate a accurate index hole for the upcoming sector. Use the single index to reset the sector count if you are keeping track of that. Obviously, this is only a solution for reading the disk best regards, Steve Thatcher > >Hi Chris > I was recently looking at my Teac drive's index pulse to see how it >worked relative to the drive going ready ( the problem of trying to >find a way to recreate the /Ready signal ). > One thing I noticed was that the leading edge of the index pulse >was as accurate as my scope could show but the trailing edge was >all over the place. > My thinking is that the drive is controlled by a servo loop. >The leading edge is when a crystal clock says the pulse is suppose >to start and the trailing edge is when the actual edge is detected. >If one timed the length of time between the two edges, one would >then know the corrective response of the loop. > As an example, if the pulse was long, you'd keep a similar software >wheel rotating that you apply a correction to by the amount the >pulse was long. > It would be this internal software generated wheel that you'd use >to create the index pulses from. > You need the code to watch the drive to determine the parameters >of the control system, gain, dampening and intertia. > If done this way, I suspect that one could get very close to >the right index pulse spacing. >Dwight > > >_________________________________________________________________ >Windows Live?: Keep your life in sync. >http://windowslive.com/howitworks?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t1_allup_howitworks_022…

17 years, 6 months

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FFS: CP/M Plus Guide

by silent700＠gmail.com

I've got a big pile of paper here (the binding is missing:) Digital Research CP/M Plus Version 3 OS User's Guide, Programmer's Guide and System Guide (all one book.) I'll send it out for the cost of shipping. It probably weighs a couple pounds. Preference given to someone who can scan it nicely and get it into one of the document archives out there. My sheet feeder has given up on feeding the 6"x9" paper. Or, if it already has been scanned and is out there somewhere, someone let me know. Then I won't feel bad recycling it. j -- silent700.blogspot.com Retrocomputing and collecting in the Chicago area: http://chiclassiccomp.org

17 years, 6 months

1
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DECwriter correspondent LA12 operators manual

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

For anyone interested, I scanned a copy of the LA12's operators manual, which Tom Ponsford graciously loaned me, and have placed a copy here: http://computer-refuge.org/classiccmp/dec/la12/ Al, if you want to grab that or my TIFF copy for bitsavers, let me know and I can send it to you. It's 400dpi/1bpp and G4 compressed. Pat -- Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

17 years, 6 months

1
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PDP-11 power requirements

by slawmaster＠gmail.com

I may soon be acquiring a PDP-11; I do not know the exact model. My question is, what kind of power supply might this require? It sounds like some can use 110V and others require 220? Are there models that I can just plug into my apartment's wall socket, or do I need to get an extension cord from the washer/dryer socket (which is not in use right now)? If anyone can summarize what models need what sort of power, I'd appreciate it. Thanks John -- "I've tried programming Ruby on Rails, following TechCrunch in my RSS reader, and drinking absinthe. It doesn't work. I'm going back to C, Hunter S. Thompson, and cheap whiskey." -- Ted Dziuba

17 years, 6 months

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Anyone have a line on batteries for the NLS portable oscilloscope?

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

Hi, All, The topic of replacement batteries came up in the Yahoo Group for the RB5X, and someone posted a link for 2 volt 2.5 Amp-hour cells (which are apparently used in an older version of the robot than mine)... <http://www.batteryweb.com/hawkersla-detail.cfm?Model=0810-0004&label=single…> I saw the image and immediately thought of my NLS portable oscilloscope. I'd love to refurb mine, but $45 in batteries is a little on the high side for me. Has anyone on the list replaced a set of this sort of battery, and does anyone know of a place that stocks them for a bit less? -ethan

17 years, 6 months

5
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Collection up date

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

Hi all I had a super Xmas break and as a result The following have been restored to factory spec and are running. On TCP/IP network VAX 4000 M500 VAX 4000 M200 MicroVAX 3100 VAX Station 3100 Alpha 3000 Alpha Station 200 Stand alone Rainbow 100+ Needs a DECnet adapter 11C23 Running Micro RSX needs the DECNet board (which I do have) and the Cable which I don't. Decmate III Working Periperals VT200's VT320's VT240 Awaiting Parts/Attention PDP 8e - Has a difficult to trace hardware problem It was running but now I can't toggle in a test proigram. Set address -> DEP -> Set Data - > DEP (Increments the address ok) Go back and examine memory = nothing. System has four x 4K core memory. Removing any one or three out of four makes no difference. I'm rusty on PDP8's ( I last worked on one in 1972) Help!!!!!!!!!!!!! VAX 4000 M300 (Needs the upper outer door and the door for the front of the CPU compartment PRO 350 Needs a RD-5X MF ST506 Drive PRO 380 Needs a RD-5X MF ST506 Drive VT 103 (Needs a monitor board) PDP-11/94 (Needs KDJ11-EB = M8981-BA) Wish List DEC logo colour monitors of any type. VAX VLC's 11/05 11/10 11/34 11/70 RL01's VT100's VT102 VT4XX LA36 LA180 BA123 (Enclosure) BA23 (Enclosure) 11X94-E (Enclosure) Rod Smallwood

17 years, 6 months

2
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Some Microtek MICE documentation

by aek＠bitsavers.org

Almost nothing was out there for the low cost ICE's that Microtek built, so I scanned and took some pictures of the bits that I have. Additional personality docs (esp for the MICE-II 6502 and 6809) would be nice to find. Still need to take some pics of the original 6502 MICE that I have. http://bitsavers.org/pdf/microtek/mice

17 years, 6 months

1
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PDP-11 power requirements

by tiggerlasv＠aim.com

I can't speak towards the older, larger Unibus models, such as the 11/45, 11/55, 11/60, and 11/70. However, these models generally had a standard 115volt line cord: 11/02 11/03 11/23 11/23+ 11/24 11/34 11/34a 11/44 11/53 11/73 11/83 11/84 11/93 11/94 (Sorry in advance, if I left anyone's model off the list.) ;-) If it's in a rack, it MAY have a power distribution module at the base, with a 20-amp or 30-amp power cord, but in most (if not all) cases, the individual chassis inside the rack will have standard 115volt line cords that plug into it. T

17 years, 6 months

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8
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S-100 backplane board spacing

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> does anybody have a handle on where I > could obtain 5 S100 edge connector sockets? You also need to specify the spacing of the circuit and component side pins on the connector for your backplane. There are at least two different spacings that were used. Most were the wider style, early MITS backplanes had closer spacing.

17 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

S-100 backplane board spacing

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: S-100 backplane board spacing > From: "Andrew Lynch" <lynchaj at yahoo.com> > Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:32:10 -0500 > To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Hi! Is there any sort of a standard for S-100 backplane spacing? > >I measured a couple of backplanes I have (a VG and another one) and they >both measured .375" (3/8") gap between the connectors. That seems rather >closely spaced to me if the boards are 3/4" apart if the connectors are 3/8" >wide themselves. > >What would be the minimum useful gap between S-100 connectors for a small >hobbyist S-100 backplane? I presume 3/8" gap is not enough if you want to >accept prototype boards with wire wrap sockets and maintain some clearance. There are two considerations, airflow and bus length. Wider gap helps airflow to a point then wider doesnt help as much. Wider spacing makes the bus longer for a give number of connectors and longer has more problems with reflections(ringing) and other transmission line behavours. Longer may also impact power distribution as well. Last items is the height of boards limits how close or forces skipping slots. Some fo the taller boards in my collection suggest greater than 0.75" center to center would barely be adaquate because of tall heatsinks contacking the next board. Look at the better backplanes, Compupro would be one. Also the later boards (more modern) were dense enough that only a few slots are required. I have at least two machines that are: Zpu-B z80 cpu 64K ram (ram 16, 17 or 22) Interfacer (multi serial plus parallel) DISK1A FDC DISK3 HDC Systemm Support Thats only 6 boards and the smallest backplane I have is 8 slots. It's as loaded a system as most or more so. The limiting factor for the box is fans, power supply and mountings for the disks. Older antiques like an altair filled with then current board may have: CPU 8080or later Z80 Ram boards anhywhere from 4k per to 16K per (as many as 8 for 64K) Some form of rom boot card possible a dual board FDC (altair disk was a two card set) multiple IO baord for serial possible multiple boards for one or more printers or other parallel devices. And cooling issues. Hope that helps with some history. I'd say 6-8 slots spaced 1" and also on the board terminator. Allison > >Any constructive thoughts on the subject much appreciated. > >Thanks and have a nice day! > >Andrew Lynch

17 years, 6 months

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Simulation vs breadboarding (was Replacing failed powersupplies on qbus PDP-11s)

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Aquarius project? A mostly accurate description can be found in http://lowendmac.com/orchard/06/john-sculley-years-apple.html

17 years, 6 months

2
1
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Need a copy of an IRE article

by evan＠snarc.net

Can anyone assist me in getting a copy (pdf preferred) of this article: Proceedings of the IRE, Oct. 1953 (Vol. 41, Issue 10), pages 1388-1392. The article is called. "The Design of Logical OR-AND-OR Pyramids for Digital Computers" ... thanks! - Evan

17 years, 6 months

2
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Ideas for disposing of entire collection

by robert.stek＠gmail.com

Thanks to those here and on comp.os.cpm who have responded publically and privately with some ideas I had not considered before. I know there is at least one ebay selling service in Tucson, a solution I hadn't thought of. I wouldn't mind spending the time describing items correctly if that's how I go. I would be hoping that they have the space to take it so I could get it organized for them. I will also get in touch with Sellam. I have been to a few users group meetings here in Tucson but have never met anyone suffering >from the classiccmp disease - perhaps a few weeks worth of notices on Craig's List might scare one or two out of the woodwork. To those who have responded with wish-lists: the biggest problem in my current situation is that too many boxes are labeled "Old computer stuff" or even those that are labeled '8" disks' are in X different boxes in Y different places, usually with boxes in front and on top of them! If I could easily retrieve specific items I would rather they go to people on the lists who appreciate them. Alas, when I packed them away I fantasized that I would have sufficient room to organize everything properly - the reality is that I don't. If I go through an ebay service I might be able to pull some stuff that people have mentioned. I was surprised (thrilled?) to hear that at least one person thought $15-$25k was a reasonable ebay estimate. Frankly that about twice what I would estimate (at least in today's economy!). Maybe I should just sit on it all for the next 2-3 years and wait until one of the next Web 3.0 millionaires wants a legacy collection! Jim Battle, you and Barry Watzman are the only 2 people I know with working Helios systems. If I find those Helios disks I lent you a few years ago, you two guys can split them if you want them. Bob Stek (former) Saver of Lost Sols

17 years, 6 months

1
0
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ISO older PROMICE manuals

by aek＠bitsavers.org

Does anyone have copies of the various revisions of the Grammar Engine PROMICE? I have a manual for a really early version of the device, and have a few of them of various vintages made in the 90's which neither match my manual, or the current versions.

