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

CD-ROM drive for VAXstation 3100 Model 76

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

I'm using a Toshiba and works great. Tried several sanyos, and even a Cdburner (scsi) all worked. Allison -----Original Message----- From: THETechnoid(a)home.com <THETechnoid(a)home.com> To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Date: Sunday, January 21, 2001 11:17 AM Subject: Re: CD-ROM drive for VAXstation 3100 Model 76 >I tried several drives from different makers. All were 512byte jumperable >and would boot backup from the cd, but when you try to perform the >restore, the system bombs. > >After about a week of diddling, I went and got an RRD40. Slower than >molassis in January, but it works and the others didn't. > >Regards, > >Jeff > >P.S. From experience, you don't NEED a caddy for an RRD40. I don't have >one either. I just opened the drive and replaced the disk already inside >it with my VMS install cd. You need at least the horseshoe part of the >caddy, but not the whole thing. > > >Regards, > >Jeff > >In <20010119.235201.307.0.william.webb(a)juno.com>, on 01/21/01 > at 11:01 AM, William W Webb <william.webb(a)juno.com> said: > >>Fred, do a search for RRD40/42/43. These are the original DEC CD-ROM >>drives that I absolutely positively know will work with these boxes- they >>are jumperable to do 512 or 2048 byte sectors. (VMS requires drives that >>do 512.) > >>RRD40s are really old and need a caddy. > >>You might be interested to know that I've got the Owner's Guide for the >>VAXstation 3100 Model 76 online at: > >>http://www.whiteice.com/~williamwebb/intro/DOC-i.html > >>I'm considering doing the VAXstation 4000 VLC manual next, but only if >>there's a demand for it since that much HTML pretty much by hand is a >>real bitch. > >>William W. Webb > >>I don't know if it's outside of the scope of this mailing list to talk >>about things for sale, but I've got hold of some old 64 x 64 bit core >>frames that would look really nice in a shadowbox or under glass as a >>desktop doodad. >>Mfr. Lockheed Electronics Corp. > >>I can also lay my hands on a 4K module (9 frames with diode arrray >>connector cards) > >>If anybody's interested, drop me an email and we'll talk about price. > >>Apologies in advance if I've transgressed. >>________________________________________________________________ GET >>INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! >>Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! >>Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: >>http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. > >-- >----------------------------------------------------------- >Jeffrey S. Worley >President >Complete Computer Services, Inc. >30 Greenwood Rd. >Asheville, NC 28803 >828-277-5959 >Visit our website at HTTP://www.Real-Techs.com >THETechnoid(a)home.com >----------------------------------------------------------- > >

25 years, 6 months

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Who wants/needs a DEC CDROM RRD42 ? (trade or free)

by claudew＠videotron.ca

Hi I dont collect DEC/VAX stuff but I have one of these here. Cant tell ya if it works. But takes the CD in and ejects, led seems to behave normally. I dont have the original caddy. Someone told me to keep it for him but have not heard from him in a very long time...I cant recall who, perhaps he will read this and put his hand up... I picked it up when I had the opportunity to empty out a VAX8350 of all its 13 boards (free for cost of shipping given away here on mailing list) Would love to make someone happy. I have no use for this. Most probably will go into garbage soon if no takers...I have idea of its value. Would accept a trade for anything micro 8-16 bits 197x-198x early 1990s that I could add to my collection. See my current list at : http://computer_collector.tripod.com Claude Canuk Computer Collector

25 years, 6 months

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vax 4000vlc

by fdebros＠bellatlantic.net

I'm considering doing the VAXstation 4000 VLC manual next It being the most ubiquitous box and one that takes regular 4mb simms and has a big hdd, and one that is supported on the latest netBSD V 1.5, do that! And link both pages (the 3100/76 and the 4000VLC manual) to the netbsd.org site, please, I would like to encourage yo to do it! Certainly your 3100/76 Manual is excellent work, it was very helpful to me, Jeff, a big THANK YOU.It matches nicely the www.vaxarchive.org/hw/vs3100/index.html Do you have also the VT 1300 Manual? Or even better: The VRE01 Manual? VRE01 being that flatpanel display (see attached!) that works on the b/w mono card in 1-bit mode I guess, not 8-bit (GPX vs SPX) My 4000VLC's have all the fancy 256 colour framebuffer (?) and no b/w only provision, so I guess I cannot use them for that monitor unfortunaley.A good set of pix can be found on www.terrigal.net.au/~acms/album/h10002.jpg Again: Thanks. As to the CD I found a cr 503b = compaq 142223-201 that is listed as compatible.....lets hope it does the trick. Fred

25 years, 7 months

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CD-ROM drive for VAXstation 3100 Model 76

by william.webb＠juno.com

Fred, do a search for RRD40/42/43. These are the original DEC CD-ROM drives that I absolutely positively know will work with these boxes- they are jumperable to do 512 or 2048 byte sectors. (VMS requires drives that do 512.) RRD40s are really old and need a caddy. You might be interested to know that I've got the Owner's Guide for the VAXstation 3100 Model 76 online at: http://www.whiteice.com/~williamwebb/intro/DOC-i.html I'm considering doing the VAXstation 4000 VLC manual next, but only if there's a demand for it since that much HTML pretty much by hand is a real bitch. William W. Webb I don't know if it's outside of the scope of this mailing list to talk about things for sale, but I've got hold of some old 64 x 64 bit core frames that would look really nice in a shadowbox or under glass as a desktop doodad. Mfr. Lockheed Electronics Corp. I can also lay my hands on a 4K module (9 frames with diode arrray connector cards) If anybody's interested, drop me an email and we'll talk about price. Apologies in advance if I've transgressed. ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

25 years, 7 months

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AT&T Scsi Drive Specs

by fmc＠reanimators.org

Goldarg <goldarg(a)dub.net> wrote: > I recently got a AT&T SCSI drive from a friend and wanted to see if I could > Model: 97536DA > Option: STD > Ser No: 3001a97212 > Handle With Care >From the model and serial number, I'd guess that this drive was made by Hewlett-Packard in the first week of 1990. Those look like HP model and serial numbers. http://www.tame.com/hp/hpinfo.htm suggests that a 97536DA is a 330MB ESDI disk drive, OEM version. If you think it's SCSI, I wouldn't be surprised that it is high-voltage differential SCSI; HP did that sort of thing. -Frank McConnell

25 years, 7 months

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Tektronix 4170

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

I took at bunch of pictures of the inside and outside of the 4170 today. I'm posting them to "http://www.intellistar.net/~rigdonj/tek-4170/". There's no text there, only pictures at the moment, so you'll have to be satisfied with looking at the pictures for the time being. I hope to put up a page tomorrow with links and some descriptions. I also scanned the page that describes the 4170 in the 1985 Tektronix catalog and posted it there as well. I *think* I may have found the right serial cable to connect it to the terminal today but I also found that my only Tektronix terminal is acting peculiar (it won't let me into the set up mode!) I'll try hooking up the terminal tomorrow and if it doesn't work then I'll have to go look for another terminal. Keeping my fingers crossed! Joe

25 years, 7 months

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need: ext. cdrom for vax 3100/76

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

>Can't the VAX netboot? It can but you need a network partner that understands MOP boot such as another VMS box. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Disassembling Gateway Solo and P3C laptops?

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 05:53 PM 1/19/01 +0000, jpero wrote: >Be specific. There are many Solo models based on numbers by gateway >and bad news, gateway owns only this design, and there are no >other notebooks that has this design. > >But, what that P3C? That's not solo. One is a P-75, it doesn't say "Solo" it says "P3C" on the bottom label. Judging by eBay items, this is the laptop's designation. Search eBay for P3C and there are plenty of hits. The other is a P-90 and it *does* say just "Solo" so I think that makes it a 2000 in terms of the model numbers that followed in that line. The case is quite identical to the other. Any help would be appreciated! They're circa 1994-5, so they're only half on topic... as opposed to Bill Gate's personality traits, which are older than 10 years and therefore on topic. - John

25 years, 7 months

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part number for VAXStation 3100/M76 color option?

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

Hello everyone, Anyone know where I would find the DEC part number for a VS3100/M76 color option board? I've got a board labeled "VS40X 8 Plane COlor Option" but I don't know if it would work in a M76 or not. --Chuck

25 years, 7 months

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new additions and a sad story

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

Picked up several items for 50 cents each! I got: mac IIci and a colour display for it. PS/2 model 70 with NIC and... a TRS80 data terminal DT-1. Looks just like a model 2/3 except its very light and has no floppy drives. had two cables coming out of it, presumably for a printer and modem of some sort. while i was bringing all this stuff up to pay for it, a guy had mentioned to me that if i had been in an adjacent county a few days ago, i could have gotten a lot of other computers. He said many apples (dont know what models) where simply thrown in the dumpster because they didnt know what to do with them. I guess the hard part is how to let non computer types know of computer rescuing people ready to avert this kind of tragedy.

25 years, 7 months

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CD-ROM drive for VAXstation 3100 Model 76

by kees.stravers＠iae.nl

On 2001-01-19 classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org said: >There are other brands which work for booting as well, such as the >Toshiba XM-5401B, XM-5701, etc which are probably less expensive >than the DEC branded ones and work effectively the same. >Paul >On Fri, 19 Jan 2001, William W Webb wrote: >> Fred, do a search for RRD40/42/43. These are the original DEC >>CD-ROM drives that I absolutely positively know will work with >>these boxes- they are jumperable to do 512 or 2048 byte sectors. >>(VMS requires drives that do 512.) Any CDROM drive that can be switched to 512 byte sectors will work on the VAXstation. Sun computers also want 512 byte sectors, so a drive >from a Sun system is usable too. A list of drives that (might) work: VAX compatible CD drives Below is a list of SCSI CD drives known or believed to work with VAX systems. The basic requirement is support for 512-byte block size. Some information (entries marked with a "*") was extracted from the <A HREF="http://saturn.tlug.org/suncdfaq/">Sun CD-ROM FAQ</A> - most older Sun workstations share the 512 byte block size requirement. The FAQ also has additional details about some of the drives listed below, as well as instructions on how to modify certain models of Toshiba CD-ROM drives to change their block size. DEC RRD40, slow, first generation CD-ROM DEC RRD42, 1X DEC RRD43 DEC RRD45 DEC RRD46 (*) Plextor 4x/6x/8x/10x/12x (*) Plextor 12x/20x PlexWriter RW 4/2/20 Most, if not all Plextor drives. See http://www.plextor.com and check if the drive has a jumper of DIP-switch for block size. (*) Hitachi CDR-1750S (*) Laser Magnetic Storage International Company (LMSI) CM234, 1X (*) Panasonic CR-503B, 2X (*) Panasonic CD-506B, 8X (*) Pioneer 4.4x SCSI-2 (*) Pioneer DRM600/DRM604X (*) Sony CDU-541/561/8012 Sony CDU55 -- Kees Stravers - Geldrop, The Netherlands - kees.stravers(a)iae.nl http://www.iae.nl/users/pb0aia/ My home page (old computers,music,photography) http://www.vaxarchive.org/ Info on old DEC VAX computers Net-Tamer V 1.08.1 - Registered

25 years, 7 months

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Part 1 in the ClassicCmp FAQ Trilogy - Third Try

by marvin＠rain.org

Hmmm, I tried to send the real Part 1 twice and it didn't come through; maybe too much outdated information. Anyway, it didn't have much that was useful at this point. Maybe at least the table of contents will make it through this time. ============================================================================= DO NOT DISPOSE OF THIS PART OF THE FAQ. THIS IS THE PART THAT EXPLAINS HOW YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE AND UNSUBSCRIBE. IT WILL TAKE ME MORE TIME TO DO THESE THINGS FOR YOU THAN IT WILL TAKE FOR YOU TO DO THEM YOURSELF ============================================================================= ClassicCmp - The Classic Computers Discussion List Part 1 in the ClassicCmp FAQ Trilogy Mail/Internet Basics FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) v1.3 Last Update: 12/10/97 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Updates: Nothing new, cosmetic changes. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Mailing Lists ---------------- 1.1 Mailing List Basics 1.2 How to Talk to the Robot How to set to Digest How to Subscribe How to Unsubscribe 2. FTP ------ 2.1 FTP Basics 3. World Wide Web ----------------- 3.1 WWW Basics =============================================================================

25 years, 7 months

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Victor V386MX

by optimus＠canit.se

Is anyone familiar with the Victor V386MX? It's a miniscule 386 tower, only as wide as a 3,5" drive, and seems rather common around here. What's interesting about its architecture is that the CPU and graphics are placed on one sandwiched ISA board, which plugs into an ISA backplane carrying some extra electronics such as FDC. This week, though, I found another Victor CPU board, but carrying a 486SX instead, and with an additional PS/2 mouse port. It doesn't seem to have the IDE header, though. What kind of computer could this have been used in? -- En ligne avec Thor 2.6. Iggy tipsar: Koppla aldrig en C128-transformator till en A500. ?ven om kontakterna ser likadana ut, ligger sp?nningarna fel.

