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

Connecting SGI GDM-20E21 to SPARCstation 2.

by trasz＠FreeBSD.org

I have the following: SPARCstation 2 with GX card (1M mappable, rev 7), SGI GDM-20E21 monitor (Trinitron, OEM from Sony) and 13w3 cable. Obviously they don't work together - the pinouts are said to be slightly different in SGI and Sun. Now, is there any easy way - cut some wires, connect the others - to make this work? -- If you cut off my head, what would I say? Me and my head, or me and my body?

18 years, 11 months

3
3
0 0

Need a sanity check

by allanh-cctalk2＠kallisti.com

On 14 Sep 2007 at 9:41, Chuck Guzis wrote: > I'd appreciate it, Glen. Only the handshaking lines (IFBY, IDBY) > need be buzzed out, I think. The tape motion commands seem to work > just fine, but reading or writing moves the tape without the driver > returning (i.e. stays busy). I built my cable from an Overland > description, so I'm not completely sure that it's correct. I buzzed out my Overland cable some time ago, and just checked the handshake lines above against the reference you used. They match. For reference, my cable wiring is at: http://www.kallisti.com/~allanh/misc/overlandperteccable.html allan -- Allan N. Hessenflow allanh at kallisti.com

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

Computer rescue

by wmaddox＠pacbell.net

Hi, folks. A few weeks ago, I sent out a last-minute request for help with a large computer rescue on the east coast. As was not entirely expected, no one was able to make it on such short notice during the week, however all worked out well in the end. I have some pictures of the "haul" as it arrived in San Jose up at www.ddp116.org . --Bill

18 years, 11 months

3
5
0 0

GPS chipsets

by steve＠radiorobots.com

Hi All, Looking for GPS chipset docs from late 80s to early 90s. Maybe Thales, Sokkia, Javad, JRC, Trimble, Rockwell, etc? Any responses appreciated. Thanks, Steve

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Kaypro movcpm.com

by redodd＠comcast.net

Hello Kaypro fans, I'd like to put a Kayplus83 rom into a Kaypro II so I can add double sided drives and have all the other nice stuff that the rom provides. It's the early model with an 81-110B1 motherboard that needs the wiring for the floppy side 2 added. The Advent Turborom manual has the wiring mods needed for side 2 access. The Kaypro II comes with a 2K eprom and the Kayplus83 is an 8K. Again the Turborom manual tells how to access a 4K rom and adding access to the A12 line should make the 8K rom work. I think that I've got that part all worked out. To make the Kayplus boot disk, you have to have a system size of 62K or smaller. My Kaypro II disk has a 64K system. When I run movcpm.com to change the system size, the program hangs. I also tried the version of movcpm that comes with the Kaypro 4 and that hangs also. So question (1) is, has anyone gotten this program to work or is there another easy way to do this? There's a blurb on the net about the Kaypro 1 movcpm not working right but I didn't see anything about the Kaypro II version. Question (2) is, should the movcpm program from another Kaypro model work on a II or are they all specific to 1 model. TIA. Ralph

18 years, 11 months

3
3
0 0

Fwd: [Electronics_101] On this day

by rtellason＠verizon.net

---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: [Electronics_101] On this day Date: Thursday 13 September 2007 18:05 From: Bruce <hvekybd_willtrav at bellsouth.net> To: Electronics_101 at yahoogroups.com From Wikipedia, 1956 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956> - IBM <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM> unveiled the 305 RAMAC <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_305_RAMAC> (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control), the first commercial computer <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer> that used magnetic disk storage <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive>. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_305_RAMAC Though this would be interesting. Just one of the large boxes in the picture, hold almost as much as a DVD does today. Just show how far we have come. ------------------------------------------------------- -- Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and ablest -- form of life in this section of space, ?a critter that can be killed but can't be tamed. ?--Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters" - Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James M Dakin

18 years, 11 months

5
5
0 0

More stuff in Pasadena-Arcadia

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

The chap I told you about earlier with the Nova 4 still needs some help paring down his oversized collection. I will be down there tomorrow (Saturday) to pick up the last of what I'm selling for him. There still is a lot of early PC-related things, ham stuff, telecom crap, and miscellanous miscelleny. Is there anyone out there who's willing to spend this Saturday helping him clean up things? Anything that doesn't get hauled away will otherwise get hauled away by the e-waste disposal people. And they aren't kind to vintage stuff. So, if this sounds like your idea of fun, email me at the below email address or my yahoo account (username: cupricus) and we'll get things set up. -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

MicronEye camera software

by shieldsm＠gmail.com

I just picked up a MicronEye camera "for IBM PC" - it came with everything except manuals and software. "Everything" means: The camera itself (with a ribbon cable out) MicronEye controller box of some sort, ribbon input and RJ12 output 8-bit ISA paddle with RJ12 input. A cardboard washer taped to a piece of paper labeled "CLOSE-UP RING" (and original box to boot!) The ISA paddle has an AMI S68B50P IC (a serial interface I believe) and some 74LS parts to glue it to the ISA bus. This leads me to believe that the camera controller box itself speaks serial to the ISA board. I know from some googling that this camera was often featured connected to early Macintoshes, and the box it came in indicates it was available with interfaces to Apple II, TI, TRS-80 CC, Mac, and IBM PC. I guess I'm looking for any info on how I might obtain software for it - really any software for any of the platforms would be helpful -- or even just pointers as to how it might be programmed against. As well, I might be interested in adapting it to hook up to a Mac SE or the like, as working with pictures (especially the black-and-white pictures I believe the camera is capable of producing) would be a bit more natural on the Mac SE than on an age-appropriate PC. There were some references to this device in the cctalk archives - it seems others out there have these things. It also seemed like there were some kits or third party producers of cameras based on the Micron ram chip, but this is an "official" Micron product. Well, thanks for any pointers! Mike

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

21" CRTs (St. Louis, MO)

by legalize＠xmission.com

Big piles of 'em. For all of you who were saying how you much prefer CRTs, this might be worth pooling up and splitting a lot. These will probably be cheap to purchase, but $$ to ship. (37) Asstd 21" Computer Monitors <http://www.dovebid.com/assets/display.asp?ItemID=cpt67356> (14) Dell P1130 21" Computer Monitors <http://www.dovebid.com/assets/display.asp?ItemID=cpt67336> (27) Dell P1130 21" Computer Monitors <http://www.dovebid.com/assets/display.asp?ItemID=cpt68314> (65) Asstd 21" Computer Monitors <http://www.dovebid.com/assets/display.asp?ItemID=cpt68316> -- "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/>

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Zen and the art of RL02 maintainance

by oldcpu2＠rogerwilco.org

Pat said: > On Thursday 13 September 2007, J Blaser wrote: >> Lastly, be cautious around the head actuator. The heads and the >> spindle (plate) are carefully aligned, and I wouldn't remove or >> adjust either of these. Unless, that is, you have the printsets and >> proper tools (which I don't). > Actually, the RL02/RL01 is an embedded servo drive, so "head alignment" > generally isn't critical, at least like it is with the RK0n drives. Yes, excellent point. I was thinking more in terms of the possibility of getting the horizontal forward/backward 'tilt' a little bit off, that is, when the heads are on the outer tracks versus when the heads are extended to the inner tracks, is the flying height the same? Also, I might add that I removed the platter brushes from three of my RL01s last year, based on commentary here on the list and other groups. I'm not sure if RL02s were ever produced with brushes, but if so, it might be worth checking. The three RL02s that I have in another PDP-11/23 PLUS never had them. - Jared

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

Zen and the art of RL02 maintainance

by oldcpu2＠rogerwilco.org

Josh Dersch said: > Just picked up an RL02 for a song. It's a bit beat up looking, but it > seems pretty clean inside, so far. Glad it was for a song, and not for money! ;) > It's kind of a moot point at the moment, since I have no disk packs, > cabling, or interface boards (so I can't use the darned thing until I > complete a scavenger hunt...) but I'm wondering what I should check out > on this machine before I power it on & (eventually) start using it... Having been through four RL01 in the past 12 months, I might have something to offer. By no means am I the RL0x drive expert, but here goes... For me, the very first thing that is done (after the exterior cleaning, of course) is the reform the capacitors. These RL0x drives have two capacitors of interest: a 66,000 uF 30V, and a 22,000 uF 40V. I suppose it happens all the time, but I don't like to power up anything until I've removed the capacitors and put them through the reform(ul?)ation regime. Don't want to be too pedantic, but here are the steps I took: - remove the service cover (4 screws), then cartridge door/cover. - clean the interior as required (vacuum, Windex) - lift the DC servo PCB, make a note of the connections, disconnect the power connector - carefully lift and rotate the box above the head actuator to get access underneath - disconnect gounding wires to lugs on I/O PCB in service cover, and the inside of the rear chassis. You may find another wire to the head actuator 'box', too. - remove the four screws on the rear panel to remove the power supply (the whole rear chassis panel). Be careful as you loosen screws since the rear panel is top heavy and my tilt out when you least expect it. - Now you have full access to the PS and can disconnect and reform the caps. While the caps are reforming, here are a few other things you should consider: - take a vacuum hose to the inside of the cabinet and then wipe (windex for me) every surface. - remove the front bezel/cover to get access to the switch assembly. - your coarse filter is probably falling apart as mine were. I replaced the filter with some new-fangled Dupont furnace filter (mumble the name) which has three components: a rigid plastic stabilizing grid, a very course filter, and a fine (10 micron) filter mesh. I cut a rectangle of the fine mesh to fit and held it in place with the stabilizing grid, alos cut to fit. It works very, very well. - When the caps are done, put it all back together, and enjoy! :) I have a couple of drives the sort of quietly squeal a bit when first spun up, but I never found any information on lubrication, etc., and they quiet up after about 30 seconds, so I don't worry too much. Lastly, be cautious around the head actuator. The heads and the spindle (plate) are carefully aligned, and I wouldn't remove or adjust either of these. Unless, that is, you have the printsets and proper tools (which I don't). Good luck! - Jared

18 years, 11 months

3
2
0 0

Ancient 8086/80286 unixes?

by classiccmp＠memory-alpha.org.uk

Hi, > PE (Practical Electorncc) 'CHAMP' system, in 1977 or so. It >was built on stribboard (and IC postion layouts were given, but >you had to work out where to run the wires from the shcematic). >As was the assembly listing of the monitor ROM. A couple of years later they produced the "System 68", a 6800 based machine constructed on Eurocard sized PCBs (though using an edge connector rather than a DIN-whatever connector). IIRC circuit diagrams and PCB layouts were provided, along with a full listing of the system monitor program. You could even buy ready made PCBs (and kits of parts?) from a little company called "Newbury Data"....they actually had an office a couple of miles down the road from here at the time. Not sure whether ETI published the PCB layout for the "Triton" (I'm pretty sure they didn't, it was a fairly large, through hole plated PCB), but they sure publisged the schematics and monitor listings. Then there was the UK101.... :-) TTFN - Pete.