17 years, 6 months

3
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Replacing failed powersupplies on qbus PDP-11s

by toby＠coreware.co.uk

Hi, I have a couple of uPDP-11 boxes (BA23) with failed power supplies. Being no expert on repairing switch mode power supplies (and to be frank slighly scared of trying), is there any reason why I shouldn't adapt a ATX power supply from a PC to provide the required voltages? Most ATX power supplies offer pretty meaty 5V and 12V feeds plus a fairly small -12V (~0.3A) feed. Will I need to generate a LTC/BEVENT L signal if I go down this route? Finally, does anyone know of any good guides on repairing switch modes? Whilst not keen, I guess I should bite the bullet (hopefully not literally) and learn how to repair them. Thanks, Toby -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

17 years, 6 months

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Simulation vs breadboarding (was Replacing failed powersupplies on qbus PDP-11s)

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Until the boss sees that you screwed around in the lab for an hour or > two getting all the parts and building the test circuit I doubt any company newer than 10 years old even has lab stock any more to breadboard something with. I'd end up going to Haltek or Halted for parts, because Apple killed off their parts stock room when the hardware group was moving from Valley Green to Infinite Loop. One day I went over to it and it was empty. They had dumped the whole thing into recycling because none of the hardware engineers used any of it anymore.

17 years, 6 months

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Ideas for disposing of entire collection

by robert.stek＠gmail.com

I have been mostly a lurker on the classiccmp lists for the last 10 years or so, though I have had individual correspondence with Jim Battle, Dave Dunfield, Rich Cini, Allison, and a few others ? I think they would vouch for me. I?ve been mostly an S-100 and CP/M guy, and I have probably used more impulse than sense in collecting micro stuff. My worst sin has been in putting off any systematic cataloging of my collection, and unfortunately I am not in a position to do it now. What I describe later on is from memory ? there are all sorts of miscellaneous things as well. The time has come for me to liquidate 90% of my collection. I won?t give it away ? my kids can deal with it after I?m dead! I started to sell it piece by piece last year and sold about $3,000-$4,000 worth on ebay (I know, boo-hiss! But that?s where I got most of it from.) I would rather not go this route again, except perhaps for my Altair or one of my IMSAI?s. I am willing to take a loss if I can dispose of this stuff in bulk, but want this to be as painless (for me) as possible. All of this stuff has been packed away in moving boxes for at least 4-5 years and I no longer want to have to take it out, photograph it, test, troubleshoot, write accurate descriptions, re-package for safe shipping, take it down to UPS or the P.O., deal with eBay, etc. So, questions for the group: 1) Does anyone here have an interest in acquiring my collection and is willing to come to Tucson (7 hour drive from San Diego) and pick it all up? 2) Does anyone here know of anyone ? a computer museum, a collector not on this list, anyone else of unsound mind ? who might be interested? 3) Any other ideas on eliminating hassles from individual sales and shipping? 4) Anyone want to take a guess at a value of the collection as a whole? a) if individually priced on ebay or b) Entire lot value It?s all packed well enough for storage or shipment in a van, but most would need to be re-packed for individual shipment. Part of the problem is that while individual boxes are generically labeled (i.e., 8? disks, BYTE mags, Votrax, monitor, etc.) I have no simple or easy way to put the appropriate docs and disks together with the hardware (nor the room to even attempt it). I think I did a fairly good job of rounding up original docs and boot disks (or good copies thereof) for most of the equipment. It would be a shame to let that effort go to waste if I eventually decide to go the ebay route after all; I would have to sell it all ala carte as I come across it. To give you an idea of some of the items (almost all with complete documentation, extra S-100 boards and boot software if appropriate, and most were known working when put in storage) here is a good part of the collection that I still have: 2 or 3 Processor Tech Sols (have extra foam pads for 1 keyboard restore) ? original docs Ithaca InterSystem S-100 ? original docs 2 IMSAI?s ? original docs 1 Altair 8800 ? some docs 2 NorthStar Horizons, 1 with HD ? original docs 1 CompuPro 8/16 ? original docs 1 Morrow Decision 1 with HD ? original docs (the big iron, not the MicroDecision) Many, many S-100 cards ? 8 and 16 bit CPUs, 4k thru 256k memory boards, Matrox video, disk controllers, almost all w/ original docs 1 Lobo System with HD ? original docs 3-4-5? Circuit Cellar SB-180 systems, 1 with HD ? original docs 2 NOS Xerox Z-80 64k systems w/ 5 ?? dual drives ? original docs 2-3 KayPro?s ? original docs Televideo 925 terminal Older memory chip tester Pro-Log M882 8080 analyzer Z-80 MicroProfessor Digital Group programs on cassette Many original ProcTech programs on cassette w/ original docs Multiple SS/DD and DS/DD 5.25? disk drives, some in cabinets w/ PS, most not Several monochrome composite monitors Collection of text-to-speech units, 3-4 Votrax and a large DEC-Talk plus a few others ? original docs BYTE magazine from, v1#1 through mid to late 80?s Many issues of Creative Comp, complete Kilobaud, S-100 Microsystems, early Dr. Dobb?s, Interface Age, Computer Shopper, Lifeboat Lifelines, etc. 2 dual 8? drive systems 2-3 Apple II Plus 2-3 Apple Z-80 cards Ohio Scientific Challenger (C4P? ? can?t remember, plus I may have sold this last year, not sure but I think it?s still here) w/ docs Franklin Ace 100 (the original one with the Apple II ROMs that led to landmark court decision allowing copyrighting of software) 1-2 early Macs Mac LC w/ MS-DOS card Cables ? lots and lots, from RS-232, Centronics parallel, to power cables to ribbon cables to . . . . Lots of original software and docs: boxed sets of Digital Research CP/M, CP/M-86, CP/M-Plus, CBASIC, Concurrent CP/M ? all from DR in slip cases, WordStar, Magic Wand, Palantir, dBASE II, Microsoft BASIC-80, baZic, Lifeboat Associates CP/MUG disks, lots of NorthStar format software, NOS Dysan 10-hole hard-sector disks, complete International NorthStar User?s Association newsletters and disks, complete original SOL Users Society newsletters, etc.) IBM XT TrackStar 6502 card for IBM Baby Blue Z-80 card for IBM IBM AT Central Point Match Point card, several Option boards . . . and this is just the stuff I remember. Bob Stek Saver of Lost Sols P.S. If I can?t sell it all in one swell foop, I MAY consider offers for individual pieces from list members, but I would REALLY like to sell everything at once. Please don?t ask for any particular item right now ? I?ll let everyone know if I do decide to do that later.

17 years, 6 months

8
7
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Video pinouts for Sony SMC-70G

by adamg＠pobox.com

Josh Dersch wrote: > Just acquired one of these bad boys and I've found very little info on > it -- it appears to have two video out connectors -- a 25-pin D-sub > labeled "RGB Multi Out" and an 8-pin DIN labeled "B/W Multi Out." > Anyone know the pinouts of these? If you're still looking for pinouts, here they are: http://www.eskimo.com/~adam/smc70vidpin.pdf Sorry about the huge PDF file. Since you have the G (genlock) model there should also be RGB video on BNC connectors. > Any ideas what kind of monitor I can expect to use with this machine? For authenticity, a KX-1211HG, CPD-120 or PVM-1270Q. Otherwise, a Commodore 1080 or 1084 or whatever. > Anyone have manuals/software archived? I have a little bit of stuff... I'll drop you a line if/when I archive it... probably some time in 2015? :) Amazingly enough Sony still lists a SMC-70G manual as available to order. The part number is 3-773-522-22. If you feel like taking a $20 gamble you can order it online at servicesales.sel.sony.com or servicesplus.us.sony.biz or by phone at (800)488-7669. You might end up with a hefty bound manual or you might end up with 2 xeroxed pages. I have no idea what it is other than it's an instruction manual for SMC-70G serial number 20211 and later and it's not one of the ones I have. -- Adam

17 years, 6 months

1
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speaking of 3.5" floppies, is 720K R.I.P.?

by chrise＠pobox.com

I don't have an answer for the other gentleman's query on 720RPM floppies but I recently discovered that new 3.5" drives appear to no longer support 720K media. I purchased a number of Samsung drives for a project where I am converting a system with 5.25" drives to use 3.5" and I found that these drives have left out the media density sense switch all together! They no longer have any way to detect the lower density, 250kbps media and run at 500Kbps no matter what is installed. I needed the 300 rpm, 250Kbps capability to be compatible with the old 5.25" stuff. What's particularly nasty is that I chose these drives, Samsung SFD-321B, because I had a recent datasheet that clearly showed they supported this mode-- until of course they arrived and the switch/sensor is not even installed! Is this true of all 3.5" drives now? This might explain why 720K 3.5" drives are selling for $285 on eBay :-( I'd sure like to find a way to force the drive into 250Kbps mode-- I can't believe the chips don't still support it-- I just need a way to figure out where the sensor is supposed to connect and hard wire it to 720K mode. Any ideas on how to do that? Chris

17 years, 6 months

5
15
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PDP-7's

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> I seem to recall that there was one in Australia oops, forgot that one. Max Burnett's

17 years, 6 months

4
3
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Microdata Reality in Sandy, Utah

