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

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Iggy Drougge [mailto:optimus@canit.se] > But who could by a VAX? And why one terminal only? The VAX > wasn't a personal > computer by any means. > Not that just anyone could buy an IBM PC in '81, but chances > were, your > employer could. Well, depending on your employer they might afford a VAX too. I used one terminal as an example of a way to give your VAX a nice keyboard and display. I didn't mean it to be an exhaustive configuration. > OTOH, the TI99's processor had the same addressing problems > as the 8-bitters, > 15-bit addressing with a 16-bit word orientation led to the > same addressable > space as the 6502 and Z80 micros. Arithmetically, the TI99 > was a sixteen- > bitter, but not in the common definition of sixteen bits used from the > eighties and onwards. AFAIR the 8088 was also very "8-bit" :) I suppose it's all in the marketing, though. > The PC was AFAIK released in '81. > I wouldn't define the 68000 as a 32-bitter, only as a more > elegant sixteen- > bitter. Well, we certainly agree on the "more elegant" part. ;) > >several 32-bit systems on the market by 1984 or so (though, > my personal > >favorite was done in '87 with the Acorn Archimedes). > None were IBM, though, and none could be easily cloned. Well, no, none were IBM. (Honestly, IBM has only done a few things I like -- all of them being more expensive than I could ever hope to afford new. :) As for being easily cloned, I suppose you mean that Compaq must have already done the reverse engineering work? ;) Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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VERY LONG: Latest S-100 Haul

by spedraja＠ono.com

>Hello all, Hi ! >Thanks to a VERY generous man, located about an hour's drive from me, I have >a boatload of CompuPro S-100 stuff, 8" floppy drives, manuals, software, Very generous, I must say :-) >I am more than willing to copy floppies or manuals, no charge but postage (and you >supply the 8" media, as I am VERY short of blanks). The only caveat is that >it may take me a long time to do it, mainly becuase I'm not very organized >:-) I'm interested in the specific Digital Research Products documentation (and software, but less over this). It's possible I begin to manipulate the MP/M adn CP/NET sources to put it to work under Yaze. I must say you that I'd love to see all this manuals scanned and put together in some place dedicated to the CP/M stuff. If you can do it in a future then you're the better deposit. If you can't do it and can send it to me or another one who could scan it, it can be good too. Thanks and Greetings Sergio

23 years, 5 months

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History of Computing exam question

by mtapley＠swri.edu

Hans asked: >List the 20 to 30 systems you would display and briefly explain the >reason for choosing each. Fun question. Don't have time to really organize, but here's parts of my list: Napier's Bones digital solution for one class of computing problem Slide Rule (almost any) Analog computation, and portable computing power. Application of a fairly disjoint set of technologies to a very focussed solution that met a serious need in engineering Abacus (almost any) As with the slide rule, but now a discrete digital technology. Babbage's Engine ...or plans, if it couldn't be found or made a replica of. Large-scale compute power, digital technology with the greatest flexibility so far Bowditch's "American Practical Navigator" and a sextant Illustration of the market drive for computing power, and the tabular approach to meeting heavy-duty geometrical calculation problems. (Could just as well be the old Admiralty tables, I'm just biased in favor of Bowditch 'cause I'm American.) Zuse-1 (fill in the blank) Enigma machine, and Bomb (a matched pair) *serious* market drive -> compute power response for a single application Eniac (fill in the blank) IBM 360 (fill in the blank) PDP-11/xx Pick a good one, first minicomputer/lab computer. Brought compute power into a lot of lower-cost applications. Dec Rainbow typifies both MS-DOS and CP-M machines. somewhat breakthrough OS flexibility, (MS-DOS, CP/M, CCP/M, Venix, all of which were preexisting). Mac 128k GUI OS for the masses, origin of "friendly" computers (first computer to *smile* at me). VAX - any Illustration of successful extension of an existing architecture to more bits (twice as many) Alpha - any As VAX, but to 64 bits/RISC Cray 1 Vector supercomputer, electromechanical design breakthrough Newton PDA origin. Perq microprogramming, early workstation, heck Tony likes it so it must be good... F-14 flight computer integrated circuit microprocessor first application (?) NeXT Cube (original) OO system, sizeable leap in developer environment quality Sun Sparc-5 Desktop workstation, power/price/size breakthrough Sony Vaio or Mac Titanium Laptops get to practical size and retain serious power. DVD player (any) or CD player market driver for serious compute power cheap Sony PSX as above, including graphics Jet engine FADEC unit (any) compute power seriously ruggedized and making a pilot's life easier (livable). I'm sure I've left out a lot, apologies to all concerned. - Mark

23 years, 5 months

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More E-Bay Insanity?

by Robert_Feldman＠jdedwards.com

Yes, but this one's being sold as "unopened." The seller thinks it has value to (or that he can make a bundle from) a _collector_ rather than a _user_. If anyone buys it, I doubt that they will ever open the package. It is madness, but (as has been said many times before) the value of something is what someone is willing to pay for it. -----Original Message----- From: Christopher Smith [mailto:csmith@amdocs.com] Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 4:12 PM To: 'classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org' Subject: RE: More E-Bay Insanity? <snip> ... ok, I understand this perfectly (believe me!) but this is a head cleaning kit, and anyone who's still got a 5.25" disk likely could take it apart and clean the head without the kit. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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VERY LONG: Latest S-100 Haul

by r_beaudry＠hotmail.com

Hello all, Thanks to a VERY generous man, located about an hour's drive from me, I have a boatload of CompuPro S-100 stuff, 8" floppy drives, manuals, software, etc. The list is long, and I debated posting it here, or linking to a web page. In the end, I decided to post it here because I wanted it to be in the archives in case anyone was looking for any of this stuff. I am more than willing to copy floppies or manuals, no charge but postage (and you supply the 8" media, as I am VERY short of blanks). The only caveat is that it may take me a long time to do it, mainly becuase I'm not very organized :-) Before the list, there were also two Osborne 1 computers, one with a dead internal monitor (but works from external monitor), and one fully functional, with the double-density upgrade. Also, manuals and full sets of original disks for each. Without further ado, here's the list: CompuPro chassis, 21-slot motherboard - 1 Full CompuPro RAM22 board - 1 Full CompuPro RAM22 board - 1 Full CompuPro RAM21 board - 1 Full CompuPro RAM16 board - 1 Full CompuPro RAM17 board - 1 Macrotech Dual Processor board -- 80286 and Z80H - 1 CompuPro System Support 1 - 1 CompuPro DISK3 Hard Drive controller - 1 CompuPro Interfacer 4 - 1 CompuPro DISK1A Floppy Drive Controller CompuPro System 8/16 Chassis, 20-slot motherboard - 1 Full CompuPro RAM22 board - 1 CompuPro MDRIVE/H 512K/2 MEG disk emulator board - 1 CompuPro CPU68K board - 1 CompuPro System Support 1 board - 1 CompuPro Interfacer 4 board - 1 CompuPro DISK1 Floppy Controller Board Three dual 8" drive units (one CompuPro, two no-name) -- The CompuPro unit has two QumeTrak drives (242, I think -- full height 8"), one of the no-names has two Shugart 801 drives (single-sided only, I think), and the other no-name also has two QumeTrak drives. Unfortunately, the power supply in the no-name QumeTrak drive box literally had an LM723CN explode, breaking the chip in half, melting the socket, and fusing two pins to the socket. Cheap enough for a new chip, but time to put in a new socket, and figure out if something else has gone bad... One dual 5.25" floppy and 5.25" 40MB hard drive unit Additional S-100 cards: - Mullen Computer Products bus tracer board - CompuPro Interfacer 4 w/cable - Solid State Music PB1 2708/2716 EPROM Programmer - CompuPro DISK1 Floppy Controller - Jade Double D Floppy Disk Controller - Quantronics MM8 8K memory board, 64 2102 chips - Performics 256KB RAM card - CompuPro CPU-Z - Jade JG-Z80 Rev. C CPU board (Z80A) - Qty. 2 CompuPro CPU 8085/88 - Ackerman Digital Systems PROMBlaster II - Franklin Electric I/O Interface - Vector Electronics Interfacer II - Jade Parallel Serial I/O Board - Data Technology Corporation DTC 10-1 - Tarbell Cassette Interface, Rev. D Model 1001 - CompuPro System Support I - CompuPro RAM17 - ExpandoRAM Rev. E Original Software, 8" Floppies - CompuPro CP/M 8-16, version 1.1R - CompuPro CDOS 8-16, 4.1D-2, also labelled by CCT, version 2.0b - CompuPro DR Net, version 1.1A - CompuPro AMCALL/TIP Master, version 2.68/2.40 - CompuPro CP/M-80, version 2.2N - CompuPro CP/M-80, version 2.2LD - CompuPro CP/M-80, MDRIVE System Master, version 2.2LM - CompuPro CP/M-86, version 1.1PA - Jade CP/M version 2.2, for Double D controller card - CP/M-68K, version 1.0, labelled by Westico Software Express Service - SuperSoft C compiler (no version, copyright 1981) - CompuPro Assembler and tools 86 version 1.0 - CompuPro CP/M-68K version 1.1 - Digital Research C compiler for CP/M-86, version 1.11 - Term 3 by Echelon - Z-COM by Echelon - Discat by Echelon - PKey and I/O Recorder by Echelon - B/Printer by Echelon 20-30 Blank 8" media, some 1-sided, some 2-sided Manuals (* = original, no * = photocopy) - Code Works Small C for CP/M version n, April 1, 1981 * - BDS C version 1.4 - Jade Double D Software Manual - IMSAI 8080 Self-Contained System Operating System -- User manual and source code listings - Processor Technology Software Package #1 source listing - Qty. 3 CompuPro Interfacer 4 * (w/ schematic) - Digital Research CP/M 2 docs * - BDS C Version 1.5 * - ADS Promblaster II / Promwriter 4.0 * (w/ schematic) - CompuPro CP/M 68K Technical Manual and Installation Procedures * - Qty. 3 CompuPro RAM22 Technical Manual (w/ schematic) * - CompuPro System Enclosure and Motherboards Technical Manual * (w/ stickers and schematics) - Qty. 2 CompuPro DISK1 Technical Manual w/ schematics * - Qty. 2 CompuPro System Support 1 User Manual * (w/ schematics) - ViaSyn MDrive/H Technical Manual * (w/ schematics) - CCT Brochures, Price Lists - 4 issues of C-Pro newsletter, volume 2, issues 1-4, 1985 * - Tarbell BASIC I/O System - cassette version, version 12.12 listing - Tarbell Cassette BASIC, version 12.14 listing - CompuPro System 816A Standard Switch Settings and Cable Connections - CompuPro CP/M-80 2.2 Technical Manual and Installation Procedures - Digital Research CP/M-86 Release Notes, version 1.1 * - CompuPro System Support 1 Technical Manual * (w/ schematics) - CompuPro CPU-Z User Manual * (w/ schematics) - Qty. 2 ViaSyn/CompuPro CPU 8085/88 Technical Manual * (w/ schematics) - Qty. 2 CompuPro RAM17 Technical Manual * (w/ schematics) - CompuPro DISK1A Technical Manual * (w/ schematics) - CompuPro System 8/16 Enclosure and Motherboards Technical Manual * (w/ schematics) - CompuPro Concurrent DOS 8-16 Installation and Customization Guide * (marked "Advance Copy") - CCT Concurrent DOS 8-16 CMX XIOS User Guide * - Macrotech MI-286 Dual Processor (80286/Z80H) Reference Manual * (w/ schematics) - Vector Electronic Interfacer II Technical Manual * (w/ schematics) - CompuPro FORTH Technical Manual * - Performics SRAM 128/258 User's Manual * (w/ schematics) - CompuPro CPU-68K Technical Manual * (w/ schematics) - CompuPro RAM16 Technical Manual * (w/schematics) - CompuPro RAM21 Technical Manual * (w/ schematics) - Franklin Electric I/O Serial Parallel Assembly and Test Instructions * - Data Technology Corp. DTC-10-1 Preliminary Specification (w/ schematics) - CompuPro CP/M 80 2.2 Hard Disk Installation Guide * - CompuPro MDrive Installation Manual * - CompuPro CP/M 8-16 Technical Manual and Installation Procedures * - CompuPro CP/M-86 Technical Manual and Installation Procedures * - QumeTrak 842 8" Floppy Maintenance Manual - Jade Double D Floppy Controller Manual * (w/ schematics) - Qume DataTrack 8 Maintenance Manual - Shugart 800/801 OEM Manual - PSS Model MM8 8K RAM System Manual - Solid State Music PB1 EPROM Programmer Board * (w/ schematcs) - SD Systems ExpandoRAM Operations Manual * (w/ schematics) - Tarbell Cassette Interface (w/ schematics) - Mullen Computer Products TB4 * (w/ schematics) S-100 test/probe board - Jade Serial Parallel Interrupt Controller * (w/ schematics) - Jade "The Big Z" (Z80 CPU board) * (w/ schematcs + monitor) - CompuPro TMXBIOS listings * - CompuPro DISK3 (ST506) Technical Manual * (w/ schematics) - CompuPro AMCALL and MCALL-II (comm prog.) Operations Manual * - CompuPro AMCALL and AMCALLN (supplement to above) * - Qty. 2 CompuPro CP/M 2.2 Technical Manual and Installation Procedures * - Qty. 2 CompuPro CP/M-86 Technical Manual and Installation Procedures * - Soroc IQ120 terminal Specifications and Operating Procedures * - Digital Research/CompuPro CP/M 2.2 User Reference Manual * (1 from 1982, 1 from 1978) - Qty. 2 Digital Research CP/M-86 System Guide * - Qty. 2 Digital Research CP/M-86 User's Guide * - Qty. 2 Digital Research CP/M-86 Programmer's Guide * - CompuPro Concurrent DOS 8-16 User's Guide * - Digital Research Concurrent CP/M User's Guide * - Digital Research Concurrent CP/M System Guide * - Digital Research Concurrent CP/M Programmer's Reference Guide * - Digital Research Concurrent CP/M-86 Programmer's Utilities Guide * - Lattice C Compiler v2.15A For 8086/8088 * - Digital Research DR Assembler Plus Tools for CP/M-86 * - Digital Research C Language for CP/M-86 * - Digital Research CBASIC Compiler for CP/M-68K * - Digital Research CP/M-68K User/System/Programmer Guides * - Digital Research C Compiler guide for CP/M-68K * - Supersoft Version 1.2 C Compiler for CP/M-80 * - DBase II User Manual - DBase II Reference - Microshell 1.2 User Manual - CP/M 2.2 Patches and Application notes from Digital Research - PC-Pro User's Guide - Wordstar 3.0 Customization Notes - Wordstar 3.0 General Information Manual - Wordstar 3.0 Installation Manual - Wordstar 3.0 Reference - Supersort 1.6 Operator's Handbook and Programmer's Guide - Datastar 1.1 User's Guide - CBASIC Version 2 Language Manual - The Zapple Monitor Version 1.1 - Word-Master 1.07 User Manual - SpellGuard User Manual - MAC -- Cal Poly Macro Assembler Manual * - Tarbell BASIC Manual - Calcstar 1.0 User's Manual - BSTAM Version 4.6 User Manual - CB-80 Languare Release Notes, and Reference Manual - Cal Poly/Link-80/RMAC/Library User's Guide - SID User's Guide - Microsoft MBASIC Compiler User's Manual - Microsoft BASIC-80 Reference Manual - Microsoft Utility Software User Manual (MACRO-80/LINK-80/CREF-80/LIB-80) - Island Cybernetics Information Retreival System v2.07 User's Manual - CP/M 3.0 System/Programmer/User Guides - CP/NET User's Guide - MP/M-II System/User/Programmer Guide Non-Original Disks (all 8", mixed 1S/2S, mixed densities) - Concurrent DOS 3.1D - Concurrent DOS 4.1D - CompuPro CP/M 8-16 Implementation Files - CompuPro CP/M 2.2N - Godbout CP/M 8-16 1.1PD - CompuPro CP/M 8-16 1.1R - MP/M-II 2.1 - MP/M-II 8-16 - MP/M Gen - BDS C 1.46 - Datastar - Wordstar - Spellguard - Wizard C 2.1D - Aztec C 3.2 - Lattice C 2.15 - DRI Assembler/Tools for CP/M-86 - 68K Cross-assembler - CB80 1.3 - CBASIC 2.38 - Fortran 80 - Turbo Pascal for CP/M-86 - SuperSort - DBase II - Selector III - Datastar 1.4 - IRS Infomaster - BSTAM (telecomm program) - BDS C 1.45 - Word-Master - Random House Thesaurus - Wordstar-86 - Small C 1.1 - Calcstar 1.2 - Microsoft BASIC v.4.5, 4.51, 5.1, 5.2 - CP/NET Version 1.0 Whew! That's all folks.... Rich B.