18 years, 11 months

5
5
0 0

EPROM Question

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: EPROM Question > From: "Zane H. Healy" <healyzh at aracnet.com> > Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:26:46 -0700 (PDT) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > >I've been trying to google up an answer, but have had no luck. What is the >difference between a 27256 and a 27C256 EPROM? Can a 27C256 EPROM be >substituted for a 27256? > >Zane Yes, gernerally. If your programming it limit Vpp to 12.5V otherwise the same. Allison

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

EPROM programmer/readers

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

After putting it off for many, many years, I've decided to break down and do it. I'm in the market for a device to read and program EPROM's such as would be found in DEC or Commodore 64 hardware. Something that can also handle other chips (Such as PAL's) that I'd find in DEC or Commodore hardware would be nice. I'm looking for something that is either dirt cheap, or that I can build. Zane -- | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator | | healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast | | MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet) | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |

18 years, 11 months

7
10
0 0

Need a sanity check

by cclist＠sydex.com

I'm playing with a Computer Logics PCTD-16 Pertec tape drive interface board and my Fujitsu M2444AC drive. I can perform tape motion commands just fine, but data commands begin and do not seem to complete. I've checked that IDBY (J2 38 or W) comes ready at the end of a read or write, so my next guess is that I've got the cable wire wrong somewhow. My reference has this pin connected to pin 24 on the DC62 connector to the controller. Here's what I'm using: http://www.sydex.com/overcbl.html Have I missed something? Can anyone double-check this? Thanks, Chuck

18 years, 11 months

2
2
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: 8-bitters and multi-whatever > From: "Roy J. Tellason" <rtellason at verizon.net> > Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:33:33 -0400 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On Wednesday 12 September 2007 07:43, Allison wrote: >> Mine started when I needed to get stuff from the various CP/M systems >> that even when they had disks were incompatable hard sector to soft >> or 8 and 5.25. I started with serial peer to peer as in pipmodem and >> similar. > >Pipmodem? That's a new one on me, though the name is pretty suggestive. PIP has an area that the user can modify as an aux device outside those in the bios (or part of the bios). Try doing a google on it. > >> Later I did a two system resource sharing that grew to allow up to a >> potential 256 systems. In '82 the whole thing peaked with a multiprocessor >> S100 crate with intercommunications via pooled memory. > >How was that handled in the hardware, particularly with regard to contention >for access? I vaguely recall running across some multiport memory chips, >but their capacity wasn't anywhere near what was currently in use that didn't >have that feature. Real simple the pooled memory was often just a block of ram in common space and each cpu had it's comminications area and a doorbell register to signal that it needs to check it's pool. The protocal was A writes to Bs com area, A hits Bs doorbell, A waits for doorbell and goes back to check As comm area. Since S100 bus arbitration allowed only one bus master and none of the areas overlapped it was very robust. It relied on bus mastering, a clear protocal and the "doobell register" to do attention requested signaling and keeps the message block from read part way while being written. By assigning buffers that do not overlap it made sure one cpu didn't corrupt anthers message. However for systems without bus master arbitation other schemes existed too. S100 IEE696 had bus master arbitration and Compupro and others used that scheme. It was by no means the only way. For example Ampro (AmproLB+) used the SCSI/sasi bus for it's communications between CPUs. Allison

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Recent acquisitions

by evan＠snarc.net

Some ultra-rare laptops I picked up recently: - Teleram T-3000 with external disk drive and manual (1982) - MicroOffice RoadRunner (1982) - Dulmont Magnum with manual (1983) What'd I spend on these? Don't ask, or my bank account might revolt against me. :) My collection of early laptops now includes, but is not limited to: 1982: - Grid Compass 1101 - Teleram T-3000 - MicroOffice RoadRunner - Epson HX-20 - Grundy NewBrain model AD 1983: - Kyocera Kyotronic KC-85 - Gavilan (eponymous.) - Dulmont Magnum - Sharp PC-5000 I'm currently borrowing a Casio FP-200 (1982) from a friend, and I own a Convergent Workslate (1982/3), but I can't decide if those are large handhelds or small laptops. It is a dilemma! Still looking to acquire a Sord IS-11 and a Xerox 1800 "Sunrise".

18 years, 11 months

2
3
0 0

Hal Hardenbergh

by james＠vartek-corp.com

Hello, I saw an old post by you where you were looking for Hal Hardenbergh. Did you ever find anything out? My name is James Shaker. I worked for him for about 5 years during the DTACK Grounded era. James -- Open WebMail Project (http://openwebmail.org)

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

FYI: good Docu on tonight-PBS: Dayton Codebreakers

by ragooman＠comcast.net

FYI: good Docu on tonight- PBS: Dayton Codebreakers National Cash Register Co. conducts secret experiments to break the Enigma Code; engineer Joseph R. Desch helps end World War II. =Dan -- [ Never put off till tomorrow, What you can do the day after tomorrow ] [ Pittsburgh ---- http://www2.applegate.org/~ragooman/ ]

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

ebay: Tartan Terminal System "Key to tape system"

by legalize＠xmission.com

Anyone know what this is? Looks like a weird data entry system to key in data and store it on tape for processing who knows how. Although the description could just be off... ebay item # 250164567149 -- "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/>

18 years, 11 months

4
4
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by dm561＠torfree.net

--------------Original Message: Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:31:18 -0500 From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> Subject: Re: 8-bitters and multi-whatever On 9/12/07, M H Stein <dm561 at torfree.net> wrote: > > From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > >Since I couldn't afford an IEEE-488 disk drive, rather than just move > >files back and forth on tape, basing it upon the cable and software > >from a contemporary "Byte" magazine, I fabricated my own > >nybble-with-handshake cable between the user ports of the PET and the > >C-64, and moved stuff from one to the other over that. > > You mean you didn't just make a simple cassette "null modem" cable? > I still have the 30 footer that connected my upstairs "play" PET to the > downstairs "work" one. Lots of people (especially schools) "networked" > them that way in those distant days. Until you mentioned it now, I never would have thought of it. Back in the day, I never saw any articles in the journals about that, and nobody at any of the user-group meetings ever mentioned it or showed it off, but thinking about it now... I can see how it could work. Just a passive cable? Do you have any special notes, or was it just SAVE "FOO", 1 and LOAD "FOO", 1? -ethan =================================================== -----------Reply: Simple as that. Out to In, In to Out, and ground; preferably shielded, compatible with pretty well all models. Type LOAD "FOO" on receiving unit, run up/downstairs and type SAVE "FOO" on the other, using the alternate port on the unit that had a "real" cassette drive (2001 & VIC20 in my case, with an 8032/8050 and a massive Centronics 101 printing boat anchor at the other end), then back down/upstairs to play/work. Remember that an 8050 2FDD was around $2000+ back then IIRC, so one was enough for me. In the classrooms they'd have a "hub" (but I don't recall now whether they were passive or needed amplification). The teacher would tell everyone to type LOAD "FOO" and when they were ready everyone pressed return and the teacher would enter the SAVE. If anyone wanted to save their master- pieces, then one at a time they could send them back to the "server" and copy to disk. Since Jack T had his beginnings here in Toronto, Commodore had a pretty strong presence and when the province decided to put computers into the classrooms most of them were PETs; 2001s, then 4032s and finally C64s, although by that time Apples (and clones) were also becoming pretty commonplace. That's also one of the reasons TPUG (the Toronto PET Users Group) was so successful and in fact is still active today, not to mention Jim Butterfield's (another Torontonian) considerable support and contributions. mike

18 years, 11 months

13
20
0 0

Wang 300 Calc

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

The good news is that the symbols (at least for modernish interfaces) seem to be being standardized. Be nice if they back-standardized though for things like serial and parallel. Another issue with words is "which $LANGUAGE" - I remember distinctly opening up the Volvo service manual and being totally confused by "bonnet" when I was about 12. I imagine that someone in England would be even more confused by "hood" (since I think it means the drop-top on a convertible over there). Symbols are fair in that they are equally inconvienient for all. BTW "la computadora" is the standard in Latin America (where the stop signs are a red octagon with "ALTO" in them). What I would like to see is connectors designed to be easy to mate. I dislike struggling with a connector because I'm some small fraction of an inch off and eventually having to take everything off the machine and turn it around so I can see what I'm doing. The modular jacks are good for blind connections, but USB is terrible (and most D-subs are hard, too. At least 13W3 gives you a tactile method to determine whether you're right-side up).

18 years, 11 months

3
3
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by dm561＠torfree.net

------------Original Message: Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:56:02 -0400 From: "Roy J. Tellason" <rtellason at verizon.net> Subject: Re: 8-bitters and multi-whatever On Wednesday 12 September 2007 19:45, Ensor wrote: > Hi, > > > You don't even need "rs232 levels". > > MIDI is a "current loop" interface isn't it? Yup! But my point is that in prototyping some small SBC the rs232 stuff is about the only thing on there typically that needs other than logic power (+5V) unless there's some analog stuff there on the board that needs it. MIDI, in every implementation I've ever seen, uses only a 5V supply. I never did understand why current loops weren't used more... ======================== -----------Reply: On short runs you can usually get away with TTL levels on RS-232 as long as you limit the input voltage swing with a resistor and a couple of diodes or use an optocoupler. m

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: 8-bitters and multi-whatever > From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 02:02:57 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 9/11/07, Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> wrote: >> There were a few simple schemes but excluding myself how many hobbiests >> back then had two or more systems? > >In 1982, the year you quoted for those Arcnet networks, at age 16, I >had 4 systems, a PET, a C-64, a Cosmac Elf, and a PDP-8/L (that I was >trying to repair - took until 1984, when I finally tracked down a >printset), but I'll grant you that at the time, the number of folks >that had multiple systems were probably dwarfed by the number of folks >who had only one. Of those, due to minimal I/O and/or functionality, >only the PET and the C-64 were "real" systems. I knew I couldn't be the only one but I figured not many. I was rare in I had at least 4 systems that would run CP/M making the need for interchange more deireable. By that same year I also had COSMAC ELF, SC/MP 8a-500, National Nibble basic, IMSAI IMP-48, Motorola 6800D1, NEC TK80, and a LSI-11 with TU58. I was in contact with enough people that the incidence of multiple machines was low. the more common case was a apple, TRS-80 or S100 crate with storage and one or more SBC that might have enough memory for TinyBasic. The exceptions were usually business or schools. >Since I couldn't afford an IEEE-488 disk drive, rather than just move >files back and forth on tape, basing it upon the cable and software >from a contemporary "Byte" magazine, I fabricated my own >nybble-with-handshake cable between the user ports of the PET and the >C-64, and moved stuff from one to the other over that. I might have >used serial, if I'd had an ACIA-based port for my PET (there were a >couple that sat in an expansion ROM socket), or if I'd understood more >about the nature of serial comms and crufted up my own bit-banging >routines for the PET (the C-64 had that in ROM already). I understood >parallel communications, so a nybble at a time it was. Mine started when I needed to get stuff from the various CP/M systems that even when they had disks were incompatable hard sector to soft or 8 and 5.25. I started with serial peer to peer as in pipmodem and similar. Later I did a two system resource sharing that grew to allow up to a potential 256 systems. In '82 the whole thing peaked with a multiprocessor S100 crate with intercommunications via pooled memory. > >Later, around 1983, when I picked up a VIC-20 on clearance for around >$70, I would certainly would have liked to have had a Commodore >network (based around the user port, most likely), but was unaware of >anything I could build for myself, and certainly couldn't afford any >of the "disk sharing" hardware I'd seen advertised to share PET disks >amongst multiple machines. Likely If i'd had more contact with the non-CP/M s100 world and the DEC PDP-11 world I'd have evolved things differntly. It didn't hurt that I'd had prior experience with the BOCES LYRICs PDP-8 and PDP-10 timeshare systems. The S100 world allowed me to venture into a more hardware intensive world. >It took me a few more years to learn enough about serial comms and >computer networking to be able to roll my own hardware and/or >software, but working for a serial comms networking company had a lot >to do with that. I would have loved to have been able to buy or build >something inexpensive, no matter how slow, but even a multi-serial >solution would have strained my high-school budget, as I presume it >would have strained most hobbyists' budgets, or perhaps home >networking would have gotten rolling before the days of Arcnet. >I think the first network I had any hands-on experience with was >AppleTalk/LocalTalk, when I helped my mother with a Corvus disk drive >and a room full of 512K Macs, just before she started her own business >(fortunately, by the time she did, she could afford a 20MB drive per >CPU, so the network was for printing only). By time the Mac hit I'd seeen DECnet and mixed PDP-11 and VAX system in large networks with remote printing and all the trimmings we see on the internet. >AppleTalk was a great step forward for home networking. It's a shame >that other vendors didn't follow in Apple's footsteps for many years. >I think I had an Amiga for four or five years before I attempted to >even do any serial networking (using DNet). It was well after 1990 >before I was able to stick an Amiga on an Ethernet network, and that >was with a $300 card! (there was a Zorro Arcnet card - the A2060, but >I knew I wasn't going to bother with Arcnet by that time). Appletalk was a really good, it's biggest feature is low cost both in hardware and memory footprint there were peripherals that would talk on the same net. All of the things I did and got to see and use colored my perception of what computers could do. Usually it was far greater than marketed capability. I'd believed in '83 that if a VAX or PDP-11 could network around the world a room should be easy enough. Also I'd seen what large machines could do years before and figured the only differnce doing it with a micro was either scale or speed. In the span from'82 to '89 with PCs getting faster and Ethernet and internet both catching on there was a communications explosion. What isn't discussed here is what the radio amateurs were doing with Packet networks and X.25 protocals. In some cases they were prototyping portable (toteable) networks. Allison

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

DEC 874D power controller

by charlesmorris＠hughes.net

Does anyone have the schematic for an 874-D power controller? Or better yet, a good used circuit breaker? At least one of the three (ganged) breakers is internally flaky and will turn off if the handle is pushed upward all the way to "ON" (they work if the handle row is carefully lifted just far enough but obviously that is not reliable). It looks like the (original-type) Heinemann breakers are available >from Newark, and similar ones from Mouser that will probably fit, but they are *very* expensive new... thanks Charles