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

There is a Microdata Reality in Sandy, Utah that needs a new home. This is a large and heavy early- to mid-1970s mini in a 6 foot cabinet. Please contact me directly if you're interested and I'll pass along the contact info. -- 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 ]

17 years, 6 months

1
0
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Printronix P-600 and Qume printers available

by jws＠jwsss.com

Printronix P-600's availability "soon" in St. Louis. I'm posting for a friend who has as many as three which may be retired and scrapped. These are well maintained, but obviously elderly printers. The Qume is a wheel printer I posted about some time ago w/o any response. Reply off list unless there is a useful comment, obviously. Qume printer is in Evansville, In. Jim

17 years, 6 months

1
0
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Anyone have a line on batteries for the NLS portable oscilloscope?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Anyone have a line on batteries for the NLS portable oscilloscope? > From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:51:59 -0500 > To: classiccmp at classiccmp.org > >Hi, All, > >The topic of replacement batteries came up in the Yahoo Group >for the RB5X, and someone posted a link for 2 volt 2.5 Amp-hour >cells (which are apparently used in an older version of the robot >than mine)... > ><http://www.batteryweb.com/hawkersla-detail.cfm?Model=0810-0004&label=single…> > >I saw the image and immediately thought of my NLS portable oscilloscope. >I'd love to refurb mine, but $45 in batteries is a little on the high >side for me. >Has anyone on the list replaced a set of this sort of battery, and does anyone >know of a place that stocks them for a bit less? I've replaced the min my NLS MS-15 and MS215 portable scopes, I usually pay around 8-9$ each (it uses 3) for them new. Google "2V 2.5AH Gell cell" you get mroe than afew hits. Note any 6V gellcell that fits in the form factor (NLS has an area) will also work. I've found 6V/2.2AH Yusa and others that fit in mind and they can be cheaper usually under 15$. If your really game 4 nicads of the 1800-2200mah size fit there but require the charger side to be modded for constant current rather constant voltage. Allison > >-ethan

17 years, 6 months

1
0
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Old Software rights (was content rights)

by vern4wright＠yahoo.com

Dan, My first comment is - watch your back! --- On Thu, 1/15/09, Dan Gahlinger <dgahling at hotmail.com> wrote: > From: Dan Gahlinger <dgahling at hotmail.com> > Subject: Old Software rights (was content rights) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Date: Thursday, January 15, 2009, 8:48 AM > In an unrelated topic, > > I have a bunch of old programs from my University days, > back in the late 70's, early 80's > all Vax/VMS code, in various languages, etc. > > In those days we never put "(C)" or copyright > notices on code. > I'm just wondering if it's generally "ok" > to release this code to the public? > > It's been 30 some years (longer than copyright would > apply anyhow). > I have searched for 20 years for some of the authors and > never found anyone. > > 14 years ago I posted pieces of it, and said "if > anyone objects to this, please contact me" > and never got any response from anyone. Just an experience I recall observing. A guy was posting old games on USENET (don't recall which group), from the CP/M to early IBM PC era - games for which no owner could he could find, games that seemed to be abandoned. And then one day he announced that he would no longer be doing this, having been warned by his ISP and having received a cease and desist notice from a law firm. > The system and associated parts used for the development > are long gone. Copyright is a can of worms, particularly with the obscenely long period that has been recently legislated. And there will always be someone willing to threaten action. Your examples seem safe, but I would be quick to be responsive to any request to "desist". > But another age old question, who has rights to code > developed on the universities equipment? > I know it's a common question these days, but > "back in the day" such considerations never > occurred, > it was a different era. I well recall those days when software was free, included in the rental of the mainframe. Until unbundling and the "Program Product" which would rent or sell independently from the machine. IIRC, IBM's H Assembler for OS/360, first NEW product issued under the unbundling agreement, rented for $250/mo. in 1970 - which would be something more significant these days. Those days really ended around 1970. It's particularly annoying in the area of OS's for our classic computers, which remain under copyright to companies which may have gone belly-up, been absorbed and forgotten by their buyers, etc. Getting an old CP/M machine without the OS, and not having a legal source for it, makes 'criminals' of us all. And it's damned unfair! > Everyone from that era has also vanished with the wind, I > know, I've looked. > > So is it fairly safely abandoned? > Another way to look at it - If it was your code, some small > silly thing you wrote, would you care? Now that is a very GOOD question. There are a lot of things I've written that I would NEVER want seen - by ANYONE; guess they're in the class of 'silly'. Most of my serious software belongs to entities (alive or dead), under 'work for hire'. If it were distributed with their blessings, it wouldn't bother me; I've been paid - though never enough :) OTOH, I have several proprietary systems I have written for the use of my own business AND I WOULD EXPRESS SERIOUS ANNOYANCE if they were somehow obtained and distributed. But they have never been shared, and the likelihood of it happening seems small. That said, good fortune. Vern Wright > Dan. > > _________________________________________________________________

17 years, 6 months

3
2
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Straight 8 was PDP-7s

by evan＠snarc.net

How about the straight 8 ... There were 1500 made; how many of these still survive? 1. We've got one here in MARCH / NJ.

17 years, 6 months

5
4
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searching a metal box for 11/04 5.25in high

by henk.gooijen＠hotmail.com

Hi all, I noticed an 11/34 on eBay (# 200302612244) which reminded me of the 11/04 that I have in similar size / housing. Just as the machine up for auction, I am missing the black metal box into which the unit is placed and mounted in a 19" rack. So ... if anybody has an empty box, I am very interested! thanks, - Henk, PA8PDP

17 years, 6 months

2
1
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bitsavers down?

by legalize＠xmission.com

My RSS feed generator has been erroring out for a while now. Apparently I can't fetch www.bitsavers.org/pdf/Whatsnew.txt Can anyone else get there? Is this a known problem? I haven't seen it mentioned on the list. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html> Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>

17 years, 6 months

3
2
0 0

PDP-7's

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Where is there a register of PDP-7 systems? I know of only two, personally. Three, the U Oregon system, CHM's, and the one in Oslo.

17 years, 6 months

1
0
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bitsavers down?

by aek＠bitsavers.org

It was down for a few days. I had hoped Jay was upgrading the server. The ccmp web server is on the same machine.

17 years, 6 months

1
0
0 0

IBM 1401 "Edith" program?

by jfoust＠threedee.com

A fan of my ASCII art page sent this question. I hadn't heard of it before. - John >Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 15:15:23 -0500 >Subject: Re: Beautiful old alpha/character art >From: bayard <catron at gmail.com> >To: John Foust <jfoust at threedee.com> > > >Do you have a copy of the output of the legendary EDITH program? I googled around and all i found was a picture of the punch cards! > ><http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110304561718>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110304561718

17 years, 6 months

1
1
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Digital Lives Conference at the British Library

by Jeremy.John＠bl.uk

I wonder if any classic computer specialists would be interested in attending this conference. Please do let me know if so. Best wishes, Jeremy. CONFERENCE FOR DIVERSE SPECIALISTS: ARCHIVISTS, CLASSIC COMPUTER EXPERTS, DIGITAL PRESERVATION, HISTORIANS, CURATORS, AND SOCIAL SCIENTISTS ___________________________________________ DIGITAL LIVES RESEARCH CONFERENCE 2009 Monday 9 February to Wednesday 11 February 2009 at the British Library, London Scientists, historians, writers and IT specialists will come together to address the challenge of organising and preserving personal digital archives at the first ever Digital Lives Research Conference, which will be inaugurated by British Library Chief Executive Dame Lynne Brindley. The conference will address (i) how libraries and archives can help all people whose lives are becoming increasingly digital - particularly academics - to secure, preserve and organise their personal archives of digital photographs, documents, correspondence and multimedia, for themselves and their families; and (ii) the possibility of establishing relationships with providers of online services and social systems technologies. Topics will range from digital curation and digital preservation to the creation of personal digital archives and their use by historians, biographers and scientists. Highlights include: (i) Keynote Lectures by biographers Georgina Ferry and Andrew Lycett, psychologist Charles Fernyhough, historian Orlando Figes, and archivist Dorothy Sheridan of the Mass Observation Archive (ii) Invited Presentations by George Oates, member of founding team at Flickr, Simone Brunozzi of Amazon Web Services and Ian Hughes of IBM (iii) Keynote Presentations by computer scientists Mark Baker of University of Reading, Peter Bentley of University College London, Annamaria Carusi of University of Oxford, Jon Crowcroft of University of Cambridge, Kieron O'Hara of University of Southampton and Dave Taylor of Imperial College London. (iv) A Writers in Conversation session on the creation of digital archives, featuring Tony Benn, Dame Antonia Byatt and Wendy Cope, and chaired by pioneering computer scientist Dame Wendy Hall (v) Day 3 of the conference will involve the participation of visitors and inhabitants of virtual world Second Life, with the conference broadcast onto the Elucian Islands , the Second Life home of Nature Publishing Group and Macmillan Publishers. There will be a keynote lecture by Timo Hannay, Publishing Director at Nature.com (vi) A presentation on 'Digital Life at the Extremes' by polar explorer Ben Saunders See: www.bl.uk/digital-lives/conference.html for further details. The first day of the conference will focus on the latest approaches to curating digital objects and archives. The second day will look at the development of such archives from the point of view of the creators and researchers - writers, scientists and historians. The third day will offer an overview of life online and digital archives as they are developing at present. The conference is FREE to attend on the 9 and 11 of February, registration is required as space is limited. There is a registration fee of ?35 for 10 February, but WAIVERS ARE AVAILABLE. Please register at the Digital Lives Research Conference 2009 website: www.bl.uk/digital-lives/confreg.html ***APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTING*** About The Digital Lives Research Project The Digital Lives Research Project is led by the British Library and is designed to provide a major pathfinding study of personal digital archives, and is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The project team is drawn from University College London and University of Bristol as well as the British Library itself. ************************************************************************** Experience the British Library online at www.bl.uk The British Library's new interactive Annual Report and Accounts 2007/08 : www.bl.uk/knowledge Help the British Library conserve the world's knowledge. Adopt a Book. www.bl.uk/adoptabook The Library's St Pancras site is WiFi - enabled ************************************************************************* The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this e-mail and notify the postmaster at bl.uk : The contents of this e-mail must not be disclosed or copied without the sender's consent. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the British Library. The British Library does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. *************************************************************************

17 years, 6 months

2
1
0 0

DECwriter correspondent manuals?