23 years, 5 months

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Scrapping hardware to get it off the books (RE: Is it a Lisa or Mac XL?!)

by mythtech＠Mac.com

>Should I even bother going back and asking to see the stuff >in the yard? Or, has this firm agreed not to resell anything >(I'm kinda assuming that what's true for this guy is industry >standard). I don't know the laws, but why shouldn't a scapper be allowed to sell the stuff in working condition? They are in the scrap business, and I would think once it is theirs, they should be allowed to sell it however they want (pulverize and sell as land fill, or repair and sell as working). Is there some law against selling the stuff in working condition? -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

23 years, 5 months

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More E-Bay Insanity?

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> On December 3, Douglas Quebbeman wrote: > > Have 5.25 inch floppy drive cleaning kits > > become unobtainium, or only for the clueless: > > > > http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1305651479 > > > > This is up there with the $500 Kaypro... > > Value is in the eye of the beholder, man. Why is it automatically > "insane" when someone else views omething as being more valuable than > we do? Dave- My subject line included a question mark; I wasn't making a declaration, I was posing a query... Radio Shack sold these cleaning kits for years for, what, $5.95? Now, and I don't know, perhaps RS doesn't sell them anymore. I don't have a Jameco catalog handy to check, though I could look at a Global catalog... at any rate, I'm wondering whether this might have been a typo that the seller didn't catch... -dq

23 years, 5 months

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DEC Infoserver 150

by Adrian.Graham＠corporatemicrosystems.com

Hardware wise the Infoserver 150 is a MicroVAX 3100 Model 10. Software wise I never got any real chance to hack mine and ATM it's in my storage room along with a VXT1200 X-terminal, which was the reason the 150 existed in the first place - one of the popular DEC bundles of the day was an infoserver and 5 VXTs. The software uses the Local Area Disk protocol (LAD/LAST) for disk services which requires a client to be running on a VAX somewhere (SYS$MANAGER:ESS$STARTUP.COM). VXTs could boot using IP/BOOTP/TFTP. There must be more than just ROM changes to the hardware though. I used to think that the whole reason the 150 came about in the first place was that Digital had a small mountain of 3100/10s lying around so they did their usual trick of using old hardware for new tricks (viz: RL02s as console media for bigger VAXen (6xxx?), PRO380s as consoles for 8xxx's etc). The 150 was superceded by the Infoserver 1000, which was smaller than the RRD42s that it controlled. > > Hi folks. I got a few questions. First, is there anything > that makes > > this box different from a plain-vanilla VAXserver 3100? > Second, does > > anyone have the software for this bad boy? Third, will the > software run > > on a regular VAXserver 3100? Fourth, what does the > software consist of? > > I can provide the software, but the InfoServer 150 is different from a > VAXserver 3100. I've tried to swap the ROMs, but that didn't > work. The > InfoServer 100 is the same as a VAXserver 3100 (but I can't remember > which model) with different ROMs. If you want to try, I can provide > Infoserver 100 ROM images. > -- > Eric Dittman > dittman(a)dittman.net > Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/ >

23 years, 5 months

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Off-Topic: Re: Anyone have a MicroVax II in a BA123 available?

by r_beaudry＠hotmail.com

<RANT> Why is it that anytime anyone asks: "Does anyone in my small geographical area have a 'foo' they want to get rid of?" there is invariably a slew of "I have one, but don't want to get rid of it" or "I have one I want to get rid of, but not in your area, and not willing to ship" messages? If you're not in the area, or you don't want to get rid of it, why reply? I mean it's gotta be annoying to the original poster to hear of others in the area, with the "foo" he needs, but who don't want to get rid of it. It's not bad that they have the "foo", but it seems like the reply is rubbing his face in it.... </RANT> Rich B.

23 years, 5 months

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More E-Bay Insanity?

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

Have 5.25 inch floppy drive cleaning kits become unobtainium, or only for the clueless: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1305651479 This is up there with the $500 Kaypro... -dq

23 years, 5 months

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More E-Bay Insanity?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 3, Douglas Quebbeman wrote: > Have 5.25 inch floppy drive cleaning kits > become unobtainium, or only for the clueless: > > http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1305651479 > > This is up there with the $500 Kaypro... Value is in the eye of the beholder, man. Why is it automatically "insane" when someone else views omething as being more valuable than we do? The resale value of the stuff we hack on is going up, and we have to learn to deal with it. It has been for some time. People are buying it at these prices, and it's not just one or two people. Let them spend their money...if they're happy with their purchase, what's wrong with it? Further, one mustn't lose sight of the fact that different things are more readily available in different geographic areas than in others. Just because there are fifty AppleIIs at the corner yard sale in your neighborhood doesn't mean there are fifty of them at EVERY corner yard sale. As a case in point...I'm no newcomer to this field; I've been doing pdp8/pdp11/vax stuff for a solid fifteen years. My first real system was a pdp11/34 which I sold about ten years ago, and have regretted it every since. I've wanted another one for several years, and had been looking for one in earnest in the Washington DC area for a solid three years...never managed to get one, and believe me, I know where to look. I finally bought one locally for about $400, indirectly from a surplus dealer who was sharking on the "antique computer craze" trying to make a ton of money on it. I'm sure he got it for free, and he laughed all the way to the bank. However, I'm VERY happy to have it, and I love the machine. If I hadn't paid that $400, I wouldn't have one. They're simply unobtainium in the DC area. -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

23 years, 5 months

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TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop

by Antonio.Carlini＠riverstonenet.com

> pete(a)dunnington.u-net.com wrote: > >> (Oh, what's the 50 pin HD-DB type connector? line-printer?) > >Good question :-) After my earlier miscounting I'd better check carefully :-0 but if this is labelled B1 (and there is another one labelled B2 on *some* MicroVAX 3100 Model 20s) and it is three rows of pins ... then it is a synchronous communications connector. The same connector was used on several other synch comms options (DEMSA, DECnis, DSV11, DSB32, DMB32 and DSF32). The interface presented (X.21, V.35, RS422, RS423) was determined by the stub cable you plugged in. Antonio

