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

by joezatarski＠gmail.com

> I also have a few boxes of old books and IBM slip-case manuals (techRef, > etc.), 3" and 3.25" drives, at least one bundle of hard sector disks, half > a dozen HP "pinch to close shutter" 3.5" disks, a Shugart 3.5" from before > they HAD shutters, a Sony 600RPM 3.5" (if I can find it), . . . > ('course all of THAT will look like Generic PC Crap to people unfamiliar, > . . . ) > > I'm not healthy enough (last year I had another TURP surgery, instead of > VCF, eclipse, and Concourse D'Lemons) to dig out the 8" drives, or to > really load up, so, it's gonna be a much lesser quantity of what I can > manage. > > -- > Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk> If you turn it up, I might be interested in getting that Sony 600 RPM drive, but I won't be at VCF East. I need one to replace the broken one in my HP logic analyzer. Let me know price/shipping if it turns up. Joe Zatarski

7 years, 7 months

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TRS-80 floppy

by w2hx＠w2hx.com

Not mine, just thought it might interest some here https://www.ebay.com/itm/202376723756 73 Eugene W2HX

7 years, 7 months

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any data on death of Mark E Rorvig? - Microcomputers in Libraries etc

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Mark E. Rorvig , Denton, associate professor of library and information sciences, 1995-2002. Rorvig was nationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of information retrieval. From 1990 to 1995, while serving as an adjunct professor at UNT, he worked as a computer engineer for NASA at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston. His research focused on deciphering large amounts of information and finding new ways to piece it together. He produced four U.S. patents on information retrieval algorithms. Rorvig earned a bachelor's degree in English at Seattle University, a master's in library service from Columbia University and a doctorate in information studies from the University of California at Berkeley. At UNT, he led the master's program in information systems.any? ? one? know? him? I took? some? photos? for a? book he? did on microcomputers in libraries? and? took an into? to dp? class? from him? when I started? ?Computer Exchange in? AZ? ? ?I had? talked? ?into? course years? before? ?from someone else? but thought hey? good? to take it now things have changed and I am going into the biz! ? I talked to? him again? years? ago and? thanked? him? for admitting me? to an already? full class...but in looking him? up? to? get some data? from him? find? he? had? passed but? ?almost nothing out there....in the? way? of? info except? ?for the? brief? info in? google.? I? remember? ?during that? class period? I? got? first? pdp-8? m or? f ?? ?and? brought it into class and? showed? the students? how? I would? toggle it.... ? Funny? this is when I? got? to first? play on the HP2000 F I later to own? surplus? form the college that? shaped? my entire? future? business? ( still have it under glass at? SMECC) ? ? Having that? PDP 8 was? great? as a tty? tester!? Sold? many ttys? in the? early? days.... ? thanks? ed sharpe archivist for smecc ?

7 years, 7 months

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Strange third party board in PDP-11/45

by mattislind＠gmail.com

s?ndag 22 juli 2018 skrev Paul Birkel <pbirkel at gmail.com>: > 26 bits (or 13 bits) doesn't make any sense on a 16-bit machine; makes > more sense as a high-speed I/O buffer. One can note that it is actually two different types of 1k chips. 16 chips are 94L415 and 10 chips are 93415. As far as I understand the L is the slower variant. This could mean that 16 bit data is in the L chips while the faster chips are used for a 10 bit cache tag. Maybe 8 address bits plus some valid bit and possibly a dirty bit? The switch is marked ON/OFF which could simply cache on/off. The handwritten label on the board says that it is not in use and should sit in slot 21. And of course those two I/O connectors don't belong on a cache. Those IO connectors are connected to two double height boards in 26 /27 AB. They are also made by ACT and contain a few TTL chips. So it pulls out some signals out of both Unibuses but 20 + 10 signals at most it not much of a complete bus so I wonder what kind of signals go there. > While odd to use slot 21 (Fastbus) for something other than memory I don't > know why a fast memory-mapped I/O channel couldn't go there. > Also note all of the signals employed on tabs C-D-E-F? > It may not even employ the Fastbus; just talk to Unibus B. > Unfortunately there's not much documentation for the MS11. > It seems likely that A-B isn't anything like the usual Unibus signals, and > who knows where the Fastbus signals are routed. > On my backplane D-E are essentially unused whereas A-B-F are busiest. > > I see the marking "copyrighted 1976", which is rather earlier than the ACT > / ABLE documentation online. > > From Bitsavers see the ABLE documents for the SCAT/45: > Able_Computer_Product_Summary.pdf - page 3 > Able_Computer_Product_Brochures_1982.pdf - pages 16-17 > > The PN 10003 doesn't seem to match anything documented from ACT, however > it's consistent with them. > The original QBus Univerter is PN 10001, and is dated 1976. There are some documentation to get with the machine so the manual for the board might turn up. > > What are the pair of DIP24 ICs on the lower-left? Fairchild 9308 Dual 4 bit latches. > > -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Paul > Anderson via cctalk > Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2018 6:54 PM > To: Mattis Lind; General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Subject: Re: Strange third party board in PDP-11/45 > > I think it's Applied Computer Technologies, and I think they made cache > and several other options. They were popular back in the day. I have a > bunch of their boards here. > > Paul > > On Sat, Jul 21, 2018 at 1:37 PM, Mattis Lind via cctalk < > cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > > > This board was sitting in slot 21 of the backplane in a 11/45 > > > > https://i.imgur.com/ZYWZQCo.jpg > > > > What kind of board is this? > > > > It has 26 bipolar RAMS. Fairchild 93415 1kbit SRAM. > > > > The manufacturer might be ACT whatever that is. > > > > My guess is that it is some kind of cache board? It is connected to both > > unibuses in the machine. > > > > Better ideas? Documentation? > > > > /Mattis > > > >

7 years, 7 months

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Strange third party board in PDP-11/45

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Paul Birkel > ABLE Computer Technology. Their first product was PN 10001 ... the > A.C.T. Univerter This board is not shown in any of the Able brochures we have: http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/able/brochures/ However, Able info is _very_ thin on the ground, now... Noel

7 years, 7 months

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Strange third party board in PDP-11/45

by mattislind＠gmail.com

This board was sitting in slot 21 of the backplane in a 11/45 https://i.imgur.com/ZYWZQCo.jpg What kind of board is this? It has 26 bipolar RAMS. Fairchild 93415 1kbit SRAM. The manufacturer might be ACT whatever that is. My guess is that it is some kind of cache board? It is connected to both unibuses in the machine. Better ideas? Documentation? /Mattis

7 years, 7 months

4
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AIM 65 Cassette Test Program

by mark＠matlockfamily.com

Bill, I?m not familiar with the program they mention for the AIM65, but in Section 9 of the User?s manual on bitsavers is a good description of how to set up cassette recorders with the AIM65. If the recorder has a pause input the AIM65 can control the tape both during read and write. If two cassette tapes were available It could read assembly source code from one and write object to the other. (When the computer came with 1K Ram expandable to 4K you did stuff like that. On page 9-13 they do have two short test programs ?SYN Write? and ?SYN Read? that can be used to adjust record and playback volume as well as the VR1 pot on the AIM. If they are just looking for ways to save and load programs the best way was to utilize Teletype interface that is described on page 9-26. The described interface is for the current loop that ASR33?s had but that is pretty easy to change to RS232 with some external chips. With that interface 240 characters per second could be read or written. If you upgraded the RAM a bit with an external board the AIM was quite a nice 6502 development tool. I built a number of things with it. 1. Instrument to measure the stability of vegetable oils. (See ?Oil Stability Index?) This analytical method is still used today but with more modern systems. It used a ICL7109 12 bit A/D, 16 relays, a pen plotter, and a home built conductivity circuit with 32KB Ram with software burned to 2532 EPROMs. We wrote the source on a PDP-11/24 and loaded it into the AIM65 for local assembly and store to RAM. We used 2K Byte battery backed up RAM (MK48Z02B-25) on the AIM till debugged then burned an EPROM. 2. A data acquisition system for a Perkin Elmer AA / Graphite Furnace. 3. A converter to change 66.67 baud 6 bit ticker tape code to 9600 baud ASCII. (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticker_tape <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticker_tape> ) Believe or not there was one commodity exchange still transmitting their data in this format in the 1980s and Our PDP-11/44?s DZ11 interface could do 50,75,110 and higher baud but could read this data. This used a 6522 to generate 16 times the 66.67 baud and was fed to a UART to read it. 64 byte program, and 64 byte look-up table. 4. A remote monitor that provided video output, and RS232 data recording from 9 digital temperature meters. The meters were read by counting their clock pulses during the down slope of the dual slope meter allowing each meter to be read with three wires (Ground, Clock, Gate) that were switched with 74150 Chips. So I have found memories of the AIM65 and the last time I had it set up about 2 years ago it still ran fine. Mark Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2018 11:27:36 -0400 From: Bill Degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> To: cctech <cctech at classiccmp.org> Subject: AIM 65 Cassette Test Program Hi all...I got the following through my web site. Does anyone have a good known-working test program for an AIM 65 cassette that I can attempt and or send in response? I still have to set mine up and attempt to reproduce, but someone here likely has more experience, it has been at least 5 years since I powered mine on. Also, the article this guy references from MICRO April 1979 volume 11 is not present in my copy of MICRO, he may be mistaken in his reference. I don't know what cassette program he is referencing. I do know that the cassette test program that comes in the Rockwell AIM 65 manual is in error, but I don't have the corrections. I also know that one needs the correct (optional otherwise) power lines when using cassette. Bill VintageComputer.net Inquiry - I am one of the founders of the Computer Museum in Basel (CMBB/CMGB). We have 2 AIM 65 units that seem functional. However, we're experiencing problems with the cassette drive when trying to read back. We tried to record using cassette recorders and also a modern PC through line in and the audio signals are clearly recognizable (from pin M). A connection to pin L and using the corrected program to test readback from "micro_11_apr_1979_text_syn_read_program_AIM65.pdf" only displays the "N" on either AIM 65 system. The cassette interface potentiometers are sealed in one of the units by the manufacturer and have never been changed as far as we can tell. Is there anything we could try to get reading from tape to work? We are running our of ideas. Is there any way to visualize the incoming signal through a small program other than the one from the magazine?

