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

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 8, Sridhar the POWERful wrote: > > > > > Ok, well, "video subsystem", if you like. And isn't a 3AT actually a > > > > > 7030-3AT? Would you consider kicking that GXT1000 my way? What would you > > > > > want for it? > > > > > > > > And if any of those 3ATs need a new home... 8-) > > > > > > Wait just a dad-blamed minute! You already GOT your RS/6k fix for > > > the month! :^P > > > > Yeah but I'm quickly learning that these machines are *cool*. My > > new 3CT with its 66MHz clock is *screaming* fast! These processors > > are *incredibly* clock-efficient. Now I want MORE! 8-) > > MUHAHAHAHA. My evil plan is working. FREAK! -Dave -- Dave McGuire "I thought it would go quickly, St. Petersburg, FL that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

2
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Video Card

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 8, Doc wrote: > > > Ok, well, "video subsystem", if you like. And isn't a 3AT actually a > > > 7030-3AT? Would you consider kicking that GXT1000 my way? What would you > > > want for it? > > > > And if any of those 3ATs need a new home... 8-) > > Wait just a dad-blamed minute! You already GOT your RS/6k fix for > the month! :^P > > Doc, who never gets _anything_ cool... Yeah but I'm quickly learning that these machines are *cool*. My new 3CT with its 66MHz clock is *screaming* fast! These processors are *incredibly* clock-efficient. Now I want MORE! 8-) -Dave -- Dave McGuire "I thought it would go quickly, St. Petersburg, FL that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

3
2
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CD-ROM on RT-11?

by Antonio.Carlini＠riverstonenet.com

Jerome H. Fine wrote: >Note that under VMS Exchange, you may be limited to just ONE >RT-11 partition, i.e. partition zero. It was over 10 years ago when >I used Exchange under VMS and the RT-11 partition default was >zero. If all you want is a straight copy of an RT-11 disk and you are using OpenVMS, why not use BACKUP/PHYSICAL? I would suggest: $ BACKUP/PHYSICAL device: filename.BCK/SAVE This would save your floppy contents in filename.BCK. Then restore with: $ BACKUP/PHYSICAL filename.BCK/SAVE device: I don't have the necessary h/w anymore to try this, but it should work. I've certainly done something similar with RX50 WPS floppies and I've seen others do the same with DECmate III floppies. The added advantage is that you end up with a block-by-block copy of your floppy that you can save on CD or whatever. Antonio

24 years, 4 months

3
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should I take RM03's

by henk.gooijen＠12move.nl

Well, thanks everybody for enlighten me. Edward (too!) and I will take together at least 3 RM03's. I checked the PDP11 Peripherals handbook 1978-79 to see what is written about the differences between the RM02 and the RM03. Edward wrote already that the RM02 was for all PDP-11's except the 11/70, and that the RM03 was specifically for the 11/70. Furthermore average seek time and latency are identical, however, the peak data transfer rate for the RM02 is only 806,000 bytes/second, where the RM03 has a peak rate of 1,200,00 bytes per second. That is why DEC saw the RM03 (according to the book) as the high performance storage for database applications. More (difference) info on both drives for completeness: RM02 RM03 rotational speed : 2400 rpm, 3600 rpm max latency : 25.9 msec, 17.3 msec avg latency : 12.5 msec, 8.33 msec max start time : 25 sec, 35 sec <--- not a typo! typical start time : 15 sec, 25 sec <--- not a typo! Thanks again for the good advice. I will grab 'm !! And Tony, "you speak from my heart" as we in Holland say. Nothing can beat the sound, smell and certainly the looks of any blinkenlight PDP, IMHO... - Henk.

24 years, 4 months

2
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Pro350 with RT-11 and VR241 + Docs

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 7, Zane H. Healy wrote: > >That's the first thing I looked for, too. > > Yeah, since I've already got a Pro380 (that I don't even use) and a RT-11 > V5.x doc set, an Ethernet controller would have been the only real reason > to go for it (though the colour graphics is kind of nice). What's the resolution of the Pro mono & color framebuffers, does anyone remember? I recall really liking the video...the VR241 wasn't a *great* monitor, but it looked pretty good...and those VR201s were razor sharp! (I could look it up, but laziness is the chain the binds my butt so tightly to the chair...) -Dave -- Dave McGuire "I thought it would go quickly, St. Petersburg, FL that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

3
2
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Of Mud and Virgins

by lists＠subatomix.com

All right, now that I have your attention, I would like to give a report of my amazing weekend trip to Fort Worth. The most important development of this weekend was my PDP-11 devirginization. Yes, for the year or so that I have been into this hobby, I have rescued or acquired several PDP-11s. Until this weekend, however, I had never applied power to one. Many of these vintage machines are sufficiently different from the PCs I grew up with that learning about them is like rediscovering the computer itself, starting from scratch. There has always been a fear within me of not knowing how to operate one of these machines after applying power to it. Other machines have received no power because I am waiting for my electronics knowledge to develop; these machines will be disassembled, tested part-by-part, and reassembled when that knowledge is sufficient. Despite my inactivity, I have somehow known that I would love exploring these machines once powered. That last prophecy has fulfilled itself! I visited Owen Robertson while in FW, and we powered up his 11/34. He showed me a few things -- how to load RL01 packs, where the power switch was, etc. -- and we proceeded to play with the machine. There are problems with the RSX-11M pack he has, so I loaded up an XXDP+ pack. After printing and reading the help file, I experimented and was able (after some trial and error) to -- drum roll, please -- load UPD2 and create another bootable pack with XXDP+ on it! It would be a minor task for many of you, but it is a major milestone for me. I am now PDP-11 devirginized. Owen and I also scoured a few scrapyards in the DFW area. Highlights of our combined finds: - DEC TS05 - DEC rack spacer panels, rail slides, etc. - DG MPT/100 (looks like a TRS-80 Model III) - DG Nova 3 chassis - Two Sun 4/110 towers. - TRS-80 Model III, diskless, with 16KB RAM (Identical to my first computer except for the extra 12KB :-)) - A Lanier word processor (I believe of the kind Pres. Carter used) - CBM PET 8032 - Three IBM 5150 PCs Eric Dittman was going to accompany us but was called away on business. It's too bad we didn't do this a week sooner. The scrappers had just finished destroying what was a very nice PDP-11/60. I at least found and took the unit numbers from the RK07 and RP0x drive. By the time we were finishing up at the second scrapyard, it was raining heavily and *muddy*. It will be interesting to see what lives through being rained upon. Also, as it turns out, a pallet full of desktop 386 PCs isn't useless after all: you can lay them in puddles and form a walkway to keep yourself dry(er). We referred to the process as 'uninstalling Windows'. -- Jeffrey Sharp The email address lists(a)subatomix.com is for mailing list traffic. Please send off-list mail to roach jay ess ess at wasp subatomix beetle dot com. You may need to remove some bugs first.

24 years, 4 months

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need the use of a scanner with sheet feeder (near Seattle)

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> "Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote: > > > > Sheet-fed scanner for most stuff, he does use a hand-scanner > > for bound stuff. Like Eric, I'm pretty sure he does most pages > > as 600dpi line art. I just got doing the same for a section of > > a CDC manual that's in hot demand; then used Kodak Imaging > > to create a multi-page TIF from the individual TIF pages. Then > > print to PDF using Adobe Acrobat 4.05's PDF Writer. Yields a > > 367kb PDF, whereas multipage TIF was 2.1MB. > > Then your TIFFs weren't compressed with the Group 4 2D algorithm, which > is the best around, until we've all got JBIG tools. Either that, or PDF > Writer reduced the resolution during conversion. Well, I scanned the originals as 600dpi line art, instead of gray scale. Lineart generates bitmap files, just two bitplanes. I'd assume that it compresses much more easily since adjacent pixel runs of white are next to each other and chomp down nicely... However... have you checked out the DjVu imaging compression technology? DjVu is a non-propreitary superset of the iterated fractal system imaging compression technology I read about in Byte magazine back in the 1980s. Now that the secret's out of the bag, everyone can have utilize extremely high-compression if you can suffer the slight loss of fidelity to the original (for example, the analysis will find a single ideal letter form for an 'A', and uses that ideal letterform image when reconstructing the document, instead of recording every pixel at every location. For more info on DjVu, just point Google and cut the leash... -dq -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 4 months

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need the use of a scanner with sheet feeder (near Seattle)

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> > However... have you checked out the DjVu imaging compression > > technology? DjVu is a non-propreitary superset of the iterated fractal > > system imaging compression technology I read about in Byte magazine > > back in the 1980s. Now that the secret's out of the bag, everyone can > > have utilize extremely high-compression if you can suffer the slight > > loss of fidelity to the original (for example, the analysis will find > > a single ideal letter form for an 'A', and uses that ideal letterform > > image when reconstructing the document, instead of recording every > > pixel at every location. > > Sounds like OCR software to me. There any major differences? OCR maps letter forms to text; this is pure compression. Looking at it another way, DjVu condenses any image fed into it into a mathemetical expression that, when evaluated, yields as its result, the image of the original document. So, it's nothing like OCR. If the original image were a page full of little apples, the program will decide which apple is the best one, and when it reconstitutes the original image, will put as many copies of the one apple on the page as the original had. If there are subtle differences between the apples that the eye won't readily see, then the reconstituted image won't have those subtle differences. It goes beyond this too; it separates the text and calls that foreground, and everything that's not text is background. The background is compressed with a different family of wavelets than is used for the foreground. It's worth spending an hour googling for better answers than I could ever hope to provide... -dq -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 4 months

