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

by cctalk＠snarc.net

The pre-production Apple 1 auctioned via CharityBuzz and displayed at VCF West closed just now for $1,210,000. Blows away the old record of $900-something. Amazing!!!

9 years, 11 months

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RQDX3 disk image for Gesswein's MFM emulator

by chd＠chdickman.com

I am looking for an RQDX3 compatible disk image for Dave Gesswein's MFM disk emulator. I don't have a functional disk to image and the ZRQCH0 won't cooperate.

9 years, 11 months

3
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PATA HBA and drive wanted

by t.gardner＠computer.org

Hi: I'm looking for a PATA host bus adapter card (either ISA or PCI) and a PATA drive preferably UDMA/33 but no later than UDMA/100. This would probably come from a system built in the mid-1990s before the PATA interface got embedded into the chip set. It might even be from an older system that was upgraded by replacing an ST412 HBA and drive with and EIDE HBA and drive. Will rent, buy or borrow as appropriate Contact me off line Tom Gardner (650) 941-5324 t.gardner at computer.org

9 years, 11 months

1
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PDP-8 diagnostic tests

by scott.l.baker＠gmail.com

Hi, I have written a PDP-8 VHDL model and I have it running in an FPGA https://github.com/scottlbaker/PDP8-SOC At this time it has passed a basic DEC diagnostic instruction test but I found some interesting things when getting that instruction test to pass. For example: The following segment of code implies that IAC instruction affects the Link bit 1797 /GROUP 1 OPERATE TEST 33 1798 02626 7300 CLA CLL /AC=0000 LINK=0 1799 02627 1053 TAD K2525 /AC=2525 1800 02630 7261 CLA CMA CML IAC /TEST COMBINATION 1801 02631 7420 SNL 1802 02632 7430 SZL 1803 02633 7402 HLT /CLA CMA CML IAC FAILED, AC SHOULD 1804 /BE 0000, LINK SHOULD BE ZERO but the PDP-8 Handbook ; DEC copyright 1966; page 14 says nothing about the Link bit being affected by the IAC instruction. The simh PDP-8 simulator also shows that L is affected by IAC. If I change this test line from 1800 02630 7261 CLA CMA CML IAC /TEST COMBINATION << link=0 to: 1800 02630 7261 CLA CMA CML /TEST COMBINATION << link=1 Can anyone point me to: 1) DEC documentation which more fully describes all the instruction set (in more detail than the PDP-8 handbook) 2) Some more instruction tests in assembler source code format. I have found lots of binary files but I would prefer assembler source code format. I am using a pal compatible cross assembler. Thanks and Regards, Scott

9 years, 11 months

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"Unix Implementation" paper in HTML

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

So, I'm hoping someone can help me with a minor mystery. At same point, I ran across, and saved, this: http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/BSTJ_July-August_1978.htm which is a very nice HTML recreation of the famous first BSTJ Unix issue. Notice that it contains links to online HTMl versions of two of the papers; the basic Unix paper (the one that was famously in CACM), and "UNIX Implementation" by Ken Thompson. Alas, I appear not to have downloaded and saved the 'Unix Implementation' paper; I have searched high and low on my machines, and no sign of it. Double alas, because it doesn't seem to be online anywhere either! I have found a PDF version online, and also the NROFF source, but not this HTML version. I just don't recall exactly where I found this, so I can look in the Wayback Machine for the HTML. I _thought_ it might have been from Ken or DMR's Web page, so I found both of them in the Wayback Machine, but in sampling them both over the years, neither one seems to have had this. (And the Wayback machine doesn't have a search function that I know of, to search for it directly.) So does this page ring any bells for anyone, or alternatively, has anyone saved the HTML version "Unix Implementation"? (Yes, I know it's no biggie, with the PDF version available, I'm just being anal.... :-) Noel

9 years, 11 months

7
10
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Turbo Pascal v3.01a for CP/M...

by geneb＠deltasoft.com

I'm looking for a copy of Turbo Pascal 3.01a for CP/M - specifically a disk image. I know there's tons of copies in individual-files-in-a-zip form, but I'd like to get an original disk image. (I've got a problem with TINST on one of my machines and I want to ensure it's not bit rot on the behalf of TINST or the data files it uses.) Disk image format isn't that important as I can use various tools to extract the files. Zipping up the files from an original disk would work as well. Thanks! g. -- Proud owner of F-15C 80-0007 http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind. http://www.diy-cockpits.org/coll - Go Collimated or Go Home. Some people collect things for a hobby. Geeks collect hobbies. ScarletDME - The red hot Data Management Environment A Multi-Value database for the masses, not the classes. http://scarlet.deltasoft.com - Get it _today_!

9 years, 11 months

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PDP-8/i Panel Pics

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys I sent out a photo of the new PDP-8/i with a real one for comparison to everybody who might be interested. If you did not get the email and would like one please let me know Rod (Panelman) Smallwood

9 years, 11 months

1
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Differences between the PDP-11/15 and PDP-11/20

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Paul Popelka > I was wondering how much delay the KT-11B introduces. That's a _very_ interesting question; AFAIK, the documentation doesn't say. If there's a cache miss, of course, there's one memory cycle delay to load it. If the cache hits, though, there's still added gate delays going through the KT11 - perhaps 20-30 or so (to make a complete guess) - at ~10nsec each, that would be an extra 200 nsec per memory cycle. Not insignificant... > There is still the actual implementation of the KA11 changes that can > be reverse engineered if someone is so inclined. Well, that might not be trivial - if the boards have ECOs, it may be hard to tell them from the KT11 changes. The sheet which gives the wiring changes for the KA11 backplane _is_ still there - although there are indications on it that the actual machine differs from the prints! Wheee! :-( Noel

9 years, 12 months

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BEL constant in MAINDEC-8E-D0AB-PB

by pontus＠Update.UU.SE

Hi I've been running and looking at the PDP-8/E INSTRUCTION TEST 1. And it is supposed to write the BEL (07) character after each round of passed tests. However the code loads and outputs the constant "0207", which is 07 with the eigth bit set. I think the 8/E serial interface outputs all eight bits in this case? I suppose a real ASR-33 would ignore the eight bit? Why does the code not load 07? Thank you, Pontus.

9 years, 12 months

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DEC Indicator Panels page

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> Oooh, thanks ever so much for turning that up!!! OK, I have added them to the page - I lost a little resolution rotating them to be level, but there's still more than enough to recogize them, and mostly read them. > So that mystery panel seems to be a general panel, more associated with > the CPU than anything else; one line does seem to be the reader, but > one quadrant is the KT15 memory management, one is the KA15 priority > interrupt system, and there's general CPU/system stuff throughout With that, I think we have most of the PDP-15 panels (although the VT15 image is still pretty crummy). That leaves only these two: http://www.simulogics.com/nostalgia/DEC/15_05.jpg although that looks like early marketing material, so perhaps those panels neve made it into production machines? I wonder if one of them is a BD15 (whatever that might be) - or if that's the name for the CPU panel (above)? Noel

9 years, 12 months

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Differences between the PDP-11/15 and PDP-11/20

by paulp1＠gmail.com

> From: Noel C. > Was the Computer History Wiki thing of any use? Yes. It answered a little of what I was wondering about. It mentioned that there is a cache of page table entries. I was wondering how much delay the KT-11B introduces. > > Does anyone know if schematics for it were included in the auction? > > If the schematics are available, are there plans to get onto bitsavers? > The answers apparently are yes, and yes - although there are two parts to the prints (the KT11-B itself, and the KA11 changes), and it seems that unfortunately there's (at least) one page missing from the 'KA11 changes' part. Oh well. There is still the actual implementation of the KA11 changes that can be reverse engineered if someone is so inclined. I'm just glad the winner of the auction is willing to make available the information they did get.

9 years, 12 months

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X server for original PC (8088/8086)

by seefriek＠gmail.com

From: tony duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> > On Fri, Aug 19, 2016 at 5:56 PM, Steven M Jones <classiccmp at crash.com> wrote: >> >> Before anyone gets too excited about the blistering speed of the 60 >> MHz TMS34010, ... However, since it has a >> graphics-optimized instruction set, it was still able to do some >> things noticeably faster than the 16 MHz 80186 would have. Price/performance for the tms34010 was terrible; it was somewhat faster at graphics (bit-oriented) ops than an 80186 (or other contemporary processor), but it was several times more expensive. TI tried to sell around that by claiming it was a complete general purpose processor in addition to graphics processor so you could build a whole system using the tms34010 as the brains. Unfortunately, if you actually did that, you found that it could manage kbd/mouse/net *or* do graphics, but not really both. It was also integer-only, and had a slow, 16-bit memory interface that killed performance unless you used expensive VRAMs (this was before VGA made VRAM cheap). And TIGA never really took off. Bonus: the development tools were pretty awful. One of the weirder C compilers I've used. Intel came up with the i82786 around the same time that was cheaper, and it looked like you could cook up a cheap 80186+82786 X Term setup that would be competitive. However, I never saw a product like that, just a couple of PC/AT plugin cards (Belltech BLIT). > Somewhere I have a thing badged 'Princeton Ultra-X'...It uses an 80188 for I/O > (including 10Mbps ethernet). The Xserver is in EPROMs and appears to run on > the TMS34010 graphics processor. Yup...I worked for the company that designed those. Good times (really...I learned a *lot* about a lot of things), but glad I was an ops guy and not an engineer or developer. There were probably 20 other shops making X Terminals at the same time, 'cause that was the future. I recall having stacks to play with because the market for them evaporated far sooner than marketing predicted. KJ

9 years, 12 months

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cctalk Digest, Vol 26, Issue 20

by seefriek＠gmail.com

From: Zane Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> > > I tend to think that X11 over serial would be nothing short of nightmarish. > I ran X over an ISDN 64K link with 19.2Kbps backup for years in the late 80s/early 90s, and it was pleasantly usable enough to be my daily remote work access. Admittedly, Framemaker was a bit of a pig over it, and we weren't web browsing pages filled with 500KB of JS and images. KJ

9 years, 12 months

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What is the KH11-A? (was Re: Differences between the PDP-11/15 and PDP-11/20)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On Sun, Aug 21, 2016 at 1:53 PM, Noel Chiappa <jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu> wrote: > http://gunkies.org/wiki/KA11_CPU Interesting stuff on the KT11, but tangentally, I've been going over my pile of parts (that I've described a few times over the years) from an 11/20 I pulled from the dumpster at work 30 years ago. I finally got around to photographing the module handles and inventorying many of the boards and I've learned a thing or two and have generated a question or two. First, the manufacture date for most of the parts is in 1972. The front panel says "11/20", so that all jibes. I appear to have a CPU (more below), an M7800 DL-11 console interface (not the older multi-board KL-11), a lot of MM-11 4K core sets, and a happy surprise (again, more below) and not much else from that extraction (no bootstrap card, for example, or peripheral adapters). Second, many/most of the CPU modules are -YA variants, and the "PDP-11 Field Guide" mentions that they would be part of a KH11-A. About the only description I can find for what that is, is a single mention (in PDP-11_PeripheralsHbk_1973.pdf) of the "large-system capability option" related to the DT03-F Unibus switch requirements. Anyone know what this is? I'm reasonably certain it doesn't matter for my needs, but I'm curious. Third, the happy surprise is a full set of boards for a KE11-A. I have been sniffing around for a KE11-B (single-board version), and now, I don't need to (as long as this one works or can be repaired). This excellent for me since my goal all along has been to fire up enough hardware for Warren Toomey's reconstruction of ~1972 UNIX (v1 kernal plus v2 utilities). Yes, I know I can run that on SIMH (I have), even wrapped up in a Docker (I will), but I've wanted to run it on the real hardware for 11 years and I'm one step closer. I have a RK11-D that works, and an RK11-C that will likely require much attention (never tried to use it), so the only thing I'm really missing (besides enough time to repair/debug all of this) is something to emulate an RF11 for the swap disk. I'm now doubly sad that I lost my Diablo 30/RK03 in a flood 25 years ago, but I'll be functional with an RK05 or two. Fourth - I don't think I got the H720 power supplies with this (or the fans) - that was what I think was removed prior to this unit hitting the dumpster. I may have the G772 power cards (and then again, I may not), but those wouldn't be hard to reproduce. I am entirely satisfied with modernish switching supplies, but I see the H720 puts out about 15A of +5V and -15V, plus -22V for the core and +8V for the front panel bulbs. The bulb voltage is probably no big deal to come up with, but -22V is a bit of an oddball. I'm also willing to forego 100% core in favor of MOS memory, including any modern repros that come out in the next year or two. To start, finding even one H720 to run the CPU box (I have 2 more boxes for the rest of the memory) would be enough to get going. So... for now, as I continue to pull the parts together, my real question is, what is a KH11-A? Thanks for any enlightenment. -ethan

9 years, 12 months

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What is the KH11-A? (was Re: Differences between the PDP-11/15 and PDP-11/20)

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> I recall reading _somewhere_ about some early PDP-11 memory management > thing used on early PDP-11 Unix that supported the KE11 ... by having a > small window that allowed user code access to the KE11. ... > Does this ring any bells for anyone? Never mind - found it, it was in "Odd Comments and Strange Doings in Unix": https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/odd.html The memory management thing in question was the KS11; I looked, but could not find anything about it. Does anyone know of anything? Noel

9 years, 12 months

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What is the KH11-A? (was Re: Differences between the PDP-11/15 and PDP-11/20)

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Ethan Dicks > Second, many/most of the CPU modules are -YA variants, and the "PDP-11 > Field Guide" mentions that they would be part of a KH11-A. About the > only description I can find for what that is, is a single mention .. > of the "large-system capability option" related to the DT03-F Unibus > switch requirements. Anyone know what this is? I've been told that it's a revision to the CPU timings to reduce NPR latency, although I have no details; I had previously looked online, and was not able to locate anything about it. > a full set of boards for a KE11-A. I have been sniffing around for a > KE11-B (single-board version), and now, I don't need to (as long as > this one works or can be repaired). Doesn't it need a custom backplane too? Do you have that? > my goal all along has been to fire up enough hardware for Warren > Toomey's reconstruction of ~1972 UNIX Maybe someone here can scratch a mental itch for me; I recall reading _somewhere_ about some early PDP-11 memory management thing used on early PDP-11 Unix that supported the KE11 (which is a memory-mapped device) by having a small window that allowed user code access to the KE11. IIRC, it was a DEC thing, not something home-rolled at Bell. Does this ring any bells for anyone? Noel

