> > But among 8-inch floppy drives and other unspecified
> > items, NASA is buying up all the 8086 microprocessors
> > they can lay their hands on, specifically, to keep the
> > Space Shuttle flying. Not the more common 8088, of
> > course, but its 16-bit big brother.
>
> That explains why NASA can't get a real space program
> going ... Intel is behind it!
> Anyway they would need space/radiation rated chips,
> not the garden variety stuff.
The stated use is for ground testing equipment, not
near-earth deployment.
Regards,
-dq
> Is it just me, or have the previously done a better job at covering
> concepts and ideas in a way that didn't tie their examples to a
> single platform? Maybe I'm just bitter.
Agreed, but...
Previously (and let's not start another round), the market
was not dominated by a single large player of the scale that
Microsoft enjoys. I'd posit that they put in the journal what
the market wants.
So I think you're just seeing the invisible hand at work. Please
reply privately if you want to comment regarding lassie-faire...
Regards,
-dq
> At 07:52 AM 5/13/02 -0400, Doug wrote:
> >Good Morning,
> >
> >I think this may have come up some weeks back...
>
> Where did you hear this? I deal with NASA frequently (as
> recently as last Wednesday) and I've nver heard remotely like
> this. I did supply two boxs of 8" floppy disks to NASA a
> couple of months ago but that was all thye wanted. I could
> supplied close to 100 boxs of new disks but they only wanted
> two boxs in order to keep one system running. That certainly
> doesn't qualify as "buying up all they can lay their hands on".
The local Gannett-rag-that-used-to-be-a-Pulitzer-Prize-winning
newspaper.
> >Anyone else here ticked of that not only are they
> >trying to keep that questionable pig flying, but
> >they are doing it by reducing further the quantity
> >of collectable stuff? Screw the boost in value...
>
> 8086s collectable? Yeah right! Only if you believe the
> rants of the E-bay sellers!
I would say that if you had a Seattle Computer Products
S-100 based CPU card, that you'd indeed have a collectable
item. Worth megabucks, no. Collectable, yes. Why? It's
probably not the best x86 CPU card for an S-100 frame, but
it was the first to run Microsoft DOS (QDOS).
So it should be at least as collectable as issues #2 & #3
of Dr. Dobb's Journal, for example. If you don't think so
and have one you'll send me for postage, the collection
would be most grateful.
Regards,
-dq
Dear fellow marketer;
A few months back I joined a program and then...promptly forgot
about it. You may have done this yourself sometime...you intend
to work the program but then get caught in your day-to-day
activities and it's soon forgotten.
The program was free to join so maybe I just didn't take it very
seriously.
Anyway, near the end of May I received a letter from my
sponsor (Jeff Maeher) informing me that I had more than 2000
PAID members in my downline!
As you can imagine, I was very skeptical. After all, how could I
have more than 2000 paid members under me in a program that I had
never promoted?
I took the time to check out the site...then wrote to Jim asking
for confirmation that these were paid members and not just free
sign-ups...like me :)
Well, it was true...I had 2365 paid members in my downline. This
in a program that I had never worked!
All I had to do was upgrade to a paid membership before the end
of the month and I would have my position locked in and a
downline of 2365 people.
You can bet I wasted no time in getting my membership upgraded!
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With this program, you will get a HUGE downline of PAID MEMBERS .
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How would you like to lock your position in FREE while you check
out this opportunity and watch your downline grow?
Just join Post Launch;
To grab a FREE ID#, simply reply to: greg22(a)pacbell.net
and write this phrase:
"Email me details about the club's business and consumer opportunities"
Be sure to include your:
1. First name
2. Last name
3. Email address (if different from above)
We will confirm your position and send you a special report
as soon as possible, also Your ID Number.
This is a ONE TIME mailing - your name is already on our exclude list.
I'll get you entered and let you know how you can
keep track of your growing downline.
That's all there's to it. No obligation. No risk. Do it Now!
I'll then send you info, and you can make up your own mind.
Warm regards
Greg Plooy
P.S. After having several negative experiences with network
marketing companies I had pretty much given up on them.
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You have nothing to lose and potentially a LOT to gain. Just do
it!
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Douglas H. Quebbeman [mailto:dquebbeman@acm.org]
> For those of us who write code, it's been and remains one of
> the most significant journals in print. Byte and Kilobaud
This is a sore point of mine. DDJ used to be one of the best
programming/software engineering journals in the business, but
recently I'm afraid they're not so good about publishing the
kind of interesting theoretical or applied practical stuff that
you'd expect from them.
They're still the best in the business, make no mistake, but
business is not so good.
Instead they're recently publishing the same garbage as everyone
else; articles regarding active this, and microshaft viral that.
Of course, it's done in a better, more comprehensive way than
every other magazine does it. That's no excuse, though.
I recently wrote them a response to an offer of a greatly
discounted subscription rate, saying basically just that. If
they'd given me a discounted subscription rate seven years or so
ago, I'd have taken it in a minute. Today, though, I can't
justify paying anything at all for the same crap that you can find
in the microshaft developer network, which my company unfortunately
receives anyway.
Is it just me, or have the previously done a better job at covering
concepts and ideas in a way that didn't tie their examples to a
single platform? Maybe I'm just bitter.
Chris
Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL
/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'
All,
Very sorry for the short notice, or if this is old news, but I just saw this on comp.sys.dec.micro. Contact Darrin
directly, and today, please.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Path:
sn-us!sn-xit-01!supernews.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed1.cidera.com!Cidera!cyclone1.gnilink.net!spamfinder.gnilink.net!nwrddc02.gnilink.net.POSTED!7f650d69!not-for-mail
Message-ID: <3CDD45F7.4205A47C(a)yahoo.com>
From: Darin Arrick <darin_arrick(a)yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec.micro
Subject: FF: FREE - A Vaxstation 3100 SPX and a 3100 M38
Lines: 12
Date: Sat, 11 May 2002 22:21:08 GMT
For pickup in the NE Dallas, Texas area. Tell me now,
via e-mail, as these things MUST be out of my apartment
in the next 2 days; I'm moving and will not take them
with me. These are the "pizza box" type machines, without
keyboards, etc. The SPX doesn't have hard drives, but
the M38 has one in it.
Come get them!
Darin Arrick
darin_arrick(a)yahoo.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- Mark
> At one time I did have the first three years of DDJ. I
> was a charter subscriber but to tell the truth I was never
> very impressed with it and I discontinued it and threw out
> the back issues a long time ago. If you'd been in the area
> about 6 months ago y ou would have had a good chance of
> grabbing the first three years of Byte and first two years of
> Kilobaud magazines that I pitched. (Easy come, easy go!)
For those of us who write code, it's been and remains one of
the most significant journals in print. Byte and Kilobaud
in those days were good for both code jockys and the hardware
types; I built but never tested a light pen based on an
article in Byte. I created an implentation of a comprehensive
memory test published in Kilobaud, and have used it on many
different platforms, including embedded systems.
> I also gave away a nearly complete set of HP Journals
> (only missing about 8 issues between 1954 to present). I do miss them.
But these would have been and would still be useless to
me, and would likely have been trashed.
One man's trash is another man's treasure, for sure.
-dq
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob Lafleur [mailto:bob_lafleur@technologist.com]
> I think I did neglect to mention in my Apple II message that I have a
> whole pile of Apple II 5 1/4 disks, which I'd be interested
> in trying to
> load into a simulator, and possibly make available on the net. I think
> I've seen information on hooking Apple II disk drives to a PC somehow.
> What are my options for doing this? I currently don't have
> any Apple II
> hardware at all, so as well as getting an interface, I'd need a drive.
> What kind of $$ am I looking at also?
Well... Richard Erlacher could probably find you at least most of an
Apple II ;)
Chris (I hope I spelled his last name properly)
Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL
/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'
> This weekend I picked up a DECsystem 5000/240 system, with 112MB of ram,
> and a Prestoserve NVram card in the last slot (otherwise it would be
> 120MB of ram). This system was never turned on! Brand new, just never
> got used...
> I have a 2gb disk, and cdrom on it, and am installing Ultrix 4.5 now...
> I am using a VT510 as the console.
>
> Anyone know how to setup, etc the Prestoserve option?
> Does Ultrix 4.5 like a 4.3 gb disk? I have a barracuda I was going to
> hook up as rz1 for a data drive.
> I have an exabyte 4mm dat drive, I would like to hook that up as tape
> backup... comments ???
>
> Anyone else running this fine system?
I have/run a 5k/240 w 80megs of ram and a 4G, 2G, and 8G drives running NetBSD 1.5 as my fileserver, netboot server, dhcp server, mp3 server, and DNS server. You can't kill the things and they run like a tank. You're a lucky guy!
-Linc Fessenden
In the Beginning there was nothing, which exploded - Yeah right...
Your files are attached and ready to send with this message.
Microsoft bashers might like to read this from The Register.
Regards
Charlie Fox
Charles E. Fox Video Production
793 Argyle Rd.
Windsor Ontario Canada N8Y 3J8
519-254-4991 foxvideo(a)wincom.net
Check out the "Camcorder Kindergarten"
at http://chasfoxvideo.com
> If it's "just a fuse" then there's a reason. That's the
> challenge. Of course
> you can get another "classic" here for $5-10. That might be cheaper.
>
Well, if someone located in Europe has a SE/30 for sale, please contact me.
I owned one a long time ago....
regards, Manfred
--
GMX - Die Kommunikationsplattform im Internet.
http://www.gmx.net
I just picked up one of these today but I didn't get the power cord. Does anyone of the list have one and if so can you tell me the pin out of the power connector? It has three pins and I beleive that the caclulator can ran off of AC or low voltage DC. Here is a picture and article of the same model calculator <http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/sharp_el-8.html>.
Joe
Joe <rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com> wrote:
> The 88140xC tapes are used a number of HP tape drives and also in
> some combination hard drive/tape drive units. They should be useable
> in non-HP machines but they'd have to be reformatted (and
> non-formatted tapes are plentiful so why boather).
I think not, these tapes lack BOT and EOT markers as the drive can tell from the
soft sector information where it is on the tape. If you repeatedly mount an
HP tape on a normal QIC drive, it will eventually unspool it as it tries to
find the BOT marker.
**vp
Subject says it all...
Looking for from one to three VT520 or 525 terminals (w/keyboard) that
need a new home. Drop me a note if you can help.
-jim
---
jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com
The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw
The first step is admitting that you have a problem. I have a problem.
I went to Foothill this morning, saw two Terak 8510s, left them there,
then the monkey in my backpack leaned forward and whispered "You'll
never be able to get one again..." and I walked back and bought one.
Later I heard that another collector had bought the other one.
Is this the beginning of a long slide into collecting PDP-11s and
VAXen? I hope not.