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PS/2 - E

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Robert Schaefer [mailto:rschaefe@gcfn.org] > It's a neat little toy. I came across the PCMCIA controller > card for one a > few weeks ago and ended up finding more about the -e than the > card itself. > IIRC the model number is 9533-- put that in the search and > you should end up > with some good hits. I just found > http://www.tavi.co.uk/ps2pages/ohland/9533.html in an old msg > to myself. If > it's the one I'm thinking of, it's a good read. Thanks. That was informative. It seems the 387 math-co is "optional," so it's good that I have it. I also think there's some extra RAM in there. (Above the 4M they claim are on the board) Reminds me very much of the intel-based "multia" systems, which are about the same size, and about as well integrated. A related question would be, does anyone know a cheap source of PCMCIA boards? Specifically, to actually use this thing, I'll want an ethernet adaptor (10Mb), and probably some linear flash. Some SRAM that will operate at (is the low voltage 3 or 1.5 on those?) the lower voltage would probably be good too. (where...) Can one still get PCMCIA hard disks that will work in this thing too? I do have a specific and on-topic reason for wanting the flash and SRAM boards. I intend to use the machine as a way of bootstraping a Minix installation for my "Poqet PC," if I can manage it. The Poqet will read linear flash, but not write it, and will read and write SRAM. Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 4 months

5
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Video Card

by vance＠ikickass.org

Anyone know where I can get an IBM RS/6000 POWER GXT1000 Model 002 video card? Peace... Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

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Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Apr 4, 23:29, Chad Fernandez wrote: > I've read about bolt types on Brit bikes a bit. It seems that they had > a variety of things they called Whitworth. Not really. See Tony's post; there are various series that use the same Whitworth thread form (55 degree thread angle, and rounding of crests and troughs) but they have different names. BSW (British Standard Whitworth) is the standard coarse series, analagous to ANC/UNC. BSF (British Standard Fine) is the corresponding fine-pitch series, analagous to ANF/UNF. There are some special-purpose threads you might have come across, such as BSB (British Standard Brass) which is used for finer pitch on soft metals (26 tpi, regardless of diameter). BSP (BS Pipe) is used for some pipe fittings, and is confusing because the sizes refer to the internal diameters of the high-pressure pipes or glands it would be used for (so 1/4" BSP is a little over 1/2" diameter over the threads). To add insult to injury, there are two types: plain, and tapered. Then there are some ME (Model Engineeer) threads which are very fine pitch, in two standard series: 32 tpi, and 40 tpi. A few of these correspond to normal BSW/BSF/BSB threads, but apart from that, they're relatively rare. Rarer still is British Standard Cycle, a fine pitch thread with a 60 degree thread angle, mostly 26 tpi or 32 tpi (1/8" is 40 tpi, though). -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

24 years, 4 months

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"rubber" preservation

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> >This reminds me, these acoustic couplers may need some periodic > >maintenance, such as putting some talcum powder on the rubber pieces > >that hold the telephone handset. > > I've also seen it recommended for refrigerator door gaskets. > What talcum would do to protect rubberized plastic from > deteriorating is a mystery to me. Are we talking about > actual latex in any of these situations? I think not. > > I would guess these rubbers harden or goo-ify over time > due to something other than lack of talc, such as long-term > exposure to UV or ozone or absorption of volatiles from > other plastics. > > I have an old Anderson-Jacobsen 300 baud modem in a wooden > box that needs a new home, I think... The wooden ones are the original, 1st generation AJ's, IIRC... I have the second-generation plastic shell that assembles with an aluminum "waistband" and allenhead screws. The third generation used thinner plastic clamshells and no waistband, just some tapered Philips-head screws. The 3rd generation was also limited to 300 baud, while my 2nd generation could do 450 & 600 using the 300 standard (Bell 101?). -dq -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 4 months

3
2
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GEM-OS

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Gene Buckle [mailto:geneb@deltasoft.com] > > Atari is the major exception (in that TOS is actually based on > > CP/M... > Huh? AFAIK, TOS is the ROM code that was the Atari > equivalent to the PC > GEM AES (application environment services) as well as some > other low-level > support routines. Well, this comes from reading, and not from first hand experience, so I could bw wrong, as always. (Not that I'm always wrong, but I could be... ;) I thought that they were supposed to have used a good chunk of CP/M source in creating TOS, though. Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 4 months

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Someone need a copy of Jensen-Wirth?

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

A copy of the 2nd Ed just fell into my lap. LMK if anyone needs this. Jeff ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

24 years, 4 months

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2 IBM 5.25" external floppy drives available + mics old PC stuff

by gunther＠aurora.regenstrief.org

Hi cleaning out offices and found 2 IBM 5.25" floppy drives EXTERNAL says something like "type 4865" on the bottom and has some 50-ish pin male plug. Also an old AUI/BNC ethernet card and a 128 kB memory extension card. This is in Indianapolis. Let me know or by the end of the week this stuff is going to dumpster. -Gunther -- Gunther Schadow, M.D., Ph.D. gschadow(a)regenstrief.org Medical Information Scientist Regenstrief Institute for Health Care Adjunct Assistant Professor Indiana University School of Medicine tel:1(317)630-7960 http://aurora.regenstrief.org

24 years, 4 months

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Was: Re: WW fixtures (now hp67C)

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> At 09:59 AM 4/6/02 -0500, you wrote: > >+AD4- how many of you fell for the hp67c ? > > > >Is a link still available? > > > >John A. > > > http://www.hp.com:calculators-product-id=67cx@209.197.117.170/item/product2. htm Other than the fact that HP dumped the calculator line, and thus this had to be bogus, was there something particularly funny about it that I'm missing? -dq

24 years, 4 months

4
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GEM-OS

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Bryan Pope [mailto:bpope@wordstock.com] > Does the GEM TOS have any relationship to the GEM OS > that was available > for the PC? (Other then name) Indeed it does. GEM was DR's GUI that sort of "went with" CP/M, though, not many people that I know of really used them together. It was available for a few systems, though, I can't name them other than MS-DOS and Atari's STs right off. Atari is the major exception (in that TOS is actually based on CP/M... Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 4 months

2
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Fwd: FS: Sun Sparc 5's

by doc＠mdrconsult.com

I really don't know when the SS5 came out, so this may be OT. As usual, I have no connection with the seller, and don't know anything about him at all. Please reply directly to Micheal. Doc Newsgroups: austin.forsale Subject: FS: Sun Sparc 5's From: Michael <res006ft(a)gte.net> Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2002 14:39:52 GMT I have 20 Sparc 5's $40.00 each 110Mhz, floppy, cdrom, video and sound, 1g hdd, 32m ram. email me at mgldwng(a)aol.com. Shipping from Dallas will be between $15 and $20 dollars Michael

24 years, 4 months

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should I take RM03's ?

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk [mailto:ard@p850ug1.demon.co.uk] > I am interested in classic _hardware_. I'm really not interested in > running unix v.7 under a PDP11 emulator on a PC -- I can get much the > same prompt from native 80x86 linux. But I am interested in running a > real PDP11. Thanks, Tony. You've just managed to put my perspective on the whole thing into words, probably much more articulately than I would have at the time I read the original message. > And that means running the old drives too. They're part of the > 'experience'. As is having to align them, repair them, and so > on. If I > wanted a modern computer, I'd buy a modern computer, OK... That too... Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 4 months

1
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BA23 vs. BA123 vs. 42" cabinet?

by doc＠mdrconsult.com

Hi, all. I went last night and picked up (OK, dragged, while groaning) the MicroVAX Terry Murphy posted for rescue Thursday night. I'm fairly certain he hadn't ever used it, as the description was not terribly accurate. There was no DELQA, several of the cab kits aren't there, memory is only 16M, etc. Nice haul, anyway. The thing came in a 42" elephant-ear cabinet, which is in fair cosmetic shape, and without plugging it in, I'd guess good to excellent functional shape. Some QBus boards I can't ID, and the other goodies that came with, I'll post separately. So. I'm not enamored of the idea of running a 240VAC rack in my garage if not necessary. That leaves me with two other ideas. 1) The "drawers" are simply BA23 enclosures, right? Any reason I can't use the primary enclosure as a stand-alone unit? It's going to be running a minimal set of hardware: KA655 CPU Dataram 63016 16M RAM DMV11 (simply to occupy the last CD slot) DEQNA/DELQA (whichever I can scrounge cheapest, first) TQK50 (undecided) RQDX3 (with probably only the RX50 or an RX33 attached) That _is_ the right bus order, isn't it? Will either the power requirements or cooling be a problem? What if I decide to run the RD54 instead of the TK50? Is it OK to run the BA23 without skins, lying flat? And, if I want to run the second backplane and extra drives, can I just stack them? 2) I can put all the above in the BA123 lurking downstairs. But it seems a huge waste of space & power over the BA23. Plus, I don't have cooling vanes for the dual cards in the added CD slots, or enough D<mumble>11 boards to go around. Plus, the BA23 I can wedge into my office, but the BA123 would have to live in the garage. Advice, discussion, points I've missed, all welcome. Doc

24 years, 4 months

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Inter-Listmember Contact Difficulties

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

There are a number of denial-of-service attacks under way on ther Internet all the time, but we're in a wave of heavy attacks right now. Once by one, DNS servers are getting hijacked, and as a result, domains are evaporating into the ether. Sometimes, one person can get through to another for a while because their domain remains cached somewhere along the route. But eventually, you get cut off. When it happend to us last week, our ISP tracked down the hijacking machine, which itself had been hijacked, and managed to well, it has a cold, shall we say? Nice to have an ISP with good Kung Fu... ;) In the meantime, list members might volunteer to get word through to some member that some other particular member might not be able to reach. And there are these things called telephones, too... -dq -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 4 months

8
9
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need the use of a scanner with sheet feeder (near Seattle if possible)

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> > > I don't see any taint on mine -- all the holes look the same > > > shape to me. Can you give example titles? Perhaps they changed > > > their methods after a certain date. > > > > http://members.iglou.com/dougq/cdc/6000front.jpg > > > > Should be obvious over on the left, center... > > Mine doesn't have an enlarged hole like that -- as I said, > all the holes are the same size. > > Is there an extra thickness of paper (like those hole reinforcers > you can buy) or is the "margin" on the inner edge of the hole > just too thin to be sheet-fed? Too thin. Intuitively, I thought I'd get better results (fewer rips) by feeding the opposite edge into the gripper. But more taint tore that way than when fed in hole-edge first. And in the old days, I did repair pages using the hole reinforcers (back before they were self-adhesive and thinner than they are now), and the result is that the manual takes up twise as much space in the binder. No, I want to meet the genius who invented this binding system. Like GBC but not GBC. I also would like to find a connection for the yellow construction-paper (not really but that's close) that CDC used for the 70s era covers. Some mill in Minneapolis must have a ton of it laying around... -dq -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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Doug Yowza?

by bill_r＠inetnebr.com

Anyone know what became of Doug Yowza who used to be on this list? -Bill Richman (bill_r(a)inetnebr.com) Web Page: http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r Home of the COSMAC Elf Microcomputer Simulator, Fun with Molten Metal, Orphaned Robots, and Technological Oddities.

