> From: Jason T
> According to my notes, for the VCFMW8 shirts ... I used DIN Next Pro
> Rounded Medium for the panel text, although the font I had in my work
> directory is "DIN 1451 Fette Breitschrift 1936". That is probably the
> font next to the knob on the right and the bit numbers above the
> switches.
Yeah, that latter is the one we're looking for (mostly). (I tried downloading
a couple of copies, but for some reason I don't understand the font viewer on
my Windoze box wouldn't show them; from what I could see online, it looked
close.) The DEC font uses a zero with a slash, but it's otherwise close.
> There is no reason to think these are the original DEC panel fonts, just
> what I found to be "close enough" at the time.
Understood. Thanks!
Noel
I communicated with the person who posted on alt.folklore.computers. The
person is a close relative of Bill's; thus, the information about his
tragic passing is true/confirmed.
The person added, "He was living in Oreville, California and perished in
his home on Thursday, Nov. 8. ... Bill was a great man, and THE smartest
person I've ever known."
Please do not disturb the AFC poster as they're in mourning.
________________________________
Evan Koblentz, director
Vintage Computer Federation
a 501(c)3 educational non-profit
evan at vcfed.org
(646) 546-9999
www.vcfed.orgfacebook.com/vcfederationtwitter.com/vcfederation
I am still working on the causes of a Reset on my Pro 350. One 8-pin DIP
chip that I have traced to is marked as follows:
9643TC-B1
F 8313
KOREA
It is very close to the F-11 chips at the bottom left and marked E135 in
this picture
https://rjarratt.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/system-board-labelled.jpg
Can anyone tell me what this is?
Thanks
Rob
> We're just about settled on the format for the QSIC RKV11-F/RPV11-D
> panels.
PS: Here's the latest rev of our thinking:
http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/jpg/inlay-rk11-f3.pdf
if anyone has any comments. (Since the format is entirely set by the FPGA,
it's 'easy' to tweak it, if there's a desirable improvement.)
It's not the same as the old DEC RK11-B/RK11-C or RP11-C inlays, in part
because we want to be able to show the address, and on a QBUS machine, that's
22 bits. Also, many of the fields don't apply to the QSIC (e.g. internal drive
signals, 36-bit data buffer on the RP11, etc); we figured it would be better
to recycle those lights for something useful (e.g. the address and word
count).
Noel
> From: Eric Smith
> which would respond to ARP requests for non-local addresses and reply
> with the router's MAC address (on that interface), specifically in
> order to make classful-only hosts work on a CIDR network.
Yeah, Proxy ARP (an early RFC here:
https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1027.txt
but IIRC it was people at CMU who first came up with the idea; this RFC is
>from people at UT-Austin, documenting it) was originally done to support
subnetting (see
https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc917.txt
for more) when it was first introduced - for hosts for which people didn't
have the source, but needed to attach it to a subnetted network.
Subnetting was a stage before CIDR (which took subnetting and Carl-Herbert
Rokitansky's 'supernetting' and mushed them together).
Noel
Hi Jeffrey,
thanks for your answer and recollections on the famous hammer test ;-)
> hangar. I was mesmerized as two weights were released from two chains
> on opposite sides of the machine as it was running. The two weights
There is a youtube video showing some of the testing...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oOgYklBklc
..but the hammer is not hitting the device under test directly, but
it is hitting a big steel plate where the device is mounted to (indeed
simulating a submarine in harsh "conditions")...
> up the Liberty bell, or crashed a VW into a lightpole. The machine
> continued to function!
Yes, lot of metal inside those Rolms. Although all Aluminium, they
are veeery heavy and I always wondered how many of them also have
been used in airborne applications, where weight is an issue ;-)
Best wishes,
Erik.
I discovered this one (Document 800-1304-05, 19 September 1986
Still in shirnk-wrap, so pristine.
I offered it to Al, but got no response.
FFS USA
--Chuck
Just picked up an IBM System/36 5362 tonight. It is in pretty good
physical condition with just a few minor scratches - other than needing
a thorough cleaning. It has 2 60 MB hard disks in the unit. Not sure
of the RAM capacity. Missing the the mode hard key.
A few of us tried to get it running tonight. It came with a 3179
twin-ax terminal but no keyboard. We connected the terminal via a
twinax cable direct from port 0 to the terminated Y adapter on the
terminal. Never got any output on the terminal at any time other than
the fairly empty status line. The S/36 front panel console light did
illuminate after we connected the terminal. The key was locked to
Normal but we were able to by-pass it with a jumper to get it into
Service mode. The media that came with it only had disk 1 of an SSP
release and we could not get that to IPL from floppy (mode 3 / panel
1000). It stepped the head motor forward and back a couple times,
engaged the head, then immediately threw an error code.
Any idea where I can get an SSP release for the S/36 5362 and how to
write it to 8" floppies? Also where I might find a keyboard for the
terminal and what can be done if anything to gauge the health of the
hard drives?
-Alan H.
Can?t see it yet in the states, but I was wondering if anyone here saw it and what you though. I was involved with the show.
Thanks,
Cheers,
Corey
corey cohen
u??o? ???o?
Sent from my iPhone
I've got a NeXTstation Turbo and a MegaPixel display; the computer boots
fine, but seems to complain of a failing hard drive.
The monitor works okay; slight burn in, but otherwise looks okay in terms
of the phosphor. However, something seems to be wonky with the horizontal
scan...the left edge is very wobbly.
Pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/azWHVuB
Before I open this up, does anyone have any suggestions on where to start?
I didn't see a NeXT section on Bitsavers.
I am aware of the dangers of CRTs and will be sure to discharge the anode;
I've worked on a few MDA monitors before.
Thanks!
Kyle
P.S. From the hard disk error message, would you agree it's failing? Would
this indicate total failure is imminent?
My recycler in Chicago will hunt some down for me. Tested and working, they
will be about $25 each. Sound reasonable? May have slight cosmetic defects
due to coming from recycler, bit I will test all the functions. I knew there
must be some reason I saved all those old floppies!
Do you guys want PCI cards too? Same price?
AGP video cards?
Cindy Croxton
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
I saw a copy of this pop up on ebay, and was wondering if anyone had a
copy / more information about it? It seems to be another networking OS
for CP/M systems like Televideo's TS-806 & 816.
Thanks,
Pat
I am interested in old programmable controllers. I would like to put
together a Allen-Bradley PLC-2/30 controller with at least one 1771 IO
Chassis and some IO modules.
ebay has some thing for a price, but if anyone has this type of hardware I
would be interested.
Does anyone have the stand for an HP-Apollo 9000/400t series, or specs for it (particularly the screws used to attach it to the main unit)? I haven?t seen screw specifications in the online reference material I?ve found, so it?ll be hard to make my own stand.
Also, does anyone have a part number or other specifications for the internal disk sleds the 9000/400t series use, so I can secure the disks to the unit? I haven?t seen a part number in any of the online reference material I?ve found.
-- Chris
Now that I know you guys want them, I have put out a few feelers. Hopefully
some of my recycle guys will have some.
Cindy Croxton
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
Hello,
I have a complete set of Dec Orange Volumes for RT-11 and RSX11-M
I am in the Baltimore Maryland Area.
Bring a 12 pack of something nice to drink (Craft Beer Since I Am A
Snob) and its all yours. Its a lot of documentation and its all in
really decent shape.
Just wanted to offer it before I start recycling it.
No Shipping.
Fran
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
I have been playing with a simulated Cray downloaded from modularcicuits.com...
The Simpson's behavior is always odd. Reproducing anything at all is difficult.Would anyone have information about XMT , ampex, CONC or loading DK tapes?
I have read one Cray manual already and half of a second. I contacted the creator of the simulator about simulating the chilled connection, I do not know if this is implemented.