So, I wonder what I have, how it relates to the "8510/a", and how much
fun I can have with it. It's a box with two half-height 8" floppy
drives poking through the front. The ID plate on the back claims that
this is model "8510 B AH 484A", but the "B" looks like it was
rubber-stamped on and is bigger than the surrounding text. Serial
number is 1196.
There is no monitor, keyboard, or diskettes containing software.
There's a BNC connector labelled "composite video" so I guess that's
not entirely hopeless, and following links from John Foust's web site
to the ITDA site (and its archive of PDF'd Terak docs) I think I've
worked out that the keyboard connector is an 8-bit TTL-level input
port w/strobe, it wants to see scan codes, and I guess I could do
something to fake a keyboard with a PC, a parallel port, some software
and a cable.
Stan and his co-worker Gavin were amused when we met at their office
this afternoon. We had fun taking a screwdriver to it to look inside
and see what was there. We put it back together too, and didn't have
any parts left over.
There may be some serial ports on the back, on an I/O panel with four
3x3 connectors. This I/O panel has a cable going back to a card
(Terak p/n 92-0058-001 rev C) with two WD2123B ICs which would appear
to be UARTs. One of the connectors has a sort of loopback plug
installed.
The floppy drives are Shugart SA860-1s.
Other than that...well, we found the DEC processor card, the floppy
controller card (w/NEC 765), and the double-board that does the memory
and display. Looks like the latter board has 64KB of 4116s (NEC
uPD416s, actually) and eight 2114s which I suppose are the display
memory.
Didn't find much dust. Gavin remarked on how clean it was inside,
although I saw a couple small accumulations.
-Frank McConnell
Hello Again!
I'm going to be getting the rest of the bits for my IPC this weekend, I
was wondering how I could network it up without resorting to thicknet. I
have a hub that Does AUI, 10-bT and thinnet, the IPC has AUI as well.
The official way to link the two (female) AUI ports is two tranceivers
and a thicknet cable which I can't be done with - I have been reading
about an AUI crossover cable, with maybe a homebrew collision generator
PCB...
Any experience with this sort of thing, guys? Tips?
Alex
--
My computer's heavier than yours.
--
On May 12, 21:49, Tony Duell wrote:
> >
> > > All you need is a AUI --> Thinnet (10Base2) or AUI --> 10Bt
tranceiver.
> >
> > I get the impression that two-node 10Bt networking can be done with
> > nothing but a crossover cable. (IE the chaining connection on hubs is
> > just a crossover) Is this possibly true, using just the cable?
>
> I beleive that one is possible. In fact I've seen crossover cables on
> sale for this purpose (this doesn't mean they _work_ of course :-)).
Assuming they're wired correctly, they'll work fine. This is all a normal
MDI-X port on a hub does. Internally, the hub has the same type of
tranceiver that a PC NIC (or any other 10baseT device) has, the only
difference is that the hub has the crossover built-in (hence the label
MDI-X). The "uplink" port on a hub is an MDI port, ie one without a
crossover. The point is that the connections (Rx and Tx) on ANY
10/100baseT link must be crossed over at one end with respect to the other
(think DTE and DCE if you're used to serial line terminology).
You can connect two hubs by using a straight cable from the MDU "uplink"
port o one to any normal MDI-X port on the other, or by using two normal
MDI-X ports with a crossover cable, or by using two MDI "uplink" ports with
a crossover cable. Similarly you can connect two computers (or anything
else) by using a crossover cable to connect their MDI ports.
The only things that won't work on are 10baseT4, VGAnyLAN, or Gigabit ports
-- all of which use all 4 pairs.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
> From: Joe <rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com>
> We'll meet at Glen's shop (Acme Computers) at 9AM. (Hint, it's getting
HOT here early so don't be late!) Contact me if you need directions.
Joe, minor correction: that's ACME, not Acme ;>)
For those who plan to bring stuff to trade or sell, I'm always looking for
obscure Sinclair and Timex Sinclair stuff, including original program
cassettes issued by Timex in the US. I could also use a couple of Apple ][
Super Serial cards, and Zenith Z-100 (not Z-100 PC) stuff, particularly a
RAM expansion board, internal modem, and RTC board.
See ya there!
Glen
0/0
Went to a small town surplus auction on Saturday and picked up a IBM
3570 Tape unit to go with the AS/400 I got a few weeks ago, it was only
$10 plus 5% BP.
Also got a 20" color monitor that they were using with the AS400 it's a
Mitsubishi brand.
And I got a big box full of mics parts including parts for the IBM
ThinkPad new in boxes, various cables, and 11 storage boxes for 3.5 FD.
Other items were mixed in also.
My first experience with computers was with the Springfield, MA school
department's PDP-11 system running RSTS/E. Each junior high and high
school had an ASR-33 terminal and an acoustic coupler. My dad was a math
teacher at one of the high schools and he just happened to have the
school's terminal in his classroom. Sometimes he would go in to his room
in the evening to correct papers and he'd bring me to use the computer.
They had a program called PLAY which would allow you to play a number of
games. Each school was assigned a certain number of PLAYs per day, and
there were usually a few left over each day, so while my dad corrected
papers, I'd use up the remaining PLAYs. Well, one day, there were none
left, so my dad taught me how to write a simple BASIC program with line
numbers and PRINT statements. That was it -- I was hooked. From then on,
I wasn't interested in the PLAYSs, but I wanted to know more about how
to write programs.
This happened when I was about 12 or so. When I entered Junior High
school my dad told me who was in charge of the terminal at my school,
and made sure that I got time to work on it. Around this time, the
ASR-33's were also replaced by DEC LA-34 or LA-36 printer terminals.
While in Junior High I tried to get as much computer time as I could,
but it was hard because it meant I had to get another teacher to excuse
me from a class. Sometimes my art (I was terrible at that anyway!) or
music teacher would excuse me, but they didn't like to do it too often.
The procedure to use the computer was this: (a) Go to the guy in charge
in the morning, and ask him for a computer pass for a particular period.
If no one else had signed up for that period, then I could have one. (b)
When it came time for that class, go to the class and show the teacher
the computer pass, and ask to be excused. IF they agreed, then I could
go. (c) If I made it this far, I would go to the counselor's office
where the terminal was, and hope the room wasn?t locked. If it was, I
could either try to find someone with a key, or be out of luck. (d) If I
got into the room, I could then try to log on, and hope the system
wasn?t down, or all lines in use.
When I went to high school, it was a little easier to get access to the
computer terminals. For starters, they had more than one (at one time,
they had as many as six operating). We could go before the homeroom bell
in the morning, so I?d usually get to school at least 30 minutes before
that. There were also two periods a week which were designated to be
used for student interests, or extra study periods, so we could use the
computer terminals then. And we could use them during any class that we
could convince a teacher to excuse us ? I could sometimes get out of
studies, gym, or some music classes. During my 10th, 11th, and 12th
grade years, I also managed to have my homeroom teacher be the person in
charge of the terminals for my school, so that helped.
The Springfield School System?s PDP-11 system was run by the math
department, and the computer and peripherals were housed in the school
department headquarters, which just happened to be right next door to my
high school. There, they had VT-52?s (and later VT-100?s) which was a
huge step up from the printer terminals in the schools. Certain students
were chosen to be ?system managers? and were given privileged accounts.
Anyone who did not have a privileged account and wanted to use the
terminals in the computer room after school usually was assigned to make
runs to McDonald?s or other places for food, and if there happened to be
a free terminal when they got back, they might be allowed to use it.
Unfortunately, I never happened to have the opportunity to be a system
manager. On several occasions I found security holes in the system, and
I was honest and told the others about them, so I believe that I was not
trusted, and they thought I had other things I was still hiding. I
probably would have been better off to just keep quiet about the
security holes.
The main version of RSTS/E that I recall from those days is 7.07. I do
remember the earlier V6C, but I was still a ?beginner? then and didn?t
pay much attention to things like operating system versions. They might
have even been on a higher version by the time I graduated, but I
honestly don?t remember. I?m also not sure which model CPU it was they
had, but from the pictures I?ve seen on the net, I?d guess it was an
11/20.
There were some fine student programmers running the system in those
days. They had done quite a bit of customization to the RSTS/E CUSPs
that made it much easier for the students to use. One of the neat things
they did was to come up with a translation scheme to translate from the
[proj,prog] user notation to a 3 letter + 1 optional digit ?username?
scheme. The student would never need to know about ppn?s, or even be
aware that they existed. The way that this was done was by dividing the
proj number by 10, and indexting that into the alphabet, and then taking
the remainder and indexing it into a predetermined 10-character string,
then taking the prog number, diving that by 10 and indexing into the
alphabet, and if there was a remainder, adding that as a last digit. The
string for the middle letter was determined so that most school names
could be somehow abbreviated. For example, if ?H? was the 2nd letter of
the string, the project number for any CH account would be 21. CH
accounts were assigned to ?Classical High? (the school I attended).
Other schools had two-letter abbreviations for their school. The
computer administrator for each school always had the ?A? account, and
could run a privileged program that would allow them to administer
accounts (add, delete, change quota, etc) for their project. So the
administrator for my school had CHA, and could assign accounts like CHB,
CHC, CHD, CHD1, CHD2, etc. All the CUSPs were modified so that you could
log in with an account name, do directories of account names, they?d
show up in SYSTAT, etc. It was pretty neat, but I know also a headache
when a system update cmae out. I know the transition between RSTS V6C
and V7 was painful, as the system was down for quite a few days (maybe
even weeks) and it was even longer before all CUSPs accepted the
alphanumeric account names.
I did happen to have some access to the Springfield School System?s RSTS
systems a few years later when they were on a higher version, V9 I
think, and they had dropped the alphanumeric account system ? probably
because the CUSPs became too hard to modify, or too many of them were
no longer written in BASIC or had source code available.
Unfortunately, the way the computers were run in our school system was
not as condusive to learning and exploration as it should have been.
Those who had privileged accounts were treated, and acted superior. It
took me quite a lot of question asking before I could get any of them to
teach me about SYS calls; and of course, all the ones I wanted to
experiment with were privileged, and it was about impossible to get any
of the privileged users to compile my programs with privileges so I
could run them. As I mentioned before, the ?peons? were delegated to
food runs and other errands if they went to the central office to try
and use a terminal. Also, I was interested in other computers (by this
time, I had my own Commodore PET at home) and the other system managers
looked at this as a toy. I befriended one system manager, Dave Martinez,
who taught me a lot, and was open to letting me absorb as much
information as I wanted. Unfortunately, he was not among the ?favorites?
of the system managers. Dave somehow got involved with the installation
of a RSTS/E system at American International College (AIC), and when it
was first unpacked and installed, he called me up and said ?I?m going to
sysgen a new system from scratch? do you want to come over and watch??
Of course, I was totally blown away, as I had no idea what was going on
? I had never seen a SYSGEN before, or even heard of it at that. Once
their system was established, he allowed me to come to their terminal
room (where they had VT-100?s) and although I didn?t have a privileged
account, he?d allow me to write privileged code and he?d even leave his
keyboard open at times so I could compile my privileged programs without
someone looking over my shoulder. Unfortunately, I don?t know what
happened to Dave, or where he went, but he was a major influence in my
interest into system-level programming.