24 years, 4 months

5
6
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Ancient Ampex core memory board

by borisg＠unixg.ubc.ca

Hi: During a search I did tonight trying to locate info on a core-memory module, I kept running into references to this list, so I thought I'd joing. I've been going through some of my ancient electronics stuff and just came across a 42*100 bit Ampex core memory module. This module has P/N 3255780-01 S/N FA 2655 04570061. It consists of 2 boards fastened together with screws and spacers with the core plane sitting on the lower board under a plexiglass cover. It appears to be made up of 2 separate core planes of 42*50 bits. The board is 5.5 * 5.5 inches by 9/16" deep. The edge connectors are broken off, for their gold plating I suspect. I have a faint memory of picking up this board around 1976 in a computer surplus store. I've separated it into two boards (connections between the two boards are made by 12 wires soldered to the boards) and scanned it and these jpegs are available if anyone needs them to help out. I was wondering if anyone had any information of where I can find more information about this core-memory module. I haven't been able to find out anything about the IC's which populate this board (TI AAAL4 and Fairchild AAVA1) and even info on what these IC's are would be usefull as the board appears to be a simple 2 layer circuit board with very wide (compared to modern boards) traces that are trivial to convert to a schematic by using the scans of the two sides of each board. It would be neat to get this board up and running someday, and hopefully someone on this list has the info. Regards, Boris Gimbarzevsky

24 years, 4 months

1
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Of Mud and Virgins

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 8, Jeffrey Sharp wrote: > That last prophecy has fulfilled itself! I visited Owen Robertson while in > FW, and we powered up his 11/34. He showed me a few things -- how to load > RL01 packs, where the power switch was, etc. -- and we proceeded to play > with the machine. There are problems with the RSX-11M pack he has, so I > loaded up an XXDP+ pack. After printing and reading the help file, I > experimented and was able (after some trial and error) to -- drum roll, > please -- load UPD2 and create another bootable pack with XXDP+ on it! Kick ass!! :-) > It's too bad we didn't do this a week sooner. The scrappers had just > finished destroying what was a very nice PDP-11/60. I at least found and > took the unit numbers from the RK07 and RP0x drive. I weep for the PDP-11/60. I take it you "educated" said scrappers, and left them your number? -Dave -- Dave McGuire "I thought it would go quickly, St. Petersburg, FL that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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Teleterminal "Fly Reader 232" Switch settings needed

by bill_r＠inetnebr.com

Does anyone happen to have the switch settings for a "Teleterminal FlyReader 232" tape reader? The one I have works at 1200-N-8-1, but I'd like to know if I can set it to 9600 so it's the same speed as the other serial stuff I've got hooked up to my IMSAI. -Bill Richman (bill_r(a)inetnebr.com) Web Page: http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r Home of the COSMAC Elf Microcomputer Simulator, Fun with Molten Metal, Orphaned Robots, and Technological Oddities.

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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Lisa 2 Video Problem

by Lee.Davison＠merlincommunications.com

>From the pic I'd put my money on the monitor PSU mains smothing cap being o/c. Lee. > Has anyone ever repaired a Lisa 2 with the following symptoms: A > distorted video image on the upper 1/3 of the screen? I'm the high > bidder on a Lisa 2 on ebay > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- This email is intended only for the above named addressee(s). The information contained in this email may contain information which is confidential. The views expressed in this email are personal to the sender and do not in any way reflect the views of the company. If you have received this email and you are not a named addressee please delete it from your system and contact Merlin Communications International IT Department on +44 20 7344 5888. ________________________________________________________________________ This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet. The service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit: http://www.star.net.uk ________________________________________________________________________

24 years, 4 months

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need the use of a scanner with sheet feeder (near Seattle if possible)

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> > Does anyone have one? I have borrowed two large manuals. > I'd like to scan them, as opposed to photocopying, but > it would have to be quick and reliable (so I can get > good results the first time and return the manuals > in good shape). I don't know what Al does, but CDC manuals have "taint", a small piece of paper that forms the outside edge of that center, long-oval-shaped hole. The taint gets torn by sheet feeders... so if you want to return them in the same condition as you borrwed them, I'd have to recommend against the sheet feeder. :(

24 years, 4 months

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Need help with Jumpering Imsai SIO board

by caprio＠dcms.com

I have an Imsai SIO Rev 3 serial card. I have the docs but the last section of the manual may be missing. I've read the section on how to set the two jumpers for the baord address but I'm having trouble translating. Could someone who knows this subject please help me to figure out the address of this SIO card? Jumps on the baord are set like this: C7 (port Select 1) 1 16 2 ---- 15 3 14 4 ---- 13 5 12 6 ---- 11 7 ---- 10 8 9 D6 (port Select 0) 1 16 2 15 3 16 4 13 5 ---- 12 6 11 7 10 8 ---- 9 Here is the s-ction out of the manual: C7 A7 --+---------- 1 16 ------+---------| |___|>o--- 2 15 ______| | A6 --+---------- 3 14 ------+---------| |___|>o--- 4 13 ______| | A5 --+---------- 5 12 ------+---------| |___|>o--- 6 11 ______| | A4 --+---------- 7 10 ------+---------| |___|>o--- 8 9 ______| |---) | )o------- --- 1 16 ------+---------|---) --- 2 15 ______| | --- 3 14 ------+---------| --- 4 13 ______| | I/O --- 5 12 ------+---------| MM --- 6 11 ______| | MM --- 7 10 ------+---------| I/O --- 8 9 ______| | D6 OK, so I know that A7=0, A6=0, A5=0 and A4=1, It's not Memmory mapped IO so jumpers go on pins 5 and 6. So where are A3-A0, on D6?. I think the address is: A7 0 A6 0 A5 0 A4 1 A3? 0 A2? 0 A1? 1 A0? 1 and the answer is 013H ???? "The board address is selected by jumpers or a DIP switch in locattion C7 and D6. There are two cases for which this board may be jumpered: 1) to respond to Input/output instructions and 2) to respond to memory access instructions. The case of input/output instructions will be treated first. In selection location D6 pins 8 and 9 must be jumpered together and pins 5 and 12 must be jumbered together. The user must jumper socket C7 so when the desired I/O Port address appeas on the address lines, the inputs to the NAND gate from bits A4 through a7 are high. If, for instance, address bit 6 is desired to be a 0 when the board responds, then pins 4 and and 13 would be jumpered together. If address bit A6 was desired to be 1, then either pins 3 and 14 may be jumpered together or 3 and 13 may be jumpered together, since 13 and 14 are tied to the common address selection input. It is suggested, however, that when jumpers are being used, pins 3 and 13 be connected together to provide a easy visual indication of whether the address bit is a 1 or 0 since that will correspond to whether jumpers are slanted or straight across the jumper socket." ... Thanks for the help.

24 years, 4 months

2
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Need Micro/RSX and PDP-11/53 help

by doc＠mdrconsult.com

Continuing saga of Friday nights haul: When I emailed Terry that I'd pick up the MicroVAX, and we made the arrangements, he told me, "By the way, as long as you haul off that rack, you're welcome to take the PDP-11 and the PDP-8." Naturally, I made that further concession.... The PDP-8/A is in pretty sorry shape, at first glance. It's on hold till I have time to go over it and figure out what's there and what it needs. Probably a couple of weeks. Anyway. the 11/53 is in good shape, inspected, cleaned, and back together. It has Micro/RSX installed on DU0, and not only is it Greek to me, but I've been Googling for 3 hours, and haven't found a coherent description or command reference. Moreover, I don't see any software at all available to run on Micro/RSX. Are RSX-11 utilities binary-compatible? Any suggestions as to a next step? Pointers at the Micro/RSX Users' Group would be handy. Doc

24 years, 4 months

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need the use of a scanner with sheet feeder (near Seattle if possible)

by dpeschel＠eskimo.com

Does anyone have one? I have borrowed two large manuals. I'd like to scan them, as opposed to photocopying, but it would have to be quick and reliable (so I can get good results the first time and return the manuals in good shape). Thanks, -- Derek

24 years, 4 months

2
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Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by mythtech＠mac.com

> Well, I guess "confiscated" was the wrong term. My checked baggage > was checked, my ride dropped me and left, and my only option was to > leave it there or leave with it. So if Jim hadn't been on shift, I'd > have probably lost my light. > It _felt_ like confiscation, and I _was_ upset. The airport in New Orleans confiscated (yes, took away and kept, never to return) a mini stapler my father had in his laptop bag. This is one of those staplers that is about an inch long, holds 20 staples of that super mini, can't staple thru more than two sheets of paper, size. This was back in November, so everyone was a bit more paranoid. But he showed them it was just a stapler... and they still took it away as a "weapon". I would LOVE to see that happen.... take me to Cuba or I'll fail to break your skin with my mini shards of metal, in my lethal squeeze powered dispenser! Don't make me empty this thing onto my shoe... I'll do it... I'm just crazy enough! And if that doesn't scare you... I'll beat you with this airline pillow! Hell, you could do more damage by sitting in the exit row, and pulling the shiny red handle on the wall. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

24 years, 4 months

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Fw: Route 128 book

by geoff＠pkworks.com

This afternoon, while copying IBM 1620 manuals for Al Kossow's Bitsavers Project, I met Mr. Alan Earls. He is writing a book on Rt 128, as he explains below, and is looking for information. I have invited him to visit both the Rhode Island Computer Museum ( www.osfn.org/ricm ) and the RetroComputing Society of Rhode Island ( www.osfn.org/rcs ), and promised to forward his request for information to friends and colleagues. If you can help the fellow, either directly or by reference, please contact him. Clearly, any tech history writer looking for information on Clevite has done his homework! -----Original Message----- From: Alan Earls <alanearls(a)attbi.com> To: geoff(a)pkworks.com <geoff(a)pkworks.com> Date: Saturday, April 06, 2002 4:48 PM Subject: RE: Route 128 book Geoff, Nice to meet you and chat about "oldies" (Mailboxes, Etc. in Franklin). As I mentioned I'm finishing up (by May 1) a photo/history book about Route 128 and environs in Mass. from roughly the end of WW2 until the early 90s. This isn't a scholarly effort. Rather it is an attempt to provide a popular book that will capture representative images of the "dawn" of high tech -- the post war years with the expanded defense budgets and new electronic technology --- through to the recent past. I'm still trying to locate photos of people, places, and things associated with DG, Prime, Wang and many other companies. I would also love photos from the Multics project at MIT and some photos of the early area semiconductor companies: Clevite, Sylvania, Transitron, etc. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Alan Earls 508 528 6930 PLEASE NOTE: Effective immediately, my email address is alanearls(a)attbi.com. Please be sure you update your files. Mail addressed to my "mediaone" address will no longer be delivered after Mar. 15, 2002.