9 years, 12 months

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Is there an authoritative copy of the PDP 11 Field Guide?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Ethan Dicks > Any updates on this? I have a much-annotated copy of the list, and had reached out to Megan about sending it to her, but I fell into a hole, and never got to it. Maybe I should check out all my changes, and get moving on that. One question: I was using the list to sort through all the stuff that showed up on eBait, so I wound up adding a bunch of VAX M-series boards, on the basis that if the listing didn't include a photo (so that one could see that it was a so-called 'super hex' board (i.e. deeper than usual), it was impossible to tell them from PDP-11 M-series boards. (And IIRC the /730 boards are the same length as PDP-11 boards?) Was that a good call, or should I have left them out? (I left out all PDP-8 boards, since they are already in another list.) Noel

9 years, 12 months

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Differences between the PDP-11/15 and PDP-11/20

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Paul Popelka > Thanks for posting that the KT-11B documentation is available. Sure. Was the Computer History Wiki thing of any use? > Does anyone know if schematics for it were included in the auction? > ... > If the schematics are available, are there plans to get onto bitsavers? The answers apparently are yes, and yes - although there are two parts to the prints (the KT11-B itself, and the KA11 changes), and it seems that unfortunately there's (at least) one page missing from the 'KA11 changes' part. Noel

9 years, 12 months

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Is there an authoritative copy of the PDP 11 Field Guide?

by trenchdweller＠att.net

blockquote, div.yahoo_quoted { margin-left: 0 !important; border-left:1px #715FFA solid !important; padding-left:1ex !important; background-color:white !important; } I've been using Megan Gentry's copy at http://world.std.com/~mbg/ but that seems to have disappeared recently.There seem to be several other copies available with different update dates. Which copy of this do other people use?Thanks,Paul

9 years, 12 months

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FTGH: miscellaneous old stuff

by mouse＠Rodents-Montreal.ORG

I've got a bunch of old stuff I want to get rid of. Much of it is squarely on-topic here; most of the rest is tangentially on-topic, and I hope the remainder can be forgiven. All this stuff is in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and is yours if you come pick it up. In theory, I could ship, but I suck at actually getting stuff shipped. Except as noted, these are functionality unknown. I don't _think_ any of these have been robbed for parts, but it's possible (least unlikely for the vacuum-tube devices). Details may be incorrect; at least two human-layer copies were involved in everything here and I'm tired, so miscopying is not at all out of the question. In no particular order: Two TK50 tape drives. These are just the drives, no controller cards or enclosures. One mechanical (not even electromech) typewriter. Aside from generic interest in such things, the major reason people here might care about it is that it has the C= logo prominently visible on it. (Not just a sticker; if this is an aftermarket addon, it is a very well-done one.) One arc-welding helmet. It is made of fibreglass and is somewhat cracked, but still entirely functional. Four SparQ 1.0 tapes. Contents unknown. A power supply. It is marked as a Sun 300-1047-05; it is Zytec-branded, marked as a ZYRISE 925W unit, Zytec part number 22903110. It is marked as being limited to 150A on +5V, 15A each on -5.2V and +12V, and 10A on -12V; the +12V is also marked "25A PK FOR 20 SEC". But it is marked as max total power 925W, and needing 60CFM forced air cooling. The connector is nothing I recognize; it's the kind of custom thing I'd expect for a PS that can push 150A.... One HP 211A, a SQUARE WAVE GENERATOR, serial #2707. This is test gear >from the vacuum tube era. Two HP 202A LOW FREQUENCY FUNCTION GENERATORs. Based on the controls, these are capable of sine, triangle, and square waves from, IIRC, about .01Hz to something like 1200Hz. These also date from the vacuum tube era. An "ALLEN B DUMONT LABORATORIES" oscilliscope, model 304 H, serial 5484. An HP 400D vacuum-tube voltmeter. A Beckman/Berkeley model 5230 "UNIVERSAL EPUT? AND TIMER", whatever that is. The most visually notable feature is that it has four display columns with ten digit positions in each one, presumably with a lamp behind each position. Various magnetic media. Figuring most prominently are QIC tapes, TK50s, and 5?" floppies. Some of the "TK50"s might actually be some other tape in the same form factor, but if I had to guess I would guess not. Most/all of the tapes are in plastic cases; the floppies have paper jackets and/or cardboard boxes around them. Contents unknown, though at least some have labels. For the labeled media, I hope to get the labels transcribed sometime over the next week or so. If/when I do that I'll post the results. /~\ The ASCII Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents-montreal.org / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B

9 years, 12 months

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3
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Differences between the PDP-11/15 and PDP-11/20

by paulp1＠gmail.com

Thanks for posting that the KT-11B documentation is available. Does anyone know if schematics for it were included in the auction? The flip chip board complement for it is in the posted document but nothing else. If the schematics are available, are there plans to get onto bitsavers? Paul Sent from my iPad

9 years, 12 months

1
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X server for original PC (8088/8086)

by cmhanson＠eschatologist.net

Back in the day, did anyone produce an X11 server for DOS-based 8086/8088 systems, say with support for Hercules or CGA graphics? Or was that strictly a 286-or-better thing, given the overall constraints of the 8086 architecture? (There were plenty of mouse-and-window systems for the PC/XT back then, I expect black & white X11 over a serial link would not be *that* bad?) -- Chris

9 years, 12 months

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Differences between the PDP-11/15 and PDP-11/20

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> I'm not sure how the KT11-B works, but my _suspicion_ ... is that it's > not part of the CPU, but a UNIBUS device So, I wuz wrong. The Option Description (part User Manual, with a little bit of Technical Manual thrown in) is now online: http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp11/1120/KT11-B_OD_Apr71.pdf Having looked through it, the KT11-B is a far more impressive beast than I thought: there are -11/20 KA11 CPU processor mods to provide User and Exec mode (i.e. real hardware time-sharing) - there is in fact another cable between the CPU and KT11-B, it did not show up in the pictures, I guess - and the memory mapping is paging, with page tables kept in core. (Just like a junior KI10...) Using the OD, I have prepared a page in the Computer History for it: http://gunkies.org/wiki/KT11-B_Paging_Option which gives (I modestly claim :-) a clear and concise overview of how the whole thing works. (The details are all there in the DEC document, but scattered throughout, in dribs and drabs.) The DEC thing will be a much easier-to-grok read if you've read this first, I reckon. The OD does contains some minor details that aren't in the Wiki page (e.g. you apparently can't modify the CPU's priority in User mode), so if you're really interested in the thing, read the OD too. A couple of observations: First, it does not contain anything like SSR1 in the standard PDP-11 memory management, which records which registers have changed, and by how much, on an instruction which gets a fault. It does record a couple of internal KA11 major state bits: http://gunkies.org/wiki/KA11_CPU which do allow one, after examinging the instruction which faulted (the address of which is provided in a KT11-B register), to work that out (unlike the -11/40, in which some instructions cannot be restarted because the CPU just doesn't keep enough data around). Still, the code to handle faults is going to involve parsing the instruction (like m40.s in V6 UNIX, if anyone cares), to make use of those recorded CPU state bits. Second, for some reason a TRAP instruction in user mode traps to user mode, not kernel! This would be a massive PITA for Unix, which uses the TRAP instruction, for details I won't bore you all with (unless someone cares). Noel

9 years, 12 months

1
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Microvax II hardware not recognized

by dj.taylor4＠comcast.net

I've brought up a MicroVax II and installed VMS 5.5-2 on a SCSI2SD disk and it is fun to work with. (I also installed openvms 7.2 without much drama) The problem I am having is that is has a TK50 tape drive and controller, but it never has shown up in the device list. I even swapped in a different controller. The DHV11 did show up initially but has now disappeared from the device list. Did I do this by removing boards and putting them back in? A RQDX2 board was put back in at a secondary CSR address and that shows up (it is connected to an RX50 which shows up in the device list). Does Autogen recognize new hardware? Doug

9 years, 12 months

8
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6800 CDAT memory diag help

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

Thanks Michael!?I did read through those but I'm still getting used to operating the 6800 and am still a bit confused. ?If I want to confine the program to a certain address range, say $0000 to $1111, is the most significant byte of $0000, 0? ?As well as least? ?And then 1 and 1 for the higher address? ?And I'm assuming I set that using the M (addr) command? Thanks!!! Sent from my Samsung device -------- Original message -------- From: Michael Holley <swtpc6800 at comcast.net> Date: 2016-08-20 9:12 PM (GMT-08:00) To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: RE: 6800 CDAT memory diag help Here is the instructions for memory tests, CDAT is on page 3. http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/swtbug/MemoryDiagnostic.pdf The CDAT memory diagnostic can be used to help locate memory problems in a SWTPC 6800 computer system that MEMCON and ROBIT may miss. The program itself resides entirely within the 128 byte SWTBUG? RAM. The program must be loaded in two parts to avoid interfering with the systems push down stack. The contiguous section of memory to be tested is set by loading the most significant byte of the lower memory address into A002, the least significant byte into A003, the most significant byte of the upper memory address in A004 and its least significant byte in A005. The low address must be less than or equal to the upper address. The test starts from the low address and writes a 00 into all memory up to the high address. An FF is then written into the first address and all other locations are checked to be sure they contain 00. If all are OK the FF is replaced with a 00 and an FF is written in the next memory location. This pattern continues until all memory is checked or an error is found. If the computer returns to SWTBUG?, then no errors were found. ?????? NAM??? CDAT-2? ???? *MEM DIAGNOSTIC (JOHN CHRISTENSEN'S) ?????? *MODIFIED FOR MIKBUG AND SWTBUG OPERATION E0E3?????????? CONTRL? EQU??? $E0E3 A002???????????????????????????? ORG??? $A002? A002?????????? LOTEMP? RMB??? 2???????? STARTING ADDRESS? A004?????????? HITEMP? RMB??? 2???????? ENDING ADDRESS Michael Holley -----Original Message----- From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Brad H Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2016 12:49 PM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: 6800 CDAT memory diag help ??? Hi there, I'm still having some glitches with my 6800 system and would like to do a proper RAM diag.? From reading, it seems like CDAT is the most exhaustive.. but I cannot get it to run.? I can load and then run it.. but it immediately fails at address 8000.? Since I understand this is used for I/O I am wondering how I would adjust CDAT so it ignores that space and does everything else?? Any suggestions would be most appreciated.? I think you can alter the addresses with most and least significant bytes but don't understand quite how. Brad Sent from my Samsung device

9 years, 12 months

1
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6800 CDAT memory diag help

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

Hi there, I'm still having some glitches with my 6800 system and would like to do a proper RAM diag. ?From reading, it seems like CDAT is the most exhaustive.. but I cannot get it to run. ?I can load and then run it.. but it immediately fails at address 8000. ?Since I understand this is used for I/O I am wondering how I would adjust CDAT so it ignores that space and does everything else? ?Any suggestions would be most appreciated. ?I think you can alter the addresses with most and least significant bytes but don't understand quite how. Brad Sent from my Samsung device

9 years, 12 months

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Have Calcomp 565 plotter - looking for pen mechanism

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

I have same problem here we have the large size calcomp early plotter that actually has an ibm tag on it! it came to us with a hp 3000 series 3 with a parallel interface board for the 3000... I used to enjoy playing with it. back in the days when museum was in a suite next to computer exchange inc in phx things were really openly displayed and I suspect years ago some early collector stole the pun box having little pens and the solenoid head thing. I used to have a spare solenoid only but do not know where it ended up... the little fitted wood box was cool though! In a message dated 8/19/2016 9:51:37 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, pete at petelancashire.com writes: Unless you are willing to make you own, they are very, very rare. Two have shown up on Ebay in the past 3 maybe 4 years that I'm aware of. I was lucky I got one that due to its description I was either the only bidder or close to it. The one that sold recently went for a lot more, $500 or more. My suggestion decide what your willing to pay and keep your eyes open, If you in an area that would have been where the plotters would have been used, start asking around. Someones grandfather took one home or something like that and it will be in a garage sale for $1. So put some ad on Craigslist with pretty much nothing other then some good photos, the owner will not have a clue what your talking about. Start asking around, etc etc etc. good luck -pete On Fri, Aug 19, 2016 at 7:13 PM, Jack Rubin <j at ckrubin.us> wrote: > I returned from the recent VCF-West with one more item off my ever-shorter > "must have" list - I am the new owner of a very nice Calcomp 565 drum > plotter. Even better, I was able to find the perfect shipping container for > it at Weird Stuff! > > Photos here - http://tinyurl.com/calcomp565 . > > The only problem, unfortunately a major one, is that it is completely > lacking the pen mechanism. This is actually a multi-part assembly that > threads into the carriage on the front rails of the plotter and lifts the > pen up and down in response to z-axis commands from the controller. It is a > solenoid that uses the pen as the core and was thus supplied in many > configurations depending on the kind of pen used. I'd be happy with any > bits of any configuration if you might have an idea where to find such > items. > > BTW, I'm well aware (and deeply envious!) of the fine work done by Tom > Mikulic who recreated the entire mechanism from scratch - > http://tomislavmikulic.com/proj-565.html . > > Thanks for any help you can provide, > Jack > > >

9 years, 12 months

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Have Calcomp 565 plotter - looking for pen mechanism

by j＠ckrubin.us

I returned from the recent VCF-West with one more item off my ever-shorter "must have" list - I am the new owner of a very nice Calcomp 565 drum plotter. Even better, I was able to find the perfect shipping container for it at Weird Stuff! Photos here - http://tinyurl.com/calcomp565 . The only problem, unfortunately a major one, is that it is completely lacking the pen mechanism. This is actually a multi-part assembly that threads into the carriage on the front rails of the plotter and lifts the pen up and down in response to z-axis commands from the controller. It is a solenoid that uses the pen as the core and was thus supplied in many configurations depending on the kind of pen used. I'd be happy with any bits of any configuration if you might have an idea where to find such items. BTW, I'm well aware (and deeply envious!) of the fine work done by Tom Mikulic who recreated the entire mechanism from scratch - http://tomislavmikulic.com/proj-565.html . Thanks for any help you can provide, Jack