Any suggestions or ideas are welcome.I
I am presently stuck at:
MOS TEST COMPLETE
IOP-0 HALF 104
IOP STOP IN MERNEL
Jonathan Engwall
On Tue, 11/6/18, Zane Healy via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> For those not in the know, orange binders for RT-11 should mean v5.x.? An probably v4.x for
> RSX11M.? Definitely a great pile of documentation for someone that is close enough!
Isn't RT-11 V4 orange? I'll have to check when I get home, but
I'm pretty sure that's the set I have. (That and a blue binder set
for V3 and a loose set of V2.)
BLS
Hello,
as other said, there's always demand for old disks, specially if working.
The Micropolis are prone to death due to rubber of the head arm going to
goo over time... but it can be repaired with some effort.
I myself would take some of these disks for shipment, if you are in EU.
Thanks
Andrea
I have a Digital RZ56 drive and a couple of Micropolis 1588 drives.
Is there any demand for these brick sized drives of cd-rom capacity, or
should I just recycle them?
Stan
Hi there!
I don't usually see much discussion on old IBM boxes, but I was looking for a reasonably-powerful RS/6000 that can run AIX 4.1 and maybe 3.2.5, can accommodate some decent disks, and isn't 200lbs. The 7012-390 looks perfect, but I found this one on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-7012-390-POWER2-512MB-Memory-1GB-SCSI-2-Disk-D…
Are 7012-390's really worth $3,000? Anyone out there have one they'd like to unload for less than 3 grand? :P
Thanks!
-Ben
I have posted previously about a DEC Pro 350 I am trying to get working
again. At the moment it seems to be constantly resetting the CPU.
I have traced one possible path for the cause of this back to a NEC chip for
which I cannot find a datasheet. It is a 40-pin DIP it is marked "NEC Japan
8239K6 D7201C". All I have been able to find is more modern USB host
controllers.
Can anyone tell me what it is? It is marked E32 (on the left about half way
up) in this picture:
https://rjarratt.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/system-board-labelled.jpg
Thanks
Rob
>
> Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2018 14:29:18 -0700
> From: Eric Korpela <korpela at ssl.berkeley.edu>
> Subject: Re: i860: Re: modern stuff
>
> A Google search on Skybolt i860 produces interesting results.
> >Additional realtime signal processing
> > capability is provided by four Skybolt i860-based VMEbus single-board
> > computers with 240 MFLOPS peak combined capacity.
> > --------------
> > Remember when 240 MFLOPS was a lot?
>
That's the board that I have.
Quad i860 on a 9Ux400 VME board.
Its in a Sun 4/280 development system.
--
Michael Thompson
Soon to be picked up and brought home. Lots of documentation with it as
well. Christmas came early, eager to get it home and set up.
https://postimg.cc/gallery/wb1z90m2/
--Devin D.
I got into the Data General scene in the late 1990's, when I received
an Eclipse as a gift from a client who no longer needed it.
In my search for docs, software, and other information I met some
interesting people. One was in the Navy in the 1980's in data
processing. He recounted to me:
I was visiting a hangar where machines were being warehoused and tested
prior to acceptance. I saw a lot of odd tests conducted, shocks, water,
fire, smoke, the works, or so I thought.
Once when there I saw a Hawk (That was a Data General milspec 'Eagle' -
Eclipse 32 bit machine) suspended by chains from the overhead of the
hangar. I was mesmerized as two weights were released from two chains
on opposite sides of the machine as it was running. The two weights
slammed into the sides of the machine at approximately the same time
and the results were pretty spectacular. It sounded like someone blew
up the Liberty bell, or crashed a VW into a lightpole. The machine
continued to function!
Most of the things that went on around there were classified to some
degree or other and one got used to not asking questions, but as I
looked over in bewilderment to my buddy in the group of tester, he said
to me darkly "Depth Charges".
Jeff
Hi Bill,
thanks again for your considerations!
--- Bill Degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> wrote:
> BTW - there is no evidence that the 1601 was not produced
> at all, is there???
No, there is no evidence. But they founded ROLM in 1969 and they
had no experience on designing a MIL-SPEC computer (until than
only highly specialized MIL-SPEC computers had been designed taking
years each) and only limited experience on computers at all. So
I can hardly imagine, that they founded ROLM, agreed with DG on the
architecture, developed the design, implemented the shock and heat
management, tested against the MIL-SPECs set up production within
only 2 years. Here is a nice video of a discussion with the founders
recorded by the CHM:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyTuxVQgw6c
> The brochure came from a local office near where I used to live in
> New Jersey USA.?? It could be that very few were made
Yes, maybe some where made for trade shows and to try out how to
build a MIL-SPEC computer. But regarding commercial sales I am still
sceptic (no proof as you say)...
Thanks,
Erik.
Hi Bill!
--- Bill Degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> wrote:
> I may have more 1601 stuff, if I find I will scan and post
Many thanks for your efforts - these documents look very interesting.
Given the fact, that Rolm was founded in 1969, I really guess that by
the time the brochure was printed, no running hardware existed at all.
Maybe they had first PCBs and an idea how to implement the Nova
architecture using the MIL SPEC chips available. So the 1601 probably
only exists on paper!
> .?? I know there is the upcoming Nova event so I
As Will mentioned, this was 10 days ago. It was really a cool
event with lot of interesting people and their reminiscences and
memories from the good old days where very exciting! I had some
slides on the impact of the Nova architecture on military com-
puting, but the 1601 of course was missing in my time-line...
Have a good time and best wishes,
Erik.
BTW - there is no evidence that the 1601 was not produced at all, is
there? The brochure came from a local office near where I used to live in
New Jersey USA. It could be that very few were made, what I need to do is
cross reference with other sources I may have.
b
On Mon, Nov 5, 2018 at 12:16 PM erik--- via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
wrote:
>
> Hi Bill!
>
> --- Bill Degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I may have more 1601 stuff, if I find I will scan and post
>
> Many thanks for your efforts - these documents look very interesting.
> Given the fact, that Rolm was founded in 1969, I really guess that by
> the time the brochure was printed, no running hardware existed at all.
> Maybe they had first PCBs and an idea how to implement the Nova
> architecture using the MIL SPEC chips available. So the 1601 probably
> only exists on paper!
>
> > . I know there is the upcoming Nova event so I
>
> As Will mentioned, this was 10 days ago. It was really a cool
> event with lot of interesting people and their reminiscences and
> memories from the good old days where very exciting! I had some
> slides on the impact of the Nova architecture on military com-
> puting, but the 1601 of course was missing in my time-line...
>
> Have a good time and best wishes,
>
> Erik.
>
>
>
> From: Steven Malikoff
>> The bulbs had "flying leads" coming out of the glass, no bases ... The
>> bulbs just hovered over the PCB
> It makes me wonder if the 11/15 is much the same.
I just had a look at my -11/20 (the two are basically the same machine; the
/15 was intended for the OEM market, the /20 the end-user), and it has an
intermediate between this, and the final incandescent bulb form (as on the
-11/45), where there were bulbs with plastic bases plugged into sockets.
The -11/20 has the same bulbs, but apparently soldered directly into the
panel; I looked at the prints (it's in the 'KY11-A Programmer's Console'
stuff - I see Manx says the prints aren't online, I'll have to scan my set),
and there are bulbs in the parts list, but no sockets.
> From: Ethan Dicks
> I think some later DEC light blockers were MDF or perhaps something a
> bit denser .. Definitely a fibrous wood product.
Per the prints, the later ones were Benelex, an early form of MDF (although
some -11's later used thick sheet aluminium).
Noel
Hi folks,
This week I managed to get my paws on a machine that I only ever saw in ?coming up!? type magazine articles in the mid-80s. It?s made by a UK manufacturer of Viewdata set top boxes and home micro modems called Tandata who were a split from Tangerine, the company that gave us the Microtan 65 and eventually the Oric 1 and Oric Atmos.