7 years, 7 months

1
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Kenwood VC-1H SSTV communicator pricing request

by henry.bnd＠gmail.com

Hi Gang, I have a Kenwood communicator, I can't imagine many of these were sold in the UK, I have the box, manual, warranty card, data cable. It runs of four double As. Quite a weirdly niche gadget, if not strictly computers. Does anyone have an idea of what a good condition one of these is to buy? I doubt I've made base rate inflation with it mind. I'll email photos for anyone interested in seeing either an SSTV image or the device itself. And yes, you'll need an amateur radio license to use it. Henry

7 years, 7 months

1
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AIM 65 Cassette Test Program

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

Hi all...I got the following through my web site. Does anyone have a good known-working test program for an AIM 65 cassette that I can attempt and or send in response? I still have to set mine up and attempt to reproduce, but someone here likely has more experience, it has been at least 5 years since I powered mine on. Also, the article this guy references from MICRO April 1979 volume 11 is not present in my copy of MICRO, he may be mistaken in his reference. I don't know what cassette program he is referencing. I do know that the cassette test program that comes in the Rockwell AIM 65 manual is in error, but I don't have the corrections. I also know that one needs the correct (optional otherwise) power lines when using cassette. Bill VintageComputer.net Inquiry - I am one of the founders of the Computer Museum in Basel (CMBB/CMGB). We have 2 AIM 65 units that seem functional. However, we're experiencing problems with the cassette drive when trying to read back. We tried to record using cassette recorders and also a modern PC through line in and the audio signals are clearly recognizable (from pin M). A connection to pin L and using the corrected program to test readback from "micro_11_apr_1979_text_syn_read_program_AIM65.pdf" only displays the "N" on either AIM 65 system. The cassette interface potentiometers are sealed in one of the units by the manufacturer and have never been changed as far as we can tell. Is there anything we could try to get reading from tape to work? We are running our of ideas. Is there any way to visualize the incoming signal through a small program other than the one from the magazine?

7 years, 7 months

1
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zilog system 8000

by aek＠bitsavers.org

https://www.ebay.com/itm/292646012304 local pickup only the reserve is >$1500 I would guess the CDC Winchesters are toast if they haven't had their heads locked

7 years, 7 months

7
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Tektronix 4113

by jacob.ritorto＠gmail.com

Any interest in a Tek 4113 terminal (minus display)? I have one collecting dust here and would like to trade for older Tek restoration help / other pdp11 stuff. The keyboard is damaged but otherwise it's just old and dirty, haven't opened it up. Located in western Pennsylvania. thx jake

7 years, 7 months

2
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68k development, Avocet Development

by carlojpisani＠gmail.com

hi does anyone happen to use Avocet Development Tools for m68k? how good/bad is it?

7 years, 7 months

1
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GoTEK SFR1M44-U100...

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Liam Proven > one of the questions was about "the early days of the old-time > internet, if you're old and you've been online forever." > It was about Myspace. Yikes. Send them this: http://www.chiappa.net/~jnc/tech/sflovers/ Noel

7 years, 7 months

7
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SMUFDDV4@1104

by bill.gunshannon＠hotmail.com

I asked this in the GOTEK thread but I think it got lost in the chatter. Does any of this apply to the equivalent devices with the board labeled SMUFDDV4 at 1104? I have a few of them and would love to make them work with non-PCs as well. bill

7 years, 7 months

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Info needed: CMI 1600, CDC Omega/480, IPL Systems, Olivetti 5300

by johannesthelen＠hotmail.com

Anyone familiar with these PCMs? I got a CMI 1640 and little help needed. Here's photos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1w74AYe6lRSn9gJhyKVlBYAq5zRDWybSw?us… What this 370 clone is exactly? If I have understood right, Steven Ippolito's IPL Systems Inc developed the original machine and CMI (Cambridge Memories Inc) made them. Also these sold as Omega/480 and Olivetti 5300 series. Later CMI made their own versions and I believe this one of those. But I haven't found model 1640. So is this 1641..? What is difference between CMI and others? Microcode? I got belong with the machine a couple manuals, Maintenance and Theory of Operation. Unfortunately original microcode disk is missing (and 8" drive...), so that would be needed if I ever want to fire this thing up. Any ideas where I could find a one? All ideas & info are welcome! - Johannes Thelen johannesthelen at gmail.com Finland Before microcomputers blog (Finnish) http://ennenmikrotietokoneita.blogspot.fi/

7 years, 7 months

3
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Anyone have a HALstation 300 install CD?

by aek＠bitsavers.org

I'm evaluating two that came in as a donation, and the donor didn't have any passwords

7 years, 7 months

4
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GoTEK SFR1M44-U100...

by cctalk＠gtaylor.tnetconsulting.net

Does anyone have any experience with the GoTEK SFR1M44-U100 floppy drive emulator that reads ""images from a USB flash drive? Good? Bad? Indifferent? Run for the hills? -- Grant. . . . unix || die

7 years, 7 months

13
59
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Reading HP2000 tapes

by dan＠ekoan.com

Hello, I recently received the following request: > I just recently found a (9 or 7 track?) tape of mine made on an > HP2000 (probably C, maybe F) in 1977 from a DUMP of two accounts. > I've had it for 40 years with nothing to process it. Now I have > simh to process it on, but nothing to read it with. Does anyone have experience and the ability to read such a tape? Cheers, Dan

7 years, 7 months

15
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Info, spice model parameters for DEC pulse transformers?

by josephoswald＠gmail.com

I'm trying to model the PDP-1 DEC system models, first with SPICE (ngspice on Linux), then with VHDL. I'm struggling to understand the properties of various transformers in the system module circuits, most importantly (at least, the ones I see in schematics I want to model) 2 winding T2003 (used in the 1304 delay, 1410 pulse generator, 1540 sense amp, 1607 pulse amplifier) 2 winding T2026 (used in the 1410) 4 winding T2029 (used in the 1201 flip-flop) 3 winding T2033 (used in 1204 flip-flop) 2 winding T2048 (used in the 1607 pulse amplifier, but the maintenance manual suggests this might be substituted with a T2010?) The maintenance manual also suggests uses for T2006, T2012, T2017, T2018, T2019, T2020, T2021, T2023, T2024 are used in modules I don't have schematics for yet. Is there any source for information about these? Basic specs? I don't even know what the turns ratios are for these parts, much less plausible inductances, so my spice models misbehave pretty badly. I've also posted a question on Reddit about this https://www.reddit.com/r/AskElectronics/comments/8zsyuq/reverse_engineering… --Joe

7 years, 7 months

2
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360 Technologies selloff

by aek＠bitsavers.org

360 Technologies is (was) and old HP reseller. I just tried buying a 9145 from them, and didn't hear anything back. Called them, and they are in the middle of selling off what they haven't scrapped. Mike is going to let me know more of what will be available and by whom next week.

7 years, 7 months

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New Items Listed in Sellam's VWoCW (Many DEC Handbooks)

by sellam.ismail＠gmail.com

Hi Folks. Here are the new items for July 17, 2018: IBM PS/2 Model P70 386 Morrow Designs Micro Decision 1 ACCTON EtherCombo-32 Ethernet Card Inmac SP-16 Serial-To-Parallel Converter Apricorn EZ-GIG Hard Drive Update Kit HP Series 80 Data Communications Pac HP Series 80 BASIC Training Pac HippoConcept The following are all DEC manuals and handbooks: Autoconf manual A Practical Guide to Word Processing and Office Management Systems Communications Handbook dBase III v1.0 DECmate II Handbook DECSYSTEM-20 Technical Summary Digital's Office Solutions: ALL-IN-1 Handbook Distributed Systems Handbook Emulex Controller Handbook: Communications and Periperhals Introduction to BASIC Introduction to Local Area Networks IDEAS Education Software Referral Catalog IDEAS: Index and Description of Educational Application Software: 4th edition Guide to Small Business Computing Guide to Personal Computing Introduction to Computer-Based Education Large Systems Software Referrral Catalog: 4th Edition Letterprinter 100 Installation Guide Letterprinter 100 Operator Guide Letterprinter 100 Programmer Reference Manual Logistics Management: Concepts and Techniques Maintenance Aids Handbook MBASIC VT180 BASIC-80 Reference Manual MBASIC VT180 Getting Started with MBASIC VT180 Microcomputers and Memories Microsoft Multiplan Manual Network Management I Student Guide Networking: The Competitive Edge Office Information Systems Guidebook Overview of DIGITAL Networking Products PDP-11 Architecture Handbook PDP-11 Microcomputer Interfaces Handbook PDP-11/04/34/34A Maintenance Card Peripherals Handbook Professional Handbook Rainbow Handbook RSTS/E PDP-11 Operating System RSX-11 Handbook Spares Kit Handbook Terminals & Printers Handbook The DECmate Family Handbook The Guide to Team Computing ULTRIX Software Guidebook: A Reference to UNIX Software ULTRIX-32 Reference: Volume 1 ULTRIX-32 Software Development: Volume 2 UNIX Software Guidebook VAX Architecture Handbook VAX Hardware Handbook VAX Software Handbook VAX Software Tools: Languages VAXcluster Technical Summary VAX/VMS Software: Information Management Handbook VAX/VMS Software: VMS System Software Handbook VAX/VMS Technical Summary Version 4 VEDIT User's Manual The index of links to the specific items above is, as always, here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...72371&range=A1 <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I53wxarLHlNmlPVf_HJ5oMKuab4zrApI_hi…> For the month of July 2018 I'm offering 10% off for new buyers, and 15% off for past buyers. Thanks! Sellam

7 years, 7 months

1
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Apple and Sun keyboards

by sales＠elecplus.com

AEK II are here https://www.elecshopper.com/input-devices/keyboards/wired-keyboards/desktop- keyboards/apple-extended-keyboard-1.html All Apple are here https://www.elecshopper.com/input-devices.html?manufacturer=48 Sun Type 4 are here https://www.elecshopper.com/input-devices.html?manufacturer=46 Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 830-370-3239 cell sales at elecplus.com AOL IM elcpls --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

7 years, 7 months

2
1
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MSV11-J repairs

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

Hi, all, if anyone has any broken MSV11-J boards, I recently fixed one for a list member, and if anyone else has a broken one they'd like me to take a gander at, please let me know. (No charge!) I won't be able to fix _all_ problems (we don't have prints, or replacements for the custom gate arrays), but if it's just a failed DRAM chip, that I can isolate and repair. Noel

7 years, 7 months

1
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Got a kidney!

by harper＠secureoutcomesinc.com

Excellent! Godspeed! Jack ><snip> > > On Jul 14, 2018, at 14:14, Daniel Seagraves via cctalk < > > cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > > > > > > Got the call yesterday. Transplant operation was a success. Still at the > > hospital recovering. Will update when able. > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack Harper, President Secure Outcomes Inc 2942 Evergreen Parkway, Suite 300 Evergreen, Colorado 80439 USA 303.670.8375 303.670.3750 (fax) http://www.secureoutcomes.net for Product Info.