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: 8-bitters and multi-whatever > From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> > Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2007 10:15:21 -0700 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 13 Sep 2007 at 13:43, Jules Richardson wrote: > >> I suppose I've always seen it as "electronically connected computers" or >> somesuch - i.e. it doesn't imply anything about what data is shared (or how), >> just that something *can* be transferred without sneakernetting information >> around. > >So my use of the acoustic-coupled modem out of a TI Silent 700 on my >MITS Altair 8800 to a CDC 6600 over phone lines was networking in >1976? I did my source prep and assembly on the mainframe and just >downloaded my programs to run them. Of course, I had to key in the >basic terminal/download code via the front panel switches, but that >wasn't a big deal. > >As far as coupling two computers together--well, that's VERY old. >Goes back to the 1950's at least and probably is older than that. At that time it was a loose term. Alohanet was one of the first that really solidified the term and application. Generally there was/are two basic classes host and client or Peer to Peer. The Altair<>CDC was more like the first than second. When I was doing it I had been attempting to have facilities not unlike VMS/DECnet. The goal was from any one machine I could connect, manage and use files from another machine and the files could exist on any enabled machine (that had the requested resource). The goal I achieved was a diskless machine could boot from one, use files from another and the actual terminal was connected to a third, plus print to a fourth machine that had the printer (and could buffer the transfer). The basic scheme was actually simple but getting CSMA/CD between my ears the hard part. It was node to node (addressed) conectivity with systems added to the net able to broadcast it's presence. The only thing was it was all and only CP/M. Allison

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Another (Language) blast from the past

by shumaker＠att.net

all caps because it's an acronym... Jule's Own Version of the International Algorythmic Language developed at SDC in Santa Monica more than a few moons ago s shumaker -------------- Original message from "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com>: -------------- > I spotted this in my morning news perusal: > > "Digitization? The entire network runs on software known as Jovial, > so old there are only six programmers in the country who know how to > write it. And incredible as it seems, family minivans with NavStar > have more sophisticated location guidance than some aircraft." > > from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20724859/ > > Well, make that seven. I remember JOVIAL (it's all caps BTW). > Worked on an NWL (or maybe it was NSRDC) project in it. Anyone else? > > Cheers, > Chuck > >

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by dm561＠torfree.net

From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> Subject: Re: 8-bitters and multi-whatever On 9/11/07, Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> wrote: > There were a few simple schemes but excluding myself how many hobbiests > back then had two or more systems? >In 1982, the year you quoted for those Arcnet networks, at age 16, I >had 4 systems, a PET, a C-64, a Cosmac Elf, and a PDP-8/L <snip> >Of those, due to minimal I/O and/or functionality, >only the PET and the C-64 were "real" systems. >Since I couldn't afford an IEEE-488 disk drive, rather than just move >files back and forth on tape, basing it upon the cable and software >from a contemporary "Byte" magazine, I fabricated my own >nybble-with-handshake cable between the user ports of the PET and the >C-64, and moved stuff from one to the other over that. I might have >used serial, if I'd had an ACIA-based port for my PET (there were a >couple that sat in an expansion ROM socket), or if I'd understood more >about the nature of serial comms and crufted up my own bit-banging >routines for the PET (the C-64 had that in ROM already). I understood >parallel communications, so a nybble at a time it was. -------- You mean you didn't just make a simple cassette "null modem" cable? I still have the 30 footer that connected my upstairs "play" PET to the downstairs "work" one. Lots of people (especially schools) "networked" them that way in those distant days. mike

18 years, 11 months

6
9
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by dm561＠torfree.net

------------Original Message(s): From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> Subject: Re: 8-bitters and multi-whatever On 9/12/07, Roy J. Tellason <rtellason at verizon.net> wrote: > On Wednesday 12 September 2007 14:31, Ethan Dicks wrote: > > On 9/12/07, M H Stein <dm561 at torfree.net> wrote: > > > From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > > > > > > >Since I couldn't afford an IEEE-488 disk drive... I fabricated my own > > > >nybble-with-handshake cable between the user ports of the PET and the > > > >C-64... > > > > > > You mean you didn't just make a simple cassette "null modem" cable? > > > Just a passive cable? Do you have any special notes, or was it just > > SAVE "FOO", 1 and LOAD "FOO", 1? > > I was wondering if you'd want the ",1" in there or not myself. In this case, the '1' is to designate cassette drive 1 (PETs have two, C-64s have one). It's probably optional, but I included it out of habit. -ethan ============= Reply: And of course there's the venerable Shift Run/Stop sequence; I wonder at what point that changed from loading the first tape program to the first one on disk.. m

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: RE: 8-bitters and multi-whatever > From: "Rod Smallwood" <RodSmallwood at mail.ediconsulting.co.uk> > Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2007 07:06:42 +0100 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > >I worked at DEC in '82 at the UK HQ (Decpark) >I'm sure we had more than 50 nodes in the UK alone. >The SET HOST list went on forever. > >Rod Smallwood I used to have the netmap for DECnet/DEC for around '82 and it was by all accounts there at DEC the largest network on the planet but the total node count wasn't that high. The second largest was a DEC custormer Dupont at around 50 nodes. A large portion were phase III nodes. Huge contrast to 1988ish when people started subnetting DECnet as the phase IV address scheme had run out of space. Allison

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

When it rains, it pours

by aek＠bitsavers.org

William's load came in on Monday, now these just arrived. http://bitsavers.org/microdata/reality Five Microdata Reality systems.

18 years, 11 months

3
2
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by pcoghlan+cctech＠vms.eurokom.ie

On 13/09/2007 00:10, Pete Turnbull <pete at dunnington.plus.com> wrote: >On 12/09/2007 20:03, Roy J. Tellason wrote: > > On Wednesday 12 September 2007 14:31, Ethan Dicks wrote: > >> On 9/12/07, M H Stein <dm561 at torfree.net> wrote: > > >>> You mean you didn't just make a simple cassette "null modem" cable? > > >> Until you mentioned it now, I never would have thought of it. > > > I never heard of that either, until I read it in that post... > >ISTR there was some Commodore diagnostic software that you could >transfer that way, and we certainly used the same technique to transfer >diagnostics from a BBC Micro with a disk drive to cassette-based >machines we were testing or repairing. That would be around 1982-85. >We put resistors in the cables to get the levels right. > I went one step further than that. I bought a couple of telephone line isolating transformers with a view to building some modems from magazine projects so that I could exchange programs with a friend who, like myself, had a BBC micro. I took a long time to get around to building the modems but in the meantime, I experimented with hooking the cassette port on the BBC to a phone line via a transformer and put in place a similar setup at my friends house. We used phones to make the initial connection and then switched in the transformers and issued LOAD and SAVE commands to transfer data. It was difficult to get everything synchronised correctly. Block numbers were displayed at the receiving end when data was being received but the sending end had no idea if things were working or not and the voice channel was not available while attempting transfers. As far as I recall though, we did manage to successfully transfer files at 300 baud but we didn't persue the idea further because of the slowness of the transfers and difficulty of setting everything up, not to mention the possibility of an error when transferring a large file requiring us to restart from the beginning. Regards, Peter.

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Zen and the art of RL02 maintainance

by derschjo＠msu.edu

Just picked up an RL02 for a song. It's a bit beat up looking, but it seems pretty clean inside, so far. It's kind of a moot point at the moment, since I have no disk packs, cabling, or interface boards (so I can't use the darned thing until I complete a scavenger hunt...) but I'm wondering what I should check out on this machine before I power it on & (eventually) start using it... Any suggestions? Thanks! Josh

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

I worked at DEC in '82 at the UK HQ (Decpark) I'm sure we had more than 50 nodes in the UK alone. The SET HOST list went on forever. Rod Smallwood -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Roy J. Tellason Sent: 12 September 2007 20:46 To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: 8-bitters and multi-whatever On Wednesday 12 September 2007 15:08, Sridhar Ayengar wrote: > Roy J. Tellason wrote: > >>> I know of ARCnet, went to a short seminar on that once at a trade > >>> show, and in fact even have a couple of ISA cards around here > >>> someplace, though I don't forsee me ever using them. > >> > >> ARCnet and most of the 'nets were in the price range of a hard disk > >> then. Also the whole idea of networking was new. For example in > >> 1982 the two largest networks I knew of were DEC (internal) and > >> Dupont(internal) and they were around 50 nodes! > > > > I remember those days, thinking of 50 nodes as being pretty good-sized. > > :-) > > IBM's internal network was significantly larger than that by '82. 8-) Of that I have no doubt! :-) -- Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and ablest -- form of life in this section of space, ?a critter that can be killed but can't be tamed. ?--Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters" - Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James M Dakin

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Catweasel NorthStar testers wanted

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

Hi, I have been working more on the Catweasel NorthStar project. After much searching, I have found the source of the apparent sector errors while reading good disks and have prepared a new version correcting the bugs. It can now read both of my test disks and make images without errors. Here is a sample of an image I have made of a disk from 1985 which came with my restored NorthStar Horizon: http://www.geocities.com/lynchaj/CWNS-vintage.zip The CWNS project really could use some testers now. It can only make disk images of NorthStar hard sector single sided double density disks (SSDD). You'll need a working Catweasel to use it. Of course, some highly skilled developers would be greatly appreciated as well. Next up on the agenda: Make program read and process individual sectors rather than whole tracks Support more NorthStar hard sector disk formats (ie, DSDD, SSSD, etc) The program is still not ready for public release so any volunteers will have to request the program from me. Please contact me off list. Thanks! Andrew Lynch

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

FS: Toshiba T1100+ laptop

by charlesmorris＠hughes.net

I'd like to sell a Toshiba T-1100 Plus laptop I've had for a long time but don't need. According to this interesting article http://www.itworld.com/Comp/1355/050420toshibalaptop/ it's considerably over 10 years old, and probably over 20, so hopefully this is the right forum to post this ;) Anyway it has an 8088 processor, 640K RAM ("...should be enough for anyone" according to Bill Gates), two 3.5" floppy drives, an 80x25 monochrome LCD display, built-in modem (probably 1200 baud but maybe faster), AC adapter and the carrying bag. It comes with a Toshiba MS-DOS 3.20 disk and boots up to the A> prompt and will list the directory of that disk. That's as far as I tested it. The internal D-cell NiCd batteries I replaced several years ago with brand-new ones from Mouser and then let it sit, gathering dust... they did take a charge and will run the machine on batteries. I'd like to find it a good home. I figure the fairest way, assuming more than one person is interested ;) is to make "silent auction" bids. Please let me know. thanks Charles

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

DEC 874D power controller

by oldcpu2＠rogerwilco.org

Charles said: > Does anyone have the schematic for an 874-D power controller? > Or better yet, a good used circuit breaker? Well I don't have a breaker, but at least you can check the print set for the details. I also recently needed to examine the schematic, and found it at: http://www.vt100.net/manx/details/1,3467 > At least one of the three (ganged) breakers is internally flaky > and will turn off if the handle is pushed upward all the way to > "ON" (they work if the handle row is carefully lifted just far > enough but obviously that is not reliable). You're right, not very reliable. > It looks like the (original-type) Heinemann breakers are available > from Newark, and similar ones from Mouser that will probably fit, > but they are *very* expensive new... Well, I haven't checked the prices, but you may find reasonable success by getting another 874D unit. I just saw one trade hands on eBay for around $20. - Jared

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

One seriously modded C64!

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

This is one impressive series of mod's to turn the C64 into part of a music studio. http://www.bigmech.com/misc/c64mods/ Zane -- | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator | | healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast | | MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet) | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

Jaguar Blaster (was Re: Ancient 8086/80286 unixes?)

by jba＠sdf.lonestar.org

> There was also an Atari Jaguar on an PCI card, Creative Labs' "Jaguar > Blaster". > > They seem to be pretty thin on the ground though, I'd love to get > one.... The only mention I've ever seen anywhere of a Jaguar Blaster card is here: http://justclaws.atari.org/altatari/dxnews.htm Read some of the other items, and you'll soon get the idea that the stories aren't exactly true. Actually, there was a Jaguar-on-a-PCI-card project called JagPC that was at least announced by Sigma Designs. I don't think a prototype ever existed, but I could be wrong. Jaguars were pretty good 2D pixel-pushers, and would have made a respectable graphics card for the time period. -Jeff jba at sdf.lonestar.org SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org

18 years, 11 months

4
4
0 0

Spanish speaker for spanish radio interview?