I?ve recently obtained Bob Supnik?s SIMH, and SYSGEN?d a RSTS/E V7-07
system myself. But it feels foreign to me, as much of the customized
system software I used in high school is not present, and the numeric
proj,prog account scheme really feels foreign to me. I may have some
paper listings of the customized CUSPs filed away somewhere, and it
might be an interesting albeit time consuming exercise to try and
reproduce the alphanumeric account environment we used in the school
system. There is other customized software we had (such as a MAIL
program, I don?t know if that was custom written but a student, or taken
>from somewhere else such as DECUS or another school system), and a
HEARTS game implemented in a Run-Time System. I wrote a multi-terminal
UNO game (one logged-in user ran it, and added other players on
logged-out terminals) which I know I still have paper listings of, and I
might endeavor to retype it. It is remotely possible that I still have
that program in electronic form somewhere.
I am curious to know if anyone has been able to successfully run any
later versions of RSTS/E past V7-07 on a simulator. If I read it
correctly, the Mentec hobbyist agreement specifically states V7-07 only,
and I have not seen any versions later than this available publicly on
the net. I know that some later versions of RSTS/E, especially when the
DCL RTS was added, became somewhat more sophisticated than earlier
versions. I?d be very interested in being able to experiment with some
of these later versions in a simulator.
RSTS/E was my springboard into the world of computers, and the system
that I compared every other computer I used against for quite a while
(until I ?met? VMS)
- Bob Lafleur
Springfield, MA USA
Welcome, Bob... you said:
> At the end of the Spring 1982 semester, I spent a fair amount of time
> locating many source codes for all kinds of things & programs I had
> written, programs my friends had written, and a lot of things I probably
> wasn't supposed to have access to. I made a list, and prepared to make a
> batch job to back it all up onto tape. My last night there, I submitted
> the job, and one of the last things I did before leaving campus that
> semester was go to the operator window to retrieve my backup tape. They
> had it there, with a big note on it "DO NOT RETURN". It took a little
> coaxing, but I finally got them to give it to me. I've still got this
> tape, although I don't know if it is readable, or how I could get the
> data off, or make use of it. I haven't seen any Cyber 170 simulators,
> and don't expect to find one anytime soon.
Sorry to quash your expectations, but three full Cyber emulators are
under construction, with a few others on hold. We have successfully
deadstarted the very old Chippewa Operating System, and we're working
through the NOS 1.3 deadstart right now. Summer looks good...
And I can help you find someone who can read your tape for you,
either myself or one of the members of the team.
Regards,
-doug quebbeman
control freaks list owner
Would anyone happen to have a spare of the card cage used to make the
TRS-80 Model 12 able to accept expansion cards? I have one that I'd
like to run Xenix on (with the help of a 68000 card)...
Thanks!
John
Forwarding only becuase I thought this might be useful to people on the
luist, no other reason at all. Contact the originator "Dennis" direct, off
list.
"Dennis" <dmison(a)elarasys.com> wrote in message
news:<7b927365.0205101254.2b5c5096(a)posting.google.com>...
> Company Info
>
> Elarasys Inc. is a leading systems consultant firm with over 20 years
> of experience in the IT industry. Our Commitment to Excellence
> provides each client with superior technical expertise groomed by
> years of experience, with the time frame they demand.
>
> About Elarasys Inc
> Elarasys Inc. is a leading reseller of pre-owned and pre-certified
> solutions. Our inventory includes the full line of IBM RS/6000, Sun
> Microsystems, AS/400, HP9000 servers. We also carry the latest in tape
> libraries, disks, monitors, and large printers All systems are
> extensively tested to provide our clients with the highest quality
> products.
>
> Our Commitment
> Elarasys appreciates our loyal customers and strive to keep them
> completely satisfied. We provide our clients with systems that are
> completely eligible for the original manufacturer's maintenance
> agreements. This entitles our clients to keep the same level of
> service from their existing maintenance provider. Our client's
> complete satisfaction is our number one goal, email me for quote.
As I mentioned in my PET message, my dad bought an Apple II while I was
still an avid PET user in high school. I tinkered with the machine a
little, but not a whole lot. When I was at U-Mass Amherst from
1981-1983, several friends had them in their dorm rooms, and I started
to become familiar with Apple II software.
While I was at college, my dad had gotten a contract to work on an Apple
database system called CCA-DMS. This was a clunky system written in
BASIC. The sorting function was especially slow, and my dad was
contracted to write a new sorting routine using 6502 machine language to
speed it up. Later on CCA-DMS was bought by VisiCorp (Personal Software
bought VisiCalc, and changed their name to VisiCorp, and made a whole
line of ?Visi? products). The new CCA-DMS became VisiFile, and was a
real clunker.
A friend of ours was doing a lot of mass mailing and wanted to put
together a software program that would combine a database for
maintaining name/address lists, and a word processor for writing
letters, and a program to merge the data into the letters. He wrote the
database and merge programs in BASIC, but there was no way he could
write a decent word processor in BASIC. He had seen a program called
?Magic Window? which moved the screen back and forth (the Apple II
screen was only 40 columns wide) as you typed so you could see your full
page. He liked that idea, and wanted me to create a simplified version
that worked similar. So I created ?The Letter Writer?, which was similar
to Magic Window, but simpler, and it was integrated into my friends ?The
Letter Carrier? mail merge program. I don?t think he sold very many
copies.
VisiFile was starting to get popular, but we hated how slow and clunky
it was. My dad improved the sort routine even more, and make a separate
program you could use instead of the standard VisiFile sort function.
Another function of VisiFile that was really awful was the reporting
function. The report generator was a huge program that could print a
report from a variety of specifications. My dad wrote a program that
would take the report specificiation, generate a BASIC program
SPECIFICALLY for that set of specifications, and run it. It was faster
to spend the time generating a BASIC program to print the specific
report, and then run that program, instead of using the clunky VisiFile
report generator. And the other advantage was that you could SAVE this
specialized report generator program, and simply run it whenever you
wanted to generate a new report from your data. My dad sold the sorting
program as FAST SORT, and the reporting program as FAST REPORT.
Another aspect of VisiFile that was clumsy was the data editing. You
could see one record at a time on the screen, in a form layout. It
worked OK for some applications, but if you wanted to see data from a
previous record (or records) you couldn?t. We came up with the idea of
showing data in a grid-like form, and in the summer of 1983 wrote MASS
MAINTENANCE. It worked on CCA-DMS or VisiFile format databases. You
could use it standalone, or replace the standard VisiFile data editing
program with it. We wrote it in 6502 assembler, so it was fast. I don?t
know if anyone else had used the grid metaphor before for showing data,
but we certainly hadn?t seen it anywhere ? we just came up with the
idea. Now, it?s the standard method for displaying tables, etc.
VisiCorp contracted with us to modify VisiFile to be Apple //e
compatible. They had a prototype Apple //e sent to us, which we used for
the project, so that VisiFile was Apple //e compatible when the Apple
//e was introduced. We were also sent a ProFile 5MB hard drive, and beta
versions of ProDOS. VisiCorp wanted to know if it was possible to
migrate VisiFile to ProDOS, and if so, could we do it. We started
working on the project, and did get much of VisiFile working under
ProDOS. In the meantime, VisiCorp went bankrupt and so the project never
got completed, and we never had to return the prototype Apple //e.
I do remember going to Apple user group meetings and everyone was
talking about seeing pictures of a hard drive attached to an Apple II.
It was awfully hard for us to be quiet, as we had one operational at our
house.
The ProFile hard drive had a head crash, and we lost our Mass
Maintenance source code. By that time, the IBM PC started to take hold
as a business computer, and the Apple II was used less for business
purposes. I got a real job as a programmer for a company, and our Apple
II software business quickly died out. The Apple II did continue to get
used until I bought a Macintosh in 1985. My dad continued to use the
Apple II for a few more years, but he didn?t do much in the way of
programming.
- Bob Lafleur
Springfield, MA USA
At the end of 1983 I got a job working at a bank developing an
accounting software package for the DEC Rainbow, and later the IBM PC.
The bank was the Farm Credit Bank, which provided financial services to
farms and farming co-ops. They marketed an accounting service for the
clients whereby the client could fill out forms with their income and
expense information, and other financial transactions, and mail it in.
It would be batch processed, and they?d get various reports back in the
mail such as check registers, income and expense statements, etc. The
system was good, but cumbersome to use due to the mail factor. The bank
decided they wanted to write a microcomputer version that could run on a
computer in the farm office. Pretty far ahead of it?s time in 1983, I?d
say.
Although I was primarily working on the account project, the bank?s
minicomputer was a VAX 11/780 (or two). We backed up our source code to
the VAX system, so I had some limited contact with the VAX. I was
intrigued, because I wanted to know how this VMS was similar, and
different from RSTS/E.
I became interested in working on the Technical Services team, which
were the guys who maintained and did all the technical stuff with the
VAX. Once we had a shipping release of the accounting software, they
allowed me to work half-time in Technical Services, more or less as an
apprentice. I latched on to a guy named Tom Vaughan, who taught me a lot
about VMS. One of our projects was to write a printer symbiont that
would allow one to submit a print job on one VAX, but have it print on a
printer connected to another node. This was before VMS offered any such
capabilities.
The Technical Services department also had a VAX 11/730 which was
designated to them for ?testing?. Well, it didn?t get used much, and Tom
didn?t mind if I used it for learning purposes. He let me set up a
privileged account on it, and I set up access so I could dial in from
home and ?play? at night.
I had always been interested in ?Talk? programs ? from the days of
RSTS/E, where there were ?good? talk programs, to the huge Cyber system
at U-Mass, to the programs of the online services like CompuServe?s ?CB
Simulator? which was primitive, but cool because you could talk with
people all over the country. I had used all these programs quite a lot,
and had things from each that I did or didn?t like. One of my main pet
peeves of almost every system was having other people?s messages come
across while I was in the middle of typing something.
I wondered about the VAX, and how I might go about writing a talk system
for it. Tom told me there was something called ?mailboxes?, and at
first, it took me a while to get over the term itself. I kept wanting
them to be related to the MAIL system. After reading some documentation
I had a few ideas of how I might implement a talk program using
mailboxes. I decided that a server process should keep track of
everything, and each user?s client would only interact with the server
process. I put together a small prototype, and the concept actually
seemed to work.
This was definitely a part time project, and it was over a period of a
few years (say, from 1985 to 1987) that I refined the program to a point
that I considered to be usable. Unfortunately, we only had 2 or 3 dialup
lines at work, and no one during the day was able to give the program a
good workout. I didn?t want to create accounts for friends and give them
access to my work dial-ups. The live testing was very limited. I decided
to post the program on the VAXFORUM of CompuServe and see if anyone
might want to try it out.