24 years, 4 months

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Lisa 2 Video Problem

by jrice＠texoma.net

Has anyone ever repaired a Lisa 2 with the following symptoms: A distorted video image on the upper 1/3 of the screen? I'm the high bidder on a Lisa 2 on ebay url: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2013387255&r=0&t=0&showT… If you look at the screen shots, the video screen is distorted very similar to what my compact macs do with cold solder joints on the analog board. I figure that it's either a similar problem, dirty contacts or bad caps on the board. Just wondering if anyone has seen similar symptoms. I think I can get a Lisa video board from a friend in DFW who has a cache of Lisa's in storage. The guy's Apple collection is awesome. He has several of absolutely every product Apple ever made including a lot of prototype stuff that was never publicly released. I usually don't attempt board level repair, but for a Lisa, I'll make an exception. I thought Tony might have done one before. Have you ever seen this one before Tony? I think a Lisa would fit in perfectly with my NeXT's, Sun's, Indy and BeBox. Thanks, James You mean you're supposed to read the manual first?

24 years, 4 months

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ClassicCmp Transportation

by jismay＠gkar.unixboxen.net

It's not great as far as hauling large items, but I have a '66 Mustang that has proven excellent for hauling incredibly vast quantities of smaller stuff. Even a rackmount SUN 3/280 on the from seat. An On Topic to boot... -- Love of the Goddess makes the poet go mad he goes to his death and in death is made wise. Robert Graves

24 years, 4 months

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2016 (was: ZX81 and 6116)

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

> From: Hans Franke <Hans.Franke(a)mch20.sbs.de> > If you got some 2016s laying around, I'd be more than willing > to frre you of this burden. I would send a few of them to you, but wouldn't it be cheaper for you to buy them locally? > You realy think I'd dump any computer stuff ? Hey, if you would steal the RAM from a ZX81, who knows what you might do ;>) Glen 0/0

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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Palm Pilot & DEC Module List?

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

I seem to recall that a couple years ago someone converted the "Field Guide" to something that could be read on a Palm Pilot. Am I remembering correctly, and does anyone have a copy? I just got a Sony T615C, and one of the must have items for it is going to be the Field Guide! Zane -- | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator | | healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast | | | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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recreating the PDP-11

by pat＠cart-server.purdueriots.com

In a project I'm thinking about starting this summer, I want to try and re-create a PDP-11 (or maybe a -8 or something) using either SSI logic and/or PAL/GALs. I would like to do the entire thing in SSI, but I fear that I'd quickly eat up a lot of money on the project, so where necessary I'd replace sections with PALs. Anyone have any good ideas? About what I'm doing: Trying to replicate an 'old-computer feel' for a mock airport that a friend of mine is thinking about making. I'll have a good amount of time to work on designing it before I start laying down copper on a circuit board. I'd like to make something that 1) looks authentically old and 2) has a design I can (semi-legally, not for resale) copy so I don't have to do all the re-design work myself. I've considered just using a plain-old Apple //e that I have, but that wouldn't be 'old enough' looking I was thinking. It'll need to have a good amount of I/O, and be easy enough that I can actually build it and understand how to program it without much effort. By that way, I don't care about using 'standard OS's' or 'standard hardware' too much, I just want to put together a system with a CPU, serial port, and some sort of floppy drive interface (I prefer 5-1/4 disks at some PC readable format) it can boot off of - or perhaps an IDE interface as that would be easy to program a 'driver' for (or so I'm told). Does anyone have any suggestions for what I should try to build? Eg. what model PDP-11 cpu card, what prints I should get to try and assemble a basic working system, etc. Should I try something else? I would like to go a bit overboard, the look is a part of the thing, but I don't want to screw with finding things like QBUS drivers, and don't think I'll want to bother with a 'traditional mini-computer bus' if I don't need to. This is what I have so far: 1) CPU card 2) Memory - SRAM 3) Front-panel switches 4) Console serial port 5) A few digital I/O ports 6) Floppy interface (anyone suggest an easy to interface controller?) 7) IDE controller -- Pat

24 years, 4 months

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FREE STUFF in Austin, TX

by mrbill＠mrbill.net

Still got a pile of FREE STUFF in Austin, TX. People have emailed saying they're interested, then drop off the face of the earth. Please dont contact me unless you are serious about picking any of these up. See pictures at http://www.mrbill.net/~mrbill/freestuff The GRiD laptops are taken, the DELNI and Sun VME boards are still available. List of the boards: 501 1767 - 4/6x0 memory board 501 1855 - IPI controller (x4) 501 1221 - Comm Processor II 501 1203 - ALM-2 501 1217 - SCSI controller (3row DB50) (x2) And these non-Sun-branded boards; ED5P182-30/G1 - FDDI ED5P182-32/G1 SUN DKHS - FDDI (x2) pics at http://www.mrbill.net/~mrbill/fddi/ Bill -- Bill Bradford mrbill(a)mrbill.net Austin, TX

24 years, 4 months

1
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ADM3a Keyboard Photo Needed

by bill_r＠inetnebr.com

Just dusted off an ADM3a, and it's intact except for a key centered between the arrow keys on the right-hand side, which is missing the top. I'm also not certain that all of the other keys are in the right positions. Can someone take a couple of close-up digital photos of the keyboard and e-mail them to me? Or maybe scan a manual page that shows the keyboard layout? I may try to modify a spare PC keyboard keytop to replace the missing one, if the colors are close (or I can paint it to match). Thanks! -Bill Richman (bill_r(a)inetnebr.com) Web Page: http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r Home of the COSMAC Elf Microcomputer Simulator, Fun with Molten Metal, Orphaned Robots, and Technological Oddities.

24 years, 4 months

3
3
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SIMTEL 8051 Archive Stuff Redux

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

Well, A few weeks ago, I mentioned I'd archived the 8051 stuff >from the SIMTEL archive. As it turns out, the QIC-80 tape they're on must have stretched, and I only wrote one set of that stuff. I thought I had it on the hard drive, but all that was left was: ML-ASM51 Metalink 8051 Macro Assembler BASIC-52 BASIC-52 source BASIC31 (BASIC52 adapted for 8031) DIS8051F 8051 disassembler DISASM51 another one 8051-FAQ.TXT what it says 00FILES yada 00README yada 8051STUF.LOG FTP directory of what was there CLOCK.ASM clock program I may have floppies with the stuff, so I'll keep looking... -dq -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 4 months

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22
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teal indigo 2 r10k/impact?

by jon＠slurpee.org

the answer is yes, the question is how or why? :) I picked one up out of a stack of indigo 2's thinking that someone was just being funny sticking r10k badges on the teal box, but it actually is! I was under the impression that this machine wasnt made. Let me know if you know otherwise, I'll have more info whenever I boot it up and hook it up to a monitor. It has a floptical drive too! ;) I still have that chrp prototype machine from motorola if anyone is interested. Thanks, jon

24 years, 4 months

2
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Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) <cisin(a)xenosoft.com> >On Sat, 6 Apr 2002, Tony Duell wrote: >> I've never seen really fine ACME threads, but I guess they could exist. > >How about in the focusing mechanism in some lens mounts? Leadscrews used for floppies. Transverse drives as in the ARC-5 tuning assembly. Feed screws used for linear positioners. just a few I've used... Allison

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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Computers Manufactured in 1986 (UnixPC)

by mtapley＠swri.edu

>Thanks to the assistance of a fellow lister >(hi Mark!) I finally have one now, which I will keep forever. > > -Dave Hi Dave! Putting people together with computers they love just (snif!) makes me feel all gushy inside ... but I in turn have to pass the thanks in this case on to William Fulmor, without whom I'd know nothing about UnixPC's, and who is responsible for my having access to any at all. And more generally to many other listmembers (Hi Tony, Jeff, Zane, Claude, William W, Eric, MrBill, Doc, Don, Megan, Terry, and others I've reprehensibly left out ....) who have given me invaluable assistance in the past. This is a truly great community to be part of. BTW, for those with whom I've dropped conversations right in the middle concerning my Stylewriter, apologies. Work has gotten unusually time-consuming for a while and the Stylewriter is still sitting right where it was, waiting for me to get back to it. I'll get there eventually, but it'll be a while more. - Mark

24 years, 4 months

1
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Aviv TFC-925 to trade, maybe

by doc＠mdrconsult.com

The previously-mentioned VAX came with this board. AW-20-859-2 TFC-925 QBUS/GCR Tape Controller Much to my disappointment, it seems to be a 9-track tape controller instead of a SCSI interface. No cables, just the board. If anybody has more detailed info, I'd like to know. If it's really not a SCSI controller, I don't plan to have a 9-track anytime soon. I'll entertain offers to trade for it. Doc

24 years, 4 months

1
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recreating the PDP-11

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 6, Ben Franchuk wrote: > The PDP-11 is way too complex for SSI logic. DEC did it. :) -Dave -- Dave McGuire "I thought it would go quickly, St. Petersburg, FL that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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7 Track Tapes...

by jimw＠agora.rdrop.com

Zane commented... >> >I'm a little shocked to hear he (Paul Pierce) can read 7-Track tapes >> >though. >> >> Why shocked? Paul has some really cool gear! > >I'd heard being able to read 7-Track's was a lost art. But isn't that what we're all about? Preservation of the 'lost arts'? ;^} -jim --- jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw When's the last time you decompiled Z-80 code? For me it was last week!

