In looking for a place to dispose of my unwanted computers, I ran
across this company...
Computer Recycling & Refining
27 Ciro Road
North Branford, Connecticut 06471
Phone: (203) 488-0535
Contact: A.J. LaCroix
When I was talking to him, he mentioned he does get some old computers.
I told him about the Rhode Island computer museum, the collectors on
this list, and the website to join the list. He talked about keeping
some old computers in the back. Hopefully he will join, and maybe offer
some goodies for sale? Or maybe donate to the museum?
Usual cautions apply, I don't really know them, found thier number and
talked to him just today...
--
--- Dave Woyciesjes
--- ICQ# 905818
Please quote for the below items in any quantity you may have up to 2 each.
I am also looking for "closeout" deals on larger quantities of Fluke pods in
bulk, assorted numbers.
quantity 2 - 9000A-8085 pods
quantity 2 - 9000A-6809 pods
Please note - I need the pods themselves not just the manuals
Please include air insured shipping to US zip 12118. Payment will be made
in
certified funds in advance of shipping. Thank you
Art Mallet
>From: "John Lawson" <jpl15(a)panix.com>
>
>
> Re: Being 'published'.
>
> IN previous lives, I have been interviewed dozens of times for print
>and video media. not once - NOT ONE TIME - has the entire article been
>100% factual and/or accurate. They *always* have gotten something wrong,
>misquoted, fucked up - whatever.
>
---snip---
Hi
I refuse to talk to reporters. I've had similar experiences
and just don't find any positive value in talking to them.
If they took the time to pass their articles by the people
they were writing about to check accuracy, they might get
me to try. Since they don't, I don't.
Dwight
Practical Automation was indeed the hardware manufacturer. Lubrication
of the pins is a tricky issue. Supposedly, there is lubricant in the
inked ribbon and, as the pins strike, they are suficiently lubricated.
*ANY* petroleum based lubricant will eventually boil off all the
volotiles, leaving a sticky residue which is as good as glue so far as
the pins are concerned. Not to mention that petroleum based lubes will
rot the rubber rollers.
All that said, I have successfully used projector oil in extremely small
quantities: wash hands, rub 1 drop around the tips of my fingers, hold
finger in front of print head, print all possible characters in one
character space (print - backspace - print -etc etc etc)
The electronics and the software components were all designed and
executed by Dr. Robert Suding (the technical brains behind "the digital
group".
There is a web site "www.ultimatecharger.com" of Suding Associates, Inc.
The writing sure reads like digital group documentation used to read!
He was known to be big in amateur radio and amateur astronomy. You may
be able to radio him - W0LMD.
Have you tried the www.practicalautomation.com web site? Dosen't the
"ATX 38" Kiosk Printer look familiar - even today?
Dave Hilton
Staff System Administrator
entelos(r)
Foster City, CA
"Linux is like a wigwam -
No Gates, no Windows, Apache inside."
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Bryan Blackburn
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2003 4:37 PM
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: Help request: Impact printer by the digital group
Hi all,
I am in the process of restoring a 96 column impact printer sold by the
digital group around 1977. (See my progress at:
http://members.cox.net/oldcomp3/dgp/dgprinter.shtml)
The first question I have is about the print head: Does anyone have any
idea what, if anything, is the proper lubricant for a print head? What
little lubricant I found on the heads felt like it might be a silicone
grease of some kind. I have no idea if this was original lubricant or
not. Labels I have found on other printers warn against oiling the print
head, stating that the heads are lifetime oiled at time of manufacture.
Next, I wonder if anyone on the list might have any information on the
printer itself, which appears to have been manufactured by Practical
Automation Inc., of Shelton Conn., or on the digital group electronics.
Any ideas?
-Bryan
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org
> [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Ian Primus
> Sent: 22 October 2003 01:59
> To: cctech(a)classiccmp.org
> Subject: Can anyone ID this Digital board?
>
> recognized it as Digital. What did this come from? My best guess would
> be a VaxStation, but I don't really know. I would like to get this
> machine functional (I always wanted something I could run VMS on). Can
It looks like a lower-end VAXstation 3100. Compare it to the board in my
Infoserver 150VXT, which is a MicroVAX 3100 model 10:
http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/Museum/Digital/infoserver/infoserver.php
Those machines have a single on-board SCSI channel (the wide connector
middle rear) but you need the proprietary cable to plug anything in. The
console connector is the one nearest the thin ethernet port and halt
switch - the four ports are labelled 0,1,3,2 with 2 being the DB25 full
modem socket.
Going from memory the 2 sockets furthest away from the back panel are for a
framebuffer card and extra memory and one of the back ones next to the SCSI
connector were for the 2nd SCSI card for external devices. Can't remember
what the other one was for, maybe a synch comms board?
Can't help with the power pinouts right now.....
cheers
--
adrian/witchy
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the online computer museum
www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - ex-monthly gothic shenanigans :o(
GEEK DIY
BY PAUL WALLICH
The Pride of FrankenMac
Lurking in the shadows of Moore's Law is a subculture of
retrocomputerists who believe PCs only get better with age.
DOWN IN THE SPARE ROOM IS the computer I affectionately call Frank. As
in FrankenMac. It has the case and motherboard of a Macintosh clone from
1997, stuffed with new RAM and a CPU upgrade six times the speed of the
original. It's on its second video board and Ethernet card, and has a
USB adaptor (a technology barely invented when Frank was born) and a
replacement 60GB disk. I installed Linux on it a while back because the
last few generations of MacOS never did run quite right. And what with
the realities of my eat-at-your-desk household, I've lost count of how
many keyboards Frank has gone through.
In the world of active-yet-obsolete, the polite term is "vintage
computers." Frank is an infant. As the era of mass-market personal
computing heads for its 30th year, no one knows how many superannuated
desktops are still out there chugging away, though reports from around
the Net mention still-active Apple IIs, Commodore 64s, first-generation
IBM PCs and clones, and even the odd IBM PCjr (a scaleddown, overpriced
PC offshoot that garnered widespread ridicule when it was introduced
back in 1983).
There are three types of people responsible for this
computing-with-the-undead phenomenon. I like to think of them as the
nostalgists, the pragmatists and the adaptists.
The nostalgist impulse sequesters ancient machines in ad hoc museum
collections-veteran programmer Bruce Darner's Digibarn (digibarn.com),
for instance, houses hundreds of PCs dating back to the mid-'70s. Damer
says he keeps old hardware and software running because static museum
displays do nothing to convey the actual experience of using a Radio
Shack TRS-80 with its subminiature tape drives, or one of Steve jobs's
original Next cubes. Damer invites computer builders and users to his
museum to put their reminiscences on video for the day when old
components finally give up the ghost.
Meanwhile, says Vintage Computer Festival organizer Sellam Ismail, the
pragmatists are plugging away at dayto-day office work on uncounted
thousands of archaic PCs. When Dell ran a contest back in 1999 for the
oldest small-business PC still in use, the company turned up more than
200 worthy entries in addition to the winner, an Altair 8800b that had
been used for word processing since October 1976. And aging control
computers that run industrial or lab equipment generally don't get
replaced until the machinery they're attached to wears out --one
classic-computer aficionado says his mass spectrometer has been hooked
up to the same Apple II for 20 years.
Finally, adaptists around the world continue to bang out letters,
novels, e-mail and code on revamped elderly machines. Consider British
electronics designer and ex-particle physicist Tony Duell, whose primary
machine is a pervasively upgraded PC-AT from 1986. (Among the many other
computers running in his house is a 31-year-old PDP-11 minicomputer.)
"Why?!" asks the megahertz junkie in me. "Why not?" replies my
retrocomputing alter ego. Fact is, if you don't absolutely need your
computer to play broadcast-quality video clips in 3-D windows while you
navigate via throbbing full-color control buttons that unleash CD-grade
stereo sound with each click, you probably don't need a machine built in
the past 10 years--certainly not for your backup basement machine.
Sticking with the same computer ("same" being a relative term) also
yields real benefits, says Duell. You seldom have to throw away your old
software, and you're less likely to misplace crucial files, as can
happen when upgrading from one machine to another.
"I never trust people who say they'll copy all the files over to the new
machine," Duell laments. "They never do, and five years later some poor
person like me is called in to recover a file from some unknown floppy
disk."
If you're willing to install Linux or FreeBSD instead of the bloated
monsters that pass for in dust industry-standard operating systems, a
386 or 486 machine with 16 or 32 megabytes of RAM will do just fine for
everyday work. Even if you're addicted to windows and mice, there are
some minimal windowing systems whose entire program code takes up less
RAM than half a dozen icons on a fancier box. (A simple Google search
for "minimal window system" yields a range of options,)
And all the hype about Internet-optimized Pentia notwithstanding, 386
and 486 computers around the globe serve as firewalls and routers,
e-mail and Web servers directing Internet packets to their destinations
in homes and small offices. It only stands to reason, after all, that a
machine capable of performing tens of millions Of 32-bit operations per
second should be able to keep up with a pipe that delivers no more than
a million bits of new data in that time.
Finally, in an age when bleeding-edge hardware can set you back a few
thousand dollars every year or two, the price of obsolete technology
looks right. Used-computer dealers sell perfectly capable machines for
$50 to $100-or you can try to snag one of the millions of working PCs
that end their lives in dumpsters every year. Even vintagecomputer users
who bought new and pay top dollar for parts upgrades are saving a
bundle: Duell, for one, hasn't bought a new kit since 1995.
1 have mixed feelings about the whole enterprise. On the one hand, I'm
always going to lust after the newest, fastest hardware out there. On
the other, I can't bear to get rid of my old toys. Maybe Frank will
become a Web server or an image-processing engine or an outlet for some
of my stupider software ideas. And if I make some terrible, terrible
hacking error on Frank, I'll still have the working--if far less
romantic-machine on the desk in my office.
SO YOU WANT TO RESUSCITATE AN OLD PC?
IF YOU DON'T ALREADY HAVE AN old computer cluttering up your closet,
you'll have to cadge one from a friend, find the nearest office trashing
old machines this week, or visit your local computer junk store -the
place on the other side of town from me offers 30OMHz Pentium Ils with
128MB of RAM and a 4GB drive for $95, or 20OMHz PenHum Is with 48MB of
RAM and a 2G8 drive for $50. When I asked about 486 boxes, one of the
techs pointed me toward the clumpsters in back and asked, "How many
pallets do you want?" (YOU can also find old computers on eBay, but the
cost and risk of shipping 30 or 40 pounds of iron across the country
tends to kill any price advantage.)
Once you've got the machine, junk its obsolete Windows system, flip a
coin to decide between FreeBSD and Linux (the first will probably be
more work; the second probably requires a slightly heftier computer) and
start downloading. (You can find either system at linuxiso.org.) if you
have a computer with a CD-ROM burner, you'll typically be making three
installation CDs-if you don't, you can scrounge one, order one online
for $50 or so, or read the instructions for installing from floppies. (A
barebones installation sufficient for sucking the rest of the software
down over an Ethernet connection is only a few disks, and a no-name
Ethernet card, if you don't have one, is about $ 10. While you're at it,
consider another $60 for a 30GB hard drive. Don't worry: These days all
the plugs for such things fit in only one way.)