23 years, 5 months

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3com 1625-0

by spedraja＠ono.com

Hello: >> My guess would be that the mini-scsi connectors aren't scsi but in fact >> some type of cascading connection. So that multiple hubs can act as a >> single hub. > >Correct, they link the hub to a managed hub. You need a hub with the >management module installed, though. > >I'm not sure if it'll do anything without the managed hub, but I guess I >could look in my docs to find out for sure. I'll agree it, sincerely. My doubts are, mainly: * Can I connect the hub directly to 220 volts AC ? It appears possible if I've read correctly the AC connector info. * How must I connect the RG58 cables ? Must I put a Ethetnet 'T' with a terminator in the computer BNC connector or not ? * Finally, the link connectors and you suggestion about the link to one managed hub. Thanks and Greetings Sergio

23 years, 5 months

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Houston Classic Computers was {Off-Topic: Re: Anyone have a MicroVax II in a BA123 available?}

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 3, Matthew Sell wrote: > I don't know of a formal (or informal....) classic computer user group in > Houston, but I would love to participate in one. > > I know that there are several of us in Houston. I met with David and Mitch > recently; very nice people. David has a real neat collection of older > "personal" computers and some other Unix-class boxen as well. > > Obviously there are more of us, an informal gathering would be neat. I'm interested in a similar thing in the Tampa Bay area, if there's anyone around... -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

23 years, 5 months

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FLUKE?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 3, Allison wrote: > It's not RAM per se. > > It's basically a disk like structure, the difference is rather than rotate > the media they move the magnetic domains around. I have a few > 128kbyte (1Mbit) bubbles I use still. Yup, it's sequentially accessed. At least one company still sells & supports it, though I don't know if they're actually producing it at this point.. It's a really neat technology. It moves the magnetic domains around "tracks" in (if memory serves) a crystalline garnet substrate. These domains can be set to "0" or "1" and are read by moving them past a detector. -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

23 years, 5 months

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On Sun Mice and Mouse pads

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 3, Fred deBros wrote: > Ok, just for the record: > > Printing the mouse.ps file on plain white paper doesn't work with any > type sun mouse > So I printed it on transparent paper, turned it over (so you don't > scrape off the print!) and put it on one of those dark shiny antistatic > bags , and on an aluminum foil: It works. But only with my type 4 mice. > > RIP all you optical mice, and thanks for the suggestions. Hm, we must've used different paper. Or perhaps laser printers with different toner. -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

23 years, 5 months

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HP ".fst" format

by bill_mcdermith＠yahoo.com

I scrounged a copy of the RTE OS for the hp21xx computers, but it is in some strage archive format with the extension ".fst" -- this is apparently much like tar, but my sun version of tar doesn't uunpack it well (to say the least :-)... Does anyone know of either a version of the archive program for this format that I could build on a UNIX box, or the format of the file so that I could unpack it? Thanks much, Bill McDermith

23 years, 5 months

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Groups in Houston (and elsewhere)

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

Have any of you Houston folks looked around for similar groups in your area? A quick Google search of my (Orlando) area found an Apple II group and an IBM PC group, both of which hold monthly meetings. There are probably similar groups in your area where you might meet vintage computer people (other than those on this list). Glen 0/0

23 years, 5 months

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DEC PC04/PR8E Question

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

OK, the last part of my shipment just showed up, the Papertape reader. I'd thought the PC04 was a reader/punch. Am I correct in my revised assumption, that it came in three models; reader/punch, reader, and punch? Now for the first question, should there be anything on the right side (looking from the front) if it's only a reader? For some reason I've a bad feeling that I don't have a complete reader... On a positive note, the PDP-8/E looks to be in *far* better shape than I'd been lead to believe, so hopefully I'll be able to get it up and running with minimal effort (I could be so lucky). Though it's large enough I'm very tempted to transplant pieces into my PDP-8/M and put the /E in storage. Also I got a terrific looking pile of documenation and Volume 3 of the hardware manuals is twice the size of the copy I already had. Most of the manuals are ones I didn't have, and I've finally got a printset :^) 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/ |

23 years, 5 months

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IMPORTANT NOTE (list admin)

by west＠tseinc.com

The classiccmp mailing list, as well as all the classiccmp related websites that I'm hosting at no charge, must be moved IMMEDIATELY to another set of servers at another location. Due to possible legal contractual reasons, I can't publicly go into more detail. If you need further information about this just contact me off list and I'll see if I can be more specific. PLEASE keep the following points in mind: 1) PLEASE do not continue (reply to) this thread on the list, I'd rather not have a bunch of messages in the archives about this topic. If you want to say anything about this, only reply to me at west(a)tseinc.com 2) I have resigned from the company that I worked for, and am no longer an owner there. The only valid email address for me is west(a)tseinc.com and to anyone who had my cellphone number, I now have a different number. Contact me via email if you need it. 3) Anyone who had my USmail mailing address for shipping stuff to with a zip code of 63117, please dont send anything there as there's no way to be sure I will ever get the package. Contact me off list for new mailing info. 4) I will continue to have the classiccmp website as well as all the free classiccmp related websites hosted at no charge. My offer of free hosting for any such websites or mailing lists still stands. Nothing will change, only the servers the sites are located on. The new location where the sites will be hosted is every bit as robust and well managed as the old location. 5) I took extreme pride in our uptime and reliability. You can assume the same will continue with the new hosting location (wink wink). However, as much as it truely pains me to do so, the sites and list must be moved in a very unplanned, hurried, unceremonious fashion. It is certain that there will be some downtime for the mailing list, as well as some of the free sites, WHILE they are being moved - lasting possibly 48 hours. I sincerely apologize for this, but the situation forces me to do this in an abrupt manner without planning for DNS propagation and the like. My sincere apologies. 6) As I said, the offer of free hosting still stands now and in the future. If anyone has any classiccmp related sites or mailing lists they want hosted, just drop me an email. Regards, Jay West

23 years, 5 months

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Microchannel ethernet NIC

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 12/3/2001 3:49:01 PM Eastern Standard Time, csmith(a)amdocs.com writes: << Probably RJ45. It is for a friend's machine, though, so I'll have to check. I have gotten an offer of an RJ45 board via email, though, if that's the case. RE: looking for MCA NIC... why not look on ebay? always some listed there and cheap too.

23 years, 5 months

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More E-Bay Insanity?

by acme_ent＠bellsouth.net

> From: Dave McGuire <mcguire(a)neurotica.com> > Hmm...come to think of it, I have a genuine Radio Shack 5.25" head > cleaning kit...I think I'll put it up on eBay and see how I do! 8-) Shoot, man, I've got a case of the things (I'd never use one myself, of course). Wait, that means I'm rich! RICH! RICHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Glen 0/0

23 years, 5 months

2
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FLUKE?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 3, 21:50, Tony Duell wrote: > 'Bubble Sort' has nothing to do with bubble memory. Bubble sort is a > well-known, very poor, sorting algorithm -- so poor that one book I have > contains the quote (from memory) 'If you know what a bubble sort is, wipe > it from your mind. If you don't, make a point of never finding out' :-) I don't know which book that was, but actually a bubble sort is one of the most efficient for things that are already nearly in order, or for small lists. Which is one reason it's used as part of some other algorithms. Definitely not for large random sets, however. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

23 years, 5 months

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FLUKE?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 3, 15:09, Christopher Smith wrote: > "Let A[1:n] be an array of n numbers. > > ... > > Make repeated sweeps over the array A[1:n] from left to right. Upon > detecting any adjacent pair of numbers A[i] and A[i+1] not in proper order, > exchange them A[i] <-> A[i + 1]. When a pass is completed with no exchanges > having been made, the process terminates. Hmm, well, that's (almost) the worst example I've ever seen :-) You're supposed to stop one position shorter each time, because by the end of the sweep, the largest (or smallest, depending on which way you do the comparison-and-swap) number has fallen to the bottom (end) of the array. It makes a big difference to the time it takes. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

23 years, 5 months

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TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 3, 20:21, Matt London wrote: > > No, that does not soud correct. > > The external SCSI-Connector (if you have one) on a MV3100 is a rather > > small, 68-PIN-HD-like connector, comparable to modern SCSI-III > > connectors. > Just my 2p's worth, but, my MV3100/m10e has a 50 pin centronics SCSI > connector - it's hooked into the scsi bus, I can see that by looking at it > - the cable connecting it has my 2nd internal HDD attached :&) As does mine, model no. DV31AT1A. > I also have the serial port option, which is a 37pin centronics. I think you mean 36-pin :-) > (Oh, what's the 50 pin HD-DB type connector? line-printer?) Good question :-) -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

23 years, 5 months

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History of Computing exam question

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Ben Franchuk [mailto:bfranchuk@jetnet.ab.ca] > Christopher Smith wrote: > > I took the question a different way. As I interpreted it, > the computers > > were supposed to be "significant" in terms of design. The > IBM PC wasn't. > > It was pretty much all re-hash of something else. > Well when I first saw a PC ( clone that is ) , I thought > "WOW A real keyboard, good display ( Upper / Lower Case ) > and dual floppies all in one box". 512K ram max sounded > like a lot of memory too. Compared to the 8 bit toy market > at the time Z80's,C64's,Coco's that was a lot of power. > It was the small 16 bit addressing that killed the 8 bitters. May have been unusual at the time. I doubt it was the first machine to have any of that. A VAX-11/750 with a vt-100, for instance, would have had all that less the dual-floppies and with a much higher maximum RAM limit ;) Seriously, though, some older CP/M boxes also had real keyboards, decent displays and dual floppies. (Some of which was optional, mind you... as were _any_ floppies on the PC, AFAIK, in that you bought them separately :) Also you could say that it was the first available 16-bit home computer (depending on your definition of 16-bit), but you'd be wrong... (Quick search says that several people believe this was the TI-99, actually, which also had a real keyboard, and could have had the dual floppies) Ultimately, the 32-bit systems were pretty close on its heels -- I have a timeline that places the PC in '82, and the Apple Lisa in '83. I don't know if this is correct... I have no idea how the peesee actually lasted as long as it has. There were several 32-bit systems on the market by 1984 or so (though, my personal favorite was done in '87 with the Acorn Archimedes). Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop

by spedraja＠ono.com

>If the TK50 is terminated and the SCSI IDs are correct (tape drives >historically were ID5) and it's not seen at the console then something's >broken :) There should be a DIL switch on the back of the unit to set the ID Yes, it's in the back. I've tried all the adresses. >if I'm remembering right, and if you've got a stock MV3100 the internal >disks will probably be ID3 (system disk) and ID0 or 1 (data). >What SCSI cable are you using? One large Centronics SCSI to one large Centronics SCSI (I speak about the connectors in both extremes of cable). >To check that the drive itself is OK you can always take it out of its >expansion box, whip the cover off the VAX and connect directly to the >internal bus next to the 2 disks. I was think about it, but I should like to do something less "busy" ;-) Thanks and Greetings Sergio

23 years, 5 months

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3com 1625-0

by spedraja＠ono.com

Dear fellows, thanks to all for the messages received until this moment about the MV 3100. With independence of this lovely machine, I have one new question. This can be difficult, I've located only 4 hits in Google and all of them referred to catalogs. Somebody has one 3com 1625-0 Coaxial FMS Hub ? I just received one. It's supposed this item has one variable voltage power supply that covers from 110 to 220 volts. Right ? It has too eight coaxial connectors, one AUI connector in the back, and... a couple ot mini-scsi connectors, one male and one female. The most dammned strange combination I saw until this moment. Do you have some info of interest about this item ? Thanks and Greetings Sergio

23 years, 5 months

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TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop

by Antonio.Carlini＠riverstonenet.com

> Michael Schneider wrote: > >So, i've learned something today 8-) > >All my 3100's (ok, i have only 3) have that crappy small 68pin connector >that wants this special cable that costs an arm and a leg. Either you've learned that you have a VAXstation 3100 or you have a @@LOOK@@ **RARE!!!** auction just waiting for ebay :-) >The 50pin has 3 rows, right? Then it's the "B1 Synchronous Port 1", >whatever this may be... I *knew* I shouldn't have hit Send so quickly :-) Yes, it is 50-pin and not 37. Normally this would be an understandable slip up, but having supported DEC synch cards for more than one hand's worth of years I cannot imagine how I let that one slip by. I'll just go and find a piece of wall to hammer my head against :-) Antonio

23 years, 5 months

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More E-Bay Insanity?