24 years, 4 months

1
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should I take RM03's ?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 6, The Wanderer wrote: > > I thought the only big difference between the RM02 and the RM03 was > > the spindle speed, though. > > Not entirely according to my copy of the systems & options summary > guide. > The RM02 canbe used with any PDP except the 11/70, while the RM03 is > only for the 11/70, as it has a massbus interface. Wait a minute...ALL RM02/03/05 drives are massbus. It is my (old and possibly erroneous) understanding that the RM03 was sold with the 11/70 in particular because it had a faster spindle speed, and as such, transferred data more quickly. What, specifically, does that Systmes & Options guide say about these drives? -Dave -- Dave McGuire "I thought it would go quickly, St. Petersburg, FL that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

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Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Apr 5, 19:54, Merle K. Peirce wrote: > Peter, could you address how Acme threads fit into these schemes? I > should expect that they are always relatively coarse. In a sense, they don't. They're not normally used for fasteners, which is what the others are for (arguably with the exception of BSP) :-) Yes, they're usually fairly coarse, and used for things like leadscrews on machine tools and vise jaws. For leadscrews, they're usually made to some specific pitch that equates to some nice decimal number of turns per inch, or millimetres per turn. They're also unusual in having large flats on both the crests and troughs (most other threads are rounded on one or the other); in fact they're almost square -- the thread depth is 0.5 x the pitch, and the walls slope at only 14.5 degrees, so the included angle is 29 degree, much less than most threads which are typically either 55 or 60 degrees. And the clearance between screw and nut is very small, typically 0.001". -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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Amish Virus

by DAW＠yalepress3.unipress.yale.edu

> From: Richard Erlacher > > You guys have too much free time ... and the grammar and syntax in this > thing > are all screwed up. "Thou" requires "hast" rather than "have." Thine = > yours. Thy = your. > > Dick > > > Joe wrote: > > > > > > > > > AMISH VIRUS: > > > > > > Thou have just received the Amish Virus. > > > Since we do not have electricity nor computers, > > > thou art on the honor system. Please delete all > > > of thine files. > > > > > > Thank thee. > So, it should read... "... Thou hast just received the Amish Virus. Since we do not have electricity nor computers, thou art on the honor system. Please delete all of thy files. Thank thee. --- David A Woyciesjes --- C & IS Support Specialist --- Yale University Press --- mailto:david.woyciesjes@yale.edu --- (203) 432-0953 --- ICQ # - 905818 Mac OS X 10.1.2 - Darwin Kernel Version 5.2: Fri Dec 7 21:39:35 PST 2001 Running since 01/22/2002 without a crash

24 years, 4 months

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should I take RM03's ?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 5, Ethan Dicks wrote: > > A.K.A. CDC 9762 with a Massbus<->SMD adapter in the bottom.... > > Sort of. I worked for a DEC reseller in the summer of 1998. He > picked up a couple of RM03s cheap and wanted to hook them to one > of our PDP-11s through some Emulex or similar SMD interface. The > idea was to pull the cables out of the adapter, run them into the > Emulex card, and turn an RM03 back into a 9762. > > The quick answer was we were unable to make it work. We even borrowed > some cards from a real 9762 and swapped them into the card cage in the > RM03 (the one near the positioner magnet). It didn't help. > > DEC must have made some change outside of ECOs to the cards that > made the drive only work with their Massbus converter. Weird...I dunno about the RM03, but I ran an RM02 on a Dataram Qbus SMD controller (I don't recall the model number) many years ago in an 11/73. It worked fine. I thought the only big difference between the RM02 and the RM03 was the spindle speed, though. -Dave -- Dave McGuire "I thought it would go quickly, St. Petersburg, FL that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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can anyone read some punch cards?

by uban＠ubanproductions.com

I have a friend who has a few decks of punch cards that he would like to read. Does anyone have this capability who is willing to do it? Thanks in advance... --tom

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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Ultrix root password

by broth＠heathers.stdio.com

I snagged a PDP11/53 and Two MicroVAX II's today at the salvage yard. $5 a piece. Doesn't happen very often but feels good when it does. The MV's have Ultrix on them and boot fine BUT..... Is there an easy way to bust the root password for Ultrix on the console? Thanks, Brian.

24 years, 4 months

5
8
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can anyone read some punch cards?

by aek＠spies.com

> I'd heard being able to read 7-Track's was a lost art. The problem is finding a drive with a 7 track head. The stuff has been out of production for 30 years and people stopped making 7 track head stacks a LONG time ago. I've been looking for one for a couple of years now. Heck, I'd be happy just to find a 7 track head stack.. I'm still kicking myself for missing the 7-track TU10 that was on eBay a couple years ago.

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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DEC swap meet?(RE: Off Topic? PDP 11 1134/1145's)

by DAW＠yalepress3.unipress.yale.edu

(cc'd to ClassicCmp list, I'm sure there's interest there...) > From: Brian Hechinger > > On Tue, Apr 02, 2002 at 12:26:23PM -0800, Lyle Bickley wrote: > > All, > > > > May I make another suggestion? A bunch of us here in the Silicon Valley > are > > fans of old DEC equipment. We get 'em and restore 'em. Some favor PDPs > (one > > guy even has two DEC 10's), some favor the smaller 11's and others of us > like > > old VAXes. At any rate, we meet once a month for lunch and swap > stories, > > tell what stuff we've picked up, etc. All of us are willing to trade > > equipment or donate books and equipment to each other. We studiously > avoid > > EBAY. > > so who's on the east coast that would like to do this? i'm in philly, and > i > know isildur is in pittsburg. don't know where we would want to meet > though, > since some people would have to travel far for that. thoughts? ideas? > -- > I'd be up for it. A flea-market swap-meet kinda thing, right? Maybe we can get something going up here in New Haven, CT? --- David A Woyciesjes --- C & IS Support Specialist --- Yale University Press --- mailto:david.woyciesjes@yale.edu --- (203) 432-0953 --- ICQ # - 905818 Mac OS X 10.1.2 - Darwin Kernel Version 5.2: Fri Dec 7 21:39:35 PST 2001 Running since 01/22/2002 without a crash

24 years, 4 months

7
7
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Special debugging techniques (was RE: Shoddy Hardware)

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 2, Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) wrote: > Doesn't anybody use a rubber chicken anymore? Sure, but not for debugging. -Dave -- Dave McGuire "I thought it would go quickly, St. Petersburg, FL that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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[OT] Dave McGuire...

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 5, Robert Schaefer wrote: > Haven't heard from you or Brian-- do you need me to pick up that IBM? Let > me know. Been hacking on a time-dependent project and on a weird sleep schedule, sorry man...will reply to your other email in a moment. -Dave -- Dave McGuire "I thought it would go quickly, St. Petersburg, FL that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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[OT] Dave McGuire...

by rschaefe＠gcfn.org

Haven't heard from you or Brian-- do you need me to pick up that IBM? Let me know. Bob

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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Computers Manufactured in 1986^H^H56

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> > > From: Ben Franchuk [mailto:bfranchuk@jetnet.ab.ca] > > > > > Now do you one with or with out TUBES? > > > Looking a list here http://members.iinet.net.au/~dgreen/timeline.html > > 1956 was a great year for TUBE computers. > > 1960 was a great year Transistor computers. ( Hmm I could get a PDP-1 ) > > I suppose to commemorate my birth, I'll need to get an S-100 box > of some sort, or possibly: > "DECStation" > PDP-11/60A > VAX-11/780 (...but what would I run on it? It would have to be > RSTS/E, since VMS 1.0 hadn't been released, probably.) I was looking at VMS manuals sometime in 1978... we were evaluating the HP3000, Prime 550, VAX 11/780, and DG Eclipse (Campus Computer Usage Committee). Prime one. Well, for a birthyear computer, anyone know where I can find a slightly-used IBM 709? I used to have the IBM 711 Card Reader and 716 Line Printer... <sob!> -dq

24 years, 4 months

13
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can anyone read some punch cards?

by jimw＠agora.rdrop.com

Somewhat recently, Zane Healy replied: >>> I have a friend who has a few decks of punch cards that he would >>> like to read. Does anyone have this capability who is willing to >>> do it? >> >>I don't think he's subbed to the list, but if Paul Pierce >>can read 7-track tapes (he can), I'm betting he can read >>unit records, too: >> >>http://www.piercefuller.com/collect > >I know Jim Willing could before he moved to Kansas. What? Did I fall off the earth? <G> Yes, I can still read card decks. >Paul Pierce >definitly has card readers, but I don't know if he's setup to read decks, >I assume he is. I'm a little shocked to hear he can read 7-Track tapes >though. Why shocked? Paul has some really cool gear! >I've got a reader, I just don't have an interface. > > Zane -jim --- jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw

24 years, 4 months

3
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ClassicCmp Transportation

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> All this car talk keeps reminding me I need to fix my truck so I can > haul old computers and stuff. 77' Dodge with a 318, worn cam bushings, > maybe bent camshaft. Timing jumps all over the place, even with new > distributor, chain, and gears. Bottom end is tight, and compression is > good, but I think I'll go through it completely anyway. Good segue back on topic... What's the least expensive, semi-reliable transportation for hauling Classic Computers? What I mean is, something that might be a tad flaky starting up, but once running, is unlikely to suffer mechanical failure in places where your license plates might as well be >from a foreign country? Clearly, my Audi 80 sedan is useless except for the occasional Apple //e or somesuch teeney weeney computers. I used to have a 64 Chevy pickup, should still have it. Is such transport possible for circa US$750.00? -dq -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 4 months