9 years, 12 months

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DEC Indicator Panels page

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Mike Ross >> It seems to be always near the CPU ... there are only a few >> possibilities: BA15 (paper tape controller), DW15A (bus converter), >> KE15 (extended arithmetic), MM15-A and MK15-A (memory). It might also >> be a BD15 ... since that was listed as having an insert for it. It turns out the KE15 registers are available on the main console, with a setting on the rotary 'select registers to display' switch. > I'm not aware of any memory indicator panels associated with > any pdp-15 configuration I was just being complete/thorough... :-) > Bingo! > BA15 & TC15 (and many other pics) Oooh, thanks ever so much for turning that up!!! So that mystery panel seems to be a general panel, more associated with the but one quadrant is the KT15 memory management, one is the KA15 priority interrupt system, and there's general CPU/system stuff throughout (memory parity, power fail, instruction register). I'm not sure what it's formal name might be (I don't think it can be BA15, given all the CPU stuff that's in it). Very odd that the User's Handbook doesn't cover it when it covers the KT15, the KA15, etc, etc; the print set might be informative (now that I can see what's on that panel). Noel

9 years, 12 months

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Microvax II hardware not recognized

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Paul Koning > A lot of Unibus/Qbus devices have "floating CSRs" which means they > don't have fixed address assignments. Instead, the correct address is > based on a set of rules, which puts devices in an ordered list and > assigns addresses in sequence. .. If you get the address wrong, the > system will see the device as the wrong type What about if you have a series of devices (A, B, C, D, E), assigned addresses in the correct order, and then you remove C from the system; will the software stop probing for more devices when it gets to C (ie. D and E, although still plugged in, will not be seen)? Noel

9 years, 12 months

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DEC Indicator Panels page

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Al Kossow > we have one > ... > i'll request access to it to shoot the panel Excellent! That's currently the worst image of all of the ones on the page, so a good one will really count. Thanks! (Although I am a bit curious at to why the Museum's Web site doesn't offer the option of larger images? If so, that would have been all I needed - the existing image is square on from the front, so if larger, that would have been perfect.) I anyone has a TC15, the existing picture of that one is also pretty bad, (hint, hint :-). > there's a cool picture of a PDP-15 here: > http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/gallery/ral/orig/r12588.jpg Yeah, I think that image (definitely that machine) was discussed in a prior message in this thread. That image shows the RF15 on the left, the VT15 on the right, and that one in the middle is the unidentified mystery one we have a bunch of images of. Noel

9 years, 12 months

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Front Panel update - Catalog

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys I'd like to catalog my growing list of panels etc. and the data I have on them. Some of course I may never make and others I will. A number of you are connected to museums and would have come across this issue. Perhaps you could advise. Rod (Panelman) Smallwood

9 years, 12 months

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SWTPC GT-6144

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

Just posting this here in case it reaches different eyes than the forums. ?I had an epiphany yesterday and realized someone on ebay had a GT-6144 as part of an overpriced auction for a Digital Group system. ?They actually agreed to separate it and I will have it in my hands within a couple of weeks. ?I was wondering how rare these are? ?SWTPC stuff seems to be pretty scarce on ebay generally. I'm wondering if any of you have ever used one of these, esp. in conjunction with a SWTPC system? ?Wondering how much grief I have to get into to hook one up and get it working. ?I know they require their own power supply.. I'm thinking I can use the spare P-97 I have or a spare 6800 PS. ?But I'm leery of modding my original CT1024 heavily. ?Might be time to build up my third one. Getting pretty close to having this 6800 all kitted out.. just need the PR40 and AC30 and we are there I think. :) Sent from my Samsung device

9 years, 12 months

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SWTPC 6800

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

I've a question. ?I've now got my CT1024 working properly with my 6800.. is there an easy way to load txt loader files into it while it is still connected to the CT? ?Or do I have to load something in via PC first and then swap cables? Sent from my Samsung device -------- Original message -------- From: Pontus Pihlgren <pontus at Update.UU.SE> Date: 2016-08-11 11:27 PM (GMT-08:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: SWTPC 6800 Very interresting read, thank you Ethan. /P On Tue, Aug 09, 2016 at 10:55:54AM -0400, Ethan Dicks wrote: > On Fri, Aug 5, 2016 at 2:58 PM, Chris Elmquist <chrise at pobox.com> wrote: > > On Friday (08/05/2016 at 06:50PM +0000), tony duell wrote: > >> > >> Am I the only person who rarely, if ever, has RS232 problems? > > > > No.? ;-) > > No, but I used to manufacture sync serial hardware and have deep > knowledge of how async serial in general, and RS-232/EIA works in > particular, and still have all the test gear from 30 years ago.? I get > why people find serial comms frustrating and do not take my > experiences as "typical". > > I pretty much don't hook up anything new that isn't on a "traffic > light".? I have several - DE9-DE9 for modern stuff, and multiple > DB25-DB25 for old and new stuff.? *Mostly*, if you plug everything in > and you get at least TxD and RxD to light up, you at least have > figured out where the primary gozintas and gozoutas go and can stop > adding null-modem adapters.? Past that, you have to know if either end > requires hardware handshaking and either plumb the right signals > (vintage setup documentation is invaluable for this) or bridge the > appropriate lines (documentation again) so that one or both sides > _thinks_ there's hardware handshaking.? If you defeat it, you might > run into overrun conditions, but at least you should be able to > establish basic comms and pass a few characters.? To that end, you do > have to match speeds on both sides, and the usual best place to start > is 8-N-1 for data bits, parity, and stop bits.? I've run into multiple > situations where 7-E-1 or 7-N-1 is the right answer.? With enough > experience, the "baud barf" from mismatched speeds takes on an often > recognizable pattern that can be used to quickly figure out what the > speed ought to be, but lacking instrumentation like a serial analyzer > or an oscilloscope, one can try "all the speeds" until cleartext comes > through.? I also try the speeds in "most popular order", 9600, 1200, > 300, 2400, 4800, 19200, 600... in the hopes of saving time.? Every > once in a while, you run into some oddball stuff, like 9600/150, etc., > split speeds from the days of timesharing setups where the CPU wanted > to get data to the users as fast as possible but wanted to minimize > input interrupts and more closely match the input flow to (slow) human > typing speeds.? This wasn't common with microcomputers, but I've seen > it with PDP-11 and PDP-8 setups and isn't something to look for first, > but it does exist and highlights how strange things can get if all > you've ever done is plug a high speed modem into a PC for dial-up > internet. > > One important tip about USB serial dongles (and some laptops DE9 > serial ports) - I've had problems with some of them and 1970s gear > because the EIA/RS-232C (1969) level specification is +5V to +15V for > space (0) and -15V to -5V for mark (1) (with +/-3V min sensitivity) > and a lot of old gear is expecting +/-12V and not happy with > lower-voltage lines and thin wires that don't help signal losses.? One > case in particular was a 1977-era Bridgeport Series II CNC mill with a > LSI-11/03 CPU and a lot of custom Bridgeport boards.? Everyone else > who tried to talk to the Bridgeport before me had zero success.? I > checked all the things on the list and finally pulled out the laptop > and set up a Dell desktop which worked the first time.? When > connecting to pre-1982 gear, I'd definitely try it from a desktop if a > laptop is just not working.? Checking the lines with an oscilloscope > could also help verify this what's giving the grief (I did not have > one handy when we were trying to get that CNC mill working). > > In terms of serial analyzers, there are several types out there, and > the ones that I've had the most time on are the HP 4951/4952 series. > There are different models with different features, but if you are > going to shop for one, ensure it comes with the "keyboard lid" because > that's where the line drivers and serial connectors are.? The large > connector on the back goes to a "pod" that happens to snap on the > front of the unit when the keyboard is flipped up.? It's much easier > to find the base units than loose pods, IME.? Check which pod.? I've > seen many with DB25s, which is probably what you want, but I've also > seen DC-37 connectors, and non-EIA (RS-232) level shifters.? The good > news is that among these different models, the pods should be > interchangable, so if you end up picking up 2 units (not unusual) with > different base capabilities (some have DC-150 cassette tape, some have > 3.5" floppy, plus some minor differences) and only one has a DB25 EIA > pod, you can at least migrate it between the units.? I find the serial > analyzers invaluable for snooping on the details of what's happening > on the wire, but any analyzers I have seen have a handy "autoconfig" > button to sniff traffic and configure the line for monitoring, so it's > often a quick click to get all the parameters if you don't already > know them.? Where they really shine is looking for troubles at the > application layer, debugging Kermit or XMODEM traffic that isn't > working for any obvious reason.? The advanced stuff you can do is to > write programs for some analyzers to simulate a host or a client for > software debugging or to reproduce a problem for deeper analysis - > this is far beyond the usual "why can't I get this terminal working > with this vintage machine" but when you need it, you need it. > > In summary, I start by scoping the line with an LED traffic light > (swapping lines or making custom cables where necessary), then move on > the speed and parity settings (and changing the easier-to-change end), > then look deeper when the easy stuff doesn't work.? Easy problems take > minutes or less.? Hard problems can take a long time to resolve. > > -ethan

9 years, 12 months

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Beaten by VT100 PSU.

by mattislind＠gmail.com

Normally I manage to repair the SMPSU that I dive into. But this time I must admit that I am defeated. It is a VT100 PSU (H7831). I tested it with dummy loads and it worked fine. But when used in the terminal with the Basic Video board and monitor board it gives a jumpy picture. Both horizontally and vertically. First I thought that it was related to the monitor board but soon recognised that the +12 V had a most peculiar waveform on it: http://i.imgur.com/d0z0NQS.jpg http://i.imgur.com/gQqmSN5.jpg http://i.imgur.com/P0dt5y1.jpg This waveform is only present on the +12V, not the +5V, not the -12V or -23V. So I connected just the Basic video board and a variable dummy load instead of the monitor board. I used a Variac on the input. It turned out that there were no problems now with the +12V. Until I pulled out and reinserted the keyboard. Then it was there. If I lowered the input voltage it was impossible to provoke this problem and also if I increased the +12V load. Further testing also gave that putting a few amps extra load on the +5V also made it resistant to this type of failure mode. The amplitude and frequency of this waveform is shifting by +12V loading and AC input voltage. The VT100 SMPSU is a primary switcher regulating the +5V. Then the +12V is handled by a secondary switcher which is synchronised with the primary switcher. The other voltages have linear regulators. It looks to me that something in the regulation circuitry is not behaving, thus oscillating. But what component has failed (or is out of spec)? I checked transistors. I checked the waveform from the 555 chip and ramp voltage input to the 555. But I cannot figure out what the problem is. I checked the 560uF output capacitor but my LCR meter said it was in good shape. Around 700 uF and very low ESR. I was thinking of breaking up the feedback loop and see what happens, using an external +12V as an input to the regulator rather than the generated +12V. But hasn't got there yet. Anyone seen this type of behaviour? Tony, do you have some piece of good advice? /Mattis

9 years, 12 months

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DEC Indicator Panels page

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Mattis Lind >> To start with, there's this image: >> >> http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/gdmr/Historical/Photos/1980.08-PDP1540.jpg >> >> That's clearly an FP15 on the lower left, and I have identified the >> center one as a TC15, but what are the other two? OK, I have identified the one on the far right as a VT15. (Crappy image from DEC documentation added to the page - can someone provide a better one? I've looked online but the ones I've found are either at a steep angle, or have a corner missing, or something.) (And I'm still hoping for an RK08 or RF11 image! ;-) The other one seems to be the same as this one: > http://www.hal1.se/Rolfs_web/Rolfs_images/1975_1/pages/7503%2003.htm > > The panel to the left is RF15 and the right is TC15. But what is the > middle one? which is in quite a few PDP-15 images, but still un-identified. It seems to be always near the CPU, so perhaps it's a panel for the memory management, or something like that? I've looked through some of the manuals on BitSavers, and I've yet to turn it up, although the block diagram on page 2-3 of the PDP-15 Installation Manual shows an 'indicator [panel]' (no further info on it, alas) in that location, which is probably it. There aren't that many devices in that system, so there are only a few possibilities: BA15 (paper tape controller), DW15A (bus converter), KE15 (extended arithmetic), MM15-A and MK15-A (memory). It might also be a BD15, whatever that might be (seems to include a D/A, from what little I can find on it online), since that was listed as having an insert for it. Noel

9 years, 12 months

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punchcard reader wanted to rent, BC Canada area

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

$$ if you have an IBM 2501 or similar looking punchcard reader and would like to rent it from sept 1-9th. I would expect you'd deliver it and set up so it reads cards, and as a bonus can print cards that "say something on them", understanding that was not how they were originally used. This is for a SCI FI channel show. Contact me vintagecomputer.net/contact.cfm if you can do this. $$ worth the trouble. If it does not work, that's possibly ok, but they want a working reader that at least reads in a stack of cards through the mechanism. Bill

10 years

2
3
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ITT Cannon SK-19-21C

by mattislind＠gmail.com

I am looking for a ITT Cannon SK-19-21C connector to be able to connect a Calcomp 565 (IBM1627) or a Houston DP-1. Does anyone know of a cheaper source than PEI Genesis? They want 116 euros + 25 euros shipping + VAT. /Mattis

10 years

3
4
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PDP11GUI 1.48

by j_hoppe＠t-online.de

Hi, a new release of PDP11GUI is online, with lots of enhancements: - new disk driver RK611 for RK06/RK07 - Support for Robotron A6402 PDP-11/23 clone - Support for PDP-11/44 with console firmware v3.40C - after loading of new machine description file, show "Restart?" message. Default is now a PDP-11 with all peripherals build in, not the "minimal" machine. - added 2K chip size and "single word" in memory tester. - If windows font magification > 100 %, memory table form disturbed. - Long running console access now with progress bar and "Abort" button - serial format (8N1, 7E1 etc) selectable. - Migration to GitHub, sources available. Download from https://github.com/j-hoppe/PDP11GUI/releases Enjoy! Joerg

10 years

3
3
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Looking for SCP board

by rich.cini＠verizon.net

All -- Might be a long shot, but I'm looking for a Seattle Computer SCP-300 8086 Support Board for a project I'm working on. I have the memory and CPU, and a Cromemco floppy card but I'm looking for this to complete the set. If anyone has one that works that they're willing to sell, please let me know. Thanks. Rich Sent from my iPhone

10 years

1
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R: HP to acquire SGI

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Fred Cisin > Could you get that translated into English, please? Indeed. Think 'PARRY meets Dissociated Press'. Noel

10 years

8
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DEC Indicator Panels page

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Mike Ross > Here's the FP15 you were looking for... Oooh, thanks; I had that image, wasn't exactly sure what it was. I hadn't done much with the PDP-15 panels, in part because it wasn't my focus (the -11) panels, in part because it seemed like there were a ton of them, in the -15 pictures I had. I have now put a few cycles into them, and have identified the RF11 and TC11 as well, and added them to the page (crummy images from scanned manuals, though). There are still some other -15 panels showing up in pictures, which I have no idea about. To start with, there's this image: http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/gdmr/Historical/Photos/1980.08-PDP1540.jpg That's clearly an FP15 on the lower left, and I have identified the center one as a TC15, but what are the other two? And here's one with two _more_ different panels: http://www.simulogics.com/nostalgia/DEC/15_01.jpg The one on the right does _not_ seem to be a TC15... And then there are: http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/gallery/ral/orig/r12600y.jpg http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/gallery/ral/orig/r12588.jpg but those seem to be the same as in the first one. Noel

10 years

2
1
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Huge Vintage Mac Sale in Denver

by tedahodges＠mac.com

Hi All, The lease is up at the end of the month, and all of my Macintosh stuff has to go! Hundreds of Macs from the 1980s, 1990s, and Early 2000s to choose from! Also have tons of Keyboards, Mice, Monitors, and Peripherals, Expansion Cards, Hard Drives, and everything else. All CPUs $10/each! All Monitors $10/each! All Keyboards and Mice $5/each! Hard Drives, CD Drives, Floppy Drives, Expansion Cards, ect. $5/each! I must liquidate this collection (which is probably one of the biggest in the country), or it goes to the recycler! Everything is sold AS IS WHERE IS, I will not ship any of this! CASH ONLY Contact me if you're interested in coming down! Sale will be from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM on Saturday 8/20, and from 12:00 PM until 6:00 PM on Sunday 8/21! You can see pictures of most of it on my Craigslist ad http://denver.craigslist.org/sys/5732303316.html Thanks for the interest! -Ted Sent from my iPhone

10 years

2
1
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can anyone identify this terminal keyboard and pcb?