Documentation on the Tandata PA is zero, if you search for it you get my Binary Dinosaurs page and nothing else so tonight I set about trying to work out the power inputs from its 4 pin socket. Going clockwise pin 1 is definitely GND/0V and pin 2 is not connected. Pin 3 goes to the input of a 79L05 -5V regulator which via a capacitor seems to be used as the GND pins for 3 CMOS 74 series chips. Pin 4 goes to a 7805 5V regulator.
I?ve never seen a -5V reg be used in a GND circuit so before I continue searching am I barking up the wrong tree? The trace literally goes from socket to 79L05 pin 2, output goes to a capacitor then to the GND pins on a CD74HC74E, CD74HC86E and CD74HC4066E. There?s a VARTA battery nearby too.
Board pic is here: http://binarydinosaurs.co.uk/tandatapa-13.jpg <http://binarydinosaurs.co.uk/tandatapa-13.jpg>
Any insight much appreciated!
--
adrian/witchy
Owner of Binary Dinosaurs, the UK's biggest home computer collection?
t: @binarydinosaurs f: facebook.com/binarydinosaurs
w: www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk
I may have more 1601 stuff, if I find I will scan and post. I know there
is the upcoming Nova event so I thought this would be good timing. I have
a lot of Nova docstoo, but I believe they're already posted on the WWW.
Bill
On Sun, Nov 4, 2018 at 2:28 PM erik--- via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
wrote:
>
> Hi Bill,
>
> many thanks for the efforts spent on scanning those fantastic
> brochures. I have some of the 1602s and a MSE14, but has any one
> out there seen a 1601 in real life? Was this really sold or was
> it still a paper-machine as it was replaced by the 1602?
>
> Any comment from contemporary witnesses is highly appreciated ;-)
>
> Thanks again to Bill,
>
> Erik.
>
> e--- Bill Degnan via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> > For those interested in Rolm / Data General Nova Minicomputers I have
> > scanned the hard-to-find Rolm Corp Rugged Nova 1601 brochure from 1970.
> I
> > also scanned what price and module docs I have and uploaded them all
> here:
> >
> > https://www.vintagecomputer.net/ROLM/1601/
> >
> > I don't believe this has been uploaded by anyone yet.
> >
> > Bill
>
>
Hi Bill,
many thanks for the efforts spent on scanning those fantastic
brochures. I have some of the 1602s and a MSE14, but has any one
out there seen a 1601 in real life? Was this really sold or was
it still a paper-machine as it was replaced by the 1602?
Any comment from contemporary witnesses is highly appreciated ;-)
Thanks again to Bill,
Erik.
e--- Bill Degnan via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> For those interested in Rolm / Data General Nova Minicomputers I have
> scanned the hard-to-find Rolm Corp Rugged Nova 1601 brochure from 1970. I
> also scanned what price and module docs I have and uploaded them all here:
>
> https://www.vintagecomputer.net/ROLM/1601/
>
> I don't believe this has been uploaded by anyone yet.
>
> Bill
NOW FORMING - -UNIVAC 422 User Group and? including? The? 422 and? the prior UNIVAC DIGITAL TRAINER? - (Is there a? code compatibility?)
?
Please drop us a note off list? With SN of your unit and stats of if able to? operate and completeness and go withs. Include a? pic? of? you and? your? unit if? you? ?want to appear in 1st? newsletter.
?
Thanks? Ed Sharpe? Newsletter editor
AIX was ported in very cut down manner and used on the f960 and h960
routing cards used on the early T3 based NSFnet. F960 was FDDI and H960 was
HSSI. Come think of it, I think the v.25 and ether net cards also used
i960, just a smaller version.
--
Will
On Oct 29, 2018 12:13 PM, "alan--- via cctalk" <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
wrote:
I know i960 is a very different beast, but was there ever any high level
OSs that ran on it? Or was it pidgin-holed as a high speed embedded
processor for storage controllers and NICs?
I picked up a cache of i960 CPUs a couple years ago and they speak to me in
tongues every time I pass by the shelf.
-Alan
On 2018-10-29 12:56, Ken Seefried via cctalk wrote:
> the i860 found at least a little niche on graphics boards, so somehow
>> not a complete failure ;-)
>>
>
> I'd be mildly surprised if Intel ever made enough from selling i860s
> as GPUs to cover the cost of developing and marketing them. At the
> time, Intel was pushing them as their RISC processor, and put a lot
> into the program. Going to take over the world and all that. Maybe
> not a 'complete' failure...just mostly.
>
> From: Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com>
>
>> On 10/26/18 6:10 AM, Gordon Henderson via cctalk wrote:
>>
>> However it was a royal PITA to code for although a 32-bit CPU, it would
>>> read memory 64 bits at a time (actually 128 IIRC to satisfy the cache),
>>> with half that 64-bit word being an instruction for the integer unit and
>>> half for the floating point unit, so you effectively had to build a
>>> floating point pipeline by hand coded instructions, so 8 (I think)
>>> instructions to load the pipeline, then each subsequent instruction
>>> would feed another value into the pipe, then another 8 at the end to
>>> empty it. Great for big matrix operations, rubbish for a single add of 2
>>> FP numbers.
>>>
>>
>> My impression of the i860 was that it might have been fun for about 2
>> weeks for which to code assembly, but after that, you'd really start
>> looking hard for an HLL to do the dirty work for you. While there's a
>> sense of accomplishment over looking at a page of painfully
>> hand-optimized code that manages to keep everything busy with no
>> "bubbles", you begin to wonder if there isn't a better way to spend your
>> life.
>>
>
> It wasn't fun for the whole 2 weeks. And the i860 is Yet Another
> example of Intel claiming their compilers were going to be so smart
> that all the architectural complexity/warts will never be noticed.
> Wrong, and they didn't learn and said the same thing about Itanium.
> The interrupt stall issue that Gordon pointed out was so bad they were
> basically relegated to single-task software in the end.
>
> KJ
>
Hello, been a while since ive written to the list. I met someone the other
day that used to work for modcomp. He gave me a tour, he still has working
modcomp computers in his home. He was clearing out a bunch of stuff, he
gave me a bunch of terminals and dos era computers. Among the computers is
a modcomp branded motorolla 68k based machine. I can not find any
information on the system. From what i understand, the system was to be
tied in to the modcomp minicomputer bus and used as a modern alternative
for large antiquated disks and tapes. There is a large pair of interface
connectors on the back, never seen anything like them before.
I do not have a modomp computer yet, but this 68k machine looks quite
interesting. It is essentially a vme bus backpane in a desktop computer
case. A hard disk and tape drive are installed. Looks to have floating
point and network card as well. I managed to make the proper serial cable,
and was able to get to a debugger and monitor at power on. I was under the
understanding that this machine could run a port of unix to 68k, called
unix/68. I am uncertain of any details on the machine, i was hoping someone
here could me in the right direction of getting the machine to boot. The
drive still spins up, it may even have an install of unix on it, i might
have to type in some kind of boot parameter or jump to some address from
the monitor to kick off the boot process.
Any advice on how to proceed is appreciated.
Within the following month i am supposed to get a mountain of modcomp
documentation, ill have to check back here and see if its duplicate or
original information and scan it all. He was also going to give me a copy
of a modcomp emulator he wrote, I have found no such thing elsewhere on
line, so perhaps it would be of use to someone else here too once i get it.
--Devin D.
At 10:18 AM 4/11/2018 +1000, Steve wrote:
>The "PDP dash eight oblique S" back in 1968 in 'What the future sounded like': https://youtu.be/8KkW8Ul7Q1I?t=638
Cool, thanks for that. Ah, Hawkwind...
Damn, that 'left all the synths in the basement, and it got flooded' story is painful.