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

Does anyone speak fluent Spanish? If so, there's a spanish-language radio station in Florida that wants to do a 7 minute interview about vintage computers today at 2:15PM (Eastern). Contact me ASAP if you'd like to do this and you speak Spanish. -- 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 ]

18 years, 11 months

3
2
0 0

PS/2 webserver

by lproven＠gmail.com

Merely curious. Does anyone know of any IBM PS/2 machines - the proper Microchannel ones - hosting websites today? I know of a number of very old Macs doing so, including a Mac Plus with a website on floppy, machines running System 6 and AU/X. I've even visited a website hosted on a Commodore 64, I seem to recall. But never a PS/2 one. -- Liam Proven ? Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: lproven at gmail.com Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884 ? Fax: + 44 870-9151419 AOL/AIM/iChat: liamproven at aol.com ? MSN/Messenger: lproven at hotmail.com Yahoo: liamproven at yahoo.co.uk ? Skype: liamproven ? ICQ: 73187508

18 years, 11 months

8
16
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by dm561＠torfree.net

From: Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> Subject: Re: 8-bitters and multi-whatever <snip> >CP/M or most other OSs for non 8080/z80 could easily be fooled into >redirecting disk IO to a serial port. Though CP/M was modular enough >and most widespread it was most often hacked that way. There is >however no rule that says a OS must talk to a disk as storage and once >that is clear then it's easy to cobble up a packet protocal that transmits >the needed data across a serial or parallel port to a willing and enabled >host. Some systems like the big S100 crates or multibus running MPM used >the bus and some common memory so that multiple CPUs typically z80 with >128k ram, rom and serial IO plus a bus interface and memory manangement >for off board memeory. MPM would be the server and CP/M would be the >local cpus that users interacted with. It wasn't seen often as it was >expensive to ahve the hardware and the average hobbiest at the time >rarely had more than one fully functional system and maybe a SBC >of the KIM-1, EVK68, AIM65 or SDK85 level. ============== Don't forget about external RS-232 Network hubs, like the NetCommanders et al; I had 12 AIM65s and two Cromemcos at a factory site talking to each other back in those days. Also, some of the PC local net software could use the parallel and ethernet ports as well as RS-232 and bridge among them for a peer-peer net, or a client-server model using an external hub. Now there's a question, whether Interserver can handle multiple Interlink clients (one at a time of course); anybody ever try it? mike

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Nova 4 has been claimed

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

The Nova 4 that I posted about needing a new home has been claimed. Thanks! I'm sure you'll hear some stories from the new owner in a couple weeks. -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Wang 300 Calc --> 0/1 power labels

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

There's a less often used way of avoiding this problem. It's the use of 'one' as in 'If one wants to learn to fly then one should go to a good school' Rod -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Fred Cisin Sent: 11 September 2007 23:05 To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Wang 300 Calc --> 0/1 power labels > Oh, FFS! > Hint: the word "you" in colloquial English usage does not always refer > directly to an individual or to the person being addressed. > For example: "If you want to learn to fly a plane, you have to > demonstrate good vision and a degree of numeracy". This would be a > perfectly reasonable statement in a magazine or newspaper article, > without any implication that every reader of that journal is an > aspiring pilot. When you use the "impersonal YOU", you run a risk of offending those who take it personally.

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

HP 2624B terminal on ebay

by silent700＠gmail.com

Not mine, just thought it rare enough to be worth a link: Item 110169093514 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110169093514

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

[SPAM(date)] Re: What's the difference between an ARM1 and ARM2?

by stevew＠ka6s.com

Tony Duell asked about the difference between the two processors - here is what I found after a little google work; Steve The stuff below was brazenly copied from: http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=ARM2 "As soon as the ARM1 project was completed, work began on its successor, the ARM2, which later in 1985 became the first commercially available RISC processor. This processor was intended to correct some problems noted with the first design, and was aimed specifically for use in the Acorn Archimedes series of personal computers. While the ARM1 was a success as far as it went, there were some performance problems which needed to be fixed before it could be realistically used in the Archimedes. One of the key problems was a lack of hardware multiply support. This led to a software routine being used to do multiplication, using shifts and adds, which was "horribly slow", according to Steve Furber. This was fixed in the ARM2, by adding two instructions: MUL (multiply) and MLA (multiply with accumulate). These allowed the ARM2 to be realistically used for mathematical calculation, and very simple digital signal processing, in particular generating synthesised sound. Another issue which still affects most ARM processors even today is the lack of floating point hardware. Acorn decided to address this problem by adding hardware co-processor support to the ARM2, and at a later date intended to ship an optional floating point accelerator. Ultimately, the ARM2 FPA was never produced, despite demand from the Acorn user community: the first hardware FP came as an option with the ARM3 powered A5000, and around the same time a third party ARM3 and FPA upgrade was marketed by Simtec for all Archimedes computers. Finally, the design team noted that banking only registers R10 to R15 in fast interrupt mode was slightly over-frugal, and added R8 and R9 to that list. This increased performance of the very common FIQ by lowering memory accesses to stack registers. The ARM2 was manufactured at a slightly smaller fabrication size than the ARM1, 2.5?m as opposed to 3.5?m, had just over 25,000 transistors, and ran at 8MHz."

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Computer rescue

by oldcpu2＠rogerwilco.org

William Maddox said: > it on such short notice during the week, however all > worked out well in the end. I have some pictures of > the "haul" as > it arrived in San Jose up at www.ddp116.org . Wow! Very, very nice haul. Whatever the expense was, it sure looks like you got your money's worth. Is this system going to be on display somewhere during VCMX timeframe? I don't know if it is going to live in the warehouse where it was deposited by the truck, but it sure would be fun to have a closeup view of the system, blinking lights preferred! ;-) Or, not, even. Congrats on saving a great collection! - Jared

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Computer rescue

by oldcpu2＠rogerwilco.org

William Maddox said: > it on such short notice during the week, however all > worked out well in the end. I have some pictures of > the "haul" as > it arrived in San Jose up at www.ddp116.org . Wow! Very, very nice haul. Whatever the expense was, it sure looks like you got your money's worth. Is this system going to be on display somewhere during VCMX timeframe? I don't know if it is going to live in the warehouse where it was deposited by the truck, but it sure would be fun to have a closeup view of the system, blinking lights preferred! :-) Congrats on saving a great collection! - Jared

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Moto MVME121 paper

by g-wright＠att.net

-------------- Original message from "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com>: -------------- > Under the heading of "where did *that* come from?", I've stumbled on > a loose leaf binder from Motorola titled "MVME121 System Hardware > Manual". There are several publications within, but the bulk of the > binder's taken up by a document called "MVME319 Intelligent Disk/Tape > Controller User's Manual", which contains all sorts of detail, > including principles of operation, command layouts and schematics. > Circa 1986. > > A customer must've sent it to me; I have no use for it. Anyone want > it for the cost of shipping? > > Cheers, > Chuck > Hi Chuck If you have not found a home for this, I will take it. Jerry Wright JLC inc. 1517 So Central Ave Kent, Wa. 98032 Just let me know how much and where to send it. - Jerry

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

Free: PowerMac 6500/250 (UK)

by classiccmp.org＠stellar.eclipse.co.uk

Any interest in this? It's just come from a customer of mine who's had it from new, with compatible inkjet printer, o/s disks & virtual PC. If I don't hear any responses it'll go on the local Freecycle when I've shredded the disk, but I thought I'd offer here first. Stroller.

18 years, 11 months

4
4
0 0

Ancient 8086/80286 unixes?

by bdwheele＠indiana.edu

I don't suppose anybody knows where one would dig up old unixes for 8086 or 80286 based PCs? Source would be a big bonus. I've been playing with the bcc compiler and the V7 source and just curious what "real" ports looked like. Thanks! Brian

18 years, 11 months

24
91
0 0

DEC Rainbow Hard drive.

by jba＠sdf.lonestar.org

> Just because we are on the subject already. > > What is the last version of the firmware ? I can't remember exactly, but the 100A was definitely 4.xx series (maybe 4.12?) while the 100B was definitely 5.xx series (maybe 5.03A). I've never seen different values on any Rainbow, though, suggesting that the boot roms were finalized before manufacturing started and never again updated. Could be wrong, though. Some Rainbow's have different character set ROMs, like the Technical Character Set ROM, but that doesn't change the firmware version on the boot menu. -Jeff jba at sdf.lonestar.org SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org

18 years, 11 months

3
2
0 0

Mac Beige C3 to HP 98789A SOG monitor?

by cclist＠sydex.com

All, I've been digging through my pile of stuff again and figured that my old HP98789A 17" (Sony) monitor might be a good match my my beige Mac G3. Okay, my next step is to wire up an adapter. The HP is RGB (3 BNC) to sync-on-green. I read that the Power Macs don't support SOG, so I need to combine both the HSYNC and VSYNC with green (a couple of 74HCxx gates should do that; I can steal power from the sync signals). Otherwise, it's connect pin 4 to 7 (S0 to S1) on the Mac video connector to signal that I want "RGB 1024x768". Do I have this right? Does anyone have anything to add before I take out my soldering iron? Cheers, Chuck

18 years, 11 months

3
3
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: 8-bitters and multi-whatever > From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> > Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:51:12 -0700 > To: "Roy J. Tellason" <rtellason at verizon.net>, > "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 10 Sep 2007 at 16:24, Roy J. Tellason wrote: > > >> I remember seeing that in some sales literature and it always did strike me as >> being more spendy than I wanted or could afford to get into. :-) > >For the purist, Multibus has a lot more going for it than any of the >"hobbyist" buses. If you look at the signal layout, it appears that >some thought actually went into the design. AFAIK, Multibus cards in >some incarnation are still being produced or at least sold. > >And the MDS-800 was built like a battleship. Thats and understatement. If you ever moved a MDS800 it was a battleship. >re: CP/M Networking: > >> What does that take on the software side of things? > >A CP/M add-on called CP/NET. The downside is that it takes valuable >memory. CPnet was less than half the software. You still needed a nios, network bios which was often unser created for the specific IO used to network. >PC's had a number of "cheap" networking setups. I've got one here >called "The $25 Network", basically run through serial (maybe >parallel) ports. There were others, some with low-cost cards, such >as "The Invisible Network". I wonder if a ring could be set up using >the old DOS Interlink. Many of those "cheap" PC networking schemes were found in the 8bit world. The interlink like scheme I'd done for going between my S100 crates back in '81 to solve the problem is limted disk and more than one computer needing a disk. CP/M or most other OSs for non 8080/z80 could easily be fooled into redirecting disk IO to a serial port. Though CP/M was modular enough and most widespread it was most often hacked that way. There is however no rule that says a OS must talk to a disk as storage and once that is clear then it's easy to cobble up a packet protocal that transmits the needed data across a serial or parallel port to a willing and enabled host. Some systems like the big S100 crates or multibus running MPM used the bus and some common memory so that multiple CPUs typically z80 with 128k ram, rom and serial IO plus a bus interface and memory manangement for off board memeory. MPM would be the server and CP/M would be the local cpus that users interacted with. It wasn't seen often as it was expensive to ahve the hardware and the average hobbiest at the time rarely had more than one fully functional system and maybe a SBC of the KIM-1, EVK68, AIM65 or SDK85 level. By '81 I had a NS* Horizon, Netronics explorer8085, an Altair, and two NEC PDA-80(sorta s100) for the 8080/8085/z80 realm alone. Only two had a disk controller but they all ran CP/M. When the NS* got a hard disk since that was a $1K investment at the time sharing that resource with the deprived systems was important as back then I didn't have a swarm of floppy drives. So having read and seen networks in use I figured sensing all that over a fast serial port was not unreasonable and after some thought and a few tries it worked. These days people use PCs for that but I personally would rather program z80 than 80x86. >MS-DOS has had some flavor of networking "hooks" for a very long >time. CD-ROM access is implemented as a networked device. I've >implemented a number of foreign filesystem drivers using networking >where file naming conventions or oddball block sizes weren't amenable >to normal DOS filesystem conventions. Thats PCs. ;) Allison

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

68k Mac development environments

by derschjo＠msu.edu

Hi all -- I'm looking to do a bit of (simple) development targeting a 68k Mac (or two, or three, or six...) and since I've never done any programming on a Mac before I'm curious if anyone out there has any recommendations for a development environment to use or to avoid. I'd prefer C/C++, but I'm flexible :). I'd like to be able to run my code on a Mac Classic/SE (so I need to be able to compile to 68000 code) but I'll be doing the development itself on a IIfx. In case you're interested, I'm writing the software to build a clock of sorts out of a set of six "classic" form factor Macs I have lying around (two Classics, two SEs and two SE/30s). Each computer will display one digit of the time, and will be synchronized over an Appletalk network to keep the system times in sync. Or so goes the theory. Figure it'll be a fun display to have set up, and a somewhat interesting use for some otherwise-idle Macintosh hardware :). Thanks for any suggestions... - Josh

18 years, 11 months

7
11
0 0

Shelby HamFest

by steerex＠ccvn.com

Hey guys, What is advertised as the "granddaddy of all hamfests" is coming up, at the end of this month, in Shelby North Carolina. I have never been to this particular event and will likely attend this years festivities. Does anyone else on this list plan on attending? Has anyone attended the Shelby hamfest before? Thanks, SteveRob steerex <at> ccvn <dot> com

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

Motorola Exormacs - disk cable

by g-wright＠att.net

-------------- Original message from Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk at yahoo.co.uk>: -------------- > > We've just acquired a Motorola Exormacs system, which is sadly without its > floppy drive cable (40 pins on the Exormacs side, 50 on the 8" floppy unit > (Exordrive III I believe). > > I suspect the floppy side is just straight-through to the drives, but can > anyone confirm that, and does anyone know the pinout on the system unit side > of things? > > Worst-case we'll have to reverse engineer it, but maybe someone knows (we've > got no floppies for the system and no useful manuals unfortunately) > > cheers > > Jules I have a Disk II here and the cable is 40 pin from the back of the drive to te controller card.. If needed it can open it up and see what happens inside. The boot images are on Bit Savers but not set up yet. I have the URL if needed Still working on the NCR's - Jerry Jerry Wright JLC inc g-wright at att.net

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Ancient 8086/80286 unixes?

by classiccmp＠memory-alpha.org.uk

Actually, thinking about it, ISTR that the "Jaguar Blaster" never made it to market (despite being demoed at several electronics shows). Which would certainly explain their scarcity, LOL. Anyone know for sure? TTFN - Pete.