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

Neat. ?Any thoughts as to model year? ?Are these ASCII? Sent from my Samsung device -------- Original message -------- From: Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> Date: 2016-08-16 5:42 PM (GMT-08:00) To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: Re: can anyone identify this terminal keyboard and pcb? On 8/15/16 9:52 AM, Brad H wrote: > I've tried nailing down what terminal it came from looking at hundreds of pictures but no dice. More research today. I'm pretty sure it was a Telex message preparation terminal. They did have a 202 datacomm service. Still no clue who might have made it. He did have more than one keyboard, so I did buy one. After staring at the code in the eproms there is a setup mode (probably shift/A) which looks like it lets you set a clock. Another clue is the cent symbol above the 6

10 years

2
1
0 0

Canon VP-1000

by lproven＠gmail.com

This recently came up on the FB vintage computing group. http://www.thepcmuseum.net/details.php?RECORD_KEY%28museum%29=id&id%28museu… Allegedly it's a successor to the Canon Cat and preserved some elements of it, but Google can find little about it. Others are looking too... http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?47761-Anybody-have-info-about-the… -- Liam Proven ? Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven Cell/Mobiles: +44 7939-087884 (UK) ? +420 702 829 053 (?R)

10 years

1
0
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Front Panel Update - PDP-8/i

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys PDP-8/i panels are now shipping. If you are quick with your order we can ship to-morrow Rod (Panelman) Smallwood

10 years

3
4
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DEC PDP bits and Programma 101 available

by vier321＠hotmail.com

Dear reader, For a serious enthusiast or museum I have available: * Olivetti Programma 101 calculator * DEC GT40 grapic display terminal * DEC VT05, first DEC terminal * DEC PC04 paper tape reader/punch for PDP-8 * DEC TU60 DECassette dual tape drive with two tapes mounted * DEC VR14 vector monitor; can be used directly with the VT11 below * VT11 display processor backplane + boards + LK40 keyboard + original 375 light pen. Everything to turn any UNIBUS machine into a "GT40" Moonlander capable system. * 21" BA11 box used to mount an 11/40 or 11/45 for example * Lots of smaller DEC parts like filler panels; please ask Located in the Netherlands; local pickup much preferred. Would consider a trade for pre-1975 DEC bits or a simple cash deal. Thanks, Erik

10 years

4
3
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can anyone identify this terminal keyboard and pcb?

by aek＠bitsavers.org

http://www.ebay.com/itm/172299367709 (kb) http://www.ebay.com/itm/172290512799 (pcb) I think it may be a Courier. I bought the pcb, which has "C8080" on the sn label so I'm guessing it's Courier. Quite unusual with build-in modem. Will be dumping the eproms soon, hopefully some text strings in there. The seller ripped the terminals apart years ago for the 8080s and didn't rember the make/model, only that the case was two-tone. He got a pretty penny for the crappy probably dead Keytronic foil/foam keyboard ($80) Weird thing is it looks like a Lear-Sieger pcb design, with the Molex power connectors and the color/font of the markings on the silk-screen.

10 years

2
4
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5150/5151 Video Card??

by wheagy＠gmail.com

Does anyone have any info on this video card? I wasn't able to find much. https://imgur.com/a/TjIzL The card came in a 5150, but whatever monitor they were using did not come with the 5150. I'd like to see if it's possible to use this card with a 5151. Thanks, Win

10 years

9
25
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still looking for that stuff?

by cctalk-bounces＠classiccmp.org

Hey friend, Are you still lookinf for that stuff? I think I've just seen someething you may like, look <http://effect.strtgk.com/aegrtgm> Very truly yours, cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org

10 years

14
16
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VAX file format conversion

by dj.taylor4＠comcast.net

I have a MicroVax 4000 that I am trying to update the license PAKs on, the last time I had valid PAKs on this machine was in 2002 (Hobbyist Licenses). I registered and have received the new Hobbyist License PAKs. I connected a laptop and transferred the text file using C-Kermit on the VAX and hyperterminal on the laptop. When I go to execute the file, I get an error: $(a)hobbyist-use-only-va.txt %RMS-W-RTB 512 bye record to large for user buffer It appears that when the file was transferred it showed up on the vax with fixed length records of 512 bytes, not variable length. Can I convert the file on the VAX? Is there a setting for C-Kermit that I need to change? Is Hyperterminal screwing things up? Doug

10 years

6
8
0 0

Large Mac liquidation in Denver, 8/21

by barythrin＠gmail.com

Interestingly? The trading post area on the forum is login required. -------- Original message --------From: John Ames <commodorejohn at gmail.com> Date: 8/15/16 9:29 PM (GMT-06:00) To: cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Large Mac liquidation in Denver, 8/21 https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?/topic/28206-everything-must-go-denver-… Not mine, but I wanted to spread the word about this since it's one of those "take it or it goes to the dump" affairs...hopefully somebody can make it out there for this.

10 years

3
2
0 0

VAX file format conversion

by cctalk＠beyondthepale.ie

> > If you are importing files into VMS, you need to become familiar with the > EXCHANGE command. > (found via Google) > http://h20565.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c04623262 > It can do stream and carriage control conversions on various RMS fixed formats. > I was a bit puzzled by this. I thought the main use of EXCHANGE was to to copy files to or from disk or tape volumes which are not in a native VMS format but are in a format native to some other DEC operating system. (The url doesn't work for me - I get: "Hewlett Packard Enterprise Support Center The service or information you requested is not available at this time. Please try again later.") > > When we first brought up DECnet-DOS network file transfer, we had > some "discussions" with the VMS RMS > engineers that didn't like us doing auto conversions. This was their > "compromise". > I had a look at the online help for EXCHANGE on VMS and it looks like you are probably referring to using EXCHANGE with the /NETWORK qualifier. I can see how something like that would be needed in the case of DECnet-DOS because there is no direct mapping that can be assumed between the types of files you get on DOS and the types of files you get on VMS which will work for every purpose in every case. My guess is that you felt you could come with an automatic conversion process that worked almost all of the time but the VMS people weren't happy with that? EXCHANGE /NETWORK does look like a bit of a kludge which could have been made more user friendly but I find it hard to see how something like it could be avoided altogether given the differences between the two filesystems. I have managed to get though a couple of decades of use of VMS without ever having to resort to EXCHANGE /NETWORK, getting by instead using the abilities of various file transfer utilites, archiving products and networking packages to allow the user to specify either "text" or "binary" files and in rare cases, making adjustments with SET FILE /ATTRIBUTES or even more rarely, CONVERT. > > Oh and if you are doing serial transfers, yes, keeping the baud rate > low is a good strategy. > I had to spend some time working on the DECnet-DOS DDCMP driver > developing better character overrun recovery strategies. Yes, you may > be coming in via a terminal line, but that line can hiccup from time to time. > Additionally, I would suggest using any terminal line other than the console line (OPA0:) to do any sort of serial file transfers, even for cutting and pasting groups of lines into a terminal emulator running in a window on some other system. It is very easy to overrun the console and to end up getting it hung requiring a reboot or even a poweroff to clear it. I suspect there is no flow control at all on the console terminal line and error recover is poorer than on ordinary terminal lines. If you can only log in on the console due to lack of licensing, I would suggest manually typing in just the VAX-VMS hobbyist license (and maybe a license for a networking product) on the console, then logging on using another terminal or over the network to transfer the other licenses. If you can't avoid cutting and pasting into a terminal emulator attached to the console line, do no more than groups of one or two lines at a time. > Dave. > > On 8/12/2016 01:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > >Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2016 16:08:39 -0400 > >From: Douglas Taylor <dj.taylor4 at comcast.net> > >To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Subject: VAX file format conversion > >Message-ID: <d54db4aa-efc8-d332-971f-57250d5fd0f5 at comcast.net> > >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed > > > >I have a MicroVax 4000 that I am trying to update the license PAKs on, > >the last time I had valid PAKs on this machine was in 2002 (Hobbyist > >Licenses). > > > >I registered and have received the new Hobbyist License PAKs. > > > >I connected a laptop and transferred the text file using C-Kermit on the > >VAX and hyperterminal on the laptop. > > > >When I go to execute the file, I get an error: > > > >$(a)hobbyist-use-only-va.txt > > > >%RMS-W-RTB 512 bye record to large for user buffer > > > >It appears that when the file was transferred it showed up on the vax > >with fixed length records of 512 bytes, not variable length. > > > >Can I convert the file on the VAX? > > Possibly but what you need to do depends on how exactly the file contents ended up and what the file attributes are. My guess would be something like: $ SET FILE /ATTRIBUTES=(RFM=STM,RAT=CR) filename This assumes that the file contents are text with a CR and LF at the end of each line and it can be made legible to VMS by changing the file attributes from fixed length 512 byte records with no carriage control to stream format records with CR-LF record terminations and carriage return carriage control. (This command only works on versions of VMS later than about 6.something. If you have a very old version of VAX/VMS like V5.5-2, it is not available) > > > >Is there a setting for C-Kermit that I need to change? > > At a guess, you probably need something like "SET FILE TYPE TEXT" but I would have thought text would have been the default. Maybe you have a CKERMIT.INI or other kermit initialisation file containing: "SET FILE TYPE BINARY" ? > > > >Is Hyperterminal screwing things up? > > Hyperterminal and/or any of the so-called VT100 emulators bundled with Windows are of little use to connect to anything that makes more than the simplest use of a VT100 terminal or later generations of same. It will work ok for entering line mode commands but if you start up an editor or another fullscreen application of moderate complexity, it will fail spectacularly and leave you with a garbled mess on the screen. The problem is that Hyperterminal et al do not implement scrolling regions correctly or maybe at all. If Hyperterminal purports to provide kermit file transfer, there may be an option somewhere to specify text rather than binary file transfer or it may be that this is not required at that end. > >Doug > Regards, Peter Coghlan.

10 years

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Large Mac liquidation in Denver, 8/21

by commodorejohn＠gmail.com

https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?/topic/28206-everything-must-go-denver-… Not mine, but I wanted to spread the word about this since it's one of those "take it or it goes to the dump" affairs...hopefully somebody can make it out there for this.

10 years

1
0
0 0

VAX file format conversion

by tony.nicholson＠computer.org

[Apologies in advance for this reply not appearing in the thread for this subject - I read the digest form of cctalk] > Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2016 16:08:39 -0400 > From: Douglas Taylor <dj.taylor4 at comcast.net> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: VAX file format conversion > Message-ID: <d54db4aa-efc8-d332-971f-57250d5fd0f5 at comcast.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed > > I have a MicroVax 4000 that I am trying to update the license PAKs on, > the last time I had valid PAKs on this machine was in 2002 (Hobbyist > Licenses). > > I registered and have received the new Hobbyist License PAKs. > > I connected a laptop and transferred the text file using C-Kermit on the > VAX and hyperterminal on the laptop. > > When I go to execute the file, I get an error: > > $(a)hobbyist-use-only-va.txt > > %RMS-W-RTB 512 bye record to large for user buffer > > It appears that when the file was transferred it showed up on the vax > with fixed length records of 512 bytes, not variable length. > > Can I convert the file on the VAX? > > Is there a setting for C-Kermit that I need to change? > > Is Hyperterminal screwing things up? > > Doug When this happens to me, I make use of one of the quirks of the TECO text editor on VMS which writes out text files (variable-length, carriage return carriage control). VAX $ directory /full hobbyist*.txt Directory D_0:[SYSTEM] HOBBYIST-USE-ONLY-VA.TXT;1 File ID: (4986,7,0) Size: 156/156 Owner: [SYSTEM] Created: 16-AUG-2016 09:48:01.12 Revised: 16-AUG-2016 09:48:01.24 (1) Expires: <None specified> Backup: <No backup recorded> File organization: Sequential File attributes: Allocation: 156, Extend: 0, Global buffer count: 0 No version limit Record format: Fixed length 512 byte records Record attributes: None RMS attributes: None Journaling enabled: None File protection: System:RWED, Owner:RWED, Group:RE, World:RE Access Cntrl List: None Total of 1 file, 156/156 blocks. VAX $ edit/teco hobbyist-use-only-va.txt *n[End of File]$l512kex$$ [ TECO prompts with an asterisk, the license file has a line with the text "[End of File]" at the end - so non-stop search "n" for it - $ is the <ESC> key or <CTRL-[>, advance to the next line (lowercase L "l"), then kill any remaining lines and <NUL> characters that pad the last block, and exit] VAX $ directory /full hobbyist*.txt; Directory D_0:[SYSTEM] HOBBYIST-USE-ONLY-VA.TXT;2 File ID: (5006,105,0) Size: 158/159 Owner: [SYSTEM] Created: 16-AUG-2016 09:52:43.98 Revised: 16-AUG-2016 09:52:57.44 (1) Expires: <None specified> Backup: <No backup recorded> File organization: Sequential File attributes: Allocation: 159, Extend: 0, Global buffer count: 0 No version limit Record format: Variable length, maximum 92 bytes Record attributes: Carriage return carriage control RMS attributes: None Journaling enabled: None File protection: System:RWED, Owner:RWED, Group:RE, World:RE Access Cntrl List: None Total of 1 file, 158/159 blocks. -- Tony Nicholson <tony.nicholson at computer.org>

10 years

1
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R: HP to acquire SGI

by cctalk＠beyondthepale.ie

> > Indeed. Think 'PARRY meets Dissociated Press'. > > Thank you. > That explained why the content looked ALMOST relevant. > > The word and phrase usage would seem likely to be able to fool a Salton > style vector space (cosine) relevance ranking system! > > > I still don't understand what his motivation is. If the nonsense were > accompanied by a URL, then it would be obvious. But, I guess that just > being disruptive was all that he was after. > It's possible that there was a URL in the HTML part of the mail. This list apparantly strips off any HTML parts in emails posted so we would not have seen it. Regards, Peter Coghlan.