One day, in the spring of 1988, I got a call from a guy in Houston Texas
who was involved with a system called DATASEEK. At the time I thought he
was in charge, but I later realized that he wasn?t, I think he was just
a consultant. He said DATASEEK was a company that provided computer
services to the oil industry (or something like that) during the day,
but at night their computers weren?t doing anything, and they had a
system where local people could dial in, get information about local
restaurants, activities, etc. and it had a ?CB simulator? where they
could chat with each other. He said the current CB software was awful
and they wanted to replace it with something different. Could mine work?
I asked if he could give me dial-up access, and he said yes. That night
I uploaded the software to their computer, and we gave a few (maybe 2 or
3) users access. Testing quickly showed some bugs, and some desperately
needed features. I made some code changes, and they picked a handful of
avid users for beta-testing. Maybe 15 or 20 people had access to Talk.
They suggested more features, and I programmed them as fast as people
could request them. Eventually Talk replaced the old system, and it
became quite popular. Lots of people called DATASEEK just to use Talk.
The original intent of local information and advertising got obscured by
the desire for people to use Talk.
As Spring turned into summer, I was using the system a lot, and use it
to talk to people as much as develop Talk (well, using it was a good way
to learn what was good and bad). I made a lot of friends, and planned a
trip to visit Houston in late summer. DATASEEK was starting to complain
that their system was full all the time (they had 24 dialins, and they
would be consistently busy from 7:00PM when Talk opened, until 2:00AM).
They wanted some way to put limits on how much time users could spend on
Talk. There were a few other things I wanted to add that would be a
major change, so I planned to write them locally and bring the new
version when I went on my visit.
I had a wonderful week in Houston, and met a bunch of really nice people
who went out of their way to make me welcome. Of course, I was their
?hero? because I was the author of the software they were addicted to.
The installation of the new software went fine, although the time limits
DATASEEK imposed weren?t all that popular. But it did help give more
people a chance to use Talk.
In the Fall of 1988 DATASEEK decided they wanted to make Talk into a
subscription service. This didn?t go over well, as it?s hard to ask
someone to pay for something they?ve been getting for free. Some people
did subscribe, but the user base went way down. In the beginning of
1989, DATASEEK went away. I really don?t know what happened, and I was
never clear what their ?daytime? business really was.
I continued to play with Talk development locally for a while. I had
some features I was working on, such as linking multiple VAX Talk
servers together. I also had other ideas about making PC Talk clients,
and fancy version for VT100+ terminals. Some of this work is started,
but not completed. The node linking was hard to test, and I didn?t know
of anywhere that it would actually be used, so I lost interest in
finishing it. Without an avid Talk user base, it was less interesting to
work on Talk. My last version is dated 1990.
I did hear that a few other facilities were using Talk, although I don?t
know for how long, or how popular it was. I have totally lost contact
with everyone who used my Talk program at DATASEEK in 1988. I would love
to hear from some of those people.
In retrospect, Talk seems small in comparison to the networked IRC
servers of today. The most users I recall on Talk was 31, that was all
of DATASEEK?s 24 Dial-In lines, plus all of their local terminals. The
main thing about Talk was its user friendliness and ease of use, and
customizability. How does it compare with IRC and IM programs of today?
It doesn?t have fancy colors or graphics, but to just sit down and talk
with a group of people about whatever, I think it?s still a great
program.
I?ve recently set up a VAX system using SIMH, and Talk still runs under
VMS 7.3 just fine.
- Bob Lafleur
Springfield, MA USA
In late 1977, I began to hear about small computers that could fit on a
tabletop. My grandfather, who was a very generous man, used to take me
on Saturdays to various places, such as shopping, to the airport to
watch the planes, etc. and one day I suggested we might go check out a
new ?computer store? that had opened in Windsor Locks, CT (about 20
miles from my home). We went there several times, and marveled over the
computers they had for sale (I believe they initially had Altair
computers, and eventually started selling the Apple II). The Apple II
seemed quite interesting, but was also quite expensive (for a 14-year
old). Somehow we heard that a local store (called NEECO, which stood for
New England Electronics Company, and primarily sold calculators) would
soon be getting a new ?computer? in that was made by Commodore. Each
week or so I?d stop in and see if they had it yet, and each week the
answer was ?not yet, we?re still waiting?. Finally, they got one, and
they gave me a demo of it. I couldn?t believe how compact the whole
thing was, with the built-in monitor, keyboard and cassette drive. And
it had a BASIC programming language that I liked. Yes, the Apple II also
had BASIC (only Integer basic at that time, I suppose) and one of the
main reasons I really felt at home with the PET is because the prompt it
gave was ?READY?, which was like the RSTS/E prompt ?Ready? which I was
familiar with. It sounds crazy, but that one little word gave me a warm
feeling about the PET and made it so that I could identify with
something I already knew. The Apple II ?>? prompt seemed very foreign to
me.
I spent many Saurdays down at NEECO talking with the others who came to
marvel at the PET. The owners of the store were very generous in
allowing us to congregate there, and chat about computers in general. I
guess it was sort-of like a computer club, but we never formalized it as
such.
May of 1978 came. My grandfather came one Saturday, and I planned to go
on our usual trip to NEECO. But, my grandfather opened the trunk, and
out came my 15th birthday present, an 8K PET 2001 of my very own.
One of the things I really liked about having a PET was that it was MY
computer. I didn?t have to listen to some privileged system manager tell
me what I could or couldn?t do. If I wanted to try something that might
crash or lock up the computer, that was just fine. I felt in control of
the system.
NEECO did very well selling the PET computer. I believe they were one of
the main sellers in New England, as they had a printed catalog which
they mailed out, showing the systems, and software they had for sale. I
don?t know for sure, but I think they did a fair amount of mail order
business. Some of the people who spent their Saturdays at NEECO started
writing software that went into the NEECO catalog, and the author would
get a commission on every copy sold. One such program I fondly remember
was Hal Wadleigh?s ?WAR GAMES? package, which had 4 games; one was an
anti-aircraft firing game, one was a depth charge game, and I don?t
remember the other two. These were interactive games which made good use
of the PET graphics and I was awed by how someone could write a program
in BASIC to make these games work.
My dad and I wrote a game we called ?Masterbrain?, which was basically
the game Mastermind. We put that in the catalog for sale. I wrote a
shooter game I called ?Star Wars?, where fighter ships would come into
your screen, and you?d have to align the gun onto them and fire. I was
only 15, and I was very na?ve about things like name copyrights and
trademarks. I probably made a couple hundred dollars total on
commissions for the Star Wars game, but for a 15-year old in 1978, that
seemed like an awful lot.
One of the guys who spent some time on Saturdays at NEECO was Ted Scott.
He was not only a good software developer, but he was also an electrical
engineer and knew a lot about the hardware side of things. He developed
a device for the PET which he called the ?Music Box?. It connected to
one of the external ports, and had a speaker, and special software. One
of the programs actually displayed music on a staff and played it on the
Music Box. It was only one note at a time (monophonic) but this was
quite a while before people starting using the ?CB2 line? (I think
that?s what it was called) for sounds. The main difference between the
Music Box and the later CB2 approach was that by poking a memory
location, you?d only get a ?Click? out of the speaker, and you had to
write timing loops to get different pitches. The CB2 approach used the
6522?s internal registers to determine what frequency to generate ? just
set the frequency, and turn it ?on?, and then back ?off? when you wanted
the sound to stop.
One of the things the PET allowed me to do was go beyond BASIC
programming. I started to learn about things like 6502 assembly
language, and direct screen writing by store data into ?screen memory?.
I did a little hacking with the Music Box to figure out what made it
work. I then started writing my own 6502 routines which made sound
effects from the speaker of the Music Box. I incorporated some of these
sound effects into a newer version of my ?Star Wars? game and advertised
it as supporting the Music Box for sound. As I recall, I don?t think I
ever asked Ted Scott for permission to do this ? I just did it. But, I
didn?t use any of his code ? just used the hardware if it was there ? so
I may have sold some Music Box units for him.
I wrote an awful lot of other programs for the PET. Many of them were
just tinkerings, but they helped teach me many concepts about
programming and computers. I got very interested in writing 6502
routines that could be called from a BASIC program, to do things faster
than BASIC could do. I didn?t have a 6502 assembler that I liked ? the
only one I had was tape based, and very cumbersome to use. So I learned
to hand-assemble 6502. At one point, I had a good portion of the
instruction set memorized. I could disassemble 6502 instructions in my
head, and have a good idea of what a routine might do just by looking at
the hex opcodes. One of the things the PET did not support was
?blinking? text on the screen, yet it had normal, and reverse letters.
One of my neatest routines I wrote (in my mind, anyway) was a routine
that would create blinking text. There was an area in memory where you?d
POKE in the start row/col and length of the text you wanted to blink,
then activate the routine, and it would cause that area to blink
steadily (?in the background?). The routine hooked itself into the video
interlace interrupt on the PET. You could change the flashing areas
simply by POKEing new values into memory.
One of the other programs that I wrote and sold through NEECO?s catalog
was a word game called ?PROBE?. The basic idea was that each player (the
human and the computer) would pick a word, and then try to guess the
other player?s word. I entered a whole bunch of words from the
dictionary for the computer to use, and also did some analysis on these
words to give the computer some smarts when making guesses. For example,
if the opponent had a ?T? showing with nothing before it, the computer
knew what the most likely letter to precede ?T? is, and it would guess
that. If that failed, it might try the second-most likely letter to
precede ?T?, or see what other letters the opponent had showing and try
to guess a letter before or after that. The logic worked quite well, and
many games were evenly matched.
One of the neatest things I recall is that Ted Scott took apart a Texas
Instrument ?Speak & Spell? game and created an interface between it and
the PET. He created some software that would access the Speak & Spell?s
vocabulary and the computer could cause it to talk. He loaned me this
modified Speak & Spell for a few days, and I modified my PROBE game to
speak the letters as they were guessed. Could this possibly have been
the first TALKING game?
My dad and I worked on a Backgammon game. We devised a routine for the
computer to make educated moves. I was the ?graphics guru? and my dad
was the logical thinker, so we worked well on this project together.
Unfortunately, the 8k PET memory didn?t give us enough space to refine
our backgammon playing strategy as much as we wanted. Fortunately, a
company called CompuThink was coming out with a memory expansion board
that you could mount inside the PET to expand the memory up to 32K.
NEECO ?loaned? (that?s what they said, but I often wonder if my
grandfather purchased it) us a 24k expansion board to refine our
Backgammon game. The CompuThink board also had 2 expansion ?slots?, and
they soon came out with a floppy disk drive that you could plug into the
board. This drive was out before Commodore?s floppy disk drive. I got a
CompuThink disk drive which made my life much easier. Many ended up
buying the Commodore disk drive, but I much preferred the CompuThink
dual drive system for the PET.