25 years, 7 months

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Somewhat OT: DNS problem resolved

by kyrrin＠bluefeathertech.com

DNS problems that were, for the past two days, interfering with normal mail flow in and out of bluefeathertech.com have been corrected. A great big CLASSICCMP "Thank you!" goes to Jay West, our list maintainer, for helping me to troubleshoot the problem. ;-) Although she's not a listmember, Juli Kislenger at Qwest Internet also deserves a big batch of kudos. I consider it a miracle that I got her instead of some newbie handling my case. The end result: Blue Feather is now entirely self-hosted, including local DNS boxes. The only things I'm dependent on USQwest for now are my actual connectivity and my Usenet feed. Everything else is most definitely local (about 30 feet away in my garage, to be exact). Lots of stress, lots of work, but well worth it in the end knowing that I can now configure the domain -exactly- the way I want it to be configured. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies http://www.bluefeathertech.com // E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com Amateur Radio: WD6EOS since Dec. '77 (Extra class as of June-2K) "I'll get a life when someone demonstrates to me that it would be superior to what I have now..." (Gym Z. Quirk, aka Taki Kogoma).

25 years, 7 months

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Serial pinout for Pioneer laserdisc

by ecloud＠bigfoot.com

I'm not sure this is 10 years old yet, but anyway... the info is so scarce you'd think it was. :-) Anybody have the pinout of this DB-15 serial port? -- _______ Shawn T. Rutledge / KB7PWD ecloud(a)bigfoot.com (_ | |_) http://www.bigfoot.com/~ecloud kb7pwd(a)kb7pwd.ampr.org __) | | \________________________________________________________________

25 years, 7 months

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AT&T Scsi Drive Specs

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

On Fri, 19 Jan 2001 16:28:54 -0800 (PST) Don Maslin <donm(a)cts.com> writes: > > Wait a minute, guys. Did this drive come with a bridge board? > > I've seen a couple of AT&T units with ESDI drives, with fancy > > EMULEX bridges attached thereto. Of course, if yours is an > > expansion box, then there would be no controller-- the > > emulex bridges could handle two or four drives, depending > > on the model. > > The Pocket PCRef lists the 'D'suffix as SCSI, Jeff. The ESDI > version > has an 'E' suffix. Does not lis the 'DA' suffix, though. > > - don D'oh! (Slaps forehead). ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

25 years, 7 months

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Questions about TRS-80 Expansion Interface

by louiss＠gate.net

Well, there is no RS-232C port with the basic interface. This requires a card to be installed in the bay on top of the interface. If you have this card installed, the signals appear at the "Expansion Board Card Edge" which is in the middle of the front of the interface. The card edge is 40 pin. The following are the main signals an pins: 18-TD; 20-SGND; 22-RD; 30-CD; 32-CTS; 34-DTR; 36-RTS; 38-RI; 40-DSR. Louis On Thu, 18 Jan 2001 10:21:23 -0800 (PST), Vintage Computer Festival wrote: * *I need to know where the serial port connector is on a TRS-80 Expansion *Interface. I have two of them. One has its ports labeled, and one of the *ports is labeled "MODEM" but it is simply an edge connector. Is this the *serial port? If so, what's the pinout? * *Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! * *Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival *----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- *International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org * *

25 years, 7 months

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AT&T Scsi Drive Specs

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

On Fri, 19 Jan 2001 15:19:29 -0500 (EST) Bill Pechter <pechter(a)pechter.dyndns.org> writes: > > Goldarg <goldarg(a)dub.net> wrote: > > > I recently got a AT&T SCSI drive from a friend and wanted to see > if I could > > > > > Model: 97536DA > > > Option: STD > > > Ser No: 3001a97212 > > > Handle With Care > > > > >From the model and serial number, I'd guess that this drive was > > made by Hewlett-Packard in the first week of 1990. Those look > > like HP model and serial numbers. > > > > http://www.tame.com/hp/hpinfo.htm suggests that a 97536DA is a > > 330MB ESDI disk drive, OEM version. > > > > If you think it's SCSI, I wouldn't be surprised that it is > > high-voltage differential SCSI; HP did that sort of thing. > > > > -Frank McConnell > > They were pretty common in both single ended and differential. > > I'll bet it's differential SCSI. Wait a minute, guys. Did this drive come with a bridge board? I've seen a couple of AT&T units with ESDI drives, with fancy EMULEX bridges attached thereto. Of course, if yours is an expansion box, then there would be no controller-- the emulex bridges could handle two or four drives, depending on the model. Jeff ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

25 years, 7 months

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Disassembling Gateway Solo and P3C laptops?

by jfoust＠threedee.com

I picked up a laptop with a broken screen because it had more memory and a larger HD and a faster processor than a similar model I already owned. I'd like to swap the displays. Any tips on disassembling laptops? I have removed the bezel around the screen - two screws and pop the tension clips around the edge. I found four screws along the back, but they didn't seem to loosen anything. The keyboard may pop out, but I don't know how to disengage it. - John

25 years, 7 months

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Aquarius and Memotech MTX512

by agraham＠ccat.co.uk

>>My friend has a Mattel Aquarius computer on eBay - thought I'd mention it since it's still cheap and may be of interest to someone that collects older machines. It's item 1208196262 if you're inclined to check it out. I believe it's a fairly complete setup and in good condition. I can however attest to the fact that the seller is very repautable and very good to work with. Hehe - I found one yesterday in a thrift store along with another ebay perennial, the Binatone TV Master MK10 pong, boxed :) The same shop also has the following, all for (I guess) between ukp10 and ukp30: Acorn Archimedes 3000 with monitor Amstrad PCW9512 Amstrad PCW9512+ Amstrad PCW8256 (single drive) Amstrad PCW8256 (twin drive) Amstrad PCW8xxx (it's in a box so I can't see it too well) Atari 520STe Atari 2600 (PacMan edition, boxed) Atari 7800 with PSU and both controllers *with* thumbpads still intact Amiga 500+ Victor 286PC Amstrad 386 PC (Can't remember the designation) Apple keyboard for a compact Mac If anyone's interested please contact me off list - the place is only 5 minutes from here. As an aside, I picked up a Memotech MTX512 on monday (along with a boxed Color Genie (<bounce>), boxed JVC HV-7GB MSX and Toshiba HX10) and it's a really odd machine. For a start its 3 1/2 inches longer than my other MTX512 and has no stickers on it whatsoever apart from the name label, not even port designations on the back. Inside looks pretty normal, except the board is right on the left to allow access for the expansion slot but they've left the keyboard on the right, and its an MTX500 keyboard. Haven't tested it yet but I was told it worked. As luck would have it I found Mr. Memotech himself down in London but he hasn't got back to me yet! Oh, anyone got a spare manual for a Color Genie? :) cheers -- Adrian Graham MCSE/ASE/MCP C CAT Limited Gubbins: http://www.ccat.co.uk (work) <http://www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk> (home) <http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk> (The Online Computer Museum) 0:OK, 0:1

25 years, 7 months

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Format for IBM display writer disks??

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

Does anyone know what disks format the IBM Display writer uses? Joe

25 years, 7 months

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Format for IBM display writer disks??

by xds_sigma7＠hotmail.com

Errrm, I have 8" hard-sector disks.. they are used by my Wang 2200MVP.. which would mean the Nicolet 1080 possibly also uses hard-sector floppies, since they share the same floppy disk drives, Shugart 9xx, can't remember the number offhand. The DisplayWriter uses the 31SD. Will J _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

25 years, 7 months

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SCreaming RD54 aka Maxtor 2190

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Clint Wolff (VAX collector) <vaxman(a)qwest.net> >There is a small copper (berylium?) bracket on the bottom of the RD53 >which connects the spindle to ground. Removing said bracket reduces Only if its a RD53, a Micropolus 1325, yes removing the static drain does invite a minor headto media snap. Better to move or lube with a tiny bit of graphite. >will considerably shorten the life of the drive... My personal belief >is the drive is near the end of its life anyway when it starts to whine, >so removing the bracket doesn't do much of anything to it... RD53s generally suffer from heat, keep em cool and they do better. Same for RD54s. I have a RD54 that screams, I've been waiting for it to fail for the last 5 years...it hasn't. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Need NeXT 1100 info

by Innfogra＠aol.com

Hi; Looking for info on NeXt 1100 Pizza Boxes. What is the processor? Memory? Color/Mono? HD? CD? Collectability? Things to look out for? Accessories needed? Paxton

25 years, 7 months

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Computer Museum?

by William.King＠dadaboom.com

You might be thinking of: http://www.computerhistory.org Bill

25 years, 7 months

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Dutch auction for TRS-80 Model II's

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On January 18, Jeff Hellige wrote: > Wow...there's actually a dutch auction for 4 TRS-80 Model > II's on eBay at the moment....no reserve at that. I've no connection > to the seller but found it interesting since auctions for multiples > of that type of hardware is fairly uncommon. The URL is: > > http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1208570093 This is cool; I've always wanted a Model II. I'm gonna go for one. -Dave McGuire

25 years, 7 months

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AT&T Scsi Drive Specs

by goldarg＠dub.net

Howdy! I recently got a AT&T SCSI drive from a friend and wanted to see if I could get it working in my Sparc SLC but I don't have specs and cant find any online, The drive has a number of labels on it KS-23494 L11 B 5.25 Inch SCSI Winchester Disk Drive Model: 97536DA Option: STD Ser No: 3001a97212 Handle With Care AT&T-CC 405 723 057 is below one bar code AT*T-SN 9075361972212 is below a 2nd bar code Its a big drive and spins up but probe-SCSI does not find it. The last Label on the drive is 97536DA 6 8942 003 c3 b 2920 a9 6394 DIFF8840 Primary Rev Code: 3001 I'm wondering if the 'DIFF8840" part means its not normal SCSI and wont work with my SLC Any pointers to info or suggestions?