Depending on what you want your new old machine to do -browse and read
e-mail, serve files, act as a router or firewall -installing the
operating system and the appropriate free software (on FrankenMac,
that's Mozilla, Open Office and probably Portable AllegroServe) should
take about half a day. TOTAL COST: Anywhere from zilch to about $200.
Anyone want an UltraStore SCSI/Floppy controller card for EISA bus? Its
got an internal 50 pin SCSI and floppy connectors, and an external 50 pin
high density SCSI connector.
I also have some Intel AboveBoard ram expansion cards. Some are AT some
are 286, all have at least their main banks filled, some have a daughter
card attached that is also filled.
And I have some PS/2 ram expansion cards (two that use 72 pin simms, one
that uses 30 pin simms).
And I have some ram expansion cards similar to the AboveBoard, but that
have serial ports on the card as well.
And I've got some FDD controller cards. Has an old card edge connector on
it, so I'm guessing it predates 3.5" drives. Don't know what drives they
work with, but I'm assuming 360k 5.25 and maybe HD 5.25 as well... I have
3 of them (and one cable).
And some Winchester Drive controller cards
And some EGA video cards
Any or all of the above are available, just cover shipping.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
w + p = -?
Hi
It looks like a ROM card. I'd check the pinouts before
plugging it into a PC. Many cards like these were for
various proprietary busses and have the power leads in
different locations.
If it is for a PC, trace down the address leads from the
edge connector. These will usually go to some kind of
comparitor ( ls688 or similar ). You should be able to
figure where to look for it in the address of the PC.
You can then use some simple code to transfer the EPROM
to a disk file.
Still, doesn't look like a PC card so be careful about
plugging it in until you've traced a few leads.
Dwight
>From: chris <cb(a)mythtech.net>
>
>I found a rather old looking card. It appears to be an 8 bit ISA card (or
>at least has that size/style looking connector).
>
>The only writing on it is MPPi Ltd. There are no connectors on it, not
>even a case dust plate for filling a blank slot (so they must have
>planned on you leaving the slot cover in place when this was inserted, or
>it isn't an ISA card).
>
>There are 4 chip sockets on it, with the 2nd of the 4 containing an EPROM
>chip (M5L2764K). Remaining chips appear to be maybe support chips (SN74L
>series chips).
>
>There is a small bank of 4 dip switches, and two clusters of jumper poles
>(no jumpers installed, poles are labeled A thru G).
>
>
>Anyone have any clue what this card is? I'm wondering if maybe it is an
>early security dongle. Maybe this was done as an internal card rather
>than an external parallel or serial block.
>
>A pic of the card is at <http://www.mythtech.net/card.jpg>
>
>-chris
><http://www.mythtech.net>
>
>w + p = -?
>
>
>
I found a rather old looking card. It appears to be an 8 bit ISA card (or
at least has that size/style looking connector).
The only writing on it is MPPi Ltd. There are no connectors on it, not
even a case dust plate for filling a blank slot (so they must have
planned on you leaving the slot cover in place when this was inserted, or
it isn't an ISA card).
There are 4 chip sockets on it, with the 2nd of the 4 containing an EPROM
chip (M5L2764K). Remaining chips appear to be maybe support chips (SN74L
series chips).
There is a small bank of 4 dip switches, and two clusters of jumper poles
(no jumpers installed, poles are labeled A thru G).
Anyone have any clue what this card is? I'm wondering if maybe it is an
early security dongle. Maybe this was done as an internal card rather
than an external parallel or serial block.
A pic of the card is at <http://www.mythtech.net/card.jpg>
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
w + p = -?
Hey, all:
I've met another generous person. :) Anyone after a TI 99/4a? I just
received the following e-mail, with permission to forward:
> I have recently retired and relocated to the Puget Sound area. I do
> have a COMPLETE Texas Instruments TI 99/4a system. Yes, SYSTEM. As we
> have settled in smaller quarters, I presently have no place for this
> system and no immediate plans for its future. I am willing to donate
> this system to a good home. If there is interest on your part, please
> e-mail and I will gladly send specifications and software list. It is
> presently in seven or eight boxes and is located in the south King
> County area (Des Moines, WA (Redondo Beach)).
Anyone in or handy to Seattle, Washington can presumably pick this
system up directly from the owner. If someone further away would like
it, you'll have to sound him out about how willing he is to ship
elsewhere. I'm hoping he may be willing to as long as you pay the
expenses, but I _don't know_ this; so, if you ask, be polite. :)
Anyway, if you're interested you can e-mail Thomas Roughton at
<T_Roughton round-thing-with-an-a-in-it msn black-spot com>,
with the appropriate anti-spam alterations.
-O.-
Story web page:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/61/33536.html
"Many tears were shed when HP announced that the e3000 would
meet its maker at the end of this month. But loyal fans of the
product will meet on Oct. 31 at bars and restaurants around the
globe to put down several cold ones and discuss their good times
with the server. Take a trip over the HP wake Web site to see your
nearest venue."
"Introduced in 1972, the HP 3000 was loved and adored as being
one of the most solid systems around. Running the MPE operating
system, HP 3000s chugged along for three decades, but in 2001
HP said it would stop sales and end support for the product in 2006."
The "HP 3000 Wake web site" is listed as http://207.21.244.161/hpwake/
(I hate URLs with IP numbers)
"For those who want to reminisce about the good old before getting blotto,
there is a nice history of the HP 3000 "
http://www.robelle.com/library/smugbook/classic.html
Hi folks,
Continued redundancy is forcing me to start sorting and selling most of my
rather considerable DEC CD collection that goes back to almost the beginning
of the CDDS service in the early 1990s and features VAX/VMS, Alpha VMS,
Ultrix VAX, Ultrix MIPS and OSF/1 stroke DEC Unix software product CDs.
They're all complete sets, and rather than bung 'em on epay I'll give you
all the chance to have first go. This is just a toe-in-the-water bijou
list-ette to gauge interest. I've also listed my spare hardware.
There are 2 ways to do this I think, either I give you all a week to mail me
off-list with your offers and best one gets it or I stick it all on the
Vintage Computer Marketplace. Let me know if you need pictures of any of it.
I'll ship anywhere as long as you pay for it :o)
A brief list of CDs:
OpenVMS Alpha V6.2 in blue distro box with manuals, never been used
OpenVMS VAX V7.0 in blue distro box etc
OpenVMS Alpha V7.0 in blue distro box etc (complete with firmware CD)
DEC OSF/1 Layered Product set December '94 (nearly on topic :o)
OpenVMS CDDS March 1995, 2 boxes containing 12 product CDs and 4
documentation CDs
(many many many more CDDS box sets are there somewhere, like 20 or 30+)
Books (all Digital Press):
Terminals and Printers handbook 1983-84
Microcomputer Processors 1978-79
Microcomputer Interfaces handbook 1980
Processor Handbook PDP 11/04/24/34a/44/70 1981 (2 off)
PDP-11 Micro PDP-11 handbook 1983-84
PDP-11 Microcomputer Interfaces handbook 1983-1984
Microcomputer Products Handbook 1985
Terminals and Communications handbook 1981-82
Microcomputers and Memories 1982
Introduction to Local Area Networks 1982
Misc hardware/software:
Unopened DECnet/SNA ST Gateway software pack QA-S01AA-H5 (2 off)
Unused DNSES Synchronous comms board for AXP 3000 series, EISA.
Alphastation 600 motherboard and CPU
MicroVAX 3100-40 motherboard
Alpha 3000-400 motherboard and CPU
MicroVAX 3100 model 40 and 80 memory SIMMs
Alpha 3000-400 complete with (I think) 64mb memory, PMAGB graphics.
VAXstation 3100 M48, unknown condition for now.
MicroVAX 2000, slight case damage
A stack of QBUS cards for VAX/PDP, all untested.
Obviously the latter 3 are rather heavy :)
Let me know!
cheers
--
adrian/witchy
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the online computer museum
www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - ex-monthly gothic shenanigans :o(
What is the best material for making dusk covers for computers?
I want to make covers for my 8/16 bit computers like the Amiga 500/1200 Atari 1040ST, C64c, C128, Tandy 1000HX, etc.
I have an AT&T GPSC-AT/E serial card here if anyone wants it. Its a 12
inch, 16 bit ISA card with a single DB-25 Male port on the back.
It was pulled a while back from an AT&T computer. No idea if it works or
not. The computer did before it was stripped down, so my guess is the
card is fine.
I don't really know anything about it, but it looks like it could be a
decent serial card, and since so many of you use serial terminals, I
thought maybe someone would like it.
Just cover postage and its yours.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
w + p = -?
Sir,
I am following up on a query on the following link and am hoping that
you may be able to help...:
http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2003-September/026900.html
Within our organization , we use a number of 9-track Digidata Mag Tape
Units, Model P/N 1149-8-2-120-FN-UL.
We have some vendor service manuals for these, however what we have, do
not have any information regarding how to perform or check head
alignment.
We are looking either for a manual addressing this head alignment or a
"service agent" that has the capability to repair / align these units..
We have tried Digidata themselves and they have no information. I am
assuming someone somewhere has the capability / and or knowledge to
repair them and am looking for a contact
Any suggestions ??
Thanks for your help.
Julian Vines
Engineering Dept.
Navigation Systems Division
Northrop Grumman Canada Corporation
25, Cityview Drive, Toronto, Ontario M9W 5A7
Ph: 416 249 1231 Ext 2603
Fax: 416 246 2018
Visit us at www.ngnavsys-canada.ca
Hiyas,
Anyone here familiar with early history of DEC's moving from Ultrix
to the "new" system called OSF/1 (which itself was based on Mach) ?
I found some interesting docs from that era, and some of the dev't
cycles arent clear to me.. some help would be useful in understanding
what went on then..
Cheers,
Fred
--
Fred N. van Kempen, DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) Collector/Archivist
Visit the VAXlab Project at http://www.pdp11.nl/VAXlab/
Visit the Archives at http://www.pdp11.nl/
Email: waltje(a)pdp11.nl BUSSUM, THE NETHERLANDS / Sunnyvale, CA, USA
we have IBM RS/6000 7043-140 , it is not booting during POST LED
shows F50 and then nthing happens
maching is not booting i was trying to install linux from boot floppy
after that it happens
pl help
AJAY CHADHA
ENGINEER (IT)
IT DEPARTMENT ,NTPC TTPS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Speed & Quality is essence of IT"
I had the same problem on my Teac FD-55GFR 5 1/4" Drive, as I was trying to
recover some old applications of mine. Here are some advices:
1. Check if the BIOS setting is correct (1.2MB/5 1/4")
2. Check if the jumper configuration is correct - you can find that at:
http://www.teac.com/DSPD/pdf/5fd0050a.pdf
3. My problem: the spring that holds the head #1 on the disk surface
probably "got old". If this is the problem, try to press it gently onto the
disk, and push it twards the tracks at the end of the disk (the center). If
this was useful, I would appreciate a thank you mail... just kidding ;).