My dad got frustrated with not being able to get enough time for himself
on the PET, and ended up buying an Apple II for himself. At first, I
didn?t pay much attention to the Apple II, but over time I became
intrigued with it?s graphics, capability to run a modem (which I
couldn?t do with the PET), and a friend asked me to write some software
on the Apple II for him, so the PET started to get less use. NEECO moved
their store from Springfield to Needham, MA (near Boston) and our little
Saturday informal group more or less broke up.
I still have my PET, although I?m sure it is not operational. I did have
some power supply problems at one time, which Ted Scott fixed. It ran
fine for a while, but I believe the problems came back and that?s when I
finally stopped using the PET. It has probably developed other problems
that would keep it from running now also. I don?t think the CompuThink
memory board is installed anymore, but I probably still have it. I know
I still have the CompuThink disk drive. I can take some pictures of this
equipment if anyone is interested.
I?ve been able to restore some of my games that were saved to tape into
a current PET simulator program by playing the tapes into a PC
soundcard, and having a decoder program decode the sound on the tapes
and store it in disk files. Unfortunately, most of my later (and better)
PET work was saved on floppy disks. I believe I still have the disks,
but have no idea if they still contain data, or how to go about getting
them read into a PC.
The programs I know I have recovered are PROBE, STAR WARS, and some
version (I?m sure not the ?latest and greatest?) Backgammon.
- Bob Lafleur
Springfield, MA USA
Hello,
I've recently found this classic computers mailing list and I'm
pleasantly surprised at how active it seems to be. I've been browsing
sites related to computer history, classic computers, and emulators for
a while now and have found a lot of interesting information, but this is
the first active discussion group I've encountered.
I am going to send several messages to the list regarding my experiences
with various systems. These messages will in a way, introduce me to
other list readers, and hopefully spark some discussion. I will try to
keep the messages at a higher level describing who I am, where I came
from, what I've done, etc. but would be happy to discuss anything in
more detail either on the list, or privately via E-mail if it doesn't
seem appropriate for the list. I?m also hoping these messages might lead
me to some long lost ?friends?.
I'll break my experiences up by computer system so that if you're not
interested in a particular system, you don't have to read the message.
I?ve tried to recall everything as best I can, but sometimes there are
gaps of things I just don?t remember, or didn?t recall exactly right.
It?s been a long time?
My E-mail address is: bob_lafleur(a)technologist.com; please feel free to
write me on any topic that may stem from my messages.
- Bob Lafleur
Springfield, MA USA
only place i've found with a stock so far is jameco, and they want $2.50 a
piece for them :(:(:( I need to fill out some old HP laserjet memory
boards.....
any suggestions on sources?
>I already have a S/23 but what I am really, really desperate for is the
>I/O card for the 5246 external dual floppy disk drive. If
>you have the drive, you have the card. Do you have the drive?
I don't believe so.
If I am correct, all I have are the all in one units, and one tower unit.
All of which have built in dual floppies, no external floppies.
The only accessory I ever had for them was the printers.
>Also, do you have any software applications for the S/23, or more
>importantly, any games?
I will dig thru my software and see. I doubt I have any games, but the
accounting program we were running was a custom written application, so I
might have some kind of development system for them. The programmers were
on staff, so I would think if they used anything special, the company
owned it, and so I might still have it kicking around.
I'll try to take a look this week (I need to make a decision on the
systems soon anyway... the landlord is due in town, and he gets REALLY
pissed when he finds I am blocking the hall with computers, so if I can
reduce clutter by these monsters, I am all the happier).
I at least know I have a few people on this list interested in them if I
can't find buyers (I will probably try to eBay one of them and see what
happens... I have to think out shipping logistics, I don't want to ship
to a buyer and have it be trashed when it gets there).
But no matter what, it looks like they won't have to hit the trash, so I
am happy.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
Does the IBM System 23 hold any value these days?
We FINALLY are off them (had one last application still running up until
about 2 months ago). So I can now start unloading the ones I have.
I am trying to decide if I should eBay them, or just give them away, or
<shudder> throw them in the dumpster.
I have 3 or 4 of the "all in one" units (screen, keyboard, dual 8"
floppies all in one box), and I have one "tower" unit (dual drives in a
tower box, screen and keyboard are seperate parts). I also have 3 or 4
printers.
Beyond the above descriptions, I know almost nothing about these things,
and almost as little about how to operate them... so they aren't
something I really care to "collect".
I will probably hang onto the tower unit and one printer (at least for
the next 7 years, just in case the IRS comes knocking and we need to get
info off the old software)... it was the last unit in service. The others
were being held as spares in case the tower died, but since we finally
got our one accounting application migrated to another system, I can
afford to get rid of the spares.
Anyone have any idea if I can got money for them, or should I just be
happy to find a home other than the big metal box the "dustcart" (<- too
much GTA3) collects twice a week.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
>How heavy/large are they? Considering the 8" floppy drives, they're
>pretty large I'm sure, but does someone have a guestimate? 50lbs? 100lbs?
>200lbs? (specifically the all-in-one units)
I just left work, so I can't put one on a scale, but I am going to say
off memory, in excess of 50 pounds. But not in the 200 range (one person
can carry one, but they are heavier than your average workgroup laser
printer).
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
>I don't think there's much money in them. The problem is size. Things
>that big and heavy don't generally fetch much on eBay, and they're not
>compelling enough to overcome that problem.
That's kind of what I was thinking would be a problem. I haven't put one
on a scale, but I know the all in one model is a heavy beast (I'm going
to guess in the range of 50+ pounds... light by the standards of many of
the machines discussed here, but heavy when looking at shipping it
somewhere)
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
Hello!
While doing a Google search i found your page. Am looking to find
information on HP 88140C 16 track tape cartridges for the HP 9144. Can
they be used for anything else? Do they have a market other than the
9144 as I have a box of Sealed 5 x 600ft tapes and don't quite know
what to do with them or how to market them? Any ideas would be appreciated!
Susan Gonzales'
Compro Data Networks
comproaz(a)earthlink.net
On May 10, 0:08, Jochen Kunz wrote:
> On 2002.05.09 22:37 Pete Turnbull wrote:
>
> > You shouldn't put a PSU from an R3K Indigo inot an R4K
> Uuuups. To late. The R4k PSU is already dead an replaced by a R3k one...
:-( Didn't anyone think of/try to repair them? Did they fail
spectacularly or quietly? I could use a spare...
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Jay-
First, thank you for taking on this task. I only read the posts every few
days using the digest format, so I am VERY supportive of your two list
solution if it can be worked out. I am sure that as I scan the digest and
quickly skip over the OT posts I am missing some stuff of interest, but
there are only so many hours in the day. Your proposed solution will make
my reading much less time-consuming and more enjoyable and possibly allow me
to respond and post a little more frequently myself. FWIW, I would support
a more actively moderated single list, but that is just my preference.
Bob Stek
Saver of Lost Sols
I don't know if this is an appropriate place to post this, so please
forgive me if I have made an error.
I am looking for a copy, or a downloadable ISO image of the VAX VMS 7.2
hobbyist CD. This CD was previously available for order, but is now sold
out. I E-mailed to the link on the VAX hobbyist page, and they told me
that I can still obtain my own hobbyist license (which I have done) and
borrow someone else's CD for installation. To me, this means that they
don't mind the media being copied (as it's no longer available anyway)
as long as each user still registers their own license.
I don't expect anyone would be willing to make an ISO image of it
available to the public. But, if someone could put it on a server
somewhere and E-mail me a private link for download, that would be
super. Or, if you're willing to snail mail me a copy, I'll pay your
media and shipping costs. Thanks.
- Bob Lafleur
Springfield, MA
Sellam wrote:
>
> Ignore me. Internet problems (again).
>
Yeah, I got a bounce from something sent to your usual
e-mail address...
Its timeliness has passed, so no worries...
-dq
Is the power connector on the Data General one a DC input? Judging by the
icon next to it, I think it is:
- - -
-----
Just wanted to make sure. If so, does someone have a spare power supply
to trade, or know what the specs are?
Thanks.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
>OK, this is on topic since the technology is over 10 years old, ISA is over
>ten years old and the cards are more than likely also over ten years old. I
>am looking for at least one, possibly more, Madge ISA Token Ring NICs -
>hopefully of the Blue series. Anyone out there know where I could get some?
>I really don't want to deal with eBay where they are about $8 US plus $6
>shipping (kinda excessive per card).
I have the following Token Ring cards still in inventory:
11 - IBM, Auto 16/4 Token Ring, ISA, RJ45 DB9
08 - IBM, Auto 16/4 Token Ring, ISA, RJ45
13 - IBM, 16/4, ISA, RJ45 DB9
08 - IBM, 16/4 Token Ring, Microchannel, DB9
04 - IBM, 16/4, ISA, DB9
03 - IBM, Turbo 16/4 Token Ring, ISA, RJ45 DB9
01 - Intel, M#770400331 16/4, ISA, RJ45 DB9
01 - Madge, Smart 16/4 AT Plus Ringnode, ISA, RJ45 DB9
I used to have more than the one Madge, but I gave the others away to
someone on this list already.
You can have any or all of the above for the cost of shipping (and if you
want to toss me a few bucks as well I won't object, but it isn't a
requirement).
All the cards are untested. They were removed from machines that were
never under my care, so I don't know if they work or not, but I would
guess they do, since they were removed during a mass migration to
Ethernet... but like I said, they weren't under my control, and I haven't
tested them, so you get what you get.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
My 2? worth:
There is often too much off-topic discussion here for me to trawl through. If
someone wants a forum to discuss politics or whatever there are many options
that do not involve this mailing list. May I suggest:
Usenet newsgroups (a HUGE number concerned with politics)
Yahoo! groups or equivalent elsewhere
Any number of newspapers and TV network web sites
Setting up a separate mailing list (majordomo, or whatever)
Politics is endlessly fascinating, frustrating, and fractious, but not here
*please*! Let's all be happy nerds together.
And on that note... I've got a couple of Xerox 1108 (DandeTiger) machines of
which I am very fond and for which I would like to find more maintenance
information. Anyone got a set of blueprints about their person?
| the digital divide is an issue of poverty;
Bob Bramwell 60 Baker Cr. NW | if we can eliminate the information
ProntoLogical Calgary, AB | barriers, we'll all live in a safer,
+1 403/861-8827 T2L 1R4, Canada | more prosperous world.
| - John Gage, Sun's chief researcher.
There's an HP 9100B on eBay. I learned to program on a machine just like
this. It was the first computer I ever saw. My high school got one in 1971
when I was a senior, and life has never been the same since.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1352137422
--
Jonathan Engdahl Rockwell Automation
Principal Research Engineer 1 Allen-Bradley Drive
Advanced Technology Mayfield Heights, OH 44124
http://users.safeaccess.com/engdahl jrengdahl at safeaccess dot com
"The things which are seen are temporary,
but the things which are not seen are eternal." II Cor. 4:18
OK, this is on topic since the technology is over 10 years old, ISA is over
ten years old and the cards are more than likely also over ten years old. I
am looking for at least one, possibly more, Madge ISA Token Ring NICs -
hopefully of the Blue series. Anyone out there know where I could get some?