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Douglas Quebbeman [mailto:dhquebbeman@theestopinalgroup.com] > Have 5.25 inch floppy drive cleaning kits > become unobtainium, or only for the clueless: [snip] > This is up there with the $500 Kaypro... That is insane. $50.00 "Reserve not yet met..." :) Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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More E-Bay Insanity?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 3, Christopher Smith wrote: > ... ok, I understand this perfectly (believe me!) but this is a head > cleaning kit, and anyone who's still got a 5.25" disk likely could take it > apart and clean the head without the kit. Yes, I agree...see my later message. :) Hmm...come to think of it, I have a genuine Radio Shack 5.25" head cleaning kit...I think I'll put it up on eBay and see how I do! 8-) -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

23 years, 5 months

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More E-Bay Insanity?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 3, Dave McGuire wrote: > > Have 5.25 inch floppy drive cleaning kits > > become unobtainium, or only for the clueless: > > > > http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1305651479 > > > > This is up there with the $500 Kaypro... > > Value is in the eye of the beholder, man. Why is it automatically > "insane" when someone else views omething as being more valuable than > we do? But [replying to my own message] I do feel compelled to state that $50 for a 5.25" head cleaning kit is utterly ridiculous... ;) -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

23 years, 5 months

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Off-Topic: Re: Anyone have a MicroVax II in a BA123 available?

by mythtech＠Mac.com

>I mean it's gotta be annoying to the original poster to hear of others in >the area, with the "foo" he needs, but who don't want to get rid of it. >It's not bad that they have the "foo", but it seems like the reply is >rubbing his face in it.... Hey, I have a ton of extra foo, and I am willing to ship it, even international! LOL... ok, it is one of those days, I am in one of those moods... fear not, I understand your point, and I have to agree... getting your face rubbed in foo is no fun! :-) -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

23 years, 5 months

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Off-Topic: Re: Anyone have a MicroVax II in a BA123 available ?

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Rich Beaudry [mailto:r_beaudry@hotmail.com] > If you're not in the area, or you don't want to get rid of > it, why reply? If you're not in the area, then it's because somebody else who wants one might be closer to you. Would you not read similar messages if you were looking for the same item (not necessarily in the same area)? If you have one but don't want to get rid of it, then obviously you've already gone through the process of acquiring said piece of hardware and may be able to offer helpful advice. (Or not... :) Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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Microchannel ethernet NIC

by csmith＠amdocs.com

Anybody got one (see subject) they don't want? Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop

by spedraja＠ono.com

>> The machine has two scsi buses or ar least two SCSI connectors back, >> one large and another of lightly minor size. > >I cannot think of *any* MicroVAX or VAXstation that >has two SCSI connectors of *different* sizes. It has two connectors of Centronics type. One is a large Centronics type connector, over the three MMJ connectors. The other one is, seeing the CPU in its back, at the LEFT, covered by one semiespheric cover. This is a "short" Centronics connector. I have the TK50 connected actually to the large Centronics connector because is the same than the manufactured with the TK50. But this don't work, at least by now. I have no cable to connect the TK50Z-GA to the short Centronics connector. The central unit only put "Microvax 3100" in the front. Is a desktop, not a tower. Thanks and Greetings Sergio

23 years, 5 months

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FLUKE?

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Dave McGuire [mailto:mcguire@neurotica.com] > The "bubble sort" is a classic sorting algorithm. That's probably > the algorithm the programmer used to sort the list of files. By way of description Standish says in "Data Structure Techniques:" "Let A[1:n] be an array of n numbers. ... Make repeated sweeps over the array A[1:n] from left to right. Upon detecting any adjacent pair of numbers A[i] and A[i+1] not in proper order, exchange them A[i] <-> A[i + 1]. When a pass is completed with no exchanges having been made, the process terminates. " I believe it's called bubble sort because the lesser numerical values tend to "bubble up" to the top of the array. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop

by Antonio.Carlini＠riverstonenet.com

>It has two connectors of Centronics type. One is a >large Centronics type connector, over the three >MMJ connectors. >The other one is, seeing the CPU in its back, at >the LEFT, covered by one semiespheric cover. >This is a "short" Centronics connector. I have a DV-31BTB-A which I know is a MicroVAX 3100 Model 20. Yours, according to the Systems & Options Catalogue I have, is a MicroVAX 3100 Model 10. On the back of mine there is (looking at the back): at the top middle: a DB37 labelled B2 (this is a socket with 37 pins) (I don't think this is available on the Model 10) in the middle row (from left to right) a connector labelled (4-11), this is for an asynch card (DSH32 I think) This is the same "style" as the SCSI connector (i.e., no pins) but is smaller. It is *NOT* a SCSI connector. another DB37 labelled DB37 this is over and slightly to the left of the 3 MMJ connectors. a final connector on the right, labelled with a diamond and a horizontal line through the right hand point. This is the SCSI connector. This connector is the only one that is identical to the connectors on the TK50Z. This is over the printer connector. Having said, if you have the right SCSI cable (i.e. the same connector at both ends) then I don't see how you can possibly have connected to the wrong place. (And it sounds like you have used the RIGHT hand connection and just are unsure what the other one is). BTW: The TK50Z box has two SCSI connections. It does not matter which one you use, but you *must* put a terminator on the other one if you expect the MicroVAX to see the tape drive. I've found a manual with pictures of the connectors. I can scan some pages on Wednesday and email them to you directly if necessary. So a few checks: -- are you using the correct (RIGHT hand) connector? -- Is the unused connector on the TK50Z filled by a terminator? -- What ID is the TK50Z set to? (Avoid 6 & 7 ... the CPU uses one of those ... I forget exactly which because it varied from system to system). -- Avoid any ID used by the existing drives, SHOW DEVICE will list these. The external SCSI bus may well be independent of the internal bus, in which case it will not matter, but again I cannot remember for this system. -- If it still does not work, what to the power up tests say? The error code (if any) should help to track this down. Antonio arcarlini(a)iee.org

23 years, 5 months

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FYI: AT HOME

by mranalog＠attbi.com

Hi All, If anyone is expecting mail for an @HOME.com customer, you may have a small wait. @HOME shut down about midnight local time on Saturday. I was very lucky (I guess) because I was able to get back on the servers Sunday morning to change my account. I am no longer mranalog(a)home.com, I am now mranalog(a)attbi.com. AT&T says that some customers may be out of service for as much as 10 days. Of course, my service was back just long enough yesterday for me to resubscribe to to a few discussion lists and then it was out again. This morning sending mail seems fine but receiving mail is painfully slow. Regards, --Doug ========================================= Doug Coward Poulsbo, Washington Analog Computer Online Museum and History Center http://www.best.com/~dcoward/analog =========================================

23 years, 5 months

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PDP-8/E bulbs

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 3, 7:51, Tom Uban wrote: > I get replacement bulbs for my PDP11 at the local electronics store. If > you know the voltage, all you have to do is match the base. You may also > be able to find them at: http://www.digikey.com Hmm, I'd not be too sure about that. I believe the correct bulbs are 12V or perhaps 14V, T1-3/4 bi-pin, 0.04A (that's 40mA). I've seen 14V 80mA bulbs in a few places, but I'm not sure if they would be "safe" in the panel - they'd draw twice the current and I'm not sure if the driving transistors are rated for that. Anyone know? (I have a panel, but not a print set). If it's any help, I found some of the proper bulbs for my -8/E recently, and they are marked "OSHINO-1 12-09169" or "PL10161 1209169". I think the 12-09169 may be the DEC part number. On test, they draw between 30mA and 35mA at 12V, and between about 35mA and 40mA at 14V. The ones I've found in the Farnell catalogue (cat no 329-216) seem to be made by EBT Technologies, part no 7382, and they're 14V, 80mA, 1.12W, 3.8 lumens, nominal life 15000 hours, priced around 50p (about 72 cents) depending on quantity. I found the same bulbs slightly cheaper in the CPC catalogue, for those of us in the UK. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

23 years, 5 months

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Microchannel ethernet NIC

by csmith＠amdocs.com

Probably RJ45. It is for a friend's machine, though, so I'll have to check. I have gotten an offer of an RJ45 board via email, though, if that's the case. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); ' > -----Original Message----- > From: Chris [mailto:mythtech@Mac.com] > >Anybody got one (see subject) they don't want? > Do you want BNC, RJ45, or AUI? > I have one that is BNC and AUI, and one that is RJ45 and BNC, and one > that I think is ethernet that is BNC only.

23 years, 5 months

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FLUKE?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 3, Lawrence Walker wrote: > I have a program by Charles Martin called CMFiler which I have used for > years and consider indispensable for exploring Doze machines. It is > somewhat like NC but with many more features and has worked (in a dos > window) thru all the MS upgrades(?) up to Win 98 at least. > It would occasionally give a message "bubble-sorting files" when I accessed > a drive. Does this simply mean sequentially ordering ? The "bubble sort" is a classic sorting algorithm. That's probably the algorithm the programmer used to sort the list of files. -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

23 years, 5 months

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Wang info

by jdonogh1＠prodigy.net

I have started putting together some wang info pages on the web, for obsolete/historic systems such as the OIS, and soon, early VS systems. It's just a start right now, but some of it is there for all to see at http://pages.prodigy.net/jdonogh1/wang.html

23 years, 5 months

5
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Ebay madness -- Kaypro II for $515

by CLeyson＠aol.com

I hope this madness doesn't start a trend - where would that leave the serious enthusiast ? It does beg the question - might it be worth more with "purple" ceramic packages ? ;-) Chris Leyson

23 years, 5 months

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Microchannel ethernet NIC

by mythtech＠Mac.com

>Anybody got one (see subject) they don't want? Do you want BNC, RJ45, or AUI? I have one that is BNC and AUI, and one that is RJ45 and BNC, and one that I think is ethernet that is BNC only. The BNC only one is the only one NOT in use, the others are in machines. I can part with one, but it will mean swapping the machine off the network, so I can't part with it for nothing. If you have good Mac or Apple stuff I can consider a trade, otherwise I can sell it to you (I am not sure what a fair price is, but it will cost me about $25 to deal with replacing it and the machine it comes from). -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

23 years, 5 months

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History of Computing exam question

by Robert_Feldman＠jdedwards.com

Because it had "IBM" on the front, which gave it validity in the business world. Could you imagine some mid-level/upper-level executive with an Apple II on his desk? Being first, or being the best, does not guarantee success. -----Original Message----- From: Christopher Smith [mailto:csmith@amdocs.com] Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 12:16 PM To: 'classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org' Subject: RE: History of Computing exam question <snip> I have no idea how the peesee actually lasted as long as it has. <snip> Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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PDP-8/E bulbs

by uban＠ubanproductions.com

I get replacement bulbs for my PDP11 at the local electronics store. If you know the voltage, all you have to do is match the base. You may also be able to find them at: http://www.digikey.com --tom At 10:19 PM 12/2/01 -0800, you wrote: >I'm making progress on the PDP-8/E I got this last week. The powersupply >checks out once the Front Panel is plugged in, and thanks to all the spare >lightbulbs I've got all the burnt out bulbs replaced. Unfortunatly I'm now >down to two spares which my -8/m could probably use, the -8/e had nearly >half it's bulbs out. This brings up the question, how hard is it to get >replacement bulbs? > > 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/ | > >

23 years, 5 months

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Is it a Lisa or Mac XL?!