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Ancient 8086/80286 unixes?

by classiccmp＠memory-alpha.org.uk

Hi, > And I think there was an ARM-2 development system on an >ISA card. Never seen it, though. There was also an Atari Jaguar on an PCI card, Creative Labs' "Jaguar Blaster". They seem to be pretty thin on the ground though, I'd love to get one.... TTFN - Pete.

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Ancient 8086/80286 unixes?

by classiccmp＠memory-alpha.org.uk

Hi, > There's at least the Janus card, which implements a basic Atari ST >on an ISA board ... That name sounds familiar, it's likely the one I was thinking of. One of my friends has one (the one I sold all my ST gear to around '92/'92 as it happens) but even though he's mentioned the name to me several times I'm a bit hazy on it. For some reason "Spectrum" or some (probably incredibly vaguely) similar sounding name also lingers at the back of my mind.... > .... i own the 68000 version, but it seems, there was an 68020 >version available too. I *think* there may also be a "TT-on-a-card"....but don't quote me on that (I've never checked). > A DOS based driver is available, that handles all the I/O handling via >the PC. I always wanted to get that driver ported to OS/2 (running Atari >SW in a OS/2 PM-Window is definitely amazing :)), but never got any >technical information ... I've toyed with the idea of getting one of these cards on several occasions, but since the drivers won't run under NT based operating systems they're not of any use to me whatsoever. :-( TTFN - Pete.

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Apple boot disks?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

Is there anyone here with a running Apple ][-class system who would be willing to cut some boot floppies of Apple DOS 3.3 and/or ProDOS and send them to me? I finally got a good composite video monitor and I'm in need of a diversion. This would be for a ][+ and a //e. Thanks, -Dave -- Dave McGuire Port Charlotte, FL Farewell Ophelia, 9/22/1991 - 7/25/2007

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

Re-finding more items as I open boxes

by DAW＠yalepress3.unipress.yale.edu

> ---------- > From: John R. Keys Jr. > Reply To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 2:54 PM > To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > Subject: Re-finding more items as I open boxes > > Found the following while unpacking in the warehouse: <<<<<clipped>>>>>> > Took some other goodies home to play with like the 20th Annv. MAC,... > --- 20th Anniversary Mac? You booger... I may have to grab it when you're not looking. ;-) --- David A Woyciesjes --- C & IS Support Specialist --- Yale University Press --- mailto:david.woyciesjes@yale.edu --- (203) 432-0953 --- ICQ # - 90581 Mac OS X 10.1.2 - Darwin Kernel Version 5.2: Fri Dec 7 21:39:35 PST 2001 Running since 01/22/2002 without a crash

18 years, 11 months

4
3
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: 8-bitters and multi-whatever > From: "Roy J. Tellason" <rtellason at verizon.net> > Date: Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:49:03 -0400 > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > >So I was poking around at bitsavers after snagging those TI databooks, and >stumbled across some files pertaining to TurboDOS. I'd read about that >before, might even have some manual or other on it someplace, but I've >never had the pleasure. I do have one box that was supposed to be a >multi-user system, that being my TeleVideo 816, which had TurboDOS as an >option but the one I have came with something called MMMOST, which I wasn't >all that impressed with. A guy was talking about sending me a tape but that >never happened. > >I remember hearing about one or two other packages that were similar (never >mind MP/M, which I've also not messed with and don't get the impression I >want to bother with really), but have never had the pleasure of running any >of them. > >A while back I *almost* got a hold of one of those "z80 network in a box" >systems, it wasn't S-100 but something else I can't recall, I think that's >the one I have the book on, but I never did snag it. Multibus, very nice bus and expensive cards. I have a few multibus cards. Intel used it in their MDS800 and a few otehrs as well. >Unfortunately instead of RS232 Televideo has something else going there >(RS422?), not easy to interface too, and they distribute their "network" >out amongst what other Televideo boxes you have, which in my case is none. >I guess with an S-100-based system you could always add more cards, and >somehow or other make it work. > >And speaking of the networking aspect of it, do any of you guys know how they >did it? I recall one time getting a glimpse of some system or other that was >S-100 but also had a set of connectors at thet op of each card, which is >what they used for their inter-processor linking rather than trying to push >it through the bus. The reason for this is not apparent to me. Many ways to do it, using a commmon port or a pool of common memory for in box networking and serial ports as well. There were also ARCnet, pre Ethernet and even Ethernet. >I've also seen some "CP/M networking" stuff referred to that was supposed to >work through serial ports, which pretty many machines had, althogh they >appeared in at least one case to be using diodes to wire-OR RS232 signals, >which doesn't strike me as too terribly robust. And what software support >there was for this wasn't real apparent. That was a poor mans networking. Basically the serial ports were used as CD/CSMA bus and there was some protocal like Ethernet but slower and could use the usually common async chips. I have such a net going for my CP/M crates and all. >I dunno, I've just got this fascination for assorted 8-bit parts talking to >each other through some smallish number of wires, I guess it's easier to >deal with than some of the big iron you guys handle regularly, which I can't >afford to go get never mind housing. And I've seen multiple processors used >in stuff already, as in some musical equipment that passed "event >information" from one chip to the next with only a couple of pins, or the >daisywheel printer that had _four_ 804x procesors in it for different >functions. This is not a new thing. >TurboDOS is neat, and has some good design aspects in it, but there's too >much legacy stuff in there for being able to run CP/M software, stuff I'd >leave out if it were me and too much emphasis on the same old Console / >Printer / Disk Drives in the system, as opposed to something different or >unique. I found the same thing to be the case when I looked at FORTH, too >much of the usual stuff, and that was supposed to have been used in some >control applications? I must've missed something there... ???? Whats the question or point? Allison

18 years, 11 months

3
2
0 0

what's this?

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-HARRIS-DISKRITER-COMPUTER- PARTS-REPAIR_W0QQitemZ170147139531QQihZ007QQ categoryZ4193QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem and notice the 2 mangy mutts at the head of the bed. Yup, I sure want to lay my face exactly where they left their fleas, and worse (if you can imagine that). ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! FareChase. http://farechase.yahoo.com/

18 years, 11 months

11
16
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by rtellason＠verizon.net

So I was poking around at bitsavers after snagging those TI databooks, and stumbled across some files pertaining to TurboDOS. I'd read about that before, might even have some manual or other on it someplace, but I've never had the pleasure. I do have one box that was supposed to be a multi-user system, that being my TeleVideo 816, which had TurboDOS as an option but the one I have came with something called MMMOST, which I wasn't all that impressed with. A guy was talking about sending me a tape but that never happened. I remember hearing about one or two other packages that were similar (never mind MP/M, which I've also not messed with and don't get the impression I want to bother with really), but have never had the pleasure of running any of them. A while back I *almost* got a hold of one of those "z80 network in a box" systems, it wasn't S-100 but something else I can't recall, I think that's the one I have the book on, but I never did snag it. Unfortunately instead of RS232 Televideo has something else going there (RS422?), not easy to interface too, and they distribute their "network" out amongst what other Televideo boxes you have, which in my case is none. I guess with an S-100-based system you could always add more cards, and somehow or other make it work. And speaking of the networking aspect of it, do any of you guys know how they did it? I recall one time getting a glimpse of some system or other that was S-100 but also had a set of connectors at thet op of each card, which is what they used for their inter-processor linking rather than trying to push it through the bus. The reason for this is not apparent to me. I've also seen some "CP/M networking" stuff referred to that was supposed to work through serial ports, which pretty many machines had, althogh they appeared in at least one case to be using diodes to wire-OR RS232 signals, which doesn't strike me as too terribly robust. And what software support there was for this wasn't real apparent. I dunno, I've just got this fascination for assorted 8-bit parts talking to each other through some smallish number of wires, I guess it's easier to deal with than some of the big iron you guys handle regularly, which I can't afford to go get never mind housing. And I've seen multiple processors used in stuff already, as in some musical equipment that passed "event information" from one chip to the next with only a couple of pins, or the daisywheel printer that had _four_ 804x procesors in it for different functions. TurboDOS is neat, and has some good design aspects in it, but there's too much legacy stuff in there for being able to run CP/M software, stuff I'd leave out if it were me and too much emphasis on the same old Console / Printer / Disk Drives in the system, as opposed to something different or unique. I found the same thing to be the case when I looked at FORTH, too much of the usual stuff, and that was supposed to have been used in some control applications? I must've missed something there... -- Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and ablest -- form of life in this section of space, ?a critter that can be killed but can't be tamed. ?--Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters" - Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James M Dakin

18 years, 11 months

2
2
0 0

7 Vaxen + disks & monitors on Dovebid

by stephane.tsacas＠gmail.com

http://www.dovebid.com/assets/display.asp?itemid=smi26204 Lot n? 2028 Lot of the following: 6-6in Wafer Loader Conversion Kits - Type 3: 3-6in Wafer Loader Conversion Kits - Type 2, 7-Digital - VAX Workstation systems, most with peripherals (visual controllers, monitors, keyboards, printers, cables), 5- 9.1GB SCSI Hard Drives: All items 10 year old condition good working condition when removed from tools 2 years ago. (palletized and ready for loading) (location : Corvallis, OR). -- Stephane Paris, France.