I really don't want to deal with eBay where they are about $8 US plus $6
shipping (kinda excessive per card).
-John
----------------------------------------
Founder, Lead Writer, Tech Analyst
and Web Designer Boff-Net Technologies
http://boff-net.dhs.org/index.html
---------------------------------------
I just want to remind everyone that's interested about the JunkFest here in Orlando next Friday. We'll meet at Glen's shop (Acme Computers) at 9AM. (Hint, it's getting HOT here early so don't be late!) Contact me if you need directions.
I'm still digging stuff out but here's a list of stuff that I've got laid out to bring so far; four heavy cloth bags that appear to be for KayPros, a TRS 4P computer with a stack of manuals, a DATA IO model 19 EPROM programmer (with both Expanded and Extended memory cards) with a GangPak and 2708 personality module, a bunch of Multi-bus cards, SGI Indigo case, (possibly) a HeathKit SweetP plotter, (possibly) early clean IBM PC with 48k RAM & monochrome monitor & keyboard, a couple of PAL programmer modules (303-11A plugin and the Logic Pak) for the DATA IO model 29 programmer, (possibly) a HP 85 with two serial interfaces and three ROMs (plotter, Matrix & IO). If anyone is seriously interested in any of this contact me and make sure that I bring what you want otherwise it may get left behind.
Other stuff: Elf stuff & Prelimenary User's manual for the 6809 for Mike, RS-6000 RAM & SCSI docs for Sridhar.
Joe
Apologies in advance if this is considered off topic, but I think it is
about 10 years old and I think it has a microprocessor in it.
This is being posted on behalf of a friend. He has an Agfa Repromaster
2200 II Camera which he no longer requires. This must be collected
within the next week and was working when last used. If there are no
takers then it will be scrapped.
--
Regards
Pete
"Time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana"
Dear Chuck,
I hooked a dec cd42a-rd to my vs3100/76
Correctly it is recognized after >>show dev as dka300, scsi 3 is set on
the scsi box
Then I stuff the netbsdvax iso CD in it, >>>boot dka300 and .... it
stalls on an err 43 and 6 halt
The scsibox is correctly terminated, it is `an original brand new dec
scsi box....
What am I doin wrong?
Fred
Does anyone have a good source for new DSDD 5-1/4" floppy disks? I've got
a bunch I can probably recycle here, but I'd like to get new ones to use
with my Altos, Osbornes and IBM 5150.
Thanks
-- Pat
(hey, i'm back!)
I've got 16 SGI Indigo R3K SIMMs, free if you pay shipping. First come,
first serve...
(for those of you waiting on shipments of drive sleds, etc, I should be
caught up completely this week)
Bill
--
Bill Bradford | "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate.
mrbill(a)mrbill.net | Hate leads to using Windows for mission-critical
Austin, TX | applications." -- What Yoda *meant* to say
At 08:36 AM 5/9/02 -0500, you wrote:
>
>What types of parts should one be looking for exactly?
I know of a couple of people that are looking for 1101 memories to go with their 8008s.
Joe
Please contact him directly.
----- Forwarded message from Steven Young <sdyoung(a)well.com> -----
Date: Fri, 10 May 2002 14:30:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steven Young <sdyoung(a)well.com>
To: mrbill(a)pdp11.org
Subject: PDP-11 up for grabs.
Hi. I have a PDP-11 I need to get rid of quickly due to space
concerns. See www.well.com/~sdyoung/pdp.html
Thanks,
Steve.
----- End forwarded message -----
--
Bill Bradford
mrbill(a)mrbill.net
Austin, TX
> From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk
>
> >
> > Well, my 12 year old 19" monitor works pretty nice, except for
> > having the Bright and Contrast cranked al the way up...
>
> You might find a cautious tweak of the 'screen' control (normally on the
> flyback transformer, and not the one marked 'focus') will help with that.
>
- That would be inside the cage, which I think I'll stay away from for
now. That whole self-preservation instinct kicking in... :) Actually, the
better question is, how dangerous is it to get to that control?
> > Anyway, can anyone tell me how to adjust the Horizontal center and
>
> Sony were generally fairly friendly about labelling things inside
> monitors --..
>
> Often there's a control marked horizontal phase. While this is not
> actually a horizontal centring control, it can have that effect to the
> user. Strictly, horizontal centring moves the raster relative to the CRT
> edges. horizontal phase appears to move the video relative to the raster.
> In your case, horizontal phase might be just what you need.
>
- Found all those controls, including the pincusion and stuff, along
the side of the cage. That did the trick.
> Don't fiddle with any magnets/rings on the CRT neck on a colour monitor...
>
- Well, considering the voltages inside monitors, and my lack of
experience with that, you don't have to worry about me touching stuff I
wasn't told to...
--
--- David A Woyciesjes
--- C & IS Support Specialist
--- Yale University Press
--- mailto:david.woyciesjes@yale.edu
--- (203) 432-0953
--- ICQ # - 905818
Mac OS X 10.1 - Darwin Kernel Version 5
Running since 01/22/2002 without a crash
I'm looking at IBM monitors on Ebay. Would a model 9504 monitor, at .11
dot pitch do me any good? It is a fixed frequency mono (grey scale?)
monitor. I'd want to use it with an RS6000 7013-530 or a PS/2 77
running OS/2 Warp 3. The 77 is currently equipted with an XGA2 card,
but that could be changed, I supppose.
Chad Fernandez
Michigan, USA
Here's a few JPEGs of an SGI 4D/35 SIMM-- it's either a 2MB or an 8MB SIMM,
I don't know which. The 4MB SIMMs have only half the RAM chips installed.
Oh-- http://www.yubyub.net/ratio might be helpful. At least I didn't have
to put it in a followup!
Bob
> From: sani_ad(a)excite.com
> Subject: Partnership
>
> Dr.Sani Adams
> E-mail:saniadams2001@yahoo.com
> fax:234 1 759 0807
> 16,Kingsway Rd,
> Ikoyi, Lagos.
>
> REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
>
> ATTN:FRIEND/PARTNER,
> [... rest of junk removed ...]
Needless to say that this is a very old scam to get at bank account
numbers. Don't even bother replying.
**vp
please forward to purchasing:
IBM DDYS 07N3255
9 GB 10K RPM 1" 80 pin
price : US$ 69,00
price : US$ 72,00 with 80-68 connector 1"
1 year warranty
2000 units
Min. order 480 units
NEW Factory sealed in IBM boxes
This email can not be considered spam as long as we include: Contact
information & remove instructions. This message is being sent to you
compliance with the current Federal legislation for commercial e-mail
H.R.4176 - SECTION 101Paragraph(e)(1)(A))
AND Bill s.1618 TITLE III passed by the 105th U.S. Congress. Not
reponsible
for typographical errors.
Availability of product subject to change. Further transmissions to you
may
be stopped by clicking remove link.
www.oc2net.net/tradedesk/RemoveEmail.asp?ContactID=120
Fred, now that's an idea I like!
> ----------
> From: Fred Cisin (XenoSoft)
>
> It is pointless and futile to try to explain to this bozo how bogus his
> redefinition of spam is.
>
> Instead, why not send him an invoice?
> Explain that the governing rules of the list are rigidly enforced, :-)
> and prohibit off-topic posts as free listings; and that the fee structure
> for advertising rates on the list for advertising bulk quantities of <10
> year old stuff is computed at $10 * the number of subscribers that the ad
> was sent to. At THAT rate, Jay's new system can be paid for VERY quickly!
>
> --
> Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com
>
>
> On Fri, 10 May 2002 NetSales(a)hbtusa.com wrote:
> > please forward to purchasing:
> > IBM DDYS 07N3255
> > 9 GB 10K RPM 1" 80 pin
> > price : US$ 69,00
> > price : US$ 72,00 with 80-68 connector 1"
> > 1 year warranty
> > 2000 units
> > Min. order 480 units
> > NEW Factory sealed in IBM boxes
> >
> >
> > This email can not be considered spam as long as we include...
>
>
--
--- David A Woyciesjes
--- C & IS Support Specialist
--- Yale University Press
--- mailto:david.woyciesjes@yale.edu
--- (203) 432-0953
--- ICQ # - 905818
Mac OS X 10.1 - Darwin Kernel Version 5
Running since 01/22/2002 without a crash
In a message dated 5/10/2002 8:14:21 AM Central Daylight Time,
spectre(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu writes:
> > Odin rocks, mainly because OS/2 and Win32 are so similar in design. :)
>
> Except that OS/2 works and Win32 doesn't ;-) (smile, duck'n'run)
>
>
Previously, I mentioned having an OS/2 desktop replacement that installs in
Win 3.1 called wpsfwin. It replaces the program mgr with something that looks
like the OS/2 WPS. If anyone wants a copy, LMK.
I have just received an interesting QBUS card from Germany after
an EBAY auction. It is a quad card that is a MSCP RAM-disk
(16MB), which additionally gives 4MB of QBUS Memory (well,
it could scarcely give any more, since that's all Q-22 can
address).
This beastie is the RDC-16 from See First Technology, and came
with a manual dated May 1988. According to this document, this
card can have its capacity extended with up to two RDE-32 cards
(you guessed it - 32MB each), with these cards being connected
in a similar way to LMI - via a ribbon cable. So, if anyone
happens to have a RDE-32 just kicking around then I'm looking
for a couple...
This card is even bootable, with the correct jumper settings,
although the talk is of one extension board and MicroVMS:- I
somehow doubt that OVMS 7.2 would fit too well!
Anyway, the card is alive and well in the MVIII.
As an aside. does anyone know what processors the Clearpoint
Research DCME M30/16MB cards work with?
Cheers,
Dave.
> Only a certain version of Win32 though. I do not remember however. I tried
> once to get hotmetal pro working under OS/2, but I think the Win32 version
> was higher than what OS/2 could use.
Note that Win32S is a subset of Win32; Win32S support allows 32-bit interfaces
to some of the Win API. It's not the same thing as having a true Win32 OS
like 95 or NT. Programs written for Win32 operating systems will requre
Odin (odin.netlabs.org) to run under OS/2. Odin is an executable and library
translator that basically takes Win API calls and maps them to OS/2 system
calls.
Odin rocks, mainly because OS/2 and Win32 are so similar in design. :)
--
Ryan Underwood, <nemesis at icequake.net>, icq=10317253
>This is a RQDX3 ESDI hard disk controller.
RQDXn is not ESDI at all.. it is MSCP.