Went to a surplus store today and found a package that said that it was
"MOS Operating System" and that it was a multi-user system and that it was
MS-DOS compatible. Does anyone know anything about it? I've never heard of
it before. The package was sealed so I couldn't open it to read any details.
Joe
The technical manual is hosted on Terry Stewart's great System 80 site
at:
http://www.webweavers.co.nz/system-80/manuals_technical.htm
The site has the manual with the copyright owners permission which
includes the schematics.
David
-----Original Message-----
From: Geoff Gunn [mailto:vax@onthenet.com.au]
Sent: Sunday, 19 October 2003 10:05 PM
To: cctech(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: SYSTEM 80 Schematics
Mike,
I just found you message about having the ciruit diagrams for a Disk
Smith System 80. I found one of these the other day in a recyling center
and always had a soft spot for them as it was first computer. The one I
found works, but has a problem in the video circuit. It is repairable,
but would be a lot easier if I had schematics to work from (I collect
video games from the same era as well so my skills in repairing these
would help me a great deal :) If you have a scan or even a photocopy of
this manual, I would glady purchase it off you.
Cheers, Geoff
Some of you will remember a thread earlier this year, in which various
of us discussed the ARM Evaluation System -- an ARM Second Processor
for a BBC Microcomputer -- and bemoaned either our lack of discs, or
that we had a Disc 1 that was corrupt.
Well, thanks to a kind benefactor who provided me with an *un*corrupt
Disc 1, I've been able to copy them and make them available on my
website. If you have an ARM Evaluation System and need the software,
go to
http://www.dunnington.u-net.com/public/BBC/ARMeval.html
What's there are ZIP files; I thought about making disc images, but I
can't get Xfer to behave :-( However, the discs are just normal ADFS
discs, and my webpage has links to the things required to unpack them
on a Beeb or an Arc (or later RISC OS machine) so there shouldn't be
any problem. However, if anyone on the list deperately needs actual
discs,
and can provide me with suitable blanks (5.25" DSDD or 3.5" DSDD, not
HD), I'll be happy to make copies.
Apologies to those who're on both the BBC Micro list and the ClassicCmp
list, and get two copies of this. To those who're on both *and* in my
private "ARMeval" list, well, good things always come in threes :-)
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Hiyas,
Nyone here (relly) familiar with these beasties? I now have two
sets of them, and gawdamit, they dont talk together. I have one
set being the DEIRB-AG (my first set), and the set of new cards
are DEIRB-DA's. Cant yet tell whether its the cards, their
firmware or the drivers. Although... I tried one of the DA's in
my access point, and that one doesnt seem to be too happy with
the card, either, so it could well be the card or its firmware...
Any clues?
(yes, all cards are labelled 2400/FH, by the way ;-)
Cheers,
Fred
--
Fred N. van Kempen, DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) Collector/Archivist
Visit the VAXlab Project at http://www.pdp11.nl/VAXlab/
Visit the Archives at http://www.pdp11.nl/
Email: waltje(a)pdp11.nl BUSSUM, THE NETHERLANDS / Sunnyvale, CA, USA
In a message dated 10/21/2003 4:51:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
allain(a)panix.com writes:
<< > Now what I REALLY want - is one of those lift genies that is like a
> hand truck but with a large flat platform that you pump up and down.
> Not to move racks, but to lift disc drives and tape drives up from 5
> inches to 5 feet, so that they can be easily rackmounted. Haven't
> found one cheap yet though.
I would pay up to $350 for such a thing (it sounds too
perfect). I've been looking for it in the form of a "scissor jack" >>
take a look at globalindustrial.com
At 05:19 PM 10/20/03 -0500, you wrote:
>
>Greetings;
>I am faced with picking up a sizeable IBM some hours from where I live in
>the next few weeks.
>What I had originally planned to do has fallen through, and now I am left
>trying to work out how best to lift what has been estimated as 800+lbs of
>1978 IBM.
>
>I have a decent half-ton pickup truck, its more than plenty for carrying
>this machine home. The magic trick is - how do I get the heavy sucker into
>the deck?
>I was planning on "borrowing" another truck with a lift-gate on it, to
>lift the IBM up to the pickup deck height, and then waffling it into the
>pickup. That has fallen through, and actually renting one is, as far as
>I'm concerned, cost prohibitive ($78 + 29c/mile + $150 deposit).
You should be aware that a lot of the lift gates are junk! They're
actually worse than that, they're downright dangerous! Many of them have a
steep ramp about 2 to 3" high before they reach the top. That makes it very
difficult to get heavy objects onto the lift gate. In addition, the tops
are sloped away from the truck and when you raise the lift gate the slope
increases. That makes things tend to slide completely off the ramp right at
the worst time! Just as you're lifting it up and have nowhere to go.
Finally, they have a hinge in them that makes it difficult to get heavy
loads off and on the ramp. Take a close look at any lift gate that you're
considering using, BEFORE you rent the truck. And if you don't have a fork
lift or other machinery to load the cargo, think THREE TIMES about using
one of them for heavy objects. Last year, I narrowly missing being crushed
under a 1800+ lb UPS that I was trying to load on one using those POS!
Something you might consider is the use of one of the off-road type fork
lifts. A LOT of companies in this area (central Florida) use them to
unloading and moving pallets of sod (squares of grass used for landscaping)
and they can be rented quite reasonably and the rental companies have
trailors for them.
I have moved a couple of big heavy computers by renting a low trailer and
then using 2 x 10" boards as ramps to load the puter. If it's real heavy
and you're short of man power then you can use a come-a-long to pull it
into the trailer. Loading is generally pretty easy but unloading is tricky!
A lot of times the load will run away from you and it will try to stop and
tip over when it gets to the ground. Also it will sometimes try to push the
boards out off the trailer. If that happens one side will drop to the
ground and the thing will tip over. Take your time and be careful
unloading. Use plenty of man power if you can get it.
Joe
>
>If you were to move this IBM, how would you have done it?
>Keep in mind while I can cover $100 worth of gas for my pickup - more than
>that is a pinch.
>
>JP
>
>
I have a number of old DECUS U.S. Symposium audio tapes that I would
like to archive before they completely disintegrate. I have a way to
digitize these and store them in a variety of formats. I'm not sure
what format is best for archive and distribution, though I assume
something like WAV or AIFF for archive and MP3 for distribution. I
have no prior experience at this and would appreciate any suggestions
on the best approach.
Also suggestions on who to contact to make these archives legally
available on the web would be welcome.
Is anyone else archiving these?
As a teaser, here's what I have:
1987 Fall:
N008 Understanding Ethernet
N037 Cryptographic Security for Ethernet
DA054 Optimizing VMS device Drivers for Realtime I/O
V104 Tape 1 VAX Magic, War Stories, and Horror Tales
V104 Tape 2
1988 Fall:
PC031 Internal Enhancements to AppleTalk for VMS
NE050 An Introduction to the Digital's Distributed Name Service (DNS)
GR054 Renderman: A 3D Scene Description Interface for Computer
Graphics System
GR033F Computer Graphic and Visualization
Thanks,
John
Hi, my name is Tobias and i own a TI-52 calculator. As it was given to me, i'd really like
to program it(thoug it's as old as me).
But this model is too old, and i can't get a manual for it.
So i'd like to enquire whether you know how to get a manual for the TI-52.
Thanks in advance!
best regards
Tobias Petschke
On Oct 20, 8:10, John A. Dundas III wrote:
> I have a number of old DECUS U.S. Symposium audio tapes that I would
> like to archive before they completely disintegrate. I have a way to
> digitize these and store them in a variety of formats. I'm not sure
> what format is best for archive and distribution, though I assume
> something like WAV or AIFF for archive and MP3 for distribution.
That sounds reasonable, but beware of WAV -- although originally it was
effectively a byte-swapped AIFF format, it's been added to in so many
ways that a WAV file could contain just about anything. If you use
AIFF at 44100Hz you can write the tracks to a CD-R using just about any
writer software.
MP3 is pretty good for distribution. It's reasonably compact, better
supported than just about any other compressed format, and not likely
to go away any time soon. Of course, it's lossy so don't use it for
archives (I'm sure you weren't planning to).
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
In a message dated 10/20/2003 7:42:21 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
jplist(a)kiwigeek.com writes:
> Perhaps you can rent a car towing trailer? Those are very low to the
> ground generally and you may be able to push it onto the tracks. Renting
> one may well be much cheaper than a truck with a lift gate.
Tempted. For reasons I won't go into, I've been told that I cannot use a
trailor by the person who actually owns the vehicle - I only drive it.
Transmissions and various reasons like that. Asides from whether or not I
agree or believe this - I'm just trying to make do with what I have.
I believe I'll probably put together a pair of sturdy oak ramps, maybe
12" wide, that hook to the bumper of the truck. Then I'll use a winch to
pull the IBM up the incline - although I'm not sure yet what to use under
the lower end to stop it grating on the ground once its picked up off its
casters... Perhaps a skateboard? :)
I've moved some heavy things before including an extremely heavy player piano
and might be able to off some suggestions.
Being able to use a tilt bed trailer is a big help. You can find some low
cost tiltbed trailer kits pretty cheaply if you know the capacity of what you're
carrying is less or equal to the trailer's.
Carpeted furniture dollies are cheap and can take a lot of weight and abuse.
get a few of those. As someone said, a come-along is handy for loading or
moving up a ramp.
There's a thing called a Johnson bar that works great for moving heavy
things. it's basically a 6 foot long wooden pry bar with a metal angled end and
wheels on one end, so you can lever up something extremely heavy and then move it
around because of the wheels. Any rental place should have those.
Pallet jacks are nice too. too bad they don't go up higher though. I've seen
some companies sell a small motorized lift to raise something like a
motorcycle for service. can something like that be rented?
If you plan to unload from a pickup's bed, see if there's a ditch or a low
spot you can back into to make it lower. barring that, it might be helpful to
use whatever you can to make a platform at a height halfway between the truck
and the ground so you can manouver onto that first. trying to lower something
heavy 2 feet at once is not easy to do.
> > I believe I'll probably put together a pair of sturdy oak ramps, maybe
> > 12" wide, that hook to the bumper of the truck. Then I'll use a winch to
> > pull the IBM up the incline - although I'm not sure yet what to use under
> > the lower end to stop it grating on the ground once its picked up off its
> > casters... Perhaps a skateboard? :)
>
Your oak ramp is a good idea
Use a large sheet of aluminum or steel about 3 foot by 3 foot. Larger is
better and stainless steel is better than aluminum. The cabinet will actually
skid on the metal until the casters take over going up the ramp. The plate might
try to kick out so be careful, particularly if it is too small.