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

Does anyone have manuals or any information about the DECwriter correspondent? I managed to grab one today, and would like to at least look at the docs before I plug it in, and turn it on, if anyone can find a copy.. Thanks, Pat -- Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

17 years, 6 months

3
4
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Looking for Xerox 914 docs.

by rollerton＠gmail.com

Not quite a computer but maybe a distant relative. I am looking for anything on the Xerox 914; anything operation, maintenance, or marketing material that I can get a copy of. Its for a uh, performance that I am involved in and I would like to be more technically accurate in describing the machine and its operation. Thanks!

17 years, 6 months

1
0
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Any spare Corvus Concept hardware out there?

by derschjo＠mail.msu.edu

I assume the answer to the subject line is "no," but I figured I'd ask just in case one of you has a stack of this stuff lying around somewhere :). Picked up a Corvus Concept -- just the main CPU unit, no monitor, no keyboard, no drives. It appears to work (it beeps when I turn it on!) but of course lacking any other hardware it's a rather bulky doorstop. I'd like to get it running, it's a cool 68k-based machine with a bit-mapped display and Apple II (!!) compatible expansion slots. (Are there any other machines out there that used the Apple II bus for expansion? Aside from Apple II-family machines and clones, of course...) I suppose given enough time I could build a compatible monitor, hack together a keyboard interface, and get it booting over OmniNet but somehow having the original hardware would be nice too... Thanks, Josh

17 years, 6 months

2
1
0 0

Stack Depth requirements for CP/M 2.2 CBIOS

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Stack Depth requirements for CP/M 2.2 CBIOS > From: "ROBO5.8" <robo58 at optonline.net> > Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:08:49 -0500 > To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only'" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > >Hello, > >I have rewritten my old systems CP/M 2.2 CBIOS to add an IDE Drive. > >I've run into a problem that has me stumped. Everything works as long as I >don't try and copy or assemble a large Assembly file (>80KB). > >I will be going along fine and then out of nowhere I will see CP/M request >access to Drive "T". My debug info says SELDSK is requesting Drive 0FF00h. > Ok this is easy. CP/M 2.x (2.2 nominal) can only address 16 logical drives so that's limitation one. Each drive is limited to 8Mb (65525sectors*128bytes). If you use one of the CP/M like imperoved work a likes this is less an issue and logical drives can be much larger (up to 1gb). >I have added debug code to all the CBIOS routines so that they report what >they are doing to the console (slow but nice). > >I've gone through my code many times and tested each routine via an embedded >debug monitor. I believe I have added every CP/M 2.2 patch (1-6 and 9)that >is specific to the CBIOS including those dealing with Blocking/Deblocking. Good but likely not the problem itself. > >In the back of my mind I kept wondering if I was exceeding CP/M's Stack >Depth. I can find no information on the web or in my doc's that specifies >what the maximum Stack usage is for a CBIOS. This does not could like a stack size issue. That tends to be very static for any disk size. >Do any of you have any thoughts on my Stack Question? Are there other >issues with Blocking/Deblocking that become visible with large Disk Drives, >and that are not covered in any of the published DRI patches? Wrong plase to look. Likely areas of breakage: More than 16 drives Alloc storage areas inadaquately sized or overlapping BIOS local variables being trashed. Bios logic in error (deblock, sector addressing other??) Allison >Thanks for your assistance. >Robo

17 years, 6 months

2
1
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Seeking reverse-engineers - Apple II VisiCalc

by mc＠media.mit.edu

I am looking for volunteers to help reverse-engineer and document Apple II VisiCalc. Besides documenting this for future historians --I plan to give all this work to the Smithsonian-- I'd like to get Apple II VisiCalc running in emulation. Right now this isn't possible because of the copy protection. (BTW the PC DOS version is available on the web, and doesn't have copy protection). I have three versions of the Apple II software. I know one of them still boots (1983?) and have some confidence that the other two versions (1979 and 1981) work too. I have been in contact with both Bob Frankston and Dan Bricklin. Of course you ask, well then why do you need volunteers? The answer is because no one can find the sources. Bob and I plan to dig around his garage when the weather gets warmer, but there are no guarantees, and the 30th anniversary is in October 2009. --Tim McNerney http://www.4004.com

17 years, 6 months

21
31
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Atomic bomb replica maker in Waukesha, WI

by jfoust＠threedee.com

Not computer-related, but certainly geeky, research and reconstruction: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/15/081215fa_fact_samuels?printab… - John

17 years, 6 months

2
1
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Software preservation (Was: Seeking reverse-engineers - Apple II VisiCalc)

by csquared3＠tx.rr.com

On Fri, 30 Jan 2009 at 09:49:34 Chuck Guzis said > It surprised me that the micro types took so long to figure basic > things like SCCS and regression testing out. I think I can partly explain that. For one thing, though we may all be brilliant ;) we are not necessarily all that wise! Wisdom hopefully accumulates with experience, and perhaps with the agony of recreating something that was lost that should have been carefully preserved - especially things like batch files, make files and little utilities written for example because the available software tools could not produce deliverable binaries in the desired form. More seriously, most of the places I have worked for the past 45 years have been what I call "Mom and Pop" operations with all the problems that produces, including tight budgets and razor-thin resources. BTW, just because it is a fair size company does not prevent it from being run in "Mom and Pop" mode. The thin resources in my experience usually result in a very fast transition to the next project once the current one is done, which does not leave a lot of time for reflection about what all should be preserved. Even the quite large company for whom I currently work, though sadly only until next Friday, :( has run our soon-to-be-dissolved group on razor-thin resources IMHO. The other common problem I have seen is that usually no one in the chain above my immediate manager has the vaguest idea as to the importance of the work I have just completed. During some unfortunate periods, even he had no clue! I've been quite pleased for about the past 14 years to have had the use of MKS and more recently VSS to provide an archive and history information on the file servers. Allegedly these are backed up frequently off-site as well, on tape cartridges I believe, though I have never had an occasion to test that theory. At one time the IT guy would whine about how much space I was taking up on the server and I would have to give him a list of folders that could be written to CD's to make space on the file server. In at least one case, I recall one of those was partly unreadable when I tried to access it only maybe a year after it was burned. It has now been probably 10 years - anyone want to bet any of them are still readable? Since they are sitting in my bookcase at work, anyone care to guess what will become of them once I leave next Friday? The good thing is that they are all very old versions and it probably does not matter all that much. No longer needing to keep card/mag-tape/floppy backups has indeed been pleasant. (I sort of hate to admit I once even had some punched paper tape backups.) The history information the source control software provides is invaluable as well, even though I do keep written notes regarding software changes as they are made. I've been a bit amazed at how often I've found myself looking in the MKS and VSS archives to search for the answer to a question like "Exactly when was _this_ particular tiny change made". These are usually changes that seemed almost inconsequential at the time, but turned out much later to have been rather important. Later, Charlie Carothers

17 years, 6 months

2
1
0 0

ebay: 2 vintage cards for apollo workstation

by legalize＠xmission.com

Relisted with reduced buy-it-now ebay item # 260354394197 'course since the last listing expired with no bids, you could probably low-bid on this and get the two cards with no competition. I guess people aren't really collecting Apollo workstation stuff. A shame, really. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html> Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>

17 years, 6 months

4
4
0 0

decmate

by nierveze＠radio-astronomie.com

hello everyone,I have a working decmate3, working well with floppies of os278 made with putr (thanks) ,I'd like to have hardware documentation about that machine ,I found the vr101,the lk201,but nothing about the cpu box, also I'd like to find documentation about os278 that seems different from os8.thanks for your help Alain Nierveze 492 All?e Montesquieu 33290 Le Pian Medoc France web:www.radio-astronomie.com email:nierveze at radio-astronomie.com

17 years, 6 months

1
0
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Replacing failed powersupplies on qbus PDP-11s

by csquared3＠tx.rr.com

On Fri, 30 Jan 2009 Chuck Guzis said: > Read about it: > > http://www.smpstech.com/filter00.htm > > Interestingly, the real-world example cited is the addition of an > input filter to a PDP 11/40... The part of this that really amazes me is where it says something like "long power supply input lines" can also cause problems or oscillation. I suppose this includes for example all the wiring in my house or at the office, over which I have no control and very little detailed knowledge. I wonder if the effective length of the AC input line is all the way back to the transformer on the pole or wherever? If my guesses are correct then it is sort of scary to plug in any SMPS anywhere! I would hope that most SMPS these days have an input circuit that is reasonably immune to most of these problems, but I certainly don't know that. BTW, I have been reading the digest form of this group for a couple of years now but I think this is the first time I have posted a reply of any sort. If I goofed it up, profuse apologies in advance! Later, Charlie C.