4
3
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"New" PDP-8

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

On Sat, 30 Mar 2002 15:06:04 -0500 Dave McGuire <mcguire(a)neurotica.com> writes: > On March 30, Loboyko Steve wrote: > > Well, no, it isn't. Because the cost of getting a PCB > > made is less than the cost of a good electronics > > technician, I think it started to die in the late > > 80's. And, of course, its practically impossible to WW > > BGA chips, etc. > > Not commonly used, or not the "latest greatest thing"? I know of > several small outfits that do lots of wire-wrapping. And I mean > *lots*. Well yes, as a matter of fact, there are still many applications where WW is really the best way to go. As a good example, bed-of- nails test fixtures are typically wirewrapped. At the last company where I was employed, I watched a re-work girl wire up such a fixture (maybe 300 points or so) *BY HAND*, using a manual wirewrap tool. I brought in my squeeze-to-wrap wirewrap tool, and showed her how to use it. This pleased her quite a bit (not to mention her supervisor). For 500 connections or more, I'd a brung in my electric wirewrap GUN. Jeff ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

24 years, 4 months

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Free for shipping costs: 2 Localtalk ISA cards

by pcw＠mesanet.com

Brand new (brand old?) in box w/software 2 Farallon ISA bus local talk cards (1990) They have (If the picture on the box is correct) 1 6502 1 Z8530 1 8kx8 RAM 1 ROM in socket + ISA bus interface and Appletalk diff drv/rec Peter Wallace

24 years, 4 months

1
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ClassicCmp Transportation

by DAW＠yalepress3.unipress.yale.edu

> From: Douglas H. Quebbeman > > What's the least expensive, semi-reliable transportation for > hauling Classic Computers? > > What I mean is, something that might be a tad flaky starting > up, but once running, is unlikely to suffer mechanical > failure in places where your license plates might as well be > from a foreign country? > > Clearly, my Audi 80 sedan is useless except for the occasional > Apple //e or somesuch teeney weeney computers. > > I used to have a 64 Chevy pickup, should still have it. > > Is such transport possible for circa US$750.00? > > -dq > -- I would say a decent cheap transport would be any older 2 wheel drive Chevy pick-up. Either the S-10 or full-size C-10 (hint: the C series is 2WD The K's are 4WD). They're a dime a dozen, and well built too. You should be able to find at least 12 of each in any decent size vehicle bone-yard. Not to mention the fact that you can get cheap lumber to build a rack body for the back if you need to... --- David A Woyciesjes --- C & IS Support Specialist --- Yale University Press --- mailto:david.woyciesjes@yale.edu --- (203) 432-0953 --- ICQ # - 905818 Mac OS X 10.1.2 - Darwin Kernel Version 5.2: Fri Dec 7 21:39:35 PST 2001 Running since 01/22/2002 without a crash

24 years, 4 months

1
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have Rl01, want RK05

by lemay＠cs.umn.edu

Subject sums it up. I have a RL01 drive, I need a RK05 drive, and I dont have space for both. If anyone plans on being in the Minneapolis region someday and wants to make a swap, just let me know. -Lawrence LeMay lemay(a)cs.umn.edu

24 years, 4 months

1
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PS/2 - E

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Feldman, Robert [mailto:Robert_Feldman@jdedwards.com] > This all depends on which model Poqet you have. The > information on Brian's > site applies to the first two models, the "Classic" (PQ-0164) and the > "Prime" (PQ-0181). The last model, the "Plus", _can_ use > SanDisk Flash cards > up to at least 110MB. See > http://www.olagrande.net/~webguy/service/poqet.html#Useful. > It can also > handle certain PCMCIA modems, which the Classic and Prime cannot. Right. Mine is a "Classic." Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 4 months

1
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can anyone read some punch cards?

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> I have a friend who has a few decks of punch cards that he would > like to read. Does anyone have this capability who is willing to > do it? I don't think he's subbed to the list, but if Paul Pierce can read 7-track tapes (he can), I'm betting he can read unit records, too: http://www.piercefuller.com/collect hth, -dq -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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PS/2 - E

by Robert_Feldman＠jdedwards.com

This all depends on which model Poqet you have. The information on Brian's site applies to the first two models, the "Classic" (PQ-0164) and the "Prime" (PQ-0181). The last model, the "Plus", _can_ use SanDisk Flash cards up to at least 110MB. See http://www.olagrande.net/~webguy/service/poqet.html#Useful. It can also handle certain PCMCIA modems, which the Classic and Prime cannot. Bob -----Original Message----- From: Christopher Smith [mailto:csmith@amdocs.com] Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 1:37 PM To: 'classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org' Subject: RE: PS/2 - E > -----Original Message----- > From: Ethan Dicks [mailto:erd_6502@yahoo.com] > > > Specifically, to actually use this thing, I'll want an > > > ethernet adaptor (10Mb), and probably some linear flash. > Linear FLASH? You mean unlike the ATA cards for cameras? The two > kinds of PCMCIA memory cards I'm aware of have two completely > different Now you've made me go and look it up ;) >From the Poqet PC FAQ: http://bmason.best.vwh.net/PoqetPC/faq.html What kind of Flash cards can I used in the Poqet PC? There are two kinds of flash cards. The Poqet PC can read from, but not write to, "linear" flash cards (sometimes called "Intel" flash) cards. These flash cards must be formatted and programmed with the "pseudo-floppy" format on another computer, and then they function as ROM disks in the Poqet PC. "SanDisk" flash cards, named after the company that produces them (SanDisk corporation was known as "SunDisk" until mid 1995), are commonly available for other palmtop computers like the HP 95/100/ 200LX. SanDisk flash cards cannot be used in the Poqet PC. ------ In other words, yes... "linear" flash. :) <snip>

24 years, 4 months

1
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OT, but what a relief

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> I know a couple of girls whose daddy once took his TV out on the front > lawn and commenced to blast it to smithereens with one a them thar evul > shotguns. Concerned neighbors called the law. When they arrived, he > declaimed, "It's my damned TV and I can do what I want with it in my own > god-damned $@!%# yard!" Since there was no law prohibiting discharge of > fireams in that town at that time, there wasn't much they felt inclined > to do about it. My freshman year in college, I took a double-bladed axe to a 1971 Vega that failed to get me to what might have been the date of dates... it had developed a case of milkshake lubrication (i.e. water leaked into oil)... this after putting a new head gasket on it. Clarksville still lacks am axe ordinance... ;) -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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Cromemco Docs

by doc＠mdrconsult.com

No, I didn't find a Cromemco. I did find, in a box of stuff that I thought was all Fortune 32:16 stuff, a loose-leaf binder with 200-300 pages of Cromemco documentation. It says on the flyleaf: This manual was produced on a Cromemco model 3355 printer Using the Cromemco Word Processing System, There is: Cromemco Fortran IV Instruction Manual - copyright 1977, 1979 Part 1 Fortran Reference Manual Part 2 Fortran User's Manual Cromemco Macro Assembler Manual Cromemco Macro Assembler Manual Addendum - dated January 1980 It's single-sided printing (not great quality), at a quick glance it seems to be all there, and it's in excellent condition. Anybody who can use it pays shipping. Doc

24 years, 4 months

1
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"Re: 6809 single board computer (was: "New" PDP-8)"

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> Speaking of 6800 components: > > Does anybody still have a 6829 datasheet ? When I get home, I'll see if I can scrape enough mold off of it to read it... -dq -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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PS/2 - E

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Ethan Dicks [mailto:erd_6502@yahoo.com] > > > Specifically, to actually use this thing, I'll want an > > > ethernet adaptor (10Mb), and probably some linear flash. > Linear FLASH? You mean unlike the ATA cards for cameras? The two > kinds of PCMCIA memory cards I'm aware of have two completely > different Now you've made me go and look it up ;) >From the Poqet PC FAQ: http://bmason.best.vwh.net/PoqetPC/faq.html What kind of Flash cards can I used in the Poqet PC? There are two kinds of flash cards. The Poqet PC can read from, but not write to, "linear" flash cards (sometimes called "Intel" flash) cards. These flash cards must be formatted and programmed with the "pseudo-floppy" format on another computer, and then they function as ROM disks in the Poqet PC. "SanDisk" flash cards, named after the company that produces them (SanDisk corporation was known as "SunDisk" until mid 1995), are commonly available for other palmtop computers like the HP 95/100/ 200LX. SanDisk flash cards cannot be used in the Poqet PC. ------ In other words, yes... "linear" flash. :) > drivers - the cards like you use with an Apple Newton are strictly > memory devices. Digital Camera-style ATA FLASH cards look like a > disk drive to the OS. Those are common, plentiful and cheap (I > picked up some 16Mb cards recently in a sale for $10 each). Last I checked, the price per MB on linear flash was just slightly higher than the more common stuff. (I think) > > > Some SRAM that will operate at (is the low voltage 3 or > 1.5 on those?) > > > the lower voltage would probably be good too. > This is old... I'm pretty sure the PCMCIA is 5V only. Again from the FAQ: What kind of PCMCIA cards can I use in my Poqet PC? The PCMCIA slots in the Poqet PC actually predate the PCMCIA specification. The slots are generally compatible with Revision 1.0 of the PCMCIA spec. The Poqet's PCMCIA slots have a Type I (2.5 mm) thickness. Generally, the only thing that can be put into the Poqet PC are SRAM cards, which can be formatted on the Poqet PC for use as RAM disks. The Poqet PC does not read the Card Information Structure (CIS) on SRAM cards to determine the proper format, but instead uses a uses a "pseudo-floppy" format. Generally cards formatted on a Poqet PC can be read by other computers, but cards formatted on other computers may have to be reformatted before being used on the Poqet PC. To work in the Poqet PC, SRAM cards must be PCMCIA Revision 1.0 compatible and must be able to operate at 3 volts. As far as memory cards are concerned, however, there isn't much difference between PCMCIA 2.0 and 1.0, so Rev. 2.0 memory cards should work fine. The 3 volt requirement arises because, as the alkaline batteries in the Poqet PC die, the system voltage can dip down to the 3 volt level. If your PCMCIA cards operate only at 5 volts, then you could lose data as your batteries die. One thing to remember is that all SRAM cards will retain data at 3 volts. To work in the Poqet PC, the SRAM cards must operate (read and write data) at 3 volts. ----- 3 volts, definitely. > IBM has things like the "MicroDrive", but modern PCMCIA disks tend > to specifically be "CompactFlash Type III" - you can get CF->PCMCIA > adapters cheap, but you'll probably have to alter them mechanically > to provide clearance for the HDA of a MicroDrive. I do not know > the physical height off the top of my head, but the PS-2/E card is > "quad type-I, dual type-II" - meaning that if you found an old > PCMCIA hard disk that was Type-III, you'd have a mechanical > interference > problem. Dunno about MicroDrives. Actually, I was just looking for some older "type 2" PCMCIA disks, perhaps used. > There's nothing this board can do that a Linux laptop with PCMCIA > slots couldn't also do. It's not magical, just cool. You can also True, but Linux didn't like my laptop much last I tried, nor did NetBSD. Right now it's running Eth's "PC Native Oberon," and is perfectly happy, but I don't think Oberon will drive its PCMCIA slots, and I don't have much breathing room on that system anyway, even though the full install of Oberon is probably smaller than that of DOS on the same system. > pick up a PCM "Swap Box" for typically under $50 that puts a single > Type-II/dual Type-I PCMCIA socket in your ISA-equipped desktop. I've > used one under Win95 and Linux to dump CF cards. Ok, but since this system has just fallen into my lap, why not use it? :) > Nothing spectacular. The only thing that makes them interesting is > size. Again, similar to the Multia in that respect. Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 4 months