In my opinion the ONLY way to preserve tech relics, is for individual(s) who understand the gear, to take personal responsibility for it.
Companies, beancounters, economics... all are deadly enemies of historic artefacts and documents.
Small world. All the way through that I was waiting for a mention of Fairlight Instruments (Synthesizer company in Sydney.)
But none. Oh well. I worked at Fairlight from the mid 80s for several years (till they shut down.)
There's even a clip online from Fairlight, with me in it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21S1Okh2nlc
Fairlight Instruments Factory Tour 1986 part 2
Starting at 2:18, the young fellow with the dumb haircut and too shy to say anything to the camera, is me.
Ha ha... and I can date that event as very shortly after I got married, since for the wedding was the only time in my entire life I ever shaved my beard off. I hate how I look without it. Since I married in June 1987, I think the year listed on the video is wrong.
Oh, and then the camera pans to a proto-board circuit I was working on. It's a bit of a tangle. I think that was part of a video timebase corrector system I was working on. My proto board, I still have it.
>If there are any special 8/S lightbulb housings that were plastic, I'm happy to CAD them up and 3D print for your (er, museum's) machine at no cost, if I had some measurements or good photos.
>I'm only 'up the road' in Brisbane.
Thanks for the offer, but it won't be necessary.
I'm spending today cleaning the machine and working out exactly how to make the 'clear protective base.' Bought most of the materials today.
The front panel is in pieces atm. And clean now.
Incidentally, several people called the material used for the lamps shroud plate 'MDF.'
It's not, it's that high density cloth+bakelite (or something) material used for electrical switchboard panels. Very tough stuff.
I'll try to get a blog page started for this machine tonight, or at least by tomorrow.
If you're ever down in Sydney and have spare time, you're welcome to visit. Address via email.
Guy
decals... we have a couple extra unused? Electrodata company Pasadena? decals...(yes the? Real stuff? late 50's?) to trade for? Burroughs? bought? Electrodata in 1956? as I? remember and? these? would? have? been acquired? around the late? 50's
?
? ?drop us? a note off list.
?
Thanks? Ed Sharpe archivist? for SMECC? -? to? see? what? we? hoard at the project? ?www.smecc.org
First up is the addition of Crescent Software's entire product line. The
company produced a number of good library suites in the late 80s and early
90's. Note these are all DOS products - the Windows product line was sold
in the early 90's.
http://annex.retroarchive.org/crescent/index.html
When the documentation arrives, I'll be paying the IA to get it all
scanned. It's a lot cheaper than me buying a Scribe scanner or building a
DIY version. :)
Next up is a HUGE CD-ROM and FTP site archive I've been working on.
http://www.retroarchive.org/cdrom/index.html
What I've done here is pull CD-ROMs from the Internet Archive and make
them easily browseable. I've also extracted the contents of each of the
zip, etc. files and created index files for those as well. The goal was
to make the material more easily accessible for both us meat bags and
search spider bots.
This is going to be a long term project that will end when I've either
exhausted the available CD-ROMs on the IA, or I die, whichever comes
first. ;)
There's a number of holes in the sets that are on the IA - if you've got a
disc that would fill a hole, please consider making an ISO of the disc and
upload that along with a photo of the disc to the IA and then let me know
so I can get it processed.
I'm also looking to acquire a manual set for QuickBASIC 4.5 and the
Microsoft Professional Development System 7.1. If you have either one,
please contact me!
Thanks!
g.
--
Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home.
Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies.
ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment
A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes.
http://scarlet.deltasoft.com - Get it _today_!
At 09:14 AM 3/11/2018 -0500, Adrian Stoness wrote:
>get some thick plexi glass to cover it and sit it up for display to look in but not touch ;)
Good idea! And easy to add to the simple base frame I had in mind. Zero changes to the machine.
I was too stuck in modern fast digital thinking - 'RF-tight metal case' etc.
Ha ha, on reflection I don't think so.
Guy
At 11:40 PM 2/11/2018 -0500, you wrote:
>still supper clean id love to have that even
I know how you feel. I've never had _any_ possibility of finding an old PDP machine before. Very happy to have this one.
Re dirt - actually it's pretty grimy. I did a preliminary dust off for the pics, but later it will get a
complete cleaning. After I have docs on where all the flip chips should be, and I figure out a non-marking way to
record which ones were in which slots, as I remove them to clean each one and the backplane.
With precious museum pieces like this, you DON'T write numbers on them in marker pen.
Just doing a quick eval now, since I'm already ridiculously stack-pushed with multiple other projects.
Highest priority: Make a mechanical guard for the wired backplane pins. As it is now, just putting the machine
down on a desk wrong could do major damage.
Have to do this before I even pack it away in the box again. It's just been *really* lucky so far, with only minor pin bending despite inadequate packing.
Guy
For those interested in Rolm / Data General Nova Minicomputers I have
scanned the hard-to-find Rolm Corp Rugged Nova 1601 brochure from 1970. I
also scanned what price and module docs I have and uploaded them all here:
https://www.vintagecomputer.net/ROLM/1601/
I don't believe this has been uploaded by anyone yet.
Bill
>the i860 found at least a little niche on graphics boards, so somehow
>not a complete failure ;-)
I'd be mildly surprised if Intel ever made enough from selling i860s
as GPUs to cover the cost of developing and marketing them. At the
time, Intel was pushing them as their RISC processor, and put a lot
into the program. Going to take over the world and all that. Maybe
not a 'complete' failure...just mostly.
From: Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com>
>On 10/26/18 6:10 AM, Gordon Henderson via cctalk wrote:
>
>> However it was a royal PITA to code for although a 32-bit CPU, it would
>> read memory 64 bits at a time (actually 128 IIRC to satisfy the cache),
>> with half that 64-bit word being an instruction for the integer unit and
>> half for the floating point unit, so you effectively had to build a
>> floating point pipeline by hand coded instructions, so 8 (I think)
>> instructions to load the pipeline, then each subsequent instruction
>> would feed another value into the pipe, then another 8 at the end to
>> empty it. Great for big matrix operations, rubbish for a single add of 2
>> FP numbers.
>
>My impression of the i860 was that it might have been fun for about 2
>weeks for which to code assembly, but after that, you'd really start
>looking hard for an HLL to do the dirty work for you. While there's a
>sense of accomplishment over looking at a page of painfully
>hand-optimized code that manages to keep everything busy with no
>"bubbles", you begin to wonder if there isn't a better way to spend your
>life.
It wasn't fun for the whole 2 weeks. And the i860 is Yet Another
example of Intel claiming their compilers were going to be so smart
that all the architectural complexity/warts will never be noticed.
Wrong, and they didn't learn and said the same thing about Itanium.
The interrupt stall issue that Gordon pointed out was so bad they were
basically relegated to single-task software in the end.
KJ
Hi,
Most of the documentation is found here:
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp8/pdp8a/
For some basic testing look here:
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/pdp8/pdp8a/EK-8A001-OP-002_PDP-8A_Operator…
in chapter 5.1 (pdf page number 48).
To do basic memory read and write:
Press MD and DISP (memory data register will be displayed on the four digits)
Then press 0200 and LA (load address)
Press 5050 and D-THIS (deposit to memory on this adress, no increment).
Press E-THIS (examine on this memory address, no increment) and you should
get the same result back.
Another good place to be is to post in the DEC category on the VCFED
forum: http://www.vcfed.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?23-DEC
Good luck!
/Anders
> Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2018 08:56:08 -0700
> From: Columbia Valley Maker Space <info at cvmakerspace.ca>
> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
> Subject: PDP8/a Initial Power Up
> Message-ID: <27c485c4ae4ef3a32a0756739e85c28b at cvmakerspace.ca>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
> Hello everyone - my first post, so be easy on me!
>
> I have just acquired a PDP8/a and a Remex punch tape reader. The unit
> starts up and displays some data on the displays, and that is about all
> I can tell you.