17 years, 6 months

4
3
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REPLY - Re: KAYPRO 10 - Need Help Please

by FJGJR1＠aol.com

Steven, Yes, it sounds like they are looking for boot software. It should be on the hard drive, but maybe it is corrupted or someone took it off. Check with "Sharkonwheels" on _www.vintage-computer.com_ (http://www.vintage-computer.com) , he is more expert in Kaypros after 1983. I am more into the 1983 versions. The Kaypro 10 came after 1983. You can post on this site and maybe someone will offer to buy them from you. They could be used just for parts of course. Note if you have anything else for them - software, accessories, cables, etc. That can help the sale, along with any other info - where did you get them, past history if known, etc.. This is probably the best overall site for such vintage computers. I post under GADFRAN. Good luck. Keep us informed on how you progress. Frank _www.kayprosts.org_ (http://www.kayprosts.org) In a message dated 2/1/2009 2:09:24 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, steven.alan.canning at verizon.net writes: I rescued two ( more like 1 3/4 ) KAYPRO 10 machines headed for euthanasia. I repaired the LVPS in the first unit and it comes up (?) but I think it is waiting for something ( like a BOOT disk ? ). They both ( machines ) have one half-height 5 1/4 floppy drive and one half-height 10 MByte hard drive. So far both of the CPU boards do exactly the same thing, after RESET it puts up the following prompt on the CRT; * KAYPRO 10 v1.9e * Anyone know what if anything it is waiting for ( I can't believe it wouldn't BOOT off of the hard drive, but I don't know any better ) ?? The 10 MB Ready light for the hard disk does come on ( for what it is worth...). Better yet, anyone want a couple ( or one ) KAYPRO 10s to screw around with and add to your collection ? They are built pretty tough ! Make an offer that will cover my Super Bowl beer fund and you're in business ! Because of their weight, probably limited to domestic USA shipping ( from Southern CA ). Best regards, Steven **************From Wall Street to Main Street and everywhere in between, stay up-to-date with the latest news. (http://aol.com?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000023)

17 years, 6 months

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Looking for used EPROM chips, 2, 4 and 8 megabit

by ian_primus＠yahoo.com

I've been working on some projects lately that require larger EPROM chips than the ones I have scavenged over the years. I am primarily looking for 8 megabit (27c080) chips, but I also need 4's and 2's as well. Anyone have some extra 'bugs' they would part with? Thanks! -Ian

17 years, 6 months

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Storage Media ( was: Seeking reverse-engineers - Apple II VisiCalc )

by wdonzelli＠gmail.com

> Holographic memory has been right around the corner for *HOW* long? I first > heard of working prototypes sometime between '88-90. Late 60s, maybe. IBM has been looking into holographic memory for a long time. -- Will

17 years, 6 months

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LCD projection panel-Sharp QA 50

by Knglng＠aol.com

LCD projection panel-Sharp QA 50 I HAVE ONE WITH A REMOTE, IF YOU WANT IT EMAIL ME OR CALL ME @ 203 530 6896 I WILL ONLY SELL THE WHOLE THING, NOT JUST THE REMOTE **************Great Deals on Dell Laptops. Starting at $499. (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1217883258x1201191827/aol?redir=htt… ntent/products/features.aspx/laptops_great_deals?c=us%26cs=19%26l=en%26s=d hs%26~ck=anavml)

17 years, 6 months

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FSOT: two Lear Siegler ADM-3A terminals

by dave＠drcircuits.com

Advise availability of ADM-3 or 3A dave at drcircuits.com

17 years, 7 months

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Stack Depth requirements for CP/M 2.2 CBIOS

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: RE: Stack Depth requirements for CP/M 2.2 CBIOS > From: "ROBO5.8" <robo58 at optonline.net> > Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2009 07:54:55 -0500 > To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only'" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > >Hi Chuck, > >Thanks for the reply. > >My IDE drive is about 2GB which is overkill and beyond the capacities of >CP/M 2.2. So I'm only using 20MB of the drive for this project. My system >uses Interrupts for Floppy but polling for the IDE. Anything under 16drives of 8mb will fly (128mb) and not using the full drive is not an issue. >In the mid 70's and early 80's I did lots of CBIOS work and never ran into >stack problems with CP/M. Maybe the code was simpler and I used fewer >Calls, Pushes and Pop's. > >I am currently using a Private Stack for some of my CBIOS debug routines >since they are more stack intensive. > >Did you find that you had to make any other changes to the >Blocking/Deblocking code other than the recommended CP/M 2.2 patches for >success? I'dn look at drive selection and allocation vector (alloc) for a 8mb logical drive that nees to be at least for 4kb allocation size should be at least 256bytes for each drive! You can make it smaller by making the allocation chunks larger (8kb would only need 128bytes). I've never had stack size issues for just disk IO but interrrupt handlers yes always on creatign private stack. I generally develop the disk IO with minimal polled IO to limit the number of things that can go wrong and ones the disk IO is up then roll in the interrupt IO and added features. Allison > >Thanks Robo > > >-----Original Message----- >From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] >On Behalf Of Chuck Guzis >Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 7:29 PM >To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts >Subject: Re: Stack Depth requirements for CP/M 2.2 CBIOS > >On 30 Jan 2009 at 19:08, ROBO5.8 wrote: > >> I have rewritten my old systems CP/M 2.2 CBIOS to add an IDE Drive. >> >> I've run into a problem that has me stumped. Everything works as long as >I >> don't try and copy or assemble a large Assembly file (>80KB). >> >> I will be going along fine and then out of nowhere I will see CP/M request >> access to Drive "T". My debug info says SELDSK is requesting Drive >0FF00h. >> >> I have added debug code to all the CBIOS routines so that they report what >> they are doing to the console (slow but nice). >> >> I've gone through my code many times and tested each routine via an >embedded >> debug monitor. I believe I have added every CP/M 2.2 patch (1-6 and >9)that >> is specific to the CBIOS including those dealing with Blocking/Deblocking. > >What do you mean by "large"? I've run 2.2 with disks up to 20MB with >no problems. > >CP/M's stack can't be depended upon for much space at all. Since my >BIOS code was interrupt driven, every interrupt service routine >started with a change to a private "system" stack. I recall having a >lot of problems before doing that. > >Cheers, >Chuck > >

17 years, 7 months

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Stack Depth requirements for CP/M 2.2 CBIOS

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Stack Depth requirements for CP/M 2.2 CBIOS > From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> > Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:28:52 -0800 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 30 Jan 2009 at 19:08, ROBO5.8 wrote: > >> I have rewritten my old systems CP/M 2.2 CBIOS to add an IDE Drive. >> >> I've run into a problem that has me stumped. Everything works as long as I >> don't try and copy or assemble a large Assembly file (>80KB). >> >> I will be going along fine and then out of nowhere I will see CP/M request >> access to Drive "T". My debug info says SELDSK is requesting Drive 0FF00h. >> >> I have added debug code to all the CBIOS routines so that they report what >> they are doing to the console (slow but nice). >> >> I've gone through my code many times and tested each routine via an embedded >> debug monitor. I believe I have added every CP/M 2.2 patch (1-6 and 9)that >> is specific to the CBIOS including those dealing with Blocking/Deblocking. > >What do you mean by "large"? I've run 2.2 with disks up to 20MB with >no problems. I have many systems with a minimum of 10mb drives and one has a two 32mb and the other has 45mb SCSI/ However partitions are limited to 8Mb as its' CP/M2.2. >CP/M's stack can't be depended upon for much space at all. Since my >BIOS code was interrupt driven, every interrupt service routine >started with a change to a private "system" stack. I recall having a >lot of problems before doing that. > Nominally one should preserve the stack and have one locally for that reason. Howeer if the BIOS is using the minimal IO drivers (no interrupts) the stack should be fine. Hoever is acc to drive "T" says he either has more than 16 partitions or he is crushing drive select. Allison >Cheers, >Chuck > >

17 years, 7 months

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Can anyone identify this terminal?

by sethm＠loomcom.com

A friend forwarded me this YouTube link today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WCTn4FljUQ It's a KRON Channel 4 news (San Francisco, CA) report from 1981 about the San Francisco Examiner (and others) making themselves available online via BBS. My favorite line: "Of the estimated two to three thousand home computer owners in the Bay Area..." Ah, those were the days! I spy a Tandy TRS-80 Model I, a TRS-80 Color Computer! But I'm mainly interested in the Space-Age looking terminals being used by the SF Examiner staff in the video. They've got swooping, rounded corners, white shells, and what looks like an integrated 9 or 10 inch green phosphor display. Screenshot is here: http://www.loomcom.com/misc/examiner_terminal.jpg Anyone know what kind of terminal this is? I'd freaking LOVE to have one of those on my desk. -Seth

17 years, 7 months

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Tektronix 4014-1 & unknown cards

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> There was > also a 4115 that used a raster display instead of the vector display. - 4115/4125 uses an x86 processor At one time, I had the full set of manuals for the 4115, while the company I was working for was trying to write an emulation for it. The service manual in particular seems very hard to find now.

17 years, 7 months

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Good resource about Alan Kay

by evan＠snarc.net

Stumbled onto this web site tonight. Looks very good. http://thinkubator.ccsp.sfu.ca/Dynabook

17 years, 7 months

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Software preservation (Was: Seeking reverse-engineers - Apple II VisiCalc)

by mc＠media.mit.edu

Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:07:20 -0600 From: John Foust <jfoust at threedee.com> Subject: Re: Seeking reverse-engineers - Apple II VisiCalc To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20090129085638.05e74420 at mail.threedee.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 01:00 PM 1/28/2009, Tim McNerney wrote: > >I am looking for volunteers to help reverse-engineer and document Apple II VisiCalc. > >I have three versions of the Apple II software. I know one of them still boots (1983?) > >and have some confidence that the other two versions (1979 and 1981) work too. > >I have been in contact with both Bob Frankston and Dan Bricklin. > >Of course you ask, well then why do you need volunteers? > >The answer is because no one can find the sources. > No matter how many times I hear stories like this, or lived through stories like this, I still shake my head and can't understand how the source code gets lost. All these corporations, all the lawsuits, all the programmers, all the marketing money, and so often no one, NO ONE, preserves arguably the most important bits. - John In the case of Personal Software, I believe Lotus bought them to reduce competition, not to preserve VisiCalc. At the time, people seldom think about the historical significance of source documents. The Intel 4004 schematics would have been lost if it hadn't been for some Intel engineer who realized they needed to be saved. True, there are some engineers who take stuff home and store it in their basement, but in the case of the 4004, Federico Faggin couldn't hold on to any schematics when he left Intel because he was going off to found Zilog and had to protect himself legally. The problem with packrats is that, even when you are unusually organized, like Bob Frankston, you still end up with boxes that are mis-labeled. Even Hewlett Packard has thrown out some important engineering documentation. When the calculator division moved from Santa Clara to Corvalis, the threw out dumpsters full of drawings on their very first RPN calculator, the 9100. --Tim

17 years, 7 months

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Software preservation (Was: Seeking reverse-engineers - Apple II VisiCalc)

by mc＠media.mit.edu

Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:08:15 -0800 From: Guy Sotomayor <ggs at shiresoft.com> Oh, I completely understand how it happens (after having seen it happen a few times). Typically all of the source for a project is kept on a server(s) that run the SCM (source code management) system. Yes, they are backed up but in many cases it's just a rotating backup set (ie they get overwritten). When the project is EOL'd usually the server(s) are either re-tasked (involving a complete re-install and wipe) or scrapped (which involves wiping). The backups are usually scrapped at that time as well. Almost no one does an archive of those backups. If they do, then that's were to look because they are kept in an off-site location for disaster recovery. In many cases the off- site storage is mostly write-only (ie tapes/whatever go in but are never asked for and not purged). Most of this stuff gets "lost" because of apathy on the part of the owners rather than malicious intent. TTFN - Guy People have always been sloppy about old backups. Even companies like Thinking Machines, who were careful and kept off-site backups using Iron Mountain, or somesuch, when the company went out of business, all these tapes ended up in a dumpster. (I know this for a fact). --Tim P.S. Back in the 70's version control systems were rare. Personal Software's backups were done on floppies.