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> I understand discontinuing a product but could never quite figure out why > you would actually destroy equipment. I mean what is the point? I'd imagine they were concerned about 10,000 MacXLs cutting into the selling of Mac 512ke & Mac Plus models... OTOH, if it happened during the Jobs era, no logic or reason was likely involved; Jobs has a proven track record of killing Apple products he personally dislikes. But pepsiboy may have been Lisa's nail-in-the-coffin, I just can't recall... -dq

23 years, 5 months

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Anyone have a MicroVax II in a BA123 available?

by msell＠ontimesupport.com

Hello, I saw a couple of MicroVax II's over the weekend and they look like good project machines. Does anyone in the Houston, TX area have any they want to part with? Never hurts to ask! - Matt Matthew Sell Programmer On Time Support, Inc. www.ontimesupport.com (281) 296-6066 Join the Metrology Software discussion group METLIST! http://www.ontimesupport.com/cgi-bin/mojo/mojo.cgi "One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer" - Adolf Hitler Many thanks for this tagline to a fellow RGVAC'er...

23 years, 5 months

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Scrapping hardware to get it off the books

by DAW＠yalepress3.unipress.yale.edu

! From: Chris [mailto:mythtech@Mac.com] ...... ! But I will take anything Apple related that people will just give me ! (although not everything stays with me, better useable macs ! get given out ! to people that can't afford a computer... for instance, the ! Classic II I ! got from David I am giving to someone for Xmas that has no ! computer, the ! kid can at least use it for writing school papers, checking ! email, basic ! web browsing, and playing some games... it is a step ahead of the ! nothingness he can use right now). ! ! -chris Well, I should've just sent the LCII along also, if I knew that. No-one seems to want it! --- David A Woyciesjes --- C & IS Support Specialist --- Yale University Press --- mailto:david.woyciesjes@yale.edu --- (203) 432-0953 --- ICQ # - 905818

23 years, 5 months

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Anyone have a MicroVax II in a BA123 available?

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Tothwolf [mailto:tothwolf@concentric.net] > On Mon, 3 Dec 2001, Matthew Sell wrote: > > I saw a couple of MicroVax II's over the weekend and they look like > > good project machines. Does anyone in the Houston, TX area have any > > they want to part with? > > Never hurts to ask! > I'm in Houston and have a MircoVax II, but I don't really want to part > with it...I bought mine for a project machine a few years ago, but I > really don't know when I'll get around to getting it up and running. I'm not in the area. I do have an enclosure for a MicroVAX II, and some boards (CPU and some RAM) I believe I tested the CPU, and it's working. The RAM may not work with that specific CPU, and the enclosure has power-supply problems. (basically it's all left-overs from when I was trying to get parts for mine) I don't want to ship, though, since it may as well be a 3-foot-tall block of solid lead. Nice machines -- built like tanks ;) Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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Ebay madness -- Kaypro II for $515

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Wayne M. Smith [mailto:wmsmith@earthlink.net] > Two guys who have bid up a Kaypro II to $515 on eBay . . . and there's > still 13 hours left. [snip] > I'm going to get my "rare" "museum-grade" Kaypro 4 up for > auction right > away! I suppose my $3 kaypro 2 was a good investment, then. Wonderful machine, btw -- built like a tank. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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Sun Roadrunner

by LFessen106＠aol.com

In a message dated 12/3/01 11:08:59 AM Eastern Standard Time, vance(a)ikickass.org writes: > Hey people. I was wondering if anyone here were familiar with the > internals of the Sun Roadrunner (386i). Specifically, I am looking for > someone who can tell me exactly what is different between a Roadrunner and > a PC. Depending on how difficult it will be, I might try to build a > modern Roadrunner from new commodity components. I have an actual > 386i/25, and a 486i for compatibility testing. > > Peace... Sridha > > You have a 486i? Wow! I have a 386i, but can't really get it working *yet* because it has a bad prom.. -Linc Fessenden In The Beginning there was nothing, which exploded - Yeah right... Calculating in binary code is as easy as 01,10,11.

23 years, 5 months

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Off Topic - stereo to PC question

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Carlos Murillo [mailto:cmurillo@emtelsa.multi.net.co] > Get a good cassette deck; I hope that your tapes were recorded > using Dolby C, or at least B. In either case, the high > freq response is already lost, but during playback/recording, > you might actually null out some high frq noise... As long as we're hypothetically copying hard to find tapes, and willing to shell out for hardware, you might also consider a recording device that was designed for the task. It seems to me that one can get a decent digital multitracking device for the cost of a decent multitracking software package these days ;) (I may be exaggerating here... but they're cheap) For instance, I've seen a new unit -- a Boss BR-532 -- which records on "smartmedia" (4-track), and lists around $400 (I think). I hear that the 128M cards, which are said to hold 90 minutes of audio run about $45. Obviously this uses some compression, and you wouldn't get the best quality, but it would provide an easy way of mixing some of the hiss out and adding some mastering effects if you'd like. This might also be problematic for recording a cassette tape since I think it only has one channel in. (You could do it, though) I wouldn't use this for doing original recording personally, but for re-mastering a cassette, or other light-duty stuff, it may be just the ticket. I personally have a Fostex VF08, which I paid about $480 for from audiolines.com, but which lists around $599. It's a slightly more heavy solution, and has 5GB or so of disk in it. No compression, sound records at 44.1khz 16-bit. The unit also has 20-bit ADC and 24-bit DAC with 64/128x oversampling respectively. It's an 8-track unit with 2 channels in. I can tell you from experience that this machine could probably make "smashing pumpkins" sound good. (My opinion, of course... and don't get me started on "smashing pumpkins.") (These are mostly from memory, so I might be wrong on some of this... look it up) At any rate, one could record, mix, and master the cassette on a similar unit, and transfer the resulting digital audio to your computer through the SPDIF digital out. Wow, that was tangential. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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Sun Roadrunner

by vance＠ikickass.org

Hey people. I was wondering if anyone here were familiar with the internals of the Sun Roadrunner (386i). Specifically, I am looking for someone who can tell me exactly what is different between a Roadrunner and a PC. Depending on how difficult it will be, I might try to build a modern Roadrunner from new commodity components. I have an actual 386i/25, and a 486i for compatibility testing. Peace... Sridha

23 years, 5 months

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B+H Iris board sets

by Robert_Feldman＠jdedwards.com

Free for postage/shipping (or pickup in Chicago): 4 - B+H Iris (ca. 1986-88) 2-slot/3-board sets: CPU Board w/TMX34010 32-bit Graphis System Processor, 32 chips D41264-15 Video RAM; SCSI (?) board; Parallel Printer/Scanner board. 2 sets are complete, 1 is missing the TMX chip, 1 is missing the TMX and a Bt454KPJ170 chip. 1 copy Texas Instruments TMS34010 User's Guide. Board sets weigh 2 lb 3 oz each. email me off-list at Robert_Feldman(a)jdedwards.com.

23 years, 5 months

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Looking for CPT 9000 word processor

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Vintage Computer Festival [mailto:vcf@vintage.org] > I am looking for a CPT 9000 word processor, circa 1988. It has a page > display and is based on an Intel 80286. I have one, but I think I'm keeping it, at least for now. They're interesting machines. The full-page white-mono EGA graphics setup is a nice touch. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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Off Topic - stereo to PC question

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Zane H. Healy [mailto:healyzh@aracnet.com] > I use a combination of RayGun and Bias Peak on a Echo Products Darla24 > soundcard. I've dedicated my old PowerMac 8500/180 to this, though > hopefully one of these days I'll be able to move it to a > souped up 9500 or > 9600. > There are simular solutions for Windows based PC's. For windows, centrillium (I doubt that's the proper spelling) software's "cool edit" is a decent editor, with (IIRC) a downloadable demo. Nothing too fancy, but it will probably "transfer ... from cassette" with no problem. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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Free PDP 11/23 and disk drive (UK)

by spedraja＠ono.com

Hello, Stuart. Impossible shipping to Santander, Spain ? (by Mail or Transport Agency). Thanks and Greetings Sergio -----Mensaje original----- De: Stuart Birchall <stuart(a)zen.co.uk> Para: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Fecha: lunes, 03 de diciembre de 2001 15:27 Asunto: Free PDP 11/23 and disk drive (UK) >Populated and once operational (still should be) PDP 11/23 CPU, and a disk >drive. >Free collection, northwest UK. >Thanks. > >

23 years, 5 months

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Kalpana Etherswitch docs/firmware?

by mrbill＠mrbill.net

They got bought by Cisco, which seems to have buried the product. Anybody got docs/firmware for either a Kalpana Etherswitch EPS-1500 or a 2015-RS? Thanks. Bill -- Bill Bradford mrbill(a)mrbill.net Austin, TX

23 years, 5 months

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O.T. S. ring is at it again

by jrice＠texoma.net

I keep getting replies to my own posts from S. ring containing a virus.

23 years, 5 months

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TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Carlini, Antonio <Antonio.Carlini(a)riverstonenet.com> >The VAXstation 3100s pretty much all have a single >SCSI connector (the small size - HD68 is what I've >seen it called in the past). I have them with HD68 (VS3100/m76) and standard Amphenol 50 (Vaxserver3100m10e and Microvax3100/m10E). >The MicroVAX 3100 series machines are all >(IIRC) in one of two similar boxes - the >only difference being the height (the larger >one has two trays on to which hard drives >may be mounted - the smaller one has >only one tray). Looking at the back, The smaller can mount up to three drives internally and one externally accessable media (floppy, TK70 or Cdrom). Then there is the BA42 storage box which is the same siaze as a basic 3100 bit hold two 5.25" full height drives typically RZ55 or RZ56. I have a few of these. The connector is Cannon/amphenol 50 pin. Allison

23 years, 5 months

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FLUKE?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

It's not RAM per se. It's basically a disk like structure, the difference is rather than rotate the media they move the magnetic domains around. I have a few 128kbyte (1Mbit) bubbles I use still. Allison -----Original Message----- From: Jochen Kunz <jkunz(a)unixag-kl.fh-kl.de> To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Date: Monday, December 03, 2001 4:11 AM Subject: Re: FLUKE? >On 2001.12.03 04:27 jeff.kaneko(a)juno.com wrote: > >> with optional bubble memory >What is this? A type of RAM? Whow does it work?