If you are going to make a ramp bevel the ends of the boards or put some
wedges at the end so the metal doesn't deform. You want a smooth skid surface.
Be especially careful of your center of gravity on the incline.
Good luck,
Paxton
Astoria, OR
I have just received a Tektronix 4209 terminal which works. Manufacture date is 1987.
I vaguely remember plot commands for a tektronix system when I worked for AT&T Western Electric in 1980's. These were not the 4014 storage tube stroke vector displays but the first raster displays.
Does anybody have a Plot-10 command summary?
Is this the correct set?
mike
m m c f a d d e n a t c m h . e d u
I know some of you have bookmarked or made links to one or two files I
have on my "website". Earlier today I moved some of the PDP11-related
files, such as the Q-Bus diagrams and XXDP docs, into a subdirectory,
so you might want to update bookmarks/links.
http://www.dunnington.u-net.com/public/PDP-11/
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
This is just.....insane. :)
g.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 14:58:18 -0700
From: Jeff Vavasour <vavasour(a)shaw.ca>
To: trs80(a)cs.ubc.ca
Subject: Emulation moment of insanity...
Well, for those on this list that are interested, I recently had a moment of
insanity in the emulation realm. Here's the result:
http://www.vavasour.ca/jeff/mice.html
- Jeff
And I quote horrified:
"I now feel the desire to make the room more useful so the computer does
not fit the decor any longer."
Don't you know that Apples, like black, go with everything?!? :)
Sheesh. <g>
-Tore
I don't, Zhu, I'm sorry. However, please don't rule out the possibility of the OS or floppy drive being at fault.
Teledisk should, ideally, be run under a strict DOS 6.22 environment, as that is what it was written to support. I've found, through direct experience, that it will run in a command window under Windows NT 4.0, but you may have different results.
The other possibility is that the disk you're trying to archive has a format scheme that is so alien to PC-type floppy controllers that it simply cannot be read.
Perhaps someone more experienced with floppy archiving than I am can comment on this.
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
On 20-Oct-03 at 14:47 Zhu Jin Yong wrote:
>hi,
> Just searched yahoo and found your email about teledisk tools.I also
>encounted the same problems with errors such as "Drive A: is not ready.
>Please correct and press any key to continue" especially when floppy
>disk is running at final way. I just took out of this disk but this disk
>can be nomally used even it got errors in process of td0 file creation.
>
> But recently,I got a problem using teledisk.Teledisk can't
>colon(duplicate) Some authorization disk such as Siemens Simatic Step 7
>V5.1 SP4 authorization disk into *.td0 file with "Drive A: is not
>ready" erors at starting up.Do you know any other software could copy
>this authorization disk so that I don't warry about my authorization
>disk crash?
> Thanks,
>Zhu
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner & Head Hardware Heavy,
Blue Feather Technologies -- http://www.bluefeathertech.com
ARS KC7GR (Formerly WD6EOS) since 12-77 -- kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
"Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati" (Red Green, aka Steve Smith)
My boxes have borrowed their names from Bloom County...there's opus and
bill connected to the network, and milo (my vax) which is currently not
connected to anything besides my terminal emulation program.
Philip Pemberton
<philpem(a)dsl.pipex. To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
com> cc:
Sent by: Subject: RE: upcoming classiccmp wierdness
cctech-bounces@clas
siccmp.org
10/17/2003 01:11 PM
Please respond to
"General
Discussion:
On-Topic Posts
Only"
In message <69DBC74E5784D6119BEA0090271EB8E5FA3EB2@MAIL10>
"Cini, Richard" <RCini(a)congressfinancial.com> wrote:
> And of course there should be an "Uncle Donald" around there somewhere :
-)
Well, seeing as we're on the subject of machine names, I've been using star
names, constellations and Zodiac signs - Polaris, Arcturus, Vega, Rigel,
Coriolis and Aquarius have all been used so far. The laptops are named
after
Star Trek movies and series - Nemesis and Voyager.
As for the machines that sit there doing nothing 99% of the time? IJSH and
IJST. Guess what IJST and IJSH mean :)
I'd be interested to find out what network names/nicknames some other
classiccmpers have given their machines.
Later.
--
Phil. | Acorn Risc PC600 Mk3, SA202, 64MB,
6GB,
philpem(a)dsl.pipex.com | ViewFinder, Ethernet (Acorn AEH62),
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/ | 8xCD, framegrabber, Teletext
* <- Tribble # <- Tribble after Borg assimilation
Found in an HP 9114A. Doesn't want to accept a diskette; it doesn't
move the diskette down when fully inserted, but pushing the eject
button ejects the diskette. Removed the drive from the 9114A, and
pulled its cover; its heads appear to be intact and in place. I'm
wondering what I need to clean and re-lubricate (and how, and what
sort of lubricant to use); I'm thinking Tony Duell has told us all
before but doggone if I can turn it up in my searches.
-Frank McConnell
> Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 09:04:11 -0400
> From: Ian Primus <ian_primus(a)yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: ASR33 Teletype interfacing
> >> I have been attempting to get my ASR33 teletype connected to something
> >> and communicating, but so far I have not been successful. I have built
> > Teletypes are inductive loads. Though they only want 20 mils, the
> > voltage needs to be high to get the initial magnet pull-in (basic RL
> > theory). ASR33 loops were generally run at 100V or so, but I run my
> > Model 28 at 14V, with non-perfect error rate, and I don't use the
> > keyboard.
>
> I take it that the voltage isn't that crucial, just the current?
Yes, but higher voltage means the in-rush current will reach 20mA faster
(the RL time constant doesn't change, just absolute values).(I kinda
lied when I said it wasn't subtle; there are subtleties. But they're not
of the pee-cee interface kind. The Old Guys who worked all this stuff up
were as smart or smarter than us; it's best to read old source material
for this kind of trivia.)
> > The keyboard and printer are IN SERIES. If you hit keys while it's
> > printing you foul it up. Normal.
>
> What about on a full duplex machine? Is it the same, or are they
> separate?
Yes, but most teletype equip was half-duplex (two wires).
> > I've done one of these fairly recently, and if poked with a
> > not-too-sharp stick, I'll scan the schematic and pu on my website.
>
> *poke*
>
> <grin>
>
> If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to see it. From what I have
> heard, there are lots of ways to do this, and i would be very
> interested to see how you did it.
OK, I'll get to it this week and post URL here.
Everyone's interface is better than everyone else's, mine included :-)
Be skeptical. Simplest isn't always most reliable, it depends on what
you're trying to do: punch 1000 feet of error-free tape a mile away? Or
just make the tty dance for an afternoon of fun?
I cobbled up a PIC-based board that does ITA2 (aks "baudot") to ASCII,
motor control, etc for a Model 28 teletype. It fits a particular project
of my own. The source for it is at http://wps.com/projects scroll down
for "PIC BASED PROJECTS" or something.
tomj
> I'd be interested to find out what network names/nicknames some other
> classiccmpers have given their machines.
I've been using intellgent computers from sci fi for a while. The
laptop I'm using now is called nomad (from Star Trek) and my gateway
is called orac (from Blake's 7). I've got some Suns that I hope to
have back on-line soon with names like colossus, guardian, hal,
m5 and zen. Of course, my daughter wanted me to name her machine
fluffy (from Harry Potter) and my wife's is taliesin (from Arthurian
legend).
BLS
Hey guys,
I am 'new' to the list under this address. I have posted several times about CDC items I have available, and thank you to those who have expressed interest. I do not wish this to come off as a blatant advertisement, but it probabaly will. If any of you out there are looking to 'decorate' your offices or hobby spaces, keep on reading.
One of my other hobbies is sports memorabilia and I have something that I developed for my own use in displaying my collection. Being that there has been talk about manuals, old computer magazines, and the like, I thought some of you might be interested in what I am 'selling' to display your ietms.
I actually have them listed on eBay, but I can give a better price to those on the list that contact me directly.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2760307223
I have been a collector of magzines for almost 10 years and have been looking since I started for an attractive way to display my collection. In conjunction with a local custom acrylic fabricator, I came up with the following...
The holders are made from a combination of 1/8" and 3/16" crystal clear
anti-static (anti-dust!) acrylic and can be made to either 'hang' on the
wall or 'stand' on a shelf/desktop. They are made from 2 pieces. Imagine
one of the pieces is like a shoebox lid. The second piece is the 'back' of
the holders slides in and out along a routed edge that is on 3 of the sides of the 'front',
You access the box which holds the magazine by sliding the back out. The
genius of this design is that it completely seals it inside for protection.
They come in various sizes, as well as two 'flavors', hanging or
standing.
If you go to the listing on eBay, you will see a picture of the 'standing' kinds. I have pictures of my magazine collection using the 'hanging' type available as well.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2760307223
Feel free to contact me directly with questions.
Thanks!
Joel Bradley
joel.bradley(a)comcast.net
Like I said a couple of days ago, I'm meeting the nicest people
lately. :) Though I still haven't found the PDP-12 I can afford
to buy just yet, I have found an empty PDP-11 rack looking for a good
home:
> This is not exactly what you were looking for but I have a PDP-11
> cabinet i would like to give away, it is the rack only with a pdp-11
> bottom panel, ~6' tall, 2 fans in top, some slides installed, on
> casters with leveler feet. Free to a good home. I am in the ST. Louis
> area.
Anyone interested, particularly in or near St. Louis, can e-mail
the owner at "rhugh a-in-a-circle att black-spot net" (with the
two appropriate, and I hope obvious, substitutions).
-O.-
I was looking for air filters for DEC RK05, HP7900A, and HP7906. I found one
website that I sent an email to the company asking for prices and here's
what I got:
DEC RK05 - 67.00
HP 7900A- 74.00
HP 7906 - 73.50
This just seems ludicrous to me. Anyone know of better priced sources?
Jay West
---
[This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]
A friend and I are working on building a simple Z80 computer from
scratch. We've got a pretty good start on it so far, but have run into
a little snag - an EPROM programmer. I have an ancient Data I/O Series
22 programmer that I have been attempting to get working. I have the
manual, and I managed to get it to power up. The power supply caps were
limping, but they seem to have reformed while I was playing with it. I
am now able to turn it on and have it come on properly every time. I
can read devices into RAM fine, and I have (I think) successfully
erased an EPROM with the built in UV eraser. (When I read the erased
chip, the checksum is 0000). This programmer has an RS232 port on it,
and I have attempted to connect it to a couple of different things.