>
> I am going to do some googling about this, but I am looking for basic
> initial tests .... something I can enter via the keypad.
>
> I learnt some basic programming in 1978 on a PDP8, but that was the last
> time I touched one, so if you are going to suggest some tests, I need
> complete instructions. I don't know how to modify a memory location, let
> alone enter and check a program. I will pick all this back up very
> quickly and I do use computers in my work a lot - I am also an
> electronic hobby guy and have been for years. My point is I am OK with
> component level measurements, I have a scope and probes, etc.
>
> So there you go - hope to hear back form you guys.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Brian
>
> --
> Brian McIntosh
> Columbia Valley Maker Space Communications Guy
> info at cvmakerspace.ca
> 250 270 0689
>
> Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2018 08:56:08 -0700
> From: Columbia Valley Maker Space <info at cvmakerspace.ca>
> Subject: PDP8/a Initial Power Up
>
> Hello everyone - my first post, so be easy on me!
>
> I have just acquired a PDP8/a and a Remex punch tape reader. The unit
> starts up and displays some data on the displays, and that is about all
> I can tell you.
>
> I am going to do some googling about this, but I am looking for basic
> initial tests .... something I can enter via the keypad.
>
> I learnt some basic programming in 1978 on a PDP8, but that was the last
> time I touched one, so if you are going to suggest some tests, I need
> complete instructions. I don't know how to modify a memory location, let
> alone enter and check a program. I will pick all this back up very
> quickly and I do use computers in my work a lot - I am also an
> electronic hobby guy and have been for years. My point is I am OK with
> component level measurements, I have a scope and probes, etc.
>
> So there you go - hope to hear back form you guys.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Brian
>
> --
> Brian McIntosh
> Columbia Valley Maker Space Communications Guy
> info at cvmakerspace.ca
> 250 270 0689
>
Try the toggle-in tests that are here:
https://www.pdp8online.com/pdp8cgi/query_docs/tifftopdf.pl/pdp8docs/toggle_…
--
Michael Thompson
Hello everyone - my first post, so be easy on me!
I have just acquired a PDP8/a and a Remex punch tape reader. The unit
starts up and displays some data on the displays, and that is about all
I can tell you.
I am going to do some googling about this, but I am looking for basic
initial tests .... something I can enter via the keypad.
I learnt some basic programming in 1978 on a PDP8, but that was the last
time I touched one, so if you are going to suggest some tests, I need
complete instructions. I don't know how to modify a memory location, let
alone enter and check a program. I will pick all this back up very
quickly and I do use computers in my work a lot - I am also an
electronic hobby guy and have been for years. My point is I am OK with
component level measurements, I have a scope and probes, etc.
So there you go - hope to hear back form you guys.
Cheers,
Brian
--
Brian McIntosh
Columbia Valley Maker Space Communications Guy
info at cvmakerspace.ca
250 270 0689
> From: Columbia Valley Maker Space
> The unit starts up and displays some data on the displays
You're lucky that worked. Old power supplies need to be brought back to
life in stages.
> something I can enter via the keypad. ... if you are going to suggest
> some tests, I need complete instructions. I don't know how to modify a
> memory location, let alone enter and check a program.
Find all the PDP-8/A documentation online that you can (e.g. Bitsavers) and
download and read it; that will cover how to use the front panel.
Noel
>
> From: Ken Seefried <seefriek at gmail.com>
> Subject: i860: Re: modern stuff
> >the i860 found at least a little niche on graphics boards, so somehow
> >not a complete failure ;-)
>
>
I have a Quad-i860 VME board in one of my Sun systems.
Michael Thompson
Is there anyone who has a working DEC Pro 350 who would be prepared to probe
a few pins on the system board with an oscilloscope? I'd like to understand
what signals I should be expecting in the reset logic, which seems to be
quite complex.
Thanks
Rob
At 04:29 PM 10/29/2018, geneb via cctalk wrote:
>There's a ton of them on the IA already. I would /love/ to get the early ones. My collection begins at 1997 so I would *eagerly* take anything previous to that.
Oh, I'd guess I have them all from '94 to 97 at least,
including the non-Intel MIPS and Alpha sets.
Does the Internet Archive had an easy tool that lets me put a CD
in my drive and it'll tell me if they already have it?
- John
Actually I just fixed it ;) <Emily Litella> Never Mind.
I took the supply all the way apart and found one secondary filter cap that
had leaked electrolyte. Cleaned and fixed that, but still no luck. 155 volts
on the main filter cap. Then I noticed that occasionally it would try to
start for a blink but then the voltages would just drop to zero. So I
started looking around the section that had to be for bootstrap power to the
switching regulator, a common TL494 chip with datasheets online. Sure
enough, a small electrolytic on the primary side had blown its bottom out.
The diodes around it were still good. Changed that cap and a couple more
suspicious looking small ones and the voltages came right up (including the
24V once I pushed the cover-open microswitch).
Put it back in the printer, screwed it all together (a very modular design
for easier field servicing) and fired it up. Test page printed perfectly.
Saved some $ on a new laser printer. For now :)
I like these old cinder-block-sized (and weight) printers too. They last
ALMOST forever...
Charles
The main power supply for my ancient Laserjet IIp+ printer has given up.
Fuse is not blown. Power switch has continuity... don't feel like trying to
debug and repair the "brick".
There are two Sony labels: One says Model RG1-1782 (I think that's the HP
part number) and the other Model CD-91A, 100-115V.
Does anyone have a working one in their junkbox?
This is the LAST time I repair it before it goes to the recycler! I think
I've changed every module except this one.
It has become my grandfather's axe: new head and new handle, but it's still
my grandfather's axe :)
thanks
Charles
Thursday I visited Computer Fusion near Dallas, TX. They have 2 huge
warehouses that they have been filling up since the 1990s. I saw a lot of
old Sun gear, lots of 90s era PCs, etc. Not all of it is listed on his site,
but if there is something specific you want, go to http://www.cfusion.com
and send them a request. Yes, he still has working ESDI, MFM, etc drives J
Cindy Croxton
Electronics Plus
1613 Water Street
Kerrville, TX 78028
830-370-3239 cell
sales at elecplus.com
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
When we talked about this little bit ago I thought there were
a couple other people who had them.? Any chance someone
has a copy of the utilities disk they could rip and email to me?
I just tried to read? mine and it appears to have a bad spot
right on the oct.sav file which is the program for configuring
the card.
bill
> From: Al Kossow
> CHM has a rather large Intel Paragon system.
> I just recently snagged the software and manuals for it on eBay
> which we didn't have
Excellent! Congratulations!
So, I'm curious - what's the 'most important missing thing' at the
CHM - either am important machine that you don't have at all, or
part of something (like the above) that you really need to complete
something?
Noel
Anyone interested in three hardbound volumes of ACM CALGO, starting with
Algorithm 1, plus a large looseleaf binder and
assorted microfiche (assuming that I can still find them)?
Drop me a line if so.
--Chuck
If any of you are archiving old data for the public, like CD-ROMs or
whatever, and you are low on disk space.... A friend gives me surplus
data center hardware often, and I have some SATA disks. They have 4 years
or so on them so backup / redundancy is important, but I can offer
some to people that are running public archives of classic computer stuff
to help.
You just can't resell the hardware.
--
: Ethan O'Toole
Seeking User Manual for DEC M1710 Unibus Interface Foundation: I have been looking everywhere, without success. The closest I have come is a 3-page description in a DEC Logic Handbook from bitsavers.
Thanks in advance for any leads. Neil
I would like to make a correction: Paul Allen helped to create
Micro-Soft not MicroSoft as I had written. When trying to preserve
computing history it's really not permissable to make such an
error.(It's the prof. in me!)
Happy Computing!