7 years, 7 months

2
1
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Another DCJ11 oddity

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Jerry Weiss > See http://simh.trailing-edge.com/semi/j11.html for information on the > design of the J11. Thanks for that pointer; I don't think I've ever seen that - quite interesting. Alas, it didn't have the cache info - but now that I've though about it overnight, I'm pretty sure the reason for the two bits that do the same thing is for -11/70 compatability. > I've always assumed the differences in controls in the CCR as necessary > to support diagnostics of memory and the cache itself. Yes, the DCJ11 cache is quite interesting, the way the functionality is partitioned between the chip itself, and external circuitry; the actual cache data is stored externally, along with the tags, parity, etc, and also the CPU and DMA comparators. The KDB11-A and -B differ a bit in their cache; both are single-associative (i.e. only one cache cell for each word), but the -B has duplicate tag arrays, one for the CPU's use, one for DMA devices - apparently so that contention between the two for access to the tags doesn't slow things down (since the tag stores are memory arrays, they need to do an address-input before any tag can be checked). > In addition to above, there is a bypass cache bit in the PDR (section > 1.5.6.2) for finer control. Yes, I only found that out last night (or maybe I saw it on a previous scan of the manual, but its importance didn't register). The -11/70 doesn't have that! Very useful for my application (a memory tester program)... Noel

7 years, 7 months

3
2
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GCC Ada for Linux/MIPS/BE and Linux/HPPA2

by carlojpisani＠gmail.com

hi is there any chance someone has a working gcc-ada compiler? for - Linux/MIPS (big endian, MIPS3, MIPS4 or MIPS32) - Linux/HPPA2 I have successfully compiled gcc-ada for SGI_IRIX (MIPS4/BE) but ... every attempt to create a cross-compiler(1) fails on HPPA I have never seen an Ada compiler (1) host = Irix-MIPS4/BE target = Linux/MIPS32/BE

7 years, 7 months

2
4
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uVax cabinet wheels

by shumaker＠att.net

Anyone know a source for replacement hard molded wheels that would fit a MicroVax 4000 low profile cabinet base??? I'm missing two and the other two may as well be gone given how functional they are.??? Mounting hardware is still intact, it's just the wheels that I need.. Steve Shumaker

7 years, 7 months

1
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An historical nit about FDDs

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Jon Elson > I THINK the 370/145 used the same drive. The "IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems" book doesn't say so explicitly (it just says Minnow - the one with the solenoids - was a"incorporated in .. the System/370 processors", pg. 517), but given that the follow-on drive (Figaro/Igar) didn't start shipping until 1973 (pg. 519), and the /145 started shipping in 1971, it pretty much had to have had a Minnow. Noel

7 years, 7 months

2
1
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An historical nit about FDDs

by t.gardner＠computer.org

Anyone know where the Step/Direction version of the FDD interface originated. So far as near as I can tell the earliest FDDs (IBM 23FD Minnow and Memorex 650/651) used Step In/Step Out. The IBM 33FD Igar used direct control of the motor. The earliest Step/Direction FDD I can find is the Shugart 800 which first shipped in September 1973. Tom

7 years, 7 months

6
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I hate HP 914x tapes

by aek＠bitsavers.org

Man, these things are annoying. All of the bands are bad, and they leave residue on the spools. There are no EOT BOT holes on the HP tape, and the drive locks the cartridge until you 'unload' it, which spins to the EOT soft region. Well, guess what, they leave the tape in a position where the residue ends up near the last block on the track, so it will read track 1 (4mb), or maybe 1-3 (12mb), then fail when it hits the gunk. You DON'T want to bake that gunk on! It is possible to remove it but DO NOT EVER USE ALCOHOL ON A QIC TAPE! It instantly takes off the binder. Water-based cleaner (like whiteboard cleaner) seems to work but it is extremely difficult to work with the tape and not damage it. My sympathies to anyone having to deal with recovery of this media.

7 years, 7 months

3
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New VCF Midwest Mailing List

by silent700＠gmail.com

Hello all - I have created a mailing list for VCF Midwest news and announcements. You may already get your show news here or on the forums, but it will be useful to us in the future to have as many interested people as possible listed in one place. So, if you'd care to take a moment to drop an email (name optional) in the bucket, it would be most helpful. Mail volume will be low and of course, we will not sell or share your email with anyone. Here is the link: http://eepurl.com/dyuzub (Many of you may find yourselves already on the list - that is either because you've attended before, signed the paper sign-in sheet at the show, or have otherwise made yourselves known. The list site will tell you whether you're already signed up). Thank you and hope to see you in September, -j

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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SuperBrain

by db＠db.net

I've discovered a SuperBrain manual and two floppy disks in my basement. Anyone want them? Free to a good home. Diane -- - db at FreeBSD.org db at db.net http://www.db.net/~db

7 years, 7 months

5
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8 inch floppies, decaying

by binarydinosaurs＠gmail.com

Hi folks, Tonight I got my imaging PC to successfully read some of the 8? disks from my CPT8500 word processor using one of its own Tandon TM848-01 drives, sadly it seems the boot disk is toast but I?ve been able to dump some of the data disks as well as the Utilities. Since I have a box of unused disks I thought I?d try writing back an image but got a lot of CRC errors. Closer inspection of the disk itself shows this - http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/8inchFloppyImaging-7.jpg <http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/8inchFloppyImaging-7.jpg> - which looks like damp. Is it actually the magnetic coating breaking down? Dare I attempt cleaning? Just for another test I tried reading some of my DEC diagnostic floppies since I hoped they were RX01 format, but they error constantly so they must be RX02s. Still, it was good to see the drive spring into life :) -- adrian/witchy Owner of Binary Dinosaurs, the UK's biggest home computer collection? t: @binarydinosaurs f: facebook.com/binarydinosaurs w: www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk

7 years, 7 months

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CHWiki issues fixed

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

The two main issues with the CHWiki (non-logged in users not seeing the most recent versions of pages, and image uploads not working) have been dealt with. Noel

7 years, 7 months

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Null program (was Re: ITS DDT anecdote)

by spacewar＠gmail.com

That reminds me of one of my favorite computer trivia questions: What is the shortest useful CP/M program?

7 years, 7 months

3
2
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ITS DDT anecdote

by web＠loomcom.com

On Sun, Jun 17, 2018, at 5:52 PM, Seth Morabito wrote: > I'm trying desperately to remember an anecdote I remember reading not > too long ago about programming ITS using DDT. > [...] Replying to myself here, because I found it! Thanks to Rainer Joswig on Twitter for posting it. I will quote it here: "By way of Joe Marshall in comp.lang.lisp: Here's an anecdote I heard once about Minsky. He was showing a student how to use ITS to write a program. ITS was an unusual operating system in that the 'shell' was the DDT debugger. You ran programs by loading them into memory and jumping to the entry point. But you can also just start writing assembly code directly into memory from the DDT prompt. Minsky started with the null program. Obviously, it needs an entry point, so he defined a label for that. He then told the debugger to jump to that label. This immediately raised an error of there being no code at the jump target. So he wrote a few lines of code and restarted the jump instruction. This time it succeeded and the first few instructions were executed. When the debugger again halted, he looked at the register contents and wrote a few more lines. Again proceeding from where he left off he watched the program run the few more instructions. He developed the entire program by 'debugging' the null program." -Seth -- Seth Morabito web at loomcom.com

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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Trying to make it easier to find keyboards

by sales＠elecplus.com

https://www.elecshopper.com/model-m-keyboards/?___store=rwd I know there are no products under some categories, and no stock under others, but does this help to make it easier to find things? Click on the links to see the products. 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

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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TRS-80 Model 2000 Keyboard

by sales＠elecplus.com

https://www.elecshopper.com/tandy-trs-80-model-2000-keyboard.html 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

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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Osborne 1 keyboard

by sales＠elecplus.com

https://www.elecshopper.com/osborne-1-keyboard.html I have no way to test it. 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

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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A New Batch of Items in Sellam's Virtual Warehouse

by shadoooo＠gmail.com

Hello, I sent you an email about the Votrax system. Thanks Andrea

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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Can anyone identify this S100 serial board?

by ethan＠757.org

Trying to identify the S100 serial board in my Imsai 8080. https://imgur.com/eZyOVT5 I assume it was a kit. There are wires from behind one of the ICs that go to DB25 on the rear, along with other DB25s with a few pins (maybe cassette input.) Any help appreciated. -- : Ethan O'Toole