17 years, 7 months

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My GRiD 1109 screen is shot

by tosteve＠yahoo.com

I have acquired a GRiD 1109 laptop from 1983(?), but the screen mostly shows only every-other scan line. Schematics may help, but I haven't found any. Does anyone have a screen (or more) to donate? Thanks- Steve. P.S. The 1109 circuit boards are different than those of the 1101. Anyone know the differences between the two?

17 years, 7 months

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cctalk Digest, Vol 65, Issue 65

by mc＠media.mit.edu

From: "Jeff Walther" <trag at io.com> Subject: Re: Seeking reverse-engineers - Apple II VisiCalc What I find particularly irritating, is that the loss of the source code, arguably, defeats the implicit reason that copyright and patent protection exists in the first place. The U.S. constitution states: "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;" Now one could argue that securing the exclusive rights promotes progress all by itself. But the fact that it is meant to be for a limited time, implies to me that at some point the full benefit of that advancement should become available to everybody. If no copy of the source code is required to be filed with the government, then the copyright and/or patent laws are not securing the benefits of that progress for society at the end of the exclusive period. Patents have become similarly lame. Chips get patented with no description language at any level required to be filed. Sigh. Bad congress. Bad bad congress. No cookie. Jeff Walther I don't think it ever occurred to our founding fathers that "authors" would copyright something with no intent of ever publishing it. Or, in the case of software, publishing the binaries, but not the sources. Even the pre-1976 requirement of copyright registration was perverted in the case of software. The Copyright Office allows you to submit only a fraction of what was being copyrighted, and you can block out parts that you consider trade secrets. So much for the public good. --Tim

17 years, 7 months

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ebay: 2 vintage cards for apollo workstation

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> I guess people aren't really collecting Apollo workstation stuff. DN3xxx et. al. are just coming out of the bottom of the bathtub curve. Same with VME Sun 3 and 4. Most of the mid-80's workstations have been recycled now. There is also the little problem of software for them, if you don't want to run NetBSD. To be honest, the first lot with the disk controller and network card were of more use than the memory and video card. Keeping Apollo gear going is going to be tricky. At least the Sun 3 hardware docs have mostly leaked out. I've heard of very little detailed Apollo HW info out there. A couple of years ago, I was trying to get the guy who was working adding more driver support to BSD to get the info he had reverse engineered, but didn't get anywhere. I've been in contact with the person responsible for Apollo product support at HP about what hardware info they got for the machines, and it doesn't sound like much made it out there from the east coast. Similar things happened when HP took over the 68k-based 1500 product line from TI.

17 years, 7 months

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Replacing failed powersupplies on qbus PDP-11s

by tiggerlasv＠aim.com

Since I'm not aware of your electronics/troubleshooting knowledge, I thought I'd make mention of one of the known BA23/BA123 issues. When the boxes were first introduced, they were shipped with backplane power cables that had a major design flaw. They used IDC-style connectors on each end of what was basically a heavy-gauge ribbon cable. The Insulation Displacement Connectors tended to add significant resistance to the connection, and couldn't carry their rated loads. Depending on the load, the connectors would either discolor from the heat. . . . start to melt, or, in extreme cases, start on fire. An FCO was issued, and the "proper" power cables have individual wires, and crimped-on pins. I don't think it would be unreasonable to speculate that, if your particular power supply had an old-style connector at some point (which chose to melt) that the solder joints for the header could have been compromised from the heat. Check the circuit board where the header is soldered, to make sure there aren't any cold or bridged solder joints. A shorted pin could prevent the power supply from coming up. . . If you have the old ribbon-style power connectors, I would recommend replacing them immediately. I "rolled my own" with parts readily available at MCM Electronics. I'm sure suitable connectors could also be obtained from Jameco, Digikey, etc. T

17 years, 7 months

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Tektronix 4014-1 & unknown cards

by stephane.tsacas＠gmail.com

Hi, I just bought a Tektronix 4014-1, almost unused, for 10 euros ! The guy who sold it to me told me that it was connected to a "computer" which was located under a desk. He had removed the cards of this "computer", and had them stored, he gave them to me with the 4014. The inside of the 4014 and those unkown to me cards are displayed there : http://picasaweb.google.fr/sur.le.tas/Tektronix40141?feat=directlink (the "loupe" button on the top right might be useful). Also, in the 4014 docs, it seems I have one extra cards in the 4014, maybe the first one from the left ? Any idea what the other cards are ? Thanks -- Stephane Paris, France.

17 years, 7 months

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Seeking reverse-engineers - Apple II VisiCalc

by trag＠io.com

>Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:07:20 -0600 >From: John Foust <jfoust at threedee.com> >Subject: Re: Seeking reverse-engineers - Apple II VisiCalc > At 01:00 PM 1/28/2009, Tim McNerney wrote: > > >> >I am looking for volunteers to help reverse-engineer and document >> Apple II VisiCalc. >> >I have three versions of the Apple II software. I know one of them >> still boots (1983?) >> >and have some confidence that the other two versions (1979 and >> 1981) work too. >> >I have been in contact with both Bob Frankston and Dan Bricklin. >> >Of course you ask, well then why do you need volunteers? >> >The answer is because no one can find the sources. >> > > No matter how many times I hear stories like this, or lived through > stories like this, I still shake my head and can't understand how the > source code gets lost. All these corporations, all the lawsuits, all > the programmers, all the marketing money, and so often no one, NO ONE, > preserves arguably the most important bits. What I find particularly irritating, is that the loss of the source code, arguably, defeats the implicit reason that copyright and patent protection exists in the first place. The U.S. constitution states: "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;" Now one could argue that securing the exclusive rights promotes progress all by itself. But the fact that it is meant to be for a limited time, implies to me that at some point the full benefit of that advancement should become available to everybody. If no copy of the source code is required to be filed with the government, then the copyright and/or patent laws are not securing the benefits of that progress for society at the end of the exclusive period. Patents have become similarly lame. Chips get patented with no description language at any level required to be filed. Sigh. Bad congress. Bad bad congress. No cookie. Jeff Walther

17 years, 7 months

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Annals of the History of Computing: "bitsavers" is referenced

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Ye gads... If that's the leading publication on Computer History, it > looks like the market could stand another. Something more along the > lines of the excellent UK magazine "Retro Gamer" perhaps, with > articles written by (and for) normal (if a bit fannish) humans and > lots of pictures of old hardware and stuff. One thing I have learned working at a museum is there is a lot more to the discipline of the history of computing than being a fan and having nostalgia for the subject. I was fortunate to have the chance to have long talks with Doron Swade on what it is like to be a curator at an institution that has existed for hundreds of years, and the responsibility that is involved with that position. There was a very good article on the problems of creating an institution to preserve computing history (in particular, the Charles Babbage Institute) "Arthur Norberg, the Charles Babbage Institute, and the History of Computing" in the Oct-Dec 2007 issue of the Annals, in particular, the collections policy and focus that they created at CBI. "Retrocomputing", nostalga, and eye candy seem to be more of what you are interested in, than the discipline of historical preservation and interpretation, which is where the Annals and other journals on the history of technology are focused.

17 years, 7 months

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Annals of the History of Computing: "bitsavers" is referenced

by madcrow.maxwell＠gmail.com

Ye gads... If that's the leading publication on Computer History, it looks like the market could stand another. Something more along the lines of the excellent UK magazine "Retro Gamer" perhaps, with articles written by (and for) normal (if a bit fannish) humans and lots of pictures of old hardware and stuff. You could call it "Classic Bits" or something actually catchy. I'll bet the inhabitants of this list could cook up a better product almost overnight. Mike

17 years, 7 months

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Repair of damaged/corroded gold connector 'fingers'?

by ian_primus＠yahoo.com

Recently, I've run across some circuit boards with damaged connector fingers. Some are badly scratched and worn, the gold plating almost gone, and others are actually corroded - the copper has corroded, possibly due to previous damage to the gold plating. The circuit boards in question are the ones in Nintendo cartridges, but the same problem applies to any printed circuit board edge connector. The scratched/worn connectors seem to still work, at least most of the time. The corroded ones wouldn't work until I cleaned off the corrosion. Not an easy thing to do - I ended up resorting to Brasso, a brass polish. Now, this is NOT the thing to use to clean edge connectors! DON'T DO IT! It WILL take the plating off. In this case, the plating was already gone, and the copper track underneath was corroded. Cleaning the corrosion off with the Brasso, and subsequent cleaning with alcohol to clean off the Brasso, removed the corrosion leaving a shiny copper track. The board worked fine, but for how long? How long until the corrosion comes back, or the copper oxidizes? Is there any way to repair or replate fingers like this? Obviously, tinning them with solder would prevent oxidization, but this would make that 'finger' much too thick, and risks damaging the connector it plugs into. (Operators loved to "fix" burnt edge connectors on arcade boards like this, and it works for a while, until you go to unplug and replug it, and the destoyed connector no longer mates with the board correctly.) Just something I thought that others might have an input on - I mean, in this case, these Nintendo cartridges are not worth the effort of any complicated repair, but it raised the question in my mind, and I know I've run into this on computers before. So, any thoughts? -Ian

17 years, 7 months

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EPROM erase times and lifespan

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 12:00 -0600 1/29/09, Jules wrote: >Presumably more expensive erasers do things in-place - i.e. periodically do a >blank-check during the erase cycle? I would be pretty nervous about trying that. Knowing how solar cells work, and having seen cosmic-ray induced latchups destroy chips, it just seems like begging for trouble putting energetic photons onto a powered chip if you don't need to. Of course, EPROMs are cheap, and experimenting might be fun, but if you do this, I'd start with easily replaceable EPROMS. Shutting off the lamp and doing a blank-check, then turning it back on, would work, as would covering the chips with a UV-shade. I don't see much problem with that. -- - 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.