Murray :)
On Tue, 23 Oct 2018, Liam Proven via cctalk wrote:
> How many graphical Unix desktops are sold or distributed in the world
> today that are not Linux? Excluding Mac OS X as I specifically address
> that point, I think.
I am replying to this email on a FreeBSD 10.3 box and Motif. I don't
know what FreeBSD runs out of the box because I immediately delete it
and install Motif.
FreeBSD may not have the installed base of Linux but it has a its fans.
--
Richard Loken VE6BSV : "...underneath those tuques we wear,
Athabasca, Alberta Canada : our heads are naked!"
** rlloken at telus.net ** : - Arthur Black
> From: Paul Koning
> A lot more comes from the CPU architecture. The instruction set, of
> course (arguably the first RISC).
An observation about RISC: I've opined before that the CISC->RISC transition
was driven, in part, by the changing balance of CPU speed versus memory
speed: with slow memory and fast CPUs, it makes sense to get as much
execution bang out of every fetch buck (so complex instructions); but when
memory bandwidth goes up, one needs a fast CPU to use it all (so simple
instructions).
It occurs to be that the same balance probably applies to memory _size_. When
memories are small, one wants dense code (which probably means CISC); only
with larger memories does RISC, with its less-dense code, make sense.
Noel
> Message: 28
> Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2018 13:16:44 -0400
> From: "Jeffrey S. Worley" <technoid6502 at gmail.com>
> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
> Subject: Re: "Object Oriented GUI"
> Message-ID: <01e83dac0a96469e425a0632bd07319351c9362d.camel at Gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> I used OS/2 from 1993 to 2003 almost exclusively. It has the most
> beautiful GUI on the planet, is object-oriented to a fault, and is the
> target of all the claims Microsoft was making with regard to the
> Object-orientedness of their new windows 95.
>
> Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_Shell mentions some
> important attributes of a truely object-oriented gui.
>
> Someone mentioned inheritance and polymorphism. These are two products
> of true object oriented gui design. Applications inherit the ability
> to manipulate and use whatever objects exist in the system. A word
> processor is not limited to just text files, for example, or to only
> the files the programmer originally set out for it. The system allows
> the applications to grow in functionality as new object types are
> developed/assembled by other applications or the user.
All these years later, I'm still trying to wrap my head around what
the purpose of that in an OS/desktop environment/file-manager context
is. I guess that, say, you could have new file types implement their
own methods for things like printing, so the OS doesn't have to know
the details of the document structure or require a particular
application installed to be able to print it, but this seems like an
awfully limited use case to me - sure, it would be nice to have things
like audio and video codecs be universal and pluggable or things like
that, but I have a hard time seeing how it's all that revolutionary,
and I can easily see it being just as limiting as other non-OOP format
standards (after all, it's not going to magically add functionality
that the file format itself doesn't support, is it? And doesn't it
ultimately just come down to diking out a chunk of the application
code for the OS to use? What if two different programs both offer
their own handlers for the same file type?)
Does anyone have copies of these two manuals?
24612-90010 Introduction to the A-Series Computer Diagnostics Manual
24612-90013 A-Series Diagnostic Operating and Troubleshooting Manual
They are referenced in this manual:
RTE-A Primary System Software Installation Manual
92077-90038, April 1995, Rev 6200
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/hp/1000/RTE-A/92077-90038_RTE-A_PrimInst.pdf
The hpmuseum.net site has some older versions of the 24612 manuals,
which date from 1983. The final versions of those manuals would be
nice to have.
My jaw dropped when I saw this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223201002247?ul_noapp=true
It looks nice externally, and it has the pedestal, which is nice, but the
seller has not even give the spec or posted pics of the innards and it is
"untested". At that price I would expect a bit more information..
As it happens, I am trying to fix my 350 at the moment.
Regards
Rob
> From: Chuck Guzis
> Danny Hillis' CM-1 also used lots of 1-bit processors.
Does anyone know why they didn't catch on? Was it something like 'commodity
'ordinary' processors became so cheap one could build large parallel machines
out of them, and each node had a lot more computing capability', or something
like that?
I wonder how many CM's are still in existence at this point?
Noel
The boot ROMs for uPDP-11 contain loaders for XH (ethernet) was there any
kind of standard for the server?
It tries to load from a MOP DL server and I have modified mopd from NetBSD
to respond and load 2.11bsd a.out. So I have a solution, but was curious if
there was some DEC standard.
I am tossing a pile of old PC keyboards but found one SUN type C keyboard.
It's missing a few keys :-( but might interest anyone needing spare parts.
Missing
Find/Cut left keypad
"."/Suppr on right keypad
"c" key is missing
one foot is missing
I'll ship if you pay postage.
- Diane
--
- db at FreeBSD.org db at db.nethttp://artemis.db.net/~db
This was circulating in 1995/6. IBM had been shipping the very good
OS/2 for some years and Microsoft was trying to catch up. Someone did
a very nice parody.
Jeff
*****The Legend of the Pea Sea*****
Long ago, in the days when all disks flopped in the breeze and the
writing of words was on a star, the Blue Giant dug for the people the
Pea Sea. But he needed a creature who could sail the waters, and would
need for support but few rams.
So the Gateskeeper, who was said to be both micro and soft, fashioned a
Dosfish, who was small and spry, and could swim the narrow sixteen-bit
channel. But the Dosfish was not bright, and could be taught few
tricks. His alphabet had no A's, B's, or Q's, but a mere 640 K's, and
the size of his file cabinet was limited by his own fat.
At first the people loved the Dosfish, for he was the only one who
could swim the Pea Sea. But the people soon grew tired of commanding
his line, and complained that he could neither be dragged nor dropped.
"Forsooth," they cried, "the Dosfish can only do one job at a time, and
of names he knows only eight and three." And many of them left the Pea
Sea for good, and went off in search of the Magic Apple.
Although many went, far more stayed, because admittance to the Pea Sea
was cheap. So the Gateskeeper studied the Magic Apple, and rested
awhile in the Parc of the XerOx, and he made a Window that could ride
on the Dosfish and do its thinking for it. But the Window was slow, and
it would break when the Dosfish got confused. So most people contented
themselves with the Dosfish.
Now it came to pass that the Blue Giant came upon the Gateskeeper, and
spoke thus: "Come, let us make of ourselves something greater than the
Dosfish." The Blue Giant seemed like a humbug, so they called the new
creature Oz II.
Now Oz II was smarter than the Dosfish, as most things are. It could
drag and drop, and could keep files without becoming fat. But the
people cared for it not. So the Blue Giant and the Gateskeeper promised
another Oz II, to be called Oz II Too, that could swim fast in the new,
32-bit wide Pea Sea.
Then lo, a strange miracle occurred. Although the Window that rode on
the Dosfish was slow, it was pretty, and the third Window was prettiest
of all. And the people began to like the third Window, and to use it.
So the Gateskeeper turned to the Blue Giant and said, "Fie on thee, for
I need thee not. Keep thy Oz II Too, and I shall make of my Window an
Entity that will not need the Dosfish, and will swim in the 32-bit Pea
Sea."
Years passed, and the workshops of the Gateskeeper and the Blue Giant
were many times overrun by insects. And the people went on using their
Dosfish with a Window; even though the Dosfish would from time to time
become confused and die, it could always be revived with three fingers.
Then there came a day when the Blue Giant let forth his Oz II Too onto
the world. The Oz II Too was indeed mighty, and awesome, and required a
great ram, and the world was changed not a whit. For the people said,
"It is indeed great, but we see little application for it." And they
were doubtful, because the Blue Giant had met with the Magic Apple, and
together they were fashioning a Taligent, and the Taligent was made of
objects, and was most pink.