7 years, 7 months

4
5
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A New Batch of Items in Sellam's Virtual Warehouse

by sellam.ismail＠gmail.com

Hello Everybody! I hope you're enjoying your summer. I have added more items to my online Virtual Warehouse, as follows: Atari XF551 external 5.25" floppy disk drive Atari 410 Program Recorder Atari 410-P Program Recorder Data Pacific TR-1 Translator One Blue Chip BCD/5.25 floppy drive Panasonic KX-P412 AppleTalk Interface Board Pacific Bell [Cidco DETI] eMessage e-mail terminal Gandalf Data XpressConnect 5242i ISDN router Monster Cable MacCable LocalTalk Connector Telephone Talk PhoneNet adaptor Sinclair ZX81 Timex-Sinclair 1000 Sinclair 16K RAM Timex-Sinclair 1016 Timex-Sinclair Command Stick Byte-Back Co. Modem Sinclair power supply Timex-Sinclair 2020 AC Adaptor Macintosh Performa 475 Macintosh 12" RGB Display Farallon MacRecorder Sound System Nuvotech TurboNet ST Macintosh Performa 475 Votrax International PC Dial/Log MediaVision Pro Movie Spectrum Video Capture and Display System Radeon 9700 Atlantis Pro Microsoft SideWinder 3D Pro Mouse Systems PenMate Lotus Information Network FM Receiver IntelliTools IntelliKeys touch tablet keyboard Tandy CCR-82 Cassette Recorder Micropolis 1022-1 floppy disk drive Micropolis 1042 I floppy disk drive Micropolis 1043 II floppy disk drive Lexisoft, Inc. Spellbinder and Electric Webster Micropolis 1040/1050 S-100 Floppy Disk Subsystems User's Manual Micropolis Maintenance Manual Floppy Disk Subsystem Colorado Memory Systems QIC-02 Everex Systems Inc. EV-940 modem Hayes SmartModem 1200B Hayes JT Fax 9600B modem Hayes B0014800-A modem Practical Peripherals PM2400 Adaptec AHA-1510A SCSI Adapter Future Domain Corp TMC-850IBM Video Seven VEGA Enhanced Graphics Adaptor Ven-Tel MD212-3E modem Racal-Vadic VI1222 modem Racal-Vadic VA3467 modem The index of links to the specific items above is, as always, here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I53wxarLHlNmlPVf_HJ5oMKuab4zrApI_hi… Check the News and FAQ tabs for news and information. Right now I'm offering 10% off for the month of July from new buyers ONLY! But for past buyers, you get 15% off! ;) Thanks! Sellam

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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Another DCJ11 oddity

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

So, if one looks up the Cache Control Register in, say, the KDJ11-A (EK-KDJ1A-UG-002), one sees (in section 1.6.2.1) that there are _three_ ways to disable the cache: bits 2, 3 ('force miss'), and 9 ('bypass cache'). Looking at the DCJ11 manual (EK-DCJ11-UG-PRE) doesn't provide any additional insight. (The 9 bit one is slightly different than the other two, because it causes cache contents to be invalidated as the code runs, whereas the other two don't.) What is going on here, does anyone know? I'm _guessing_ that this is for compatability with the -11/70, where the cache is divided in two ('two-way set associative'), and either half can be disabled separately (using the 2 and 3 bits in its CCR). I suppose only someone who worked on the DCJ11 would know; but I have no idea how to track down such a person. Noel

7 years, 7 months

3
2
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SGI IRIX gcc 4.7

by carlojpisani＠gmail.com

hi I am trying to build gcc v4.7 on a remote IRIX machine (not my property, thus I can't access it 24h/7) with these (1) gnu-files, patch, and scrips (you can see how things are configured for compilation) I am stopped at the ppl v0.11 stage with the following error that I am not able to understand neither to solve any hint? thanks /usr/nekoware/gcc-4.7/lib/gcc/mips-sgi-irix6.5/4.7.1/../../../../include/c++/4.7.1/cmath: In function 'typename __gnu_cxx::__enable_if<std::__is_arithmetic<_Tp>::__value, int>::__type std::fpclassify(_Tp)': /usr/nekoware/gcc-4.7/lib/gcc/mips-sgi-irix6.5/4.7.1/../../../../include/c++/4.7.1/cmath:814:35: error: 'FP_NAN' was not declared in this scope /usr/nekoware/gcc-4.7/lib/gcc/mips-sgi-irix6.5/4.7.1/../../../../include/c++/4.7.1/cmath:814:43: error: 'FP_INFINITE' was not declared in this scope /usr/nekoware/gcc-4.7/lib/gcc/mips-sgi-irix6.5/4.7.1/../../../../include/c++/4.7.1/cmath:814:56: error: 'FP_NORMAL' was not declared in this scope /usr/nekoware/gcc-4.7/lib/gcc/mips-sgi-irix6.5/4.7.1/../../../../include/c++/4.7.1/cmath:815:7: error: 'FP_SUBNORMAL' was not declared in this scope /usr/nekoware/gcc-4.7/lib/gcc/mips-sgi-irix6.5/4.7.1/../../../../include/c++/4.7.1/cmath:815:21: error: 'FP_ZERO' was not declared in this scope gmake[3]: *** [Box.lo] Error 1 gmake[3]: Leaving directory `/root/ghdl-for-irix/prereq/new-gcc-v4.7/ppl-0.11-build/src' gmake[2]: *** [all] Error 2 gmake[2]: Leaving directory `/root/ghdl-for-irix/prereq/new-gcc-v4.7/ppl-0.11-build/src' gmake[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1 gmake[1]: Leaving directory `/root/ghdl-for-irix/prereq/new-gcc-v4.7/ppl-0.11-build' gmake: *** [all] Error 2 (1) http://www.downthebunker.xyz/wonderland/chunk_of/stuff/public/retrocomputin…

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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IBM junk

by cctalk＠emailtoilet.com

Collected stuff for over 10 years. Moving from 2300 sq. ft. to 1400. It had to go. Praise the computer gods I found someone that wanted it all. 115 boxes of manuals and documents. 26 boxes of coffee mugs 73 703 boxes of stuff. 106 loose big items. Filled the floor space of a 26' truck. It can be viewed at http://www.ibmjunkman.com/junk/ Best viewed on a PC with decent speed connection. Sample stuff: 360 Mod 20 panel, mod 30 panel, mod 65 panel, s/3 panel. Disk pack and HDA up the ying yang. 3850 data carts, 2321 data cell, 7340 Hypertape cartridge, a Russian equivalent, desktop chachki (tchotchke), 360 mod 70 desktop model used in 1964 World's Fair, etc, etc.

7 years, 7 months

15
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HP 5061-6565 scsi loopback plug

by aek＠bitsavers.org

Someone working on simulating the scsi DIO board in MAME asked me about the scsi loopback test plug. Anyone ever seen one? Is it just wires or are there active parts doing the loopback?

7 years, 7 months

5
7
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SMS floppy disk controller

by cctalk＠ibm51xx.net

>eBay is redirecting you because the --->auction is ended, This is a new >"feature." Yeah, I hate it when ebay gets creative. It usually ends up screwing the customers/buyers.? -Ali

7 years, 7 months

3
4
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SMS floppy disk controller

by aek＠bitsavers.org

https://www.ebay.com/itm//163128936661 ok, I'm guessing this is an SMS floppy controller why is someone willing to pay $50+ for it in the condition its in?

7 years, 7 months

4
5
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KDJ11 misfeature

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

So, it appears that the KDJ11 (definitely the -A, and probably all of them) cannot execute code from the PARs - one gets a NXM trap. (Definitely the kernel I PARs, I haven't checked all 6 sets, but I can't see why they others would be any different.) Has anyone else run into this, so I can be sure I'm not confused? This is a mild pain, because it's nice to be able to put short 'scope loops in them, either to debug a memory card when you don't have any working memory plugged in, or when you don't want the bus 'contaminated' with instruction fetch cycles, etc. Noel

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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Making a bootable LIF CD for the 9000/382

by aek＠bitsavers.org

brain fade, I know I've made a HPUX 9 install CD before but I've forgotten how you make one that can be booted by the LIF boot rom in the machine.

7 years, 7 months

9
21
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For Sale SGI Phobos G160 NIC card for Indigo2, brand new, unopened box

by carlojpisani＠gmail.com

up for sale is an Ethernet 10/100Mbps Card for Indigo2/MaxImpact Brand New, Original, Never opened, Never Used! Comes with manual and drivers, still enclosed within cellophane! Phobos G160 are very rare nowadays looking for 170 Euro + S/H I can also give you a second hand (tested, working) SolidImpact GfX for 30 euro, thus 200 Euro both, combined shipping to save your money Located in Italy (my parent's house)

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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Classic TMS1000

by charles7＠slingshot.co.nz

Hi Who has experience with the TMS1000 in a lot of games. Want to dump ram electronically (by 'test mode' ?) not decapping. Must be some new software out there that can do this now, or am I daydreaming. Thanks Charles Harris

7 years, 7 months

2
1
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Odd MSV11-J bug (Was: MSV11-J engineering info)

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> it is not board-dependent - two different boards give incorrect read > data for the same write values!! ... I wonder if the board is storing > wrong values a _lot_, and the ECC is normally catching them? Anyone have any idea what might be going on here? I ask because I'm fixing to repair a broken MSV11-J for a list member, and the combo of ECC and this might make it hard to track the problem down. (If only one chip is dead, the ECC _should_ be able to 'paper over it'. So there are probably two? But if I turn off ECC, to be able to find the bad chip, will I get deceived by this other problem?) Noel

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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Odd MSV11-J bug (Was: MSV11-J engineering info)