25 years, 7 months

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VAX 4000/VLC prom password?

by antonio.carlini＠riverstonenet.com

>A friend of mine just picked up a VAX 4000/VLC (on my recommendation as a >nice small VAX) and I thought it was broken, because the 'sho dev' produced >"illegal command." Turns out it has had a password set, but of course the >seller didn't know that. Anyway, how does one tell the VAX to "forget" that >it has a password set? Is there a jumper or something somewhere? Turn off the power. Find the two triangular solder pads near the TOY (it has a clock face printed on it) and short these together with a screwdriver. This is from the VLC/4k60 Condensed Service Information so I assume it applies to both. Antonio arcarlini(a)iee.org

25 years, 7 months

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SCreaming RD54 aka Maxtor 2190

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Jim Strickland <jim(a)calico.litterbox.com> >Could you set it up to netboot and copy the disk over before it croaks? >If it was running VMS I'd suggest clustering it. I'm thinking the difference >in performance between having it netboot and run against an NFS disk vs >running against the mfm drive isn't going to be all that big. Check and see if it has DECNET on it and copy the disk via that to another VMS machine. IF not then use TCP/ip to copy the disk. As a machine you can put a lot of different disks into it and if you netboot/mop load it put a small disk in it as SWAP, as swapping over eithernet is SLOW. Also the power supply want that 30W load so you have to have a drive. Possible drives ST225(20mb), Quatum D540(30mb), ST251(40mb), XT21290(160mb) to name a few. that machine can format drives! >> versions as well (KA41 - KA49). Fortunately for me the desktop VAXes take >> up _much_ less room than the deskside variety, also the drive has Ultrix32 >> on it and its my only Ultrix based VAX (I've got Ultrix media for MIPS but >> not for VAX). I'm guessing that if I moved the jumper back I'd see it has >> some sort of frame buffer as well, perhaps it would bring up X even. It just might! Allison

25 years, 7 months

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SCreaming RD54 aka Maxtor 2190

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: William Fulmor <wpfulmor(a)dimensional.com> >I've had very good luck shutting up XT2190's and RD54's simply by turning >them upside-down. In my particular set up (old pee cee cases) they also >run _much_ cooler. That might present mounting and cabling >complications in your situation. YMMV. If turning it is a fix then flip the MV2000, they are rather small anyway. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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SCreaming RD54 aka Maxtor 2190

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Don Maslin <donm(a)cts.com> >Chuck, if it really is an RD54 - aka Maxtor XT2190 - the motor is >internal and inaccessible. There is, however, a Priam 519 that has the >same parameters as the Maxtor, and it has rotating parts external to the >disk housing. I do not know whether DEC used Priam or not, though. the likely hood is its a Maxtor XT2190, and yes some are very LOUD. They do seem to keep working even then. the usual source of the noise is internal bearing being flatspotted due to shock or the motor really working hard to spin the platter. Make sure the 12V is! Allison

25 years, 7 months

1
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Questions about TRS-80 Expansion Interface

by vcf＠siconic.com

I need to know where the serial port connector is on a TRS-80 Expansion Interface. I have two of them. One has its ports labeled, and one of the ports is labeled "MODEM" but it is simply an edge connector. Is this the serial port? If so, what's the pinout? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org

25 years, 7 months

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Need online TRS-80 Expansion Interface manual

by vcf＠siconic.com

Does anyone know where a TRS-80 Expansion Interface manual might reside online? Thanks! Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org

25 years, 7 months

5
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first programs

by mikeford＠socal.rr.com

I knew about computers for a long time before I actually bought one for myself, and from articles and books knew a bit of basic. One of my first programs was a couple lines of basic I could quickly type in on the demo computers at Radio Shack. It endlessly printed to the screen a string one character at a time with about a 3 second delay between characters, "I am a slow and stupid computer. ". Made a nice pattern on the screen.

25 years, 7 months

13
17
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VAX 4000/VLC prom password?

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

Hello ClassicCmp and Port-vax, A friend of mine just picked up a VAX 4000/VLC (on my recommendation as a nice small VAX) and I thought it was broken, because the 'sho dev' produced "illegal command." Turns out it has had a password set, but of course the seller didn't know that. Anyway, how does one tell the VAX to "forget" that it has a password set? Is there a jumper or something somewhere? --Chuck

25 years, 7 months

2
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SCreaming RD54 aka Maxtor 2190

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

I've got a newly re-functioning VAXStation 2000 which is equipped with an RD54 hard drive. The system boots into Ultrix 3.1 however it is _very_ loud. The drive has got a serious whine to it. I'm wondering if there is a bering or a brush somewhere that I can lubricate to cut down on the noise! --Chuck

25 years, 7 months

9
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Death by Poking

by jpl15＠panix.com

On the subject of early 'fragile' monitors, kill-able by the wrong refresh rate: I was always under the impression that, being by neccessity rather cheaply engineered and produced devices... the designers used many of the long-standing "tricks" from decades of consumer TV practice to "get by with less". Anyone who has worked at all with (especially 60s-era) TV sets will know what this means. The beam deflection circuits in most monitors have magnetic deflection coils around the neck of the CRT (called the deflection 'yoke) which carry the vertical and horizontal sweep frequencies and thereby move the internal electron beam around on the face of the CRT screen. Since the early monitors were designed to run at very limited sweep rates (or even at one single sweep or refresh rate) the engineers could use a factor called "resonance" to get by with less wire in the coils and simpler electronics to drive them Basically, the yoke coil is calculated to 'ring' at a certain frequency, and of course this is the horizontal refresh rate. The circuit is designed so that at that freq, the yoke is in resonance, and therefore uses less current to get the job done; hence less wire and lighter, cheaper parts. The circuit is made to be resonant over just a narrow range of frequencies (called the 'Q' of the circuit) and if the driving signal strays very far >from this range either way, the circuit is no longer in a condition of resonance, it begins to draw large amounts of power trying to do the same work, and, in a lot of the 'cheap' monitors, the whole thing actually overheats and burns up while you are looking at the jagged lines and trying to figure out what to do next. Any kind of setting (hardware or software) which could alter the horizontal rate without reagrd to the type of CRT device it's driving is liable to this kind of smoke-producing behavior. Newer multi-sync CRTS have spoiled us... ALSO: Long ago in the Big Iron days... the were some machines in the Philco line whose power supplies in some configs were marginally inadequate. It was possible to load the machine (with programs and data) and trip (or burn) the power units... but this was an isolated case. Program damage to most older computer systems was mostly caused by making peripherals do things they shouldn't... usually in cases of the device handler software being abused or tweaked by The Unwary and causing resultant mechanical damage. Cheerz John

25 years, 7 months

2
1
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Nuke Redmond!

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

>> On the other hand, who knowsif history had been different, perhaps >> Apple and Microsoft would have gone away, Linux and other free UNICEs >> would never have come into existence, and most of us would now be >> using MP/M-IX with a GUI, many security features and long upper-case >> filenames, using 64-bit 300MHz CPUs descended from the Z80. I. The Pentium is related to the z80 by way of the 8088 based on the 8080! II. Before DOS there were people developing OSs, Flex, Unix, OS/9, NS*dos, And an assortment of CP/M clones. III. There were 16 bit decendants of 6502, they had potential. Allison

25 years, 7 months

11
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How to clone an IDE drive (OT)

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

FWIW: Last weekend, Staples had an ad in the local paper for a 20Gb drive for $99 and they'd give you a free 32 Mb SIMM with it. I bought one of the drives (a Maxtor 32047) and just finished installing it in my daughter's Pentium II box that's running WinBlows 98. The software that came with the drive copied everything (about 17 Gb of files) from the old drive to the new one with no difficulties in about an hour. The only problem that I had was that the copy program wouldn't work with both drives on the primary disk controller channel. I had to put one on the secondary channel and one of the primary. After it finished copying, I removed the old drive and installed the new one in it's place, reconnected the two CD drives to the secondary channel and rebooted the machine with NO changes or problems. Joe

25 years, 7 months

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Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 floppy drive

by hellige＠mediacen.navy.mil

>It uses the serial port. I seem to remember utilities for >the PC that pretend to be a disk drive for an M100 in this >fashion, as well as tools that would let the drive connect >to the PC. I think the drive came with a disk containing >a utility or two. TS-DOS, available from Club 100, can be either disk or ROM based. Desklink, available on the Club 100 web site as 'DL-ARC.EXE', also includes limited RAM based versions that can be transferred to the 100/102 using a null modem cable. The Desklink archive is what I use to turn my 486 laptop or Mac clone into a fileserver for my Model 102. Once you use Desklink to transfer the RAM-based TS-DOS loader into the 100/102, you should then be able to access the portable disk drive. Jeff

25 years, 7 months

1
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SCSI? card identification

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- Jeff Hellige <jhellige(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > >I've got an Amiga external SCSI drive made by Tecmar that has a 37-pin > >connector... > Is this the Tecmar T-disk? I've got a 20meg version and it > requires a sidecar for the A1000, which also provides a 1meg memory > expansion. That's the one. > It has it's own CPU that branches off to both the sidecar > and the disk drive and there are a number of files that have to be > added to the A1000's Workbench disk in order to access it. It won't > boot from the Tecmar. That was absolutely typical of Amiga 1000 disk interfaces. I had a "WEDGE" for a long time - an 8-bit ISA adapter that came with drivers for the Western Digital WX-1 interface. It was replaced with a Microbotics StarBoard - mine was fully loaded - clock, 2Mb RAM and SCSI (the "StarDrive"). I was able to go from two ST225 drives (40Mb) to one Maxtor LXT213S (200Mb drive from a SPARCstation) with that upgrade. Between the two interfaces, I was set from about 1987 until I replaced the A1000 with an A3000 in 1993 (it lasted until I brought an A4000 home with me from N.Z. after replacing the 220/50Hz PSU with the guts from a PC PSU, around 1996) I still have my premiere copy of _Amiga World_ that has the T-Drive and the rest of the peripherals advertised *months* before they were ready to ship. They were billed as the first Amiga hard disks, but ISTR they took so long to finalize their product that there were several offerings out there when you could _finally_ buy one. Infamous vaporware in the early Amiga days. -ethan ===== Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com The original webpage address is still going away. The permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/ See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/

25 years, 7 months

1
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Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 floppy drive

by LFessen106＠aol.com

In a message dated Thu, 18 Jan 2001 11:19:14 AM Eastern Standard Time, John Foust <jfoust(a)threedee.com> writes: << I've got one. I was so cool in 1987 or so, carrying the M100 and a disk drive, writing articles on airplanes. I even remember using CompuServe via the M100. It uses the serial port. I seem to remember utilities for the PC that pretend to be a disk drive for an M100 in this fashion, as well as tools that would let the drive connect to the PC. I think the drive came with a disk containing a utility or two. - John >> Wish I did! I just got my first M100 this week! Picked up a 32k m100 in pristine condition with the manual (no case or drives though) for $10. 4 AA bateries later and it was running great. Have to say these are really cool little computers! -Linc Fessenden.