Now the Gateskeeper had grown ambitious, and as he had been ambitious
before he grew, he was now more ambitious still. So he protected his
Window Entity with great security, and made its net work both in
serving and with peers. And the Entity would swim, not only in the Pea
Sea, but in the Oceans of Great Risk. "Yea," the Gateskeeper declared,
"though my entity will require a greater ram than Oz II Too, it will be
more powerful than a world of Eunuchs."
And so the Gateskeeper prepared to unleash his Entity to the world, in
all but two cities. For he promised that a greater Window, a greater
Entity, and even a greater Dosfish would appear one day in Chicago and
Cairo, and it too would be built of objects.
Now the Eunuchs who lived in the Oceans of Great Risk, and who scorned
the Pea Sea, began to look upon their world with fear. For the Pea Sea
had grown and great ships were sailing in it, the Entity was about to
invade their Oceans, and it was rumored that files would be named in
letters greater than eight. And the Eunuchs looked upon the Pea Sea,
and many of them thought to immigrate.
Within the Oceans of Great Risk were many Sun Worshippers, and they had
wanted to excel, and make their words perfect, and do their jobs as
easy as one-two-three. And what's more, many of them no longer wanted
to pay for the Risk. So the Sun Lord went to the Pea Sea, and got
himself eighty-sixed.
And taking the next step was He of the NextStep, who had given up
building his boxes of black. And he proclaimed loudly that he could
help anyone make wondrous soft wares, then admitted meekly that only
those who know him could use those wares, and he was made of objects,
and required the biggest ram of all.
And the people looked out upon the Pea Sea, and they were sore amazed.
And sore confused. And sore sore. And that is why, to this day, Ozes,
Entities, and Eunuchs battle on the shores of the Pea Sea, but the
people still travel on the simple Dosfish.
I am trying to trace the reason why the CPU on my Pro 350 is apparently
being constantly reset. I have reached a DEC 8640 chip. Does anyone have a
pinout for it, perhaps even a datasheet, so I can understand what it is
supposed to do and whether the pin is an input or an output?
Thanks
Rob
> From: Rob Jarratt
> DEC 8640 chip. Does anyone have a pinout for it, perhaps even a
> datasheet,
That's almost certainly a DS8640; a quad NOR unified bus receiver. Data
sheets for the are readily available.
Noel
I used OS/2 from 1993 to 2003 almost exclusively. It has the most
beautiful GUI on the planet, is object-oriented to a fault, and is the
target of all the claims Microsoft was making with regard to the
Object-orientedness of their new windows 95.
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_Shell mentions some
important attributes of a truely object-oriented gui.
Someone mentioned inheritance and polymorphism. These are two products
of true object oriented gui design. Applications inherit the ability
to manipulate and use whatever objects exist in the system. A word
processor is not limited to just text files, for example, or to only
the files the programmer originally set out for it. The system allows
the applications to grow in functionality as new object types are
developed/assembled by other applications or the user.
I gather, though I have not had the opportunity to play with it, that
the Next Gui was also extreme in its object-orientedness, though I
can't see that from MACOS (its inheritor), I understood that to be the
case?
At any rate, if you want a fantastic example of a object-oriented
graphical user interface, check out the Workplace Shell.
Jeff
I just rescued a Cossor DIDS-400 terminal from ending up at the garbage dump. Cossor was a UK company, that ended up as a Raytheon subsidiary, and the Cossor DIDS-400 was marketed as the Raytheon DIDS-400 in the US.
My terminal is model no 402-2/C15, part no D/GA 800260, serial no 023, option table code 321121.
Date codes on the IC?s are in 1968. Internally, there?s some interesting technology; ITT MIC9xx DTL IC?s, a piano wire delay line for character storage, and a Raytheon Symbolray monoscope tube as the character generator.
I?d love to get this terminal working again, and to that end I?m looking for any kind of service documentation (any other documentation would be welcome too, as I have nothing).
The power supply in this terminal consists of two parts, manufactured by Best Products Ltd, of Felixstowe, Suffolk, models 508-L (low voltage supply), and 508-H (high-voltage supply). Any documentation on these would be most welcome, too.
Kind regards,
Camiel Vanderhoeven
Has anyone seen a source for these clips?
http://bitsavers.org/mysteries/salea_clip.JPG
They come with the Salae logic analyzer, and are like the HP logic analyzer clips
in that the wire is detachable, instead of the common style you can buy
where you have to solder on a wire.
On 10/27/18 4:51 PM, corey cohen wrote:
>
>> On Oct 27, 2018, at 7:42 PM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
>>
>>> On 10/27/18 4:19 PM, Al Kossow via cctalk wrote:
>>> Has anyone seen a source for these clips?
>>>
>>> http://bitsavers.org/mysteries/salea_clip.JPG
>>>
>>> They come with the Salae logic analyzer, and are like the HP logic analyzer clips
>>> in that the wire is detachable, instead of the common style you can buy
>>> where you have to solder on a wire.
>>
>> Pomona 5790?
>>
>>
>
> I thought I saw some that would work at Halted/HSC in Santa Clara this past week. They were right across from the counter where you pay.
>
There's also these "micrograbber" clips at All Electronics for $2 the each:
https://www.allelectronics.com/item/mtc-9b/micrograbber-test-clip-w/0.64mm-…
I don't like them as much as the Pomonas--the cheapies use only a single
contact, rather than the "pincer" style of the Pomona.
--Chuck
So, I bought a copy of the FP11-A Technical Manual (EK-FP11A-TM), but when it
got here, it was the 'Preliminary' version (-PRE), with type-written text,
some of the figures are hand-drawn, etc.
This manual does not seem to be generally available online, although at one
point a copy was available for download briefly; although it's not the
greatest scan job, I have put it up here:
http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/dload/EK-FP11A-TM-002.pdf
So, is it worth my scanning the -PRE version, or should I just punt, and we'll
go with that scan of the -002?
Noel
> From: Rob Jarratt
> The chips where I believe the RESET is oscillating on pin 23 have been
> labelled E151 and E152 ... But I am not really sure if I have
> identified them and the pin correctly.
E151 is the main CPU chip:
http://gunkies.org/wiki/F-11_chip_set
E152 is the KEF11-A floating point chip, and E150 is the KTF11-A memory
management chip.
Pin 1 of E150 is definitely in the lower left corner (in the photo); there's
an indent on the left-hand side of the chip, for the usual DIP orientation.
I'm pretty sure the other two have the same orientation.
Noel
One the original PDP-8 ("Straight 8"), the front panel has two aluminum
strips on the sides, one on the left and one on the right. Each should have
a pair of flathead countersunk screws, likwly Phillips head.
Can someone tell me the exact specs, basically thread, length, head, and
material of the screws?
Thank you.
--
Will
> I'm pretty sure the other two have the same orientation.
They do; I looked at the KDF11-A prints in the /23 print set, and then looked
at an actual /23. (I should put a hi-res picture of one on the CHWiki page;
the one that's there is pretty miserable.)
Noel
Does anyone have a description of how to put 48K of memory in
the TRS-80 Model I without using an Expansion Interface?? I seem
to remember there being some published back in the old days
but can't find anything on the web.? I think it was done with 4164's
and a few pieces of wire wrap wire to jumper the missing address
lines.
bill
As I mentioned in an earlier thread, I am trying to repair a DEC
Professional 350 system board. I think I know the pinout of the F11 chips
>from a KDF11-A printset, can anyone confirm that pin 23 of the DIL package
is the RESET signal? If that is correct then it is oscillating and resetting
the machine constantly. I am trying to trace the source, but it seems to go
through quite a few chips and I haven't yet traced its source.
The chips where I believe the RESET is oscillating on pin 23 have been
labelled E151 and E152 in the following photo:
https://rjarratt.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/system-board-labelled.jpg But I
am not really sure if I have identified them and the pin correctly.
Thanks
Rob
PS:
> Not the simplest machine to implement, mind - the -8 is a lot
> simpler.