First, I tried connecting it to the Linux box in the workshop, and
tried copying the data from ram to the serial port while I had a "cat
/dev/ttyS1 > file" running. This produced no effect, other than a zero
byte file. I connected a VT220 terminal, and have been able to control
the programmer (to an extent) from the terminal. I can type the
commands for copy, etc. But, the manual states that I should get some
feedback on the terminal screen, as well as on the programmer's
readout. So far, I have yet to see a single character come out of that
programmer through the serial port. I know I have the baud rate, parity
and stop bits set correctly. I even tried connecting my even more
ancient Tektronix "doghouse" (German Shepherd sized) 'scope to the
RS232 TX pin, and I haven't gotten a clear reading. Of course, my lack
of a good reading is probably related to my lack of good probes, the
ones I have are quick kludges with some old shielded coax cable, and
are probably the electronic equivalent of pounding nails with a bowling
ball (i.e. it works, kinda).
Has anyone had any experience dealing with an EPROM programmer like
this? What format is the data transferred in, and how can I communicate
with the programmer from the computer. The manual is pretty cryptic
about it, and mentions that the programmer is capable of sending and
receiving data in no less than 20 formats, none of which seem like
anything I have heard of before. What is the 'standard' method of
transferring data two and from a serial EPROM programmer? Should I be
able to see data on a terminal if I dump the data to the serial port,
or is it in some non-ASCII format that the terminal (and Linux) can't
render? I am lost here. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Ian Primus
ian_primus(a)yahoo.com
Oh what the heck, why not do my bit to congest the network...
Can't tell who wrote:
>
> I'd be interested to find out what network names/nicknames some other
> classiccmpers have given their machines.
I picked crash.com in the Great Internet Domain Name Land Grab
back in early 1994. Hard to believe what wasn't taken back then.
As to why, well, what do computers do at the least convenient
times?
What logically followed (to me) was a series of names based on
Unix signals.
abort.crash.com Desktop
buserr.crash.com Desktop
fpe.crash.com Web server
hup.crash.com Current firewall
int.crash.com temporary, new machines
io.crash.com File server
segv.crash.com Old firewall
term.crash.com Livingston Portmaster
They've all been different machines at different times, as these
are role-based names as much as anything else. And of course they
have CNAMEs/aliases of the proper format: SIGHUP, SIGINT, etc.
Other naming schemes in use are predictable. The Sun's are Egyptian
gods (Ra Sparc 10/52, Thoth Sparc 20/92 (yes, 90MHz), Horus and
Osiris are Ultra 30's, the Sun-4/260, 3/50 & 3/60 haven't been
revived yet). The DEC MIPS and Alphas are Indian gods (Kali 5000/260,
Hanuman a 3000/300lx, Siva a 600MHz PC164LX rack, new AS1200 and
AS4000 haven't been named yet).
The VAXen don't conform to this, I can't recall the name given to
the uVAX 3400, the VS3100m38 only went far enough to confirm that
it worked, and the 4000/500 is OMEGA. If I get the 11/730 running,
I'll worry about a name then. The big problem there is what to do
for mass storage, as I don't have a Unibus SCSI card and don't
want to use a second backplane. OTOH, it might be faster to boot
diskless and run over the net than hook up an R80...
.
The DG Aviions aren't really part of the network, and their names
are stopgaps. An AV410 is "lilav", and the AV530's are Edson and
Webo. I can't recall what name was given to the AV5500 just now.
The cluster project was named arg.crash.com. The individual nodes
(Soyo dual Slot 1 mobo's with Celerons on slockets - gives you an
idea of timeframe!) were arg0, arg1, arg2, etc. I was tempted to
rename the whole cluster argv, but...
Laptops have been Slim (DEC HiNote Ultra), Slate (ThinkPad 600X),
and now Folly (a ThinkPad T23 1400x1050 that I shouldn't have put
the money into).
Network attached HP LaserJet 4+ is Hardcopy.
I wrote:
> If I get the 11/730 running, I'll worry about a name then.
> [mentioned net-booting]
Antonio Carlini wrote:
> It will boot from the TU58 but I don't know of anything that
> will then boot it over the net over MOP.
Jochen Kunz suggested:
> The NetBSD/VAX boot loader?
> It uses DHCP and NFS to load an ELF image.
This might work. This 11/730 was packaged in a low-boy (~42" tall)
rack with RL02 on top, an R80 on the bottom. I received the host
because it was crashing on bad sectors in the R80, and the person
using it was given a free 11/750 & rack of RA81s from another lab.
The TU58 might be a bit cramped for a full-on bootloader with all
kinds of network support at 256k minus whatever else needs to be
on there for the machine to boot to the console. However, if it
can then read a more complete loader from the RL02, or even a
miniroot...
Hmmm... Very Interesting...
--Steve.
I lost (in addition to lots of old computer items) two
things I'm trying to get information for my insurance
company on.
The first is a ASR35 that was 'loaded', over the years
I had converted a TWX ASR35 in to on that had every
option you could think of.
I just did a search of Google, and could find almost no
references to it, sad in its own right.
I also lost a ASR 38, but that's for another time.
The other item destroyed, was a IBM 129 Punch card verifier.
A 129 is a 29, with the ability to verify previously
punched cards. It also could be used as a card reader. Mine
had that option.
Both were very clean, low usage. They both were 'backup'
machines that in the case of the 129, had less then 100 hours
on its run time meter.
Both had full sets of manuals, spare parts etc. The 35 included
a never used type unit in the box.
So if anyone could help with where I can start to look for
replacements, value etc. I would be most thankful.
Thanks in advance for any leads
-pete
Hi,
I have a couple of Brikon model 723 floppy drive testers made by Brian
Instruments of Fullerton, California. One of the testers that I have has
the "R" option. The "R" option is a feature that includes a bunch of flying
leads tahat you can attach to various test points on the drive under test
and measure various analog parameters. It's shown in the factory brochure
and it appears to be a ribbon cable with a small blue box on it and about 8
or 10 individual leads coming out of the box. The leads appear to have
banana plugs on them where they plug into the box and the other ends have
grabber clips on them. Does anyone have one of these cable/pods? If so can
you send me the pin out so that I can make one or can I borrow it long
enough to make schematics of it?
Joe
Mike,
I just found you message about having the ciruit diagrams for a Disk Smith System 80. I found one of these the other day in a recyling center and always had a soft spot for them as it was first computer. The one I found works, but has a problem in the video circuit. It is repairable, but would be a lot easier if I had schematics to work from (I collect video games from the same era as well so my skills in repairing these would help me a great deal :) If you have a scan or even a photocopy of this manual, I would glady purchase it off you.
Cheers, Geoff
I was driving into town when I spoted the aforementioned computer in some
phule's garbage. I stopped and pulled it out. However, when I turn it
on, the screen comes up 4 grey scan lines, then alternating 8 black scan
lines and 8 grey scan lines. A friend mentioned that this is normal boot
config, that it should then proceed to the happy mac icon and so on. He
asked if the ROM was still in it. I can't get the box open though : I
don't have the extra special long torx driver to get at the 2 top screws.
And the hex extention bits I have don't fit into the hole.
Anyone have a clue about how to revive this? I'd love to get netbsd
running on it.
Or is it hopeless?
-Philip
This is yet another incomplete project that I am trying to finish... I
have an IBM System/23 Datamaster, and I am attempting to get it to
work. When turned on, it displays a series of numbers on the screen,
and stops at "FD". Of the numbers printed, "0B" is inverted and
flashing. I found a listing of the error codes in google's cache of
classiccmp.org (part of the archive seems to be down).
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:83dbK69EHG8J:www.classiccmp.org/
mail-archive/classiccmp/1997-07/0566.html+IBM+System/
23+error+site:www.classiccmp.org&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 According to this,
the error code "0B" indicates that one of the ROM chips on the logic
board has failed. The chip is soldered to the board, but replacing it
with a socket and an EPROM shouldn't be a problem, but I don't know
anything about these chips, or if they have an EPROM equivalent. I have
repaired my EPROM programmer, so I now have the ability to burn my own
EPROM chips. The problem I face now is that I need the data for the new
chip. Does anyone have a ROM image of this chip that they could send
me? Also, does anyone know the pinouts of these ROM chips on the
System/23 board? (or as IBM calls them, ROS modules, for Read Only
Storage). Thanks!
Ian Primus
ian_primus(a)yahoo.com
Hi, the UNIBUS FAQ sais that the grant cards G727A is a dual-height
card with NPG grant. But from the cards I have I see the G727A is
a single height card with only bus grant, not NPG, and it is a
knucklebuster. The one that's dual-height and has handles is the
G7273. I also have a 3rd party vendor dual height bus+NPG grant card.
I suppose it shouldn't be too hard to make grant cards yourself.
I think I have my VAX11/780 UNIBUS under control now. I threw out
all cards except for the UDA50 pair, put in a new terminator and
filled all with appropriate grant cards. Now the UDA50 initializes
fine and I get the 8/9 blink fine the port-A light goes on on the
RA90. Still the VAX doesn't seem to get anywhere and after a while
the lights go off. May be I'm too impatient and should just wait
long enough?
-Gunther
> > I'd be interested to find out what network names/nicknames some
other
> > classiccmpers have given their machines.
Mine are an assortment of groups.
The SGIs, which are the largest group that are networked, are mindy (my
original Indy), mork (another Indy), mearth (another!), orson (Origin
2000), volgar and exidor (O2s), but the Indigos mostly still have the
names they were given by previous owners (dopey, ziggi, mrtoad, ...).
My laptop is called dancer because it moves about; the windows PC is
called floorbox because it's just a box that sits on the floor. The
NeXT slab is predicably called monolith (blame the previous owner). I
have a few Acorn machines named after districts around Newcastle (which
is where a couple of them came from), and a few other machines
(PDP-11s, microVAXen, a couple of Suns, a Mac, etc) named by their
previous owners.
The network printers are star (a Star Laserprinter8), twinkle (big HP
colour deskjet), and coruscor (made up word, an HP LJ5M PostScript
printer).
Most of the rest are functional names (the GatorBox is gator, the
LANmodem is lanmodem, and the ATM switches and bridges are named after
their colours: orange (ATM-Ethernet), red (ATM-FDDI), purple (route
server), magenta (ATM switch)).
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
On Oct 18, 18:47, Jochen Kunz wrote:
> On 2003.10.18 06:40 Pete Turnbull wrote:
>
> > Mine are an assortment of groups.
> My "primary" names are James, MissSophie, SirTobie, MrWinterbottom
and
> AdmVonSchneider. If you don't know these names, well, I can't explain
> the origin. You have to see the film. ;-)
"Dinner For One". I've not see it for years, though. It should be
"Toby" though, not "Tobie" :-)
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
I know this is off-topic, but we all could use a good laugh.
NOTE: Remove all furry, feathered, or scaly critters from your lap, shoulders, or wherever, and put down all spillable and snortable substances, BEFORE you read this!
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=160851
Other than that, enjoy! ;-)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner & Head Hardware Heavy,
Blue Feather Technologies -- http://www.bluefeathertech.com
ARS KC7GR (Formerly WD6EOS) since 12-77 -- kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
"Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati" (Red Green, aka Steve Smith)
Thanks for all the replies to my post.