25 years, 7 months

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Interact (was Death by Poking)

by RCini＠congressfinancial.com

I remember reading somewhere that Gates' last real project was the BASIC in the Radio Shack Model 100 (1983??) ========================== Richard A. Cini, Jr. Congress Financial Corporation 1133 Avenue of the Americas 30th Floor New York, NY 10036 (212) 545-4402 (212) 840-6259 (facsimile) -----Original Message----- From: THETechnoid(a)home.com [mailto:THETechnoid@home.com] Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001 10:41 AM To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org Subject: Re: Interact (was Death by Poking) Thanks! Bill talks kind of like Tonto. I've never really known what Gate's personal contribution to coding has been. Did he write on Mbasic, Msdos, or any of the Windos's? When did he quit coding? Regards, Jeff In <200101181442.GAA10586(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu>, on 01/18/01 at 10:40 AM, Cameron Kaiser <spectre(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu> said: >http://www.tcp.com/%7elgreenf/bill.htm -- ----------------------------------------------------------- Jeffrey S. Worley President Complete Computer Services, Inc. 30 Greenwood Rd. Asheville, NC 28803 828-277-5959 Visit our website at HTTP://www.Real-Techs.com THETechnoid(a)home.com -----------------------------------------------------------

25 years, 7 months

1
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operating system integrity (coming from Nuke Redmond)

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> In <8763AE987517D2118C0500A0C9AB234C509D72@TEGNTSERVER>, on 01/17/01 > at 04:54 PM, Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman(a)theestopinalgroup.com> > said: > > Yea! Object Desktop is GOD'S OWN TOY. I love it! They ported it to > Windos, but it caused lots of stability problems. The OS/2 version runs > beautifully and I've been addicted to it for years. I have to agree with the others in this thread... Windows is inherently not stable, while OS/2 is.... thus Object Desktop on Windows doesn't CAUSE instability, it merely illuminates it. I am biased, however, as I'm a Stardock Avatar. > My favorite component is the virtual desktop feature. I couldn't live > without it. > > The Windows version is a program. The OS/2 version is not. It is a > collection of Workplace Shell objects simply taking advantage of the OS/2 > Gui's object inheritance and polymorphism. Pretty darn impressive. True, Windows doesn't provide the underpinnings to do what was possible under OS/2. My two most-used features are ObjectDrivescan and ObjectEdit; however, I really do love the eye candy (Windowblinds, WindowFX, DesktopX, and ObjectBar). Regards, -dq

25 years, 7 months

1
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SCSI? card identification

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- THETechnoid(a)home.com wrote: > In <3.0.5.32.20010117183929.007bf6f0(a)yellow.ucdavis.edu>, on 01/17/01 > at 10:18 PM, "Edwin P. Groot" <epgroot(a)ucdavis.edu> said: > > > 37 pins? What an oddball number. I have seen floppy cables with 50, > >34 or 20 pins. 5-1/4" MFM hard drives have 34 pin plus 20 pin. SCSI hard > >drives have 50 pins. I've got an Amiga external SCSI drive made by Tecmar that has a 37-pin connector. Don't have the interface to go with it, though. It's a modular extruded aluminum case (like some modems) with a 3.5" MFM drive inside and some flavor of SCSI<->MFM bridge card to do the dirty work. Mine came from university surplus, so I have never seen it operate, FWIW. -ethan ===== Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com The original webpage address is still going away. The permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/ See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/

25 years, 7 months

2
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SCreaming RD54 aka Maxtor 2190

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

At 11:09 PM 1/17/01 -0700, Bill wrote: >Sounds about like a first generation DC-9 revving up for roll out? Yup. >I've had very good luck shutting up XT2190's and RD54's simply by turning >them upside-down. In my particular set up (old pee cee cases) they also >run _much_ cooler. That might present mounting and cabling >complications in your situation. YMMV. Actually this is a VAXStation 2000 so turning it upside isn't a problem (nothing else cares about orientation) but alas it did not noticeably change the whine. I'm really torn by this little machine. On the one hand I sort of swore off MFM drive based systems and was sticking to Q-bus based VAXen in the collection, but now with the VS2000 I've got a bunch of the workstation versions as well (KA41 - KA49). Fortunately for me the desktop VAXes take up _much_ less room than the deskside variety, also the drive has Ultrix32 on it and its my only Ultrix based VAX (I've got Ultrix media for MIPS but not for VAX). I'm guessing that if I moved the jumper back I'd see it has some sort of frame buffer as well, perhaps it would bring up X even. --Chuck

25 years, 7 months

3
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Honeywell/Bull Terminals HDS 5

by spamoff001＠excite.com

From: Doug Stalker (doug(a)notme.com) Date: 07/21/99-11:37:42 PM Z Reply: Maybe This Applies............... HDS 7 setup access is bottom row of num. pad. - CTRL-, (comma) Setup left hand corner (gray key) - CTRL-. (period)Test Loop bottom row - CTRL- - (minus) Screen Test right hand corner _______________________________________________________ Send a cool gift with your E-Card http://www.bluemountain.com/giftcenter/

25 years, 7 months

2
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Nuke Redmond!

by mtapley＠swri.edu

Richard, >Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 18:30:01 -0700 >From: "Richard Erlacher" <edick(a)idcomm.com> > >Sir, you damage your credibility with statements like some you've made here. >While it's true that the Microsoft products may not be the "best" thing for >thos of us who are inclined to fuss and fiddle with our computers, they're >WAY better for those who can't, won't, or shouldn't. There are errors of commission and errors of omission. You make one of the latter here. While it is true that Microsoft packages its OS's and Applications in such a way that they are easier to install, configure, and use than most similar unix software, it is also true that Apple packages its OS's and Applications so that they are *much* easier to install, configure, and use than Microsoft software. Mac OS software is far superior to equivalent Windows anything (as well as to Unix anything in my experience) for those of us not inclined to fuss or fiddle with our computers. This I know from personal experience with MacOS, Windows 95/98, NeXTStep (a variant of unix), Solaris, and AIX. I cannot speak for Linux, and there may be other OS/Application sets (Amiga?) on either end of the spectrum that are pertinent here but not familiar to me. >They enable a whole range of people who, 15 years ago, wouldn't have been >allowed in the same room with a computer to accomplish useful work, >something which FEW of us do, computer design, programming, and maintenance >all being overhead rather than useful work in most environments. They also >enable people to use resources such as the internet, who otherwise might >never have that experience, never mind that they use it primarily to save a >trip to the convenience store to buy a magazine in a brown wrapper. Although the market has disagreed horribly with me for many years, I can see no valid argument for choosing the Microsoft middle ground between Macintosh ease of use and unix power, security, and flexibility. (The most-cited argument, lower cost of underlying hardware, has been shown repeatedly to be invalid in most cases because of the time typically spent/lost trying to get Windows and its applications to play nice together, fighting viruses, configuring networks, etc.; I'll admit that competent power users like you and Allison can probably circumvent that and make Windows systems essentially as cost-effective as MacOS or linux systems.) As always, if the application you need is available on only one OS, that OS is the best for you and there's no valid argument against that, whatever the other characteristics of the OS. But for people who wouldn't have been allowed in the same room with a computer, or who just want to access the internet, Microsoft is a *long, long* way behind Apple and its third parties for ease-of-use. >I would exhort you to eschew reiteration of other people's falsehoods and, >instead, search for a solution to the problems you so clearly perceive. >Squandering bandwidth on matters that most of the computer world doesn't >perceive as a problem will only hasten the day when we have to pay for our >internet use by the bit. My solution is maintaining a Microsoft-free zone at home and minimizing use of Microsoft at work. This is not only because I dislike their products (excepting Excel, which has merit IMO), but because I really regret and fear what their illegal business practices have done to the industry in many areas, including file interchange standards, expected reliability and pre-release testing of software, customer support, etc. etc. >Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2001 11:06:10 -0700 >From: "Richard Erlacher" <edick(a)idcomm.com> >... >Both Windows and the popular varieties of LINUX are pretty easy to install >these days. However, Windows suffers greatly from the fact that it has >tried to maintain the usefulness of those applications that were written for >and bought concurrently with much earlier versions of the OS. >... I must point out that MacOS has the same "burden" - and bears it *much* better, as "antique" Mac software is far more likely to run on a new Mac system than same-vintage Win/DOS software on a Windows machine. (I *hate* to think I may have accidentally brought this back on-topic...) >Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 01:20:43 -0700 >From: "Richard Erlacher" <edick(a)idcomm.com> > >It's just the American way of doing business. Detroit's been doing it for >50 years. Get over it! By definition, it's not the American way if it violates US antitrust laws. MS was convicted in court of criminal practices (anticompetitive actions) essentially victimizing me, the consumer. Am I going to willingly send them more money? Is this a trick question? Based on their record, I believe that if they can find a legal or illegal way to decrease Linux' effectiveness, they will do it immediately. I'd much rather see Linux reduce MS to a footnote. CorelSuite, AppleWorks, NetScape, Adobe, Filemaker, and StarOffice would all still be there, I'd still be able to get my work done - and file standards would stay a lot more standard. - Mark

25 years, 7 months

15
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Nuke Redmond!

by jtinker＠coin.org

Richard Erlacher wrote: > > It's because, not only are other companies as devious, in fact ALL other > surviving companies are, in their way, as devious, but that's what they're > SUPPOSED to be. No, companies are limited liability constructs of the state. They fall under the same social contract that the state does, even more so. Yes, we can, and should, insist that corporations be ethical. The nature of a corporation's "rights" is quite different than the nature of an individual's rights. The corporation exists at the pleasure of the state. Corporations are SUPPOSED to be what the state intends them to be. The same is not true of individuals. The state has the power to regulate the ethical behavior of corporations, even to the extent of demanding that the corporation be altruistic. But altruism is not the issue with Microsoft. Rather the issue is unethical business practice. Beyond that, you have not answered my question as to why you are defending unethical behavior. Why not let those who would promote ethical behavior take the lead, even if you don't think they have much chance at success? Why try to shoot them down? What is to be gained by it? -- John Tinker

25 years, 7 months

12
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Nuke Redmond!

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Iggy Drougge <optimus(a)canit.se> > >And Zilog developed a 16 (or 32-bit?) descendant of the Z80 themselves, too, I >might add. The Z8000. Z80 and Z8000 are not even close to each other. The Z80 is superset of 8080 and 8088 is more an offshoot of that. The 16bit Z80 and the later 32bit are the Z280 and 380 series and they are z80 code compatable. >The 65816, right? Used in the Super Nintendo, amongst others. AppleIIgs as well. Allison

25 years, 7 months

2
1
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Aquarius?

by russ＠rbcs.8m.com

My friend has a Mattel Aquarius computer on eBay - thought I'd mention it since it's still cheap and may be of interest to someone that collects older machines. It's item 1208196262 if you're inclined to check it out. I believe it's a fairly complete setup and in good condition. I can however attest to the fact that the seller is very repautable and very good to work with.