10 years

1
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CDC 6600 Manuals

by billdegnan＠gmail.com

I was checking bitsavers for CDC 6600 manuals. There are a lot of other models but nothing for the 6600. There is not on the web technically about the 6600 other than excerpts of Gordon Bell's book (which I have been reading "Computer Structures Readings and Examples, chapter 1-2, 39 touches on the 6600) http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/cdc/ Here is a recent picture: http://vintagecomputer.net/pictures/2016/CHM_California/CDC_6600_system.jpg -- Bill Degnan

10 years

5
12
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Imaging and Emulating Rainbow

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I have a Rainbow 100+ with a working hard disk. I want to image the disk before it fails and then emulate the Rainbow. The disk is an RD51 and appears to have 4 partitions on it. For imaging my first thought is to put the disk into a MicroVAX II, net boot the MicroVAX into VMS and do a BACKUP/PHYSICAL, copying the image to a SIMH tap file. There shouldn't be any issues with this I assume? Second, I would like to find an emulator for the Rainbow. I did a quick search of the web and it seems like MESS/MAME may be the only option. I have never used MESS/MAME, has anyone ever emulated the Rainbow successfully with this software? Regards Rob

10 years

15
29
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Differences between a Xerox 6085 and 1186

by rob＠bitscience.ca

Hi Folks, Are there any hardware differences between a Xerox 6085 (Daybreak configured to run Viewpoint) and a Xerox 1186 (Daybreak configured to run Lisp), or can they run each other?s software? In particular, is there anything preventing a 6085 from running the stuff on bitsavers in /bits/Xerox/1186? Thanks, Rob Ferguson

10 years

3
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[OLDVTRS] Real time video software for SGI computers

by rich＠torpey.com

What's the application? Is this for a museum installation or for a current live production or post production? SGI's were used for high end work in the past, but have been replaced by more commodity hardware. -Rich Torpey -----Original Message----- From: Matt Patoray mspproductions at gmail.com [OLDVTRS] [mailto:OLDVTRS at yahoogroups.com] Sent: Monday, August 15, 2016 11:56 AM To: OLDVTRS at yahoogroups.com, 'vcf-midatlantic', cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: [OLDVTRS] Real time video software for SGI computers Hello all, I know that SGI machines are well know for high end 3D graphics that are not real time (Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump and the like. But was there ever any real time 2D/3D graphics programs for title generation to replace a stand alone Chyron unit for making opening/closing titles and lower 1/3 graphics? If so what system would be the best to use, I was thinking an O2 since it is small and has a low power consumption along with standard composite video output. Thanks, -- Matt Patoray Owner, MSP Productions KD8AMG __._,_.___ ------------------------------------------------------------ Posted by: Matt Patoray <mspproductions at gmail.com> ------------------------------------------------------------ Visit Your GroupNew Members1 ? Privacy ? Unsubscribe ? Terms of Use __,_._,___

10 years

2
1
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Real time video software for SGI computers

by mspproductions＠gmail.com

Hello all, I know that SGI machines are well know for high end 3D graphics that are not real time (Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump and the like. But was there ever any real time 2D/3D graphics programs for title generation to replace a stand alone Chyron unit for making opening/closing titles and lower 1/3 graphics? If so what system would be the best to use, I was thinking an O2 since it is small and has a low power consumption along with standard composite video output. Thanks, -- Matt Patoray Owner, MSP Productions KD8AMG

10 years

2
1
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HP to acquire SGI

by cliendo＠gmail.com

This is for all my SGI guys out there. http://insidehpc.com/2016/08/hewlett-packard-enterprise-to-acquire-sgi-to-e…

10 years

17
28
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CDC 603 tape drives an dtCyber

by aswood＠t-online.de

The tape drives are from a 3000 system. I do have an original cdc 170 series console and it would be a big deal and a nice project to get the console and the tape drives connected to dtcyber, since I lost almost any hope to get a real cy17x or 18x. I'll be back home tomorrow and have a detailed look at the peripheral controller. Fortunately I do have a lot of spares. -- Andreas > Am 12.08.2016 um 15:59 schrieb Paul Koning <paulkoning at comcast.net>: > > >> On Aug 11, 2016, at 10:27 PM, aswood at t-online.de wrote: >> >> I do have two original CDC 603 tape drives with controller, but to be honest it would be quite a challenge to hook them to a modern system. > > 603? My manuals don't go back that far. What kind of drive is that, and what does the controller connect to? > > If it's a 6000 series channel interface, then that's very easy to deal with. Channel to PCI-e interfaces have been built (out of FPGAs) and hooked up to DtCyber. If it's some other type of channel, the same sort of answer would apply; none of those old channels are all that complex. > > paul > >

10 years

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HP to acquire SGI

by cliendo＠gmail.com

I don't know about now, but SGI used to have a lot of Govt contracts and a lot of oil companies as customers. HP buying that also means they now have the ears of those customers when their solutions are old and they need to migrate to new equipment. I predict a lot of late model Irix equipment coming into the used market place.

10 years

4
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5150/5151 Video Card??

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

sad when you think of all the cards that have been scrapped over the last 20 years for early PC Ed# In a message dated 8/14/2016 10:55:54 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, cclist at sydex.com writes: On 08/14/2016 10:15 PM, Fred Cisin wrote: > why the unnecessary switches? (CGA does mode switching in software, > and enables simultaneous composite and RGB, hence the IBM vetsion > dorsn't need switches) I think that the switches mostly relate to output configurations; that is, they don't change the basic operation. For example, the "monochrome composite" is probably just luminance, blank and sync (VBS), whereas the "color composite" is the complete CVBS signal. I suspect that setting either of the two composite modes probably disables the output at the DE-9. It would be interesting to see what other combinations of switches produce something useful. Of course, this is all wild-hare speculation on my part, as I don't have anything like this card sitting in my hellbox. FWIW, Chuck

10 years

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Front Panel - Update. - PDP=8/i and PDP-8/l - Bezels - PDP-11

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Rod Smallwood > Please register interest in ... PDP-11 panels It will depend on price - will they be the same as the PDP-8 panels (since they are so similar)? If so, can you remind us of the pricing, please? If not, any estimate? I assume you'll eventually be doing all of them (/35, /40, /45, /50, /55, /70 - both variants), but the order will depend on interest? Do you have a /20 panel scan/measurements, to do that one too? If there is any interest in /05-/10 panels, I have one and can scan it. I can't recall any other models with front panels? (Well, the /74, but IIRC there are none of those extant outside museums - although people might want some for simulators.) Noel

10 years

5
8
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5150/5151 Video Card??

by cctalk＠ibm51xx.net

"should work fine u got rca and vga on that card might not be colour but it should work" Nope. Looks like a CGA card. It may also run in monochrome mode if you set the correct dip switches. The composite output can be used w a std TV set.

10 years

1
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0 0

can anyone identify this terminal keyboard and pcb?

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Well the frogs never were usable as a async ASCII terminal.. for some reason I think they were intended for IBM... The white later ones with detachable large keyboards definitely were for IBM and were used with a cluster terminal controller if memory is correct... if they were ASCII were sync not async? My memory escapes me at this point except for the fact none of us could use them and we call scrapped them! In a message dated 8/14/2016 3:36:00 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, linimon at lonesome.com writes: Heh, that sounds like the description of the Hazeltine terminals we were forced to use on a long-ago project. The vertical hold ... didn't. It was plus or minus 2. After using the monsters for an hour or so you had to go walk outside until your own vertical hold settled down. I imagine anyone who easily got seasick could never had used them at all. mcl

10 years

1
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can anyone identify this terminal keyboard and pcb?

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Hi Al - if they are itt courier was after my days of buying scrap there. I am looking for the old green terminals we used to call green frogs and would scap as fast as we ended up with them... now as a memento some of wish we had saved one of the old evil things... also looking for ITT asciiscope with the amber screen and the acoustic coupler on the top. Ed# _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org) In a message dated 8/14/2016 2:30:04 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, aek at bitsavers.org writes: http://www.ebay.com/itm/172299367709 (kb) http://www.ebay.com/itm/172290512799 (pcb) I think it may be a Courier. I bought the pcb, which has "C8080" on the sn label so I'm guessing it's Courier. Quite unusual with build-in modem. Will be dumping the eproms soon, hopefully some text strings in there. The seller ripped the terminals apart years ago for the 8080s and didn't rember the make/model, only that the case was two-tone. He got a pretty penny for the crappy probably dead Keytronic foil/foam keyboard ($80) Weird thing is it looks like a Lear-Sieger pcb design, with the Molex power connectors and the color/font of the markings on the silk-screen.

10 years

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can anyone identify this terminal keyboard and pcb?

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Yes Al, That is a green Frog! Cool! glad at least one still exists... I am in hopes there is still in one of existing in one the aux buildings here... I should display some Courier stuff. the later model was all while and had a detachable keyboard. We had a surplus electronics dealer would try to sell them to unsuspecting college students as terminals to be used with DEC system on campus... as I remember they were for use with IBM systems. ITT ASCIISCOPE was a good old self contained ASCII terminal and modem ALL UPPER CASE... in the early 80s sold them fast as we could get them... I liked UPPER CASE TERMINALS ---- QUICKER ---LESS WORK WHEN YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SHIFT! All the electronics scrappers and the few of us that dealt in computer stuff would go to the ITT sales... One of my best things was the palate loads of power cord that were new . I bid and got and sold to Bill Godbout... - ah the early 80s! I met Bill at a computer show in san Jose as I remember run by John Craig that had the 59 el Camino ( I think I have the name right? correct me!?)) I saved I think 100 figuring that was as many as we would need for awhile... Courier also had the contract to make the first McDonalds point of order terminals all of us scrapped lots of those too.... did anyone save one? You never know what was going to be at a Courier scrap sale... tools, pcbs terminals, cable on the wood reels... This was an interesting era and the early 80s I think I hauled lots of scrap... at the end of 79 started the business with 100 bucks and an empty van. sold surplus dg and dec stuff piecemeal and some interdata and what ever I could drag in.. Once I got the HP-2000 timeshare system that was the real game changer... it put us in the hp parts biz to support our own system and then 83? 84 became HP PC dealers still sold 2000 and 1000 stuff and designed boards for them.... got into the 3000 line ... I suspect the board you have Al , if courier, with the plug in modem, was surplused after I was going to sales... all I ever got there were the while IBM ones and the green frogs.... the ASCIISCOPEs that were floating around town may have come surplus into the market but just slightly before i was going to auctions there or they were just some off lease stuff from some of the lease companies that floated into consumer circle and we would end up buying one every once in a while In a message dated 8/14/2016 2:45:35 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, aek at bitsavers.org writes: On 8/14/16 2:35 PM, COURYHOUSE at aol.com wrote: > I am looking for the old green terminals we used to call green frogs we got one a couple years ago http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102716411

10 years

1
0
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VCF West - news, pictures, videos

by cctalk＠snarc.net

VCF West last weekend saw more than 1,000 attendees. Huge thank-you to everyone!!! We are processing the videos and will post links here when they're ready. Meanwhile there are some excellent pictures / articles / etc. already online. A few are here: - TechRepublic (by me): [url]http://www.techrepublic.com/pictures/photos-homebrew-cpus-ibm-mainframe…] - TechCrunch's pictures: [url]https://techcrunch.com/gallery/how-far-weve-come-the-top-5-retro-gadget…] - San Jose Mercury News: [url]http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_30214923/vintage-computer-f…] - SD Times: [url]http://sdtimes.com/vintage-computer-festival-highlights-decades-history…] - Bill Deg.'s pictures: [url]http://vintagecomputer.net/VCFWest_2016/[/url] - Jim S.'s videos: [url]https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5NK70kdq3-JGwb_8GXFN5SqDtbTKtLi…] - Same Jim S. has pictures, too: [url]https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOpZ5hCd-eBPF69CLb2lCSD3wdU5-3AOG1…] - Marc V.'s video: [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bbsgfanbE0&feature=youtu.be[/url] - Who's this weird-looking dude holding the prototype Apple 1 and taking a selfie with Al Alcorn? :) http://snarc.net/evan_celebration1.jpg http://snarc.net/evan_alcorn.jpg

10 years

1
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Front Panel - Update. - PDP=8/i and PDP-8/l - Bezels - PDP-11

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> > Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2016 09:20:13 -0400 > From: Christian Gauger-Cosgrove <captainkirk359 at gmail.com> > Subject: Re: Front Panel - Update. - PDP=8/i and PDP-8/l - Bezels - > PDP-11 > > There's also different coloured versions for many of the panels too. > E.g. there's a brown-and-white '70 panel used in OEM typesetting > systems by CSI Systems (if I recall right). > > Cheers, > Christian > The RICM has a brown CSI PDP-11/70 front panel. -- Michael Thompson