As a rough measure of how much more complex, the -8/E and -11/20 are roughly
contemporaneous, and built out of the same technology (SSI TTL on larger
boards): the -8/E CPU is 5 quad boards, and the -11/20 CPU is 9 quad board
(equivalents - some are duals, etc).
Noel
I rescued a pile of DAT and a drive from scrap locally. I have no use for it.
I'd rather not ship :-( but I am two hours drive from Montreal 4.5-5 hours from
Toronto here in Ottawa. Anyone want this box?
Diane
--
- db at FreeBSD.org db at db.nethttp://artemis.db.net/~db
Liam Proven wrote:
<snip>
>On the one hand, the cosmetics. *Every* Unix desktop out there draws
>on Win95.
I take exception to the "*Every*" in Liam's statement above.
Replacing "Unix" with "Linux" would make the statement more correct.
X-Windows-based desktop metaphor UI's existed within the Unix world long before Win95 came on the scene.
The whole desktop metaphor UI existed long before Windows 95 in non-Unix implementations by Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) with the pioneering Xerox Alto, introduced in 1973, which implemented Alan Kay's concepts for the desktop metaphor that were postulated in 1970 using Smalltalk as the core operating system.
Windows 95, and the earlier versions of Microsoft's desktop metaphor UI's, were patterned after these implementations. Microsoft simply took concepts that already existed in the world of UI design, and made their own implementation based on those concepts.
-Rick
--
Rick Bensene
The Old Calculator Museum
http://oldcalculatormuseum.com
I got a request for a scan of the Micro Peripherals Inc MPI 91/92 Product
Manual. I have the manual, I will scan it and post if no one has a copy.
But I don't want to go through the effort if it exists somewhere already.
I noticed on bitsavers there was no MPI nor Micro Peripherals Inc section
so it very well may be that there is no copy of this manual out there..
Thanks in advance.
Bill
Has anyone modified Warren's VTServer to ignore errors (or at least keep
trying upon encountering them)?
I'm trying to image some rl02s I found and am getting flack on some tracks,
killing the whole recovery process.
200K received
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwrl(0,0,0)
err cy=14, hd=0, sc=28, rlcs=104275, rlmp=4
Copying done. Either reset the system, or hit
<return> to exit the standalone program.
Or is there a better way?
thx
jake
To draw out the schematics for the Displaywriter I have a bunch of boards to trace out,
and I don't want to do the usual "scribble on yellow pad"
to do it. Has someone written a graphical tool for doing this?
What I would like to find is a tool that puts up a bunch of footprints with internal IC functions
shown, then a way to rapidly enter the buzzed out interconnections, generating a netlist.
This is exactly backwards workflow from normal schematic entry and pcb layout.
I suspect I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and write it..
Kobo have a quite plain Linux, run on iMX processors, and are very easy to
modify/script, and last but not least, to unbrick in case of severe
problems.
In many models, the internal memory is an SD card, so it can be expanded
easily.
Then you have also external SD.
On the software side, try koreader.
It's an open source reader, developed for eink devices.
It works very well with PDFs, and can do intelligent text reflow, even on
raw scans of books, via a sort of OCR.
The nice thing is that it doesn't convert bitmap to text, but seems to
split long lines of text in shorter sections, then rearranges the pieces on
the screen, following font size options.
It can be instructed to work as expected on multi column pages.
Very nice!
Andrea
Greetings all...
I have been pondering something and would love to receive feedback from
you.? The thing
is, I would like to have something pdp8-ish that would allow me to play
a little bit
with the programming languages that were available for these machines,
FORTRAN 4K and
FORTRAN IV in particular.? Now,? I would love to be able to time some
FORTRAN jobs just
to get an idea about what it was like back then.? I am aware of PiDP-8,
simh, as well as
SBC6120, SBC6120RBC.
I happen to have three VT78 cpu boards (sans the RAM board) and two
vt278 cpu boards.
All were in rather sorry condition; I picked them up from a junk pile
that was stacked
several feet high and in which the contents were mostly random. Thus,
the VT78 boards'
components were scratched and in fact two of them are missing the
control panel ROM chip.
Otherwise they are complete, but I am missing the RAM boards.? The VT278
boards
were further abused by someone who yanked out the oscillators and a few
TTL chips,
damaging several traces, which I have now repaired.? Alas, only one of
them has the
HM6120 cpu chip, and I do not know if it is good or not. Both are
missing the SMC5037
CRT generator chip.? Other than that, they are complete.
So, now that we all know what I have, let me say out loud what I've been
thinking:
If I try to build actual hardware:
I've read that the VT278 has serious software compatibility issues with
older software
due to the use of the HM6121 I/O chip.? So even if I get an adequate
keyboard, buy the
CRT chip and manage to use it to drive a monitor, I would need an
original floppy drive
system and media, because I do not have the DP278 serial comms board
that would allow me
to send the VT278 a program to run;
For the VT78, I would need to hack a memory board, and, since it can be
coaxed to accept
a program to run if it is fooled into thinking that it is loading a
program from an
MR78/paper tape, perhaps I could make it boot something.? I would need
to wire-up
and arduino or something like it to translate the keyboard and display
terminal
chatter in the serial console into something usable.? But, that's three
hardware
projects (memory board, MR78-like contraption, microcontrolled serial
console
translator)...
The last hardware option is to go and make an SBC6120RBC;? I would need
to buy
programmers for the GAL/PAL devices, and I've heard that not all
programmers can deal
with the kind of chips used in it.? And, if it turns out that the HM6120
chip that I
have is bad, I would have to hunt down one of those rare beasts.. It
would be awesome, though,
to have an SBC6120RBC up and running, and be able to time actual
hardware running
FORTRAN.
And then comes the emulation option, with the PiDP-8.? I have to say
that the emulation
of the blinkenlights is very, very attractive to me, and this option is
a no-brainer
hardware-wise.
So...? am I missing something in my estimation of the effort involved in
these options?
What would _you_ do?
Carlos.
Anyone have any manuals or software for an ACE 1600? Or manuals for an ADES
hard drive? I've had this one in storage for a while, but it seems fairly
interesting and possibly complete.
http://imgur.com/a/KR83Okw
Thanks,
Kyle
Message: 103
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2018 09:46:35 -0700
From: Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org>
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Not really vintage computing, but just in case it's of
interest to anyone..
Message-ID: <8e90dfc4-8cc2-9d33-9031-52ad4690e76c at bitsavers.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
On 10/24/18 1:08 AM, Evan Linwood via cctalk wrote:
> taken from the listing :
>
> "It was used ( I Believe ) to process Geophysical Seismic Data during the exploration of Oil in Bass Straight. The circuitry is all NASA standard."
>
> https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/gosford/other-electronics-computers/vintage…
>
http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?66273-I-am-putting-the-CART-befor…
Thanks Al - I hadn't seen that. Hopefully something is still happening with it.
I recently came across an eight-volume set of comb-bound, A4-sized
booklets titled "UNIX - An Open Solution", by Mick Farmer and Richard
Murphy. In trying to uncover more info about them, I found Mick
Farmer's old home page: http://www.plan7.co.uk/mick.html.
The books are mentioned there with the text "videos and workbook".
Has anyone seen the videos from these lessons, or know where they
could be found?
Mr. Farmer's email is listed on the page - I can check with him if
nothing turns up here.
- j
Here is a great example of why the keyboards and terminals are getting
separated
https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-3101-beam-spring-keyboard-purchased-new-in-198…
Note the price $2000 so far. How could one blame the seller. I wonder if
this is the terminal I sold to a buyer in California years ago when I sold
my Series/1 computer. All he wanted was the terminal, I donated the rest
to what was the MARCH museum. At the time I remember having a few words
with the buyer who would not also take the Series/1 system (2 racks) or the
manuals.
There is a naked terminal up for grabs if you're out his way.
Bill