25 years, 7 months

1
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operating system integrity (coming from Nuke Redmond)

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> There is the OS/2 operating system, the workplace shell, the MPTS product, > the TCP/IP product, and the multimedia product to name a few. This > modular approach is one thing that makes OS/2 so scaleable. Like Linux and > BSD and unlike any Windos product, you don't NEED the GUI to have a useful > machine. Without the GUI, a 4mb 386sx with a small hard drive can be made > to perform useful work with good performance. There are also several > alternate GUI's provided that are not as processor intensive as the > Workplace Shell/Presentation Manager product. With OS/2 2.0, 2.1, and > 2.11, there was even an alternate GUI that gave OS/2 a Windows 3.x look > and feel. Just like changing the Windows 9x gui to Progman.exe by editing > System.ini will give 9x a 3.x look and feel. Under 9x, you can also > "Start, Run, Progman". That sounds like Stardock's Object Desktop for OS/2... I believe they brought this product up to version 3/Warp revision level, but just recently dropped support for the product. Regards, -dq

25 years, 7 months

2
1
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first programs

by kapteynr＠cboe.com

I don't remember the first program that I wrote. It was probably "print 1+1" on the PDP-8 we had at school. I do remember the first program that I loaded into my Altair when I got it running. Remember that Altair came with no I/O other than the switches and LEDs of the front panel. The program came from the Altair User's Group and was a simple game called "Kill The Bit". The Altair has 8 "data" LEDs on the front panel. "Kill The Bit" lit one of the 8, and kept changing it, around and around. Your job was to toggle one of the front panel switches at just the right time, otherwise you would create more "bits" to kill. Rob Kapteyn

25 years, 7 months

1
0
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operating system integrity (coming from Nuke Redmond)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: THETechnoid(a)home.com <THETechnoid(a)home.com> >When you run a win3x application under 9x, the entire multitasking scheme >reverts to cooperative which not a nice thing to do even to windos. Also, >all win3x apps share the same space, one crashes, all can crash because of >it. Actually I run Paradox/DOSV4.5 under win95 and if you set things up right it can run protected dos space and the cooperative multitasking is only within that virtual dos window. It's a bigger probem that it tried to talk to the printer directly and Windows blocks on that if the setup is not exactly right. >As pertains to running windows programs, OS/2 does 'cooperative >preemption' in a way. If you want to run a win3x application, you can >either run it entirely in it's own, protected memory space (seamless), or >in a shared, protected space (shared between several win3x apps together >in the same space). In the first mode, if a seamless 3x app crashes, it >affects only it's own space. If an app running in shared space crashes, >it can crash all it's buddies sharing it's memory. NT4 also has this and it works well. BUT, you have to watch as some dos programs may try to share a file and you can get file locking problems. >OS/2 does not run Windows apps, it runs Windows. You can run as many as >240 copies of Windows 3.11 with as many apps each as each can support. Keep the education going. >I don't think there is another operating system out there that is NEARLY >so flexible in supporting the multitasking of instances of other operating >systems. In addition, each individual session can be customized by >altering any of 75 provided settings for it such as priority, hardware >access, XMS and EMS and DPMI memory sizes, video refresh, and on and on >and on. Adjusting a setting in one dosbox affects only that box. Win9x's Its clear that NTs dos support is based on OS/2s. Just for curiousity I've got a OS/2 Warp V3 kit including the bonus pack. What would it take to get networking going (TCP/IP prefered)? Also what later versions can be purchased and approximate cost? Allison

25 years, 7 months

5
5
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Nuke Redmond!

by mbg＠world.std.com

>> Spent the day 'upgrading' to Windows ME I assume... > >If you don't agree with Redmont, I suggest you put your money where your >mouth is. We still have a free choice. Use it as long as you can. I do... I have Linux on all my PCs... I read a report earlier today in which teh president and CEO of M$ declared that Linux was the #1 threat to the company as they enter the new year... Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg KB1FCA | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

25 years, 7 months

8
14
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Nuke Redmond!

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> I don't know why Intuit has survived, but I am kind of curious given the > boneheadedness of the product. I mean everybodies first two programs are, > hello world, then checkbook. Granted they have put more than a little > polish on Checkbook 1.0, but they have also managed to drag it out over 9 > major releases. Being a bad seed, my first program printed out random vulgar phrases instead of "hello world". This was on a CDC-6500 running Dual-MACE at Purdue University. My next two programs were a program to compute the dynamic compliance of a tonearm, and another to compute, based on the native resonant frequency of a driver (speaker), and the proposed dimensions of a room to be constructed, the frequencies where the bass would resonate in the room, and the distribution of the nodes (antinodes?). Over a two- week period, I coded these programs in CDC-6000 Series BASIC, CDC-6000 Series Fortran, and our local port of Niklaus Wirth's Pascal Compiler. Eventually, I bought Electric Checkbook for the Macintosh, a great program I rarely used due to extra work of maintaining my check register. The moral of this tale: Beware of Geeks bearing Revisionist History. ;-) -dq

25 years, 7 months

7
10
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Funky looking mouse and other TCF stuff...

by btobler＠magnet.ch

Hi I found an old email from you on the web: http://www.classiccmp.org/mail-archive/classiccmp/1997-04/0324.html Hi guys, just wanted to say what I got at TCF. I managed to get there at 3:45 on Sunday (15 minutes before closing on the last day of the show.) Anyway here's what I got: 2 Seagate MFM Hard Drives *FREE* 1 Sysquest tape(?) drive *FREE* the tape drive is about the size of a CD-ROM, what is it? 1 Apple IIe Users Guide *FREE* (why? I dunno, it was in the trash) 1 CBM 8032 $5 (this things got some kind of memory board that plugs into the CPU socket and a parallel interface) 1 Funky Mouse *FREE* This last thing I need help with. It looks to be about 20+ years old but I could be wrong... It is bright red, almost perfectly round, has a steel ball as the roller, 3 black switches, and says "5271" and then "DEPRAZ - MOUSE" on the bottom. It has what looks likea standard serial cable. The guy said it was for a terminal right before he threw it out. Any ideas? More importantly.... do you think I could use it on my PeeCEE? 8) Les PS what'd everyone else get at TCF? ---------------------------------------------------------------- If you are still interested in the origin of the funky looking red mouse, I can tell you. I got one myself. So before I write down the whole history, give me an note whether you are still interested in it. Greetings from Basel, Switzerland, Beatrice. Beatrice Tobler || Konservatorin f?r Computer/Neue Medien | Museum f?r Kommunikation | Helvetiastr. 16 | CH-3000 Bern 6| Tel: 031 357 55 44 (Di-Fr)| b.tobler(a)mfk.ch | http://www.mfk.ch || Blauensteinerstrasse 8 | CH-4053 Basel | Tel: 061 274 10 36 | btobler(a)magnet.ch | http://www.unibas.ch/volkskunde/tobler.html || VolO - Volkskunde Online: http://www.unibas.ch/volkskunde/volo

25 years, 7 months

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Need help with rescue in Tampa

by vcf＠siconic.com

Is there anyone in the Tampa area that's interested in helping out with a computer rescue? Please reply privately <sellam(a)vintage.org>. Thanks! Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org

25 years, 7 months

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DEC TC11 TU56 tape controller

by uban＠ubanproductions.com

Hello, I have been looking for a DEC TC11 tape controller to go with my PDP11/45 and TU56 tape drives for some time now. I just discovered this mailing list, so now I am trying here. Is there any chance that anyone has a TC11 for sale or trade? Also, I am looking for a pair of DEC H960 (72") rack sides, preferably >from someone in the Chicago area. Thanks in advance (there is always a hope:-) --tom

25 years, 7 months

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first programs

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> My first useful program was a graphical alarm clock. I'm a dropout and so > missed math education beyond arithmetic. This is why I do all my agebraic > problems linearly as you do in programing. I still don't understand how > and why algebra is done the way it is in schools. Boolean algebra makes > so much more sense to me. Trig smoothly describes the world as it really is- the approximations you independently discovered describe the world well enough to fool human perception. More on this below. > Anyway, I was trying to plot the face of a circular clock. First I tried > using PI as the base for the plotting and my clock's face came out wierd > and incomplete. After messing with the program for some hours I realized > that OF COURSE a circle derived from pi was going to be incomplete because > PI is irrational. No matter how many digits after the dicimal you use, you > will never get a complete circle, just a progressively less incomplete > one. Duh. Back to the drawing board. > > I started hitting the trig functions looking for an answer and hit on > Sine/cosine as the way to do it. Educating yourself is hard and you often > have to backtrack like that. You only have to look at AutoCAD to see how crappy a circle looks when derived by trigonometric evaluation; it wouldn't be that way if there was enough precision available, but there never seems to be... So, a guy named Bresenham came up with a click way to generate a circle, and it was improved upon by another computer scientist named Michener. it takes advantage of the 8-way symmetry a circle will have when created in the approximate fashion that pixels arranged in a Cartesian grid yields. The algorithm generates the points for a single octant of the circle, then generates the other seven octants by (essentially) changing the sign of the values for the first octant. The virual result are perfectly symmetric approximations of circles. There's also an algorithm I saw written up in Byte years ago for doing parabolas; the author referred to it as the Variable Duty-Cycle Algorithm. For a dummy radar-display I hacked up, to handle the sweep line, I simply at program start-up pre-computed all the data for the lines in each position of the sweep; I did it with trigonometric evaluation, but stored the daata in an array and just puked it out at runtime. But just like with the calculator, it helps to understand the fundamentals before trying to implement a solution sans science. OTOH, not knowing the fundamentals has failed to stop many a man... ...OOPS! And women, too, I guess (apologies to Megan and Allison!). Regards, -dq

25 years, 7 months

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IBM System/36 for free!

by mtapley＠swri.edu

All, The e-address for this system, rmays(a)satx.rr.com, sounds a lot like it's in my home town, San Antonio. If that's true and you need help moving, shipping (eek), putting in a UHaul and meeting you somewhere in central Texas, etc., email me and I'll pitch in. I'm not interested in the system for myself. - Mark

25 years, 7 months

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Garage cleaning

by donm＠cts.com

I have a portable test set by Data Disk Inc. of Sunnyvale CA that is identified as an "8000 Series Exerciser". It comes in a molded case with handle and removable lid that is 14"W x 10.5"D, and 7"H. It is powered from a fixed 3-conductor line cord by 115 +/- 10% VAC at 47-400Hz. The unit dates to late 1974 according to the panel information drawing taped to the inside of the lid. Also, users are enjoined to "be kind to this tester its a one & only" according to a label stuck onto the inside of the lid. It could well be as it is entirely wire wrapped. The panel contains several rows of mini-toggle switches to select tracks from 1-512, a 16-bit data pattern, modes of testing, power, etc. Also a four wheel indicating rotary switch to set bits/sector. External connections are a 50-conductor ribbon cable that is terminated in an edge connector (50-pin), and a row of banana jacks to permit bringing out 8 functions for scope display. It is available for the price of shipping to anyone who wants it. I'm guessing that it weighs about 10 pounds. - don

25 years, 7 months

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Tape Drive Vacuum Sensor Group Purchase TU10 / DG 6021

by cube1＠home.com

As folks who follow this list may recall, I was asking about a month ago if anyone had any vacuum sensors for a TU10. Since that time, I have identified a source for purchase of these sensors (set for 10" H2O pressure). They are suitable for TU10's (where I found some of the exact part I found in there as replacements) and for the DG 6021. I would guess that they are in other drives of similar vintage. (a TU10 has 8 of them, a 6021 has 4 of them (plus a separate 20" H20 unit) ) If you have a TU10 or a DG 6021, and expect to keep it running for another 10 years, listen up: these will fail, eventually, depending on what their condition was when you got the drive, how often you use it, etc. On the TU10, the ones most likely to fail are at the bottom of each vacuum column, because they are in a pressure differential state most of the time. I can get the parts for $14.23 each in unit quantities, but the catch is that the minimum order is $250. I was thinking that I needed about 10 of them, for sure, so I'd like to find someone else who could use at least 7 or 8 of them. I also suspect that the price would come down a little for quantities over 24 -- but I have not yet checked quantity pricing. SO, what I would like to do is this. Anyone who is SERIOUSLY interested in purchasing some of these beasties, please reply to me (as well as or instead of the list), and I'll try to put an order together this month. Payment will probably be via your choice of personal check or PayPal (I have not yet set up my PayPal account, though). Jay Jaeger --- Jay R. Jaeger The Computer Collection cube1(a)home.com visit http://members.home.net/thecomputercollection