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> none of the other values used in that seemed to have a problem; but of > course the program didn't include all 2^16 patterns. I suppose I should > whip up a small program to try other values, and see if anything else > does this... And it does! Quite a few values come back wrong, when ECC is disabled - I'm going to guess about 25% of the time. (Out of 0-020, 4 were wrong.) And it is not board-dependent - two different boards give incorrect read data for the same write values!! And the ones that were OK were OK on both. (And it doesn't appear, from a bit of spot-testing, to be address-dependent.) This is _very_ strange. There's nothing in the manual about 'disabling ECC causes incorrect data to be returned' that I could see. I wonder if the board is storing wrong values a _lot_, and the ECC is normally catching them? (Maybe DEC did it this way to test the ECC hardware all the time, and quickly catch failing ECC? But why doesn't the manual mention that?) One thing I noticed is that while I was doing the 'which bit goes in which chip' stuff, on some of the data lines, there was a lot of grup - some of it fairly long pulses, and some spikes that looked like they might be hazard outputs. I wonder if they are part of the cause? I guess the next step is to set up a loop which stores one of the values which always gives a bad output, and see what the board is actually writing into the chip... Very, very strange! Noel

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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Odd MSV11-J bug (Was: MSV11-J engineering info)

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> I first have to tweak my 'scope loop program, to turn on memory mapping So while doing that I just discovered what I _think_ (maybe I'm just not being smart enough to see that it's somehow 'doing the right thing') is the wierdest hardware bug I've ever seen. Plug in an MSV11-J, disable ECC (store an '04' into the CSR), and then store '0172344' into any location. Now read it back! And it's not a bad RAM chip, which turning off the ECC is letting show through, because I tried several boards, and they all do the exact same thing. So either they've all got the same bad chip, or... :-) I found this when my modified 'scope loop program (above) blew out, but none of the other values used in that seemed to have a problem; but of course the program didn't include all 2^16 patterns. I suppose I should whip up a small program to try other values, and see if anything else does this... Noel

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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MSV11-J engineering info

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Glen Slick > What signal were you probing on the M8186 KDF11-A board? BDOUT; I'm triggering on that, and without any prints it wouldn't be easy to find on the MSV11-J. Picking it up off the KDF11-A was the easy way to go. > If you run the XXDP VMJAB0 diagnostic and there are failures, does it > tell you which data bit and/or ECC bit positions have failures? I > suppose it must, otherwise there wouldn't have been much point in the > bit mapping exercise. I dunno; I don't have it. There's also the built-in memory tester in the bootstrap code in the EEPROM on the KDJ11-B, and according to EK-KDJ1B-UG-001 (pp. 4-24, -26) that prints the address and bad data when an error is detected. I have my own little memory diagnostic that I wrote which I tend to use (since I know exactly what it's doing). I'll probably whip up a modified version to check the ECC bits in the MSV11-J (in diagnostic mode, they can be read/written). The MSV11-J does have this feature where you can leave the ECC enabled on the low 32KB (or optionally, the second 32KB) even when ECC is turned off for most of the memory; that's so a diagnostic can live in that memory while testing the rest. I think I'm probably going to ignore that, and plug in a small memory card for the diagnostic to live in, since the MSV11-J can be set to start at any 16KB boundary. That way I can test the entire MSV11-J without any fancy dancing. Noel

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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MSV11-J engineering info

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Tor Arntsen > So, here's how to see the updated page while not logged in: Thanks for posting the 'fix'; the problem, and that workaround, are described on the 'News' sidebar on the Main Page, but of course people going straight to a URL won't see that - and since I'm always logged in, I often forget that un-logged in visitors have this issue. Maybe I should try and edit the CSS or something to include a note with every page? (Any pointers on how to do that gratefully accepted! :-) > Hopefully Tore S. or someone can figure out what's wrong with this > Mediawiki version. Alas, only Tore has the access needed to fix it (and the other current major problem). Noel

7 years, 7 months

1
0
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MSV11-J engineering info

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

>> I'll add the info to the MSV11-J page on the CHWiki, once I have it. > Alas, it's down at the moment ... but once it's back, I'll get them > right up. It's back, and I've added the chip info for the low 1MB bank: http://gunkies.org/wiki/MSV11-J_QBUS_memory#Technical_information I'll do the other bank 'soon' (I first have to tweak my 'scope loop program, to turn on memory mapping, to get to the high bank). Here's my test rig, BTW: http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/jpg/MSV11JTester.jpg Simple, but it did the job! Noel

7 years, 8 months

4
4
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Needing help fixing an irix boot disk

by mazzinia＠tin.it

Hello, Long story short, a while ago I cloned the hd of a Fuel I got given (6.5.16, original installation from an iconic car designer, Bertone), and all was ok. The original hd was then left in place but unpowered, the cloned was upgraded to 6.5.22 to maintain the classic applications. Fast forward to the present : Had the smart idea to install an Audigy 2 zs pro ( the kind with the external box, and that takes current using a molex from the computer psu - I used the rail going also to the boot hd ), and the Fuel started acting weird ... not turning on unless pressing more than once the power button, one of the front fans speeding up and down and even stopping, Display Expander I/O errors ( I should note that from the moment I got the Fuel I had to disable env since the I2C on the V10 board is acting crazy ). I managed to boot / use it a couple of times... then it didn't go past the Prom. Removed the Audigy , after a while ( and 2 times left disconnected from the wall outlet for a bit ) it sort of restarted to power on consistently on pressing the button, but it always ended stopping at the prom splashscreen Invoking a manual boot resulted in this https://snag.gy/eMHafJ.jpg after going in circles for a bit, had the brilliant idea of doing this from the prom sash : https://snag.gy/eTzqEP.jpg thus getting more puzzled... the boot drive appeared readable, so why the scsi hard errors. Then I simply reconnected the original hd, and from that one boots with no issues... result, probably the last or both shutdowns while the Audigy was plugged were not so clean. Ideally I would prefer not to clone + upgrade + readd programs again, and I think that repairing the damaged installation would be better especially in case it happens again in the future. I've tried to ask around, but I've not got any hint, and if there was something in an old neko thread... well, we all know that those are unavailable. Bottom line, anyone ever got in this situation and has some tips on what to do ? Thanks in advance, Alessandro

7 years, 8 months

2
1
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SGI IRIX, how to compile GNAT

by carlojpisani＠gmail.com

hi guys I am looking for instructions about *HowTo* compile a modern version of GNAT on IRIX >= 6.5.20 2016-12-10 =dev-lang/gnat-gcc-4.9.3 - success - Linux/PPC32BE 2016-12-13 =dev-lang/gnat-gcc-4.3.5 - success - Linux/PPC32BE 2017-08-24 =dev-lang/gnat-gcc-4.3.5 - failure - Linux/PPC32BE 2018-03-24 =dev-lang/gnat-gcc-4.3.5 - success - Linux/PPC32BE 2018-03-25 =dev-lang/gnat-gpl-4.3.5 - failure - Linux/PPC32BE 2018-03-27 =dev-lang/gnat-gpl-4.3.5 - failure - Linux/PPC32BE 2018-03-28 =dev-lang/gnat-gpl-4.3.5 - failure - Linux/PPC32BE 2018-04-05 =dev-lang/gnat-gcc-4.3.5 - success - Linux/PPC32BE I have successfully done it on Linux/PPC32-be (Apple PowerMac G4), but: - it was very very difficult - the recipe for Linux doesn't work for Irix anyone? thanks

7 years, 8 months

1
0
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MSV11-J engineering info

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> I'm going to need this info real soon ... so I'll probably start on > this later today if nobody has the info. > ... > write a two-instruction loop .. which writes a word with only a single > '1' bit, hook up a 'scope ... to a DRAM input, and walk the bit through > ... just disable ECC, and write all 0's to all the ECC bits > ... > I think that ... it'll go reasonably quickly, actually; the more bits > I ID, the fewer values I'll have to try on each succeding DRAM chip. That was pretty easy; thanks for knocking my brain into gear! :-) The first couple of bits I had to fish around, but pretty quickly it became apparent there was a system, and for the rest it was just 'confirm that this chip does indeed hold that bit'. I now have the chip<->bit table for the even words, and most of the ECC bits for them (there are two that have resistor headers next to them, so I can't easily get a DIP clip on them to see which is which), but I'm getting bored, I'll do the odd ones tomorrow. Probably they'll be very similar (the array looks like a mirror image of the one for the evens). Also, I was using a 1MB card, so I only had the low bank to worry about; so then I'll have to do the high bank - again, probably pretty easy, from here. The blasted card doesn't have the usual DEC Exx chip numbers, though! I had to make up my own for it... > I'll add the info to the MSV11-J page on the CHWiki, once I have it. Alas, it's down at the moment (the server is actually up, but its DNS entry has gone away again), but once it's back, I'll get them right up. Noel

7 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

MOS 6500/1 ROM archival service

by brain＠jbrain.com

I realize it's been a while since this happened: http://e4aws.silverdr.com/hacks/6500_1/ But, I have pulled my hacked reader out from mothballs to read a CPU someone is sending, so I thought I would inquire if others have 6500/1 units that want read. Jim -- Jim Brain brain at jbrain.com www.jbrain.com

7 years, 8 months

3
3
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Looking for North star software

by dkelvey＠hotmail.com

I have a machine that I'm just now bringing up. I have some boot software but it is TSS/A that is the accounting multi-user package. I'd really like the TSS/B floppies instead. I'd settle for images. Dwight