18 years, 11 months

4
4
0 0

Motorola Exormacs - disk cable

by julesrichardsonuk＠yahoo.co.uk

We've just acquired a Motorola Exormacs system, which is sadly without its floppy drive cable (40 pins on the Exormacs side, 50 on the 8" floppy unit (Exordrive III I believe). I suspect the floppy side is just straight-through to the drives, but can anyone confirm that, and does anyone know the pinout on the system unit side of things? Worst-case we'll have to reverse engineer it, but maybe someone knows (we've got no floppies for the system and no useful manuals unfortunately) cheers Jules

18 years, 11 months

2
2
0 0

Portable PDP-11 (was Re: Does anyone use RT-11?)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Portable PDP-11 (was Re: Does anyone use RT-11?) > From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:55:56 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 9/10/07, Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> wrote: >> > "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com wrote: >> > >> >On 9/9/07, Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> wrote: >> >> One day I plan to get a T11 up and running wtih RT but with non-DEC >> >> drivers for terminal and storage as a small toteable -11. >> > >> >I'd like to hear more about this... >> >> I have a lot on paper plus the ever important T-11 manual. > >Very handy. Required! ;) >> However >> it has stopped at that phase mostly due to other projects having >> my interest. > >Fair enough. I think most of us have a variety of projects cluttering >our foreground task. > >> ... only 8KW ram, 8KW Eprom and a DLART for serial IO. > >Certainly minimal, though today, 28KW of RAM isn't a stretch. At the time I was just hacking and wanted to use the smaller parts I had for simplicity reasons. >> The display is really the harder part at least for portability and power >> consumption. However for this one I was considering packaging along >> the lines of the Kaypro totables and wall power. Part of this recognizes >> the T-11 uses a fair amount of power (Z80 NMOS is similar) and most of >> the parts around it will not be CMOS so battery operation is not easily >> accomplished. > >Understandable. > >> >As for storage, obviously some flavor of FLASH is great for most >> >things... >> >> None of the above for cost or availability reasons. I'd opt for IDE >> using one of the many 40-500mb drives I have. > >That's certainly a larger device than I'd envisioned (my initial idea >was a "pod" the size of a modem or smaller, with an external >display/keyboard/host port). > >> >While textual LCDs are cheaper and easier to interface to, the largest >> >one I've seen is 4x40. A graphical LCD panel with a SED1335 or t6963 >> >of a size of 640x200 would be perfect for 80x25... >> >> I planned on text. However it's possible to get LCDs used for laptops >> but the logic to drive them is non trivial. > >Yes. I have a 640x400 laptop display, with specs, that ran me about >$10 a few years back. If I ever decide to learn VHDL, I might try to >interface it to my IOB6120, but, yes, it takes a bit of work to talk >to those. I ahve three of them, monchrome. They are easy enough to drive but the little "gotchas" are nasty. First one is the display is really two 640x240 segments running in parallel top and bottom so there are two "video" data paths running concurrently unlike a CRT. If your doing bit mapped (1BPP) that's some 40k of total memory to address, oh and that has to really two memories or a funny dual output scheme to feed the display. Doing character only simplifies it some if you don't mind doing some logic twice (font, bit shifter, memory). >> >Back to the T-11, though, if I recall its capabilities correctly, it >> >doesn't have an MMU, and it would be difficult, if not impractical, to >> >design an external one that resembles, say, the MMU on an 11/23... >> >> Correct on the OS and software. However the MMU is very buildable >> and not near as hardware intensive as would seem. For an example >> look at the T-11 interface in the VT240. It takes a few 16x4 >> bipolar rams and some loose logic to implement the paging (2 74189, >> 3 74ls257 and a bit of TTL glue) to make a a compatable (mostly) mapper. > >Interesting. I suppose it couldn't be _too_ complicated, then, since >it one like it does fit on a few square inches of 11/34 CPU board. Basic circuit is the same. >I even happen to have a small pad of 74189s. Same here. > >> One of the things I've given consideration to in recent years is a nonDEC >> and non *nix OS such as CUBIX as that would translate reasonably from >> 6908 to PDP-11. This arises from the fact that RT-11 has a very >> primitive filesystem compared to CP/M and an OS that is not encumbered >> would be easier to work with. > >Hmm... from what I've seen of CUBIX, it sounds feasible for a PDP-11 >host, and it certainly gets around the issue of what OS to distribute, >but I would think that porting CUBIX could be an entirely independent >project (focusing on whatever display and mass-storage interfaces are >available). The OS can be logically seperated from the mass storage and addressed as a series of logical blocks so that going to floppy, IDE or whatever is easy as most do (or can do) 512byte sectors as a consistant thing. That divorces the CHS/LBA thing from the os. > > >So, Allison, does any of this sound like what you had in mind... ? >> >> You envision what sould like a Laptop. I can't easily fabricate that >> but a toteable like Kaypro, Osborne and a few others is very doable. > >I hadn't specifically been requiring a laptop shape, more of a tiny >luggable - on the order of one of the modern Tektronix LCD-screen >digital scopes. totable. ;) >> The basic machine description is a 128kW using 32kx8 static parts (8pcs), >> Boot roms/ODT, MMU, two serial, parallel (PC conpatable for printer) >> and IDE disk. Things like OS in Eprom have surfaced to my idea pool >> to consider especially if it were not RT11 (CUBIX influence). Terminal >> logic would be VK170 (base VT52 on a dual size card) and a monitor in >> the 7-9" size. > >OK. I'm not sure I get the "VK170" reference. Is that some sort of >DEC or 3rd party embedded product? VK170 was a DEC Qbus/Ubus card that did RS232/423 IO and had outputs for RS170 video or Video/Hsync/Vsync and took a parallel keyboard to serial (used LK02 or similar). The bus edge connector was power only so it could even be externally mounted as a minimal VT52 (80x25). It's in the Microcomputer handbooks. >Thanks for sharing your design ideas. They aren't patented. ;) Allison

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

VT103 (was Re: Reviving DEC RX01 power supply)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On 9/7/07, Jerome H. Fine <jhfinedp3k at compsys.to> wrote: > >Ethan Dicks wrote: > > >My first -11 hard drive controller was an RLV11 that ran me about > >$100. I dropped into a BA-11N w/KDF11, DLV11J, MSV11-mumble (M8044), > >and LPV11 that all ran me $300 in 1986... > > > Jerome Fine replies: > > I seem to remember that my first... was > a VT103 with a PDP-11/23 inside and a DSD 880/8 floppy / hard drive combo. > The latter was an 8 MB RL01 emulation combined with RX02 (actually RX03 > although DEC never released their version) 1/2 MB SSDD 8" floppy emulation. Nice rig. > At one even shorter period of time, the VT103 backplane had a > PDP-11/73 quad CPU, 4 MB of memory, DHV11 and a Sigma RQD11-EC > controller that supported FOUR * 600 MB ESDI Hitachi hard drives > although it was essential that all of the hard drives were placed > OUTSIDE the VT103 since each required its own fan and all of the > hard drives and their fans also used a separate external power > supply. Wow... that's a lotta stuff for a VT103. I have a VT103 up in the attic. I _might_ be able to squeeze a VT100 case somewhere in my office... these days, though, I'd go with a 3.5" SCSI drive and a Qbus SCSI controller. The real question is, what to choose for CPU and memory. I could easily pull a KDF11B from the shelf, add a meg or two on a quad-height board, and between those three boards, have a running system. What I think I'd prefer, though, is something with a KDJ11. So presuming one is starting from the assumption that you have a VT103 and a Qbus SCSI controller, what are good choices for the remainder of the system? One can assume that 1MB is minimum, but 4MB wouldn't be unwarranted. I kinda fell off the PDP-11 cart in the KDJ11 era, so I'm not as conversant with what's out there, but ISTR that there's the dual-height KDJ11A, and there must be a quad-height KDJ11 of some flavor, with a variety of common accessories, but I couldn't quote chapter and verse. I have an 11/53-level KDJ11 board from a DEC comms controller, with -11 ROMs installed, but it still has S-box handles, and only has, IIRC, 1MB on it. I'm thinking that any sort of 11/83 or 11/93 board is probably going to be priced out of my range, but I'm willing to entertain the idea. I really don't _need_ the speed of an 11/83 or 11/93, but 4MB on board is attractive (if I've got my boards right). Anyone else have any ideas on how to trick out a VT103? -ethan

18 years, 11 months

5
8
0 0

Portable PDP-11 (was Re: Does anyone use RT-11?)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Portable PDP-11 (was Re: Does anyone use RT-11?) > From: "Zane H. Healy" <healyzh at aracnet.com> > Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:54:24 -0700 (PDT) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > >> >As for storage, obviously some flavor of FLASH is great for most >> >things. CF is easy to interface to, and CF cards 1GB and smaller are >> >quite inexpensive. MMC/SD are also inexpensive and even easier to >> >interface to, with a bit more work on the driver side to man the SPI >> >interface. >> >> None of the above for cost or availability reasons. I'd opt for IDE >> using one of the many 40-500mb drives I have. > >I believe converters for IDE to CF cards are pretty cheap, so if you have >IDE, you effectively have CF. True but then I ahve to buy an adaptor and the CF. And I don't get to use up that pile of drives.. ;) >> You envision what sould like a Laptop. I can't easily fabricate that >> but a toteable like Kaypro, Osborne and a few others is very doable. > >You might want to look at some of the "Laptops" that others have built for >things such as the Amiga. It might not be as difficult as you might think. If you have to wirewarp the system board first then create a CRT/LCD driver board yes it gets nasty. If you have RS170 video already then there are screens available. I've traversed this path a few times already and the basic thing is if you have excess money to throw at it then it's easier. >> The basic machine description is a 128kW using 32kx8 static parts (8pcs), >> Boot roms/ODT, MMU, two serial, parallel (PC conpatable for printer) >> and IDE disk. Things like OS in Eprom have surfaced to my idea pool >> to consider especially if it were not RT11 (CUBIX influence). Terminal >> logic would be VK170 (base VT52 on a dual size card) and a monitor in >> the 7-9" size. >> >> Right now it's a static project from the build it perspective but >> as new ideas surface and other projects supply different expereinces >> it morphs some. What I'd have built say 6 years ago and noew would >> be very different. It will eventually get attention as I have parts >> stored away for it. > >Sounds fun. One day I'll just decide to do it.. ;) Allison

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Portable PDP-11 (was Re: Does anyone use RT-11?)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Portable PDP-11 (was Re: Does anyone use RT-11?) > From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:54:54 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 9/9/07, Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> wrote: >> One day I plan to get a T11 up and running wtih RT but with non-DEC >> drivers for terminal and storage as a small toteable -11. > >I'd like to hear more about this, either on-list, if you feel your >ideas are fleshed out enough to share widely, or off-list, if you are >not as far along with the creative process. I have a lot on paper plus the ever important T-11 manual. However it has stopped at that phase mostly due to other projects having my interest. I did some prototyping a few years back with the T11 to see in in action without a lot of DEC hardware around it. I have that but it was never meant to grow and is only 8KW ram, 8KW Eprom and a DLART for serial IO. Since then I've been doing 8085, Z80, Z280, 6809 and 1802 stuff when not building HF and VHF tranceivers. >Ever since I had a PDT-11 (and let it go to another collector, sadly >for me), I've wanted a portable PDP-11. It might or might not be easy >(read inexpensive ;-) to implement an 80x24 LCD, some form of 40x25 >isn't expensive at all since it only takes a 320x200 mono LCD panel. >Of course, one could just have serial out from the basic PDP-11 >design, then worry about a portable display as a secondary project. The display is really the harder part at least for portability and power consumption. However for this one I was considering packaging along the lines of the Kaypro totables and wall power. Part of this recognizes the T-11 uses a fair amount of power (Z80 NMOS is similar) and most of the parts around it will not be CMOS so battery operation is not easily accomplished. >As for storage, obviously some flavor of FLASH is great for most >things. CF is easy to interface to, and CF cards 1GB and smaller are >quite inexpensive. MMC/SD are also inexpensive and even easier to >interface to, with a bit more work on the driver side to man the SPI >interface. None of the above for cost or availability reasons. I'd opt for IDE using one of the many 40-500mb drives I have. >While textual LCDs are cheaper and easier to interface to, the largest >one I've seen is 4x40. A graphical LCD panel with a SED1335 or t6963 >of a size of 640x200 would be perfect for 80x25, and, since the common >graphical LCD controllers are well documented, not difficult to talk >to. One could either attach the graphical display right to the T-11 >bus as a peripheral and do all the work in PDP-11 software, or hang a >microcontroller off of the T-11 via serial, and write some >microcontroller firmware to turn the LCD into an ANSI terminal. I planned on text. However it's possible to get LCDs used for laptops but the logic to drive them is non trivial. >Back to the T-11, though, if I recall its capabilities correctly, it >doesn't have an MMU, and it would be difficult, if not impractical, to >design an external one that resembles, say, the MMU on an 11/23... so >that means RT-11SJ monitor only, correct? (or would FB be possible?) >There's lots of software out there that runs in 56K or less, so I >don't see that as a fatal flaw. Correct on the OS and software. However the MMU is very buildable and not near as hardware intensive as would seem. For an example look at the T-11 interface in the VT240. It takes a few 16x4 bipolar rams and some loose logic to implement the paging (2 74189, 3 74ls257 and a bit of TTL glue) to make a a compatable (mostly) mapper. One of the things I've given consideration to in recent years is a nonDEC and non *nix OS such as CUBIX as that would translate reasonably from 6908 to PDP-11. This arises from the fact that RT-11 has a very primitive filesystem compared to CP/M and an OS that is not encumbered would be easier to work with. >So, Allison, does any of this sound like what you had in mind, or am I >going off in an entirely different direction? You envision what sould like a Laptop. I can't easily fabricate that but a toteable like Kaypro, Osborne and a few others is very doable. The basic machine description is a 128kW using 32kx8 static parts (8pcs), Boot roms/ODT, MMU, two serial, parallel (PC conpatable for printer) and IDE disk. Things like OS in Eprom have surfaced to my idea pool to consider especially if it were not RT11 (CUBIX influence). Terminal logic would be VK170 (base VT52 on a dual size card) and a monitor in the 7-9" size. Right now it's a static project from the build it perspective but as new ideas surface and other projects supply different expereinces it morphs some. What I'd have built say 6 years ago and noew would be very different. It will eventually get attention as I have parts stored away for it. Allison > >-ethan