All the PDP-11 stuff has been paid for, picked up, and has gone to a good home.
The PDP-8/I backplane is most likely spoken for.
Bill
Well, I had a very bad time with mailman and sendmail today. I was assuming
the problem was with sendmail. After screwing around with it all day, I'm
not so sure the problem is sendmail. I found the following items:
1) A LOT of people on the list have very slow mailservers. This is bad in
conjuction with the way mailman queues messages.
2) All the junk email coming into the list gets a "your post awaits
moderator approval" return email, and most of those domains don't exist, or
have servers that are extremely bogged down, also causing a problem with the
way mailman queues messages.
3) Mailman queues messages in very large groups. A single post to the list
generates 4 emails, each one with around 150 recipients. When sendmail
processes one of these single messages, as it sends to one of the recipients
and encounters a VERY slow mail server, everyone else on the recipient list
just sits and waits. The delays are... to me... well... horrid.
4) When I set mailman to send one email per recipient, sendmail still only
had one runner processing the queue. Of course, the same problem exists them
as #3.
Everything I tried seemed to make it the same or worse. I tried starting a
separate localhost only daemon of sendmail which doesn't do DNS lookups,
setting the outbound sendmail daemon for persistant queueing, put in a
caching only nameserver on the mailserver, set mailman to send one recipient
per message, etc. before running out of time to work on this. I suspect that
this all started with the upgraded mailman, this version apparently has it's
own message queueing and is very different from previous versions. I've
kinda hit the point of not being able to see the forest for the trees, so if
someone is up on mailman and sendmail I'd appreciate some insight. If you
have some thoughts (besides "dude, switch to using XXXXX for your MTA"),
please email me directly so I get the email quickly.
In response to the people who have suggested replacing sendmail... I would
like to call attention to what the website for mailman says. Bear in mind,
the mailman camp is somewhat anti-sendmail, instead favoring qmail, exim,
and postfix. However, note what THEY say about sendmail... "Moreover, with
appropriate work, sendmail can be configured to be the fastest and
highest-volume general-purpose MTA on the planet." This is in the section
where they compare sendmail to exim, qmail, and postfix. So I'm not the only
one who believes in sendmail.
I put things back the way they originally were. I'll ponder it over the
weekend.
Regards,
Jay West
jwest(a)classiccmp.org
---
[This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]
Hi Bob
The boot loader for my Nicolet is similar in that
it over writes itself. It fits into about 15 words
so it is quite easy to toggle in. They even took
advantage of the 'don't care' fields in some instructions
to take advantage of minimizing switch changes. Even
the memory location is chosen because it is has bits
that fit well in adjacent instructions.
It is quite remarkable that they can squeeze so much
into so few instructions. I have written a boot loader
that I use to transfer data to and from an H89 ( Heathkit )
computer that takes about 52 bytes. Most is com port
initializing. It was nice when the hardware was jumper
configured. The loader would be much smaller.
The loader is such that I can send it by email and someone
can bring a H89 up from scratch. They just need a couple
of blank 10 sectored disks and my code.
Later
Dwight
>From: "Bob Shannon" <bshannon(a)tiac.net>
>
>Oh no, many HP boot loaders use self modifying code.
>
>Take a look at the source for the H 264X terminal boot rom, it alters an
>instruction by
>using it as the target for an increment-and-skip-on-zero instuction. HP
>took great pains
>to squeeze some boot loaders into only 64 words. As a result you have
>to reload these
>loaders from ROM each time they run.
>
>ben franchuk wrote:
>
>> Tony Duell wrote:
>>
>>>>> C requires a stack pointer and a index register.Offhand I don't
>>>>> think your hardware supports that.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Certain HP2xxx do have index registers (the ones with the EIG
>>>> instructions
>>>> IIRC), but guess how FORTRAN compilers handle indexed array accesses
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Err, self-modifying code? That was the traditional way to do this
>>> sort of thing.
>>
>>
>> I think the PC is noted more more self-modifying code than the old
>> machines. The only real self modifying code (on your typical early
>> machine) is the fact the return address is placed in the first word
>> of subroutine code.
>>
>>> -tony
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
I am looking for full source code for a *VERY* tiny C compiler written in
any common assembly language. I'm much more concerned with size of the
compiler than functionality/features. Can anyone suggest one or know where
the source might by laying around? I thought I had heard ages ago about some
microcomputer C compilers being well under 32K.
As to how this relates to classiccmp... well.. *blush* I'm actually thinking
of porting C to the HP2100. The whole thing has to fit in 32K of ram,
including drivers, etc. Not sure what OS it will be placed on, perhaps
HP-IPL/OS. Might make a simple native OS for it or might even make it
standalone, not sure yet.
Did I recently post about being overcomitted? heh
Jay
---
[This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]
I picked up a DEC AlphaServer 2100 today. Is anyone interested in it?
It has what I believe to be a RAID array. I haven't looked inside yet.
Anyone interested in making an offer? I don't think I want to keep it.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
[ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ]
[ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]
please ignore
Not sure sure the problem is sendmail. There is much wailing and gnashing of
teeth going on here *sigh*
---
[This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]
I have a number of old DECUS U.S. Symposium audio tapes that I would
like to archive before they completely disintegrate. I have a way to
digitize these and store them in a variety of formats. I'm not sure
what format is best for archive and distribution, though I assume
something like WAV or AIFF for archive and MP3 for distribution. I
have no prior experience at this and would appreciate any suggestions
on the best approach.
Also suggestions on who to contact to make these archives legally
available on the web would be welcome.
Is anyone else archiving these?
As a teaser, here's what I have:
1987 Fall:
N008 Understanding Ethernet
N037 Cryptographic Security for Ethernet
DA054 Optimizing VMS device Drivers for Realtime I/O
V104 Tape 1 VAX Magic, War Stories, and Horror Tales
V104 Tape 2
1988 Fall:
PC031 Internal Enhancements to AppleTalk for VMS
NE050 An Introduction to the Digital's Distributed Name Service (DNS)
GR054 Renderman: A 3D Scene Description Interface for Computer
Graphics System
GR033F Computer Graphic and Visualization
Thanks,
John
And of course there should be an "Uncle Donald" around there somewhere :-)
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Jay West
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2003 8:38 AM
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: upcoming classiccmp wierdness
I finally have carved out a little time to work on the sendmail config for
huey (the classiccmp list server). I know exactly what needs to be done and
there are several ways to do it, I'm not sure which way is best. Hence, I
will be experimenting a bit today and possibly over the week. During that
time, expect some oddity from the list. I'll keep you posted on the
progress.
Trivia note - Why did I name the classiccmp list server machine huey? The
first computer I ever used was an HP 2000 TSB system in highschool. It's
name was Huey. I couldn't resist the nostalgia. We also had a PDP-11/03 with
RT-11 & TSX-plus. It was named Dewey. So if classiccmp ever gets split to
another machine, it will be called (you guessed it) Dewey. Three? Well,
Louie of course :)
Jay West
---
[This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]
I finally have carved out a little time to work on the sendmail config for
huey (the classiccmp list server). I know exactly what needs to be done and
there are several ways to do it, I'm not sure which way is best. Hence, I
will be experimenting a bit today and possibly over the week. During that
time, expect some oddity from the list. I'll keep you posted on the
progress.
Trivia note - Why did I name the classiccmp list server machine huey? The
first computer I ever used was an HP 2000 TSB system in highschool. It's
name was Huey. I couldn't resist the nostalgia. We also had a PDP-11/03 with
RT-11 & TSX-plus. It was named Dewey. So if classiccmp ever gets split to
another machine, it will be called (you guessed it) Dewey. Three? Well,
Louie of course :)
Jay West
---
[This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]
Actually the first calculator I bought in graduate school was a TI-52, I still have it and the manual. Please email me an address and I will email you a scan of the manual. My battery packs are shot but I have saved them. I also have the case. The 52 could do factorials and logs. It was really handy for computing probabilities using factorials for my statistics classes.
When I first went to college they had a remedial class for students who didn't know how to use a slide rule. I already knew how since my grandfather gave me one in 6th grade. I used a slide rule all through college until 1975 when I bought a calculator.
Mike
m m c f a d d e n a t c m h . e d u
> Hi, my name is Tobias and i own a TI-52 calculator. As it was given to me,
i'd really like
> to program it(thoug it's as old as me).
> But this model is too old, and i can't get a manual for it.
>
> So i'd like to enquire whether you know how to get a manual for the TI-52.
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> best regards
> Tobias Petschke
>
>From: "Jim Battle" <frustum(a)pacbell.net>
>
>Dwight K. Elvey wrote:
>...
>> In any case, I never understood the stigma of using self
>> modifying code. It does require careful documentation if
>> it is expected to be maintained. There is no reason why
>> it can't be as robust as any other code if done properly.
>> I suspect it was used as a sales talk when someone was
>> trying to pitch their version of code to be better than
>> someone else's. Such things as overlays would qualify as
>> more risky uses of self modifying code but that is done
>> without mention.
>
>Obvious drawbacks --
>
>doesn't work if you ROM the code
>
>indeterminate behavior on certain chips that have instruction caches.
>the data cache snoops and invalidates the write address, but the
>instruction cache doesn't snoop and so requires an explicit flush (eg,
>the i860).
>
>even if the icache snoops the write, it can have a performance impact
>depending how often the code is modified since it can result in a full
>instruction pipe flush.
>
>even without caches, there can be a race between the data being written
>and the instruction fetch path. some self modifying code that works
>reliably on a 386 may not work on a 486.
>
>in an interrupt driven environment, such code is unlikely to be
>reentrant/thread safe/interrupt safe.
>
>it is harder to maintain.
>
>but, I agree, sometimes a coder has to do what a coder has to do.
>
>
Hi
I should have mentioned the issues with instruction caches
and pipelines. After all, our K8 is heavy into this. I was
thinking more in terms of small micros or even in the case
where there is a well defined cache that can be used to advantage.
Anytime one does something out of the ordinary, one needs
to make it clear all of the restrictions and such of how
it is to be used. One of the examples of how a known cache
can be to advantage is like the adsp2100 works. It has a 6
instruction cache so that it can do things like over write
the current instructions in memory for an overlay while
running the loader code from the cache. It does need the
interrupts disabled but this can be handy for something
like a flash update.
Dwight
Hey, all:
I'm meeting the nicest people lately. :) I've run into someone who
has a DEC Pro 350 which he'd like to sell to a respectful owner. Here's
his description of the system:
> DEC Pro-350 (circa fall 1983)
> 10GB drive
> 2 400K floppies (400K each? 800K each? now I don't remember)
> VT-220 style keyboard and display
> hang-on copyholder for the monitor
> vertical stand for the system unit
> all P/OS diskettes and manuals
> RSX-11M disks and manuals (some are copies)
> Original boxes (unsure of the condition)
>
> LA-100PC printer
> extra ribbons (if I can find them) - reinkable
> some rom cartridges including Epson MX-80 emulation (again - if I can
> find them)
> no box - sorry
>
> The BIOS battery is probably dead by now, but it's 3 AAA nicads if I
> remember. Other than that, it's ready to go.