7 years, 8 months

4
16
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Fwd: Looking for Tektronix 4051 or 4052 Display Board

by pete＠petelancashire.com

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Pete Lancashire <pete at petelancashire.com> Date: Tue, Jul 3, 2018, 2:18 PM Subject: Re: Looking for Tektronix 4051 or 4052 Display Board To: Monty McGraw <mmcgraw74 at gmail.com> Yeah the two display boards went to Europe. If anybody needs three perfectly good 11 inch CRTs, deflection yolks excetera come to Portland Oregon and they're yours or have somebody pick them up for you they're in the scrap pile and scrap is going in about a month. Each CRT contains about $35 worth of gold. On Tue, Jul 3, 2018, 2:12 PM Monty McGraw <mmcgraw74 at gmail.com> wrote: > Pete, > > I'm in Texas near Houston. > > The Display Board is the vertical board to the left of the CRT. It has > several cables at the bottom to pin headers and the cable to the neck of > the CRT. > It also has connectors to the power transistors that simply unplug when > you remove the Display Board. > > Here is a picture of a display board: > https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxd4qJinVzkNOFZacFZSYVJwaHc/view?usp=shari… > > Monty > > On Tue, Jul 3, 2018 at 4:01 PM, Pete Lancashire <pete at petelancashire.com> > wrote: > >> Is 206 Washington ? I have the remains of a 4051 4052 and 4010 terminal >> sitting outside in the scrap pile. Parts have gone to Europe but they're >> still pieces left over >> >> >> They were about 25 miles west of Portland Oregon. >> >> >> >> On Tue, Jul 3, 2018, 1:35 PM Ian Finder via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> >> wrote: >> >>> These systems are rare enough that it's probably worth fixing instead of >>> treating the board as a simple FRU. There are schematics on bitsavers for >>> that board, and they are complete. >>> >>> On Tue, Jul 3, 2018 at 1:21 PM, Monty McGraw via cctalk < >>> cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: >>> >>> > I've been repairing my Tektronix 4052. >>> > >>> > I've got the digital logic working - but the text and graphics are >>> messed >>> > up. >>> > >>> > I posted photos of the screens in my Tektronix 4052 troubleshooting >>> thread >>> > on vcfed. >>> > >>> > With a scope on the final X amplifier stage - it is oscillating - so I >>> see >>> > weird horizontal strokes instead of dots for text. I know from the >>> service >>> > manual that this circuit includes a feedback loop, and with the scope >>> I see >>> > oscillation all around the loop - so I haven't found the source. >>> > >>> > Does anyone have a spare Tektronix 4052 (or 4051) Display Board that I >>> > could buy? >>> > >>> > Thanks, >>> > Monty >>> > >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Ian Finder >>> (206) 395-MIPS >>> ian.finder at gmail.com >>> >>> >

7 years, 8 months

3
3
0 0

Looking for North star software

by stephen.m.pereira.sr＠gmail.com

I believe that Mike Douglas has a utility program that you can get into a Northstar Horizon, and then it can receive a .DSK image sent from the terminal and it will write the disk for you in the Horizon. It?s called PCtoFlop and I think he has it in his archive here: http://deramp.com/downloads/north_star/ <http://deramp.com/downloads/north_star/> Good luck! smp - - - Stephen Pereira Bedford, NH 03110 KB1SXE > ------------------------------ > > Message: 14 > Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2018 00:16:45 +0000 > From: dwight <dkelvey at hotmail.com> > To: Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com>, "General Discussion: On-Topic and > Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: Looking for North star software > Message-ID: > <MWHPR14MB160074267AEE4604C5918AE5A3420 at MWHPR14MB1600.namprd14.prod.outlook.com> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > I was thinking someone has already done this. If no, as you say, it is not an impossible task. > > The TSS/B is suppose to be their scientific package. It at least has BASIC in it. I have another disk marked CP/M in the same box. I should be able to put something together under CP/M. > > It is a North Star Horizon. There seems to be some images out there so I don't know how they are being captured. > > Dwight > >

7 years, 8 months

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Looking for Tektronix 4051 or 4052 Display Board

by mmcgraw74＠gmail.com

I've been repairing my Tektronix 4052. I've got the digital logic working - but the text and graphics are messed up. I posted photos of the screens in my Tektronix 4052 troubleshooting thread on vcfed. With a scope on the final X amplifier stage - it is oscillating - so I see weird horizontal strokes instead of dots for text. I know from the service manual that this circuit includes a feedback loop, and with the scope I see oscillation all around the loop - so I haven't found the source. Does anyone have a spare Tektronix 4052 (or 4051) Display Board that I could buy? Thanks, Monty

7 years, 8 months

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Preserved LGP-30

by lproven＠gmail.com

The Moravian Galley in Brno has an exhibition on "Computer Art 1968". The only actual computer is a very well-preserved German LGP-30. I took a few photos of it yesterday... and got told off for handling the paper tape, which only has some diagnostics on it: blocks of "lace" alternating with unpunched blocks. https://www.flickr.com/photos/lproven/albums/72157696907302261 It was used by Zde?ek S?kora in his early abstract art. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zden%C4%9Bk_S%C3%BDkora -- Liam Proven - Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lproven at cix.co.uk - Google Mail/Hangouts/Plus: lproven at gmail.com Twitter/Facebook/Flickr: lproven - Skype/LinkedIn: liamproven UK: +44 7939-087884 - ?R (+ WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal): +420 702 829 053

7 years, 8 months

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MSV11-J engineering info

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Glen Slick > There are 88 41256 256Kx1 DRAMs on a 2MB MSV11-J. Each 512KB bank has > 22 256Kx1 DRAMs organized as 16 data bits plus 6 ECC bits. Umm, I think the internal organization is paired banks (one for even word addresses, one for odd); the manual talks about doing double-word reads (although only one word gets transferred over the bus at a time, but the PMI has some optimization for double-word cycles, IIRC). > If someone was sufficiently motivated I suppose they could probe each > of the 88 DRAMs while writing various bit patterns of data to various > memory locations and work out the mapping that way. ... I'm not sure > which would be more work, probing one or a small number of DRAMs at a > time Oh, that's an improvement on what I was thinking of as a fall-back, if nobody has the info (which was to tie the outputs of individual DRAM chips high or low - depending on how they implement their output stages - through a suitably-sized resistor, and look to see what effect it had on writing and then reading - all 0's or 1's, depending on the tie - still a lot less work than pulling chips :-). Dunno why it wasn't obvious this would be easier! :-) I would/will just write a two-instruction loop (in the PARs) which writes a word with only a single '1' bit, hook up a 'scope (I'm too lazy to hook up a logic analyzer :-) to a DRAM input, and walk the bit through the odd and even words until I see it on the 'scope. I thought about doing the ECC bits first, using the maintenance mode (to walk a '1' through the ECC bits), to avoid getting confused by 1's being written to them during the above process, but that would be a lot more work, since I'd have to look at all the chips in the array to find the one that's getting the '1' ECC bit. It'll probably be a lot easier to just disable ECC, and write all 0's to all the ECC bits while doing the data bit discovery (above); once those are done, the remaining chips are known to be ECC, and I can walk a '1' through the ECC bits to work them out. > From a brief look at the manual it might be possible to use diagnostic > modes to write specific ECC bit patterns and work out the ECC bit > mappings as well. Yup, that was my take too. Although I'm having to re-read the manual a few times to fully grok how all the various mode bits interact! > Might be very tedious, so might need lots of motivation. I think that using the procedure above, it'll go reasonably quickly, actually; the more bits I ID, the fewer values I'll have to try on each succeding DRAM chip. > If I ever get really bored some day maybe I'd take a look and try to > see just how tedious it might be. I'm going to need this info real soon (to hopefully fix a broken MSV11-J), so I'll probably start on this later today if nobody has the info. I'll add the info to the MSV11-J page on the CHWiki, once I have it. Noel

7 years, 8 months

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Revealing a new project (non-VCF)

by cctalk＠snarc.net

Time to reveal a personal project related to vintage computing and unrelated to my role at VCFed. In the past two years, while getting neck-deep in the historic Lego 9700 "Technic Control Center" set, I learned that there is a TON of information about this set (and about various related sets) -- but most of that information is missing from the web or at best scattered. What these programmable robotic sets all have in common is they're all >from the 10 years BEFORE the modern Mindstorms series, and they run on vintage computers! I decided a few months ago to make a web site about it. I call the site www.mindsbeforethestorm.com. The site is under construction but you can visit now and see where it is going. I'm asking for contributions to the project. I make a very modest living through my work as a freelance tech journalist and additionally through VCFed fundraising. Many of you will also recall that a personal fundraiser is what enabled publishing of my computer history book in 2015. That was a positive experience. I do not plan to sell anything on this new site, only to offer helpful information that isn't currently available or is very difficult to find. As such, I cannot promise any Kickstarter-style rewards: I don't have any ideas about what a good reward for this might be (open to suggestions). Instead, I appeal to your altruism: fund this project because it is a good thing. Please visit my new site. If you think it exemplifies how the web should be used, if you'd like to see it get finished, and if you would like me to continue to be able to pay my rent and eat food, then please make a contribution via https://fundrazr.com/61N3ef?ref=ab_74VRia. Thanks, -Evan

7 years, 8 months

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MSV11-J engineering info

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

Hi, I'm looking for engineering info on the MSV11-J. I was unable to find any prints online, or even a technical manual. (I have the User Manual, but it doesn't have much detail.) The main issue I'm after is working out which bits go into which chips. I have some other QBUS memory boards with no documentation where I created the mapping by just pulling chips, e.g.: http://gunkies.org/wiki/Q-RAM_11 but, alas, on all the MSV11-J's I've seen, the DRAM chips are not socketed - unlike QBUS memory boards by almost all the other manufacturers (e.g. National Semiconductor, Camintonn, etc - in fact, pretty much everyone _except_ DEC). Anyway, if anyone _does_ have an MSV11-J with the chips in sockets, I'd _really_ appreciate hearing from them! I'm not sure it's going to be possible to work it out from looking at board traces, since the MSV11-J is ECC memory, and I expect all the data lines just disappear into the two huge gate array chips. Anyway, I would appreciate hearing from anyone with anything on the MSV11-J. Noel

7 years, 8 months

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Old WANG terminal keyboard

by sales＠elecplus.com

No part number or date is visible. Complete, but not cleaned or tested. I have no idea what it went to. https://www.elecshopper.com/old-wang-terminal-keyboard.html 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

7 years, 8 months

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VT100 keyboards for parts/repair

by sales＠elecplus.com

I have 2 in stock. https://www.elecshopper.com/dec-vt100-keyboard-for-parts-or-repair.html 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