25 years, 7 months

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Garage cleaning (fwd)

by donm＠cts.com

John Tinker has just claimed this item. - don ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 17:09:10 -0800 (PST) From: Don Maslin <donm(a)cts.com> Reply-To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org Subject: Garage cleaning I have a portable test set by Data Disk Inc. of Sunnyvale CA that is identified as an "8000 Series Exerciser". It comes in a molded case with handle and removable lid that is 14"W x 10.5"D, and 7"H. It is powered from a fixed 3-conductor line cord by 115 +/- 10% VAC at 47-400Hz. The unit dates to late 1974 according to the panel information drawing taped to the inside of the lid. Also, users are enjoined to "be kind to this tester its a one & only" according to a label stuck onto the inside of the lid. It could well be as it is entirely wire wrapped. The panel contains several rows of mini-toggle switches to select tracks from 1-512, a 16-bit data pattern, modes of testing, power, etc. Also a four wheel indicating rotary switch to set bits/sector. External connections are a 50-conductor ribbon cable that is terminated in an edge connector (50-pin), and a row of banana jacks to permit bringing out 8 functions for scope display. It is available for the price of shipping to anyone who wants it. I'm guessing that it weighs about 10 pounds. - don

25 years, 7 months

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Nuke Redmond!

by spectre＠stockholm.ptloma.edu

Since we had some talk about NetBSD, this is totally off-topic, not to mention totally bizarre. And it really does exist. http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/dreamcast/ -- ----------------------------- personal page: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ -- Cameron Kaiser, Point Loma Nazarene University * ckaiser(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu -- I can't complain, but sometimes I still do. -- Joe Walsh -------------------

25 years, 7 months

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Corvus Systems Transporter Apple Rev C

by aclark＠envirolink.org

Does anyone know what this card does? Arthur Clark

25 years, 7 months

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Funky looking mouse and other TCF stuff...

by ethan_dicks＠yahoo.com

--- David Gesswein <djg(a)drs-esg.com> wrote: > Does anybody happen to have a spare one of these? I have a AT&T > 5620 terminal missing the mouse and I think that is the one that goes with > it. Terminal has a DB-9 connector. > > > It is bright red, almost perfectly round, I do. Anyone with a naked 5620 terminal, contact me off-list for a mouse. I have more than one, but I cannot test them. Anyone want to swap a few mice for a spare terminal? I also have a couple of ROM carts that I think are for them (the one in my hand has a damaged label that reads, in part "...456 615MT/4425 emulation and has three 27128 unlabelled EPROMs and a few TTL parts; somewhere, I may still have a couple of carts with some 27C512s, but I've been recycling the EPROMs from those so I don't know if I have any left) -ethan ===== Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com The original webpage address is still going away. The permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/ See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/

25 years, 7 months

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Silicon Valley pioneer William Hewlett dead at 87

by philpem＠btinternet.com

On Sat, Jan 13, 2001 at 07:50:23PM -0500, Dave McGuire wrote: > Granted there's more plastic in them than there used to be, but HP > still makes the best test equipment that money can buy, as far as I'm I can't speak for the HP, er... Agilent scopes, but I've never had any bother with my secondhand Gould OS1100A. It looks like it's around 15-25 years old, 30MHz, delayed sweep, CRT, IEC-style power connector (same as the ones used on the IBM PC and many other machines), etc. It takes a while to warm up and for the damn trace to stop jumping around, but other than that it's a great scope. Anyone got a manual (service or otherwise) for this ageing dinosaur? The timebase calibration is a bit out.

25 years, 7 months

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Funky looking mouse and other TCF stuff...

by djg＠drs-esg.com

Does anybody happen to have a spare one of these? I have a AT&T 5620 terminal missing the mouse and I think that is the one that goes with it. Terminal has a DB-9 connector. > It is bright red, almost perfectly round, Thanks, David Gesswein http://www.pdp8.net/ -- Old computers with blinkenlights

25 years, 7 months

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Silicon Valley pioneer William Hewlett dead at 87

by mmcfadden＠cmh.edu

I saw an article that says the real reason for all of the "new" names is that no company wants to be saddled with their old name and the associated reputation. Each new management wants to "reinvent" the company. The first step is to get rid of the old name. If you can't pronounce the name and it has no preexisting connotation then the company can define themselves anyway they want to. Another side effect is that you can get rid of all of the old liabilities, retirement plans, and support costs. You get a new disposable product from a new disposable company. Back on track. Has any body interfaced a web cam to any VMS systems? I'd like to connect one to my VAX systems. mmcfadden(a)cmh.edu

25 years, 7 months

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Subject: Re: Nuke Richmond (Long) [Mike]

by mmcfadden＠cmh.edu

It was my neighbors daughter writing a essay for a college application, it turned out she had actually printed it once and also didn't realize she saved it on disk. Her word setup now saves every 5 minutes. I'm thinking of writing a column in the local newspaper, circulation 800, about computer tidbits. Maybe I'll try and explain what computers can and can't do. My only worry is that every local Microsoft user will call and ask questions. But I am going to put in an advertisement offering computer recycling, I haul a lot of stuff to the local not-for-profit computer surplus. Mike mmcfadden(a)cmh.edu

25 years, 7 months

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RISC6000 7007 POWERportable N40

by truthanl＠oclc.org

Thanks Pat for the Help. I got a cable adapted to the SCSI Stub Cable and the unit found the SCSI CD-ROM And I was able to load the OS off the CD. I have loaded the root , its password, and built myself a user account as well. The CD load however disagrees with the release notes on finding the Xinit X-windows AIX application. So it appears I will be looking for a general guide on navigating AIX,its tools, and applications. Right now all I can confirm is that the N40 loads in the High Function Terminal mode. (HFT) The release notes infer that I should be able to load a windowed menu application from the command line be simply typing "xinit" - this is not happening. I will be looking for more web based reference Material. Any pointers are still greatly appreciated. Sincerely Larry Truthan -----Original Message----- From: Pat Barron [mailto:pat@transarc.ibm.com] Sent: Friday, January 12, 2001 11:38 AM To: Truthan,Larry Cc: 'classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org' Subject: RE: RISC6000 7007 POWERportable N40 On Fri, 12 Jan 2001, Truthan,Larry wrote: > The "66" entry is invalidated in the 10 element diagnostic menu and the sub > menues under each element. The initial sevice selection is "language > select"). I havent tried "66" at the language select. On the first pass, I > am not making headway with your suggestion. Oh, also, just to clarify - the menu I am talking about is the AIX diagnostic menu, which only has 4 or 5 choices on it as far as I recall. This is accessed by booting AIX in "Service Mode". This isn't to be confused with the diagnostics in the firmware (whose menu apparently has 10 entries). I poked around and found a document that might help you: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- RS/6000 N40 Laptop * Setting the System to Service Mode: 1. Press the key sequence [Pause][R] to reset the N40 (or power it off). 2. Then interrupt with [Pause][K] key sequence as soon as the IBM logo appears. 3. After several seconds, a language selection menu will appear; select appropriate language. 4. Then press 99 to go to the main menu 5. Select #7 (Change Soft-Keyswitch Setting). 6. Select #3 (Service). 7. Then press 99 to go to the main menu. 8. Select #10 to start the boot off the CD. * Limitations: > The 7007-N40 is supported by a special N40 version of AIX 3.2.5. The 7007-N40 is NOT supported at AIX V4. > The support for the 7007-N40 and N40 AIX 3.2.5 has been withdrawn, thus questions are answered on a best effort basis. * Information > Software maintenance on this system can be done by booting off the AIX 3.2.5 for N40 cdrom. To do this, attach the cdrom drive to the SCSI bus. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You already knew most of this, but I'm sending it along in case it might help. --Pat.

25 years, 7 months

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IBM System/36 for free!

by MTPro＠aol.com

Please respond directly to rmays(a)satx.rr.com David Greelish Publisher Classic Computing Press www.classiccomputing.com In a message dated 12/26/00 6:36:25 PM, rmays(a)satx.rr.com writes: << We have an IBM System/36 mini-computer (possibly still in working condition) that we would be interested in donating. >>

25 years, 7 months

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ALERT! Major Purge in progress

by djg＠drs-esg.com

The techincal journals are still hiding at http://www.research.compaq.com/wrl/DECarchives/DTJ/ The timeline seems to be mirrored at http://www.montagar.com/dfwcug/VMS_HTML/timeline/1957.htm David Gesswein http://www.pdp8.net/ -- Old computers with blinkenlights

25 years, 7 months

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OS/2 networking

by pechter＠pechter.dyndns.org

> From: THETechnoid(a)home.com <THETechnoid(a)home.com> > > > Its clear that NTs dos support is based on OS/2s. > > Just for curiousity I've got a OS/2 Warp V3 kit including the bonus pack. > > What would it take to get networking going (TCP/IP prefered)? > > Also what later versions can be purchased and approximate cost? > > Allison Legally, either Warp Connect or Warp4 -- or some other IBM software like TCP/IP that has the Ethernet driver hooks... It also can be done through the selective application of OS/2 fixpacks to get the necessary parts. (this violates the software licenses) To see how to do it check the web search engines and OS/2 news groups. I've got Warp 4 and have been very pleased with it. --Bill -- bpechter(a)monmouth.com | FreeBSD since 1.0.2, Linux since 0.99.10 Brainbench MVP | Unix Sys Admin since Sys V/BSD 4.2 Unix Sys.Admin. | Windows System Administration: "Magical Misery Tour"

25 years, 7 months

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OT! RE: Nuke Richmond (Long)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Sellam Ismail <foo(a)siconic.com> >> Makes little difference what box it is one or mor eof the apps are broken >> and killing others. Composted (yes cow dung is composted) as they are >> would they run better under VMS or on a Sun, likely not just the core >> dumps might be more interesting. > >What's worse? An app that crashes, or an OS that crashes because an app >misbehaves? OS dies from bad app is clearly the worst case. It can hammer the filesystem and thats always messy. NT4 is clearly way better on that over W9x. The acid test for both (from work experience) is start editing a document with WORD, running Paradox-9 or Delphi and then pull the plug out of the wall. The W95 box generally does bad stuff while the NT4 box seems to shrug it off loosing only unsaved work. W9x is not robust, never said it was. >From testing OS/2 is in the NT4 response catagory to unexpected power fails The various unix clones seem to take it well but, I havent tested it as hard. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Anybody in the UK want a TeleVideo 924 Terminal?

by kheydon＠Solidworks.com

> I don't believe I've ever seen a 924. I have a 925, and gave > away about > half a dozen 910/912/920 types a few years back. How does > the 924 differ from the 925? > Point me at the details of a 925 and I'll tell you. -- Kevan Software engineers are so infatuated with the fact that they can, that they don't stop to think if they should.