23 years, 5 months

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TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

The problem may be that it's not a SCSI TK50 but the SASI interfaced TK50 for the MV2000. The difference is the firmware on the SCSI/SASI interface card. Allison -----Original Message----- From: Michael Schneider <ms(a)silke.rt.schwaben.de> To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Date: Monday, December 03, 2001 3:10 AM Subject: Re: TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop >Some more datapoints, please: > >- Do you have a TK50 or a TK50Z (I think the "Z" is the indication that >it is indeed the real SCSI variant)? Does it have an SCSI-ID-switch on >the back? >- What model is your '3100? Just plain "MicroVAX3100", or is there some >M-Number (like "M40")? >- What *does* "SHOW DEV" say? >- Do you have one or two SCSI-Busses? Or, maybe easier to answer: Does >the machine have a floppy drive installed? >- Does one (or both) of the internal disks "disappear" whenever you plug >in the TK50? > >Anyway, usually problems with SCSI-Devices are due to either termination >problems, bad cables or conflicting SCSI-ID's. > >regards > >ms > > >On Sun, 2001-12-02 at 22:15, SP wrote: >> Hello. I have one problem I'd like somebody could >> help me to solve. I have one TK50-GA external >> SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop. >> The Microvax can't detect the TK50. This tape unit >> works perfectly. I have the cover of it retired, and >> I have located the ribbon that aid to select the >> SCSI address of the unit. The Microvax >> haven't attached any other external unit, and >> internally have two disks. >> >> How can I know if the unit is attached ? >> The SHOW DEVICES in the boot ROM don't says >> nothing. >> >> Greetings >> >> Sergio >> >> >> >> >> >> >-- >Michael Schneider email: ms(a)silke.rt.schwaben.de >Germany http://www.vaxcluster.de > > People disagree with me. I just ignore them. > (Linus Torvalds) > >

23 years, 5 months

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TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop

by Adrian.Graham＠corporatemicrosystems.com

If the TK50 is terminated and the SCSI IDs are correct (tape drives historically were ID5) and it's not seen at the console then something's broken :) There should be a DIL switch on the back of the unit to set the ID if I'm remembering right, and if you've got a stock MV3100 the internal disks will probably be ID3 (system disk) and ID0 or 1 (data). What SCSI cable are you using? To check that the drive itself is OK you can always take it out of its expansion box, whip the cover off the VAX and connect directly to the internal bus next to the 2 disks. HTH > -----Original Message----- > From: SP [mailto:spedraja@ono.com] > Sent: 02 December 2001 21:16 > To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > Subject: TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop > > > Hello. I have one problem I'd like somebody could > help me to solve. I have one TK50-GA external > SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop. > The Microvax can't detect the TK50. This tape unit > works perfectly. I have the cover of it retired, and > I have located the ribbon that aid to select the > SCSI address of the unit. The Microvax > haven't attached any other external unit, and > internally have two disks. > > How can I know if the unit is attached ? > The SHOW DEVICES in the boot ROM don't says > nothing. > > Greetings > > Sergio > > > > >

23 years, 5 months

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TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop

by Antonio.Carlini＠riverstonenet.com

> The machine has two scsi buses or ar least two SCSI connectors back, > one large and another of lightly minor size. I cannot think of *any* MicroVAX or VAXstation that has two SCSI connectors of *different* sizes. The VAXstation 3100s pretty much all have a single SCSI connector (the small size - HD68 is what I've seen it called in the past). The VAXstation 4000-9x/60 have one Amphenol 50-way SCSI connector (the expansion boxes have two, but connected as an in-out bus). I forget about the 4000-VLC, but it cannot really have room for more than one connector! The MicroVAX 3100 series machines are all (IIRC) in one of two similar boxes - the only difference being the height (the larger one has two trays on to which hard drives may be mounted - the smaller one has only one tray). Looking at the back, there should be three connectors across the top (I think these connectors are always there, even if they are not used internally). The right-most connector (looking from the back, I think) should be the SCSI port; it is a 50-way amphenol connector. This is the same as the conectors on a TK50Z. Antonio arcarlini(a)iee.org

23 years, 5 months

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Antron MST300 (was:RE: Up for Grabs: Intel ICE boxs and pods )

by Adrian.Graham＠corporatemicrosystems.com

That's one hell of a pair of cards :) My stuff is definitely Antron though. Their website is at http://www.btinternet.com/~andy.antron/ and they're still doing the same thing.... cheers > -----Original Message----- > From: Joe [mailto:rigdonj@intellistar.net] > Sent: 30 November 2001 18:54 > To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: Antron MST300 (was:RE: Up for Grabs: Intel ICE boxs and > pods) > > > If you mean Atron then yes I've heard of them. if fact, I was just > searching for info on them this morning. I have two full length IBM PC > style cards that are both marked "Atron", one plugs into an 8 > bit ISA slot > and the other plugs into a 16-bit ISA slot. The cards have a > ribbon cable > that connects them together at the top. One is marked "Master > Break Trace" > and the other is marked "Slave Break Trace". (looks like > they're for an > emulator). Both boards have a large male 3U type connector on > the outside. > I've posted a picture at > <http://www.intellistar.net/~rigdonj/ebay/boards.jpg>. FWIW > I pulled these > out of an old 286 Compaq Deskpro. I wanted to get the drive > but it was > already gone :-( > > Joe > > > At 05:13 PM 11/30/01 -0000, you wrote: > >Speaking of chip testers has anyone come across the Antron > company and their > >testing equipment? Antron are still going and still selling > test kit to the > >likes of Compaq, but since they didn't reply to my email I'm > assuming they > >had no old documentation. > > > >Basically the MST300 is a 386 based PC with 2 extra ISA > cards that interface > >with the testing 'pods'. I've got pods for the 8086, 80286, > 80386SX and DX, > >Moto 68K and I'm still not sure what they were supposed to > be testing! > > > >I'll post pix on Binary Dinosaurs when I get 'em taken :) > > > >-- > >Adrian Graham, Corporate Microsystems Ltd > >e: adrian.graham(a)corporatemicrosystems.com > >w: www.corporatemicrosystems.com > >w2: www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk (Online Computer Museum) > > >

23 years, 5 months

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TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop

by spedraja＠ono.com

Hello: >Some more datapoints, please: > >- Do you have a TK50 or a TK50Z (I think the "Z" is the indication that >it is indeed the real SCSI variant)? Does it have an SCSI-ID-switch on >the back? It's a TK50Z-GA. Real SCSI (not like the TK50Z-FA for the VS2000). And it has the SCSI ID selector back. >- What model is your '3100? Just plain "MicroVAX3100", or is there some >M-Number (like "M40")? DV-31ATB-A I don't have more info. I think is the more basic Microvax 3100 Desktop Model. I've located only one reference in Google about this model, in one Reseller's Catalog. >- What *does* "SHOW DEV" say? I must check it and print it. >- Do you have one or two SCSI-Busses? Or, maybe easier to answer: Does >the machine have a floppy drive installed? The machine has two scsi buses or ar least two SCSI connectors back, one large and another of lightly minor size. It don't has floppies installed. >- Does one (or both) of the internal disks "disappear" whenever you plug >in the TK50? The VMS boot goes perfect and detects both disks. One is for the system and the other for the user data (at least in my first inquiries). >Anyway, usually problems with SCSI-Devices are due to either termination >problems, bad cables or conflicting SCSI-ID's. It appears the SCSI id's are correctly adjusted. I suspect a little more about the SCSI cable, but it works with other machines. Thanks and Greetings Sergio

23 years, 5 months

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TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop

by spedraja＠ono.com

Hello. I have one problem I'd like somebody could help me to solve. I have one TK50-GA external SCSI tape unit + Microvax 3100 Desktop. The Microvax can't detect the TK50. This tape unit works perfectly. I have the cover of it retired, and I have located the ribbon that aid to select the SCSI address of the unit. The Microvax haven't attached any other external unit, and internally have two disks. How can I know if the unit is attached ? The SHOW DEVICES in the boot ROM don't says nothing. Greetings Sergio

23 years, 5 months

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History of Computing exam question

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) [mailto:cisin@xenosoft.com] > Leaving Hitler out of a world history would be like leaving > IBM PC (5150) > out of a list of significant computers. I took the question a different way. As I interpreted it, the computers were supposed to be "significant" in terms of design. The IBM PC wasn't. It was pretty much all re-hash of something else. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

23 years, 5 months

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PDP-8/E bulbs

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

I'm making progress on the PDP-8/E I got this last week. The powersupply checks out once the Front Panel is plugged in, and thanks to all the spare lightbulbs I've got all the burnt out bulbs replaced. Unfortunatly I'm now down to two spares which my -8/m could probably use, the -8/e had nearly half it's bulbs out. This brings up the question, how hard is it to get replacement bulbs? 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/ |

23 years, 5 months

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FLUKE?

by KenzieM＠sympatico.ca

I was at the other yard of the scrapper yesterday. He just had in a bunch of IBM 3174's and a few large Hitachi data storage units. Beside this was another large unit labelled FLUKE. It's too late for it but I did get the 8" floppy disks for it. It was raining so they got a bit wet. They are drying now. Does anyone know anything about FLUKE machines? Collector of Vintage Computers (www.ncf.ca/~ba600)

23 years, 5 months

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AW: Atari 4160STE ?!

by walgen＠e-Spirit.de

Hi Curt, > While I don't have every single ST component listed, the ST section under > Atari Computers on my website should be of help to you: > www.atarimuseum.com Of course I checked your web-site first for infos about the 4160STe :) Perhaps some day you have the time to make a complete list of all Atari Computer Systems - I think there are quite a few unkown systems like the Atari ST520+, CLab Falcon MK I, II and X - there also was an Atari 520 STE - very strange ... > The 4160STe was going to be a 4mb Europe release of the ST but was > cut from production at the last minute, a few samples are floating > about, perhaps my machine is one of those. It has a 4160 label - although I am not completly sure if it is an original factory installed label or if it has been added later due to a memory upgrade. On the bottom site the label reads "1040STE" and has a large black sticker "4MB". The Serial Number is X2 040551 - never seen anything like "X2" on an Atari ST machine usualy the serial numbers start with "A1" ... if anyone is interested I have put some pictures on: http://www.homecomputer.de/tmp/4160_top.jpg http://www.homecomputer.de/tmp/4160_bottom.jpg Stefan. www.HomeComputer.de

23 years, 5 months

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ICOT 57 Terminal

by univac2＠earthlink.net

I bought a working ICOT Model 57 Terminal at a thrift store tonight. It was used with the American Airlines SABRE system. Does anyone have a keyboard for it, or know anything about it? I'm assuming its interface is RS-232. Am I right? Thanks, Owen

23 years, 5 months

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NeXT stuff

by vance＠ikickass.org

Ok. I had borrowed a soundbox and cables for my NeXT, but the person from whom I had borrowed them wants them back. Does anyone have an extra non-ADB soundbox and cables for a NeXT color slab available? My monitor has 3BNC connection. Also, (I know I am doing a bit of wishful thinking here), does anyone have a Pyro accelerator board for a slab, they wouldn't mind selling? Peace... Sridhar

23 years, 5 months

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Tall Tree Systems`JRAM-3'

by mhstein＠usa.net

Oh yeah... I know exactly what you mean... ----------Original Message---------- I did something real stupid when I moved out of my office. I tried to organize the stuff that I was packing. For example, I put all of my staplers (regular ones, binding ones, heavy duty ones, deep throat ones, ....) into one box. Now I can't find 'em, and have NO stapler.