10 years

3
3
0 0

Front Panel update - Catalog

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Jay West > I had already offered to host the panels... I just didn't want to > create full blow web content I'd be happy to create some Web V0.1 content for it - similar to my other simple Web pages, e.g.: http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/DECIndicatorPanels.html Let me know. Noel

10 years

1
0
0 0

Kermit version compatibility.

by charles.unix.pro＠gmail.com

Multics 12.6 has a Kermit program; the history log in the source indicate that it written circa 1984 and last modified circa 1990. My local host runs CKermit 9.0, circa 2015. They do not play nice; some Kermit protocol change is causing high packet retry rates, timeouts and sometimes complete confusion. Going back through the CKermit source archives, I find that once I can get CKermit 5 to build, it works like a champ. That isn't a good solution; for e.g. getting V5 to work under OS/X would probably be a big issue. CKermit has a ton of SET options; rather then trying them randomly to see if I can make it compatible, I thought I'd inquire if anyone had the misfortune to be so well versed in Kermit arcana that they would know what settings would get CKermit V9 to behave like V5, or at least some ideas on the best route to pursue. Thanks, -- Charles

10 years

2
1
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Front Panel - Update. - PDP=8/i and PDP-8/l - Bezels - PDP-11

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys Well my panels made to VCF. I have had some feedback and I expect more. Currently I have stock of PDP-8/e (Types A and B) , PDP-8/f and PDP-8/m. PDP-8/i should be out of manufacturing by now. Next up is PDP-8/L. -++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Order the above now ++++++++++++++++++ Due to our house remodeling and holidays at the silk screen studio it was quiet up until this week.. However now things have started up again. I'm about to revisit the PDP-8 bezel project. The prototype had a few issues but nothing major. I should have a painted example shortly. Once the PDP-8/L batch are safely in the stock room it will be time to start on PDP-11 panels. +++++++++++++++++++++++ Please register interest in bezels and PDP-11 panels ++++++++++++++++ Rod (Panelman) Smallwood

10 years

4
5
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For trade: beautiful Data General Nova 820 w/ Diablo Drive & controller

by ian.finder＠gmail.com

I picked this early DG machine up and although it's awesome and complete, I just don't think I'll get to restoring it. I'd like to trade for anything Symbolics, or potentially other very early graphical workstation hardware (PERQ, 68K SGI, etc.) Located in Seattle, but I am no stranger to freight. This is an early DG jumbo chassis with everything you need, tons of core, and the removable pack drive. Cheers, - Ian -- Ian Finder (206) 395-MIPS ian.finder at gmail.com

10 years

2
4
0 0

Intel SDK-85 monitor ROM

by thrashbarg＠kaput.homeunix.org

Hi List, I've started looking at my SDK-85 after having it on the shelf for years. I know the 8355 mask ROM on it isn't working but I haven't been able to find a suitable replacement. I wired up a temporary solution with a 2716 EPROM only to find the ROM image and source code aren't available outside of dead-tree format. I'm not about ready to type out 48 pages of source code. Does anyone have a digital copy of the source, or the assembled binary or, even better, a replacement ROM? (I'm in Adelaide, Australia.) Cheers, Alexis.

10 years

4
5
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Front Panel - Update. - PDP=8/i and PDP-8/l - Bezels - PDP-11

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Christian Gauger-Cosgrove > There's also different coloured versions for many of the panels too. > ... There's a blue-and-red '40 panel sold by DEC in their > "INDUSTRIAL-11" version. Also for the /70; I announced a couple of weeks back that I'd added a scan of one to my PDP-11 stuff page: http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/PDP-11_Stuff.html > From: Don North north at alum.mit.edu > I also have a complete DEC DataSystem-570 panel ... which is just a > standard 11/70 panel, but recolored in light blue / dark blue / gray > color scheme. One of those on that page, too. (Well, the plexiglass part. :-) > From: Christian Gauger-Cosgrove > This might or might not be blasphemous to some, but I think the DDS-570 > colour scheme looks much nicer than the standard PDP-11 colour scheme. I like them both... :-) > I'm wondering how close of a match the "business system" blue PDP-11/7x > models match up against DEC's other blue coloured systems; i.e. KL10s > of the DECsystem-10xx flavour They are different; the 570 includes a deep blue (a royal/Prussian kind of blue), and on the KL10 both are lighter. > it's front-end processor was a PDP-11/40 with an alternate colour > scheme panel Actually, that is the only 'front panel' (lights and switches) on the KL10; the KL10 CPU itself doesn't have one (unlike the KA10 and KI10). Noel

10 years

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Atlanta Open House Tomorrow

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I'm reposting this because I set the time on the classiccmp server incorrectly (forgot to add 12). Just in case the important post below showed up earlier in folks inbox, I wanted to make sure it showed up. I'm posting this on behalf of Cindy at Elecplus I can't post to cctalk when I am away from home. I am in Atlanta, and the owner of the warehouse hs agreed to let people come in tomorrow. Please can you post the following for me? First come first served, no shipping on the really cheap items. Model M 101/103 terminal keyboards $10 each, no cracked cases, may not have complete caps. Hundreds of keyboards for other terminals starting at $30 each, tested and complete. A full pallet of AEK 1 and 2 keyboards More expensive items include a Burroughs keyboard, complete and in good condition, a 1978 terminal in working condition, and the following terminals/keyboards, tested, no screen burn, keyboards are complete. DEC VT100 (no keyboards), 220, 320, 420.Wyse 50 and 60 with keyboards. Qume 62 and 101+ with keyboards.Link MC2 and 3 with keyboards. ADDS 4000 with keyboards. HP 700/22, 700/43, 700/60, 700/90, 700/92, 700/94, 700/96 with keyboards. LOTS of working vintage test equip. Some pics are here: <https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxqLDyoLYuCKbkEwdmlST2lKaUU> https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxqLDyoLYuCKbkEwdmlST2lKaUU Thank you! Cindy

10 years

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Atlanta warehouse

by sales＠elecplus.com

I can see that one day's notice did not do much good. I am sorry, but Atlanta is over 1500 miles from home for me, and I usually do not get much notice. Next time I will try to give at least a week notice. There can be absolutely no viewing on the weekends. That is out of the question for him. It is MUCH easier for him if I am there when people want to come and scrounge. He is so busy, and his warehouse manager is usually tied up with orders, and for safety reasons they can't just turn people loose. I am usually there every couple of months. Now that we have established that people will be allowed to come and choose things, he is having the warehouse guys sort things into categories. Things he wants to keep, and those he is willing to part with. Right now they are scrapping all the HP 700/96, and the Wyse 60s. I asked him to hold onto a dozen or so working Wyse 60s with keyboards for about 30 days. He will ship them. Tested and working with complete tested keyboard he wants $80 per set plus shipping. The Teletype keyboard and the small keyboard have been sold. The Lear terminal and the Burroughs are for sale, but not cheap. The Lear has been repaired and is working. The Burroughs keyboard he wants $250 for. He did not specify a price for the Lear, but you can always make a good offer. Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 500 Pershing Ave. Kerrville, TX 78028 830-370-3239 cell sales at elecplus.com AOL IM elcpls

10 years

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SWTPC 6800

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

Thanks! ?I'm definitely enjoying my trips back to 1976. ?My house is early 70s and in the basement with an old table and the terminal, computer and monitor I'm pretty much in 1976. ?I really am hoping to learn how to program using the monitor... still don't completely understand how adding two digits to memory addresses makes it do something. I'll probably leave the machine be.. it's a bit fragile. ?Might be fun to get the disk card working and get a working drive for it.. although I have no software on disk. Re: EPROM programming.. wish I could do that with my MSI 6800.. and get it back to stock config. ?The homemade monitor it has is useless! Sent from my Samsung device -------- Original message -------- From: Brent Hilpert <hilpert at cs.ubc.ca> Date: 2016-08-12 9:39 PM (GMT-08:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: SWTPC 6800 On 2016-Aug-12, at 7:39 PM, Brad H wrote: > There's no way to have both the MP-C and MP-S cards in the same machine and > have the computer connected to one at a faster rate of speed is there? As far the hardware goes, yes, you can have both cards in there operating at different speeds. Your problem is getting SWTBUG to use the alternative serial card (port) for the loader command, rather than the console port. To my recollection it (SWTBUG) is not programmed to provide for that. I have a vague recollection of some monitor that allowed one to redirect the I/O port for the subsequent command or something like that but it was probably for some other machine (don't have the command list for SWTBUG at hand). So you could modify SWTBUG (typically with hand-assembled patches) and add a new facility and burn a new EPROM to give you a monitor tailored for your system config. Welcome to the world of hobbyist computing, 1976.

10 years

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VAX file format conversion

by dave＠mitton.com

If you are importing files into VMS, you need to become familiar with the EXCHANGE command. (found via Google) http://h20565.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c04623262 It can do stream and carriage control conversions on various RMS fixed formats. When we first brought up DECnet-DOS network file transfer, we had some "discussions" with the VMS RMS engineers that didn't like us doing auto conversions. This was their "compromise". Oh and if you are doing serial transfers, yes, keeping the baud rate low is a good strategy. I had to spend some time working on the DECnet-DOS DDCMP driver developing better character overrun recovery strategies. Yes, you may be coming in via a terminal line, but that line can hiccup from time to time. Dave. On 8/12/2016 01:00 PM, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: >Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2016 16:08:39 -0400 >From: Douglas Taylor <dj.taylor4 at comcast.net> >To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> >Subject: VAX file format conversion >Message-ID: <d54db4aa-efc8-d332-971f-57250d5fd0f5 at comcast.net> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed > >I have a MicroVax 4000 that I am trying to update the license PAKs on, >the last time I had valid PAKs on this machine was in 2002 (Hobbyist >Licenses). > >I registered and have received the new Hobbyist License PAKs. > >I connected a laptop and transferred the text file using C-Kermit on the >VAX and hyperterminal on the laptop. > >When I go to execute the file, I get an error: > >$(a)hobbyist-use-only-va.txt > >%RMS-W-RTB 512 bye record to large for user buffer > >It appears that when the file was transferred it showed up on the vax >with fixed length records of 512 bytes, not variable length. > >Can I convert the file on the VAX? > >Is there a setting for C-Kermit that I need to change? > >Is Hyperterminal screwing things up? > >Doug --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

10 years

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SWTPC 6800

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

Interesting. ?I thought the CT-1024 was sort of the intended companion for the 6800 (It came out first, I think). ?I wonder what they expected people to do if they had just those two devices? I'll probably try cable swap and see how onerous that is. ?I'm hoping to one day acquire an AC-30.. of course then I'd need to find tape files... Do you know of any good repository for the kind of loader files you can load via serial? ?I've found a few here and there but not all of them.? Sent from my Samsung device -------- Original message -------- From: Chris Elmquist <chrise at pobox.com> Date: 2016-08-12 4:01 PM (GMT-08:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: SWTPC 6800 On Friday (08/12/2016 at 07:33AM -0700), Brad H wrote: > >???? > I've a question. ?I've now got my CT1024 working properly with my 6800.. is there an easy way to load txt loader files into it while it is still connected to the CT? ?Or do I have to load something in via PC first and then swap cables? The "usual" method in the day was that the paper tape reader on the M33 teletype connected to the 6800 as the console was used to load your s-records in through MIKBUG.? When you started the tape reader, it was just like you were typing it on the TTY's keyboad. Later, a cassette interface such as SWTPC AC-30 or the PERCOM CIS-30 was used and it sat between the terminal's RS232 interface and the SWTPC's console interface.?? When you were loading a tape, the terminal got disconnected (electrically) and the data coming off the tape was sent to the console input of the 6800. So, in simple terms, the cassette interface was in series with the terminal and could preempt the terminal when loading from tape.? To save to tape, the output from the 6800 would essentially go to both the tape and the terminal at the same time. The modern equivalent is probably an RS232 A/B switch that either connects your CT-1024 or a PC to the 6800's console.? When you want to "load a tape" you flip the switch so that the PC connects to the 6800 and sends the s-records in.? After the load is complete, you flip the switch back and the CT-1024 becomes the console. You could also diode-OR the transmit data from the CT-1024 and a PC to the 6800's receive data input and wire the transmit data from the 6800's output to both the CT-1024 and the PC but this might be sketchy depending on the PC's RS232 interface characteristics.??? But I have done this successfully with other RS232 interfaces where I wanted two devices to be able to send to one receiver without having to physically disconnect or flip a switch. Chris > -------- Original message -------- > From: Pontus Pihlgren <pontus at Update.UU.SE> > Date: 2016-08-11? 11:27 PM? (GMT-08:00) > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: SWTPC 6800 > > Very interresting read, thank you Ethan. > > /P > > On Tue, Aug 09, 2016 at 10:55:54AM -0400, Ethan Dicks wrote: > > On Fri, Aug 5, 2016 at 2:58 PM, Chris Elmquist <chrise at pobox.com> wrote: > > > On Friday (08/05/2016 at 06:50PM +0000), tony duell wrote: > > >> > > >> Am I the only person who rarely, if ever, has RS232 problems? > > > > > > No.? ;-) > > > > No, but I used to manufacture sync serial hardware and have deep > > knowledge of how async serial in general, and RS-232/EIA works in > > particular, and still have all the test gear from 30 years ago.? I get > > why people find serial comms frustrating and do not take my > > experiences as "typical". > > > > I pretty much don't hook up anything new that isn't on a "traffic > > light".? I have several - DE9-DE9 for modern stuff, and multiple > > DB25-DB25 for old and new stuff.? *Mostly*, if you plug everything in > > and you get at least TxD and RxD to light up, you at least have > > figured out where the primary gozintas and gozoutas go and can stop > > adding null-modem adapters.? Past that, you have to know if either end > > requires hardware handshaking and either plumb the right signals > > (vintage setup documentation is invaluable for this) or bridge the > > appropriate lines (documentation again) so that one or both sides > > _thinks_ there's hardware handshaking.? If you defeat it, you might > > run into overrun conditions, but at least you should be able to > > establish basic comms and pass a few characters.? To that end, you do > > have to match speeds on both sides, and the usual best place to start > > is 8-N-1 for data bits, parity, and stop bits.? I've run into multiple > > situations where 7-E-1 or 7-N-1 is the right answer.? With enough > > experience, the "baud barf" from mismatched speeds takes on an often > > recognizable pattern that can be used to quickly figure out what the > > speed ought to be, but lacking instrumentation like a serial analyzer > > or an oscilloscope, one can try "all the speeds" until cleartext comes > > through.? I also try the speeds in "most popular order", 9600, 1200, > > 300, 2400, 4800, 19200, 600... in the hopes of saving time.? Every > > once in a while, you run into some oddball stuff, like 9600/150, etc., > > split speeds from the days of timesharing setups where the CPU wanted > > to get data to the users as fast as possible but wanted to minimize > > input interrupts and more closely match the input flow to (slow) human > > typing speeds.? This wasn't common with microcomputers, but I've seen > > it with PDP-11 and PDP-8 setups and isn't something to look for first, > > but it does exist and highlights how strange things can get if all > > you've ever done is plug a high speed modem into a PC for dial-up > > internet. > > > > One important tip about USB serial dongles (and some laptops DE9 > > serial ports) - I've had problems with some of them and 1970s gear > > because the EIA/RS-232C (1969) level specification is +5V to +15V for > > space (0) and -15V to -5V for mark (1) (with +/-3V min sensitivity) > > and a lot of old gear is expecting +/-12V and not happy with > > lower-voltage lines and thin wires that don't help signal losses.? One > > case in particular was a 1977-era Bridgeport Series II CNC mill with a > > LSI-11/03 CPU and a lot of custom Bridgeport boards.? Everyone else > > who tried to talk to the Bridgeport before me had zero success.? I > > checked all the things on the list and finally pulled out the laptop > > and set up a Dell desktop which worked the first time.? When > > connecting to pre-1982 gear, I'd definitely try it from a desktop if a > > laptop is just not working.? Checking the lines with an oscilloscope > > could also help verify this what's giving the grief (I did not have > > one handy when we were trying to get that CNC mill working). > > > > In terms of serial analyzers, there are several types out there, and > > the ones that I've had the most time on are the HP 4951/4952 series. > > There are different models with different features, but if you are > > going to shop for one, ensure it comes with the "keyboard lid" because > > that's where the line drivers and serial connectors are.? The large > > connector on the back goes to a "pod" that happens to snap on the > > front of the unit when the keyboard is flipped up.? It's much easier > > to find the base units than loose pods, IME.? Check which pod.? I've > > seen many with DB25s, which is probably what you want, but I've also > > seen DC-37 connectors, and non-EIA (RS-232) level shifters.? The good > > news is that among these different models, the pods should be > > interchangable, so if you end up picking up 2 units (not unusual) with > > different base capabilities (some have DC-150 cassette tape, some have > > 3.5" floppy, plus some minor differences) and only one has a DB25 EIA > > pod, you can at least migrate it between the units.? I find the serial > > analyzers invaluable for snooping on the details of what's happening > > on the wire, but any analyzers I have seen have a handy "autoconfig" > > button to sniff traffic and configure the line for monitoring, so it's > > often a quick click to get all the parameters if you don't already > > know them.? Where they really shine is looking for troubles at the > > application layer, debugging Kermit or XMODEM traffic that isn't > > working for any obvious reason.? The advanced stuff you can do is to > > write programs for some analyzers to simulate a host or a client for > > software debugging or to reproduce a problem for deeper analysis - > > this is far beyond the usual "why can't I get this terminal working > > with this vintage machine" but when you need it, you need it. > > > > In summary, I start by scoping the line with an LED traffic light > > (swapping lines or making custom cables where necessary), then move on > > the speed and parity settings (and changing the easier-to-change end), > > then look deeper when the easy stuff doesn't work.? Easy problems take > > minutes or less.? Hard problems can take a long time to resolve. > > > > -ethan -- Chris Elmquist