18 years, 11 months

3
2
0 0

Portable PDP-11 (was Re: Does anyone use RT-11?)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Portable PDP-11 (was Re: Does anyone use RT-11?) > From: "e.stiebler" <emu at e-bbes.com> > Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:18:26 -0600 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Ethan Dicks wrote: > > If course, if a project were to erupt that was some form of portable >> J-11 design w/1MB or more of SRAM and some local mass storage, I would >> certainly strongly consider building one, even if I had to borrow a >> J-11 chip from one of my two sources. > >But the j-11 are alos very easy to get, as a lot 11/73 boards are >showing even on ebay for dirt cheap. And a SBC-11-+++ would be also a >nice project, getting SCSI or IDE, 4 MBytes of ram, 100 mbit ethernet, ... IF you have the part on Qbus already then a small backplance with other scaled sized parts and it's left to being a programming project. Seriously I already have a BA11VA with 11/23, 235kb ram, IO and RQDX3 in only four dual slots, why bother smaller? For that fact why wreck a J11 CPU board to make a J11 system? Allison

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Portable PDP-11 (was Re: Does anyone use RT-11?)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On 9/9/07, Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> wrote: > One day I plan to get a T11 up and running wtih RT but with non-DEC > drivers for terminal and storage as a small toteable -11. I'd like to hear more about this, either on-list, if you feel your ideas are fleshed out enough to share widely, or off-list, if you are not as far along with the creative process. Ever since I had a PDT-11 (and let it go to another collector, sadly for me), I've wanted a portable PDP-11. It might or might not be easy (read inexpensive ;-) to implement an 80x24 LCD, some form of 40x25 isn't expensive at all since it only takes a 320x200 mono LCD panel. Of course, one could just have serial out from the basic PDP-11 design, then worry about a portable display as a secondary project. As for storage, obviously some flavor of FLASH is great for most things. CF is easy to interface to, and CF cards 1GB and smaller are quite inexpensive. MMC/SD are also inexpensive and even easier to interface to, with a bit more work on the driver side to man the SPI interface. While textual LCDs are cheaper and easier to interface to, the largest one I've seen is 4x40. A graphical LCD panel with a SED1335 or t6963 of a size of 640x200 would be perfect for 80x25, and, since the common graphical LCD controllers are well documented, not difficult to talk to. One could either attach the graphical display right to the T-11 bus as a peripheral and do all the work in PDP-11 software, or hang a microcontroller off of the T-11 via serial, and write some microcontroller firmware to turn the LCD into an ANSI terminal. Back to the T-11, though, if I recall its capabilities correctly, it doesn't have an MMU, and it would be difficult, if not impractical, to design an external one that resembles, say, the MMU on an 11/23... so that means RT-11SJ monitor only, correct? (or would FB be possible?) There's lots of software out there that runs in 56K or less, so I don't see that as a fatal flaw. So, Allison, does any of this sound like what you had in mind, or am I going off in an entirely different direction? -ethan

18 years, 11 months

3
5
0 0

VT103 (was Re: Reviving DEC RX01 power supply)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: VT103 (was Re: Reviving DEC RX01 power supply) > From: Roger Ivie <rivie at ridgenet.net> > Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 07:42:28 -0700 (PDT) > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org> > >On Mon, 10 Sep 2007, Dave McGuire wrote: >> On Sep 9, 2007, at 5:54 PM, Roger Ivie wrote: >>> >>> I knew a fellow who claimed to have build a MicroVAX II in a VT103. I >>> never saw it and don't know the details, but I believed him. He was >>> some sort of meta-service guy at DEC (i.e., he got called when the >>> normal service guys couldn't figure it out) and I think the machine >>> was on the DEC internal network. IIRC (and I might not), his name was >>> Ozzie Perez and the node name was OZZIE:: >> >> Are you sure that wasn't "Ernie"? That sounds like something my old friend >> and mentor Ernie Perez might have tried. > >Pretty sure it was Ozzie. The big problem with putting a MicroVAX in the VT103 is enough slots for memory and a disk interface. It's certainly doable and when you consider some of the plans floated for 11/73s, why not uVAX. Allison >-- >roger ivie >rivie at ridgenet.net

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Portable PDP-11 (was Re: Does anyone use RT-11?)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Portable PDP-11 (was Re: Does anyone use RT-11?) > From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 12:43:52 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 9/10/07, e.stiebler <emu at e-bbes.com> wrote: >> Ethan Dicks wrote: >> > Back to the T-11, though, if I recall its capabilities correctly, it >> > doesn't have an MMU, and it would be difficult, if not impractical, to >> > design an external one that resembles, say, the MMU on an 11/23... so >> > that means RT-11SJ monitor only, correct? (or would FB be possible?) >> > There's lots of software out there that runs in 56K or less, so I >> > don't see that as a fatal flaw. >> >> Why not just use the J-11, and have it all ? > >I would think that for one thing, T-11 chips are much easier to find >than J-11 chips - DEC used the T-11 in a variety of peripheral cards >and terminals, and such. I personally probably have half-a-dozen T-11 >chips, and two J-11 chips (one Pro380 and one KDJ11 board). T-11 is designed along the lines of 8085 or Z280 and far easier to interface than J-11. That and I have a handful of T-11s out of defunct RQDX1s and VT240s. If all else the T11 is 40pin DIP and far easier to remove and socket for wire wrap than the huge J-11. T-11s appeared as loose parts, RQDXn controller, VT240/241, HSC50 KXT-11 and KXT-21 to name a few. For raw volume it outnumbers the J11. Doesn't hurt that all software design work can be done on any PDP11 but does not rely on features not available on most all -11s. > >If course, if a project were to erupt that was some form of portable >J-11 design w/1MB or more of SRAM and some local mass storage, I would >certainly strongly consider building one, even if I had to borrow a >J-11 chip from one of my two sources. >-ethan J11 and 1MB of sram is not battery friendly unless one is willing to invest in a lot of 74HCxx parts and a big battery. Allison

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Does anyone use RT-11?

by jhfinedp3k＠compsys.to

Just as there were inquiries about using PDP-11 hardware, I thought that it might be helpful to know if anyone uses RT-11 and for what purpose. For myself, I have the addiction of fixing RT-11 bugs in the operating system as well as making enhancements. Ten years ago, I even produced most of the Y2K changes that were required for V05.04G of RT-11 for a customer who could not wait for Mentec. Eventually, I want to produce a set of Y9K changes to allow years up to 9999 to be used. Other enhancements include SL: and a new pseudo device driver, SB: (SymBolic device list device driver) which is similar to the VMS SNL (Symbolic Name List), but operates only on a device which supports a directory as does PATH for DOS. At one point it was named PH: for Path Handler, but SB: seems a better choice. Even more reasonable would be Symbolic device List or SL:, but SL: is already used by the Single Line editor (or the DOSKEY interface). Symbolic Debugger is also taken for SD: Lately, I mostly use Ersatz-11 and I have been making changes and enhancements to the HD: (Hypothetical Disk) device driver that John Wilson originally wrote in 1995. The challenge I set myself was to produce a VM(X).SYS equivalent that is: (a) Faster - about 3 times as fast (b) Higher capacity - a full 65536 blocks vs 8192 blocks (c) Smaller number of LOADed words in low memory (d) Support the command SET VM: [NO]WRITE plus a number of other useful features. Well, one idea led to another and other versions are also being tested which support 8 units and eventually 64 units (with monitors that have that support as well). If there is any interest, eventually a translation table similar to the one used by DU(X).SYS is possible. In addition, full 32 bit block number support will be done eventually which will allow 2 TeraByte disk drives. The other HD: related code that is also interesting is the ability to interface the HD: device directly from user code WITHOUT a device driver. So while the HD: is about twice as fast as DU(X).SYS when a device driver HD(X).SYS is used, the direct user interface (which avoids all the overhead of a system EMT call) is about twice as fast again. For this user interface, 32 bit blocks numbers are already possible. Under a Windows (YEK !! Double YEK) operating system or even just DOS, all disk access is completed before the HD: returns control to the RT-11 operating system. Consequently, no interrupts are required. I am not sure about Linux operation, but if anyone does know, please advise. Sincerely yours, Jerome Fine

18 years, 11 months

9
13
0 0

VINTAGE COMPUTER FESTIVAL 10.0 - VCFX

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

Announcing, Vintage Computer Festival 10.0 _ _ ______ ______ __ __ | | | | | __ | | ____| \ \ / / | | | | | | |_| | | \ \/ / | | | | | | | |___ \ / | | | | | | | ___| / \ \ \/ / | | _ | | / /\ \ \ / | |__| | | | / / \ \ \/ |______| |_| /_/ \_\ November 3-4, 2007 Computer History Museum Mountain View, California http://www.vintage.org/2007/main/ Ten years! From a quirky little event at the county fairgrounds, the Vintage Computer Festival has grown into the preeminent celebration of computers and their history. We want you to come help us celebrate the tenth anniversary of the VCF in proper style! WHAT: The tenth annual Vintage Computer Festival: VCFX! WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, November 3rd & 4th, 2007 WHERE: The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. WHY: Vintage computers, baby! WHO: Why YOU, silly! This announcement is simply a harbinger. The next long-awaited edition of the VCF Gazette is on its way soon with complete VCFX details. In the meantime, you can also check the VCFX web pages for the latest information: http://www.vintage.org/2007/main/ VOLUNTEERS NEEDED We can use some volunteers this year to help make this the smoothest event yet. Contact VCF Producer Sellam Ismail at <sellam at vintage.org> for details. EXHIBITORS If you've been waiting for that one year to finally do an exhibit at the VCF, THIS IS THAT YEAR. Sign up now! http://www.vintage.org/2007/main/exhibit.php VENDORS We currently have plenty of vendor booths available. But don't wait, sign up now because booths sell out quickly: http://www.vintage.org/2007/main/vendor.php Stay tuned for further announcements of VCFX coming your way soon! Best regards, Sellam Ismail Producer Vintage Computer Festival http://www.vintage.org/ To remove yourself from the VCF mailing list, please visit: http://www.vintage.org/maillist.php?reset=1&state=find

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

DEC Minc 11

by asholz＠topinform.de

Hello all, last weekend I got a MINC 11 including docs (book 6 is missing), but no software. I'm interested in the system and demonstration disk, even as disk images, mentioned in the MINC's manuals. Andreas (from Germany)

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

British Computers.

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

Dear List Not through any sense of nationality and being a collector of an American brand anyway. The other day I was pondering life, the universe and other trivia (programmers do a lot of pondering). When it crossed the empty acres of my mind that there was very little discussion of UK designed and manufactured computers. If we exclude ICL -> Fujitsu and other main frames for now I can only think of a few: RAIR Black box (I knew them very well as they were a customer of mine whilst I was at DEC) Research Machines Acorn Atom Newbrain (When I said "What I need is a NewBrain" everybody agreed ) Digico (I worked on those) Had a hand operated paper tape reader. You pulled the tape through the reader. Does anybody have examples of these and any I may have missed? Rod Smallwood

18 years, 11 months

18
35
0 0

Steven Spielberg's father and the IBM 1800/1130

by aek＠bitsavers.org

Interesting bit of trivia I discovered today. I was digitizing an oral history recorded in Mar 1988 with Arnie Spielberg today, and it turns out he was the architect of the 1800/1130 at IBM San Jose before becoming VP of Engineering at SDS in 1965. A transcript will be up on the CHM web site eventually, and will post a URL when it's available.