23 years, 5 months

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History of Computing exam question

by CLeyson＠aol.com

1) 1890 Hollerith Tabulation System. Mechanical machine to sort US census data. Hollerith's Tabulating Machine Company, TMC, was later to merge with Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co, later to become IBM (1914) 2) 1937-41 Z1 and Z3 built by Konrad Zuse and Helmut Schreyer Z1 first binary machine. Z3 first floating point machine (used 2600 relays). Speed was 5Hz ! 3) 1937 Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) or Harvard Mk I Part vacuum tube - part relay. Hard wired coding. Code written by Grace Hopper. According to Ms Hopper - moths would fly in through the open windows at night and get stuck in the relays. This would render the machine unless and it would have to be "de-bugged". 4) 1940 ? Enigma - Electromechanical state machine. Colossus wouldn't have been built without it. 5) 1943 Colossus - Vacuum tube code craker. Not a general purpose machine, built solely to solve Enigma ciphers. Hard wired coding and paper tape. 1500 valves. 6) 1944 ENIAC - First general purpose machine. Hard wired and paper tape program, worked in decimal. Program storage added after development of Manchester Mk I and EDSAC. 7) 1946 Manchester Mark I - First stored program computer. The Williams tube (CRT) was used for program storage. Commercial version was the Ferranti Mk I Followed by EDSAC in 1949. 8) 1951 UNIVAC - first successful commercial computer. One of the first machines to use compiled software, another of Grace Hopper's ideas. 9) 1951 LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office) J. Lyons & Company Ltd First British mainframe. Lyons bought by English Electric Company later to become ICL and the end of the British computer industry. 10) 1956 MIT Lincoln Labs TX-0 - First solid state computer 11) 1964 CDC's 6600 - Seymour Cray's first super computer, 3 MIPS 12) 1965 DEC PDP8 - The first true minicomputer 13) 1968/9 The Apollo guidance computer - Helped get man to the moon. 14) 1971 Intel 4004 - First commercially available microprocessor 15) 1972 HP 35 - Perhaps the first scientific pocket calculator ? (On the list 'cos I like HP stuff) 16) 1974 Xerox Alto - The mouse makes it's first appearence as well as windows, menus and icons. Ground breaking stuff. 17) 1975 MITS Altair 8800. First popular personal computer . 8080 based, 256 bytes of memory, no keyboard or display. Paul Allen and Bill Gates wrote a BASIC interpreter for it and the Altairs bus structure evolved into the S-100 bus. 18) 1976/7 Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak produced the Apple I followed by Apple II. First popular 6502 personal computer. Atari and Commodore followed. 19) 1976 CRAY 1 - First real supercomputer ? 166 MIPS 20) 1978 DEC VAX11/780 - 4Gbyte virtual memory ! 21) 1981 The IBM PC - A veil of darkness falls Honourable mention Arcade games ought to get a mention, they created an entire industry. Atari for Asteroids, Midway for space invaders. Chris Leyson

23 years, 5 months

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Tall Tree Systems`JRAM-3'

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 2, Tony Duell wrote: > > Eventually, he found the application for it. He marketed a laser printer > > controller, that bypassed the 256K, text only, controller of the HP > > LaserJet, etc, and created complete bitmap images in RAM (on his board) in > > the PC, and dumped them straight into the printer engine. > > Sounds like it worked with a Canon CX-VDO printer. > > This is a Canon CX engine with no internal formatter (controller) board. > It still has the DC controller -- the little microcontroller board for the > mechanics, but the interface is very low level. Essentially you have : I thought that was called an LBP-CX. That was a long time ago, though, so I don't really trust my memory... -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

23 years, 5 months

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Altair, 8080 assembler

by rschaefe＠gcfn.org

Anyone have a quick rundown on the front panel operations for an altair? I've been playing with altair32, but I never had the real thing, so I can only guess at what some of the switches do. And maybe recommentations on cross assemblers (x86/win32), or at least a LART in the right direction? My google searches aren't too helpful. Thanks! Bob

23 years, 5 months

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Tall Tree Systems`JRAM-3'

by rschaefe＠gcfn.org

Anyone know what this is? It came from a 256K IBM XT, I thought at first it was a video card, (it was in the first slot), but it's got eight banks of nine 41256 ram DIPs on it. That sounds like a lot for a mono video card, doesn't it? Combo card? it's got a looong double-row of pin sockets along the bottom just above the ISA connector, and another single row up the whole edge between the external connectors (male 9 pin & female 25 pin) and the components. Maybe a daughter board? It's got one 6-position DIP switch at the top right (^vvvv^) and 3 three-pin jumpers along the top near the rams, (xx. xx. xx.) It's got a couple've big (1/8") holes on the board, lending credence to the daughterboard theory. All the chips are labeled in an intersting way-- u84 158 is --get this-- a 74LS158N. Don't ya wish everything was made like this? The computer it came out of looks pretty interesting, aside for a decade's worth of grime on it. A whopping 256K ram on the motherboard, 2x internal floppy, Adaptec HDD controller, external (!) ummm... 20? Meg drive in a case that _looks_ like an IBM part, but it doesn't actually _say_ IBM anywhere on it. Connects via IDC connectors on ribbon cable. Strange. Have to pop the case to plug it in. I hate to think just how much this setup must've cost new. ja ne Bob

23 years, 5 months

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MP/M and Yaze

by spedraja＠ono.com

Hello again. I have another matter that could be interesting for somebody (I hope). The Yaze CP/M emulator v.1.20 comex with support for switched memory banks (in appearence). I couldn't review the source code by now. Somebody did it ? I should like to reconstruct one simple MP/M system under it. I know some source code can be donwloaded from http://www.cpm.z80.de and I did it, bit my next problem is related with the modules needed to construct the OS nucleus, and the order of these modules. I could need a hand too with CP/M. I have some doubts about the paper of the CBIOS.ASM and BIOS.ASM modules. Finally, I'm interesting about one fascinating CP/M emulator, the ZRPM. It does one emulation of diverse models of computers that could run CP/M like the Osborne and the Kaypro. I can say that I've loadad two versions of Wordstar for every computer under the same emulator, and loaded one or another adjusting settings internally in the ZRPM telling it was worked in a Kaypro or Osborne portable. I thought all these matters was under control of the BDOS but here are more misterious. Right ? What exactly ? Thanks and Greetings Sergio

23 years, 5 months

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Tall Tree Systems`JRAM-3'

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> On Sun, 2 Dec 2001, Douglas Quebbeman wrote: > > Expanded memory (Al la AboveBoard, etc) plus serial port. Daughter > > board added realtime batter-backed clock IIRC. > > Many different daughter cards. Like the Maynard's, it was basically a > system bus of their own. > > > Used one in the Zenith > > Z150 I have now (but didn't get the JRAM-3 with the Zenith). > Want? Hmmm... > If and when I can dig them out, I think that I have more than enough to > satisfy everybody who is crazy enough to want 'em. Might be useful on another XT-class machine... while the Zenith still belonged to employer, I bought a kit which modified the Zenith memory board using a new PAL to provide 768K, or 750K plus some UMBs... ISTR is was incompatible with continued use of the JRAM-3, tho... Docs/drivers? versions with the clock board? -dq

23 years, 5 months

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Tall Tree Systems`JRAM-3'

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> Anyone know what this is? It came from a 256K IBM XT, I thought at first it > was a video card, (it was in the first slot), but it's got eight banks of > nine 41256 ram DIPs on it. That sounds like a lot for a mono video card, > doesn't it? Combo card? it's got a looong double-row of pin sockets along > the bottom just above the ISA connector, and another single row up the whole > edge between the external connectors (male 9 pin & female 25 pin) and the > components. Maybe a daughter board? It's got one 6-position DIP switch at > the top right (^vvvv^) and 3 three-pin jumpers along the top near the rams, > (xx. xx. xx.) It's got a couple've big (1/8") holes on the board, lending > credence to the daughterboard theory. All the chips are labeled in an > intersting way-- u84 158 is --get this-- a 74LS158N. Don't ya wish > everything was made like this? Expanded memory (Al la AboveBoard, etc) plus serial port. Daughter board added realtime batter-backed clock IIRC. Used one in the Zenith Z150 I have now (but didn't get the JRAM-3 with the Zenith). -dq

23 years, 5 months

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Apollo Guidance Computer (was History of Computing exam question)

by CLeyson＠aol.com

Found a java applet that simulates the DSKY (display and keyboard) http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Cockpit/1556/dsky.html As MIT designed the AGC's I bet they have all of the documentation filed away somewhere. Found some interesting documents at http://hrst.mit.edu/hrs/apollo/public/ 1689.pdf - "Block II keyboard and dsiplay program (RETRED44)" Gives a Block II verb/noun list 1692.pdf - "AGC4 Memo #9 Block II Instructions" Block II Memory map and instruction set Chris Leyson

23 years, 5 months

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Scrapping hardware to get it off the books (RE: Is it a Lisa or Mac XL?!)

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

Oops! Meant to be private... > -----Original Message----- > From: Douglas Quebbeman [mailto:dhquebbeman@theestopinalgroup.com] > Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2001 1:32 PM > To: 'classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org' > Subject: RE: Scrapping hardware to get it off the books (RE: Is it a > Lisa or Mac XL?!) > > > > ! I saw ... a SuperMac monitor, smaller than the 19inch > > ! Radius I've got, but the bug mentioned a "huge" one in back. > > > > Really? Any idea if they work, and what shipping to CT > > (06520-9040) might be? > > I'll make an effort to get you the info you're asking for on > this, but please be patient, I'm not sure when I can get back > there during business hours. > > > ! I have ... and/or the split keyboard. > > > > Cool. That is a neat piece of Mac history. How much? > > How about $25 plus S&H? The numeric keypad is in > great shape, but the main KB has yellowed. > > -dq >

23 years, 5 months

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PDP-9 lives

by bsupnik＠nauticusnet.com

Hans, First, congratulations on this terrific progress! Second, a stop at 22 is probably an unexpected CAL (opcode of 0), which would do an effective JMS 20, pick up the instruction at 21 (probably a HLT to catch the CAL), and then halt with an apparent PC = 22. Take a look at M[20], it should have the PC+1 of the CAL. /Bob -----Original Message----- From: Hans B Pufal To: classiccmp; aek(a)spies.com; Bob Supnik Sent: 12/1/01 12:59 PM Subject: PDP-9 lives I am very happy to be able to announce that the PDP-9 that we have been working on for quite some time finally began talking to the world again today. We had gotten memory and processor operational, then had to fix a memory fault which developed. TTY I/O posed some problems but finally today it spoke and we could reply. We ran the only two test routines we have on paper tape: the extended memory test and the TTY test. There appears to be some issue with the TTY since part 1 test halts after a while with PC=22, no mention of that in the test writeup! TTY test part 2 runs without error. Anyways, we plan on completeing checkout on this system, fix a couple of burnt our indicator bulbs and get the punch up before starting on the second system we have. That one has a dual dectapes, then we can read the 100 or so tapes trhat came with the system, and run some real software ;-) I'd be interested in knowing the status of other pdp-9's. Regards -- hbp for ACONIT, Grenoble France

23 years, 5 months

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Scrapping hardware to get it off the books (RE: Is it a Lisa or Mac XL?!)

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> ! I saw ... a SuperMac monitor, smaller than the 19inch > ! Radius I've got, but the bug mentioned a "huge" one in back. > > Really? Any idea if they work, and what shipping to CT > (06520-9040) might be? I'll make an effort to get you the info you're asking for on this, but please be patient, I'm not sure when I can get back there during business hours. > ! I have ... and/or the split keyboard. > > Cool. That is a neat piece of Mac history. How much? How about $25 plus S&H? The numeric keypad is in great shape, but the main KB has yellowed. -dq

23 years, 5 months

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FLUKE?