7 years, 8 months

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XpressWare v8.1 or above (software for Tektronix X11 terminals)

by carlojpisani＠gmail.com

hi, In 1990s Tektronix produced digital video X terminal and introduced X server software based on VxWorks v5 (Windriver). Later they introduced a new line of terminals, at some point a company called NCD bought the Tektronix X11-terminals division and started to produce their own line, called NCD-terminals with a software called "NCD-bridge" Anyway, both the 200-series and the 400-series of the Tektronix X11 terminals boot from a directory on a server via NFS or TFTP, either way, you need to create a directory for the terminal to boot from, and install a number of files. These files are provided as "Tektronix XpressWare version 8.0 (or later)". The 200-series can bootstrap from v7 ( one of the member of my team owns an original CD), but the 200-series needs the v8 or later (we don't have). Unofficially, you might look for NCD, the Company who bought the X-terminals division from Tektronix; they had (note the past tense) some software in the form of patches, accessible by anonymous ftp. There aren't any complete releases, but there were archives which contains much that is useful to be found in the ftp, in particular patches containing bits of version 8.1 of XpressWare; enough to form the basis of a working installation. Unfortunately, the archive is gone, no more available. Let me know if you have the software or if you know where/how to find it, otherwise, X11-terminals like X400 can't be functional. Thanks

7 years, 8 months

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Motorola MC68882 user manual (paper copy)

by carlojpisani＠gmail.com

hi I am looking for a paper copy of the Motorola MC68882 user manual (it's a floating point unit) let me know if you have for sale thanks

7 years, 8 months

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downthebunker bazaar, new domain

by carlojpisani＠gmail.com

we have recently bought a domain http://www.downthebunker.xyz and a subdomain http://deals.downthebunker.xyz/ you can reach us there :) I am also working on a new engine, and probably we will also add HTTPS thanks

7 years, 8 months

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DEC FPJ11-AA

by pbirkel＠gmail.com

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DEC-PDP-11-84-M8190-AE-Module-FPJ11-AA/113112634277 IMO a really good deal on an 18 Mhz FPJ11-AA. Those don't seem to come up much . Not my item, but I have previously purchased from this seller and he's reliable. -----

7 years, 8 months

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DEC FPJ11-AA

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Bill Gunshannon > Anybody have any PMI memory modules they might let go for less than my > first born male child? The DEC PMI memories are the MSV11-J and (I think) the MSV11-R. The latter is rare, but the -J's can be found. VARx sold me some -JE's a couple of years back for a good deal less than their listing price: http://www.varx.com/CAT/MEMORY-DEC_MSVXX.HTML The other possibility is that Clearpoint made some PMI memories, which one can occasionally find on eBait, etc: the QED1 (aka QED-F) and DCME-Q4E (they look the same, so I'm not sure if they are actually different, or if the names were just changed for marketing reasons). Alas, I know of no documentation on either. (If anyone has any, _please_ share it!) I am slowly trying to work out how to configure them (they can be configured to run PMI or normal QBUS); contact me privately for what little I have so far. Noel

7 years, 8 months

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DEC FPJ11-AA

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Pete Turnbull > Bill would want the -JD (2MB) version (the -JE version is 4MB so too > big). Err, the -JD is 1MB, and the -JE is 2MB (see e.g. EK-MSV1J-UG-001, pg. 1-3). Noel

7 years, 8 months

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DEC FPJ11-AA

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Paul Birkel > Same thing in this case. The CPU looks to see a PMI signal that is generated by the KTJ11 - no signal -> 11/83. My impression is that except for the speed of the J11 (and the crystal), and whether or not it came with the FPJ11, all four of the M8190 board variants are otherwise identical. Whether it's a /73, /83 or /84 depends entirely on whether it has/sees PMI memory and the KTJ11-B UNIBUS converter (and the correct backplane, for the latter, of course). > The 11/84 is an 11/83 extended by a Unibus interface to support legacy > peripherals. It has a special backplane which is mostly UNIBUS slots, with a few QBUS/PMI slots on the front, and a 'special' slot in the middle into which the UNIBUS adapter goes. Noel

7 years, 8 months

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simh pdp8 question

by engwalljonathanthereal＠gmail.com

My pdp8 seems to have very space. I want to try fortran iv. I can't even compile hello world without getting: $SY

7 years, 8 months

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radar history

by couryhouse＠aol.com

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=castles+in+the+sky+radar&PC=EMMX03&ref… great saw,this on the 40 inch... Sent from AOL Mobile Mail

7 years, 8 months

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Looking for 11/23+ CIS

by seefriek＠gmail.com

I missed the recent M8198+CIS chip auction on eBay, and subsequently found myself with a new (for me) 11/23+. Does anyone have a CIS chip they're interested in parting with? Contact me directly. KJ

7 years, 8 months

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Look at this on eBay

by lyokoboy0＠gmail.com

A couple of boards from an unknown computer came in and i am trying to get them to a good home and not be scrapped. I was curious if anyone here knew what they were out of. They were in the box with some small core memory boards. If someone here wants to make an offer ill gladly take the ebay listing down. eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/273330177351

7 years, 8 months

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More exhibits and volunteers needed for VCF West

by cctalk＠snarc.net

It's almost time for Vintage Computer Festival West XIII! The show is August 4-5 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. You?ll find dozens of hands-on exhibits, incredible lectures, a huge consignment sale, and much more -- plus the museum's own tours and hands-on demos. There is still time to register your exhibit, but it's tight! Go to http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/vcf-west-exhib… ASAP to sign up. We also need more volunteers! Email erik at vcfed.org if you can be a helper. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)3 educational non-profit evan at vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation

7 years, 8 months

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Thicknet/10base5 Test Segment: The Cable is In!

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Paul Koning > I believe the original concept was just a probe that would poke through > the cable to contact the center connector. The drill came because the > cable was too tough to penetrate without it. No, the original 3 Mbit Ethernet also used a 'drill' (actually, a cylindrical cutter which screwed into the thread of the tap housing; threading which was then used to screw in the transceiver). Anyway, there has to be a hole cut _through_ the cylindrical ground layer (foil, or woven wire) around the center conductor. If you just stuck a probe into the cable to the center conductor, it would short it out. Noel

7 years, 8 months

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ok I have to ask...confirm direction of GRANT continuity cards please

by spacewar＠gmail.com

On Thu, Jun 28, 2018 at 8:26 PM, Bill Degnan via cctech < cctech at classiccmp.org> wrote: > I have always pointed my grant continuity cards in the same direction as a > NPG card, with the traces to the left/facing the last slot of the > backplane. I am 99% sure this is right but I was asked and I just want to > be 100%...am I right? In particular the traces point away from the CPU > cards, at least on an 11/40 and 11/05. Please just tell me I am not losing > it. > If your system works properly, the grant cards are in the right way. If the grant cards are installed wrong, or missing, it will cause serious problems, and you're unlikely to be able to boot anything.

7 years, 8 months

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Thicknet/10base5 Test Segment: The Cable is In!

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Eric Smith > If you _must_ run a long -232 cable 'Don't!' That's what -422 is for. :-) Noel

7 years, 8 months

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IBM junk

by donald＠donaldwhittemore.com

The whole collection went to Computer Museum of America in Roswell, GA https://computermuseumofamerica.org/

7 years, 8 months

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IBM junk

by donald＠donaldwhittemore.com

I don?t recall if I had any 3880 documents. I will ask how they would like to handle this type of request. There are many duplicates and they will need time to catalog the documents.

7 years, 8 months

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IBM junk

by donald＠donaldwhittemore.com

I don?t think so.

7 years, 8 months

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Thicknet/10base5 Test Segment: The Cable is In!

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> the AMP coring tool ... doesn't screw in though ... I don't know if this > is consistent with the original 3 mbit Ethernet, as I've never worked > with that. I was speaking of the gear used on the 3 Mbit. I don't recall the 10 Mbit stuff at all.... I have this vague memory that the 3 Mbit cutter also had a shoulder stop that prevented one going too deep. Noel

7 years, 8 months

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6800 fig-FORTH?

by stephen.m.pereira.sr＠gmail.com

Hi folks, I know there's not much 6800 activity here, but I figure this would be worth a try. Has anyone here ever seen or ever had fig-FORTH for the 6800 working? I have a SWTPC replica system from Bob Applegate / Corsham Technologies, and I love it. It came with a complete 64K RAM, as well as the SWIBUG monitor, and the monitor code has been extended by Bob/Corsham to interface with an SD Card sub-system for floppy disk emulation. This provides the original terminal access to the machine with the simple system monitor, and also the FLEX OS for running programs. It is a blast to use. Recently, I took a look around and found the fig-FORTH listing as originally published back in 1979, and also a Source Forge site that holds an electronic copy: https://sourceforge.net/projects/asm...th_6800-stuff/ <https://sourceforge.net/projects/asm68c/files/fig-forth_6800-stuff/> I've managed to get the source code to assemble with a cross-assembler supplied by Bob/Corsham. It does not produce an exact copy of the original code, because the code uses the JMP instruction pretty much exclusively, and the assembler substitutes a relative BRA instruction sometimes. So my code ends up being several bytes shorter because of saving one byte each time a JMP is replaced by a BRA. That said, it appears to me that the code matches up with the original listing otherwise. So my problem is this: When I run the code on my system, fig-FORTH seems to sign on, and will accept input from the keyboard (double echos of each key typed) but it then does not proceed to interpret the command entered. The interesting thing I see by winding my way around in the code is that it has already properly performed a bunch of setup and produces the initial "Forth-68" sign on, and that has required it to already be using many of the Forth commands that were defined by machine language. This indicates to me that some of the command interpretation is working. The I/O from/to the terminal is by calls to the system monitor I/O routines, and that seems to be also working, despite the double echos of the typed characters. It just does not proceed to interpret what is typed in at all. Of course, I have no idea if this code ever worked properly, or if I am encountering early buggy code. So I'm looking to see if anyone else has ever seen the fig-FORTH working on a 6800 system? Any pointers to good working code? Thanks for listening! smp - - - Stephen Pereira Bedford, NH 03110 KB1SXE