25 years, 7 months

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How to install hobbiest CD?

by ncherry＠home.net

I've managed to boot the 3100 with the Hobbiest CD and now it sits at a '$' prompt. Does anyone have the instructions for install the CD? I had them but can not find them now. Any pointers (links) would be appreciated. Also what/where is the '$' prompt? It doesn't take show commands so I'm guessing I'm stuck in between something. Thanks -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)home.net http://members.home.net/ncherry (Text only) http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/lightsey/52 (Graphics) http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/ (SourceForge)

25 years, 7 months

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Silicon Valley pioneer William Hewlett dead at 87

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On January 13, R. D. Davis wrote: > Apparently seeing his company deteriorate led to his death. Hewlett > Packard once produced equipment of very high quality, but, alas, it's > product quality has greatly deteriorated and HP appears to consist > mostly of marketing smoke and mirrors, only remaining in business > because of the once excellent products that are associated with the > company name. Granted there's more plastic in them than there used to be, but HP still makes the best test equipment that money can buy, as far as I'm concerned. There's no smoke or mirrors in their test equipment lineup. -Dave McGuire

25 years, 7 months

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Silicon Valley pioneer William Hewlett dead at 87

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On January 13, Shawn T. Rutledge wrote: > > Granted there's more plastic in them than there used to be, but HP > > still makes the best test equipment that money can buy, as far as I'm > > Err, you mean Agilent does, right? *GRR*. NO, I mean HP does. Even if they're calling themselves Agilent now. Fucking suits. -Dave McGuire

25 years, 7 months

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Off-topic (i.e., not "Nuke Redmond" or OS debate): 3270 ISA boards available

by r.stek＠snet.net

Sorry to drift from the MS-bashing going on <g>, but if anyone is interested in a set of 5 8-bit boards (3 full length, jumpered together) pulled from a 5150 based PC which was used for 3270 emulation, please let me know. Will trade for Altair 8800 or for cost of shipping boards (your choice). Bob Stek Saver of Lost Sols

25 years, 7 months

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Silicon Valley pioneer William Hewlett dead at 87

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/computing/01/12/hewlett.obit.ap/index.html

25 years, 7 months

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Nuke Richmond

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Mike Ford <mikeford(a)socal.rr.com> >The beauty of *nix right now is that its a bit of a chore to install, no >formal support, etc. and that leaves the door open for consultants et al to >make money selling, installing, and supporting it. Not a bad business model >really. I take an aside to this. The current crop of BSD and Linux flavored unix like OSs seem to be as easy to install as W9x. With one caveat, the unix camp is steeped in 30+ years of unix culture. It is this culture that makes if difficult as it's simply different! If you get past the difference and can adopt it's cultural language over prior biases it's fairly forthright and simple to install. Then again I say this as W95 was a royal PITA the first time compared to VMS and other DEC OSs I was familiar with. Then again creating a BIOS for CP/M was pretty intimidating at one time too. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Eizo and NCR

by optimus＠canit.se

I made to observations today. One was a flat, long slab from NCR, with what seemed like 2 ISA slots in the back. On the bottom, it said on a label: Class 3390 Model 1204 I suppose this was employed in a cash register? Anyone familiar with this machine? I think it measured somewhere around 25?35?5 cm (W?D?H). Later that afternoon, I found an Eizo monitor, model 9052S-T. Since I recently got a very useful 9060S multisync, I thought this could be another good deal. I can't find any information about it, though. How low would it sync? Also, my 9060S suffers from noticable bleeding/ghosting around contrasting edges. Any cure? -- En ligne avec Thor 2.6. When all else fails, read the instructions.

25 years, 7 months

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OT! RE: Nuke Richmond (Long)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: THETechnoid(a)home.com <THETechnoid(a)home.com> >This is on an HPFS formatted drive. A power failure can screw the >filesystem just like windows if you run fat. I gave up on fat about the >time I got OS/2.... Yes, FAT bad, anything else better. It's relevent too as FAT filesystem is only 18-19 years old and represents the greatest flaw of DOS, WIN3.1 and WIN9x. While off topic, it's interesting and OS designand evolution is something the list members might delve deeper into. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Nuke Redmond!

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Sellam Ismail <foo(a)siconic.com> >I buy nothing but Dell now, a good system that is as tightly integrated >with Windows as any machine out there. I have one at home, and one at the >office. Yet I have to reboot each on average once a week. FYI: my partners employer went all dell and they are far happier with them compared to DEC, compaq and Duratel. They dont seem to experience reboot problems save for when they run one rather badly behaved ACCESS based application. The Access hack (must have been written by script kiddies) even has a sloppy user interface. Don't blame the Cow for soggy cereal unless the Cow makes it. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Nuke Richmond

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

>> Then again I say this as W95 was a royal PITA the first time compared to >> VMS and other DEC OSs I was familiar with. Then again creating a BIOS >> for CP/M was pretty intimidating at one time too. >> >> Allison > >It all depends on the person. I can install things such as Linux, OpenBSD, >Solaris, OpenVMS, MacOS and RT-11 almost with my eyes closed, and the hardest >part is waiting for the software to move from CD to HD (yes, even with RT-11). >With any Windows variant I seem to have to dedicate a minimum of one day to >cursing and fighting the garbage! Well first time took three days. Now I can do it in about an hour. 28 client system that were horridly configured was the practice. By horrid things like only one 500mb partition on a 1gb disk and other offenses to the mind. All I had to do was learn the OS and install scripting. My favorite kind of fun is taking a wreck like a 486/33 with 8mb ram and 120mb of disk and making a printserver and still have 60mb unused. I can do NT4/server faster though as it wants fewer reboots. Once I learn Linux installs I can do that about as fast for a generic install with most packages. It's the little "you gotta know" things that make a difference. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Nuke Richmond

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: THETechnoid(a)home.com <THETechnoid(a)home.com> >In Windows - ANY version, the applications are like different flavors of >bullion and spices. They dissolve in the operating system and become >virtually indistiguishable from the solute. If you make the mistake of >mixing two incompatible flavors, you can't get only one flavor out of the This is indeed a secondary thing I dislike about MS. Though it's not quite soup if the app your running is not MS. MS apps mingle with the OS and make mush though I've pulled them out completely with some work. The problem is more MS than the OS as things like IE, OE and Office do not uninstall completely. They leave bits about as reminders they were there. If your willing to hit the registry and files system they can be removed bit it's a PITA. Its the price you pay for ActiveX, COM, VBS and all the other MS hacks. >> OS/2 V3 Close to NT maybe better on multitasking, security is ??? > >OS/2 is significantly better than NT in the multitasking department and >has no serious bugs I am aware of. OS/2 shippes (desktop versions) with >essentially no SPECIAL security like NT does. It does have 'hooks' for >this security and you can buy IBM or third-party software to latch into >them and provide strong security. Warp Server versions are good examples. The lack of security in networked systems to me is a weakness. Even as a home user now that I have DSL I have to thinkk about security so not having it is not a flaw but a weakness. Then again it's also V3 and rather old. >I love these kinds of customers. They hire me, tell me what they want to >do, but not HOW TO DO IT. Being who I am, I'd put Warp Clients on the While I'm not told to use W95 or NT at work I ahve 40 users and 4 servers and jumping to FreeBSD is a nontrivial task if the server is running middleware like COLDfusion on Paradox databases. >impartiality (or apathy) makes them practical. They put Windows on the >desktop as clients to thier Warp servers to lower training requirements. >Since these machines aren't being strained much, they serve thier purpose, >since the servers work fine, everybody is happy. Exactly. In my case the servers are NT4 and NT3.51 and down time is nearly unheard of. They are lightly loaded so it's fine. >> WinNT4 I use it, best of the MS lot I've worked with. > >Much better than any other MS os except maybe DOS for stability. It has >warts as does anything else, but it's biggest wart is the SOUP thing which >is death. Its a problem but if you understand it it doesnt have to be. For example I test a lot of software that may be used. Rather than worry the uninstall process I image the disk (10gigs is under $100!!!), do my testing and go to the image to restore. The Unix approach is like VMS and I like it better but using an image accomplishes the same end as effectively. Copying apps from one system to another under Winders is painful but it's COPYRIGHTED and not supposed to be so that's not an issue at work. >> Linux It's getting too loaded with MSisms > >Linux is kinda messy and poorly documented. I like it, but that is just >me. Yes but if you were building a work system that makes for a lot of training and documentation as part of the work done. As an engineer I've learned if it's not documented it cant be reproduced and didn't exist. >NetBSD is best I think. Then again, I don't spend my days trying to keep >brilliant kids from trashing my systems so someone may have a more >informed opinion. FreeBSD do do security regression testing so I find them the most secure or at least I can identify the holes or other flaws. >I just got into VMS recently so don't really have an opinion - YET :-0 Its an interesting OS. If your unix inculturated or used to say IBMisms (non PC) then it may bug you. It is robust, uses the hardware well and is reasonable enough. I like the grey wall (docs, lots of DOCS). Part of it's robustness and all come from being married to a specific processor (VAX) and 20+ years of maturity. Then again if MS didn't morph the OS every 5 years to something vastly different with a ton of legacy addons it could be better. Instead we have Win3.1, W9x, WNT3/4,win2000 codebases and each trying to eliminate the apps for the previous. Oh, to me the OS is like razors. Give the handle away and sell the blades. Problem is people keep changing the handle to keep other guys from making blades for it. The latter is the Microsoft way. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Nuke Richmond

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Iggy Drougge <optimus(a)canit.se> >>is taking a wreck like a 486/33 with 8mb ram and 120mb of disk and >>making a printserver and still have 60mb unused. > >60 megs? You waste sixty megs on a printserver? My, that's resourceful. Not. Sure I could have dug up a smaller hard disk but that one was already excess. When you consider the 120mb IDE disk, 486box and all were picked up as trash for the dumper, yes! It's has no floppy, headless{no tube}, no mouse or keyboard either. Cost was time to install from a loose CDrom drive. It serves a HP color inkjet and a HP4L to 6 W95 users and doing that with anything else is either more complicated or didnt' buy me a thing. Runs 24/7 with only reboots for power loss (about 5-7 times a year). Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Router Configuration

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Sellam Ismail <foo(a)siconic.com> >If you need a good proxy server on as low end a system you can (win95 as a >proxy server? oi!) try the Linux Router Project. Can run on a lowly 386 An aside if W95 is only doing proxy server it's fine, just done ask it to be printserver and a local workstation as well. First it was a box I had handy, not that it was a best choice. Runs much better on NT4/WS minimal running on a 486dx/66 in 20mb ram. The LRP is already running on a SIIG3000 (brick sized 386/16 W/5mb ram) and it's a good enough combo. It only has one eithernic due to internal slot limits, that one will later be a modem NAT/router from DSL down times. Like many others I've gone DSL and the DSL modem needs NAT, firewall, antivirus and proxy services in it so I have to look around too. My preference is FreeBSD or VMS running on a box with two EitherNICs so that my backbone is completely isolated from the DSL. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Nuke Richmond (Long)

by mmcfadden＠cmh.edu

Since we are all in asbestos shorts/panties mode I might as well join in. My neighbors think I know all about new computers because I have a garage full of old computers. My most recent inquiries are similar to the following. Neighbor Q: I was trying to print a word document that I hadn't saved when my computer locked up. My Q: What else was running? Neighbor A: All this stuff that runs when my computer starts up. My Q: Any other programs? Neighbor A: Well I was also dialed into AOL and running Napster. Neighbor Q: Don't you have these same problems. My A: I don't listen to music when I program and I don't use Napster. My Q: When is the last time you purged any files? Neighbor A: Does it do it automatically? My Q: When is the last time you did a backup? Neighbor A: Does it do it automatically? My Q: Did you save the document? Neighbor A: Does it do it automatically? I just spent 2 hours typing and now I'm ready to print. When I'm finished editing I'll save the final copy. My A: Leave it alone and I'll look at it when I get a chance. I visit. My Q: Why do you have both Norton and Macafe antivirus running? Neighbor A: I need virus protection they start automatically. MY Q: Why do you have AOL, AIM, and MSN running? Neighbor A: Some came installed and I use AOL for access to internet, they start automatically. My Q: Why run Napster while you're typing? Neighbor A: I always listen to music when I type, the computer is closer than the stereo so I run Napster System has 25 GB disk, 256 MB memory and 56% of resources available, no keyboard response. My suggestion: Don't do more than 1 thing at a time and you will not have any problems. Neighbor Q: I though computers allowed you to do lots of things at the same time? Neighbor Q: I really want to play games, download music and listen to it at the same time MY Q: Do you want to burn CD's? Neighbor A: Yes MY Q: Do you want to scan pictures and print them? Neighbor A: Yes My A: Get a CRAY computer Neighbor Q: How much are they? I feel much better now that I've vented. People want a black box that works without them thinking, and that's what they have been promised by Dell, Gateway and Compaq. Mike mmcfadden(a)cmh.edu