I found it an encouraging sign that he regretted not having the original
printer box. :) Anyway, anyone who has an interest and/or questions
and/or offers can contact the owner directly. His name's Ron Hansen, his
e-mail is <ogre(a)brainlink.com>, and from the e-mails we've exchanged he
sounds like a nice guy. :)
Thanks!
-O.-
Message: 16
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 09:04:11 -0400
From: Ian Primus <ian_primus(a)yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: ASR33 Teletype interfacing
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Message-ID: <67FFB9E5-FBEB-11D7-86CD-000393D7845A(a)yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
I am late in an response to this ASR33 discussion but the comments here
definitely hit some memory banks buried deep.
In the early 70's, I recall that 120VDC was the source for 60ma current
loop to teletype, and it seems to me that "full-duplex" had the send
side sourced from the teletype and the receive side sourced from the
connected transmission equipment. There was something special that was
done to "echo" at the local printout any typed keys, It seems that it
was jumpers at the transmission equipment between the incoming "xmit"
current and the outgoing "Rcvd" current, again it must have put them in
series. It also rings in my head that the interfaces changed when 20ma
came out and they could not be intermixed. A machine would be either 60ma
or 20ma and required an overhaul to change it. 20ma was a result of reduced
physical part requirements for robustness and EMF splatter reduction.
Test equipment of the time put out "RY's", and that was almost a perfect
square wave at 120Vdc, 60ma as I remember. I have conveniently forgotten
most of what we did to repair these units, but I do remember a tank where
the units were given a bath in something??? If air couldn't get things
cleared and freed up, it got a bath then a complete relube???!!!!
The comments to "running open were correct. That is the sign that no
current was available to the unit. The current kept it "held".
On Thursday, October 9, 2003, at 04:52 PM, Tom Jennings wrote:
>> I have been attempting to get my ASR33 teletype connected to something
>> and communicating, but so far I have not been successful. I have built
>> the interface here :
>> http://www.daedalus.co.nz/~don/computing/20mahack.html
>
>
> It wont work, sorry...
>
Somehow I'm not surprised. Something told me that it was too simple to
work properly.
> Teletypes are inductive loads. Though they only want 20 mils, the
> voltage needs to be high to get the initial magnet pull-in (basic RL
> theory). ASR33 loops were generally run at 100V or so, but I run my
> Model 28 at 14V, with non-perfect error rate, and I don't use the
> keyboard.
I take it that the voltage isn't that crucial, just the current?
> The keyboard and printer are IN SERIES. If you hit keys while it's
> printing you foul it up. Normal.
What about on a full duplex machine? Is it the same, or are they
separate?
> Because it's inductive, it makes a spike when yuo turn the voltage off.
> You need to suppress this with a diode, a resistor and capacitor, for
> example.
>
> They're not subtle interfaces, and weren't meant to be.
>
> If you just want to print, you can rig up a power transistor, two
> resistors, a diode, and a high-voltage DC power supply to do the trick,
> and drive it from the serial port.
>
> If you want to receieve also, you can use another transistor and
> resistor to pick off the change in loop current that happens when you
> press keys which open the loop, and drive the serial port.
>
> I've done one of these fairly recently, and if poked with a
> not-too-sharp stick, I'll scan the schematic and pu on my website.
*poke*
<grin>
If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to see it. From what I have
heard, there are lots of ways to do this, and i would be very
interested to see how you did it.
Thanks!
Ian Primus
ian_primus(a)yahoo.com
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.528 / Virus Database: 324 - Release Date: 10/16/2003
Does anyone have a copy of the host system software for the circa 1984
Seiko RC-1000 watch terminal?
I thought I had a copy that ran on DOS as a character mode app, but I
cannot find the original diskette. The original PC I used is long gone.
Dave.
>From: "ben franchuk" <bfranchuk(a)jetnet.ab.ca>
>
>Tony Duell wrote:
>>>>C requires a stack pointer and a index register.Offhand I don't think
>>>>your hardware supports that.
>>>
>>>Certain HP2xxx do have index registers (the ones with the EIG instructions
>>>IIRC), but guess how FORTRAN compilers handle indexed array accesses
>>
>>
>> Err, self-modifying code? That was the traditional way to do this sort of
>> thing.
>
>I think the PC is noted more more self-modifying code than the old
>machines. The only real self modifying code (on your typical early
>machine) is the fact the return address is placed in the first word
>of subroutine code.
>
>> -tony
>>
Hi
I don't call this self modifying. Where you have a port
command like the 8080 and you overwrite the port address
before executing, now that is self modifying. Something
like over writing an add instruction with a subtract
would qualify as self modifying. Placing the address at
the beginning is no different than pushing
the address onto a stack, other than that it isn't reentrant
( with out extra code and then not for interrupts ). The
first address isn't code, it is a variable space. The executed
code never changes.
My Nicolet uses the entry address saving method.
In any case, I never understood the stigma of using self
modifying code. It does require careful documentation if
it is expected to be maintained. There is no reason why
it can't be as robust as any other code if done properly.
I suspect it was used as a sales talk when someone was
trying to pitch their version of code to be better than
someone else's. Such things as overlays would qualify as
more risky uses of self modifying code but that is done
without mention.
Dwight
On Oct 16, 13:40, John Lawson wrote:
> ----------------cut n paste----------------------------
>
> Received: from huey.classiccmp.org (huey.classiccmp.org
> [209.145.140.36])
> by mail3.panix.com (Postfix) with ESMTP
> id B220098214; Thu, 16 Oct 2003 13:00:45 -0400 (EDT)
> Received: from huey.classiccmp.org (localhost [127.0.0.1])
> by huey.classiccmp.org (8.12.8p1/8.12.8) with ESMTP id
> h9GGjaH5086939;
> Thu, 16 Oct 2003 11:45:38 -0500 (CDT)
> (envelope-from cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org)
> Received: from linux.local ([128.195.166.138])
> by huey.classiccmp.org (8.12.8p1/8.12.8) with ESMTP id
> h9DIMuH3076162
> for <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>;
> Mon, 13 Oct 2003 13:22:56 -0500 (CDT)
> (envelope-from tomj(a)wps.com)
> Received: by linux.local (Postfix, from userid 500)
> id A6B2C378DC; Mon, 13 Oct 2003 11:14:43 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Tom Jennings <tomj(a)wps.com>
> To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
> In-Reply-To: <200310131508.h9DF8gH5075481(a)huey.classiccmp.org>
>
>
> ------------end cut n paste-----------------
>
> I see there is quite a delay between two of the entries - 3 days.
As
> Arte Johnson used to say on Laugh-In: "Veeeeeeeery Eeeenteresting!"
But schtupid :-)
Those headers show that it took a few minutes to get tpo
huey.classiccmp.org (acting as receiver) -- that might be just mismatch
between the clocks -- and then 3 days to get to be forwarded (from the
same machine!). I've noticed a few headers with delays since we last
discussed this, but none quite as extreme! However, I can think of
some possible reasons.
In this case, I'd guess that for some reason (maybe the sender isn't
subscribed, or sent from an address that differs in some way from the
address he subscribed with) the message had to be moderated -- we rely
on Jay's goodwill and free time to do that, and if he's busy, I imagine
that he does the really obvious ones in batches where he doesn't really
need to examine them closely, and some get held over for a closer look
when time permits. He also has to sleep and eat sometimes!
In some other cases I've noticed, where the delay is a few hours, the
same reasoning might still apply, even to messages sent by a
subscriber. If you send to the list, and your headers give a different
username, hostname, or domainname than the one you used to subscribe,
it will need to be moderated.
Another possibility is that any kind of DNS lookup failure -- including
a slow response -- could cause the sending process on huey to requeue
the message. This happens a lot with people who use dynamic DNS
services and try to run their own mailserver on an ADSL line. They
forget that even though they can update the DNS within a few seconds
(or usually several minutes) when their IP address changes, most of the
rest of the world that's interested in them has already cached the old
data and it doesn't expire for a while (I've know it take days).
Yet another possibility right now, with all the viruses, and floods of
mail saying "we didn't deliver your mail because it had a virus and
we're too stupid to read the headers and see they're forged"[1] (not
mentioning AOL or certain other ISPs) is that some ISPs are finding
their mail servers swamped and hence slow. The ISPs that have suddenly
put virus-checking in place are particularly badly off, because the
scanning takes several times as many computrons as simple mail handling
does. huey might try to deliver a message and not be able to at some
particular instant, so it gets requeued. I've seen this happening on
our mailservers at work (we can easily handle what we're getting and
sending, but sometimes outgoing mail is queued because the recipient's
servers can't).
The above also happens a lot with ADSL users trying to run their own
servers, because right now some of them are getting hit with lots of
spam and virus-generated crap. However, that wouldn't explain why you
saw such a delay (since panix is not a little linux box on the end of a
DSL line).
[1] Several viruses currently forge the "From" line, making it seem
that email from some infected machine actually came from a different
user/machine. Easy to spot if you bother to look, but lots of people
-- even serious ISPs -- don't.
There are lots of other possibilites. Most mail transport agents, like
sendmail, have several built-in timeout functions, to cover various
eventualities. Sendmail has loads of them, mostly short, but the net
effect is that if some check or lookup takes too long, the associated
email is queued. Most MTAs only run the queues periodically (common
settings in sendmail are every 15 or 30 minutes) so you see that if
some recipient has some systematic problem (like bad/slow DNS, or being
hammered by DOS attacks or viruses) it doesn't take many delivery
attempts for the delay to mount up *for that recipient*. One I came
across the other day was that one sendmail was trying to do an ident
lookup on incoming mail. The ident protocol is an old and not very
useful way of trying to validate a sender's username; not many people
run ident daemons so if a recipient's server tries to do this
validation, it can take tens of seconds for it to decide it's not going
to get anywhere with it. Meanwhile, the sender may give up. Another
one I've seen, though not for a little while, is using an out-of-date
blackhole list -- depending on how the recipient server checks
blackhole lists, it might take a long time to decide whether to accept
a message, and meanwhile -- you guessed it -- the sender has given up
waiting and requeued the mail.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Ok, the folks at www.auctionbdi.com have put these out in their current
auction (which ends Sunday, October 19th at midnight pacific time. The lot
numbers are as follows:
SJ-97 for the 3400s, MV2, and 4000/300. Plus a pair of skis?
SJ-98 for the VAX in the H9644 cabinet with the SCSI drives (the door says
MicroVAX 3600 I believe).
SJ-99 is the pallet of mixed stuff I believe. (The pictures aren't up yet...)
--Chuck
--------------------- Previous Email ...