17 years, 7 months

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Seeking reverse-engineers - Apple II VisiCalc

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> I think typically it just gets misplaced, not lost :-) > I bet it still exists in a lot of cases, but everybody's forgotten exactly > where I respectfully disagree. Once a product reaches end of life, it is disposed of. Unlike entertainment products, which can be resold to the next generation, old software has been perceived as having no commercial value and is discarded either to avoid its availability for legal discovery, when a company is sold, or when they need the space or get tired of paying storage costs for it. I was hoping that working as the software curator at CHM would open more doors for finding old software (esp sources). It has not, with a few notable exceptions like HP. The stuff REALLY is gone. The main source now for old software are the people that worked on it, who kept copies outside of the company they worked for.

17 years, 7 months

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Annals of the History of Computing: "bitsavers" is referenced

by evan＠snarc.net

>>> I subscribed to Annals fairly early on and enjoyed reasding it, but got increasingly frustrated by the way articles began to sound like someone's dissertation. The staff, a couple of years ago, began encouraging participation from writers outside their normal circle. For example at the 2007 SHOT SIGCIS conference I gave a lecture about the importance of involving actual end users when writing history, and almost everyone welcomed me into the fold. So, while you're correct about the journal style -- the papers aften ARE chapters of dissertations* -- consider the old mantra of "be the change you wish to see." * PS: That kind of vintage computing is just as important as what happens in cctalk, at VCF, etc. Plenty of room for both. Personally I feel these worlds need to trust each other and work together to advance the topic.

17 years, 7 months

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Annals of the History of Computing: "bitsavers" is referenced

by evan＠snarc.net

>>> Or would this bring unwanted attention to the potential copyright issue(s) of the material in question I wouldn't worry about it. The readers of "Annals" are almost entirely academic, not corporate.

17 years, 7 months

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BA-302 data

by jgessling＠yahoo.com

Thanks to all for your help. Indeed the schematic is on the cardboard. I've made a LTspice model of it and am trying to understand but I'm just a software guy trying to learn. I've had an offer for the datasheet and followed up on that. BTW, I bought the 150-1 a couple years ago at a flea market for maybe $5. Box is quite worn but inside it had never been used and now that I've got some time I've dived into it. Jim

17 years, 7 months

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Annals of the History of Computing: "bitsavers" is referenced

by eric940＠gmail.com

Journal issue: 2008, Volume 30, Issue 3 Article: "The Genesis of the Tenet 210: An Early Time-Sharing System" (page 81, specifically) Reference: http://bitsavers.org/pdf/tenet There's no citation/footnote mentioning the supplier of said link/resource. Admittedly, 'tis nice that such a reputable publication (IMHO) references this valuable resource, but would it not be appropriate to notate the source of the author's material (of which I found none)? Or would this bring unwanted attention to the potential copyright issue(s) of the material in question -- which I recall being brought up in an eBay thread of similar nature a week or so back (and what spurred me to comment on this)? While this journal may not have a [relatively] huge circulation (I think - just a guess), it could prove taxing to the bandwidth resources from the host referenced. (This message could prove moot if the provider of the resource was, indeed, contacted by the author before publication of the article.)

17 years, 7 months

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Recommendations for IMSAI-compatible RAM cards?

by derschjo＠mail.msu.edu

Hey all -- Acquired an IMSAI 8080 in half-assembled condition (but the price was right). I believe that (after doing some thorough cleaning, debugging, and replacing of old cabling) that I've got the front panel and CPU functioning correctly. However, the IMSAI came without any RAM cards so I'm unable to go any further at the moment. I have one S-100 RAM card but I have no documentation on it and it's missing a couple of ICs (and what they're supposed to be, I don't know). It's a PSS RAM65. My internet searches for info confirm that the card does indeed exist, but I can find no technical information. From my research, my understanding is that S-100 RAM cards are fickle and compatibility with front-panel machines can be an issue. Does anyone have any recommendations for what to look out for as I begin my search? Anyone have any decent RAM cards they'd be willing to part with? Thanks! Josh

17 years, 7 months

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Can a TU80 read 800bpi tapes?

by bqt＠softjar.se

B M <iamvirtual at gmail.com> wrote: > Can a DEC TU80 tape drive (a 1600bpi device) read 800bpi tapes? The > goal is to archive several 9-track tapes I have. The tapes were > originally for a PDP-11 system, but I do not know the original tape > format (RT? RSTS? DOS? ...). No. The TU80 is 1600 bpi only. Johnny -- Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus || on a psychedelic trip email: bqt at softjar.se || Reading murder books pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol

17 years, 7 months

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Anyone have Heathkit catalogs from the late 60's/early 70's -- looking for electronic experimenter

by ragooman＠comcast.net

I was hoping to find someone with Heathkit catalogs from the late 60's-early 70's. I'm trying to track down an electronic experimenter which I used as a kid. I don't have a pic or model #, just have a visual in my memory--I should draw this from memory, maybe someone can recall this. Basically, it contained two consoles of blue plastic and a white 'lego' style breadboard and red component bricks. If someone has a catalog, I would like to ask about scanning the page with the description and image of this. thanks =Dan -- [ = http://www2.applegate.org/~ragooman/ ]

17 years, 7 months

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TRS-80 Model 1 vs Model III disk/application compatibility question

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

Hi, all, I was cleaning up around the house and wanted to stash a Model 3 on the shelf out of the way. Before I did, I fired it up to make sure it (still) worked, and to try something I haven't tried before... I have diskettes, c. 1982, from a friend lying around, so I booted it into TRSDOS 1.3. All seems well. It claims to have 48K (internally and according to the markings of the case and the memory report at boot time), passes MEMTEST (which is on most/all of the TRSDOS disks), it runs BASIC, and it starts a couple of binary games I found. What it does not do is run Zork or Enchanter. I have original Zork I and Enchanter disks. Booting up a backup of the Zork disk gets me to a TRSDOS prompt. I can take a DIR and see the program and the data file there. If I start Zork, the screen blanks, the disk gronks and the access light blinks occasionally. I hear what sounds like successive track seeks (which I'm expecting since I know how Z-Machines work and roughly what virtual pages need to be loaded to get a game started), but then after a few seconds (less than 2 min), it sounds and looks like it's in a loop and repeats the gronking and flashing. I never see anything on the screen except for a blinking cursor. The Enchanter disk isn't much better - I think it spins the disk and gronks for a bit, then goes quiet. I'm posting because I am reasonably certain, due to age if nothing else, that these are Model 1 diskettes. Enchanter is a flippy, with an original Infocom label on both sides marked "side 1" and "side 2". The Zork disk is a Personal Software release (I have the 8.5"x11" manual, too, naturally), thus about as old as it gets for Infocom products. I don't recall when the III came out, but Enchanter is one of the older titles, along with Starcross and Zork, so sometime around 1982. The dates in the directory for the Zork disk are also 1982 (prior to the most commonly available release of the gamefile from 1983). The part I'm not sure of is if there would be any gotchas trying to run software from 1981-1982 on a Model III or not. Of course I can play these games on a variety of systems I have on hand. I'm just trying to get this to start up to check gamefile version numbers and to take a few turns at 27-year-old-machine speeds. It's possible I have two different defective game disks, but it's also likely that I'm attempting something out of naivete that a die-hard TRS-80 user would immediately recognize as futile. Thanks for any tips, -ethan

17 years, 7 months

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ping for Jim Davis

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

Jim if you're still on this list, please e-mail me w/your current e-mail address. Thanks.

17 years, 7 months

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Can a TU80 read 800bpi tapes?

by iamvirtual＠gmail.com

Can a DEC TU80 tape drive (a 1600bpi device) read 800bpi tapes? The goal is to archive several 9-track tapes I have. The tapes were originally for a PDP-11 system, but I do not know the original tape format (RT? RSTS? DOS? ...). Thanks. --barrym

17 years, 7 months

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BA-302 data

by jgessling＠yahoo.com

My radio shack 150 in one electronic project kit (cat number 28-248, maybe 1976?) contains a part listed as an "Integrated Circuit". Model number BA-302 is listed and that's what's on the part. It's a 7 pin inline package. The text mentions it to be a "ring of three" amplifier. I've been having quite a bit of fun working with this kit, never had one as a kid, but this part has me a bit baffled. Internet searches haven't turned up anything useful. Anyone can help? I'd really appreciate it. Thanks, Jim

17 years, 7 months

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Recommendations for IMSAI-compatible RAM cards?

by dm561＠torfree.net

Message: 14 Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:48:42 -0500 From: "Richard A. Cini" <rcini at optonline.net> Subject: Re: Recommendations for IMSAI-compatible RAM cards? On 1/27/09 11:41 AM, "Bill Sudbrink" <wh.sudbrink at verizon.net> wrote: > The Compupro RAM series (RAM16, etc.) do a good job for me. > I agree with this. Over the years, I've collected and replaced my various 8k and 16k cards with all CompuPro RAM16 or RAM17 cards. I've had other good and reliable cards, SSM and Vandenberg cards, but they all use odd and hard to replace RAM chips. The thing I like about the RAM16 and RAM17 is that they use 6116 SRAM chips which are pin-compatible with 2716 EPROMS. So, the board can double as an EPROM board. This is what I have in my IMSAI. Rich -----------------Reply: I've got more 6116-4s than I'll ever use, if anybody needs any. Also some Cromemco 64KZ/IIs. mike