25 years, 7 months

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Apple external SCSI drives

by mark_k＠iname.com

Hi, [Firstly, for some reason I never received classiccmp digest #482. Could someone be kind enough to email it to me, preferably compressed?] On Wed, 10 Jan 2001 12:11:35 -0500 > For Pr1me minis, hard drives have to be able to support a sector size > of 2080 bytes, instead of or in addition to the usual 512-byte sector > support. With Apple, their *first* hard drive (a non-SCSI unit) had > things called disk tags that required drives that support a sector > size of 576 bytes (from memory, probably wrong). > > I'm not defending the practice; while I assumed your remark was > rhetorical, not everyone in the audience may be as well-informed > as we are. Sector size is sometimes/usually controllable by the user. By issuing a format unit command with the appropriate parameters, some drives can be formatted to (almost) any sector size. The 86MB Fujitsu hard disk that I bought in 1991 came with a leaflet describing how to do this. The OEM manual for any given drive should say whether the sector size can be altered. This could be useful if you want to use a "normal" SCSI drive with some exotic computer, or vice versa. If you are not using a lame OS that has trouble with non-512-byte sectors, "free" disk space may be obtainable by reformatting with larger sector size such as 1K or 2K. Since there are fewer sector headers etc. with larger sector sizes, the disk capacity increases. On some drives, the manufacturer name that the drive reports can be changed by issuing the correct SCSI command(s). I have no idea what proportion of drives support this; it is probably not common (I know Fujitsu 230MB MO drives do). On a related subject, does anyone have OEM manuals for any old hard disks, optical drives or any other SCSI devices? These are usually impossible to obtain from the manufacturer, and can be very useful. In particular, I'd like to get hold of OEM/SCSI manuals for: Chinon CDS-435 CD-ROM Fujitsu M2511 MO drive Fujitsu M2612ESA hard disk Fujitsu M3191F1/F2 scanner Ricoh RH5500 50MB removable cartridge drive Various Ricoh MO drives Seagate ST1480N hard disk -- Mark

25 years, 7 months

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OT: Router Configuration

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Mike Ford <mikeford(a)socal.rr.com> >My suggestion would be to use any 486 class hardware that you have handy >that will easily support TWO network adapters. People tell me a decent 386 >will even work, but with a 486/66 you have a LOT more flexibility with >memory etc. I've tried a 386DX/40 (with cache) and it was as good as a 486/33. The key thing is availability of memory and peripherals for it. Also there are the problems like some 386 boards getting more than 8-32mb of ram on the board is hard, expensive or impossible plus limited bios support for large (over 500mb) disks. >A nice canned commercial package, but still free for home use; www.gnatbox.com I have to check this out. ;) Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Nuke Richmond

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Mike Ford <mikeford(a)socal.rr.com> >When you have a LOT of unix experience they do seem about as easy to >install, but I am a fairly normal, knowledgable person and it took me That is the culture and documentation thing. Plus, unix {and clones} is an OS not an application unto itself. So that means you can use it for anything BUT, anything you may want to do is not always documented in a direct stepwise fashon. >had to do, but the mechanics of doing it are much more familiar. Exiting vi >the first time I edited /etc/resolv.rc only took about an hour. Well, having had to live with TECO, Vteco, ED {cpm version} and command line editing inside VAX EDT {teco macros} a command line oriented visual editor like VI is far less foreign. Be glad you didn't have to use unix ED! >at what price? (both in $ and failing to learn how to exit vi). When I >recommend NetBSD, part of the recommendation is before you get started, >join a support list (and I give a URL). Do the words HELP! mean anything? It's a good idea. >With windows the problem is the opposite, the damn thing wants to run >EXACTLY the way it wants to with few if any user options and very much at >your own risk. Well yes and no. To make a point yes it's more limiting, it was designed for a different use (more like specific use). However if you learn how to manipulate the Registry, some of the .INI files and other burried bits it's possible to tune or even eliminate a lot. The first step is learning how to install it with the opions you want and not the MS or CPU vendor selected set. For example getting the W95 OSR2/USB OEM version to NOT install AOL, ATT and Compuserve or the correct set of tools. It does make a difference. If your using W98 (or 98second or ME) using 98lite to eliminate some of the junk in the install process can considerably lighten and speed the end result. But this is going far beyond the usual level that even most W9x power users go. In comparison, Unix users have gone to the level beyond the Windows power user. Most are doing system integration (making a NAT box lets say) and are even doing significant applications development. You can do that with W9x but you need the SDKs and corrosponding knowledge. In the end it's not an OS thing beyond having the fundemental hooks in it. There is nothing to say you couldn't have used: WinNT OS/2 BeOS Minix OpenDOS or whatever to do the same project. Each would impose different knowledge requirements and development loads. By the same token each one would have differing paybacks in cpu, memory and storage needed to accomplish the task to some given level of performance. Anywho, where W95 is actually weak in my mind is isolation between applications and the OS. The result is a misbehaving app or driver can kill the system. Security is poor as well. The serious offense and W98 (ME edition is best here) is TASK management and scheduling. In all it's a low security and weak multitasking OS. So if it doesn't perform with 10 tasks open then one should not be surprized. Based on the above comment I find this to be my opinion of multitasking perfomance of OSs I've used or seriously looked at for PC hardware. Poor Win3.11 little to no protection for the OS or tasks W9x Limited OS and task protection and some security. OS/2 V3 Close to NT maybe better on multitasking, security is ??? WinNT4 I use it, best of the MS lot I've worked with. Linux It's getting too loaded with MSisms Unix clones {FreeBSD, OpenBSD} good multitasking, excellent security BEST ..............unknown I'm Biased as I don't think any of them are at the OpenVMS level of reliability, performance or documentation. The latter, documentation both in it's completeness and conciseness alone seperates it from the PC OS listed though linux likely has by shear bulk come close. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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OT! RE: Nuke Richmond (Long)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Sellam Ismail <foo(a)siconic.com> > >And for the most part that's what Windows delivers, albeit sometimes very >poorly. I can be playing Casino99, listening to Napster tunes, surfing >the web, checking my e-mail, have a telnet session open, and have Outlook >Express open, all concurrently. But then when I close down Casino99 while >Napster is playing a tune, Napster crashes. Then it causes other shit to >go haywire sometimes, resulting in the need to reboot. This is on a Dell >Dimension 4100. A nice box. Makes little difference what box it is one or mor eof the apps are broken and killing others. Composted (yes cow dung is composted) as they are would they run better under VMS or on a Sun, likely not just the core dumps might be more interesting. Then if you also looked even on a "Real OS, (tm)" youd find they still buffer overflow, mem leak and leave garbage in memory or load broken drivers. Just a few of the far to common offencesI've seen. >If I would trade convenience for stability and run Linux instead, I could >do all these things, only faster, better, and cheaper (in terms of less >medication for my high blood pressure caused by every Windows reboot). Maybe, once you debug and recompile the apps. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Router Configuration

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: Marvin <marvin(a)rain.org> Subject: OT: Router Configuration >SparcStation 2 with Solaris 7, of course some Pentium (and below) computers, >etc. available but I am clueless on what type of software could be used to >set this up. I would also like to put up a web server that most likely would >only be accessable (for the time being) from inside. My knowledge in the >area of setting something like this up is pretty small. Any suggestions? >Thanks. Low end pentium running whatever you knew well. I've tried W95(custom install, minimal system) with AnalogX Proxy server on the DSL with good results with a 486dx/66 and 16mb ram. NT4/WS running analogX Proxy was better on the 486dx/66 FYI. There is LRP (Linux router project) and I'm sure FreeBSD and the right stuff works well for this too. Most anything works but what software is mostly a case of what you know (can buy) and and configure. NAT/Router/Bridge/proxy/firewall things do not that seem all that cpu intensive. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Nuke Richmond

by itq＠hetnet.nl

Folks, Can you expect to say to a housewife : This is a Linux cd. Install it on this computer and I expect you to have looked at these Internet sites by tomorrow morning? It would have to be some housewife!! Linux needs far to much work still to make it fit for the masses. Wim

25 years, 7 months

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Nuke Redmond!

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On January 11, Richard Erlacher wrote: > Sir, you damage your credibility with statements like some you've made here. > While it's true that the Microsoft products may not be the "best" thing for > thos of us who are inclined to fuss and fiddle with our computers, they're > WAY better for those who can't, won't, or shouldn't. I know this response wasn't directed at me, but I have to take [at least a little] exception to this. Microsoft products are teaching (have teached?) the world that computers (ALL computers) need to be restarted several times each day, and that this is normal and acceptable behavior. That computers break frequently, and cause the loss of work. That computers (MODERN computers) have a bitmapped click-happy interface, and anything that doesn't is "quaint, useless old technology". Do you really think these are good things for computer neophytes to be taught? There are hoards of Microsoft weenies running around who actually *believe* these things...and with Microsoft teaching them to shun other technologies, they'll probably *never* understand the true nature of "computers". Here's an exaple of the brain-damage that Microsoft is promoting. A while back, I had a job in which I was designing some custom microcoded floating-point processors using MSI and LSI chips and PAL/TTL glue. My grandmother (may she rest in peace) was talking to her [windows-running] neighbor, bragging about me in typical grandmother style...when asked what I do for a living, she answered proudly and accurately, "my grandson is very smart...he builds computers!" The neighbor, obviously lacking the social skills to understand that he was being insulting, said "aww, that's nothing...building them is the easy part. It's LOADING them that's hard! Maybe he'll get to that level in a few years. Keeping all those programs from messing up Windows is the really hard part of 'computers'." I was utterly flabbergasted by this, so much that I was rendered speechless. -Dave McGuire

25 years, 7 months

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OT! RE: Nuke Richmond (Long)

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

From: healyzh(a)aracnet.com <healyzh(a)aracnet.com>> >Is there a point to this rambling? Yes, there is! Applications! >Specifically usable applications are what make or break a OS. If an OS >doesn't run the Apps a person wants, they're unlikely to use that OS. There is the key point. Also most people that like WP didnt' like the later versions MS like look and feel despite the features. Allison

25 years, 7 months

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Quit

by jpl15＠panix.com

>Q Really quit Pine? >Y Expunge the 75 deleted messages from "INBOX"? >Y You sure? Possibly important threads exist. >Y! Are you aware that 73 of them are from the Thread: "Nuke Redmond"?? >YYYYYYYYY Last chance to read them all again before deletion: [Y/N]: > y Deleted all 75 messages and kept 238. >Pine finished. To recover the 73 deleted "Nuke Redmond" messages, enter the following comm {{{{|||~{{|~|~|~eee~|~|~||qqq|~{|{~{~{{{|| NO CARRIER John

25 years, 7 months

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