10 years

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Atlanta Open House Tomorrow

by seefriek＠gmail.com

I'd be more than happy to look for what people want, but an address, start time and required payment type would help.

10 years

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Halt and Catch Fire season about to start on TV!

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Halt and Catch Fire season about to start on TV! Ed# http://www.amc.com/shows/halt-and-catch-fire?utm_source=newsletter&utm_mediu m=email&utm_content=7-halt-home&utm_campaign=AMC-Weekly

10 years

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Tape imaging

by aswood＠t-online.de

I successfully took a (factory new) DEC TSZ07 SCSI tape drive into operation using a Sun SS20 and a Linux box. Now I do have a big pile of CDC, DEC, HP, Convex and IBM tapes and I'd like to create tape images to file to save the tapes content. What is the to be preferred procedure to image the tapes, which software to use and which kind of format to store the images? -- Andreas

10 years

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Tape Imaging

by sieler＠allegro.com

Joining the list of "my format" posts ... Mine also records retry information (because MPE on the HP 3000 optionally reports if a retry was done to get a successful tape read), and setmarks (which differ from EOFs), as well as error information. (That retry information is important ... it could indicate a silent loss of information.) But, I must admit...it didn't occur to me to store metadata like a photo of the tape, etc. Nice! When copying / archiving tapes ... One important thing to do, depending upon your operating system and tape drive characteristics of course, is to issue read requests for a few bytes more than you expect ... because with some OSs and some kinds of drives, if you ask for X bytes and the record has more than X, you'll quietly get X and the rest will be discarded. (That came up in a court case where I was an expert witness ... an alleged 'expert' had copied a 9-track tape (badly) and lost data because the records were larger than he expected, and his copying tool didn't have that simple safeguard in it.) A second thing is to be somewhat aggressive in reading the 'end' of the tape. The backup tapes I frequently encounter supposedly end with two EOFs in a row ... except for a few that happen to have extra data past that point :) (Of course, with 9 track tapes, you run the risk of going off the end!) (Yes, that begs the question...if you're archiving a tar tape ... do you *want* the data past the first EOF? (Which could be part of a prior (and longer) tar, or something else.)) (And then there are the people who put tar after tar after tar on the same tape :) Stan

10 years

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the value of old test and repair equipment

by jzatar2＠illinois.edu

>> Something I forgot to note was that this instrument (the 4261A) was >> actually manufactured for HP by Yokogawa, I'm not too sure where the >> HP part ends and the Yokogawa begins, maybe it was designed by HP and >> built by Yokogawa, or maybe the whole thing was a contracted design >> for HP by Yokogawa. > >Yokogawa is not on the list of HP acquisitions. Well, hardly an acquisition if they (partially) owned it from the start. http://www.hpmuseum.net/divisions.php?did=39 YEW is still around today, my dad has purchased scopes for the lab at work >from them. YHP is separate from YEW, I guess.

10 years

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the value of old test and repair equipment

by jzatar2＠illinois.edu

>The y have used Fairchild for their source. > >If so, that explains the high rate of failure. > >Years ago when at Intel, we disqualified Fairchild > >as a source for parts because of the poor testing > >and high failure rates. > >Dwight I seem to remember the 7474 that failed was actually a TI part, but I'm not entirely sure now. Something I forgot to note was that this instrument (the 4261A) was actually manufactured for HP by Yokogawa, I'm not too sure where the HP part ends and the Yokogawa begins, maybe it was designed by HP and built by Yokogawa, or maybe the whole thing was a contracted design for HP by Yokogawa.

10 years

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memory map for RT-11 v 5

by jhfinedp3k＠compsys.to

>On Sunday, July 24th, 2016 at 22:17:24 -0700, Don North wrote: > >On 7/24/2016 2:37 PM, Paul Koning wrote: > >>> >On Jul 24, 2016, at 11:06 AM, william degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> ... >>>> Attempts to boot from RT11SJ.SYS under V04.00 of RT-11 with 24K >>>> bytes of memory were successful. Attempts to boot with 16K bytes of >>>> memory were also successful. An RK05 was used as the disk drive. The >>>> error message "Insufficient memory" is displayed, but some useful work >>>> might be done with just 16K bytes of memory. However, you did not >>>> ask if useful work being done was one of the criteria? >>> >> FWIW, I used to run RT11SJ on an 11/20 with 8 kW (16 kB) of memory >> and RC11 system disk, in college. That fit with no trouble, enough >> room to run RT BASIC and a reasonably application program. >> >> paul > > And it still works today: > > PDP-11 simulator V4.0-0 Beta git commit id: 4065f47f > sim> set cpu 11/05 16k > sim> sho cpu > CPU 11/05, idle disabled, autoconfiguration enabled > 16KB > sim> att rk0 rt11.dsk > sim> boot rk0 > > RT-11SJ V02C-02 > > . > .R PIP > */L > > DTMNSJ.SYS 46 27-NOV-75 > DTMNFB.SYS 58 27-NOV-75 > DP .SYS 2 27-NOV-75 > RK .SYS 2 27-NOV-75 > RF .SYS 2 27-NOV-75 > TT .SYS 2 27-NOV-75 > LP .SYS 2 27-NOV-75 > BA .SYS 7 27-NOV-75 > SYSMAC.SML 18 27-NOV-75 > SYSMAC.8K 25 27-NOV-75 > BATCH .SAV 25 27-NOV-75 > EDIT .SAV 19 27-NOV-75 > MACRO .SAV 31 27-NOV-75 > ASEMBL.SAV 21 27-NOV-75 > EXPAND.SAV 12 27-NOV-75 > CREF .SAV 5 27-NOV-75 > LINK .SAV 25 27-NOV-75 > PIP .SAV 14 27-NOV-75 > PATCH .SAV 5 27-NOV-75 > ODT .OBJ 9 27-NOV-75 > VTHDLR.OBJ 8 27-NOV-75 > DEMOFG.MAC 5 27-NOV-75 > DEMOBG.MAC 4 27-NOV-75 > KB .MAC 33 27-NOV-75 > LIBR .SAV 15 27-NOV-75 > MONITR.SYS 46 27-NOV-75 > RKMNFB.SYS 58 27-NOV-75 > RFMNSJ.SYS 46 27-NOV-75 > RFMNFB.SYS 58 27-NOV-75 > DPMNSJ.SYS 46 27-NOV-75 > DPMNFB.SYS 58 27-NOV-75 > DXMNSJ.SYS 46 27-NOV-75 > DXMNFB.SYS 58 27-NOV-75 > DT .SYS 2 27-NOV-75 > DX .SYS 2 27-NOV-75 > CR .SYS 3 27-NOV-75 > MT .SYS 6 27-NOV-75 > MM .SYS 6 27-NOV-75 > PR .SYS 2 27-NOV-75 > PP .SYS 2 27-NOV-75 > CT .SYS 5 27-NOV-75 > DS .SYS 2 27-NOV-75 > FILEX .SAV 11 27-NOV-75 > SRCCOM.SAV 11 27-NOV-75 > DUMP .SAV 5 27-NOV-75 > PATCHO.SAV 33 27-NOV-75 > VTMAC .MAC 7 27-NOV-75 > SYSF4 .OBJ 33 27-NOV-75 > BASIC .SAV 36 > BAS8K .SAV 34 > DEMO .BAS 3 > 51 FILES, 1014 BLOCKS > 3760 FREE BLOCKS > * > . > .R BAS8K > > BASIC V01B-02 > * > > READY > > OLD > OLD FILE NAME--DEMO > > READY > > LIST > > DEMO BASIC V01B-02 > > 10 REM BASIC PROGRAM TO GENERATE N TERMS OF A FIBONACCI SERIES, > 20 REM THE FIRST TWO TERMS OF WHICH ARE SPECIFIED BY THE USER. > 30 REM > 40 REM PRINT IDENTIFYING MESSAGE > 50 PRINT "PROGRAM TO GENERATE A FIBONACCI SERIES" > 60 REM > 70 REM GET THE LENGTH AND FIRST TWO TERMS OF THE SERIES > 80 PRINT "HOW MANY TERMS DO YOU WANT GENERATED"; > 90 INPUT L > 100 IF L<>0 THEN 130 > 110 REM IF HE REQUESTS 0 TERMS,TERMINATE EXECUTION > 120 STOP > 130 PRINT "WHAT IS THE FIRST TERM"; > 140 INPUT T1 > 150 PRINT "WHAT IS THE SECOND TERM"; > 160 INPUT T2 > 170 REM MAKE SURE L IS NOT NEGATIVE OR TOO LARGE > 180 IF L<3 THEN 200 > 190 IF L<50 THEN 220 > 200 PRINT L;"TERMS DOES NOT REALLY MAKE SENSE." > 210 GO TO 80 > 220 REM PRINT THE FIRST TWO TERMS OF THE SERIES > 230 PRINT "THE REQUESTED SERIES IS" > 240 PRINT T1 > 250 PRINT T2 > 260 L=L-2 > 270 REM CALCULATE NEXT TERM AND PRINT IT > 280 N=T1+T2 > 290 T1=T2 > 300 T2=N > 310 PRINT N > 320 REM DETERMINE IF SERIES IS FINISHED. IF SO,DO NEXT ONE. > 330 L=L-1 > 340 IF L<=0 THEN 80 > 350 GO TO 280 > 360 END > > READY > > RUN > > DEMO BASIC V01B-02 > > PROGRAM TO GENERATE A FIBONACCI SERIES > HOW MANY TERMS DO YOU WANT GENERATED?4 > WHAT IS THE FIRST TERM?12 > WHAT IS THE SECOND TERM?5 > THE REQUESTED SERIES IS > 12 > 5 > 17 > 22 > HOW MANY TERMS DO YOU WANT GENERATED?0 > > STOP AT LINE 120 > > READY V02C-02 is just one of the versions (out of about 23 versions) that are available on the CD image at classiccmp which is available for download. The V02C-02 version of RT-11 on the CD has 58 files with 1212 blocks, although the date on all of the files is November 20th, 1975 or a week earlier. It would be interesting to compare all of the common files to see if they are identical. I suspect that they probably are. What I am curious about are the two files: ASEMBL.SAV EXPAND.SAV Did these two files do anything special? For historical purposes, it would also be interesting to also preserve the files: BASIC.SAV BAS8K.SAV DEMO.BAS that you have along with the F4.SAV (or FORTRA.SAV) which DEC released in 1975 - probably V2 of FORTRAN IV. The early versions of FORTRAN IV are available elsewhere for download Jerome Fine