A number of VAXen are available this week from www.auctionbdi.com. I gave
them all of my "spares machines" which I cannot store and no one in the Bay
Area wanted. The good news is that BDI will ship them to you pretty much
anywhere in the country and the minimum bid is $25. The lot to look for has
3 MV3400's (in BA213 cases), one VAX 4000/300 (in a BA440 case) and one
MicroVAX II in a pedestal BA23 case. I don't recall how complete they are,
I do thing the 4000/300 is complete except for some DSSI plugs which I
needed to bring my 3800 on line. Two of the 3400's have the front "door"
(one says MicroVAX 3400, one says VAXServer 3400). If you've got a 3400 or
4000/300 there are plenty of parts to "enhance" your system. I believe the
4000/300 has 192MB of memory but can't swear to it)
There is also a MicroVAX 3600 in a H9644 rack. This one I've never looked
at in depth other than to note that it has a 4 SCSI drives and a tape but a
gap where the SCSI controller had been. Given that it couldn't talk to the
disks I pretty much ignored it.
Finally there are some PC parts with a nice 17" NEC 5fg monitor (including
the special NEC VGA cable). The monitor is nice but not an "Energy Saver"
(it stays on as long as power is applied, no standby mode) Probably not of
interest to this crowd but I thought I would mention it.
--Chuck
On Oct 9, 22:16, Tothwolf wrote:
> On Thu, 9 Oct 2003, Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
> > On Thu, 9 Oct 2003, Fred Cisin wrote:
> >
> > > But would it be feasable to have the mailing list software
> > > automatically put a "non-member submission" addition in their
subject
> > > line? "[NMS]"
>
> Or...maybe replacing the From: email address in the archive emails
with
> the list email address hasn't worked as well as folks thought it
might?
Ah, does that mean I'm not the only person who doesn't like that? It
just looks wrong to me, putting some other address against my name, and
I'm sure that's part of the cause of so many non-subscriber replies
being sent to the list (I'm sure most are meant to go to the original
poster). The intent was to prevent address harvesting, but I'd prefer
my address was just obfuscated in some way (maybe split up). Wasn't
the address-replacing meant to be temporary, until a better way was
found to obfuscate the sender address? Actually, I don't care if it's
not even obfuscated, but I know others do.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Right before I go to eBay with this - I know there are a couple or three
Musicians here - I have a 1977 Yamaha CS-80 8-voice polyphonic synth for
sale. I thought to take a chance on Classiccmp - one never knows...
If you know what this is, and you're interested, please contact me
off-list for more details. I have the Service Manual for it, which is now
made purely of Unobtanium.
Hey - it *does* have a special-pupose computer chip in it: the Keyboard
Scanner / Note Multiplexer is a very early CMOS mask-programmed "PLA" sort
of thingy... so I'm not too far off-base here.
Cheers
John
Hi Bob,
I have been having regrets about selling my Imsai-8080 a few years ago.
Did you ever find a home for yours, or is it still up for sale?
Mark
--
Mark G. Thomas (Mark(a)Misty.com)
voice: 215-591-3695
http://www.misty.com/http://mail-cleaner.com/
I've looked around and I can't find my answer, so I'm asking here as I'm
hoping a collector will know.
I have a box and manual here marked "Microsoft Windows & MS-DOS Operating
System Plus Enhanced Tools".
I'm trying to determine what version of windows it is. I'd look in the
manual, or look at the disks, but the package is still shrink wrapped and
I don't want to open it. There is no outer box with version info as this
was a "Distribution Only With A New PC" version.
The manual is all white, with black text. No logos, no nothing. The only
other things on the package are the Cert of Auth card (number 603301052)
that has a PN 0-1258 in the bottom corner... and a sticker marking that
the package has 3.5 diskettes.
I was guessing Win 3.1 and DOS 6.2, but I thought DOS 6.2 only came on
3.5 disks, and so the label would seem redundant. So then I wondered if
is was an older version of DOS, and thus maybe an older version of
Windows.
Like I said, I've searched, but was unable to turn up anything (found one
ebay hit that sounds like they are selling the manual, but it doesn't say
in the listing what version its for, and there is no pic so I can't
compare and be sure). I'm hoping there is someone on the list that might
have what I have described and can tell me what version of Windows and
DOS is inside.
TIA
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
Issit Me - or innit - dunno!
But I note this, as I try to wrap my head around the intricaies of how
bytes get from one place to another place..
----------------cut n paste----------------------------
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------------end cut n paste-----------------
I see there is quite a delay between two of the entries - 3 days. As
Arte Johnson used to say on Laugh-In: "Veeeeeeeery Eeeenteresting!"
And here at work, the plague of Worms and Virii and other pests is
rising exponentially - might need a firewall for the firewall... even this
poor old Shell account is geeting waves of Spam - interesting to see the
procession of 'topic cycles' - from Medicine in Canada to On-line Poker to
Cable Descramblers to, umm... body part Enhancers. ;}
And now for something rather more on-topic:
Want to buy RL02 drive(s) with daisy-chaining cables and a terminator or
two - will pay for shipping - contact off-list - I'm in Carson City,
Nevada - 89706. (USA units only, of course.)
Cheers
John
Alex White wrote:
>
> Well, i'm looking at what's available to me *now* and that's an old
> collector friend of mine with quite a few PDP11 Q18/22 backplanes
I picked up bare Q22 backplanes in case I find out I have Q18's in
some of the cruft I've collected. Like a weird 3 backplane rack box,
each backplane roughly the size of the one from a BA23. And there's
a VT103 (incl. Qbus) that I'm not sure of...
Hopefully your friend has these in some nice BA-series boxes of
some kind.
> [ DSSI clustering ]
To my mind the hardest part is getting the cables for this. I've
been keeping my eyes open here in the States, and only just a short
time ago got two. The seller thought (understandably) they were a
strange type of SCSI cable and listed them as such. Thank goodness
for the pictures on eBay... ;^)
> I haul these things around with me from University flat to
> University flat.
Ooof! I wouldn't want to move "real computers" every three to six
months...
> The girlfriend is happy for my collection to grow - she passed
> me an ebay UK link to a 6200 a few months or so ago and said
> that she'd quite like to have one around *grins*
A woman of such sophistication and refined taste is clearly a
keeper. Make concessions, write a permanent To-Do item for some
flowers, or whatever else is necessary...
--S.
Hi,
I saw your post on pdp stuff. How near Washington? I live near Philadelphia, PA. It would
be about a 4 hour drive for me. Is the stuff spoken for yet?
Tim R
last year you posted a link to the 10391b inverse assembler toolkit on HP (agilent)'s website.
That link is not longer valid. Would it be possible to get a copy of the files from you, or
a valid url/ftp link? I actually bought the disk with my hp1670a years ago but can't find it.
Thanks for any help!
George Najarian
Najay Engineering, Inc.
last year you posted a link to the 10391b inverse assembler toolkit on HP (agilent)'s website.
That link is not longer valid. Would it be possible to get a copy of the files from you, or
a valid url/ftp link? I actually bought the disk with my hp1670a years ago but can't find it.
Thanks for any help!
George Najarian
Najay Engineering, Inc.
Any interest among the group in a couple of PDP-11/34A
machines and one 11/05?
The two 11/34A's are in the 10-1/2" boxes.
They each have core memory. I think 128K
but I'm not sure. Have the calculator keyboard
style front panel. Have the printset for
the CPU.
The 11/05 is the 5-1/4" box. Has core memory,
interface card for paper tape reader/punch,
and some other stuff. Plus the add-on upgrade
core memory in another 5-1/4" box. I think
it's 64K words total. Toggle switch front panel.
Have the prints on the CPU and some other related
documentation.
No racks, and no other peripherals. Some UNIBUS
cables and a few other random cards.
The machines have been out of use for quite some
time and are dusty, and I don't know if they work,
but it's purely an as-is deal.
Additionally, I have a PDP-8/I backplane available.
No front panel and no cards.
For pickup in person only, near Washington DC.
Anybody here want to make me an offer before I put
'em on eBay?
Bill
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http://shopping.yahoo.com
Hello, all:
I'm doing some spring cleaning (six months late) and I'm offering
this stuff up to the list first. Items are as-is and last status, if
remembered, is listed. I know that a few are pretty common, but I feel bad
about just pitching them into the dumpster without at least offering them up
first. I may ultimately resort to selling some on eBay if no one wants them.
Some items are heavy and would need a local pickup. My location is
Nassau County, New York (Long Island).
Here's the list:
* MacPortable (non-backlit). Working when last used, with spare
batteries, desktop charger and carrying case. Screen has a line of bad
pixels near the bottom.
* PC/Convertible. Working although battery is shot. I believe that I
have boot disks for this, too.
* PC Portable. Working; very clean. Very heavy (really a PC with a
handle). Comes with some software but I haven't taken a complete inventory.
Might be shippable by UPS.
* DEC MicroVAX 1 in tower case with spare parts (including RD52
drives and spare boards). Working last time I used it 3 years ago. Has
Ultrix v.4 on it (no distribution disks unfortunately). Very heavy. Pickup
only.
* 3 Pentium Pro 200 MHZ/256k CPUs. Unmatched steppings (SL22V,
SL22T, SL22M). When using in an SMP configuration, steppings should be the
same. I ran into this when setting-up the dual-CPU ProLiant server at home.
* Apple Ethernet CS card (part number M3065Z/A) for late-model Macs.
* Promise Technologies EIDE4030T caching IDE card for VL bus. As I
recall, this was the "bee's knees" of IDE cards in the 486 era.
* Spare Kilobaud magazines: 12/78, 1/79
* Spare BYTE magazines: 12/77, 1/78, 1/81, 6/81, 7/81, 11/81, 12/81,
1/82,
10/83, 9/85, 10/85 (2), 2/86, 6/86, 10/86, 11/86, 9/87, 10/87
Payment? Trade or cost of shipping. Here's what I'm looking for:
* S-100 video board with docs/SW.
* Ciarcia SB180 single-board computer.
* Altair documents/manuals for my Altair32 emulation project
(reminder,
http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/Altair32.htm)
* Broken arcade game in upright cabinet with monitor (horizontal
configuration;
for MAME project). Will have to work something out on the
shipping due to its
size and weight. This one probably best if local.
* Plastic case for the KIM-1
* 6502 pod for Fluke 9010A troubleshooter
* 6502-related magazines
* Other??
Please contact me off-list at xyzzy_r_cini(a)nospam.optonline.net
(remove xyzzy, underscores and nospam.) if anyone's interested.
Thanks.
Rich Cini
Does anyone in this group know of a vendor/source that sells/ships the TED
chips, 8501R1 - I have a few plus/4's with bad processors. Please email
billdeg(a)degnanco.com. I know that they are hard to find, but I have hope
that some one here may have a contact. I could buy another plus/4 from
Ebay, but I would like to avoid this.
Bill
Wilmington, Delaware.