1
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should I take RM03's ?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 5, Gooijen H wrote: > I need some advise. > In 3 weeks time Edward and I drive to Italy (some 1100 km) > to pick up several PDP-11/70 parts. > I have the oppertunity to drag 2 RM03 massbus drives and > some packs back home. Now I know already that these drives > weigh about 200 kilo, have a disk capacity of 67 Mb and > are really power-hungry: at 240 V/50 Hz. stand-by is 3.5 A. > running they consume 11.5 A. and rush-in current is 22 A. > > My experience is that DEC tend to give high numbers for the > power consumption, but do these drives eat that much current? > > Are they worth preserving? Or should I leave them where they are? > Next to the 11/70 is looks great (IMHO) but I would love to hear > some opinions from other collectors. A.K.A. CDC 9762 with a Massbus<->SMD adapter in the bottom. Nice drives. I powered two of them on a 110V 15A circuit....as long as I spun them up sequentially to let the starting surge die down, the breaker stayed closed. I never measured the actual current draw, but that sorta says it. :) If you have the space, grab 'em! :-) -Dave -- Dave McGuire "I thought it would go quickly, St. Petersburg, FL that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

2
2
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PS/2 - E

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Robert F Schaefer [mailto:rschaefe@gcfn.org] > I noticed there is a dutch auction for 5 (IIRC) of these on > epay currently, > with an opening bid of $50/ea. Too much for me, but I > thought I'd pass it > along in case anyone else is looking for 'em. The seller > claims to have > the PCMCIA controllers as well, for an additional $20/ea. :( I suppose $Here_I_can't_think_of_anything_to_do_with_this_and_might_end_up_trashing_it is a bargain, then. Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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Seeking Old Wirth-Jensen Pascal Book

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote: > > >>>PASCAL User Manual and Report > >>>Authors: Jensen & Wirth > >>>Pub: Springer-Verlag > > >>bookfinder.com throws up multiple copies.... > > > Cool... do you think I can trade some S-100 boards for one? > > Ah, you did not specify that you wanted to trade. Well, I've got a PTC 2KRO with one or two 1702s in it; a label indicates some kind of code, probably a boot ROM for CP/M, but until I dust off the SOL and fire it up, I've no way to tell (My Needham EPROM burner doesn't go back that far). > > What? Bookfinder.com won't do ClassicCmp trades? > > You could always offer. About time we regressed back to a > barter economy. Agreed, but the taxman's got his eye on that, too... -dq -- -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixsnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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FA: COMPLETE! HP-86 system including CPM

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

<http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2014665697> Located in Canada. Starting price $100 but it sounds worth it. Joe

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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CP/M and Imsai

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Bill Sudbrink <wh.sudbrink(a)verizon.net> >You should add that it is a real kick when you finally get >everything right and the sucker actually boots and works! That's still the best reason to do it. It's a total immersion project and once done there are few parts of the system that will not be understood at the software (maybe hardware too) level. >All of my boxes that run CP/M run 2.2 built from the source >found at the "unofficial CP/M web site": Some of those I copied to Tim! I was useing them back when to build mine, from the emergence of V2.2 on. >http://www.retroarchive.org/cpm/archive/unofficial/ Da place! >Finding a build environment is left as an exercise for the reader. I recommend MyZ80 as a starting point. Then work the hardware dependent stuff iteritively on the target via serial download. Allison

24 years, 4 months

7
10
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Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> > In the case of self-tapping screws it generally pervents the screw from > > starting a new thread (which, if done enough times means there's no metal > > left). In the case of large-diameter fine pitch threads (like lens > > retaining rings in cameras, OK, off-topic, but I can't think of such a > > thread in a computer), it helps prevent cross-threading. > > > > I assumed this trick was well-known, but perhaps not. > > > > -tony > > > Sheesh! I should have read one more message! > > - don I never am as clear in some of my posts as I'd like... The kind of screws I'm lamenting are cast, and cast poorly... I assume everyone knows what casting flash is... these screws have casting flash... when you thread them through, the sheet metal eats at the flash, and you get metal bits from that, and at the same time, the part of the flash that doesn't come off quickly reams the sheet metal to death. *Buy* quality screws? There is an advertisement showing here in the U.S. Midwest for an office supply firm. The scene is set in a "typical" office... some shirts are having a meeting, when another shirt comes in and asks if "can we use the pen"? THE pen. The only pen in the office. When I need a screw for a PC, I typically have to find a PC >from which to remove a screw. Everything ends up with half the screws it was designed to use. Now, we just bought 25 Dells that don't use very many screws. Where oh where will I get a screw when I need one? -dq

24 years, 4 months

12
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Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Doc [mailto:doc@mdrconsult.com] > As hard as it may be to envision, I bet _most_ of the subscribers to > this list do not own tap & die sets. Many probably own only Speaking as someone who doesn't own a tap and die, I can say that there's not a day I'm working on something (anything) that I don't think "maybe I should go out and finally get a tap and die set." ;) > Doc, who has a very sharp knife and a flashlight at all times, > or did until September 11.... Doc, you can reply in email if you'd like since it's not really on topic, but why on earth have you stopped carrying them? Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

24 years, 4 months

11
27
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Headstart Explorer Help

by jbstuart＠gulftel.com

Hi again Mr. Carlson, I determined yesterday that I am missing a file or folder entitled "Patches". If you have this file in your Explorer, would you please email it to me? Thank you, John

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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should I take RM03's ?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 5, Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote: > > > I just let Doug Gwyn beat me on one of the 9764? (the larger > > > 300MB drive that's somewhat similar) on e-Bay... > > > > ...the very same Doug Gwyn who once told me that he wasn't > > interested in classic hardware, only software. ;) > > Well, people's interests change, and Doug's a good guy... > I think he's possible spreading himself a bit too thinly, > but then I resemble that remark sufficiently that I'll > not be criticizing anyone for it. Oh yes, I didn't mean to suggest otherwise...I just keep losing eBay auctions to him. ;) -Dave -- Dave McGuire "I thought it would go quickly, St. Petersburg, FL that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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should I take RM03's ?

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> On April 5, Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote: > > If anyone runs across one of these in either Prime colors or > > straight CDC color/badging, please drop me a line. I have > > terribly fond memories of them... > > > > I just let Doug Gwyn beat me on one of the 9764? (the larger > > 300MB drive that's somewhat similar) on e-Bay... > > ...the very same Doug Gwyn who once told me that he wasn't > interested in classic hardware, only software. ;) Well, people's interests change, and Doug's a good guy... I think he's possible spreading himself a bit too thinly, but then I resemble that remark sufficiently that I'll not be criticizing anyone for it. I've had a few hobby-related things go so far south before that it left me in a seriously deep funk for, well, years. But forgiveness can be liberating, and the good things that have been happening that last few months to the last year more than make up for it. Sometimes, you just gotta take the long view... -dq -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (DougQ at ixnayamspayIgLou.com) [Call me "Doug"] Surgically excise the pig-latin from my e-mail address in order to reply "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits

24 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

should I take RM03's ?"

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On April 5, Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote: > If anyone runs across one of these in either Prime colors or > straight CDC color/badging, please drop me a line. I have > terribly fond memories of them... > > I just let Doug Gwyn beat me on one of the 9764? (the larger > 300MB drive that's somewhat similar) on e-Bay... ...the very same Doug Gwyn who once told me that he wasn't interested in classic hardware, only software. ;) -Dave -- Dave McGuire "I thought it would go quickly, St. Petersburg, FL that rubberized bottom..." -Sridhar

24 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

Headstart Explorer

by jbstuart＠gulftel.com

Hi Mr. Clausen, I have been seeking help on my Headstart Explorer XT computer made by Vendex. I cannot seem to restore it after formating the 40 MB hard disk, Automagic. I have all the original disks that came with it when I bought it new in 1990. The Master Disk says to put it in the A drive and then turn on the computer. I have done this several times and it does not seem to work. I have the other disks, DOS System Disk #1, Programs Disk #2, and Disk 3. I would appreciate any assistance you may give me. Thanks, John

24 years, 4 months

3
2
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CD-ROM on RT-11?

by Antonio.Carlini＠riverstonenet.com

Tom Leffingwell wrote: >All of the DEC CD-ROMs after the RRD42 were caddyless. R The RRD44 on my desk here needs a caddy. Antonio

24 years, 4 months

1
0
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should I take RM03's ?"