17 years, 7 months

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SC/MP 8073 addressing query

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: SC/MP 8073 addressing query > From: Doug Jackson <doug at stillhq.com> > Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:26:13 +1100 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Hi list, > >I have an interesting question regarding the INS8073 (National >Semiconductor SC/MP 3 with BASIC in ROM). > >Finally, somebody gave me a round tuit, and I have started work on a >simple 8073 system. > >Eventually, it will have 8K of ROM, 8K of RAM, an 8255, and a switch / >LED interface. Currently on the board, I have the 6264 RAM tied to the >8073, with no address decoding (ie the CS* on the RAM is tied to A15 on >the CPU). Sadly, as a simple test, this does not operate as I would >expect. I would have expected that the RAM would have been selected >anywhere in the lower 32K or the memory map, and I would have a simple >system that would spit out a console prompt. But no luck. > >Now the question.... The internal ROM is located in the lowest 4K or >the memory map. When the CPU is fetching data from the lower 4K, does >it assert the NRDS line, and sample the external bus? My belief is that >it does not, as the trivial application note that I have seen simply >ties a couple of 2114 to the processor, and uses A10 as the chip select. > I built one years ago and pull it out frm time to time. No, it's less than 4K and yes you do get NRDS. Also you need pull up resistors on selected lines to set baus rate and boot on rom. I'd use 2116(2kb) or 2164s(8kB) as they are 8bits wide and really save on parts and power over 2114. One 2164 placed at at 1000h makes for a tiny sysem. Finally NIBLE when it starts does a memory check for (Ep)rom at 8000h. There are some addresses that are tested for information that have to be respected. If no one comes up with the circuit that National had for the demo board they sold I can scan my copy, it's pretty poor but may help. The manual is just too thick for me to scan or copy. Allison >Any ideas? > >Doug > > > >-- >Doug Jackson, I-RAP, MAIPM, MIEEE > >Principal Information Security Consultant >EWA-AUSTRALIA >PO Box 6308 O'Connor ACT 2602 >Level 1, 214 Northbourne Ave, Braddon ACT 2612 > >Tel: +61 (0)2 6230 6833 >Fax: +61 (0)2 6230 5833 >Mob: +61 (0)414 986 878 > >http://www.ewa-australia.com > > >============================================ > >IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of Electronic Warfare >Associates - Australia. If you have received this email in error, >you are requested to contact doug.jackson at ewa-australia.com or Ph >+61 2 62306833 and delete the email. This message is not to be >copied or distributed to other parties without the express permission >of the author. Any personal information in this email must be handled >in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). > >============================================

17 years, 7 months

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Looking for a lotus smartsuite 3 disk

by teoz＠neo.rr.com

I need disk 12 (of 27) of Lotus smartsuite 3 (Win 3.1 era), part # R03380. The contents are something like lotus012.dsk (single file). The funny thing is that this disk cannot be read at all in the drive, wonder what caused that.

17 years, 7 months

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got netbsd 2.0.3 to boot on 11/730 in sim

by brad＠heeltoe.com

The vax unix nerds on the list might find this mildly interesting: I hacked a copy of simh vax780 to look like a vax 11/730. I made a modified version of the standalone netbsd "boot" program which does nfs loads from a deuna (it will do copy's too, which is handy at times) With that I finished debugging netbsd 2.0.3 on the 730. I've gotten it to boot to a shell prompt on a simh 11/730 with 4mb of memory using an nfs root. woo hoo! So, next I'll make a disk image and put my unibus scsi card in my real 730 and debug that. With any luck it will just work. Once it's going on real hardware I'll get it going on the latest netbsd (4.0?) and get a patch back to the netbsd/vax maintainer. [for those who care, I use a linux program which simulates the tu58 to boot my 730. I made a boot tape image with putr which contains the netbsd boot program (as well as the other files needed to load microcode, etc). I plan to spend some time and make a linux program which will put together valid tu58 tape images, just to make my life easier, since putr requires DOS.] I have to give the netbsd folks a lot of credit. Their posix build system is very handy. But note that releases before 2.0.3 will *NOT* build on a posix machine - they require native netbsd to build cleanly. I've always had a soft spot for the 730; maybe because the 780 was just too damn big! :-) -brad

17 years, 7 months

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Silicon Graphics PI 4D/35 Memory near Seattle

by michaelgreen42＠comcast.net

Digging though my SGI stuff and found these. Got rid of my PI 4D/35 a long time ago. I have 16x8Mb ram sticks that should max out one of these machines. If interested email me with offer.

17 years, 7 months

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Thrift store score: HP LJ4L

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

After years of looking at an HP LJ4L I got at the Uni surplus that someone had removed the fuser from, I found a nearly-unused 4L at the nearby thrift store yesterday. It printed the test page without a burp, but was on the shelf without a price. I found someone to get it priced and walked out a happy customer $6 later. The only thing it's missing is a right-angle IEC power cord to fit behind the access door, but it works well enough with a straight-in cable. -ethan

17 years, 7 months

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TI/99 stuff near Seattle, WA

by michaelgreen42＠comcast.net

I've got an overabundance of consoles, some boxed, some not. I've also got speech synth carts and even an expansion box (fairly rare and I imagine what most people would be interested in). Make it worth my while to ship to you and its yours. Otherwise some of this will probably end up in the garbage.

17 years, 7 months

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Recommendations for IMSAI-compatible RAM cards?

by Watzman＠neo.rr.com

The best s-100 memory cards will use static memory cards ... the chips will be 2102's (for very old 4k and 8k cards), 4044's, 2114's, 2147's or a few others for 16K and 32k cards or 6116's for 64k cards (some of these chips had other numbers for what were, essentially, the same chip). The best cards are the Godbout / CompuPro cards, which I believe were all static, but quite a few other static memory cards were good also. There are SOME good dynamic cards, I've had excellent success with Cromemco 16KZs, and with the SD Sales Expandoram cards. The problem is that it's hard to know which dynamic cards are good vs. which ones are bad (and the bad are very bad indeed), and there can be a lot of compatibility problems with front panels and DMA. So I prefer to avoid them, but a few of them are ok. > -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Josh Dersch > Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 1:46 AM > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Subject: Recommendations for IMSAI-compatible RAM cards? > > > Hey all -- > > Acquired an IMSAI 8080 in half-assembled condition (but the price was > right). I believe that (after doing some thorough cleaning, debugging, > and replacing of old cabling) that I've got the front panel and CPU > functioning correctly. However, the IMSAI came without any RAM cards so > I'm unable to go any further at the moment. > > I have one S-100 RAM card but I have no documentation on it and it's > missing a couple of ICs (and what they're supposed to be, I don't > know). It's a PSS RAM65. My internet searches for info confirm that > the card does indeed exist, but I can find no technical information. > > From my research, my understanding is that S-100 RAM cards are fickle > and compatibility with front-panel machines can be an issue. Does > anyone have any recommendations for what to look out for as I begin my > search? Anyone have any decent RAM cards they'd be willing to part with? >

17 years, 7 months

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IBM PC Jr. available in San Jose (short notice)

by korpela＠ssl.berkeley.edu

I've been contacted by someone offering a PC Jr. Please contact original author directly. He's planning to recycle it tomorrow if there's no interest. Eric ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Alex Khajehtoorian <alex.khajehtoorian at gmail.com> Subject: IBM PC Jr. To: korpela at ssl.berkeley.edu Dr. Korpela, This might seem a little random, but i recently installed BOINC software for SETI at home and while reading up on the project and team i noticed that you enjoy to restore vintage computers. I'm not sure how vintage you consider an IBM PC Jr, but i have one that is in excellent condition. I have contacted museums and schools and no one has a need for it. I'd rather not recycle it because it is like new. If you'd like, its all yours. http://www.computercloset.org/IBMPCjr.htm that's not mine, but an example Feel free to ask colleagues. I live in San Jose and you can have it anytime. Regards, Alex Khajehtoorian

17 years, 7 months

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updates to the Little Orphan Tomy Tutor site

by spectre＠floodgap.com

Finally got off my rear end and updated the Little Orphan Tomy Tutor site, focusing on the TMS 9995-based Tomy Tutor home computer. I've added more information on the marketing promise (including the "TI Adapter") thanks to a full video capture of the Demonstration Cartridge, started uploading scans of the official User Club newsletters, uploaded the printer interface (allowing you to connect any standard parallel-port printer to the Tomy Tutor) schematic and redid most of the photography, along with a reorganized cartridge list, updated trade list and other ticky stuff. Hope you enjoy it, http://www.floodgap.com/retrobits/tomy/ -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- Smile if you like this tag line. -------------------------------------------

17 years, 7 months

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ebay: 2 vintage cards for apollo workstation

by legalize＠xmission.com

ebay item # 260352448968 -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html> Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>

17 years, 7 months

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(Fwd) Re: Thrift store score: HP LJ4L

by cclist＠sydex.com

On 26 Jan 2009 at 13:53, Dave McGuire wrote: > Indeed, those are amazing printers. My mother has a 4MPlus that I > just decommissioned; it finally started to wear out, with about a > million prints on the page counter. I bought it used and pretty beat > up from a surplus dealer in ~1998, it saw daily duty in a small > office printing stuff for about five people for several years, then > it was stored in a very hot storage locker for about four years, and > then it spent two years printing a LOT of stuff for my mother's > business. It just never gave up! I've got a couple of old Panasonic lasers (KX-P4450i (PCL) and KX- P4455 (PS)); circa early 1990s. Heavy battleship construction; separate toner (i.e. out of a bottle, no cartridges). They keep going and going--but lately I've been using the cheap ($100 on a good day) Brother lasers. Great print quality, miserly toner usage (and easy to refill carts) and they don't dim the lights when the fuser comes on. After 3 years on my "short" HL-4050 cartridge with the toner lamp blinking, I finally refilled it with toner I bought 2 years ago. Problem now is what to do with old Panasonics--they use Moto 68K processors internally and have a great deal of nice mechanical components--and AppleTalk interfaces as well as serial and parallel. Probably recycle them, I guess. No inclination to fool with the innards. I'd love to find a good deal on an HP LJ 5si. That 11x17 print format would come in handy. Cheers, Chuck

17 years, 7 months

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