10 years

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Front Panel - Update. - PDP=8/i and PDP-8/l - Bezels - PDP-11

by tdk.knight＠gmail.com

8i I want one for my panel rebuild project On Aug 12, 2016 3:49 AM, "Rod Smallwood" <rodsmallwood52 at btinternet.com> wrote: Hi Guys Well my panels made to VCF. I have had some feedback and I expect more. Currently I have stock of PDP-8/e (Types A and B) , PDP-8/f and PDP-8/m. PDP-8/i should be out of manufacturing by now. Next up is PDP-8/L. -++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Order the above now ++++++++++++++++++ Due to our house remodeling and holidays at the silk screen studio it was quiet up until this week.. However now things have started up again. I'm about to revisit the PDP-8 bezel project. The prototype had a few issues but nothing major. I should have a painted example shortly. Once the PDP-8/L batch are safely in the stock room it will be time to start on PDP-11 panels. +++++++++++++++++++++++ Please register interest in bezels and PDP-11 panels ++++++++++++++++ Rod (Panelman) Smallwood

10 years

1
0
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Tape imaging

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

yep think 31 is right. have RCA tr-5 quad unit looking for more quad recorders always can swap some computer stuff! Anyway the fellow I get the tr-5 from... he alsoscrapped a tr-4 and I have bies of parts when I can access the parts will check for motors! ed# In a message dated 8/11/2016 10:58:56 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, cclist at sydex.com writes: On 08/11/2016 10:07 PM, couryhouse wrote: > > > Chuck we have tape.... we also have one of the 30 something track > heads at smecc..... I guess won would have to build the motorized > wingaxas... to pull the tape. ... the electronics can be recreated... > We figure the head is the hard part..... ha! and a empty take up > reel! Anyone habe one?Ed www.smecc.org 31 tracks if I read the manual right. The tape itself is a mylar sandwich, so it should be plenty durable. Reel motors should be no great deal--maybe you could scavenge them from an old Ampex Quadruplex VTR... --Chuck

10 years

1
0
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SWTPC 6800

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

Yes.. I tried 7 bits.. different parity settings, speeds etc. ?Couldn't quite nail it down. ?In every tutorial online for the 6800 being used with PC terminal, they go 8 N 1.. nobody mentions specifically if you are supposed to use hardware or xo/off or nothing though. ?So that's another thing. ?I'm also confused because some docs mention baud rate settings for the cpu board? I'm also not sure if bad RAM or bad TTL etc could be contributing to just throwing out random junk too. Sent from my Samsung device -------- Original message -------- From: Dave Wade <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com> Date: 2016-08-04 11:33 PM (GMT-08:00) To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: RE: SWTPC 6800 "Random Stuff" on serial ports can be a speed, data-bits, or even parity mis-match. I assume you have tried tweaking these? Dave > -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Brad H > Sent: 05 August 2016 06:58 > To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: RE: SWTPC 6800 > > I think this 6800 is live but I am being dogged by my inabilities when it comes > to cabling.? I'm going to purchase a 'proper' db25 female connector and the > molex pins for the MP-S connector and solder it up.? I tried sort of using > jumper wires to make it go.? When I turn the 6800 on, the PC terminal I'm > using reacts by producing single or strings of random characters. > According to the SWTPC 'system checkout' stuff, if I get anything at all > showing up on the terminal it usually means the 6800 is alive.? Based on the > notes written on the MP-S, I'm confident I have the correct baud rate and bit > (8) and parity (1) settings, but alas, doesn't seem to work.? When I ran into > this sort of thing with MSI 6800 it turned out the baud rate switch on the > serial card wasn't correct, despite factory labelling.? That might be the case > here but not really sure how to sort it. > > -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Paul Birkel > Sent: Thursday, August 4, 2016 12:29 PM > To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: RE: SWTPC 6800 >

10 years

13
26
0 0

Tape imaging

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Chuck we have tape.... we also have one of the 30 something track heads at smecc..... I guess ?won would have to build ?the ?motorized ?wingaxas... to pull the tape. ... the electronics can be recreated... ?We figure the head is the hard part..... ha! ?and a empty take up reel! Anyone habe one?Ed www.smecc.org Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone -------- Original message -------- From: Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> Date: 8/11/16 21:21 (GMT-07:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Tape imaging On 08/11/2016 07:36 PM, Al Kossow wrote: > One of the highest projects I have in the queue is getting one of > John's M4 9914V drives with 18 track MR heads running in my new lab > at CHM. I've always wondered how far someone would go to retrieve data from media that's really off the beaten path.? Suppose someone found a box of tapes from an old Honeywell Datamatic mainframe.? Huge reels, 3 inches wide with heaven knows how many channels... --Chuck

10 years

2
1
0 0

the value of old test and repair equipment

by jzatar2＠illinois.edu

>I really like my old test gear and yes, it just seems right to be restoring >vintage computers with vintage instruments. HP scopes, logic analyzers, >DVMs; function generator; Tek scope, frequency counter; as well as just >'sundry'. But I did break down and buy a DDS frequency generator to work >on my VHF/UHF ham gear. > >On Sat, Jul 30, 2016 at 6:07 PM, drlegendre . <drlegendre at gmail.com <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk>> wrote: > >>* In fact, the value of old test gear varies tremendously.. *>>>>* Vacuum tube testers of certain makes & models are near the top of the food *>>* chain, with clean, working examples pulling $1500+ (USD) on a very regular *>>* basis. *>>>>* There's also a strong following for much 'classic' audio analysis gear (HD *>>* meters, ID meters, spectrum analyzers, etc.) some very fine multi-meters *>>* and anything really hi-end like General Radio, Breull & Kejjr, HP, and so *>>* forth. *>>>>* Some very early examples from the 1910s to 30's also pull good value simply *>>* for visual appeal. Much of this gear is resplendent with embossed, enameled *>>* panels, sculpted Bakelite knobs, large meter movements and an overall Art *>>* Deco styling. *>>>>* Seen a nice Supreme Diagnometer recently? Or any of the 40s-70s era English *>>* made tube testers, like the AVO? Hickok also made a series of bench VTVMs *>>* with massive chromed meters, designed to be large enough that they can be *>>* read from many feet away.. those are beautiful for display, and guess what *>>* - they work great, too! *>>>>* On Thu, Jul 28, 2016 at 5:24 PM, Dale H. Cook <radiotest at juno.com <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk>> wrote: *>>>>* > At 03:52 PM 7/28/2016, Electronics Plus wrote: *>>* > *>>* > >... does as-is old test and repair equip that won't be particularly *>>* cheap *>>* > have interest to you guys? *>>* > *>>* > It depends entirely on the make and model of equipment. I always have a *>>* > laundry list of stuff I am looking for - one of the reasons why I bring *>>* my *>>* > tablet to meets. *>>* > *>>* > Dale H. Cook, GR / HP Collector, Roanoke/Lynchburg, VA *>>* > http://plymouthcolony.net/starcity/radios/index.html <http://plymouthcolony.net/starcity/radios/index.html> *>>* > *>>* > *>>> > > >-- >Ian S. King, MSIS, MSCS, Ph.D. Candidate >The Information School <http://ischool.uw.edu> >Dissertation: "Why the Conversation Mattered: Constructing a Sociotechnical >Narrative Through a Design Lens > >Archivist, Voices From the Rwanda Tribunal <http://tribunalvoices.org> >Value Sensitive Design Research Lab <http://vsdesign.org> > >University of Washington > >There is an old Vulcan saying: "Only Nixon could go to China." All this talk of older test equipment reminds me of the HP 4261A LCR bridge I repaired a while back, last winter I think. My dad found the 4261A in the garbage years ago, and it seemed to work fine, until one day he powered it up and the display showed garbage. He decided to open it up, and noticed some uncovered windowed EPROMs. Knowing that EPROMs sometimes flip bits in their old age, we decided that was the first place we would look. We were also able to locate the full HP service manual in PDF form for the instrument which helped tremendously. In typical HP fashion, it had full theory of operation, schematics, state diagrams, etc. Now, I have an EPROM burner that does your typical JEDEC pinout parts, 27 series and such. The issue is that these were Intel i1702A's from the early 70's I think. Not only are 1702's a totally different pinout, but they run on 14V (a +5V, and a -9V rail, with no connected ground, this is how intel got TTL levels on a MOS chip at the time). The 4261A has a total of 4 1702's, two of which form a finite state machine which controls the instrument, while the other two perform display decoding. I had to pull out my dad's DeVry Console 80, which has adjustable positive and negative supplies, and I manually clocked out the data and compared the contents to a dump I found online. I started with the state machine EPROMs, and compared the data. I did find a few discrepancies, but there was too much difference to have been bit rot. Given the sudden nature of the issue, I would have expected one, at most a couple bit flips, or something much more drastic (like total chip failure). Upon reading through the state diagrams in the HP manual, I noticed that there was a change noted in the state diagram between certain minor revisions of the 4261A. I looked at what the changes were, and deduced that my ROMs were in fact correct for the serial number prefix. At a dead end with the EPROMs, I decided to see if the state machine was even running at all. I used a DVM in DC mode, and measured perfect TTL ones and zeroes on all the state number outputs, which means those outputs weren't changing: the state machine was stuck. I wrote down the state it was stuck in and referred to the state diagram. I noticed something interesting. The state machine in the 4261A is able to evaluate simple conditions and control flow based on those. The state path to get to the state that the FSM was stuck on meant the FSM was always taking one of the conditional paths (always true, or always false, I don't remember which). At that point, I started looking into the condition circuitry, tracing out the path, checking IC's as I worked my way back, until I made it back to 1/2 of a 7474 which had a set input that was stuck active (low). This pin went to a pullup resistor, and nothing else in our unit (certain options used this pin, but not ours). We desoldered the IC, and sure enough, that pin was shorted to ground internal to the chip. We replaced it with a 74LS74, and the 4261A has been working great ever since, even with the original 40 year old 1702's. Also, on the topic of interesting HP products, and perhaps my personal favorite so far, is the HP dynamic signal analyzer 35670A. This instrument can perform all sorts of cool measurements. It can produce a test signal, and measure two different points in the circuit being measured. The measurement input channels give you a complex number phasor of the measured signal, which means you can do all sorts of cool measurements of networks, especially since you can do complex number math with the equation support of the instrument. The signal generator will perform sweeps too, of course. This was very useful determining whether the speaker crossovers my dad built were working as intended (actually they weren't, and this instrument helped us uncover a problem). We also used this to do inductor and capacitor characterization. There are all sorts of applications this instrument is good for. Joe Zatarski

10 years

3
2
0 0

SWTPC keyboard foil patterns

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

Hey guys, In Don Lancaster's 'Low cost keyboard and ascii encoder' article (Apr 1974), he mentions in the parts list that the SWTPC keyboard mentioned in the article had foil patterns available, full size, free on request. ?I was wondering if anyone out there had them or knew where they might be found. ?I checked SWTPC and Tinaja but they only have the article. ?I've emailed Don in case he had them but probably doubtful. Reason I ask is I was rather pleased with how my original TVT reproduction boards turned out, and I have a second CT1024 terminal here in need of a keyboard. ?Rather than rigging something up I thought maybe I could just recreate the PCB. ?I can already make the keycaps and the switches themselves are not beyond my ability either. Many thanks in advance if anyone has these. Brad Sent from my Samsung device

10 years

1
0
0 0

Tape imaging

by shadoooo＠gmail.com

Hello Andreas, nice to see you here from time to time. I too have two TSZ07, but both had problems with the PSU after some time of good working condition. The problem was always related, as indirect cause, to bad electrolytic capacitors, however the effect was always bad. The first one in the end became somehow over-stressed and had a transistor burned to short circuit; replaced the transistor, and all the capacitors, it was ok. After the repair operation, one of the motors lost the magnet inside, so I had to dismount it, open it carefully, put the magnet in place with wood parts to keep it in the right position, reglue the magnet with acrylic glue, remount. Worked! The second one began suddenly to oscillate badly, so on the 5V output there were peaks from 0V to 15-20V... It remained in the bad state for just 3-5 seconds, then I turned on 220V. Too bad, a microprocessor on the control board was fried. As I didn't find any schematic at the time (and not one so far), it took me a life with the bare oscilloscope to understand which component was defective, ordered it form the US, desoldered with hot air, resoldered, et voila, it became to life again... Worked, but I paid more for the repair / components than what I paid for the drive... I know also Holm has such a drive, again problems with the PSU... overheating. So be warned: replace all the relevant capacitors before operate the drive, to avoid problems. If you want and have some patience, I could take some pictures to show you what parts are delicate and what not. The PSU inside has two boards, one is high-voltage stage, the other has the main transformer and the low-voltage stage. It produces IIRC -12V, +5V (standby), +5V (high current), +12V, +37V. To test the PSU alone, you need to connect a resistor between two pins of a connector (I should double-check in case you want to know), otherwise it will not power-up, only standby voltage will be present, but it's not supplied by the switching high-power circuit. I recommend a test of one hour or more with load resistors (or lamps) and voltage monitoring to test the effective operation. Let me know if you need some help. (out of band data): do you have some information about trips to Munchen or somewhere in Bayern or Osterreich? Didn't heard of you anymore lately... We still have the drive swap to organize! Please let me know. Thanks Andrea

10 years

1
0
0 0

Tape imaging

by couryhouse＠aol.com

Have the tape sets from the phx univac operations center that need to be imaged some day!Ed# Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone -------- Original message -------- From: Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> Date: 8/10/16 17:10 (GMT-07:00) To: cctech at classiccmp.org, "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Tape imaging Related, since it hasn't been mentioned on this list. Tom Hunter just got a release from CDC for the use of CDC software for non-commercial use, so any CDC tapes out in the wild are going to be of great interest. On 8/10/16 6:22 AM, aswood at t-online.de wrote: > Now I do have a big pile of CDC, DEC, HP, Convex and IBM tapes and I'd like to create tape images to file to save the tapes content.

10 years

1
0
0 0

"RAM Drives" Elite 5H/10H Hard Drives for Apple ][

by marvin＠west.net

I ran across a manual from "Ram Drives" company that apparently made hard drives. They were based in Goleta, CA (just north of Santa Barbara) which is what really caught my attention. My *guess* is they made/provided hard drives to Lobo Drives for their hard drive/floppy disk combination. I *think* I have either two or three of these units, but am unwilling to power them up without knowing a LOT more about how to do it safely. Because I believe they came from Lobo Drives, I suspect they may have a lot of interesting source code/programs that Lobo dealt with. Long way of asking, has anyone heard of "Ram Drives" company based in Goleta, CA and have any more information on them?

10 years

1
0
0 0

good news from me

by cctalk-bounces＠classiccmp.org

Hi friend! I wanted to tell you something really nice, please read it here <http://compare.kitefamily.us/aezymg> Hope this helps, cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org

10 years

1
0
0 0

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