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com |
| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com |
| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' |
| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg KB1FCA |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
This certainly has to be one of my better finds to date. I'm now the proud
owner of 6 brand new i8008 cpus (sorry, not for trade, as I have plans for
these.) Finding them the way I did was kinda strange... A couple of days
ago, on a whim, I called a local electronics dealer and asked if they had
any i8008 chips in stock, and much to my amazement, he had 6 in the parts
bin. :)
-Toth
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pat Finnegan [mailto:pat@purdueriots.com]
> Does anyone have a good source for new DSDD 5-1/4" floppy
> disks? I've got
> a bunch I can probably recycle here, but I'd like to get new
> ones to use
> with my Altos, Osbornes and IBM 5150.
Nobody in particular, but I've had luck finding things like
that still available from "bulk" media producers. At least
one I've seen in the last few months still does 8" (soft
sector) disks, too.
Chris
Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL
/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'
On May 9, 10:47, Doc wrote:
> Seriously, I saw the sets I'm thinking of in one of 2 places. One
> shop has provided memory for my PS/2s (with MCA RAM board) DECstation
> 3100 and my vs4000/60, the other such niceties as 32M sticks for a SS5,
> 8M ??? for my HP 9000/735, and 64M modules for an HP B132. If I can get
> a good look at what you need, I'll end up in both shops within a week or
> 2 anyway. Model/Part numbers won't help as much as pictures.
Then you may gaze with wonderment at the low-res barrel-distorted image
generated by my IndyCam and a desklamp, at
http://www.dunnington.u-net.com/tmp/capture-00000.jpg
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
On May 9, 9:42, Tothwolf wrote:
> On Thu, 9 May 2002, Jeff Hellige wrote:
>
> > > No. The Indigo^2 / Indy where the first SGI workstations that used
> > > PS/2 keyboards and rodents.
> >
> > I rather like the PS/2-style granite colored SGI keyboards/mice. The
> > keyboards have a nice feel to them.
>
> How hard is it to find key caps and micro switches for these keyboards? I
> think I have one of the granite keyboards somewhere, but it has some
> missing/damaged keys. If I can find a source for the parts, it might be
> worth repairing, since the rest of it appears to be in good condition.
>
> Are these keyboards true PS/2 type keyboards, or are they only compatible
> with the newer SGI systems?
The granite ones are genuine PS/2 interface and they work fine on PCs
though I've heard rumours that the reverse is not always true.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
>There are approximately 400 fiche/ft and 100 11x17 images
>per fiche or 200 8.5x11 images per fiche.
So that's maybe 320,000 US Letter size pages.
Assuming 70KB/page, I make that 21GB
or 30-ish CD-ROMs (or a mere 5 DVDs, if
they're cheaper over there these
days).
Assuming a scan time of 10s per page,
you will need over 37 days of scan
time to get all the data (I'm guessing
you can run it in unattended mode...)
I assume you are going to make this
available on a web page or two, I
think I can download it all in just
about 60 hours. Looks good to me :-)
>it. The plan is TIFF with G4 compression which works out
>to be half the size of an equivalent PDF and can be converted
I think if you PDF stuff that has been G4'd
you'll find that the size increase is minimal.
Stuff I've scanned comes out of the
scanner as PDF but *not* G4 compression,
that's why it's a little bigger.
>to PDF by the consumer if desired. I haven't found a good
>way to convert a PDF back into a TIF... We shall see
>how good the process works...
I believe that Acrobat 5 can go from PDF to other
stuff, but I think we only have V4 kicking
around, so I cannot check.
No problem - just supply TIFFs and I'll happily
turn them into PDFs myslef (just this once,
you understand :-) )
Seriously, if this works, I'll dig out my
four linear mm of fiche and send them
over (always assuming they're not already
in your stack).
Antonio
On May 9, 23:30, Doc wrote:
> I'm gazing with wonderment, all right.... :)
> Looks like an IndyCam image to me.
:-)
> Also looks just like the modules I
> saw somewhere in the last few weeks. Now all I gotta do is remember
> _where_. Sets of 4, right?
Yes, that's right. Though maybe Bob only needs three ;-)
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
On May 9, 21:16, Robert Schaefer wrote:
> this one has a 75R at R9, R6 is open, R8 is open, and 222 at R5. Does
that
> make this an 8MB SIMM? The RAM chips are marked 4C4001JDJ-7. Huh. _Is_
it
> an 8MB SIMM? Sucks that I only have one...
It would be odd if all the chips were 4C4001JDJ-7, that's a 1M x 4-bit
chip, such as would be used for the parity bits. But yes, it sounds like
an 8MB SIMM.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
At 08:19 PM 5/8/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>On Wed, 8 May 2002, Clint Wolff (VAX collector) wrote:
>
> > The question is: What do I now own?
> >
> > <grin>
>
>The question is: where are you located, and when can you start scanning
>*piles* of fiche? :)
The obvious pile of fiche to scan, IMHO, would be VMS source code....
G
>Uhm, that URL redirects me to http://www.microcenter.com/, which doesn't
>have anything but 3.5" floppy disks.
>
>Any other suggestions?
They used to carry them... but MEI recently officially changed their name
to just MicroCenter, and changed their format from a bulk dealer of media
and supplies to more that of the million other catalog/online dealers.
Alas, their prices have started to go up as well, and some of their more
hard to find items like DSDD 5.25s have vanished.
<sigh>
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
Well, my 12 year old 19" monitor works pretty nice, except for
having the Bright and Contrast cranked al the way up...
Anyway, can anyone tell me how to adjust the Horizontal center and
size? And how about the Vert. size too? When I am at the SRM chevron (>>>),
the first two columns are gone, so I see only one of the '>'.
Those adjustments must be inside the case somewhere. Hopefully I
won't fry myself opening this thing up...
Another quickie... I assume the Video-Out BNCs on the back of the
monitor is Sync on Green also, just like the inputs... And should the switch
be set to High Scan or Low Scan, when hooked to a DEC 3000/400?
--
--- David A Woyciesjes
--- C & IS Support Specialist
--- Yale University Press
--- mailto:david.woyciesjes@yale.edu
--- (203) 432-0953
--- ICQ # - 905818
Mac OS X 10.1 - Darwin Kernel Version 5
Running since 01/22/2002 without a crash
I have some on consignment. Not sure how many though till I look. How many
do you need? I think that I can sell them for $2 (box of ten) plus shipping.
Let me know off list if interested.
Gene
On May 9, 9:50, Robert F Schaefer wrote:
> On May 9, 15:02, Jochen Kunz wrote:
> > So, if I "upgarde" the 4MB SIMMs to 8MB SIMMs, I can put in more than
> > one bank of "upgraded" SIMMs? Or is this bug speciffic to the 4MB SIMM
> > ASIC and the 2MB and 8MB SIMM ASICs are different?
> The 2 meg SIMMS are full o' chips, the 4 meg SIMMS are only
half-populated,
> fill it out to make an 8 meg SIMM. It would appear that the ASIC is the
> same on the 4 meg and 8 meg SIMM. I would like to know if the ASIC is
the
> same on the 2 meg SIMM. I have a number of them, and I would rather
> unsolder the old RAM chips and replace them than screw with the only set
of
> working 4 meg SIMMs I have.
Good idea. Yes, the ASICs are the same on all the SIMMs: LSILOGIC L1A6569,
DDM1, Rev.C, SGI 9700832. The date codes and manufacturer code/batch
number may vary from SIMM to SIMM, of course.
If you upgrade a 2MB SIMM (514256 chips) with 514100 chips, remove the
75-ohm resistor at R6 (may be marked 75R or 750) and fit a new 2K2 resistor
at R5.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Jeez, this list has gotten so OT . . .
> From: Richard Erlacher <edick(a)idcomm.com>
> I don't see how it could be any easier to install than Win98. I just put
the
> CD in the drive and reset the machine. Then I go away, to lunch,
perhaps, and
> when I'm back the drive is freshly formatted as a single partition under
FAT32
> and the OS is completely installed, the drivers in place, the modem ready
to
> align with the internet parameters it wants (server names, addresses,
etc) and
> then I can install applications.
Richard, I don't know what version of Win98 you are using, and I'm not
familiar with your hardware, but I do two or three installations of Win9x
every day, and in 95% of the cases I have to provide device drivers for
something in the system. It is rare that Win9x will provide all of the
drivers for the sound, modem, video, and IDE controller.
Perhaps you are using a "restore" disk which came with your eMachine,
Compaq, HP or Gateway computer?
Glen
0/0
I have seen some discussion on the list recently regarding the Toshiba 3100
laptops...
I was just curious - is there some reason that these are sought after? I
believe I know where a pretty decent sized stack of them is (about 15 or
so).
Wonder if one would take an ISA HP-IB card to interface with some of my
other bench gear...would they take a pcmcia card for my wireless network at
home?
Thanks for any input
Jay West
--- Frank McConnell <fmc(a)reanimators.org> wrote:
> <http://www.mythtech.net/rings.jpg>
> ... unless, of course, your operators are fun-loving sorts who
> like to throw write rings at each other and relish the opportunity to
> throw something that looks similar when it's moving fast but is a bit
> less flexible.
We never threw the packing rings, but since we did ship software to
customers on magtape, we had *cartons* of write rings.
Fridays, starting at about 16:45, from one corner of the cube space
or another... zing... then it was like a cloud of cicadias - the
air filled with yellow rings. I used to use a 3' cardboard tube as
a launcher - I could get a ring 4 or 5 cubes away.
The end to our write-ring wars came when, after a particularly fierce
battle, I grabbed a 3 cu ft box *full* and climbed onto my desk, then
slowly along the tops of the cube walls (not modular furniture, hard
walls made of 2"x4"s and sheet rock, 6' tall) and dumped the entire
box on an unsuspecting combatant.
-ethan
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Mother's Day is May 12th!
http://shopping.yahoo.com
On May 9, 9:10, Jochen Kunz wrote:
> We had five R3k and one R4k Indigo at the Unix-AG. The PSUs died, only
> one working is left. That is now in the R4k machine and I am afraid
> about the day it will die and that this day will come soon. :-(
You shouldn't put a PSU from an R3K Indigo inot an R4K -- they're not the
same. The R4K version is a significantly higher rating, and an R3K PSU in
R4K machine *will* die. The new PSU was one of the expensive parts of an
R3K -> R4K upgrade.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Hi, all.
I've been trying to build a kernel with TCP/IP & DEQNA support for the
PDP-11/93. After reassigning some of the overlay inclusions, the kernel
builds OK, and will boot, up to looking for the root filesystem. The
boot fails with an error that there's no root fs at major, minor (5,0).
I've verified that my root filesystem is indeed at that device. I
can't figure out where I'm hosing the build.
Any suggestions? I'll probably be going to RT-11 as soon as Mentec
clears the hobbyist licensing, but I'd like to leave triumphant....
Plus, I promised a friend a login on A Real PDP-11.
Doc
On May 9, 7:24, Robert Schaefer wrote:
> D' you think a hairdryer would work? :)
Probably not hot enough ;-)
> Ok, seriously, any problems with
> existing parts coming unstuck and getting blown around? Or is the nozzle
> tight enough that other chips usually don't get hot enough?