7 years, 8 months

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SGI Silicon Graphics Phobos G160 for Indigo2 Impact

by carlojpisani＠gmail.com

hi I have for sale, qty=1, SGI Silicon Graphics Phobos G160 for Indigo2 Impact brand new, still closed in the box, unopened! located in Italy (in my parent's house) I will be happy to give it a new home

7 years, 8 months

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Restoring a PC Server 500 P/390 - Progress

by dave.g4ugm＠gmail.com

Folks, Well I seem to be running around in circles. As it takes most of a weekend to back up the P390 because of various things, I decided there must be a quicker way. And there is! 1. Set up SD card in SCSI2SD as a single disk physical rather than split to match the config on the RAID array. I still have the same number of partitions but they are all on one LUN. 2. SD card can now all be seen by windows but as most partitions a HPFS I can't mount them but I can use MS's DISK2VHD to image the card. 3. Install OS/2 in a VirtualBox and I can now mount the HPFS partitions 4. ZIP up drives and FTP to NAS box. Both are on same gigabit LAN so its fast. So I can now back up the server in a morning. Just need to script it and test restore. Dave. From: Dave Wade <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com> Sent: 26 May 2018 21:16 To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: RE: Restoring a PC Server 500 P/390 Folks, Well in case any one has the slightest bit of interest, I have now plugged the RAID card back in and after replacing on of the drive carriers I can get five of the six drives to spin up. Its now copying stuff to my Buffalo NAS but as its 10Mbit LAN its not terribly fast. I think the NAS isn't very fast either. It looks like zipping up the files and FTPing the ZIP files might be the quickest way to go. Dave From: Dave Wade <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com <mailto:dave.g4ugm at gmail.com> > Sent: 18 May 2018 22:31 To: 'Benjamin Huntsman' <BHuntsman at mail2.cu-portland.edu <mailto:BHuntsman at mail2.cu-portland.edu> >; 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' <cctalk at classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: RE: Restoring a PC Server 500 P/390 I thought I had captioned that picture. It's the original RAID controller which I am not using. If I plug it in it starts the disks in the RAID array which takes ages, and steals the hard disk BIOS vector which I need for the SCSI card that's running the system. I didn't want to remove it fully as I need to label the cables feeding it. One feeds the top drive bays, and the other the bottom so if I ever need to put it back it I need to know which is which. If I get some free time I will have a go at starting the disks in it and repairing the RAID array, and perhaps copy the disks that are installed. Dave From: Benjamin Huntsman <BHuntsman at mail2.cu-portland.edu <mailto:BHuntsman at mail2.cu-portland.edu> > Sent: 18 May 2018 21:49 To: Dave Wade <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com <mailto:dave.g4ugm at gmail.com> >; General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: Restoring a PC Server 500 P/390 I gotta ask, what's the deal with the dangling card? That cracked me up! Thanks for posting some pics! _____ From: cctalk <cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org> > on behalf of Dave Wade via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Sent: Friday, May 18, 2018 1:46 PM To: 'Guy Sotomayor Jr'; 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' Subject: RE: Restoring a PC Server 500 P/390 > -----Original Message----- > From: Guy Sotomayor Jr <ggs at shiresoft.com <mailto:ggs at shiresoft.com> > > Sent: 15 May 2018 21:39 > To: Dave Wade <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com <mailto:dave.g4ugm at gmail.com> >; General Discussion: On-Topic > and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk at classiccmp.org> > > Subject: Re: Restoring a PC Server 500 P/390 > > > > > On May 15, 2018, at 1:29 PM, Dave Wade via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org <mailto:cctalk at classiccmp.org> > > wrote: > > > > > > That's, in effect, what I did. Whilst there were Microchannel IDE Controllers > I have never seen one. There are no IDE interfaces on the "Planar" so every > thing must be on the MCA bus. > > So I bought a BusLogic BT646 SCSI card on E-Bay. I also bought an Adaptec > card as a spare. I think I struck lucky with the BT646. It is a simple SCSI/2 card, > no raid but it does have a BIOS with support for two bootable drives and a > >4GB drive option. > > OS/2 has drivers for it so it works out of the box. The OS/2 boot disks find > the drive and install the proper drivers. > > To compensate for the slower "narrow" drives I bought a SCSI2SD card that > puts an SD card on the bus. OS/2 just sees it as a up two four drives > depending on how I configure it. At present I have two 4gb drives. The card > in it is 32gb so I can add 2 x 12gb drives or 1 x 24gb or some other mix. The CD > ROM sites on the same bus. I haven't tried the tape drive yet.. > > > Well I found an XGA2 card in the pile of bits so now I have 1024x768 display resolution. I have swapped the CDROM for a SCSI DVD drive. I managed to boot MTS and there are a few pics here:- https://flic.kr/s/aHsmc1pkB1 <https://flic.kr/s/aHsmc1pkB1> <https://flic.kr/s/aHsmc1pkB1> P390 flic.kr Explore this photo album by Dave G4UGM on Flickr! next job is to tidy up and re-assemble the case.. Dave > Some time ago I acquired a PCI P/390 card (along with the various LIC files). I > went down the same path as you to build a P/390 system with OS/2 but I > kept running into problems with OS/2 versions and supported hardware. > > I finally gave up and acquired a PCI based RS/6000 that I'll install AIX on and > have an R/390. ;-) I haven't had the time yet to make any progress on it. > > But it's good to know that you've managed to do this if I decide to go back > and attempt the PC route again. > > TTFN - Guy

7 years, 8 months

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Lot of DEC QBus gear available...

by lbickley＠bickleywest.com

With the demise of Weirdstuff, I decided to visit Outback Equipment in Gilroy this week. Jim Schuetz, formerly a partner at Weirdstuff is now the Business Development Manager at Outback. While there, I looked over the following DEC gear (includes several non-DEC QBus cards that I'm not listing - as I have no idea what they are). Here's the DEC gear available: PDP 11/23 Plus (BC) PDP 11/73A (BC) PDP 11/23 Plus (BE) marked "Bad" (3) QBus Zip Drive controllers (1) M8043 DLVJ1-M (formerly DLV11-J) (2) M8190 (AB) KDJ11 (1) M9081 (LF?) (1) M7551 (AH?) MSV11-QA (1) M8029 RXV21 There's more "stuff" that you can see from the pictures below. All the PDP-11 "boxes" and boards look to be good cosmetically. Photos here: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMAvVBdhz20-z7l6W9JXhBB0k3ggw0HWveHctE… Jim would like to sell the above as a lot. His contact info is: jim at outbackequipment.com Phone: 408-886-3733 Cheers, Lyle -- 73 AF6WS Bickley Consulting West Inc. http://bickleywest.com "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

7 years, 8 months

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IBM junk

by cctalk＠ibmjunkman.com

Sorry, I know nothing about the panel on the left. My items were in California. I will check with recipient to see if I can mention them.

7 years, 8 months

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Fwd: Re: TRS-80 bits

by brain＠jbrain.com

Anyone live near this Hotel?? I am just getting home and am just now seeing this.? Evidently, this is a rescue attempt, but I don't have a bunch of detail as yet. Jim Hi Jim I sent the below email to Peter yesterday. Have not heard from him. It would be a pity if neither of you can arrange to get hold of this stuff. Can you maybe provide backup if Peter can't make it? W Hi Peter TRS-80 bits will be at the Watson Hotel. 440 57th Str. Hell's Kitchen, NY 10019. Fellow is called Marius Killian and he's there today and tomorrow (24th and 25th). Sorry about short notice but I only came home last night. Please make plan to pick up, or for hotel to hold for you. Let me know. W

7 years, 8 months

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C3253A HP Envizex P-Series

by carlojpisani＠gmail.com

(x11 terminal) C3253A HP Envizex P-Series Up for sale is a X-Terminal made by Hewlett Packard in 1995. Tested, in perfect working conditions!!! cpu: i960 @ 33Mhz (it's the fastest available on Envizex v1) ram: 48MB (builtin + 16+16+8, the first two sims need to be equal) rom: none (sorry, It doesn't have any font-rom, it loads fonts from tftp/NFS) vram: 2MB lan: 10Mbps BASET RJ45 (it also comes with an AUI port on the back) kb/mouse: common PS/2 (F12 is a special key, but Envizex works on common keyboards, HIL keyboards are also supported) Media: floppy 3.5",1.44MB Software included! It comes with all the documentation, configuration-scripts, and startup for Linux (sorry, I don't have HPUXv10.20/v11, I can't test/adapt scrips). The machine is perfectly working, it supports the X Display Manager Control Protocol (XDMCP), you just need to power on your hardwired terminal and be greeted with a login prompt. This purpose is easy to be accomplished on HP terminals, especially if you use NFS instead of tftpboot. HP-net-stations can boot using either Network File System or Trivial FTP, with NFS being the preferred method it's simpler. During the final phase of startup, the bootup screen disappears and the X station loads bin/modules.ld, which tells what can be optionally loaded (but not executed), and then starts the X session by executing the application that was specified by the user on config/autoexec.cfg It supports all of the following: XDM login VUE CDE Lite (its panel appears similar to the one you can see on HPUX) mwm (simple windows manager) twm (simple windows manager) If you see one of first three login screens in the above list, you just need to enter your login account and password. 80 euro + s/h located in Switzerland

7 years, 8 months

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Teketronix X11 terminals & XpressWare

by carlojpisani＠gmail.com

hi here it is a page (I am not the author) that summarizes about the 400s series unfortunately, they need XpressWare v8, which is rather impossible to be found. https://web-docs.gsi.de/~kraemer/COLLECTION/NCD/www.technogoths.demon.co.uk…

7 years, 8 months

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No subject

by kevin_anderson_dbq＠yahoo.com

http://dream.sowit.org Kevin Anderson

7 years, 8 months

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test-drb