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

Ancient 8086/80286 unixes?

by dkelvey＠hotmail.com

> From: lproven at gmail.com> > Er. I found this difficult to follow...> > On 09/09/2007, dwight elvey <dkelvey at hotmail.com> wrote:> > > I had a chance to ask Faggin why he did finish the math coprocessor> > You mean, "didn't"?> > > for the Z8000's. He stated that the handwriting was quite clear.> > (Z8000s. No apostrophes on plurals. Not even on numbers. None, ever.)> > > The 8086 would soon dominate. I wasn't worth the effort to get the> > "It wasn't"?> > > math coprocessor working.> > Other than the addressing, the Z8000 had a nice register arangement.> > ("arrangement")> > > It was much closer to a RISC than the 8086 ever was.> > > I still have a couple of NA2000 series boards. This was another National> > start and drop.> > These has the 800 processor as dies on a PC board with other components.> > ("These have".)> > I don't meant to nitpick - the corrections in parentheses did not> impede my comprehension. The ones outside them, though, *did*. I> suggest taking just a few more seconds over a post?> Hi Sorry about that. I usually read before sending. Some is my dyslexia while the rest was my rushing. I'm also typing on a keyboard that tends to drop characters. Dwight _________________________________________________________________ Gear up for Halo? 3 with free downloads and an exclusive offer. It?s our way of saying thanks for using Windows Live?. http://gethalo3gear.com?ocid=SeptemberWLHalo3_WLHMTxt_2

18 years, 11 months

2
1
0 0

DEC RF and RZ drives and more

by useddec＠gmail.com

> > I just found a hige supply of drives, and have to move them before the C-4 > goes off. I hope to be rebuilt by thanksgiving. Please contact meoff list. > > Thanks, Paul > >

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

MacCon driver disk

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

Does someone here have the driver disk for a Maccon MC+30IET64 ethernet board? I would very much like to have an image of this disk so I can get my Mac SE/30 networked. -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Does anyone use RT-11?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

>Subject: Re: Does anyone use RT-11? Yes, I have at this time four Qbus systems from 11/03 through 11/73 and run RT-11 on them. Rarely games but usually for hacking around and good OS fun. Often to just get away from M$! One day I plan to get a T11 up and running wtih RT but with non-DEC drivers for terminal and storage as a small toteable -11. Alllison

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Data General Nova 4 needs a new home

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

I am helping to liquidate a collection of stuff belonging to a guy near Pasadena California. Among the items is a Data General Nova 4 and related peripherals. It includes the Nova 4 itself, a 25 megabyte hard drive, magtape drive, paper tape (I think), and assorted other fiddly bits. The whole thing is in a 6-foot-tall rack, so you'll need to pick it up yourself and get a couple friends to help. It also includes a decent amount of documentation and paper-tape software. This fellow got caught in the recent storm of mortgage forclosures and needs to clean out all the stuff he's not keeping (which is most of it) by the end of September: this month. So, this thing needs to go NOW. No reasonable offer refused. If you're interested, please email me at the below address or my yahoo address (cupricus) if that doesn't work for you. -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu

18 years, 11 months

3
3
0 0

Atari Portfolio won't shut off

by spectre＠floodgap.com

Or more to the point, it won't *stay* off -- I type Fn-O and it blinks off for a second or two, then comes right back on. Anyone have an easy fix for this? Warm and cold resetting the unit didn't work. -- ------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ -- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- Once used rectally, [it] should not be used orally. --Real thermometer label

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Wang 300 Calc

by dkelvey＠hotmail.com

> From: lproven at gmail.com ---snip---> > Icons, pictograms and so on need no translation and little literacy.> > This concept is elaborated well in Neal Stephenson's /The Diamond Age/.> The problem is that even pictorial icons require context. They are as useless as another language if the user can't determine what the symbol refers to. I'm entering on a Windows Live mail tool. About the only symbol that makes any sense is the closed envelope. Others I recognize because I use them often. I could just as easily have learned Chinese symbols for these functions. As reference, read Jef Raskin's ( note: proper use this time ) book. Making universal symbols is just as limiting and using language. In many cases worse. It was a nice idea that just wasn't based on fact. Now we are all stuck with it. Dwight _________________________________________________________________ Gear up for Halo? 3 with free downloads and an exclusive offer. It?s our way of saying thanks for using Windows Live?. http://gethalo3gear.com?ocid=SeptemberWLHalo3_WLHMTxt_2

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Moto MVME121 paper

by cclist＠sydex.com

Under the heading of "where did *that* come from?", I've stumbled on a loose leaf binder from Motorola titled "MVME121 System Hardware Manual". There are several publications within, but the bulk of the binder's taken up by a document called "MVME319 Intelligent Disk/Tape Controller User's Manual", which contains all sorts of detail, including principles of operation, command layouts and schematics. Circa 1986. A customer must've sent it to me; I have no use for it. Anyone want it for the cost of shipping? Cheers, Chuck

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Looking for some RL02 packs

by charlesmorris＠hughes.net

Now that I have two functioning systems (PDP-8/A running OS/8, PDP-11/23+ with RT-11XM) that have two RL02 drives each, I'm short of disk packs. I'm looking for three or four. Please let me know if you have any, and how much you want for them. I'd much prefer disks with no bad blocks at all (but at least none in the first 64 locations, or they won't be useable for OS/8). My zip is 65775 for shipping calculations... thanks Charles

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

power brownout logger?

by legalize＠xmission.com

Sorry if this is a little off-topic, but after hunting around on the net I couldn't find the right search term to find what I'm looking for. OK, my power company sucks. I have brownouts and power outages all too frequently. Yet when I look at the statistics recorded by the public utilities commission, it seems obvious to me that they aren't showing an accurate record of what happens at my house. So I'm looking for a device (I'm fairly certain I've seen these before) that I plug into a wall outlet and it keeps a log of voltage sags, brownouts and outages. Then I can use this to build a reliability profile of my power company as raw data to compete with their b.s. line that its never their fault when my power constantly sucks. Any suggestions? -- "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/>

18 years, 11 months

14
16
0 0

TCP/IP testing, round 3 ...

by mbbrutman-cctalk＠brutman.com

I'm looking for a few people to connect to a small 'server' I am running to help me test my TCP/IP for DOS. It can be reached at: telnet 24.159.200.228 2023 It does not do telnet parameter negotiation so echo and line editing are dependent upon your particular telnet client. I've found that the standard telnet client in Win XP does local echoing, Win 2K does not do local echoing, and Linux does local echoing with local line editing. If something doesn't work just try it again without any extra whitespace chars or backspaces. For the sake of traffic on the list, please use discretion when replying to this - obviously stuff of general interest should be posted publicly .. Some background on the project: I've been writing my own TCP/IP for DOS machines since around Nov 2005. Everything except the packet drivers that I am using is new code that I wrote for this project. I was busy with other things the last eight months and I'm finally getting back to working on it. (The last round of testing was in late Dec.) The development machine is a 386-40 using Turbo C++ 3.0 for DOS. The code runs reasonably well on my PCjr. Eventually I want to do a telnet BBS. A Linux box is tracing incoming and outgoing traffic in case I need to debug something that crops up. The test is running on the 386 today because I am doing extensive tracing in the code as well. This particular test code accepts connections from up to 9 clients and lets you play around with some simple commands. The idea is to exercise the TCP/IP code with multiple concurrent connections, so please excuse the simple interface. Thanks! Mike

18 years, 11 months

4
6
0 0

8-bitters and multi-whatever

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

>Roy J. Tellason rtellason at verizon.net >Fri Sep 7 22:49:03 CDT 2007 > >So I was poking around at bitsavers after snagging those TI databooks, and >stumbled across some files pertaining to TurboDOS. I'd read about that [snip] Roy, The NorthStar Horizon ran TurboDOS and there were special versions of the Horizon specifically to run multiuser applications. The manuals are available here: http://www.hartetechnologies.com/manuals/Northstar/ I think Dave Dunfield has some TurboDOS disk images on his site: http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/img/index.htm I suppose in theory you could boot his Horizon simulator with the TurboDOS images and use the manuals to experiment with it. If you really want to use real hardware, you could either buy one of the specially modified Horizons or just upgrade a normal one. I have seen the Horizon multi serial port and the "slave processor" cards on Ebay from time to time. Thanks and I wish you the best of luck with your search. I hope this helps. Andrew Lynch

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

DEC Alphaserver 800 front panel doors

by ddsnyder＠zoominternet.net

Anyone have a Alphaserver 800 front bezel or front doors for $$ or trade?

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

BA123 power supply signal question

by ian_primus＠yahoo.com

On a BA123 power supply, each regulator has three non-power pins - LTC, POK and DCOK. Am I correct to assume these are TTL level outputs? What is the computer expecting to get from these three lines if everything is OK? -Ian

18 years, 11 months

3
2
0 0

IBM 3270 ANR coax protocol.

by h.j.stegeman＠hccnet.nl

Hi, Can anyone help me with detailed information of the IBM ANR coax protocol used between IBM 3271/72 and IBM 3277 terminals ? 'ANR' stands for Alpha Numeric Replacement. This is what I know sofar of the ANR protocol: - transmission was done with words of 13 bits. - one bit time was 7 x 210nS = 1.47 uS (Not sure about the 7 x) - a logical ZERO was defined as an negative pulse of 210 nS. a logical ONE was defined as an negative pulse of 630 nS. (3 x 210 nS) - the 13 bits where used as follows: bit 1 - start bit (Busy bit) bit 2,3,4 - control bits bit 5 - 11 data bits bit 12 - odd parity over bits 2-11 bit 13 - buffer size (480 / 1920 bits) Transmission started with a dummy word with all 13 bits zero. I assume this was needed to establish word synchronisation. Followed by a WRITE CW1 and 480/1920 words. The 480/1920 words can be of any mix of attribute / data words. Currently I am building an async RS232 to ANR convertor and having difficulties in transfering data to an original IBM 3277 model 1 terminal. The problem is most likely timing. Does any one have an answer on the following question: Q1: the exact bit time ? Q2: exact pulse duration of logical ZERO and ONE ? Q3: time between words (if any). Q4: how was serial synchronisation maintained ? Any piece of information of this ANR protocol is welcome. Thanks ! Henk

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

groovy

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ampro-series-100-industrial-computer_ W0QQitemZ200149653632QQihZ010QQ categoryZ1247QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem ____________________________________________________________________________________ Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games. http://sims.yahoo.com/

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Does anyone use RT-11?

by oldcpu2＠rogerwilco.org

Jerome H. Fine said: > Just as there were inquiries about using PDP-11 hardware, I thought > that it might be helpful to know if anyone uses RT-11 and for what > purpose. I'll pipe up here and confess I never professionally worked with RT-11, or any other DEC OS, for that matter, except for a very, very short 2-month stint with RSTS/E. And all I really was doing was making some small adjustments to DIBOL-coded accounting software for a customer. Then my world shifted, and I was sucked into the world of networking PC's (Novell) where I spent the better part of my career. Anyway, I *am* using RT-11 to image my collection of floppies (some of which probably belong on Tim Shoppa's site; TOPS-20 related stuff, looks like). Other than that, I'm basically a complete DEC newbie, and am just starting to dip into MACRO-11 on RT-11. Part of a pickup included a college textbook focused entirely on RT-11 MACRO-11, so I'm having some fun! :-) As for Ethan's interest in a Z-machine, I'll second that! But I don't even know where to start! - Jared PS. Thanks, again, to all that assisted the reviving of my PDP-11/03!

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

oi nice

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sharp-x68000-XVI-Clean-Tested- Beautiful-Japan-Import_W0QQitemZ300146680786QQihZ020QQ categoryZ4193QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! FareChase. http://farechase.yahoo.com/

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Looking for BA23 "back door" & MicroVAX II memory interconnect cable

by derschjo＠msu.edu

Hi all -- Title says it all -- I have a BA23 enclosure (soon to contain a MicroVAX II) that's missing the door that covers the card cage (not sure what the "official" name for this part is). Right now all the patch panels for the console and ethernet are left dangling and I'd love to have something to anchor them to :). I'm also looking for a memory interconnect cable to connect two M7609 memory boards to the CPU, but I can probably build one of those myself if push comes to shove. Anyone have these parts for sale/trade? Thanks in advance, - Josh

18 years, 11 months

1
0
0 0

Cromemco Dazzler troubleshooting...

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

Hi, I have a Dazzler board set that _almost_ works. Gray scale looks good and color looks OK, except that it's gray too. The shades of gray change when I flip the color bit at I/O address 0x0F and the red and green pots and the blue variable cap change the display when in color mode. The monitor I'm using is tested good with a color CCTV camera I have lying around. The geometry changes as expected with bit changes at 0x0F and the "dots" change as expected when the memory at the address assigned at 0x0E is modified. My guess is that something is wrong in the color burst (is that the right name?) circuit? Or is it possible that there is something different about the signal that a newer (manufactured Jan. 1993) color monitor wouldn't like? Unfortunately, the scan of the Dazzler manual on the Harte Technologies web site is not at a high enough resolution for the schematics to be read in detail. A better scan of the schematics would be greatly appreciated as would any other help, video signal generation is not my strong suit. Thanks, Bill No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.485 / Virus Database: 269.13.8/993 - Release Date: 9/6/2007 3:18 PM

18 years, 11 months

3
4
0 0

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

test-drb