It depends on the nozzle, the temperature, and the technique. If you do
one chip at a time, get the temperature right, and don't take too long, I'd
guess you'd only melt the solder on the adjacent side of the adjacent chip,
and it shouldn't move. I'd use a good quality low-temperature rework
solder to minimise the risk. However, I'm not an expert, and maybe I've
just been lucky.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
>Got a pile of the VMS fishies around here somewhere, but it would be
>illegal to violate DECs copyright and trade secrets in such a fashion.
>Even worse would be to admit to planning such a violation on an
>archived mailing list.
Good to see you're likely to be around long enough
to get to operate that machine :-)
Anyway, the OpenVMS listings are available on
CD (at least from the V5.5-ish era onwards).
(And the fiche is source listings, *not* sources).
Someone from OpenVMS engineering commented
(some time ago) in comp.os.vms that he was
trying to get copies of the V1/V2/V3/V4 listings
onto CD. No word on whether these would be
made available (a la freeware) but it seems
pointless scanning something that is known
to exist electronically when there is
so much other stuff on fiche that is
not available online.
My vote is 400dpi in PDF (or TIFF, but viewers don't
seem to be so flexible for that ). Should be a nice stack
of CDs if you manage to scan 4 linear feet of fiche!
I suspect that indexing it (i.e. collecting manual#1,
manual#2, manual#3 etc. into individual files) may
well take you some time!
Can you estimate how many pages of fiche four
linear feet actually is? How many manual pages
(assuming "full" fiche sheets) does that translate
to? At 300dpi, an A4/Letter page turns out to
be maybe 50-70KB; at 600 dpi I usually find that
the PDFs turn out at 200-250KB per page. That
should allow you to roughly estimate the
amount of data you are likely to produce.
Antonio
Microfiche trivia, my memory may be rusty
The sample microfiche I have retrieved are 4" high by 6" wide. There are
varying numbers of images placed on them. The layout of the images
indicates what magnification of the originals was used. The ones I have are
12 columns of images across by 6 rows of images down. Of the 8 microfiche
readers I have recently examined most are the 24X units. Some are dual 24X
and 48X. There are supposed to be a 72X but I haven't ever seen one.
I have examined a sample microfiche under an old microscope, vintage 1950,
and used several different magnifications.
Car parts listings are a typical usage of microfiche.
Some microfiche were designed to be COM (Computer Output Microfiche), the
images are landscape.
On my sample microfiche each minified image is about 1/2" by 3/4".
If you figure that on the 8 wide paper it takes 150dpi to accurately sample
the original page. There are therefore 1200 useful dots reduced into 1/2".
and then you need to scan the microfiche image at about 2400dpi to get an
accurate reproduction.
I'm trying a Nikon scanner at 1200dpi as an experiment, the main problem is
getting enough light through the microfiche.
YMMV
Thanks
Mike
Folks, after my last reply to Jay, I see I'm going to need to be absent
for a while. I'm busy with a lot of other stuff anyway. I will leave it
to him to work out how the list is to be run, and I hope everyone else
will, too. I just had to make my position clear, but I see it's going to
make it difficult for the list if I stick around. No hard feelings
towards him or anyone else.
Ya'll be good.
later,
jbdigriz
Owen
I seem to remember there is a receive only DECwriter that we used as a data
logger at one time.
This may be a pointer to more information
http://telnet.hu/hamster/pdp-11/periferia.html
Thanks
Mike McFadden
>Date: Wed, 08 May 2002 12:41:32 -0500
>From: Owen Robertson <univac2(a)earthlink.net>
>Subject: What is it?
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2022409053
>Anyone know what this is? Looks like a DECwriter with only numeric keys.
OK, since I have no available user manual, and google seems to be less
than helpful on this subject, can anyone tell me what each port on the
back of my Altos 580 and 8000 is?
For the 580, I've got figured out that JA is for a parallel printer, JB&JD
are RS-232 and JC is the RS-232 console. What is JE?
For the 8000, I've noticed that JU-JZ seem to be RS-232 with JX the
console. What is everthign else?
Does anyone have pinouts for ports that aren't 'standard' like RS-232
ports?
Thanks for the help
-- Pat
Well, my latest toy is here, but it looks like I screwed up a little when I
picked up an IRIX CD for it. I got 'IRIX 5.3 for Indy R4400 175MHz', but
according to http://sgistuff.g-lenerz.de/ this version is Indy-specific-- I
need the plain vanilla 5.3 CD, or 5.3 XFS. Anyone have one to trade? Or
maybe even 4.x?
Also, if anyone has a source for 8MB simms, keyboards, and mice I'd be
interested.
Thanks!
Bob
I went to a surplus store today and found the following items which may (or
may not) be of interest to any listmembers. If anyone wants any of it, let
me know off-list.
Krown Research Porta-Printer II. This is a small keyboard, an accoustic
coupler on the back, and a calculator-style 2.5" printing tape in the
center. Think TI Silent700, that's kinda what it looks like except smaller
and with the tape role. In a nice hardshell carrycase. Marked at $40.00.
HP7045A X-Y Plotter - this isn't a "modern" plotter, looks pretty old
technology-wise but fair condition. No price.
Three 8" monitors, GBC brand with large (F-type??) 75ohm connectors, marked
at $25.00 each.
HP7550 plotter, looks to be in excellent shape, marked at $45.00
Two SyQuest "88MB C" 5.25 bare drives, no price.
Noticed a scrap card that had a 8080AFC chip on it, $3.00.
No clue what this is - DEC H343-A IEEE bus adapter with a few HP-IB cables,
marked at $15.00.
Alas - the TI3100 notebook computers with plasma displays are all gone :\
Regards,
Jay West
> From: Corda Albert J DLVA <CordaAJ(a)nswc.navy.mil>
> To: "'classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org'" <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
> Subject: RE: Tae Rings?
> Date: Wed, 8 May 2002 16:28:02 -0400
>
> They are 9-track tape write-enable rings. They fit into a groove
> around the hub-hole of 9-track tapes. At one time, these used to
> be all over the place. Since the demise of 9-track tapes as a
> common media, they seem to have become scarce. Shurely someone
> needs some? (I could use a few, but not a whole lot...:)
>
> -al-
> -acorda(a)1bigred.com
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Chris [mailto:mythtech@mac.com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 4:15 PM
> > To: Classic Computer
> > Subject: Tae Rings?
> >
> >
> > Does anyone know what these are for?
> > <http://www.mythtech.net/rings.jpg>
> > Excuse the 2d scan, my digital camera is at home, so I just tossed
> > them on my flatbed scanner for the pic.
> >
> > I think they are rings for the tapes used on my old Zebra system
> > (IIRC, it had some reel like tape canisters that fit in the top of
> > it, but this is going WAY back).
> >
> > I have about 2 dozen of the yellow ones, and 5 or 6 of the orange ones
> > (although not all orange, some are white/clear).
The yellow are write rings, as pointed out. The orange or white ones
are stacking rings, used to stabilize bunches of tape reels when they
are shipped in a cardboard box. Putting a stacking ring between each
pair of tape reels keeps them from sliding around parallel to one another.
carl
--
carl lowenstein marine physical lab u.c. san diego
clowenstein(a)ucsd.edu
On May 8, 17:34, Robert Schaefer wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Corda Albert J DLVA" <CordaAJ(a)nswc.navy.mil>
> > on one side of the simm. Did someone already mention that
> > you can only have 1 bank of 4Mb simms in a system, due to
> > a prom bug? There is no restriction on the number of other size
> > simms.
>
> Isn't that just the Indy, or something? I remember reading it, but it
> didn't (that I recall) mention the 4D/35. That does jive with the only
> machine that has 4MB simms in it though-- only one bank (four SIMMS).
No, Indys can use any mix of 4MB, 8MB, 16MB, 32MB SIMMS, and they (and
Indigo2 and R4000 Indigo) take standard 72-pin fastpage-mode parity SIMMs.
There's a bug in the ASIC (according to SGI) on the 64-pin proprietary
SIMMs which means you can use any number of 2MB or 8MB SIMMs but only one
set of 4MB SIMMs on a 4D/35 or R3000 Indigo.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
> From: Cameron Kaiser
>
> > I was just using Calmira, makes windows 3.1 look like windows 95.
>
> Calmira is indeed very neat. I use it on my lone Windows machine (the only
> other Windows machine in the apartment is the Macintosh! under VPC,
> natch).
> It makes the W3.1 interface more contemporary, at least. :-)
>
> --
>
This is something I'll have to try! I have a Cardinal PC-10 all-in-1
'386 computer (looks like a Mac SE/30) that I was wondering what I could do
with it...
--
--- David A Woyciesjes
--- C & IS Support Specialist
--- Yale University Press
--- mailto:david.woyciesjes@yale.edu
--- (203) 432-0953
--- ICQ # - 905818
Mac OS X 10.1 - Darwin Kernel Version 5
Running since 01/22/2002 without a crash
Hey guys. I found this on comp.os.vms.
Chris
Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL
/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'
-----Original Message-----
From: P.Young(a)unsw.EDU.AU [mailto:P.Young@unsw.EDU.AU]
Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 10:02 AM
To: Info-VAX(a)Mvb.Saic.Com
Subject: Free to a good home: MicroVAX 3400 (in .AU)
Due to the donation of a couple of Academics and an Alpha 8400
>from another University - the HSZ50, TSZ07 and disks having
already arrived in my office - I'm running of space to do any
work!
I was keeping the MV 3400 to read 9 track tapes, however with a
TSZ07 I no longer need it.
It has 24Mb memory and a TU81 Plus tape drive. Either the
TU81 or KLESI is broken - I suspect the KLESI. A 400Mb and 150Mb
DSSI disk is included.
I want this out of my office, so please do not ask "can I have
part xyzzy" - it is a job lot.
Equipment located at the University of New South Wales, Sydney,
Australia.
In a message dated 5/9/2002 3:18:32 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
nemesis-lists(a)icequake.net writes:
> > I remember a patch or add-on that was referred to as Win 3.2 - added
> > supposedly 32 bit features to the old WIn3.x and I think was just really
> a
> > tinkering project in the development of 95.
>
> You're thinking of Win32S, which was the first attempt at a 32-bit
> extension
> to the Windows API. Not Windows 3.2. :) I think OS/2 can run Win32S
> programs
> natively through Win-OS2.
>
Only a certain version of Win32 though. I do not remember however. I tried
once to get hotmetal pro working under OS/2, but I think the Win32 version
was higher than what OS/2 could use.
I've been trying all sorts of ways I can think of majordomo-wise to get off
this list, and each time it tells me my email address isn't valid; if that's
the case why am I still getting list mail both here and digest mail at home?
It ceased to be interesting here months ago with all the bitching and
in-fighting, so it would be nice to stop receiving the mails.
Thanks.
witchy