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> A.K.A. CDC 9762 with a Massbus<->SMD adapter in the bottom. Nice > drives. I powered two of them on a 110V 15A circuit....as long as I > spun them up sequentially to let the starting surge die down, the > breaker stayed closed. I never measured the actual current draw, but > that sorta says it. :) If anyone runs across one of these in either Prime colors or straight CDC color/badging, please drop me a line. I have terribly fond memories of them... I just let Doug Gwyn beat me on one of the 9764? (the larger 300MB drive that's somewhat similar) on e-Bay... thx, -dq

24 years, 4 months

1
0
0 0

Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New"""

by mythtech＠mac.com

>What's an LED flashlight? Do you mean one of thelaser pointers? No, they now make flashlights that rather than using a traditional incandescent bulb, use a super bright LED instead. I have one on my keychain that is this tiny thin black plastic thing. You squeeze it, and the LED on the end lights up. It is REALLY freaking bright (bright enough, that if I shine it out a car window, I can read house numbers across the street), and is powered by two fairly standard replaceable button cell batteries. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

24 years, 4 months

3
2
0 0

Computers Manufactured in 1986

by stanb＠dial.pipex.com

Hi, "Merle K. Peirce" <at258(a)osfn.org> said: You have the Kelvin? What a lovely surprise. ^^^^^^ [see below...} >On Wed, 3 Apr 2002, Stan Barr wrote: >> Hi, >> >> Ben Franchuk <bfranchuk(a)jetnet.ab.ca> said: >> > Stan Barr wrote: >> > All of a sudden I feel _very_ old ;-( There were no working electronic >> > > computers when I was born...even Collosus was still a few months from >> > > completion.... >> > >> > Well you could go after the mechanical ones :) >> >> Finding one here in the UK would be difficult! We have a very nice >> string (wire, actually..) and pulley tidal computer here in Liverpool. >> It was computing tide table for countries all round the world until >> replaced by an IBM 1130. >> Kelvin?? Must look that one up... ;-) I don't personally have such a thing ;-) But Liverpool University have a Doodson/Lege - magnificnt beast! See www.pol.ac.uk -- Cheers, Stan Barr stanb(a)dial.pipex.com The future was never like this!

24 years, 4 months

1
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CP/M and Imsai

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Hans Franke <Hans.Franke(a)mch20.sbs.de> >> >http://www.retroarchive.org/cpm/archive/unofficial/ > >> Da place! > >Isn't I saw it and forgot. > >http://www.gaby.de/cpm/index.html > >more like the official unofficial web site ? >AFAIR Retroarchive is only snapshoot of the old site, >while the pages at gaby.de are still maintained (and >extended). Is a good thing. The extensions are very fine. Allison

24 years, 4 months

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"When programming is outlawed, only outlaws will program""

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> On Wed, 3 Apr 2002, Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote: > > > Now John's doing fine, tho work comes to him slowly, > > Only because most people run the other way upon meeting him ;) You just have to stand your ground, and say "no thank you". ;) > > and poor Adam Osborne is slowly dying in a village in > > India, from Parkinson's Disease. BTW, I'm told that one > > of Adam's expressed wishes is that he be left to go in > > peace... Let's all thank him for his efforts and achievements, > > and wish him a Happy Journey into the hereafter. > > Wow, that sucks. I hadn't heard this. Any references? Why > a village in India? IIRC, his father was English, his mother Hindi... There was mention of it over in alt.folklore.computers recently... -dq

24 years, 4 months

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Core Memory Interfacing?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Peter C. Wallace <pcw(a)mesanet.com> > >Hytype IIs also use a 8 bit TTL based microcoded machine (IICRC they use >74LS283 adders, 74LS170 register file chips, along with bipolar PROMS)... > I have a few of those boards... Wich I had the correct prints for the board numbers I do have. Could be fun to bend them into a general purpose 8bitter. Allison

24 years, 4 months

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Seeking Old Wirth-Jensen Pascal Book

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

> From: Douglas H. Quebbeman <dquebbeman(a)acm.org> Now isn't THIS a frickin' coincidence -- Joe Rigdon just posted a link to an Ebay auction which included this very tome . . . Glen 0/0 > I used to have a copy of: > > PASCAL User Manual and Report > Authors: Jensen & Wirth > Pub: Springer-Verlag > > It had a silver cover with red & black printing. I loaned it out, > it never came back. > > If anyone has a copy they'd part with, or finds one, please > contact me.

24 years, 4 months

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Core Memory Interfacing?

by dquebbeman＠acm.org

> > From: Douglas H. Quebbeman <dquebbeman(a)acm.org> > > > > >The Hazeltine 2000 is a 1972-era computer terminal. It used core > > >memory, but did not have a microprocesor, and therefore, no > > >software. > > > > > >So at least the Hazeltine did it in hardware. > > > > As did the VT52 and a slew of others. > > Except that every VT52 I've ever worked on used > semiconductor memory, not core. > > Anyway. the fact that there's no microprocessor does not mean that > there's no software. There are plenty of microcoded TTL designs about > (the VT52 is one of them IMHO) which have PROMs containing something that > is reasonably called firmware. Yeah, there is the old 7400 series arithmetic unit... But in my experience, most pre-micro computer equipment used fusible-link ROMs for truth-tables; a transitional item, the Processor Tech SOL's keyboard, is a good example of this. -dq

24 years, 4 months

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PS/2 - E

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 4/4/2002 6:28:17 PM Eastern Standard Time, csmith(a)amdocs.com writes: > I have a PS/2 - E. It's a little tiny 80387(?) with a 387 math > coprocessor. Four PCMCIA slots, and a floppy drive. Integrated > video, parallel and serial. 1.4M floppy, and unknown(right now) > hard drive. > > Does anyone know anything about it? > > What can I do with it? Will OS/2 work? What interface does the > hard drive use, BTW? What are my chances of getting BSD or linux > to drive the PCMCIA slots? Anything else I should know about this > one? > It's a neat system. I bought two and still have one in original box with all original ship group items. One of the two I bought was still under 3 year warranty! it's a 486slc class machine and uses a thinkpad floppy drive and 2.5 IDE laptop hard drive. nice and quiet too. takes 16meg max. OS/2 runs fine on it, just like it would on any PS/2 or you can use win 3.1. -- DB Young www.nothingtodo.org

24 years, 4 months

2
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Shoddy Hardware (Was: Re: WW fixtures (was Re: "New" PDP-8))

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

On Tue, 2 Apr 2002 23:44:50 +0100 (BST) ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) writes: > > I think this started when we (the U.S.A.) began importing > > parts made in communist countries. > > Well, I spent most of the weekend inside a small East German camera, > > about 40 years old. > > I was seriously impressed by the general engineering (anyone who > makes a > leaf shutter that can do 1/750s gets my respect!), the build quality > and > the repairer-freindlyness of the design. I've found few cameras as > pleasant to repair. > > So not all communnist-country products are badly made... Actually, I should have specifically fingered Red China, which is the only communist country that is a major supplier to the U.S. I never saw real, unadulterated *junk* until I looked at what has been spewing from Red Chinese factories . . . Jeff ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

24 years, 4 months

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Austin, TX: Free Rack-Mounted VAX

by tsm＠palindrome.org

Free rack-mounted VAX available in Austin, TX. Badged as a MicroVAX II, has a KA-655 CPU (MicroVAX 3800/3900), 32MB of RAM, and standard DELQA, RD54, TK50, etc. In H9642 (42") rackmount cabinet. Located in central Austin. Will go to the landfill if no takers. Please e-mail me if interested or have any questions. Thanks, Terry

24 years, 4 months

2
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New items have appeared in your saved search: Core Memory

by bill_r＠inetnebr.com

E-mail from eBay: "New items have appeared in your saved search: Core Memory" Clicking on the item link, we find: >The Core Memory Plus Pillow conforms to your head for a soothing, customized fit. > Layered memory foam promotes a proper sleeping posture, while the resilient foam > base provides therapeutic values. I'd think those ferrite beads would leave a pretty nasty imprint on your face, not to mention getting poked by the wires all the time. So, how many bits are these things, anyway??? <DOH!> -Bill Richman (bill_r(a)inetnebr.com) Web Page: http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r Home of the COSMAC Elf Microcomputer Simulator, Fun with Molten Metal, Orphaned Robots, and Technological Oddities.

24 years, 4 months

2
1
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Harris Model 8 CPU

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

> Does anyone have any docs on the Harris 24 bit line (or > the Datacraft 6024?) Considering there are still H-series > machines in use, I've not been able to turn up much at > all on them. Somewhere I've got printouts of the JCL 'man' pages from a H550. That's ALL the doc's I've ever really seen on one. The same binder has 3 8" floppies containing documents I created with the MUSE Word Processor. Zane

24 years, 4 months

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CD-ROM on RT-11?

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

> I presume from what you are saying that the Viking/QDT does not have any > boot ROMs. If so, it is one of the very few (probably the only one I know > about) NON-DEC controllers or host adapters that does not have a boot > ROM. There are four versions of the Viking board. Tape, Disk, Tape/Disk, and Disk/Boot (it can only boot a PDP-11). > Any idea if there was a DEC approved CDROM drive which did NOT > use a caddy? Sure, any CD-ROM that they had out after the RRD-42. > Any idea how much an M8190-BB (quad 11/73) might cost? I have a > couple, but I want to keep them for a few more years. But Tom might > find this is the least expensive way to go. It would probably be a worth while upgrade, BUT it would also require a backplane and memory upgrade, and as I recall he doesn't have a budget for this. As for the price I don't remember, but I know they've come down in price (I got mine as part of a trade). Zane

24 years, 4 months

1
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SCSI options for PDP 11/23

by tom＠sba.miami.edu

After my recent RX02 problems, I've decided I'd like to add a SCSI controller in my 11/23, and keep my programs on a hard disk. What Q-bus controllers will work with RT-11? What's the minimum version of RT-11 that I can get by with? Can I use any disk, or does it have to be something in particular? Thanks, Tom

24 years, 4 months

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