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 2, Douglas Quebbeman wrote: > > I was at the other yard of the scrapper yesterday. He just had in a > > bunch of IBM 3174's and a few large Hitachi data storage units. > > Beside this was another large unit labelled FLUKE. It's too late for > > it but I did get the 8" floppy disks for it. It was raining so they > > got a bit wet. They are drying now. > > > > Does anyone know anything about FLUKE machines? > > They DVMs, specialized test gear, and ISTR a logic analyzer... And a large line of microprocessor emulators and related development systems. -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

23 years, 5 months

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FLUKE?

by Innfogra＠aol.com

In a message dated 12/2/01 9:35:32 AM Pacific Standard Time, KenzieM(a)sympatico.ca writes: > Does anyone know anything about FLUKE machines? > Fluke makes test equipment including some Board Test machinery in the State of Washington. Paxton Astoria, OR

23 years, 5 months

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FLUKE?

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> I was at the other yard of the scrapper yesterday. He just had in a > bunch of IBM 3174's and a few large Hitachi data storage units. > Beside this was another large unit labelled FLUKE. It's too late for > it but I did get the 8" floppy disks for it. It was raining so they > got a bit wet. They are drying now. > > > Does anyone know anything about FLUKE machines? They DVMs, specialized test gear, and ISTR a logic analyzer... -dq

23 years, 5 months

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jumper pin settings for ALR (non-LVD) backplane

by ehenson＠erols.com

I acquired an ALR raid cage with a non-LVD backplane for which I cannot find the jumper pin settings. I have been able to identify it as a "quick hot swap cage 3 drive board" with the following markings: 12609700 Rev. G1/A. There is also a sticker that reads: ALR s.a. # 9705/A and KIT# 3134/KS. Any direction would be appreciated. Thanks.

23 years, 5 months

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PDP-9 lives

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 1, 18:59, Hans B Pufal wrote: > I am very happy to be able to announce that the PDP-9 that we have been > working on for quite some time finally began talking to the world again > today. Congratulations! That will be a very satisfying feeling after a lot of work. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

23 years, 5 months

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AW: Atari 4160STE ?!

by walgen＠e-Spirit.de

>>I just got an Atari 4160STE (case only) - does anyone know >>details about the history of this machine? Some sources say >>that it was a developer version of the Atari 1040STE ... >>http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=272 > >I believe some makers of memory upgrades made replacement model stickers > to match the upgrade. The STE uses SIMMs, though, but it could have been > made by some dealer in any case. That might be true - the lower case has a 1040STE label - first I thought it would not be the matching part but it defintely is. >>Atari 520+ ST > > What's that? an early version of the Atari 520ST factory upgraded to 1MB. It has a second 512kB RAM-Chip solderd on top of the regular RAM - very strange. That was my first Atari ST - it has an original Atari ST label with a small blue "+" ... Stefan

23 years, 5 months

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IBM 3290 Plasma Display?

by mrbill＠mrbill.net

Anybody know if these are usable in any way on a non-EBCDIC system, or where I could find specs? I see a couple really cheap on eBay, and would make a nice display for a serial console or something, if I could get them hooked in up the right manner. Bill -- Bill Bradford mrbill(a)mrbill.net Austin, TX

23 years, 5 months

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History of Computing exam question :

by netsurfer_x1＠hotmail.com

>From: Michael Maginnis <celt(a)chisp.net> >Reply-To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org >To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org >Subject: Re: History of Computing exam question : >Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 23:41:31 -0700 > > >> >>List the 20 to 30 systems you would display and briefly explain the >>reason for choosing each. Okay, I think I can do that, in (more or less) chronological order no less! 1: Xerox Alto Reason: Because, after all, where would the GUI have come from without this thing? 2: IBM 5100 Reason: To show that, just because it was IBM, & it was the frist intergrated computer (sans printer), the people will not always buy it. Also I think the $16,384 price tag may have had something to do with it, I don't know. 3 & 4: Altair 8800 & IMSAI 8080 (respectively) Reason: The first commercially available computers, & to illustrate that the clone wars did not start in the 80's, they started much earlier than that. 5. Apple I Reason: Pretty self explanitory. 6, 7, & 8. Apple ][, Commodore PET, TRS-80 Model I (respectively) Reason: After all, these were "The Big Three", weren't they? 9. Compucolor Reason: (Allegedly) The first computer to inexpensively offer color graphics. 10. CBM 4032 Reason: Commodore's most famous (infamous?) business computer. 11. Apple ][+ Reason: Finally, Apple's figuring out how to be a computer company! 12. TI-99/4 Reason: TI's first foray in the computer market, as if anyone cared. 13. Commodore VIC-20 Reason: "The friendly color computer that anyone can afford" --William Shatner. 14. TI-99/4A Reason: To show that it is not a good idea to hire a pitchman who sells Jell-o and (New) Coke. 15. Commodore 64 Reason: Requires no explanation. 16. GRiD Compass 1100 Reason: I would think that the first clamshell laptop should deserve a place in computer history! 17. Apple LISA Reason: Sometimes Apple can just way too ahead of themselves. 18. TRS-80 Model 100 Reason: When these things came out, who didn't own one? 19. Otrona Attache Reason: Wow! A small "luggable", how about that! 20. Apple Macintosh Reason: "On January 24th, Apple will introduce Macintosh. And you will see why 1984 won't be like *1984*" 21. Commodore Amiga Reason: And you thought Macintosh pioneered multimedia! 22. NeXT Cube Reason: Who would have thought a black cube for a CPU would look so cool? 23. Apple Macintosh Portable Reason: Portable? Riiiiiiight! 24. Atari Portfolio Reason: Now you know where your PDA came from. ____________________________________________________________ David Vohs, Digital Archaeologist & Computer Historian. Home page: http://www.geocities.com/netsurfer_x1/ Computer Collection: "Triumph": Commodore 64C, 1802, 1541, FSD-1, GeoRAM 512, MPS-801. "Leela": Macintosh 128 (Plus upgrade), Nova SCSI HDD, Imagewriter II. "Delorean": TI-99/4A, TI Speech Synthesizer. "Monolith": Apple Macintosh Portable. "Spectrum": Tandy Color Computer 3, Disto 512K RAM board. "Boombox": Sharp PC-7000. "Butterfly": Tandy Model 200, PDD, CCR-82. "Shapeshifter": Epson QX-10, Titan graphics & MS-DOS board, Comrex HDD. "Scout": Otrona Attache. ____________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

23 years, 5 months

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History of Computing exam question

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Geoff Roberts <geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au> >were electromechanical. Bletchley Park were well into much Enigma traffic, >(except for the Reichsmarine, who were much more careful in their useage >habits) long before 1943. The enigma used by the Reichsmarine was different and had an additional code wheel as well. >> 13) 1968/9 >> The Apollo guidance computer - Helped get man to the moon. > >Are we talking about the ones on the ground or the ones in the spacecraft? >If the spacecraft, was the one in the LEM the same machine? Anyone got any >info on it? Any examples survive? The ground, CM and LM all had computers none the same. LM and CM copies still exist as part of the ground simulators and ground test vehicles. I'd love to see more detail on the CM or LM systems. Allison

23 years, 5 months

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Off Topic - stereo to PC question

by gehrich＠tampabay.rr.com

Can anybody tell me how to attach my stereo to my PC so that I can transfer >from Cassette to CD-R or hard-drive.

23 years, 5 months

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History of Computing exam question

by CLeyson＠aol.com

----- Original Message ----- From: <geoffrob(a)stmarks.pp.catholic.edu.au (Geoff Roberts)> To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: History of Computing exam question >> 4) 1940 ? >> Enigma - Electromechanical state machine. Colossus wouldn't have >> been built without it. > Hmmm, possibly true, though not for the reason you state. The success > against Enigma using 'cracking' machines led to the idea of building > Colussus to crack the "Fish" machines. I'd forgotten about the "fish" cyphers "Tunny" and "Salmon". Thanks for the reminder. Your're right about the Bombes. The Poles were way ahead of anyone else and didn't get very much recognition for their work. >> 13) 1968/9 >> The Apollo guidance computer - Helped get man to the moon. > Are we talking about the ones on the ground or the ones in the spacecraft? > If the spacecraft, was the one in the LEM the same machine? Anyone got any > info on it? Any examples survive? I meant the ones in the spacecraft. They were major landmarks in terms of reliability both in terms of hardware and software. They were all digital whereas most guidance computers from that era were analogue. As for info on these machines, I just did a search, and google threw up 1800 matches ! Try the NASA website http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/computers/Part1.html I don't expect one will ever appear on ebay but there must be a few left in various museums. Chris Leyson

23 years, 5 months

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HD Controllers - S-100 & Corvus Omninet

by mhstein＠usa.net

As far as I can tell, IMI originally used a proprietary interface but when IBM came into the game they switched over to ST506 and IMI drives were in fact put into some AT's; same HDA but a different PCB. I have various versions of the 5014/5018/5021drives and have in fact switched boards back & forth. And yes, the drive clock signals were used for data transfer, at least by Cromemco; once the appropriate sector was located, data was clocked into/out of a shift register by the SysClk signal from the drive. m -----------------Original Message---------------- Date: Sat, 1 Dec 2001 10:28:45 -0700 From: "Richard Erlacher" <edick(a)idcomm.com> Subject: Re: HD Controllers - S-100 & Corvus Omninet I had a couple of IMI drives back in the '80's and find, from my doc's that they were, in fact, ST506 compatible. I wonder if the drives you're seeing in your brocheure are earlier than that. The 8" Quantum drives all provided a clock on the data cable, that could be used to recover data. I'm not exactly sure how this was intended to be used, but several controllers for 8" drives relied on it, not having a PLL on board. The Shugart drives apparently didn't provide this clock. Dick

23 years, 5 months

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HD Controllers - S-100 & Corvus Omninet

by mhstein＠usa.net

Thanks for the interesting info, Frank. I thought that Corvus had used these drives because I've got Corvus ads from old Bytes and they certainly do look like these 7710's; not much else looks like these babies. But although I've seen a reference to ANSI X3T9, I gather that the interface was proprietary to IMI. Don't need the docs for the interface, but thanks for mentioning that you've got some; I've got a manual for the controller from the good old days when manuals actually told you something, as well as calibration notes for the drives, and am about to check out the drives before I get rid of them. I was just curious if the controllers are of any use for any other drives since I have more controllers than drives. If you want the Corvus board, send me a note off list & let me know where you are. mike -------------------Original Message---------------- Date: 01 Dec 2001 00:08:00 -0800 From: Frank McConnell <fmc(a)reanimators.org> Subject: Re: HD Controllers - S-100 & Corvus Omninet M H Stein <mhstein(a)usa.net> wrote: > Does anybody know anything about the HD interface bus Cromemco used > with their early IMI drives <snip> Yes, Corvus used these drives. I'd expect Onyx did too; the story is that the VC who funded IMI also funded Onyx and Corvus so that IMI would have customers. It's interesting to know that Cromemco used them too. I'm sitting here looking at a photocopy of a data sheet of sorts for the IMI 7710, and it does provide some description of the interface. 25 signals on a 34-line bus. I suspect it's somewhere between "more than I want to type" and "less than you need to know to use the drive", because I can't quite figure out how you would transfer a block of data to the drive from what's printed here. > Finally, I also have a Corvus S-100 board; looks like it might be a > host adapter for a disk drive of some sort. Only markings are > Corvus S-100, 8008 REV K, copyright 1980; 11 TTL chips & a 34 pin > header. Anybody know what it is and/or want it? Yes, that's the Corvus hard disk interface for S-100, p/n 8010-08008-00. I could be interested in it. - -Frank McConnell

23 years, 5 months

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